A/N: Super long chapter for you lovely people this weekend. May, this is for you. I know how much you love long chapters!
Thank you SO much for the amazing reviews follows and favorites of this story! You guys are the best. Keep them coming. I'm so excited to hear what you think of this new chapter!
Special shout out to my incredible husband angel4u for leaving me his precious reviews and this latest one making me laugh and nearly cry. Thank you for all your support in my passion for writing babe!
Check out these other talented authors. My beta delenadreams with her beyond precious new story Make you feel my love. I melted at how sweet that Damon was and can't wait for more. She also has another chapter for Bottom of the Ocean that had very hot sexual tension just oozing from the page!
Scarlett2112, just posted an explosive climatic chapter in The Night We Met, and an equally incredible chapter for This Isn't what we meant. Loving that story already so much.
A new chapter was just posted by Mariah April May in The Scandal and I can't wait to read it!
MovingOnIsNeverEasy just has lots of sweet Delena stories I am just starting to get into.
Vitsash just posted a new chapter in her story Stumbling Upon
and deepwater1978's Kiss Me or Kill me was wrought with tension and heat this last chapter. So many great authors of all ages and experience and they all would love to hear from you.
I hope you guys don't mind the Prison break references hidden within the story. They just make it more fun for me to write.
Enough talk, enjoy the chapter!
Elena's POV
"Damon, no," I whimpered fighting harder on the grip that Enzo had on my torso. I was crying and screaming for him just knowing what they were going to do to him.
A prisoner had once broken free in the halls by the infirmary and had done almost exactly what Damon had done and held a guard hostage to get him the hell out of there. It hadn't been Matt that time but the man had held the gun to the guards head and had made it through three locked doors by threatening to kill him. The other guards complied and let him through. It was only before he passed the last gate to his freedom that he wasn't as careful and Matt had found a blind spot to hide and shot him before he could kill the guard.
He wasn't fatally shot either, just hit in the shoulder of the arm that he had been holding the gun. They dragged him back and I had no idea how long they beat him but when I was called to tend to the wounds, I had barely recognized him. He had bruises and cuts and blood all over him before he was thrown in solitary for daring to escape and threaten the lives of all the everyone there.
I shuddered at the thought of what they could do to Damon for his actions. He had even taken Matt hostage, and there was no doubt that Captain Donovan wanted revenge. I could see it in the man's eyes as he looked at me once more before turning and walking behind the guards dragging the man I loved away.
God, Damon, I thought, my head falling back in the seat where Enzo had forced me into. I needed to go to him. I had to keep him safe...somehow. I didn't even know what I was thinking. Once this flight was over he would be out of my life forever. So what difference would it make, anything that I could do now for him? But I knew as long as he was still here, I needed to do everything I could to be there for him. I couldn't even explain it. I just couldn't let him go, not yet. I closed my eyes thinking back again to that first week when I met him...
Careful to not make a sound I pushed the door open and stepped quietly into the infirmary. The key unlocked the door with the smallest click and I was relieved to see 'he' was still sleeping soundly, his face relaxed.
I knew I had crossed a line that night. No patient needed to be in the medical ward overnight unless they needed medical treatment. He had not needed the IV by the time he had woken up last night and I knew I should have sent him back to Gen Pop. If the Warden knew I was granting special treatment it could be bad for all of the staff or the prison as a whole.
Sure I knew it was wrong but I couldn't just send him back to those wolves after one of them had nearly killed him! I had managed to keep Enzo the guard that carried him here as the one watching him for the night, so no one else had to know. At least I made sure he was still cuffed to the table so I hadn't broken 'that' many rules.
Damon Salvatore shifted in his sleep and I watched him turn more, the chain on the stretcher clinking and reminding him that he could not move much. I picked up the file from my desk and moved to sit silently in the chair beside his bed. His hair got more messy as he moved before stillness came over him again and I could see him breathing slowly and evenly again. I waited a few more minutes for him to be deeply asleep again before I moved to open the folder.
I had hardly been able to sleep that night. I had been home, taken a shower, got ready for bed, snuggled Ian who was begging for attention and then I laid down and tried to sleep. But images of someone sneaking in here and finishing the job when poisoning Damon hadn't worked kept plaguing my thoughts. I had called Enzo on a direct line to the prison at least 3 times in the last few hours and I think even he was wondering what was going on with me.
So instead of trying to sleep more I had gotten dressed and ready for the day and drove back to the prison at almost 5 in the morning when I wasn't expected here till at least 7, barring any kind of emergency. So here I was, keeping watch over the sleeping man than I was so attracted to already.
My brain was fighting me to think rationally about all this forbidden desire and I told myself that I was going to do some research on the man that had me so smitten. Maybe he was just so attractive to me because he was so wrong. He was in prison for god's sakes!
I had always been such a good girl, a teacher's pet and a great friend, a kind and attentive girlfriend and I never had been involved with a guy like Damon. He felt all consuming when our eyes met. I could sense the passion, adventure and even a little danger at just the thought of him. A forbidden bad boy like him, had 'never' been interested in a cute little good girl like me. Maybe that was all it was, just raw attraction amped up because he was so, so wrong for me.
I flipped open the chart to be staring at Damon's face from his mugshot. I picked up the small rectangular photo studying it. I thought all mugshots made men look like sociopaths. But Damon could not look that way if he tried. I almost wanted the picture to speak to me; to tell me its secrets. My brain wanted me to find so many red flags that I would run screaming from him. But my heart...no my heart just raced in his presence, telling me there was more to everything I was feeling. And that my feelings, the electricity when he touched me was no liar to our connection.
I put down his picture and looked at the Maxwell Heights registration form he filled out.
'Damon Michael Salvatore' He was not even more than a few years older than me. 28.
Birthday, December 8TH, 1989. I skimmed through his other physical details that I already knew so well till I saw his previous employment was a structural engineer. He had even been to college, the same one I had a few years back.
I sat back just staring at his sleeping face wondering how a man that with a college degree and had such a well paying job ended up here.
But suddenly he started moaning and thrashing his head back and forth. I thought I heard him crying even under his breath. The chain on his wrist rattled harder against the metal bed rail and I stood up, walking closer.
"No! Stop please! She has nothing to do with this! Don't hurt her, please!" I heard him whimpering as he grew more agitated. I grabbed his free wrist and held it down trying to calm him.
"Hey, Damon," I called out in a hushed whisper. "Its okay, wake up Damon! It's Elena." I wondered who he was crying for. Someone he cared about was being hurt? What had this gorgeous man been through?
He continued thrashing and I grabbed his face in my hands, stroking his hair and whispering soothingly to him. He still had not woken up but seemed to settle more at my touch.
"Elena," he breathed out his eyes still closed and I saw him smile as I tucked a loose strand of his hair behind his ear, loving the silkiness of his hair between my fingers. Just being able to touch him in a way that was not just as a doctor felt so strange, yet so charged with passion.
His breathing slowed again and it seemed he was asleep and no longer trapped in that nightmare. I leaned back, pulling my hands off him as much I wanted to keep running my fingers through his hair. Soothing him somehow soothed me too. I stared down at his closed eyes, his dark eyelashes so long and looked soft against his skin.
I stepped away finally and moved to sit back down beside him, hearing his breathing more even and deep again. I had never done that to any other inmate before; used my voice and my touch to sooth them from a nightmare. This man was quickly meaning more to me that he should despite how very wrong I knew those feelings were.
Picking up the folder from where I had left it beside the chair I opened it again, more curious than ever about this man I felt so drawn to. I looked lower on the form seeing his family was listed as deceased and my heart hurt for him knowing how that felt. It didn't show how long ago he had lost his parents but that was something we had in common. It sounded like he might have lost someone else close to him too and in a threatening way. He sounded so scared for the woman in his dream.
But then I came to the part where they explained his reasons for incarceration. The single word hit me like a ton of bricks.
'Terrorism'.
Oh my God. I slammed the folder closed a little louder than I had planned and closed my eyes. He was a terrorist? Like suicide bombing of innocents? Killing without just cause? I sighed deeply, my brain happy to have gotten through to me, my heart however was aching. Well there was my red flag to run.
I jumped from the seat and was halfway to the door when I heard him.
"Elena."
I turned back around to him my mouth slightly open. I had no idea what to say to him now. I watched him slowly shift his body till he was sitting. "Its not what you think," he breathed out and I realized his eyes were on the folder in my hand. My eyes darted between his as he stared at me. His expression was unprovoking, not volatile in the least.
"Damon," I whispered. I wanted to believe him. How could it not be what I thought? I wanted to go back to him, to listen to his apparent explanation. But right then I couldn't. I just needed air. I looked back up into his face, his blue eyes so wide and pleading, but he made no move toward me.
"Elena, please?" he begged me as I stepped back more.
I stumbled, bumping into a cart of medical supplies and gripped the edge of it before turning back to him. "I can't Damon," I mumbled. "I just can't." And with that I ran from the room till I was back in my car and just sat there watching the sun come up. I didn't know how to feel. I just wanted to know more about him and I sure as hell got that in blazing technicolor.
I had started to let him in, I know I did. He had wedged the door to my heart open that I had slammed closed and determined to never open again because it was too painful. But this revelation was just as devastating. What did I expect? He was in a maximum security prison! This was not the place to look for love. I knew it and I'm sure he knew it too. So I was determined to push him away and forget that spark I felt. I didn't think I had the strength to face that much hurt again, loss of love. So it was easier to pull back now before it got stronger and harder to say no too.
But despite my decision I felt the tears slipping down my cheeks. I cared about him already, without knowing who he really was. And that was the danger. I needed to just push the feelings aside and just do my job.
Damon Salvatore could not become the love I craved, I ached for. It would just destroy me to lose it all over again.
"Captain Donovan to the cockpit please," a voice echoed through the air phone. "Captain Donovan." I was jolted out of my thoughts of the past. The moment just a few short weeks ago when I had determined to let go of my attraction to this prisoner. And now look where we were? I had just confessed not only to him but all the guards and even Kai, that I loved this man. That Damon had gotten under my skin, despite what I had discovered about him. This would lead to nothing but pain and heartache but I loved him I knew that to be true. Damn everything else.
I blinked listening again to the announcement. The pilot was calling Matt. I wondered why. Maybe that would mean that he at least would leave Damon alone for awhile. I was terrified to think what could be happening to him.
"Enzo, you can't let him hurt him!" I begged him, fighting his grip on my arms as he stood in front of me trapping me in the seat. "They could kill him! You have to stop them!" My eyes were flooded with more tears again as I looked pleadingly into the kind guards soft brown eyes. "Please!" I begged again, my throat tight as I sniffled back more tears.
Enzo leaned his head closer to mine, his expression looked wrought with desperation too. "I can't Elena," he hissed at me. "He made his bed when he chose to take Donovan fucking hostage! There is nothing I can do to stop what they could do to him. Damon made his choice. He chose to risk everything, tear through anything and everything to get to you...and you weren't even in danger!"
My tear stained eyes flew to the prisoner a few seats away from me and anger burned in me. I pushed Enzo back and stood up walking to stand in front of him, cringing as I could hear Damon's soft cries all the way from the back of the plane. I studied Kai as he was still holding his shoulder to staunch the blood still dripping from it. "You!" I snapped at him, stepping closer. "You did this!"
That obnoxious jerk just grinned at me. "Yep," he said popped the 'P'. "And it was worth getting shot Doc to know what they are doing to Pretty right now. Maybe he will be too weak to fight me from getting to you or him after this." He was beaming up at me as I felt the breath just heaving out of me. "Just watching him trying to protect you when all the guards surrounded you...I knew I had picked the perfect nickname for him. He looked so pretty when he was scared."
My mouth fell open hearing this bastards sick thoughts about Damon. Enzo had moved back from me and was talking quietly to another guard that came in the room. I knew he would not be able to stop me in time and I didn't even think of the consequences and just lifted my hand and slapped Kai hard across the face!
His head snapped back at the force of my blow as his cheek flared red and he flexed his jaw as he turned back to me. "Ooh, Doctor Delicious has got fire! Damon should have been a smarter con though and NOT showed his hand so that I could see that his weakness is poor defenseless little...YOU. You just made yourself SO much more attractive to me honey." He licked his lips and winked at me. I felt my stomach spinning as he looked at me like that; like I was nothing but a plaything, a way to hurt Damon.
I was seeing red, so furious that this sick psycho was the reason my Damon was getting beaten half to death or worse. He was mine. I saw how much he wanted me, loved me as much as I loved him.
Without another thought I lunged for the scissors laying on the top of my bag, gripped them tightly and slammed them into his bullet wound on his shoulder! Kai let out a high pitched scream, his eyes blazing at me in his pain. "You are dead bitch!" he snarled, fighting the chains on him and I glared in equal fire back at him.
Enzo caught my arm almost instantly or I might have stabbed him again. He grabbed the scissors from me and just pulled me back, tossing the scissors away from us. I lay my head on his chest as he turned us away from the man I wanted to throw from the fucking plane right now. My hand was covered in blood as I clung to the only other man besides Damon that I felt I could possibly trust on this flight.
"What the hell is going on?!"
I shut my eyes just hating the sound of Matt's voice now. But if he was here that meant he wasn't with Damon.
Damon. I needed to go to him.
Enzo turned us toward Matt as he came forward. "I stopped her boss, but she stabbed Parker with her scissors." I looked back seeing another guard had rushed forward and pressed on his wounds looking at me like I should fix him. Hell no!
Matt looked shocked, running his hand through his blond hair. I swallowed hard as I saw blood on his knuckles.
Damon's blood.
The man I loathed, almost more than Kai at that moment let out a deep breath as he faced me and opened his mouth. "Have you lost your mind Elena?" he snapped at me. But he was interrupted by the large steel door to the cockpit opening up and the sandy haired man walking out. He looked both ways only having the door open slightly before stepping out further. I saw Matt motion to Enzo.
"Keep her away from him. I'll deal with her later," he said sighing heavily. Enzo backed me away from Kai. Kai was still glaring daggers at me as I struggled in the man's grasp before I saw his eyelids start to droop and he must have passed out from the pain. I tentatively looked up in Enzo's eyes as he pulled me down into a seat further away from the man I just tried to kill. I just tried to take a man's life. I sat back hardly believing it.
"Elena, just stay away from him. I know you are upset, hell I can see it all over your face." He shut his eyes slowly and opened them again his expression firm. "Killing him would just make things worse for you. Do you think Damon would be able to live with himself if you went to prison for him? Think about Damon, Elena," he whispered almost right in my ear so no one else could hear, his hands squeezing my arms.
I backed my head up enough to look in his eyes. He was totally right. Damon would be devastated. Still, there was something more to this guy. He sounded like he cared about Damon. What was going on? I narrowed my eyes at him as he buckled my seat belt, his eyes daring me to move. I nodded solemnly at him lowering my head.
I could hear the rapid conversation between the pilot and Matt. The man Ric it sounded like was reaming him out after Matt had explained the hostage situation on the plane but that everything was fine now.
"Well good." The man seemed glad. "I did not sign up for this flight to get in the middle of a riot in the fucking sky," he snapped at Matt his eyes hard on him. "Keep control of the creeps on the plane so I can do my job and get you over the ocean without incident. I had heard all the shouting and the god damned gun shot and I couldn't even come out and investigate till it was all clear. You never know who would try to hijack the plane."
"We will Captain Saltzman, it won't happen again." Matt affirmed almost impatiently.
"It better not," he snapped back at him. "Anyway I needed to tell you we have some rougher weather up ahead. We already tried to fly above it but the storm system is encompassing a lot of the sky. So you all need to strap in now cause it's going to get bumpy."
I saw Matt and Enzo nodding to him. He turned back around and whispered to Enzo I assumed to tell the other guards to strap in and the mysterious man that seemed like he was protecting Damon as much as me went out the doorway.
Matt had the audacity to actually move to the seat right beside me and buckled up the belt. He turned to me and I just bent my head avoiding his eyes. I hated him. Seeing him right there, his head bent toward me looking at me sadly like he wanted to fix things made me sick.
And all I could see was Damon's blood on his hands.
I kept my mouth shut or I felt like I would scream at him or throw myself on him and scratch his eyes out. The next thing we heard was the sound of the intercom with Captain Saltzman alerting the passengers about the turbulence that was coming. I pulled my seat belt tighter and pushed my head back in the seat.
I could already feel my head pounding in fear of the plane shaking more. I gripped the armrest holding it tight as the first jolts shook the plane, making my heart leap to my throat again. I felt a hand on mine and I looked down, almost in deja vu thinking that nothing in the last hours had happened and Damon was still sitting beside me like before when we took off.
But it was not Damon.
Matt...was squeezing my hand and I pulled it out from between his in an instant and shoved it between my knees. No way in hell!
I felt tears pooling at the fear building in me, trying to force it back down, to not let it get to me again.
Damon, I needed Damon.
I felt the plane shake more as I swallowed hard. No, I couldn't do this.
I unbuckled my belt, sprang out of my seat and spun around taking off down the aisle before Matt could even get a word out. I gripped the seats as I ran, pushing myself faster and faster to the back of the plane...to him.
I saw Matt pulling at his seat belt that might be stuck as he yelled back at me. I ran as fast as I could down the aisle, ignoring anything around me with just the one thought. I needed to see Damon again.
Another pocket of air shook the plane and caused me to lose my footing and be thrown into the seats beside me. If I hadn't had a good grip on the one chair I could have be thrown halfway across the cabin. I could hear Matt yelling behind me and it sounded like his voice was getting closer. Damn, he must have gotten out of his seat!
I twisted my head around to see him thrown up into the air, his back hitting the roof of the plane before he fell back down in a heap on the floor in the aisle. He looked hurt maybe unconscious, but I knew that wasn't likely for long. Hell if I cared.
I pushed off again past the empty cabin between first class and coach. The plane was so big it seemed that the aisle I was running down was far enough away from any of the guards all buckled in and the prisoners watching me from the far side of coach.
My heart was pounding so hard in my chest as I ripped back the curtain behind the last seats closing it right away behind me. There was a small area where flight attendants could sit beside the bathrooms, it was where I had found the extra jumpsuits before. And that was when I finally saw him again.
The walls were streaked with blood and just the sight of that made me want to gag. "Oh my God Damon."
I sunk to the floor beside him turning him over. He was cuffed by one wrist to the bottom of the chair beside him, just laying on the floor curled up in the fetal position and my heart just ached for him. His head had been facing away from me but I had gasped already seeing blood stains seeping through his suit and on his neck. I pulled harder, feeling him an almost dead weight as I rolled him over into my lap.
"Baby," I breathed out taking in his injuries. He was breathing thank god but he looked to have been knocked out cold or had been in so much pain he blacked out. I felt all over his body this time completely as a doctor, desperate to make sure he was okay. No broken bones or ribs that I could tell. His ribs could be bruised and most likely were. Judging by the darker marks on his suit it looked like he had been kicked in the stomach multiple times too.
I had hardly realized I called him 'baby' and wondered how those names just fell from his lips when he was so scared I was in danger. I had loved hearing him call me that before. The name felt so perfect coming from his lips, his husky manly voice. Just the way he had looked at me in pure panic, two guns in his hands, his beautiful blue eyes wide as he breathed that endearment out to me had completely disarmed me. I melted at the sound of it and just threw myself in his wide open arms.
But now I shuddered as I whimpered that same endearment to him. I thought Matt had only been there a few minutes before the pilot had called him. What the hell did he all do to him?! Damon had bruises on his face, a cut on his lip and a fresh looking black eye starting again with blood streaked down the smooth contours of his skin by his jaw and lips. I used the corner of my silk blouse and wiped the blood off his face, my fingers running over his slightly open mouth.
I felt the plane jerk again and I just wrapped my arms around him laying on the floor, my head buried in his chest. I waited till the movement stopped just keeping my eyes closed against him, my body over him to keep him safe.
I lifted my head, sitting up more as I gazed on his bruised face. "Damon, are you okay? Please wake up," I begged him. I was stroking his head as it lay in my lap, his long raven hair wet with...I lifted my hand back up to see red and recoiled that it was blood soaking his hair!
"Please baby," I called again, just cradling his head in my lap. I let out a cry as I finally saw his gorgeous blue eyes open slowly and blink as his vision focused.
"Elena?" he breathed my name weakly. His one hand lifted to cup my face and I nodded to him, tears slipping down my cheeks as held his bloody hand to my cheek. I loved the way he said my name. It sounded like his voice was caressing me with the lightest of kisses.
His lips turned up in the corners in a half smile as he looked up at me. "Yes Damon, I'm here. I'm here."
He lifted his head from my lap and leaned over, spitting out blood from his mouth on the floor beside us as he pushed himself to sit up more. I pulled him in, holding his battered body against me and his head fell down to my chest as he took in gasps of air. "You're here?" he mumbled into my white silky blouse, staining it red where his head lay. I watched him lift his head up, his eyes finding mine, disbelief on his face like he hadn't heard me at first. I tucked another strand of his inky black hair behind his ear, watching him close his deep blue eyes, his dark eyelashes sticky with more blood.
"Yes, Damon, I'm right here. I'm not leaving you." At that his eyes opened slowly again and I felt his hand squeeze mine. The plane shook again and I dove to hold him so that his already weak body wasn't slammed around more as I just shut my eyes and waited for the shaking to be over. It felt like a full minute till the plane was going smoothly again. But I wasn't panicked like before, reliving the crash. My thoughts were on nothing but helping Damon at that moment.
I heard the sounds of footsteps coming closer and I just clutched Damon tighter in my arms. Matt I'm sure was furious and would rip me away from him in a second. The curtain was pulled and to my utter relief it was Enzo peeking in. He looked back at my determined face as I did not let go of the man I loved.
"How did I know in that commotion that I would find you here," he drawled, rolling his eyes at me.
I shook my head at him. "Please Enzo, don't tell them I'm here. Matt was chasing me screaming, knowing I was racing for Damon."
He frowned at me pausing a moment just like other times I asked him for favors on this trip. "You are going to be the death of me Dr. Gilbert."
Damon shifted his head still laying on my chest, before sitting up more. "Uh, I think I'm closer to death than you are. Death, hell or heaven I can't tell."
Was that a crack about him laying against me that intimately? I watched him smile at the guard too and I just knew there was something more there, friendship, trust maybe even. Not a normal relationship in a prison that was for sure.
Enzo grinned back at him, teasing even, I thought. "Well I can give you guys a couple minutes but when Donovan wakes up I can't promise anything. He got knocked out but I'm sure he will be coming around soon." My eyes widened at that but I was so grateful for this time with Damon, however short it could be.
"Thank you Enzo," I mumbled my head down avoiding his wary eyes and I saw Damon nod his thanks as well.
"Oh I'm sure I will regret this, Elena. But for what its worth I feel for you guys and what you have been through. Its not fair what has happened to Damon or them threatening you." I nodded smiling at him as I felt Damon's head fall back down to my breasts as the curtain closed.
I immediately turned my attention back to the weak man laying so warm against me. I had been running my fingers through his hair as I spoke to Enzo and now I was still just so happy to have this precious time with him. I felt a huge bump on his cheek and another on the side of his head, where the blood was coming from. "Are you sure you are okay?" I asked him gently.
"Yep," he said popping the 'P'. "Never better. Donovan hits like a girl," he started to smile and then cringed at the pain that smiling must be causing before turning to spit out more blood. I smiled back at him through my tears at his stubbornness to still be tough with me.
"Damon you don't have to do that?" I scolded him softly. He looked dizzy and his eyes closed again. Despite his pain his face was relaxed and a heard the smallest moan from his lips as my hands stayed tangled in his hair. I saw a smirk again as his eyes opened, and he looked up at me, his blue eyes teasing as he sat up more beside me, leaning back against the seat. "Do what baby?"
I realized that I loved hearing him call me that. It made me feel so special, loved. I could still hardly believe he told me he loved me, in front of everyone. What the hell was I getting myself into loving a condemned man that I might never see again in a few hours?
"You know what. Matt just beat you for storming the plane to save me and you are acting tough like you think you need to around me." He looked confused at my statement.
I felt more tears at my lashes. "I thought he could have killed you Damon! I was so scared and I could hear you in pain all the way from the front of the plane!"
At that moment everything shook more around us. I could not stand all the bumps. I felt like I could throw up my stomach was spinning so much.
"Hey, hey Elena," I heard his voice right by my ear, the sound so soothing and I knew he was so aware of my fears. I felt him pull my chin up with one of his long fingers and I looked up in his eyes, mine flooded with more tears. "Come 'ere."
He opened his arms more and I just climbed into his lap on the floor, curling my body into him just waiting for the shaking to stop again. His head was pressed to mine the whole time the plane was shaking and he only drew back once the turbulence had subsided again.
I blinked, feeling how close I was to him again. This was so much different than being thrown in his arms a few hours ago when I had been helping him with his bloody clothes. Now I just snuggled into his warmth, both of us having clothes sticky with blood. I felt comfort and peace amidst such insane circumstances, not the sexually charged air I felt in his arms before.
I had wiped my hands to get rid of Kai's blood before but there was still a faint redness across my skin on the hand that stabbed him.
"What happened to you?" he asked me, his hand running along the faint blood stains on me.
"I uh, added to Kai's injury a little," I mumbled softly a slight chuckle coming from my lips.
Damon's eyes went wide, concern flooding his face. "You what? Are you okay? He didn't hurt you did he?"
"No Damon, I'm fine. He ran his mouth a little and threatened you and me more." I could feel him tensing up as I spoke.
"God damn it," he hissed under his breath.
"I know right? So I kind of...stabbed him with my scissors right where you shot him." I looked up in his face not sure what he would think of that. Did I just get myself in more danger with that monster? Probably.
I knew Damon had shot him to warn to back off of us but it was possible it had the opposite effect and now would make Kai even more angry and vengeful at us both. Thank God he was chained up and not getting out of prison ever in our lifetimes.
His low chuckle was the last thing I expected from him. I thought he would ream me out for angering the creep more. "You stabbed him? Wow, baby. That's bad ass. I'm not sure if I should be proud of you or angry that you might have made him more hungry for revenge on us."
I laughed hearing him calling me bad ass. Little Elena Gilbert was never bad ass. At least not till today she wasn't. I shivered sure hoping it wasn't the latter, my head on his shoulder. Damon put his arms around me the best he could with one still chained to the bottom of the seat, his chin against my head, nuzzling me like he had done a few times already. As weird as it was, he reminded me of how Ian would always nuzzle my head to get attention and I realized how much better it felt when Damon did it.
"He was so sick in telling me what he wanted to do to you," Damon whispered, his lips in a tight line. "Promise me something Elena, actually two things."
I nodded to him. The way I felt about this man after only knowing him for a month, and what we had all been through I would promise him the world.
He gripped my chin in his hand, leveling my eyes to his. "Promise me you will quit. Please baby. You need to get out of there before someone else like Kai does come after you. I won't be there anymore either and I can't stand the thought of you in the wrong situation with any of the monsters from the prison."
I gripped his face in my hands, nodding to him more. I had been thinking of that more and more, that I really didn't know why I was there. I was trying to 'be the change you see in the world' but it didn't seem like I was making any difference like I had hoped. "I will. I will. I promise Damon. I know what you mean and you are right. I have been feeling that way for awhile now too, probably all the way since you were poisoned."
He smiled at me, a big broad smile of relief it looked like, like I had just taken a huge burden off his shoulders. I heard him groan as I nuzzled deeper into his chest. I lifted my head right away scared I was hurting him. "What? Where else does it hurt?" I asked.
"I'm okay baby," he soothed rubbing my back. My fingers clung to the edges of the orange jumpsuit as my head just lay against his heart, listening for the soft steady beats pounding powerfully by my ear.
"He didn't even get many hits in before he was called away. Believe me it looks worse than it feels," he tried to assure me.
I knew he had no broken bones or cuts like the man that I remembered tried to escape did, so I was scared that they were not done with him.
"I wonder how Captain Dickhead got knocked out." I heard him pondering, his lips right against my hair.
I lifted my head to look back in his eyes. "Its kinda all my fault Damon. He was following me during the turbulence and was thrown to the roof of the plane and fell back down. I didn't stop. I just ran to you. I wasn't thinking of anything else."
His one eyebrow raised in surprise. "You ran through the plane in the middle of turbulence?" He sounded like he could not believe it. The plane creaked and trembled again at just that moment and I just buried my head against his chest till it was over again.
I nodded numbly lifting my head once things were still, just so glad to be in his arms right now. "I did," I sniffled. "I tried to stay seated but then Matt sat beside me and he tried to hold my hand just like you did and I just needed you Damon."
I felt his hand cradling the back of my head as he smiled at me, his ocean blue eyes soft on mine as he tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "I need you too," he breathed.
My hands wound around his neck, feeling the shiver all the way to my toes at what that sexy voice did to me. I snuck my fingers into the curls at the base of his neck as we just stared at each other.
"What was the second thing?" I asked, remembering him wanting me to promise him two things.
He nodded to me, his eyes lighting up in remembrance and leaned his forehead against mine, his lips so close. I could practically taste the breath from his mouth as his one thumb stroked my cheek. His eyes were pools of deep cerulean, just crashing like waves on the shore as he gazed back at me. I saw his bottom lip quiver as he opened his mouth.
"I need you to do something for me," he breathed out his voice raw with emotion. I watched his eyes, trying to figure out what else he could want. I nodded numbly, just caught in his magnetic gaze.
"Wait for me."
His voice was cracked and barely a whisper, his throat tight, his eyes pleading as he looked longingly at me. I sucked in a huge breath, just inhaling his scent hovering in the air in front of his lips. He ran his hand down my cheek, his head still pressed lightly to mine. "It won't always be like this; hiding in the darkness, us being forbidden." I swallowed a lump in my throat as he was so transfixed on my eyes. I felt like I could wait forever if love could feel this amazing.
"What are we doing Damon?" I whispered into the air between us, my voice trembling at how close he was. I was still straddling his lap, and could feel him beneath me, his erection pressed against my bare thigh under my skirt.
He caressed my cheek, trailing the pad of his thumb down it till my lips, pulling gently on my bottom lip as his eyes were locked on mine. "I don't know baby. I know this is so wrong. But damn it, it feels SO right to love you," he choked out and a saw a tear slip down his cheek. "I have never felt this way about anyone."
I grabbed for his hand before it fell from my face, cupping it in my own against my cheek as I moved to kiss the tears sliding down his own cheek. I pulled back, my brown eyes locked on his. "I love you too Damon, so much. How can I live knowing you are leaving me in a few hours?" The tears started again.
"I don't want to leave you," he said instantly his thumb sneaking out from our clasped hands to run it over my lips again. I wanted him to kiss me so badly. Just like he had that night. I missed his lips on mine like they were made for me and me alone. I hadn't had near the feelings for him weeks ago that I had now and I could only guess that a kiss now would be explosive for both of us.
"I don't want you to leave me either," I whimpered. My eyes that were steady on his dropped to his lips, showing him what I wanted, what every inch of my body was aching for. I saw him smile knowingly his mouth inches from mine before his eyes started closing and his hand on my chin pulled me in closer and closer…
The curtain was ripped back a second before our lips touched and I wanted to scream at whoever cost me that moment with him! But I inhaled sharply at the tall muscular figure stepping closer and closer blocking out the light above us so much that I couldn't even see his face yet.
"Cozy enough for you?"
It was Matt, his voice cutting through the air like jagged glass raining its sharp shards down on the intimacy of that once in a lifetime moment with Damon. I didn't even want to look at him. I wanted to just strap on parachutes and jump out of the plane with my love and escape everything else.
Damon's arms instantly went around me protectively as we sat huddled on the floor. Even with my eyes down I saw Matt step into the doorway, blocking the light from falling down on us before he moved over without another word and sounded like he collapsed into the nearest chair.
I was trembling in Damon's arms wondering why Matt hadn't ripped us apart yet or yelled or cursed or cocked his gun...anything. I slowly lifted my head and saw Matt leaning back in the chair, his face scrunched up in pain. What was going on?
Not sure which of us should say anything I stayed quiet. If Damon spoke I was scared that Matt would lash out at him. If I spoke I was scared he would pull me away from him. I could see his gun just hanging from his loose fingers of his other hand before he tucked it back in the holster at his side. But he had just sat down in front of us still curled into each other on the floor and hadn't said a word since he walked in.
Damon looked down at me with a puzzled expression before turning to Matt. "Boss?" he cautiously spoke through the silence. Matt's head jerked up from where it was laying on the wall and the fast movement made us both jump.
"Relax its just us. No brute squad." Matt said smoothly. "You caused me quite a bit of trouble Elena. But here's an ironic twist for you...it seems you are the only one that can get me out of it."
I had no idea what he was talking about till he turned his body more and I could see his shoulder just hanging loose from his socket as he bit back the pain!
I gasped out and saw him smile wryly at me. "Lets just say dad did not hire the guards for their emergency medical knowledge. Apparently that was why we hired a doctor." He looked back and forth at both of us.
"SO, I could just put a gun to your boyfriend's head, or shoot him in one spot and then the next and force you to fix me, trusting that you wouldn't make it worse, because of how much you hate me already Elena," Matt said emotionless. "OR I could give Damon a pass and not continue to beat his ass into next week for pulling my gun on me and trust you to do your best to fix this damn shoulder. I think it could be broken." Matt grunted out.
I sat up straight hardly believing the turn of events. He was going to leave Damon alone? My Damon was safe? I looked back up into my loves eyes and smiled at him. I could save him! I felt giddy that I could be the one to protect him for once.
I cleared my throat looking back at Matt, my voice was firm and I was brimming with confidence. "If I do this. If help you...you don't touch him ever again. Any of you. You let him free for the rest of this flight and you feed him. I know regulations were that you needed to feed the prisoners a couple times during such a long flight but I know you haven't given a damn about them. So if you want my help you make the rest of his flight as comfortable as possible." My heart sunk knowing there was nothing I could do for him once we landed but here now it looked like I was actually in control.
Matt looked at me with disbelief. "Umm, food, yes I can arrange that, comfortable," he gritted out looking like he would rather eat glass than make Damon comfortable. "I can see what we can do. Free? Not possible Elena. He is still dangerous and a criminal. But I can promise you he will be unharmed for the rest of this flight and fed and can rest." He was fighting the pain so much already and I was taking my time getting what I wanted. "Just don't push it Elena or we will revisit shooting him."
I gasped aloud, my fingers gripping his jumpsuit by the collar at the threat to him and the horror of the thought of Matt shooting him just to get my cooperation. "You uncuff him so he can sit right beside me here and I'll help you. If you are worried about him escaping then get Enzo in here to watch him."
I saw Matt chew on my offer. I prayed I hadn't pushed too far and seeing him nod slowly I was so happy for what I could do for Damon."Fine for a few minutes to eat I can have him free, but that's the best I can do Elena." I nodded at Matt in agreement of his deal.
Damon was grinning at me, no doubt proud of what I had just accomplished. I stood up from his lap, but not before pressing a kiss to his forehead tenderly. "I need to get my bag," I said as I slipped back out the door. I returned a few minutes later with my giant medical bag and my own carry on bag as well. Matt was groaning by this time, the pain in his shoulder must be increasing dramatically.
By the time I got back I saw Enzo in the small area with Damon and Matt and he had uncuffed him and Damon was sitting on the seat across from Matt. A tall blonde woman was handing him a plate of snacks and a few things to drink. She had pushed a cart in there and even offered Damon liquor before she left. I was impressed that Matt had been so cooperative of our deal.
Damon smiled at me again, and I reveled in that fact that I could make him feel so relaxed even just for awhile. I moved to my bag and loaded a syringe with some mild pain meds and injected them into Matts arm. "That should help," I said to him. "Now I have to set your shoulder and that will hurt like hell."
Matt nodded rapidly at me and I gripped his arm. "Are you ready?" I asked him. He nodded again, his eyes wide. I didn't even give him a count down and just slammed his shoulder into its socket with a snap and just like that he was fixed. The bastard could not even handle the pain and went limp in front of me, slumping unconscious on the seat.
Damon's grin from before was a mile wide now and I'm sure he was loving seeing the creep that loved to torture him in pain. I enjoyed it too. I pulled out a sling from my bag and draped it over his head pulling his arms through it. There I was done. I buckled Matt into his seat and stood back up.
I heard another guard calling and Enzo looked unhappily at us. "Sorry duty calls." He looked sad to have to put the cuff back on Damon tying his one hand to the seat opposite Matt. I curled up in the seat beside him and laced my fingers with his free hand. Enzo smiled at us before disappearing through the doorway.
I kissed his hand before untangling it from mine and then stood up. "I just need to use the bathroom and change." I motioned to my bloody clothes. He nodded at me, his eyes wide on mine. I grabbed a pair of pants and tank top and loose flowing long sleeved shirt and scurried into the bathroom. I was back in less than five minutes, clean, my hair back in a ponytail and moved to sit back down beside him again.
I looked back at Damon, alone with him again with the exception of the unconsious Matt near us and smiled proud that I could stop Matt from hurting him. I was about to crawl back into his lap and continue where we had left off when the plane shook violently again and then without warning the nose started dipping, tipping us back hard in our seats. I saw Damon grab my seat belt with his one hand and I hurried to buckle it, tightening it around me before doing up his own awkwardly with one hand before I leaned over to help him.
The plane wasn't leveling off like last time and I heard the frantic sound of the pilots voice in the intercom. My eyes grew wider and wider as he said that the controls just shorted on him and that he could not regain control. Nothing he was doing was helping and we needed to prepare to crash.
Crash! Oh god no! I felt my breath heaving in my chest and I looked desperately at Damon. I whimpered, his hand vise like in mine as I felt the images from the crashing plane bombard me.
My mom's scream, my dad grabbing my shoulders as I heard the whine of the jet engines in my ears. I saw Aaron who had been in the bathroom running back to us in our seats. He was holding the seats as the gravity shifted and he tumbled on the floor toward the front of the plane! He started crawling back toward me. I was crying watching his hand up pulling on the seats toward me. I could see the glint of the ring I had given him as an engagement gift, in the light that was racing through the windows as the plane plummeted from the sky. I screamed for him, and heard my moms panicked cries as my I felt my dad forcing the parachute on my shoulders before buckling it up around me. My brother's girlfriend Anna was crying in her seat holding her pregnant belly, Jeremy's arms tight around her, trying to help her into a parachute too. He cradled her and their child but her sobs of fear were echoing around the small space.
There was no time. The ground was coming up fast and I could hear other passengers screaming too, their cries just reverberating in my ears. Aaron had finally gotten to me and with a quick kiss he grabbed me by my jacket and pushed me towards the door. Other people were frantically trying to get parachutes on and I saw my dad helping my mom with hers and so far it looked I was the only one that was ready to jump. I heard the rush of the door breaking off and flying away in the incredible wind before I was pushed out the door, my fiance's face the last one I saw.
I was crying reliving the worst day of my life as I felt things happening in slow motion. I felt the plane dipping further, as my seat belt jerked me back and forth. I heard shouting and screaming as I felt us free falling through the sky.
"Damon!" I cried out, reaching wildly for him. I felt his arm and I scrambled to hold him. I felt like I was going to die from lack of oxygen before anything else. "I'm so scared!" I whimpered feeling us going down so fast I couldn't even open my eyes to see him.
But suddenly I felt a warm mouth over mine, his lips crashing down hard. I felt his whole body pressed to me, holding me tight to my seat as he plunged his tongue in my mouth. I opened my mouth more to him, my hands coming up around his face. He opened more, devouring every inch of my mouth, his free hand tight around my waist. I felt him groan against my lips, my hands buried in his hair as he swept his tongue in deeper, nipping at my bottom lip before sucking it into his mouth.
I was barely aware that we were crashing, my arms were tight around his body, holding him hard against me. "Just hold me tight. Don't let me go," he mumbled into my ear, kissing me all over my face. If I had been more coherent I would have realized that Damon had ripped off his buckle and had thrown himself over me, covering my body as much as he could with the cuff attached to the seat between us. He was not buckled in as he were crashing from the sky!
"Mmm," I moaned at the intensity of his passionate kisses, "I'll never let you go Damon," I felt lightheaded, maybe from his hungry mouth on mine or maybe from the drastic change in altitude. There were more screams around us and I felt stronger gusts of wind. It felt like we leveled off for a bit and then fell further and faster like the pilot was trying to control the crash.
I didn't want to die. I felt everything like it was happening when my whole family died as I was pushed through the broken door and felt the rush of air and the pull as the parachute yanked me back up into the sky as I watched helplessly from above screaming in raw terror as everyone I ever loved was taken from me as the plane crashed to the ground in a fiery inferno.
But this time there were no parachutes, nothing to stop what was happening.
I kissed him deeper, ravenously, my arms tight around him. I loved that Damon was doing everything he could to help me. His mouth was so warm and soothing, his touch on my body helping keep my fear from eating me alive. I held his head tight to mine, whimpering his name into his mouth as I passionately kissed him back, feeling his tongue tangling with mine. My eyes were shut tight as we clung to each other, as he let me escape reality in that moment and disappear into the carnal, raw need he was showing him from his kisses.
If this was how I was going to die, I was going to die kissing Damon.
A/N; Can't wait to hear your thoughts of the longest chapter I think I've ever written. Even longer than Stefan's farewell Goodbye Brother story.
Review and tell me what you loved, what you would love to see more of. What did you think of the hot kiss as they were crashing? His pleading for her to wait for him? Matt actually being halfway human for once? I need ideas for island romance plus the crazy things that could come from all those monsters loose on the island!
Till next time!