Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries nor its characters. They belong to L.J. Smith, Kevin Williamson, Julie Plec, The CW Network, and whoever else.
Note/Warning: Written long ago - after 1x16, actually, but I kind of forgot about it until recently when going through Vampire Diaries fics I'd written. Decided, hey, why not? Especially with Anna come back, least for a short while. Feedback is very much appreciated. And yeah, the title is kinda cheesy.
Lost & Found
"Are you sure you want this?"
Lips glide over skin. Tongue tastes; teeth nip. Salty, warm. Humming.
"Yes. I'm sure."
Fingers skirt with the edges of cloth; slip under, dancing over smooth, cool flesh. Retract.
"You can never take this back."
Hair tickles. Skin against skin, mouth to mouth. Air is hot, humid; stifling.
"I don't want to."
Soft rustling. Labored breathing. Mattress bends, caves; creaking springs.
She'd say something, but she's losing the battle with his tongue. Or simply giving in.
Blood flows downward. Singing in his veins, and she shudders to the beat of his heart. He's trembling above her like he's forgotten he's done this before.
Heat is pouring off him in waves, and she's melting. The ice is dripping; she's losing her edge. Willingly. She wants it gone, wants this warmth instead; wants him.
"How do you want to do this?"
"Go with the flow."
He smiles awkwardly. There's enough blood left in his head to rush to his cheeks. Maybe he's done it before, but it wasn't quite like this.
The ice is getting thin.
The bed creaks again; shifting, sliding. She's damp; her ice is melting, his skin is sweating. She's lukewarm now and he's burning up.
His arm moves towards the table; she grabs his hand, places it on her. He's staring at his hand covering her breast, and she's high on the knowledge that the faintness of her heartbeat beneath his fingers excites need over fear.
"Don't need it."
Her grin is cheeky, familiar. Cute, stalker chick. She's still the same; still Anna.
Maybe he was right before. Different but the same.
He goes red again and it makes her hungry. But she kisses instead of bites, using tongue over teeth, because she's hungrier for something else.
She's fully melted when he slides in, and the slick friction makes him groan. He's a beautiful melody; husky grunts, frantic beats, racing hum.
"We can never go back."
"I don't want to."
She kisses him and there's a little nip to it because she can't hold back the sweet, little thrill he gives her, like butterflies in her stomach.
She missed those butterflies.
He's moving; deep, deeper. His mouth stays at hers, his fingers tracing fiery lines over the puddle he's turned her into.
"More."
He obeys, and she moans low in her throat. Her arms hold him tight - she'll hold him tighter one day, she swears it - and her eyes open, focus; watch.
There's a look on his face she's never seen before. Not on Ben, not on the one before him, the one before him, the one before him...
"Jeremy, I-"
His mouth covers hers; she's grateful because she doesn't even know what she was about to say.
When he pulls back she's staring at that look again, and everything's backwards, upside down; she's lost and he's found, and she doesn't know anything anymore, except that she wants him and it will never work - 'Mother, forgive me' - and the blood she can hear singing in his veins is the same blood she's wanted on her hands for decades.
"Anna..."
There it is; the breaking point. He's coming undone above her, and she holds him, holds him tighter - not tight enough yet - because she's falling apart with him, and in this moment they're equals.
Caught between childhood and adulthood and the centuries can't change that; can't change that this is something more than they've ever felt before, will ever feel again; that one thing that even if it doesn't work, even if it shatters, even if it lasts forever, they will never get over it.
His blood is in her mouth when she's finally whole again, and her mouth is on his as he reforms.
Warm fingertips brush her hair from her damp skin. She's almost as warm as he is now.
"Never go back."
She smiles and it reaches her black eyes.
"Never go back."