A/N - Wow, guys. I'm SO SORRY! I've been a terrible author and left you hanging for months now. :( This chapter gave me a lot of trouble, and I set it aside for a while. Along with a lot of personal things in my life going absolutely crazy, writing had to be put on the back burner. I apologize for that, and to make it up to you, here's an long SMUTTY chapter for you. :)

I repeat - *SMUT WARNING* - if you're easily offended, DO NOT READ THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER.

For all others, Happy reading! :)

- Alyssa

Chapter Four

Elena watched as Damon dropped down onto his knees, clutching his arm to himself. His face was twisted in agony, and all she could think was 'No'. That one word repeated itself over and over again in her mind. No, no, no, no , no, no…

Dropping down next to Damon, she reached for him.

"What's wrong? Damon? Talk to me! Tell me what's wrong!"

"It burns." Damon spat the words out between clenched teeth, groaning unwillingly as the pain intensified. She had to do something. Elena couldn't stand to just kneel there, watching him suffer. There was only one thing she could think of that might help him. Blood. Vampires need blood. And that she could supply. Elena pulled her hair around to one side, leaving her neck exposed, then grabbed Damon's chin, forcing him to look at her.

"Let me help you." At first Damon was confused, but when Elena tilted her head to the side, comprehension dawned, then was swiftly replaced by disbelief and fury.

"NO!" His monosyllabic reply was growled out violently, and he tried to push her away, realizing as he did so that he was severely weakened. It was as if his entire body was so focused on withstanding the pain that expending any strength on any other effort was impossible.

"Do it, damn it!" Elena was crying now. Seeing Damon in so much pain was killing her, and to stand by helplessly wasn't an option. Even if it wouldn't help him at all, she at least had to try. "Drink!"

Out of nowhere, two arms lifted her away from Damon, her arms trapped at her sides. She kicked and screamed at her captor, turning all of her frustration against him.

"Elena!" Stefan's voice boomed in her ear. "Elena, stop! It won't help him! You can't help him!"

You can't help him. Those four words were the proverbial bucket of cold water. All of the fight and anger drained from her body, leaving her limp. Stefan allowed her to slump down onto the floor, following her down. Elena rested her head against her knees as racking sobs shook her body. When she started to crawl back over to Damon, Stefan restrained her, grasping her arm.

"Let me go," she begged. Her voice was thin and weak.

"I'm not going to let you sacrifice yourself."

"I won't." Even though she knew the words were going to hurt Stefan, she had to say them. "I need to be with him." Elena's eyes were apologetic, asking him to understand. Though he did so reluctantly, Stefan released his hold on her arm.

Reaching Damon, Elena put her arms around him and held him as he panted through the pain, resting her head against his shoulder. After a few minutes, his muscles began to relax from their rigid state and Damon began to breathe more deeply. She brushed his sweat-dampened hair back from his face, and maneuvered so that she could look him in the eye.

"Is it better?"

Damon nodded weakly. "It's easing up." Rather than his blood surging through his veins at a rolling boil, it was now merely simmering. While still considerably uncomfortable, he no longer felt like he was being burned alive from the inside out. Pulling his sleeve up, the bite had become even more reddened and swollen than it had been before.

"I apologize, Damon. Despite what I'd said earlier, I really thought it would work." Elena had all but forgotten Elijah, and when he spoke, the reminder that he had been their last, and only, hope hit her hard. It took all of her inner strength to keep from breaking down again.

Damon shrugged at Elijah. "You tried." That was more than he'd expected. Upon trying to stand, Damon found that his strength was still severely weakened, and he began to list to one side. Elena quickly wrapped an arm around his waist to help support some of his weight, the worry in her eyes intensifying.

Elijah knew better than to offer his assistance. Damon wasn't one to accept help easily, not for himself anyway, from anyone other than those he most trusted. Instead, Elijah extended a hand to Damon.

"It's been a pleasure."

Damon smirked as he accepted the handshake. "Bullshit."

Elijah chuckled, and with a nod, left the boarding house.

The air in the house immediately became suffocating. Only the three of them - Damon, Elena, and Stefan - remained in the home. For Elena, there was a fourth presence - guilt. It was almost like a living, breathing entity standing right there in the room with them. She felt horrible. She knew she somehow had to make things right with Stefan, but right then was not the time. Damon was having trouble standing on his own, and her own strength was going to give out soon. Looking to Stefan, she reluctantly asked for his assistance.

"Help me take him upstairs? I don't think I can support him on my own much longer."

Stefan didn't answer her. He simply came forward and took hold of Damon, slinging one of his brother's arms around his neck, and leading him up the stairs.

"Sorry, little brother." Damon's words had been quiet, but meaningful. Damon didn't do apologies, not willingly. This was the first time Stefan had ever received one, and he knew the simple words were meant to encompass all transgressions Damon had ever made against him, not just for their current situation. Yet Stefan remained silent. Though Stefan knew that his brother, in what was now certainly his final hours, probably needed his forgiveness, Stefan simply couldn't give it. Not yet. But he honestly hoped that he'd have enough time to give Damon what he needed before… well, before "the end." Depositing Damon on his massive bed, Stefan immediately turned to leave.

"I'm gonna take a walk." Elena could hear the pain in Stefan's voice, and knew she couldn't let things go unsaid between them any longer.

"Stefan-" He paused at the doorway, leaving his back to Elena.

"Elena, I get it. Alright? I understand. It's okay." With that, he quickly left.

Elena wanted to go after him. She knew he understood what had happened; that he knew her well enough to know that she'd never intended to fall for Damon. But she needed to apologize, to tell him how sorry she was, and that she'd never wanted to betray him. And she would have time for that. Later. Right now, Damon was infinitely more important than getting Stefan's forgiveness.

Sitting down beside Damon, where he lay prone on the bed, Elena brushed her hand through his hair.

"You're going to suffocate yourself laying like that."

"I'm a vampire. We can't suffocate." Damon's reply was slurred and muffled by the pillow into which his face was buried.

"Then why do you breathe?"

"Have you ever tried not breathing? It's just a little bit uncomfortable."

"Exactly. Not all suffocation is fatal." There was an extended pause before Damon replied.

"I'm dying. I'm supposed to win." Damon felt her hand go still in his hair, and could have kicked himself for drawing even more attention to the dire situation. He prepared himself for the energy it was going to take to turn himself over, and was surprised when it didn't take as much effort as he'd expected. Some of his strength must be returning, though he was confused as to why.

Taking Elena's hand into his own, and bringing it to his lips, he kissed her knuckles tenderly.

"Sorry."

Elena tried to smile, but it felt shaky, even to her. "It's okay."

Though each of them tried to find something to say, they both knew that right then, words were superfluous, unnecessary. They simply looked at each other, drinking in all they could about the other and committing it to memory. Damon memorized every feature, the fullness of her bottom lip, the delicate arch of her eyebrow. Elena got lost in the beautiful pale blue of his eyes, and the open vulnerability in them. Raising up onto his elbow, Damon reached out, slipping his hand under her dark hair to cup the back of her neck, gently pulling her down toward him. Damon paused when his lips were just a breath away from hers.

"I don't think I got to say this earlier… I love you, Elena. So much."

Elena nodded infinitesimally. "I know. I love you, too." Elena could feel a sob rising in her throat, and knew she'd never be able to say more than that without breaking down. Then, finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Damon's lips met hers. His lips were soft, and warm, and tasted sweeter than she could have imagined. Home. This was home.

Damon tried to be gentle with her, to give her the romantic first kiss she deserved - but what he felt for her wasn't gentle. It was animalistic, a physical need that overtook him swiftly. Almost immediately he was pulling her closer to him and taking full possession of her mouth. Pressing his thumb against her chin firmly, he opened her mouth to him, slipping his tongue between her lips and kissing her deeply.

Elena was losing herself. Every hungry brush of his tongue against hers sent electric pulses throughout her body, until it felt as if she were humming with enough volts to power a small city. Letting herself be pulled down on top of him, Elena choked back a groan as their bodies connected. She could feel the heat from his chest warming hers through the thin barriers of their clothing. Elena gasped in surprise when she felt him lift her so that she was lying fully on top of him, her thighs straddling his waist. She hadn't thought he had that much strength left. It was that thought that broke her trance, and she pulled back from him, ashamed of herself for actually forgetting how sick he was.

"Damon, we shouldn't be doing this." Damon understood what she meant. The experience with Rose had given them some idea of what to expect of the coming hours - the rabid-like hunger and intense delusions being only two of the symptoms to come. They were also the two symptoms that would put Elena in the most danger. But Damon was feeling okay. The burning in his veins and arm had finally disappeared, and he no longer felt like he'd lose a fight against a seven-year-old girl. He also knew they didn't have much time left together that wouldn't involve coughing up blood and virtual insanity. He needed this time with her. They needed it. It was their last chance.

"I'm okay, Elena." Elena started to shake her head and move off of him, but he held her still, taking her face in his hands.

"Look at me. Right now, I'm fine." Damon looked meaningfully into her eyes. "We need this."

Damon hated the sadness he saw creep into her eyes, the realization that this would be their only chance to be together. Brushing a hand through her dark hair, he let his trademark smirk slip into place.

"You don't really wanna miss out on this, do ya?" Elena's snort and accompanying eye-roll was comfortingly familiar to both of them, but the humor in their eyes soon faded, replaced by an awareness and intensity they'd never allowed themselves to have with the other. As Elena looked down at Damon, she willed all thoughts of the future beyond this moment back into a deep corner of her mind. All that mattered was that she was there, with Damon, in love, and loved in return. She watched him as she lowered her lips to his. Watched as heat warmed his icy blue eyes until the look seared her, sending shivers down her spine and causing her eye lids to flutter shut. Cupping the back of her neck, Damon took control of the kiss, his lips becoming firmer. So lost was she in Damon that Elena never realized he was reversing their positions until she felt the bed beneath her - and by then she didn't care. The weight of Damon's body pressing hers against the mattress was heavenly, the feeling of his hips cradled between her thighs unbearably erotic. Elena snaked her hands between them, frantically working at the buttons of his shirt. Damon knew he could have them both naked in less than four seconds, but the feeling of her fingertips brushing against his skin as she undressed him was well worth the torture of taking a slower pace. After unfastening the last button on his shirt, Elena slid her hands up his torso from the waist of his black jeans, over his washboard abs, to his shoulders, her fingers brushing his nipples along the way. She could feel his muscles trembling as they felt her touch; the knowledge of her effect on him sending a reciprocal shiver through her own body.

Damon's lips burned their way from her mouth to her throat, zeroing in on her pulse point. Were it any other woman, he'd not waste a moment's thought before sinking in his fangs and taking what the vampire in him always wanted. Seduction was, after all, part of the hunt. But with Elena, only the man in him was making demands, and his hunger for her had nothing to do with her blood. Instead, he gently sucked at the delicate skin of her neck, reveling in the satisfaction of making her pulse pound quicker and quicker. Slipping a hand under her shirt, he skimmed his fingers over her stomach before filling his palm with her breast. Elena gasped softly as he began gently massaging her through her bra.

It wasn't enough. Elena couldn't stand this slow seduction. She was burning for him, and needed to feel his skin against hers. Tugging at her shirt, Elena managed to get it over her head and threw it down onto the floor. Sensing her urgency, Damon made quick work of her bra and slung it across the room, his lips latching onto her nipple hungrily. Her throaty moan making him harder than he already was, he ground his hips into hers. The feeling of his hardness grinding against her caused an unbearable throbbing at her center, and she frantically started trying to undo Damon's belt. Desire surging between them, Damon took over, stripping both himself and Elena of the last of their clothing in record time. He took a moment to look at Elena's uncovered body before returning to her, capturing her lips in a searing kiss that left both of them gasping for breath. Elena ran her hands over the breadth of his strong shoulders before reaching for him, his length heavy and hot against her thigh. Damon moaned and buried his face in her neck as she wrapped her small hand around him. The feeling of her hand working him up and down and her thumb brushing over his tip was enough to bring him to the edge.

"Elena, you need to stop." Damon's voice was hoarse and he was breathless. Elena smiled up at him knowingly, squeezing him lightly. His amused chuckle turned into a groan as she redoubled her efforts. He quickly covered her hand with his own, stopping her ministrations. Taking both of her hands and placing them above her head, Damon smirked devilishly.

"Stay."

Damon nipped her bottom lip playfully before kissing his way down the column of her throat, not stopping until he'd reached her left breast. Drawing her nipple into his mouth, he suckled her, taking it between his teeth and biting her gently, while his hand ran lightly over her stomach and up to her other breast, kneading it. Elena's breathing quickened and she felt her skin begin to blush as she succumbed to Damon's attentions, the wetness and tension between her thighs increasing to an almost unbearable level. Forgetting his orders, her hands slipped down from above her head, her fingers threading through Damon's hair, holding his hot mouth to her breast.

Damon reveled in her soft moans and restless movements. He could smell her arousal, and he groaned as he imagined how it would feel to bury himself in her tight, wet heat. Before he let himself experience that supreme pleasure, however, he first needed to taste her. He needed to drive her beyond all reason before he took her. If this was to be their only time together, he wanted it to be something she'd remember for the rest of her beautiful life. Damon trailed his tongue along the underside of her breast before slowly kissing his way down her torso. As he got lower and lower, Elena's grip on his hair tightened.

"Damon?"

Looking up into her eyes, Damon realized she was nervous. He smirked. Little Brother must not have taken good care of you. Damon tried to reassure her with his eyes, holding her gaze as he trailed a hand over her hip and down to her thigh, gently pressing against it to open her up wider to him. He slowly then ran his hand back up her thigh, inching closer and closer to her heat. Damon savored her soft gasp and the fluttering of her eyelids as his fingers reached their destination. Holding eye contact, he lowered his head to her mound, replacing his fingers with his mouth. Her gasp of surprise turned into a guttural moan of pleasure as he laved her with his tongue, pressing it firmly against her clit with long strokes before teasing it with the tip. Her head fell back against the bed in submission as Damon continued to drive her higher and higher.

Elena couldn't hold still, undulating her hips toward his face. She could feel herself getting close to that edge, begging him not to stop. All of a sudden she felt Damon slip a finger into her tight passage, then two, sliding them in and out frantically. When he started curling them toward the ceiling, hitting that special spot, she lost it.

Damon couldn't help the sheer masculine pride that raced through him when Elena moaned out his name and her back arched, her walls clamping down around his fingers. He helped her to ride it out before sliding up her body and kissing her with all the passion he possessed. Before Elena even had a chance to come down from her climax, Damon pulled her legs up around his waist and pushed into her, sinking down into her heat to the hilt. The feeling of being completely sheathed in her momentarily knocked the breath out of his lungs, and he dropped his forehead down to hers. After a moment, he kissed the tip of her nose, then began slowly driving his manhood in and out of her.

As Damon rose above her, his intense blue eyes staring down into hers as he thrust into her, Elena felt the full weight of the soul-deep connection she had with him. With their bodies intimately connected, and all emotional walls crumbled into dust, she could feel the full depth of her love for him. He was a part of her, and she a part of him, and nothing, not even death, could separate them.