Author's note:

Hey you all!

Sorry for the delay. I hope this chapter makes it up to you. As always thank you so much for your reviews, favs and follows, and thank you shoppe69 for betaing this story so greatly!

Enjoy!

xoxo Giuna

Chapter 14

They've been driving for a couple of hours and Elena still smiled all over her face. Most of the time she had leaned her head against the window of Damon's Camaro and had watched the landscape flying by. Amazed at the sight, she was filled with excitement to finally meet Damon's brother Stefan and to explore the town Damon had once called home, or maybe still did.

Damon on the other hand hadn't changed his concerned expression very often since they had decided to visit Mystic Falls. When Elena looked at him from the corner of her eye, she could see that again he seemed none too happy about their journey. She didn't get it, though. Wasn't he happy to see his brother again?

"You know we could have stayed at home, right?" Elena said in a calm but concerned voice.

Damon grinned, "I know, but you seemed pretty excited. Besides, I haven't seen Stefan in a while and I guess it's time to change that. I kinda miss him."

"Okay. But what is bothering you then? You look like we're going to show up on our own funeral," she pointed out and frowned at him.

"I really do, huh? I don't know, maybe it's because of the past. There aren't just good memories. The last time I had been in Mystic Falls, we had some trouble with Elijah and his brother. You remember? The old vampire who helped Stefan to find out about your gene?" he explained.

"Yes, I remember, but if he helped Stefan, where is the problem?"

"The problem isn't Elijah. We made peace with Elijah at some point. The problem is his brother Klaus. From all the creatures I have met over the years, he is the most dangerous one. He is pure evil," Damon stated seriously and stared at the street in front of him, suddenly deep in thoughts again.

"And this vampire, Klaus, is in Mystic Falls right now?" Elena's fear resonated in every word. Why hadn't he told her earlier?

"According to Stefan he's not. Otherwise we would have stayed in New York, believe me," he admitted, but somehow Elena wasn't able to figure Damon out. On the one hand, Damon wanted to stay the hell out of Mystic Falls, but on the other hand, when he talked about Klaus, Elena couldn't get rid of the feeling that he somehow wanted to meet him…

"Damon? What happened between you and Klaus?" she dared to ask and looked at him suspiciously.

"Ha, ha. I can't keep anything from you, can I?" he realized and reached out his hand, caressing her cheek; his expression from one second to the other serious again. Elena leaned in to the gently touch, kissing his palm softly.

"No, I don't think so," she said and took his hand in hers.

"Well, I guess I haven't got another choice then, right?"

"Right!"

"I knew it… Okay then… Klaus and Elijah aren't just old, they are the original vampires. They've been alive for about 1,000 years by now, so you can imagine their immense strength. While Elijah is a man of his word, Klaus is a man of power and in combination with his temper, he isn't the guy you wanna mess with," Damon explained.

"But that didn't keep you from doing just that, I guess? You messed with him," Elena noted and narrowed her eyes. She wasn't stupid. She knew exactly that Damon hadn't always been the way he was now. He was kind of a hothead. He had shown her this side of him, maybe not completely unleashed, but she had witnessed enough to understand that he could indeed be very dangerous.

"You're right again. I did. Twenty years ago, Klaus and Elijah set foot in Mystic Falls and tried to dislodge us. Back then, Stefan and I didn't know of the existence of the originals. We could have been beaten easily if we hadn't been drinking a tiny amount of vervain each day to train our tolerance. You know, actually we did it to hide ourselves from the town council in Mystic Falls. A couple of people there know about vampires and are trying to protect themselves from us. Every now and then, when the so called animal attacks happen too often, they set vervain-traps to expose vampires. But with our bodies prepared, those traps couldn't harm us to the full extent and we were able to stay hidden. It was sheer luck, because the first thing Klaus and Elijah had tried was compelling us to go to hell."

"Wait… are you saying that the original vampires are able to compel other vampires?" she interrupted Damon and gazed at him in shock.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Damon confirmed and nodded.

"Shit!"

"Oh yeah, babe, you've got it," Damon smirked mischievously at her cursing.

"I bet Klaus and Elijah weren't happy about that, right? Why did they want you to leave anyway?"

"Because Mystic Falls was their home too and they wanted the town for themselves. They never filled us in what they had really planned, but I don't think that it would have ended well for the town's population. And since we didn't intend to leave…," Damon hinted and she could see that he looked pretty pleased with himself.

"You mean you started to fight them…"

"Well, Stefan didn't like the idea much, but I'm the big brother, so he got a bad break."

"Ha, ha. I see. And what did you do then?"

"Oh, first we tried to find out as much as possible about the newcomers. And what we found was very helpful. In the grimoire of a witch, who owed Stefan a favor, we learned about the only weapon which can kill an original vampire. Well, not dead-dead, but at least dead as long as the weapon remains in the body."

"That sounds nasty. What kind of weapon is it?"

"It is a special dagger which only works in combination with the ash of an ancient tree," Damon answered and stroked her hand gently.

"Seems pretty complicated," Elena admitted and tried desperately to wrap her mind around all the new information.

"Could've been worse. The bigger problem, though, was to stake one of them to gain a leverage to keep the other in check. It took some time until we had figured out a plan and we would have never managed it, if they'd realized we couldn't be compelled in the first place. But being well-provided with brains as we are," Damon smirked, causing Elena to roll her eyes unnerved, "we had played along with their game. With them thinking they had forced us to leave town, we bought time for our plan which was only possible because they hadn't told us a precise date to go. While they thought we had already left, Stefan and I broke in to their mansion and stole the dagger and the ash, knowing we would find it there. Right after that, we showed them unobtrusively that we were still in Mystic Falls. I must admit that we hadn't expected such a prompt reaction, therefore we barely made it home without having any time left to prepare the stake until Klaus kicked in the door. Still, when he tried to compel us again, the surprise was on our side and we accomplished to defeat him. Okay, not with the stake but with an injection of very highly dosed vervain which I had luckily kept next to the door in case of unbidden guests," Damon shared his memories and sighed.

"Mmm, I guess that's why he doesn't like you much?" Elena asked quite confused at Damon's sigh which had sounded almost enthusiastic. Did he miss those times?

"Right, that's why. Actually, we had planned on hiding him with the stake through his heart where Elijah couldn't find him. Only that he too was faster than we thought. He showed up only a couple of minutes later when I was about to stake Klaus. He made pretty clear that the way we had tried to threaten him and his brother sucked. To be honest, until then we hadn't been aware with whom we were really dealing and he proved substantially that it wasn't a good idea to provoke him. But he was impressed with our courage to stand up against two originals and promised us that we could stay in Mystic Falls. Alive, of course."

"And that worked?" Elena questioned doubtfully.

"More or less it did. Okay, Klaus had to be convinced, but Elijah managed it somehow. A couple of years later, though, Klaus' behavior grew more and more hostile towards me. I guess it had something to do with my irresistible personality. In short, Klaus didn't need any rival, so he tried to kill me a couple of times. As you see I accomplished to defend myself against him, what fueled his hate even more. Due to his promise, Elijah suggested for Klaus to leave town for a while, what Klaus did reluctantly."

"Huh. The way you're talking about it makes me think that you miss those times. Am I wrong?" Elena asked hesitantly.

Damon's mouth formed a crooked grin which quickly turned into a bright smile, "You're right. It wasn't the worst time. Especially, because it brought Stefan and me closer together than we had been for a very long time."

"Then why did you leave him?" Elena requested curiously.

"Because Stefan fell in love and I envied the way he felt for Caroline. It reminded me of Sophia and back then it hurt a lot. Even though I don't understand what he sees in her, but that is none of my business anyway," Damon stated and shook his head, chuckling at the thought of Caroline.

"I understand," she whispered more to herself. It hurt her that Damon had been in pain for such a long time and that he hadn't even been able to see his brother happy with a woman. Thinking about that, another thought crossed her mind, "Wait, you said Caroline, but what about Katherine? I mean, she is a vampire and Stefan had turned to spend the rest of all time with her… What happened to her?"

"Well, what happened was that Stefan had felt guilty for telling Katherine to turn me. In the end, the idea of turning me hadn't been a great one. Okay, I had been able to switch off the grieving and the rage just as he had promised, but instead of these emotions I felt an immense frustration. Frustration about life, my new nature and about my future and I let it all out on Stefan which made it pretty hard for him to cope with his decision. Stefan and Katherine fought about it very often, and since she had to deal with Sophia's death too, it had been a difficult time for them. At first they seemed to manage the problems, but as the years went by and Katherine didn't stop talking about the ifs and whens which could have saved Sophia, I decided to leave them because I knew that for her, I was the one to blame for her death. With the guilt in his heart, though, Stefan wasn't able to let me go which is why he chose me above Katherine."

"Wow," Elena breathed at a loss for words, "Did he ever see her again?"

"No. She made it pretty clear that she didn't want to see him ever again. She had been furious! And I can't even blame her. All in all, it had been a weird twist of fate," he mused, thinking about what they all had lost at the fact that they had met.

"Maybe so…," Elena said in a quiet voice, not daring to say out loud that she was thankful that Damon had been turned into a vampire. Otherwise they would've never met…

"I'm glad to be here with you," Damon told her and glanced at her while the sun reflected in the blueness of his eyes, letting them shine even brighter. Of course he wasn't able to read Elena's mind, but it was obvious to him that doubtful thoughts were creeping into her heart, "Don't ever doubt that I wouldn't relive my life over and over again to finally be with you!"

"Damon… I-," but he didn't let her finish the sentence and silenced her with a loving kiss. Quite perplexed, she blinked a couple of times until she closed her eyes to lean into him, responding the sweetness of the kiss and forgetting everything around her.

After a couple of moments Elena inhaled sharply, "Fuck, Damon, look at the street!" she shrieked in panic, but Damon remained calm and laughed against her mouth.

"No need to worry, babe. Everything's under control," he assured her and sat back in his seat, still giggling.

"That's not funny! You're not as unbreakable as you would be without me. When I die, you die! Don't forget that!" she barked at him while her face turned a few shades paler.

"Calm down, Elena! You still underestimate my vampire reflexes! You're safe with me!" he said self-assured and patted her leg.

"You're one cocky vampire!" she hissed at him and shook her head, but couldn't suppress a smile twitching in the corner of her mouth while she turned her head to the window again. She rested her temple against the cool surface and stared out, watching the beauty that flew by once more.

It was already in the evening when the two arrived in Mystic Falls and Damon's Camaro chugged along the driveway of the old boarding house.

"Oh my God, Damon, this house is overwhelming!" Elena said with her mouth popped open as she took Damon's hand, who helped her out of the car.

"I must admit that I like the house, too. Especially my bedroom. If you think my bed in our apartment is big, wait until you see this one," he rejoiced and grinned at her.

"Can't wait," she grinned back and their hands entwined while they walked to the entrance. Fumbling in his pocket, Damon appeared a little calmer to her now and she was glad to see him relaxing again. It had been the right decision to come here, she was sure about that. The moment, Damon wanted to put the key into the lock, the door flew open with a dash, giving way to the view on a good-looking man with perfectly styled hair and beautiful green eyes. The man hadn't eyes for Elena at all, he was staring at Damon. A couple of awkward seconds passed by and neither of them moved, but something seemed to happen between them. Something like a silent understanding passed and all of a sudden the men embraced each other heartily.

"It's so good to see you, Damon," the man at the door pressed and slapped Damon's shoulder warmly.

"You too, Stefan," Damon breathed and returned the slap, "May I introduce Elena to you?" Damon said and released Stefan, pulling Elena closer.

"Of course. Hello, Elena. It's nice to finally meet you," he smiled, reaching out his hand.

"It's nice to meet you too, Stefan. And thank you so much for the invitation," she replied, shook Stefan's hand and kind of froze in place, but was able to cover her body's reaction. She felt it again. The electricity running from her palm into her whole body didn't feel as intense as it had the time she had first touched Damon, but in some weird way it felt even more intruding.

Damon narrowed his eyes when he noticed her reaction, but he played along.

"Come on in!" Stefan invited and together they entered the impressive mansion. Elena couldn't hold back her astonishment when she drank in the interior. The whole place seemed to be of another time; with its wooden paneling, the huge hand-woven carpets, antic furniture and old wall paintings. The interior looked more like an ancient castle than a normal home. Elena liked it, though, and what she liked best was the grand fireplace in the living room which was surrounded by some arm chairs and a sofa.

"Wow, I don't know what to say. You have a very beautiful home," Elena fancied and let her eyes wander.

"Thank you," Damon and Stefan answered at the same time and smirked at each other.

"Where is Caroline, Stefan?" Damon directed at his brother, but couldn't stop watching Elena's amazed face. She was so unbelievably pretty.

"Did you miss me, Damon?" Caroline giggled from behind Damon and smiled all over her face. Before Damon turned around he smirked ironically, but when he came face to face with the blonde girl he smiled politely at her.

"Sure," he assured her but pronounced the world a little exaggerated.

"Just what I thought," Caroline grinned knowingly at Damon, but hugged him nonetheless, not the slightest bit offended. Damon was pretty staggered by her ironic reaction and frowned when she embraced him Maybe she had changed.

"Caroline, please meet Elena," he told her as they loosened their hug.

"Of course. Hello, Elena. I'm so happy to meet you!" she rejoiced about Elena's attendance and almost ran towards her, hugging her like they had already known each other for a long time.

"Oh," slipped Elena's mouth at the whirl wind greeting, but she started giggling instantly, "It's really nice to meet you too, Caroline."

"I'm so excited! You have no idea how glad I am that there is finally another woman in this house! And thank God one who knows about vampires, too," Caroline beamed at Elena, obviously very relieved.

"Wait, you've got nobody to talk about this?" Elena concluded slightly in shock. What an unhappy situation this must be for her! All of a sudden she felt even more grateful for having Jenna and Alaric. She had been relieved too when she had found out that there were people who knew about Damon's nature. Somehow this fact had reduced the weirdness of it all.

"None! Stefan doesn't want me to talk to anybody about him. So it's just him and me. And believe me, from time to time this is really complicated," she stated and glanced over to Stefan, who of course had heard her every word. It wasn't new to him, though.

"I'm sure we will find some time to talk about our vampires," Elena assured and nodded emphatically.

"That would be great," Caroline replied happily, "Are you hungry? I made some dinner for us."

"I'm starving, actually!" Elena answered and noticed just then that her stomach was already growling.

"Great, then please follow me into the kitchen."

During the chat between the girls, Damon had noticed that he liked the new version of Caroline much more than the old one. He was sure that the rainbows-and-unicorns-phase between his brother and Caroline had ended lately, so he was curious to find out where they stood now. Hopefully, Caroline would be able to love and to handle a brooding Stefan, otherwise it would break his brother's heart.

After dinner, Damon and Elena crossed the giant living room once again and headed to the stairs which led to the bedrooms. Holding her hand all the time, Damon grinned at Elena when they passed the last few steps to reach his room.

"You ready?" Damon wiggled his eyebrows at her, being full of anticipation to enter his room again.

"I guess I am."

"Perfect. Please enter my room then," Damon invited her, opening up the wooden door. Elena did as he said and her mouth popped open once more. The room in front of her had the most beautiful and the hugest bed she had ever seen. It looked like a bigger version of the bed in their apartment, only that this one seemed so old. What caught her eye next was the built-in bathroom. Without hesitation she walked over to the white bathtub just to find a big walk-in shower across from it. The whole bathroom had anthracite tiles and with its two rectangular sinks and the modern faucets it looked very elegant.

"Damon, this is the most beautiful room I've ever seen!" she complimented him and watched the way his face turned into a cocky smirk.

"I know," he purred and locked eyes with her while he closed the distance between them in a slack pace. When he reached Elena, he didn't stop but crashed into her body, steadying her with his arms around her back just to press an open-mouthed kiss onto her lips.

"I've had this fantasy about you and me in this tub buried inside my mind for a very long time now…," he breathed in-between moans and kisses, causing Elena to tremble in his strong arms, "Would you mind letting it come true?"

"Not at all…," she pressed, her eyes already closed, her body completely relaxed against Damon's.

"Hmm…, then we need to get rid of this…," he urged, unzipped her lilac summer dress and shoved it slowly down her body, anxious to caress every single inch of her flawless skin. His soft touch ignited the passion she held for him like a firework, sending tiny explosions to all her oh-so sensitive parts. When Elena started to moan with desire, he pushed her wildly backwards to the tub, causing her to stumble, but he kept her from falling.

"I'm sorry, I just want you so fucking bad," he apologized his roughness and crashed her small body against his the very the next second, burying his hands in her thick brown hair demandingly.

"It's okay, don't hold back," she breathed and was totally carried away by his need to be close to her.

"Ha-ha," he laughed faintly into her hair, "Don't offer me something like that…," he said and nibbled almost franticly along her neck, internally fighting against the strong pull to give in to her proposal.

"Why not?" she whispered while her eyes remained closed and her body pressed against Damon's.

"Because if I wouldn't hold back at a certain point, I would hurt you and I can't ever risk that," he explained when he continued kissing her jugular.

"Mhmm…, I know that Damon. That's not what I meant. I mean, I'm ready. I…I want -"

"What?" Damon's shiny blue eyes suddenly burned deep down into hers, trying to force the answer out of her. Elena blushed crimson red, but she wasn't able to deny any longer what she wanted so desperately. She tilted her head to one side, craning her neck so she could reach Damon's ear. Biting her already swollen bottom lip she finally spoke under her breath, "I want you to fuck me, Damon!"

Damon's teeth clenched when he pulled his head back and stared incredulously at Elena. His bathtub-fantasy instantly forgotten, it took him only one second to realize that she was telling the truth and just another second to lift her up onto his hips and pressing her gruffly against the bathroom wall. With her legs around his lower back, Elena dug her fingers into Damon's hair, forcing his head back and away from her neck to meet her mouth. Unleashed, she kissed him so wildly like he would have never expected, while she felt his hands roaming her body in a complete new way. His touch appeared almost challenging. The sounds escaping his mouth drove her nearly insane.

She tensed the muscles of her legs even more; rubbing herself against Damon, she felt the tingle between her thighs causing her to get wetter and wetter. Witnessing her increasing arousal, the last bit of Damon's manners slipped away. As he bit and sucked at the top of her pushed up breasts, he reached down between their bodies, opening his pants and shoving it down his ass. Panting like mad he impatiently tore her panty to shreds and lowered her soaked hot core against his rock-hard cock, but stopped.

"What are you waiting for, Damon? Fuck me already. Please!" she begged, trying desperately to push him into her.

With his chest heaving, Damon stared at her with narrowed eyes, the lustful need imprinted on his face when he slammed into her, filling her to the hilt. Instantly, Elena screamed out in appreciation.

"How does this feel?" he asked with a husky voice, thrusting into her harder than ever before.

"It feels… Ah… It feels so, so good," Elena whimpered, relishing the way he possessed her completely.

"That's what I thought," Damon gasped. Watching her eagerly coming closer and closer to her climax, he never stopped his bittersweet torture. Elena clung to his already sweaty shoulders and arched her hip for Damon to push inside her even further.

"Ah, Elena… what the…," Damon pressed as he felt himself diving into her deeper. Jesus, she led him to explode!

"Mhmm…, Damon, I'm so close," she pleaded as she felt her walls constricted around his big member, which pleased her in a way she had never suspected to welcome so much.

"I know, babe. Come for me," he begged breathlessly. The way Elena surrendered herself to him and demanded for everything he was able to give to her, didn't just put him in a sensual frenzy but filled him with pride, too. Full of passion for the woman around him, he accelerated his pace. Tightening their embrace he buried his nose into her neck and breathed in her unworldly scent which was the final straw for him. Almost thundering into her, Damon felt himself swelling even bigger and couldn't keep himself from spilling no longer. Elena sensed the way he stretched her further. Penetrating her highly sensitive spot like this, she felt the throbbing sensation of her orgasm filling her whole body while the warmth of Damon's juices mixed with hers, soaking her innermost part.

Panting heavily, Damon rested his forehead softly against Elena's, pressing her breasts against his chest he, once more, enjoyed the way her heart pounded strongly against his. Closing his eyes, he cherished the illusion of being alive again

He didn't know it, but at the very moment Elena felt alive too, even though her reason was a completely different. She didn't just feel alive but also freed. Free to finally be the woman she would have been all the time if Mason had never happened. Silently, they listened to each other's breathing for a while, relishing what they had just experienced.