Damon surges up, cutting her off with a kiss that silences anything and everything but his need to be with her. His need to taste both corners of her mouth, to bury his nose in the crook of her neck and inhale the scent of jasmine, to feel every inch of his body against - inside - her own.
Her soft curves envelope him in the most torturous way, her lips seeking his, taking the breaths right out of his mouth. His hands tug even harder revealing her bare breast to him. He greedily latches on, working it with his lips, teeth and soothing the sting of his nibbles with his tongue.
She rakes her nails against his scalp, clutching him to her as she arches her back, pressing more of her nipple into his mouth. He lets out a deep growl, catches her hands and before she knows it, she's lying on the couch, with Damon hovering above her.
His mouth crashes onto hers and he's swallowing her whole while her soft cries resonate in his head. His hands move lower to lift her gown, hers tug on his shirt and boxers until they're both bare and panting. When Damon sinks inside her pliant body he almost loses it. He chokes at the emotions messing with his normally good sense and professionalism.
Again and again he buries himself inside her, the goddess that is Elena Gilbert and the sister of Katherine Mikaelson - her case - his top priority. He shouldn't be here, not now - maybe not ever but he can't help himself. She's a siren, calling for him to crash against the shore.
He loosens his grip when she breathes out heavily, her sweat dampened body glistening under the moonlight that's streaming in through the window. Damon holds her tightly till he feels her breathing even out. As carefully as possible, he stands up, fastens his jeans and puts his boots back on. He finds her bedroom or at least he thinks it's hers when he finds the TV remote at the bedside along with her cellphone. After pulling the covers back, he goes back to the living room, ever so gently lifts her into his arms and carries her to bed.
He tucks her in, brushes a kiss against her forehead and without so much as a note, he leaves her house, locking the door on his way out.
Elena startles awake the next morning, surprised to find herself in her bed but frowns when she looks beside her to find that side of it unslept in.
Where is he?
Confused she pushes back the covers, throws her legs over the bed and goes to look for him, only to find her home empty except for herself. Thinking maybe he had to leave in a hurry, she goes back to her room to check her phone for messages.
Nothing.
Angry now, she grabs some clothes then goes into the bathroom to shower, get ready and pay a visit to Ranger Salvatore.
"You look a little worse for wear," Enzo walks in Damon's office the next morning holding a tall cup of coffee.
"Thanks," he takes a swallow of the strong stuff, cringing a little as it goes down. He sets it aside and drops his face in his hands to rub his eyes, he's fatigued having not slept at all the night before. After leaving Elena's, he came straight to his office to try to do some work on his other open cases. However as hard as he tries, she occupies every waking thought.
What was he thinking?
"Do you want to talk about it?" Enzo flips the chair and sits on it backwards with his arms crossed over the back of it.
Damon looks up at him, he's going to have to make sure it doesn't happen again, at least not until they get the evidence they need to arrest Dr. Maxfield and charge him first degree premeditated murder.
Enzo stares at him, the two of them have been friends for a long time and with that insight, he's certain he knows what's bothering him. "What's going on with you?" he asks suddenly.
"What do you mean?" Damon avoids his searching gaze.
"You're sitting here like someone pissed in your Wheaties - I don't know, it just makes me think something… happened."
Damon sighs heavily, "I made a huge mistake." A torrent of words begin to spill out, "I went straight to Elena Gilbert's place from the airport, I couldn't help myself. I wanted her. We both…for a little while."
"What does that mean?"
"We…I…," he drops his chin to his chest. "I slept with her."
For a moment, Enzo stays quiet which puts Damon even more on edge. "You should regret it, what were you thinking?"
"What? No!" Damon shakes his head. "I don't regret being with Elena."
"You're the one who said you made a mistake."
"My mistake was sleeping with her while this case is still active," Damon clarifies. "It wasn't the act itself, she's amazing, perfect, beautiful and I'm completely crazy about her. It's just... I should've waited... I can't let myself get distracted from this case."
"Okay, so…" Enzo pauses, trying to process everything Damon's just thrown at him. "What are you gonna do?"
"I don't know, Enzo, I can't put myself into a position to let it happen again... not until Maxfield is behind bars."
"Good luck with that..." Enzo gets up and leaves Damon to his thoughts...
"I made a huge mistake."
Gulping down half the glass of red wine, Elena curls her legs underneath her on the couch and closes her eyes, trying to drown out the painful words. After leaving his office unseen and unheard, she went to work and fortunately it was a busy day and didn't allow for her to dwell on it - till now.
Hurt is a spider web, intricate, yet strong. She knows in time it will pass and the sun will regain its warmth, but in this moment - the joy from her heart is gone. Now neither will ever know or find out what they might have been.
How foolish could she be? She should've known better but she thought her reassurance would mean something to him. For her, it's not about Katherine, it's what she feels... Did she delude herself into believing he felt it too or was she just a warm body for him last night? One thing's for sure, she isn't going to make that mistake a second time. She has a work trip next week that's been planned for months already, long before she met him and then it'll be Christmas. Quite honestly with everything going on in her life with Katherine, Nik and the babies, she had forgotten all about it till her boss reminded her only a few days ago. After this Damon debacle, she's anxious to leave town even if it's only for a week long conference.
The sound of her cellphone ringing snaps her out of her thoughts, seeing his name, she ignores it. When it rings again, she turns it off, refills her glass of wine then picks up the TV remote to find something to watch. Reaching for her soft fleece throw, she covers up then repositions herself onto her side, bringing her legs up in a fetal position to watch an old tearjerker, seems fitting given the mood she's in. Just as her eyes begin to droop, the doorbell startles her awake. She freezes hoping he'll go away but when she hears her best friend's voice, she throws off her blanket and answers the door.
"What are you doing here?" Elena asks, stepping aside to let her in.
"I hope you saved a little wine for me, it's early yet Elena, I brought food," she holds a brown paper bag up.
"If I wanted company, I would have asked you to come," Elena raises a brow, then goes back to the living room to pick up her glass, swallows what's left and fills it again.
Caroline shakes her head, goes into the kitchen to get herself a glass and some silverware so they can eat the Chinese food she brought. Returning, she sits down beside Elena, sets everything on the coffee table then grabs the bottle, tipping a generous amount into her own glass. "What are we drinking to?"
The alcohol is causing a warmth inside her body and Elena relaxes against the back of the couch again. "I stupidly slept with the Ranger. Cheers," Elena downs another half glass in a single gulp.
"Okay, that's enough," Caroline takes the bottle when she starts to reach for it again. Instead she hands her a container with garlic shrimp and scallops along with a fork.
"Party pooper," Elena sticks a forkful in her mouth.
"Why are you being like this, I thought you liked him?" Caroline empties the wine bottle into her own glass.
"I thought he liked me too but he was gone when I woke up. He didn't bother to leave a note so I went to his office. Idiot left his door ajar and I heard him say, "I made a huge mistake," she air quotes the sentence. I didn't stick around after that, I went to work and bought that bottle on my way home."
Taking a drink herself, Caroline savors it, rolling it around in her mouth before swallowing it. "How do you know that the huge mistake was you? He could have been talking about anything."
They drink in silence for a few moments, the alcohol blunting the sharp edges of Elena's anger, but having little effect on the pain and disappointment in her heart. "I know alright. After he said that sentence, he told whoever he was talking to that he went to my place straight from the airport. I didn't hang around to hear anymore."
"Oh Elena, I'm sorry," she slides over and wraps her friend in a hug. "Come on, let me put you to bed. Tomorrow we'll get you ready for your conference and you know what, I'm going to go to New Orleans with you. We can have those giant margaritas, eat beignets and crab legs. We'll have a wonderful time."
"You're the best, Care," she covers her mouth when she starts to yawn.
"Bedtime," Caroline pulls her to her feet, leads her to her room and helping her into her pajamas, tucks her in. "Goodnight, Elena," she whispers, turns out the light then pulls the door closed. Instead of going home, she cleans up their mess, makes herself a bed on the couch and imagines all the things she'd like to do to that Ranger for hurting her friend.
"I'm so glad you came along, Caroline," Elena bites into a beignet and has a ring of powdered sugar coating her mouth when she sets it back on the plate. Running her tongue around it, she sighs at the sweetness of it. They're having breakfast at the world famous Cafe Dumonde to partake in the French style doughnuts, lavishly covered in confectioner's sugar. The Original Cafe Du Monde Coffee Stand was established in 1862 in the city's French Market.
New Orleans is an eerie place. It's Gothic in one sense and dangerous in another. The city has a rich and colorful history and is the perfect place for scouting out the supernatural. It boasts a whole host of vampire, cemetery, voodoo, and ghost tours, which often last as long as two hours. It is known as one of the most haunted cities in America. Elena wants to experience all of it.
In preparation for the trip she went to the library and found a book on the most famous vampire legends of New Orleans - Count Saint Germain, Jacques Saint Germain , John Carter, Wayne Carter and also the Casket girls of New Orleans. She's pumped for the tour.
"I am too, I'm glad you finally have a free day because I have it all planned out. When we finish eating these scrumptious morsels, we're going to go the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park."
"That's fine for the daylight hours but tonight we're going to lurk with the undead," Elena winks at her.
"You play a good game, Elena," Caroline takes a long swallow of coffee after finishing her second beignet. After setting it down and waving at the waiter for a refill she continues. "How are you doing, about the Ranger guy?"
"Did you have to bring him up?" she smiles when the waiter fills their coffee cups.
"Elena?"
"I don't want to give him the satisfaction of breaking my heart... It was a dick move for him to leave without some kind of explanation or a goodbye. I'm past the denial part, now I'm mostly angry. Still when I let myself think about it, about what I thought we could be, it feels like concrete drying in my chest - honestly it took me by surprise that it would hurt like this."
"Wait till I get my hands on him!" Caroline practically growls, then blooms red when the surrounding customers turn to look at her. "Sorry," she smiles, "I forgot where I was."
Elena has to cover her mouth to keep from giggling at her friend's plight.
Noticing her struggle, Caroline shakes a finger at her playfully. "Don't do it," she bursts into laughter despite herself.
"Let's get out of here, we have a pirate to pay a visit to," Elena throws some change on their table for a tip, then she and Care leave the place to catch a taxi to meet Jean Lafitte.
It's been two weeks since he's seen her. Now with Christmas drawing close, Damon can't stop himself from buying a gift for Elena but rather than give it to her, he puts it in his desk drawer to save for a time and a place that's right. Next time they're together, he doesn't want to have any headwinds blowing against them. Yet he'd have to be as thick as a ship's anchor not to notice that she's been visibly absent both showing up at his workplace and her calls have been sporadic at best, her words clipped and short.
Leaning back in his chair, Damon crosses his hands behind his head. If he were to put himself in her shoes, he'd be angry too that she left his bed without so much as a note. Sighing deeply, he picks up his cellphone, he owes her an apology and an explanation at the very least. As he holds the device in his hand, he realizes that a call will hardly do, she probably wouldn't answer anyway. No, he needs to plead his case in person and make her understand that a romance will have to be put on the backburner for the time being. However, what if this drags out for a year, maybe two, would he wait - absolutely he would but will the answer be the same for Elena?
Pocketing the phone, he cleans off his desk, puts his cowboy hat on his head, slips on his jacket and then leaves the building, determined to talk to the woman that has completely bewitched him. Sliding behind the wheel of his classic Camaro, he revs the engine, backs out of his parking spot and pulls onto the highway. A few colorful metaphors escape his mouth at how heavy the traffic is, meaning it'll take a little longer to get to her place.
Arriving at her place, he gets out of his car and walks up the path. Steeling his shoulders, he curls his fingers into a fist then knocks on the door then steps away, waiting to see her pretty face. Hearing the distinct sound of it opening, he turns and stops short when instead of the brunette beauty, he sees a blonde glaring at him as if he ran over a puppy.
"Ranger Salvatore I presume?" she crosses her arms over her chest.
"Yes, I came to see Elena... I have to explain..."
"Well, you're a little late. Elena flew to Virginia with her aunt and uncle to spend Christmas with her brother-in-law and the twins."
"Um... will you tell her I stopped, I really need to talk to her, make her understand..."
Caroline smirks, reaches out and latches onto his arm. "How about you and I have a little chat instead?" she drawls and drags him over the threshold...
Huge thanks to you all. You're the absolute best. I'm so happy you're enjoying the story considering how frustrating it was for me especially to write it. Thank you Eva for talking me down more than once. Believe it or not, I had started a story with Damon as a CDC disease hunter, Elena a doctor. Then came Corona... needless to say, the project's been shelved.
Jean Lafitte (1776-1823?) was the last of the great pirates of the Gulf of Mexico. Jean was a handsome man by all accounts, of great personal charm and became a legend in his own time, after his patriotic actions in the Battle of New Orleans.
Stay safe and have another wonderful day of quarantine. You're all the best - see you next time.