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Chapter 14: Love
It's just a little past nine o'clock when Damon and Elena finally leave the restaurant.
She still can't believe that she'd just had the most amazing date of her life. Who knew that Damon Salvatore would have turned out to be so romantic?
Things had only gotten better after she'd confessed her feelings for him; it was as if every single wall he's ever put up around his heart has been knocked down, and he is finally acting like the man she'd always known was hiding behind the façade of the cocky vampire.
He'd ordered every item on the dessert menu for her, and then insisted on feeding her a bite from each one. He'd even deliberately tapped her on the tip of her nose or the corner of her jaw with the fork a few times; then playfully leaned in to lick the whipped cream off her skin.
When they were ready to leave, he had gently taken her hand in his and led her out of the restaurant after slipping Henri what looked like two hundred dollar bills on their way out the door.
He made no overtly sexual advances toward her as they made the short walk back to the hotel, simply interlacing their fingers and draping his jacket over her shoulders in a protective gesture when she started shivering in the chilled autumn air.
The silence was comfortable between them; words didn't really need to be said for them to understand what the other was feeling. Elena's heart beat quickly in anticipation, her body already longing to feel him pressed against her.
As soon as they shut the door to their room, Damon gathers her into his arms.
Elena can already feel the difference in the way he softly brushed his lips against hers; it wasn't a slow seduction this time, meant to tease her, it's something else entirely.
She's almost certain she can feel his every emotion as he holds her to him, stroking her hair as if he's feeling her for the first time. His lips move over hers, gently tugging at her own and sending shivers of pleasure through her as he slowly moves them toward the bed.
His hands remain in her hair, and he makes no move to touch her anywhere else, or even remove her dress.
As soon as the backs of her thighs hit the edge of the bed, Damon gently lifts her up so that she's kneeling in the center of it.
He crawls up to join her, and slowly captures her lips in another sensual kiss as his hands tangles back into her hair.
Her head is spinning, and she almost feels like she could fall backward onto the bed if it wasn't for Damon holding her up.
Her senses are overwhelmed with the touch of him, the scent of his skin, the taste of his lips.
Elena moans softly as he flicks his tongue over her bottom lip, sending a wave of heat straight down to her core.
Before Damon, she hadn't believed it was possible to get so aroused just from kissing; but every time his lips touch hers she feels the dull ache between her thighs so acutely that all she can think about is getting him naked and inside her.
"God," she whimpers as Damon tilts her head back to trail soft kisses down her throat. "This is crazy…"
She isn't aware that she's voicing her thoughts out loud until Damon's voice breaks her out of her trance-like state.
"What's crazy?" he breathes huskily.
She gasps, shivers shooting down her spine as he nuzzles her just below her ear.
"This," she moans, closing her eyes as another shockwave of pleasure shoots straight to her nipples and causes her breasts to grow heavy with need.
"You barely touch me and I'm already aching for you."
Damon smirks against her skin, nibbling on her earlobe.
"For someone who nearly passed out the first time we did this, you sound surprised."
Elena moans softly as his tongue swirls in slow circles down her throat again. She arches her back and lets out a sharp gasp as one hand slides up to cup her breast.
"I'm not surprised," she replies. "I've just never felt anything like this...you kiss me and I ache inside. You're driving me crazy."
As if to prove to her that he could drive her even more out of her mind than she already was, Damon slips his hands down her back to cup her bottom and bring her closer to him.
She can feel the hard bulge through his pants, and once again she's reminded of the persistent throbbing deep inside her.
"I think it's only fair," he purrs. "You've been driving me crazy since the day we met. It nearly killed me, wanting you so badly and not being able to have you."
"You have me now," Elena sighs.
Damon pauses at her throat, feeling the soft hum of her skin where her pulse beats rapidly. He nuzzles her again before slowly kissing his way back up to her lips.
She has no idea at all just how much her words affected him; for one hundred and fifty years Damon had simply wanted a woman to want him for more than just what he can do to them.
He'd wanted to be loved so desperately, having not felt it since he'd been a small child and his mother had still been alive. Before she'd left him…
He had willingly believed Katherine when she'd professed her love for him and only him.
It had been such a betrayal when he'd discovered that she had intended to keep Stefan as well, and that they had both been nothing more than pets for her.
When he'd discovered that truth almost a century and a half later, it had nearly destroyed him. He'd never wanted this life, after all. He'd only agreed to turn for her, and later he'd completed the transition only because Stefan had begged him to; too afraid to be alone.
For a long time Damon's only purpose had been to free Katherine, so that it would have at least been worth the misery of eternal life; and it had been worth it, though not for the original reason he'd believed.
Elena gave him a reason to stay.
When he'd considered taking off his ring and burning up in the sun that night, she'd wrapped her arms around him and whispered that it would be okay; she'd shown him that she cared, even if she hadn't been willing to admit that at the time.
That night, everything had changed.
Something deep inside had awakened when she'd dared to hold him at his most vulnerable moment, and he'd realized it wasn't a game anymore; it was real.
All those feelings he'd tried to keep buried for her since she'd first believed he was just a normal human man with sibling rivalry issues had absolutely nothing to do with Stefan, or even getting Elena into bed just for the thrill of the chase.
The truth was that he'd wanted her.
He'd wanted her laughter, her sweet smile, her passion.
Hell, he'd even wanted her fiery temper whenever he did something to piss her off.
He'd wanted all of her, and now, after having literally waited over a century for her, she was his. Elena Gilbert had given him her heart, and at the risk of waxing poetic, Damon finally felt human again.
"Yes, I do," he rasps against her lips, capturing them in another searing kiss that leaves Elena almost as weak as a kitten with her desire.
"You're mine," he whispers. "All mine."
His fingertips graze her bare shoulders on the way to the back of her neck, and she shivers again in response.
Damon chuckles softly in amusement, already able to sense how badly she needs him.
Taking pity on her, he leans back into a sitting position, lifting Elena up to straddle his hips. He can feel the damp spots on his pants from where she's rubbing against him, but forces himself to take it slow with her.
They've already fucked plenty today; tonight's going to be so much more than that.
He's determined to worship every inch of her, even if it kills him.
He moves his fingertips to the delicate straps of her gown, effectively distracting her by placing soft kisses down the side of her throat as he works the straps down her bare shoulders. He leaves them halfway down her arms, keeping them pinned at her sides as he slowly tilts her head back again to feast on her neck and the soft swells of her breasts.
He can see the faint line of her areole where the dress has begun to slip; unable to resist, he tugs at the bodice until it falls to her waist.
Elena sighs in pleasure as Damon swirls his tongue over the peaks of her nipples and sends more shockwaves through her.
When he suddenly bites down on her pebbled nipple she lets out a sharp cry.
"Oh god," she whimpers. "How are you able to do this to me?"
He smirks cheekily at her. "Easy," he teases. "I just flick my tongue right here…and…"
She shakes her head.
"Not what I meant," she sighs, arching into his talented mouth.
"I've never felt anything this intense with…anyone," she says, deliberately leaving out the name of the person she had been thinking of.
With Stefan, it had always been romantic, tender, and just a tiny bit passionate. She'd felt his love for her, and it had been nice…but with Damon it was so much more.
She felt his touch in the very deepest parts of her soul, and each time he stroked her it sent chills and fire through her bloodstream.
"I thought I knew what love was before, but I don't think I really had any idea until now. Is it always like this?" she asks.
She isn't aware she's spoken out loud until Damon draws back from her breasts to look up at her again.
"No," he tells her seriously, eyes meeting hers in a smoldering gaze.
"It's almost never like this. What you and I have…it's not something that's easy to find, believe me. There are many people, vampires included, who will likely go their whole lives without ever experiencing it."
"So, that first time..."
"That was us," Damon says, punctuating the affirmation with another searing kiss to her lips.
She melts into him, losing herself in his taste and the exquisite feeling of having him hold her in his arms, as if she belongs there.
"I'm good, Elena, but no amount of skill could have made you feel like that if there wasn't something powerful between us," he whispers huskily against her lips.
"Now have I answered all your questions? Because there are much better things I could be doing with my mouth."
He licks his lips suggestively, dipping his head back down to her cleavage.
"Just one more," she pants as he sends another wave of tingling pleasure through her.
She can feel the rumble of his lips as he groans at her words.
"What is it?"
He sighs dramatically to emphasize that he really doesn't want to talk anymore.
Elena giggles at his impatience; he's so cute when he's frustrated, and she can't resist teasing him a bit more. Her fingertips traces over one of the top buttons of his shirt.
"Why am I the only one who gets to be half naked?"
She doesn't wait for a response. As soon as she says it, her hands begin to fumble with the tiny buttons and tug at the black jacket.
Damon tries to assist her with the task, not really caring if the suit gets ripped to shreds, but she slaps his hands away.
"You got to undress me," she reminds him. "I want to do the same."
It's slow torture for him as she carefully draws his jacket off his shoulders, pausing as she slips it down his arms.
She squeezes his biceps, purring softly in approval.
Damon has amazingly sculpted arms; which she's ashamed to realize she'd barely noticed before.
Too be fair, though, she'd been too distracted by his abs, eyes, lips, chest, and of course the ever increasing hardness of his cock as it pressed against her.
She rocks against him as her lips fall to his neck and her hands work to remove his shirt. It's painstakingly slow for the both of them, but Elena is determined to savor each moment.
This could be their only night together where they could truly enjoy one another without interruption or some threat trying to kill them; she wants to make it count.
As she manipulates the tiny buttons and more of his chest is revealed to her, she dips her head lower to brush her lips over the newly exposed skin.
Damon bites his lip, his hand firmly clenched in the loose material of Elena's dress as it bunches up around her hips.
She's driving him crazy with lust and it's taking everything he has not to flip her onto her back and take control.
At the same time, however, there's that part of him that wants to allow this to continue at the pace she sets.
He growls softly, barely audible to her human ears, as her lips make their way down to the rippling muscles and the thin line of dark hair leading down to the waistband of his pants.
Without realizing how it happened, Damon finds himself lying on his back with Elena fully naked and lying halfway on top of him, her head almost level with his throbbing hard-on.
He doesn't even remember leaning back; it had purely been instinctual, as if his body was completely disconnected from all conscious thought or actions.
Elena can see his length straining within the confines of his pants and presses her hand against it, feeling his dick reflexively twitch in reaction.
Her other hand quickly undoes the button and slides the zipper down.
She takes great pleasure hearing his low moan as her hand tugs at the waistband of his black boxer briefs, allowing his impressive length to spring free.
She looks up at him through her lashes, not breaking her gaze from his as she gently brushes her lips over the tip in a tender kiss before finally enveloping the entire head of him with her warm, wet mouth.
"Elena," Damon gasps, gripping the sheets beneath him so he won't accidentally grab her head and start fucking her mouth.
She's moaning; actually fucking moaning while she pulls him deeper into her mouth, and he is losing his mind.
Her tongue swirls around his shaft, occasionally pressing flat against the sensitive underside of his head in a slow, deliberate rhythm.
Elena can't believe how sensual the act of giving head could be; every movement, every soft brush of her lips feels like she is expressing her love at a deeper level of intimacy than she ever has before.
She tastes, she savors, she worships him until the pulse between her own thighs becomes too insistent to ignore.
Damon senses it too, and his hands slip over her shoulders to gently push her away.
"Turn around," he rasps.
Elena knows instantly what he wants and spreads her legs apart and turns to straddle his chest.
As she leans forward again, Damon suddenly grips her hips and pulls her closer to his mouth.
Her thighs tense around his head and unconsciously she sucks him harder than she'd intended.
He moans in approval, his lips vibrating against her clit and causing small tremors that shoot up her legs and make her fingers twitch.
Her lips quiver around his shaft even as she takes him deeper, feeling him at the back of her throat.
At that same moment Damon sucks harder at her swollen flesh, flicking and tapping his tongue over her clit until she has no choice but to pull her mouth off him or risk accidentally choking or biting him.
Her hand wraps around him, squeezing him in almost a death grip, but he barely registers any pain as she pumps him in jerky movements while flicking her tongue over his head.
He suddenly slides one finger inside her and she lets out a sharp cry; she's close to sobbing with her pleasure as Damon curls his index finger against her g-spot, pumping inside her.
She's so tight that her inner walls are practically squeezing him out as her thighs convulse around him.
The quivering extends to her dripping wet core, and he can practically feel the quick pulsing of her clit against his tongue as he brings her higher.
She'd stops touching him altogether; too delirious with pleasure to do anything but lie there sprawled over him.
Elena can feel the pressure and heat spreading through her body.
It's maddening with the intensity of it, and she can hardly control her reaction to it.
The first time he'd done this to her, she'd thought it couldn't possibly get any more intense; she'd been wrong. That first time had been mostly a physical reaction, but now it's purely emotional.
The cries from her lips are no longer the sharp gasps, moans, and screams of earlier moments; Elena is now sobbing uncontrollably, and she can't stop.
The tears wet her cheeks as the beads of sweat and her fluids wet the insides of her thighs.
When Damon finally eases off of her hyper-sensitive clit and helps her roll onto her side on the bed she's still tingling and sobbing incoherent words that don't even make sense to her.
She feels his arm around her as he pulls her against his chest and whispers soothing words into her tangled hair, stroking it gently so that the silk strands slide between his fingers.
"Oh my god," she sobs into his neck even as she kisses him there.
It feels like her heart could explode right out of her chest as she clutches him tightly, wrapping her arms around his neck as if she's afraid to let go even for a moment.
"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," she whispers the words repeatedly, each time softer than the last until it's barely even a breath over her lips.
"You okay?" he whispers, placing a soft kiss to the top of her head.
She can only nod her head, still gasping and shaking next to him.
She wants to tell him that she's better than okay; that she feels better than she's ever felt in her life, and that she had actually felt the love flowing between them in that moment when he'd made her reach such a spectacular climax (or possibly several, at the same time).
God, if she hadn't already known that she loves him the way she's feeling now would have convinced her of that fact.
Damon was right; there was no way she could have reacted so powerfully if her feelings for him weren't so powerfully real.
Instead, all she can do is mumble a choked "I love you" between shuddering little whimpers. Still, Damon hears her as clearly as if she wasn't still crying from emotional overload.
"I love you too," he whispers back, rolling them both so that he's hovering over her.
Tenderly he smoothes the curled strands of her hair away from her face, placing soft kisses over her lips as he positions his hips between her still-trembling thighs.
"Open your eyes, baby," he coaxes, sliding just the tip inside her.
Her eyes are still watering from pleasure, blurring her vision, but somehow she can still see the intense blues and greens of his eyes.
If eyes truly were the windows to the soul, then Damon's os the most beautiful that she's ever seen; it glows in that moment.
The walls are gone, and for the first time, she's truly seeing all of him, bare before her with only a hint of vulnerability and full of love; love that is only for her.
She lifts her hand to trace the soft contours of his face, gasping in pleasure as he slowly slides further inside. He doesn't take his eyes off her, and as he fills her body she feels more connected to him than she's ever been with anyone.
The rest of the world melts away completely, and they are just Damon and Elena—no vampires, no doppelgangers, no Stefan; just two twin flames, burning warm and bright after having finally found each other, at last.
"I love you," he whispers again, still staring into her eyes.
With anyone else, the intensity would probably have been too much for her; but with Damon she can't shy away from it.
She meets his gaze, arching her hips with every downward stroke of his.
He moves slowly within her, and the angle of his hips causes his pelvis to grind against hers with every movement.
"I love you," she returns, lifting her head off the pillows to touch her quivering lips to his.
One of her legs lifts slightly to intertwine with his, pulling him closer against her while at the same time bringing more friction.
Their mouths mate together in time with the gentle rocking of their hips, and Damon wraps his arms around and under her back, pressing her soft breasts to his chest.
He can feel her heart beating against it, and the pulse in her throat grows louder in his ears, but he ignores it; he isn't ready to claim her yet.
Tonight he wants to make love to her not as the vampire, but as the man he had been in 1864; the man that she has shown him he could be again.
As her arms wrap tighter around his neck, he closes his eyes and imagines what it would have been like to have her back then. Perhaps they would have married, had children, and grown old together; he still longs for that life he'd left behind, but at the same time he is grateful that he'd made the choice to turn.
It all comes down to fate; if he'd chosen to die back then, the way he'd originally intended, he never would have met her.
He wouldn't be holding her now, or hear her breathless little sighs and whimpers as he brought her to completion.
He wouldn't have found love; in the end, all that pain and misery he'd suffered, all the guilt that he pretended he didn't have…it had all been worth it.
As if answering his own thoughts, Elena presses soft kisses into his neck and shoulder and whispers more words of love into his ear.
He can feel her inner muscles contracting around him as he begins to pick up the pace, rocking his hips harder into her pelvis so that her clitoris is now rubbing consistently against him.
She lets out a few more little gasps of "oh, oh" as he switches from the slow rocking and shallow thrusts to grinding in tight little circles over her sweet spot.
Her leg slides over the back of his and her toes suddenly curl around his calf muscle, pinching the skin unintentionally as her climax begins to wash over her.
"Damon," she cries softly.
She's simultaneously burning up and shivering as chills shoot down her spine, and the pressure on her clit has spread deep inside her, setting off every single nerve ending she has all at once.
Having denied himself his release, Damon is now throbbing inside her, just waiting for her to let go again so he can join her.
He pulls away from her neck where he's been nuzzling her in just the right spot, and brings her lips to his again.
She's close; he can already feel the soft tremors starting within her once more.
"That's it, Elena," he whispers breathlessly, moving one hand to caress the side of her face.
"Ride it out, baby."
The beads of sweat on her skin and his make their bodies glide against each other, and with every push inside her his chest slides over hers, grazing her nipples to add to her pleasure.
As her walls begin to squeeze him, he tilts her hips up just enough to hit her front wall, sending her spiraling one last time, before finally allowing himself to join her.
Their eyes lock on each other, blue meeting brown as their shared climax wrings every last drop of energy from their sated bodies.
When it's over, he nearly collapses on top of her; their limbs still tangled together as the sweat begins to cool on their skin.
He tries to move off her, to allow her room to breathe, but she clings to him with a grip stronger than he'd thought she was capable of in her state.
"Stay," she murmurs, stroking his hair until he finally gives in and lays his head against her chest, listening to the soft beating of her heart and her shallow breathing.
After a few minutes, he feels her shivering, and reluctantly withdraws from her embrace. As he moves to get off the bed, her eyes flutter open again, this time in confusion.
"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere," he smirks, though his eyes are reassuring. "I just thought maybe you'd like to test out that big bathtub in there," he nods toward the bathroom door. "You know, since we're checking out in the morning."
Elena smiles softly. "You really are the closet romantic, aren't you?"
"If you tell anyone, I'll deny it," he says, winking at her.
She laughs softly. "Don't worry," she assures him. "Your secret's safe with me."
Without warning, he leans over to kiss her on the top of her forehead again.
"I love you, you know that?"
She nods, her heart practically fluttering with happiness.
"I do," she replies. "And I love you too."
"Wait here," he says. "I'll come get you when it's ready."
Elena can't help but smirk at him, realizing he's up to something again.
"Damon Salvatore, what are you up to now?"
"You'll see."
He winks again before turning toward the bathroom.
He pauses at the doorway, arching his brow at her, attempting to look stern.
"No peeking until I say so," he warns.
Elena giggles. "Okay, I promise, no peeking."
As soon as he disappears inside the bathroom, she stretches out on the bed again, sighing in satisfaction with a huge smile on her face.
She hasn't felt this happy in such a long time; not even when she'd been with Stefan.
With him, there had always been one thing or another that he was hiding from her, and it had tainted their relationship; but Damon was honest with her, brutally honest at times, but at least she always knew what to expect with him.
So if he says he loves her, then there is no doubt at all in her mind that he means every syllable.
She giggles again, feeling incredibly giddy.
Damon Salvatore loves her.
She'd known it before, of course.
Isobel had alluded to that fact and had no reason to lie, and nothing to gain from saying it. But knowing, and feeling it were two completely different things; and tonight, she'd definitely felt it.
She'd felt it when he'd held her, kissed her, and looked so deeply into her eyes that it was like a merging of their souls.
She'd felt everything tonight, and she didn't want it to end.
She can hear the water turning on in the bathroom, and the tub beginning to fill with what she is already imagining to be warm soapy water; probably with some rose petals, now that she has seen first-hand how romantic her new boyfriend can be.
Boyfriend.
The word makes her insides flutter with excitement and joy.
It is still surreal to her how she'd lost one boyfriend and gained another one in the 24 hours since she and Damon had left Mystic Falls last night; but then again, it's crazy enough that she had left one vampire brother behind and was dating the other.
How would she ever explain that one to Jenna?
Suddenly her eyes widen in realization. She hadn't sent Jenna OR Jeremy a single text letting them know she was okay.
Jer was probably freaking out the most, since the last time he'd spoken to her she'd been upset. Jenna would have interrogated him by now too, and she immediately begins to feel guilty that he is covering for her and yet doesn't even know why she'd left.
She glances over at the clock.
It's almost ten-thirty, meaning she and Damon had been making love for almost two hours!
That thought brings the silly grin back to her face for a moment, before she has to remind herself to focus on the more pressing matter of locating her phone and sending Jeremy a quick text to let him know she'll be home in the morning.
Reluctantly she rolls off the bed, legs still a bit weak from her earlier exertions, and makes her way over to the chair where her clothes from last night still lay in a pile.
Her phone is still in Damon's jacket pocket, and she pulls it out and frowns, noticing that she has several missed calls and texts.
She'd forgotten that she'd put the thing on silent so she wouldn't be disturbed.
It had been incredibly selfish of her, but at the time she hadn't been thinking about that; she'd been far too busy enjoying her alone time with Damon, but now she regrets her actions.
Ignoring the frantic calls of her family while she had a good time was something that the old Elena used to do. She begins to scroll through the list, noticing that most of the calls were from Jeremy, and the knot of guilt inside her tightens even more.
He'd texted her too, and each one seemed more frantic.
10:30 pm, yesterday, from Jeremy.
Where are you?
12am, from Jeremy.
Elena, please. Tell me what's going on. Why did you leave with Damon?
1am, from Stefan.
Elena, if you're still awake, please text me back. I need to explain. I'm sorry.
1am, from Caroline.
Elena, I'm soooooo sorry. It just happened, but I swear it won't ever happen again. You're my best friend; I don't want to hurt you.
8am, from Jeremy.
When are you coming home? Jenna's going to be up soon and I need to know how long you'll be gone so I can come up with a cover story for you.
8:30am, from Stefan.
Elena, I'm sorry for what happened last night. I swear it's nothing, Caroline's just a friend. Please, you have to forgive me.
9am, from Stefan.
Elena, why aren't you returning my messages? Did Damon do something to you? Has he compelled you? Look, I'm coming over; we need to talk.
9:15am, from Jeremy.
Stefan just dropped by the house looking for you and…
9:30am, from Jeremy.
I really hope you're okay, b/c Katherine just showed up here, pretending to be you again. Jenna and I are okay, but you NEED to come home!
9:30am, from Stefan.
Elena, I'm sorry you're still mad about last night but please let's talk about this. Tell me where Damon's keeping you and I'll come get you right now. Whatever he made you do…it's okay, I forgive you. You were compelled; you didn't have a choice. I love you.
10am, from Jeremy.
I just called Stefan and he said Katherine dropped by the boarding house. Elena, where are you? Look, we need you guys to come home. Damon's the strongest fighter we've got; even Ric agrees with me. He's with Jenna right now, convincing her to stay on campus for a bit. Please, at least call me and let me know you're okay.
12pm, from Caroline.
Elena, things are really, really bad right now. You and Damon need to come home b/c honestly, Stefan's not handling this well at all. Katherine's too strong for us! We NEED Damon.
12:30pm, from Bonnie.
What the hell, Elena? Stefan just told me you ran off somewhere with DAMON! Please tell me you didn't willingly sleep with him!
There were several more messages from Jeremy and Bonnie, but Elena has seen enough; she frantically begins searching for all her clothes and throws them into the empty shopping bags.
For good measure she also grabs Damon's clothes, but leaves him a pair of jeans, his jacket and his black tee shirt. He'll need them if he's to get dressed, after all.
Just as she's slipping on her underwear, Damon comes out of the bathroom looking sexy and seductive as usual; and still completely naked.
"Okay…you can come in now…" he starts to say; then he notices that she's getting dressed and frowns.
"What's wrong?" he asks.
Elena looks up at him with eyes filled with sadness and regret; she really hadn't wanted to ruin their evening like this, but they don't really have a choice. They have to go back, whether they like it or not.
"Have you checked your phone at all since this morning?" she asks him, sounding terribly worried.
He shakes his head.
"Not since that call from Stefan," he tells her. "You turned it off, remember?"
She bites her lip, and tears instantly spring to her eyes. He's next to her before she can blink and immediately puts his arms around her to comfort her.
"Why?" he asks, already dreading her answer. "What happened?"
"I…" she chokes, handing him her phone. "I think our bath will have to wait."
Damon flips through the messages and curses under his breath.
Katherine has the worst timing!
It's almost like the bitch had a sixth sense for knowing when he was truly content, and made it her life's mission just to ruin that happiness.
Once again he wonders how he'd ever managed to fall for her in the first place; god, he really had been naïve when he'd been human.
Frowning at the various texts, his thoughts take a turn for the worse. If Elena had that many texts, he can't imagine how many are on his phone. After all, he is the only shot they really have when it comes to stopping whatever diabolical plan Katherine has in store for them, since he isn't a baby vampire OR on the Thumper and Bambi diet.
Sure enough, when Elena hands him his phone he notices several messages from Ric, Jeremy, and even Caroline.
There is also one particularly irate message from Stefan threatening him bodily harm if he so much as touches Elena, but Damon just ignores it; Stefan couldn't do anything to him, and he knew it.
Really, the empty threats are more amusing than anything else.
The one that worries him the most, however, is the one that Vampire Barbie sent him.
She'd specifically asked for him not to let Stefan know he was coming home, which meant only one thing to him; Stefan was sulking again, and refusing to admit he needed his help.
All he would prove would be that he could get himself killed, and Damon isn't willing to let that happen. Contrary to popular opinion he does still love his little brother.
Theirs is a complicated relationship; but then most sibling rivalries are.
He sighs, feeling more than a little disappointed that the vacation is over, but gives his girl a reassuring smile.
"It's okay," he assures her.
"I'll check us out and get the car packed with our bags; you just worry about getting dressed and let me take care of the rest."
He punches in a few keys on his phone, sending off a quick message to Caroline before pressing a soft, reassuring kiss against Elena's cheek.
In a blur of movement, he is fully dressed and at the door.
He tries to remain calm, for her sake, but part of him is very tempted to just take Elena far away (possibly to Italy) and never look back. Because whatever it is that Katherine is planning, he has this terrible feeling that Elena is in danger.