"Can't you see you're scaring her?"
She heard the words, but Elena was scared, and her eyes kept tightly closed. The question wasn't directed at her, she didn't have to say a word, but silently she agreed. She was scared, but it was not just fear for herself. Damon could just as easily become the object of Stefan's wrath.
Damon hadn't felt rage like this in a long time. Back in the Good Old human Days, he would routinely come to the aid of a woman in need, but women these days were opposed to such gallantry, and he had barely felt the need in the last century. Never mind his reasons, Stefan was threatening Elena, and Elena was in need of protection. "What are you thinking, Stefan?" he asked, seething, though he already had an idea. He caught the hand which had moved to snake around Elena's waist like a snake and forced it back. His brother was strong, but no amount of weak blood could make him stronger. It must have embarrassed him to be overpowered so easily.
Instead of answering this question, Stefan asked another. He asked Elena, "Did he force himself on you?" His tone was inquiring, but the answer was already given in his eyes. Damon knew that whatever story she came up with wouldn't be good enough. The question might even have been called rhetorical with the amount of condemnation it contained, and sarcastic humour didn't suit Stefan one bit.
"I can explain, Stefan..." Elena moaned, her throat tight from his strangulation, and she clutched the bruised ring around her neck. How could have things gone so wrong? She had, they both had, been so careful; Stefan finding out had been the last thing they expected. What more could they have done to disguise their passion? So hot was it that being cold to each other the times they weren't alone had been a simple exercise of restraint. Stefan shouldn't have been able to find out.
Stefan was silent, but within him his rage was churning. No words could have described the sensation well enough, only vampire kin could fully understand what the other was feeling, and Damon felt the fire kindling. He had to get Elena out of here before the volcano of molten anger erupted.
She choked on the lie made in the heat of the moment, "I wanted to know what it would feel like to be bitten." The words felt sickeningly sweet within her mouth, because while she had wanted to know how it would feel, his passionate embrace had left her numb. She had had no doubt before that he would be a good kisser, but imagining hadn't done him any justice at all.
Damon's technique was perfection itself. The way his touch made her feel could not be compared to anything else she'd ever experienced before. Stefan was a good kisser, there was no doubt about that, but compared to his brother he barely made her feel a thing. She hated to be so critical, but harsh or not it was true.
"You could have asked me," Stefan said this quietly, but he could not quite keep the incredulity out of his tone. He knew he sounded as if he was whining, but he didn't understand.
"But I couldn't," Elena breathed in a voice barely above a whisper, the lie weighing heavy on her heart, "You said my blood was like ambrosia. You might not have had the strength to stop taking it before I..."
"She asked me for your sake, brother," Damon supplied, interrupting Elena's admission before she could dig herself into an even deeper hole, "I have had more experience with such things – I can better control myself." He knew this truth would hurt Stefan, but this situation could so easily turn south. Because Stefan was a weak vampire, his defence against his animal nature would be weak also. This was the only way to protect her, though it would wound him. He stroked a lock of Elena's hair out of her face and behind her ear.
Stefan hit the apartment door with enough force to make the whole room shudder and quake. Damn Damon for being right. However much he would like not to admit it, he might not have been able to handle taking blood straight from her neck. Just smelling her blood through her skin made saliva flood his mouth, never mind the two crimson punctures on her neck, they made him feel...
"You bit her?"
"Just a bit," Damon admitted airily. He smoothed hair away from her neck and saw that she was still bleeding. He would have to stop that or else there would be none left for later. He smiled and gently licked the red flesh around the wound.
Elena giggled at the feel of his tongue; she'd never expected her neck to be ticklish, but his tongue sent thrills of pleasure through her. Her face must have been showing this because Stefan's back straightened and he growled. The throbbing dissolved and the pin-prick punctures were soon following its example.
Damon was sucking on her flesh to cleanse it when Stefan lunged forwards. Even he was taken by surprise by the sudden, unexpected assault, and was thrown across the room. His fangs had still been buried in Elena's neck, and as he flew he left a line of bloody gore splattered across the wall. He watched each drop make it's inevitable decent towards the earth. The corners of his mouth were sticky with the red stuff and he licked his lips.
Elena lay on her side, her torn and bloody neck against the soft bedding and blood seeping in, Despite all the things she could have been worried about, it was this that concerned her most. She didn't want to have to explain to the hotel cleaning staff why blood covered the sheets. Without anyone to tell her the state of her neck, she still worried what would happen when she left this room.
"I'm going to kill you!" Stefan growled.
Damon sniffed and turned his attention to Elena. He didn't have to have a medical degree to know for certain that if he didn't do something quick he would lose her to death. She was bleeding so much, and the more she bled the more her time ran out.
"You can try Later if you want, but Elena will die sooner than me if we don't get her to a doctor."