Chapter 16

I wake up sometime late the next morning with Damon's arms still wrapped around me.

"Good morning, sunshine," Damon teases me. "It's nearly noon."

"Really? Wow, I must have been tires," I murmur.

"You were," he says.

I grin and snuggle closer to him.

He grins down at me, resting his hands on my hips. "You look sexy like this."

"Like what?" I ask looking down at myself. I gasp. I was only in my underwear.

"I took you out of your dress last night. I thought you would be more comfortable," Damon explains my lack of clothing.

"Ah," I nod. "I suppose it was."

"But with your hair all mussed up and you half naked in my bed, you are simply ravishing," Damon whispers in my ear, moving his arms slowly over my arms, gently rubbing up and down. It makes me shiver. He leans down and kisses my ear. He gently takes my earlobe between his teeth and nibbles on it.

I moan, unable to control myself, because it feels so good.

I can feel Damon grin as he moves to my neck, sucking and nibbling on my tender flesh. I gasp loudly as he begins to move his hands. One of his hands makes its way down my back coming to rest right above my ass. The other is slowly snaking its way up my shirt.

I groan and push myself against Damon. I can feel his excitement pushing back.

Damon is only in his boxers, so I run my hands over his bare chest. Damon shifts so I am now on my back, him pressing against me, closer than we've ever been before.

I rake my nails lightly down Damon's back.

It's his turn to groan.

"If we don't stop now, I am not going to be able to control myself," Damon says looking into my eyes.

I lean up to kiss him, "I don't want to stop."

"Excellent," Damon says, lust clouding his eyes.

About an hour later, we both lay sated, curled up together, on his bed.

"Damn," is all I manage to say.

"Damn is right," Damon chuckles.

I smile and lean up to kiss him gently.

He tries to deepen the kiss, but I push him away.

"What?" Damon asks.

"I'm hungry," I say seriously.

He sighs and gets up, putting on a snug pair of jeans and a black v-neck tee shirt.

"I have no clothes," I frown.

"Hmm," Damon said rummaging through his drawers. HE tosses a couple of articles of clothing at me.

They include my own underwear and bra, a pair of navy basketball shorts, and a dark green tee shirt.

"Thanks," I say changing quickly. "Now, let's get some lunch."

Damon chuckles. He takes my hand as we head to the kitchen. I don't really know where it is, so I was letting Damon lead me there.

As we reach the first floor, Stefan walks in the front door with Elena.

"Hey, little brother," Damon says. "Stay out all night?"

"Yes. I see you stayed in," Stefan grins, glancing at my attire.

"All morning," Damon grins back. "Forced to come out for food."

I roll my eyes and tug on Damon's hand, "If I don't get food, we'll never stay in again."

Damon immediately jumps into action, practically dragging me to the kitchen.

I laugh loudly, "At least now I know I can simply threaten our sex life, and you'll jump through hoops."

"That's just not nice," Damon frowns. "I would never do that to you."

"Well, that's the difference between you and I," I shrug. "Now, make me some pancakes."

"Yes, ma'am," Damon mock salutes.

After I ate, we went back to Damon's room.

"So, tell me about you, before you came to Mystic Falls," Damon says, sounding intrigued.

"Well, as I said before, my father was a herbist. I would go with him when he went to collect herbs. I traveled the world with him. I even saw Mt. Everest. We had a great time just him and I. He often invited Paige along, but she was always too busy. She was very much the indoor type," I begin. "My mother stayed with her when we went away. My mother was a strict woman. Very uptight, and a control freak. I have no idea how he ended up with my free-spirited father. She was a doctor. Both my parents made good money, so we were very well off."

"I see," Damon muses. "What were you like?"

"Me? Oh, well, I was never outgoing, but I had a lot of friends. I was in softball. I loved sports and being outdoors. Paige and I never really got along. I always saw her as a nosy older sister trying to be my mom. I didn't like it. Now she's really trying to be my mom," I say. "The best part of my year is when my father would say we were going on a trip. I was such a daddy's girl."

Damon nods, "I used to feel like Stefan treated me as his child."

"But, you're older," I say.

"I know," Damon chuckles. "I didn't always act it, though."

"Tell me about your past," I encourage him.

"Well, my family was rich. We were a founding family of Mystic Falls. Stefan and I were both fighting in the Civil War when everything began. It all started with Katherine. She came to live with us. Katherine was very beautiful. She could have any man she wanted. She always was the center of attention when she was around. She worked her charm on both Stefan and I," Damon sighs wistfully. "We both fell in love. Katherine, being Katherine, led the both of us on."

"I'm sorry," I interrupt. I scoot closer to him and take his hand.

"It's in the past. I am over her. Anyway," Damon says. "Back to the story. Katherine was a vampire. We, obviously, did not know at the time. She turned both Stefan and me. Stefan immediately drank blood to complete the transformation. I didn't know if it was because he didn't want to die, or if he truly believed Katherine loved him. I was not going to take blood. I didn't want to be like her. Stefan convinced me, though. He claimed he didn't want to be alone. So, I drank. I became what I am today. Though Stefan and I took different paths. He restricted himself to animal blood. He wavered recently, which was partly my fault, but he is back on track now. I, however, enjoy human blood. It's so much better. I used to kill for it, but I already told you that. That's basically it."

"What do you do these days?" I ask curiously.

"I am working with Stefan, Alaric, Caroline, and Elena, in part, to figure out what the Mikaelson's are up to. We don't trust them at all."

"I don't like my sister being involved with Elijah. She just won't listen to me," I sigh.

"Just stay away from them. Don't invite them in," Damon says.

"Well, my sister already invited Elijah in," I say.

"He's probably the mildest of them all. We're pretty sure he's not involved in the other's plans. Be careful, though, just in case," Damon warns.

"I will," I nod.

"Holy shit! It's already 6 o'clock," Damon swears, looking at the clock.

"I should be getting home," I say. "Paige is probably going berserk.

"Alright, let's go," he says.

Damon gives me a lingering kiss good night, in his car, outside my house.

"Night," I murmur.

"I'll call you tomorrow," he says.

I nod and wave goodbye as I walk up to my house.

I open the front door and immediately I hear Paige call, "Kalinda, is that you?"

"Yeah," I reply.

"Where in the heck were you?" she asks. She sounds really angry, and she's marching towards me. "And what the heck are you wearing?"

I look at my attire and blush, "I was at Damon's."

"Oh, no, Kalinda, you didn't," she sighs.

"And if I did, why does it matter to you?" I ask.

"You didn't even go home after the ball, did you?" she practically interrogates me.

I shake my head no. "I have a good reason as to why, though."

"Oh, it wasn't just so you could have sex? I have been worried sick about you since I got home," she replies.

"Kol attacked me, and then Damon brought me to his house," I explain. Not that I have to explain myself to her. She isn't my mother.

"Oh my goodness, Kalinda, are you okay?" she asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I say. "Damon healed me. And where were you? You said you had been worrying since you got home."

"I was at Elijah's," she says.

I smile, "Oh, I see how it is. Whose dress is that? Is it yours? If so, I have never seen you wear it before."

"It's not what you think, Kalinda," Paige says. "Kol attacked me as well last night. I remember Esther cleaning the wound. The next thing I know I woke up in his room. We didn't have sex. He gave me his sister's dress because he thought it would be more comfortable than my ball gown. He also explained everything. I'm sorry for not believing you. I know now that you were telling the truth," she hugs me and starts crying.

"It's okay," I say gently. "Wait, when did Elijah explain everything to you?"

"This morning," she says. "Why?"

"I just don't see why you would believe him and not me," I shrug. "Seeing as you've known me since I was born, and I've never lied to you."

"Because, I saw it with my own eyes! How could I not believe it?" she exclaims. "I've already apologized for not believing you, but it was a very unrealistic story."

"I don't care, you should have trusted me," I sigh. "Whatever. It doesn't matter. At least you'll be away from him now."

"Away from who?" she questions.

"Elijah, of course. You know he is no good now. You know why," I say slowly.

"That doesn't mean I won't see him again. You're with Damon. You had sex with him," Paige says.

How did she figure out Damon was a vampire? "There is a difference when one is working for the good, and the other is helping evil," I say.

"He isn't evil. He's very sweet," she smiles. "It's none of your business anyway."

"Fine," I say walking away. "Don't blame me when something bad happens." I go to my room and slam the door behind me. I blast my music.

I hear Paige calling me for supper, but I ignore her.

Eventually, I hear her come up to her room. I shut off my music and try to sleep. I hear Paige crying.

I sigh. I don' want her to be upset. I quietly walk into her room and lie down beside her. I start to cry myself.

We take comfort in each other's presence. For now, things are okay between us.

This town is going to tear us apart.