Thank you so much for the reviews! We're really glad you guys are enjoying the story :) We really love writing Damon and Katherine together. We find their dynamic interesting and bit reckless, not to mention unhealthy. Makes for an interesting story for sure. Thanks again for reading, we hope you continue to enjoy it :D

~Yoshi

KATHERINE'S POV -

As far as physical pleasures went, Damon had a certain expertise with her body that had always been present with him. She wasn't sure if it was natural talent or if it had something to do with the fact that Damon was more attentive than Stefan was. As a human, he had been so careful with her, like she had been glass, and he paid attention to where she liked to be touched and which movements would get her going. It was like some kind of talent that he possessed and he hadn't given up on it with her. He could have fucked her relentlessly for all she cared, but even as rough as he was being, she could sense some kind of restlessness in him that wasn't letting him leave mark son her body. She had started this hoping to be sore, but she was ending this hoping that maybe, just maybe she would get on good terms with him again and it was that flicker of humanity that had her running to get the blood. It was a forceful reminder of what they both were and of what they would be together. They were a dangerous mix, a dangerous couple to put together; they were like chemical warfare on each other's minds and yet they drew together like magnets ready to spark a fire between them. It wasn't until after she had covered him with blood, licked him up enough to satisfy her tongue, that she offered him something she knew he wouldn't refuse. Katherine, though hungry for her own satisfaction, wasn't completely selfish. She could give as much as she took and she thought that he deserved some love and she wouldn't mind having his cock buried in the back of her throat.

"Mmm, yes, that's right, put my mouth where it belongs," she hummed as she licked along his length. She was generous with her tongue as she flicked and circled the width of him like he was some delicious kind of candy and, to her, he was, there was no doubt about that. She had given him permission to run wild with his needs and once the stroke of electricity travelled up his spine, she knew he would take her words and abuse them, but she liked being used, she always had. His hips bucked into her face, sending his cock deeper into her mouth until she could feel him hitting the backs of her throat and sliding down her canal as if she could swallow him whole. He hammered into her without mercy and she was lucky that she didn't have a necessity for air or else she probably would have been suffocating. With every slam into her throat, she felt herself and heard herself gurgling on him, almost chocking, but not quite. In a normal circumstance, she didn't have a gag reflex, but she had yet to face a man that had the width that Damon had; she would never tell him that though, not on his life unless he was teasing her into an orgasm. Her fingertips pressed tenderly against his boys, pushing backwards, curling slightly because she knew just where to touch him to get him to shiver as he had done to her. She could feel his dick beginning to harden painfully and twitch inside of her mouth as she bobbed her head in parallel unison to his motions until he burst into her mouth. He buried himself deep within the back of her throat, his hot seed shooting down her passage way making swallowing unnecessary due to how deep he had forced himself within her mouth.

She hummed, looking up at him as she suckled her way up his cock, her tongue swirling, milking him dry until she was flicking his engorged head with her wet muscle. She licked her lips and crawled back up his body at his urging, the blood spreading further along their bodies before their mouths joined together to become one. His kiss was much more loving than she expected it to be, but she received it with as much tenderness as she could muster. Her tongue gracefully slid along his lower lip before she allowed him entrance into her warm orifice. "I have made the famed bad boy Salvatore speechless?" She questioned with sparkling eyes, "Do I get a prize for that?" Her full lips upturned into a sensual smile before he suggested that they get cleaned up and she knew that was her prize. He guided her to the bathroom and prepared the water before taking her into the shower with him. He was careful with her, doting upon her every appendage to make sure that she was clean and she, in turn, did the same for him. She caressed his shoulder with gentle kisses, her tongue licking at stubborn traces of crusted blood that the water was having difficulty rinsing off of him. She cared for him in a way that was uncharacteristic of her, but it was a favor that he ended up returning to her by going down on her amongst the water before she ended up pouncing him for another round of fun. She found the second time with him to be more playful and certainly more aware than they had been mere minutes before. It was a side of him that she loved and she realized then that he was awakening a part of herself that she had buried long ago and she wasn't entirely certain that she liked the fact that he was bringing up feelings she would rather leave dead. The truth of the matter was that she loved both Stefan and Damon, but she had simply forced her hand to make her choice and she had chosen Stefan over Damon because, at the time, Stefan gave Katherine what Damon couldn't—opposition. Damon had always been so concerned that he had to be careful with her that he never dared to do anything where Stefan did of his own accord and she liked the challenge… but now, well, she wasn't so sure.

It was as if they had switched personalities and she wasn't liking the fact that she was becoming attracted to Damon in the way that she was attracted to Stefan… or was. 'Fuck,' she thought as Damon helped her out of the shower and began to dry her down with a towel. Katherine had never done well with mixed feelings, like Tinkerbelle she was really only capable of holding one in her body at a time, and feelings usually brought out her humanity and she hated that more than anything. Her humanity was her weakness and it needed to stay away. After they were both dry, for the most part, she went with Damon to his bedroom and spent the rest of the night in the company of his arms where spoken word drifted into sleep. Katherine, though, didn't have any intent of staying beyond dusk. She woke before Damon did and she got herself dressed and left without collecting all of her things. She left all, but one of her journals behind as a way to tell Damon that she would be back, but she also wanted him to read them for some reason. She wanted him to know her as no one else did even if he would hold it over her head. She could deal with the consequences later, but the journal she took with her was all about Klaus and she needed that, it was something she couldn't let him finish or else he may not want her around and she wanted him to let her stay. She liked being in his company, but she couldn't stay with him. She left as soon as she could, not even contemplating leaving a letter, because she needed him mad at her. She needed him fuming so that he wouldn't want to be with her anymore.

For the next month, she tracked down Klaus and Stefan, following them along their journey, but also struggling with her own thoughts and feelings. She knew that Damon was mad at her and that was how she wanted him to be because she didn't want to see the tenderness in him anymore. He was becoming a temptation and she didn't want that. He was so much like the man that had first stolen her love and she didn't want to have to go through that heartache again. Damon was in love with Elena after all and Katherine wasn't going to intrude upon that, she would just fight for the safer option, she would fight for Stefan instead. Maybe it was a way of convincing herself that that girl that had once believed that without love, there was no point in living didn't exist anymore. However, Katherine knew that she had to face the facts and soon she was standing in a phone booth, with the goal of luring Damon out to Chicago to be with her under the ruse of helping her with getting Stefan back. When she heard his voice on the other end of the phone she smiled, "Hmm, should I call back later then?" Her voice was silky and raspy as it always had been and she could almost hear his heart stop beating at the sound of her voice before pumping itself to life again. "Oh, don't tease me Damon, we both know you're lying," she sang, giggling slightly as he demanded to know where Stefan was. "Come on Damon, I don't even get a hello? Maybe a 'how are you?' You should be good to me, I'll be good to you in return." Katherine was a tease, but what else would he expect from her? "Park Hyatt Chicago penthouse, tomorrow eight o'clock Damon, don't be late." With that she hung up the phone and walked out off the phone booth. She felt accomplished as she walked over to the corner and halted a cab.

The next day came rather quickly and she spent her time tracking down Klaus and Stefan and found that Klaus was doing something very suspicious with Stefan, something that Katherine didn't like—he was reminding Stefan of his Ripper days. She knew what Klaus was trying to do, she knew that when Stefan was a ripper that Klaus and him had gotten on and Katherine couldn't let Klaus return Stefan to that state. He needed to be stopped and now Damon was on his way to help Katherine achieve that. Earlier that day, she had compelled a few prostitutes to come to her penthouse at 7:30 because she knew she'd be hungry and she wanted Damon to feed on that carnal nature that was deep within his soul, the nature that she was sure Elena had been spending the majority of her time trying to suppress. When the girls arrived, she forced them both to get into the large bathtub and was each other in a mass of bubbles and stay in there until she told them otherwise. She watched them take off their clothes and admired their naked bodies from afar as they got into the tub and did as they were told, "You two can have fun if you want to while I'm away." Katherine smiled and walked out, closing the door after herself. She was standing in front of the full length mirror in the connecting bedroom when she could hear moans coming from the bathroom and she smiled deviously. Her black jeggings fit tightly to her body, the deep purple of her blouse hung slightly off of her body in a way that made her seem effortless and flawless at the same time as though she hadn't tried to look good when she had actually put a bit of thought into it. A second knock came to her door and a sultry smile curved onto her ruby lips as she walked to the door. She opened it and the welcomed sight of Damon came into her chocolaty gaze. "You're late." She stepped away from him, sauntering into the living room, leaving him to close the door behind himself. Her bare feet melted into the vanilla colored plush carpet until she plopped herself down onto the sofa. "How've you been?"

DAMON'S POV -

Damon was bad at hiding his anger, and with Katherine there was no exception to the rule. He was irritated that she had left, hurt by it even—and he hated himself for that. He didn't want himself to care about Katherine, yet after the night they shared that's what he had found himself doing again and it made him feel weak and helpless, stupid even. He didn't want to fall victim to Katherine's games again like had over a hundred years ago, yet even now as he was barking at her on the phone; insulting her and being short with her, he was glad she had called because he had missed her deep throaty voice. It was sexy and addictive, and he loved hearing it murmur his name, but the unfortunate thing was Katherine didn't really care about him. She cared about Stefan, and that's why she had been gone almost a month chasing after him like a wounded lioness who wanted her king back. It made him sick. She could have any man she wanted, most of them wanting her, but she wanted the one she couldn't have—the one who didn't want her. Her attitude was a typical spoiled brat to the core, and he hated that about her; he hated out selfish and closed off she was. Damon wasn't sure if he could live the rest of his life hoping to see glimmers of humanity in her like he had that night with her. It wasn't any way to live and it most certainly wasn't fair to him. "Don't tease me Katherine. You're just wasting my time," he grumbled into the receiver, putting his drink to his lips as he took a hard swallow in hopes it would ease his tension.

Then she gave him an address, hanging up on him. He looked at the phone, hating that she knew he would show—which he would. Beyond finding his brother and Elena wanting that too, he wanted to see Katherine. It was a sickness. She was like a disease eating away at him like the plague, and yet she was the only cure for it. He hated her, hated himself—but despite all his masochistic ways, he dragging himself upstairs; packing a suitcase before he retreated to his Camaro and headed for Chicago for a little trip. He drove most of the night all the way into the morning, and he was running behind by fifteen minutes when he finally pulled into the drive; letting the valet take the car. He carried his one suitcase, heading to the elevator and riding it to the very top floor until he found her room. His fist rapped against the wood impatiently before the door finally swung open. His eyes latched on to her instantly, still following her even after she waltzed away from him with that sultry swing in her hips. He pulled his bag in, leaving it just inside before he shut the door and walked over to her as she sprawled out on the sofa. "Oh just great Katherine, I keep myself busy babysitting," he muttered bitterly. Taking care of Elena wasn't what bothered him, it was the fact he wasn't appreciated for it. She used him, and he saw it clearly. He was the replacement Stefan, she was always trying to change him, and if she had her way he was certain she would've accompanied him on this trip but he couldn't allow it—he wouldn't have.

"How are you? It looks like you're living large," he pointed out, his gaze shifting around the spacious suite as he stood in front of her. She looked mesmerizing as always; every curl falling perfectly over her shoulders and down her chest, her clothes accentuating and playing up all of her attributes. She knew how to work it, and he hated her for that, too. That was when the sound of moaning echoed in his ears, causing his neck to jerk to the right from where it had come from. "Have company?" He inquired, walking away from her as he stalked toward the door. He opened it, standing there as his jaw dropped with the beauties that were naked; making out and fondling one another in the tub. "Wow, thanks Kat, you shouldn't have," he told her, walking further into the bathroom to the point Kat couldn't watch unless she got up. "I'm hungry…not just for blood, either," Damon growled, wanting to get a rise out of Katherine…and he knew he would, he was going to milk this for all it was worth. "Ladies…it looks like you could use a gentleman in this pond of fun," he laughed, motioning to the water that they were splashing in. They giggled and nodded in agreement as Damon unbuttoned his shirt, tossing it to the floor as his hands went for his jeans. "That's good because I've been driving for the past seventeen hours and I'm pretty tired and sore…and dirty." A snicker left is lips, his hands abandoning the jeans for a moment as he pulled a naked blonde into his chest. She dampened his shirt with water, his lips claiming hers roughly as his hand cupped her wet sex.

A little squeal echoed in the tile room, and from the corner of his eye he could see Katherine standing there with the devil in her eyes. He ignored her, acting as though she wasn't even there as his fangs punctured the girl's neck. He was more interested in feeding and pissing Katherine off, then getting some pussy on his dick. The iron salt taste washed over his tongue and down the back of his throat, but he let his fingers dip between her drenched slit just to spite the vibrant beauty off to his side. Then in less than a split second, Katherine moved through the room like a hurricane, the sound of breaking bones prevalent in his ears as they dropped dead to the floor and in the bathroom waters. She saved the one in his arms for last, jerking her from him so that his teeth ripped through her flesh as she snapped her neck right in front of him. She dropped to the floor in a crumpled heat, bloodlust in Katherine's eyes as her umber oceans lassoed on to his. Damon let out a hardy laugh, a grin spreading across his lips as he looked at her. Then in seconds he had her pinned to the opposite wall, his hand wrapped daringly around her neck but not hard enough to cut off her supply. "Good…" he whispered hotly against her petals. "Now we're alone, just like I wanted it." His mouth crashed into hers, his hands on her body like roaring heat to a dry fall forest as his fingers clawed at her in adoration.

His lips were ardent and tentative as they moved up her neck, his tongue licking over her vein before he sunk his fangs smoothing into her jugular. He groaned into her smooth skin, his body pressing firmly into hers as the crimson life force dumped into his mouth. Damon only took enough to satisfy before he pried his blood stained lips from her throat, licking away the excess that oozed from the bite until she healed. "I saw the journal," he whispered in her ears, his tongue flicking at her lobe before he allowed his cerulean oceans to meet hers. "Why did you leave, Kat? Why is he so important," he murmured his lips dragging over hers. "I missed you. I wanted to see you in the morning and you weren't there. You're never there." He pulled back to look at her again, his hands still on her waist. Then he let fo of her, taking a step back as he left the massacre that was now the bathroom and walked back where she had been sitting earlier. He collapsed on the couch, his eyes shifting to the television that wasn't even turned on as he sat there blankly. It was a mistake to come here, he knew that already, and yet he couldn't bear to leave her and just save himself the trouble and heartache.

KATHERINE'S POV -

It wasn't even a question for Katherine of whether or not he would show because she knew that he would. She was so tantalizingly tempting and he wouldn't be able to resist the irresistible. It was simple as that and now that he was standing in front of her, she was even more convinced of her power over him. He could use getting Stefan back as an excuse all he wanted, but Damon would never be able to fool Katherine, she could see right through every single one of his charades. She was gifted that way and he knew that, he was just failing to acknowledge what he had learned once before; however, Katherine was making the same mistake. She was falling into feeling which she had only done once before back in the 1800s when she had first stumbled upon the Salvatore brothers. She killed the man who fathered her child and swore that she would never let her humanity back in and yet, here she was, a willing participant in her own weakness. It was funny how things worked out that way and how she was only slightly bothered by it. She had run from it a month ago and where she had gone nearly 150 years without Stefan, she couldn't handle going a month without Damon; now where was the fairness in that? She almost had the urge to set herself on fire, but her life was too valuable for some suicidal thought she knew she could cure if she simply gave in and went into Damon's arms. Problem with that was, she wasn't entirely sure he was what she wanted. She didn't want him to get as clingy as he used to be with her, as needy to please her. She liked tension and obstacles and even though he seemed willing to give them to her now, it was only because she had forced his hand and places several walls between the two of them.

There was gentle music playing in the background, a mix of folk and Americana, her favorite genres, meant to gently sooth Damon's anger; one of her usual ploys with him. She had her ways of getting him where she wanted him to be and if she had to go to her last measure and strip to get him to shut up and cave, then so be it, she would. Katherine had never been below putting her body up for collateral and quite frankly when she had Damon to strum her to heaven, why not give herself over to him? He was as talented as she was and their bodies fused in a way that was almost genetic… chemical in a way. She loved him for that and she might as well as convince herself that was the reason that she cared so much for him, but that wasn't the truth. She loved both brothers, but it was always a question of who she loved more. She thought it had been Stefan, but that was now debatable. All of this time with Damon was starting to prove to her that things were a little more on the grey side than they were black and white, but she had always preferred having options. At least this way she was having her fun and her life wasn't so serious, but again, it was all excuses with her. Her life was a jumble, a mess of excuses and that was something that she couldn't change; excuses were lies and she was built on that foundation.

"She's paying you though right? The Damon I know wouldn't babysit for free." It was obvious that Katherine's idea of payment was sexual, but she could tell in the way that Damon avoided her gaze that it was otherwise. "Oh for fuck's sake! You've at least kissed her right?" She raised her perfectly plucked eyebrows at him, one rising a bit higher than the other in question and then mock surprise. "Your hand must be tired," she teased, but as quickly as her quip left her lips, he was stomping over it with a change of topic. "So you do care enough to ask me how I am." She was happy and it was clearly written across her features, "I'm bored. It really isn't fun tailing after Klaus and Stefan like some servant. All Klaus does is show him around, like he's trying to goat the Ripper out in Stefan again…" It was an interesting thought and one she knew to be correct, but no sooner had her words left her lips had the moaning in the bathroom gathered Damon's attention. Katherine offered Damon one soft nod in response to his question and she watched a spark fuse to his icy blue oceans as he turned and walked away from her towards the sounds that were escaping the bathroom. She had brought the women over as a means of loosening him up, but she immediately received this sinking feeling in her chest and belly as though he was going to use this plot against her and she hadn't thought of that as an option. Everything always went her way and she could sense that he was going to go off and ruin that. She watched him open up the door and this satisfied smirk spread on his lips which she snarled at in response. "They are my toys Damon, not yours," she hissed after him as he disappeared into the room. She knew what he was trying to do, he was trying to force her to get up and check in on him, but she wouldn't. No, she refused to play to his games if they weren't playing to her rules.

Her lips thinned into a line, her nimble arms crossing over her chest, one leg bouncing over the other in agitation. Katherine could hear the girls giggling in the bathtub, the water splashing about around their nude bodies as they leaned towards the coming man that had entered the room. 'He can fuck whoever he wants to,' she told herself, rolling her eyes, as she tried to divert her attention around the room, the urge to find herself a boy toy very prevalent in her mind. When she heard his footsteps drawing further into the bathroom, Katherine had had enough. She faced the music and knew she had to stop him before he went too far, but she wanted to see just how far he would go to annoy her. She propped herself up against the doorframe just as Damon grabbed a hold of the blonde and brought her to his chest. His lips mashed into hers and his hand dipped down to her filthy, used cunt. An anger lit in her eyes that she hadn't felt since she had seen both Salvatore brothers pine for Elena for the first time. She wasn't happy and it was a reckless thing to do to make Katherine Pierce mad. Her anger came like the furry of a blazing fire and she wasn't afraid to unleash it on Damon. She watched as he lowered his lips to the girl's neck and punctured her pulsing vein with his fangs, the fangs that she gave to him. It wasn't until she noticed his fingers seep into the girl's pussy that Katherine spurred into action on impulse, not on a thought out action. With movements as swift as the wind itself, Katherine whirled around the room with the power of a twister. There were three girls, two in the tub, and one in Damon's arms. That bitch would be last for being the one Damon chose.

It only took her a few seconds to snap the necks of both of the blondes that were in the bathtub still touching their bodies because they had no idea what was coming. Katherine slammed the side of her hand against their spines before grabbing their damp hair, yanking backwards so that follicles tore and bone broke at their necks until they were both sliding into the tub nearly in unison, one slightly ahead of the other. Then her gaze turned to slut in Damon's arms. Katherine took the girl by her forearm, severing the bone under the crush of her strength as she pulled the blonde towards her. Damon's fangs tore through the girl's flesh with the hard pull ad Katherine reached for the girl's head, snapping her neck in one hard motion to the side so that she slumped into a heap against Damon. It was only after her short massacre was complete did she stop. "Tell me why I shouldn't snap your neck too Damon," she was begging him for an excuse as she stood there, chest heaving, eyes flaming. He looked pleased with himself for riling this response out of Katherine and she was about to lunge at him, but he took the move first. His hand wrapped around her throat as he tossed her against the wall, locking her in place with the firmness of his body. His lips brushed against her own moist petals, their eyes staying hooked on one another as he spoke. His voice was husky in her ears and she was taken with him. The anger seemingly melted from off of her body and replaced itself with sultry heat as his lips molded to her own. She opened her mouth for him, bending her head towards him as their tongues twisted together in a tango of dominance. Her hands slid up the length of his arms until she could feel her way along the backs of his shoulders, a few of her fingers disappearing into the dark waves of his hair as his mouth carnally consumed her very essence, trailing down her jaw line, sucking at her flesh until he was just above her pulsing jugular.

"Take what you want," she hushed as her arms wrapped around him, pressing him against her neck as she widened the gap to give him easy access to the blood that created him. His sharp teeth sunk into her flesh like a knife to milky butter. She moaned in response, her back arching against the wall, her body pressing firmly to him as she wrapped one of her lengthy stems around his leg, curling to him like he was her mold. Her eyelids fluttered closed as he drank from her and though he was taking her life force, stealing her energy, she found it highly erotic and she wanted him to take his fill even if it meant being passed out on her bed for the next week. Her blood poured into his mouth in ample abundance until he had his fill of her and then he pulled away, her body healing before his eyes even met hers. "Best you ever tasted?" She purred, her lips pressed against his ear, the tip of her tongue dipping into his ear before she pulled away to look at him and listen to his words. He looked so wounded as though he couldn't figure out why every woman he ever loved went for his younger brother instead of him and even if she could give him an answer to satisfy him, she couldn't. She felt for him then, an excruciating pain because she knew what it was like to have loved turned against her. He had loved her and she had pushed him away. How did that make her any better than the man that had shunned her when she was pregnant with his baby? Did Damon not have every right to kill her as she had killed the same almost lover she had once upon a time?

He nearly shattered her heart and as he pulled away, a ball quenched and lodged itself into her throat. She didn't want him to let go. His hands left her waist and he turned, running from her and she thought he'd leave her completely, walk out the door and trade this heartbreak for another with Katherine, but he didn't. She heard him sit on the couch in the living room and there she stood because this game of hers was finally beginning to take a toll on her. She looked at her face in the mirror and saw nothing in her reflection as if she was truly a vampire of legend with no image to see in the reflective glass. She sighed a little and wondered if she could give him the confession that he was searching for, but her pride stood in the way. She was after Stefan. Stefan, Stefan, Stefan… Damon. She turned then and walked out of the door and out into the living room with a melancholy look on her face as though her thoughts had consumed her and she stood there as mute as death itself. "Just because I say things Damon, doesn't mean that I mean them… just because you heard it doesn't make it true." Speaking in riddles wasn't helping and she knew it, but it was her backwards way of saying that she had a tendency to lean towards falsities to protect herself. "I didn't leave for him, I left for myself." She wanted so badly to tell him that she had wanted to stay; she wanted to tell him that she couldn't risk falling in love with him again. She had flipped her coin and Stefan had been staring her in the face, but now Damon was there and her coin wasn't landing, wasn't telling her anything… he was like a spindle that never stopped.

She walked over to him and got down onto her knees in front of him deciding that if she didn't give him something to bite off of, then she would probably lose him forever. It was another one of her tactics and she played her cards very well. "If you read my journals, you know that I did love you. I loved the both of you, but it's a balancing act that I was getting tired of carrying. I wanted one of you so I made my choice. I'm not going to lie to you Damon and string you along like some puppy on a leash, I didn't come back for you, but that doesn't mean I couldn't leave with you either now does it? I could very easily change my mind, I'm fickle that way, but even then, aren't you hopelessly in love with Elena, as Stefan is? Tell me now Damon, am I fighting for the right Salvatore? Are you really here to save your brother or are you here because you wanted to see me?" She knew she had given him enough food for thought to entertain him and she didn't really expect him to give her an answer as she was sure he didn't expect her to give him the words she had just spoken. "If you want to save your brother, I may have a solution. First, I know why Klaus wants Stefan and if it hadn't been for you, Klaus probably wouldn't have gotten his way either." She got to her fee then and walked over to the refrigerator that offered the bar. She pulled it open and pulled out two small bottles of chilled vodka before tossing him one.

"Back in the 20's I was following Stefan who found his way to Klaus and Rebekah at a club and I think he would have fallen for her too if things hadn't gotten out of control and Klaus hadn't compelled Stefan into forgetting their encounter. They were meant for each other then and Klaus… I think he's tired of being alone and he wants that friendship. Why he hasn't given Stefan those memories back, I don't know. I think he's just trying to force Stefan into making a willing decision to revert back to his old ways." Katherine sat herself down across from Damon before lifting her legs over his lap, "I don't think either of us want that especially if you want me. You get Stefan back to Elena, ruin my chances of having him, steal me for yourself. It's a nice plan, don't you think?" She had this teasing look in her eyes and it was clear that she had reverted back to her old ways. As sentimental as she could be, she wasn't about to let Damon feel that she could be what he used to have. She cared for him, but she wouldn't say it. She might even still have the capacity to love him, but she wouldn't allow him to see it. "I want to go to Stefan's old apartment in the morning. I have a feeling that they may stop there along their travels, if they already haven't. I don't think it will hurt to check things out, leave Stefan a little message on his list of names to let him know that we're tracking him." With one flick of her finger, the cap on her miniature vodka bottle flipped off of the top and landed across the room. She then brought the small neck to her lips and she took a swig of the sharp liquid and let it burn down her throat, loosening her body in order to soothe her over.

"The only question now is what are we going to do tonight?" Her Cheshire lips lifted upwards, her mocha gaze luring him towards her. She knew she had power over him, but it wasn't as though she was wilding it purposely to trap him in her snare. No, he was falling victim to her again at his own hand. She almost thought that maybe, just maybe he was after her because he wanted her instead of Elena, but Katherine knew she was mistaken. Why would he care enough about the woman that shattered his heart to want to follow her to the ends of the Earth and back? Katherine wasn't important even though she made herself out to be. She had made it perfectly clear that she was after Stefan and from the very start she had broken Damon's hopes and dreams of being with her. She had admired him for trying so hard to save her from the tomb even though she hadn't been in it, but none of his efforts had ever been enough. He truly was the brother that loved her too much, but wasn't that always what she wanted. He had her questioning her desires and she hated him for it. Stefan was the difficult option, maybe that was why she was so intent on having him because Damon would always be the easy option, but he had always shown his devotion, he had always given it willingly. Damon never required compulsion where Stefan needed coaxing to get her blood into his system. Damon had always been willing to spend the rest of his life with her so why had she chosen Stefan? Why was he the better option?... She was starting to doubt her resolve.

"But first, let's play a game of truth or lie. I'll ask you a question and you give me an answer. I'll judge it as a truth or as a lie and then, on penalty of death, you tell me which it is with full honesty. If my guess is wrong, then you can dare me to do whatever you want me to do and vice versa, but if either of us lie we jump from that balcony and plunge to a possible death at our own will knowing that we are solely responsible for our own passing. Sound like a deal to you?" She studied his eyes for a few moments, watching the contemplation float in his riveting orbs as he bounced around the deal in his head. She knew he was realizing that Katherine would never sacrifice her life for a little game and her word, though it meant nothing and held no real value, could be used to get her to give him straight answers. This was an opportunity for him to force her to open up about her life and finally give him the answers he was looking for. "There are no rules to my game Damon, no catches… well; actually I think it would be interesting if we limit this game to one question a piece. No question off limits, but you can get an answer you have been looking for, for centuries. So I'd suggest that you think carefully. And seeing as how, I already know what I want to ask you Damon, I'll go first. You answer me this question: why didn't you leave Damon? Why did you stay?"

DAMON'S POV -

Damon wondered how long he could keep up the charade that Katherine didn't mean anything to him. He was certain what he had just foolishly told her had tipped her off to the fact that the emotions he tried to desperately to suppress were bubbling up in the pit of his stomach again. She's a liar and a self-centered bitch. Don't do this to yourself again, he told himself, but his advice was falling on deaf ears because he could already feel the magnetic pull that Katherine had over him. His crystal orbs shifted from the black screen to her as she stood there rigid in front of him. She had this look on her face he had never seen before and it puzzled him. "What the hell is that suppose to mean?" Damon snapped coolly at her response. She was talking like she was some sort of riddle writer, and the following statement didn't make much more sense. If she left for herself and not for Stefan, than what was the reason she had fled? They had shared an amazing night, one that Damon would always hold fondly in his heart no matter what happened and she bailed like it was a travesty. "Katherine…I don't understand you," he murmured, less defensive then. She caught him off guard when she walked over to him, getting down on her knees between his legs. His azure oceans latched on to her mocha gems as he listened to her, her words tugging on his heart strings and offering the hope he really didn't want to fall for. "I don't…Katherine…" he shook his head, trying to piece all this together.

Was she telling him what he wanted to hear, pulling him in like a fish on a hook so she could use him for something? Or was Katerina Petrova finally being sincere and honest with him? It was such a gamble, and Damon wasn't much of a betting man; yet he was willing to put everything on the line for her again and he hated it. "That's just it, Katherine…you're fickle," he stated. "How can I trust someone who one day loves my brother, but maybe the next day she wants me? A future with you can't be certain, and although I love your spontaneity, I don't like how careless you are with other people's feelings." Namely mine. "You only thing of yourself…and I get it…it's kept you alive for over the last five hundred years, but at what cost? You don't have anyone who really loves you or cares for you or trusts you as a friend." Sure he was fibbing some, because truthfully he still loved and cared for her and he probably always would…but he most certainly didn't trust her. "Yes I love Elena, but I'm getting tired of wanting things that I can never have and I'm coming to the point of acceptance where I realize Elena isn't mine and she never will be. She loves my brother, and she deserves him." He scoffed a little after that statement. "Well, she deserves the old him. The new one deserves to get his head knocked off a few times, but they're good for each other," he shrugged, refusing to answer if she was chasing the right brother or not.

It was an unfair question, and he wasn't about to ask her to vie for him instead of Stefan. She would make that choice on her own when she had sense enough to realize who the better fit for her was, and he wasn't going to convince her of it. That wasn't love, nor was that his job. Katherine didn't give him time to answer her final question before she got to her feat, sauntering over to the bar as she grabbed a bottle of vodka for each of them. He caught his gratefully, unscrewing the top as he placed the bottle to his lips and took a gulp of the clear fiery liquid. "Great, I knew I didn't like that guy…but now I really know," he added dryly, referring to the original Klaus. The information she divulged about Klaus and Stefan's relations caught Damon by surprise. He hadn't been around Stefan in the 20's, he had gone off on his own, and to learn that he had become best friends with Klaus and even started to fall for his sister surprised him. Maybe he didn't know his baby brother as well as he thought he did. Damon shot her an annoyed look as she rested her feet in his lap, her remark rubbing him the wrong way. "Katherine, you're not some prize to be fought over or for. If you want me, you'll choose me. I'm not going to win or beg for your affections. I've been there…I've done that, and in case you've forgotten it didn't end quite well for me. I'm tired of your games, they're exhausting." He knew he was being harsh with her, but he wanted her to know that he wasn't going to follow her around like a little pet and do what she wanted to prove his worth.

He already had in his eyes, several times over, and if she couldn't see that—it was her problem, not his. "But I am interested in getting him back to Elena because that is where he belongs. So yes, in that respect your plan is a good one. However I know how he is hopped on blood, and he's stubborn. If Klaus is truly making him return to his Ripper ways this isn't going to be easy, Kat. It may even be impossible," Damon reasoned, but they could contemplate ways to snap him out of it tomorrow. She was right; they needed something to do tonight—something that was going to relax him after that long drive. He raised his brow at her suggestion for, surprise, surprise, another game. Bringing the bottle to his lips he killed the rest of the vodka in the bottle with a soft sigh, placing the bottle on the side table as he looked over to her. It almost seemed like she wanted to tell him the truth, but this was the only fucked up way she knew how to—was him asking her a question, and her life as a penalty for lying. And even though he was a magnificent liar, Katherine was amazing at smelling bullshit and he knew he wouldn't be able to fool her and vice versa. "Fine Katherine, it's not like I have anything better to do," he smirked, chuckling a little under his breath. The fact this held no rules made him curious and more apt to play, though he was disappointed she was limiting this to one question. He listened to the one she asked, hating it right away. She wanted the truth and he didn't want to give it because it opened himself up to what he didn't want: heartbreak.

Damon let out a disgruntled mutter. "I stayed because I came here to see you. Stefan is just a side mission, Katherine. The moment you called I was anxious to see you, and so when you asked me here I didn't hesitate—I came. It would be a waste of trip to come here to spend time with you and then leave. I'm here because I wanted to be here with you," he finalized with a shrug as though it wasn't a big deal, but the reality was—it was. "Alright, my turn," he exclaimed with a cunning grin. "Are you scared to love me Katherine?" It was a simple question, but it was going to tell him a lot about her. For one, it was going to tell him whether or not she did love him or even wanted to, and then it was going to tell him if she had issues—which he had an inkling she did. Her journals that he snooped in only touched the surface of the iceberg of her life, and he was certain that a woman as closed off and jaded as she had something to make her such a bitter self serving bitch. He refused to believe someone would blossom into that type of person of their own free will. He knew that he was an asshole because of his reasons, and it certainly wasn't because he liked being one. Elena had made him realize that when she opened him up to doing good things, to feeling things, and for wanting to help others. He didn't want to be a monster but it was the easy way out. It was easier than being good in the face of adversity.

KATHERINE'S POV -

"That's the point love; you aren't supposed to understand me. No one is. I'm mysterious," she whispered. There would never come a day that Katherine wouldn't be playing some kind of a game. She had sworn to herself long ago that if the time came where she was forced to make the decision that dealt with her well being, it would be her against the world. She wasn't going to care enough to want to be with someone else or let someone understand her enough to get underneath her skin. She had so many layers and so many planted detours so that, if someone did come close, she would be able to ward them away. Granted, she had let Damon in a little too far for her comfort, but that was okay because he wasn't getting any further than she wanted him to get. Any information that he got his hands on had its source with her because she would not let anything out that she didn't want to let him know. Quite frankly, very few people understood her more than Elijah did. Not only had he had the opportunity to know her as a human, but he had loved her too and back then she had been very naïve and had given herself over to him in a way that had exposed her to Klaus. She was of the firm belief that Elijah's love, at the time, had only run so far and that his love for his family ran even deeper. She didn't realize it at the time, but she let him in quite further than she let Klaus in, Elijah knew her on a basis that no one else did. She hated herself for it too. She had trusted him and he had failed her. Maybe if she had better examples of love and trust she would have learned that not all people were as sick as the men that walked into her life back in her human years.

The examples weren't there so she spoke in riddles and preferred to be as much of an enigma as the crystal blue in Damon's eyes. "I never meant to hurt you if that's any consolation." She would give him that because it was the truth. She never went into anything with the intent of hurting someone, but she hadn't thought about it either. She was very self-absorbed and anything she did was out of gratification that would serve herself and no one else. She could see how he would misconstrue that as using him, but she had never consciously thought of it that way. Cutting off her humanity had cut off her empathy, her need for compassion, and her need for love. She could feel it creeping back into her mind as she spoke to Damon, opening up just enough to give him a taste of what he was searching for. She knew that he was after the whole pie, but she would never give it all to him even if she served him a dozen pieces, he would never see Katherine as a hole. She listened to him not because she felt that she owed him anything, but because she wanted to hear what he had to say, what was lurking in that mind of his. "Oh that's a nasty thing to say to me," she spat; highly offended that he would claim that no one loved her. "I have friends and I'll admit I've coerced most of them into owing me a debt, but there are people walking around on this Earth that would lay down their life for me knowing I wouldn't do the same for them. People do care about me; they just don't know that the feeling isn't returned."

So maybe she was a conniving bitch without a moral center, but at least she knew how to win. That was the most important thing, wasn't it? At least this way she couldn't die and that was the worst outcome imaginable for her. "Besides, just because I'm alone doesn't mean I'm lonely." That was true, for the most part. She liked being alone because she only had to take care of herself, but she did have a tendency to wrap people around her so that she didn't force herself to insanity with silence. She had lasted nearly two centuries without the man she was convinced that she loved enough to want to fight for, she had been alone for quite some time, but she never let it get to her. "I don't need companionship. That's my gift." She could survive. A lazy smile drifted on her lips as she took another little swig from the miniature vodka bottle, the liquid burning down her throat as he answered her question about Elena. She almost wanted to shout for joy that he had finally come to his senses, "And here I thought it would take you 150 years to figure out you didn't need her." She snickered, she knew that would hurt him, but what else was he to suspect of Katherine? She was a teaser and she always would be even if her words bordered on bullying, but she knew he could take it, at least, he had taken all of her abuse without consequence before. What would make this bite any different? And then she saw it, she saw the way her words reflected against the color of his eyes and how his lips tightened with tension and she could tell he wanted to say something, wanted to get up and walk away, but he didn't. He never did. If he really wanted to make her fight for him, he would get up and fucking walk away. He would make her want him, but he never did that. He always did the opposite of what she wanted him to do and that infuriated him because it was typical Damon, she expected it out of him; as contrary as all of that sounded.

Both of her dark eyebrows raised, her eyelids widening a little as she looked at him, surprise feigning over her features in something that was nearly genuine, but quite mocking. "It sounds like you are playing a game with me, sounds as though you are trying to tell me that you secretly want me to choose you, but you aren't willing to say it." She realized that he wasn't telling her what she wanted to hear for the same reasons that she wasn't about to go and open up to him—they were both scared of what would come if they did. They each had suffered great injury and neither was in the mood to get hurt again in the same way and that didn't make either of them a coward, it made them smarter than the average individual. Going through that pain again was as though they were willingly opting to go through self-mutilation of the heart. "Even if I did choose you, you would never forgive me. It would be like starting a fated relationship doomed to end at the very start." That was a fact because they both knew that Damon didn't have it in him to forgive her the wrong that she had caused him anymore than she had the nerve in her bones to actually come out and apologize for it. She didn't work that way and he didn't work that way. They were far too similar to get along with one another and that was the bottom line. Their relationship, whatever was there, would always remain physical until they both broke and she apologized and he forgave. And that was the process, she had to apologize first so that he would have the opportunity to forgive her of something she was truly sorry for, something she was asking his forgiveness for.

"Nothing is impossible if you just believe," she smiled at him playfully, like a little girl at Disneyland. She relaxed into the arm of the couch, one of the plush pillows offering her the back support she needed as she watched him carefully. It was clear that she as studying him and keeping a trained eye on the unconscious habits that let her know whether he was lying to her or telling her the truth. He wasn't happy with her question and she was certain the feeling would be mutual when she was given the question, but for now she was ringmaster and he was the storyteller. So her suspicions were true, he did want to see her and it made her feel good knowing that she was more important than his brother was to him; she probably shouldn't have thought about it that way, but she did. But before she could comment with her amusement, he came back at her with his question, leaving her no room for comment. Her eyebrows furrowed together and her mouth set into a line; of all the questions he had to ask, he had to ask the most impossible one. She had promised him the truth at the penalty of her own death and she knew he could read her… for the most part anyways, and lying was futile at this point. It was the truth or nothing at all. She couldn't run and she wouldn't fight, a deal was a deal and she has struck this bargain so it was time to see it through to its end. "It isn't so much a question of being scared to love you Damon, it's a question of being scared to love at all… but how can I give you an honest answer, if I don't have the answer myself?" It was a legitimate question, but she didn't need him to answer it because she had promised him more than answering a question with another question.

"The man that fathered my child, the last man that I allowed myself to truly love, I killed. I killed his wife, I slaughtered his daughters, one of their husbands, and their new-born baby. That kind of agony isn't what I wanted to feel for the rest of my immortal existence. I'm not scared of you Damon. I just don't want to love again. So, I guess, looking at the big picture, I am scared to love you as I am scared to love anyone else because my only true regret with my life was loving too much." It was a brutal answer and hard for her to face, but she said it, let each word drip off her tongue without breaking eye contact because she would not look weak in that moment with him. She was stronger and she could prove it. "You never knew me as a human being and I was one, once upon a time and even though you have a tendency to forget, I do have the capacity to feel." She then took the last swig of the clear liquor and got to her feet. "Fuck you Damon," she growled, walking away from him and over to the balcony before chucking the glass bottle as hard as she could and she watched it disappear into the darkened sky. She didn't care where it landed or if someone got hurt because of it, she was angry; that was an emotion, wasn't it? Katherine then hoisted herself up onto the steel railing; her balance was impeccable, her skill something to be admired. "Would you be like Jack Dawson and try to convince me not to jump?" She saw romance and irony in her reference to Titanic and the scene where Rose is dangling over the butt of the ship, ready to let go, ready to drop into icy waters.

Katherine looked out over the edge at the street below. The cars were like ants and she could see bobs of heads, but only because she was a vampire. She had never attempted a jump from this high, but it looked fun. With one swift motion, she twisted herself around on the thin railing on one foot so that she could face the room and inevitably face Damon. She lifted her arms and puffed out her chest; throwing back her head slightly almost as though she was going to do a back-flip off of the edge of a diving board. "You wanted to see me Damon Salvatore, so here I am!" She raised her voice slightly, letting her words catch onto the wind and carry over it to get to him. "I dare you to push me over. I'm a fucking damn good liar." She was revolting like a rebelling teenager and even if she knew her actions were childish, foolish even, she didn't stop herself because she was naturally impulsive. Every word had been the truth even if she had covered them up slightly to make it sound more complicated than it actually was. She was scared to love again, but she was definitely more fearful of Damon than she was Stefan. Stefan was the safe answer because Katherine knew that he would love her and never leave her whereas Damon had the capacity to love her and then leave her. She didn't want to be left. She was scared to love him, she had always been scared to love him because she knew, from the very start, from the time they first locked eyes on each other, that he was the one that she wanted. And that terrified her.