Elena stepped away to the ladies' room when Damon's cell phone rang.
"Salvatore," he growled out, unhappy with the caller.
"Where is Elena, and why isn't she answering my calls?" Maxfield spit out.
Damon tried to keep from breaking the phone into pieces in his hand. Not only did he hate that Maxfield was trying to contact Elena, even though she didn't report to him, but the man had an attitude in need of serious adjustment. Seemed like every time they had a conversation, Maxfield knew just what to say to piss him off.
"If she is not answering you, then she probably doesn't want to speak to you. Why are you asking me?"
"Because," Maxfield bellowed, "I know there is something going on between you two. I could tell the first time you saw each other." Something slammed on the other side of the line. "I don't like it. You keep your relationship professional, and we won't have any problems."
Damon squeezed the fork in his hand, bending the metal in half as if it were a mere piece of paper. "So now your job is to be involved in our personal lives?"
"I don't give a damn about your personal life," Maxfield sputtered out. "I care about hers. I care about Elena."
What the hell? That was way too much interest from Maxfield towards Elena. His Elena. "You are not even her boss. What do you want with her?"
Damon wished Maxfield was in front of him, so he could figure out why he was so interested Elena. At that moment, jealousy put all sorts of thoughts in his head, and his animal growled inside, restless.
Maxfield cursed. "That is not your business."
Oh, yes it was his business, Damon said to himself silently. He would find out why Maxfield was so intent on reaching Elena.
"I need to speak to Elena!" Maxfield ordered.
"Then that is your problem. It is a long weekend. She is probably not interested in dealing with you today." Damon curled his hand on the booth table, until his fingers started to leave imprints on the metal.
Something broke on Maxfield's side of the line, the loud crack jabbing at Damon's sensitive ear. "Don't mess with me, Salvatore. If you speak to Elena, tell her I need her."
Over my dead body, Damon thought. "Listen to me carefully, Maxfield. I don't know what your obsession is with Elena, but I would be real careful if I were you. She is not alone."
"That is right, she is not." Maxfield threw back. "That is something you should remember."
The phone line went dead. Damon was still trying to calm the surge of power dancing over his fingertips, to stop the growls that built in the back of his throat when Elena returned from the restroom and met his gaze. Her eyes widened, and her face paled.
"What is wrong? What happened?" Her head swung from side to side, glancing at the others in the diner before she rushed to sit across from him in the booth.
"Nothing, why?" Damon hated that his voice was deep and rough, a sure sign his animal wanted out.
"Nothing? Your eyes are red, Damon. You are pissed as hell, and I don't even need to look at you to know it. What is wrong? Is it Roxy? Do you have news about her?" Elena bit her lip and squeezed his hands on the table, the heat from her touch instantly soothing his beast. "You can tell me. I won't freak out."
Damon hated that he had made Elena so worried. She didn't deserve to be upset over a missing family member. He knew she had a good heart, a good soul. Yes, he had thought about digging into her mind to know her reasons for leaving him. That wasn't what he wanted. Her words would be what made the difference. Her expression when she told him her reasons. "No, Elena. It was just Maxfield calling to ask about you."
Her shoulders dropped. She pushed the coffee cup to the side, cupping her cheek with her hand. "Oh, him," she said coolly, eyes flashing anger. "What the hell did he want?"
Damon growled, not liking the fact Maxfield put Elena in a bad mood. "To talk to you."
"He is a pain in my ass," Elena growled. She sat up straight in her seat, frustration floating over her features. "Always trying to tell me what to do. He just called me like five minutes ago wanting to know if I was fine. I don't need a babysitter. He is constantly telling me not to get into any trouble. I'm not on his clock right now." She lifted a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose. "What I really wish is that I wouldn't have been so distant from Roxy. Maybe if she were having a problem she would have told me about it," she muttered.
The remorse Damon heard in her voice all but tore him to pieces. Twinges of frustration poked at him. He wished they would find her cousin soon. The longer they went without news, the more likely they wouldn't find her alive. The more likely Elena would be hurting from it. Back when they had been together five years ago, she had only spoken of her uncle, but never wanting to delve into family discussions. He always thought it was because she wasn't close to them, or maybe because they didn't get along. Now he wondered if there was more to it than that. She was clearly feeling a lot of guilt over not being in more communication with her aunt and cousin.
"Why weren't you closer?" He ventured into the topic of her family carefully, with his voice pitched to an almost bored level.
The waitress showed up to take their dessert orders before she answered.
Elena glanced down at her hands and shrugged, her lips tipping downward. "I guess I never really thought about it."
She lied. Damon knew it. That fact alone hurt him more than if she would have slapped him. It meant she didn't trust him enough to speak the truth. "If you don't want to talk about it then don't, but don't lie to me."
Elena blinked repeatedly, guilt flashing in the back of her eyes. "Okay, wrong choice of words." She placed her hands over his again, the warmth of her palms soothing the beast inside him with that small touch. "It is not that I didn't think about it. It is that my family is very difficult to understand. They have always been…different. You see—"
A shadow fell over the table at that moment. "Elena?"
Damon bit back a growl at the intrusion. For the first time in a long time, Elena had decided to open up and the realtor had just shut down that opening.
Elena reeled back in her seat and glanced to her left where April Young stood watching them with curiosity.
"Hi, April," Elena greeted with a tight smile.
"I was just picking up some lunch to bring my husband when I saw you guys sitting here." She grinned and noted Elena's hands over Damon's, one brow rising with interest. "How is the search for your cousin going?"
Elena grimaced. Not that it was any of April's business, but the realtor hadn't been rude to her. She had been really helpful. Elena couldn't forget the fact April had been ready to fling herself at Damon when they had arrived. She still seemed pretty willing to do that. "Not very far. Her boyfriend doesn't know where she is. Her ex isn't around. We are not really sure who else to question."
Damon cleared his throat, his smile light and friendly.
Elena frowned. Damon met her gaze. His smile went wider, in turn, making him even sexier with his scruffy jaw and sinfully blue-grey eyes.
"Maybe April can give us some ideas." He turned his smile on April.
Elena bit back a growl, swallowed her frustration, and glanced at April.
April folded her arms over her chest, pushing her breasts closer to the low-cut neckline of her silk, white top and smiled at Damon. "Well, I think another person I would question would be Carey Torrent." She placed her hands on the table and leaned down towards Damon, her top sliding further down. "The Torrents are related to my husband. They are one of the founding families of this town. You should see if Carey knows anything."
"Thanks," Elena grumbled, ready to slap the smile off April's face. "We will give it a try. If you can think of anyone else who might be able to give us any advice, please feel free to call me."
They were interrupted by a waitress with a to-go bag for April. Elena had never been so ready to hug a person and thank them for interrupting.
April took the bag, pausing to make a show of brushing a non-existent speck of dust from her neckline. "I sure will."
Elena watched April wave at Damon and whipped around to glare at him.
"Stop it," Damon grinned, the glow of his eyes growing brighter.
"Stop what?" Elena scowled. "I wasn't the one flirting with a married woman."
Elena didn't want it to, but his chuckle warmed her all the way to the core. Memories of the past where he had laughed often drifted through her mind.
"I wasn't flirting, sweetheart. It is called being polite. Besides, it got us a new lead."
"She was definitely flirting," she grumbled, jealousy something she had never dealt with before. Damon had always been hers. April's flirting had pressed on the insecurity. One she didn't know how to deal with.
Damon chuckled. "Maybe, but I don't really care. She is not the woman who makes me so hard I hurt."
Elena's attention zoomed to the present, his words soft, but sure caught her off guard. "Um…"
He leaned forward, his eyes brighter, and caressed the side of her face. "She is not the one that belongs to me."
"Damon…"
"And she is definitely not the one I want to be buried in. Balls-deep."
"Okay, okay. I get the picture." Elena cleared her throat and glanced around, worried others had heard, but nobody seemed to have noticed their X-rated conversation.
Damon licked his lips. "Do you?"
She nodded, her eyes stuck on his mouth.
"Good, because tonight, I'm feasting on you. I won't stop until your legs are shaking."
Holy crap. Those were the kind of words he had said before, in the past. He always delivered. He would make her boneless. When he spoke like that, she knew she would soon find herself unable to stand for hours, her body quaking repeatedly in the aftermath of multiple orgasms. Heat swarmed her belly, curling into a ball at her core. Moisture gathered between her legs, turning her slick with need.
Damon grinned. "Oh, and you know that sexy scent drifting from your body, telling me how much you want it?"
Elena blinked, dry-mouthed. "Stop…stop talking like that."
"I want it all over me." His low rumble floated over her skin.
An instant image appeared in her mind. Him. Between her legs. Licking at her. Flicking his tongue over her clit in the amazing zig-zag motion that made her come in under a minute.
His eyes pinned her—movement was impossible. "I want your scent on my face."
Christ.
"My lips."
Elena whimpered.
"And then I want to bury myself deep inside you when you come."
A dish suddenly slid in front of her. It was then she realized she was panting, her heart racing from just the visuals he gave her.
"Alrighty folks, sorry for the wait. Here is your dessert," the waitress said, referring to her chocolate sundae and a piece of apple pie in front of him. "Let me know if you need anything else."
A cold shower would be good, Elena thought. Or maybe a bed. A bed where Damon could make love to her until the desperate urge she had every time she glanced at him stopped. That would work. Truth was, right at that moment, all she could think of was dipping a finger into the whip cream of her sundae and rubbing it over his chest before licking it off. Hell. She was in such deep shit.
"Do you know what I would do?"
Elena gulped, shaking her head. "About?"
"You are projecting again. I like the whipped cream idea. But if we are going to go with licking things off each other, then I would go with a dot of honey on your nipples," he said, his voice low and rough. "Just enough to add to your sweetness."
Her breaths quickened. "Honey?"
"That is right, darling. Only on your nipples. I wouldn't try to change your body's natural flavour when I taste you." He glanced down at her lips and then at her eyes, pinning her with his drool-worthy stare. "I love your taste. It is addicting. And so sexy I can spend my entire life with your legs wrapped around my neck."
"Eat you dessert!" she grumbled and started eating her sundae.
Damon stated to laugh.
Dessert! What the hell? Elena would never think of honey in the same way again. Ever.
x x x
Elena's phone rang as they were getting in the SUV after lunch. Much to her own self-disgust, her body was so attuned to Damon's every move she couldn't stop glancing at him. Or picturing the things he had said he'd do later. Damn, he better do them. If not, he would have a very pissed off Elena to deal with. He couldn't just offer all kinds of orgasms and oral magic and not deliver. It wasn't like she would stop him either. There simply wasn't enough will power in the world when it came to saying no to sex with Damon.
"Talk to me, Enzo," she answered.
"Boss lady! I bet you missed me, didn't you?" Enzo's voice held that humour that made her smile. "Don't worry I won't tell Damon. It is cool. I got some news for you."
She hopped into the SUV and sat down, pushing the hair away from her face. "Hang on. Let me put you on speaker."
A second later she hit the Bluetooth connection with the SUV, and the sound of Enzo's typing surrounded them.
"Okay, start talking," she ordered, watching Damon start the engine.
"So, here goes. Your little town is made up of three power families and then everyone else. The Torrents, which are like the people with the most money out there. The Landley's come in second. And the Youngs are last."
"Tell me about the Landley's. What do you have on them?"
"Theresa and Jonathan Landley have one child. Josh. Jonathan is the town's preacher. He has got nothing on record so far. I would have to go digging further, but I don't think I will find anything else."
"What about the Torrents?" Elena asked, hand tight on the seat's leather.
"Are any of the families connected somehow, Enzo?" Damon asked, his brow dipped in a fierce scowl, lips thinned to a straight line.
"As a matter of fact, they are. Seems to be the sheriff is cousins with the preacher, and then it looks like Torrent is related to the Sheriff by marriage." Enzo clicked quickly on keys. "One more thing, boss lady. Seems all those families hired out your aunt to clean for them."
"Really?" She knew Jenna cleaned for a living, but didn't realize she cleaned for all of them. It was too early to tell if that meant anything.
"Yeah, and I made a few calls. It seems your cousin used to take over her duties when she was busy at church."
Elena leaned back on the seat. "Can you email me all their addresses? I want to know where I can find these people."
"Sure thing. Anything else you need, just holler."
"Thanks, Enzo. Do me a favour and keep this between us," she added before she forgot. The last thing she needed was Maxfield finding out she wasn't even in town and searching for a missing person they had no business looking into.
"Goes without saying. You are part of the team," Enzo said, his voice no longer cheery but serious.
Damon shifted to her left. She flicked a quick glance at him. He watched her, eyes boring into her.
She cleared her throat. "Thank you."
"So the next time Maxfield asks me where you are, got anything you want me to say?"
Elena didn't break eye-contact with Damon, not that she could. "Yes, tell him I said to mind his own business. It is the weekend, and I don't answer to him."
Enzo stopped typing. His laughter boomed through the speaker. "With pleasure."
Elena disconnected the call and wanted to slam a hand on the dashboard. She should talk to Jenna again. Something had to give. Roxy couldn't just disappear off the face of the earth. Not in a town the size of a shoebox!
She yanked out the diary from inside her handbag. Leafing through the pages, she tried to make sense of what the initials and numbers meant. Until she got the email from Enzo. She blinked when she realized some of the numbers in the diary were the house numbers for the Torrent, Young, and Landleys.
"Holy shit!"
Damon stopped backing up and turned to her. "What?"
"These numbers…" She waved the diary excitedly in front of his face, almost forgetting that he was in the driver side. "Some of these are addresses!"
Damon smiled. The little lift of his lip only made him that much sexier. "I knew you would figure it out. One of us would have."
"Hah! And it only took a day. Okay, so you take me to talk to Jenna, and you go question Carey Torrent?"
He made a face, displeasure clear in his features. "Are you sure? I don't mind going with you to your aunt's."
She shook her head. "Strange aunt, remember? John said Jenna couldn't handle people she didn't know. With your look, you would scare the shit out of her."
Damon frowned. "How do I look? Gorgeous, sexy and irresistible?"
Elena laughed. "You are intimidating, Damon! You will scare Aunt Jenna away."
He stared at her for a moment, and then gave a sharp nod. "Okay. I will give you a call if I notice anything we should follow up on."
They arrived at her aunt's quickly. The diner was within walking distance. His scowl worried her. "You sure you are okay going to speak to Carey alone?"
Damon gripped the wheel and watched her jump down from her seat. "I'm good."
"Great. I will see you later. Let me talk to Jenna and see if she can tell me more about the people she cleaned for and why Roxy kept a diary with their addresses and initials."
He glanced up at her aunt's house. "If you need me, call. I will come for you."
Elena watched him speed away, dust swirling at the back of the SUV. Then she turned to her aunt's house. Taking a breath, she knocked on the door and waited.
"Who is it?"
"Elena," she answered, noticing a difference in Jenna's voice. It was rougher, almost angry. What could have pissed her off?
Jenna opened the door, staring at her with rage filled brown eyes. "Elena. What do you want?"
Talk about an attitude shift. Where was the concerned and slightly vague woman from the previous day? And whatever happened to Lena?
"I…wanted to ask you a few questions, Jenna."
Her aunt stomped toward the kitchen, her footsteps no longer soft and quiet like the day before. "I need tea."
Elena frowned. She couldn't understand the shift in Jenna's attitude. The house was still as clean if not cleaner than the last time she had been there. She followed behind Jenna, towards the kitchen. Her aunt mumbled under her breath.
"Do you have a moment for some questions?"
Jenna stopped, her fingers tight on the counter. A heartbeat later she turned to Elena. "What did you need to know, Lena?"
Weird. It was like flipping a light switch. Jenna smiled at her, her eyes softer than when she'd opened the door. Someone was super hormonal or the word eccentric was nowhere near good enough to describe her aunt.
"You clean houses for the Torrents, Youngs, and Landleys, right?"
Jenna nodded, absently grabbing cups for the tea. "I do. Sometimes Roxy goes instead because I have to go to service."
Right. Service. With all the church paraphernalia around, Elena knew her aunt was definitely devoted to the services. There were images of angels, crosses at every turn and giant paintings of religious depictions. "So can you think of any reason for Roxy to have their addresses and some initials in her diary?"
Jenna jerked around, her eyes wide. "No. I…I don't think so. That boy," she said, her voice switching to that angry tone again. "He was her downfall."
"No, no, Jenna. Why would she keep their addresses in her diary?"
Jenna's eyes took a distant look, as if she had gone off somewhere. "They paid her. Maybe she recorded it that way."
It was possible but Elena wasn't convinced. "It is okay. I will go see if they know where Roxy could be."
She stood, flung her bag over her shoulder, and smiled. "I should go."
"What about the tea?"
"Thanks, Jenna. But I just had lunch." Elena marched for the front door, not really wanting to stay any longer. For some reason, the house made her uncomfortable. She stepped outside. Once there, she turned around to face Jenna.
"Are you sure Roxy couldn't be with a friend? Maybe spending a few days away?" Elena asked again, hoping for a different response this time around.
Jenna shook her head slowly. "No," she said, her voice low. "She used to be an innocent. He did it. He took her from me."
"Who did what?" Elena so wished the woman made sense.
"That boy from hell!" she said and slammed the door closed.
Great, Elena thought. That was the reason she didn't visit Jenna. John had said she was eccentric. Freaking whacko was more like it.
