Here is your next chapter. Longer again than any other I have had for this story. Lots happens so its full of emotion. The making out against the cave wall is dedicated to May and her request for my story. If anyone else has requests please let me know and I will see what I can work in.
Thank you so much for all the reviews and follows and favorites. Keep them coming. We past 300 in only 10 chapter and I am so glad you guys are enjoying the story! Your pms and thoughts and requests to update quick do not go unnoticed. I read and re read all of your kind words over and over and they push me to get the next chapter out to you sooner from all the support.
Special thanks to my beta ezala and my husband for the ideas as this progresses. VitsAsh had great ideas too that I used one of in this chapter and more later. Thanks a bunch guys!
Enjoy the romance, the emotion and action packed into this chapter!
Damon's POV
This was the happiest day of my life, by far. After we had finished the fruit I had brought Elena just lay against my chest, her eyes closed for a few minutes and I treasured her in my arms. I could not believe it had not been a dream as I had been snuggled up against her while we were sleeping last night.
And she had said yes! She wanted to marry me! I hadn't even planned on proposing marriage to her in such insane circumstances, on an island crawling with dangerous criminals.
My emotions after sharing the worst mission I had ever lived through with her had me reeling with fear that it would all be too much for her. I was desperate to ground myself after reliving everything with Lexi, but also to reassure my Elena that she would never have to live though that kind of nightmare. Quitting the CIA just fell from my lips in an instant, like there was no other option and I damn well knew it.
I could not believe that Elena would be there for me, be home for me. Her to be waiting for me and a part of MY future was earth shattering. I wanted nothing more than her by my side for the rest of my life.
Kissing her forehead as she lay against me, I knew that I would never put her through what I knew my brother lived through every time he sent us off on missions. Stefan was so strong and he had been very aware of the risks of falling in love with an agent. He knew the danger and the fear that would soak into him every time we left on another plane. I could see it in their kisses as he said goodbye to his fiance and in the sadness in her eyes that were glued to him standing on the tarmac as we took off every time.
I felt so connected to my brother's relationship, because my best friend told me everything about them. I heard when she was so depressed, missing him. When nights on end apart from him would tear at her sanity. I rolled over and tried to sleep when they would video talk late at night after a long day. I even heard the amazing and beautiful way he had proposed to her.
I was proud that I helped baby bro shop for the ring and I knew when he was going to do it. It was a giant secret I kept when we were on a mission to New York and I lied and sneaked my way into convincing Lexi to stay an extra day or so just to relax after we successfully infiltrated and shut down a huge art smuggling ring.
It was Valentines day and Lexi had insisted that she needed to make it back to Stefan on the most romantic day of the year. But I faked our flights getting screwed up and having to stay longer, just for my brother's plan to work. Stefan had me bring Lex to the Brooklyn Bridge under the guise of doing some sightseeing while waiting for our delayed flight. He met us there, kissing her like they had been apart forever and I slipped away to enjoy a quiet evening as my baby brother confessed his desire to marry the woman of his dreams.
Lexi told me a few days later how romantic he was. Stefan bringing them a lock and him carving their initials on the back of it and locking it to the bridge. They were called Love Locks and she had seen it in a movie once and Stefan being so perceptive of her desires, caught her interest in it and decided to make that a reality for them too. A couple would engrave a lock and then seal it to the bridge and throw away the key in the water as a sign of their everlasting love.
Lex spent almost an hour on the next plane ride telling me how they held hands and she threw the key in the water and when she turned back he was on his knee, his eyes shining with love for her with a ring box in his hand. They got engaged right on that very spot on the Brooklyn Bridge and then went walking in the brisk winter air before he surprised her with tickets to Bon Jovi that was playing there that night in Manhattan.
My brother, the work-a-holic put a lot of thought into his proposal and the timing and they partied at that concert and ate hotdogs for their romantic supper and jumped up and down in the front row to "Wanted Dead or Alive". That woman brought life into my brother and made him young again and I was so thrilled they had found each other. That he lost that life in him when she died, made the ache even deeper for all of us that knew them.
After his unique proposal on far from a unique day to get engaged, Lexi decided she wanted to continue to the tradition and see the other locations where they had Love Locks and put one at each one before they were married. There were hundreds if not thousands of other Love Locks at each exotic local, that were mimicking the tradition that started in Rome and had since been outlawed there as well as other famous cities due to the heaviness of the locks on the fences, causing structural damage. In Italy thousands of locks were removed from the Ponte Vecchio because authorities claimed it was damaging the bridge. They had been to Arizona, Germany, China, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Italy and Serbia too. Some places Stefan told me they were not supposed to add more locks but Lexi had begged him and they had gone at night and made their wish and thrown the key in the river anyway.
The final location was the Ponte Des Arts in Paris and they were planning to go there on their honeymoon a week after we would have been back from our mission in Serbia. There had even been a Love Lock location in Serbia, a bridge called the Bridge of Love in the town Vrnjacka, Banja and Stef had come with us on our mission just the day before we started our surveillance and they placed their lock there too. She had bought the final lock for Paris in Serbia and given it to me to keep safe for her. She planned to give it to him on their wedding day.
It still sat in the prison with my items they took from me when I was arrested. They never got to place the lock at the last location.
I remembered thinking Stef was so lucky finding someone as incredible as Lexi. And she told me once that I would feel that way about someone soon enough and would want to do anything and everything to make her happy no matter how crazy things sounded. Just as my brother had done for her, spoiling her and being so romantic. He was always so busy working so when they had time to themselves they spared no expense and made memories that even made me blush sometimes hearing them from either of them.
Smiling down at the woman in my arms I realized I would do crazy things like travel all over the world to see the smile on her face. She had me wrapped around her little finger and I was pretty sure she knew it.
Elena lifted her head from my chest and I knew we should get going. She moved her left hand to the stream of light streaking across the air in the cave and I wondered if she was thinking about a ring.
Of course I wouldn't have a ring with me. Damn.
Prisoners were not even allowed any jewelry and only a small amount of personal items like a picture or books in their cells.
I wanted her to have a ring. I could still hardly believe she was mine. She wanted ME...to be her forever.
"Baby," I whispered and waited till she tilted her head up and found my eyes. I felt a rush of excitement the moment our eyes locked. God, I would never get tired of looking in those endlessly deep brown eyes.
She blinked, smiled up at me and I moved my hand that was around her waist cradling her body tight to mine up and ran my finger along the back of her hand. "I want to give you something…" I breathed out, as the pad of my thumb trailed up her bare ring finger.
My brunette beauty smiled wider and nodded eagerly. I wondered if she knew what I was talking about, her eyes were gleaming with intrigue. I lifted her off my lap and moved to Ric's Mary Poppins bag. The man had freaking everything in there. And when I had been searching for the food I had found just what would work for right now till I could give her a real ring.
I turned back to her, seeing her gorgeous smile at me. She looked so relaxed and peaceful, her eyes half lidded like she was sleepy or just deeply content and I wanted that look to never leave her.
I imagined that might be how she would look after I made love to her for the first time. I felt my body react very strongly and quickly to the images of her naked and sated in my arms, sweat on her glistening skin, hearing her soft panting breaths, her eyes so widely dilated, her legs tangling with mine, her head resting in the crook of my neck, her breasts pressed against my chest, her lips swollen from my kisses…
I shook my head, trying to shake my x-rated thoughts away, at least for now. I promised her I would wait and give her time and I had every intention of doing exactly that till she was ready. This was hardly the place, with so much danger around for that kind of intimacy to happen. Elena was still staring at me as I pulled myself from the fantasies of us.
"Come with me." I stood up and held out my hands to help her up. I led us closer to the opening of the cave and toward more light so I could better see what I wanted to do. I leaned her back against the wall gently. Her eyes were watching me curiously but not demanding to know what I was doing.
She trusted me, fully and completely and that felt so damn good.
My voice was shaky as I watched her leaning against the wall. My shirt on her looked so fucking sexy and I again struggled to pull my mind from more naughty thoughts; imagining her walking around my apartment in just my shirt, barely buttoned up as we made breakfast together. My arms would go around her waist and pull her in. My lips would move my shirt to the side to suck gently on the softness of her neck, her pulse racing under my tongue. I would spin her around and lift her up to the counter behind her, her legs falling apart as I moved between them and continued kissing down her chest. Her legs would wrap around my waist as I unbuttoned the shirt, sliding it from her shoulders, exposing her skin to the morning light from my window. She looked radiant, her skin glowing.
"Damon."
I jerked myself from my thoughts realizing I let them get away from me...again. All I had been thinking was how fricking hot she looked in my shirt and my mind just took off on its own tangent.
"Mmm?" I mumbled before focusing my gaze on her face. Then I remembered what I was going to do and blinked a couple times to clear my head. "Oh right sorry."
Elena's face scrunched up into a puzzled look, her eyes narrowing. "What are you sorry for?"
I opened my mouth to answer not really knowing if she would want to know what I was thinking. "I um...you in my shirt was what I was thinking and how absolutely delicious you look."
She bend her head, her eyes falling away from mine and blushed actually blushed for me. It made my pulse race. God, this woman could elicit reactions from me from the simplest things she did. I trailed my hand down her side and felt her tremble. Her legs seemed to go on forever and I ached to just rush her against the wall again like I had when we were in the prison shower.
I shivered at the memories and wanted her like that again so much. Her little whimpers in my arms as I kissed her neck that night, her moans into my mouth had been the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. Everything about her that night was keeping the horrific pain at bay, pain that wanted to overwhelm and destroy me as much as Kai wanted to break me in that room that night.
"Close your eyes Elena." And I brushed my palm up from her forehead down her face like she had done to me yesterday twice, as she gave me that amazing massage. A soft giggle came from her throat as she obeyed. I pulled out what I had tucked in my pocket before leading her closer to the light; a simple black pen.
Her hand was so soft in mine as I lifted it up to the stream of light that fell against the wall. I grabbed her shoulders, spinning her gently so she was against the wall, her back pressed just slightly to my chest, molding her delicate curves to my body. Her lace covered bottom was rubbing on my hardness and I let out a faint moan.
"Damn it Elena, you keep doing that and I will so totally mess up on your little surprise," I warned her as I felt her ass rub again at me through my jeans.
"Sorry," she whispered with a laugh.
"No you are not," I snapped back at her and I pushed my body tighter to hers. "You need to stay still."
"Mmm Damon," she groaned and I was loving her reactions to my closeness. But she must have wanted to know what the surprise was because a second later she was still and I laid her palm flat on the wall and began to create her ring. More giggles as it must have ticked as I worked. I glanced up making sure she wasn't peeking and saw her eyes still shut.
"Okay baby, you can look."
Her eyes flew open and I watched her gaze down on my surprise. I was grinning like the lovesick man that I was, as I saw her eyes sparkling at my creation. I had used the black permanent marker in Ric's bag and drawn little hearts all connected to each other around the bottom of her ring finger.
"Damon, its beautiful," she gasped out holding up her hand to the light.
"Turn it around. I kind of engraved it," I said with a slight chuckle.
She held up her hand to me after reading it.
"Damon's"
She smiled at me. I had written my name on the underside of her finger as the back half of the ring. She was mine.
"I love it!" she beamed at me.
I could not stop smiling either I was so happy. Elena threw her arms around me and I buried my nose in her silky hair as she hugged me so tightly.
"Thank you so much Damon," she mumbled against my neck.
I bent and kissed her knuckles. "Now you are all mine forever," I said. "And I have a confession." My eyes were wide and I bit my bottom lip nervously.
Her face fell at that and I wondered if she was used to getting bad news whenever anyone said that. "No, no baby. Nothing bad." I ran a finger down her cheek. "I just wanted to tell you that I wasn't totally asleep last night when I felt you running your fingers up and down my ring finger. And I really wondered if you were thinking the same thing then?"
Elena smiled back at me and her eyes darted down away from mine. "Yeah, my mind kept taking me away as I was rubbing your head or your back or your arms and fantasizing about marrying you. About you having a ring on that finger so everyone would know you are mine."
She wanted to claim me too? I felt tears at my lashes I was so in love.
"Do you want to give me a ring too? Till we can both get something more permanent? I mean, this IS permanent marker so it won't just wash off in the water, but with a little baby oil it will come off."
She nodded again, her brown eyes wide in the morning light. I handed her the pen and I felt her grip my arms and spin me roughly so I was the one pressed to the wall with her behind me, just as I had done to her too. She teased me again rubbing herself against my ass and I swallowed the groan wanting to climb out my throat.
"Close your eyes Salvatore. No peeking."
I did as she asked very eager to see what kind of ring she would give me. She pushed my hand to the wall and I felt the little ticklish strokes of the pen on my finger. She turned my hand to the side too, to write on the back.
"Okay open!"
I blinked and then looked down at my left hand. Elena was grinning from ear to ear as she watched me examine my ring. There was a smallest initials 'DE' in the center of the front of my finger and around both sides of them was a thick black band the wrapped to the back. I looked up at her and smiled showing her how much I loved it. The back had four little letters 'MINE' connecting to the band.
I laughed and caught her gaze, the heat from it just racing between us. She brought my hand to her lips.
"Its perfect baby," I breathed out. "I. Am. Yours."
I was overcome with the tenderness of the moment and pulled her into my arms, spinning her around pushing her against the wall. I pressed my bare chest against her as my lips came down hard on hers, capturing her gasp of pleasure in my mouth. My hands curled under her hair at the nape of her neck, as I leaned closer, kissing her deeper.
"Elena, God, you feel so good," I whimpered out as I felt her arms slip around my waist, as her fingers went into my back pockets. I wanted her so fucking much right at that moment. Everything was so perfect. We were engaged and over the moon in love and could not imagine I could ever be this happy.
I cradled her head, tilting it to deepen the kiss more, my tongue delving in to taste more of her. She tasted like pineapple; the pineapple she took from between my lips before. I knew every damn time I had pineapple after this I would think of this moment in the cave with her in my arms against the wall.
My feelings just crashed through me at breakneck speed, every touch from her fingers blazing fire across my abs and up my spine. She whimpered into my mouth, her lips hard to mine she held me tight, her nails scraping up my bare back. My legs were parted, one of them gently between hers as I pressed her still more against the wall, not ever being able to get close enough.
"You taste so good baby," I whispered as I sucked her earlobe in my mouth trailing more kisses down her jaw and to the hollow of her throat. Her arms wound around my neck before digging into my messy hair. I kept her against the wall with just my lower half rubbing against her as my hands crept up and I twined our fingers together against the rough rock wall. Our tattoo like rings were touching as my fingers curled into hers.
I could feel the pounding of her heart, as hard as the waterfall pounding in the distance. She stood higher on her tiptoes and released one of my hands to pull my head tighter to hers, our kisses hungry, wanting and full of desire. My eyes were closed, my tongue fighting hers for dominance as another whimper came from her lips.
Using my free hand to grip her ass I pulled her up into my embrace, her legs instantly wrapping around my waist. This felt so much like in the shower.
"I remember," I gasped out, my eyes searching hers. I knew I had told her before but I wanted her to know now, feeling the same way as I had then. I pulled my lips away, kissing back up to her ear.
"I remember holding you like this, kissing you Elena. Fuck, even when I was in so much pain...when I think of that night, all I see is you in my arms against the wall." I trailed soft kisses down her neck, lifting her up higher in my arms, my hands on her naked thighs under my black shirt.
Lifting my head our eyes locked and she nodded to me remembering too. "You felt so good that night Damon," I heard her soft whispered voice against my forehead as I kissed a blazing path down her skin between the folds of my shirt. "It was so wrong, but it felt so right." Elena whimpered and arched more into me as my hands slid up her thighs, holding her up.
I nuzzled my head more under the shirt, seeing her nipples so taunt and hard from the cold air. I didn't think, at least with the amount of blood in my brain right then and I twirled my tongue around one nipple through the fabric of her bra before covering it with my mouth, sucking gently.
Her hand flew to the back of my head, as I heard a strangled cry from her lips. Her head fell back, arching her back still more and pushing her breast deeper into my warm mouth. My hands that were holding her up in my arms squeezed her legs that were shaking in my grasp.
"Baby, ahh," she cried out and I suckled harder, my whole body aching to be closer to her as her fingers pulled hard on my hair.
I leaned back releasing her, gasping for my own breath and felt her hands clutching hard at my bare shoulders digging her nails in my skin in little crescent shapes. Her brown eyes were so wide and dark with lust, almost black as her chest was heaving with shuddering breaths. I searched her face to see what she was thinking. If I had gone too far when she told me to wait. My heart was nearly leaping out of my chest at all the sensations.
"Damon, I.." she began.
Just then a loud beeping started once, twice and she looked in the direction of the sound. I rolled my eyes knowing what it was. I started sliding her down the wall till her bare feet were on the ground. "I'm so sorry Elena. That was my alarm to give Enzo the serum. I had set it last night on the watch Ric gave me. It was set for noon. So we kinda of slept the morning away, not that I'm complaining." I walked back over to turn it off knowing I shattered the mood. Or maybe it was a good thing?
Turning back her I offered a small timid smile. She smiled back. "Its okay. I understand and I am not complaining in the least either Damon. Sleeping in with you was amazing. Everything with you is amazing," she mumbled, her eyes not focused on mine but somewhere on the wall behind my head. "We probably should get going anyway and wake your friend."
I nodded, running my hands through my extremely messed up hair. "Yeah, I can't wait to make sure he is okay."
So we had changed the subject completely and maybe that was for the best. I moved closer to her and put my hands on a button and did it up, till they were all done up and she was safely wrapped up in my shirt. I ran a finger down her cheek and smiled again before lifting her hand and kissing the ring I made for her.
"We have forever Elena. Lets just figure out how to get off this fucking island." She nodded at me and seemed very much in agreement of that. We needed to focus on reaching Stefan and getting us rescued. I packed up the blanket and any left over food and put Ric's black leather jacket on me, liking the way it fit. Elena had nothing else to wear so I left her with my shirt. She slipped on her jeans and we both got our socks and shoes and boots on, ready to climb out of our little love nest.
I filled a few of the bottles that Ric and Care and we had drunk from from the water from the pool and tucked them back in the bag. It was a risk to drink it but it was worse for us not to drink anything and get dehydrated. I just hoped we could get rescued before food and water became too much of an issue. I turned back to her, zipping up the bag.
There seemed to be more that she wanted to say or maybe she was going to tell me she was ready...for us. I had no idea, but it felt like something had been left unsaid. I stepping in front of her, tilting her chin up so her eyes met mine. "Are we okay Beauty?" I asked cautiously studying her.
She exhaled slowly and nodded to me smiling. "Yes Damon," she said quickly but then added. "I just wish we could stay here. I feel safe here with you. Out there.." I put my finger to her lips and drew her into my arms.
"I know baby. I know. If you would rather stay here when Ric and I go hiking deeper onto the island you can. Or you can stay with Caroline and Enz?" I wasn't sure what she wanted. I knew I wanted to keep her safe but after I had run from her last night to save them, scaring her half to death I knew she didn't want to be anywhere I wasn't.
She was quiet a moment before lifting her hand and pointing to the back of her ring.
'Damon's'
"I want to stay with you. I'm not letting you out of my sight again Damon. I'm yours, so we do this together or not at all."
I sighed and bent to kiss her forehead. "Together," I affirmed and I took her hand and tossed the bag on my other shoulder as I helped her climb the rocks to get out of the cave. It took a bit of struggling and helping each other to avoid getting completely wet as we balanced on the rocks in the shallow water to jump to the shore. It was much easier to do in the daylight.
The rain that had been steadily drizzling into the cave as we had been talking and then having such a steamy make out session against the cave wall, had mostly stopped and I could even see the sun peeking out from behind some thicker dark clouds.
I saw Elena sigh visibly and I turned to her, our fingers still tangled together. "What's wrong?"
She sighed again. "Oh its nothing. I just really wanted to dance with my fiance in the rain...and it stopped already."
I raised my eyebrows at her, seeing her brown eyes sparkling so many shades of bronze in the sunlight. "Dance with me?" Damn, I loved hearing her call me her fiance. It still felt surreal.
Elena smiled. "Mmm hmm. I know. I know we have to watch out for dangerous criminals but this island is so romantic. I wanted to dance with you today, on the top of the waterfall or I don't know just something romantic in the rain." She looked up and around us in awe of our surroundings and she was right, it was a beautiful exotic island.
I cupped her face and grinned down at her. "Okay Elena. I promise the next time it rains and every time after that I will take you in my arms and dance with you and I want you to imagine that the rain is my love just falling down all over you."
I almost coughed, shocked that something so cheesy and romantic, girlie even, eek, came from MY mouth. She didn't seem fazed or thought it was stupid at all, looking back in my eyes.
"Really?" her voice was high and happy like a toddler who was just told they were going for ice cream.
I smiled again, stroking my finger down her cheek. "Really."
We kept walking and I made a mental note not to forget that I owed her a dance the next time the rain fell. Something so simple brought such a smile to her face and found myself already thinking of other things that I could do to make her smile. She was my world and I could not imagine it without her in it.
I followed the winding water in the river, curious to see how close to came to the cave where Ric was hiding Enzo. If it was the only place with fresh water we needed to know because a few bottles of water would not last long. As luck would have it, the river was only about a mile away from where we were heading and would be easy to go back and forth if needed. I thought we could even hide Enzo down in the cave if needed and all of us would have a safe place where the cons could not find us.
Elena just held tight to my hand and I wished I knew what she was thinking. She had been quiet almost the whole way but clutching tight to me and looking around her often. I didn't want her to be scared. I would protect her with my life. I squeezed her hand in mine my eyes finding hers. We didn't even need to say anything and I knew she understood what I meant.
I saw Ric just outside the cave and he turned and started walking toward us.
"So the love birds finally decided to join us boring folk," Ric quipped and I rolled my eyes at him.
I chuckled and grinned at him. "Sorry we were late we were.."
Ric held his hand up. "I don't want to know what you were doing cowboy. I'm just fine without the details.
I saw Elena shaking her head but it looked clear to Ric that we had been busy last night no matter what we said to the contrary. "Awe, but the details are the best part buddy. Hell we didn't even get to the cave under the water before I had her once against a tree."
Elena's eyes were starting to bulge and I had to hold back laughing out loud.
"And then again on the ground…and again naked in the water. So fucking hot," I gushed and Ric had put his hands over his ears.
I smirked at her enjoying the look of shock on her face. Elena's mouth could have caught flies and she reached over and smacked me in the stomach.
"Ouch," I groaned doubling over as her tiny fist came in contact with more bruises Donovan left me. This time she didn't apologize at all and stood there glaring at me.
Ric looked like he had no idea what was going on and just turned and walked back to the cave. Elena's face was so red and I could not stop the laugh from bubbling up from my throat. "I'm so sorry baby. But the look on his face and yours, was totally worth it. He already thinks we slept together, what wrong with having fun with it?"
"Don't think I won't get you back for that somehow Salvatore." Her little nostrils were flaring as she frowned the cutest little frown at me.
Ooh that sounded fun! I was kidding and as well as I could read her she knew I was just teasing. Maybe the blush was from how I described where we made love? Now I really wanted to know. But before I could follow her, she spun on her heel and stalked toward the cave. Caroline came out and pulled her aside.
Deciding to leave it alone for now and headed over to check on my best friend. I pushed the fronds aside and knelt on the ground beside him. He looked so relaxed and peaceful. He needed to wake up. We needed him to help us get the hell off this island.
I pulled out the pen, the fake pen and Ric who saw what I was doing passed me a syringe without a word. After tying a tourniquet around his upper arm I filled the syringe with the serum, careful to release any air bubbles. I tapped his pale skin looking for a good vein and then injected it into his bloodstream. Ric looked at me as I sat back on my heels.
"That is all I can do. The rest is up to him. We only use these fancy tricks as a last resort so there is still an element of risk to it. 5% of people don't wake up from it at all. I've never used it myself but I've heard of it saving some agents lives in some cases."
Ric leaned back against the rock wall and crossed his arms. "How long till we know?"
I shrugged."It could be anywhere between 12 hours or as many as 24 more. I am told it reacts different with every person. It is a rare drug combination too and I'm not even sure where Enzo got it from. Its similar to the ones we have used in the CIA but not exactly. I've only seen them being like a murky white color at Langley and this one was clear."
Leaning forward again I took Enzo's hand in mine. "You need to wake up buddy. Bon is counting on you. I know she wouldn't want me to tell you, this is your thing after all, all the baby hoopla but she told me what you were having before we left on the mission. She wanted it to be a surprise but she said she had to tell someone."
I sat down more, bending down closer to him while rubbing his hand. "I know you are having a little boy Enz. If there is any chance you can hear me I wanted you to know what is waiting for you and that you have to come back. Bon needs you man. She will be so pissed if she has to take care of your son by herself." I laughed lightly. "You know how stubborn and snappy your wife can be so you better not miss your son's birth or anything or she will never let me forget it, since I was responsible for getting you home to her."
I saw Ric just listening to me as I talked to my bestie and he looked deep in thought himself, his hands buried in his pockets as he leaned on the wall.
Reaching up I pulled the blanket up more over his shoulders, tucking his hand back in. "So wake up Enz and soon so you can help me protect Elena too." I sighed and felt even slightly lightheaded at just the thought of my Elena. "She is amazing man. I have never felt like this. I am so in love that I feel like a kid again. And I am waiting for you to tease me about how ga ga I am over her. I miss you and I need you so wake up soon kay?"
I drew in a deep breath and leaned back against the wall and glanced up at Ric. His expression was disarming toward me.
Ric cleared his throat. "How did someone like you ever end up in prison Damon? You don't belong there, that's for sure."
I smiled up at him knowing I should explain more but I wasn't sure this was the time. Maybe on our long walk? But I didn't get a chance to say more even if I wanted to as my Beauty parted the fronds hiding us in the cave and peeked her head in.
"Elena," I breathed out just feeling a shiver down my spine seeing her in front of me. It had only been a few minutes and I already missed her so much. I was a lovesick idiot, no doubt there.
Standing up I moved past Ric giving him a pat on the shoulder and stepped out of the little cave into the sunlight. I inhaled sharply when I took in her appearance. She was wearing a dress, a gorgeous silky smooth sundress. It was red, like ruby gemstone red and I wondered if she remembered when I had said to her how much I loved the color on her. It reminded me of the dress she was wearing the night I was burned. I had never seen her in anything but her professional doctors coat and silk blouses and crisp dress pants before that. That night even despite the pain I was in, I was in awe of how beautiful she looked in a cocktail dress.
This dress had thin lace sleeves that barely covered her shoulders and a deep v neckline that must go right to her bra because I could see a tiny bit of red lace peeking out from the hem of the dress. Red lace lingerie too? I felt my knees going weak at just the thought of it. My throat was getting tighter as my eyes followed the clean lines of the silky fabric to where it hugged her waist and the swell of her hips before stopping mid thigh to reveal the smooth olive skin of her long legs. She had on simple white sandals to complete the outfit.
"Elena, you look..." I felt my throat just refusing to cooperate with my brain that was not getting enough blood as usual when I looked at her. My jeans had been getting tighter the longer I gazed on her, my hardness pushing against my zipper making me very uncomfortable.
She blushed at me and it was only then that I saw my black shirt just dangling from her one finger. I unzipped the thick leather jacket shrugging my arms out of it and let her put the shirt on me. Her hands were like fire on my chest as she did up the buttons. She was hanging her head, her eyes avoiding mine and I slid my hands around her waist, pulling her body against me. I heard a soft giggle as her head came up and our eyes met.
"Breathtaking, baby. You look breathtaking." I finally decided on the word I thought best described how amazing she looked. My head bent and I placed butterfly kisses all down her throat and down between her breasts. She whimpered as her hands came up into my hair and I wondered if she was thinking of how close we had been in the cave before we were rudely interrupted by my alarm. I wished we didn't have to go anywhere right now and I could just take her back to our cave and show her how badly I wanted to explore her body more and to hell with finding a way to contact Stefan.
I heard a squeal, a high pitched woman's voice and I pulled my lips from her skin to see Caroline just beaming at us.
"I told you he would love it! Sexy dress for an exotic island," she shrieked out, much to high pitched for my ears. But if Blondie was responsible for my girls amazing outfit I was going to be very sweet to her in thanks.
"Thank you Caroline," I heard Elena say to her. So she had been the one to transform my fiance.
I cleared my throat from the lump in it and smiled at her too. "Her fiance thanks you too Blondie." I said with a nod before turning back to my love. "You in a dress is so hot baby."
Ric and her both looked at us in amazement. He was the first to speak. "Wow really? In the middle of all this, the doctor and the prisoner thought it was the perfect time to get engaged?"
I curled Elena closer in to my body and saw her hold up her hand to them showing them her ring. Caroline took her hand and turned it over too.
"Damon's. Awe, you guys are so fricking cute."
Elena was glowing and I kissed the top of her head. "I know its crazy. But I know he is the one Caroline. I have never been more sure of anything." I watched the two girls hug and bond chattering away about how romantic I had been in the cave.
Ric passed me a look of approval and I was happy he was happy for us too.
"We should probably get going," I said wondering how late it was with the sun already high up in the sky. Turning to look at the watch I had put on I saw it was close to 2 in the afternoon.
Caroline turned to me. "Do you want me to stay with your friend? While you guys hike up in the valley? I can stay with him till he wakes up."
"That would be great. I wouldn't want him to be alone when he wakes up if its soon." I turned and pointed back behind her, past the cave and into the forest. "There is a river about a mile that way that connects to the waterfall where Elena and I found a cave to sleep in. You can wash and clean up there if you want. And if Enz wakes up before we get back he can clean up from all the blood on him too. I bent down and scooped out the bottles from the bag we brought. "I think its fresh water and safe to drink. I'm not totally sure about algae contamination but its better than the ocean water for sure and we need to stay hydrated to stay strong."
The blond smiled at me. "Thanks Damon. And don't worry I will watch over him. Just stay safe and get back quick."
I saw Ric nod to her and I pulled Elena closer into my side. "Just pray that we can get the satt phone to work and can reach my brother." She nodded back at me.
After Elena changed Enzo's bandages and she pushed me to let her examine me again to see if any of my wounds had gotten worse. She changed my bandage on my forehead and took off the one on my neck and after packing up some more food we were off.
I decided to tell Ric everything and spent the next hour or more explaining about my involvement with the CIA and our mission overseas and how we had ended up in the prison and on that plane. Elena's hand was in mine the whole time we were walking, and I helped her over some of the rougher ground or fallen trees. She was quiet just staying at my side, listening to me explain everything to Ric. He was quiet and looked to be taking it all in only asking questions here and there for clarification.
As we walked I kept a close eye on our surroundings but we never ran into any of the cons. Maybe they were still all holed up at the beach and not exploring the island at all. We stopped after about an hour more of walking, the sun beating down on us and I could feel the sweat on me from the exertion of the long hike. We all guzzled down more water and shared more fruit as we sat in a circle on the ground.
I looked up to the horizon seeing that we seemed to be about halfway through the deep valley and the ground started sloping more upwards toward a higher peak. That looked to be the highest point on the island that I could see and I was sure if we could get the phone to work that would be the best place to get a clear signal.
Another two hours later and we were at the base of the cliffs heading up the steeper hills. Ric and I both had a bag we carried and Elena gripped tighter to my hand as I helped her up higher and higher. I was panting more, the sweat soaking through my thin shirt. We had no ropes to help us climb but Elena seemed to hold her own quite well with the strenuous exertion.
I sat on a ledge just breathing to slow down my heart before reaching my hand down and pulling her up beside me. She was breathing just as hard, her hair slick with sweat as I smoothed a strand from her flushed face.
"Are you okay Beauty?" I studied her, taking in the heaving breaths and the sweat slipping down her neck and disappearing beneath her silky dress. Part of me wondered why she chose a dress instead of jeans and shoes for hiking, but the way she kept looking at me I knew she had done it for me or maybe even to enjoy the island like a vacation. Either way I had loved seeing her long sexy legs as I helped her up higher on the rocks.
She nodded to me, just leaning her head against my chest. "Mmm hmm. I'm okay Damon. Just tired."
I tilted her chin up with my finger gazing into her eyes. "We can take a break for a bit." I saw Ric nod to me as he was leaning back on another ledge, sweat stains down the middle of his pilot uniform, his sleeves rolled up. I snuggled in curling her into my side as I saw her eyes fall shut and she leaned against me. I didn't know how comfortable it was but I wanted her to rest as long as she needed. Ric's eyes were closed too almost right away. I heard Elena's soft deep breathing as she buried her body in closer to me, her hands finding their way under my shirt at my waist holding me tight. I pressed my lips to her hair enjoying the scent of her shampoo and leaned my head on hers.
There was no way I was going to sleep too and leave us unprotected so I scanned our surroundings as far as I could see. There was no one in sight. Maybe the cons had not even tried to explore more of the island at all?
After another half an hour or so of letting my new friend and fiance sleep, we were up and headed to the top of the cliff. It got steeper as we went and we all had to work together to help each other up. Finally at the top Elena just collapsed on the soft grass and I fell down beside her.
"The worst is over baby. Climbing down is much easier." She nodded at me her hand over her head, shielding her eyes from the bright sunlight. I lay down beside her staring up at the clouds, before getting up and looking around.
There was flat grassy area at the top of the hill we had climbed. It looked to go still higher but was way to steep for us to continue climbing without rappelling gear. So as high up as we were, this would have to do. There was a small shallow pool looked to be tucked in the rock of the mountain with a thin stream of water falling into it from above.
I motioned for Elena and brought her to the pool and scooped some water in my hands to drip it over her face. She lifted her head and I scooped up more and let it fall down her face, dripping down her neck and sweat soaked chest. She shook her head shaking the water from her face and smiled at me. I scooped some up and poured it on my own head and loved how refreshing it felt.
I dug in our bag and brought out two water bottles and we both gulped some down greedily. Elena looked glorious all wet and sweaty and I loved how strong she was, fighting hard to climb the steep hill and mostly doing it all herself. That was my girl and I was so proud. Her fierce determination would have made her a great agent. But that was all behind us now and I was leaving the CIA for her and I couldn't be happier.
I could already hear Ric tinkering around with the phone as I splashed more water on my face, nearly getting my hand stuck in mud on the edges of the pool of water. I straightened up to watch him work. He was so focused and I was sure he wanted off this island as badly as we did and back to his wife and son. I few screws here and twists of wire there and all of a sudden heard static and nearly jumped up.
"It's working?!" I asked him walking over.
"I think so Damon," Ric said, hardly containing his excitement. What is your brother's number? How do we contact the CIA?"
I held out my hand and he passed me the phone. I saw Elena coming over to us and she leaned on my arm as I dialed the number. We looked at each other tensely, both of us knowing how important this call going through was.
It started ringing and I just held my breath that the call would connect.
Suddenly there was a pause and I hoped it had not gotten cut off. But then to my utter joy a woman's voice rattled off the greeting for Langley offices and I let out the breath I was holding, clutching the phone tighter.
I raced through the ID procedures of who I was and the connection of the number I wanted and felt my breath catch in my throat again. It was working!
A voice came on, smooth, concise and to the point. "Special Agent Salvatore, to whom am I speaking?"
"Stefan?!" I cried out, my tone flooded with relief. There was a pause on the other end and then I heard a gasp.
"Damon?! Oh my God! Is that you, brother?!" Stefan cried out.
I was grinning and sank down into the grass, this huge weight of needing to reach him off my chest. "Yes Stefan its me. We are okay. We crashed on an island before we got to Spain. I have no idea where we are. The pilot said we were near The Azores islands."
"Thank God you are alive!"
I heard my brother sound like he was crying. Maybe thinking I had died had made him forget how much it hurt us both that I could not save Lexi.
"Azores Islands, okay. That is about a hundred miles from where we picked up the signal from your black box. Thank God you called! Damon we are coming to get you. Is Enzo okay too?" Stefan called out loudly through the phone. "Bonnie is so worried. She called in to the office last night saying he didn't call her before bed like he always does. I knew your plane had disappeared from the radar yesterday and I had no idea where you were! Are you okay? What the hell happened?"
I avoided telling him that Enzo was still unconscious and might not wake up. "I don't know how we crashed Stef. I think it was the same people that have the tech we are after and this was their way of tying up the loose ends that the Mikaelsons and Wes and Markos and I were still alive. Shit Stef, the prisoners that were being transferred...most of them are alive and well and roaming around on this island. You need to get your ass here and get us out of here!"
The phone started sounding fuzzy and I could barely hear him. I passed it to Ric and he played around with it till my brother's voice was clear again and he passed it back.
"Look Damon, we can track your phone. Just keep it on, even on standby and I can find you." Stefan was saying speaking fast and likely because we didn't know how long the connection would hold. "I am leaving right away and taking a plane over there and then a boat with a rescue team to you. I will get you out of there. I promise."
There was a pause and I could hear more emotion in his voice as he spoke more. "I thought I'd lost you brother. I'm so sorry about pushing you away with what happened to Lex. I know it wasn't your fault. I know you did everything you could to protect her." I heard him swallow and his voice sounded even more strained. "I just miss her Damon, so much and just seeing you alive and that she didn't make it back to me was just so hard at first."
I clutched the phone tighter, feeling tears in my eyes. "I miss you too Stef. I know you are hurting. Hell, I would go crazy if I lost what you did. You are so strong brother. I am in awe of your strength. I feel like I would die if I lost Elena."
I turned to her and kissed her tenderly on the lips as I heard my brothers shocked response through the phone. "Elena? What...um who are you talking about Damon?"
I sniffled smiling at her while speaking into the phone. "I met someone, in all this craziness. And I love her more than anything brother." I saw her beaming at me as her hands went around my waist as she snuggled in beside me on the grass.
"Wow Damon, that's great," Stefan mumbled likely in disbelief. "My big brother in love? I am... just wow. How was she was on the plane?"
"She's the doctor from the prison Stefan. She came along cause she had to and then all hell broke lose and I kinda became her protector and the rest is history."
He cleared his throat. "Well we need to get you guys out of there. Does she have family I can contact? Do you have anyone else that needs to reach family to know they are okay?"
I turned to Elena and her eyes fell away from mine as she shook her head.
She had no one? Not one person was missing her right now? Maybe this was part of that deep pain I knew she was carrying.
Ric piped up and I leaned the phone his way. "If your brother can reach my wife. Tell her that Caroline Lockwood and I are safe. Jenna Saltzman. She was visiting family in Boston." He rattled off her contact number.
"Jenna Saltzman. You bet I will get a hold of her before we take off," Stefan repeated making sure he had the right information. It was quiet a moment before I heard him breath out forcefully.
"Damon?" Stefan called out.
I exhaled deeply. It sounded like it was something big the way Stefan sighed before speaking. "Yeah Stef?" I felt my heart pounding, wondering what he was going to say.
"I love you," he breathed out and I smiled even though I knew he couldn't see me. "Stay safe and hidden and I will find you. I promise. Just keep the phone on."
"I will. I love you too Stef. Thanks again...for everything." I felt a tear slip down my cheek. Had he forgiven me? Could we start over? We said our goodbyes and I tucked the phone in my back jean pocket. In case Stef might call again I wanted to keep it close.
Turning back to Elena I saw her eyes bright at me. I could feel her tracing her finger on top of where my tattoo was on my back. I smiled at her while wiping the tear from my cheek.
She knew.
She had heard and seen how much what Stefan had said had meant to me. She knew about the pain in my relationship with my brother and how much it hurt me to have not been able to protect his fiance.
And now being right there myself having my own fiance and how happy I was, I could finally see the depths of his pain in losing her. I could not even fathom anything ever happening to Elena so I understood Stefan's desire to lash out and blame me for Lexi's death.
I was right there. I should have sensed something at the marketplace. I should have known when things felt off. All of our training was all about teaching us to be aware of everything around us and react accordingly.
It would be a long hike back and it was probably nearing supper time. Ric surprised us by taking some freshly filleted fish from a plastic bag in his bag and we worked to gather wood for a fire. It was a risk to have a fire I knew but only eating fruit wouldn't do us any favors either. I wondered when he had time or even how he managed to catch fish in the ocean. But we had slept all morning so I was grateful that he had taken time to find us more filling food.
We sat on the top of the grassy cliff enjoying the fresh tasting fish, more fruit and visiting together like this was just a fun camping trip. Elena had been quiet after revealing that she had no one that Stefan needed to contact and I ached to ask her more about that. But she had been chatting amicably with Ric and it seemed like she had forgotten all about it. I watched them, studying her as she sat snuggled up to me and knew I wanted to help her in any way that I could.
Her pain was my pain.
I shared with her the worst experience of my life when Lexi died and I knew for us to get closer she needed to open up to me too. Maybe it just had to be the right time. I was not going to push her.
The sun was starting to head down further in the sky and I knew we needed to get back before it got too dark. Navigating this rocky ground in dimmer light was not a good idea. We packed up any extra fish and fruit and doused the fire, the smoke spiraling up into the sky blurring the sunset. I wanted us to get back down to our little hideaway and not be stuck spending the night up in the valley. It wasn't safe. Not like the cave was.
Elena had just stood up, smoothing her dress down when my ears perked up and I swear I could hear voices! Oh fuck no!
I turned to her putting my finger to her lips and nodded to her. She nodded back understanding to be quiet, her eyes already wide with fear and I could already see her trembling as I turned to Ric. Damn it we did not need more shit when things had been going so well! But I was not going to take any chances either. The most important person in my world was up on this cliff with me.
"Ric, hey," I whispered to him as he was packing up the stuff from the supper he had brought. He turned to me and I motioned with my hand for him to come with me. We walked stealthily toward the edge of the cliff and I leaned over enough to peer down. Sure enough there were men coming up the cliffs heading right to where we were!
I yanked my head back to avoid being seen and motioned Ric closer, they were still a ways down but getting closer every second. "We need to get out of sight," I hissed at him. Ric nodded at me as I felt Elena come back to my side.
"We should split up too," Ric mentioned and I knew he was right. But the cliffs on the other side of the hill we had climbed looked way steeper even than the side we had come up on. There was no way that was safe for Elena and I to get down without her possibly falling no matter how much I helped her. And she already had her arms around my waist, clinging to me tightly and I knew she would not be okay with her and I separating like last time.
"I can go that way," Ric indicated of the steep cliffs. "I have rock climbed a lot as a hobby, free climbed without ropes on cliff sides worse than that." I nodded to him. Splitting up was the best option and the less likely we would get discovered.
"Okay then go. We will hide and then make our way back down after these goons leave." I was already looking around at the minimal hiding places. There was a few trees but not even dense enough to hide in the foliage and there wasn't even enough branches low enough to climb up. We could take the chance and sneak past them but I doubted that the rocks to get down would allow us to get anywhere safely without them hearing us.
Elena was looking desperately at me and I knew I needed to be the hero here. I could not let them catch us.
The last option was the water. The pool in the rock was hardly big but it might give us enough protection to avoid being seen. It was our best choice.
I walked her quickly to the edge of the pool already seeing Ric nimbly climbing down the embankment on the other side of the cliff. He was out of sight hiding in the trees in the blink of an eye.
I spun Elena facing me, and cupped her face in my hands. The voices were getting louder and I knew that we didn't have much time.
"I know this sounds crazy baby but you trust me right?" She nodded at me instantly. "Okay, you need to get out of that dress."
She looked at me like I was indeed crazy. I bent down already unbuttoning my black shirt and tossing it in the bag I brought and started unbuttoning my jeans to pull them off. Elena was still just standing there. I unclipped the phone from my jeans but wanted to keep it close but not in the water so I just tucked it by the bushes.
"Baby, please. We need to hide." I bent down and started smearing the mud from the edges of the pool of water on my chest and I saw her eyes widen in understanding. She quickly unzipped the dress and I tucked it and her sandals in the bag along with my jeans and boots and socks. I tossed the bag in between two bushes at the waters edge, praying it was hidden enough before I pulled her down further in the water.
We both sunk down into the shallow water, barely knee deep and I scooped up a pile of mud in my hand and started rubbing in on her chest covering the red lace of her bra in the brown stickiness. This was an invisible as I could make us and I had to work. If it didn't we could be dead.
The act of rubbing mud all over her, and her to me was extremely erotic even in the intensity of the situation. I scooped up more mud and smeared it over her stomach and felt my breath catch in my throat as I rubbed it all across her lacy boy short panties.
Damn I needed to concentrate on getting this done and fast and not how turned on I was getting. I was sitting in the water enough that she did not see how very aroused I was at that moment, touching her there, to cover the fabric with our camouflage.
She rubbed more mud on my bare chest and up and down my arms and stomach and I saw her chest just heaving as she kept glancing back at the cliffs and I knew she was terrified that we could get caught. She scooped up and dumped a pile of mud in my hair, smearing it all over, hiding the darkness of my hair, before covering my face and neck completely.
"It's okay Elena. Just breath. You need to make sure you didn't miss even a speck of skin. We will be okay." I rubbed the mud all over her arms and had her dip her hair in the water and patted it as full of more mud as a could before smearing it from my fingers all over her face and down her neck.
"Damon. They are coming!" she whispered frantically at me and I knew she was right. I checked her once more, dipping my hand back in the gunk and smoothed in on a part at the side of her face below her ear. I wanted to give her one kiss before we hid but I didn't want to risk smearing any of the mud away.
"Okay, just curl up right here in the shadows. We are right against the muddy bank of this pool. All we need to do is stay totally still baby and we will be okay. They will never see us." I saw her nod rapidly and moved to curl up in the shallow water. If the pool had been deeper we wouldn't have to cover so much of us in the mud but I prayed that we had done enough in the time we had.
The voices that sounded like they were arguing were louder and closer and just as I stepped to the back wall of the pool and wrapped Elena's trembling body in my arms they came into view.
There were three of them. I kept my eyes as thin as slits as I watched them just throw themselves over the edge of the cliff and collapse on the ground like we had. It was a rough climb. I recognized Brady of the creeps that wanted me in that prison and I saw Kol, sporting a hell of a bruised face from my run in with him and another darker skinned dark haired guy with them. I think Fredrick was his name. I had never had any contact with him in the prison but I'd heard stories of what he had done to get in there, loving torturing his victims before killing them.
I curled closer to Elena, who had buried her head in my arms and was as still as a statue. This had to work. There had been no other way to hide. I watched them stand and up and two of the guys came over to the pool of water and splashed water on their faces. We were curled up right in the back corner against the rock wall where the small spray of water fell down just to the right of us. Brady and Fredrick leaned over the edge of the pool soaking their hair in the water before sitting back up.
My eyes were shut tight then terrified that they would see even the whites of them as they were so close. Elena I could feel was trembling in my arms but she was as still as someone in that position could be. I wished there was something else I could do to sooth her.
The guys were talking about getting off the island and as low as they were speaking as they walked back away I caught something about Kai needing help and that he had promised them a way off the island for helping him. What the hell were they all doing here? I didn't have to wait long and I saw Kol pull out a satt phone just like ours. I had no idea there had been another one on the plane. Maybe the guards had one? He was lifting it up walking around likely looking for a signal like we had. In less than a minute I heard him talking to someone on the phone, speaking frantically, but he was too far away and I could not make out what they were saying.
So far we were good. No one had seen us and two of the creeps had been right close by. Kol looked to be done on the phone and I caught that he said he needed to get it back to Kai right away and tell him that rescue was coming. He started back down the cliffs with the satt phone and I breathed as shallow as I could just waiting for the other two to leave with him. I did not know how long we could stay this still and I knew Elena must be so scared with the prisoners so close.
I saw Kol had a gun and Brady did too. If I could just get that gun we would finally have a weapon to protect ourselves. I had lost the other gun I stole from Kol in the water as I fell off the falls.
But they didn't leave...and instead just lay up on the grass and Brady passed Fredrick a cigarette and they lay there supported by their arms and relaxed. The gun was laying on the ground just beside them but too far away from where we were hiding.
Elena shifted her leg curled up beside mine and sent a ripple through the water. I prayed they did not turn around. Brady stood up and looked like he was pacing and I gasped when he kicked at where we had hid the fire we made. Oh shit!
Instantly his head shot up after brushing the leaves off the small pile of used up firewood that we had hidden. I froze, my fingers curling tighter around her. Brady grabbed up the gun from the ground and started walking around the small area. He peeked down the side of the cliff that Ric had left before his eyes went back up looking around more, the gun raised.
Brady was walking closer to the pool and I heard Fredrick ask him what the hell he was doing and he put a finger to his lips. Damn it he must know someone was up there hiding. He stepped closer, his feet swishing through the thick grass.
The only thing I had was the element of surprise. I waited till he got even closer and dove out at him, my hand squeezing hard on the wrist of the hand holding the gun. I slammed his wrist against the rock as the gun went off one and then two more times but he held on tight. He saw me through my disguise and a sick smirk came over his lips.
"Salvatore, you bastard," he cried out.
I heard Elena scream a second later and I saw that Fredrick had found her as we had been wrestling for the gun and he was dragging her to the ground as she fought him. My girl kicked and fought and I felt in that instant of distraction a blow to my face as Brady punched me and I pulled him to the ground as I fell before he was grabbing me up by the hair and slamming me against the wall the gun to the back of my head.
"Damon!" I heard my love scream and knew she must have seen what happened. Fredrick had his hand around her throat as he straddled her in the grass. I felt Brady pull me down with him, the gun still pressed to the back of my head and watched him pick up the satt phone I had hidden at the base of the bushes.
He shook me. "You trying to get away Salvatore? That is what you are doing up here too. Finding the highest cliff to get a signal? When are you going to learn that you can never get away from us!" And before I could stop him he smashed the phone to the ground and broke it to pieces under his boot.
Elena was crying and I knew Fredrick was on top of her as she fought him and I slammed by head back hard into Brady's skull. I spun around and tackled him down the gun between us and Elena cried out my name again and I knew she had seen me fighting him. I pulled with all my strength despite my bruised ribs and pain all over my stomach and finally got him to release the gun. It fell to the ground as he grabbed for my throat!
The next seconds felt like they went by in slow motion as I felt things fading as he held me in such a hard grip and I clawed at my neck to release his monstrous grip. I heard the gun go off and a sharp cry but I was barely conscious and fighting the man's iron grip on me as he pushed me against the ground.
Then the next instant as I weakly glared up into his face, a bullet ripped through his head, spraying blood and brain matter and his hand fell from my throat as his body fell, nearly on top of me.
I choked and gagged, pushing him off me and looked around to see Elena sitting up holding the gun before it fell from her shaking fingers. Fredrick looked to be limping and had been running across the ground toward the cliffs. I grabbed the gun from where Elena had dropped it, leveled it up as I closed one eye and took him out with a bullet right to the chest and he fell down off the cliff out of sight.
Elena was panting as she collapsed to the ground, tears flowed down her muddy cheeks making skin colored trails on her skin. I crawled over to her, my throat still screaming at the pain that Brady put on it almost killing me. I pulled her into my arms, lifting her head and wiping more mud from her face.
"We are okay Beauty." Oh my God I could hardly believe how close that was. My chest was heaving as I held her so tight. She was shaking in my arms, and sobbing into my chest.
"I almost lost you Damon," she sobbed. "I saw him choking you and you fighting so hard. I just grabbed for the gun and didn't even think of anything but you!"
"You saved my life baby," I mumbled into her muddy hair and pulled her tighter in my arms. I was still holding the gun up swinging it around to protect us as she huddled in my arms in the grass.
Once I was sure we were safe I checked how many bullets I had left. There was 3 more in the chamber and I spun it closed and laid in on the grass. Brady's head was pouring blood as I looked into his dead eyes before turning back to her. We were okay.
But Elena did not feel anything close to okay. She was clinging to my shoulders and crying so hard I could hardly hear her words. I wordlessly helped her pull her bra straps back up and saw her tugging her lace panties higher. Had that bastard tried to rape her? I was furious.
"Damon you can't die. I already lost everyone else in my life! I can't lose you too. I just can't I would not be able to go on."
I nodded at her, pulling her face up from my chest. "Are you ready to tell me what happened? Trust me with your past?" She gazed deeply into my eyes, her brown eyes so red rimmed and swollen from crying.
"Yes Damon. I am ready to tell you what happened to me..."
Lots happened in that chapter. Yeah that Elena is finally ready to tell him about her past.
Please Review, even if its only a few words. I love hearing from the readers and every review inspires me to write faster and get you that next chapter sooner.
What did you think of everything? Their tattoo rings, more making out in the cave, Damon's heartfelt talk to Enzo wanting him to wake up, finally connecting to Stefan and rescue is coming! Hiding in the mud to avoid being seen. And Elena saved Damon's life and now all the fear of losing him is pushing her to tell him about her past. Send me your thoughts on any or all of that.
This is very much like Hunger games and I wanted to put in a part similar to Peeta hiding out in the river all camouflaged. It wasn't as good as that but I hoped it was exciting.
Much love. Super long chapter and I hope you loved it! Depending on the response feeding my muse I will see if I can get you another chapter by or on the weekend!