All my wonderful, wonderful readers. I have no excuses…. Two months is way too long to update, I know! Oh well, I'll try to be better. I've got a good idea where I'm going with this now and probably only have about 4 more chapters to go. Hopefully it won't take me too long to get there!

Chapter 5

Caroline lies in bed, sprawled across the now clean, pristine white covers. If Damon has managed to teach her nothing else, she now knows the five best ways to do laundry.

Blood is such a nuisance.

Damon is in the bathroom, hogging the shower as he does every morning. As the sun shines brightly through the glass doors she screws her eyes shut and groans. Vampires and sunlight do not mix. She thinks that she'll go back to sleep.

"Mornin' Blondie," Damon taunts as he walks out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel wrapped loosely around his hips. At least he has something on, Caroline thinks wryly. Small mercies. Images flash through her mind, reminding her exactly what does lie underneath that towel and she tries not to groan. Then again, maybe that towel is not such a blessing.

"Found the porn channels yet?" Damon asks as he starts to get dressed, gently slipping the towel from his hips. Caroline blushes and looks away.

"I must say," he continues, "the ones that they've got aren't half bad. But then again," he looks over his shoulder with a wicked grin, "they're nothing compared to the real thing. As you would remember." Caroline's eyes flutter closed as he continues to get dressed. Oh yes, she remembers. Despite his best efforts, she remembers everything.
Sometimes when she takes her victims to her bed, she revisits those memories of him. They teach her in a way that he never has. They teach her how to seduce, how to destroy, how to give pleasure and how to demand it.

Damon Salvatore is the ultimate predator.

As if he can hear her thoughts (and she wouldn't be surprised if he could and had been keeping that little tidbit to himself) a now clothed Damon turns to her and smirks.

"Breakfast?" he asks wickedly. She shakes her head in refusal,

"I'm still full from last night." He scoffs in disbelief,

"Really? You didn't even drink that one dry." She shrugs,

"You forget, I've spent the last year drinking scraps out of bunnies and blood bag. I feel like I've been totally binging for the last two weeks." He laughs,

"What? Are you worried about the calories? Luckily for you, we're stuck at the weight we died at." His expression shifts and he looks her over with a mischievous smile,

"Then again, maybe it's not so lucky."

"Hey!" she yells indignantly and throws the pillow from behind her head at him. To his credit, he lets it hit him as he laughs loudly. He takes a seat on the end of the bed and leans back to lie on her stomach. They remain silent for a moment before Damon whispers,

"You know, you owe me big time." Caroline raises an eyebrow.

"Is that so?" she asks dryly.

"Yep," he grins. "I've been teaching you all this great stuff and getting nothing in return." She rolls her eyes,

"What do you want Damon?" He pauses before rolling over to look up at her in a position that she finds oddly reminiscent of another time with him and it takes all of her self-control not to shudder with desire. Damon smirks, seemingly unaware of her internal struggle and continues,

"I was thinking, that maybe tonight, you could take a woman." She shrugs, it was not like she was unfamiliar with it. He goes on, "And let me watch." Caroline raises both of her brows in surprise. Then again, it's not so surprising, she thinks as she looks down at his lewd smile. She shrugs and lies back.

"Why not? You might be able to learn something." He laughs in disbelief and she has to agree. When it comes to the female body, Damon Salvatore has nothing left to learn.

"I've always wanted to stay here," the redhead remarks as she gazes at their hotel in astonishment. She turns to face Caroline who is walking beside her,

"How much is this costing you? What suite are you in? Are you planning on staying lo-", her bombardment of questions is cut off by Caroline shoving her harshly into a wall. Caroline's eyes grow dark and she growls,

"Would you just shut up?" The redhead blinks in shock but obediently remains silent. Caroline sighs in relief,

"Much better." Her expression shifts from malice to a sultry smile. She leans forward and presses her lips against the other girl's, who responds eagerly. A soft cough startles her and she looks around to see Damon leaning against the wall, a smirk gracing his lips.

"Oh, don't mind me," he grins. "Carry on." He pauses a moment in thought before adding, "Although, if you want to take this upstairs, I'm sure we'll have a much better time." Caroline is tempted to slap him but after a moment's thought, shrugs and smiles.

"Sounds like a plan," she whispers before dragging her conquest into the hotel. Damon watches in awe, momentarily frozen, until he comes to his senses and follows her, a lewd smirk covering his face. By the time he gets into their hotel room, the two girls are already lying on the bed and Caroline is beginning to undress the other. She looks across the room to him and smiles,

"Join us?" Damon doesn't hesitate before stripping and crossing the room. Caroline has sunk her teeth into the girl's neck and Damon mirrors her action from behind. They sit there with the girl wedged between them, slowly being drained dry. Damon pulls away and meets Caroline's eyes,

"You better stop if you want to have any other form of fun with her tonight." Caroline watches Damon, unable to move or break eye contact. As Damon watches, Caroline continues to drink until the girl lies limp in her arms. The blonde vampire throws the dead girl off the bed and whispers,

"Maybe we don't need her to have fun." His eyes widen briefly but he quickly leans forward, grabbing her and pushing her onto the bed. They press their mouths together desperately, stripping off the last of their clothing. As Damon kisses her, she leans backwards into the bed and shudders. As she watches him she comes to a frightening realization. She had always thought she could live without this. Without him. But maybe, just maybe...

Maybe she can't.