N: This story is a one shot written for the LJ author-to-author exchange. Specially dedicated to nerddamon, her prompt inspired this piece.

Enjoy and review!

Chocolate and Pearls

Elena put the tip of her eyeliner between her lips. After getting the tip moist enough, she caught her bottom lip between her teeth and applied the eyeliner all around her left eye. She was close enough to the small mirror on the desk that her nose almost touched the object. Once she was done with both eyes, she took a long look at herself in the big mirror on the wall in front of her. "No, it's too much," she murmured to herself before she grabbed the eye make-up removal bottle and poured a generous quantity in a cotton pad. She used the tissue to remove her eye make-up completely. She applied her moisturiser, primer and concealer again before putting her hair up and think of what else she could do. Something special, yet not too much. She didn't want to remind Damon of his ex, Katherine.

It was Christmas Eve, a special day, and she wanted to look her best for Damon. Maybe she has truly lost her mind. After all, her boyfriend was dead, had been dead for months. She will in fact be spending Christmas at her parent's cabin with a hallucination. After almost killing the witch, Luc finally gave in and provided her with enough quantity of the witchy herbs to last her a few days. Those herbs were the only things that were keeping her going. The anticipation of taking them and seeing Damon again was at times all that stopped her from taking off her day ring and let nature take its course. So, considering the fact that her boyfriend would be nothing more but a vivid product of her imagination, it shouldn't matter what she looked like, yet, it mattered to her. By making sure everything was perfect staring with the big tree she compelled four people to bring in and decorate and finishing with the make-up she would be warring, she made sure it felt as real as possible. She felt like a normal 20 years old girl who would be spending Christmas with her boyfriend. Of course, Elena knew better. She was not just a regular young girl. She was a vampire who has been through hell to get where she was now. She had died, twice, she had buried every single member of her family and more than a few friends and she had just lost her best friend for the second time in a year. And Damon Salvatore was not just her boyfriend. No, Stefan had been her boyfriend, Matt had been her boyfriend, Damon had been much more. Damon had been her whole universe, her soul mate and she was nowhere ready to let him go. "Maybe I never will be," Elena thought out loud. She shook her head and got back to finishing her make-up.

When she was done and finally satisfied with her make-up, she smiled to herself in the big square shaped mirror.

A quick look at the framed picture of her and Damon was enough to make her eyes water and her heart ache in her chest. Not wanting to ruin her handy work with tears, she took a deep breath and ran outside on the porch. How could she have ever though that Damon was bad for her? He had made her happier than she had ever been in her life and she was now sure no one would ever be able to make her feel the way he did. She looked around for a moment. Except for the Christmas decorations, the cabin looked just as she remembered. For a split second memories of her and Stefan at the cabin came to her. She smiled once more. She and Stefan had their happy moments too. Yes, she had loved Stefan, but she also had to admit that she had never felt for Stefan what she felt for Damon. It was different, so much more intense, so much more…she wasn't sure it should be called "love" because somehow it didn't seem to be enough to express what he had meant to her.

Hugging herself in a failed attempt to comfort, Elena looked up just in time to see a shooting star fade over the cabin. She closed her eyes and thought: "What I wish more than anything in the world is to have Damon back."

When she opened her eyes, she turned on the lights circling the door and the windows to give more light to the old house and walked inside. The smell of pine hit her at full force and she was happy she had decided to go for a real tree instead of a plastic one. She look at it, it was perfect. Decorated with the things she found in the attic, some as old as her, some were a bit chipped from being dropped year after year, but that was what gave it character. It had personality, just the way she liked it. In the middle of the cozy living room, the small table was just as she prepared it hours ago. Decorated in different shades of red and gold and with the two, bulky, dark orange candles burning softly, giving the glasses a specific shine. Champagne glasses and water glasses were already on the table and Elena just remembered to put on a scotch glass for Damon. After all, she did went out of her way to buy him his favourite one.

She used her vampire speed to get to the kitchen and back. Carefully, she placed the small, square glass in front of the plate, rearranged the red napkin with golden snowflakes and stepped away from the table, taking it all in one last time before going up the stairs to get into her new dress.

It was a black satin dress, with spaghetti straps and backless, so even if it was long to the floor, it showed off her olive skin. It had just a little lace going from the side of her left breast to the back, just above her ass. She put her hair up in a ruffled bun to show off her newly acquired tattoo. A small black craw sitting on a grave stone right on the back of her neck. On the grave stone it was written in very small letters: Damon Salvatore 1860-2014. With the exception of the tattoo, her skin was flawless just like the silky dress she was wearing. She put on her mother's pearls set of earrings, necklace and bracelet. After applying a new coat of lipstick, she put on her high heels. A pair of golden sandals that went up her leg, stopping right underneath the knee. Tucking a rebel hair behind her ear, she went back to the desk and mixed the herbs. She knew by now that it will take a few minutes to take effect.

Ten minutes later, she grabbed her dress so she won't step on it and descended the stairs, expecting to see Damon on the bottom, just like Miss Mystic Falls. He wasn't there and Elena's heart staring beating faster, anxiety taking over. What if she took the drugs too many times and would no longer have an effect? What if Luc gave her the wrong ones? A dozen of reasons were clearly forming into her mind before she saw him. Sitting in front of the fire in the big, old-fashioned arm chair with a glass of scotch in his hand. She wouldn't have it any other way. When he heard her approaching, he stood up, placed the glass by the edge of the fire-place and turned around. Elena thought his eyes might pop out of his head from the way he was looking at her. But then again, Damon had always had a very special way of looking at her. In slow motion, he took in every detail, from head to toe. The familiar smirk made its appearance in the corner of his mouth and Elena smiled shyly. How silly was she? Melting under the stare of a ghost. Not even a ghost, a product of her imagination. But there she was, burning under the inspective glare of her dead boyfriend. Damon took a step forward and Elena took a step backwards, daring him with her eyes to chase her. It was part of what made them so special. The chase. The desire for each other and the equal desire to stay away. They were never good at resisting their urges when it came to one another. They weren't about to start now, that was for sure.

"You did all this for me?" Damon asked looking around.

"What if I did?"

There it was. Their own person game of back and forward. Elena took in a deep breath and decided it was pointless. After all, she felt so strongly for him she was sure every living being with enough perception within a hundred yards from her would be able to tell.

"Yes, I did it all for you."

"How did you know?" he took another step towards Elena. This time she didn't move. She looked towards the bottle she just bought for him. She shrugged, like knowing his favorite drink was something so casual it wasn't worth fussing about it. "I always sort of noticed these things with you. I know what kind of books you read, I know your favorite designer, favourite drink. Somehow I always seemed to pay attention to them, even before I realized what I felt for you."

Elena looked down for a split second and when she lifted her eyes, Damon was right in front of her, taking away her personal space. Of course, she wouldn't have it any other way. He was cocky, he was loyal, he was impulsive, suborn and determined and she liked him just the way he was. Up a few more inches her chocolate browns found his icy-blues and she just started at them, still mesmerised by their beauty.

"And the dress," Damon started as he curled his hand around her waist, pulling her closer. "Is it for me too?" he finished.

Elena gasped at the contact. She made a mental note to thank Luc for whatever he added to this herbal mix, because this time Damon's touch didn't feel like warm air, it felt like an actual touch and it burned her skin through the thin material of her dress.

Hesitantly, as if she was in a trance, Elena reached in front of her to touch him. Feeling his hard chest underneath the palm of her hand was almost enough to make her break down again and cry until she had no more tears. But she didn't. Instead she mumbled "Yes, for you, all for you, always for you."

She didn't realize they were moving until her lower back hit the edge of the table and a glass fell with a loud bang. Neither Elena nor Damon seemed able to look away from each other. It was as if they were programed to stare into each other's eyes.

Damon used both his hands to push Elena's dress up her thighs. Once the edge was high enough, he just slipped his right hand underneath it, caressing her burning flesh. He closed his eyes and leaned forwards, his slightly cold cheek brushing first against her exposed neck then her cheek and temple.

"God I have missed you," he whispered against her ear. "Your smell, your skin," his lips were softly brushing her flesh and Elena could feel her knees weaken. "And I definitely missed doing this," he said and then he kissed her.

Right hand still caressing her thigh, left hand on the back of her neck, holding her in place as his tongue was shamelessly exploring, tasting, teasing and biting her tongue and lips. To think she almost forgot just how much of an impact his kisses always had on her. It was as if Damon was trying to remind her of everything she will never experience. He tasted like bourbon and chocolate. Of course, secretly, she always liked the way he tasted. He tasted like a man, her man. Just when she thought she will run out of air – she was still not used to not actually needing to breathe – Damon buried his fingers in her hair and pulled, forcing her head back, exposing her long, slim throat. His wet, hot kisses first covered her jaw line, going lower on her neck, all the way to her collar bone.

Suddenly, he pulled away and watched her, a new sort of intensity burning in his otherwise cold eyes. It took Elena a few seconds to realize that the song playing was the song they first danced to at the Miss Mystic Falls pageant. She smiled, remembering how she felt when she saw him waiting at the edge of the stairs.

"May I?" he asked offering her his hand. Just then Elena noticed that her silky dress fell back to the floor.

She placed her hand in his without hesitation and Damon spun her around making it seem as if they have been doing this since the beginning of time. They just fit. Dancing, making love, anything she and Damon did was just as intense. Damon pulled her against him and her body became very much aware of every curve in his. A sweet, familiar tingling sensation spread all the way from her throat to her knees.

"You know when I knew I had feeling for you? When I knew that if I let myself I could fall in love with you?" Elena asked and Damon raised his eyebrows.

"When you noticed the perfect V line going down my pants?" he asked with a cocky smirk. Elena couldn't help but smile.

"No, I am serious. Remember my 18th birthday?" she asked and Damon just nodded. "You brought me back my necklace. The necklace that meant so much for me and Stefan. That was such a selfless thing to do. I couldn't help the way my heart reacted to it. Every time you did something like that something changed inside me. My feelings for were growing even then even though I tried to shake them, I couldn't. You got under my skin and no matter what impulsive thing you did, I found myself unable to shake you."

They have both stopped dancing and were just standing in the middle of the living room.

"Elena," he started softly. He raised his hand and let his thumb caress her cheek. She tilted her head, placing it in his palm.

"Your touch feels different than the other times. It feels real," she murmured closing her eyes for a second to just enjoy his touch.

"I am real. You wished for me to come back to you so I did," before she had the chance to laugh and tell him that even in her hallucinations of him were stubborn, he silenced her with a kiss that left her panting. He pulled at one of her spaghetti straps in such an urgent way Elena was sure he ripped it. Just like the other times Elena felt herself being overwhelmed by her burning desire for the man that was able to make her whole body vibrate. She pushed Damon against the wall tarring at his shirt until all the tiny buttons flew all around the room, leaving the path clear for Elena to caress and kiss his chest. Just when she got to his abs and was about to open his belt, Damon pulled her up. Once again he pushed the edge of her dress up her thighs and wrapped her leg around his waist, turning them around. To keep her balance Elena placed her hand on the small table to her right, knocking dawn her grand-grandmother's lamp. She let out a loud moan when Damon pushed her dress over her breasts, loosing no time before taking one of her erect buds in his mouth.

One hand burred in Damon hair, one still on the table kipping herself from sliding against the wall and literally falling at Damon's feet, Elena was in ecstasy. Lower and lower Damon's mouth was covering with kisses every inch that his hands were uncovering by slowly peeling off her dress.

"You taste like chocolate," he mumbled against her flat abdomen.

"Yes, I," another moan escaped her lips as Damon's tongue started teasing her belly button. "I am using a new…ahhh, yes," her dress fell all the way to the floor and Damon's tongue was tracing the pronounced bones on her hips. "Lotion. Chocolate flavor," she finally finished as Damon took off her high heels. Just then Elena realized that she was completely naked. Damon was placing her minuscule thongs on the table, just an inch away from her hand.

"How?" she asked puzzled.

"Oh come one Elena. I have only been dead six month. Don't tell me that was enough for you to forget how good I am at this?" he asked. Elena shook her head, it was no point in denying it, after all she did tell him more than once how good he was. Thankfully, he never asked her to compare him to Stefan, because God knew there was no comparison really. The most passionate nights she had with Stefan have not made her feel half as good as Damon did even before he actually buried himself inside of her. Every time she was with Damon, she lost control, she became an animal, compelled to listen to her instincts. Reality faded away every time he touched her. No, there was no comparison.

"But, I am naked," she said shyly. Like he said. He'd been dead for six month. Six month in which no one had even seen her naked, let alone look at her the way Damon was.

"You are wearing one of my favorite outfits, chocolate and pearls," he said tracing the edge of her pearls necklace with his finger. He let his finger go on between her breasts, mesmerised by the unsteady rhythm his chest was rising and falling in. "You never stopped being human, did you?" he asked but Elena somehow knew he wasn't actually expecting an answer. Not that she would've been able to answer because his finger slid lower, all the way to her heated center. "I am going to take you to bed Elena Gilbert and remind you of what you've been missing for six months," he said. His voice just a whisper, but enough for her sensitive hearing to capture. She nodded and allowed Damon to pick her up bridal style. Again, Elena thought that it was impossible to be hallucinating this, but she knew better. Damon was dead and in about two hours the effects of the herbs will wear off and she will be left alone once more, mourning her soul mate.

Once in the bedroom, Damon placed Elena carefully on the bed and proceeded to take off the remaining of his clothes. After taking off his socks, he disappeared and Elena started to panic, but Damon came rushing back with a bottle of chocolate syrup. The same one Elena used just a few days ago on her vanilla ice-cream. After spreading her legs apart, Damon positioned himself between them on his knees and started pouring syrup all over her chest and belly. "Now you are truly wearing chocolate and pearls," he said. "And you look," he hesitated for a split second. "Exquisite," he finished placing the syrup on the pillow after making sure the lid was in place. To her surprise instead of starting top to bottom, Damon started by liking the melted chocolate from her lower belly.

After coming this close to coming more than once just to have Damon remove his fingers from her soaked womanhood, Elena started cursing loudly.

"Well that's not very lady like of you," Damon commented and Elena gave him a killing glare. "You want me to go lower?" he asked with a smirk.

"Yes," Elena answered without hesitation. Her voice nothing more than an out of breath whisper.

Damon smiled with a subtle nod and in a split second his head was right between Elena's wide spread legs. From the first flicker of his tongue Elena's hand automatically found its way to Damon's hair and her slim fingers tangled within his slightly curled jet-black mess.

Slow, fast, left right, Damon's tongue was everywhere at different speeds and going in different directions and Elena simply could not help herself. Her hips left the mattress to meet each stroke of his tongue and each blow of his breath on her heated skin. She was forcing her eyes to stay open, because she didn't want to miss even a second of watching Damon. As if he knew what she was thinking of, Damon's head came up, their eyes met and Elena felt her no longer needed breath stop. He looked absolutely magnificent. His eyes were sparkling, his mouth was slightly open, his lips moist and slightly red from spending so much time pleasing her, his teeth immaculate white, his upper fangs just a little too elongated, giving away his vampire nature. The strange, yet familiar tingling sensation took over her body and the primal need for the man in front of her became almost unbearable.

"I need you inside me," she murmured. "Now!" this time with a little more force. Her nails started to involuntarily pierce his skin, she didn't even realized it was happening until she smelled blood.

Damon let out something between a moan and a hiss before crushing her tiny frame underneath him and kissing Elena with such force that she was sure of one thing: if she wouldn't have been a vampire, she would've bruised. She could feel the tip of his dick pocking at her entrance, all she had to do was lift her hips and Damon had no problem sliding inside her folds. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head. He was moving at an agonisingly slow pace, but every time he was going as deep as he could, tracing the outline of her ear with the tip of his tongue at the same time. As he went lower on her neck, Elena murmured softly: "bite me!" making Damon pull back a few inches to look at her. "Please," she went on and Damon nodded and licked his lips. Elena held her breath all the time it took Damon to prepare the place where his deadly fangs will seconds later cut into her skin. Once she left his sharp teeth pierce her skin Elena lost any rational thought in her mind.

"Damon, I…" a long mean escaped her lips as Damon started sucking the blood from her vein. "I love you," she finally managed. Damon pulled back and Elena took advantage of his momentary distraction to turn them around. Once on top she started moving back and forward, faster and faster. Her hand cupped his cheek. Even after all the years that passed, she still had troubles resisting the impulse to just stare at his inhuman beauty.

"It's not polite to stare Miss. Gilbert," Damon said breathlessly. She gave him a bright smile that was in contrast with the sad tone of her voice when she spoke.

"You have no idea how much I miss you. Every day, every night. All the time, no matter what I do…I miss you so much."

Damon said nothing, he just cupped her face and pulled her into a kiss that made her head spin, turning them around once more, putting Damon on top. This time his movements were no longer slow, but fast and desperate. They were both fighting for their breaths, making promises of eternal love to each other between moans. Elena was the first to reach Nirvana and Damon followed just seconds after.

No matter how much she fought against it, sleep took over her body and mind. The last thing she remembered before falling asleep were Damon's voice telling her he loved her and his fingertips making circles on her back.

***DE***

Elena woke up in a panic just two hours after she had fallen asleep. Just as she expected, Damon was no longer by her side, the effects of the drugs wore off, leaving her alone once more. She tried her best to stop them, but it was as if her tears had a mind of their own. She thought that after spending so many days and night crying she might dry up, but it wasn't the case. The first few tears were soon followed by others and before she realized what was happening, she was once again curled up in the middle of the bed sobbing uncontrollably.

"Elena," Damon's voice came out of nowhere.

"No, you are not real! You are a product of my imagination, you are going to leave me!" she yelled, but Damon's figure was still there, making his way towards the bed.

"I am real, Elena," he said softly.

"No, no, no, please…it's too much, I didn't take anything, you shouldn't be here now."

"Elena, please listen to me, I wasn't dead, I was in some sort of prison. When you wished that you could have me back, there was a bright light and here I was. I will explain more, but you have to calm down first." His voice was calm and smooth and when his hand came in contact with hers, Elena stopped crying at once.

"You…you are really here?"

"Where else would I be? I promised my girl that I will find my way back to her no matter what," he said with a smirk. There was no doubt, the man was Damon Salvatore. He was the only one that could make her feel annoyed, excided, frustrated with him and in love with him at the same time. Plus, if there was someone that would come back from the dead it would be Damon. He told her once that he would do anything for her and she believed him.

N: Hope you liked it. Review and let me know!