Echoes

Chapter Two

Because there's a herd of them....here's a handy-dandy "kid" reference.

If the kids are named after US presidents, they belong to Ric and Jenna.

-Jackson (17)

-Kennedy (14 ish)

-Reagan (9)

-Madison (7)

Kids whose names start with a G are Jeremy and Hannah's.

-Grayson (7)

Damon and Elena's brood:

-Claire (9) – technically, she's Stefan and Elena's, but she's really Damon's now

-Brayden (7)

-Nathan (5), and Emma (5) – They are twins that Elena had in chapter one.
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Damon reached out and switched off the alarm. Setting it had seemed like such a brilliant idea six hours earlier, but that was before Elena had decided to stay up to finish one more paragraph which quickly turned into one last chapter....which must have turned into two. When she was in full-writer-mode it was dangerous to interrupt her. He'd learned that the hard way.

So he'd finally stopped waiting for her at midnight, setting the alarm to celebrate this book finally being back on track. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

But now he wasn't so sure. Every pore in his body screamed out for just another couple of hours' worth of sleep. Shifting in place, he adjusted his pillow and caught sight of Elena. Her hair was fanned out on the cream cotton pillowcase, and her long were firmly closed.

Damn. A certain part of his body was definitely wide-awake now. And it was trying to bring the rest of him along for the ride.

No matter how hard she was trying to convince him otherwise, Elena wasn't asleep. If years spent sharing the same bed with her had taught him anything, he could tell if she was really asleep just by listening to the pattern of her breathing.

She was awake.

Wide awake.

And judging by the way her breathing caught in her chest every time he moved the slightest bit, no matter how much she was trying to convince him otherwise, she was thinking the same thing he was.

God, he loved his wife.

Damon rolled onto his side as he draped his arm across Elena's chest. He delicately ran his fingertips along her shoulder. Her breathing stopped completely as a shiver ran through her entire body.

It had been far too long since they'd had a moment like this.

At least three weeks. Even for someone formerly a vampire...that was forever.

"Really? You forgot to turn off the alarm?" Elena cracked one eye open as she tried to focus on the alarm clock on her husband's bedside table. "Today's Saturday. For the first time this season, the soccer game isn't till noon." She looked at him with his favorite grumpy glare.

Damon caressed his wife's shoulder as he reached beneath her nightgown, teasing the hint of a sleeve off her shoulder, exposing the delicate skin he craved. He kissed up along her jawline. "Who says it was a mistake?" He whispered into her ear as he pressed the length of his body against her side.

He pressed the evidence of his desire into her hip, earning a half-annoyed-half-aroused laugh. She reached up and tangled her fingers in his hair. "So you planned this?" Her lips drew up in the barest hint of a smile.

He'd won the battle.

He'd take sex over sleep any time.

"Mmm hmmm." His answer was almost a growl as he nipped at the base of her throat. His hand dipped lower on her chest until he was cupping her breast. "I missed you." She'd been gone to a charity fundraiser for the last three days, only arriving home the night before, and it had seemed as if she'd been gone for a month. He peeled the hem of her nightgown up around her hips. No panties. She was feeling brave last night.