"Have another," Caroline urges her, refilling her shot glass with the bottle of tequila they purchased.
The vein pops on Elena's forehead as she lets the glass hover near her lips. "Are you going to drive me home?"
"I texted Klaus to pick us up in a couple of hours... Okay? Do you feel better now?"
"Yes, thank you," Elena empties the shot.
"So why don't you tell me what's churning inside that pretty little head of yours?"
"How do you know anything's churning?" she furrows her eyebrows as she looks at her.
"This is me you're talking to. Did something happen with Damon?" Caroline tilts her head as she stares at her friend.
"We kissed now it's weird..." The muscle in Elena's jaw twitches. "Are you satisfied?"
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No," Elena draws her lower lip between her teeth and refills her glass.
"That means it was good..."
She leans in and kisses Damon's warm lips. His fingers are suddenly gripping her waist, holding her firmly in place. They pull apart and take shaky, shallow breaths.
She lets out little whimpers of anticipation when Damon cradles her face in his hands and pulls her into another fiery and passionate one. Her hands work their way around his body, feeling each crevasse, each line along his perfect physique.
Elena exhales heavily and untangles herself from her sheets. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed and tiredly running her hands through her hair, she gets up to see if she can force the window open a little more and give it her best shot at encouraging some non-existent breeze into the bedroom. It's sweltering hot and she is the not so proud owner of a pounding headache, compliments of the tequila she had drank earlier.
To top it all off, incessant thoughts of Damon flit around inside her head. And really, no matter how much she deliberates in her mind, one thought keeps floating to the top.
Did she actually want to be kissed by him?
Answering that question will mean going down a rabbit hole she doesn't know if she's ready to explore quite yet so she abandons any hope of getting to sleep tonight...
Elena feels herself starting to become coherent, when a bright beam of morning sunlight shines directly across her face. At first, she doesn't want to open her eyes. She's groggy, and stuck in that place between dreams and reality.
Several minutes pass before she raises an eyelid, and then her eyes zoom in on her clock at the bedside.
Noon.
She must've fallen asleep.
Padding to the kitchen, she reaches down get a bottle of water from the bottom of the fridge to relieve her cotton mouth from drinking last night.
She looks out the window, surprised that she doesn't see Damon's Camaro parked in her driveway.
Damon raises his hand to rap on her front door, halts and brings his fist back down to his side. It's absurd that he's too anxious to even carry out the simple task of knocking on a door. It's not like she's the first girl he's been with and his confidence has never wavered before...but then again; none of them were Elena.
She's witty, stunning, smart, all heart and affects him unlike any of the others.
Frustrated with himself, he steels his spine and forces his hand to knock twice on the door then steps back. Hearing footsteps approach he takes a deep breath to try and steady his escalating heart rate. The door swings open to reveal Elena standing there looking positively breathtaking.
"Damon" she greets him with a smile.
"Hi" he responds, wanting nothing more than to kiss her again. "I brought you these, I picked them myself," he pulls out a bouquet of dandelions from behind his back and hands them to her.
She accepts them and lightly inhales their fresh scent, "This is very sweet, thank-you," she smiles at him and steps aside so he can come in.
He nods, and steps over the threshold, his stomach reacting the way it does every time he comes into close contact with her. ..
"It's kind of late," Elena remarks over her shoulder as she goes into the kitchen to put the dandelions in a makeshift coffee mug vase.
"Actually, I stopped by earlier but no one came to the door. I brushed down the horses and fed the animals. Then I drove the perimeter to check the fencing, some areas are kind of worn like they could use a paint job."
"I was with my friend Caroline, we shared some Tequila," she lets the word hang in the air. "First I couldn't sleep then I overslept," Elena smiles in an attempt to make light of it...every time he's this close to her, goosebumps erupt both inside and out.
Damon removes his sunglasses and rakes his strong fingers through his messy, raven-hued hair. "So I was wondering if uh, maybe..."
"Wondering what?" Elena turns around to look at him, immediately drawn to his electrifying blue eyes. Her heart pounds so fast and hard that if it were a generator, it could power an entire city.
"Will you go out with me to dinner, like on a date...?" he tries to maintain the appearance of confidence. Inside though - he feels just like he did the first time he ever asked a girl out.
'YES', her mind screams.
Elena blows out a breath as she rubs her shoulder. "I don't know if that's a good idea, Damon," is all she can stammer out.
"Will you at least consider it before saying no? We could go to lunch, no one would think anything of it...I work for you after all," Hope beads on his skin like dew on spring grass.
"Damon?" she says softly and when he gives her a lopsided grin, her head bobs up and down on its own accord.
"I'm going to go back to work now," he gives her a nod and slips outside through the kitchen door before she can change her mind.
Elena and Damon worked together most of the day, neither breaching the date topic. She tries to not let herself be affected by him but it's so hard. They've been so busy doing little jobs, organizing the feed, throwing things away, putting nails, screws etc. in containers. When Apollo started to get a little antsy, Damon saddled him up and took him for a ride. With her mind occupied with him, she hasn't paid any attention to the weather.
When she notices it's getting darker inside the barn, she walks over to the door. The sky is beginning to look ominous and a boom of thunder rolls across the area at the same time a weather alert comes through her cellphone.
The boughs of the trees sway in the strengthening gusts, surrendering their leaves without a fight. The first drops of rain fall like bullets on the roof. On the far hill a jagged bolt of white-hot lightening splits the sky, and then it is gone followed by another and another as if playing notes in a celestial symphony.
Thunder rolls overhead like the fury of the gods. It tumbles toward her through the ever-darkening clouds, spreading out into the late afternoon.
Suddenly pea-sized pellets of hail begin bounce off the ground along with a torrential burst of rain. Elena absently rubs the back of her neck as she watches. Another peal of thunder rattles the plate glass window, and a tremendous gust of wind shakes the building. Glass sails into the barn and onto the concrete floor.
She keeps a close eye on the surrounding landscape anxiously waiting for Damon to return, sighing in relief when he and Apollo appear on the top of a nearby hill and are galloping towards the barn.
He's soaking wet and breathing heavily when he dismounts. She stands back and watches as he lifts off the saddle and harness then coaxes the horse into its stall. His shirt is soaked all the way through and is now clinging to the muscles of his chest and back.
Her chest is rising and falling in rapid breaths.
Her heart flutters like the wings of a hummingbird.
A few drops of rain hit her face and before she can say more than "Damon", a clap of thunder cuts her off.
He turns and they stare at each other for several moments.
Her breath quickens.
Her nostrils flare.
She feels that invisible tether between them stretch even more taut as the rain rages on outside the open barn doors.
Damon moves close enough to shoot his hand out and wrap it around the back of her neck to pull her lips to his. His other arm reaches around her waist, pressing her pelvis to his, letting her feel that he wants her as much as she wants him.
She's so involved in kissing him that she doesn't even realize she's laying in a mound of hay with Damon on top of her. His breath is hot on her neck. A hand runs through her hair while his open mouth brushes against the tender spot between her neck and shoulder.
Next thing she knows, her shirt and bra are laying somewhere in the straw...
Elena moans while his lips blaze a path across her jaw, to her ear and finally Damon lowers his chin so his mouth can sink down onto hers...
Thank you all so much. For those who don't know me or are new to me with this story, I'm a night shift RN in real life. I work 12 hours shifts so when I work my string of nights, all I get done is work and sleep- there's simply no time for me to update on those days. Thank you for understanding
Chapter title: 'Hungry Eyes' by Eric Carmen.
Next chapter is longer...
Have a lovely day everyone.