I gasped when I felt ice cold water hit my face in a large wave. It slid down my neck and back, soaked through the front of my shirt. The cold water also soaked through my bra, and I felt my nipples respond. Of all the human reactions that I have left, it still amused me that some things never changed.

It did not, however, amuse me today. I lifted my eyes—they felt frozen, or stiff, if it was possible to get stiff eyeballs—until I found the culprit, fully prepared to chew his head off, maybe literally, when they rested on Damon. I tried to let my anger go but even so, a growl escaped me.

"Hey, I liked it less than you." He snapped, blue eyes narrowing. "You got my seats wet."

"Me?" I scoffed. "I seem to recall you being the one with the bucket of ice water, and the one with the hand that must have slipped, because really, it isn't wise to do that sort of thing on purpose. Especially to me."

Instead of being intimidated, he laughed at me. I frowned. "Being a vampire must really have gone to your head, or maybe it's the lack of blood, because you seem to have forgotten that you are not the strongest thing out there. You aren't even the strongest vampire within five feet, my fanged vegan friend, understand?" He asked dangerously.

I was irked to find I had no response. I climbed from the car and found my muscles stiff like they hadn't been used in a long while. Almost as my eyes had felt. Somewhat mollified, I asked him in a much less grumpy tone, "Why did you pour water on me if I was in your car?"

He glared at me. "Like I had a choice, Elena. You've been like a statue ever since the bunny incident, and I figured you had just really perfected the silent treatment. Until we got here, and you refused to budge." I looked around and noticed with surprise we were back at the mansion. Old and unwelcome memories clawed their way through my thoughts. "I tried shaking you, threatening you-" I took in, with a little trepidation, the stake in his hand. "-but nothing worked. Until this." He held up a metal pale she assumed had held the water.

"Oh." I moved past him and walked, like a zombie, towards the mansion.

Damon latched onto my arm and whirled me around. I looked at him with little interest while he stared at me like he was expecting something. "Well?" He finally asked, annoyed.

I shrugged. "What?" His eyes all but bulged from his head. He spread his arms, pointed to his wet upholstery, nodded at his metal bucket, and looked at me again. "Oh, right." I said slowly. "Sorry." The word seemed to itch as it came from me. I tried to walk back to the house.

He was in front of me in a second and had both hands on my shoulders before I could take another step. He looked deep into my eyes, and I just stared back. He looked confused, like he didn't know how to react. I guess he finally decided on angry. "I don't want a god damn apology, Elena! I want to know what the hell that was! You were empty, you didn't hear, feel, see! What the hell, that isn't normal." His fingers tightened on my shoulders, and even though I was a vampire, he was doing it hard enough to hurt.

The pain made me forget to speak for an instant. It was strange, but the pain felt good. I leaned in and inhaled without trying to make it too obvious. "It was something I learned to do a few years ago, when it still hurt to think of him. I just stopped-everything. And it wouldn't hurt because it wasn't anything." I leaned in a fraction of an inch closer. He still looked mad, and for some reason that seemed wrong to me. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again." I promised, and was pretty sure I meant it.

"It's like how we can turn off the human part…only for you, it's everything." He pushed me away a little bit, and stalked back into the house. I felt the faintest of smiles ghost across my face as I watched him walk away. He was making life…interesting. And after so many years of boredom and nothingness…I was enjoying it.

One we were inside, I sat down on the couch, not really sure of our next step. He sat down next to me. "You should eat. You haven't eaten anything the whole trip, and it was days, Elena. It would be hard for a real vampire to do, let alone a vegetarian one like you." He stood up. "I'll go get you something."

"No thank you." I said. Politely enough, too, or so I thought. Nonetheless, he got angry at me again. I was only finding him more perplexing the more time we spent together.

"You have to eat." He growled.

"I will eat when I am hungry, Damon."

"I have business. Blood's downstairs in the cooler. Or out back in the woods, if you must. But you had better eat before I get back." He was walking away from her. "You don't want me angry." He said, smoothly.

000000

It turned out his business took a couple days, and just because I hadn't been able to for a while, I wanted to argue, to disobey. It felt nice.

So when he came back, I was on that very couch, reading a book I'd borrowed from his room. And I hadn't had a drop of blood. I'd felt tired, but hadn't slept because I didn't want to miss his return. They say to sleep when you're dead, but I know sometimes even that doesn't work out too well. The fire comforted me with its dim, gentle flickering.

I smiled at him when he walked in, and it took him so off guard he immediately smiled back. As he got closer to where I lay on the couch his face grew darker, until he was looming over me with a scowl. "You look terrible. You haven't eaten. Are you trying to starve yourself?"

I laughed, and then I laughed some more, because my laughter sounded like it floated on little clouds around my head.

"Are you okay?" He kneeled on the floor so that he could look into my face where I was on the couch.

I swung my legs over the side. "Why wouldn't I be?" I tried to stand, but my legs didn't hold my weight and I collapsed. He caught me before I could really fall. He set me back on the couch. I noticed that his anger was all gone now, and it was replaced with concern. I reached out to touch his face, but as my arm moved I noticed something. "Hey," I said dreamily. "Look, you can see my bones." I prodded at the things poking from my skin. I giggled. I took his hand and made him feel it too. "Doesn't it feel funny?" I laughed.

He pulled away, distaste written on all his features. My lower lip shook. "You don't like my bones?"

"You're eating and that's final. I don't care if I have to pour it down your throat." He was almost out of view when I heard him call out, "and I'm not getting you that forest shit!"

He came back with five blood bags. He held one up to my mouth, with a threatening expression. I turned away. "You remember what I said—"

"I don't care!" I screamed, hiding my face in the sofa. "You don't like my bones!" I wailed.

I felt a tentative hand on my back. I peeked and saw his uncertain expression. I narrowed my eye at him. "I do like your bones, Elena, from your fucking flanges to whatever your toe bones are called." I remained unconvinced and hid back in the couch. I felt hesitant rubbing on my shoulder. "It's just, bones are something that are meant to be appreciated from afar. Something you should love knowing they're there, but when you actually see them, it's like taking the magic out of them, you understand?"

I turned my head so that it lay on my cheek and facing him. "Like a magician's tricks. When you know, they aren't special anymore." I rationalized. "Oh, god." I realized, "my bones aren't special anymore! You hate them!" I was in the process of hiding my face again when he caught both shoulders and pried me off of my stomach onto my back.

"Your bones will always be special to me, Elena." I was shaking my head violently. "Yes, it is true. You know that, too. You're just delirious. You need to feed." He held up a blood bag to my mouth. I just looked at him. "Don't make me pry your mouth open, Elena."

My lips pouted and my eyes got big. "Will you bite it open for me? My teeth hurt."

He looked like he was about to refuse for a moment, but soon he was bringing it to his own mouth. "You must be pretty bad, if your fangs can't even come out." And then his own fangs grew and he ripped open the bag. I swallowed . Blood dripped from where he'd bitten it to where he held it with his fingers in front of my face.

I took hold of his wrists and held them still before me. I inhaled. "Drink." He commanded.

I licked a trickle of blood from the back of his hand. "But that isn't what I want." I whispered, licking up to his pinky finger. "I loved the way you sucked your fingers in the car." I told him, pulling his one hand closer to me while the other still held the bag. I took his whole finger into my mouth and sucked it clean. I did the same with the others.

The groans I heard escape him did strange things to my stomach, made it flip. "But you won't get a lot of blood that way." He protested, before I could start on the other hand.

"You're right," I agreed. And despite how weak I was, I still had the strength to launch myself from the couch to sink my teeth into his neck.

I caught him off guard, but the moment he realized what I was doing, he tried to push me off of him, but I had wrapped my arms around his shoulders and my legs around his waist and held tight. He was still kneeling on the floor in front of the sofa, so he didn't have much leg strength to work with. Not to mention, there's not much stronger than a vampire in blood lust. Especially not when the blood tasted this good.

I moaned as I sucked down a mouthful. I pulled away, but only to bite savagely into his neck again. I heard him groan despite the situation, and I felt his arms cease their struggle to push me away. Vampires often drink each other's blood during sex, and even though I was doing it to feed, it was still sexual. For both of us.

With the way I was biting him…it was probably akin to rough sex. Something I felt sure Damon was no stranger to. I took no time to ensure I gave him pleasure from each bite. I was too consumed with the need for sustenance, and the way his blood tasted. Nothing had ever tasted sweeter, spicier, hotter, or more refreshing.

I was grinding into him with every hard suck, and I could tell it was affecting him. His arms wrapped around me and tried to hold me closer instead of resist me. I almost didn't notice when the strength in his arms seemed to slack, but the sudden swaying did draw my attention. I fell with him to the floor when he could no longer kneel.

I was still drinking heavily and writhing on top of him when I heard his weak murmur and felt his arms fall from me completely. It took more strength of will than I'd like to admit to tear myself away from tearing into his neck. I pulled away enough only to look at his face. He was pale and looked dizzy.

"Shit." I said out loud, "I almost drained you." I was still either too buzzed or too ravenous to care.

He breathed deeply. "Yeah, not the way I always pictured you sucking me dry."

I smiled and leaned in to kiss his neck where I'd bitten him. "All in good time." I purred, as I examined his neck. The wound was clotting, and I gave a moue of disappointment. I licked it, and inhaled his scent, already impatient for the next bite.

He stiffened at my words. Not his cock, that had been hard, but his whole body. I might have asked him what was wrong, but I didn't care. Besides, I was busy running my hands down his chest and ripping his shirt open, the buttons popping off of his dress shirt easily. He grabbed my hands and stilled them, but his grip was weak. Hmm. I'd have to fix that. "Elena, I don't think we should be doing this. Stefan—"

I ripped off my wedding ring, throwing it far and not watching where it landed. "Is dead." I finished. "He has been for years, and I haven't had a man since him. I sure hope I'm doing this right." I said as I thrust into him. I grinned when I heard him gasp. I broke the hold he had on my wrists easily and reached for the bags of blood he originally intended for me. I bit into one, but didn't drink. Instead I held it to his face as I moved on top of him. "Drink." I commanded.

He did so, growing stronger with each gulp. His hands lifted from the floor and moved to stroke me almost mindlessly. He finished the first quickly, and I got another for him. His eyes moved from the bag where I was holding it for him, to my face. They stared at me with such intensity, I think it could have been called a glare. He thrust up, and I shuddered in ecstasy. When my eyes met his again, they were alight with masculine pride. I grinned back.

He finished the second bag just as easily, but instead of bothering to get him another, I just let the empty one fall. I slipped the tattered remains of his shirt from one shoulder. I licked his bare shoulder once before biting into him. It wasn't as savage as before, but my fangs still hadn't come out and there was a lot of tough muscle in his shoulder. It felt good slowly sinking my teeth into him. It felt even better when his blood slid down my throat.

He yelled aloud. I saw him reach for another blood bag. I happily went back to what I was doing. As long as he kept drinking, so could I. He finished another bag.

I was wiggling on top of him, trying to crawl inside his skin, where all that lovely blood was, when he surprised me by flipping us both over. I gasped as he rose up above me, dark humor in his eyes, and a smirk on his face. "As long as you're using me, I think I'll repay the favor." He ripped my shirt and jeans off much as I had ripped his shirt off. He easily undid the front clasp of my bra, not bothering to slide the straps from my arms. He buried his face into my chest, kissing and kneading the tender flesh of my breasts. He savagely bit into the top of one breast, fangs sliding in deep. He didn't bother to drink from me, just moved from the bite to bite into the other nipple. I shrieked at the erotic pain.

I heard his zipper, felt him move the fabric of my panties to the side, and felt a cool rush as the air assaulted my suddenly bare sex. He didn't try to prepare me-he just slammed into me and started working himself in and out. The stretch would have been unbearable if I hadn't already been so turned on. As it was, I couldn't help but rake my nails across his back and leave strips of thin scratches on him.

He gave me no time to collect myself, and his merciless pounding did nothing to help. I just lay there, giving little screams here and there at the pleasurable pain, while he held my hips down so he could ram into me and ensure I couldn't escape.

Eventually, my vampiric abilities began to catch up to me, because instead of feeling helpless and breathless, I started to participate. The first thing I did was reach down to rip my panties all the way off. The feeling of him pushing into me while they were still on was annoying. Then I started tipping my hips into his, and the feeling of us moving together was amazing. Once I started doing that, I easily found my climax. Just before I lost all rational thought, I brought my hand to Damon's head and brought him down close to me so I could reach his neck. I bit down just as I started to come, and rode the pleasurable waves in time to my harsh sucking. I felt him shout, and bite into me seconds later, the sensations from that rocking my pleasure to new heights.

We both lay panting together a few minutes later. He lifted his head to look at me and I saw that blood was smeared across his chin. I grinned at him before bringing my head closer to kiss him, then lowering my mouth to lap up the blood he messily smeared. "Mmm. Let's do that again." I said. He was nuzzling me with his nose. I tried to move my legs and abruptly stopped. "Maybe in a couple days." I modified.

"Do you need more blood?" He asked, offering his neck.

"Not yet. But you should drink more. I know I took a lot." He grunted in agreement. He rolled off of me, and I had to stop myself from whining out in protest. He had only gotten up to grab himself another bag of blood. He came back and stood over me, smirking at my unabashed nakedness as I sprawled out across the floor.

He was only half naked, with his jeans still loosely about his waist, but with his cock still hanging out. The sight made me smile.

He picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. I gasped as parts of me that were still too sore to move were jostled. He didn't apologize, he just said, "You'll be more comfortable in the bed." I relaxed against him and decided some light jostling was definitely better than walking all the long way to his room.

He lightly tossed me onto the bed, and I couldn't help a giggle as I bounced a bit. I burrowed under the covers. He slipped his pants the rest of the way off and climbed under the sheets next to me. He threw an arm over me and snuggled into me. I would never have guessed Damon was a cuddler. My lips curled up involuntarily, and I relaxed into his grip.

My eyes closed, and my whole body felt heavy. I was exhausted, and not just physically. I hadn't felt anything in so long, hadn't, in fact, had any human contact for at least a year, that all of this at once was overwhelming. I had been empty for so long, that when Damon came along and shook me up, filled me up in more ways than one, it was like he'd started a fire in me that hadn't been there. A tiny, little flame that fought off the darkness. All I wanted to do was stay close to him and keep feeding that part of me that I thought had died a long time ago.

000000

Damon

"So…" He started, then cringed. Pillow talk. How many times had a girl attempted this and end up talking to his backside as he left her bedroom? But he felt the matters needed to be discussed, and wanted to get it over with so he could finally bask in the glow that came with finally getting to hold the girl you've loved from afar for over a decade. She rolled over to face him, and his grip on her loosened.

She smiled at him with pure happiness, and he found the sight breathtaking. "Yes?"

"Uhm." He forgot everything as he stared into eyes that he'd waited for what felt like forever to stare into like this. It elated him just about as much as it scared him. She was looking at him like he was the only thing in the world that mattered. He had to look away to remember what he had intended on saying. "The business I went away on—you remember?" He felt the movement of her nod on the bed. "It was about looking up some people we'll need to help us defeat Klaus." Another nod. "Bonnie for sure, maybe Caroline and Tyler, couldn't help to have some more supes on our side." He finally looked up at her. And saw nothing. The eyes he had, not a moment ago, found so lovely and deep, a mesmerizing root beer portal to speechlessness, were now blank and empty. "So?" He finally asked, after a minute of staring at her.

"So, what?" She responded, looking honestly confused.

"Aren't you nervous, or excited, or something?"

"Should I be?" She asked, her face still casually blank.

He pulled her closer and she snuggled into his chest. He was glad she couldn't see his face. The arm wrapped around her slowly stroked her hair while he thought. Being alone for so long had changed her. There was something broken about Elena. His arms tightened around her infinitesimally and he vowed he would help her.