Thank you to everyone who is reading and reviewing. Great feedback is like food for a writer's soul. Please continue to leave your thoughts because I really appreciate them. As you can see by the rapid-fire updates, I'm having fun with this one. I don't tend to give anything away about my stories but since someone asked, I will say that Bonnie is NOT dreaming. The life on the Other Side is actually happening. Thanks again.

Chapter 6

Bonnie's head was foggy the next morning, and the blazing sun wasn't helping. It wasn't even noon yet and the temperature was already in the nineties. Bonnie would have preferred to stay at the villa, nursing her marijuana headache, but Caroline had roused everyone early and insisted that they hit the beach. "You only live once, people! Sleep when you're dead!" she'd said. Bonnie had found herself entangled with Damon on the couch, their legs and arms wrapped up in each other like pretzels. She had very vague memories of shotgunning with him, then sitting on his lap, and maybe dancing. Everything beyond that was a blur, and for that, she was eternally grateful. There was no telling what she'd said or done.

At least she hadn't woken up naked.

And luckily for her, Damon seemed equally unaware of what had transpired between them. He hadn't mentioned anything that happened. No snarky remarks or dirty smiles. Bonnie was sure she had done something embarrassing but as long as he didn't remember it, all was good.

"You okay there, Judgey?" he asked as they settled into one of the few vacant spaces on the beach. They laid down their towels and put up some big umbrellas and popped open the cooler. He offered her a beer but she opted for water instead.

"Yeah, just kind out of of it."

"That stuff last night was pretty strong," he agreed. He sat down next to her and pulled off his tank top. His skin was so pale that he practically glowed.

"God, remind me not to take off my sunglasses. You're blinding me with all that pastiness."

"Ha, ha," he said dryly. "For your information, I'm capable of getting a very nice tan."

"I hope so. When's the last time you went outside? 1865?"

He gave her a phony smile and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"We can't all be blessed with rich, melanin-laced skin, Princess. Don't be mean."

"Aw, I'm sorry, lover. Did I hurt your little feelings? What can I do to make it better?"

Damon looked her over, his eyes scanning her body in her tiny, barely there yellow bikini.

"You can slather my pasty skin with suntan lotion."

Bonnie quirked an eyebrow. "Sounds like a cheap way to get my hands on you."

"It is," he said with a devilish grin. He leaned closer and whispered, "it's what a good fiance would do."

She rolled her eyes playfully but agreed, as long as he agreed to return the favor. She dug the suntan lotion out of her bag, pulled off her see-through cover-up and discarded her big floppy hat. She scooted a little further up her towel to make room for Damon, who was more than happy to take a spot in between her open legs. He hummed when she covered her hands with lotion and rubbed it into his skin. She started at his neck, then went to his shoulders and arms, then smoothed it into his back.

"That feels nice, buttercup," he commented as his head hung, relaxed.

"I've been told I give good massages."

"And who told you that? The Gilbert boy?"

"As a matter of fact, he did."

"What else did you do with him?" he asked, quirking his head to the side to try to look at her. "Besides give him good massages only to be rewarded with lackluster sex?"

Bonnie smacked his arm. "I should have never told you that."

"You really shouldn't have. I'll never let you forget it."

"Yeah, I gathered that."

"Answer the question, Bon-Bon. What else did you do with him?"

"Why? Jealous?"

"Maybe."

She rolled her eyes and dug into his shoulders a little harder. She was trying to hurt him but he seemed to like it.

"Come on, tell me," he said, pinching her leg.

"I am most certainly not telling you anything else. You can't be trusted with secrets."

"I didn't tell anyone else, did I?" She begrudgingly admitted he was right, and he kept pestering her until she finally cracked.

"Well, what do you think we did, Damon? All the regular stuff couples do. You know we had sex so surely you know we did all the stuff leading up to that."

She wiped her hands off and Damon turned around and placed his legs on top of hers.

"So...let me get this straight. You and Baby Gilbert went down on each other."

"Oh my God!" Bonnie groaned. She covered her face and wondered how she had gotten into this idiotic conversation. She looked around to make sure none of her friends were in earshot and when she saw them all in the ocean or on the shore, she continued. "Yes, we went down on each other. Why is that so hard to believe? Just because I'm not spreading my legs for everyone I meet doesn't mean I'm a prude!"

"Oh, trust me, I knew you weren't a prude after last night," he said with a satisfied grin.

And she immediately froze.

"What happened last night?" she asked. "What do you remember?"

"Everything."

"And?! What happened?"

"Don't worry, Bennett. You didn't take your clothes off or perform any sexual acts for me. Unfortunately. Turn around so I can do you."

Her eyebrows shot off her head and he rolled his eyes and held up the lotion.

"Get your mind out of the gutter," he said.

She followed his instructions and turned around and he slid right behind her so that she was encased in his legs.

"Tell me what I did," she said.

"Nothing, really. You danced a little in my lap but other than that, you didn't DO much of anything."

She knew Damon well enough to know that just because she didn't do anything, didn't mean she didn't say anything.

"Okay," she said slowly. "Still waiting on the entire story."

Damon was quiet for a moment as he put lotion on his hands and then gently spread it along her shoulders. She was surprised by how forceful yet soft he was and she momentarily forgot her line of questioning because the rubdown felt so good. He wasn't just putting the lotion on her; he was massaging her, digging his thumbs into her skin with just the right amount of pressure.

"Mm," she moaned before she could stop it. She could practically hear Damon smiling.

"Feel good?" he asked.

"Don't change the subject," she said. "What do you remember?"

He leaned down to her ear and she jumped slightly when she felt his breath on her lobe. "You said that I'm pretty and you thought I was, and I quote, sooo fucking sexy when you first saw me."

Bonnie's cheeks flushed a little. That was all true but she couldn't believe she'd told him that!

"And?" she asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Aaaaand," he said as he continued down her arms, working his magic hands along her flesh, "other things."

"Damon..."

"Shhh, let me do this right now and I'll tell you later. This is a vacation and you're supposed to relax. You're all tense and worked up."

"Because you won't tell me how I humiliated myself!"

"You didn't. Trust me. Now shut up and let me rub you."

She wanted to argue with him but for once, she shut up. His hands felt too good to worry about anything else and after a few minutes, her body was limp as he manipulated her muscles. He seemed to know exactly where to touch her, exactly how hard. She was in a full state of relaxation when he was at her ear again.

"I need to undo this so I can get all the spots," he whispered. And he tugged on the strings of her swimsuit.

Bonnie turned her head halfway so they locked eyes and she raised an eyebrow. He gave her his best innocent look, which still managed to look completely untrustworthy.

"No funny business," she said and pointed her finger at him.

"Scout's honor."

"Ha. If you were a Boy Scout, then I'm Mary Poppins."

She folded her arms in front of her so the swimsuit was caught there after he untied it at the neck and back. He continued his massage for several more minutes until she was practically asleep in his arms. When he was finished, she sighed and relaxed against his chest.

"You want to know what else you said last night?" he asked.

"Mm hm."

"Well, you'll have to catch me first."

It took a moment before she comprehended what he said, but the next thing she knew, he yanked her swimsuit top and ran away towards the ocean.

"What the..."

Bonnie slapped her hands to her chest. The same treacherous hands that had slipped down during his skilled massage. She covered her breasts with both arms and searched for her cover-up and bag, only to find that they, too, were missing. She snapped her head to the ocean, where Damon was standing about knee-deep, holding all her items like trophies.

"Son of a bitch!" she yelled.

"Come on out, Bon-Bon! The water's fine!"

She wanted to send him an aneurysm or set his body on fire but she couldn't. Her eyes zipped around for her friends, only to find that Stefan and Elena were walking hand-in-hand along the shore and Caroline was at the bar, too far away to help. Bonnie saw no choice but to give in to Damon's demands and walk to the water, topless.

"Damon, I swear to God," she called to him as she began the walk of shame.

She kept her arms and hands securely on her chest and braved the water quickly, even though it was a little cold at first. She immediately sank down to her neck so she didn't give any children an eyeful.

"If you get my stuff wet, I'll kill you," she told him in a menacing tone.

But he only smiled. "I didn't think you'd come."

"You thought I would just sit there without a top?!"

"I wasn't sure. But I commend your bravery."

"Give me my top back, you jackass."

"All in good time."

"At least put my bag back where it belongs."

"Okay. Stay put, darling."

He winked and jogged out of the water. He made a show of putting her bag and cover-up on her towel, taking the time to fold the towel and make sure everything in the bag was perfectly dry. When he joined her again in the water, he held her swimsuit top behind his back.

"Now, would you like for me to continue the tale of last night?"

"I would LIKE for you to give my top back!"

"I will, I promise."

"You also promised that there wouldn't be any funny business. So pardon me if I think your promises are made of horse shit."

"I love when you curse. Did you know that? I love to see those dirty words come out of your pretty little mouth." Bonnie narrowed her eyes and lips at him, conveying that play time was over. "Okay fine. The rest of your salacious confessions last night included a juicy tidbit about you wishing I still had fangs so I could bite you. I believe you said that you wanted me to bite you nice and slow and make you like it."

Bonnie put on her best bewildered face. "Is that it? Is that what you're gloating about? I was high, Damon. I don't want you to bite me and I never did. Once was enough, thanks."

Damon took a step towards her and she floated back a little.

"I think you're lying, Little Bird. I think you get off on the idea of me biting you and begging you for more of your delicious witch blood."

Bonnie hoped like hell that her face didn't give away how right he was.

"Oh, please," she said as if she didn't care. "Give me my top back."

"Come get it."

He dangled it for her to grab and she reached for it, only for him to grab her by the waist in one hand and put the top behind his back in the other. He crushed her to him, bare chest to bare chest, and Bonnie couldn't stop her nipples from hardening.

"Ooh, hello there, my lovelies," he said with a giant smirk.

"It's cold," she said dryly.

"Not that cold. Those aren't cold nipples. Those are I-want-you nipples."

"Do you think your human balls would hurt if I kneed them right now?"

Damon frowned and handed over the top. "You're no fun."

Bonnie tried to get it back on by herself, but she couldn't tie the strings around her back. She groaned in frustration and reluctantly turned to Damon.

"Do it right," she ordered, and held up his hands in defense. She felt him tie the strings correctly and then she tried to swim away but he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back to his chest.

"You also said that you want to sit on my face," he whispered in her ear.

Her skin felt like someone had pricked it with a thousand needles. She had a dream about saying that to him but she couldn't believe she actually did.

"We can definitely make that happen," he continued.

"I don't think so."

She again tried to swim away but only managed to get far enough for Damon to turn her around.

"What's the problem, Bon-Bon?" he asked, looking genuinely confused. "We're in Paradise. This world is pretty good and we're never going back to our world. Would it hurt you to live a little for once in your life and stop waiting for the other shoe to drop? You know we'd be good together but you're so damn scared all the time that you're going to end up wasting this life just like you did the other one."

Bonnie flinched a little because his words stung, but she knew he was right. She had barely lived in her life and there she was with a second opportunity and she was analyzing it to death instead of living it. Damon's face fell a little when she didn't respond at all and he groaned.

"Look, I shouldn't have said that. I'm not trying to start a fight with you."

"No, you're right," she said quietly.

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I am?"

"Yes. You are. I do need to loosen up."

Damon was so surprised that she agreed with him that he was momentarily speechless. "Okay," he finally said.

"I'll try to be more easy-going for the rest of the trip."

"Okay. And I'll try to be a little less annoying to you. Try, being the operative word."

"Good," she said with a nod. She raised her hand out of the water and offered it to him. "We have a deal then."

"Not so fast. What do I get if I'm a good boy for the rest of the week?"

"Seriously?"

"I work best when I have an incentive. So sue me."

Bonnie sighed. "What do you want?"

Damon tapped his chin and then grinned. "Okay, if I'm on my best behavior for the rest of the week, meaning that I keep the antics and innuendo to a minimum, then when we get back from our trip, you have to watch the sex tape with me."

Her mouth fell open because she had completely forgotten about the tape. Of course, he hadn't.

"Fine. But if I loosen up, then you have to help me find a way back home. To our real home."

His face faltered a little bit but he covered it up and nodded. "Deal."

Bonnie offered her hand again and Damon took it. But instead of shaking it, he pulled her close to him again.

"Seal it with a kiss?" he asked.

Her eyes fell to his lips and she panicked briefly. Was she really ready to kiss Damon? She kind of wanted to, and she talked herself into it by rationalizing that they had kind of already kissed when he blew smoke into her mouth. She allowed him to lean down and press his mouth to hers for a few short seconds and when he pulled away, he smiled.

"It's a deal."