Ok. Guys, VOTE VOTEVOTEVOTEVOTE!

1) go to portrait magazine .net

2) VOTE! It's on the home page, where it says 'Annie and Liam'

3) REFRESH AND REPEAT. DELENA MUST WIN!

Sorry this chapter took so long - I've been away and had to write it on my IPad, which is why it's terrible.

But enjoy anyways, and review.

Eventually, her eyes closed sleepily and she collapsed against him. He caught her, and his fangs retracted from her neck. Blood flowed freely from the small, painless wound, and Damon placed a hankerchief on it, stopping the flow of crimson liquid.

Elena was tired. So tired she couldn't keep her eyes open. She felt his arms lift her, and then she drifted off into confusing dreams.

Damon had watched her for the entire night. She'd collapsed into his arms downstairs, and, brushing the hair out of her face, he'd wiped the remaining blood off her neck and had picked her up in his arms.

He had carried her up to the slave quarters and laid her on her bed, watching as her hair fanned out on the dirty mattress.

How she managed to sleep on that disgusting thing puzzled him, and he'd let a hand trail down her cheekbone softly as she slept.

Damon couldn't care for Elena. He couldn't. She was his slave, his property, and he was her master.

But that didn't change the fact that she was beautiful, and so for the entire night he'd watched her with a cold gaze. Someday soon, he would claim her body.

Her blood had tasted like heaven. Damon had never tasted something so perfect. The way her very life had seemed to flow into him had left him extremely satisfied, and he wanted more than anything to sink his teeth back into her soft flesh and drink his fill.

But anymore would kill her, and so he watched as she slept, noticing how the tears on her cheeks dried and left her olive skin slightly red.

She was a fascinating creature, and Damon couldn't deny it. She'd angered him earlier, yes, but he felt he couldn't really stay angry with the taste of her sweet blood still on his tongue.

But that didn't mean he wouldn't punish her.

Elena's eyes opened slowly, and she sat up quickly. A wave of nausea hit her and she winced, clutching her temple. She was lying in her bed, in the slave quarters. As always, there was not one blanket or pillow in sight.

"Relax." A cool voice said, and Elena immediately recognized the blue eyed vampire that sat on the end of her bed, just like he always did.

Memories of the night before came rushing back. Dropping the tray, disappointing Damon in front of everyone, humiliating herself, and then pleasure that was supposed to be pain as he bit her.

"I took a little too much." Damon informed her, not an ounce of regret in his eyes. She glared angrily at him.

"I can see that - no, feel that!" Elena hissed. She was enraged, and didn't care if he got mad or not. How could he bite her like that? The truth was, she didn't want to admit how good it felt, but blaming it on him seemed like a good option.

"You have no right to speak to me like that, slave." Damon growled, and she winced as 'slave' came up again. Yesterday, he'd started to call her Elena...had she ruined that for good?

"You would do well to behave after humiliating me last night." He said darkly, and Elena bit her lip nervously.

"Why did you have to...bite me?" She asked without thinking. Rage flared in Damon's eyes, and he studied her carefully, running a hand down her arm. Elena pushed it off.

"I was punishing you." He reminded her, and Elena swallowed thickly at the reminder.

"But your punishment is not over. Today, I am attending a lunch at a friend's house. One of the guests from yesterday actually." He informed her, and Elena raised her eyebrows.

"But you all just had a party yesterday!" She protested, then stopped at Damon's look of rage.

"I am extremely close to using a whip on you." He hissed, and Elena gasped. A whip? No way in hell! She decided that it was probably best to keep her mouth shut for the next few minutes.

"Anyways, I'm bringing you to attend to me." Damon finished, and Elena wondered what was punishing about this. Sure, she'd screwed up yesterday, but she wasn't about to make the same mistake...so what was punishing about attending to him at this lunch thing?

She nodded silently, and Damon looked at her black slave clothes.

"You can wear those." He nodded at them, and started for the door. Elena briefly wondered why he would put in her such ugly clothes, before shrugging it off and turning to him.

"Da-" She stopped at his look of anger. "Master?"

"Yes?" He asked, clearly irritated.

"It was an accident." Elena blurted, and Damon knew she was referring to yesterday's events at the banquet. He studied her for a minute, before turning and leaving silently, without a word.

Elena didn't know what was worse: Damon not saying anything in response to her apology, or not knowing what her punishment was exactly. When she was finished dressing she made her way downstairs, wandering through the halls of the manor.

Damon hadn't said where to meet him - so how exactly was she going to find him?

"Looking for me?" A voice asked casually, and Elena turned to see him leaning in a doorway, arms crossed over his chest and eyes glittering dangerously. She nodded and started towards him, following him through the halls until they reached the front door.

Damon led them outside, and she watched as a fancy wagon pulled up in front of them. There was the closed box that was clearly for seating, and Damon made his way towards it.

She followed him, and he pushed her back. Damon stared at her, a smirk present on his face.

"Oh no, sweetheart. You'll be walking. The entire ride." He smiled cruelly and Elena shook her head in disbelief. This was her punishment? Walking the entire way to this godforsaken vampire's house?

"B-but-"

Damon hushed her and brought out a rope from behind his back. Eena gasped.

"No!" She tried desperately to fight him off, but Damon simply laughed coolly and tied the rope tight around her wrists, then secured the length of it to the back of the wagon, giving Elena about 10 feet of room. He climbed into the seating area, and Elena's jaw dropped open as she glared at him.

"How far?" She asked, teeth gritted as she prepared for the answer.

"Far." He responded emotionlessly, and Elena flinched. Perfect. Just perfect. Damon grinned at her as he looked at her through the wagon door. "Have fun." He whispered, and burst into laughter as he slammed the wagon door, leaving her standing in the mud.

"Wait!" Elena cried, in a last ditch attempt to save herself from this madness. There was no answer from the wagon, and Elena slumped, feeling the wheels begin to roll, pulling her along with it.

4 hours. An entire 240 minutes Elena had been pulled along harshly by the wagon. Her feet were caked in blisters - Damon had given her no shoes - and were bleeding. She'd already let a couple tears escape her weary eyes, and she was beginning to feel faint. How long would he keep this up?

To make it worse, it was now storming like hell, and Elena was soaked and covered in mud.

Clearly, Damon didn't feel the slightest remorse for what he was doing. She hadn't heard a thing from the wagon the entire 4 hours. He didn't care, and she knew it.

Yesterday, for the slightest time, she'd thought he might actually care when he hadn't slapped her or put her in the dungeons for embarrassing him. But this just proved that theory was wrong.

Elena's entire body was on fire from the burning pain in her legs, abdomen...you name it.

Her heavy lids were closing as she stumbled along, and she knew she couldn't keep it up for much longer.

It now made sense why Damon had made her wear her dirty slave clothes. He wouldn't want any nicer ones getting ruined, would he?

Elena's foot caught on a rock in the middle of the pathway, and she slipped, her back colliding harshly with the muddy ground and knocking the breath out of her. She let a tear escape her eye as another cut quickly formed on the soft skin of her back.

Damon had been watching her from his spot beside the only wagon's window the entire ride. He'd listened with no pity as she'd cried, watched as more cuts formed on her olive skin, and raised his eyebrows as the rain soaked her clothes, surely freezing her.

She looked faint, as if she could collapse at any second.

He watched with cold eyes as she slipped on something, and tumbled backwards, her back hitting the ground with a smack that he could clearly hear through the walls of the wagon.

Damon watched as she began to cry, her sobs echoing outside the wagon as she was pulled along the ground on her back. He rolled his eyes, irritated. Did she ever stop crying?

Trying to drone her out, Damon growled as her sobs only got louder. He called for the driver to stop, then wrenched the door open and jumped out as the wagon came to an abrupt stop.

He made his way over to her, then crouched down to assess the damage.

The smell of her sweet blood lingered in the air around him, and he could just imagine taking her in his arms and sinking his sharp fangs into her delicate little throat.

Elena looked up at him through her wet lashes. She couldn't believe he'd done this to her. She coughed, and he stared at her.

Damon pulled her up out of the mud, gently untying her bound wrists. She sniffed, rubbing them. They were bright red, and had blisters just like her feet from the burning rope.

"There is no lunch party." Elena mumbled.

He nodded. "No."

"You did this just to...punish me?"

He cocked his head, and Elena knew that was a yes. Damon brushed a strand of hair from her cheek, gazing into her doe eyes. She still had silent tears leaking from them, and he sighed.

"I thought you were stronger than this, you know. You've disappointed me."

"It wouldn't be the first time." Elena spat, then instantly regretted her tone. Damon raised his eyebrows, then reached for the rope.

"No!" Elena cried. "I-I'm sorry! Just please don't make me do it again!"

Damon studied her for a moment, then put the rope down and pulled her into a standing position. He shoved her roughly into the wagon and pushed her to the floor.

"You won't be getting mud on my seats, so you can stay down there." He told her, and Elena scrambled into the corner furthest away from him, curling into a ball and turning her face away.

Damon watched her intensely for the journey home, trying to figure out what she was thinking. Was she in terrible pain? Well, of course she was. Was she crying? Yes - he could smell the saltiness of her silent tears in the air.

The wagon rolled to a stop and he hauled her out, guiding her into the house. She avoided his eyes and he led her into a room that looked to be his study.

There was a large desk, and a leather sofa in the corner. The room was even complete with a connected washroom. But why had he brought her in here?

He pushed her onto the ground and she crawled into the corner, watching as he disappeared into the bathroom, then emerged shortly after with a washcloth and bucket of water.

Damon knelt down in front of her, taking the warm cloth and running it over her face. Streaks of dirt came off, and Elena flinched at his touch.

"Why don't we run you a bath?" Damon purred. Elena's eyes widened.

"No!" She cried, knowing fully well that he planned to be there while she bathed.

He took her chin in his hands and roughly tilted her face upwards, forcing her to meet his gaze. He silently watched her for a moment, and Elena swallowed, uncomfortable.

"You would do well not to speak to me like that, Elena." Damon said coldly, and she stared into his icy blue eyes, trying to find an ounce of warmth in their aqua depths. There was nothing.

"I told you I was sorry." She whispered. He cocked his head.

"Mmm." He took the wet cloth once again and ran it down her arms, over her shoulders, and across her face, cleaning the mud off.

Elena shivered at his touch, and let out a hiss of pain as his hand that held the washcloth reached her aching back.

Damon raised his eyebrows, and began to undo the top corset part of her slave dress. She smacked his hand off, shocked. There was no way he would see her back nude!

Damon rolled his eyes. "Relax. I won't see anything but your back."

Hesitantly, she allowed him to undo the strings. His hand ghosted across her wounds from the fall in the mud and she gasped in pain.

"That looks sore." Damon commented, and Elena gritted her teeth together as he began to wash her back, the washcloth rubbing against her wounds roughly.

"Here." He said, cleaning the rest of the blood off and inspecting them. "Let's see."

Elena allowed him to look at her back for a moment, before he spoke up.

"I won't allow you any of my blood, because you don't deserve any." He said casually, running a hand down her back.

His hand slipped slightly lower, and Elena cried out, feeling it graze her right hipbone.

"Get off of me!" She shrieked, pulling away. He grinned, remembering the silky feel of her tender flesh that covered her hip.

"But I can give you some painkillers and medicine. Can't have you skipping work tomorrow, can we?" He smirked and handed her a bottle of pills.

Elena shot him a glare, then uncapped the bottle of painkillers and began to swallow them. Suddenly, a hand wrapped around her throat, constricting her airways and holding the pills in her throat.

Elena began to choke. She couldn't breathe. Why was Damon doing this? Had he not punished her enough?

"Say it again." Damon snarled, keeping his hand tightly around her throat.

Elena stared at him helplessly, and he growled.

"Apologize."

She coughed and sputtered, the pills that were stuck in her throat and his hand around her neck keeping her from any chance of breathing.

"I-I'm sorry for what h-happened yesterday a-at the b-banquet." She managed to choke out, and stared him directly in the eye to get the message across.

His blue orbs stared intently back, but he did not remove his hand.

"P-please!" She pleaded desperately, her vision beginning to go dark from lack of air.

He watched her chest convulse in her tight corset as she struggled to breathe, and leaned in to whisper something in her ear.

"Never disappoint me again." He hissed, and released her neck from his unbreakable grip.

She coughed up the pills and he watched her chest rise and fall as she panted. Elena turned away from him, hoping he wouldn't see her tears as they leaked out silently. It was so horrible, coming that close to death itself. And all he'd had to do to take her that far was wrap his hand around her neck.

She took deep breaths to calm herself, and brushed her tears away.

Damon stood up, disappearing into the bathroom, and she figured he'd be putting away the cloth.

She sat up, looking around the room. There was a book lying on the desk, and she stood up, waling over.

Elena picked it up. Call Of the Wild? Really? Damon didn't seem like he would ever read something like that. In fact, she could barely imagine him reading anything.

It had always been her favourite book, and Elena would have liked more than anything to read it again, even if it was just the first page. She glanced around for any signs of Damon returning from the bathroom, and, seeing none, began to read.

Soon, Elena was so engrossed in the book -and it was only the 2nd page- that she didn't notice the footsteps behind her.

"You can read?" A surprised voice asked, and Elena spun. His face matched his tone -surprised- and she wondered why he'd thought she couldn't read.

"Yes." She responded, finding it hard to look directly into the blue depths of his shocked eyes. "Call Of the Wild is my favourite book."

"Same here." Damon said, walking over to her and peering down at the book.

"My parents taught me how to read. I didn't always live in an orphanage." She said softly, the memory flashing through her mind. He raised his brows.

"You came from an orphanage?" He asked, and she nodded.

"Hmm. I just didnt think slaves could read." Damon said, glancing at her with interest in his blue orbs.

"I wasn't always a slave." Elena defended in a nasty tone, and his gaze turned cold.

She bit her lip. "Sorry."

"No, you're not."

Elena smiled in spite of herself. She felt oddly comfortable now, and had to remind herself that less than 5 minutes ago, this man had nearly strangled her to death.

"No, I'm not." She admitted.

He smirked. "You fascinate me, Elena. One minute you're in tears and the next you're making jokes."

She shrugged, wincing as he twirled her hair around her fingers. There was something she wanted to ask him. But could she be brave enough?

"I...when...yesterday at the banquet...you said I was beautiful."

She watched his face change..only it didn't. It stayed emotionless.

"When Klaus said I was beautiful, you agreed. I was wondering...did you mean that?" She forced the words out, knowing she had to have the answer.

His face finally changed, and he looked down at her, brushing the hair out of her eyes. She swallowed at his light touch, wondering what he would say.

"Yes." He purred, and she stared, surprised.

"I think it's time we got you to bed." Damon told her, and Elena realized then that it was dark outside.

4 hours walking, and then 4 hours back in the wagon, plus the time it had taken to clean her up. So it was around 9:00?

"Remember, tomorrow you begin your duties...what's that?"

Damon's eyes were trained on her neck. Elena looked down, realizing she still wore her family locket. It was the last memory of her family that she could touch.

"I...nothing."

"My slaves are not allowed jewelry." Damon hissed, tearing the locket from her neck and placing it in one of the desk drawers.

"No! Please!" Elena cried, but Damon locked the drawer. "Please, don't..."

He was silent, and Elena slumped, placing Call Of the Wild back on his desk and sprinting out of the room, tears gathering in her eyes.

"Wait." He called, and she turned. Damon had a strange urge to comfort her, but he didn't know why.

"Keep it." He said, and Elena watched as he handed her the book. She took it slowly, confused. Her eyes met his, and Damon gazed into her doe eyes for a moment before she left.

Elena climbed the stairs quickly. She ran to her quarters and curled up on the bed, holding the book like a teddy. Realization crept in. Her last true possession was gone, locked in an evil vampire's desk, and he didn't want to give it back.

Footsteps echoed through the room, and she froze, stifling her sobs. What more could he possibly want? She closed her eyes tightly, hoping he'd think she was asleep.

Something soft and warm slid over her. A blanket? Was he giving her a blanket? Something slid under her head, too. A pillow?

"I know you're awake." Damon mused. "You can't fake it with me, sweetheart."

Damon pulled the blanket over her, tucking it under her chin and making sure her bare feet were covered before turning for the door.

"Be up at 5 to begin your duties." He said, and then was gone.

Elena was silent, laying there in shock as her body turned warm under the soft blanket. It smelled just like him, and she realized his last words meant nothing to her.

It was his actions that meant something; that were important.

Damon had given her a blanket and pillow. Damon.

Review if you want to see the next chapter!

What did you guys think? Should I slow the romance down? You guys said it was great last chapter, but Im worried. I tried to make Damon have moments where he switches from ok to evil very quickly, since Damon's just like that. I thought the blanket thing at the end would be a good way to start it off.

Dont worry - it won't go fast, believe me.

What was your favourite part of the chapter?

Also, big question: some of you have requested that Damon like, rape Elena as one final evil act. I don't usually write m stories, and I'd have to change the rating then, but I could. It wouldn't be very graphic. I'm really not sure, though...what are your thoughts on those reviewers ideas?

10 days till VD!

~DelenaRain