Elena huffed with exasperation as her fingers fumbled on the small clasp of her necklace. She was getting ready for the founder's dinner event, which she was very much dreading, and nothing was seeming to go her way. It had been raining all day, and the humidity in the air made her hair, which she had envisioned falling in loose curls down her back, frizzy and tangled. The heaviness of the air pulled on the curls and made them look more like awkward waves. She had been fumbling with this damn necklace for five minutes, and her already thin patience was nearly at its breaking point. She sighed and stared down at her gown strewn across her bed. It truly was beautiful. If nothing else went right today, at least she knew that she could count on the dress. It was obsidian black with small specks of glitter scattered throughout the fabric. Every time Elena moved, it would shimmer lightly. The sweetheart neckline in the front cut sharply down the sides and dipped so low in the back that the dress was completely backless. A high slit cut through the fabric on the right thigh. It was edgy, but elegant. Caroline had bought it for prom last year but decided that it didn't complement her fair complexion, so she gave it to Elena.

A soft knock on her door made Elena look up from her transfixion on the dress.

"Come in!" She called.

Aunt Jenna tentatively peeked her head around the corner of the doorframe. "I heard a groan of frustration that could only mean wardrobe malfunction or hair problems. Can I help?"

"Actually, yes. I'm a disaster." Elena slumped down onto her bed and pointed to her hair. "Can you do something about this?"

"Curls will never work with this kind of weather. Can I just straighten it for you?" She walked over and examined the dress beside Elena. She whistled and widened her eyes. "Although in this thing, I don't think anyone is going to be looking at your hair."

Elena laughed. "It's gorgeous, isn't it? It's from Caroline."

"Beyond gorgeous. Don't you think it's a little much for a just a founder's event?"

"Not really. It might seem a little extra, but these events are pretty much just an excuse for the rich to buy the most lavish outfits they can find and show them off."

"Huh. That's sad. I haven't been to one in years, but they certainly didn't use to be like that. I guess people actually cared about the town back in the good old days." Jenna plugged in Elena's flat iron and motioned for her to sit on the bench in front of her vanity.

Elena stared at her reflection in the mirror as the tool heated up. Her skin had a healthy glow to it and her eyes were bright and alert. She had been getting a lot of sleep in the comfort of Damon's arms for the past week. Ever since that night they had slept together for the first time, Elena felt like a new person. She found that every thought in her head was churning around nothing but Damon. She couldn't concentrate in school. She practically ran out before the last bell even rang each day to find Damon leaning against his Camaro waiting for her with that sexy signature smirk on his face. They had been keeping things lowkey, so they didn't touch in the parking lot. But as soon as they were a few miles off the main road, it was like a switch was flipped. Damon often had to pull over to keep from crashing as Elena pounced on him. She couldn't get enough of him, and he couldn't get enough of her. They hadn't done much but lay around in his bed all evening until she had to go home. She would always greet Jenna and Jeremy and feign exhaustion before letting them know that she was going to bed. She knew as soon as she opened the bedroom door, Damon would already be waiting for her. Today was the first time that she hadn't seen him all day, and her entire body was filled with an unfamiliar ache that could only be yearning for his presence.

It had been a week since Stefan and Caroline had left for the first lead in Pittsburgh. Lexi was still nowhere to be found, but it didn't seem to matter to Caroline. The excitement of leaving Mystic Falls overshadowed any thoughts she might have about the true meaning of the mission. She texted Elena with updates every day. Most of the updates, however, were about the exciting bars, restaurants, and shops they stopped at to ask around for sightings of Lexi and the sightseeing she did along the way. Elena was sure that Caroline would make Stefan stay a little longer than necessary at each place so that she could have some fun. No news of Lexi or Rebekah was shared except for a quick she's not here. Stefan, on the other hand, only called to check in once. The details that he gave were almost as vague as Caroline's, and he seemed preoccupied. Their phone call was short and awkward. Elena's uneasiness grew at the fact that while she was on the line with him, Stefan's brother was only inches away waiting for her to return to his embrace.

Elena knew that it wasn't fair to continue on with Damon without cutting things off with Stefan first, but while her heart was filled with her new love for Damon, it was breaking with each thought of betrayal that Stephan would feel. Every time she found herself panicking about the situation, she would take a deep breath and remind herself that she made this choice. It was difficult and scary and it is most definitely going to hurt someone that she cares about, but she couldn't cower behind Damon when in reality, it was her that made the decision and it was only fair that she was the one who had to face the consequences. She knew that even though ending her relationship with Stefan immediately was the right thing to do, she couldn't bring herself to add another bad thing to his plate when he was already worried about Lexi. She made a pact that the moment she saw him in person again would be the moment that she explained her feelings to him. She also wanted to make sure that he knew that their breakup was because of her feelings for Damon, not Stefan's ripper side. Although that night that he attacked scared her, she knew that blaming the separation on that would send Stefan into a frenzy. He already brooded and self-loathed enough, Elena could only imagine how much worse that would become if she didn't try to honestly explain why she was leaving him.

"So," Aunt Jenna's voice pulled Elena out of her own thoughts. "When is Stefan going to be here to pick you up?"

"Oh, he's actually… um… out of town," Elena bit her lip and looked down. "Damon's going with me instead."

"Oh," Jenna replied. Her smile wavered for a second, but she quickly put it back into place. "That's a shame. Where did he go?"

"A family friend isn't doing well, apparently. He went to Seattle to see her." That wasn't really a lie, right?

"A family friend? Why isn't Damon going too then?"

"I'm not really sure. I just think Stefan and the friend are a lot closer. Her name is Lexi."

"I see." Jenna ran the flat iron down Elena's hair and steam rose to fog up the mirror in front of them. "Matt wasn't able to go?"

"He already had a date by the time I found out that Stefan couldn't go," Elena lied. She could tell that her aunt didn't completely dislike Damon, she was just very wary of him ever since she saw Katherine kiss him on their porch. Of course, Jenna didn't know it was Katherine and not Elena, so she just thought that Damon was trying to take his brother's girl… Which wasn't exactly a lie, when Elena really thought about it.

Jenna sighed. "You know I like to stay out of your business as much as possible, Elena, but I'd feel like a terrible guardian if I didn't try to give you the 'sexy bad boys are no good for you' talk."

Elena laughed and looked up at Jenna. "I'll spare you the awkwardness and tell you that I already know that all too well. Don't worry about me Aunt Jenna." Jenna smiled down at her and continued smoothing down her hair with the straightener. "And Damon actually isn't the big bad guy that he paints himself out to be. Spending time with Stefan means that I spend time with him too, and trust me… you'd be surprised by who he actually is."

"I'll take your word for it. I had my share of those types in college and that's why I was a pothead in grad school. I'll take on the role of lame old aunt and stick to my safety net of town barflies."

Elena and Jenna chuckled together, and Elena smiled warmly at her. She didn't tell her enough, but she truly was thankful for Aunt Jenna's presence. She filled a piece of the void that was left behind by her parents, and she put her whole life on hold to do so. She hoped Jenna knew just how much she appreciated her sacrifices.

"There," Jenna said, stepping back and admiring her work. "Perfect. Straight will go better with the style of your dress anyways. It's very sleek."

"Thank you so much." Elena gazed in the mirror to look at her pin-straight hair cascading down her shoulders.

"No problem," Jenna beamed back at her and turned towards the door. "I'm going to hang out with Jer. Yell if you need me."

Elena grabbed her phone and checked the time. It was 5:30, and Damon was supposed to pick her up at 6. She let out a nervous squeal and flew to the vanity to finish her makeup. She wasn't sure why she was nervous. She had been to 100 of these events over her lifetime, and all they did was bore her and further prove that the "elites" of the town were nothing but gossips and show offs. She supposed that maybe she was nervous (but more excited) to be going with Damon. She was praying that he behaved, but at the same time it was exhilarating to her that he might not. Damon's unpredictable, sexy nature that used to irritate her to no end now made her mouth water. The time they spent together was exciting and always had a bit of an edge to it, and Elena was looking forward to seeing how it played out when they were somewhere that she was supposed to be perfectly prim and proper.

Once her makeup was finished, she quickly stripped and shimmied into the gown. The dress was skin tight, and it clung to her in all the right places. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, reveling at how this dress seemed to turn her from a sweet, innocent girl to a daring vixen. She was mesmerized by the sheen of the fabric as she twirled with delight. A swift knock on her door made her jump and come back to reality.

"Come in," she said, taking one last glance at her reflection in the mirror. She gulped, and the familiar feeling of nervousness returned to her stomach. She still couldn't quite put her finger on why she was feeling this way. Maybe it was because Damon had never seen her dressed up like this. Sure, he saw her in a gown for the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant and a colonial dress for the Founder's Day Celebration, but this was a completely different ballpark. She fidgeted with her hair as the doorknob turned.

"I heard Jenna and Jeremy in the back yard, so obviously I just let myself in. I—" Damon immediately stopped speaking as he pushed open the door and saw Elena. She heard his words catch in his throat, and his bright blue eyes seemed to dazzle even brighter as he drank in her appearance. Elena stared back at him in silence, feeling the blood rush to her cheeks. She was used to people looking at her, but she would never get used to the way that Damon Salvatore looked at her. The things that he could do to her with just his eyes made her stomach do excited flip-flops. "Elena," He whispered, taking a slow step towards her. "That… dress…"

"It's way too much isn't it?" Elena said hastily, unsure of the where the sudden uncertainty about her attire came from. "Jenna thought the same thing but I told her that it would be fine because everyone dresses up. I think I still have something else that I haven't worn yet." She turned toward her closet but was stopped by Damon's hand reaching out to grab her wrist as quickly as a lightning strike.

"That's not what I was going to say," he said. His voice was low and he looked Elena up and down once again. "I was going to marvel at the fact that I've never seen a piece of clothing that I've appreciated so much, but also wanted to rip to shreds at the same time." He licked his lips hungrily and pulled Elena's body to his. He rested one hand on her hip and put the other behind her back. His eyes widened in surprise as his hand brushed against her bare skin where he no-doubtedly expected the fabric to continue. He kept his hand on her hip and slowly circled around her to look at the back of her dress. He made a noise of approval and trailed his finger tips along her spine. She jumped at the sudden sensation and felt goosebumps raise on her arms. Damon circled her once again, and then a second time, all the while looking her up and down and lightly touching her body. Elena's nerves were alive with electricity, and her cheeks burned with a blush again. She felt like Damon was a predator stalking his prey. The thought (which should have scared her) felt animalistic and sexy, and made her knees weak with desire. She sucked in a deep breath. Damon does things to her that make her question if she even knows who she is anymore.

"I don't think that we should go to this dinner anymore," he purred into her ear from behind her. Elena gasped as he roughly pulled her body back to lean against his. She could feel the hard muscles of his chest even under his suit jacket and button-down shirt. His hands roamed from her neck to her shoulders and then down the length of her arms, gently massaging every inch of her skin.

"Damon," she said, trying to sound disapproving even though her body was already betraying her by melting into his touch. "We absolutely have to go."

"If you think there's any chance of me behaving tonight when you're looking like this…" Damon just chuckled and shook his head. He leaned his head forward to kiss the back of Elena's neck, and she moaned appreciatively. He planted light kisses along the length of her neck, stopping right where it met her shoulder to gently lick and suck on her sensitive skin. Elena closed her eyes and reflexively tilted her neck to the side, tossing back her hair to give him more room. He took the invitation eagerly, sucking and nipping at the newly exposed skin. When she opened her eyes, she realized that they were positioned right in front of the mirror. Damon was occasionally looking up to see her expression in the reflection. She could feel the wetness pooling between her legs as she watched Damon making love to her neck with his mouth. His sensual, yet predatory eyes flicked up at her every time she mewled with pleasure, and it made her unable to look away. She felt his tongue drag across her carotid artery, and her eyes widened in excitement. She reached up and grabbed Damon's head roughly, keeping him in place. He continued his torturously soft teasing on her neck, and Elena felt her pulse racing. Damon grazed his teeth across her neck, and she felt his sharp canines scrape against her skin. She gasped with delight and pushed her neck tightly against his mouth.

Damon pulled back roughly, much to Elena's dismay. She could see very faint bluish veins appearing below his eyes. "Be careful," he whispered huskily, holding her close to his body but also at a safe enough distance so that her pulsing neck was no longer on his teeth. Elena tried to get her ragged breathing to return to normal. Her eyes were fixated on the tiny, barely-visible scratches that Damon had left on her neck when she had pushed against him.

"I'm sorry, did I scare you?" He asked softly, following her gaze to the small wounds. Elena felt herself shake her head vigorously, not even fully aware that she was doing it. She was very confused about what she was feeling. The funny thing was, Damon hadn't scared her at all. If anything, she wanted him to bite her. What? She thought to herself incredulously. There is no way that she wanted Damon to bite her. Even the thought felt dirty and wrong. Drinking blood was what vampires did to feed and kill, not something for sexual sport.

Damon's expression changed from one of concern to one of curiosity. He reached up and gently touched the scrapes. "You wanted me to bite you, didn't you?" Elena didn't answer him, but her racing heart was all the evidence he needed. Elena bit her lip and tried to keep her emotions off of her face. "Hmm," he moaned, inspecting her neck. "I had no idea that you were into that. I would have never expected."

"Into what?" She asked defensively.

"Biting, obviously," he replied. Her cheeks burned even brighter, and he cocked his head to the side. He studied her reflection for another second before anger and jealously flared up in his features. Elena was taken aback at the sudden change of mood. "Where did he take the blood from you?" He asked quietly.

"What?" She didn't understand what he was asking. Her heart was still pounding from the erotic moment before, and she was finding it hard to focus.

Damon gave her a look as if she was supposed to know what he was talking about. When Elena just stared at him blankly, he sighed and said, "Stefan. Did he draw the blood directly from your neck?"

Elena felt like her whole body was on fire from embarrassment. She looked down at the floor and pressed her lips together. She thought that Damon might have gotten the wrong idea from this moment. She also really didn't want to talk about his brother's sexual tendencies with him.

"Oh, um… Stef-… he never did that. He never drank from me." Elena saw his eyes narrow and she quickly added, "In the way that you're talking about, I mean."

Damon's look of envy and irritation melted away and turned into something that looked like relief mixed with burning desire. "Oh…" He looked into her eyes in their reflection in the mirror quietly. "I just assumed. My apologies."

"That's not something I would do," she shot back defiantly, not sure if she said it to try and convince him or herself.

"Elena," he breathed. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her body against his again. "Firstly, I hope you know that I wouldn't pressure you into anything you didn't want to do. If I do recall, however, you are the one who just attached your internal carotid to my mouth and held me in place like your life depended on it." Elena refused to meet his eyes and her throat constricted with embarrassment. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. Why do you feel that way?"

"I don't know. It just freaked me out a little bit. Why would I want you to hurt me?"

Damon studied her for a moment and then burst out in laughter. Elena looked up at him, surprised at the outburst. "Oh, Elena. Now I understand." He turned her around so that he could actually look into her eyes instead of the reflection. "Here's the thing. I understand why Stefan never shared this kind of intimacy with you. He has very poor self-control. He also fights who he is and tries to deny everything about his nature." He roughly grabbed Elena's ass and squeezed tight, causing her to gasp. "I choose to embrace it. Drinking during sex or foreplay can actually be a very pleasurable event for both parties involved. It's nothing like feeding."

"Wait, so having someone pull blood out of your body can feel… good?"

"Could you make it sound any more revolting?" He said, rolling his eyes. "Yes, it can feel good. I would even go far enough to say that it feels unbelievably good. Euphoric. Orgasmic." His eyes lowered and a dangerous grin spread across his face.

Elena could feel her heart rate picking up again. She couldn't believe that her body was responding this way to something that should terrify her.

"I'll show you sometime. But only if you want," he purred. He brushed a piece of hair off of her cheek and put a hand under her chin to lift her eyes to his. "You should know that most women don't get the chance to choose, but I'm sure you're aware that I have quite the soft spot for you."

"Now," she whispered. Her eyes widened as she heard the words flying out of her mouth. "I want you to show me now."

Damon took a deep breath and continued to gaze down into her doe eyes. "As much as I just expressed that I'd like to stay here and break every piece of furniture in this room with you, I do believe that we have a dinner party to catch. And we're already—" He looked down at the heavy Rolex hanging on his wrist. "10 minutes late on your very strict and detailed schedule of events."

Elena sighed. Her body was burning with desire for Damon. She did not know how she was going to last through this entire event without flipping the table and straddling him in front of the entire founding family lineage. She leaned heavily on his chest and pouted.

"Oh how the roles have reversed," he chuckled.

"Let's go," she mumbled. She stood up and checked her reflection in the mirror. Her dress was riding up from Damon's groping hands, and every inch of her exposed skin was flushed to have a pinkish hue. She took a deep breath, silently begging her complexion to cooperate and return to its regular olive tint by the time they reached the hall.

"Did I mention that you look absolutely stunning?" Damon said, reaching out to help her fix her dress and flashing her a devilish grin.

She smiled back at him and grabbed her shoes off the bench by her window. They walked hand in hand out the door and down the stairs, heading towards Damon's car.

The car ride to the hall in town square was excruciating. Damon put his hand through the high slit on her dress and rested it on Elena's inner thigh the entire way there. She squirmed with apprehension the whole time. His touch was driving her insane. At one point, she was so frustrated that she pretended to stretch her legs and shifted her weight to try and get his hand to fall onto her aching core. It stayed firmly in place on her thigh, and she huffed angrily. Damon had a smirk plastered on his face for the entire journey, as if he was enjoying Elena's utter sexual frustration.

After what felt like hours, they finally reached the crowded parking lot. Damon pulled in and parked on the far end, a good distance from the crowds gathered at the doors. Elena stepped out, eager to feel the cool air on her overheated skin. She took a deep breath and leaned against the car, closing her eyes. She had to get herself under control.

Her eyes snapped open as she felt Damon's body pressing hers tightly against the car. He licked his lips, and look that he was giving Elena made her gulp.

"Elena, I did plan on at least attempting to behave tonight for your sake. But you're making it extremely hard for me to do so when I can smell your arousal coursing off of you like perfume." He leaned in and took a deep breath next to her neck. "It's driving me absolutely insane."

Elena let out a small whimper and reached out to place her hands on Damon's chest. "I can't help it," she whispered. As she gripped at Damon's shirt, she dropped the clutch purse that she was holding in one hand. It clattered to the ground at her feet, but she didn't even seem to notice. She was locked into Damon's enthralling gaze. He took a step back from her and bent down to pick it up. As he lowered himself to the ground, he dragged his hand down the exposed skin of her leg. She bit her lip, feeling as though his fingers left a trail of fire wherever he touched. She gasped loudly as he came back up. He replaced his hand with his face, stopping at the end of the slit to nudge the fabric aside with his nose and place a gentle kiss dangerously close to her core. "Damon!" She hissed. She felt him smile against her thighs and pull away, continuing to stand back up and handing her the purse.

"You dropped this," he stated matter-of-factly. Elena took it from him without a word. A cold breeze touched her overheated skin like a slap to the face, and she suddenly came back to the realization that they were outside in a very public place. She looked around frantically to see if anyone was watching Damon torture her. The crowds at the doors had thinned, and now only a few stragglers waited at the entrance. Their backs were all turned to Damon and Elena, looking into the hall. She sighed with relief, hoping that the deep breath would also calm her excitement from what Damon was doing to her.

"I can't do this," she whispered.

"Sure you can. You attend these sorts of shindigs all the time Miss Gilbert."

"That's not what I mean. You're driving me wild, Damon."

"Well then, I suppose that it will be a wild night then, won't it?" Damon's eyes sparkled mischievously. He grabbed Elena's hand and towed her towards the front doors.

"Our next speaker will be Rachel Modzel. She is an up-and-coming architect from San Antonio, Texas. Rachel has some wonderful ideas about how to update the buildings in our town without losing the historical charm that we've all come to know and love. Let's give her a hand." Mrs. Lockwood gave a dazzling smile as she clapped and stepped away from the microphone. A petite, blushing redhead rose from one of the seats at the front table and walked towards the stage to take her place.

"Wow, thanks for the warm welcome, everyone!" She said, fumbling as she tried to lower the microphone. "That's what I love so much about historical towns. Not only are the buildings beautiful and unmatched by any other architectural advances that we've made over the years, but the people are just as rich in personality and kindness. There are so many—"

Elena tried to suppress her sigh as she leaned back in her chair. It was about two hours into the dinner, and her attention span was growing thin. There had been 4 speakers already, all of whom were bright-eyed entrepreneurs of some sort who promised to bring such great things to the town if these rich idiots poured funding into their projects. The tables at the event were round and lavishly decorated. A deep purple tablecloth draped down to almost touch the floor, and Elena's crossed legs disappeared under the billowing fabric. Empty plates littered the table as they were on their second round of the meal. Seated around the table were Jeremy, Matt, Tyler, Alaric, and a few adults that Elena didn't really know other than the fact that they were related to the Forbes. Damon was seated to her right. His chair was pulled in a little closer to Elena's side than all the others. He was sipping on his wine and cast Elena a sideways glance as she propped her head up with her hand. Much to her surprise (and disappointment), Damon had been a perfect gentleman all night. He made polite conversation with the other adults at the table, had a few laughs with Alaric, and even didn't banter with Matt or Tyler. He had stayed a gracious distance away from Elena throughout the night, but she noticed his chair inching closer and closer to hers when no one was paying attention.

"Is it possible to die from boredom?" Elena whispered lowly. She knew that no one would hear her but Damon.

"Sadly, I don't think so. If it was, we all would have dropped like flies as soon as the first speaker was over," he whispered back. He had to speak a little bit louder than Elena so that she could hear him, and Alaric looked over at him and chuckled.

Alaric leaned in towards them and whispered, "Do you mean to tell me that you don't enjoy learning about asbestos reduction while keeping structural integrity? I don't even know who are you anymore, Damon."

Damon snorted and coughed into his elbow to try and play off the sound. Elena let her mind wander. She would rather be just about anywhere else in the world. This event was worse than any lecture she has ever had to sit through. She had a lot of assignments that she was putting off. She should have brought her homework and plopped it right on the table to work on. Would that be disrespectful? At this point, she didn't even care. As she ran through the list of due dates in her brain, another image of the reason for her procrastination flooded her mind. If she wasn't laid up with Damon all evening, she might have more time for her work.

Laid up with Damon. She groaned internally. She was doing so well with suppressing her animal need for his touch during this dinner. Up until now, she thought. She closed her eyes to try and clear her mind, but all that did was allow for memories of his naked body to flash behind her eyelids. She could feel her heart rate picking up at the thought of his mouth caressing her body, and she instinctively pressed her crossed legs tighter together to try and relieve some of the pressure that was building at her core at an alarming rate.

The feeling of a hand on her leg made her jump a little and return to reality. She looked around the table and blinked hard, hoping that she hadn't fallen too deeply into her own thoughts to where her frustration was written on her face. No one seemed to notice. Matt was poking at some vegetables with his fork. Tyler was staring at the phone hidden between his legs. The adults were pretending to stare attentively at Rachel the architect. Her eyes swept over to Damon. He was staring straight ahead at the stage as well, but his hand placed on her thigh let her know that he was more than aware of her daydreaming. She felt her body relax at his touch, but the burning desire in the pit of her stomach would not subside. God, she thought, what is he doing to me? Never before had she felt need this strong (and this often). It was like she had no control of her body.

Damon's fingers pressed lightly into her thigh, and he rubbed small circles on her exposed skin. The slit in the dress rode up when she sat, almost exposing her hip bone. She had placed a large cloth napkin precariously over her lap so nothing too risky was exposed, which Damon slid his hand under to touch her. She felt herself inch closer to his side, and the legs of her chair squeaked loudly as they scraped across the floor. Elena felt herself blush and snapped her head to the stage to pretend like she was paying attention. She hoped no one noticed how close she was sitting to Damon. His fingers continued their slow massaging, and Elena's eyes widened as she realized that with every stoke, he moved toward her core ever so slightly. She pressed her legs even more tightly together and looked at him sternly. He continued looking straight ahead as if he didn't even notice her, but the small smirk playing on the corner of his lips betrayed his façade.

Elena's breath caught in her throat as Damon's fingers reached her inner thighs. They were locked together so tightly that her muscles were starting to get sore. Damon finally turned to look at her. His eyes were guarded, but she could see the smoldering intensity glowing behind them. He mouthed the words 'uncross them' and gave her legs a gentle nudge with his fingers. She shook her head vigorously. He raised one of his eyebrows and mouthed again, 'now.' She felt her resolve dissolving as his eyes burned into hers. He gave a sexy smile as he felt her legs untangle and drop heavily to the floor. The slit in her dress shifted again with the movement, giving Damon even better access between her legs.

She almost moaned out loud as his thumb gently traced the lace of her barely-there thong. She quickly cleared her throat in an attempt to stop the sound. Damon trailed his fingers up and down every inch of her thong that he could reach, and Elena could feel her body overheating with need. Just when she thought that she couldn't take another minute of his torturous movement, he pushed her thong to the side and lightly dipped a finger inside of her folds. He dragged his finger down to her core and back up to coat her folds with wetness, flicking her clit gently as he reached the top of his trail. This elicited a quiet gasp from Elena. No one seemed to notice except Tyler. He looked up from his phone questioningly, and Elena grabbed her cup of water to gulp down a drink. She cleared her throat again and smiled and shrugged at Tyler. He raised one eyebrow at her, but immediately went back to staring at his phone. She sighed with relief and sank back into her chair.

Damon continued to slowly drag his finger up and down the length of her folds, stopping briefly only to fondle her clit. It felt so good that Elena almost knew that if she stood up, there would be a small pool of her wetness on the chair below her. She closed her eyes and let herself get lost in the feeling of his skilled fingers.

A thunderous clapping made her snap back to reality once again. Damon removed her hand from his lap top join with the crowd, and Elena sat up straighter and began to clap as well. The architect smiled from the stage and returned to her seat as Mrs. Lockwood took the microphone once more.

"We're going to take a brief intermission before out next speaker. Please feel free to enjoy more of the hors d'oeuvres before the main course."

Everyone began talking amongst themselves, and Elena reluctantly crossed her legs again as the room came alive with action. The waiters came by and cleared the plates, replacing them with what she assumed would be the dishes for the main course. As the waiter was removing the plate in front of Damon, he bumped his glass of wine, sending the red liquid spilling across Damon's hand.

"I'm so sorry about that, sir." The waiter nervously grabbed Damon's now empty glass. "Let me get you another."

"No need to fret," Damon said coolly, taking the glass back from the waiter with his clean hand. "I can go get it myself." The waiter continued to mutter apologies as he scampered away to the next table, and Damon locked eyes with Elena. She went to reach for her napkin to hand him, but instead he brought his soaked hand up to his mouth. With his gaze never leaving hers, his tongue darted out to lick the wine off of his hand. He slowly stuck his pointer finger in his mouth to suck off the remaining liquid, and Elena realized with wide eyes that that was the finger that was soaking in her wetness not even a minute ago. She felt her knees go weak again, and she was mesmerized in Damon's gaze. He pulled the finger out of his mouth with an exaggerated pop and grinned at her.

"I'm going to go get a refill. Does anyone need anything?" He asked, pushing his chair back from the table.

"Unless you find anything harder than wine while you're back there, I'm good," Alaric replied.

Everyone else mumbled their 'no thank you's,' and Damon rose from the table with his wine glass in hand. With one last lingering glance at Elena, he strode off towards the hallway. Elena realized with a start that she was breathing heavily. If she wasn't already driven crazy, that display was more than enough to do so.

"Um… Elena?" Matt's uncomfortable voice met her ears and she looked over at him. He was looking at her with a concerned expression. "Are you okay? You kind of look like you're going to pass out."

"Oh, I'm fine," she mumbled, fanning herself with her hand. "I think I'm just dehydrated or something." She grabbed her glass of water a little too quickly and finished the entire thing off.

"Oh, okay. Here, do you want mine too?" Matt reached for his untouched glass of water and passed it over to her.

"Thanks, Matt," she said breathlessly, sipping the drink. Oh, Matt she thought. So sweet. So, so naïve.

Damon returned to the table with a glass of wine in one hand and a cup full of what looked like scotch in the other.

"As per your request, Ric," he said, bowing sarcastically and handing him the cup. "All it took was a little… heavy persuasion… for the waiters to tell me where the good stuff was."

"What a guy," Ric replied, lifting his cup up to Damon in a toast. They clinked glasses and Damon settled back into his seat.

The waiters returned with trays full of turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and greens. It was like a full Thanksgiving feast. The others loaded their plates while Elena stared at the food. At the moment, it wasn't appetizing to her. Never before had she been too wound up to eat. She wished that she could have some of the wine to try and take the edge off of her screaming thoughts. She ladled some gravy on her potatoes and prodded the side of the mound to make it seem like she had eaten something. The room quieted as everyone began to eat, but a low thrum of conversation lingered in the air as people chatted between bites.

"Aren't you hungry?" Matt asked, bits of stuffing flying out of his mouth as he spoke. He pointed with his fork at Elena's mostly untouched meal.

"No, not really."

"That's what happens when you get dehydrated. You should finish that glass of water and ask for another one. It'll help, I promise," Matt said earnestly.

"Dehydrated, huh?" Damon asked. "I'd offer you my drink as well but it wouldn't help that issue much," he murmured, swirling his wine around in the glass. "I guess Matt will just have to be your knight in shining armor today."

Matt tried to suppress the smug grin that spread across his face while Elena tried to suppress an eye roll. She knew that Matt always felt upstaged by the Salvatores, whether it was on the football field or catering to Elena.

"Do you need anything? From me?" Damon asked. His voice was smooth as silk. Elena turned to him with an exasperated look and gave him a small, barely visible pout. Before she could say anything, the crackling of the microphone turning back on filled her ears and interrupted her thoughts.

"Alright everyone. Please continue to enjoy your meals as we invite Mr. Jason Williams, one of our historical foundation's most appreciated donors, to take the stage." Scattered applause filled the room and Elena settled back into her chair. It had to be at least halfway done at this point. If she could just make it through the end of this, she could rip Damon's expensive suit off in the car. She doubted that they would even make it out of the parking lot.

As soon as the speaker began, much to Elena's delight, Damon resumed his position. His hand slid under the tablecloth and onto Elena's bare inner thighs. He wasted no time pulling her thong to the side and continuing his feather-light caresses on her core. She bit her lip to keep from making any involuntary sounds. She was so frustrated that these small touches felt like an excruciating mix of pleasure and need so deep that it almost turned to pain. She knew exactly what her body needed, and that was to ride him like a motorbike until they both ended up in a sweaty heap on the floor.

Damon's touches got deeper as the speaker on the stage continued to drone on. He used two fingers to massage and pinch at her clit. Elena's eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she tried to keep her features from twisting with pleasure. She knew that this was an absolutely immoral thing to be doing at a founder's event, but every thought about making Damon stop was pushed aside with every flick on her bundle of nerves that sent pleasure rocketing deep into her stomach. She tried to keep her breathing under control as she felt herself nearing the edge. No way, she thought. I cannot have an orgasm right now and still keep a quiet, straight face.

She squirmed around in her chair, trying to press her legs back together and fight off Damon's hand, but he effortlessly kept her legs spread apart with the just strength of his thumb and pinky finger. His fingers picked up the pace, swirling circles around her clit. Elena was fighting her release, but she felt it coming on so strong that there was no way she could stop it. She was so close. Just as she was about to dive head first over the edge, a loud voice in the microphone jolted her out of her hazy pleasure.

"Elena?"

Elena jumped, shocked that she was so far out of it to not even notice that Jeremy was on the stage, motioning for her to join him. She took in a ragged breath and looked around. Her entire table was looking at her, smiling kindly. They don't seem to realize what was just happening, she thought to herself as she pulled the napkin off her lap. Damon deftly pulled his hand away from under her dress and stood up, helping her pull back her chair so that she could adjust her dress as she stood. The walk to the stage couldn't have been more than 100 feet, but it felt like a mile. Her feet wobbled in her heels and her legs threatened to give out as her body shook from still being on the edge of orgasm. Jeremy took her hand to help as she climbed the three large stairs to take her place next to him on stage. He tapped the microphone awkwardly and fidgeted with the bottom of his suit coat.

"Normally, uh, we do this at graduation," Jeremy began, "but this year I was in charge of picking the recipient of the Gilbert Memorial Scholarship, and I figured tonight's event would be a great time to give out the award." Elena let out a breath that she didn't realize she had been holding in during the walk to the stage. She had no idea Jeremy was going to do this tonight. If she would have known that she would have been in the public eye, she would have never let Damon finger her in front of the founders. She took a deep breath, desperately trying to look like she was in control of her body. She knew that the skin on her chest must be red and splotchy. It always got like that when she was about to cum. She hoped that anyone who noticed just assumed that she was nervous to be in front of a crowd.

"So for anyone who doesn't know, my sister and I decided to use some of our inheritance left behind by my parents to help fellow classmates out with a scholarship for college. This year, the recipient is going to be someone who I know to be a very hard worker both inside and outside of the classroom. She is going to be attending Whitmore College to become a nurse. I can't think of a better way to honor my dad's legacy than to give this award to someone who is pursuing a future in medicine. So without further ado," he pulled an envelope out of his jacket pocket and peered out into the crowd. "I'm happy to announce that Breanna Burns is the recipient of the second annual Gilbert Memorial Scholarship."

The crowd burst into applause as Breanna stood up from one of the tables in the back of the room and made her way to the stage. She reached Elena and Jeremy and hugged them both warmly. Elena saw Breanna's parents rise from their seats, beaming with pride, to take a picture. Oh great, she thought. Can't wait to see how hot and bothered I look in that photo when it's on the front page of Mystic Falls' newspaper.

"Thank you both. This is such an honor," she said, smiling warmly with tears welling up in her eyes.

"Thank Jeremy," Elena said, smiling back at her. "He was the selection committee." Breanna turned to hug Jeremy again. "No one deserves it more than you, Breanna," she added, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Congratulations."

The applause subsided and they all turned to slip behind the curtain. Breanna cradled the award envelope in her arms and walked out of the rear exit door arm in arm with Jeremy. Elena reveled in the solitude. She sat down heavily on a dusty, abandoned chair beside the long ropes that controlled the curtains and lighting fixtures of the stage. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. She couldn't believe that she let herself lose every bit of morality and self-control like that.

"Thinking about me?" Damon's voice said coyly from the darkness. The backstage area was pitch black, very dimly illuminated by the glowing red exit sign above the door from which Jeremy and Breanna had just left.

Elena jumped onto her feet, suddenly filled with embarrassment and red-hot anger. "Damon, you have got to stop testing my self-control like that. Do you realize what would have happened if someone would have seen you doing that to me?" She groaned and drug her fingernails from her scalp to the bottom of her hair. "It makes me want to… I just need to… Argh!" Her skin was boiling. She felt like screaming and pounding on his chest, but at the same time, she felt like tearing off her skin-tight dress and wrapping her body around his. She had never lost control like this before. She hated feeling like anyone had power over her in any situation. Not having control over her own body was a foreign feeling to her. She wanted Damon to feel the same way. She wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine.

With every ounce of her strength, she threw herself at Damon. He didn't budge of course, but the feeling of her body smashing into his with a loud thud was satisfying enough. The impact knocked the wind out of her, but she had no trouble regaining it as she attacked Damon's lips with her own. Damon seemed taken aback by her feverish nature at first. His hands gently touched her bare back as if he was trying to calm down a wild animal. After a few seconds, however, he realized that Elena was not in the mood to play nice. He began to kiss her back with a ferocity that matched her own. Elena shoved Damon's chest as hard as she could, and he let his body fall back onto the chair that Elena had risen from earlier. He licked his lips as he looked at her, blue eyes gleaming in the darkness. He was enjoying this side of Elena.

"No," she growled, advancing on his slouched form. She peeled her dress up her legs so that is gathered at a heap around her waist. Now that her legs were exposed, she could straddle Damon. She lowered herself onto him and grabbed his face harshly between her hands. "This is for me. You need to feel the way that I feel. I want to do to you the things that you do to me."

"You don't think that it's absolute torture having to sit next to you and watch you writhing for my touch? I want you so much that it's painful. Self-control is not something I practice, Elena, but you push me to limits that I didn't even know existed within myself," he growled. He grabbed a fistful of Elena's hair and yanked down on it so that her head was level with his ear. "Do you have any idea how hard it was for me not to take you on top of that fucking table out there? I have never wanted anyone like I want you every second of every day. And I don't like it when I have to wait for what I want." His words made Elena wet all over again. They were both mad. Frustration was coursing off of them like heat waves. Elena could feel his painfully hard erection pushing against her core as she straddled him. She grabbed it and palmed him roughly.

"I'm starting to get the idea that you think you have the power in these kinds of situations," she hissed, continuing to rub his shaft over his pants. He grew even harder under her rough strokes. "Me. I have the power over you." She moved her hands to replace her throbbing core on top of his member. She rocked back and forth, grinding against him and swiveling her hips around with each movement.

"Elena," he groaned. "I'm going to tear that thong off and fuck you in front of the entire audience of elite Mystic Falls."

"Shut up," she growled back, digging her fingernails into the back of his neck. She thrust her mouth down onto his, and their tongues locked in an intricate battle for dominance. Damon moaned softly into her mouth, keeping one hand tangled in her hair and the other one gripping her hip so tightly that she knew it was going to leave a bruise. He tried to move his hand down to touch her, but she jumped away from his touch and removed her body from his, immediately dropping to her knees on the floor in front of him. She grabbed the back of his thighs and let her teeth graze against the fabric of his suit pants right across the top of his shaft. His bulge was pressing against the pants so tightly that she couldn't believe they hadn't torn yet. She placed light, gentle kisses on his covered shaft, and he groaned more loudly this time. He reached down to undo the button on his pants, but Elena grabbed his hand to stop him before he could remove them. She stuck his pointer and middle finger as far in her mouth as they would go, sucking and biting on his fingertips on their way out. Damon's eyes were almost pitch black with lust now.

His head snapped up to look at the heavy curtain separating them from the rest of the world. "Someone's coming," he said weakly. It was like Elena hadn't heard him. She went back to work on his member with her hands, sliding her fingers through the zipper on his pants to get a better grip on him. "Elena," he snarled urgently. "We have to go. As much fun as I think it would be for us to be caught in the act, I don't think it would be amusing for your future." Elena still didn't acknowledge him. She circled her thumb around the head of his cock, applying gentle pressure exactly where she knew he liked it. With what sounded like an inhuman growl, Damon grabbed her by the arms and whisked her away with lightning speed. Before Elena could blink, they were chest to chest in a hallway that led back to the dining hall. They were both breathing heavily, and they looked disheveled.

They stared at each other, standing close but not touching, until a server bustled out of a door on the side of the hallway and almost plowed them over. Elena sidestepped out of the way and shot an apologetic smile to the alarmed man.

"Sorry!" The server called back at them as he hurried towards the main hall with a tray full of filled wine glasses.

Elena let out a deep breath that she didn't know she was holding and looked back over to Damon. To her surprise, he wasn't by her side anymore. She scanned the hallway and saw nothing but two hands reaching around the corner and snatching two of the wine glasses off of the tray without the waiter even noticing. Elena blinked, and jumped as she opened her eyes to see Damon now by her side again and holding one of the glasses of wine out to her. She took it and gulped the entire thing down without a word.

Damon sipped on his glass lightly and watched Elena with curious eyes.

"That was ridiculous. This is ridiculous. We are ridiculous!" Elena muttered, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I do not act like this, Damon. I know that you're wild and reckless and completely inappropriate behavior is probably the norm for you, but I have crossed a line that I never thought I would." She started pacing back and forth in front of him and fanning herself with her free hand. Damon stayed silent and continued to watch her. "You're pushing me way too far with this. I'm losing my mind!" She yelled, stopping her pacing and stepping toward him so they were only centimeters apart. "Say something!" She hissed through her teeth.

"What do you want me to say, Elena? You're acting like I'm influencing you to be irresistibly attracted to me." He smirked, but then dropped his smile when Elena frowned more heavily at his comment. "Oh, come on. You can't deny that this is a 50-50 push and pull on both sides. We can't stay off of each other. It's not just you. It's not just me. It's mutual. And I don't think it's going to stop any time soon." He reached out and pulled her the short distance to press their bodies together. "I'm sorry that I did that to you," he whispered into her ear. "Actually, scratch that. I am not sorry at all that I did that to you. Tell me that doing something delightfully naughty in public isn't thrilling." Elena didn't answer him and continued to stare at his shoulder. "What I am sorry about is making you flustered and uncomfortable when you had to be in front of an audience. I wasn't expecting that."

"I wasn't either. I had no idea that Jeremy planned that for today." She huffed and let her shoulders sag. "At least all I had to do was stand there."

"Hey," Damon mumbled, putting a hand under her chin and raising her face to look in her eyes. "Do you also want me to apologize for not being able to keep my hands off of you? For being so utterly enthralled by you that I can't control my actions? For finally getting to play out the fantasies that have only existed in my wildest dreams? For being so in love that I still think this isn't real?"

"No…" Elena began. She tried to keep her irritation with Damon, but his sparkling eyes made it hard to keep up. After a few seconds, she allowed a small smile to cross her lips. He smiled back at her and leaned down to kiss her.

"Good, because for those things, I will not apologize." He placed another sweet kiss on her lips, then her cheek, then her forehead. "Go ahead back out. I'll join you in a few minutes so it doesn't look suspicious." Elena nodded, then turned and started down the hallway. "I know you know, Miss Gilbert, that I personally love making a scene, so you're lucky that I'm being such a gentleman." She knew without looking back that he was smirking, and she shook her head with a roll of her eyes.

"There you are," Matt said as Elena reached the table. "We thought you got lost back there or something."

"Sorry, Breanna was very chatty!" She replied. She looked around the room and noticed that both Jeremy and Breanna's seats were empty. Her brow furrowed and she realized that she would have to grill Jeremy on this later. She was so wrapped up in her own affairs that she had no idea what was going on with her brother lately.

Matt seemed to accept this answer and dove back into his mousse dessert. "I got you some more water," he said with a mouth full. Elena looked in front of her and saw three new glasses of water. She laughed.

"Thank you. I'm feeling a lot better now." She took one of the waters and sipped on it. "Where's Damon?" She asked for good measure.

"I don't know. We figured he went to terrorize one of the waitresses or something," Tyler replied.

Elena gave him a disapproving look and scanned the room again. She wasn't sure how long Damon was going to wait to return or what he was doing now. She genuinely hoped that Tyler's snide comment didn't actually hold any truth and that he wasn't drinking blood instead of wine. Elena knew for a fact that he was running low on blood bags because Stefan was the one who picked them up from the hospital.

"Are you coming tonight Elena?" Tyler asked, not looking up from his phone.

"Coming where?"

"Don't tell me you forgot. I always have a party at my place the night of these stupid dinners. My mom stays in the hotel with the guests."

Elena actually had forgotten. "Oh yeah, of course."

"Cool," he looked up for a second and grinned at her. "I'm trying to coordinate the keg delivery right now. These guys are idiots." He shook his head and looked back down.

"Are you going to bring Damon with you?" Matt asked. Elena was slightly taken aback. She definitely wasn't ready to tell her friends about their relationship yet, but she knew that Damon wouldn't let her go anywhere without his protection, especially since he spotted Kol lurking around The Grill again the day before.

"He's going to come whether I ask him to or not," Elena said and then leaned closer to Matt and continued in a hushed tone. "Remember how I told you Stefan's friend is in trouble? Well Damon thinks that Rebekah, the girl after them, is going to try and kidnap me and use me as leverage in the whole thing. We don't know exactly where she is but some of her family is in town."

Matt nodded slowly. "That's probably good thinking. I understand why he's around all the time now." Elena's heart ached with the fact that she was lying to her friends, but she didn't say anything to correct Matt.

"What exciting historical building chatter did I miss?" Damon asked Rick as he sat back down beside Elena.

"I couldn't tell you. I've been staring into the void for the past half hour. The good news is that we only have the closing remarks left, no more speakers." Rick sighed and finished off the glass of alcohol that Damon had brought him earlier.

"Alright, the kegs are in place and I am ready to get out of here!" Tyler practically yelled as he fidgeted in his seat.

"Kegs?" Damon asked, raising an eyebrow.

"For the party tonight. I didn't invite you but Elena told me you would be coming anyways," Tyler huffed.

Damon turned to Elena with an unamused look. "I suppose you'll be in attendance and that's why Fido is extending an invitation?"

Elena shot him an apologetic smile. She knew Damon hated going to high school parties. "Yes, I'm going."

"Mmhmm. We'll see," Damon said quietly so that only she could hear as he placed his hand on the small of her back behind the chair. Elena sucked in a breath at the electricity she felt from his touch and gave him an exasperated look. He only replied with a 1000-kilowatt smile and a wink. Elena sighed, resigned, and turned her attention to the untouched dessert in front of her as she silently prayed for this even to end soon.