Sorry it took me a litte longer to update this time. I hope this chapter makes up for it.
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The next day Alaric still insisted on going to work, although Damon tried everything to change his mind. Lounging naked on the bed, letting his eyes travel over the teacher`s body suggestively had no real effect. Neither had telling Ric about all the naughty things they could do if he stayed home. Pouting and puppy dog eyes didn`t work as well. Ric`s resolve was in equal parts very impressive and terribly frustrating. In the end Damon gave up and went home.
He spent a quiet morning at the boarding house and amused himself by sending Ric texts about what they could be doing right now if the teacher hadn`t decided to be so responsible and boring. A few times he even received an answer. It was usually Keep that in mind for tonight. or Sounds like fun. and once Are you really THAT flexible? Grinning Damon typed back: Come over here and find out. But he didn`t receive an answer again.
By early afternoon his quiet time was interrupted by Elena, Stefan and Bonnie, who tried to convince him to hand the Gilbert-device over to John. "We don`t even know what that thing does." he protested, getting suspicious when he noticed the guilty look on Elena`s face. "Or do we?" His voice clearly betrayed his anger. They knew something and hadn`t felt the need to tell him. "We found out earlier today. We had no time to tell you, yet." Elena claimed. Yeah, like was really gonna believe that. "So?" he prodded.
"Bonnie found something in Emily`s grimoire. According to Emily, Jonathan Gilbert never actually succeeded in inventing anything. Emily secretly spelled all of his inventions with magic. The compass, the rings and the device. She pledged her loyalty to Katherine, but she couldn't stand by and watch innocent people get killed." Elena explained. Damon snorted. Witches – judgy little things. And the Bennetts seemed to be especially bad. "What about the device?" the dark haired vampire asked. He got the feeling that she was only stalling.
"It`s a weapon. Against vampires." Elena finally admitted. "Is it now? And you want me to give the device to Isobel so she can give it to John who is going to use it to kill me?" Damon surmised. "Sorry, darling. I like being a living dead person." He would destroy that stupid device. And Isobel and John could just go to hell for all he cared. And Katherine too, for that matter.
Unfortunately Elena once again proved to be very persistent. "No, it'll be useless. Bonnie can take its power away." The witch nodded and claimed she could take off the original spell. "The problem is - I don't trust her." The witch hated him. She would use every chance she got to get back at him. Probably wanted him dead just as much as John Gilbert did. Witches were like that. Elena pleaded, tried to make him change his mind. Obviously Isobel had kidnapped Jeremy and was trying to use him as leverage. "I'll get Jeremy in my own way." Maybe with a little help from Ric.
"Isobel is a vampire and Jeremy could be dead the second you walk through the door." Stefan spoke up for the first time. Really, these people had no faith in his abilities. "We're doing this, Damon. And we're doing it my way. Now give me the device. We're wasting time!" Elena again. That girl could be really damn annoying. And stubborn. But Damon was stubborn as well. "Is she even up for this?" he asked, pointing to the witch.
Bonnie claimed she had been practising and she also had Emily`s grimoire, so it would be no problem to remove the spell. Okay, so maybe she could do it. But there was still one problem. "I don't trust you, I tried to kill you." the older Salvatore reminded Bonnie. She held his stare and shrugged. "You're right, you can't trust me." Oh, she was getting cocky now. What a pity that he hadn`t succeeded in killing her. "But you can trust me." Elena assured, fixing him with her best puppy dog look. "Bonnie will deactivate the device, I`ll give it to Isobel in exchange for my brother. We`ll be rid of Isobel. Please, Damon."
All three of them were staring at him now. Elena pleadingly, Stefan with his usual frown and Bonnie expectantly. He was so going to regret this. But he knew when he was defeated. Heaving a sigh he pulled the device out of his pocket and handed it over, ignoring Elena`s heartfelt "Thank you."
They all watched Bonnie work her magic and Damon had to admit that she seemed to know what she was doing. He could only hope she did. When she was finished Elena and Stefan headed to the town square to meet Isobel. Damon insisted on accompanying them. He didn`t trust Isobel. And for good reason. She showed up with her two little minions and threatened Elena, but backed down once she realised that Elena hadn`t come alone either. A phone call home proved that Jeremy was safe, so Elena handed over the device.
Of course Isobel couldn`t help herself and had to bait Elena, claiming that Damon was in love with the girl. The dark haired vampire looked at her like she was insane and had to stifle a groan when he caught Stefan`s suspicious look. Great! His brother believed it, which would mean a lot of drama in the near future. He really should`ve just killed Isobel when he had the chance. Now it was too late. After she was finally gone he turned away from Stefan and Elena and headed home.
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He was just pouring himself a drink when Stefan arrived. The younger Salvatore looked troubled. "Say it, whatever it is, purge, get it out." Damon prodded. Maybe they could get this over with quickly. "It's about what Isobel said." Figures. But he couldn`t make it that easy for his brother. Where would be the fun in that? So Damon pretended not to know what Stefan was talking about. The younger one started babbling, something about Damon and Elena being friends and that he didn´t want the girl to get hurt.
"Elena is a very good friend. Actually, she might qualify as my only… friend. Apart from Alaric, of course. Why? Is that a problem?" Damon smirked. His brother was too easy to rile up. "Well, at the risk of sounding like uh… like a jealous boyfriend…" Stefan continued, but Damon interrupted him. "Oh, there's no risk. You do." Because they both knew what this was all about and as much fun as this was he really wanted Stefan to just say it and be done with. He still had plans for tonight after all.
"History will not be repeating itself where Elena is concerned. Do you understand?" Well, he wasn`t deaf so his brother really didn`t need to shout. Rolling his eyes in annoyance Damon assured him that he and Elena were just friends. But he just couldn`t help himself and had to rile his brother up a bit more. "You know, as a friend I wasn't looking forward to telling her the truth anyway so, I'll let you do it. I know you guys don't like to keep secrets from each other." Stefan´s anger deflated and he looked puzzled. "What truth?"
"About John." Now Stefan looked even more puzzled. Seriously, was he the only one around here with the ability to put two and two together? It was so obvious. But if he had to spell it out… "Isobel dated John when she was 15; she gets pregnant and ends up at the doctor's office of John's brother. Now, what do you think John's role is in all this? I mean, go ahead and think about it, I'll wait." the older one mocked. He could practically see the wheels turning in Stefan`s head. "You think that John is Elena's father?"
Finally! "Ding, ding, ding!" Damon grinned. That should give Stefan something else to ponder and hopefully he would leave the older Salvatore alone for a while. But he couldn`t resist one final jibe. "Oh and when you do tell Elena and she needs a friend to talk to about anything, I'm here for her." Still grinning Damon grabbed his jacket and left the house. Sometimes his brother could be quite amusing.
Halfway to his car he almost ran into Jeremy. He hadn`t heard the boy approach, which meant he had probably already been lurking out there. Not creepy at all. "Your sister isn`t here." Damon stated, trying to walk past the young Gilbert. "I know. I wanted to talk to you." That stopped Damon in his tracks. He hadn`t had much dealings with Elena`s brother yet. What could the boy possibly want from him? "I know what you are." Yeah, big surprise there. "So what? You`ve come to play Van Helsing and kill me?" he asked sarcastically.
Jeremy quickly shook his head. "No, I`m not like that. I just… You know Anna, right?" he asked tentatively and slowly Damon realized what this surprise visit was all about. He nodded and motioned for the teen to continue. "Have you heard from her lately? Because I've left her all this messages and she hasn't gotten back to me. Not even a text. Something could be seriously wrong and I… I`m worried, okay?" Yes, that was hard to miss. Damon wondered if the teen knew how much he was giving away. The worry was sketched all over his face.
"I haven`t seen her since the night of the Miss Mystic contest." he answered honestly. "I guess she fled out of town after your uncle killed her mother." Jeremy stumbled back like he`d been slapped. "No, he… he can`t…" Damon rolled his eyes. "Your uncle hates vampires. He wants to see us dead. But you already knew that, didn`t you?" Slowly Jeremy nodded. "Yes, I knew that. But still… Are you sure it was John?"
"Sheriff Forbes told me. Apparently John called her to let her know that he`d taken two vampires out. She sent a few deputies to take care of the bodies." That was apparently the wrong thing to say, because Jeremy went pale and his heart started racing. "Two bodies?" he whispered and Damon realized his mistake. "An Asian woman and a guy. Liz said nothing about a girl. I think Anna is still alive. She´s a survivor." he assured. Jeremy breathed a sigh of relief, but he still looked troubled. "You have no idea where she could be?"
"No. I`m sorry." And strangely enough he was. He actually felt bad for the teen. It was plain to see that he loved Anna. And Damon suspected the feelings were returned. "Be careful around your uncle. He´s planning something." he warned, turning to leave. "I will. Damon…" The vampire stopped, glanced back at Jeremy. "I`m not like my uncle." the teen assured. "I know. I would`ve killed you if I thought you were." Damon called back, finally getting into his car.
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A couple of minutes later Damon parked his car in front of an apartment building and got out. Just in time to see Jenna leaving the building. She greeted him with a smile and he mumbled a grumpy "hello" in return. Obviously Alaric wasn`t expecting him this time. Opening the door the teacher mumbled: "Forgot something, Jenna… Oh, hey Damon." The vampire arched an eyebrow. "Alaric." He strolled into the apartment without waiting for an invitation, trying to tramp down the jealousy he felt. He was Damon fucking Salvatore. He wasn`t jealous of some woman. And Jenna wasn`t even all that pretty.
"Jenna told me what happened today. That you gave Elena the device and she handed it over to Isobel." Ric told him. "Well, Jenna sure is up to date." Damon replied sarcastically. "Yes, and thanks to her I`m up to date as well. You spent half the day texting me, but didn`t feel the need to fill me in on the important things." Ric shot back. "There was no time." The vampire grumbled, annoyed that Ric was snarking at him now. "No time? You didn`t even have five minutes for a quick call?"
"No, I obviously didn`t. But I`m here now, aren`t I?" Damon´s voice was rising. He`d had a really bad day and he hadn`t come here to listen to accusations. His temper was getting the better of him. But Ric could match him when it came to temper. "Yes, now you`re here. And you even made it before midnight. Wow! I didn`t know I was that unimportant to you that I`d be the last one on your list." he shot back, his voice rising as well.
Damon growled. "I had a really crappy day, Ric. I handed over a device that could kill me to someone who wants to kill me and I`m still not a hundred percent sure the little witch really deactivated it. Then my brother was bitching at me because of some stupid shit Isobel said and then I had to tell Jeremy that uncle John killed the mother of his missing girlfriend. And now you`re having a fit, because I didn`t tell you everything straight away?"
"How the hell should I know that you`ve had a crappy day. I`m not psychic and aside from Jenna nobody tells me anything around here." Ric spat. By now Damon was really angry. " You know what, maybe I should just leave again. Then you can spend the night with your precious Jenna, since you seem to prefer her company anyway."
He was about to storm out again, find some poor soul to kill and take his frustrations out on, when Ric`s voice, calmer now, held him back. "Damon, wait. Don`t go." The vampire paused, his hand on the doorknob. He didn`t move a muscle when Alaric walked over to him, when he reached out a tentative hand and put it on the vampire`s shoulder, almost as if he was scared Damon might bolt. When he didn`t, the teacher stepped closer and hugged him from behind. Damon inwardly cursed himself for being this weak, even as he leaned back in the embrace.
"I`m sorry you had such a bad day." Ric mumbled against his neck, making him shudder. The teachers anger seemed to have vanished as suddenly as it had spiked. "And I`m sorry for yelling at you. It`s just… a lot has happened today and I was completely oblivious to any of it. My day consisted of supervising my students and grading papers. The most exciting event was my talk with the mother of a student, who insisted I was giving her son bad grades just for the fun of it. I was just angry that no-one had told me what Isobel has done. But it wasn`t fair to take my frustrations out on you. Please don`t go." Damon freed himself from the embrace and turned around to look at the teacher. Ric was staring at him with a scary intense look, almost as if he was trying to read him. Damon had the niggling feeling he was doing just that. "Okay." he mumbled after a while.
"You know, the open relationship… that was Isobel`s idea. I never wanted that. I only agreed because she insisted. And I never took advantage of it. Until I met you." the teacher said suddenly. Damon frowned at the unexpected change of topic. "Why are you telling me this?" Ric shrugged. "Just wanted you to know. And as for spending the night with Jenna… I don`t want to. We`re friends, nothing more." he assured. Damon could see that he really meant that and it made his heart beat a little faster.
But it also meant that Ric had seen right through him, had noticed his jealousy. The teacher was still staring at him. The direction this was taking made him uncomfortable, so he tried to dispel the sudden tense atmosphere. "Okay, now that I know that and we got the yelling at each other part out of the way… I think there were a few things you wanted me to keep in mind for tonight?" The vampire murmured suggestively. Ric smiled softly and let him get away with it. "Yeah, I think I remember something like that."
He pulled Damon in for a kiss and the vampire responded enthusiastically, shrugging out of his jacket before reaching out to rid Alaric of his shirt. They broke the kiss only long enough to get Damon`s clingy T-Shirt off, while they stumbled their way to the bedroom. Once there, Ric pushed Damon down onto the bed and leaned over him to place kisses all over his torso. The vampire arched into him with a groan. Always so responsive. Ric grinned and let his tongue dart out to taste the pale skin, loving the way the vampire shivered beneath him.
Ric`s hands made quick work of the buttons on Damon´s jeans. Getting them down the vampire´s legs was more of a task, but by now he had quite a bit of practice and they came off easy enough. The boxers followed soon after and then he just sat there for a second, staring down at the ethereal creature beneath him, drinking in the sight. All that perfect, pale skin, stretched over lithe muscle, the blue eyes, darkened almost to black. "You`re beautiful." The compliment rolled off his tongue automatically.
"You`re quite nice to look at as well." Damon drawled, letting his eyes rake over Alaric´s body. He smirked when he noticed the blush staining the man`s cheeks. Couldn`t believe Ric wasn`t used to compliments. "But you`re overdressed." Damon chided. He really had to remedy that. Within seconds Ric found himself on his back, with Damon kneeling next to him. Now that the teacher knew what he was, he didn`t need to hold back so much, didn`t need to hide his superhuman strength and speed. The pants came off quickly, followed by the boxers and now it was Damon`s turn to stare.
Ric squirmed under his intense gaze, clearly uncomfortable at the close scrutiny. Damon leaned down, nipped at his collarbone, let his tongue trail up the man`s neck to his ear. "You`ve got nothing to be shy about, Ric." he whispered, loving the way Ric shuddered beneath him. Their lips found each other again as Damon lowered his body onto Ric`s, rubbing against him. The teacher`s hands moved over his back in a gentle caress and Damon allowed Ric to reverse their positions, loving the feel of the man`s broad body pressing him into the mattress.
Alaric broke away only long enough to grab the lube off the nightstand and squeeze some of it onto his fingers. Then he was pressing two fingers into Damon, curling them just right to hit that certain spot and Damon arched into the touch. Damn, the teacher was extremely good at this. Had always been extremely good at it, in fact. Gasping for breath, Damon urged him on. He didn`t need much preparation, really had no problem handling the short initial pain. Sometimes Ric insisted on taking his time, drawing the foreplay out, but tonight he complied quickly, pulling out his fingers, replacing them with his cock.
He slid into the vampire in one smooth stroke, then paused to give Damon time to adjust. Always scared of hurting him. His concern was almost as endearing as it was frustrating. "Move, damn it." the vampire ground out. He moaned when Ric complied, pulling out halfway, before pushing in again, the sharp pain was slowly replaced by pleasure as Ric once again hit that spot. Damon curled one leg around the teacher`s hips, pushing him even deeper. One of his hands tangled in the sheets, the other clutched at the man´s shoulder.
God, he wanted this. Wanted Ric to forget about Isobel and Jenna, about work and responsibilities and everything else and concentrate only on him. Nothing but him. This was where he could let go. Where he could allow Ric a glimpse of his true feelings, as much as the depth of those scared him. Ric`s honest declaration earlier had caught him off guard, had confronted him with his own emotions. With the thoughts he usually tried to push aside, to ignore as best as he could. He wasn`t ready to deal with those yet.
Alaric moved slowly at first, but faster when Damon urged him on, snaking a hand between their bodies to grip the vampire`s cock and pump it in time with his thrusts. The pleasure was building quickly, getting almost too intense and Damon could feel his face changing, the capillaries beneath his eyes darkening. Usually he had better control than that, even in the throes of passion, but with Alaric this happened every now and then. Ric had always been able to strip him of his self-control. Groaning the vampire buried his face against Ric`s neck.
The smell of the blood flowing just beneath the teacher`s skin made the ache in his gums even worse. He wanted to bite. But he knew he would control himself. Had enough practice. He did this every time he could feel his features shift when they were having sex. The trick had worked three years ago and it still worked now. Ric never suspected anything.
At least that's what Damon had always thought. Usually the man hadn`t reacted. Had just kept going, maybe even pulled him closer. But this time he suddenly paused in his movements. Damon whimpered at the lack of stimulation, but Ric held still, only pulled back a little.
"Look at me." Reluctantly the vampire obeyed the quiet command, surprised when Ric didn`t pull away. Didn`t look shocked. The teacher let his gaze travel over Damon´s features, even reached out to trace the dark veins beneath Damon´s eyes with his fingers, the curve of the vampire´s lips, of the fangs barely hidden beneath. Damon couldn`t see a sliver of fear in his eyes. "It`s okay. You don´t have to hide from me. I know you won´t hurt me." Ric whispered with total conviction.
Damon couldn`t formulate an answer. Could only nod and gasp when Ric started moving again. His features shifted, changed back to normal, vamped out again. He just continued looking at Ric, who stared right back. Damon had stopped counting the times they`d had sex, but it had never felt as intimate as this. This was a joining beyond the physical aspect, almost scary in its intensity. All too soon he felt himself toppling over the edge, the orgasm crashing over him like a wave. Almost simultaneously Ric`s rhythm faltered, he stilled and Damon felt himself fill with warmth.
Ric collapsed down on top of him and the vampire felt a strange sense of loss when he finally pulled out and rolled over onto his back. Damon reached for the tissues on the nightstand and cleaned both of them up, before allowing Ric to pull him down again. He cuddled against the teacher`s side, started tracing strange patterns over his hairy chest. He wanted to say something, but for once words failed him. He couldn`t help but feel that something had changed between them. Something important.
After a while Ric pulled the covers over both of them. "You should call in sick tomorrow." Damon spoke up finally. Ric chuckled. "I probably should. But you know that I won`t." Pretty much the answer he had expected. "Yeah, you`re too damn responsible." the vampire grumbled, burying under the covers, cuddling even closer. He was halfway on top of Ric by now, but the teacher didn`t seem to mind. "You wouldn`t have me any other way." he claimed. He already sounded half-asleep, so Damon didn`t even bother to reply. He simply closed his eyes and let Ric`s steady heartbeat lull him to sleep.