Title: Gentle
Genre: Romance
Characters: Damon Salvatore / Elena Gilbert
Rating: M
Word Count: 4104
Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries and this story was simply written for fun. I don't make any money with this.

Summary: If she had kept her eyes open a little bit longer and had stayed awake for a few more moments, she would have seen his eyes caressing her with the gentle expression of a slowly growing love.

A/N: This is my first story in a few months that I atcually upload. It's a oneshot and includes some Damon/Elena smut which is supposed to make everyone happy. :D I really hope you like it and have some time left to leave me a small review. I'm looking forward to hear your opinions!

A cold chill ran down her spine as she walked to the front door of the boarding house that night. Once the sun had set, the temperature had fallen immensely and a light wind made her regret coming here without a jacket. But her decision to visit him had been so precipitate that she didn't even think about the weather. Her confusion and her worries were too urgent to be ignored, making it impossible for her to sleep and pretend that everything was okay.

The front doors of the boarding house were unlocked as expected and Elena let herself in without caring to knock. After all, he was a vampire who had probably already heard her car arriving and smelled her scent from the distance. When she entered, she could smell the scent of whiskey lingering in the air, telling her that he was in close proximity. As she walked down the corridor, her steps were soon muted by the carpet on the floor, but she was sure that he was still able to hear her. Even if he didn't hear her feet touching the ground repeatedly, he would be able to hear her accelerating heartbeat and her breath.

Just as she had expected the front doors to be open, Elena also expected him to be in the large living room of the boarding house. When she entered the parlor, memories of her first meeting with Damon came to her mind, but were erased very soon. Once she thought about the small kiss he had placed on the back of her hand then, she was reminded of what had happened in the Mystic Grill just a few hours ago.

"When you're here to continue what we've done earlier, please come closer. Otherwise, go back to your car and bother someone else. I'm not interested in one of those clichéd talks." Damon whispered in a hoarse voice, just loud enough for her to hear. So she had been right about him being in the living room, just as her vision of him holding a glass of whiskey and sitting in front of the warm fire proved to be correct. The only thing that wasn't this congruent with her imagination was his raw tone which she had hoped not to encounter tonight.

"Oh, cat got your tongue?" He asked, downed the rest of his whiskey and stood up to refill his glass.

"I'm definitely not here for a continuation. And yes, I've come to talk to you. As clichéd as you might think it is, I believe that it's necessary." She answered and walked towards him, her own stubbornness very evident in her voice.

"No need to get loud, darling, save your voice for a cause that deserves more attention and screaming." Damon laughed and filled his own glass and a second one with the amber liquid while wiggling his eyebrows. Angry about his refusal and annoyed by his words, Elena didn't accept the glass he handed to her, so he emptied it himself and placed it back on the small table.

"You are unbelievable. Can't you- ?" Elena started, but was interrupted by the attractive devil in front of her immediately.

"Thank you for telling me again what thousands of other girls have already told me before… although they always added some more flattering adjectives: unbelievably hot, unbelievably attractive, unbelievably sexy, unbeliev- "

"It's okay, I've got your point." She retorted and rolled her eyes. He threw an arm over her shoulders and pulled her close to his body to emphasize his descriptions. Being pressed against his defined muscles and enveloped by his scent actually made it hard for her to think otherwise. But now was definitely the wrong moment to enjoy being close to Damon Salvatore… she was weak today and since she was here to talk about what had happened in the Mystic Grill, she did not want it to be repeated.

"You really should drink less. I know that you as a vampire are probably not doomed to get liver cirrhosis, but all this alcohol cannot be healthy. Even for you." Elena stated as she sat down on the barstool next to Damon, watching him downing another glass of whiskey. Since getting back Katherine had went wrong so terribly half a year ago, Damon seemed to be attached to glasses and bottles with alcoholic content.

"Sorry to disappoint you, mum, but the only effects alcohol has on me are positive ones. You are just jealous that you don't have such a high tolerance." He retorted with a smirk and waved at the barkeeper to refill his glass. "I'd suggest getting one for you too, but I believe that everyone knows what a young one you are. Maybe - in a few years - we can catch up on all the fun you have to miss."

Vividly remembering the last time sitting with Damon in a bar and definitely not missing out on the fun he mentioned, she stuck to ignoring his comments and continued her attempt at stopping him from drinking so much.

"Doesn't it get boring?" She asked with a smile, trying to find a different weak point.

"What do you mean?" He asked in return, his tone lacking the amusement and clearly revealing his annoyance now.

"Spending all your money on alcohol when it doesn't even really work for you? I mean, for humans it actually makes sense to drown their sorrows in whiskey and all these cytocidal liquids, but you don't even benefit from all this wasted money. Just imagine how many wonderful Armani shirts you could buy instead." Proud to have found an obvious fact for his profusion which he would be incapable of denying, she straightened her back a bit more and looked at him expectantly.

"And what makes you believe that I actually spend a single dollar on any of these drinks?" Damon countered and repeated her movement of pride by sitting up more straightly and giving her his signature smirk.

"What do you mean?" Elena was confused by his sudden happiness and his ability to confound her argument.

"Have you ever heard of my amazing talent to make people believe something that I want them to believe? This barkeeper here wants me to drink all my drinks without paying for them. Isn't that awesome?"

"You are compelling him? Damon!" She exclaimed exasperatedly. "You cannot be serious!"

"But I am." He grinned and emptied his glass, which was refilled the second it stood on the counter again.

"You cannot go around and compel everyone to do things for you that could get them in trouble!" Without realizing it, she turned her body and leaned closer towards him.

"It's not my fault that they don't have such an amazing ex-boyfriend who gave them a magical vervain-necklace." Again copying her movements, he also leaned closer towards her – close enough to be sure to be invading her personal space. And it had the desired effect: Elena realized her close proximity to Damon and instantly moved back, nearly losing balance on the small barstool, eliciting a laugh from the vampire next to her. "Was it too early to mention St. Stefan?"

"Oh Damon, just leave Stefan out of this. This is about you – not about him and not about me. So stop trying to distract."

"But I'm not interested in talking about me. Except you want to tell me how hot I am." He laughed and raised his glass to her. "Then I'd even let you have a sip."

"You are unbelievable." Elena said again and stood up - too annoyed to come up with something wittier or a better escape than leaving for the bathroom. But once she left the loud bar and entered the cool room, she could not believe that she had actually tried to have a reasonable talk with Damon Salvatore. Leaning against the cold tiles of the wall and getting away from everything for a moment made her realize that this man had lived for more than one and a half century. It was a utopian imagination to believe that he would actually listen to her.

"So why are you lecturing me about the bad effects of alcohol?"A male voice echoed in the room and as she looked up, Elena could see Damon standing in front of her. His grayish blue eyes pierced through her and she was shocked to find her heart beating a little bit faster than before.

"This is a bathroom for women, Damon. What are you doing here?" She ignored his question and tried to downplay her unsteadiness.

"I'm leaving once you've answered my question. Why do you think you need to lecture me?"While talking he moved closer to her and trapped her body with his against the wall. It was impossible for Elena to hide the affects he had on her when he invaded her personal space while his eyes were seemingly able to look through her.

"Maybe because I'm worried about you…?"Her answer sounded more like a question but the confession behind it was brutally honest. She was worried about him losing himself in his heartache and it hurt her to see him wasting his life for a woman who didn't deserve his love.

"Being worried means that you care about me. Do you really care about me?"Damon asked in return and suddenly his body was impossibly close against hers. Now he would not only be able to hear her heartbeat – he would feel it next to his own, smugly realizing how much he affected her with his mere presence.

"Do you care?" He asked again when she didn't answer. His head moved closer towards hers now, his lips nearly touching hers and she could nearly taste his breath on her tongue. For a nanosecond Stefan's image appeared in her head and told her that it was wrong to feel attracted to the devilish brother of your ex-boyfriend, but it disappeared just as fast.

"Maybe…" She whispered and the movement of her mouth made her lips touch his for a split second. Immediately Elena tried to back away, but the wall trapped her against Damon's body and made it impossible for her to find a way out. When she turned her head to the side to clear her head by not looking at him, he moved his right hand to cup her left cheek and forced her to look at him.

"That's not a satisfying answer, Elena." He whispered and placed a soft kiss on her right cheek.

"Either you care or you don't care." Again his voice was hardly to hear, but nonetheless she understood what he wanted to know. The only problem which existed was her inability to answer. His lips had started to move over her skin and trailed a path of kisses over her cheek and down her neck. Having him touching her throat like this, so close to the pulse of her blood, was a thrill she never expected to feel.

"Damon…" She moaned, trying to remember where she was.

"That's my name." He moved his head to look at her and smirked. "But you still haven't answered my question. Do you care about me?" Not being able to stand his piercing gaze, she let her eyes wander down to his incredibly soft looking lips and without realizing it, she licked hers. Still not getting an answer from her, he moved his lips to her ear, and asked her again "Do you care?", nibbling at her earlobe afterwards.

Not being able to fight it anymore, she whispered the truth "yes" and moved her face to the right, her lips touching his cheek now. She needed to feel his kiss on her lips now; his teasing was too much for her to bear anymore. He knew the sway he held over her and caressed the cheek he was still cupping while moving his face to have his lips hovering over hers.

"Do you want me to kiss you?" Elena knew that he was playing a game with her and in any other situation she would have done everything to end it immediately. But every rational thought had left her mind and it was her upmost priority to satisfy her need for Damon now.

"Yes." She repeated and was rewarded by his lips finally touching hers. Kissing Damon Salvatore was inflaming a fire in her that burned worse than anything she had ever felt before. Stefan's kisses had been sweet, careful and sometimes very passionate, but there was something special about the way Damon's lips moved against hers and the way his hands started to wander over her body. When his hands cupped her ass to lift her and press his body against her in a very erotic way, the friction made her part her lips in a moan.

He interpreted this as an invitation to slide his tongue into her mouth and taste more of her than before. The feeling of his tongue against hers elicited another moan from her and she wrapped her legs around his waist, grounding her hips against his and trying to create more friction to get rid of the tension in her body. Damon answered her movement by tightening his hold on her hips and helping her to feel his hard erection.

"You like this, don't you?" His voice was rough with arousal when their lips parted and he started to place kisses on her throat again. If she had been able to open her eyes, she would have seen the veins around his eyes revealing his desire. But since she was incapable of doing anything but moaning and enjoying the pressure of his groin against her clothed wetness, she could only feel his fangs teasingly nipping at her sensitive flesh.

It would have been easy for them to lose themselves in their passion, but as the saying goes: All good things come to an end. Even though his mind was clouded by passion too, he was still able to hear people on the outside. And when he heard a woman making her way to the bathroom, he immediately placed Elena on her feet again and pressed a last kiss on her lips, before disappearing through the window.

She tried to push him away from her, the memories and his close proximity starting to reduce her ability to reason again. They needed to talk and come to the conclusion that the events which had taken place earlier could not be repeated in the future.

"Believe me, you don't want to get away from me. And I bet the only reason for your late-night-appearance is your desire to continue where we left off." Damon told her when he felt her resistance against him. He took a few steps to the side and sat down on the sofa, pulling her with him in a way that ended in her straddling his lap. His hands moved to her hips and held them pressed against his growing erection.

"You don't really want to deny yourself the pleasure of enjoying Damon Salvatore." He argued as she put her hands against his chest to push herself away from him. "You want me. Even with your magical necklace. You need me."

Elena tried to ignore the truth behind his words and continued to fight her own desire to give in to him. "Damon, stop. We can't do this. This is wrong."

"There's nothing wrong about this." He countered and moved one hand to cup the back of her neck and pulled her face down to his. "You aren't St. Stefan's girlfriend anymore. You can do whatever you wish. No matter how immoral you think something might be, you are by yourself and only your desire is the one you should care about."

She was so close to giving in. His hand in her hair, his breath on her lips, the seductive gleam in his eyes – everything about this situation was too tempting to be denied. But there was a small voice in the back of her mind that reminded her of the reason why being with Damon could never end well… He loves Katherine. You look like her. You are nothing but a replacement for her. And even though he had expressed his anger and apparent indifference concerning this woman over the past few months, this voice struck a nerve. To Damon she would never be more than a copy of a woman that once broke his heart… but she knew that once she crossed the last boundary between them, she would fall for him. And this would break her heart.

"I can't, Damon." She whispered in a sad voice. Elena knew that he would realize the change in her tone and when the expression in his eyes changed, her assumption was proved to be correct.

"Elena?" He asked, his voice laced with an underlying expression of worries. His touch on the back of her head softened, but the hand which had lain on her hip moved to her cheek and caressed her softly. "Elena, what's wrong?" Hearing him say her name was a wonderful experience and her heart leapt at the caring shine in his eyes.

"I can't do this, Damon." She answered and for the first time she let her hands wander to cup his face. Softly she caressed his lips with her thumbs and again she longed to be kissing them. "Don't do this to me." The second sentence was nothing but an added whisper which a normal human would have never heard. But his supernatural hearing abilities would not be easily tricked by a low voice – she knew this.

"What am I doing to you?" This was a question he usually would have laced with sexual innuendoes and immoral ambiguities, but this time it was meant honestly. Caring.

"It's going to hurt me in the end, Damon." She started and tried to hold back the tears which were forming in her eyes. "I'm not her… and I'm not willing to replace her." Understanding lit up in his eyes, but at the same time she could see him smiling softly.

"I don't want you to replace anyone. The only one I want right now is Elena Gilbert and accidentally you happen to be her." His thumb wiped off a lonely tear that had not been able to follow her mental command and slowly Damon pulled her face closer to his, pressing a kiss on her lips. Her mind still screamed at her that this was wrong, but the touch of his lips on hers was enough to turn down the volume.

Soon he deepened the kiss and Elena was finally allowed to taste him again. If you asked her to describe the unique taste of Damon Salvatore, she would fail horribly. Once she had realized that there was something spicy and incredibly masculine to it, it changed to something that was slightly salty, reminding her of a day at the beach where you could taste the salt water by breathing in the air. But no matter what he tasted like, she knew that she would never get enough.

Soon both of them reached their previous level of arousal, pressing their bodies against each other, hoping for a minimal increase in friction. His hands wandered underneath her shirt and towards her bra-clad breasts, cupping and massaging them to elicit more moans from her. In response she started to fumble with the buttons of his black shirt, trying to get rid of the barrier that separated their bodies. Once she had finally freed him of his shirt, he did the same for her. After letting both shirts falling down to the ground, his hands moved to her back immediately, unclasping her bra which suffered the same fate as the previous pieces of clothing.

"You are gorgeous…" Damon breathed against her skin as he moved his head towards her erect nipples and let his tongue move in small circles around them. She could feel her whole body tensing at the intimate contact and she gripped his shoulders to steady herself. His lips and his tongue felt unbearably good against her breasts and on the one hand she didn't want him to stop. But a second part of her wasn't able to wait much longer.

Elena loosened her grip on his shoulders and let her hands wander down to his jeans. Carefully she opened them and tried to get rid of them completely. Realizing what she wanted to do, Damon stood up in a fast movement while steadying her against his body all the time. In a blink of an eye he had got rid of his own jeans while immediately freeing her from hers too.

"We should continue this at a more comfortable place." He said and placed another kiss on her lips as his hands grabbed her ass again and lifted her. In response, she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, pressing down to let her crotch meet his. Both of them moaned at the contact even though his boxers and her thong still separated them.

There were only a few moments when Elena was happy about Damon being a vampire, but his ability to get them into his bedroom in a matter of three seconds was a definite benefit. Soon he had placed her on his bed, the cool sheets a comfort against her heated skin. But it didn't take long for the heat to envelop her completely, because once Damon had got rid of his boxers, he lay down on top of her and trailed new paths of kisses on her throat and chest.

Somehow it became difficult for her to concentrate on one thing at a time. On the one hand, there were these wonderful kisses he placed on her skin… On the other hand, there were his fingers that freed her of her thong and started to pump into her, consistently increasing in pace to create an inhuman speed. Elena was in a state of sensory overload, trying to move her hips against his hand, clawing at Damon's skin and trying to get rid of the unbearable tension in her abdomen.

"Damon…" She moaned and writhed underneath him, desperate for release. "Please…"

"What do you want?" He asked cockily and started to massage her clit with his thumb, while pressing his erection against her thigh. "Tell me."

"You… inside me…" She panted and moved her hips upward to let her thigh rub against his cock again. Immediately he removed his fingers from her wetness and replaced them with his erection. He slowly pushed into her, reveling in the tightness that enveloped his most sensitive part. After a few thrusts he built up his pace, creating a fiction which would send both of them over the edge in a matter of a few moments.

"Come for me." He breathed into her ear and moved his hand back to her clit, massaging the sensitive bud. In response, her hands clutched at his back and her nails clawed at his skin even more. With the pressure of his fingers on her clit, his strong thrusts into her and the light nibbling of his teeth at the skin of her throat, it didn't take much time for her to reach her climax. Her whole body tensed and her inner muscles convulsed around his cock, which led to both of them reaching their peak simultaneously, moaning each other's name loudly without caring about anything else.

Damon had to fight very hard to not collapse on top of her and crush her. Instead he moved to her side, pulling out of her at the same time which elicited a small moan of frustration from Elena.

"What's going to happen now?" She whispered in a tired voice as he wrapped his arm around her and made her lay down her head on his chest. Once she had realized her needy words, she wanted to take them back – not willing to ruin the wonderful moment she was just experiencing. But it was too late.

"You and I are still going to be here tomorrow to think about everything. Don't worry and just go to sleep, Elena." He breathed in her ear and placed a small kiss on the side of her head. Assured by this expression of affection, she sighed and slowly closed her eyes. But if she had kept her eyes open a little bit longer and had stayed awake for a few more moments, she would have seen his eyes caressing her with the gentle expression of a slowly growing love.