A few days earlier:
Damon steps into his office, plops down in his chair and picks up a pen. He has ink stained fingers; a note pad sticking out of his pocket and is about to jot down a few thoughts when his door creaks. Looking up, he manages to not roll his eyes when he sees Katherine holding a bottle of Jim Beam with a cocky grin on her face.
"I'm working Katherine."
"Come on, you can take a break, I've got this," she waggles the bottle teasingly.
Damon crumples a piece of paper and launches it at her.
"Well if you going to be like that," she glowers at him then ducks out of the room but not without giving him the middle finger.
He tries again when the phone rings, interrupting him again. "Damon Salvatore."
"It's Ric, tell me how much like me," he sing-songs.
"Depends on what you got."
"I've got a place and time."
Damon jumps to his feet, excited. "When? Where?"
"You think I'm gonna say this shit over the phone? Meet me at the usual place. Oh, and Damon, this one's gonna cost you."
Damon pockets his phone when Ric ends the call, grabs his jacket and races for the elevator, Katherine hot on his heels.
"Where are you going?" she eyes him suspiciously.
"That's for me to know and you to dot, dot, dot. Bye Katherine," he waves with his fingers mockingly as the elevator doors slide closed.
Damon drives like a maniac, doing what he loves most, tracking down a story. When he reaches the location, he drives into the lot and parks several spaces from Ric's beat up old Jeep. Approaching it, he starts to speak, "Hey..." his voice trailing off and his eyes widening at the sight of broken glass all over the driver's seat.
Hearing screeching tires squeal behind him, Damon snaps his head to the side, catching a fleeting glimpse of Ric in the back seat. The Buick is racing out into traffic. Quickly running back to his car, he tries to follow but gets stuck at a red light. Looking around, he white-knuckle grips the steering wheel and hits the gas, careening out into the intersection.
Within moments, the distinct sound of a siren's wail is getting closer. Glancing into his rearview mirror, a patrol car is right behind him, signaling for him to pull over. Up ahead, the Buick is getting further and further away. Instead of stopping, he slams on the gas pedal yet again and speeds down the street, the cop hot on his tail in pursuit.
Losing sight of the Buick, he weaves and zig-zags through traffic and is suddenly headed straight for the side of a garbage truck, he wrenches the wheel to the right, jumps the curb and skids to a halt in front of a bar. The cop car races up and blocks his escape.
Damon quickly jumps out of his and tries to reason with the cop who has him by the arm. "I don't have time for this, my buddy's in trouble. I'm working on a big story," he tries to plead his case.
"Oh, you're a reporter!" the officer arches an eyebrow, mocking him. As he leads Damon towards his squad car, he squirms and manages to kick the guy in the shin with his heel.
"Son of a bitch," the cop pulls out his taser and gives Damon a taste of his own medicine.
Slumping to the sidewalk, the officer throws him into the backseat of his patrol car and hauls him down to the station.
Present time:
Elena's heart flips in her chest for a just a moment before narrowing her eyes in on Jeremy. "Is this a joke? Because if it is, I'm going to stab you."
"It's not a joke. "
"He got arrested and jumped bail?"
"Apparently the whole thing started with some reckless driving, ended with him assaulting an officer and being hauled to jail."
Elena gives him a questioning look.
"Apparently he kicked the cop," Jeremy elaborates.
"Really?" Elena looks at him puzzled, "That doesn't sound like him; he has friends who are cops. He was probably hot on the trail of a story or something pressing to have resorted to that. I mean, he's not stupid."
"I don't care about his reason, I want him found."
"Why the hell did you post his bail?" she looks at him incredulously.
"Because I know he dumped you..." his eyes twinkle deviously.
"That's such bullshit, that is so not how it happened."
"Ok, whatever..."
"Whatever nothing! He didn't dump me, I dumped him," Elena levels him with a nuclear fueled stare.
"Yeah, yeah, the point is, I'm aware you guys have issues, but I have a business to run. If someone needs bail, I give them bail."
"Well, if you had checked with me first, you wouldn't be out of a bond right now," Elena rebukes him.
"I'm not out of a bond if you go and find him. Five grand isn't chump change."
Elena scrutinizes him carefully. "You're telling me I really get five thousand dollars if I pick him up and take him to jail?"
"Now you're getting it," Jeremy smirks and lights up a cigarette. "You sure you can handle this?"
"Why wouldn't I be able to handle it?" she scowls at him.
"Let's face it, El, you're not exactly rational around him...and you know what I'm talking about," Jeremy digs.
"That's crap," she snaps. "You have no idea what happened between us...the only thing you do know is that Damon and I grew up together..."
Jeremy rolls his eyes.
"So all I have to do is track Damon down; and turn him over to the cops?"
"That's it."
"Piece of cake," Elena stands up to leave.
"I hope that doesn't come back to bite you in the ass," he sing-songs with a smug grin on his face.
"You're a jerk," she scowls at him.
"You have to get it done, otherwise the money is gone," comes behind as she walks outside.
Elena runs into a store to buy a can of soda, drinking it as she walks to her car. She slides behind the wheel then flips open Damon's file and studies the photos first—mug shots from his booking, a candid picture of his face and another of his profile. He has the kind of face that stops a person in their tracks. No one feature makes Damon so handsome, though his eyes come close. His are so blue - full on Prince Charming. Crayola should name one of their crayons after him if they can come up with a word for that special shade of blue.
She runs her fingertip over his face. He hasn't changed much, not that he would, it hasn't been that long since the last time they saw each other. A little leaner, perhaps?
Their faces are only inches apart. When he finally opens his eyes, they're not wide or scared. He looks like he wants to devour her. She's not sure who moves first but the space between them closes, his face moving into hers. An instant later, their mouths meet. Damon lets out a shaky exhale through his nose the second they connect, and it's so full of tension and desire that she can almost feel it scorch her skin.
His hands slide up from her knees, up the sides of her thighs, pushing her skirt aside. She leans forward and so does he, up onto his knees. The first moment is tentative, just holding still, lips on lips, but as Damon's fingers find new skin, his mouth moves over hers and everything in her responds. First, it's hot and needy. His mouth is soft and supple. He opens, she does too. Then it's tongues...she's gasping and he's moaning. His hands slide higher and pull her forward. Her knees spread and he moves between them. She threads her fingers into his hair and it feels so, so good.
His dig into her thighs; Elena can feel every fingertip. She wants to raise her legs and wrap them around his hips. Instead she leans in further and kisses him harder. He kisses like no one else on Earth. Sometimes it's soft and thorough, then it's hard and desperate. She feels all that he's been holding back and it's glorious.
Caroline was right about him, he'd been irresistible.
Shaking off the memory, Elena suddenly has a knot in her gut. According to the information on the bond contract, Damon still lives in the same building. She rather doubts that he'd be stupid enough to go back there though, it's the first place the police would check.
Setting the file aside, she sighs, turns the key in the ignition and drives off to begin her search...
Thank you all so very much. You're all amazing, the DE fandom is everlasting.
Title: 'Simply Irresistible' by Robert Palmer.
To the anonymous reviewer, thank you too for this one and for the WTBHTB review. Elena's job is a Bounty Hunter - a person who pursues a criminal or fugitive for whom a reward is offered.
As a proud South Dakotan, the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is taking place right now. The city of Sturgis decided to hold it when they heard from thousands of people saying they'd show up whether it was canceled or not; although they're expecting smaller crowds. We do have a one-shot with biker Damon set at the rally. It's called 'Renegade'. If interested, you can find it in my profile.
Although I'm DE till the end of time, our dear friend, Florencia7 has a 'Homeland' story if any are interested, her writing is indescribably good. jmfangs has an amazing gymnast DE story whose Olympic plans are derailed by Covid-19. Amazing Aisha has 4 stories in progress, Daddysadist has several too. JustiniaKorax, Heidi Mae, Linax24, Eos Blaze 0402, HisDelusionalLover are all terrific DE writers. heyitskarma has a Damon/OC story.