Seattle | July 2022

"Damon, can you come here real quick?" Damon heard Elena's voice call out. He stepped out of the closet, pulling on a t-shirt in the process. The door to the enclosed bathroom stood open and Damon leaned against it.

Elena was standing in front of the mirror, holding open the ends of a towel that he assumed had been previously wrapped around her body. Damon tilted his head to the side and watched. Elena wasn't prone to vanity, so he wondered what this was about.

Not looking at him, she said, "They're huge." She turned slightly sideways, critically staring at her boobs. "Look at them."

Damon smirked. "I am."

Elena glanced at him and groaned. "Ugh, you're such a man. Go away," she dismissed him.

Damon grinned. "Come here, go away. Make up your mind, woman."

"My body is the battle ground for all kinds of conflicting hormones right now. I'm allowed to change my mind."

Damon nodded his agreement, grin still firmly in place.

When he didn't move from his spot, Elena turned to him. Faking annoyance, she said, "You're still here?"

"Just waiting for you to change your mind about me leaving. I've been told it's a common occurrence with women in your situation."

Elena's eyes blazed and she whipped her towel around throwing it at him. "Out!"

Damon caught the towel and turned to leave, still laughing under his breath.

"Wait," she called out, stopping him. "Come back."

Damon turned to face her, raising one eyebrow.

Elena deflated. "I'm sorry."

He came closer and carefully took Elena in his arms. "Don't apologize," he told her. "A – it's not your fault. And B – you're adorable."

Elena leaned her forehead against Damon's shoulder. She inhaled deeply. "They hurt," she mumbled. "All the time."

Damon knew how much it cost her to admit that. She felt it blasphemous to complain when she had waited so long to finally be able to have a child. "I'm sorry," he replied, gently stroking her back. "There's the pump," he suggested, knowing exactly what her reply would be.

"I hate the pump."

"I know you do, baby."

"I'm just a bit whiny today. I'll be okay," she said weakly. "Just wanted you to hold me for a moment."

"Happy to oblige," Damon said and adjusted his arms around her.

"Our guests are waiting," Elena reminded him. They had plans to take advantage of the hot summer weather and go to the beach for the day.

"They can wait a bit longer."

"Okay," Elena agreed. "Just a few more seconds then."

"As long as you want." Stefanie's cry rang out through the bedroom. "Or until our daughter demands to be catered to," he amended and let Elena go.

Elena pulled herself together and with a last glance at herself in the mirror went to get dressed.

"Hey, Blondie," Damon called out to Caroline, and beckoned her over with a nod. She was watching over Ric's shoulder as he explained to his kids what toys they could and could not take to the beach with them.

At Damon's voice, Caroline frowned but got up and crossed the room to where he sat with Stefanie in his arms.

"Sit," Damon told her curtly, motioning to the free spot next to him on the sofa.

Caroline pulled an annoyed face in reaction to his commands, but did take a seat.

"Closer." Damon grabbed her arm and jerked her over to his sofa cushion so their legs were almost touching as they sat side by side. Caroline, bewildered at his antics, skeptically glanced at the baby in his arms, still wanting so very much to hold her. So far, all attempts had ended in a cry fest.

Damon turned Stevie around and held her in a way where her tiny little legs rested on Caroline's lap.

Caroline, catching on to what Damon was trying to do, tentatively reached out a hand and stroked across the knuckles of Stefanie's clenched fist. Reflexively, Stefanie grabbed for her finger and held on to it. She seemed to pause for a moment, but maybe Damon just imagined it.

He adjusted Stevie's position further and now most of her weight was resting on Caroline's lap while Damon still held her small head in his palm. He kept up a stream of conversation with his daughter to keep her distracted.

"This is your Auntie Caroline," Damon told his child. "You liked your cousins Lizzie and Josie, right? Well, this is their mommy. I know she can be pushy sometimes."

"Damon," Caroline hissed.

Damon made a shrug at her. "What? Am I wrong?"

"You do know that she doesn't yet understand what you're telling her, right?"

Damon pulled a face. "Shut up. She understands everything." To his daughter, he said, "Don't you? That's what I thought." Then, he continued, "Well, as I said, your Auntie Caroline is a bit pushy but you get used to it. And she's been waiting so long to meet you. Wanna say hi?"

With that, he took Caroline's arm and replaced his own with it, effectively transferring the baby into her arms. Stevie's arms stopped waving for a moment and she blinked a few times. But Damon reached out and stroked a finger along her cheek, still keeping up a string of small talk, and that seemed to distract and calm her until Caroline could actually pick her up and carry her around.

Caroline smiled happily when she circled the room with Stefanie in her arms and the baby didn't protest once.

Half an hour later, when Elena returned from her run down to the bar to grab a dozen wrapped sandwiches and cups of salad to take with them to the beach, she stopped in her tracks. She almost did a double-take when she saw Caroline with Stefanie. Elena's eyes immediately sought out Damon's and she raised both eyebrows at him in question.

"How did that happen?" she asked, coming up to him.

Damon just shrugged and shook his head. "Just required a little bit of finetuning."

A small hand grabbed and pulled on his and Damon looked down to see Lizzie staring up at him. "Uncle Damon, can we go now?"

"Yes, we're all packed and ready," her sister added.

The twins had been clamoring to leave for the beach ever since the grownups had made the plans.

"Yes, we're leaving now," Damon replied. Caroline and Ric would obviously ride with their kids, that left, "Jeremy. You're riding with me and Elena. And—" He paused, glancing around. "Where's Dot and Deja?" he asked his wife.

Elena sighed. "Dot said she needed to check on something real quick and disappeared to the back office. I haven't seen her since. Deja wasn't with her."

"But you talked to her and told her to come," Damon replied.

"I did. And she said it wasn't up to her."

"What the hell does that mean?"

Elena shrugged. She had no answer.

"Okay," Damon said, adjusting his plans. "You two," he addressed Bonnie and Enzo, "go grab Dot and don't take no for an answer. Here," he tossed the keys to his Camaro to Bonnie, "take my car; follow us. And if she starts making excuses or pleading off because of work, remind her that it's her day off."

They both nodded and went to retrieve the stubborn woman. Damon sighed. It seemed Dot was still keeping her she's-not-my-girlfriend girlfriend at a distance and Damon decided to get to the bottom of it once and for all. He'd have to be sneaky about it. For someone who could read other people so well, she was notoriously private with her own personal life. Sensitivity and a plan was required to extract the needed information from the woman.

"So," Damon announced himself some time later by plopping down next to Dot in the sand. "What's the deal with you and Deja. Spill."

"I don't know what you mean. There's no deal."

"Exactly."

"What?"

"Why is she not here?"

"We're not in that stage of our relationship."

"And which stage would that be?"

"The stage where it's not a relationship."

"You just called it a relationship."

"No, I said we're not— Oh, why are you so exhausting?"

"Me?" Damon replied. "It's you making things more complicated than they need to be."

"I'm not making anything. It's the circumstances."

"Bullshit. You either know what you want and go for it. Or you don't."

"Oh, so when you fell for your brother's girlfriend, that didn't complicate things?"

"Things, yes. My feelings – no. I always knew what I wanted. Do you?"

Dot just shook his head. "It's not that easy."

"If you don't want her, just let her go."

Dot focused her eyes down into her lap.

"Oh, so you do want her."

Dot's eyes slipped over his shoulder. "Can you please tell him to go mind his own business?"

Damon turned his head, seeing Elena standing right behind him. "I don't know why you all think I have any influence over what Damon does," Elena replied. "But just out of curiosity, what is this about?"

"He's grilling me about Deja."

"Ooh," Elena perked up and immediately and sank into the sand beside her husband, "that I want to hear as well. Did you get far?" she addressed Damon.

"Not really. She denies having a relationship."

"Why?"

"She won't say."

Elena turned to Dot. "What's wrong with Deja? I know you like her. You've got that tick in the corner of your mouth when you say her name."

"Oh, I hadn't noticed that before," Damon told Elena.

"Yeah," she replied. "It's as if she's trying not to smile."

"God, you two are so married, it's annoying. Speaking of annoying – can't you go find someone else to bother?"

"Absolutely. Just as soon as I'm done here. Just tell us what the problem is."

Dot, probably realizing she wasn't going to walk away from this conversation, heaved a deep sigh and answered, "I don't want to scare her away."

"Your personality is really not as off-putting as you think."

"Damon!" Elena hit him on the arm.

Dot sighed and hung her head. "I do like her. More than like her. But I can't be with her," she finally admitted.

"Can't or won't?" Damon asked.

"Being with her would mean lying to her and I won't do that. At the very least, I'd have to watch my words around her and that's not fair."

There was a moment of silence as all parties realized what she was referring to and Elena shared a look with Damon, having one of those conversations without words. "You could tell her the truth," Elena finally offered.

"It's not my truth to tell," Dot replied quietly.

"I'm sorry," Elena said. "I never meant to make things more complicated for you. Our lives are weird. And you got pulled into it without a warning."

"And so will she if I clue her in," Dot added. "What if it's too much for her to handle?"

"Then she walks," Damon replied in his usual bluntness.

With a reprimanding side glance at her husband, Elena added in a softer voice. "But if you don't let her know what's going on, the decision won't be up to you much longer." Dot bit her lip knowingly. She must have realized on her own that the time was up and that she wouldn't be able to string Deja along for much longer.

"Listen," Elena took Dot's hand in hers and made sure she had Dot's full attention. "The only thing you risk giving up is the uncertainty. If the feelings are real, she won't be able to walk away. No matter how weird or complicated the circumstances are."

Damon's hand squeezed Elena's leg and said to Dot, "Listen to her. She's a smart one."

Dot looked back and forth between the two of them and eventually nodded.

"Great," Damon replied and climbed to his feet, feeling that his job here was done. Taking a look around, he turned to Elena. "Where's Stevie?"

"Jeremy said he needed her as a prop to meet girls."

Damon fixed his wife with a flat stare.

"What? He's not gonna trade her in for a date," Elena replied.

Damon stared at her for a few moments longer before he replied, "I better go make sure she's okay."

Elena and Dot shared a look and a grin as they watched him stalk after his brother-in-law.

As fun as it had been to have the whole family come out all the way to the East Coast for a visit, Elena enjoyed the silence in their loft almost as much after they were gone. She closed her eyes and pushed off with her toes, setting the rocking chair in motion. She basked in the stillness of the early morning. A slight breeze ruffled her hair, coming in through the balcony doors that she'd opened when she got up to feed Stevie. Stefanie, damn it, she swore inwardly. Damon's nickname for their daughter had started to catch on.

With a little luck, Stefanie would go back to sleep and give Elena and Damon another hour or two to nap. Elena fantasized about crawling back into bed where Damon still slept and curling up against his back. To be honest, her fantasies went even further than that, but her doctor still hadn't cleared her for more so fantasies were all she was left with for the moment.

But even if they could have sex, a glance down at her daughter quickly cured her of such notions. Stefanie had stopped suckling and instead was staring up at Elena with huge, unblinking eyes.

"You're wide awake, aren't you?" Elena whispered, smiling at her baby.

Stefanie blinked once as if in confirmation and kept staring at her mother. Her little arm, the one that wasn't tucked away against Elena's body, waved around wildly and Elena caught it, holding the small hand.

Elena's heart squeezed with too much love for this tiny little being. She knew it was way too early to tell, but nevertheless, Elena had fun studying her daughter's features and seeing herself and Damon in the line of her chin or the wrinkling of her nose. Right now, Stefanie's eyes were still the murky grey of a newborn's, but Elena sometimes thought she could catch a hint of blue in them. Time would tell, of course. And in the meantime, she'd enjoy the guessing game.

"Are you done already?" she asked her baby and tried to tempt her to drink some more which Stefanie did.

Elena thought the sweet noises Stefanie made were the peak of cuteness, but seeing the absolute trust in those eyes while she was breastfeeding her daughter had Elena fall in love with her over and over again each time.

Eventually though, Stefanie was done and Elena wiped her chin before tucking herself away again, buttoning up her shirt as her thoughts wandered.

She had always wanted to be a mom, even more so after she fell in love with Damon. But having Stefanie felt more than just a dream come true. It felt like a puzzle piece slotting into place; like she was always meant to be theirs. There had been this gape in their lives and it had Stevie's shape and things just felt right like they hadn't before.

Elena sighed. She was getting maudlin. "Let's go wake Daddy, hm?" she whispered to her baby.

Stefanie's mouth twisted and Elena paused, squinting her eyes. "Is that a smile?" she wondered aloud. It was a little bit too early for Stefanie to start smiling, but Elena still enjoyed watching her read her facial expressions and the glimpses at her personality they allowed.

Damon was asleep on his front, face pushed into the pillow. The thin sheet cover had been kicked off sometime during the night, exposing his shoulders and back and Elena paused for a second, staring admiringly before gently laying down their daughter right on top of him and resting her palm on her baby's back.

Damon's head jerked once but he stilled in the next moment, recognizing the squirmy weight on his back. He blinked and turned his head, smiling lazily. Closing his eyes again, he murmured, "Morning."

"Good morning," Elena said and climbed back into bed beside him, still keeping her palm on her daughter so she wouldn't slip down.

Damon yawned wide, burying his head in the pillow again. "'t time is it?" he mumbled.

"Too early," Elena replied, "though your daughter decided otherwise."

"My daughter?" Damon snorted. "You're the early riser in this family."

"True. But I reserve the right to pick and choose and assign all disagreeable character traits of our children to you. That's every mother's right, didn't you know?"

"No, can't say that I did."

Elena shrugged. "Well, it's in the handbook, so…"

"So, what happens when she reaches school age and her being an early riser becomes a good thing?"

"Well, obviously I'll claim her as mine then."

"Oh, is that how it works?"

"Yep."

Damon was just about to retort, when Elena interrupted him.

"Oh, never mind. She just fell asleep again."

Damon lifted his head and tried to twist around to see, but with his movements restricted by his daughter plastered to his back, he settled down again. Nodding and smiling proudly, he replied, "Daddy's girl." He got comfortable and relaxed back into the mattress.

Elena grinned. It reminded her of a day a few weeks ago. She sidled up closer to Damon, deciding to catch a few more minutes of rest as well. Keeping a secure arm around her child, she rested her head next to Damon's on his pillow, closed her eyes, and let her mind drift.

When Damon reappeared from the bathroom freshly showered, he found a small package on his side of the bed. Wrapped in simple brown paper with a string tied around it, he glanced up and found Elena watching him.

"What's this?"

"A gift."

"I can see that. What's the occasion?" His birthday was yesterday and while they hadn't really had the time for a celebration, Elena had given him a birthday present and he'd already opened it.

"You'll see," Elena cryptically replied.

Damon snapped the string and tore into the giftwrapping. He revealed a black t-shirt with the word 'DADDY' in block letters across the front. When he looked up again, Elena held Stefanie in a way that he could see his daughter wearing a matching shirt. Only, hers read 'DADDY'S GIRL'.

"Happy Father's Day," Elena said and leaned over to kiss his lips gently.

Oh, right. He was a father now. Damon had to sit down on the corner of the mattress to process. He knew it was stupid. He'd been a dad for almost three weeks now.

"So, just in case you're considering it, I'm going to go ahead and let you know that you can't change your mind on the whole having a family thing," Elena told him with a laugh in her voice as she sat down beside him.

"Is that so?"

"Yep. We got you penciled in for at least the next eighteen years."

Damon leaned over, pressing his face against Elena's neck. She pushed her free hand into his still wet hair. Chills ran down her spine and somewhere low in her body something contracted and hummed with want. They couldn't; not yet. But god, Elena missed feeling his body on top of hers.

They sat in silence for a moment, each hanging onto their own thoughts while Elena tried to keep hers PG. Then Damon chuckled silently.

Elena looked up with a questioning gaze.

"I just realized," Damon replied lifting his head, "our Junes are going to be pretty busy from now on."

With both their birthdays, and now also Stefanie's, as well as their wedding anniversary, and the Father's Day on top, they definitely wouldn't lack occasions for celebrations.

"Yeah," Elena agreed, the thought having occurred to her already as well. "We can just declare the whole of June the 'Celebration Month of All Things Salvatore'," she suggested.

"And have a month-long party each year?"

"Sure."

"Deal."

"But can we start next year? Because I still have to finish med school first." She nodded towards the stack of books and notes and flashcards.

"Good idea. That gives me 364 days to come up with a theme."

He pulled the DADDY t-shirt over his head and grabbed a pair of dark jeans to go with it. Reaching for his daughter and taking her out of Elena's arms, he said, "Come on, little bug. Let's leave Mommy to her books. We've got business to take care of."

"On a Sunday?" Elena wondered.

"The second quarter reports are due soon," Damon replied, "and I need my assistant here to help me go over the numbers." He nodded at Stefanie as he explained.

Elena smiled as she watched them leave the room.

"If she turns out to be some kind of Wizkid when it comes to managing a business, I'm totally going to claim credit for that, just an FYI," Damon paused in the doorway to say, making Elena laugh.

A few days later, Elena's doctor finally cleared her for sex. Elena tried to hold in her relieved and possibly giddy smile while still in her doctor's office, but suspected she did a pretty terrible job of it. She checked the time and did some quick calculations. If she didn't hit any traffic on her way home, and if there was no line at the store on the corner, and if they were quick about it, they would manage to squeeze in a quickie while Stefanie was still down for her midday nap.

Elena found Damon in the kitchen. She didn't pause to say hello.

She grabbed a fistful of his t-shirt and forcefully pulled him into a heated kiss. She moaned when lips and tongues collided. God, even kissing him felt different simply because she knew she didn't have to stop there. To his credit, he didn't ask what had gotten into her. He attacked her with the same fervor as always, devoured her as she clawed at his shirt, then at his chest.

Hands on her thighs, Damon lifted her onto the counter and immediately went to kneel down between her legs, already pushing up the fabric of her summer dress. She stopped him. Both palms slid into his hair and with a gentle tug she pulled him back up again. He rose to his feet, confused. Elena wound her legs around his hips and tightened their grip around him. Damon had no choice but to step closer, the growing bulge of his jeans pushing against her center. Elena rubbed herself against it, making Damon's eyes roll back in his head.

"My body's all healed up and ready for action," she explained in a husky tone. She sounded needy even to her own ears.

Understanding bloomed on Damon's face. "Right here?" he asked.

"I don't care where." She slipped her hand into his jeans and started stroking him. "It's been so long," she moaned, mouth at his ear. "I've missed having you inside me."

Damon groaned. "God, Elena." He thrust against her, wishing he could make the barriers between them disappear. Picking her up, he swung her into his arms.

Elena had the presence of mind to grab her purse where she had stashed a box of condoms she'd gotten from the corner store. Soon, they would have to figure out another long-term solution, but for now these would do fine.

Damon only got as far as the couch in the living room. The bedroom was too far away and Damon didn't trust himself to manage the stairs in his current predicament. Damon lowered Elena onto the cushions, following with his lips. He kissed her mouth and dropped to her neck while his hands slid under the skirt of her dress once more. Elena's fingers worked on getting the buttons on his jeans open. She used her legs to push the pants below his hips and Damon's tongue painted a long line across her throat all the way to the spot behind her ear.

Elena panted. Damon moaned. Stefanie released a piercing wail. The baby monitor in the kitchen echoed the cry, turning it into stereo.

They disentangled with a laugh and a groan.

"I don't remember this part in your vision of our future," Damon quipped. To the crib on the other side of the room he said, "It's okay, angel." He rested his forehead against Elena's shoulder and listened as the cries immediately died down to a sobbing whimper, almost as if she had understood. "Just a second. Daddy's coming," he told his daughter.

"Tragically, he is not. Yet," Elena murmured. Damon lifted his head, grinned, and pecked her lips.

He got to his feet and pulled up his pants, grimacing. Before he walked away, Damon bent down and cupped Elena's face, regret, love, and promise in his eyes. For a moment, Elena drowned in them. The soft cries from the crib reminded them that their attention was required elsewhere.

Elena sat up and straightened her clothes while she watched Damon pick up their daughter. As soon as his face came into view, the sobs stopped. Damon spoke quietly to Stefanie, something Elena couldn't make out. He had his back to her but Elena could see Stefanie's face, all her attention and those huge grey-ish eyes focused completely on Damon. She seemed almost earnest, the way she looked at him. And then, as sudden as a summer storm, a smile. Elena's heart made a leap. Stefanie had only started smiling a couple of days ago and in Elena's very biased opinion, it was one of the most beautiful things in the world.

As she watched Damon talk quietly to their daughter, trying to coax more of those smiles out of her, Elena thought, no, this was definitely not how she had envisioned their future. This was better, real.

What was also real, Elena came to understand in the following days, was that being horny and having a baby as well as several businesses to take care of didn't mix well. When Damon was home and Elena wasn't exhausted, Stefanie took up all of their attention and when the baby finally slept, Elena found herself napping too. Every attempt at jumping her husband, rare as they were, was interrupted by their daughter and Elena slowly but surely suspected foul play at work. Or the sexual frustration had fried her brain and she was seeing things where there were none to see. Also a very possible possibility. Possible possibility. Elena inwardly rolled her eyes at herself. Her brain was definitely fried.

Something had to give.

Damon returned home after checking up on the restaurant. He tried not to stay out too long, wanting to be back in time to help Elena with Stevie's evening routine. When he walked into the bedroom, he stopped abruptly. Elena lay draped seductively across the bed, clad in a black corset that looked very much like the one she had worn back in France. This one though was mostly see-through black lace and the panties were of the same sheer material. Damon's heart skipped a beat, mouth going dry.

He swallowed with difficulty and felt his blood rush downwards. He opened his mouth, closed it again. Leaning against the doorframe, he paused to admire the elaborate display. "What did I do to deserve this?" he asked in awe, vowing to himself that whatever it was, he would continue doing exactly that.

"Why do you assume this is for you?" Elena licked her lips and let her eyes skim lazily across his form, top to bottom.

"Touché," he said. Before he said anything else, he lifted a finger in a pause gesture and walked to the corner of the room where Stevie's crib stood. It was empty. "We seem to be missing our daughter," Damon said.

"Is that so?" Elena replied, mildly curious. Most of her attention seemed to be devoted to unfastening her own garment. She slowly pulled the satin sash tied at the edge of her décolleté, the corset coming apart at the top and revealing two deliciously full mounds straining to be free of its confines. The skin under Damon's fingernails itched to touch her there, knowing how silky soft her skin was.

Damon smirked, mentally adjusting his plans for the evening into plans for the entire night. He toed off his shoes and began to unbuckle his belt. Kneeling on the foot of the bed, eyes on the fata morgana that was his wife, he asked, "Where is she?" while unbuttoning his own shirt.

"Spending quality time with her Aunt Bonnie." Elena watched with hawk's eyes as he slipped out of his shirt. Her own hands drifted down the black lace of her bodice, playing on the edge of the matching thong, in the bend of her leg. Damon's eyes followed and he had to swallow an excess of saliva. That was where he would put his mouth first. Maybe his teeth, too. He honestly didn't believe the panties would survive the night.

Pulling the buttons on his jeans apart, he released a low groan at finally feeling free. The tightness of his jeans had been painful and he gratefully let out a breath. Still kneeling on the foot of the bed, he asked, "Does Auntie Bonnie actually know how to check for the temperature of the milk or how to change a diaper? Or what to do when she starts fussing?"

"She's got written instructions," Elena replied. "And she's got her husband to help her."

"Enzo?" Damon dubiously asked. The doubt in his voice was justified; while Stefanie seemed to adore her Aunt Bonnie, she had trouble warming up to Enzo. "Not sure Stevie is on board with that idea."

"Enzo said the evening will give him ample opportunity to convince her otherwise, because he's never met a woman he couldn't charm." She reached for her husband and pulled the unfastened jeans down his hips.

While shedding his pants, Damon muttered, "Wouldn't mind if Stevie proves immune to his charms."

"Not just his, I'm guessing," Elena replied with a knowing smirk.

Damon just shrugged.

Elena's smile grew until she roamed her eyes all across his naked form, lingering for a few additional seconds on his manhood standing proudly at attention. The smile slowly disappeared, making room for naked hunger. Elena licked and bit her lip subconsciously, then raised her head and looked at Damon. "Babe?" she asked.

"Hmm?" Damon replied, distracted by her mouth.

"I'm about to explode here. And if you won't do it, I'm going to take care of it myself."

He fell on all fours and hovered above her. "God, I missed you," he murmured against her lips before letting their mouths slot together. He lowered his weight on top of her and rubbed his body lasciviously against hers as they kissed and gasped for air and kissed some more.

Damon rolled them around, Elena now on top of him. She straddled his hips, grinding her center back and forth against his erection. Damon could feel her wetness through the lacy piece of fabric separating them. Cupping her ass in both hands, he slipped his fingers between her legs and underneath the lace, feeling between Elena's folds before sliding his hands to her front. Grabbing the fabric, he gave a quick jerk, tearing the lace in two.

Elena tore her mouth from his to gasp and glance down their bodies.

"This was expensive," Elena reminded him with a purse of her lips to contain her smirk.

"I'll buy you a new one."

"Or you could stop acting like an animal," she suggested.

Now it was Damon's turn to grin. "You love it."

Elena had no reply to that because they both knew that he was right. With one hand he positioned his erection just against her opening while the other arm snaked around her middle. He pulled her hard against him, impaling Elena. She released a short scream, followed by a guttural grunt.

"Oh god, yes!" She gasped for air as he thrust upwards, released another scream and mumbled profanities and in between them, a string of, "Yes, here, more," as he settled firmly inside her. She had no idea how he always knew what she needed or wanted, but she thanked the stars for it as she moved up and down on top of him, getting used to his size again.

With one arm still wrapped around her, Damon propped his upper body up on the other one for better leverage and met her movements. This was going to be over way too soon. But they had the rest of the night to catch up and Damon certainly didn't plan on wasting a minute of it.