A/N: Thank you so much for your patience over my two week updating hiatus. S&SM updates will be back weekly on Thursday's from here on out. One more chapter after this one, and then an epilogue.

Because the last chapter was angsty, and the next one will be quite angsty too, I've tried to keep this as light as I can, but considering the content, it's certainly not the lightest or fluffiest chapter I've ever written. It's also the longest :/

Chapter 20

"You want me to break into Elijah's computer at Elena's farewell lunch on Friday, and remove what exactly?" Damon asked Katherine.

"Remove photos, and anything else you can find of me on there."

"Why me?"

"I have no-one else, Damon. And I know you'd never risk Elena finding out. I'm sure you're aware that what's on this disk could still cause many problems for her."

"You're a real piece of work."

"I know. You used to like that about me."

"No, I just used to look past that."

"Your mistake, not mine."

"You're aware what you're asking me to do is illegal?"

"Again, your problem, not mine."

She had no compunction about using people to get what she needed.

"How am I supposed to get into his office unseen?"

"Simple. Everyone from the top floor will be at the lunch. You'll already be there, because you're her client. You'll just go when I give you the signal."

"And you're going to distract Elijah?"

"Yes. You'll need to stay clear of the cameras. I'll give you a map."

"What about passwords, and how will I know which files to look for."

"Everything you need is in a file named Klaus."

"Klaus?"

"It's the name of his cat."

Damon frowned as he imagined a picture of Elijah as Dr Claw from Inspector Gadget, with an evil cat named Klaus by his side.

"What about passwords?"

"You'll have to figure that out yourself?"

"You're asking me to do Mission Impossible here."

"Do I need to say it again?"

"No, I heard you the first time. My problem, blah, blah, blah. Only it's not just my problem is it? If I don't get this, Elijah will still have whatever he has on you."

"Wrong. If you don't come through, Damon, I'll show this disk to Elijah, and it'll be Elena he's after."

"It'll be too late then. She'll already be finished there."

"All he has to do is spread the word, and her name is dirt."

"Are we done here?"

"I'll bring you a map of the building on Wednesday."

"Goody. Can't wait."

"It was always supposed to be like this, Damon. You're the one who messed up and fell in love."

"Yes, that's the part of this that's messed up."

"When you said you wanted to get back together, I thought it was because you'd realized we were the same, and that we're perfect together."

The last time she'd told him they were the same, he'd agreed with her, but this time, he felt like she might just be wrong. He already knew why. It wasn't that he'd undergone a personality change; no it was because Elena believed he was different. He loved her and respected her so much, that he was starting to question whether he could really be that bad, if she loved him.

She was like a light in his life, illuminating the way for him to realize who he was exactly. She was the person he cared about the most and the fact that she'd given him someone to care about other than himself, had turned his whole world upside down in the best possible way. Now he just had to take care of this Katherine/Elijah situation and he was going to enjoy having her in his life for as long as it lasted.

Katherine simply raised an eyebrow at his silence. "You really love her?"

"I do."

"I don't know if I could ever care about someone the way you care about her."

"You never know until it happens."

"For what it's worth, I'm kind of glad you're happy."

Damon smiled, and they had a moment.

"Now get me my photos, and I'll be even happier."

And just like that it was broken.

"Goodbye Katherine."

"I'm already leaving."

As he watched Katherine walk away, Damon had an idea. Maybe, just maybe, he could turn this into a glass half full situation. He picked up his mobile phone and dialed Rose's number.

"No way." Rose said to him, on Monday morning. "It's illegal, and-"

"And I'm not asking you to do anything, except provide me with some information."

"You're willing to risk everything for Elena?"

"I told you Katherine has us on disk. If I can't pull this off, Elena's name will be dirt, she'll be out of publicity permanently."

"Very selfless," Rose murmured. "What did you ever see in Katherine?"

"I thought we were soul mates," he confided.

"You're kidding," Rose said to him.

"I mean, I thought we were the same. And I thought she was the one person I would have a chance of making a relationship work with."

"You were wrong."

"I know."

"No, I mean. You're nothing like her."

"She destroys lives, and if I can't fix this, I'll have destroyed Elena's."

"You don't honestly believe that, do you? Imagine if Katherine had asked someone else to seduce Elena."

"She would have resisted, maybe. I don't know."

"Damon, Elena loves you."

"I know."

"So, it takes two to tango. She's made the decisions that led her here, and I don't think she'd ever regret them."

"Maybe not, but I would."

"You're undermining what the two of you have."

"How?"

"When love is real; when love is right, Damon, you can't walk away. You can't, as much as you want to. Elena couldn't walk away from you, and you couldn't walk away from her. Stop fighting it, accept it and work with it. Stop trying to diminish what you have, and stop, for the love of God, blaming yourself."

"What's that? Pop psychology 101?"

"I know love when I see it. If anything I envy you. I loved Trevor, and I risked everything but he never loved me the way I loved him. He was in love with Katherine."

"I'm sorry."

"Not as sorry as I was."

"Which brings us back to my question. What can you tell me about the information you had access to before you left Mystic Falls PR."

Rose told him about the file she'd seen, before pausing. "Actually, I can do you one better."

"What's that?"

"I have a friend who can get through any firewall, access code, and password search."

"A hacker?" Damon asked.

"He owes me one. He can go with you."

"How am I going to get him into the building?"

"There's a back entrance, and I'm going to help."

"You were just saying how dangerous this is, and now you want to get involved."

"I've been afraid of Elijah for too long, and your stupidity is contagious."

"You know the risks," Damon said to her with a shrug.

"If we can pull this off I think we can take down Elijah for good. Besides, that file won't be so easy to access this time. If the two of us go in knowing what we're looking for, we'll be faster."

"Somehow I feel this is all going very Ocean's Eleven."

"It will just be the three of us."

"Okay then."

"I'll talk to Slater, and I'll get back to you."

Elena was worried. The last time she'd seen Damon was on Sunday after he'd told her about Lucy and introduced her to his mom. She thought things had gone okay, but he'd been giving her the brush off ever since then and she had no idea why. He kept telling her he was working on his novel, but she knew it was more than that. Every time they spoke on the phone, he was distant and vague, and she had no idea what to do.

It seemed fitting that she should get a call from RCW two days before she was due to leave Mystic Falls PR, and end her stint as Damon's publicist. The publicity that had been generated from his television appearances and book tour had the radio station talking about Damon trialling a thirty minutes segment every Friday. If the segment became popular enough, they wouldn't hesitate to extend it. She knew Damon would be thrilled – if he'd pick up his phone.

Seeing this as the perfect opportunity to see him, she finished work on Wednesday, and drove to his house.

"Elena," he said, clearly surprised to see her. "What are you doing here?"

He looked happy to see her for all of about a second, before his expression became masked. Elena realized he was holding the door half closed. She remembered how he had held the door in the same way to keep her hidden when Katherine had made her surprise visit on tour. She quickly dismissed the thought he had another woman with him. She trusted him, but he was hiding something.

"I have some good news. Actually, it's great news. I even brought champagne." She held up the bottle she'd purchased on the way over. "Can I come in?"

Damon glanced behind him, before looking back at her with a pained expression on his face. "This really isn't a good time."

"Oh."

Something was clearly going on in the house he didn't want to see. What could be so bad that he didn't want her to see it? She wanted nothing more than to barge in and find out what the hell was going on, but instead she handed him the champagne.

"RCW want you to do a ten minute segment for them every Friday. I've set up a meeting for you for next week, but I'll give you the details when you're not…busy."

She turned around and walked away.

"Elena," he called out, after her. She turned back to look at him. "I'll call you later."

She nodded, and turned around again. It was as she moved past a window she caught a flash of a familiar face. Elena stopped in front on the window. She was sure it was Katherine. Just what the hell was going on?

She wouldn't think the worst; she wouldn't, she tried to convince herself. Everyone in his life had assumed the worst of him and that was exactly what had caused half of his relationship problems in the first place. It wasn't like Katherine had been naked. She was just there. Elena's mind whirled with every possibility, of why Katherine would be there, as she got into her car and drove off.

Damon cursed at everything. Of all the times for Elena to turn up, she'd had to come by when Katherine had come around with the maps of Mystic Falls PR, and he was sorting out some of the last minute details with her. Right now, he didn't know how to be around Elena and not tell her what was going on. He didn't want to lie to her, but she would most likely try and talk him out of doing this thing for her.

He had been avoiding her calls, and making excuses not to see her; telling her he was working on his book. He missed her like crazy, but until this week was over, he couldn't pretend to focus on anything other than getting through Friday. He hadn't told Katherine about Rose and Slater, because he didn't want her to know. If he had his way, he'd have everything on Katherine, and Elijah, and neither of them would be able to threaten Elena ever again.

Friday morning went by in a blur for Elena, but then Thursday had been a blur too. Damon had called her on Wednesday night as he'd promised, but he'd sounded so distracted that Elena hadn't been able to help pushing for more information about why he wasn't coming around. Again he'd told her he was busy writing, and then got off the phone very quickly.

"Elena, everyone's waiting for you in the conference room," Caroline told her.

"Thanks. Is he here?"

Caroline nodded. "One of the first to arrive."

Elena made her way to the conference room, thinking that it would be her last trip there. The moment she walked into the room, she heard a champagne cork pop, and Elijah cleared his throat. The conference room was at full capacity, but everyone quietened immediately. Elena's eyes found Damon in the throng of people, but his look gave nothing away, and Elena felt everything inside her go cold. Had things finished between them without her even realizing it? Is that what she was missing? She made her way to the front of the room, to stand beside Elijah, and he smiled at her softly.

"It is rare that Mystic Falls PR has ever seen a more tenacious and dedicated worker than you Elena Gilbert."

Elena smiled politely, and tried not to think about her relationship ending already.

"It is with great regret that we are seeing you leave us, and while we wish you the best for the future, I hope you know you will be missed. You'll always have a job here if you want one. If you will all raise your glasses, and join me in wishing Elena good luck."

A glass was thrust into Elena's hand by someone on her right, but Elena merely smiled modestly at everyone without drinking. She'd heard it was bad luck, to drink when she was the one being toasted.

"Lunch has been served by the Piping Hot Cooking Crew. Elena we hope you enjoy your final hours at Mystic Falls PR."

Elena was silently amused by the fact that Elijah was promoting and publicizing even at a simple farewell lunch. People went in all directions and Elena was greeted by colleague after colleague, telling her how much they would miss her. It would have been heart-warming, and a little sad had she been able to give the affair the proper concentration it deserved. Instead she found herself trying to find Damon in the room full of people, only to come up empty. She came across Caroline piling a plate with chicken and mashed potato.

"Have you seen Damon?" she asked her.

"He left about ten minutes ago," Caroline told her apologetically.

"Oh."

"He left with Katherine," Caroline added hesitantly.

At that moment Katherine actually walked back into the room, but Damon was not with her. Before she thought better of it, Elena walked up to the other woman.

"Have you seen Damon?"

"Yes."

"Where is he?"

"He went home," Katherine told her. "He said to give you his regards, and like Elijah, wishes you the best for your future."

Katherine picked up a glass of champagne and dared Elena to ask for more information. After disputing she was any more than his publicist, Elena couldn't really say anymore. Katherine raised an eyebrow at her now.

"Did you have anything else to ask me?"

"No," Elena told her.

"Well, enjoy your lunch, Elena," Katherine told her, before walking off to speak with Elijah.

Elena looked around the crowded room. This was a luncheon in her honor. If she left the room, people would notice. She was stuck here until it was over, and she would spend the next however long waiting for it to finish, so she could find out if her relationship was finished. She needed to track Damon down and make him talk, because she couldn't do this anymore. She would become a nervous wreck.

"This is Slater," Rose told Damon.

The two men acknowledged each other with little more than a nod. This was a matter of get in, get out, as quickly as possible.

Damon had only been to Elijah's office once, but he remembered the way. He had Katherine's map in his hand, with every camera spot marked. True to Katherine's word, the entire top floor was deserted, but that didn't mean Damon wanted to stay any longer than needed. If they got caught, they needed to have their get out of jail free card in their hands – dirt on Elijah.

"Okay," Slater said, sitting down at Elijah's desk, once they'd made it.

Damon watched Rose pull up the corner of the carpet and pull out a key, which she then used to unlock one of the five sets of filing cabinets in the room. She quickly searched through the draw and pulled out something that looked like bank statements.

"What am I looking for first?" Slater asked.

Damon and Rose looked at each other.

"Come on, people. I need answers. Now."

"You first,' Damon said to Rose.

Rose went to stand by Slater's shoulder, with her bank records.

"It's a file with the initials, ojp at the end."

Damon went to stand beside the two of them, so Rose and Damon were each looking over Slater's shoulders. Damon knew his way around a computer, but he had no idea what the hell Slater was doing. The man's fingers clacked across the keyboard, as lines of data appeared on the screen. After what felt like forever, but was probably only three or so minutes, Slater made a noise of triumph.

"Found it."

"Open it," Rose said to him.

Slater opened the folder as requested, and Damon could see pictures of two men pop up on the screen. One was smiling with his arm around the shoulders of a little blonde girl, and the other was just looking at the camera. There was something going on in the background, but he couldn't make it out at that moment. Damon had no idea how this was going to save them, or how it would threaten Elijah.

"Is that it?" Damon asked.

"That's it," Rose said with a smile. She turned to Damon. "I don't have time to explain right now, but trust me we've just hit the big time."

Damon hoped she was right as Slater downloaded the information onto the storage device he had taken in there.

"Can you delete it, Slater?" Rose asked.

"Done, but there's no guarantee he doesn't have it backed up. Next," Slater said, his fingers still flying along the keys. "What's next, Damon?"

"Klaus. We need to look for a file named Klaus."

"Here it is," Slater told them straight away.

"That was fast," Rose said.

"It wasn't hidden, but something isn't right with it."

Slater opened the folder.

"That's what we want," Damon said to Slater, as photos of Katherine flashed up on the screen. They were nude photos, but Damon was again surprised that there was nothing particularly out of the ordinary about any of them. They were mildly suggestive, but that was all. This was what had been keeping Katherine bound to Elijah?

Slater took out a different storage device, and copied the file across.

"Shit," Slater said, after he pressed the delete key.

"What?" both Rose and Damon asked together.

Damon watched the computer screen go black, and a large green timer start counting down from five minutes.

"We need to get out of here now."

"Do we have the file?" Damon asked.

"Yeah we have it, but we also have the sickest virus I've ever seen. This file will infect anything we try and run it on."

"What do we do now?" Damon asked.

"Get the hell out of here," Slater told them. "I imagine Elijah has already received an alert about someone trying to break into his computer. We have to go."

Slater shoved his equipment into his pocket and the three of them left in a hurry, doing their best to dodge the cameras by memory rather than reading the map. Damon sincerely hoped he wasn't going to jail, moreover, he hoped that whatever they had would be enough to keep Elena out of trouble. Sure she'd said she'd take another job; a job that wasn't in PR, but he hoped the risk had payed off and there would be no need for her to do that.

They made it out the door, without anyone following them. Damon drove back to his house, while Rose and Slater followed him. When they reached his place, they looked at the first file they'd downloaded from Elijah's computer.

"So what is this?" Damon asked, when the pictures of the men flashed up on the screen in a slide show. "Who are they?"

"That is Bertie Grossman and that is Daniel Hargraves."

"And they are?"

"They are the owners of the next two biggest publicity companies in the state."

"Go on," Damon told her.

Rose smiled. "Elijah has been blackmailing them for money and their biggest clients for years now."

She pointed to the photo of Bertie Grossman and the young girl.

"That's Bertie's daughter," Rose said.

"So?"

"So, to the best of Bertie's wife's knowledge, her husband is infertile, and unable to give her the child she wants."

Next she pointed to the photo of Daniel Hargraves. "Slater, can you magnify this one for me, please?"

Slater zoomed in on the background of the photo, and Damon could see a man in bed behind where Daniel was posing.

"He's gay?" Damon asked.

"He's bisexual, but again, his wife has no idea that he's been having an affair with the local priest."

Damon must have still looked doubtful, because Rose patted his arm, and handed him the bank statements. Sure enough, Damon could see thousands of dollars being deposited into Elijah's account every month from a B Grossman and a D Hargraves.

"You're sure about this?" he asked Rose.

"I'm sure."

"Why would Elijah have these lying around?"

"Well technically they were locked away, but he probably thinks he's above ever being caught. He has successfully managed to blackmail anyone who has ever come up against him."

"What will he do when he finds out we have these?"

"He'll let Elena leave, and maybe he'll send our new company a few clients as well."

"It's a crowd in here," Katherine said, sashaying into the study, where the three of them were crammed around Damon's computer.

"I'm changing the locks next week," Damon ground out.

Katherine shrugged. "If you've done what I asked you to do, I won't need to get back in. Where are my photos?"

"Yeah, slight problem with that," Damon said to her.

"Elijah had the file protected," Slater explained to her. "We couldn't erase it, and while we have the file, it will destroy anything we try and upload it on."

"I knew it had a virus, and I knew it was protected, but-"

"You knew?" Damon growled.

"Of course. Why do you think I didn't just do it myself?"

"You should have said something," Damon told her.

"I thought someone else might have better luck."

"You can't seriously be that stupid," Damon said to her.

Damon was left speechless as he watched tears glisten in her eyes. He'd never seen Katherine cry. He couldn't recall a time she'd even come close to crying.

"They were just nude photos, Katherine. What's the deal?"

"My father is Senator Petrova. If those photos ever got out, he'd…he'd kill me."

She was afraid of her father. Damon shook his head. It seemed even Katherine had someone she was afraid of.

"Look," Slater said, taking pity on the woman who was almost crying. "Even if we'd been able to delete it, or copy it, there's no guarantee Elijah doesn't have thousands of photos lying around at home."

"Why did you let him photograph you?" Damon asked her.

"I wanted a promotion. We'd just had sex, and he asked me if he could paint me. I had no idea there was a camera on."

She'd literally been caught like a fly in a web, trying to get to the top.

"Does that mean there is a sex tape floating around of the two of you?"

"No, I found that and destroyed it."

"That you know of," Rose said to her. "So now Elijah has you doing everything he wants you to?"

"He's obsessed with me," Katherine answered grumpily. "He'll never let me go."

"Then why did think you could get Elena to step in for you?" Damon asked.

"Elijah has always had an eye for pretty women. Anna and Lexie will vouch for that," Katherine said to Rose. "He fancied Elena, but he actually respected her work ethic more than her looks. He was going to promote her to my level without sleeping with her."

"Well you messed that right up," Damon said to her.

"I was taking care of myself."

"As you do," Damon said to her

"I thought if I could get Elena to sleep with you then he might see her in the same way he saw me. He asks me to sleep with clients sometimes. Elijah might have let me go, and used Elena instead."

"Did he ever give you any indication he would actually agree to that?" Damon asked.

Katherine was quiet for a moment. "He was all for her sleeping with you because he thought you might extend your contract with Mystic Falls PR. He encouraged me to push it, but he never said he would make her take my place."

"So he knew we were sleeping together?"

"No, but he suspected."

"And he didn't care?"

"Not overly. It was good for the company, he told me. This was despite his strict policies. Elena can do no wrong by that man."

"You lied to me."

"I manipulated the truth."

"You lied, for your own selfish gain, and almost ruined someone else's career."

"I'm not perfect, Damon, and I've never pretended to be."

"Using and manipulating people got you into this mess in the first place. When are you going to learn? Just get out of my house."

"So that's it. After everything we've shared together, you're just going to let me walk away so easily?"

"Playing any more of your sick and twisted games doesn't really appeal to me any longer."

"I know you love Elena, and I know you're still upset about Mason-"

"I couldn't give a flying fuck about Mason Lockwood. The fact that you were using both of us to try and screw over the same girl, while telling me there was no one else just proves what an idiot I was to go back for seconds."

"Yet you did, because we're the same."

"We're not the same at all. Goodbye Katherine."

For a moment Damon thought she was going to throw a tantrum, but there was no flouncing, no swearing, and no throwing of objects. Her exit was rather anti-climactic.

They really were finished this time

"Are we good here?" Damon asked Rose.

"We are. Elena's going to be fine, and our new company might just be fine too."

"Let yourselves out," Damon told them over his shoulder, already moving towards the door.

It was six o'clock when Elena took her last diploma off the wall in her office, and piled it on top of the rest of her belongings. The box on her desk now contained all her bits and pieces from the time she'd worked here. She was in no rush to leave, strangely. She hadn't organized to meet the girls at Ric's, because Caroline had gone home with plans to spend the night with Stefan, and Bonnie had a case she was working late on. And the person she wanted to share her last day with the most wasn't here.

She could hear no noise coming from her colleagues; no late night chatter, no last minute goodbye wishes, no Friday night drunken giggles. Everyone had gone home to their family, or on a date, or over to Ric's. She sat down in her desk chair for the last time, and pushed away from the desk. Then she spun around, and around, and around in her chair, stopping to face the window which looked over the town. It was dark already, and she noticed his reflection in the window.

She turned around and stood up straight away. When he walked into the room, she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his shirt, breathing him in. Five days. Five days she had been waiting to do this.

She looked up at him. "Is everything okay?" she asked him.

"Everything is fine," he told her.

She breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought…I thought maybe we were over."

He took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, while looking into her eyes. "Why would you think that?"

"Something was wrong this week, and you wouldn't tell me what it was."

"How did you know something was wrong? I told you I was working on my book."

"But you weren't."

He hesitated for a moment. "No, I wasn't."

"I saw Katherine at your house on Wednesday when I came by."

"You never said anything."

"I hoped you would come to me when you were ready."

"Nothing is going on between us."

"I know," she told him.

"You do?"

"I trust you."

"You shouldn't. After Lucy-"

"You've only ever looked after my best interests, Damon. You won't convince me that I can't trust you."

"You thought we might be over."

"I thought you might have changed your mind about wanting to be in a relationship with me."

He shook his head. "You're a fool. Katherine came to me on Sunday night and asked me to break into Elijah's computer to delete a file of her."

"You didn't," Elena said to him, stepping backwards.

"She had…evidence of you and me."

"Oh, my God."

"It's going to be okay, Elena."

"How can it be okay? You could go to prison."

"I'm not going to prison. We found something."

"We?"

"Rose and I."

"You got the information Rose got fired over?"

Damon nodded. "I love you so much, Elena. You have no idea."

Damon leaned down and pressed his lips to hers and Elena thought he was wrong. She had every idea how much he loved her, considering he'd just risked everything to save her career. She would tell him off - later. Whoever he thought he was, whoever he had been in his past; what he'd done today had been incredibly selfless. Nothing would ever convince her that he was someone she shouldn't be with. If anything, she was thinking about things it was way too early to think about; things he'd made clear he had no desire for. Her heart twisted painfully, but she focused on the now.

Damon took what he had been craving and missing for the last few days, and she kissed him back as if she were just as hungry for him. He'd never expected someone could love him with such acceptance. He'd never dreamed someone could love him, knowing his past and everything it encompassed. Rose had been right. It was time to stop fighting this, and her, and give it everything he had.

"Elena?"

"Mmm," she murmured, not wanting to let go of him.

"Have you finished your last day at Mystic Falls PR?"

"Yes," she told him.

He left her to go and close the office door behind him, and on his way back to he started undoing his shirt buttons. Soon, she was following suit, dropping her clothing onto the floor. Once she had removed her panty hose, she was completely naked apart from her short beige skirt. When Damon was back within touching distance Elena expected him to kiss her again, but instead he reached for her and put his hands on her hips, turning her so she was facing away from him.

Elena put her hands on the desk in front of her, and Damon's hands went to her breasts, cupping them in his hands, pinching and teasing and playing with her nipples, until her breasts tingled and tightened and her belly throbbed. Her head went backwards into his chest as one of his hands slid ever so softly along her naked skin and went under her skirt to stroke her hip, and her bottom.

"Spread 'em," he told her. "Elena Gilbert, you've been a bad, bad girl."

When she looked over her shoulder at him, Damon had to bite back the groan on the tip of his tongue. The look of desire on her face had his cock straining even harder against the material of his jeans.

"What have I done?" she asked innocently.

"Slept with a client of the firm," he said, kissing her neck. "Lied to your boss." He kissed her shoulder. "And now you're about to have sex where any of your old colleagues could walk in and catch you."

Elena's heart went crazy when he said the word sex. "I have been bad," she told him.

"I thought I told you to spread them."

"I have. They are," she said breathlessly.

"Wider, Elena,"

He took his foot and moved her foot out as far as it would go. Elena could feel the material of her skirt straining against her thighs and hoped the it wouldn't tear. She couldn't possibly open her legs any wider. His knee was now wedged between her thighs, holding her in position as his hand sought out the place she was burning for him to touch. He groaned loudly into her hair when he felt how dripping wet with need she was.

"God, I missed you," he said to her.

Deciding they would have more time to play when they were at home, Damon turned her back around to face him, and sat her on the desk, before undoing his jeans and shoving them, and his boxers, off his hips.

"Leave it on," he told Elena when she went for the zipper on her skirt off.

He picked her up off the desk, and she gripped his shoulders as she felt herself being lowered onto the length of him. She hissed and dug her fingernails into his shoulders, feeling his length slide straight into her.

As Damon felt her contract around him, her tight wet heat sheathing him for the first time in days, he lost all sense of time and movement. He held her paused, and they kissed, tongue playing with tongue, lips against lips, until Damon thought he would explode from the intensity of it all, without giving either of them what they were really craving.

Elena felt him reach in between their bodies to pay attention to her needy little button at the apex of her thighs. He didn't tease, or take his time. He knew exactly how to get her off, and he did so in record time. Long before the cries of her pleasure had faded after her orgasm, he had her flat on her back on the desk, so he could take her as he needed to.

Damon had both hands under her skirt, holding onto her hips tightly, as he drove in and out of her; his body moving in and out of hers as if she had been made for him. Damon took her with no other intention than finding the release that he knew he would be rewarded with inside her sweet, sweet heat. Their mating was swift and hungry, and after his release was ripped from him, he collapsed onto her, burying his face in the curve of her neck. When he finally looked at her again, his only thought was that he could do this; he could be with her, for the rest of his life.

A/N: The last chapter was tough to write, and to everyone who reviewed, thanks so much. To everyone who told me Kat was a pain - I know. Thanks for your patience with that storyline.

The next chapter will take us into the future by about six or so months. As always, thanks for taking the time to read, and please review.