Author's Note:

Hello to all of you! I'm back with another chapter!

Thank you so much for your interest in this story and the favs and follows. And a special thank you to Karolina94, monygrl and Alyssa92 for your kind reviews, they literally made my heart jump, so THANK YOU!

The lovely madiruth22 was my beta for this chapter.

I hope you'll enjoy it and please let me know what you think...

Chapter 2

Elena's eyes were widened in shock. It hurt and felt so sensual at the same time it made her dizzy. What was he doing to her anyway? She could barely remember what she had told him to do; everything was blurred inside of her head. The only two things she was able to perceive were his now unmoving hand between her thighs and his mouth over her neck.

Was he biting her? Drinking from her? The realization should have terrified her, but to be honest, quite the opposite was the case. Actually, that was what she wanted him to do right after he had kissed her in the first place. Now, the feeling of him swallowing her lifeblood hold such a great satisfaction for her; she could barley handle that overwhelming experience. Elena heard him gulping every single sip he took from her, moaning as he went. Slowly, her legs started to malfunction and tiny white stars twinkled in front of her view; she embraced this feeling and let it lull her into a state of peace. She let it consume her completely until her heart beat slowed drastically. Her view blackened and her senses vanished.

By the sound of her tardy heart beat, he stopped abruptly. What the fuck did he do?

"Elena?" Concerned, Damon sank to his knees, holding her limp body firmly in his lap. "Damn it, Elena! Open your eyes!" he shouted at her; carefully shaking her shoulders. He started to panic. That was the last damn thing he wanted for her to happen. Although he had to admit, it had never been harder for him to stop himself from drinking too much. Her blood had tasted… special…completely different from any other blood he had ever tasted before. It tasted simply like his favorite flavor, just like he wanted it to taste. It was unworldly good. Too good to drink it just once in his lifetime; she couldn't die, he needed her alive. Frantically he raised his wrist to his mouth and slammed his still elongated canines into his flesh, blood spilling out.

"Elena, you have to drink, honey!" he ordered, bringing his wrist to her mouth, opened it up and fitted his bleeding lower arm inside of it. "C'mon, Elena. Drink!" he said desperately and forced his wrist even deeper into her mouth, stretching its corners extremely.

When the first drops of his blood hit her tongue, she shivered slightly, adjusting to the unknown taste but swallowed nonetheless. Immediately, she felt a rush of pure energy roll through her body, reaching every part, however small it may be. She managed to relax for a moment but unfortunately, together with the energy, something else was palpable again. She opened her eyes, which mirrored her pain. The corners of her mouth ached while he pressed his wrist against them. Suddenly fighting him desperately, he let go of her instantly. For a fraction of a second he was just relieved that she wasn't dead.

"What the hell, Damon?" She climbed out of his lap as fast as she could; her face grimaced in shock and confusion.

"What happened?" she panted while tucking her hair behind her ears. She watched him quite embarrassed, not able to look him into his blue eyes, because she knew exactly what had happened, but she didn't know why.

He took a deep breath "We…I…You told me to…," but he couldn't find the right words. Another first; when was he ever at a loss for words? He clenched his teeth searching her eyes, searching for a silent understanding, but she wouldn't look at him. He could hear her heart beat accelerating again. Her chest lifted and lowered at a fast pace until she couldn't stand it any longer.

"I need to leave!" she bit her lower lip nervously, not knowing if he would let her go. Taking some slow steps away from him, she then pierced his eyes, being on the edge of despair. He just nodded faintly notable; he knew it would be wrong to force her to stay, that was something she seemed to know all too well and he didn't want that for her. Although, somehow he knew that he would find her, indifferent where she planned to go.

She nodded back at him; as she reached the door she turned the doorknob and without another word, slipped out of his apartment, leaving him behind never wanting to look back again. Damon stared at the still open door for quite a while, absorbed in thoughts; barley noticing his surroundings.

It was already dark outside as Elena ran as fast as she could through the colorful illuminated streets of New York. She had no idea where precisely she wanted to end up; her current thought was just about getting as far away from Damon as possible. She was so freaking upset with herself that her eyes started to fill with tears.

What did she do? Not long ago she had so desperately promised herself that she would never let a man touch her again. She was absolutely not able to decipher why she had acted like this, especially after such a short time she had accomplished to escape Mason. The thought of him sent an unpleasant chill along her spine and made her run even faster. What had happened between Damon and her, had made her forget her angst-inducting memories of the past two years momentarily. That was the only good thing she got out of it; ignoring the silent voice inside of her, that called her a liar. Ok, actually the way Damon had touched her, had felt incredible but strange and intimidating at the same time, too. At least afterwards it felt like that.

She didn't even know up to that point, how it could feel, when a man touches a woman just to give her pleasure. She only knew the way it felt, when a man takes what he hasn't even asked for it at all and how much it hurts. Not only for the body, but explicitly for the soul.

She had met Mason only a few days after her parents had died in a car accident. At that time she had only been 18 and had still lived at her parent's house in Waterville, Maine. It had only taken him some soothing words, and she had trusted him instantly. She had been naïve and lost and just glad to have at least one person left, but that hadn't lasted for long. Mason had controlled her every step, had shielded her from her few friends until he wouldn't let her leave the house at all. Although, she had already guessed how dangerous he was, she had started a fight with him, but that had resulted in the first time he not only beat her up but also forced himself on her. He had been so relentless with her; she had thought her fragile body would break under his violence. She could still and would forever remember the sound of her own screams of pain. A sound she hadn't even known she was able to make.

After that he locked her up in the basement. She was allowed to come upstairs for a couple of hours during the day. Especially when he had wanted her; unfortunately he had wanted her a lot. She had tried to escape him a couple of times, but that had never ended well for her. For nearly two years, the pain, the fear, the disgust and the shame was all she knew. She hadn't seen, hadn't spoken to anybody but him, all she had left, were her precious memories about more peaceful days, when her parents had still been alive and she had been a happy young woman, excited about the future that lay right in front of her.

Then, only 36 hours ago, Mason had made the first mistake within month; he had forgotten to lock the front door while she was upstairs. She hadn't hesitated a second to run away, although she had felt uncomfortable in the clothes he had picked out for her for that day. She had hated it so much that he had always wanted her to wear clothes, which had never left much to the imagination. Especially, she hated the fucking front close bras he loved so damn much. Argh.

Said thing still hung open under her tank top when she entered a hostel. She hadn´t even her purse with her, she had only been able to grab an envelope with some money. She had found it on the sideboard on her way out. Hopefully, she would at least be able to pay for a room. Most of the money she had spent on the bus ride to New York. It wasn't a proposed decision to go there; it had been a coincidence that the first bus she had reached called New York its destination.

The next day she needed to go to the police, she could use some help and wanted so desperately to feel somehow safe again. For once she was lucky; the hostel had a free room left, which she was able to afford and entered it within minutes. Closing the door behind her, she more than welcomed the feeling of being all by herself. For the last two years, this was the first time she simply could relax, well knowing that she mustn't be afraid of him calling for her in need. When she reached the narrow bed and lay down on the cushion, she felt the exhaustion overwhelming her immediately.

"'Lena!" She heard is harsh voice through the concrete walls of the basement and froze. He couldn't be serious, could he? She had been upstairs with him only a couple of hours ago. She still felt badly sore and had hoped, to have at least one day to recover from the sheer brutality he had used on her. What was wrong with him? How could he even enjoy having his way with her, while she always just lay there, limb and with an empty expression on her face; desperately trying to let her mind slip to another place where she was rid of him. The first couple of months she had fought him every single time, but when she had realized that he took pleasure in her defense she had surrendered. She hadn't been able to keep him from violating her anyway; he was so much stronger than her. In the end, she wasn't more than a living doll in his claws.

"'LENA!" he screamed furiously down the stairs. "Don't make me come down there and take you upstairs by myself!" he threatened her. Elena inhaled sharply and jumped up from her wooden chair she had sat in, while reading a book. The basement was the only room he had avoided to take her in, and she wanted to leave it at that. So she moved around her bed and went upstairs. Step by step she forced her feet further to the next session of pain and disgust with one of the two persons on earth she hated the most, the other person being herself. Even after such a long time, she couldn't forgive herself for being so stupid. For trusting him; for letting him inside her house, changing this place that had been her beloved home for nearly her entire life into her personal hell on earth Now, she had to pay for her stupidity.

He waited for her on the basement door, watching her eagerly while she came closer to him. When she saw his facial expression, she could barley keep herself from puking. Mason was a tall, muscular man with very short blonde hair and small grey eyes. The first time she had seen him, she had felt attracted to him, but when she looked at him now she thought she had never met an uglier guy.

"What is it Mason?" she asked tired as she reached the last step, before entering the living room.

"What do you think?" he asked back rhetorically, quite amused about her question. "Get your ass on the couch! I'll be right back. Just need to pick up something first!" he told her, gesturing to her destination and headed around the corner. She sighed not able to think of what might happen to her next. Her gaze went to the front door, longing so much for escaping this whole shit, she had maneuvered herself into. She blinked once.

That couldn't be true, could it? The chain of the front door wasn't closed. Usually it was locked and Mason always carried the key on his body. With a pounding heart, she didn't think twice about it running towards the door, suppressing the notion of the consequences she would have to suffer if he would catch her. She knew that she had just a few seconds before he would hear her; as fast as she was able to she gained the door grasping for an envelope with some dollar notes in it, she noticed running past the sideboard and opened the door.

"Fuck!" Mason screamed from the first floor, followed by heavy footsteps. "Don't you dare ̒Lena!" she heard him freaking out behind her but didn't care. She just ran without looking back, heading to a bus station right at the end of the street

̒Lena! Stop running!" Mason yelled from not so far away as she could hear his paces getting dangerously closer. With sweaty palms she sped up once more like the devil incarnate was after her and ran onto the middle of the street. No one was to be seen. Where the hell was everyone? She fought for air while her lungs burned inside of her, she wouldn't be able to keep her pace for much longer. Panic mixed under her exhaustion when the bus station came in sight. There stood one single bus, waiting for the last two passengers to climb in. She wasn't able to catch it, was she?

"HELP ME! PLEASE! WAIT FOR ME!" she cried out as loud as it was possible. "Please wait! Help!" She started to sob franticly. Oh my God, please wait!

"Give it up, Lena! Freeze!" Damn it. Mason was so close but she couldn't give up, no, that was her last chance. If he would get a hold of her, he would never let her run away again.

"WAIT!" she screamed once more as she ultimately arrived at the bus entrance and jumped in. "Close the door! Close the door!" she cried hysterically and turned around to see Mason slamming against the now closed door.

"NO! Fuck, 'Lena! I will find you! Do you hear me? You cannot escape me! I will hunt you down and when I catch you then…" She couldn't hear his threat anymore; the bus driver had already started the engine and was leaving the bus station. Elena just stood in the middle of the bus, watching Mason kicking at a trash can incredibly furious.

"What was that all about?" the bus driver asked soft and kind of worried.

"That was about you, saving my life," Elena whispered as tears of relief trickled over her face.

In her bed, Elena turned around and for once she was able to sleep easy.

Damon closed the door slowly, preparing himself a tumbler of Bourbon and sinking into his couch, watching the door fiercely.

What the fuck just happened? He wasn't able to figure it out. The whole situation had been more than twisted. What had leaded her to suddenly kiss him back? She obviously hadn't been into him in the first place, or at least after he had trapped her. What had changed so instantly? He was absolutely oblivious to it. After all he had forced a kiss onto her lips; couldn't be quite the turn on for her, could it? Indeed, the hot part had started exactly after that, but he couldn't be sure anyway. And then, of course, there was the most illogical thing of all. She had told him to bite him.

Hello? She didn't even know that he was a vampire. Chewing it over and over, he felt almost certain that she hadn't had a clue of what she had asked for. Otherwise she wouldn't have been so confused that all she had wanted to do was leaving as fast as she could. To be honest, that was the last thing he had wanted her to do. The thought of her being alone out there, hunted by God knows what, suddenly evoked his protective instinct.

Jesus, what was wrong with him? A few hours ago he had gladly ripped her throat out, but now? Damon ran his fingers through his raven hair and made a decision. The next day he was going to find her and then he would confront her with all the nonsense spiralling in his head. Although she didn't seem to look forward to another encounter, he just knew that he needed to be close to her in the very near future. With every minute she wasn't with him the wish to be close to her started to feel like a basic need.

How odd was that? He breathed out noisily. He needed a distraction, yeah, that would help. He nodded to himself, jumped to his feet, grasped his leather jacket, throwing it over his shoulder and walked out of his apartment.

He wasn't on the road for long until he arrived at "The Underground," his favourite club in town. He greeted the guy on the door and went down the stairs into the basement. Although his last visit to New York was long ago, he remembered vividly that the women who came here were overfond of a filthy dance that always resulted in a bloody midnight snack. He entered the club through a foggy curtain of smoke and smirked with narrowed eyes.

The dance floor was full of people, moving lasciviously to the heavy bass beat coming from all over the semi-lighted club. Damon went over to the bar and ordered a shot of Bourbon. While swallowing the contents of his glass, he drank in his surroundings, searching for his prey. Leering he found what he was looking for. A pretty brunette on his right was swaying her hips and was obviously enjoying herself. Her long hair semi-covered her bare shoulders, allowing him a glance at her delicious pulse point when she moved her head back and forth to the rhythm of the music.

He examined her from head to toe and delighted in the way her black, sparkling strapless dress fit her like a second skin. At first her eyes were closed, but Damon watched her eagerly so after a short time she felt him lingering on her body. She opened her eyes and found his own one's in a fraction of a second; smiling. He licked his lips unconsciously and moved slowly towards her; his piercing eyes never leaving hers. When he reached her he didn't hesitate to place his hands on her hips, supporting and joining her in her motion. To touch her felt good, but it was no comparison to the feeling when he had touched Elena.

No! No! No! Focus! He breathed out, trying to collect himself. The girl in front of him put her arms around his neck, coming closer to his face. That distracted him enough to let his hands wander down the small of her back and lower to her ass. As he squeezed she let her head fell back unaware of showing him exactly what he wanted to see. When she looked back at him her gaze was full of lust, her lips already parted. Leisurely she turned around so that her back was against his hard chest and his strong arms encircled her slender form.

Fuck! So much for distraction! He wasn't able to stop himself from mirroring the way he had touched Elena on that strange girl he hadn't even talked to. He nearly drowned in the feeling of reliving the moments he had had with Elena. The girl in his arms started to moan but suddenly turned around again, kissing him heavily on the lips. Taken by surprise he got angry. What was she thinking? That wasn't the way it was supposed to be! He growled and shoved her backwards.

"To the toilets!" he commanded rudely

"Gladly!" she answered seductively, smiling all over her face, happy to get a hottie like him between her hungry legs. With his hands on her back, he pushed her fiercely through the crowd, towards a booth on the floor to the toilets. Slamming her against the cold dirty wall, her hands were all over him within seconds, not observing his change of mood.

"Stop!" he barked as he made eye contact with her. He had enough of her fiddling "You were suppose to be a distraction, unfortunately you horribly failed. We will be done in a minute. Hold still, don't scream," he compelled her, freeing his fangs and biting her unceremoniously and mercilessly into her neck. The moment the first drop of her blood hit his tongue, he knew that something was incredibly wrong. The girl's blood tasted like mud! He swallowed nonetheless, but only to vomit it out in a cough attack.

"Urg! What the fuck? Are you sick or something?" he managed to asked in between coughs. The girl stared at him with an empty expression on her face.

"No, I'm not sick," she answered monotonous. "Than what the hell is wrong with you?" he shouted angrily.

"There is nothing wrong with me," she insisted.

"Fine," he took a deep breath fighting for his self-control. The last thing he needed was a dead, bloody body to get rid of in a town with lots of curious people but less then soft ground to bury a corpse.

"Forget about me and everything that happened in the last hour!" he ordered, turned around and stormed away to the stairway.

Back on the street, his anger turned into rage. When she was fine than… maybe he was the problem…

Argh! That was definitely not his day. With an aggressive expression on his face, he headed straight to his apartment. He needed proof. If something was wrong with him, he needed to know as soon as possible. Entering the lobby of his building, he reassured himself that he was alone and used his vamp speed to hurry upstairs. He opened the door and slammed it close in one swift motion, running to his fringe in the kitchen. When he opened it, he instantly grabbed one of the five blood bags he had deposited there just in case.

He unexceptionally preferred blood straight from the vein, but it was always better to have a backup blood source. He renounced to rip it open but readily sank his elongated fangs directly into it. He stiffened immediately and spited the first sip disgusted into the sink. It also tasted like mud. Fuck! To be on the safe side he also tried the other four bags, but the result remained the same. Frustrated, he left the kitchen that was covered in blood now and sank down onto his couch, not able to build one clear thought.

He sat there for hours, without moving at all; he just stared blankly at the door. When the sun was up for a couple of hours he finally started to move again. He grabbed his cell phone from the coffee table and scrolled through his contacts. He stopped at his brother's name and hesitated. Stefan had been the reason why he had left MysticFalls in the first place.

Stefan and his oh so perfect Barbie doll Caroline. Once they had returned to the small town after some decades, he and Stefan used to live in the old boarding house all by themselves, but after the day Stefan had met Caroline, everything had started to change. Their relationship had never been easy but with Caroline entering their lives and their home, it got worse. On one hand Damon was happy for his brother, because he eventually stopped brooding and started living, but on the other hand Damon simply wasn't in to this rainbows and unicorns scenario that had spread out in front of him. And to be honest, he just wasn't the biggest fan of the 20-year-old human female.

Every single minute of the day Caroline behaved so buggingly girly it made him want to run a mile. After a couple of months that had been literally what he had done. Ok, a few miles more than only one, but just to make sure. Damon hadn't been honest about the reason for his departure but only to not hurt Stefan. He had told him that he had longed for the Big Apple for quite a while and that it seemed to be the right time since Stefan got Caroline to keep company. Despite this, his old friend Alaric had moved to New York a couple of month ago and he kind of missed his drinking buddy. Although they had kept in touch, this would be the first serious phone call in a while.

"Damon, hey, what's up big brother?" Stefan nearly sang into the phone. Still on cloud nine. Damon rolled his eyes; sighing.

"Hey, baby bro. You sound good. Everything fine?" he tried to small talk but failed enormously. "Yep, everything's fine here. But you don't sound so good. What's wrong?" Stefan asked concerned.

"You've got me there," Damon said rueful.

"And?" Stefan went into it.

"And I'm screwed. I can't keep any blood down," he answered and sank back to the cushions.

"What? Why is that?"

"I don't know Stefan. I tried a girl, I tried 5 blood bags, it had all tasted like mud!" Damon said out loud, his frustration swinging in every syllable.

"Shit! I have never heard about something like that. Did something happen to you before? I don't know… magic or something like that?" Stefan asked baffled.

"To be honest, there was indeed something magical that happened to me yesterday, but not a witch if that's what you are getting at."

"Then what was it?"

"I met a girl at the bar, we talked and when we shook hands she somehow sensed, that I'm tcha what…at least that I'm dangerous, I think," Damon wondered out load.

"I don't get it. You mean she sensed that you are dangerous or something, but not that you are a vampire?"

"Yes!"

"How do you know for sure?"

"What do you think?"

"Compulsion. Of course! Because there is no other way to get some answers, right? What about posing a polite question?" Stefan suggested.

"You're not serious, are you? Apart from that, the whole situation wasn't that simple!"

"Then enlighten me!" Stefan claimed

Damon sighed. "Well, I compelled her, took her home to ask some more questions and then she broke my compulsion," Damon made a brief break; he knew that Stefan would want to say something about that.

"You're kidding, right?" Stefan said shocked.

"Nope, not at all!"

"But that is not possible, is it?"

"I don't know. I have heard about people, who were able to resist a vampire's compulsion but only after years of practice. So no, she wasn't supposed to be up to this"

"And what happened then? No wait, let me guess. She tried to run, you trapped her and bit her," Stefan hissed.

"Wow! Bravo brother! But unfortunately you missed something. I forced a kiss onto her lips, and then she suddenly was all over me and told me to bite her," Sparing his brother the delicious details.

"Wait, she told you to bite her without knowing that you're a vampire? Is she in to the kinky stuff, or what?" Stefan giggled.

"Watch it baby bro. It was nothing like that. After all she seemed confused and shocked about what had happened. I'm pretty sure that she didn't do anything on purpose," Damon said protectively.

"You know what? Whatever is wrong with you, it might have something to do with her. Go find her and try out if her blood works on you. I will talk to Elijah. Maybe he had heard something similar over the centuries," Stefan pronounced.

"I would appreciate that. I will call you when I have found her. Thank you, brother!" Damon said honestly.

"No problem!"

They hung up and Damon went for the door.

Elena jumped awake, feeling out of breath. She yanked her hands up to her throat but everything seemed fine, except that she wasn't getting enough air into her lungs. Hardly breathing she turned to the side to get a glimpse of the clock positioned on the nightstand. Whoa! It was almost noon! She had slept for over 12 hours! Unfortunately, she didn't felt rested at all.

When she climbed out of her bed, her whole body felt odd. Not only that she could hardly breathe but her head was pounding, too. As she reached the threshold of the bathroom a heavy dizziness forced her to latch on to the doorframe. She started to breathe erratic as a wave of panic washed over her and her heart began to race in her chest.

What was wrong? Maybe it was a panic attack. She just needed to calm down. With all her strength she forced herself to breath in and out at a slow pace. After a minute she felt a little better and continued her way to the sink. She splashed some cold water into her face and settled down. Watching herself in the mirror, she frowned. Somehow she looked a little different than normally…kind of puffy.

Odd, too! She raised an eyebrow in confusion; touching her face warily she shook her head in disbelief. She must have been fantasising. Carefully, she undressed herself, stepped into the shower, closed her eyes to relax herself and let the hot water wash away her concerns. Or at least, that had been her plan. As the hot water ran down her slender body, she stiffened straightaway. The odd feeling was instantly back and her heart was pounding like mad. Suddenly she felt sick and managed to reach the toilet just in time.

She gagged but nothing came up her stomach. Exhausted she sank down next to the toilet and rested her head against the sink, to cool down her heated face. She needed help. Whatever was wrong with her was serious. She waited a couple of minutes until she felt able to stand up again. With all her might, she dressed and left the hostel room.

Lurching through the hostel's exit, she didn't discern the worried voice of the receptionist, offering to help. Elena didn't know what she was doing or where she was going, it seemed as if her feet had their own will all of a sudden. She wasn't able to notice anything anymore. Neither of the strange expressions on the faces of the passing people nor the street she was stumbling on. Her view was blurred her own expression blank. Her body was swollen to the touch. Time went by, but then in the fraction of a second, there were arms around her. Arms she remembered and felt safe in.

Damon's arms.