I absolutely love this chapter! Enjoy! And please, please tell me what you think...
"Lanie, it's Damon. I'm here to help you. Find me baby, please. I'll take you away from the fear."
Elena blinked once, twice and felt herself moving in her mind. She could not even remember now what she had been dreaming about. She felt around in the darkness, having no idea what was happening.
Her flailing hand finally grabbed onto something and at first she was more scared. What if it was the psychotic wolf again? She pulled away, but the hand was insistent and yet not rough or violent. It felt just like the kiss she had in her dream. She did not feel afraid, but rather the touch brought out a sense of security and trust in its touch.
She blinked once more and suddenly light flooded her vision from all sides. She could feel the heat of the sun on her face and felt a slight breeze in her hair. Wait, where was she? Just before her eyes had opened she felt the hand let go of her and she stood there in the sunlight, her hands at her sides.
At first she was in awe of her surroundings. She looked to be in a forest. There were plants and high trees all around her and her bare feet had long, soft blades of grass between them. She wiggled her toes and then saw more of what she was wearing.
She had on a pair of cutoff white short shorts and a soft pink halter top. She could feel a sheer scarf wrapped around her neck as it floated in the wind. It felt like summer outside with the heat warming every inch of her exposed skin. Bright, white sandals were laying in the grass beside her and she moved to slip them on.
She could hear a pounding in her ears and she was not sure that it wasn't her nervous heart. But resting her palm against her chest, she could tell that that was not where the sound was coming from.
Elena nearly jumped as she felt a finger touch her bare neck and trail down her back as she stood back up. It made her shiver and she whirled around to be face to face with Damon's ocean blue eyes. They were shimmering in the sunlight and his smile; a real genuine smile graced his pouty lips.
"Damon!" She gasped out his name as his fingers continued to run on top of her hand. "What is this? How are you? What is going on?" She fired the questions at him as he just stood beside her.
He smiled again at her again and wrapped his fingers around her hand. "Just come, gorgeous."
Elena saw him smirk as he looked down, like he had a secret. She was so curious and followed him through the trees. He looked amazing. He wore a tight black t shirt and dark washed jeans. He held her hand firmly in his as he helped her over a log on the ground. His smile was radiant and reflected pure happiness. His raven black hair was being whipped in the wind and looked longer than it was now, with his bangs nearly touching the sides of his cheeks. It curled up in the back just slightly and he brushed his hand through it as they walked. He was wearing sandals by the looks of it. She had never seen him so casual.
"Where are we going, Damon?" she asked again. She could hear the rushing sound growing louder as they walked.
"You will see, love." He turned back to her as he spoke and smoothed a lock of hair behind her ear tenderly. "We are almost there. You need to close your eyes now. No peeking."
"Damon, what about Klaus and getting to the cabin? Why are we here? We need to get safe."
"You are safe, Lanie. We are just taking a little detour, but we will get there soon enough." He placed his hands around her eyes and he felt her lean into him, holding onto his hands as he led her. They kept walking and he thought he heard a giggle from behind his hands. He stepped into the clearing, past the trees and slowly pulled his hands away.
Elena blinked and there in front of her was a breathtaking waterfall!
She leaned into him, her hands wrapped around his bicep. Her head found its way to his shoulder. "Oh, Damon!" she gasped. "It's beautiful!"
He could not stop smiling at her. She was right, it was an amazing sight. The Mystic Falls were right in front of them and now that they were out of the trees, he could feel the mist on his face.
Elena watched the water misting onto him and he shook his head as his hair got wetter and wetter. God, he looked so sexy like that. She caught herself staring and looked away quickly.
He had seen her eyes on him and being bashful about it. "Don't be shy, Elena. I can hear your heartbeat getting faster. You don't have to hide how you are feeling about me. Stefan is not here."
He closed his eyes, enjoying the heat from the sun. When opened them again, he was smiling even broader at her as he laced his fingers with hers and pulled her along out of the trees and onto the grassy cliff beside the falls. "We are in your head. You can relax and just be free."
She smiled back at him, her head down. He brought her to the middle of the clearing and she could hear the pounding of the water crashing down below them. It was mesmerizing. She just stood there, her hand shielding her eyes from the sun as she took in the beauty all around them.
He leaned in and wrapped his arms around her shoulders and nuzzled his head against hers, just enjoying the view.
But the surprise was not done. As she was taking in the scenery, he slipped out of her arms. She looked toward him and her heart nearly jumped out of her chest as she saw him start to unbutton his jeans!
Damon could hear the cute little skip of her heart and he met her eyes; his were twinkling with excitement. "What? Am I getting too indecent for you, angel? Don't tell me you don't want to jump. It would be once in a lifetime."
Elena swallowed hard, her eyes had not left where his fingers were on his buttons as she watched him tug his jeans down past his hips. She let out the breath she did not realize she was holding as she saw he was wearing bright sky blue swim trunks under his jeans. He tugged the jeans all the way off and tossed them on the ground beside him, kicked off his sandals and lifted his arms to shrug out of his tight t shirt. Then he just stood there in all his bad boy glory.
Elena's mouth almost hit the ground as she gazed at his lean figure, bathed in sunlight. His smooth, muscled chest was sprinkled with water already and he was grinning at her. She still had not regained control of the muscles in her jaw to close her mouth when he started walking toward her, the sky blue board shorts slipping lower on his hips with each step he took.
He lifted one finger and closed her mouth as a chuckle escaped his wet lips. "C'mon. I dressed you just fine. This isn't a skinny dipping dream." His laugh stopped and his face turned seductive, his eyes darkening. "Unless you want it to be." He raised his eyebrows, teasing her.
Chocolate brown met deep blue as she sucked in a shallow breath and her eyes traveled down his body again as she took in what he had said. He was sizzling hot already without the skinny dipping. The bright blue swim trunks made his skin looked so tanned. His chest was glistening with the mist from the waterfalls. His dark longish hair was blowing lightly from the breeze as he shook his head back and forth and to her she looked like she was seeing everything in sexy slow motion.
She finally felt one muscle working and her neck rapidly shook back and forth. Skinny dipping? No, she was not ready for something like that with him. But he was so cute tipping his head down, his eyes shining at her.
"All right. See, I kinda figured that. So check out your swimsuit, baby.""
Elena lifted the halter top off and tossed it on the ground to reveal a deep crimson red bikini top. It looked respectable enough. She loved how red looked on her and he looked like he loved it too.
"See, you like it right? That is my favorite color on you. Almost as delicious as you tasting like strawberries. Let me help." He stepped closer still, till he was only a breath away.
She eyed him warily as his fingers went to the buttons of her super short white cutoffs and she inhaled sharply as his hand grazed her skin as he got the button undone and slowly slid down the zipper. He slipped them down her long legs and she stepped out of them and kicked off her sandals.
She looked so hot in the little red bikini. It hugged her curves just perfectly and Damon could feel his hunger for her building at an exponential rate. He had not realized how hot he had made this dream until he was standing there like that with her.
He followed her eyes back up to his face and she just stood there staring at him. He could feel the fire between them. He wrapped the scarf around both his hands and pulled her in to him till their foreheads were touching. "Elena." He breathed as he let go of the scarf and it slid from her shoulders. He laced his fingers with hers again, wanting to touch her everywhere he could.
She was swallowing hard as their eyes were locked. He leaned closer as if to kiss her.
"Damon, what are we doing?" She interrupted him, her breathing shallow against his face.
He straightened back up, feeling her nervousness. He was not wanting to make her uncomfortable. He just wanted to have fun and help her forget her fear. He had made things too intense and that was not his intention at all.
He shook his head trying to break him away from his intimate thoughts of her.
"We are going to jump! And you are going to love it!" he smiled at her.
She started backing away from him, shaking her head. "No, Damon. That's crazy! It must be 10 stories down. I can't."
"Sure you can." He laughed and scooped her up in his arms. She squealed and started kicking her feet for him to put her down as he walked right to the edge of the cliff over looking the majestic waterfall.
"No! Damon! Put me down!"
He held her tighter, a serious but adorable pouty look on his face. "Lanie, do you trust me?"
She studied him for a minute, the mist sprinkling down on both of them. She nodded slowly and before she could close her eyes... he had jumped!
She screamed the whole way down, holding tight to his neck, burying her face in his throat. His grip did not waver, even as they crashed into the water. They both went under for a second and then she was pushing her head to the surface.
He was already at the surface when she broke through and flung her head back. He was smirking at her and laughing deep in his throat.
"You are nuts, Salvatore!" she yelled at him, splashing him in the face. "I was sooo not ready yet!"
He shrugged his shoulders and laughed again. She looked so cute, all mad at him and she dove toward him and nearly dunked him under! They played in the water like that for a few minutes, splashing and racing away from each other, laughing and smiling. She jumped on his back trying to push him under and he just swam around piggybacking her against his strong back.
She eventually got tired of trying to get him back and just floated in the lake. The falls were pounding with power beside her as Damon swam up to her and wrapped his arms around her. She felt a slight shiver as he held her so close and her tiny bikini was the only parts of her that could not feel his warm skin.
He held her gently around her waist under the water as the water lapped up against their bodies pressed together. There was nothing but silence between them; that and her rapidly beating heart. She lifted her arms to drape them around his neck as her hair was streaked all around her shoulders.
"You don't need to be scared, baby. You aren't hurting Stefan here. This is not real, no matter how much I wish it was." He felt his heart pounding too, in strong steady beats as he held her against him and she wrapped her legs around his waist. "I can't stop thinking of kissing you again. You are driving me crazy, Lanie." He moved closer his lips brushing the skin by her mouth. "Just kiss me...please," he groaned against her cheek.
Elena heartbeat jumped again and she felt a shiver go all the way to her toes as she felt his lips on her cheek. The water was slapping against them as they just floated in the middle of the lake with their arms around each other.
She smiled back at him and nodded before opening her mouth in wait for his crashing lips. His mouth sucked and licked closer to her lips until he was right in front of them, panting heavily.
"Elena, Damon, time to get up," a voice called out.
She lifted her head up and shook it with frustration. She squinted at the bright light in her eyes and she looked around her. She was still in the back of Damon's car. She blinked again. The dream had felt so real. "What? What's going on?" she mumbled, scraping her hand across her face as she adjusted her eyes.
Stefan had interrupted their dream. Of course he had! Damon growled under his breath. His brother would have had no idea what had been going on in her mind but somehow he still managed to call out to them at the worst time.
Elena looked back at Damon her eyes wide. She knew he had been right there in her dream and he looked none too pleased to be awake.
He leaned closer to her and pulled his jacket tighter around her. "You owe me a kiss..." Damon mumbled into her hair, taking her body to him in a gentle hug. She lay in his arms, her mind racing at what had just happened in her head.
Stefan turned toward them."We're here." He put his hand on the seat between them and after they nodded that they had heard him, he motioned in front of them as he turned the car off. "Kat, wakie, wakie," he called to his ex. She moved around and groaned and opened her eyes.
Damon grunted and groaned from having slept so uncomfortably with her. But it was worth it for her to have had some peace.
He wished that what he had created for her had been real. Would he ever really get the girl? He had taken great pride in creating her surroundings for the dream. Maybe someday they could visit The Falls just like that.
He opened the door and helped her get out. He sighed. For now, they just needed to get inside and stay safe. That was what mattered now. Nothing else was more important.