Hi guys!

Sorry for being so late but life has been a bit crazy lately, I hope you enjoy this chapter because I really like it. Thank so much for being with me still and thanks a lot to Lorena for being the beta on this.

Extra points if you can spot the quote from The vampire diaries book in here.

Love,

Sam

"I know you; I danced with you once upon a dream…And now, certainly, Elena felt like a flame. We were meant to be this way. Like two flames that join and merge into one"

The vampire diaries.

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He popped open another button of her blouse and dipped his head, his nose running along the valley of her breasts "I really need to get going" She half moaned as he ran his tongue on the top half of her chest.

"Then leave" He answered against her heated flesh

She grunted as he gripped her hips tighter and pressed her even more against the desk behind her. Elena had come to his home office with the intention of letting him know she was going to be out all evening at the gallery with Elijah, Damon had grunted and forbid her to go without giving him a goodbye kiss, which was what put her in the position she was now.

"You're not playing fair" She said breathlessly while running her hands through his hair.

"I'm a business man, I never play fair" He answered before pressing one last kiss to her chest and straightening up "But since I know this is important to you, I will allow you to leave" He winked at her.

"You'll allow me?" She told him with mirth in her voice and a smile on her lips "How very generous of you, Mr. Salvatore"

"I am a very generous man, Miss Gilbert" He answered while buttoning up her blouse again.

Elena bit her lips while staring at him, his shirt was half open, his cheeks were red and his hair was a tangled mess, the man truly was a vision, she was definitely going to capture this picture in a canvas later.

"Stoop ogling me Miss, it's rude to stare"

"Oh please" She rolled her eyes and punched his arm playfully

He gripped her by the waist and drew her into the circle of his arms once again "I've been thinking, maybe it's time we tell the girls about us" All the playfulness in his expression was gone and Elena felt her heart rate speed up.

"I don't know Damon…"

"I know you may think it's better this way…but I hate lying to them and everyone else too" His blue eyes looked at her pleadingly and she wanted nothing more than to say yes to everything he asked of her but there was some irrational part of her still thought that it wasn't the right time

"I just want to wait a bit more Damon" She caressed his cheek softly "I don't want to risk losing you guys"

"Elena, you won't" He pressed his forehead next to her. Her breath caressing his face and her hands tangled in his hair "But keeping this a secret is killing me, I want to be able to kiss you in front of everyone, I want the world to know you are mine"

To say Damon was frustrated with the situation was an understatement, he liked to have things in control and Elena refusing to acknowledge their relationship was killing him. Keeping secrets could do terrible things to your sanity and he already had too many, he didn't like having to keep one more.

"Please Damon, just a little bit more time" She pleaded with him. Elena knew she wasn't being fair but she couldn't help it, fear was a dangerous thing and right now it was controlling her.

"All right" He sounded defeated and Elena hated it, hated herself for doing this to him "All right" He pressed one last kiss to her lips and started pulling away but she stopped him.

"I love you Damon" Her hazel eyes stared at him, trying to make him understand "I truly love you"

"I know" He told her with a small smile "I love you too" He told her and kissed her cheek before releasing her "Now you should get going or you're truly gonna be late" He stepped away and walked behind his desk.

"Yeah, I should go" She smiled at him "After the gallery I'm going to have dinner with Caroline so I might be home a little bit late" She told him apologetically.

His lips turned upward into a smirk "I'll be waiting for you" He winked and she left the office feeling like the floor below her had shattered, he always managed to do that with his smiles.

After Elena was gone, Damon worked for a few hours on some new developments he was going to improve in the hotels he managed in New York, he was so deep into his work that he didn't realize his phone was vibrating until he already had five missing calls from Enzo.

"What's going on?" Damon said once he dialed his friend "I'm sorry I didn't hear the phone"

"I imagine it, look the agency called Bonnie, apparently they don't have your new cellphone" Damon's body instantly tightened, he didn't like where this conversation was going "Something happened, they said it isn't that big of a deal but that it's probably better if you're here"

He shut his eyes and cursed mentally "But they didn't say what was wrong?"

"No, just that you should come here as fast as you can" His friend answered from the other line

"Tell Bonnie-"

"She already did, there were no flights available for today but she booked you the first one for tomorrow, she's sending you the information right now to your e-mail"

"Tell her thank you" Damon said in a low voice "And thanks for calling"

"It's all right, and I'm sure everything's fine" Enzo said "Sorry for ruining your day mate"

"No, it's okay Enzo, thank you" Damon said before hanging up. He dropped the phone onto the table and massaged his temples.

This wasn't how he planned for his day to end but then again, what could he expect? life wasn't particularly nice to him.

He was genuinely happy again, these two months with Elena had been blissful and he had started to let go again, allowing himself to open up to her, he even managed to put all of this in the back of his mind but like always, things happened and everything came rushing back to him.

Now he was ridden with guilt for lying to Elena, to his daughters. Guilty for being happy again, guilty for wanting everything to be over, for not wanting to hear from that place ever again.

Damon Salvatore was a haunted man and with one phone call his demons started to resurface.

Elena took a sip of the wine in her glass, relishing in the feel of the cool liquid going down her throat. She and Caroline were lounging in the blonde's living room, eating lasagna, drinking wine and talking about the apparent crush Elijah Mikaelson had on Elena.

"Damon thinks the same but I don't know, I don't think so" Elena told her best friend.

"I'm telling you Lena, I see the way the man looks at you" Caroline told her before putting a piece of lasagna in her mouth "And Klaus might have told me something"

"What? He told you something?" Elena asked with a frown

"Not exactly, but he kind of hinted at something"

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway. I have no interest in him that way and I'm with Damon"

"Yeah but does Elijah know you're with Damon?"

Elena huffed and took another sip of her wine "No"

"I seriously don't get why you want to keep this thing a secret, it's been two months" Caroline told her "Okay keep it from the girls if you want but let the rest of the world know. I would"

Elena smiled in spite of herself, thinking that her friend would have shouted it to the world at the first chance "It's just… it scares the hell out of me Caroline"

"Why? I've seen the way he's with you Elena, the man worships the ground you walk on" She said in a slightly exasperated tone while moving closer to Elena.

"I love his girls, I never thought much about having children but with them? God everything just seems so natural, I like the way things are right now. Damon and I are happy, the girls love me. Everything is alright in the world, it's like a fairytale"

"And how would telling the truth ruin that?" Caroline looked at her friend with sympathy.

"It would make it more real" There was a slight tremble in her voice "And real things rarely stay so beautiful"

"Oh Elena" Caroline said in a sad voice and moved so she could wrap her arms around her friend "Honey you can't live your life feeling afraid of things, you gotta take a leap and try. Things may be okay right now but this can start bothering Damon, the whole secrecy thing"

"I know, I know" Elena rested her head against her friend's shoulder and let herself be wrapped in the comforting smell of her grape shampoo "It's just I've never felt this way before Caroline and it scares me… and God I'm such a bitch"

"What? Why? You are definitely not"

"It's just sometimes I feel resentful towards his wife. Stefan told me she was not a kind woman but Damon loved her more than anything in the world and it makes me go mad" Elena said in a shaky voice and Caroline strengthened the hold on her "I feel angry at her for not being nicer to him and… I am jealous of a ghost Caroline, how can I think those things about a dead woman?"

"Oh Lena, because you're human and those are human emotions. That doesn't make you a bad person, hell you're the best person I've ever met… well after Matt maybe" Both girls laughed at this "…but it is normal, she was important in his life and you love him, I would probably feel the same as you"

"What if he can never love me the way he loved her?"

"Darling I think every love is different, and trust me, I've seen the way he looks at you, the man loves you Elena, don't even doubt it. Women all over the world would die to be looked like that by someone" Caroline stroked Elena's hair with one hand and reached for her glass with the other "Here, have more wine" She gave the glass to Elena "Enjoy the moment my little Elena, can I assure you it's going to work? No I can't. But who knows? we might all die tomorrow so I think it's better just to take a chance"

Elena smiled and raised her eyes to stare at her best friend "I love you Care, you are the best friend in the whole world"

"Oh I know, I know" She smirked and released Elena from her embrace "Now, let's eat because I'm not planning on wasting this"

"Yeah that would be a crime" Elena said with a smile and reached for her plate

"And please do let Elijah know you're not available"

"Aye aye Captain" Elena said before taking a piece of lasagna to her mouth.

Elena closed the door behind her quietly and proceeded to remove her heels. It was already past eleven and the whole house seemed to be asleep, she and Caroline had drank the entire bottle of wine and now she was more than a bit tipsy.

"Sneaking around in the dark Miss Gilbert" The deep voice of her boss rumbled, scaring the hell out of her. She visualized his silhouette in the stairs, he was sitting there and she was sure that a smirk was on his face.

"You almost gave me a heart attack" She said with her hands pressed against her chest. She walked towards him as best as she could in the darkness and with the alcohol in her system. "You shouldn't be lurking in the dark like that"

"Why not? Interesting things happen in the dark…sometimes" His voice sent a shock through her body and she moved faster so she could reach him.

"And what things would that be Mr. Salvatore?" She whispered once she was on the step below the one he was sitting

"Are you tipsy Miss Gilbert" He said with mirth as he extended his arms and wrapped them around her slender frame, forcing her to move forward

"I might be" She answered and closed her eyes as he pressed kisses onto her tummy

"Then we must take you to your room" He said before standing up, Elena's eyes opening up at the loss of his mouth on her "We can't have you wandering around the house drunk" He smiled at her before taking her into his arms bridal style

"What are you doing?" She whispered

"Making sure you don't trip around" He whispered and kissed her forehead "And since I'm such a good boss and I want to make sure you sleep okay I'm going to take you into my room instead, that way I can keep an eye on you"

"Oh yeah, you're such a thoughtful person Mr. Salvatore"

"That's what I've heard" He opened the door to his room with his foot and carried her straight to the bed "That's why you love working for me" He placed her on the center of the bed and climbed on top of her

"One of the reasons" She laced her hands behind his neck and brought him down for a kiss.

"I have to leave tomorrow" He said with a troubled voice "A thing came up with one of the resorts and I must go and fix it"

"Oh" Elena said while staring at him, she was hoping to spend tomorrow with him and the girls "And when will you be back?"

"I don't know, but hopefully it'll only take one or two days" He dropped his forehead onto hers and she wanted to ask if everything was okay because there was something off about him but all thoughts left her mind the minute his hand went under her dress. "Will you think of me?" He asked as his hand did sinful things to her body.

"Yes" She said while throwing her head back "I will think of you all day"

He lowered his head to her chest and she felt him smirking against her skin "My sweet girl" He murmured absently while lowering the front of her dress with his teeth and then proceeding to suck on her breasts trough the material of her bra.

"Damon… inside me, now" She panted and he didn't need to be told twice.

In a matter of seconds they both got rid of their clothes and Damon materialized a condom out of somewhere and before they realize he was moving inside of her.

"This feels so good" She panted against his damp neck, her nails digging into his back as he moved on top of her

He kissed her lips and pressed his hips harder against her, he wanted to make love to her all night. He wanted to kiss her all night, so her lips were sore in the morning and she remembered him every time she felt them, so that everyone could see it and know she belonged to someone.

She broke the kiss to breathe for a moment and he dropped his forehead onto hers, their breaths mingling and the sound of their bodies meeting echoing in the room.

"I want to be with you forever" She whispered a while afterwards, Damon was holding her close to his body and their eyes almost closing. She fell asleep seconds after and Damon wasn't sure if he had heard her right.

"I want to be with you forever" He whispered back to her even though she couldn't hear him.

A sense of dread invaded him at the thought of her leaving him. She will, an insidious voice inside him said, she will when she knows your secret. He closed his eyes and forced the thoughts to leave his mind, he pressed himself closer to her and breathed in her scent. She was here right now, and he wasn't letting her go anywhere.

Review please?