Chapter 1

"Damon, please come back."

Elena's words pierced through Damon Salvatore like a fatal werewolf's bite, painful and deadly. Despite of his great desire to return to Mystic Falls where he can see her, the fear, the guilt, and the complications that he will embark to her and his self once he return overpowered that desire. Squeezing his phone harder, he forced himself to breathe the words that Elena doesn't want to hear, "I can't."

"But Damon, I need you. Stephan needs you."

"Goodbye Elena. Don't call me again."

Clicking his phone off, he pushed another shot of rum down his throat. Emptying the glass, he called the bartender for another refill which he emptied again in just seconds. Drinking helps him forget, ease his troubles even though temporary.

It was already nearing midnight and the club is starting up to gather more people. Students and office workers are flooding in, trying to spend some good time after their long tiring day of labor.

Damon could sense that the alcohol is starting to get into his system, and having that in this human crowded place is not going to be a good idea. He once killed a girl in the influence of alcohol and he doesn't want that to happen again.

Emptying his last glass, he began exiting the establishment when a strong sweet scent caught his attention. Among the dancing crowd that moves along with the rhythm of pop music, there was a girl that stands out from the rest.

A brown eyed beauty with a petite feature. Her cheerful face shimmers through unevenly lighted darkness in the dance floor as her firm body sway at every beat of the sound.

At a single instance, in a split second that his heightened sense had caught, their gazes met that immediately sent an unfathomable shivers on his spine.

Never in his life had he ever experience such connection, especially not in first sight. Not even with Katherine, Rose or Elena. It was like that in that very moment, his entire universe was a dark void, an illusion, a make believe, and only her was the sole truth.

Their gazes met again, and the same blast hit him again, stronger than the previous. And before he realizes it, his legs are already moving towards her.

"Hi," he said, joining her on the dance floor.

"Hi," she greeted back. "Wanna dance?"

"Sure," he nodded and swayed along with her.

"Do you come here often?" she asked, eyes surveying him.

"No, first time being here tonight."

"I thought so, I always hang out here and I haven't seen you before."

"I heard that the place is good so I gave it a shot."

"Well, did you like the place?" she asked as she spun and grinds her back against him.

The scent of her hair blows to him like a cannonball, causing a strong intoxication on him much powerful that any alcohol. "I did. I did now."


It was one of those nights. The kind that made Rainie Winchester wondered why she bothered to spend the night alone. "How many times can a person get lost in the city where she grew up?"

The answer was infinite.

Of course, it would help if she could be more focused. But the strong pang of the whiskey continuously disrupts her attention span. No, not just that. The gorgeous-macho-baby that she'd danced with earlier occupies her disoriented thoughts much much more than the effect of alcohol.

If only she could have asked for him number, moreover, his name. Damn! She's so stupid! She'd danced with the sexiest man that she'd ever seen and she forgot to ask for that simple thing, how stupid. Really, really, really stupid.

She turned to her right, heading towards a small alley. She took three steps, and ran into a wall. Only that it wasn't a wall when two arms wrapped around her to keep her from stumbling.

Looking up, she froze, realizing who it was. It was Bryan.

She met him about a month ago from the same bar where she'd just been from. And ever since then he'd been asking her out. Only that she keeps on declining all his invitations after discovering from a friend that Bryan is taking drugs.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Bryan?" she gasped. "What are you doing here?"

He gave her a tight-lipped smirk as he patted her shoulder. "Oh, isn't it Ms. Winchester, I wasn't expecting you here."

The obvious lie was very evident on his voice, and also, she could smell the stench of weed on his breath. "I'm sorry but I have to go." She tried to advance away from him but she ceases when she realized that he wasn't alone.

There were five other men. And all of them eyed her as if she's a tasty morsel. Uh-oh. Her throat went dry. She tried to go to the opposite direction but Bryan had already got it blocked.

Rainie took a step back as every sense in her body is telling her to run. They inched closer to her, cornering each space where she could run. She's completely trapped.

"Now, now, Ms. Winchester," Bryan said. "You don't want to be leaving so soon, do you?"

"Um, yes," she said, preparing for a fight. Little did Bryan know is that she's black belt in Karate. And she can deliver nasty blows to anyone when the situation requires. "I think it would be a very good idea."

Bryan reached for her.

Out of nowhere, a swift shadowy thing delivers a powerful blow on Bryan's face, immediately knocking him down unconscious to the solid ground.

The nearby areas where she stood broke into chaos in an instance, like wildfire in the middle of summer. Blows after blows were thrown as five men tried to take down the man that interrupted them.

Rainie gaped at the outline of the man, especially on how he moves as he fights. She always had a strong pull towards fighter-types of men and this one is definitely qualified on that category.

One was down after receiving a strong punch on the nose. But four more are standing, and two of them have weapons.


Damon could have use his super strength and speed, and turned this fight into a one-sided carnage on his advantage. But no, not as long as the human girl is with him. So long as she's around, he will be fighting using his human capability which is almost similar to fighting while his hands are tied on his back, something which is not so advantageous on his current situation.

"Run!" he ordered the human girl.

She started to obey him when the first guy that he knocked down earlier grabbed her feet. With a kick to front, the guy squirmed in pain, letting go of her.

Damon arched a brow on her swift movement. He'd always admired women that can throw blows. But a moment of distraction gave his adversaries an opening. One of them caught him at the celiac plexus, sealing his movement for a few seconds.

Though he can finally use his enhanced speed and power, it wasn't still enough to finish them off without receiving a drawback.

He first grabbed his abductor and flipped him above him directly down to the ground. The second one tried to stab him with a dagger but kicked him before he could connect. The third attacker aimed for tackle which he avoided followed with a whack on the back, knocking him to the ground.

However, the last one managed to blast his head with a baseball bat. The attack won't do anything fatal but the impact was enough to give him a huge wave of vertigo. He had somehow able to throw a counter punch that finishes that last attacker before he also stumbled along with them.

He lay with his left cheek against the cold ground, his hands spread out beside him. His head throbbed as he could barely stay his mind focused on his blurring surroundings.

Grinding his teeth, Damon fought the wave of dizziness that consumed him.

The girl he'd saved ran to him and by the confused look on her face, he could tell that she wasn't sure how to help him. When she was close enough, Damon was surprise to discover who it was.

It was her, the girl that he met at the bar earlier.

Now that he could see her up close, without the blinding light, the ear piercing music, and the annoying dancing crowd. Her beauty becomes more evident on him despite his drifting consciousness.

Impulsively, he reached for her face and touched her cheek. Her skin was so soft, so warm, and it smelled like roses.

"Oh my God, are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," Damon said quietly.

"I'll bring you to the hospital."

"No! Please no! No hospital."

She frowned. "But you're hurt…"

He met her gaze sternly. Somehow, he managed to use his mind compulsion on her. "No hospital."

He doesn't know whether it was due to his mind manipulating ability or by the sound of his pleading voice, but the girl obliged. "Okay," she whispered. "I'll take care of you without bringing you to the hospital."

He nodded and everything went dark.


Confuse and clueless of what to do next, Rainie pulled her phone out and called her best friend Jane Santana. "Jane I need help."

"Why? What happened?"

"You remember Bryan Locke?"

"That jerk!" she exclaimed. "What about him?"

"He tried to assault me tonight."

"Oh my God, Rainie!" she could hear the extreme fright on her voice for her. "Are you okay!?"

"I'm fine, Jane," she assured. "However, there's a guy who helped me and he's hurt. Can you come over here and pick us up?"

"I'll be on my way. Where are you anyway?"

"I'm near the club where we usually hang out. Please, hurry up. He doesn't look that good."

"I'll be there in a jiffy," she said, then the line dies.

It was fifteen minutes later when Jane arrived with her car. She immediately hugged her and asked her for a couple of time again if she's fine. "I'm completely fine, Jane."

"I just want to be certain." From her, her eyes diverted to the man that she settled on the sidewalk. "Is that him?"

She nodded. "Yeah, it's him."

Kneeling to his side to gain a much better view of her savior, she said, "Oh my. My, oh my, he really looks like a knight in shining armor. Even better I guess."

Rainie rolled her eyes. "Jane, we don't have time for that," she reminded her. "We need to help him."

"Okay," she snapped. "We'll bring him to the hospital?"

"No, no hospital," she said. "He doesn't want to be brought to the hospital."

"Then where should we bring him?"

"At my place of course, except if you have any better idea."

"We could leave him here."

"Jane!"

"That was a joke. But are serious! Are you really going to bring this stranger at your house?"

"Yes."

"Rainie, he could be criminal."

"How could you say that? He saved my life."

Jane is so much like her. They both had so little trust to other people. But the current situation requires an exemption on that.

"Please, Jane," she pleaded. "We need to help him."

Jane later agreed and they both struggled to load her stranger savior to her car. "Do you know anything about him?"

"Nothing much." All she knew is that she had danced with him earlier and then later saved her life.

"Jeez," Jane muttered as they staggered with him between them. "He's huge…and heavy."

Rainie concurred. The man was about 5'10 in height, with lean, solid muscles. Even with the thick leather jacket concealing his upper torso, there is no doubt how well toned and muscular he is.

Never in her life that she'd felt such a hard and steely body.

After some ups and downs, they finally got him into the backseat.

As they headed towards her apartment, Rainie held her savor's head on her lap, brushing his dark brown hair. There was a something wild on him that can remind her of a feral predator.

His dark eyebrows arched over his closed eyes. His face was ruggedly scrumptious with a full day's growth of beard. And even though unconscious, he was compelling and very attractive, making her strictly attentive on his appearance.

"So," Jane said as she drove. "What happened to him?"

"His head was smashed by a baseball bat."

"Whoa!" Jane shuddered on the mere thought. "That sounds serious. Are you sure we shouldn't bring him to the hospital."

"No," she shook her head. "I promised that I won't bring him there, I'll stick on my words."

"God, Rainie. Are you really serious about this?"

"Jane, I'm a big girl. I can handle this."

"You think that I'm just going to buy that and leave you alone with that guy?"

"You have no other option," she said. "And don't worry. I'm more than capable of handling myself. If he didn't come along I could have handled Bryan myself."

"Okay," she groaned. "Just make sure that you won't give him any chance to harm you."

"I will."


Damon woke up and find his leg smoking.

Hissing, he jerked away from the deadly rays that were streaming through the window. Moving in a swift speed, he dropped the blinds and rushed back to the bed. Finally nestling into safety, he frowned in confusion on why the sun had hurt him. Checking his finger, he realized that his Lapis Lazuli is gone.

Damn! He must have dropped it last night. Without it, he's as good as trapped inside the shade where he stood since he cannot go out into the open while the sun is still up.

But moreover, where the hell is he?

Through the pounding pain in his head, the night before came to him with stunning clarity.

The attack.

The girl.

The last thing that he remembered was her offering him aid but he refused to be brought to the hospital so she could have brought him somewhere.

And as his mind begins to wonder, the bedroom's door slid open to reveal that he'd been longing to see ever since last night.

Damon remembered her to be stunning in the middle of the night but that's nothing compared on how stunning she is in broad daylight. There are a lot of other beautiful details about her that he'd just noticed now. Her hair is not entirely brown. Her hair tips are dyed blue and her complexion is a lot fairer with light.

He could see how startled she is upon finding out that he's finally awake but later gathered her composure and walked into the room and seated on the chair beside the bed. Her soft hands touched his forehead on the spot that if he remembers it correctly, the area where on those assholes from the last night had hit with a baseball bat.

"You're head appears okay," she said.

Of course it is okay. For an immortal like him, being hit with a baseball bat in the head can't bring anything more than just mild headaches. "Where the hell am I?"

"At my place, I brought you here since you don't want to go to the hospital."

"What time is it?"

"It's only 10 in the morning."

Damn! It's still a lot of time before evening. He had no other choice but to stay where he is.

"Breakfast?" she offered.

He shook his head. "No thanks." Damon tried to leave the bed, then paused. He was so occupied by his near burning experience earlier that he didn't notice that there's nothing between him and the blanket. "Where are my clothes?"

"Well, they were covered with dirt so I have them washed."

"Washed them?" he repeated with a smirk. "So you've seen everything."

"Not quite," she said sheepishly. "You see I'd studied and train how to assemble a car with nothing but a pair of pliers and a crescent wrench so I think I can get you out of clothes without looking. Not that I'm saying that's what I did."

She grinned. He frowned. That statement could have been hilarious if it doesn't just embarrass him. Not to mention that she's a horrible liar.

"Okay," she breathed. "Since you're not interested on having breakfast, is there anything else that I can offer you?"

Your self can be a good idea. He thought. Damon just couldn't help to entertain the idea especially that her sexy bottoms are too evident on him. His groin burns on the mere thought of pulling down those well fitted shorts of hers and burying himself deep inside her. "Name."

"Pardon?"

"What's your name?"

"Oh, I'm Rainie," she said. "Rainie Winchester."

"Well Rainie, can I have something to cover myself up?"

"Oh, yes, yes," she said. "Wait up."

She scanned through the drawer not that far from the bedside and hand him over a violet towel. And upon accepting it, he said, "I'm Damon Salvatore. Nice meeting you, Rainie."

She gave him a sheepish nod. "Nice meeting you too, Damon."

After introducing themselves, there was an odd silence that lasted for while.

"I guess I better give you some privacy," she said as she backed out of the door. "Just call me if you need something."

He nodded before she disappeared from his sight.


Rushing to the kitchen, Rainie was still at the edge of hyperventilation after talking to the hottest man that she'd ever seen in her life.

Damon Salvatore.

Her entire body shuddered on the mere thought of him, especially every time that she reminisced the event from last night when she unclothed him.

Caramba! Mama Mia! The Man is an embodiment of perfection. Never in her life that she'd seen a man who is a complete package deal of perfectionism. Good looks, great body, strong sex appeal, and…

Caramba again!

Her face flamed when the image of his extreme maleness flashed on her head. She's not naïve on the matter, and moreover, not inexperienced. In fact, she'd dated quite a few in the past and none of them are disappointments.

But also, none of them has the asset that Damon got.

Her fingers curled. She doesn't want to sound like a bitch, but if the opportunity comes, she won't have any second thought of jumping into the bed with him and have a showdown on who among them will last longer.

But of course, that's also ridiculous. They barely knew each other. And he doesn't appear to be the kind of person who would spend a quality time with someone he'd just recently met. And on the other, so is she.

For her, there are always limitations, barriers, requirements. Before she could consider dating any guy, she should have known him for quite a while first, know his friends, and if lucky enough even his family and some of his background. Only then that she'll regard any invitation for a date.

But also, if it's going to be Damon Salvatore, she's more than willing to make an exemption.

Damn! She's going nuts!

Madness was just about to consume her when she heard light footsteps inching closer to her. Whirling around, it reveals Damon Salvatore making his way towards her with no other cover aside from the violet towel that she provided to him.

She swallowed a huge lump along with the uncontrollable shuddering. The man was extremely sexy beyond any sane measurement and air starts abandoning her system.

"I used the shower if you don't mind," he said.

Newly bathed? That's great. The only dilemma is that he looks hotter under damp hair and skin, making the fatal effect of his gorgeousness towards her a lot stronger. "No, I don't mind," she said. "So…did you change your mind? Is there something that you might want? Anything?"

He moved even closer to her, watching her and she watched him. She stepped back as he drew closer to her until she felt the counter on her back.

Dead End.

"Yeah, actually there's one."

"Really? What is it?" She could see the hunger burning on his eyes and the desire churning inside her.

"Right now, I want nothing else than to make love with you."

END OF CHAPTER 1