Pre Edit Count –   2,064 Words

Song I listened to for this chapter: Always Somewhere Close by Lighthouse.

Previous:

Standing up, Elijah informs him, “Take your mate to your bed.  I will see you later.” With that he kisses Bella on her forehead and leaves.

Damon smiles at the little smile on Bella’s face.  “And you were so worried about meeting him, mia carissima.”  He moves and picks her up bridal style and carries her to their bed.  He will need to talk to her tomorrow about the lock down code, he knows the unlock sequence, but he is not for sure on the lock down codes.

He deposits her in their bed, then goes to close the curtains as much as he can.  When they are as light tight as he could make them, he sheds his pants and shirt and lays in bed with her.  He kisses her forehead lightly, surrounding her body with his.  He smiles, and soon tumbles into sleep with her.

Now:

Bella woke up in the morning, smiling.  She can feel Damon in the bed next to her and realized he must have carried her into bed when she fell asleep last night.  She can tell he is still tired, since yesterday he had been up with her and today he is sprawled on the bed, curled around her as he is sleeping.

She carefully gets up, noticing that he had closed all the curtains he could and reminded herself that she needed to give him the codes to the house, hopefully while she is programing him in it.  She heads to the closet, skipping a shower for now.  Once she is dressed, she softly walks past him, stopping to admire the man who was hers, from now until the end of time.

Shaking her head, Bella heads downstairs.  She ends up making a bowl of cereal, eating it at the counter as she stares out the windows.  When she finishes, she sets the bowl in the sink, then heads into the library.

Damon wakes and immediately realizes that Bella is not with him.  He sits up in bed, but calms down when he thinks through it that she must be close since there is no pain.  He gets up, heads to the shower and gets ready for the day.

When done, he heads downstairs, realizing it is late in the afternoon.  He frowns slightly, wondering why Bella let him sleep so late.  He heads into the kitchen, thinking she would be there cooking dinner, but when he got there, he saw only a bowl in the sink.  He put it in the dishwasher, then headed into the Library.

When he got there, he leans against the door jam, watching her.

Bella had obviously fell into one of her research fits.  Her hair is pulled up in a bun, and she is frowning as she types into her research computer as she has another book open.  The desk is nowhere as neat as it had been the last couple of days.  Post it’s littered the monitors, and are sticking out of various books sitting around her.

His vision allows him to see the notes she had been writing and he cocks his head to the side.  But he catches himself before he says anything.  Thinking for a couple of seconds, he decides to make them dinner, since she is in her zone.

He heads into the kitchen, and noticing the contents of the refrigerator and the cupboards, plans to make the chicken breasts she has with mushroom sauce.  He quickly starts dinner, working with a real passion.

After he finishes the dinner, he sets the table in the dining room, and pours the wine.  Looking over everything, he heads into the library wiping his hands on the towel that he has on his shoulder.

Bella had caught on to a couple of things when Elijah had talked.  He hadn’t known that the doppelgangers were family, and had no idea where the Cold Ones came from.  This bugged her this morning and she went back to her books.  A lot of the information she had found on the Cold Ones as Elijah calls them, are from her findings in Carlisle’s and Jasper’s books.  She had started the database at that time and used it heavily to research through as she hunts for a hint of where they came from.

The doppelgangers are still a mystery, but then Elijah had mentioned he had met her father and not noticed that he was family.  But that Katherine and Elena looked identical made her wonder.  Did her mother’s whatever she added make that much of a difference?

The news that Elena is the last of the Petrova’s made her wonder about the curse from the witches.  What if Elijah turns her before she had a child?  Would the curse somehow go from her to Jeremy?  And if so how?  Because it is Isobel that was Katherine’s descendant.  Or would it make Elena be the first vampire in history to have a child?

These questions plague her.  She feels that it will be important.  And so she spends the time waiting for Damon to wake up researching.

So it startles her when she all of a sudden felt his hands on her shoulders and realizes that he must have cooked since the house smelled great. His hands alone have her relaxing into him.

Damon smiles as she rolls her head back with a groan as he massages her tight shoulders.  He tells her softly, “I made dinner.  Take a break and after dinner we will talk about what has you upset.”

Bella sighs, and takes his hand when she goes to stand up.  He pulls her into his arms and held her for a second.  They both relax, needing the connection.

Softly murmuring into her as they both cuddle, “I don’t think we will be able to hold off on our mating, mia carissima.  If we feel like this just being in the same house the entire time, it will only get worse.”

Bella nods her head, admitting to him, “I know.  I know it would also be safer for both of us if we mated and you turned me.  I have a bad feeling Damon.  I feel like something is coming, and it has to do with Elena being the last Petrova and what Elijah said about not knowing how the Cold Ones came about.  It just makes no sense if you think about it.  Nature had provided a way to restrict humans with the vampires from Elijah’s family.  The Mating will ensure basically that there will always be your type around.  But what use does nature have in making poisonous vampires?  They could kill off the humans.” Her voice slightly rises and Damon can feel her tensing up.

Damon kisses her forehead, holding her close.  He answers her, “And we will look into this.  But for right now, you need to eat, and our dinner is cooling.”  He looks down at her, “Remember, I told you I would look after you.”

She laughs and they head into the dining room.  He pulls out a chair for her and pushes her in when she sits.  He kisses her hand and sits down at the head of the table next to her.

Bella grins at his gentlemanly ways.  Then she looks down at the plate in front of her and murmurs, “Oh, my.”

Damon grins and tells her, “Try it before you say much more.”  He watches as she does as he suggested, and laughs when her eyes roll back.

Bella just shakes her head. “Landed Southern Italian Gentleman, and a great cook.  I really have landed the jackpot.”

He chuckles as he leans closer after he takes a bite.  His eyes are dancing with mischief as he swallows.  He tells her, “That’s not all I am good at, Tatina.”

Bella feels the blush as it flames across her face.

Damon reaches out and lifts her face to his.  His eyes search hers as he tells her, “My Bella, there is nothing to be embarrassed about.  We love each other and will be with each other for the rest of eternity, if I have anything to say about it. I can think of nothing better than us spending days in bed.”  He smirks at her and then leans forward even more as he growls, “And I want to know where that blush ends, mia carissima.” Even though his eyes are their normal icy blue, there is no doubt in Bella’s mind of the passion he is promising her with those same eyes.

She can’t but laugh at him.  She leans forward and kisses him, he returns it with the same amount of passion.  They stop so that Bella can breathe, and Damon leans back and takes another bite, watching her.

The two of them continue to eat, talking with each other about random stuff.  Just getting to know more about each other.  There are laughs and teasing going on, Damon the entire time watching her, making sure she is fine after working all day without a break.

Once dinner is done, she helps with the clean up, Damon grinning as she protested that since he cooked, she clean.  His just told her, “You were working and I lazed about.  It all balances out, Stella.”

He also starts her a cup of tea on the Keurig she has.  He shakes his head at the machine, “I remember when the big thing was espressos.  Now you can have a fresh cup of coffee anytime with one of these cups.” He hands her the tea after he makes it as she prefers.

Bella grins and tells him, “It’s awesome.  I never have to worry about making sure the pot is off when I get into my zone as you call it.  My dad bought me this when they came out. It was one of the biggest worries he had after I had left a pot on so long it cracked on me.”

Damon reaches out and cups her face. “No more.  I will take care of you, and make sure that nothing will happen to you.  To think of how close it was in me never finding you…I may have ended up with Elena.”

Bella laughs. “What about Elijah?  He might have killed you for going after his mate.”

Damon shakes his head as his thumb caresses her face.  “No idea.  I don’t want to think on it, to tell you the truth.  Because the reasons you not being here are not ones I ever want to imagine.  You really are my luce dei miei occhi, mia carissima.  I never want to be apart from you, even if this Mating thing didn’t occur.”

Bella smiles at him, leans forward to kiss him.  Damon pulls her to him, while removing the cup of tea from her hands.  He licks her bottom lip and when she allows him entrance, he pulls her closer as he takes control of the kiss, slanting his mouth over hers.

When Bella needs air, he moves his lips down her jaw to her throat.  When she moans as he nibbles on her artery, he pulls himself back, reluctantly.  Holding her a minute as he cools down, he mutters to her, “Yeah, I think it is going to be soon, my Bella.”

She cuddles into him, and laughs when he picks her up easily.  “You, missy, have some information to part with me.  Let’s take this into the Library and hope that it will cool me off.”  He smiles down as he is walking.

Bella grins up at him and mischievously asks, “So when do you think you will give in?”

He growls as he walks into the Library and drops them both into his chair. “If you want it sooner, just tell me.  It would be much better than this torture, mia cassimia.”

Bella kisses him on the chin and tells him, “I will.  And I will keep in mind the torture as you call it.”

He shakes his head.  Then changes subject, “So while I made dinner, I contacted some of the witches I know and put in some orders for stones for you.  I know Elijah said he would take care of it, but the more the merrier, I think.” And he will not trust the safety of his love to anyone, not even her father.

She nods at him.  “You would know best, so I default to your wisdom, oh great one.”

He tickles her as he lifts an eyebrow, “Oh great one?  I think you are exaggerating there, mia cara.”

Her laughter peals out and the two of them settle down after Damon teases her some more.  When they are calm, Damon asks, “Let’s get this on the road.  Show me what you got so far.”

“Hope you are ready for this, because it’s been a ride for me…”

Final count, 2,183 words.

Fairfarren~Wendy