(1) The Phoenix (D. Salvatore)

Chapter One Hundred

Damon dozes in his own bed with Daphne at his side. After he'd given her her birthday gift the day before they thought it would be better to continue their activities at the boarding house so as not to disturb Elena. Basically, they could be as loud as they wanted here instead plus Damon seemed more than prepared for a night of experimentation based on the little black box under his bed. She's sat up and reading from one of her magical books, because of course she brought a pile of books over with her, just in case. But she is finding it hard to concentrate. She's aching in places. She's exhausted. But she is very satisfied. Her fingers dance over bite marks on her inner thigh, not vampiric bites, but general bite marks. She smiles softly to herself, flashes of the night before flickering through her mind. Vanilla sex with Damon is still the best sex she has ever had, but adventurous sex with Damon is on a whole other level. It was passion and intensity and desire and just more than anything she's ever had before. Damon is more awake now and watching her as she bites her lip, touching her leg. He worried a little that he might have bitten her a bit too hard, habit and all that, but that look on her face tells him she is far from upset about them.

"What are you doing?" He asks, stretching a little before he turns to face her.

"Reading" She answers, flicking to another page in the book. He smirks a little knowing she wasn't reading when he woke up, instead, she was lost in thought, a sly smirk on her lips. She was thinking about the night before. He feels smug pride. That she is lingering on it the next morning like that means he did something very right. It was their most adventurous evening so far and things no other woman has ever wanted to explore with him. He has attracted some vanilla lovers in the past and some did try with persuasion, but it really didn't take much for Daphne to be on board, in fact, she brought it up. She first mentioned that little magical sex book and there are a number of things they did that were all her idea. He perhaps considered witches a little boring before meeting Daphne, uptight and closed off. But he has seen a different side to them because of her. He's not sure if it is all witches, but it is certainly her. His fingers dance over the bite mark on her thigh as he shifts closer to her, intending of picking up where they left off in the early hours but she seems very focused on her book. Even when presses his lips to her neck, she still doesn't budge. Letting him just entertain himself. He digs his fingers into the bite on her leg and her jaw ticks with it.

"Really going to ignore me?" He asks her, she hums a little, fighting a smirk. She's toying with him. He narrows his eyes a little before he drags his teeth over her throat. She tenses which is what he wanted. It's like a teasing warning that he could if he wanted. They've not talked about it and there was a moment last night when he considered it. He thought about what she would taste like. He's never met a fairy before, he doesn't know what they taste like and she's got witch in her too, a different kind of witch, another that he has never come across before. He knows there are taste differences, subtle differences, between witches and humans. He wonders. He leans back a little and glances at her face. She's hard to read now, he's not sure if she's scared of him doing that or if she's interested in him doing that. He reaches up and brushes her hair back over her shoulder to expose her neck a bit more before they move to her chin to tilt her head, only she grabs his wrist and turns to look at him. The two of them share a look. He's really hoping she's not scared of him, of the concept that he might do that to her. He hasn't really wanted to bite her to hurt her since the mountains, he did think about it when she hit him with that body paralysis spell, but that was it. He shifts their hands so he is holding her hand, pulling it closer to his face. He draws his nose over the skin of her wrist, sniffing at her, eyes locked with hers as she waits and watches, waiting to see what he's going to do. The veins under his eyes start to appear and his teeth change, revealing his vampire fangs. She doesn't make a move to stop him. She could if she wanted to. If she didn't want him doing this. But he can see interest in her eyes now. He turns his head slightly and bites into her skin. She lets out a breath, a slight pained hitch as he breaks the skin, but it's not overly painful, Her blood has got a spicy kick. Like he's drinking something laced with fire but there is something else in there too, something sparkly, which feels stupid to him but he doesn't have a better way of explaining it. It tastes sparkly. He can't tell if that is the magic, or if that is the fairy, or if the spicy kick is her magic. He pulls his fangs back and licks his lips before he draws his tongue over the wound to remove any blood that might have escaped, but he's good at this, good at making sure there is not so much of a mess. He kisses her head and then pulls back. "Delicious" He assures her, she snorts and shakes her head, eyes going to her wrist.

"Episkey" She whispers, drawing her hand over her wrist, the vampire bites healing, as if they never happened.

"Why don't you use that on those?" He taps her thigh, she shrugs a little and glances at him. The answer is there in her eyes. Those ones she wants to keep. Not that he minds them being there. A sort of reminder that she is his. He's marked her. Claimed her in a way. She seems to like that too. She turns back to her book as he gets comfortable at her side, tucking his hands behind his head, eyes closing. He is content to stay here. Right where he is for the rest of the day if the world would allow it. Daphne flicks to another page before she pauses. She frowns a little, flickering between two pages. Her mind is seemingly now completely focused on the book she is reading.

"Oh, of course" She complains to herself. Damon raises an eyebrow, wanting to know what it is that has her attention, but she says nothing. Disappearing into her own thoughts as she processes what she has just read and realised. She can't believe that she didn't think of it earlier. Mostly because it's not an ability that she turns to often or an ability she really likes to acknowledge due to it coming from her curse. She knows that she isn't as powerful as she could be, that the Phoenix has extended abilities with mind reading, but she can boost herself with magic. She could delve into the depths of Alaric's mind to find out where his alter-ego has hidden the last stake that she needs to finish her deal with Klaus. She has all of the others ready to go, it's just that last one that Alaric has forgotten where he has put it whilst in his alter state. He's been locked away in the Salvatore dungeon until he gives it up. But he is reluctant to change. She climbs from the bed and he hangs his head a little. Damon lets out a breath as he watches her as she starts to get dressed whilst mumbling to herself. He's sort of used to this from her though. She'll figure something out in her head and then just get on with it, she doesn't really think about pacing herself. She wants to get it done as soon as she thinks about it. She has to get on it straight away. Especially if there is someone suffering. Like right now, with Alaric. Alaric was there for Elena and Jeremy when Daphne wasn't, so she feels some level of obligation to him. He gets it. But she doesn't need to be on it all the time. She can take some time for herself. Waiting an hour is not going to mean the end of the world.

"Were you like this with homework?" He asks, she glances over her shoulder at him with a frown, not sure what he's getting at. "Bet you were one of those kids that did your homework the day you got it" She pulls a face and shakes her head but she was. She might have been considered a bit of a troublemaker but her grades and her work never suffered for it. She was the best student in her year and maybe that was why they were a bit more lenient on her behaviour. But she did always do her homework straight away and maybe that has transferred into the things she has been doing here. Maybe she just does feel better doing things when she thinks of them. "Ric will be sleeping" Damon continues. "Let him have that" She sighs and slumps a little as she listens to him. "Come back to bed" She lets out a breath and drops her skirt to the floor before she joins him in bed. Maybe he is right. Maybe she can take a small reprieve. An hour or two won't change anything. He holds out his arm and she lays at his side, letting him wrap his arm around her so she can curl into his side, her head on his chest. His fingers toy with her hair, the two of them comfortable in the quiet bedroom with the morning sun shining through the window.