Secret Santa (PART 2)
PART 2
Prompt #4 (by aj81writing): "...Elena's stuck working at the office (as a secretary/receptionist) over the holidays..."
HOW TO SPEND CHRISTMAS EVE
Mason Lockwood stepped out of his office, a smirk spreading over his face when he caught sight of the hot brunette secretary working feverishly at her desk. "So," he said conversationally as he strode over to her and perched on the edge of her desk, "The boss really sucks, huh?"
Elena Gilbert looked up briefly, her eyes narrowing when she saw him sitting dangerously close to her stack of paperwork. She pursed her lips as she moved the papers closer to her, hoping he would take the hint. "Well," she muttered under her breath, "You would know."
To say that he looked caught off guard would be an understatement. Mason gave a very forced laugh, "What do you mean?"
"Oh please," Elena rolled her eyes as she got to her feet and made her way towards the small kitchen area in the corner of the office. She reached up to take a mug out of the cabinet, aware that Mason had followed her. She glanced at him as she poured herself a cup of coffee, "It's not exactly a secret, Mason."
"What's not a secret?"
Elena shook her head as she walked back to her desk, annoyed as his footsteps followed her again. "Everyone knows you're sleeping with Ms. Pierce," she finally said scathingly, "But hey, if that's the only way you could move up on the corporate ladder-"
"Let me stop you right there," Mason interrupted her. When she looked up at him, she was shocked to see him leering at her. "Yes, I might be sleeping with Katherine, but it's hardly any of your business, Elena."
"I never said it was," she snapped, grabbing a folder of papers that 'absolutely needed to be photocopied and faxed out that very day' (according to the post-it note that Katherine had oh so kindly stuck on them). Elena strode into the copier room, turning around to look at Mason who had stopped in the doorway. "It's your life," she said to him, "I was just making an observation."
"Noted," he remarked lazily, watching as she bent over to put some paper in the machine. "You know, if you're looking for a promotion…"
Elena froze, her eyes widening at the unsaid implication. She whirled around to glare at him, "What?"
"Hey," Mason raised both hands in a gesture of innocence, "I'm just saying…I could definitely pull some strings for you…that is, if you make it worth my while."
She closed her eyes, trying to quench the rage building in her veins. "If you think, even for a second, that I would ever use my body to get ahead," her eyes flew open to meet his gaze coldly, "Then you are dead wrong."
Mason's confident grin fell off his face.
"Secondly," she deliberately walked closer to him, "Even if I did…there's no way in hell that I would ever sleep with you."
"Your loss, Elena," he said after regaining his composure, "Have fun doing Katherine's bidding for the rest of your life." He spun on his heel and stormed back to his office, leaving Elena reeling from their encounter.
She couldn't wait to quit this job. Unfortunately, with the holiday season, she needed the money. Of course, the point was largely wasted, seeing as how Katherine was forcing her to work on Christmas Eve-alone with Mason Lockwood, no less.
Elena heaved a sigh and pressed the 'enter' button on the machine, only to frown when it emitted a loud beep instead of running. "No, not today," she pleaded as a red ERROR message flashed across the screen. She helplessly pressed a few more buttons, but nothing changed.
Her life officially sucked.
Dragging her feet, she walked back into the main room just in time to see Mason walk out of his office. "I'm going out for some lunch," he said to her shortly, "I'm meeting my girlfriend. I'll be back in a couple hours."
Brushing aside the girlfriend comment, Elena reluctantly followed him to the elevators. "Mason, wait...The copy machine isn't working-what am I supposed to do? Katherine wanted those papers sent out today!"
"I don't know," Mason shrugged as the elevator door opened, "Just call the repair people. See you later, Elena."
"But-" she broke off as the elevator slammed in her face.
"Yes, I know it's Christmas Eve," Elena said patiently into the phone, her hand rhythmically squeezing a stress ball as she made her fifth phone call to the repair company. "Yes, I know," she repeated, this time her voice slipping into begging territory. "You don't understand, my boss will kill me if I don't get this paperwork done today...and I really need this job. I know, I know. I'm sorry, I really am." She waited as the woman on the other line spoke to someone, her hand presumably covering the mouthpiece.
Regardless, Elena still heard the sharp reply of whoever she had spoken to, followed by loud swearing. "Er, hello?" Elena ventured after a moment of silence, "What? He'll be here within the hour? Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this-"
Click.
Dialtone.
"Well, that was rude," Elena muttered to herself as the woman on the other line hung up in the middle of her gushing gratitude. She turned her attention back to her computer, her fingers flying over the keyboard as she tried to finish some of the other work that she had to get done by tonight.
Thirty minutes later, there was still no sign of the repair man, and Elena was starting to get anxious. She reached instinctively for her cup of coffee, scowling into it when she realized it was empty. When had she finished it?
She stomped back over to the kitchen, only to realize that the coffee pot was empty, too. "Damn it," she grumbled, standing on her tip toes to pull out a fresh bag of coffee, only to accidently knock it over. She stared at the spilled coffee beans in dismay and hurriedly knelt to the ground, trying to clean up the mess.
Someone cleared their throat loudly.
Elena, who was huddled on the ground, shrieked and spun around. She scrambled backwards, hitting her head against the back of the cabinet as she looked up at a towering figure in front of her. "Wh-what? Who are you?"
The man gave her a strange look before reaching up to remove his hat, revealing the bluest eyes that Elena had ever seen.
She gaped at him.
"Damon Salvatore," he said to her slowly, clearly thinking she was a bumbling moron. "You people called about a broken copying machine?"
"Oh!" Elena immediately leapt to her feet, stumbling slightly over the spilled coffee beans. "Yes, thank goodness you came! I'm Elena...My boss really wanted this paperwork to be-"
"Yeah, that's great, " Damon interrupted her disinterestedly, "If you could just point me in the right direction, I can get to work...?"
"Um, yes, of course," she nodded, flustered. "Right this way," she added, leading the way towards the copier room. She stopped at the doorway to point him in, "It just keeps giving me some error message."
"Alright," Damon brushed by her and began setting up his tools, "I'll get right on it."
"Thanks," Elena lingered awkwardly at the door, "Let me know if you need anything."
He grunted in reply.
"Right," she quickly walked back to the kitchen to finish cleaning up the mess, her cheeks uncomfortably warm as her mind drifted to the way Damon's raven hair fell just right over his cerulean eyes, and the muscles that were clearly defined even through his uniform...Elena shook her head to clear it, raising a hand to her flushed face. God, what the hell was wrong with her? She abandoned the coffee entirely, instead opting for a glass of ice-cold water. She gulped it down greedily, though it did nothing to the alleviate the rampant fantasies now running through her head.
With trembling hands, she poured another glass of water and made her way back to the copier room. "Hey," she said, her gaze roaming around the pieces of the copy machine that were now scattered around the room. "Um, how is it going?"
"Still working on it," Damon responded vaguely, glancing up at her. When she merely shifted from foot to foot silently, he nodded at the glass she was holding, "Is that for me?"
"Oh! Yeah, it is!" Elena thrust her arm out in his direction, at the same time that Damon reached for the glass. As their hands collided, the glass tipped forward, spilling its contents all over him.
"Shit," he jumped up as Elena's hands flew to her mouth in horror, "This is fucking cold!"
"Oh my god!" she wrung her hands frantically, "I'm so sorry!" She hurriedly ushered him towards the door, "Come on, let's get you out of those clothes-I m-mean, into other clothes!" Her face began to heat up, and she ducked her head as Damon followed her out of the room. "One of my bosses keeps spare clothes in there," she pointed to Mason's office, "We can find you something to wear."
"Fine," Damon muttered ungratefully as she opened the lock with shaking hands, "If you're sure he won't mind."
"He won't even notice," Elena said reassuringly, turning her back to him as she opened up Mason's in-office closet and tried to find Damon something to wear. "You guys are roughly the same size as far as I can tell," she said a minute later as she emerged from the closet holding a navy blue button down shirt and a pair of pants. "I hope they fit..." she trailed off.
Damon was standing before her in just his boxers, his uniform lying on the ground.
"Um," Elena squeaked, as she placed Mason's clothes on the desk and immediately spun towards the closet again on the pretense of arranging some of the hangers that she had moved around. "As I was saying, I hope they fit."
"Thanks," Damon said, completely oblivious to her discomfort. "So," he went on conversationally as he pulled on the shirt, "Your boss left you to work here all alone on Christmas Eve?"
"Well, Mason is here," Elena glanced over her shoulder, relieved to see that Damon was semi-dressed again. She turned around fully, gesturing around the room. "This is his office, but he's out to lunch. He won't be back for a while."
Damon paused, leaving his shirt unbuttoned. "You're telling me that in this entire office, the only people working here today are you and your boss?" He raised an eyebrow at her, "Oh, I see. Good for you."
"What?" Elena suddenly realized what he was thinking, "No, it's not like that! I don't even want to be here! Our boss, the head of the firm, is the one that's making me do all this work for her by tonight. I don't know why Mason is here." Damon looked thoughtful, and he looked her over with a calculating gaze. Elena crossed her arms over herself, "What?"
"I"m guessing this Mason guy wanted to be alone with you, then," Damon grinned, "Has he tried to hit on you?"
She pursed her lips, thinking of their earlier conversation.
"I see," Damon read her expression easily, "Well I can't say that I blame him."
Elena stopped at the doorway, wondering if she was imagining things, "What did you say?"
He gave her another grin, this time turning on the charm. He walked casually towards her, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "I said, I can't say I blame him."
"But..." her voice caught when she saw him glance up at something before looking back down at her, his grin widening. She followed his gaze, her heart stammering to a standstill when she saw the mistletoe hanging above them. "I...um..." she swallowed, all brain function flying out the window.
"I'm a traditional sort of guy," Damon breathed into her ear, looking up at the mistletoe and then back into her eyes, "I would hate to break tradition, wouldn't you?"
Elena nodded dumbly, repeating nonsensically, "Yes...tradition..." Just as she was thinking that he probably thought she was some sort of incompetent mute, Damon leaned towards her and kissed her on the cheek.
Disappointment mingled with relief flew through her, and she was so stunned that all she could do was blink.
"I guess I should get back to that copy machine," he gave her a smile and began to walk past her. Elena had no idea what she was doing, but her arm shot out to stop him from leaving. "What's going-?" He never got to finish the sentence as Elena grabbed the lapels of his shirt and pulled him back under the mistletoe, her mouth covering his in lust-fueled passion. Damon responded almost immediately, his tongue slipping past her lips as they both stumbled back into the office.
He kicked the door shut behind him, hissing as Elena shoved him against it. She tugged his still-unbuttoned shirt off his shoulders, her hands running against the hard planes of his body as Damon roughly ripped open the buttons on her blouse. She gasped as he pushed her backwards, and they both fell onto the leather sofa in the corner of Mason's office. Elena threw her head back as Damon undid the front clasp of her bra, his hands cupping her newly exposed breasts. "Oh god," her hips involuntarily bucked upwards as his mouth closed over her right breast, his tongue circling the nipple before he nipped at it lightly with his teeth.
His other hand reached under her skirt at the same time, slipping past her underwear and into her heated core. Elena moaned out loud at the contact, her fingers fumbling unsuccessfully with his pants. He hurriedly stood up and kicked them off, and then pulled Elena to her feet so that she could shimmy out of her pencil skirt. Still in her heels, she let Damon lift her up so that her legs wrapped around his waist as they both stumbled backwards onto Mason's desk. "How much do you hate this guy?" Damon ground out between kisses, groaning in ecstasy as Elena's hand slid into his boxers to grab his throbbing length.
"A lot," she murmured into his ear, giggling as Damon shoved the papers off Mason's desk without a second thought so that he could lay Elena across it. She wrapped one leg around him as he hovered above her, his gaze questioning. She lifted her hips in answer and Damon slid her panties off her legs without hesitation, tossing them to the side before positioning himself at her entrance. "Damon," she nearly growled in frustration as he teased her, never entering her fully.
"Tell me what you want," he said into her neck, his hands moving to her hair and undoing the tight bun so that her hair suddenly cascaded down her shoulders in waves. "You're so beautiful," he whispered, "Come on, Elena, what do you want?"
"You," she gripped him towards her tightly and lifted herself off the table so that her breasts pressed into his chest, "I want you, inside-" She broke off with a gasp as he abruptly slid into her, sheathing himself to the hilt. She moaned as Damon's mouth closed over hers again and he began thrusting inside her. Elena desperately grappled around for something to hold on to, her nails digging into his back as his pace grew more frantic. "Oh god, Damon," she buried her head into his shoulder to keep from screaming as she hurtled towards oblivion.
He followed her over the edge seconds later, breathing hard as he collapsed on top of her. "That was..."
"Yeah," Elena agreed, tipping her head backwards as he stole another kiss. A soft smile tugged at her lips as she looked up at him, "Definitely the best Christmas Eve I've ever had."
Chapter 5: Twelve Days of Christmas
Prompt #5 (by morvamp): "Elena decides she's ready to show Damon how much he means to her. It's christmas time, so what better way to do that than to give him a gift on each of the 12 days of christmas?"
TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
Day 1
Damon muttered angrily to himself as he stomped down the stairs to open the door, his scowl only deepening when he saw who was standing on the other side. "Caroline," he punctuated through gritted teeth, "What the hell are you doing here at the crack of dawn on a Saturday?"
Caroline beamed at him, though her smile faltered a bit when she saw his look of annoyance. "Actually, it's Wednesday," she informed him, "And it's noon."
He gave her a disbelieving look and then peered around her to look up at the sky, from which the sun was shining brightly down at them. "Oh," he frowned, "Well, my question still stands. What are you doing here?"
"Elena sent me," she replied immediately, "She wanted me to tell you that you won't be seeing her-"
"You've got to be kidding me!" Damon went from disinterested to furious instantly, "She's gone after Stefan again, hasn't she?"
Caroline blinked, looking very much wrong-footed. "Huh? Why would Elena do that? Stefan's been gone for more than a year..." She shook her head vehemently, her blonde curls bouncing around her shoulders. "No, Elena wanted me to tell you that you won't be seeing her for the next twelve days."
"Okay," Damon drew out the word slowly, "Is she going somewhere?"
She shrugged her shoulders, "I'm not at liberty to say. I am, however, responsible for giving you this." She held up a small gift bag, "From Elena, to you."
He looked at the bag suspiciously, "What is it?"
"Open it and find out," Caroline said in a sing-song voice that clearly stated how much she was enjoying this game, "See you later."
Damon watched as she blurred off, leaving the gift bag in his hand. He curiously rustled aside the gift tissue, before he was able to pull out a bottle. He stared at the lavender scented bubble bath in bafflement, quickly scanning the description on the back. The word 'aphrodisiac' was circled. Shaking his head in confusion, he shut the door and went back to sleep.
Day 2
"So sorry I had to call you over," Mrs. Forbes said, looking apologetic as Damon hung the Christmas lights from her house, "But I've had such a fear of heights ever since I was a little girl and fell off the huge oak tree in my backyard..." She trailed off with a reminiscing smile, "Do you ever miss it?"
Damon glanced down at her in amusement, "Being a kid? Sure, doesn't everyone?" He shrugged, "Though, at this point, I'd settle for just being human again."
Liz looked slightly surprised at his admission, and Damon quickly laughed to lighten the mood. "Say, what was in that egg nog you gave me earlier? Truth serum?"
"You caught me," Mrs. Forbes joked back, watching as he leapt down from the roof easily. "Thank you so much for doing this, Damon."
"Not a problem," he followed her back into the house to get his jacket, frowning when she disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a fruitcake. "Oh no, I couldn't," he tried, but she refused to listen to him.
"Don't be ridiculous," she turned her back to him to rummage with a stack of gift bags sitting on the sofa. "I'm so behind with wrapping gifts," she said to him with a sigh as she carefully put the fruitcake into one of the bags and handed it to him. "I hope you enjoy it."
Damon took the bag with a gracious smile, promising to return that night to see the lights in full effect. When he reached his car, he opened the door and tossed the bag in carelessly, causing its contents fall out.
But then he paused, his brow furrowing as he reached down to pick up a large red candle that had fallen out of the bag. 'From Elena,' the note read, and he immediately looked back at the Forbes' house just in time to see the living room curtain twitch back into place.
He really had to hand it to Elena. It looked like she had somehow gotten all of Mystic Falls working for her. Suppressing a smile, Damon carefully put the candle in the back of his car and drove home.
Day 3
"Shouldn't you be in school?"
"It's 5 in the afternoon."
"Shouldn't you be doing homework?"
"It's Friday."
Damon blew out a breath of unneeded air as Bonnie looked at him triumphantly, knowing that he had run out of excuses. "But..." he ventured, without having any idea what he was going to say.
She waved off his protests dismissively and pushed her way into his house, her hands on her hips as she looked around in disdain. "Where do you keep the Christmas ornaments?"
He signed resignedly, "They're in the attic. I'll go get them."
"No," Bonnie closed her eyes and spread her arms out, "Just describe the boxes to me. I'll summon them down here."
"Everything doesn't have to be done with magic, you know."
She shot him a look, "Do you want to drag this experience out? Or would you rather be done as soon as possible?"
Damon considered her thoughtfully, "Good point."
Within an hour, the entire boarding house had been strung up with lights. A small Christmas tree was set up in the living room, stockings hung over the fireplace, and a wreath was placed on the door. "Well," Bonnie rubbed her hands together in satisfaction, "Looks like my work here is done."
"I guess it is," Damon agreed, leading her to the door. "Are we going to drop the pretense now?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Bonnie said airily as she rummaged through her purse for something. "Oh here it is," she said after a moment, thrusting a fluffy object into Damon's hands. "That's from Elena."
He held up the Santa hat in bewilderment, "What am I supposed to do with this?"
She patted his arm condescendingly, "I'm sure you'll find a use for it."
Day 4
"You don't understand," Damon hissed to Alaric as they sat at the bar, "She's got like the whole town working for her or something!"
Alaric snorted into his beer, "You're being paranoid, Damon. I'm sure Elena isn't...plotting against you."
Damon stared at him through narrowed eyes, "So, she got to you too?"
"Well..."
"You know what she's planning?" Damon grabbed Alaric's arm in desperation, "You have to tell me! The suspense is driving me crazy!"
Alaric pulled his arm out of Damon's grip and then reached into his bag to pull out a silver-wrapped package. "I don't know what she's planning, but she wanted me to give this to you."
"Great," Damon glared as Alaric gathered his coat and began to leave, "It's so nice to know who your real friends are!" Alaric chuckled as he left, leaving Damon to eye the package in silence. After only a second, he gave in and carefully sliced the wrapping paper open.
A bottle of whipped cream fell into his hands.
Day 5
"Oh good, you're home," Damon tried to force his way into the Gilbert house, but Jeremy wouldn't budge. "I'm looking for Elena."
"Yeah, she said you might stop by," Jeremy opened the door a little wider, "But she's not here."
Damon crossed his arms, "Well, where is she?"
"No idea."
"Of course not," Damon snapped, but Jeremy didn't offer any more information. "You know what? Fine," Damon backed off, raising his hands into the air as a gesture of surrender. "I give up. Elena has clearly trained you all well. I should just sit back and wait for what happens."
Jeremy grinned, "I would say that's a good idea. Wait here for a second, though. I have something for you."
Damon didn't even bat an eyelid, and merely heaved a sigh as he plopped down on the porch steps. A minute later, Jeremy came back outside and handed him a bag of Hershey's kisses. "You're giving me chocolate?"
"Elena is giving you chocolate," Jeremy corrected, giving him a wave as he stepped back into the house. He was about to close the door, when he suddenly stuck his head back outside. "Oh, I almost forgot! Elena said you're not allowed to eat them yet."
"What? Now my gifts come with conditions attached?"
Jeremy shrugged his shoulders, "Don't kill the messenger."
Then he shut the door.
Day 6
"Well, I guess that concludes this Council meeting," Mrs. Lockwood said, looking pleased. "No vampire killings, nothing out of the ordinary. I guess it really is a Christmas miracle." She hesitated, turning to Damon, "And, er, no news about your brother?"
"Nothing yet," Damon confirmed, "It's been more than a year now, but there's been no contact."
"Good," Mrs. Lockwood nodded at him, turning to address the rest of the room again, "I guess we're done, then. Everyone have a safe holiday, and don't forget that we're hosting the annual Christmas Eve dinner next week." Everyone began to leave, but Mrs. Lockwood reached over to stop Damon. "Could you stay behind for a minute? I have something to discuss with you."
"Sure," Damon frowned, taking a seat across from her as the rest of the council members made their way out the door. "Is something wrong? Has there been an 'animal' attack that you didn't want to tell the others about?"
"No, nothing like that," Mrs. Lockwood shook her head with a smile, "I was just told to deliver something to you."
"What?" Damon stood up as she disappeared behind her desk and suddenly brought out a silver plate of strawberries. "Carol, what is this?"
"Oh, and this goes with it," she added as she handed him a pink post-it note, on which he could clearly recognize Elena's handwriting.
He groaned, "You too?"
She smiled at him broadly, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Day 7
"There is no way," Damon said flatly the next day when Tyler showed up on his doorstep, "There is no way that you're actually following her orders!"
Tyler looked confused, "Look man, Caroline sent me..."
"Oh," Damon relaxed, "Caroline? What does she want?"
"She wanted me to give you this," Tyler handed him a red velvet bag, "She said it's from Elena."
"But you said-"
"I'm here because of Caroline," Tyler interrupted his protests, "I haven't seen Elena."
"A likely story," Damon muttered under his breath as he undid the drawstring on the bag and reached inside to see what it was. His hand hit something soft, and he withdrew his hand to see that he had pulled out several red silk scarves.
"Why is Elena sending you those?" Tyler began to ask, but he abruptly stopped. "Oh," he drew the word out in understanding, "I see." He winked at Damon, "Looks like you're going to have one hell of a Christmas."
Day 8
Damon walked into the town bakery the next day, giving a friendly smile to the girl working behind the counter. "So, this Lockwood annual Christmas Eve dinner thing is in a couple of days. I was wondering if I could order some sort of Christmas-themed cake for it?"
"Sure," she handed him a book, "These are pictures of all our holiday cakes. Let me know which one you like."
He nodded, taking a seat at one of the small tables and perusing the booklet without any real interest. Truthfully, he didn't really care about this dinner. He was way more interested on the activities that Elena was planning for Christmas day.
Someone cleared their throat loudly.
Damon looked up to see Matt standing before him, looking shifty. "Hey," he greeted, "What are you doing here?"
"Trying to find something to order for that Lockwood dinner," Damon answered, nodding to the box of cookies that Matt was holding, "You too?"
"Yeah, everyone always ends up bringing the same thing so I thought I'd go with something different." He tilted the box, and Damon peered in to see reindeer shaped cookies. "Well anyway," Matt went on before Damon could say anything, "I'm glad I ran into you. I have something for you."
"Do you?" Damon watched as Matt looked through several grocery bags before finding what he was looking for and handing it over. Chocolate syrup.
Day 9
Damon got the formal invitation to the Lockwood dinner in the mail the next day. Although it was called the 'Christmas Eve' dinner, it was for some reason held on the 23rd instead of the 24th. Glad that he had ordered the cake early, Damon flipped through the rest of his mail disinterestedly until he caught sight of a shiny green envelope with his name on it. There was no return address, but he could recognize Elena's handwriting.
He eagerly opened the envelope, and a small piece of paper fell into his hands. 'Xmas Eve at midnight -E'
Day 10
"The dinner was exquisite," Damon shook hands with Mrs. Lockwood, "Thank you so much for the invitation."
"Of course," she smiled at him, "And that cake was simply delicious."
He nodded his goodbyes, and then made his way back to his car. As soon as he got in, however, he could tell something wasn't right. He immediately whirled around to look at the backseat, where he saw a bottle of wine staring innocently back at him.
There was no note, but he could guess at where it had come from.
Day 11
He spent all day trying to arrange all the gifts that Elena had sent to him. She clearly wanted the night to be special, and he was going to do everything in his power to make that happen. At 8PM that night, someone knocked on his door calling out, "Delivery!"
"Yeah?" Damon looked at the large cardboard box sitting at his doorstep, "What is this?"
"Are you Damon Salvatore?" When he nodded, the delivery man shoved a clipboard at him, "Sign here."
He signed and then pushed the box back into his living room, pulling the flaps open curiously.
Rose petals.
Day 12
At exactly midnight, Elena rang the doorbell to the Salvatore house. She frowned when there was no answer and tried the doorknob, surprised when it turned easily and the door swung open. She stepped into the darkened hallway, her heart beginning to pound in her chest. "Hello?" she called out, hesitantly closing the door behind her and taking a single step forward, "Damon?"
There was a click, and suddenly the hallway became illuminated with Christmas lights. Elena raised her head to look at the decorations, her eyes sparkling as she slowly walked down the hall, following the lights into the living room. "Oh my god," she approached the tree in awe, "This is beautiful."
"Glad you like it," Damon's voice came from behind her, and she turned around to see him looking devilishly handsome in a suit. "After all, I did force myself to spend an entire hour with Bonnie to get this place decorated."
"I love it," Elena corrected, smiling as Damon walked towards her and leisurely unbuttoned her woolen coat. He let it fall to the ground, revealing her floor length red dress. It was accentuated at her waist, flowing down in a wave of silky material.
"You..." Damon looked speechless as his gaze roamed her body, "You look amazing."
Elena took his hand and led him to the sofa, trying to keep her breathing even. In the simple firelight, she could see the desire flaring in his eyes and she had to fight back her instinctive response. She glanced down at the coffee table, her lips curving upward, "I see you got my wine."
Damon didn't take his eyes off her as he reached over to hand her a glass. "I did," he murmured as he took a sip of the wine, watching her as she raised the glass to her own lips. "The rest of your gifts are upstairs," he added uncertainly when she had finished her wine, "I don't know if..."
"Then I guess we should go upstairs," Elena got to her feet, and then let out a squeal as Damon suddenly picked her up. "What are you doing?" she laughed as she looped her arms around his neck, "Getting us upstairs as fast as possible?"
"That would be the general idea," Damon whispered in her ear, causing her to shiver in anticipation. He gave her a languid smile, and she tightened her grip around him as he blurred them upstairs into the bathroom.
"It smells good in here," Elena eyed the bubble bath waiting for them, "Like lavender."
"You would know," Damon's fingers toyed with the zipper on the back of her dress, and she shivered again as he brushed his lips on the back of her neck. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes," she breathed, closing her eyes as he slid the zipper down her dress and then carefully helped her out of it, letting it pool onto the floor. He watched with hungry eyes as she stepped out of the dress, completely naked. "You," she leaned forward to start undoing the buttons on his shirt, "Are far too overdressed for this occasion."
Damon's breath hitched as she pulled off his shirt and tux together, skittering her fingers across his chest before her hands moved southward to the zipper on his pants. "You are so fucking hot," his head fell back against the wall as she got to her knees to pull his pants down. He kicked them off, but to his surprise Elena stayed on her knees. "What are you-fuck," he hissed as her tongue flicked out to lick the tip of his cock. Before he could prepare himself further, she took him in her mouth, applying pressure so that he was powerless to stop her. "Fuck," he breathed again, his fingers entangling themselves in her hair to hold her in place as he felt his release building. He looked down at her at the same time that she raised her gaze to meet his, and looking into those eyes was enough to push him over the edge.
Elena finally stood up, her eyes already dark with arousal. She carefully stepped into the tub, letting out a sigh of satisfaction as she sank down into the warm water. She patted her hands down against the frothy bubbles, giggling as she looked up at Damon. "Well done," she said seductively, "Won't you join me?"
"As you wish," he smirked at her, reaching behind a hidden crevice in the corner and pulling out the Santa hat that she had sent to him. Elena's face lit up as he placed it on his head and sank into the tub across from her. He jumped, unprepared, when he felt her foot start caressing his chest under the water. She slid her foot up to his neck once, trailing a path of bubbles back down his chest and down his stomach until she reached a certain part of anatomy that was already hardening under her touch. "Come here," he growled at her, using his vampire speed to grab her and pull her towards him so that she was nearly straddling him.
She looked startled for a second, but her expression changed almost immediately into one of pleasure as Damon slipped a finger between her folds into her wet heat. Once she had grown accustomed to the intrusion, he slid a second finger in, pumping them at a quick pace until she suddenly grabbed her wrist to stop him. "I need you," she said breathlessly, "Now." He pulled his fingers out and, without further ado, she impaled herself onto his length.
Damon groaned as her walls stretched to accommodate him, and his hands found her hips to guide her. "You're so tight," he muttered as her lips found his for a searing kiss. Elena moaned as one of his hands traveled upwards to cup her breast, fingering her nipple until it pebbled under his touch. He broke the kiss to let her breathe, moving his lips in a path down her throat until his mouth closed over her other breast, scraping at it lightly with his teeth.
She threw her head back in ecstasy, exposing her neck to him. "Do it," she gasped out when she looked back at him and saw his eyes darkening with unbridled lust, his fangs elongating. "I want you to." Damon met her gaze once before sinking his teeth into her throat. Elena sucked in a breath of air, her fingers tightening into his shoulders as her orgasm rocked through her body, the waves of pleasure leaving her trembling.
Damon came immediately after, and she collapsed onto his chest as he lifted her out of the tub and carried her into his bedroom. "Can you stand?" he whispered, setting her onto the ground so that he could towel her down. She nodded, reaching over to toss the hat off his head as he dried them both off with a fluffy white towel. Only when he was done did he let her turn around to see what he had done with the bedroom.
Her mouth dropped open and she clasped her hands together when she saw the rose petals covering every inch of his bed. On the nightstand, he had laid out the bottles of whipped cream and chocolate syrup. The plate of strawberries and the Hershey's kisses lay on the floor, along with the bag of red silk scarves. Damon moved towards the window, where the red candle was sitting. He switched off the overhead light and then lit the candle, illuminating the two of them in a soft glow.
Elena crawled onto the bed, licking her lips as Damon approached her with the silk scarves. "Not too tight," she said tentatively as he tied her wrists and ankles to the bedposts with the silky material. She tugged at the knots experimentally. Although they didn't come undone, she could tell that he had knotted them only loosely.
"Good?" Damon asked, picking up the whipped cream and holding it over her breasts questioningly. When she nodded, he began squirting a pattern of whipped cream around her breasts and down her stomach. Elena sucked in a breath as the coldness hit her skin, but after a while it became strangely soothing. He continued down her legs, standing up to apply some on her arms and her neck. Then he reached over and grabbed the chocolate syrup, drizzling the syrup between Elena's breasts as she squirmed. He looked her up and down to examine his handiwork when he was done, a grin playing at his lips. "You look good enough to eat," he purred, starting at her legs and beginning to lick the whipped cream off her.
Elena's eyes had closed, her breathing becoming labored as he placed open-mouthed kisses in the areas recently vacated of the whipped cream. He then climbed onto the bed, flicking his tongue in between her breasts and tasting the combination of chocolate syrup and whipped cream. Elena's hips lifted as he continued teasing her, licking off the last of the whipped cream. "I need to touch you," she yanked on the scarves with sudden force, causing the knots to come undone. Her hands immediately fisted in his hair, pulling him towards her for a demanding kiss.
Damon smirked as she pushed him downwards so that she could straddle him, watching as she reached over for the whipped cream and squirted a perfect circle on his chest. "Is it your turn to play?" he asked throatily as she swirled her tongue around his chest, moaning as she licked up the whipped cream. She didn't answer, and instead grabbed the chocolate syrup and carefully drizzled it onto his lips. Then she reached down and kissed him hard, the chocolate acting as an aphrodisiac for both of them. Unable to take the teasing anymore, Damon roughly grabbed her hips and blurred so that she was lying beneath him and he was hovering at her entrance.
"Done playing already?" Elena breathed out, her hips bucking off the bed involuntarily. He could only nod in answer, uttering a groan as he slid into her. She met him thrust for thrust, moaning out loud when she wrapped her legs around his waist, causing him to slide in even deeper.
"God," Damon buried his face into her chest, fighting for control. Her moans grew louder as his pace grew more frenzied, and she dug her nails into his back as her orgasm tore through her. She screamed out his name, one of her arms flinging backwards to grasp the headboard for something to hold on to as she began shaking uncontrollably. Damon found his release at the same time, collapsing on top of her in exhaustion.
She kept her legs locked around his waist, keeping him inside her as she gazed up at him. He brushed a few strands of hair out of her face, wanting to commit the exact moment into memory. He had never seen her look so aroused, so pleasured, so...uninhibited. "You," he brushed his lips against hers lightly, "Really do give the best Christmas presents."
Elena sighed blissfully as he moved to kiss her neck. "I try," she smiled at him, reaching up to touch his face, "Merry Christmas, Damon." She then lowered her legs, allowing him to slide out of her. He flashed her a grin and then reached down to grab the strawberries and the Hershey's kisses. He then settled himself against the headboard, pulling her into his lap so that he could feed them to her.
"Merry Christmas to you too," he said back as she deliberately ate a strawberry out of his hand, being sure to lick the juices off his fingers in the process. Elena murmured in approval as she leaned back against his chest, opening her mouth as he unwrapped the tin foil from the Hershey's kiss. He traced her lips with the chocolate, watching as it melted against her tongue almost immediately. "I love you, Elena," he whispered as she turned her head to kiss him. She pulled back after a minute, a dazed smile on her face. "I love you, too."
Prompt #4 (by aj81writing): "...Elena's stuck working at the office (as a secretary/receptionist) over the holidays..."
HOW TO SPEND CHRISTMAS EVE
Mason Lockwood stepped out of his office, a smirk spreading over his face when he caught sight of the hot brunette secretary working feverishly at her desk. "So," he said conversationally as he strode over to her and perched on the edge of her desk, "The boss really sucks, huh?"
Elena Gilbert looked up briefly, her eyes narrowing when she saw him sitting dangerously close to her stack of paperwork. She pursed her lips as she moved the papers closer to her, hoping he would take the hint. "Well," she muttered under her breath, "You would know."
To say that he looked caught off guard would be an understatement. Mason gave a very forced laugh, "What do you mean?"
"Oh please," Elena rolled her eyes as she got to her feet and made her way towards the small kitchen area in the corner of the office. She reached up to take a mug out of the cabinet, aware that Mason had followed her. She glanced at him as she poured herself a cup of coffee, "It's not exactly a secret, Mason."
"What's not a secret?"
Elena shook her head as she walked back to her desk, annoyed as his footsteps followed her again. "Everyone knows you're sleeping with Ms. Pierce," she finally said scathingly, "But hey, if that's the only way you could move up on the corporate ladder-"
"Let me stop you right there," Mason interrupted her. When she looked up at him, she was shocked to see him leering at her. "Yes, I might be sleeping with Katherine, but it's hardly any of your business, Elena."
"I never said it was," she snapped, grabbing a folder of papers that 'absolutely needed to be photocopied and faxed out that very day' (according to the post-it note that Katherine had oh so kindly stuck on them). Elena strode into the copier room, turning around to look at Mason who had stopped in the doorway. "It's your life," she said to him, "I was just making an observation."
"Noted," he remarked lazily, watching as she bent over to put some paper in the machine. "You know, if you're looking for a promotion…"
Elena froze, her eyes widening at the unsaid implication. She whirled around to glare at him, "What?"
"Hey," Mason raised both hands in a gesture of innocence, "I'm just saying…I could definitely pull some strings for you…that is, if you make it worth my while."
She closed her eyes, trying to quench the rage building in her veins. "If you think, even for a second, that I would ever use my body to get ahead," her eyes flew open to meet his gaze coldly, "Then you are dead wrong."
Mason's confident grin fell off his face.
"Secondly," she deliberately walked closer to him, "Even if I did…there's no way in hell that I would ever sleep with you."
"Your loss, Elena," he said after regaining his composure, "Have fun doing Katherine's bidding for the rest of your life." He spun on his heel and stormed back to his office, leaving Elena reeling from their encounter.
She couldn't wait to quit this job. Unfortunately, with the holiday season, she needed the money. Of course, the point was largely wasted, seeing as how Katherine was forcing her to work on Christmas Eve-alone with Mason Lockwood, no less.
Elena heaved a sigh and pressed the 'enter' button on the machine, only to frown when it emitted a loud beep instead of running. "No, not today," she pleaded as a red ERROR message flashed across the screen. She helplessly pressed a few more buttons, but nothing changed.
Her life officially sucked.
Dragging her feet, she walked back into the main room just in time to see Mason walk out of his office. "I'm going out for some lunch," he said to her shortly, "I'm meeting my girlfriend. I'll be back in a couple hours."
Brushing aside the girlfriend comment, Elena reluctantly followed him to the elevators. "Mason, wait...The copy machine isn't working-what am I supposed to do? Katherine wanted those papers sent out today!"
"I don't know," Mason shrugged as the elevator door opened, "Just call the repair people. See you later, Elena."
"But-" she broke off as the elevator slammed in her face.
"Yes, I know it's Christmas Eve," Elena said patiently into the phone, her hand rhythmically squeezing a stress ball as she made her fifth phone call to the repair company. "Yes, I know," she repeated, this time her voice slipping into begging territory. "You don't understand, my boss will kill me if I don't get this paperwork done today...and I really need this job. I know, I know. I'm sorry, I really am." She waited as the woman on the other line spoke to someone, her hand presumably covering the mouthpiece.
Regardless, Elena still heard the sharp reply of whoever she had spoken to, followed by loud swearing. "Er, hello?" Elena ventured after a moment of silence, "What? He'll be here within the hour? Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this-"
Click.
Dialtone.
"Well, that was rude," Elena muttered to herself as the woman on the other line hung up in the middle of her gushing gratitude. She turned her attention back to her computer, her fingers flying over the keyboard as she tried to finish some of the other work that she had to get done by tonight.
Thirty minutes later, there was still no sign of the repair man, and Elena was starting to get anxious. She reached instinctively for her cup of coffee, scowling into it when she realized it was empty. When had she finished it?
She stomped back over to the kitchen, only to realize that the coffee pot was empty, too. "Damn it," she grumbled, standing on her tip toes to pull out a fresh bag of coffee, only to accidently knock it over. She stared at the spilled coffee beans in dismay and hurriedly knelt to the ground, trying to clean up the mess.
Someone cleared their throat loudly.
Elena, who was huddled on the ground, shrieked and spun around. She scrambled backwards, hitting her head against the back of the cabinet as she looked up at a towering figure in front of her. "Wh-what? Who are you?"
The man gave her a strange look before reaching up to remove his hat, revealing the bluest eyes that Elena had ever seen.
She gaped at him.
"Damon Salvatore," he said to her slowly, clearly thinking she was a bumbling moron. "You people called about a broken copying machine?"
"Oh!" Elena immediately leapt to her feet, stumbling slightly over the spilled coffee beans. "Yes, thank goodness you came! I'm Elena...My boss really wanted this paperwork to be-"
"Yeah, that's great, " Damon interrupted her disinterestedly, "If you could just point me in the right direction, I can get to work...?"
"Um, yes, of course," she nodded, flustered. "Right this way," she added, leading the way towards the copier room. She stopped at the doorway to point him in, "It just keeps giving me some error message."
"Alright," Damon brushed by her and began setting up his tools, "I'll get right on it."
"Thanks," Elena lingered awkwardly at the door, "Let me know if you need anything."
He grunted in reply.
"Right," she quickly walked back to the kitchen to finish cleaning up the mess, her cheeks uncomfortably warm as her mind drifted to the way Damon's raven hair fell just right over his cerulean eyes, and the muscles that were clearly defined even through his uniform...Elena shook her head to clear it, raising a hand to her flushed face. God, what the hell was wrong with her? She abandoned the coffee entirely, instead opting for a glass of ice-cold water. She gulped it down greedily, though it did nothing to the alleviate the rampant fantasies now running through her head.
With trembling hands, she poured another glass of water and made her way back to the copier room. "Hey," she said, her gaze roaming around the pieces of the copy machine that were now scattered around the room. "Um, how is it going?"
"Still working on it," Damon responded vaguely, glancing up at her. When she merely shifted from foot to foot silently, he nodded at the glass she was holding, "Is that for me?"
"Oh! Yeah, it is!" Elena thrust her arm out in his direction, at the same time that Damon reached for the glass. As their hands collided, the glass tipped forward, spilling its contents all over him.
"Shit," he jumped up as Elena's hands flew to her mouth in horror, "This is fucking cold!"
"Oh my god!" she wrung her hands frantically, "I'm so sorry!" She hurriedly ushered him towards the door, "Come on, let's get you out of those clothes-I m-mean, into other clothes!" Her face began to heat up, and she ducked her head as Damon followed her out of the room. "One of my bosses keeps spare clothes in there," she pointed to Mason's office, "We can find you something to wear."
"Fine," Damon muttered ungratefully as she opened the lock with shaking hands, "If you're sure he won't mind."
"He won't even notice," Elena said reassuringly, turning her back to him as she opened up Mason's in-office closet and tried to find Damon something to wear. "You guys are roughly the same size as far as I can tell," she said a minute later as she emerged from the closet holding a navy blue button down shirt and a pair of pants. "I hope they fit..." she trailed off.
Damon was standing before her in just his boxers, his uniform lying on the ground.
"Um," Elena squeaked, as she placed Mason's clothes on the desk and immediately spun towards the closet again on the pretense of arranging some of the hangers that she had moved around. "As I was saying, I hope they fit."
"Thanks," Damon said, completely oblivious to her discomfort. "So," he went on conversationally as he pulled on the shirt, "Your boss left you to work here all alone on Christmas Eve?"
"Well, Mason is here," Elena glanced over her shoulder, relieved to see that Damon was semi-dressed again. She turned around fully, gesturing around the room. "This is his office, but he's out to lunch. He won't be back for a while."
Damon paused, leaving his shirt unbuttoned. "You're telling me that in this entire office, the only people working here today are you and your boss?" He raised an eyebrow at her, "Oh, I see. Good for you."
"What?" Elena suddenly realized what he was thinking, "No, it's not like that! I don't even want to be here! Our boss, the head of the firm, is the one that's making me do all this work for her by tonight. I don't know why Mason is here." Damon looked thoughtful, and he looked her over with a calculating gaze. Elena crossed her arms over herself, "What?"
"I"m guessing this Mason guy wanted to be alone with you, then," Damon grinned, "Has he tried to hit on you?"
She pursed her lips, thinking of their earlier conversation.
"I see," Damon read her expression easily, "Well I can't say that I blame him."
Elena stopped at the doorway, wondering if she was imagining things, "What did you say?"
He gave her another grin, this time turning on the charm. He walked casually towards her, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "I said, I can't say I blame him."
"But..." her voice caught when she saw him glance up at something before looking back down at her, his grin widening. She followed his gaze, her heart stammering to a standstill when she saw the mistletoe hanging above them. "I...um..." she swallowed, all brain function flying out the window.
"I'm a traditional sort of guy," Damon breathed into her ear, looking up at the mistletoe and then back into her eyes, "I would hate to break tradition, wouldn't you?"
Elena nodded dumbly, repeating nonsensically, "Yes...tradition..." Just as she was thinking that he probably thought she was some sort of incompetent mute, Damon leaned towards her and kissed her on the cheek.
Disappointment mingled with relief flew through her, and she was so stunned that all she could do was blink.
"I guess I should get back to that copy machine," he gave her a smile and began to walk past her. Elena had no idea what she was doing, but her arm shot out to stop him from leaving. "What's going-?" He never got to finish the sentence as Elena grabbed the lapels of his shirt and pulled him back under the mistletoe, her mouth covering his in lust-fueled passion. Damon responded almost immediately, his tongue slipping past her lips as they both stumbled back into the office.
He kicked the door shut behind him, hissing as Elena shoved him against it. She tugged his still-unbuttoned shirt off his shoulders, her hands running against the hard planes of his body as Damon roughly ripped open the buttons on her blouse. She gasped as he pushed her backwards, and they both fell onto the leather sofa in the corner of Mason's office. Elena threw her head back as Damon undid the front clasp of her bra, his hands cupping her newly exposed breasts. "Oh god," her hips involuntarily bucked upwards as his mouth closed over her right breast, his tongue circling the nipple before he nipped at it lightly with his teeth.
His other hand reached under her skirt at the same time, slipping past her underwear and into her heated core. Elena moaned out loud at the contact, her fingers fumbling unsuccessfully with his pants. He hurriedly stood up and kicked them off, and then pulled Elena to her feet so that she could shimmy out of her pencil skirt. Still in her heels, she let Damon lift her up so that her legs wrapped around his waist as they both stumbled backwards onto Mason's desk. "How much do you hate this guy?" Damon ground out between kisses, groaning in ecstasy as Elena's hand slid into his boxers to grab his throbbing length.
"A lot," she murmured into his ear, giggling as Damon shoved the papers off Mason's desk without a second thought so that he could lay Elena across it. She wrapped one leg around him as he hovered above her, his gaze questioning. She lifted her hips in answer and Damon slid her panties off her legs without hesitation, tossing them to the side before positioning himself at her entrance. "Damon," she nearly growled in frustration as he teased her, never entering her fully.
"Tell me what you want," he said into her neck, his hands moving to her hair and undoing the tight bun so that her hair suddenly cascaded down her shoulders in waves. "You're so beautiful," he whispered, "Come on, Elena, what do you want?"
"You," she gripped him towards her tightly and lifted herself off the table so that her breasts pressed into his chest, "I want you, inside-" She broke off with a gasp as he abruptly slid into her, sheathing himself to the hilt. She moaned as Damon's mouth closed over hers again and he began thrusting inside her. Elena desperately grappled around for something to hold on to, her nails digging into his back as his pace grew more frantic. "Oh god, Damon," she buried her head into his shoulder to keep from screaming as she hurtled towards oblivion.
He followed her over the edge seconds later, breathing hard as he collapsed on top of her. "That was..."
"Yeah," Elena agreed, tipping her head backwards as he stole another kiss. A soft smile tugged at her lips as she looked up at him, "Definitely the best Christmas Eve I've ever had."
Chapter 5: Twelve Days of Christmas
Prompt #5 (by morvamp): "Elena decides she's ready to show Damon how much he means to her. It's christmas time, so what better way to do that than to give him a gift on each of the 12 days of christmas?"
TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
Day 1
Damon muttered angrily to himself as he stomped down the stairs to open the door, his scowl only deepening when he saw who was standing on the other side. "Caroline," he punctuated through gritted teeth, "What the hell are you doing here at the crack of dawn on a Saturday?"
Caroline beamed at him, though her smile faltered a bit when she saw his look of annoyance. "Actually, it's Wednesday," she informed him, "And it's noon."
He gave her a disbelieving look and then peered around her to look up at the sky, from which the sun was shining brightly down at them. "Oh," he frowned, "Well, my question still stands. What are you doing here?"
"Elena sent me," she replied immediately, "She wanted me to tell you that you won't be seeing her-"
"You've got to be kidding me!" Damon went from disinterested to furious instantly, "She's gone after Stefan again, hasn't she?"
Caroline blinked, looking very much wrong-footed. "Huh? Why would Elena do that? Stefan's been gone for more than a year..." She shook her head vehemently, her blonde curls bouncing around her shoulders. "No, Elena wanted me to tell you that you won't be seeing her for the next twelve days."
"Okay," Damon drew out the word slowly, "Is she going somewhere?"
She shrugged her shoulders, "I'm not at liberty to say. I am, however, responsible for giving you this." She held up a small gift bag, "From Elena, to you."
He looked at the bag suspiciously, "What is it?"
"Open it and find out," Caroline said in a sing-song voice that clearly stated how much she was enjoying this game, "See you later."
Damon watched as she blurred off, leaving the gift bag in his hand. He curiously rustled aside the gift tissue, before he was able to pull out a bottle. He stared at the lavender scented bubble bath in bafflement, quickly scanning the description on the back. The word 'aphrodisiac' was circled. Shaking his head in confusion, he shut the door and went back to sleep.
Day 2
"So sorry I had to call you over," Mrs. Forbes said, looking apologetic as Damon hung the Christmas lights from her house, "But I've had such a fear of heights ever since I was a little girl and fell off the huge oak tree in my backyard..." She trailed off with a reminiscing smile, "Do you ever miss it?"
Damon glanced down at her in amusement, "Being a kid? Sure, doesn't everyone?" He shrugged, "Though, at this point, I'd settle for just being human again."
Liz looked slightly surprised at his admission, and Damon quickly laughed to lighten the mood. "Say, what was in that egg nog you gave me earlier? Truth serum?"
"You caught me," Mrs. Forbes joked back, watching as he leapt down from the roof easily. "Thank you so much for doing this, Damon."
"Not a problem," he followed her back into the house to get his jacket, frowning when she disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a fruitcake. "Oh no, I couldn't," he tried, but she refused to listen to him.
"Don't be ridiculous," she turned her back to him to rummage with a stack of gift bags sitting on the sofa. "I'm so behind with wrapping gifts," she said to him with a sigh as she carefully put the fruitcake into one of the bags and handed it to him. "I hope you enjoy it."
Damon took the bag with a gracious smile, promising to return that night to see the lights in full effect. When he reached his car, he opened the door and tossed the bag in carelessly, causing its contents fall out.
But then he paused, his brow furrowing as he reached down to pick up a large red candle that had fallen out of the bag. 'From Elena,' the note read, and he immediately looked back at the Forbes' house just in time to see the living room curtain twitch back into place.
He really had to hand it to Elena. It looked like she had somehow gotten all of Mystic Falls working for her. Suppressing a smile, Damon carefully put the candle in the back of his car and drove home.
Day 3
"Shouldn't you be in school?"
"It's 5 in the afternoon."
"Shouldn't you be doing homework?"
"It's Friday."
Damon blew out a breath of unneeded air as Bonnie looked at him triumphantly, knowing that he had run out of excuses. "But..." he ventured, without having any idea what he was going to say.
She waved off his protests dismissively and pushed her way into his house, her hands on her hips as she looked around in disdain. "Where do you keep the Christmas ornaments?"
He signed resignedly, "They're in the attic. I'll go get them."
"No," Bonnie closed her eyes and spread her arms out, "Just describe the boxes to me. I'll summon them down here."
"Everything doesn't have to be done with magic, you know."
She shot him a look, "Do you want to drag this experience out? Or would you rather be done as soon as possible?"
Damon considered her thoughtfully, "Good point."
Within an hour, the entire boarding house had been strung up with lights. A small Christmas tree was set up in the living room, stockings hung over the fireplace, and a wreath was placed on the door. "Well," Bonnie rubbed her hands together in satisfaction, "Looks like my work here is done."
"I guess it is," Damon agreed, leading her to the door. "Are we going to drop the pretense now?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Bonnie said airily as she rummaged through her purse for something. "Oh here it is," she said after a moment, thrusting a fluffy object into Damon's hands. "That's from Elena."
He held up the Santa hat in bewilderment, "What am I supposed to do with this?"
She patted his arm condescendingly, "I'm sure you'll find a use for it."
Day 4
"You don't understand," Damon hissed to Alaric as they sat at the bar, "She's got like the whole town working for her or something!"
Alaric snorted into his beer, "You're being paranoid, Damon. I'm sure Elena isn't...plotting against you."
Damon stared at him through narrowed eyes, "So, she got to you too?"
"Well..."
"You know what she's planning?" Damon grabbed Alaric's arm in desperation, "You have to tell me! The suspense is driving me crazy!"
Alaric pulled his arm out of Damon's grip and then reached into his bag to pull out a silver-wrapped package. "I don't know what she's planning, but she wanted me to give this to you."
"Great," Damon glared as Alaric gathered his coat and began to leave, "It's so nice to know who your real friends are!" Alaric chuckled as he left, leaving Damon to eye the package in silence. After only a second, he gave in and carefully sliced the wrapping paper open.
A bottle of whipped cream fell into his hands.
Day 5
"Oh good, you're home," Damon tried to force his way into the Gilbert house, but Jeremy wouldn't budge. "I'm looking for Elena."
"Yeah, she said you might stop by," Jeremy opened the door a little wider, "But she's not here."
Damon crossed his arms, "Well, where is she?"
"No idea."
"Of course not," Damon snapped, but Jeremy didn't offer any more information. "You know what? Fine," Damon backed off, raising his hands into the air as a gesture of surrender. "I give up. Elena has clearly trained you all well. I should just sit back and wait for what happens."
Jeremy grinned, "I would say that's a good idea. Wait here for a second, though. I have something for you."
Damon didn't even bat an eyelid, and merely heaved a sigh as he plopped down on the porch steps. A minute later, Jeremy came back outside and handed him a bag of Hershey's kisses. "You're giving me chocolate?"
"Elena is giving you chocolate," Jeremy corrected, giving him a wave as he stepped back into the house. He was about to close the door, when he suddenly stuck his head back outside. "Oh, I almost forgot! Elena said you're not allowed to eat them yet."
"What? Now my gifts come with conditions attached?"
Jeremy shrugged his shoulders, "Don't kill the messenger."
Then he shut the door.
Day 6
"Well, I guess that concludes this Council meeting," Mrs. Lockwood said, looking pleased. "No vampire killings, nothing out of the ordinary. I guess it really is a Christmas miracle." She hesitated, turning to Damon, "And, er, no news about your brother?"
"Nothing yet," Damon confirmed, "It's been more than a year now, but there's been no contact."
"Good," Mrs. Lockwood nodded at him, turning to address the rest of the room again, "I guess we're done, then. Everyone have a safe holiday, and don't forget that we're hosting the annual Christmas Eve dinner next week." Everyone began to leave, but Mrs. Lockwood reached over to stop Damon. "Could you stay behind for a minute? I have something to discuss with you."
"Sure," Damon frowned, taking a seat across from her as the rest of the council members made their way out the door. "Is something wrong? Has there been an 'animal' attack that you didn't want to tell the others about?"
"No, nothing like that," Mrs. Lockwood shook her head with a smile, "I was just told to deliver something to you."
"What?" Damon stood up as she disappeared behind her desk and suddenly brought out a silver plate of strawberries. "Carol, what is this?"
"Oh, and this goes with it," she added as she handed him a pink post-it note, on which he could clearly recognize Elena's handwriting.
He groaned, "You too?"
She smiled at him broadly, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Day 7
"There is no way," Damon said flatly the next day when Tyler showed up on his doorstep, "There is no way that you're actually following her orders!"
Tyler looked confused, "Look man, Caroline sent me..."
"Oh," Damon relaxed, "Caroline? What does she want?"
"She wanted me to give you this," Tyler handed him a red velvet bag, "She said it's from Elena."
"But you said-"
"I'm here because of Caroline," Tyler interrupted his protests, "I haven't seen Elena."
"A likely story," Damon muttered under his breath as he undid the drawstring on the bag and reached inside to see what it was. His hand hit something soft, and he withdrew his hand to see that he had pulled out several red silk scarves.
"Why is Elena sending you those?" Tyler began to ask, but he abruptly stopped. "Oh," he drew the word out in understanding, "I see." He winked at Damon, "Looks like you're going to have one hell of a Christmas."
Day 8
Damon walked into the town bakery the next day, giving a friendly smile to the girl working behind the counter. "So, this Lockwood annual Christmas Eve dinner thing is in a couple of days. I was wondering if I could order some sort of Christmas-themed cake for it?"
"Sure," she handed him a book, "These are pictures of all our holiday cakes. Let me know which one you like."
He nodded, taking a seat at one of the small tables and perusing the booklet without any real interest. Truthfully, he didn't really care about this dinner. He was way more interested on the activities that Elena was planning for Christmas day.
Someone cleared their throat loudly.
Damon looked up to see Matt standing before him, looking shifty. "Hey," he greeted, "What are you doing here?"
"Trying to find something to order for that Lockwood dinner," Damon answered, nodding to the box of cookies that Matt was holding, "You too?"
"Yeah, everyone always ends up bringing the same thing so I thought I'd go with something different." He tilted the box, and Damon peered in to see reindeer shaped cookies. "Well anyway," Matt went on before Damon could say anything, "I'm glad I ran into you. I have something for you."
"Do you?" Damon watched as Matt looked through several grocery bags before finding what he was looking for and handing it over. Chocolate syrup.
Day 9
Damon got the formal invitation to the Lockwood dinner in the mail the next day. Although it was called the 'Christmas Eve' dinner, it was for some reason held on the 23rd instead of the 24th. Glad that he had ordered the cake early, Damon flipped through the rest of his mail disinterestedly until he caught sight of a shiny green envelope with his name on it. There was no return address, but he could recognize Elena's handwriting.
He eagerly opened the envelope, and a small piece of paper fell into his hands. 'Xmas Eve at midnight -E'
Day 10
"The dinner was exquisite," Damon shook hands with Mrs. Lockwood, "Thank you so much for the invitation."
"Of course," she smiled at him, "And that cake was simply delicious."
He nodded his goodbyes, and then made his way back to his car. As soon as he got in, however, he could tell something wasn't right. He immediately whirled around to look at the backseat, where he saw a bottle of wine staring innocently back at him.
There was no note, but he could guess at where it had come from.
Day 11
He spent all day trying to arrange all the gifts that Elena had sent to him. She clearly wanted the night to be special, and he was going to do everything in his power to make that happen. At 8PM that night, someone knocked on his door calling out, "Delivery!"
"Yeah?" Damon looked at the large cardboard box sitting at his doorstep, "What is this?"
"Are you Damon Salvatore?" When he nodded, the delivery man shoved a clipboard at him, "Sign here."
He signed and then pushed the box back into his living room, pulling the flaps open curiously.
Rose petals.
Day 12
At exactly midnight, Elena rang the doorbell to the Salvatore house. She frowned when there was no answer and tried the doorknob, surprised when it turned easily and the door swung open. She stepped into the darkened hallway, her heart beginning to pound in her chest. "Hello?" she called out, hesitantly closing the door behind her and taking a single step forward, "Damon?"
There was a click, and suddenly the hallway became illuminated with Christmas lights. Elena raised her head to look at the decorations, her eyes sparkling as she slowly walked down the hall, following the lights into the living room. "Oh my god," she approached the tree in awe, "This is beautiful."
"Glad you like it," Damon's voice came from behind her, and she turned around to see him looking devilishly handsome in a suit. "After all, I did force myself to spend an entire hour with Bonnie to get this place decorated."
"I love it," Elena corrected, smiling as Damon walked towards her and leisurely unbuttoned her woolen coat. He let it fall to the ground, revealing her floor length red dress. It was accentuated at her waist, flowing down in a wave of silky material.
"You..." Damon looked speechless as his gaze roamed her body, "You look amazing."
Elena took his hand and led him to the sofa, trying to keep her breathing even. In the simple firelight, she could see the desire flaring in his eyes and she had to fight back her instinctive response. She glanced down at the coffee table, her lips curving upward, "I see you got my wine."
Damon didn't take his eyes off her as he reached over to hand her a glass. "I did," he murmured as he took a sip of the wine, watching her as she raised the glass to her own lips. "The rest of your gifts are upstairs," he added uncertainly when she had finished her wine, "I don't know if..."
"Then I guess we should go upstairs," Elena got to her feet, and then let out a squeal as Damon suddenly picked her up. "What are you doing?" she laughed as she looped her arms around his neck, "Getting us upstairs as fast as possible?"
"That would be the general idea," Damon whispered in her ear, causing her to shiver in anticipation. He gave her a languid smile, and she tightened her grip around him as he blurred them upstairs into the bathroom.
"It smells good in here," Elena eyed the bubble bath waiting for them, "Like lavender."
"You would know," Damon's fingers toyed with the zipper on the back of her dress, and she shivered again as he brushed his lips on the back of her neck. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes," she breathed, closing her eyes as he slid the zipper down her dress and then carefully helped her out of it, letting it pool onto the floor. He watched with hungry eyes as she stepped out of the dress, completely naked. "You," she leaned forward to start undoing the buttons on his shirt, "Are far too overdressed for this occasion."
Damon's breath hitched as she pulled off his shirt and tux together, skittering her fingers across his chest before her hands moved southward to the zipper on his pants. "You are so fucking hot," his head fell back against the wall as she got to her knees to pull his pants down. He kicked them off, but to his surprise Elena stayed on her knees. "What are you-fuck," he hissed as her tongue flicked out to lick the tip of his cock. Before he could prepare himself further, she took him in her mouth, applying pressure so that he was powerless to stop her. "Fuck," he breathed again, his fingers entangling themselves in her hair to hold her in place as he felt his release building. He looked down at her at the same time that she raised her gaze to meet his, and looking into those eyes was enough to push him over the edge.
Elena finally stood up, her eyes already dark with arousal. She carefully stepped into the tub, letting out a sigh of satisfaction as she sank down into the warm water. She patted her hands down against the frothy bubbles, giggling as she looked up at Damon. "Well done," she said seductively, "Won't you join me?"
"As you wish," he smirked at her, reaching behind a hidden crevice in the corner and pulling out the Santa hat that she had sent to him. Elena's face lit up as he placed it on his head and sank into the tub across from her. He jumped, unprepared, when he felt her foot start caressing his chest under the water. She slid her foot up to his neck once, trailing a path of bubbles back down his chest and down his stomach until she reached a certain part of anatomy that was already hardening under her touch. "Come here," he growled at her, using his vampire speed to grab her and pull her towards him so that she was nearly straddling him.
She looked startled for a second, but her expression changed almost immediately into one of pleasure as Damon slipped a finger between her folds into her wet heat. Once she had grown accustomed to the intrusion, he slid a second finger in, pumping them at a quick pace until she suddenly grabbed her wrist to stop him. "I need you," she said breathlessly, "Now." He pulled his fingers out and, without further ado, she impaled herself onto his length.
Damon groaned as her walls stretched to accommodate him, and his hands found her hips to guide her. "You're so tight," he muttered as her lips found his for a searing kiss. Elena moaned as one of his hands traveled upwards to cup her breast, fingering her nipple until it pebbled under his touch. He broke the kiss to let her breathe, moving his lips in a path down her throat until his mouth closed over her other breast, scraping at it lightly with his teeth.
She threw her head back in ecstasy, exposing her neck to him. "Do it," she gasped out when she looked back at him and saw his eyes darkening with unbridled lust, his fangs elongating. "I want you to." Damon met her gaze once before sinking his teeth into her throat. Elena sucked in a breath of air, her fingers tightening into his shoulders as her orgasm rocked through her body, the waves of pleasure leaving her trembling.
Damon came immediately after, and she collapsed onto his chest as he lifted her out of the tub and carried her into his bedroom. "Can you stand?" he whispered, setting her onto the ground so that he could towel her down. She nodded, reaching over to toss the hat off his head as he dried them both off with a fluffy white towel. Only when he was done did he let her turn around to see what he had done with the bedroom.
Her mouth dropped open and she clasped her hands together when she saw the rose petals covering every inch of his bed. On the nightstand, he had laid out the bottles of whipped cream and chocolate syrup. The plate of strawberries and the Hershey's kisses lay on the floor, along with the bag of red silk scarves. Damon moved towards the window, where the red candle was sitting. He switched off the overhead light and then lit the candle, illuminating the two of them in a soft glow.
Elena crawled onto the bed, licking her lips as Damon approached her with the silk scarves. "Not too tight," she said tentatively as he tied her wrists and ankles to the bedposts with the silky material. She tugged at the knots experimentally. Although they didn't come undone, she could tell that he had knotted them only loosely.
"Good?" Damon asked, picking up the whipped cream and holding it over her breasts questioningly. When she nodded, he began squirting a pattern of whipped cream around her breasts and down her stomach. Elena sucked in a breath as the coldness hit her skin, but after a while it became strangely soothing. He continued down her legs, standing up to apply some on her arms and her neck. Then he reached over and grabbed the chocolate syrup, drizzling the syrup between Elena's breasts as she squirmed. He looked her up and down to examine his handiwork when he was done, a grin playing at his lips. "You look good enough to eat," he purred, starting at her legs and beginning to lick the whipped cream off her.
Elena's eyes had closed, her breathing becoming labored as he placed open-mouthed kisses in the areas recently vacated of the whipped cream. He then climbed onto the bed, flicking his tongue in between her breasts and tasting the combination of chocolate syrup and whipped cream. Elena's hips lifted as he continued teasing her, licking off the last of the whipped cream. "I need to touch you," she yanked on the scarves with sudden force, causing the knots to come undone. Her hands immediately fisted in his hair, pulling him towards her for a demanding kiss.
Damon smirked as she pushed him downwards so that she could straddle him, watching as she reached over for the whipped cream and squirted a perfect circle on his chest. "Is it your turn to play?" he asked throatily as she swirled her tongue around his chest, moaning as she licked up the whipped cream. She didn't answer, and instead grabbed the chocolate syrup and carefully drizzled it onto his lips. Then she reached down and kissed him hard, the chocolate acting as an aphrodisiac for both of them. Unable to take the teasing anymore, Damon roughly grabbed her hips and blurred so that she was lying beneath him and he was hovering at her entrance.
"Done playing already?" Elena breathed out, her hips bucking off the bed involuntarily. He could only nod in answer, uttering a groan as he slid into her. She met him thrust for thrust, moaning out loud when she wrapped her legs around his waist, causing him to slide in even deeper.
"God," Damon buried his face into her chest, fighting for control. Her moans grew louder as his pace grew more frenzied, and she dug her nails into his back as her orgasm tore through her. She screamed out his name, one of her arms flinging backwards to grasp the headboard for something to hold on to as she began shaking uncontrollably. Damon found his release at the same time, collapsing on top of her in exhaustion.
She kept her legs locked around his waist, keeping him inside her as she gazed up at him. He brushed a few strands of hair out of her face, wanting to commit the exact moment into memory. He had never seen her look so aroused, so pleasured, so...uninhibited. "You," he brushed his lips against hers lightly, "Really do give the best Christmas presents."
Elena sighed blissfully as he moved to kiss her neck. "I try," she smiled at him, reaching up to touch his face, "Merry Christmas, Damon." She then lowered her legs, allowing him to slide out of her. He flashed her a grin and then reached down to grab the strawberries and the Hershey's kisses. He then settled himself against the headboard, pulling her into his lap so that he could feed them to her.
"Merry Christmas to you too," he said back as she deliberately ate a strawberry out of his hand, being sure to lick the juices off his fingers in the process. Elena murmured in approval as she leaned back against his chest, opening her mouth as he unwrapped the tin foil from the Hershey's kiss. He traced her lips with the chocolate, watching as it melted against her tongue almost immediately. "I love you, Elena," he whispered as she turned her head to kiss him. She pulled back after a minute, a dazed smile on her face. "I love you, too."