Part of the plan
Elena froze.
She watched the door opening in slow motion. Who was on the other side? Who would catch her and Damon in the act?
Damon worked at super speed, getting her dressed and decent in no time; one of the many perks of being a vampire. He managed to make this room it look like nothing had ever happened. The only thing that might give them away was Elena's flushed face and hard breathing.
Damon sped over towards the other side of the room, flopping down on the couch as the door finally opened to reveal Elena's father.
Elena couldn't have been more mortified. Here she was, still feeling the aftershocks of her orgasm, and her father came barging in!
Grayson Gilbert eyed the scene in front of him warily. His gaze travelled from Elena over to Damon and back, obviously not sure what to make of all this.
"I heard my daughter moaning in here. Would you mind telling me what that was all about?" he pressed, narrowing his eyes at Damon.
Damon never flinched. He met her father's face head on.
"Miss Elena was not feeling well, Mr. Gilbert,' he explained.
Both, Damon and Mr. Gilbert turned their heads in Elena's direction. Her father's gaze was concerned; frustrated and maybe slightly angry. Damon's remained just blank. He had the perfect poker face. But then again, he always had a poker face. She never knew what he was thinking or feeling.
"Are you okay?" her father asked, assessing her flushed frame. "It sounded like you were in pain."
Elena almost choked at his words. In pain? O no, it wasn't pain, but something else entirely.
Damon seemed amused about her father's choice of words. His eyebrows had shot up and he was eying her playfully, almost daring her to reveal that it hadn't been pain but pleasure.
"I had a pretty bad stomach ache, father," Elena whispered.
Mr. Gilbert nodded, seemingly satisfied with her answer.
"Do you need me to send for the doctor?" he asked.
Elena shook her head.
"I'm okay now. The ache is gone."
She watched her father raising his hand to his chin, rubbing it as if contemplating something. He seemed very displeased with something.
"I am glad you are feeling better, Elena. And I appreciate Mr. Salvatore's help. However, you are now an engaged woman. Whenever you need something, you have to go and see your fiancé. I cannot fathom how other people would react to finding you in here alone with another man. It is highly frowned upon. You can't be alone with strange men who aren't family," Mr. Gilbert stated. "I also find it concerning that whenever I turn away, I keep seeing the two of you together. Frederick mysteriously disappears, Mr. Salvatore takes you home. I come to look for Mr. Salvatore and I find the two of you together sitting at my piano. I throw you a party so you can show off your fiancé and yet you dance with Mr. Salvatore. Do you see where I'm going with this? And now this."
He waved his hand around to address the situation in the room.
"People will talk, Elena. I don't want the two of you to be seen together anymore. I don't even want you in the same vicinity as each other."
Elena frowned.
Her father was telling her she couldn't be in the same room as Damon? What was that all about?
"Who's talking, father?" she wanted to know.
Mr. Gilbert narrowed his eyes.
"Do you really think that your little dance out there went unnoticed? I suggest you go and find your betrothed to make things right. Dance with HIM. People need to see who my daughter is marrying. Go!"
Elena opened her mouth to say something, but her father's warning glare made the words die on her tongue.
She quickly curtsied both men, mumbling "Yes, father," before hurrying out the door. She looked back one last time to see her father closing the door behind her, leaving him and Damon alone in the room. She honestly wasn't sure who she should be more worried about; Damon, for probably getting her father in his face right about now, or her father, because she had left him alone with a vampire…
"Where have you been?" Master Mason positively snapped at her.
He was in a foul mood, gripping her upper arm in a painful clasp. His nails bit into her skin.
"Master Lockwood, you're hurting me," she hissed softly, trying not to attract the attention of the guests. The last thing they needed was another reason for people to start talking. Her father would not be so gentle next time.
"This is supposed to be our engagement party and yet you dance with another man! Do you know how I felt when people started talking and pointing at me, mocking me? I want an obedient wife, Elena. The last thing I need is a woman causing my reputation to be in shards!"
Elena looked to where her mother was standing, watching them intently. Her expression was very disapproving, but not because of Master Lockwood's treatment of her. No, the disapproving look was meant for her.
She looked down, embarrassed.
"I'm sorry," she quietly whispered, keeping her eyes cast downward.
The submissive position she had put herself in now, caused her entire body to scream in agony. Was this really what she was supposed to do? Was she born to please her father, her mother and her husband? Was that all that she was meant for?
"Don't do it again! Now dance with me. We have some damages to repair," Master Lockwood told her.
She let herself be led onto the dance floor for the second time that night. Only now, her heart wasn't in it. Her eyes found Damon's as soon as he arrived back at the party with her father in tow. She was relieved that the two hadn't killed each other. But something was off. Her father's cranky scowl had been replaced by a full blown smile. And he was friendly with Damon. They couldn't have talked things out that much, could they?
A cold feeling came over her when she realised Damon must have done something. He had done something to her father.
Damon's face, of course, revealed nothing. He watched her intently, as she swayed across the dance floor with her husband to be.
When the dance was over, she realised she needed to talk to Damon. But how? If she wounded up alone with him again, her father would have her head!
Luckily, Caroline always came in useful. She just happened to walk by when an idea came to Elena's mind. She grabbed her best friend by her arm and dragged her into a corner.
"Dear lord, Elena! I know I lack certain manners but that was almost cavewoman like!" Caroline snapped at her.
"I'm sorry. But I really need your help. Could you please go over to Damon and ask him to meet me at the gazebo in a few minutes?" Elena pleaded.
Caroline's eyes nearly bugged out of her head.
"Are you insane?! When I got back from our slip of the party, people were seriously talking about you and him. Master Lockwood was furious! Maybe it's better to stay clear of Damon for a few days until this all dies down."
Elena shook her head.
"Something is going on. I need to know what. Please, Caroline! I'll be careful."
Caroline contemplated things for a second, before pushing a finger in Elena's face.
"You owe me!"
With those words, she stalked off to find Damon.
Elena smiled at her friend. She knew she could always count on her.
A few minutes later, she found herself standing in the dark shadows of the gazebo. The air was crisp and quiet. It was almost scary to be out here alone with the darkness creeping all over the garden. It made Elena think back to that night when Damon had killed Master Logan Fell. His face had looked so scary. Sure, she had seen his demonic face before and since, but towards her it was only filled with lust and want. That night, pure rage had come over him. He could indeed be the monster that he physically appeared to be.
Suddenly, someone grabbed her from behind in a vice like grip. The arms were too strong to escape, and Elena almost wanted to scream when she realised only one person could have been so stealthy in sneaking up on her.
"You are a jerk! Are you aware of that?" she scolded him.
Damon chuckled behind her.
"I couldn't resist. Speaking of not resisting…"
His lips made a trail from her earlobe towards her neck, making her shiver with want.
Again? They had just… Wait, that's not why she had brought him out here. So she poked her elbow into his ribs.
"I'm not here for that, Damon."
"Really? I thought with the way you had your friend seek me out and order me to come outside that you wanted.."
"I don't," she interrupted him. "What have you done to my father, Damon?"
She turned around just in time to see his eyebrows shooting up.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he told her.
Elena pushed against his chest but because of his strength, of course, he wouldn't budge.
"I'm talking about the fact that my father seemed about ready to have you fired and thrown out of the house back in the library room, and now you are best friends again. My father is not someone who budges easily. You must have done something," she accused him.
Damon closed in on her, pressing her into the wall with his body weight. He put his hands on the wall next to her head, trapping her.
This brought back memories…..
"And what do you suppose I did to him?" he drawled.
Elena shook her head.
He was deliberately seducing her; distracting her. She wasn't going to fall for it. Not this time!
"You're a vampire. You can do things that boggle my mind. So it isn't that far of a stretch to draw the conclusion that you have my father under your spell."
Damon burst out laughing, throwing his head back.
"Spell? O Elena, you read too many of your sappy books."
Elena began to get mad.
"Don't mock me, Damon! Now tell me, or I'll tell my father that you're a vampire!"
The playfulness disappeared from Damon's eyes and he trapped her with his cold, dead stare.
"I'd like to see you try," he hissed.
"And just what is that supposed to mean? Are you going to hurt me? I think we've already established that you have some troubles with that! You've had plenty of opportunities. And yet all you seem to be capable of doing is getting inside of me in a jealous fit!"
Damon laughed haughtily.
"Jealous? Please, I don't DO jealousy. I just don't like other people playing with my things. For now, you are mine to do with as I please. He can have you when I'm done."
Elena's hand surged across his face with a strength she didn't know she possessed. How dare he?!
They glared at each other for a few seconds, before Elena made an attempt to turn around and walk away. Damon tried to stop her by reaching for her upper arm; that same upper arm that Master Lockwood had bit into with his fingers not too long ago. It still hurt, so she hissed in pain.
Damon immediately released her.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
When Elena didn't respond immediately, he raised her sleeve before she could even blink. She watched as his eyes darkened at the sight of Master Lockwood's fingertips having left red marks on her skin.
"Did HE do this?" he growled.
Elena swallowed at his deadly glare. She knew that if she said 'yes', that Mason Lockwood would probably end up dead. But it was too late. Damon had already drawn his conclusions and stalked off towards the party inside of the house.
"Damon, you can't! You can't kill him!" she yelled after him.
"Don't worry, Elena. I won't hurt him…too much!" he threw back at her over his shoulder.
She ran as fast as she could. He wouldn't do this, right? Not at a crowded party! He could risk exposing himself!
Just as she made it back inside of the house, she saw Damon walking with Master Lockwood towards her father's office. Elena was surprised at how willingly Master Lockwood went with him, especially with how mad he had been with her for dancing with him. Damon ushered the unsuspecting man inside of the office and closed the door behind him, but to Elena's luck, the door didn't close completely.
Elena quickly walked towards the open door and peered through the crack. She saw how Damon suddenly grasped Master Lockwood by the neck, pushing him up against the wall. His eyes stared deeply into Master Lockwood's.
"As much as I'd like to do this myself for the way you hurt Elena, I also need to cover myself. Plus, I want to have a little fun with you. So, I want you to go home and walk yourself into a doorknob. Twice. Make it hurt. Don't hold back now."
Master Lockwood remained frozen and the robotic words that flowed out of his mouth shocked Elena to the core.
"I will walk myself into a doorknob and I won't hold back."
"Good boy. Now, you won't remember this conversation. The only thing you'll know is that you had too much to drink at the party and went home, where you tripped over your drunken little feet and banged yourself against the doorknob. Twice, don't forget that part!"
"I won't remember this conversation. I will go home drunk, slip and bang into a doorknob. Twice. I won't forget that part," Master Lockwood mumbled.
Elena gasped and almost fled from the scene. It all became clear to her now. This was what Damon had done to her father! He used his eyes for some sort of spell, just like she had thought!
Not bothering to go back towards the party, she ran up the stairs and flung herself onto her bed, shivering.
Had Damon used this same kind of spell to make her have these feelings for him? Was it all a lie? Was he manipulating her entire family?
When she woke up hours later, it was quiet. The party was over. She blinked a few times and tried to sit up when her heart stopped.
Damon was sitting at the foot of the bed, watching her.
"You were listening in on the entire conversation, weren't you?" he assessed.
Elena nodded. She crawled back up the bed a bit. She didn't know what to expect from him.
"You did it to my father too, didn't you?" she asked weakly.
Damon didn't even bother answering her. He just gazed at her, confirming everything with his silence.
"That's why he was so relaxed when you came back from your conversation in the library room. Did you tell him to be okay with us, or something?"
Damon, again, said nothing.
"Are my feelings a lie, Damon? Did you tell me to fall in love with you? Was it all part of your plan?"
Silence.
"Are you going to answer me sometime tonight?"
Damon sighed.
"When I touch you, am I telling you to want me, Elena?" he shot back.
Elena blushed and looked down.
"No."
"Did I tell you to have sex with me down by the quarry?"
"No."
"Because I sure seem to recall it was you who seduced ME into having sex with YOU," Damon pointed out.
"It was."
"Do I tell you to enjoy my feeding from you? Have I ever forced you to drink from me?"
Elena shook her head.
"Well, no. But… I don't know how this spell thing works, Damon! Explain it to me!" she pleaded.
"It's not a spell. It's not magic. It's just something that vampires can do, Elena. We can control a human's mind. We call it compulsion. When I met your father, he was on vervain, an herb that can keep vampires from performing that mind control on you. That's why I infiltrated his little club of business men. I wanted to know how much he knew about vampires, how they work, what kills them."
Elena remembered the word…vervain. Then her eyes shot open. She also remembered someone burning a shed full of vervain towards the ground at the Lockwood estate!
"The fire…,"she mumbled. "It was you."
"Yes. Your father was making things very difficult for me. I thought that if I was in his little club, he would tell me about something. Something that I wanted. He never did though. I came to learn that this shed was the only vervain he possessed. So I eliminated it and waited for it to leave his system."
"So has he told you now? About that thing you want?"
Damon chuckled.
"It turns out it was futile to know. I can never get to it."
Elena frowned in confusion. Just as she thought she had gotten a little closer to figuring him and his plans out, his next step threw her off.
"Did you ever compel me?" she wanted to know.
Damon shrugged.
"Once. It was nothing too important. Just to cover myself. I never compelled you about your feelings. You see, I might be able to control your mind, Elena. But I can never control your heart."
He gazed at her intently as he said these words, making her heart flutter. So her feelings were real then. But what about his?
"So my father was on vervain? What about me? I mean, you were able to compel me, you say."
Damon lay down on the pillow next to her, putting his hands behind his head.
"At first, your father was just testing it. He wasn't sure if vervain worked, so he tried it within his little circle first. When he found out that it did work, I had already figured out where he kept his stash and burned it. It turned out he had just a little bit left to make sure no vampire could ever get to what I want."
Damon scowled at the thought.
Elena snuggled into her pillow and looked at him.
"So what is it that you want?"
Damon's smile disappeared from his face as he watched her with a burning gaze.
The look made Elena laugh.
"Besides that!" she giggled.
"I already told you more than I ever wanted to. You're not getting involved in this. You'll end up hurt."
Did that mean that he cared? Surely he would never admit it. But she couldn't help wanting to know. So she put an arm around him and laid her head on his chest, preparing herself for a difficult question for him.
"Are you ever going to admit that you feel something for me?"
She heard his sharp intake of breath and was afraid that the question had come too soon. He obviously hadn't been ready to face it earlier, when he had denied being jealous.
"You were jealous of Master Mason, Damon. Admit it. Otherwise you wouldn't have acted the way you did in the library room. And you certainly wouldn't have cared about him grabbing me a little too roughly."
Damon chuckled.
"I would really love to be a fly on Mason Lockwood's wall tonight to watch him fling himself into a doorknob!"
Elena swatted his chest.
"That was wrong and you know it!" she berated him, even though she laughed a little too. "Now answer my question."
Damon turned her way with a serious expression on his face. He remained quiet for a long time, and Elena began to think he was never going to answer her. She accepted it.
So she put her head back down on his chest and closed her eyes. Just before she drifted off, she heard his voice rumble:
"Yeah, I get jealous…."
A/N: So Damon finally reveals another piece of the puzzle, but we still have a long way of getting towards the bottom of this. What is it that he wants to find? How far will he go to get it? And yes, he finally admitted to feeling something for Elena. Yay! By the way, thank you all so much for the many reviews I received for last chapter. I was floored with the response and grinned every time I got an e-mail saying another reader had left a review. THANK YOU! Now, as this story continues and Damon's plan is finally completely blown out into the open, it will affect Elena in a major way! Want to know more? Please make me smile and leave a review!
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