So a little warning, this story is going to have more graphic smut than my last one. If that's not your thing, then you can skim over those parts :) This chapter is sort of the start of that, but it's definitely going to get more graphic in future chapters.
Elena and Stefan walked through the woods, keeping a respectful foot or two of space between them. To Elena, it was obvious that they were over.
However, Stefan truly believed that Damon would screw up some way and he'd get Elena back. He was willing to wait as long as it took, because they had an eternity, after all. Sooner or later his brother would do something reckless, hurt someone that Elena cared about, and she would decide that he wasn't worth it. All he had to do was be on his best behavior. He would get Elena back one day, once everything between them was put in the past where it belonged.
Sure, he had a lot of apologizing to do for everything that Klaus made him do, but all they had was time.
Elena reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear just as she always did, and Stefan noticed the glittering ring on her finger. Of course he knew that Damon had gotten her a daylight ring via Bonnie, but he hadn't realized that the ring would be a blast from the past for him.
"That's my mother's ring…" He said without thinking, reaching for her hand.
Elena reluctantly allowed him to touch her, knowing he was just looking at the ring. She hadn't had any clue that the ring was his mother's…
"I haven't seen it since before she died…" He mused.
Damon must have had it all these years, and Elena wondered what his mother was like. From what she's already heard, his father hated him. She hoped that his mother was someone closer to him, that loved him. That was probably why he had her ring all these years, but she was even more touched that he gave it to her.
Stefan continued, "The main stone used to be an emerald, so Damon must have had it replaced so it could be your daylight ring…"
Feeling slightly uncomfortable, Elena said, "I had no idea it was your mother's…"
He easily brushed her off, "It's not a problem, really. I'm glad you have it. I was just surprised to see it, that's all." He let go of her hand and she brought it back to her side. Stefan then stopped walking and changed the subject, "So hunting animals isn't the easiest thing to do because they run and you can't compel them, but with our speed and stealth it's not much of a problem. All you have to do is listen for noise, and then we chase it down to see what it is. I typically like to stick to deer because they're bigger and more resilient, but smaller animals will do in a pinch."
She nodded and as they fell into silence, she opened her ears to the world around her. There were so many sounds that she could pick up, some she didn't even recognize because she couldn't see the source. She listened for the sound of leaves crunching, or animals breathing, or hearts beating, and eventually she picked up all three coming from one direction.
When she opened her eyes, Stefan was already looking in that direction. He disappeared in the next moment, and left Elena to rely on figuring out her own stealth by herself. It wasn't too hard to get the hang of, and she resisted giggling when she used her super speed to approach the animal. She wasn't sure she'd ever get used to that.
She stopped behind a tree once she was only fifty yards away, and she spotted Stefan nearby. So quietly that the deer wouldn't hear, he whispered, "Wrap your arms around its neck to hold it in place, then use your senses to locate the vein in the side of its neck. You can only take a pint or two before the deer gets disoriented, so don't drink too much."
Elena gave him a slight nod before blurring over and holding the surprised deer in place with her new strength. She could hear the blood pumping through its blood vessels, and finding the source of the loudest, biggest vein she bared her teeth and sank them into its neck. She immediately gagged on the disgusting fur tickling her mouth and scratching her throat, and to be honest, the blood wasn't much better.
It tasted like drinking cheap two dollar scotch after tasting the two thousand dollar kind that's been aged for thirty years. She reluctantly choked it down, but she didn't have any problem stopping. The deer ran away as soon as she released it, and Stefan emerged explaining how the deer would heal quickly and that she did a great job.
She'd never tasted something more awful before in her life, and she couldn't concentrate on anything he was saying when her stomach was rolling, rejecting the blood. It didn't satisfy her in the slightest, and suddenly she understood what Stefan said when he told her animal blood dulled the senses. She didn't feel as powerful, as on top of the world, and it was horrible. If she was damned to this life, then she was sure as hell going to do everything she could to live it to the fullest.
Eventually, the feeling became too much and she bent over behind a tree to empty her stomach. When all of the foreign blood was gone, she shook her head at Stefan who was gently rubbing her back and holding her hair, "That was the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted in my life."
He gave her a strained smile, "It's not for everyone. You okay?"
She straightened up and politely brushed off his touch, nodding, "Yeah, fine. I think I'm just going to stick to human blood though…that was awful, no offense."
He smiled genuinely this time, "I know, trust me. If you don't have to drink it, I don't recommend it."
"Thank you for helping me though." She told him, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "I really appreciate you being here to help me through this."
"I'll always be there for you, Elena. I still love you, and I want you to know that whatever you need, you can come to me no matter what." He said confidently.
She didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything. Instead she smiled at him before they began walking back towards the house.
"Sure thing, Sheriff, thanks for letting me know." Damon said through gritted teeth as he watched Liz leave the Grill.
Apparently after he, Stefan, and Elena got the hell away from the pastor's farm, the psychopath decided to barbecue the entire council in his house. While it got rid of a huge threat posed to the vampires, it also raised quite a few questions regarding why the hell a pastor would ignite a gas leak and kill twelve people, himself included.
Hey, at least he didn't have to worry about his ass getting staked by a vampire bloodthirsty human cult anymore.
He ordered another round of bourbon from the pretty bartender and swirled the remaining contents in his glass around in circles. He couldn't be at the house anymore, not with Elena and his brother lurking around doing god knows what, driving his insecurities up the wall.
He trusted Elena, he did, when she said that she and Stefan were over. He trusted her more than anyone he knew. The problem was his brother. He wasn't going to accept defeat so easily, and Damon knew that better than anyone. As someone that constantly got everything he wanted, Stefan wasn't going to give Elena up without a fight. He wasn't going to just accept that she chose Damon, or that he screwed up one too many times and she was done with him. He would do whatever he had to to weasel his way back into her heart, and Damon didn't think his heart could take it if that day arrived.
After being filled with the hope that he dared to have in the first place, he wouldn't survive it being thrown back in his face.
He quickly downed the remnants of his glass as the bartender set down his next and took the old glass away, telling him that if he needed anything stronger to forget that he should give her a call. Stefan would just love that, if he screwed up and pissed Elena off, because of course he could then swoop in and save the day, looking like the hero once again despite every awful thing he did over the past few months.
Damon was fucking sick of his brother coming out on top when he did things twice as bad as what Damon's done, and he did them with no regrets. While maybe it was Damon's fault that Stefan left with Klaus in the first place, he didn't make Stefan do any of the other awful things he did to Elena.
And the worst part? It seemed like she completely forgot about it all. Like she didn't remember when he almost drove her off the bridge where her parents died. Like it slipped her mind that Stefan nearly killed her, drained her dry, and if it weren't for Klaus then he would have. And let's not forget the copious amounts of sex he had with the sorority girls that he invited over while sans humanity.
He was responsible for his own actions, and he should be held so. He didn't get to use the excuse that his humanity was off and he didn't care, or that Klaus made him do it. He was conscious of his own actions, and that was enough for Damon to blame him.
Stefan wasn't a saint any more than Damon was. Maybe it's time Damon stopped viewing him as such.
There was a time not too long ago when he thought his little brother deserved everything he had. Just the fact that he tried to be a good person meant something, especially when all Damon did was show people the worst in him. Stefan lived for meeting expectations, while Damon would sooner die than be something he's not. Stefan would always be his baby brother and he'd always have his back, but Damon didn't respect him as much as he once had anymore, and nothing was going to change that.
If his brother tried to win Elena back after she already chose him, then that would just go to show how little respect he has for Damon. It seemed that every time the occasion arose, Damon thought the world of his brother while all Stefan could do was treat him like a monster.
And maybe he was.
Maybe everything he did, everyone he killed, everyone he hurt, all of it, made him a monster. But at least he never pretended to be someone he wasn't. Why should he keep loving and respecting someone that thinks of him as nothing more than an annoyance? A problem that needs to be dealt with. All his brother could seem to say about him was that he wished he'd leave town to protect everyone in it. Well newsflash, if anyone needed to leave town to protect the people in it, it was Stefan. He was the ripper running around chewing people's heads off and threatening everyone that cared about him.
In fact, Damon had a hard time recalling a time when he could say he was the better brother. He was by no means good, but at least he gave up feeding on people.
For Elena.
He prayed to a god that didn't exist that Stefan wouldn't hurt her again.
Grinding his teeth together, he threw back the entire glass of bourbon in one go and relished in the burn it left behind. He wished he had Ric here with him at the bar, and he glanced to the untouched glass of bourbon next to him sadly. He hated to admit it, but Ric would know exactly what to say to make him feel better. He'd do it in a way that didn't once make him feel emotionally exposed, but it would undoubtedly work. Maybe he'd say something like, 'quit being a moron, Damon, Elena's a big girl.'
She could make her own decisions, of that he had no doubt, but if history said anything, it was that she doesn't always make the best choices. Stefan didn't deserve her anymore, of that Damon had no doubt. Neither of them did, and he wasn't blind to that either.
But god help him, he didn't care. He wanted her, and as long as she felt the same way he was going to do everything in his power to get her.
Speak of the devil…
He smirked to himself as he smelled her scent filter into the building. Her light footsteps stormed over to him in a flurry of rage she didn't yet know how to control, and he wondered what small thing set her off this time. She climbed into the seat next to him and he chided, "That seat's taken."
She frowned before spotting the filled glass, and understanding dawned on her. She moved to the empty seat on the other side of him and asked, "Did you have something to do with Pastor Young?"
He rolled his eyes, "Am I wearing my 'I blew up the council' t-shirt today or something?"
"Did you?" Elena countered.
He looked at her incredulously, "Yes, Elena, somewhere between helping you transition into a vampire and making sure you didn't completely lose it, I managed to sneak away from you to go back over to the cattle ranch to visit the man that nearly killed everyone we know, broke a gas line to start filling his house, and then lit a match, threw it down the chimney, and boom!"
She gave him a disapproving look then sighed, "Sorry. Caroline just called and said that the entire council's dead and nobody knows why the pastor would blow them up. Klaus is back in his own body now too, but apparently the witches weren't at all happy with Bonnie for it and they did something to the spirit of her grandmother in front of her. Caroline was trying to comfort her, but she wanted to be alone."
"What, no wolf-boy and Barbie reunion?" He smirked.
Elena blew out a soft laugh, "I left out that detail to save you the mental picture Caroline painted me. Tyler's fine though, but nobody knows what Klaus's next move is going to be."
"What does he think of you turning?" Damon asked, fearing the answer.
"My guess would be he's not thrilled." She deadpanned. "Now it's pretty much just a waiting game to see what he's going to do."
Sensing her exhaustion, Damon reached for Ric's glass and placed it in front of her, "I think you need this more than him."
She smiled a little, "Won't he be mad I stole his drink?"
Damon shrugged, "He's a few drinks in already, he won't miss it."
Elena took a drink of the strong alcohol and noted how it seemed to dull the hunger, just as she had been told. After rejecting the animal blood, she had opted for the blood bag Damon put in the fridge. Even bagged and reheated from frozen, it tasted ten thousand times better than the animal stuff.
Reading her mind, Damon asked, "So does Bambi have another hungry vampire to look out for?"
She chuckled at his joke, "No, you were right. It was the worst thing I'd ever tasted and I couldn't even keep it down."
"Did Elena Gilbert just admit that I was right?" Damon mock gasped. "Someone alert the media, hell has frozen over."
She giggled loudly and the sound was better than any song he'd ever heard. He loved making her laugh, seeing her smile, watching her be happy for once in her life.
"So are you ready to do it my way?" He asked with a smile.
"Promise we won't hurt anyone?" She asked.
He smirked, thinking once again how little she knew about vampire bites. Suddenly, he got an idea that would both push how far her boundaries were willing to go while proving that she wasn't going to hurt anyone. He stood up and held out his hand for her, "Come on, I want to show you something."
With unflinching trust, she slid her hand into his warm, rough one and let him lead her through the restaurant towards the bathrooms. They went into the men's room since there was no one in there and he locked the door behind them. He pressed her up against the wall and looked into her surprised and confused eyes, "You're so worried about hurting someone, that your bite is going to cause them pain. Elena, that's because you've only ever been bitten violently. When you're bitten for reasons other than inflicting pain, it's different."
"What do you mean different?" She furrowed her brows, her body already reacting to his closeness. She felt like there was less air in the room, and she had to remind herself that doing something with Damon wasn't as wrong as it used to be. She was single. He was single. And they were both on the same page.
He smirked, moving his face so close to hers that one more centimeter and their noses would touch. He brought one hand up to her hair, brushing it all over her right shoulder to expose the left side of her neck. Then he pressed his index finger right above her gently throbbing vein and huskily said, "Right here. You don't know how many times I wanted to kiss you, throw you into bed, and sink my teeth into your neck until you passed out from how good it felt."
She swallowed thickly, her gaze unconsciously dropping to his lips. She couldn't seem to look at anything else either, when all she could think was how much his words affected her now that she was a vampire. The lust was so intense, and hearing him say he wanted to bite her appealed to some dark part of herself that wanted that more than anything. And judging by the dark, hot look he was giving her, she even felt like if she were human she'd still want that.
Finding the strength to raise her eyes to his, her knees nearly gave out at the strangely erotic scene in front of her. His fangs were lengthened, peeking out from behind his pink lips. The whites of his eyes were tinged dark red, contrasting sharply to the blue of his irises. Those gray veins were crawling all around his eyes, extending over his cheekbones and temples. The vampire in her felt completely and undeniably at his mercy.
Unwillingly, she felt her own fangs drop down and the tickle beneath her eyes that she's come to associate with the veins. Damon growled a sound more animal than human before covering her mouth with his, dominating her through the kiss. She melted into his touch, obeying his every silent command by opening her mouth for his tongue and pressing her body into his. He pressed his knee against the wall between her legs to keep her in place as he broke away from her lips and left hot, wet, open-mouthed kisses across her chin, cheek, and jaw. Her hands instinctively moved to his shoulders, and her undead heart fluttered when she felt him licking and kissing at the vein his finger had been pressed against just moments before.
He whispered against her skin, "Relax, and enjoy…"
First she felt his fangs pressing against her delicate skin, not yet breaking the surface yet somehow igniting every nerve ending in her body. She desperately wanted him to bite her, and she had no idea why.
But the second his teeth pierced her skin, she instantly knew she was right to feel that way. The deep, slow pulls he took from her vein felt unlike any human pleasure she ever knew. It was indescribable, yet so insanely good that she felt like her brain had melted and was incapable of processing any thoughts.
She unconsciously brought her hands up to his hair, pressing him closer to her neck while knotting her fingers in the dark locks. Between his sensual lips locking onto the wound, his wet tongue massaging her tender flesh, and the overwhelming scent of him surrounding her she was sure he would be her undoing.
Suddenly he pressed her body more firmly into the wall with his, their legs interlocking as their bodies touched from knees to chests. Immediately Elena's focus was drawn to the hardness in his pants rubbing against her lower stomach, and she moaned loudly at the sensation. She tipped her head even further to the side to expose more space for him, and he took full advantage by piercing her skin even deeper to drink more.
"Damon," she panted, dropping one hand from his hair to wrap around his waist and hold him closer against her.
That was what did it for him. That hot, breathy little whisper of his name. He pulled away from her neck with a groan, swirling the last gulp of her heavenly blood around in his mouth, letting it coat every crevice before sliding down his throat. Her wound healed instantly, though the emotional marks it left ran deep.
Elena looked up at him through hooded eyes, watching as he licked every drop of her blood from his lips. Her mind was completely fried. She couldn't have told you what her own name was even if she wanted to. The only thing she could focus on was Damon, and how badly her body craved him.
It was like all of the attraction she felt for him and suppressed suddenly resurfaced, and amplified tenfold. It was unreal, and she wanted nothing more than to let him take her to bed.
Damon, having his brain only slightly more on earth, looked down at her and breathed, "That is what a vampire bite can feel like."
What he wouldn't give to only drink her blood for the rest of his undead life. It tasted like everything he never knew he needed and more. The way he could taste her emotions swirling around, the lust, the passion, the desire, the love…it was all better than he ever could have imagined.
And that look on her face, the one where the only thing he could see swimming in her dark eyes was pure unadulterated lust, that would be his undoing.
Her needy hands quickly pulled him back to her, lowering his lips for a kiss so hot and hungry that it rivaled all of the sex he had with any women in his entire existence. Yeah, he had no doubt that Elena was his soulmate. She pulled him closer against her feverish body, rubbing her hips against his obvious arousal like a cat in heat and it took Damon every ounce of his self control to pull away from the kiss.
Annoyed, she huffed adorably, "Damon, please."
He couldn't tell you how many times he wanted to hear her say those words like this, but it was just the lust talking, and he knew that better than anyone. Lust has gotten him into a whole hell of a lot of trouble over the years, but the difference with Elena was that it actually mattered. It would break him if she ever regretted him.
He took her face in his hands and leaned his forehead against hers, stroking her soft cheeks with his thumbs. He loved her too much to take advantage of her. "Nice try, you little minx."
He took four steps back from her, making sure he put enough distance between them so they couldn't touch even if their arms reached out. The space definitely helped Elena come to her senses, and she leaned back against the wall again and closed her eyes to catch her breath.
"Why was it like that?" She asked breathily.
Damon smirked, "Like I said, vampire bites can feel better than you can ever imagine or like the worst pain you've ever felt."
"And it felt like that to all the humans you were with?"
He shrugged, "It's not quite as intense on a human, and definitely not as intense if there's no feelings shared." As an afterthought Damon added, "Just don't tell Stefan about this." But then he smirked when he realized he was done playing the nice guy around his brother when he didn't deserve it. "Actually, on second thought, tell him."
She frowned, "Why?"
He bit his lower lip for a moment as he searched for the right words, then settled on, "Because blood sharing is kind of…personal. I'm sure you can figure out just how personal, especially between two vampires where we don't rely on the feed to survive."
She nodded, in complete understanding, "No, I got that." Then a question struck her, "What happens when you drink vampire blood?"
Thankful for the topic change, Damon answered, "It'll tide you over for a while, but it's not going to keep you from desiccating. Vampire blood is like a delicacy, it goes down smooth like the finest alcohol and it's the easiest to drink."
"Like animal blood was horrible and human blood is amazing?"
Damon nodded, smirking, "Just wait until you get a taste for vampire blood. It's like nothing else."
Knowing better than to even voice her thoughts about wanting to drink his blood, she instead asked, "So when I bite a human, that's what it will feel like to them, just less intense?"
"If you want it to, then yes, it pretty much happens unconsciously." Damon nodded. "But what they don't tell you in the vampire handbook is that typically the only times vampires bite their victims like that is during sex."
She furrowed her brows, "That doesn't make any sense, why couldn't I just find a guy and bite him when I know I don't want to hurt him?"
"Because vampires live for the kill." Damon told her conspiratorially. "There is no feeling quite like that of the hunt. We are predators, Elena, down to our souls. Stalking our prey, seeing the adrenaline pumping, smelling their fear; it's almost as good as the feed."
She grimaced at his description, unable to imagine that ever appealing to her. While she had a lot of newfound desires within her that often scared her, she couldn't ever see herself reveling in the kill like Damon did.
He smirked, seeing her dejected expression, "You'll see. I plan on taking you hunting sometime soon anyway. What better way to learn control?"
"No, Damon, I'm not feeding on people if you think I'm going to hurt them." She instantly argued.
He chuckled, "You, Elena, of all people, are not going to hurt anyone. You'll probably want to, but you won't. You're too compassionate to ever let this control you, that I can promise you."
Smiling quickly at his words, she agreed, "Okay, fine. We can go hunting at some point, on one condition. We leave Mystic Falls so nobody here will recognize me."
His eyes brimming with excitement, he grinned, "I smell a road trip. Where should we go this time? New York? D.C.? Or maybe you weren't quite finished in Georgia…"
She laughed, "I don't care where, Damon, as long as we're not gone too long and nobody will know me there."
"I'll keep that in mind." He smirked. "But for now, maybe we should go back out there so the people you do know don't get the wrong idea."
Elena cringed through a giggle, "They probably have already assumed the worst, Damon. I think it's safe to say we're too late."
"Then let's face the music."