Be My Valentine (4/4)

Caroline giggled like a schoolgirl while Damon guided her outside of the car and into a building. She had tried to guess where he was taking her; she expected to be back at the boarding house, but they had been in the car for just half an hour.

"We didn't have dessert," Damon said as he finally took the blindfold off her eyes.

The blonde gasped as she assessed her surroundings. They were in a hotel room – although the exact definition for that would be Heaven.

She inhaled deeply and her shoulders relaxed as the smell of incense hit her nose. She was guessing sandalwood and rose, but it mattered little; the scent triggered all sorts of funny chemical reactions from her body, and she faintly thought she should get over herself before she completely lost her mind.

She opened her eyes again, and noticed that all lights were off; the room was softly lit only by candles. Lots of candles. It evoked a feeling of intimacy that she wasn't sure she was ready to embrace just yet, so she decided to move on to something else. There were many things to take in.

Her eyes travelled around the room, meeting dark purple heavy curtains, more candles and, of course, petals of white and pink roses sprinkled around the bed. She didn't dare look at it, but after a few seconds, she did.

Damn you, Damon Salvatore.

On the gigantic bed, she saw silk and satin. It looked cozy and comfortable, but mostly, painfully sexy. There were at least a dozen pillows of different colors and fabrics. It was very 1800s like, very boudoir-like. Against her better judgment, she imagined what it felt like to just lie back there, her skin brushing against these extra sweet fabrics.

All of her five senses were overwhelmed.

She slowly turned to Damon, who had a smug grin across his face. He placed his hand on the small of her back and led her to the bathroom. Then, she gasped again. A freaking hot tub. She looked at him with wide eyes. He just shrugged.

"Told you I'd blow your mind, Barbie," he quipped. "Ta-da!"

She huffed and shook her head.

"What exactly do you mean by 'dessert'?" she asked nervously.

The wicked smile he gave her made her light-headed and he took a step towards her, voluntarily invading her private space. He had to admit this game of cat and mouse was an awful turn-on, especially when she was so agitated by his physical proximity. He once again did "the eye thing" and distinctly heard her heart skip a bit. That girl was severely testing his self-control. The Hell with reason, he should just throw her on that bed and have his way with her.

"You know, what comes after the main course," he said with obvious innuendo. "What any man who's paid for lobster and caviar is entitled to expect."

"Time out," she said in a strangled voice.

"New rule," Damon countered. "You can't call more than two time-outs."

She wanted to protest but no argument came to her mind. She opened her mouth indignantly and closed it again, and Damon decided to be patient. The sparks flying between them would eventually bring her to loosen up. For the time being, he simply laughed, breaking the tension. He walked past her, opened the small fridge in the corner of the room and brought out a huge bowl.

"Dessert," he clarified.

She breathed a sigh of relief that was slightly tainted with embarrassment. In the bowl, chocolate-covered strawberries, another Valentine's Day classic. She looked up to Damon with a small smile.

"But if you have something else in mind, it's my pleasure to adjust," he said.

"Don't be ridiculous, who could say no to strawberries?" she blushed, snatching the bowl away from his hands.

Damon simply smirked and nodded to the Jacuzzi as a suggestion. She stopped right in her tracks.

"Oh, no," she said. "You didn't say anything about a hot tub, so I'm not…equipped."

That one was really too much for him to resist; he let out a long, appreciative whistle.

"Naughty girl with no underwear. I like."

"I do have underwear," Caroline informed, angry that she was letting him drag her to dangerous territory. "I just – I'm not…going in there in my underwear, with you."

"Fine," he said with a careless shrug.

She frowned, but couldn't fight the relief that came over her. She had been feeling unexpected emotions tonight, and she certainly didn't want lust to be one of them. Being in this room alone was enough temptation, and she sure as Hell couldn't resist the sight of his damn near perfect body more than she could trust herself. It did surprise her that he would drop it so easily, but eh, he was in love with Elena, after all. He might have been what you'd crudely call a manwhore, but he wasn't two-timing.

She thought her eyes were going to fall off when he started unbuttoning his shirt, right there in front of her, with no sense of embarrassment whatsoever. If anything, he carried himself with a little more pride, knowing he'd have an impact on her.

"What are you doing?" she asked dumbly.

"Getting in the tub, of course," he said just as stupidly. "That usually requires taking off your clothes."

She nodded and turned her back on him to give him a privacy he obviously didn't care about. Her eyes roamed over the room, and it became crystal-clear to her that his intention was to seduce her. How had she not seen it earlier? Damon Salvatore wasn't the type to wine and dine a girl with no ulterior motive; of course, he wanted to get into her pants. She inwardly cursed herself for being such a stakeholder in her own fate.

"Okay, you can turn around, now," he called mockingly.

She did as she was told, only to find him standing in the tub. Completely bare. She choked on the strawberry she was gnawing on, causing him to laugh loudly. She breathed out, trying to even out the beating of her heart, and he finally sat. Oh, if looks could kill.

"You know," he said, "just because you have suddenly forgotten that I already know every inch of your body hasn't turned me into a prude, Blondie."

Caroline winced at being called a prude.

"Am not," she exclaimed. "You would know."

"Well, then, prove it," he teased.

This is how it all started, Caroline, don't let him get to you, she thought. In vain. She had already handed him the bowl and was unzipping her dress, wiggling until it fell to her feet, revealing a matching set of black lace underwear. She grimaced at him.

"Happy, now?"

"Like I said," Damon replied nonchalantly. "Nothin' I haven't seen before."

She took the offense without a word and threw his boxers at him; even though the bubbles were concealing his body from her eyes for now, she simply wasn't comfortable about his being completely naked. He huffed, but put them back on, and then, she got in the tub with him. They were silent for a while, eating those heavenly strawberries and throwing glances at each other every now and then. The tension was slowly subsiding, and a frown appeared on Damon's forehead.

"So, what's the deal with you and Klaus?" he asked with nonchalance.

Klaus. Caroline sighed; she really wasn't in the mood to discuss this.

"What's the deal with you and Elena?" she fired back.

Damon didn't let it get to him.

"You're not, like, sleeping with the enemy, are you?" he insisted.

Her mind went back to a certain sunny day when she had thrown the same inquisitive interrogation at Elena, almost verbatim. Caroline couldn't believe this was happening. Damon had her half naked in a tub, and, of all things, he was going to lecture her about the three words she barely said to Klaus. She should have implemented a rule to put the Hybrids on the "Do not discuss" list.

"Why, wanna be the only one to indulge in Original sex?" she snapped.

"Is that a yes, then?" he said, unmoved by her reference to his fling with Rebekah.

She sighed.

"There is no deal," she said. "The guy says he fancies me."

Damon raised an eyebrow at the old-fashioned word, and they simultaneously laughed at the stupidity of it.

"I'm just saying, he's Klaus," Damon resumed quietly. "Be careful."

She just rolled her eyes at him, and got lost in her thoughts for a while. What was it that she had going on with Klaus? How come Damon had noticed? What was she going to do about it?

"Get over here," he said quietly, but with such authority that she could only comply.

She moved closer to him and he made her sit down in front of him, her back turned on him. They fell into silence as he endeavored to make the tension in her shoulder blades subside, and truth be told, he was quite good massages. His hands were working some kind of magic on her, and she closed her eyes.

"You've let too many bastards into your life already," he said softly, dangerously close to her ear.

She smiled.

"You mean, you?"

"Not only, but yeah, mostly me. I took advantage of you because I was stronger. Just because I could. The dude's stronger than all of us, so, be careful," he repeated.

"You should be careful, Salvatore," she quipped. "I'm going to think you care about me."

"What sort of crazy idea is that?" he said with a smirk.

She just laughed and relaxed a little more.

"I'm good, uh?" he boasted as he felt her body go limp against his.

She let her head fall back onto his shoulder. He was good.

"Shut up," she said in an appreciate tone. "And don't stop."

A few minutes passed before she decided that it was enough; she was getting way too comfortable in his arms, so she thanked him and moved back to her corner of the tub.

"How you feeling?" he asked, simply to get his ego stroked.

"Good," she conceded contentedly.

Damon smirked at her.

"I wanna feel good, too," he said suggestively.

She huffed in annoyance; there she thought they were going to have a moment, and he ruined it. That was it: Damon Salvatore was a ruiner. He couldn't handle discussing feelings, and he couldn't handle a physical proximity either. She swiftly got out of the Jacuzzi and wrapped herself in a bathrobe.

"You're an animal, Damon," she said through her teeth. "An animal."

"Hey, you did say that my only area of expertise regarding Valentine's Day was Valentine's Day sex," he reminded casually as she threw a towel at him.

He wrapped it around his waist.

"Yeah, and the point of tonight was to prove me wrong, which you did," she called from the bedroom. "Your 'expertise' has never been questioned, end of story."

"That's one way to look at it," he said, meeting her next to the bed. "The way I see it…"

He left his sentence unfinished, deciding that actions would be better than words in this case.

Before she could register, he lunged forward and stopped a millimeter in front of her; her eyes widened, but he kissed her. Hard at first, but then he turned the kiss into something sweet, yet passionate. She gasped as his fingers laced around her waist and clung to her hips, pulling her flush against him in a swift movement.

She tried to get away from him, but his strength was superior to hers, and she only caused them to fall over onto the dozens pillows on the bed. Damon ran his fingers up her sides, and got rid of the bathrobe she had wrapped herself into. He caressed her flat stomach, her upper arms; he ran his fingers through her hair, kissing her neck tenderly.

Only one word could describe the way she was feeling at the moment: fire. Flames licking every inch of her skin as his mouth left kisses all over her neck, her shoulders, her cheeks. Yes, flames, but a lurch of consciousness caused her to stop him as he was about to unclasp her bra.

"Time-out," she said with the last ounce of willpower she had left.

"Remember the new rule," he groaned. "Don't be a tease, Blondie."

She looked at him apologetically, trying to steady her breathing. He was right, she was being a tease. She had Tyler, and she kinda sorta had Klaus in her life. What was she doing, making out with him of all people? They had been down that road once in the past, and it had been a failure. But he wasn't that man anymore; she could see it, but mostly, she could feel it in the way he touched her. The Damon she used to know was incapable of being gentle simply for the sake of it. Which did not matter. At all.

"This doesn't make sense, Damon."

"So?"

"You don't love – ," Caroline started, but he cut her off.

"Right now, it's our Valentine's Day, Caroline, and I love you," he breathed slowly, detaching every word. "Let me show you how much."

The way he was saying this … he was impossible to resist. And so, that's when he had her. Because, more than ever, she needed someone to make her feel loved and she needed that person to not be werewolf who could lose control and kill her. As for Damon, she couldn't tell whether he was pretending or being honest, but his words echoed in her head. And losing herself in his eyes, equally filled with tenderness and lust, she couldn't think of anything she wanted more, but she struggled.

"Damon, you love Elena," she said weakly.

"You've broken the rules twice in a minute," he whispered, his voice vaguely threatening. "Don't try a third."

He kissed her again, and for a moment it was like the touch of her lips against his flooded his body with fire. The intensity of that fire, he could not fight against. It had been too long since he'd felt that way. Love with Katherine, just like love with Elena, had always burnt to death; the flames Caroline was fueling right now were soft and pleasant, enveloping him in relaxing warmth.

He poured everything to that kiss: the regrets of having had and lost her, the bitterness of having loved only women who didn't want him, the smiles she had given him tonight and the funny banter. He put every emotion she had ever inspired in him into that kiss, and he felt her lips respond to his eagerly. He pulled back, much to her dismay.

"I want you," he simply said.

The words were spoken quietly, but with such disarming sincerity that they hit her full force. He wanted her. And damn her if she could understand why, but she wanted him back. But she understood what he was doing; he was warning her that if she as much as looked at him again, there would be no way back. He wouldn't stop, and he wouldn't let her stop either. The choice was hers.

What she was feeling now was some kind of love, she knew it. And love was a physical force; a disease. A madness and a war. A fire they had once shared.

She let the memory of that old flame lit her fire, and slowly removed the towel still holding at his waist. Her nails slowly grazed his abs, and he nearly melted with desire. She kissed him with a softness that was almost unbearable, causing him to ache with longing. He got hold of her wrists, refusing to take this any further unless it was certain they were on the same page. His eyes, darker as a side-effect of his burning need of her, questioned hers silently.

"I want you," she whispered.

And that was how she had him.

Corny as it may sound, he proved to her that he was not only good at sex, but good at making love. He remembered perfectly every curse of her body; the planes and the hollows, the sensitive parts and the ones he shouldn't even consider touching. Closing his eyes, he simply followed the lead of his memory, with no other purpose than making her feel what they could have had. In those heated moments of passion, they shared a connection. Something true that they didn't even know they needed.

But like all good things, it came to an end, and, after an eternity, Caroline seemed to come to her senses, and Damon immediately perceived the change of atmosphere. Her heart was beating frantically, and he grabbed her hand as she was about to leave the bed.

"I – I think we should go home," she just said.

"And I think you have to do exactly as I say for the next twenty-four hours," he countered lazily.

She'd almost forgotten about that.

"Fine," she groaned, folding her arms against her chest. "What do you want?"

"I just want you to stay," he informed. "You and me, outside of the world for a day. That's all I want. What do you say?"

She thought about it for a minute.

"The long list of our problems will still be there tomorrow," she admitted.

Damon let out a sigh of ease when she snuggled back into the bed.

"Hey," she called softly before going back to sleep.

"Hmm?"

"Happy Valentine's Day."

Fin.

A/N : And that's a wrap ! I want to thank every one of you for reading this absolutely random (and looong) One Shot. I had a lot of fun with it, and I'll definitely consider any suggestion you might have for more of these. I hope you like the ending - for those of you who wanted sex : ta-da! The best I could do with a T rating ;)

Look out for my next publication. It will be, as I have named this double pairing : Darolaus i.e. Daroline and Klaroline. I've had an idea and I'm even considering something quite lengthy. Who'll read? xoxo - M.

PS : UGH. The hiatus is back. Kill me already.