This was inspired while watching a video of Rob Thomas and Joss Stone singing "Stop Dragging My Heart Around" and I could just see this as a story J
And on a side note please see that I have changed the Grammy's to happening later in the year, it had to work for my timeline around October J
DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Vampire Diaries or the Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty Lyrics
Sunday, November 2, 2013
L.A, California
He stood motionless in the flashing light that cast shadows across his chiseled features and body as he tilted his head back and for a moment inhaled the crowd's adulation.
He was all rugged angles and sharp planes, his defined shoulders stretching against the fabric of his black shirt, the suggestion of power emphasized by the strong line of his back tapering down to lean hips. The muscular ease of his stance evident as his fingers stroked, plucking against chords of the battered acoustic guitar when he moved towards the center stage with the confidence of a seasoned performer.
The harsh lights dimmed, creating a soft glow, a warm hue of color, around the performers as the melody of the intricate guitars and pulsating rhythm of the drums filled the atmosphere, echoing with his earlier spoken promise.
"It's going to be performance unlike anything you've seen before," his voice was low, his timbre husky, a smirk curling the corners of his full, sensual lips. "That I guarantee you."
The proclamation from the charismatic frontman of Salvatore who was notorious for his art of being illusive during his interviews had dangled the tease before viewers and attendants of the 2013 Grammy Awards during the opening ceremonies.
A performance not of new material or even his own, but rather a pairing with an unknown to the music industry.
A moment that would etched, unlikely to be forgotten.
And it had finally arrived after all the anticipation.
Only it was not Damon Salvatore's husky voice rasping against the tender words as expected.
"Baby you'll come knocking on my front door
Same old line you used to use before"
Her silhouette rose from the shadows of the stage, her voice smooth and potent to the words that were plaintive, vulnerable, but became seductive as she made the low, torchy ballad ache and burn with a certain weakness.
"I said ya...well...what am I supposed to do
I didn't know what I was getting into"
The mist, the lights, the music, this woman.
She enjoyed the sheer drama of it when she heard the sharply drawn breathe of the entertainment world as she sauntered across the platform revealing her presence in a silky dark plum minidress, the delicate material embossed with a thin golden thread that wrapped around her neck, leaving the graceful curve of her shoulders bare.
Elena Gilbert, the infamous runaway heiress, seemed so unlike the tabloid headlines she had once epitomized through a mixture of cultivated innocent and the swiveling of her hips into a sequence of raw emotion and talent.
"So you've had a little trouble in town
Now you're keeping some demon down"
Their voices blended together in a perfect harmony of raw emotion, husky to soft, male to female, almost a touching of burning desire.
The man pressed against her cleverly assaulting her sense was not an illusion. He was flesh and blood that made her want to taste the texture of his skin.
Slowly to Damon's rhythm, her body began to turn and dip, a glitter of color and fluid movement. She brought her hands up swaying, an allurement to tempt him, to tease him as her golden bangles clanked against one another, sliding down her arms. Damon's attention focused on her, only her, as if they were bound together by invisible threads.
Taunting the other.
"Stop draggin' my...Stop draggin' my...
Stop draggin' my heart around"
His striking cerulean blue eyes locked on hers, the intense gaze darkened to a slight indigo as he caressed over her form examining the glossy mass of straightened hair shimmering in a tumble about her bare shoulders and midway down her back to the curve of her breasts and her slender legs.
"It's hard to think about what you've wanted
It's hard to think about what you've lost"
Being witness to her standing against her fear made him want to crush his mouth fiercely to her own. To feel the pure, primitive male triumph roar through him at the evidence of her own arousal.
"This doesn't have to be the big get even
This doesn't have to be anything at all"
There was a certain radiance to her dusky skin that caused her to glow and her feet were bare, sparkling tips revealed. She put everything she felt into the song. The last of her regret, her shame, shedding as if was an ugly second skin she desired to leave behind and emerged as poised sophistication.
"I know you really want to tell me good-bye
I know you really want to be your own girl"
Damon flipped his disheveled raven hair from his eyes, his tone conjuring, seducing her as she moved closer, brushing against him.
He had the sex, the drive, the passion and talent for writing evocative, manipulative lyrics that always held a quality of romanticism that was gentle.
What he sang were not his words.
But this performance was his, it was hers, theirs together.
"Baby you could never look me in the eye
Yeah you buckle with the weight of the words"
This performance was different.
Her russet eyes burned with the truth of a dangerous age and he found himself exposing his soul, his darkness to the captivated audience.
"Stop draggin' my...Stop draggin' my...
Stop draggin' my heart around"
The music surrounded them in a feeling of reverence, swirling through each, her eyes full of Damon betraying her to the world, causing his fingers to momentarily falter against the chords, shifting uncomfortably to ease his erection pressing against the zipper of his black pants.
There's people running 'round loose in the world
Ain't got nothing better to do"
He was the reason she was here.
She had been content, satisfied in her moment of peace away from the world that had almost destroyed her.
She felt the strength of his hands as he stared directly into her eyes, making her blood rush hotly through her veins.
She had been unable to refuse.
"I know you really want to tell me good-bye
I know you really want to be your own girl"
His voice grew guttural with his increasing need.
She has begun to work for him as a favor to an old friend, when her desire had faded into a blur of betrayal.
And the princess had become the villain at the hands of her own blood.
Could this be her redemption.
"Baby you could never look me in the eye
Yeah you buckle with the weight of the words"
Their bodies brushed, lingered and moved away.
Never more than a whisper from brushing, their gestures were long, slowly exaggerated.
The audience was drawn forward obvious to the sexual, the smoothness with what was unimagined and what was so.
"Stop draggin' my...Stop draggin' my...
Stop draggin' my heart around"
She watched him through thick black lashes, his head bent towards her, so close to tasting, as the music faded.
Their gazes held, and for her, just for a moment, they were completely alone.
She had given him was he had challenged, what he had demanded.
And trembled.
There was a pause, the most satisfying to where the audience is captivated in its stunned collective breath before applause thundered.
As they exited the stage, they were immediately bombarded with directions and time limit instructions, but Damon shrugged aside their questions and pulled her into his dressing room.
Elena spun once entering the room, her eyes dancing with glee, a smile she was unable to contain curving her lips.
Damon turned to look at her, running his hand through his already disheveled dark hair, his blue eyes light with mischief. "So how do you feel?" He spread his arms slightly, feigning a mildly shocked expression and a smirk curled his lips.
"I feel good." Elena giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her body close to his unaware his eyes shut, immense satisfaction so close to contentment drifting across his features. "I feel alive."
I don't think I've ever seen you more alive.
His words echoed through her mind, a truth she had finally admitted too.
His arms tightened around her waist as she played with the small hairs at the base of his neck, their foreheads a whisper from touching. She felt ever restriction she had placed on her feelings begin to waiver as her eyes drifted open to meet his darkened look she desperately wanted to understand, her lips a breath from his.
This was what she needed.
"Well isn't this just a beautiful picture," his voice interrupted the quiet moment as Elena jerked away, his voice causing her to cringe back slightly.
"Stefan," her eyes going wide with shock at the sight of her former fiancée as his gaze swept over her, lingering on Damon in disgust.
She felt the ripple of Damon's body as he stepped forward, he was taunt, tense, the long sleek muscles contracting with an involuntary motion as he pulled her behind him. He felt two small hands slip around his waist from behind and he placed his fingers over hers, her head resting on his back.
"Hello brother."