Note: 'Incredible Love' by Ingrid Michaelson is the song, Zsaclar gave the prompt and hopefully you lovelies will like this enough to leave a review XOX

The Smell of Your Skin

Everything says it's time to go

But the smell of your skin makes me stay

You are not mine to ask things of

But I ask you anyway, but I ask you anyway

Blood.

He was covered in it; flecks and splatters of bright crimson, curving around his every limb. I couldn't stop staring. First, I'd told myself it was because I wanted to make sure that it was to see that his wounds were healing; knowing full well that they would. Then I decided it was to distract myself, to try and sway my thoughts from the rippling after-effects of the blood bath we'd only just survived. But I knew better and relented with a small sigh. I couldn't keep my eyes off of his body because if I dared look him in the eye, we'd both step a little closer to a point there was no returning from. I let my gaze drop with a flutter of my lashes, looking down at myself and cringing. Why did the blood so violent against my skin and not his? I guess I'd always just associated Damon with blood and I was still trying to wrap my head around my own penchant for violence. Of which there was plenty apparently; if tonight was any example. I guess that's what happens when you live the life I have; violence is something as ordinary as having a vampire for a best friend.

Except, he's so much more than that now, isn't he?

"You're unusually quiet." He notes and I almost thank him for pulling me out of my own thoughts. I look over at him and sort of smile; he's digging through his drawers for something for me to change into. He gave up on finding one of my tank tops and pulls out one of his shirts and a pair of tights I must have left in his room a while back. You'd think with him doing the laundry and with my room just next door our clothes wouldn't get mixed up, but, there you have it. "Here." He walks over to me slowly, like I might just hurl a ball of magic at him if he moved too fast. "You gonna use your shower or mine?" I crumple the fabric in my hands and look up at him. This is so normal now; him and me, in each other's space. I'm so used to the smell of him lifting up and off of my things. So used to him practically on my toes whenever we're talking. The different ways he says my name and what each inflection in his tone means. The way he cups his one hand under my elbow, like now, when he's worried about me.

"Yours." I breathe with a jerky nod and the way he looks at me, like he only wants me to feel better, it makes me stammer a bit, over a single word but he steps away with a nod of his own, pulling his shirt off and I hurry to the bathroom, before I say or do something that will ruin the perfect balance of this world we've both come to know so well. In the shower I succumb to my senses and draw out the bone-deep relief that I'm still alive; that we're all still alive despite it all. Losing anyone after Elena wouldn't be bearable and I knew I'd used that knowledge as a propellant tonight, when I threw wall after wall of crushing power at those witchpires. I let the water run over me, wishing that it could take this heaviness on my chest with it, but the denseness stayed long after I'd turned off the water. I wasn't surprised when he was standing at the doorway once I'd wrapped myself up in a towel. We moved around each other in silence, the spray of the shower starting up again when I clicked the door closed. He'd gotten my body cream and deodorant from my room, even a pair of underwear, which didn't surprise me as much as I wanted it to. Dressed and lathered up in my own scent of orange blossom; I waved a hand over my hair, drying and smoothing it out with a satisfied smile as I sat on the edge of his bed. I brought my knees up and kept my eyes on my toes as he stepped out of the bathroom, making his way to his drawers and getting dressed. Soon the only lights left on are on the bed side tables. But the windows are open and the curtains are parted, the moon big and bright in her ethereal light.

We didn't say anything for a few moments when he came and sat next to me but then he unwound one of my hands as they wrapped my legs and took in his, giving it a soft squeeze.

"Thank you." He said softly and I turned my face to look at him, still resting on my knee.

"For?" I wondered.

"I don't know, everything." His smile was soft around the edges, the corner of his eyes crinkled as he looked at me. "I don't want you to think I take anything you do for me, or for any of us for granted." I looked away then, amused.

"Damon, I'm not seventeen anymore," I said with a smirk as I looked back at him, sitting up and bumping a shoulder to his, "I know how much I mean to you."

"Yeah, how old are you anyway?" He joked, "Did you age while you were on the Other Side or..?" I laughed and shoved at his chest, rolling my eyes.

"Don't start." I warned him and looked away when our laughter died down but we still looked at one another. I needed my bed, I needed a good night's sleep and I wasn't going to get either sitting here with him. "I'm gonna –"

"Sleep here?" He ended for me, all hopeful and cute.

"Why?" I played off the sudden thud of my heart, wanting to squish it down and shush it, it should know better than picking up pace in the presence of a vampire.

"I don't want to sleep alone tonight," he admitted, "Plus you're warm and you smell like my Bonnie, you're my favourite hot water bottle."

"As opposed to all the other hot water bottles that have been in and out of here in the last few months?" I questioned with an arched brow and he pressed his mouth flat and narrowed his eyes at me. His behaviour irked me, because it reminded me so much of Jeremy when I was 'dead'. It also made me think of how the parallel could run even deeper, because as it turned out Jeremy hadn't really loved me as much as he claimed to – but I wasn't about to trivialise Damon's feelings for Elena because they reminded me of my ex-boyfriend. Everyone knew Elena was all Damon was about. Well, except me and Stefan ….and bourbon. The latter of which he was surprisingly less dependent on lately. I suppose Damon took it upon himself to be less of an alcoholic in the wake of Alaric's new lease on life; if Alaric could lift himself up from the shitty hand he was dealt with in his lifetime, Damon surely thought he could do the same. Or at least pretend to, for the next few weeks.

"Those weren't hot water bottles." He defended with a lazy wag of his finger at me. "Those were…distractions." I raised my hands; we'd long ago decided not to discuss this particular aspect of his life. "You're not some random faceless girl at a bar, Bon. You're my best friend. And I demand cuddles." I chuckled as I shook my head at him; only he could string together nonsensical drivel like this and make it sound plausible – and all in the name of cuddles, mind you.

"Fine –" The word was barely past my teeth and he'd scooped me up and rushed us to the top of the bed and deposited me onto the arrangement of pillows there while he tugged down the bedding. "You are way too excited about getting your way." I noted as he hummed under his breath, sliding under the covers and looking over at me expectantly.

"When am I not?" He countered with a cheeky grin and held my smile back, pressing my lips together as I joined him in bed.

"You are such a child."

"You love it."

"Somehow, yes." I allowed, throwing a droll expression at him over my shoulder, running a hand through my hair. I was still upright while he was laid down, hands behind his head, smirking up at me. The house was so quiet, I thought, Stefan must be at Caroline's. I tilted my head as I looked down at him. "…You okay?" Something told me he wasn't, but also that he'd deny it til he was blue in the face.

"…Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" He looked back at me like I was the real cause for concern.

"Damon," I leaned in a little, "You almost got staked tonight and you're making me sleep in your bed." I poked a finger at his chest. "You haven't done that since I came back from my visit with Lucy."

"You were gone for two weeks." He complained, "I missed you. And this isn't about me almost getting staked to death, not really…" I widened my eyes, urging him on when he didn't finish. His mouth opened then, and closed, opened again with a small plopping sound and then closed again and he sat up, looking at me like I had the words he was looking for.

"What is it?" My voice dropped low, like if I was gentle enough with him he'd just come out and say it. "…Damon?" He drew in a breath and lifted a hand, but it dropped and he exhaled. "Okay, now you're worrying me."

"I should be." He muttered under his breath but because we were so close to one another, I heard him perfectly.

"Hey…" I turned his face to mine with my fingers under his jaw. "It's me." I said with a smile, "You can tell me anything remember?" He nodded, lifting his hand so his fingers could bracelet my wrist and move it down and held my hand in his. I could feel my heart speed and wondered what it sounded like to his ears; if it filled up the room with its thrumming. It sure did to my own ears. I thought it was going to tear itself out of my chest and flop out between us when we locked eyes. It was like in that moment a voice just kind of tapped me on the shoulder and went: There, that right there, do you feel it? Can you see it?

"Lonely." He blurted. "Tonight reminded me how lonely I am." I frowned a bit at that. "You've been busy with classes and work…Stefan has Caroline and even Alaric has things filling up his day now that he's stopped trying to kill himself all time." I narrowed my eyes at his insensitivity. "Point is, almost dying made me realise that I haven't done much else with my time…" I exhaled and moved my hand up his wrist, wrapping my fingers around his arm there, running a thumb over the soft skin. "And it's starting to scare me, because time is passing by, especially for you," his eyes flashed dangerously then, with an emotion I couldn't pinpoint. "And I'm scared I'm going to miss all of it by living inside of my head like I have been, being miserable and grumpy –"

"Damon –"

"Let me finish," he said gently, "…I know it's been hard for you too…Trust me, I know." He moved a little closer to me and pressed his forehead against mine, letting his eyes fall closed as he spoke. "And I know I can be excessively needy at the drop of a hat, but it's because you make me feel better, just by sitting here like you are now, just breathing and listening to me, caring about me." Our breaths were synchronised and slow. "And I need that; I need you…all the time lately, and it scares me." He moved away then and my head swooped in after his but I pulled myself back to look him in the eye. "I don't know what it means, but it means everything to me right now."

"I…I don't know what you're saying."

"Neither do I." He said seriously, but I could feel it, the true meaning, passing between the two of us then and there.

"I need you too, you know." I said, "More than I should I'm sure." I added on truthfully. "You're a big part of my life now, of my happiness…"

"I'm going to lose you," he blurted again and I froze, "It's a fact, there, I said it. You're going to die someday and there's nothing I can do about it and I'm not okay with it." I blinked at him blankly for a few moments, unable to respond. "Thinking about it…" he made a frustrated sound at the back of his throat, "It's driving me crazy." A shuddering breath was all that fell from my lips, because there was nothing I could say in the face of his pain. He was exactly right.

"I'm sorry." I whisper in the quiet. When he doesn't say anything I move forward and wrap my arms around his neck and hold him tight, one hand behind his head and the other rubbing his back. His arms come up to my waist and fall into the grooves there. "I'm sorry." There it is again, the voice: Do you feel it? Can you see it? The smell of him folds over me too and I breathe him in as I hold him. "I love you." I say, because I do, I do love him. Very much. His arms wrap around me and he pulls me closer.

"I love you too." His voice is gruff and sad and it hurts me for some reason, the sound. I want it to go away, I want him to feel better, maybe smile despite it all. We pull away and I don't know why I do it or why it felt so significant in that moment but I press a soft kiss to the edge of this cheek as we do and time slows but I don't regret it. I'm safe with Damon, have been for the longest time. Nothing bad could possibly happen between the two of us; there's a cemented trust there, in everything we do. So why do I feel like I'm holding my hand over an open flame, just waiting to get burned?

"…What?" He's just looking at me, the light making everything about him so sharp and intense, that I couldn't look away if I tried.

"I want to try something."

"'Kay…" He lifts a hand and trails a finger down the side of my neck, down to my collarbone, across it and back to the edge of my shoulder, letting the touch taper off down my arm. I hate that my heart throbs in response, my skin prickling over with goose bumps, capturing his focus before his eyes return to my face.

"You're so comfortable with how close we are," he observes, "But I still manage to have this effect on you." It's not fair; I wish I could make his insides act up. But I can't. And I don't know why I'm letting him do anything to mine.

"What effect?" Oh, who are you kidding?

"This one…" He leans forward and I almost throw myself backward and off of the bed; as if he suspected as much a hand of his flew out and held onto my upper arm, holding me in place. His other hand goes to my waist and he skims his nose across my cheek and into my hair. Boundaries, I said to myself, boundaries are being crossed. Also, something about hot water bottles.

He draws in a long breath, like I do sometimes when I step into his room, making me smile. The hand on my waist tightens its grip and I have to stop myself from reacting to it in any way. The hand on my arm slips up and over my skin and comes to rest at my neck, just under my ear at my jaw. A flash of colour zaps through my vision and I close my eyes to chase it; the image of what we must look like flooding my mind's eye. We're so close, his mouth near my ear, lips curled in a smile.

"Are you done experimenting?" I breathed, blinking and clearing my throat when I heard how husky my voice came out.

"Not even close." His voice was right in my ear, and a fresh wave of chills spills over my skin.

"Damon, I'm not –"

"A faceless girl at the bar," he hummed, "I know that. You're Bonnie." Before I could stop him he'd tugged me up and onto his lap so I was looking down at him; puzzled for more than one reason.

"What are you doing?" I asked. His eyes said 'I don't know'.

"Why aren't you stopping me?" He wondered. I cupped his face in my hands and scoured his expression; studied the face of the person I'd come to know so well.

"I don't know." I sighed. We'd been inching toward this moment for months now, so I'd thought, and now on the cusp of it, all I could do was fumble and stare. "I really don't know."

"I know that I love you." He said.

"Yeah," I heard myself say, "That's the confusing part." One of my hands drifted down to his shoulder, the other to his hair, digging in with my nails.

"…I want you." He said, his voice lower this time and my own gaze flickered to his mouth, watched it move as he confessed himself to me. When I looked back up at him I felt my mouth part slightly, words dying on my lips before they could talk me out of this situation. His hands were warm at my sides, his skin smooth under my hand, his hair soft between my fingers. "Actually, I need you." He corrected himself. "Badly."

"What should I do?" I asked and he didn't even hesitate in his answer.

"Kiss me." He said, "You should kiss me." And just like that, my world slipped off of its axis and spun away, crash landing in another universe. I'd always wanted to know what his mouth felt like, before I even really knew anything about him. I'd just found him attractive; simple as that. It was that base instinct that pulled me closer to him, the grooves of our bodies slipping perfectly into place as I closed the space between the two of us. This was a betrayal of so much more than a girl in a coffin. This was a betrayal of everything we'd become; but it was a chance, probably the only chance either of us would have to sate whatever had been snarling in our chests relentlessly over the past while. Nothing was a given; we were both proof of that – you had to take. To stand a chance, you had to shoot your arms out and grab what you wanted, or it would never be yours. And if this was our happiness, even if it died with me, who were we to stand in the way? Spurred on by a thunderous heart and the raw lust in his eyes I lowered my mouth to his. My intention was to be chaste, but when our lips met something else rolled to the foreground and took control. Something starved and unrepentant.

A sigh shuddered through him as he moved under me, adjusting my weight with a nudge of the lower half of his body as our mouths moved together. The voice exhaled languorously somewhere inside of my head: Finally. Instinctually I felt my hips roll forward, into him, as I let myself succumb to whatever fate we'd opened ourselves to. His hands dug into the loose fabric of his shirt I was wearing and tore it apart, leaving the top half of me naked as our mouths remained fused to one another's. Deft fingers moved up my waist, just under my breasts. His thumbs ran under the curves there, almost asking me if he could. My eyes snapped open as I felt him brush an experimental finger over a nipple and our mouths made a soft sound as I pulled away. His eyes were already on me and the rush I felt through his piercing gaze unravelled whatever was left of me. With a swift swing of my magic I had him on top of me, the sudden shift seeming to please him as he settled his weight between my parted legs, pressing his weight onto me, groaning at the friction our bodies made at their every meeting point. His shirt fluttered up and over his head, somewhere behind him. Dipping his head back down to me I felt his tongue curl into my mouth, running over mine when they slipped over each other. I pressed my chest upward, pressing our bodies together, lifting my legs to wrap around his narrow waist. If I thought the smell of his skin was precious to me before this, the texture of it trumped every sensation he'd ever drawn out of me. My moan was swallowed somewhere in his mouth, breath hitching when began to grind into me, spurring a rhythmic motion from my hips I had no control over. My hand slid down the arch of his back, to slip under his pyjamas, gripping him firmly and pulling him harder into the frustratingly delicious feel of us together. His groan was low and rumbled through my chest as well. I could feel how hard he was through the flimsy barriers of fabric that still separated us; barriers I hated and wanted burned to a cinder.

"More." I gasped. Because I wanted more, in fact, I wanted it all. And I wanted Damon to give it to me. "Please." I'd hardly gotten the second word out when he flashed upright and looked down at me. I felt my eyes widen at the sudden space between us, the quick flurry of cold air between us but all it did was focus my vision; bring heat to my cheeks and make me begin to writhe under him at the thought of him touching me again. My legs were sliding down from their hold on him but his vamped hands stopped their descent. The same speed sent his hands running over my inner thighs as they were spread out. He slowed just as suddenly when he reached my upper thighs, locking eyes with me when his hands went closer and closer to the apex. He pressed his fingers a little harder at the flesh there, massaging around the one place I really needed him to be touching as he smoothed his hands teasingly over my body. "Damon." My voice rasped. He used the back of a forefinger to run down the front of my sex through my tights and I felt my eyes close, as if in pain. I could be in pain; I'd never be able to tell. "Take them off." I demanded and seconds later my bare legs were under his curious hands. Before he could do anything I was upright as well, clad in nothing but a flimsy piece of lace, chest to chest with him. "Yours need to go too." I said, keeping my eyes on him as my hands lowered down between us as I tried to think through the pulsating between my own legs that he'd been the catalyst of. I let my hands slide down his perfect chest to the waistband of his pants. Tilting my head as a signal, I captured his mouth with mine; rotating my wrist as I tugged on his bottom lip, his pyjama pants disappearing into thin air when I pressed my mouth back against his.

"Better?" He hissed against my lips.

"Much." I sighed feeling his erection against my stomach, knowing what it meant; reiterating what this was. Need was such a blinding thing, I thought, it's no wonder the pleasure of it all made you squeeze your eyes closed. He pressed his mouth to mine, lips slanting over lips with breathless precision as we made our way back down onto the mattress. Absently I noted the sound of tearing fabric, the cool touch of his endless affection. But more was all I could think of, and more was seconds away and I needed it. I needed it badly.

"Do you want me?" He asked and I almost laughed; delirious with lust.

"Yes," my mouth went a little slack when a finger entered me, "Yes I do."

"Fuck." He growled. Another finger entered me and joined in the creation of the dizzying sensation that was swirling inside of me.

"More." I cried out, because his hands were no longer enough. Everything was what I wanted. And I wanted it from him. And I wanted it now. He began to let his fingers pump in earnest inside of me then, and I cried out; loudly. I threw my head back as it built and pressed down on me, my voice coming out in staccato pants around his name and my ragged breaths. Near cross-eyed I felt it wash over me, that sharp, palpable satisfaction but I hadn't even thought to come down from my high when I felt him enter me with a long moan of his own as I wrapped every part of myself around him. "Yes." I felt my heart stop from the feel of him inside of me, moving tentatively, easing in and out, pulling me back into the whirlpool of euphoria. I hummed loudly and moved my hips to compliment his every motion. We were so in sync, even in our pleasure and our desire to pleasure each other. With a spell passing over my lips I felt us leave the bed and begin to float and turn, even as he continued to thrust into me with a quickly building pace that was pushing every coherent thought out of my head and replacing it with the heightened awareness of the feel of him moving in me, the sounds we made in response to one another, our breathing, our desperate hands, our curling toes. A loud cry left me when I felt our position tilt and change, me now on top of him, in his lap, him delving in a little deeper, his hands digging into the flesh of my ass, pulling my hips down hard onto him, filling me up with every downward motion of my gyrating hips. I arched into the feeling of us, feeling him press a sloppy kiss between my breasts as my head fell back. I could feel him push upward as he 'sat' with his legs out in front of him, as I dropped down onto him, and raked my nails across his shoulders. Picking up the pace and clenching around him to have him make more of those low growls I'd grown to adore; I sent flickers of vibrating magic over his skin.

The sensation sent shudders rushing through him and resonated into me as I continued to bounce on top of him. I knew I was close and from the hoarseness of his voice, he might be too so I slowed and eased myself off of him and his eyes blinked open, alarmed in the sudden deprivation. Looking at me he realised we were floating as I turned to face my back to him and let my head fall back onto his shoulder, sliding him back into me with a hand. I turned to whisper in his ear as I began to move on top of him again.

"How badly do you want me?" His breath fanned over my face as he sighed blissfully, his hands reaching forward; one going for a breast and the other slipping down to tease my clit. My question was punctuated with a gasp of greed as he pushed me forward for few moments, hand smoothing over the bumps of my spine as we picked up the pace, before pulling me back against him with a hard tug of my body to his.

"Badly." He growled into my ear, slamming into me from behind as we hung suspended in the air, bodies vibrating with the sparks of magic dancing over us. I felt us float down as I felt myself begin to climax. He threw me down onto my back and wrapped my legs around him as he drove into me with vampire speed, finishing us off at the same time. My breathing was hard as he collapsed on top of me, the weight of him the perfect reminder of the reason for my bone-deep bliss. A while passed until we could both breathe with relative normality. He wrapped his arms around my waist and turned us so that I was on top of him and pressed a hard kiss to my mouth, then my jaw, my neck and my mouth again. I was still drunk on sex. Sex with Damon. Damon Salvatore. I felt his fingers run through my hair, his hand cup the swell of my ass; causing something foreign to dig its claws into me. We were quiet for the longest time. "I still need you, you know." He said.

"I'll never not need you." I said in return, because it was true and we'd finally stopped denying it.