Elena's POV
( Just an experiment; wanted a challenge - it was. Being Elena isn't
nearly as much fun as being Damon. I'm sure that surprises exactly no one. ;P )
"So, what do you guys think about the zombies? Pretty cool, right?" Elena heard an unknown voice say, but she didn't let herself be distracted. Jeremy might be hurt.
She used her fangs to bite into her wrist as it vaguely registered that Damon released her arm and moved away. She offered the healing blood to her brother, but Jeremy shoved her arm away and sat up. "I said I'm fine! It missed, okay?" He showed her the hole in his shirt, and there was no visible wound underneath.
It was true. She didn't smell any blood on him. In fact, the only blood she could smell came from Damon.
"Do you know this guy?" the dark Salvatore asked Elena, Bonnie, and Jeremy out the side of his mouth.
She emphatically shook her head, as did they.
"Sorry, manners," the young man rebuked himself with a self-deprecating smile, raising a hand to his mouth. "I'm Kai." He crunched down on a pork rind.
Elena stared at the person who'd just spoken. His lean frame was relaxed against a tree, exuding an aura of complete unconcern that he'd just crashed a party of supernatural beings who would kill him without batting an eyelid. He wore only a plain grey t-shirt and jeans, and his hair was a short dark brown, spiked in the front. She had to admit under any other circumstances he'd be extremely attractive with his full lips and a face that reminded her of a darker-complected Ryan Reynolds. He wasn't supernaturally beautiful like Damon, or even Stefan, but he'd certainly stand out in a crowd.
Under any other circumstances like when he wasn't currently engaged in creating chaos and carnage with the goal of hurting and terrorizing the people she loved.
Stefan asked from somewhere behind her, "Who are you?"
Kai munched another pork rind and stared down into the bag's contents. "Is he deaf? Aren't vampires supposed to have like super-sensitive hearing?"
Damon clarified, "I think what my brother is trying to say is what the hell do you want?"
During this exchange, Elena rose and moved alongside Damon, looking him over for any injuries. One of his sleeves was damp with blood.
She frowned worriedly but understood that they needed to deal with the more immediate threat before she inspected him with a fine tooth comb to make sure he was alright. Looking across the yard at Kai, she found him smiling at her with a cold, eerie smile. She was both annoyed and grateful when Damon grabbed her and pulled her behind him so that she wasn't directly in enemy sights.
In response to Damon, Kai said, "To say hi. Hi." He waved his hand once in a mocking manner. "It would be rude to visit without introducing myself to my fellow supernaturals, and I'm really trying to work on my people skills. Please, no need to introduce yourselves; I feel like I already know all of you so well."
"You've been spying on us?" Damon asked.
"Oh, not me personally. But they have." He gestured first to the zombies standing motionless around them before sweeping his hand up to include the vultures hissing and rustling on the roof. "And I must say, very disappointing. You two," he wiggled his fingers at Damon and Elena, "get a room."
Elena gritted her jaw, feeling completely violated by the thought that this creep voyeur had witnessed her intimate moments with Damon.
Kai's gaze jumped to Stefan. "Seriously, bunnies? Is there a special trick to get the fur out of your teeth?" He shook his head. "And people call me a sociopath."
She just wanted him to stop talking, so she asked, "All those people at Pastor Young's farm? You killed them?"
"Yup, that was me." He said it like he was admitting to a particularly clever prank.
"Why?"
"Because it's all part of the plan." He chuckled. "Yes, I killed people you know and care about, blah blah blah, but don't worry. As you will see, their deaths serve a higher purpose. A better purpose."
He was making her sick. Something dark and inhuman uncoiled inside of her, urging her to give in and rip his throat out, to eliminate this threat to her loved ones. She tried her best to ignore it. "There is something seriously wrong with you."
"Funny, my mom said the same thing once. Right before I stabbed her in the stomach. Then the chest. Then the throat. Hmm, there was probably somewhere else, too."
Damon broke in with, "I hope you at least stabbed her eardrums out first so she didn't have to suffer."
Kai's lips curved upwards the slightest degree as he regarded Damon thoughtfully. Finally, he emitted one brief laugh. "I like you, Damon, you're funny. And I like your girl, too. She's pretty."
Kai winked at Elena, and Damon became deathly still. She sensed that he on the verge of snapping and doing something reckless and irreversible. She grabbed his hand and weaved their fingers together, trying to communicate to him that she wasn't going to let Kai bother her and that he should do the same. She did not want him trying to be a hero.
Bonnie piped up during the conversational lull, asking, "So you're a warlock?"
"Bonnie, the smart one." He chuckled to himself. "Warlock. I really hate that word. So medieval. Plus, I'm not really a witch, you know? A witch's power comes from the earth, from their ancestors. Mine comes from death. What I do is necromancy or death magic – there's a lot of names. I mostly just go with badass."
"It's badass to kill people?" Bonnie challenged.
"I'm not killing them just for the sake of killing them. It's not like I enjoy it – okay, I do a little." He held up his thumb and forefinger, a miniscule distance between them. "But, no, seriously, it's for the magic. You of all people should understand that, Bonnie. With great magic comes great sacrifice."
"So, is that what you want?" Stefan demanded. "You want us for some sacrifice?"
"What? No, you've misunderstood me. I don't want to hurt any of you; I just need to stay in your little town for a few days. Honestly, I've felt the pull to come here for awhile, but I mostly ignored it. I mean, who wants to end up in a backwater, hillbilly town like this? You don't even have any good restaurants. But you know what you do have?"
"Could we get the short version please? A hundred and forty characters or less?" Damon's voice was sharp and snide.
Kai smiled and it was both devious and charming. "An astronomical death rate. There's so much glorious death here. I'm super excited about that. It makes me feel right at home. Also, mega powerful, since I have an affinity for dead people. They do whatever I say."
He popped one more handful of pork rinds into his mouth before crumpling the bag and tossing it carelessly over his shoulder. He scrubbed his hands off on his jeans and jerked his chin at the frozen zombies. "Over here, guys."
The zombies began walking toward Kai with slow, purposeful steps. Raising both hands up about chest level, he scooped his hands away from each other as if he were parting the air in front him.
The shambling corpses split into two groups, and half veered off toward one bonfire while the other half marched in the direction of the second bonfire. Without a single second of hesitation, all of them plowed straight into the flames.
Elena gasped. Even if they were already dead, these were still people she'd known her whole life, and now they turning into human tiki torches right before her eyes.
Not to mention the smell. Oh god, she wanted to double over and puke from the smell.
Klaus suddenly growled angrily, "You'll need more than some burning corpses to scare me," and blurred across the yard with the intent of attacking Kai.
Kai straightened and one hand came up. Elena found the young man's eyes chilling; they had gone flat and cold like a shark's, utterly devoid of empathy or compassion.
Klaus went from moving too fast to be seen to being squashed flat on the ground by some unseen force.
"Not cool," Kai admonished him, "your temper's going to get you in trouble."
Veins stood out on the Original's forehead as he struggled to free himself from Kai's invisible hold.
"My magic also grants me the ability to control vampires. Get it? 'Cause they're technically dead?" Again with the laugh that was seriously getting on her last nerves. "Bet you didn't see that one coming."
Kai danced his fingers in the air like he was directing the strings of an invisible marionette puppet. Klaus lurched to his feet and began to stumble toward one of the bonfires, sizzling corpses still visible in the shifting flames.
"I hear you can't be killed," Kai commented. "I can't wait to see how that works out in practice."
"Stop it, please!" Caroline cried.
There was no love lost on Elena's part for Klaus but the ease with which Kai neutralized a thousand year old vampire combined with Caroline's distress made her hand tighten around Damon's.
Perceiving Elena's unhappiness, Damon snapped, "What the fuck do you want?" His muscles were bunching and releasing in an alarming rhythm. He wanted to attack, but didn't want to end up like Klaus either.
"Now that I've established who the alpha is," Kai released his magical hold on Klaus by lowering his hand, "nothing."
The ancient vampire tried to retain his balance once Kai was no longer controlling him, but instead he fell over backwards when his knees gave out. Luckily he fell away from the fire he'd almost been forced to walk into.
"Really hope I see you guys around. Invisiquay." Kai whispered a word of magic which caused him to disappear from view.
The vultures launched themselves skyward and took off in lazy spirals into the dark sky. Elena raised a hand to cover her head until the air cleared. The last thing she needed right now was to get crapped on.
When they had fully departed, she turned to Damon. "Your arm-"
"I'm fine," he said shortly. "Go check on the others."
She gave him an exasperated look. "Damon-"
"Go!"
She frowned. He was always doing that, just dismissing her. She glared for a moment before ultimately obeying and leaving him where he stood still staring at the spot from which Kai had vanished.
She fell to her knees beside Caroline who was helping Klaus sit up. "I am going to rip that bloody prick's limbs off and beat him to death with them!" the Original snarled in fury.
"No, you're not," Caroline countered harshly. "You're going to sit here and let me make sure you're alright."
Klaus's features softened as his rage leeched away. "I suppose I could use a thorough examination, since you're offering."
Elena blushed. Clearly, they didn't need her help.
She sped over to the spot where Stefan, Matt, Jeremy, and Bonnie had all huddled together. "You guys okay?"
"We're fine." Bonnie smiled thinly. "As fine as we can be after being attacked by a crazy person."
Elena smiled thinly in return until she suddenly remembered that she'd smelled blood on Damon. His blood. She hated that she'd forgotten for even a second.
She looked around for him, but couldn't find him anywhere. He'd slipped off, for some reason.
Though she'd had a few drinks and shared a joint with Damon, she felt stone cold sober, nervous adrenaline tingling through her body in the aftermath of the confrontation with Kai, and her worry for Damon grew.
She instantly took off searching for him. The first place she went was his bedroom.
"Damon?" she called.
His head poked out of the bathroom. "Present."
"Is everything alright? You just took off." She shut his bedroom door behind her as she entered.
He emerged fully into the bedroom. His shirt was completely unbuttoned now, revealing a drool-worthy strip of muscular white torso and a mouth-watering trail of black hair that started under his navel and disappeared beneath pants slung low on narrow hips. A snarky smirk stretched across his features, making him look as arrogant as ever. "Stefan looked like he had everything under control. Maybe next time I say I don't want a party, you'll listen."
She reluctantly dragged her eyes from his chest to his torn sleeve. "Why do you smell like blood?"
He glanced down at his shredded sleeve and fingered the damaged material. "I got bit. Apparently, Vampire Barbie hasn't mastered the art of watching her back."
Elena regarded him affectionately. When Damon was bad, he was sexy as sin. When he was good, he was freaking irresistible. "You saved Caroline."
He snorted. "Yeah, well, tell Gossip Girl to keep her mouth shut. Can't have her ruining my good name."
He flashed Elena a panty-melting grin that made her want to leap into his arms and have her way with him. And her way involved nudity. Lots of nudity.
Definitely no clothes.
She took a deep breath for control. Jumping his bones is a bad idea, she repeated several times to herself. Unfortunately, not a single molecule in her body was buying it. Instead, they were all urging her to jump him immediately without delay.
So what was stopping her from sleeping with him right away?
It wasn't that she didn't want to, because she really, really did, and it's not like Damon wouldn't be receptive – that was the understatement of the year.
The problem was that everyone fell into bed with him at the drop of a hat, and who could blame them? Raw sex oozed from his pores, and it was impossible not to have dirty thoughts about him when every part of him incited those dirty thoughts. He made her worse than a cat in heat. Earlier tonight, she'd barely lasted what? Ten minutes before she couldn't keep her hands off of him? She'd had to kiss that arrogant, charming, infuriating mouth, had to feel every yummy inch of his rock hard-
Wait, what was she supposed to be thinking about? Oh, right, why she wasn't going to immediately bang his brains out right that instant until they were both exhausted and incoherent.
For some reason, it was important to her to be different from the many, many, too many others, and especially from Katherine. It wasn't fair to Damon or Stefan if she simply jumped immediately out of one brother's bed straight into the bed of the other – that was Katherine's MO, and she emphatically did not want to repeat history.
All she wanted was to do the right thing without hurting anybody, but Damon certainly didn't make it easy, she thought, eyeing him again as he stood before her all smoking hot with flexing abs and blue, blue eyes framed by lashes so thick and black he looked like he was wearing eye liner – no one should have eyes that blue, it wasn't fair….
Those blue eyes widened inquisitively. "Earth to Elena?"
She jumped when she realized he'd caught her staring. To cover up the direction in which her thoughts had taken her, she quickly threw out there, "What are we going to do about this Kai guy moving into our town?"
"Who cares?"
"You should care. There's some deranged lunatic on the loose in our home doing god knows what."
He shrugged nonchalantly. "If I had a dollar for every time an evil sociopath blew into town…."
"Damon, this is serious."
"I know, but can't we talk about this later?"
She couldn't resist that cajoling look. "What would you rather talk about?" .
"I believe I was promised a present once we got inside." He motioned to the four walls and ceiling of his bedroom as evidence that they were no longer outside.
"Oh, that."
"Mmm, that," he said, walking over to his dresser. Her gaze unwittingly dropped, and her breath constricted as she took in the jaw-dropping perfection of his ass. Glancing back over his shoulder, he sent her a cocky, crooked smile as if he could sense the effect he had on her.
Ugh, he probably could.
She watched him search through a drawer, looking for a clean shirt, while she summoned her courage. He pulled one out and gave it a shake. "Well?" he asked. "I'm dying over here. Not literally, of course."
She squared her shoulders, determined to go through with it. "Anything you want."
He tilted his head. "I'm sorry, huh?"
"I didn't know what to get you, so I thought I'd let you tell me what you want. Anything."
"Anything?" When he repeated the word back at her, he didn't sound happy, and his face was remote, guarded. Not the response she'd been hoping for.
"Anything," she confirmed, though her smile was slightly less now.
He was silent for a moment. She waited nervously, wondering what he'd ask for. She didn't know what was compelling her to offer him this – other than that she trusted him and she wanted to please him.
Finally, he shoved the clean shirt back into the drawer and slammed the dresser shut. He ground out, "What are you doing?"
"What do you mean? I'm not doing anything."
"Bullshit. What fucking mind-game is this?"
"Mind-game?" This wasn't going at all the way she'd hoped.
"Oh, come on, Elena. First you want to put the brakes on everything, and then you kiss me, and then you jump away like you're ashamed to be seen with me, and now you're offering me anything I want? Is any of that supposed to make sense? Because it doesn't." His mouth was a hard angry line.
She sighed. She didn't mean to confuse him. She knew she was, but it was only because she was so confused herself. It's not like anyone had given her a handbook telling her the proper way to fall in love with and date two deeply damaged, insanely gorgeous vampire brothers. Most of the time, she had no idea what she was doing and could only pray she was making the right choices.
"I'm not playing with you," she tried to convince him. "I just really wanted to give you something you'd like. It seemed like a better idea in my head." She gave a half-hearted laugh. "Obviously."
Clearly not believing her, he stood there, face closed off, the slightest hint of vulnerability swimming in the depths of his blue eyes, and her heart ached with the knowledge that she was partly responsible for the fact that he was so uncertain, so untrusting.
His moment of indecision over, he stalked towards her, and sensing the predator lurking in him, her body responded by growing tense, more alert, hair standing on end. She was aware of him with every fiber of her being. He stopped just inches from her, and his warm masculine scent of leather and bourbon and dark spices crashed over her, leaving her instantly, noticeably wet.
"You know I'm not going to ask for a new toaster." His words were sharp, staccato. Black lashes veiled the icy intensity of his eyes. "Assuming this isn't some mind-fuck."
"If it's not?" She looked up at him with huge eyes. "If this isn't a game, what will you ask for?"
Damon's face didn't change, but his throat bobbled as he swallowed and a muscle under his left eye twitched. His gaze dropped to her mouth, then even lower to the shadow of cleavage visible above the white edge of her top. "A taste." His voice was hoarse. "Just a taste."
He meant a taste of her blood. Yes, of course, that was perfect. She should have thought of that herself. She easily recalled the mind-scrambling pleasure that drinking Damon's blood had brought her, and she wanted to give that pleasure to him. Grabbing her hair, she pulled it aside so one side of her neck was exposed.
"Uh-uh." He jerked her to him so that her back was flush against his chest. Warm heat radiated from him, seeping into her muscles and making her insides melt. With one hand spread low across her belly, he guided her snugly against his hips, his erection nestling between her ass cheeks. For a moment, she forgot to breathe. The other hand tucked back her hair as his lips whispered against the curve of her ear, "Lay down."
He tensed, awaiting her response. No doubt he expected her to refuse.
If only he knew that he'd just conquered the last of her feeble resistance. She would do whatever he wanted her to do.
She drew a ragged breath and stepped away until she reached his bed. She crawled up the length of the mattress and stacked two pillows together before turning over and lying down, arms by her side, knees bent. Her shorts left her thighs bare as she spread her legs enticingly.
She regarded him with a calm, serene expression, hoping he couldn't see how she trembled. "Is this how you want me?"
With an explosion of movement, he went from standing half way across the room to looming directly above her, propping himself up on his arms. His lower body settled into the cradle of her thighs. Springs creaked as the mattress adjusted to their combined weight.
"Always," he murmured.
She couldn't think about always; all she could think about was right now, and right now she wanted him more than she'd ever wanted anyone.
In that moment as he hovered over her, the world was still. The smoldering sensuality of his gaze captivated her, made her ache for the wicked things his eyes promised if she was only brave enough to admit to him – and to herself - that she wanted them. Just the barest ghost of his fleeting breath warmed her face, and her heart beat in her chest like a runaway train, a percussive tempo she felt throughout her whole body. The bed sheets were slick and cool against her overheated skin.
His body rippled with coiled tension, a predator ready to strike, and she suddenly realized her precarious position: she was in Damon's bed…with Damon. He was darkly impulsive, dangerous, destructive. The things he made her feel were thrilling and freeing, but also fierce and terrible. She'd basically just grabbed a wild panther by the tail – sure, maybe he was content to purr and rub himself against her for now but the possibility always remained that with one mercurial mood shift the lethal beast could turn and devour her.
Fine, then, at least she'd go out experiencing the greatest pleasure she'd ever felt in her young life.
She reached up and grabbed his shirt collar with the intention of pulling him lower for a kiss. He complied up to a certain point. His mouth came nearer until it hovered over hers, lips inches away. Then, she couldn't budge him.
"This is what you want?" he asked intently, softly.
Damon wasn't really known for respecting the choices of others, so it made her love him even more that he would make absolutely certain she was okay with this even as she felt exactly how much he wanted her straining insistently against her aching core.
"I want whatever you want."
"Say it," he demanded, not satisfied with her answer.
"Yes, I want this," she said, adding a second later, "with you."
His spellbinding eyes flared with desire, and a slight tremor raced through her, a ripple effect from the overwhelming emotions he roused within her.
"I would never hurt you," he whispered, assuming her shiver was born of fear. Remorse immediately flickered across his features, and she knew he was thinking of all the times he had hurt her.
She just smiled. "I know." She really did believe him. She would follow him into the darkness trusting that he would take care of her.
Her absolving words chased the shadows from his expression.
She licked her lips, nimble, pink tongue drawing his attention. His hand rose to her face, thumb gently tracing the bow curve of her lips.
Then, his fingers descended down the underside of her chin to the soft skin of her neck, over the ledge of her collarbone and down still more before finally pausing where tan skin met white fabric. One finger tapped the exposed part of her cleavage, his gaze locking onto the minute filigree of blue veins just barely visible under the caramel skin.
"Here," he declared in a husky, rumbling voice and began to draw feather light circles on her sensitive flesh, goose bumps spreading outward until they covered her entire body. "I'm going to taste you here."
She nodded, begging, "Please," not even embarrassed because all she could do was want.
He hooked his fingers in the fragile band of cloth wrapped around her chest and pulled it down until her breasts were completely exposed to his gaze.
For a few heartbeats, he was still, simply admiring her loveliness. She loved when he looked at her like that, like she was something beautiful and precious and he was going to eat her all up.
When he'd had his fill of just looking, he reached up to touch a nipple, and when the tip of his finger brushed over the stiff peak, she nearly came out of her skin. She fisted her hands in the bed sheets, arching in shameless invitation.
He accepted, tugging and teasing the soft flesh with skilled fingers.
When his mouth replaced his hand on her breast, so cool against her feverish skin, it left her gasping.
His tongue flicked over her nipple before he sucked the taut point between his sinful lips. The wet suction of his mouth was almost more than she could endure.
Dear god, how could anything feel this good? She had yet to have sex as a vampire – though there was that one incredible orgasm she'd experienced with Damon in the woods - and if this was any indication, she didn't know how she'd survive her newly heightened senses and magnified desires.
When he finally abandoned his ministrations with one last ruthless suck, her nipple was swollen and exquisitely sensitive.
Black veins forked across Damon's cheeks, the whites of his eyes gone red with hunger and lust. With a single fang, he drew a red line in the tender skin just above her nipple. His tongue darted out to lap away the blood beading to the surface before the cut instantly healed.
"Fuck, princess," he groaned, "you taste like sunshine."
She bit her lip, then asked tremulously, "That's good, right?"
He smothered a laugh against her breast. "Yeah, that's good. Fucking addictive."
Then he bit her on the inside of her left breast and all ability for rational speech fled. It probably went to the same place as her vanquished willpower.
His fangs sank in slowly, and she savored every moment of penetration, riding an exquisite line between pain and pleasure. Head spinning, her lids slid shut, and she tangled her fingers in luscious black hair. His dark kiss was pure erotic bliss and left her fantasizing about how another part of his would feel sheathed deep in her most intimate flesh.
"Damon…," she moaned, not even recognizing her own voice it was so distorted with desire. This build-up was anguish, and she wanted him inside of her now.
Responding to the urgency in her tone, he surged back up and claimed her mouth. His hardness pressed against her core, and her legs tightened around his hips.
She could taste her blood on his tongue which sent her lust sky rocketing off the charts.
Suddenly, she hated the fact that there were clothes between them. She craved the freedom to touch every delicious part of him and they were keeping her from that.
Her hands slid south to his hips, and then she began to run her hands back up his chest, taking her sweet time at each unyielding ridge, lingering greedily over every smooth plane. His body possessed the perfection of sculpture, sleek and hard at the same time, velvet stretched tautly over expertly carved marble. When her fingers found his flat nipples, he shuddered, inhaling a shocked breath. She marveled that her touch had the power to affect him so strongly.
Finally making it all the way up to his shoulders, she started easing his shirt off, sliding the soft material down his arms.
Feeling him wince just the slightest bit, she froze. "What is it?"
"Nothing." He tried to kiss her again.
"Damon!" She struggled to sit up. There was blood on her hand. Fresh blood.
"No, no, no, it's fine. Everything's fine." He nuzzled her in an attempt at distraction.
She ignored him, sitting up and forcing him to do the same. Yanking his sleeve down, she revealed a nasty wound on his upper arm. She stared in horror. The sight was like being dashed with a bucket of ice water. The wound wasn't big, but it was deep. Blood seeped slowly down his arm.
"Why aren't you healing?"
He scowled at his injured arm, eyes slightly wild, raven hair disheveled. "I have no idea."
