a/n: this was written for the author2author exchange on livejournal for silverfoxpunk. Just had to do my own version of it! Hehe

p.s. also dedicated to always-and-forever-delena (for wanting a shower/bath scene)

Elena found her footing on the snow and surveyed the land. Damon had rushed them to an area of forest behind the house. As she looked around at the trees that would be of suitable size Damon took the axe out of the backpack he was wearing and lifted it over his shoulder. "Well, get on with it then."

She glowered at him over her shoulder and stepped forward to admire the nestles on a close by tree. "I'm getting rather tired of this attitude Salvatore."

Damon watched as she walked to the next tree, studying as if she were a teacher grading a report. She often looked at him like that. "Hey, I'm out here in the cold waiting to exert minor physical energy to cut down a tree that you are then gonna make me decorate."

She stepped a little further away, nearly out of sight behind a wide spruce. "That doesn't mean you can continue to mope and whine about everything. Since the beginning of December all you've done is bitch about the holidays. It's Christmas Eve and I want a damn nice evening!" her voice had slowly turned more frustrated as she spoke.

Damon turned, his mouth slightly open to retaliate when a well crafted snowball hit him square in the chest. "What the fuck?"

A giggle was muffled behind the tree as she ducked back out of range. "Sorry."

He bent, scooping up a handful of snow and molding it. "What makes you think you can throw a snowball at Damon Salvatore and get away with it?"

Another giggle had him advancing toward her around the tree. "Heat of the moment." She offered, seeing his arm before anything else.

When she was looking up into his sparkling blue eyes she found herself momentarily distracted. His gaze was like a magnet and she took an involuntary step forward. "I'll show you heat of the moment."

Before she could ask what he meant, before she could pull herself from the daze he had over her, the cool wet mush smacked into her chest and began sliding down the opening of her jacket, slowly beginning to freeze her. "Ass!"

He laughed and stepped back, hands up. "You started it."

"I'll finish it too." She leaped at him, his back landing harshly on the cool ground. The fabric of her jeans were quickly soaked.

He felt her legs straddle him, felt the warmth from her body radiate into his own. She leaned down, her lips breathes away from his. He felt his hands go to her hips, smooth up her waist under her jacket. One of her hands was on his chest, the other in the snow propping herself up. He could see it in her eyes, the fire, and the passion. It amazed him, held him in place. Elena noticed that his eyes focused completely on hers and she leaned in a bit more. The snow was turning her fingers numb as she closed them into a fist. Her hand slowly lifted as she leaned back, a flash of confusion on his face before she forced the snow into his mouth.

He bucked her off, spewing and spitting, then pinning her down against the cool ground. "That was bad form."

She smiled, her chest heaving from the fast rate of her breaths. "No one said there were rules." She smirked, her lips twisted nearly enough to rival the cocky look on his face.

"Well in that case…" he grabbed his own handful of snow and shoved it up under her jacket, even under her sweater.

She gasped, flailing under him and cursing. "Let me go!"

He noticed her teeth had begun to chatter, the cold seeping into her from all over. "No rules, remember?"

"I hate you." She shivered, pushing at his chest. "Get away from me."

Instead of listening he pulled her up by the shoulders, tugging her tightly against his chest. "You don't hate me, no…" his eyes did that thing and she felt her anger dissolving. "you want me, you're drawn to me- don't pretend you don't still dream about me."

"That line didn't work on me before." She raised her arm to slap him but he grabbed her wrist, backing her against the tree.

She was shivering, even more violently now. "Not that I don't want to continue this in hopes of makeup sex, but we should probably get you back. I can't have you freezing to death, Bonnie will have my head…and Caroline will serve it for Christmas dinner."

Elena didn't laugh but she did nod. "What about the tree?"

"Don't worry about it, we'll figure something out." He lifted her in his arms and whispered for her to close her eyes.

A minute and a half later Elena found herself being set on the wooden floor of the hallway outside the bathroom door. "What are you doing?"

"Just wait here." He murmured and let go of her hand, feeling guilty that he'd made her this cold. It had just been a game, but she was shivering violently and the jacket she'd been wearing had hardly been created for warmth.

As he ran her a bath and mixed some bubbles into it, Elena sat outside the door listening to him work. "Damon."

Her teeth were still chattering and he came out to check on her. "I'm right here." He pulled her up, guiding her into the bathroom. "The water isn't super hot; don't want to put your body into shock."

Her frozen fingers fumbled with the zipper on her jacket and she looked up at him. "Help?"

"Alright." He nodded and resisted licking his lips as he removed her jacket. "Sit." His voice was gentle as he coaxed her onto the edge of the tub, removing her shoes and socks next. "Can you take it from here?"

Elena was shaking, but for an entirely different reason now. Every touch; his hand on her knee, his fingers caressing her hair back from her cheek. They all startled her and shocked her back to reality. Just what she was feeling, had been feeling for a while now hit her straight in the chest like his first snowball. She wanted him to undress her, wanted him to keep looking at her like this, hell she wouldn't even have minded him joining her in the tub at this rate. She looked up at him, a new sense of fire burning through her and warming her up. "Stay with me." She whispered, grasping his hand and sliding it further on her thigh.

"Okay." He nodded, pulling her sweater over her head and setting it by her shoes next to the vent. "Let's get these wet clothes off you."

She nodded, watching his fingers carefully as they worked the button and zipper of her jeans open. When her hands grasped her shoulders she shivered, her fingers as cold as ice against her slowly heating skin. She could feel herself blush as Damon helped her stand and slid her jeans down over her hips. Then he held out his hand and supported her as she stepped away from the soaked denim. He bent down to hang them over the towel rack and turned back to see she'd just unsnapped her bra. He caught the black lace as she tossed it at him, her teeth chattering slightly but a sexy smile still on her lips.

His eyes darted back and forth between her breasts and her eyes like a hormonal teenager. "See something interesting?" she asked, turning and bending slightly to test the temperature of the water.

He racked his gaze up her legs, over her ass and the matching lace panties to the bra he was still holding, higher over the lines of her back. Then she stood, still turned away from him and slid her panties off slowly. It was like she was seducing him on purpose. He watched her step into the water, heard her slight gasp as her body adjusted to the slightly warm water. As she slid into the bubbles she tilted her face to smile at him. He dropped her bra next to her shoes and came toward the tub. The water lapped up over her breasts, the bubbles he'd made her out of habit covering parts of her he ached to see.

"Did that cold go to your brain?" he asked; his voice much darker than she'd anticipated. "The Elena I knew would never pull something like that."

She settled back into the water and closed her eyes, knowing that he was still looking at her, watching her and waiting for another move. "Maybe the Elena you know wasn't the real Elena…maybe the Elena you know actually has a wicked side."

That simple idea sent a quick but powerful thrill through his body and he found himself kneeling beside the tub. When she opened her eyes she nearly started shivering again. She could never be afraid of him, not after everything they had been through together…but a man with a look of lust like that in his eyes was one to be wary of and she was definitely at a lack for protecting herself considering she was stark naked. She bit the inside of her cheek and desperately wished that he had used more bubbles. Even as they sat there staring at each other intently, she heard the faint popping sound of her protection disappearing.

"Maybe I should test just how true that is." He taunted, positive that she would stop him.

That any moment now the twilight zone he'd gotten sucked into would end, that this wonderful dream would turn to black, but as he grabbed a face cloth and the bottle of his body wash, time kept moving forward. "What are you planning on doing exactly?"

"Just close your eyes and relax." He whispered, bending close to her ear and dipping the cloth into the water to soak it. "No more talking."

After lathering a bit of the body wash into the cloth he pushed his sleeves up and used his free hand to pull her right leg into a bent position. He began to rub lazy circles over her knee and the bottom half of her leg. He could feel her muscles contract beneath his touch and smiled. She was relaxing. He glanced up at her face and saw that she was smiling. One of her arms was lost in the water somewhere, but the other was dangling over the edge of the tub, water dripping from her fingertips onto the bath mat. She sighed contentedly and settled into the water more. There were a few strands of hair sticking to her neck that had fallen out of the ponytail, but he resisted the urge to brush them away.

She didn't need any distractions and all he wanted her to focus on was what his left hand was doing. Slowly he moved the cloth up over her knee to her thigh and began to gently massage the skin. She melted into his touch as a sound something like a purr escaped her lips, he knew what he was doing was pleasing her. He also knew what he was doing was driving her crazy, the beats of her heart pounding in his ears as they got faster. He soothed more of the tension away and then got an idea. A better idea of how to raise her awareness. It took all his self control not to let out an evil laugh. That would surely make her tense up and wary of what he was planning.

Instead he let the cloth slip out of his fingers and used the little soap left on his hand to rub the last few muscles on into submission. She sighed again and he rinsed his fingers. She thought that he was done at first, but when he began lightly stroking her skin with the tips of his fingers she smiled. He worked his way up and down her leg a few times and then across her stomach to the other leg.

He gently grazed her inner thigh with his nails and grinned when he saw her exposed skin prickle from the sensation. He brought his hand lower still and began to massage her in an entirely new place. From the look on her face it was one she had not been expecting, but one she was glad he had decided to pay attention to.

He was sure that if she hadn't been in the tub she would have been just as wet as she was now, but since he couldn't feel her arousal he would have to listen to her rapid breathing and soft moaning. His fingers danced over her thighs again and she grumbled a bit at the loss of the intimate contact. The hand she had hidden in the water came out and wrapped her fingers around his wrist, guiding his hand back to where she wanted him.

He couldn't help but to laugh this time, but she seemed to either not notice or care. He had won and she was going to enjoy every second of it. He toyed with her for few moments and when he slipped a finger into her, a pleased gasp was the only response. He could feel the sleeve of his shirt slip down and get wet but knew better than to pull away and fix it. She writhed under his touch, trying to get closer; if not to him than to something. He managed to be inside her with one finger and tease her with another. Water sloshed out onto the floor as she moved around and he knew telling her to settle down would do no good. The hand that had been dangling out of the tub was now in a fist as she wished for something to clench.

It found the other sleeve to his free arm and as her grip tightened, along with her moans he knew what she had been working toward getting close to. He felt her tighten around his finger and helped her ride out the rest of her orgasm. He was surprised he had actually gotten her to relax enough to let him do that, never mind get pleasure from it. He placed a soft kiss to her forehead and pulled back out of the water to find a towel to dry his hands on. He leaned against the counter watching her face as she came down from the high he had given her. She looked calm, happy and relaxed. He had done his job for the day and hoped selfishly that there would be some kind of reward in it for him.

Elena lay there for a few minutes, her eyes still closed and her hands still shaking slightly. The water was now completely clear of all bubbles and when it settled back to calm she opened her eyes. Her smile would go unseen and her thank you unheard because he was gone. How could he do that? Just leave her alone after that amazing…whatever it was. But the euphoria from her little 'trip' wouldn't allow her to be angry or frustrated. All she could do now was get out of the rampantly cooling water and dry off. She wasn't sure when it had gotten cold exactly but suddenly all she wanted was to be in Damon's arms and feeling those sensations all over again.

She pushed herself out of the tub and grabbed Damon's robe from the back of the door. Once it was secured tightly around her waist she checked her clothes and found that they were still damp. Her stomach growled and she glared down at it, almost afraid to step out of the room. Things had changed between them so drastically, so quickly and they hadn't even decided anything about what it meant or just what it changed. She took a moment to look in the mirror, freeing her hair from what was left of the ponytail and shaking it out. She flushed when she remembered the way his hands had felt, the things his fingers had done to her.

The next moment she'd thrown open the door and run down the stairs. Her bare feet padded over the carpet, her dash coming to a halt when she came into the den. Damon had just hefted the tree she'd chosen in the forest into its stand. She watched him step back, rubbing his hands on the back of his jeans. The room smelled like pine, like the baking cookies she'd made this morning; like Christmas. She watched still as Damon reached down and pulled a box from behind the couch that held the decorations, when he turned and spotted her he smiled. She looked incredible in his robe and it surprised him that he never fantasized about that before. "Hi."

"Hi." She smiled faintly, her eyes capturing the sight of his fingers tapping against the box, the same fingers that had amazed her. "How did you get the tree?"

"I'm magic." He shrugged, a smirk on his lips. "What can I say?"

He set the box down on the coffee table and took a seat in one of the oversized arm chairs. "Aren't you going to help me?"

The end of his robe flew up as she walked toward the box, rose slightly as bent over and pulled a dark red ball from the box. "I got the tree, I made you cum…I think I deserve to sit down."

She shivered at his words, glanced over with wide eyes. "What?"

"I'm not about to pretend what happened upstairs didn't happen." He set his hands on his knees and pushed up, but she shook her head and took the few steps to him.

He looked down at her hand on his chest and allowed her to push him back against the cushion. "I'm still adjusting to whatever it was that happened."

His hands found a place on her hip, his fingers aching to untie the robe and see if she dressed at all. "At least I know you enjoyed it."

She blushed and dipped her head, hiding her face in his neck. He smelled incredible. "I'm still not entirely sure what this is, but I already want more."

He felt himself growing harder from her words, from the images of her making those same sounds but being inside her at the same time. "Be careful Elena, you're in a dangerous position right now."

She wiggled her hips against his, the robe opening over her hips so her bare wetness rested against the growing hardness. "I think this is a perfect position."

His fingers dug into her waist tighter, his lips going to her ear. "Do you want the more right here?"

"Right now." She whispered back, their first actual kiss stunning her.

His mouth was a lot warmer than she'd anticipated, in fact all of his skin was. She felt his fingers loosen the robe completely, his hands dip into it and flatten against her skin. Damon set one hand on her waist, the other sliding down to her thigh and gently flicking a finger against her clit. She hissed, bent forward to deepen the kiss, her teeth scraping across his bottom lip. He growled, his free hand going into her hair and tugging her head back so he could kiss up the line of her neck. Bringing her pleasure before had done nothing to slake his lust and he knew that if she kept making that sound, if she kept moving against him…he knew he was going to lose complete control.

"Are you sure about the right here?" he asked, his teeth scraping over her shoulder, down to her breast where his tongue circled her nipple.

She nodded and threaded her fingers through his hair, holding him in place. "Yes." Elena was surprised she hadn't felt his fangs yet, but she didn't say anything.

Damon felt her hand slip between them, working the button and zipper of his jeans open. When he was freed and there was nothing keeping them apart, he noticed her heat began to beat in panic. Her hold on his shoulders tightened as she waited, anticipated for what would come next. Damon looked up, seeing her eyes shut tight, her lips pursed in a thin line. He smoothed his hands up her back, pulling her mouth back to his and kissing her into submission. "Don't be afraid."

"I'm not." Her voice was slightly shaking, and she felt ridiculous. He'd made her orgasm already, and yet she was still wary of crossing the line with him…that would definitely change everything. When she opened her eyes, she found herself lost in the blue depths of his all over again. "Maybe I am, but that doesn't mean I want to stop."

She didn't care about lines, not when he was looking at her like that. She lifted her hips slightly over his, both of the moving together until they were finally joined. As Damon felt the wet warmth wrap around him he ground his teeth together, his fangs making their first appearance. She felt so damn good, he couldn't control himself. He knew he was holding her with near bruising force, but as they began to move together he couldn't help it. Elena felt her nails digging into his shoulder, felt her heart skip a beat and then they were moving faster. The rhythm came easily to them, a perfect dance of minds and bodies that had her head spinning and her limbs turning to jelly.

He held her tighter, feeling her clench around him, noticing the already erratic heart beats spike. Her blood was boiling under her skin, he could smell it, hear the rush of it…practically taste it on his tongue, but he held the blood lust back and focused on moving faster. She seemed to taunt him on purpose, dragging all her hair to one side and leaning close to whisper his name in his ear. The vein in her neck called to him and he growled, pushing her back and thrusting harder up and she moved down. Elena knew what was wrong, found herself suddenly anxious to please him in every way possible. "Back off Elena." She said through clenched teeth when she guided his fanged out features to her throat.

"Let's do this right Damon. You don't have to pretend with me…I want you…just the way you are."

He remembered those words from before, remembered the night she'd said them. He thrust a few more times, brought her closer to the edge and as she fell over he sunk his fangs into her skin. The warm liquid poured over his tongue and down his throat, the physical and mythical bond binding them forever. Elena shivered again, the creature sucking her, the man loving her all too much. She shuddered as she came, tightening around him and holding on for dear life as they became one. When the world stopped spinning and she felt the pain in her chest begin to fade she looked up at him, his tongue darting out to lick the last of her blood from his lips. The grin on his face was quite cocky and pleased and she leaned forward to kiss it away.

When he pulled back, a new grin was in place, one that warmed her heart in a way she didn't think was possible. "You know something?"

"Hmmm?" she ran her hands over the lines of his chest, feeling his slightly sweat slicked skin.

"I think Christmas is my new favorite holiday."

She laughed and looked up at him. "Christmas is tomorrow."

He checked the clock on the mantel, the smirk twisting his lips devilishly. "We've got a few hours until then, want to go upstairs and make it count?"

"The tree can wait till the morning I guess." She nodded, laughing as he locked her legs around his hips and rushed them upstairs.

a/n: I really wanted to get all the Christmas fics done before the 25th, but real life got in the way. There will be at least three new years fics until January 4th, and then once the hiatus ends and we have more Damon scenes to play with we shall return to requests and such. For now I'm going to be releasing strictly exchange stories only until it is closed. Just so you all know! Hope you enjoyed!