To say it wasn't fair was such a complete understatement. It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. Nothing was right about it. And yet, Damon wasn't necessarily surprised. It sort of made sense. Why should he ever get what he wanted? He'd been in love with Elena Gilbert since the moment she said, "You lost her, too," in the kitchen and took him by complete surprise. It was damn hard to surprise Damon Salvatore in his old age, and yet Elena was constantly doing just that, over and over again. And after one excruciatingly perfect night and one blissfully amazing morning where he actually experienced making love for the first time, one word changed everything-again. Sire. Elena was sired to him. Damon didn't want to believe it. He couldn't imagine why Stefan would make up such an elaborate lie. But when Elena was able to drink from the blood bag, his heart sank. Of course. Of course the only genuine happiness he'd had in decades would come to such a sudden and complete standstill. Everything that had been perfectly clear was now cloudy with a chance of foggy. He deserved it, he supposed. That's what Damon got for even allowing himself to think for one second that Elena picked him over Stefan. "You," she'd said, with that ethereal glow in her eyes that he never thought would be directed towards him. But now…how could he ever know how she genuinely felt about him-no, how could she know how she genuinely felt about him?

Damon was at the bar, bourboning away his sorrows as usual, empty seat to the right, as usual. He was pondering how this fucked up situation was never going to be easy. They were going to have to either figure out a way to break the sire bond, or find that damn cure everyone was so excited about lately. And even then, was he ready to be a human again? Was he ready to take the ultimate risk for Elena when he didn't even know if her feelings were real? This was never going to be easy.

And then she was sitting next to him. He didn't even have to turn around to know it was her-Damon always knew when Elena was in the room. It was as though her presence was a liquid that seeped into the atmosphere whenever they were in the same room together. No, that's not the right way to describe it. It's like...the air in every room she occupied was on fire and only Damon could feel the heat. Unlike the ice that clung to everything Katherine ever touched. Oh, he really needed to stop doing that. Comparing the two of them. Although they looked alike, Katherine and Elena had absolutely nothing in common.

"Stop avoiding me," Elena blurted out as she sat down, yanking her coat off and slamming it down on the bar. The bartender looked at her curiously, as though Elena were a cute little girl wanting to sit at the big kids' table. Newborn baby vampire Elena didn't care for this condescending treatment, so she looked into the blond bartender's eyes and said, "I'm 22, you serve me all the time, get me some bourbon and leave us alone." The bartender blinked, and then rushed off to make the drink.

"That wasn't very nice," Damon said, although he was obviously impressed by how fast Elena caught on to this whole compelling thing. She used to be appalled by the whole practice. How quickly things change.

"What's not nice is you ignoring me, Damon. I know this sire thing is freaking you out, but how do you think I feel? All the vampire stuff is already so new to me, and now I have this sire thing to deal with, too? Damn it, Damon, how many times do I have to tell you? I know how I feel about you. I felt the same way when I was human; I must have. My feelings for Stefan-my loyalty to him-clouded my judgment. But I know the truth now. I've known all along."

Damon finally allowed himself to look at her. She was so angry and frustrated and beautiful and determined and everything inside of him ached to take her in his arms and show her everything she'd been missing her short but now extended life. But he couldn't. It just hurt too much. And he was tired of putting himself on the line and getting nothing in return.

"You don't know what you feel, Elena. And not that I wouldn't love to have this conversation for the hundredth time, but can you please settle down and have a drink with me so we can at least enjoy a few peaceful minutes together without having to think about it?"

Elena opened her mouth to protest, but then shook her head and took a drink. Wait...was that the sire thing in action? Had she just done what he told her to do because he told her to do it? See, this was the unfair part. He would constantly be second guessing everything she did in his presence...did she want to do it or did she have to do it? This was a nightmare.

So, instead of talking or doing anything productive, the two of them sat together and drank. A lot. Mostly they just listened to the conversations happening around them. Damon knew Elena desperately wanted to talk to him-to talk about things that mattered-but she stayed quiet. Damon found that she was an adequate drinking partner, actually. Especially when she reached under the table and started inching her hand up his leg. To his thigh. To his-

"Cute, Elena. But in case you haven't noticed, we're in public." The last thing he needed was a vampire boner in the middle of the Mystic Grill.

Elena smiled. It wasn't an ordinary smile. She was up to something, and he was in trouble.

"You weren't complaining a few nights ago," she whispered in his ear, and then bit it. Okay, he was definitely in trouble.

"Yeah, and we're going to have to do something about that table you knocked over like it was nothing-that was an antique, Elena. You can't just go-"

Elena silenced him with a kiss. A very intense kiss. He still couldn't believe they were doing this now. That he was allowed to kiss her, practically whenever he wanted. Well, when Stefan wasn't around. Wait, was his perpetually angry little brother around? Damon scanned the room to make sure he wasn't hiding in a dark corner somewhere.

"He's not here. But you know where he's also not? He's not in your house. In your room. In your bed."

Oh, she was going to be the death of him. Damon always knew she was trouble. Elena just pretended to be innocent, but inside, there was something completely different. Hot. Fiery. Needy.

"You broke the lamp, too, you know. It was a very valuable lamp." Now he was just messing with her.

She wasn't taking the bait. "Fuck the lamp. Take me home."

Damon knew sex wouldn't solve anything. There was something happening between them that needed to be settled before they made it to the bedroom again. But he couldn't help but remember what it felt like to be inside of her. She was so warm, and so ready for him, and she clung to his back and made him bleed, and who would it hurt, really, if they did it again…he sighed.

"I don't want to take advantage of you, Elena. Stop trying to make me do that. It's not nice."

"What's not nice is you making me wait for it," she said angrily. And she made a good point, but all he could think about was sire bond, sire bond, sire bond. He had too much power over her and that…wait. Power. No, that was not a good idea. Or was it the best idea he ever had?

Before he could give himself a chance to think about it too much, Damon said, "Let's go." For a moment, Elena looked a bit taken aback, like she didn't expect her stubbornness to work so well. "Come on, you little vixen. I have an idea."

Damon didn't even know how the two of them got home but somehow they made it inside. They kissed their way to the bedroom while Damon made sure Elena didn't send some ancient piece of art flying across the house. Oh, he could kiss her any time he wanted, he could unbutton her shirt, he could put his hands on her bra, he could take her bra off. He did all these things in one swift motion and she was nearly naked before she even blinked.

"I want you," she whispered in his ear, and bit it, again. This was not going to work for what he had in mind. And although she was quickly adapting to all her newborn vampire skills had to offer, he was still older and faster and smarter than her. Before she could blink again, she was naked, and he was tying her hands to the bedpost with her scarf.

"Damon...what...not that I don't like it, but what..."

He kissed her gently and she hungrily kissed him back, biting his lip, tasting blood. Oh, she was naughty. He knew she was naughty when she tore open his shirt and knocked over his lamp, but he just chalked that up to being first time nerves. Maybe it wasn't nerves. Maybe she was just a horny teenage vampire and he was going to be the target of her pent-up aggression. This was going to be fun.

"When we...the other night, and the next morning, well, I know it felt good to you..."

"Of course it did," she said softly, and he kissed her again because he had to. If it was up to him, he'd never stop kissing her, but that would probably get uncomfortable after a while. "I've never felt anything like it. It was like...every nerve in my body was at total capacity. Mmm." She bit his lip again.

"That's good. That's good. But I noticed you didn't...you didn't have an orgasm," he finally managed to say.

Elena frowned, but didn't deny it. "I've...never been able to have one. I just figured it was something I can't do."

"Not even by yourself?"

"Not even by myself. After a while, I even stopped trying. I mean, it always feels good anyway, but I've never…"

Damon felt a pang of sadness for her, and tried not to gloat too much over the fact that his little brother never managed to make this happen for Elena. He'd laugh about it later—right now, he had things to do.

"Well, I have news for you-vampires have orgasms. They're just...different. Intense. Satisfying. It's one of the benefits of being in the club. Immortality, and amazing orgasms."

Elena grinned. Her lips were swollen and her cheeks were red and her eyes were on fire and he'd never known love like this before and it was all so unfair-no, not that again. Focus, Damon.

"What makes you so sure you're going to give me one?" She asked playfully, and yet somehow innocently as well.

"Because I'm telling you to. You want to know what being sired is all about? Well, I don't know. Nobody really knows. But we might as well have fun with it, right? And the one thing we do know about sire bonds is that you want to please me. And, Elena Gilbert, I want you to come for me. I want you to come your brains out. I want you to come so hard that you almost-but not quite-black out. I want you to feel me inside of you and I want it to feel so good that you can't even function. Come, Elena. I want you to come."

"Oh," Elena said, and kind of gasped and grinned and licked her lips all at the same time. "Well, that sounds...yes, let's do that."

She really had that whole delicate yet sexy thing down to an art. Damon had a sudden pang of regret and whispered in her ear, "We'll do this only if you're ready. I don't want to use this sire thing to my advantage. I would never do that to you."

"I know," she breathed. "I want this. I want to please you. I want you inside of me. I want you to make me come."

"Good. Then we're on the right page."

He could barely even focus on anything that was not half naked Elena, but Damon made himself get up from the bed and find his iPod in its speaker. He put on his favorite Guns N' Roses album, Appetite for Destruction. He'd heard a lot of music in his time, and this was his favorite album. While he'd never had sex to it before, he had a feeling Welcome to the Jungle was necessary to what was about to happen in his bed.

So as the guitars started their frenzy, Damon kissed Elena's forehead gently. He waited until she smiled up at him, looking like a goddess of sex. Then he kissed her not so gently on the mouth, and they both bit each other's lips again, and little trickles of their blood blended together as one. He kissed her neck...bit her neck, and she arched her back and moaned. He moved his lips to her collar bone, and then finally her breasts, his new favorite activity. Elena's breasts were a gift from the heavens. Her nipples were round and pink and perked up from the slightest touch. He loved to taste them, and he loved watching her face as he took them in his mouth; his hot breath, his teeth, his tongue. Of course Damon had been with many women over the years and this was nothing new, but he never cared about their faces. He cared about Elena's.

"Don't come yet," Damon said, one nipple in his mouth, the other in between his fingers. "I don't want you to come until I'm inside you and I can feel it."

"I don't know if I can wait..." Elena managed to say, and then let out a strange little squeal when he put a finger inside her. He loved how wet she was already. Oh, how he loved it.

"You have to," he said. And then he ripped her tiny panties off, and spread her legs, and before he tasted her-he'd been thinking about the way she tasted for days now-he studied Elena's nakedness. She looked so vulnerable, yet so persistent. Like she knew what she wanted, even if it wasn't good for her. Even if it was going to hurt so much more in the end, but it would still somehow be worth it. He studied every line and every curve and every dip and then he touched it all, and she moaned and squirmed and yelled his name and whispered his name and she tried to reach out and touch him but her hands were tied with the scarf. He knew it was frustrating, but that's how he wanted her to feel. It was a game. A risky game; a game he'd never played, but still a game.

After he was done exploring every part of her body, finally he tasted her again. That first night when he touched her clit with his tongue, she actually screamed and he'd laughed and she laughed and then she said, "More." That was a few days ago. Tonight she bit her lip while he licked her up and down, in and out, trying so hard to concentrate on not coming because it wasn't time yet.

"Damon...I can't...please..." So he gave her some relief. He finally stopped licking and instead stuck two fingers inside of her instead. Elena shrieked, and was met with a kiss by Damon. She greedily kissed him back, tasting herself on his lips, and he'd never wanted to be inside of someone more in his entire long life.

"Are you ready to come?"

"Yes," she said simply.

"Are you ready for me to be inside of you?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Damon Salvatore, if you don't fuck me right now, I will scream so loud your neighbors will wonder what you're doing to me in here."

He chuckled. "And what are you going to do, Elena? What do I want you to do for me?"

"You want me to come."

"That's right." And then he slid inside her, hard as a rock, so hard from tasting her and exploring her and demanding her, and they both kind of shrieked and screamed and cried out, and he untied her hands and then her nails were on his back, and it was so good and so wrong and so right. But she still wasn't coming. No matter what he did; all his tricks, she still wasn't having an orgasm.

"Come, Elena. Come now."

"I'm trying, Damon, I just can't...I can't do it..."

He kissed her and cupped her face and looked deep in her eyes and said, "It's okay, Elena. I know you've never done it before, but do it for me now. I want you to come. Have an orgasm. You're safe with me. You'll always be safe with me."

She looked at him and his heart broke yet again because she was innocent, she wasn't even supposed to be a vampire and yet here they were, sired together, and he was making love to her and he never thought it would ever happen, it was so surreal, and she trusted him, and she said, "I'll try harder, I'll try..." and they rocked together, harder, clinging to each other, and he was kissing her, biting her nipple, their bodies fused together, their minds as one, and finally he felt her coming. It was warm, and it was wonderful, and he could feel the tension of her body release itself, and she did scream loud enough for the neighbors to hear, and for a moment he was sure she passed out, because she didn't-couldn't-move. But then Elena opened her eyes and laughed, and clung to him harder, and he kept going and she kept coming, and it was not over quickly.

When it was over, they lay entwined together, not knowing or caring what time it was (not that they could know; Elena kicked the alarm clock on his bedside table over at one point), not caring what their obligations to anybody but themselves were, and just enjoying the present. They'd wake up and deal with the whole sire bond consequence thing tomorrow. Tonight, it just the two of them.

"That was intense," Elena said when she was able to catch her breath. "I didn't know it could feel like that. I mean, I know you're used to it, but I've never known anything like that feeling of total release."

"I'm not, Elena."

"You're not what?"

"I'm not used to...that. Of course I've done this before, but not with someone I...well, someone I love. This is a whole new feeling for me, too, believe it or not."

Elena smiled. He really did love when she smiled.

"Damon, you know I love-"

He put a finger on her lips. "Stop. I know you think you do. And I want you to, god, I want you to. But don't say it yet. I want it to mean something when you do."

"Okay. Okay, that's fair. But I do want you to know that this all means something to me. The fact that it's you, and you're the one who made me feel this way, I won't forget that. No matter what happens."

Of course this was all Damon wanted to hear, and he knew Elena was sincere. But he still wouldn't let himself believe it could possibly be real. Every single part of him wanted to but…

Damon kissed Elena, she wrapped her arms around him, and they drifted off to sleep together. It wasn't right, and it wasn't fair, and maybe it never would be right or fair. But for now, as long as she was in his arms, Damon had all he could ever imagine wanting. At least for a little while.