Fair Game

by TMSescritura

Sookie Stackhouse is not very impressed with the vampire that recently moved into town. Bill Compton has Sookie thinking that vampires are overrated, until she meets a tall blond vampire that is nothing like Vampire Bill. A/U

1. Chapter 1

FYI – This is an "alternate universe/time-line"

Bill Compton was the first vampire that Sookie Stackhouse ever met. Despite all that Bill had to offer (namely a potential suitor whose mind she could not read), Sookie didn't fall for his charms...

Everything Sookie related belongs to Charlaine Harris, I'm just messing with her toys.

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(1) Beware of Vikings

It had been just over two years since vampires "came out of the coffin", as they say. I thought that they were so unique and interesting and I couldn't wait to meet my first one. I didn't get out much so I wasn't too optimistic about ever meeting a vampire in my little town. Bon Temps didn't have much; the nearest mall is in Monroe.

Don't get me wrong. The first vampire I ever met was very good looking and polite too. He was a Southern gentleman to boot. Bill Compton took over the Compton estate after his descendant, died. Old Mr. Compton (the descendant that is) didn't have a family or any living and breathing kin so vampire Bill Compton came back to the home he built nearly two hundred years ago when he was human.

Bill Compton was my neighbor and even though he had only been kind to me I couldn't help but think that something was off. I knew for sure that I couldn't date someone like him when I met his friends, Diane, Malcolm and Liam. The vampire had a lot of nerve to call me "His." That was the last straw as they say.

Bon Temps may be a small town in Louisiana but we're sure a lot more progressive than some of the other hick towns around these here parts. For the most part, the town had accepted Vampire Bill as a member of the community. I was fine with that; he had to live somewhere, right? I didn't hate Bill Compton; I just had no more interest in dating him.

My boss Sam Merlotte was thrilled to learn that after spending some time with the vampire that I wasn't too keen on seeing him again. Sam was even more thrilled when he'd heard me tell Arlene that the most Bill Compton and I would ever be was friends. Sam didn't tell me that he had feelings for me until Mr. Compton showed some interest. I knew what he felt, but he could have said something. To be honest though, I wouldn't have thought it a good idea to date my boss.

I wasn't supposed to work that day, that awful day, but I did for two reasons; the most important reason being that the police thought that my brother was a murderer. The entire notion was ridiculous, he couldn't hurt a fly! The other reason for working that night was that Sam needed coverage. He needed coverage because the latest victim was Dawn Green, one of the girls that was supposed to work that day.

When Sam called I had expected him to ask me to come in on my day off. Instead he surprised me by asking me to stop by Dawn's place; he figured that she'd overslept. But she hadn't overslept, someone killed her and I'm the one that found her. Most people might not want to go to work not long after finding the dead body of someone that they knew, but I wasn't most people and I thought I might help in my own way.

So I went in to work once I was done giving Sheriff Bud Dearborn and Detective Andy Bellefleur my statement. I put on my smile, the one that I used when I was tense, and went to work. My main mission was to listen for any information about the killings. My Gran practically yelled at the Sheriff the first time they took my brother Jason in for questioning. But this time it looked worse, Dawn shot at him last night with a gun and now she was dead! I had to do something to clear my brother. He might be a skirt chasing idiot, but he would never hurt a girl physically.

Listening in on patrons and fellow workers might not sound so bad, but it is when you're a mind reader. I could read peoples' minds but I couldn't always tell whose thought I was listening to. Also, I heard them even when I didn't want to. Just imagine living life like you're in a sports stadium or in a club; you could hear everyone around and those closest to you are the loudest. The only problem is that you can't get on the public announcement thingy and tell everyone to shut up because you're getting a headache. Yeah, being a mind reader was hard but if I could use it to find the real killer I was going to do what I could.

I never did hear anything of much use. Half the people thought that Jason was too sweet and too touched in the head to have killed anybody. The other half were ready to form a lynch mob and go after Jason. A good number of them thought that I'd be next because I went out once with Vampire Bill. Unfortunately, the only thing I did get was a headache from paying attention to their thoughts while trying to keep track of what was said with their mouths.

There was one thing that I did pick up on and even though I thought it was a stretch, I was willing to give it a try. I called my friend of many years Tara and asked her if she'd come with me on my investigation. Tara didn't want to go, but she knew that I would go on my own if she didn't agree and she couldn't have that. So we went to a place called Fangtasia, I'd heard that both the girls had been there.

I picked up Tara at her place after going home to quickly change clothes and let Gran know where I was headed. Neither of us was thrilled with the others ensemble. Tara was wearing all black and looked almost like a Goth chick. I was wearing a white dress with red flowers. I didn't say anything when she got in the car; I just gave her a little look.

Tara saw me looking at her, "I might not have ever been to a vampire bar before Sookie, but I do know how the people dress. I figure I'm good with the skin tight, boob showing, all black, outfit. At least I'm not dressed for tea time." That last part was obviously pointed at me.

I reminded her, "We're going on a fact finding mission. We're not going in to find dates or anything. We'll go in, look around, ask a few questions and get out. I have no interest in being with a vampire so I don't feel the need to dress like a fangbanger."

Tara's eyes widened in mock accusation, "Bitch, did you just call me a fuckin' fangbanger?" We chuckled and I shook my head. Tara added, "Good, 'cause I prefer my men alive and breathing."

We finally made it to the bar. The lot was full, but we found a place to park after driving around a few times. We stood on line for several minutes. I could already tell that it was going to be a long night; nearly everyone waiting to get in was thinking about sex. I was beginning to think that Fangtasia was a sex club rather than a bar.

The door-woman was interesting. She was tall, with long blond hair and an accent that I couldn't place. The lady, erm vampiress, was mean too. She told the people ahead of Tara and me that they couldn't go on in because she didn't allow pathetic people inside and that they were wearing "ugly ass clothes." That made me a bit nervous, I wasn't wearing black or anything remotely Goth. The vampiress took my id and Tara's too before allowing us inside. I wasn't sure what to do or say when the woman let us pass by and winked at me while her fangs came down and she made sure that I had to brush by her to get inside. I did my best to ignore it, but Tara saw it.

We stood for a moment and looked around. Tara nudged me, "I think that vampire girl likes you Sookie. Vampire Bill's got competition now."

I playfully hit Tara on the arm, "A girl Tara, really? And Vampire Bill doesn't have anything to do with anything."

Tara shook her head at me, "You still haven't told me all that went down. I thought you were sweet on him..."

I told her, "Things change... and I'm not saying that I'll tell you but if I do it won't be while we're here."

Tara and I went up to the bar and each ordered a drink. The man behind the bar was very thin with long dark brown hair and some tribal tattoos. I made sure to leave a nice tip (more than I could afford to really, but I was on a mission), hoping that he'd be more willing to help me. The bar tender saw me place the bill in his jar and gave me a look of interest.

We stayed at the bar for a minute or two and sipped on our drinks while the bartender finished mixing a drink for another patron. The slim man then turned back our way and said to me, "you don't have to tip me well to get me to bite."

That took me back for a moment, "Oh, no, no, no... I" He smiled at me and then I said, "I just wanted to ask you if you could look at a couple of pictures and tell me if you've seen either of them here before." I took out the pictures of Dawn Green and Maudette Pickins.

The vampire looked at them very briefly and then told the two of us that such things are not noticed around here. I realized not long after entering Fangtasia that I couldn't read his mind; it was a void (like a black spot in space) just like Vampire Bill's. Evidently I could tell who was and who was not a vampire, something most people could not do; I could not read their minds. Before we left the counter, the man warned us about asking questions in the bar.

Tara and I found a table to sit at so that we could discuss what to do next. The bartender was no help, but the patrons might... then again, I doubted that the owners and staff would want two women bothering their clients; the bartender about said as much. We sat for a bit and I tried to read minds that were thinking of something other than sex; it's a losing battle in Fangtasia.

A horribly thin woman with light blond hair and wearing a barmaid's uniform came up to our table. Before she even spoke I knew that she was not as happy as her face indicated. She was thinking how she liked to be with the Master, but obviously he had chosen someone else to feed and fuck for the night since he was buying her a drink. The woman had a broad smile as she placed a gin and tonic in front of me, "Compliments of Master Northman." Gin and Tonic was what I'd ordered at the bar, but I hadn't intended to have more than one drink since I was here to do a job. The waitress told me that her name was Ginger and she pointed out to me who this Master Northman was. Apparently, he was one of the owners and boy was he gorgeous.

He was also rather full of himself, I could tell just by looking at him. He looked smug and he sat on an honest to god throne. Sure he looked good, but how pretentious did he have to be?

I looked at Tara and sighed, "I'll be right back."

Her eyes were wide, "You're going to go talk to him?"

I set my eyes on her, "I might not be interested, but I am a lady and I will thank him for the drink."

Tara stood up, "Fine, but I'm coming with you. Since he's the owner and all maybe you could ask him about Dawn and Maudette."

I told Tara, "Somehow I don't think he could give a hoot." Tara started cracking up. I knew why too, so I didn't have to ask her. She thought it was funny how I often said things without using the profanities that she was so well known for. I simply rolled my eyes.

We started toward the stage where the giant vampire sat. Along the way, I noticed the blond door-woman walk up to stand near the big vampire. Tara and I waited a respectable distance so that they could talk in private before we approached. The man motioned for us to come closer.

I spoke first, "Thank you for the drink. That was very sweet, but I can't accept it."

His eyebrows shot up, "And why not?"

"Well..." I began to speak but Tara intervened.

Tara stepped forward and wrapped an arm around me, "What my friend is tryin' to say is that she's not interested in dating no more vampires."

The big man said to me with a question in his voice, "You are dating a vampire Sookie?"

My mouth gapped for a moment and then Tara said, "Yes, she is. And, how did you know her name?"

The big blond man leaned forward a bit, "I am Eric Northman and this is Pamela Ravenscroft, we own this establishment. You are Sookie Stackhouse and Tara Thornton."

Tara was about to ask, once again, how he knew our names when Pamela spoke, "You're in my vault." She pointed to her head. Evidently, she had wicked good recall.

Mr. Northman sat back on his throne and gave me a disconcertingly thorough eye-fuck. Then he said to us, "I should have made introductions sooner, it is rare for someone to come in that does not know who I am." He looked at me, "So, Ms. Stackhouse, who is this lucky vampire that you're dating?"

I answered, "Sookie, Please... And I'm not. We went out on one date that was all."

Mr. Northman straightened himself a bit and had the hint of a smirk, "You may call me Eric. So, you are not His?"

"Oh my god, Sookie..." Tara broke in, "Is that why you dropped him? Was that vampire treating you like fuckin' property?"

I gave Tara a look that told her we'd talk about it somewhere else and turned to notice the grin on Eric Northman's face.

The vampire said to me, "I understand that you've been asking some questions. If you have anything to ask, you should bring your questions to me."

With that, I went ahead and took the two pictures out of my purse. The big scary blond, had "tasted" Dawn before and had seen Maudette. The pretty blond had seen them both but never "tasted" either one.

Once I had the information that they shared, which wasn't much at all, I put the pictures back. I looked at them and said, "Thank you so very much. I really appreciate you taking the time to look at the pictures and to speak with me."

Pamela said with amusement, "How sweet."

I replied rather quickly, "Not really." Ugh! Compton liked the smell of my blood; I hoped I didn't smell sweet to all vampires. I bet he was hoping I'd give him some blood the night that the Rats tried to drain him, but I wasn't stupid enough to let a vampire bite me while he was angry and hurt. If he had some more street smarts, Bill would've been ready for those two when they went for him... I still wasn't convinced that he'd been taken completely by surprise; vampires were supposed to have super keen senses.

My mind came back to the conversation as Pamela was escorting Tara to the bar. Eric pointed to a nearby seat and said to me, "she will be fine. Please sit, I'd like to know more about your reason for being here."

I spent the next several minutes explaining to him that the two girls had been killed; they had been strangled to death. They had a couple of things in common, my skirt chaser of a brother and vampire bites. Some of the more ignorant residents thought that the women were killed by a vampire. Others, the police included thought that my brother killed the girls because they had slept with vampires and he didn't like it. My brother was weary of the fanged folk, but he wasn't homicidal over it. I sat back a little when I told him that once I found out who the killer was, a lot of people would have to eat crow. I would prove that it wasn't my brother and the town idiots that wanted to form a lynch mob to go after vampires would have no cause.

The vampire was full of surprises. Of all the things he could have said to me he chose to inquire, "Does your brother know that you are here now?"

What? I asked him, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Eric the vampire looked at me, "He is your only male relative?" I scrunched my face a little, this guy was strange. I bobbed my head. As far as I was concerned, Jason was all I had. He continued, "Is he incarcerated?"

"Jason? No." I explained, "The police don't have enough to make the charges stick. But he and Vampire Bill are at the top of their list of suspects."

"Vampire Bill?" He repeated more to himself than to me, and then he asked, "Would that be William Compton?"

I stated, "Yes, the residents in Bon Temps have come to call him Vampire Bill."

"What is your relationship to Bill Compton?" Eric asked behind tented fingers raised before him, and then he looked at me.

"My relation..." I began and then simply informed, "He is my neighbor."

His next inquiry had a definite sexual undertone to it, "Just how neighborly are you with Mr. Compton?" His eyes smoldered and I could feel something in my head, I had felt it before.

I informed him, "You will stop that right now, mister. My thoughts and my decisions are my own and you will respect that or we are done here. As for how well I know Vampire bill, that would not be any of your business."

The big guy laughed and I think that every vampire in the bar looked. I could easily tell who was a vampire and who wasn't. Evidently I amused this guy. I huffed, "Glad I amuse you."

Eric the vampire stood up and lord all mighty was I happy to be in a chair. He was even bigger than he appeared on his stupid little throne. He held a hand out to me, "Come; let's take this into my office."

My eyes bugged, I know they did. I am usually good with keeping a straight face but this was too much. I had already "heard" from plenty of humans that this guy frequently took his conquest for the night in his office. He couldn't seriously think that I would do that with him? His face was almost comical for a moment, he realized why I was uncomfortable and it seemed to amuse him; at least he didn't laugh.

"I really just want to talk." He said to me and then looked out at the crowd, "these vermin are distracting, are they not? We'll be able to hear each other better in my office."

I snorted, "You're such a bull shitter." His eyes flashed anger at me and it was scary as all get out, but my mouth was saying the next bit before my brain processed how terrifying that brief glimpse of anger was. I said, "I watch the news, read, and yes I have spoken with Mr. Compton; the only person with any difficulty at all with hearing is me. From what I read, you could hear a fly land from across the room." I was also thinking about his real reason for "asking" me to his office, but I wasn't about to call him out on that.

He had a hint of a smile now. "You are correct. Honestly, I am tiring of speaking loudly so that you can hear me over the den on the floor. I didn't think that you would want to sit on my lap just yet, but we could do that if you'd like. You won't have to strain at all to hear me."

I chose my words, "Seriously? That is your excuse to get me into your office?"

He chuckled, "It is one of my reasons. There are others that I'd rather not discuss in public."

I shot back, "I'll bet."

Now he had a genuine smile, "If you think that I want to have sex with you, you're right. But I do not have to lure you into my office to say such things. I have never forced a woman to have sex with me and I have no plans to do so in the future." He saw from my expression and posture that I wasn't sold. Eric then said, "You came here with your friend, she is right over there." He pointed to her and added, "I have little doubt that others know you came here as well. I'd be stupid to harm you, it seems that I can't glamour you to forget, and there are witnesses right here in this room that see us talking. Sure, we could glamour the humans to believe what we want but then I'm sure you have some friends back home that would report to the police that you came here."

I took a deep breath and said, "Let me go tell Tara. I don't want her thinking that I left her without a ride." He nodded and waited for me as I went to Tara. Tara was sloshed by now, but I guessed it was okay, I didn't come here for drinks anyway. I would drive us back just as I had planned.

Tara was a bit more inebriated than I appreciated when she spoke back to me. I told her that I was accompanying Mr. Northman to his office for a bit and she said back to me, "Wow, Sookie. You're like going from zero to sixty in two seconds flat!"

I tried to keep my voice low as I could in the bar and tried to get her to do the same, "We're just going to talk, shouldn't be long."

Tara said to me, "Sookie, you're a nice girl and my best friend. You've waited long enough. If you want to be with tall drunk and dead that's your business."

I tried to shake it off and hoped that no one picked up on her "you've waited long enough" comment. I told her that I'd be back in half an hour; that was the time frame that I gave myself. Tara snorted to indicate that I would likely be much longer and I did my best to ignore it since she'd had a bit much to drink.

Eric showed me to his office. It looked pretty normal as offices go except for maybe the lounger. It had a desk with a computer and stacks of papers. He had a nice leather chair behind his desk and he had two comfortable looking chairs opposite him on the other side of the desk. He directed me to one of the chairs and he sat in his fancy leather one behind the desk.

He began, "Did these murders start before or after Mr. Compton moved back into town?"

"After," I thought for a moment, "Not too long after, a couple of days maybe. He told me once that if it had been a vampire that the body would have been drained of its' blood. Do you think he said that so nobody would suspect him?"

Eric looked at me, "No. Mr. Compton is quite right. It is possible that a vampire did it, but not likely, and certainly not by someone as young as William Compton."

I was in disbelief, "Young? You think that someone who was alive and fought in the Civil War is young?"

Eric joked, "He should still be nursing his mother." I couldn't help but laugh at that. Eric watched me and he had the most beautiful smile I'd ever seen. He then told me, "The older the vampire the more self control we have, among other things." The vampire switched back to the topic at hand, "Had you reason to suspect Bill Compton?"

"Well no, not really." I told him, "At least not until I met his friends. I didn't know people could be so vile." Thinking about that night got me riled up, "He told them that I was His! Like I was nothing more than property!"

Eric filled in, "And you didn't like that?"

"Of course not!" I folded my arms. "I'm not property. I belong to myself."

Something about his demeanor changed right then. Next he told me, "You are far too good for him. If Compton really does want you for himself he's doing a piss poor job."

I wanted to know, "What makes you say that?"

Eric smirked, "You came here without him, without any male escort for that matter. No vampire would ever want his human to enter a vampire establishment without sufficient protection. He may have claimed that you were his while his friends were there, but who else knows of your supposed attachment? Claiming to belong to a vampire, whether desired of not, only goes so far if the vampire in question isn't well known. We both know that Mr. Compton only recently returned to the area. Furthermore, I noticed that you carry a gun in your purse." He explained, "I noticed it when you placed the pictures back inside. Carrying a gun indicates that you are afraid; if Bill gave you the gun to protect yourself rather than doing what he should as a master to protect you himself then I'd say he is a piss poor vampire."

"For your information, Bill did not give me the gun." Eric looked at me and I went on, "I apologize for bringing it in here. I wasn't thinking; I know that a lot of bars have bans on bringing firearms inside but I don't normally have to think about that when I go someplace since I only started carrying it today."

Eric looked at me, "You are afraid that you're a target. Have you been bitten?"

"EW, no." Eric's brows rose up high, "Are you kidding? I hate needles so there was no way on god's green earth that I was going to let Bill Compton sink his teeth into me."

Eric smiled wide, "It can be quite pleasurable for both parties."

I didn't believe that for a minute, but I ignored that and then said, "Those two girls?" He nodded, "Well one of them had bites on her neck but the other didn't. The other one had them somewhere else. Now that killer might think that I've been bitten somewhere else too."

Eric looked at me, "That may be, but you say that you only went out with Mr. Compton once. The two women whose pictures you showed me, had been in here a few times."

"I thought about that," I told him, "but I know that I'm a target now. My Gran and I came home last night and the house was trashed. The police say that it looked like someone had a fit of anger 'cause he didn't get what he wanted." The thought of seeing Gran's home, our home, like that brings tears to my eyes

Eric took out a tissue and handed it to me. He then asked me, "What did Mr. Compton do?"

"Nothing, he wasn't there. He doesn't even know that anything happened unless he and Gran talked tonight." I explained, "Last night Bill spoke at a special meeting for a club that my Gran is a part of. After the meeting at the Town Hall, Gran and I went to a little cafe. Bill was still talking to people at the Town Hall when we left for the cafe." I tried not to think of what could have happened if we didn't make the stop at the Bon Temps Cafe on the way home.

"I'll come home with you tonight. You will need to invite me inside your house so that I can investigate." He saw my expression, "Vampires have very sharp senses, Little One. I will be able to pick up things that your human police cannot."

Out of my mouth came, "Why?" I didn't mean it to sound as bad as it did, like I was accusing him of something.

Eric leaned forward and told me, "Because if what you say is true then there are vampires in danger of being harmed by angry humans because of some psychopath and William Compton has not reported these events to me. Had a proper investigation started earlier, your killer would probably be caught right now and you would not be in danger." I thought more highly of Mr. Northman for showing concern for his fellow vampires, but I wondered about the thing with Vampire Bill having to report to him. As if he was the mind reader Eric told me, "I am Sheriff of Area Five. All vampires in the area must report to me and it is my job to keep the peace. That includes ensuring the safety of those in my retinue."

The drive back to Bon Temps was tense for many reasons. Most of those had to do with the vampire sitting next to me in the passenger seat. He wanted to drive, but then again he wanted to take us home in his own car. Eric was going to have Pam drive my car, but I insisted on driving myself. Not that I'd tell him, but if something happened with someone else driving my car I wasn't insured. I could barely afford to pay for me to drive my own car, I sure as heck couldn't add on other drivers.

Eric looked at my car, but didn't say anything. I guess he didn't have anything nice to say about it. He did ask me something else though, "Tell me, how did you expect to find the killer when law enforcement hasn't had any success?"

I might have had a lapse in breathing. I responded, "I have my ways."

He tilted his head toward me and even with just my peripheral vision I knew that he was looking at me with some interest. The Sheriff inquired, "Those being?"

I got a little snippy and defensive, "Not something I'm keen on talking about." I breathed deep for a minute or so and said, "I was rude and I apologize for that."

Eric shifted in his seat, "You will tell me then?"

"No." I chanced a look at him before returning to watch the road, "You know that you never apologized to me for your behavior earlier."

Even without looking at him, I could tell that he was amused. Eric responded, "You are right, I did not and I have no intention to." I scoffed and he continued, "It is rude to glamour a human that belongs to another vampire. You said that did not belong to a vampire that made you fair game. In fact, you still are."

I scolded him, "So you were going to use glamour to get me to do something that I didn't want to do? That is awful! My brother is with way more girls than I care to think about, but he doesn't have to resort to such tricks to get a girl to go with him."

Eric turned my way a little more, "Are you with him every time he propositions a girl? Human men can be quite devious; they often boast that they are something other than what they are."

Tara spent some time snoozing in the back but apparently she was awake now and she'd heard some of the conversation. She informed Eric, "The whole town knows Sookie and Jason. Town like Bon Temps, e'rey body know e'rey thing. Jason might pull that shit somewhere else, but it won't fly in Bon Temps, it's too small. Hell, you take a shit and you'll stink up your neighbor's house! But her brother done been with nearly every girl in town and they all know he's skirt chasing, playboy."

Not long after Tara said that, we arrived at her place. Eric got her out of the car, but I brought her inside because there was not a chance that she would ever invite a vampire into her home. Not that I'd recommend it, we'd just met him and all. Tara made me promise to call her in the morning, 'cause if I didn't she was gonna come over and give me heck. And, if I wasn't there for her to yell at, she was going straight to the police.

Tara didn't live far from me, so we were at my farm house in no time at all. We got out of my car and it dawned on me that Pam wasn't following. I asked, "Where's Pam?"

He answered with the obvious, "Not here."

I placed my arms akimbo, "And how are you going to get home?" I certainly had no plans to entertain him in my house. He might be gorgeous beyond imagining, but he was a smug one and we did just meet.

He smiled and then told me, "I have my ways."

Before we left the side of the car I said to him, "Let me go in first and tell Gran. The lights are out, so she's probably asleep and I don't want to give her a scare when she hears us talking."

Eric nodded his agreement and we began to walk near the steps to the back porch. As we walked Eric said, "Whenever you're ready you can say the invitation. I'll know when you've said it."

I stopped midstream, "Can I take it away once it's been given?"

Eric once again had an amused look on his face, "Yes, you may rescind my invitation or the invitation for any vampire. The vampire need not be present for you to do it."

I swallowed, at least his line and Bill's were the same, so it was probably true. We took a couple more steps toward the back porch, but Eric was suddenly in my path. He picked me up, put me in my car and commanded me to, "Stay here and do not move."

This was ridiculous, I was at my own house and he was trying to act like...what, my bodyguard. I opened the door and had barely lifted a foot to step out when Eric came back. He growled at me, "I told you to stay put, when I give a command I expect it to be followed."

Well he sure had a heck of a lot of nerve! I gave him some attitude right back, "I'm not a vampire, Eric. If you want me to do something, you ask. You don't just..."

Eric put his hand over my mouth, "Someone has died in your home tonight. I need you to stay here, quietly while I look inside the windows and listen. There are some electronic devices on inside and I would like to ascertain whether or not any noise could be the attacker still inside. I can do that, from the perimeter, but I need you to stay here."

I shook my head. He's kidding, right? I knew from his tone and body language that he was deadly serious, but I wished he wasn't. I sent out my mental net to look for Gran, I'd gotten really good at blocking her out but after living with her for so many years I knew her mental signature better than anyone Else's'.

Gran wasn't inside the house. Nobody was inside except for whoever's blood Eric could smell. I grabbed his arm before he could leave me. I held on tight, and prayed that it wasn't Gran's body inside. I looked at him and said with a voice so soft that even I couldn't hear it, "No one is in there. The house is empty..." Sort of.

Eric said to me, "You seem awfully confident. I will check from the outside first, just in case. Stay here until I come for you Sookie."

I was feeling a bit numb and I was torn between actions. Part of me wanted to ignore Eric completely and rush into my home to see that Gran wasn't there; I hoped that she'd gone out and gotten into a long conversation with someone. I didn't want to admit that at her age and at this hour, it was highly unlikely that Gran was "hanging out" with friends. Another part of me wanted to stay in the car and never go in the house again, 'cause if it was Gran... I didn't know if I could deal with that."

When Eric came back he said that he couldn't detect anyone else in the house. When he looked in through the kitchen windows he could see a body on the kitchen floor. The description that he gave fit Gran perfectly. I started crying like there was no tomorrow because for Gran, there wasn't.

Eric shook me a little and tried to knock some sense into me. He reminded me that he came to sniff around and it was best if he got to do that before the humans came and messed with the scents at the scene. He had us go in through the front door so that I wouldn't see Gran first thing. I invited him in as I started walking toward the kitchen. Eric ran by me and told me that I needed to wait to touch her. He looked around the kitchen and sniffed while he took out a cell phone. When he saw me move toward Gran, he said to me "The police will not appreciate you leaving bloody footprints at the scene."

I was about to say that the same could be true of him but then I noticed that he wasn't actually walking in the kitchen. He was floating. I was dumbstruck as the vampire called the Bon Temps Police Department while floating around my bloody kitchen.

I spent the next several hours crying my eyes out and answering questions. If I were in a better mood, I'd have really enjoyed watching the policemen squirm while they spoke with the giant vampire.

Vampire Bill came over to find out what was happening and was surprised to see Eric here. They spoke to one another out on the lawn while I was inside with Detective Andy Bellefleur and Sheriff Bud Dearborn.

Finally, people started to leave. Andy and Bud suggested that I go spend the night somewhere else like with my brother or Tara, but I told them that I planned to stay right here. Nobody seemed to like that, but it was my home and I'd stay there if I want to. Bill offered his place, which I declined for multiple reasons. Somehow, at this weird hour, Sam had heard about what happened and when he was at my house he also offered to put me up. I declined his offer too, also for more than one reason.

There was blood everywhere in the kitchen. It couldn't believe that it was all from one person. The blood was gooey and sticky, and in some areas was crusty. The kitchen smelled awful too. The police said that they had all that they needed for evidence so I could start cleaning up. That's just what I did. Gran would have never wanted anyone to see her kitchen looking this way.

I gathered all of the cleaning supplies that I thought I might need to get up all the blood. Eric was the last person here, but I was too tired, sad, pissed, depressed, you-name-it, to tell him to leave as I started cleaning up. I knelt on the floor and heaved a few times; I thought for certain that I'd vomit in the bucket but I didn't. Slowly, I started to clean. I used old dish towels and a bucket of water with cleaner in it. After just a few swipes I had to stop; thinking of what I was doing hurt too much.

A pair of arms wrapped around me. "Ssh, it will all be cleaned up by tomorrow morning." Next he asked me, "Would you rather stay with your brother or with me tonight?" I couldn't speak too well so I just shook my head that I was sticking with my plan to stay here. Eric said to me, "Your home is too easy to break into. You need to stay somewhere that is more secure until your house can be upgraded with acceptable security measures."

He argued with me, but I wasn't giving in. Then he made the mistake of giving me an ultimatum. He said to me, "You are coming with me. You will either give me directions to your brother's home so that he can watch over you or you will come back to Shreveport with me. It's one or the other, staying here tonight is not an option."

I manage to yell at him through my tears, "It is if I say it is!" I did my best to get him to leave and tried to use a calmer voice, "Thank you for your help tonight. Good night."

Eric left and I got back down on my hands and knees to resume working on the clean up. I could barely see what I was doing. I hadn't done much; the blood wasn't easy to clean up, when Eric made his presence known again. I couldn't see him well with my eyes, but I knew it was him. He took the bloody rags out of my hands and lifted me up to my feet once more.

I managed to ask him, "What are you doing here?"

His eyes set on mine and he told me, "I found a bag and packed it with some of your clothes. I wish to keep you safe." He stroked my arm in a soothing fashion, "You will not like what I'm about to do though, since you made it clear that you wish to stay here. I guess, technically speaking, you could say that I'm kidnapping you. But I assure you that it is for your own safety and not my own pleasure... unless you change your mind."

My eyes went wide, "You wouldn't dare!" He looked back at me with all seriousness. That was it; I wasn't going to let him boss me around. I was my own person, I growled, "Eric Northman I rescind your invitation."

Sure enough, Eric and Bill were both right. Eric started heading for the nearest door as if some invisible force made him. I would have been happier if he hadn't been holding onto me when I said that. I didn't think that through too well.

Before I processed what was happening, we were outside my house. A dark colored van with nothing to distinguish it came down my driveway. He was really going to kidnap me.

My captor saw where I was looking and said, "That's the cleaning crew. Sookie, if you want to come back home tomorrow evening you can. We will have had the time to discuss your security by then."

The Fangtasia co-owner, Pam arrived in a red sports car of some kind. I didn't know cars well at all; I only knew that it looked really expensive. When he brought me around to the passenger side and opened the door I refused to get in. "You can't make me get into that car with you."

Pam laughed as if we were a comedy act. Eric looked at me, "I'm growing tired of fighting with you. You have had a long night and lost a dear relative so I can forgive you." I snorted at that. "You will not, however, tell me what I can or cannot do. I can make you get into the car, but I am asking you."

I thought for a moment about giving him a hard( er) time, but then decided against it and resigned myself to getting in his outrageous car. I had seen how fast vampires were, and I knew they were really strong; there wasn't much I could do if he wanted to kill me. He claimed to want to protect me; I hoped that he could be believed.

We drove toward Shreveport. I asked him, "Where are we going?"

He answered, "To Fangtasia. I have a light tight basement with a few rooms."

"Do you live there?" I couldn't imagine living at a place like that.

He glanced at me, "No, I do not."

I needed to think of something to talk about before I started thinking about Gran again. I turned a little bit in my seat but then I noticed the speedometer. My heart raced when I realized how fast he was driving. The streets we were on weren't lit at all and there was only the occasional driver, so I hadn't noticed how fast we were going. I turned back and quietly said a prayer, hoping to live beyond this car ride. I asked him, "Why are you doing this?"

Eric replied, "To keep you safe."

"But why?" I might not have liked the answer, but I'd rather know right then; plus I was trying to keep my mind occupied. I reminded him, "I'm not yours." He let out a little growl, letting me know that he wasn't happy about that. I pressed on, "What do you get out of all of this?"

The vampire said, "A favor. Vampires never do anything without getting something in return and since you do not wish to be my human, I will require a favor."

"You're kidding, right?" He is such a...ugh! I counter, "I would have no problem paying a favor for a favor if I asked for it, but I didn't ask for this."

We pulled into the parking lot. He shut off the engine. "Vampire culture is not human culture, Sookie. For that matter, let me give you some advice since you don't seem interested in becoming my human." I looked up at him to indicate that I was listening. He continued, "Stay inside after dark. Any vampire can claim you as his own as you have no master."

I told him, "I'd say the same thing to them as I said to Bill and to you; I am my own person, period."

Eric informed me, "Few vampires take "no" for an answer; particularly when it's a human saying it." He switched gears once we were down in the basement.

He pointed to a few rooms that were down there. Eric assured me that the bed in "my room" had fresh sheets. He showed me where the bathroom was and when we went back to my room he pointed out the microwave and the mini refrigerator. He told me that the fridge only had blood in it at the moment, but that he would make sure that there were some human foods inside before he went down for the day.

Eric went through my bag and pulled out a few things and then went into the bathroom. He turned on the water and then came back into the bedroom. He told me that my nightgown and panties were in the bathroom; I ought to soak while he made a few phone calls.

That wasn't a bad idea, until I got into the bathroom and turned to close the door that wasn't there. "Hey!"

Eric came over very quickly, "Problem?"

I exclaim, "There's no door!"

The vampire smirked, "No need for one. It has no affect on the plumbing. Go on now; I will not come back in unless you need me."

He walked out of the room. I thought about what I wanted to do. I really wanted to relax and that large tub looked inviting. But I was also in the basement of a bar with a man that I'd only met hours before, and the bathroom had no door it just had an angled entrance like my high school used to; that way no one could get locked in or out but passersby couldn't see much of what was inside. I decided. I'd strip down to my bra and panties. I figured that they covered about the same as my bikini, which was as much as anyone was going to see of me.

It didn't feel like I'd been in there long, but with no warning at all Eric was lifting me out of the water. I protested, "Put me down! You snake! You said that you weren't coming in unless I wanted you to."

Eric corrected me, "Needed; I would not come in unless you needed me. You fell asleep, Little One. I'll not have you drown in a tub of water while I'm protecting you from a killer."

I yawned, "I would have woken up."

He told me, "You don't know that and I wasn't taking the chance."

Eric wrapped a giant fluffy towel around me and dried me as best he could since I was wearing two pieces of clothing. He stood behind me and unhooked my bra; he removed it completely and then went over the area with the towel. He helped me to put on my night gown, which could not go on fast enough. But as he pulled the bottom of the gown down, he latched onto my panties and took them off of me. He took up the towel in his hand once more and I snatched it away from him. The breasts were bad (and oh so tantalizing) enough, but by golly he wasn't gonna be touching me there. I wasn't that kind of girl.

I started to walk out of the bathroom, but Eric picked me up. He brought me to the bed and laid me down gently. It felt way too familiar, we'd only just met. What would Gran say? That last thought got me crying all over again. Eric held me while I cried myself to sleep.

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A few days passed, and Eric kept his word. I did go back home the next day after Eric rose. We argued a bit about that though. He didn't want me going back home until I had new doors and windows, ones that were more difficult to break into. He also said that my car was an issue as it wasn't reliable. On my first night back at work, Eric came in.

I looked to him, "I don't remember telling you where I work."

"Bon Temps is a small town, Sookie." He thinks back, "Your friend Tara said as much on the night that we met. Finding you was easy, anticlimactic actually."

I didn't know how to respond to that so I didn't. Eric came in to town because another girl had been found murdered. The top two suspects were my brother and Vampire Bill once more. Amy Burley was one of my brother's conquests and she'd had vampire bites.

Eric followed me home and checked out the house. He was upset that I was not following his instruction explicitly. I agreed to keep the house locked up tight whether or not I was home; I also agreed to only go places with a trusted friend. I would not agree to making costly changes to the house, I couldn't afford to do that even if I wanted to.

The vampire did a search of the area and then came back to the porch to tell me that everything seemed fine. I asked him, "Would you like a blood?"

He smiled, "You bought blood?"

I smiled back a little, "Well, yeah. It's not like you drink beer. I wanted to have something for you." I opened the back door and stepped inside, "I un-rescind your invitation. Please come in."

He shook his head a little and grinned at me. I heated up some water for myself and a bottle of TruBlood for Eric. I let my tea bag stew for a few minutes before doctoring it and going into the living room.

We sat down on the couch. We turned into one another a little and he asked me, "How was her funeral?"

I huffed, "Horrible. Jason accused me of being responsible for Gran's death; the killer was coming for me after all. He said that the whole town knows it; I went out with Vampire Bill and then I was seen with... well, with you." The fear and hatred rolls off of me, "Uncle Bartlett came, Gran kicked his ass out of the family years ago but my butt-head brother had to call to tell him that his sister had died. Gran stopped calling him her brother a long time ago." I was in my own little pity party, ranting about that day not even thinking about what I was saying when I included, "Back at the cemetery I couldn't shut out a single mind. I told the lot of them to shut the fuck up. So now people think that Crazy Sookie is even crazier now."

He replied, "You are not crazy, Little One."

"Said the dead man to the disabled girl," I retorted.

Eric scrunched his forehead, "I do not understand. Explain." He looked at me and then added, "Please."

I nodded to indicate that I liked him saying "please." Then I said to him, "Not all disabilities are physical. Nearly the whole town knows about me, but my weirdness scares them."

"You are kind, compassionate, hard working, loyal, willful, frustrating, beautiful, and so much more. This I can tell from the short amount of time I have known you, I have yet to detect a disability." He looked at me, waiting for me to tell him more.

"Vampire Bill told me that I shouldn't let other vampires know about my disability." I looked at him, then at the ground. I liked Eric more, so much more than Bill, but I didn't want him to hate me or think of me as strange.

Eric placed a hand on my arm to emphasize his sincerity, "My people have been feared, hated, and even preyed upon by humans throughout the centuries. If you want to compare disabilities, we can't defend ourselves very well during the day; the young ones can't do that at all. Silver burns like a mother fucker when it touches our skin, and the sun will destroy one of us in a matter of minutes."

I nodded my head, "Yea, but you all have one another and your own societies and stuff. There are lots of you. If you need help being a vampire, there are others around. I grew up being the only freak in town, and that hasn't changed. You and Vampire Bill might be part of a minority, but at least you belong somewhere. There is no one like me."

Eric made smooth strokes up and down my arm. His question shocked me, "Are you telepathic Sookie?" I furrowed my brows, I hadn't heard of any highfalutin word to describe a mind reader so I shook my head with uncertainty. He clarified, "Can you read minds?"

My face fell, "How could you..."

The big vampire moved in front of me so that he could place a hand on each of my arms and look me in the eye. "Telepathy is a gift, not a disability. I suspected as much when we were here, your Gran's body was inside, and you told me with absolute certainty that no one else was here. Tonight, at the... shack, I heard a couple of ladies gossip about how you had just done something for them before they asked. What you have is an extra ability, Sookie. Don't be ashamed of what you are."

I looked at him sideways. He looked back at me so I said to him, "I'm surprised you're still here."

He pulled me to him and hugged me from behind, "That statement is proof enough for me that you are not reading my mind. But then, if you could, you would have run out of Fangtasia the moment we met."

His touch was calming, so I took his words to mean that he had some nasty sexual thoughts about me rather than thinking about killing and maiming. I took a chance and asked him, "Why are you being so nice to me when you're not being a jerk?"

He chuckled and then replied, "First tell me when I have been a jerk."

I turned to look at him better, "Seriously, you want an itemized list?"

He stared right back at me, "Give it your best."

I started, "You were a jerk when we met. You tried to glamour me."

"We already discussed that, you were fair game and you still are."

"You kidnapped me and took me to Fangtasia. You're lucky I didn't press charges."

"I was protecting you, and those charges would have been dropped before there was any memory of them being made." He smirked, "Next."

I accused him, "You talked to my boss about me behind my back so that he would arrange my schedule to suit your liking."

"Again, that is for your safety."

I looked down a bit and told him, "You don't have to pick on my house. It is the way that it is and I'm not changing it just because you say it ought to change."

"I wish for those changes to be made for your safety. Why are the men in your family not helping you to secure your family home?"

"Jason doesn't live here and he's got his own bills to pay."

Eric's head nodded and his eyebrows went up a little, "And your uncle?"

"Dead," I spat, "As far as I'm concerned I don't have an uncle. So drop it, please."

"And this, now. You're being sweet and being a jerk at the same time!" He gave me an amused look so I explained, "You're here sitting with me, talking, listening, and... well, it's very sweet. But then you have to go and say stuff like; that my brother has got to do stuff for me because he's the man of the house and I'm his sister. That notion is stupid and antiquated. But you saying that is... it's...well, it's very sweet and I just don't get it."

"You are a frustrating woman." He looked at me, "You intrigue me, and I find your company enjoyable. You are smarter than you give yourself credit for, you stick up for yourself, you're loyal to those to whom you make a commitment, your smell is intoxicating and I can be a big enough jerk," He smiled wide at me here, "to say that I not only want to get to know you as a person, but also as my lover."

I honest to god went blank. I could not think of a response. A very large, very handsome man with an intoxicating scent to him just said that he wanted me to be his lover!

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Two nights later, it was Saturday night. Merlotte's closed for regular business so that we could have an engagement for fellow waitress Arlene and her beau René. Arlene and I had known each other for several years so I couldn't get out of coming. I did think about it though. My Eric Dreams got a bit racier after he had told me that he wanted us to be lovers. A part of me, wanted to spend more time with him hoping that I'd get up the nerve to tell him that I wanted him. But it was awfully soon. Just because I was twenty five years old didn't mean that I had to have sex with the first man that found me attractive and for whom I felt the same. No, I didn't go to Fangtasia instead of hanging around for Arlene's party.

Sam did a right fine job putting together the party. The food was fantastic and plentiful. People were dancing out on the floor, or sitting around telling jokes. Our chef, Lafayette was making eyes at my brother. Lafayette was a gay man and he left you know doubt about it when you saw his clothes, make-up, jewelry, or even when you watched him sashay into or out of a room. He could make you crack up and bust a gut laughing if you were into his kind of humor, which was usually crude. He was a sweetie pie though. Lafayette was always kind to me; my telepathy as Eric called it didn't scare him.

Arlene never hid her prejudices, so we all knew how she felt about blacks and gays (and anything else that wasn't white, Christian and alive). I was surprised to see him here, but then again, he was manning the grill.

My brother mostly hung out with his best friends, Hoyt and the groom-to-be René. They've known each other for years now, especially Jason and Hoyt, but all three of them worked on the same Parish road crew. The group reduced down to two whenever René took his woman out on the dance floor.

Tara wasn't Arlene's favorite person, but she was here too. Tara asked me about Eric and how things were going. Hoyt and Jason overheard and came over to butt in on our good time. Jason was pissed that I was dating another vampire. I didn't use those words, Eric and I weren't anything officially but what we weren't was enough for my brother to get mad. Luckily it wasn't long before some floozy caught his eye and he went off with her. Hoyt then excused himself; he didn't much know what to do without Jason around.

I saw Arlene take a break from dancing with her man and stand to the side to catch her breath. She went to the ice container, but all of the ice had melted so instead of going inside to get some, she had to raise a stink, 'cause she shouldn't have to lift a finger at her own party. I told Arlene that I'd go get the ice and then I took the bucket inside with me. Claire, a part-time waitress here at Merlotte's peeked her head inside.

She called to me, "Sookie, does your vampire have a red corvette?"

I responded, "Eric has one, but he is not my vampire." I started to look toward the window to see if I could spot his car. I told Claire, "I just need to get some more ice and I'll be right out."

Claire came in the rest of the way, "No need. I got it. Have fun." She wiggled her brows at me the way people did when they thought you were going to do the nasty with someone. I couldn't help but blush.

I went outside and found Eric standing by his car. I walked up to him, "I thought you were working tonight."

Eric told me, "I did what I needed to do. Pam can take care of the bar for one night. Did you really want to wait until your boss was done cleaning up before he could escort you home? I know you didn't expect your brother to stay around long enough to do that."

I nodded my head, he was right. I informed him, "I'd help Sam with the clean up so it would take as long. But I hadn't really thought about it." I apologetically add, "I'd introduce you but I'm not sure if I should."

He quickly picked up my meaning, "The guests of honor are no friends of the fang?"

I sucked in my breath, "Yep. I don't think Rene is so bad, Jason and Hoyt know him better than I do though. But Arlene, well... she has something against anyone that isn't white bred from Louisiana."

I went to Arlene and told her that I was leaving. She was terrified to see the vampire waiting for me, but relieved that he wasn't moving near to us. I asked Arlene to give my regards to Rene since he left to go get something. Then, I met Eric in the parking lot. He followed me home and checked the area as well as the house before I went inside.

Eric asked me about my day and I told him. I then asked him how his night was so far. I didn't pay much attention to his words. Watching his lips move was distracting. At some point he moved forward. The next thing I knew, those big lips were on mine. The kiss was sweet and gentle and then he pulled back to look at me. I couldn't stop myself from leaning in for more. Dang, it felt so good. The room felt hot, but his cool body pressed against mine provided a refreshing coolness.

Without even thinking about what I was doing, I moved to his lap and he helped me. I had never had an experience like this before. We were kissing and the kisses became more eager with every nip, but I couldn't "hear" what Eric was thinking. For once in my life I could really enjoy being kissed without "hearing" what the guy was thinking. I was in a quiet bliss. His hands roamed all over my body and I touched him back. His hands went under my shirt and continued traversing my skin. My shirt was form fitting, and not too conducive for that so Eric slid his hands back down and grabbed the bottom of my shirt. He looked at me, I wasn't about to protest, Eric pulled my shirt up and I lifted my arms to get out of it.

All thought was lost as I reveled in the marvelously strange sensations coursing through me. His touch upon my skin made me feel like a live wire. The feel of his muscles as I touched his skin made me crave him more. We kissed some more and he played with my chest a little. Once he got the nonverbal green light from me, he unhooked my bra. He was kissing me and playing with a breast when the phone began to ring. I was not about to stop what was going on so I let it ring.

My body started to writhe and move in ways that it never had before, anticipation was building. Eric moved his face down to my breasts and started with an open mouthed kiss between them. I kneaded his neck and shoulders and looked down at the top of his head. Eric did something with my left nipple and it caused the most curious sensation in my body; I loved it!

I was almost as frustrated as I was in bliss. For one, I didn't have the same access to him that he did to me since his shirt was still on. I wasn't thinking clearly enough to say anything and I was too lost in these new sensations to move to take it off. Eric kissed and sucked a breast while teasing the other. Eric slipped a hand inside my shorts, right around my waist. My hands were in his hair and he had a hand massaging my lower back below the waistband of my shorts while the other hand played with a breast and his mouth worked the other when suddenly he stiffened. All movement stopped.

Stopping was torture on so many levels. For one, my body had ideas of its' own; stopping was not one of them. For another, Eric was rejecting me and I didn't know why. I wasn't the thinnest girl in town by a long shot, maybe he got tired of feeling THAT. Maybe I did something he didn't like, did I pull on his hair too hard? I didn't mean to. Maybe there was something that I should have done but didn't know about and he was rejecting me because of that. Maybe I looked like the freak that I was with the way that I squirmed and writhed in his arms. All my bodily desires were dashed in seconds but my frustration and sorrow didn't last long.

Eric informed me, "Someone is coming."

I got up to peak out the window, but the vehicle passed by that area of the house before I could see. Eric went outside and came back not long after going out. He said to me, "Your boss is here checking up on you since you didn't answer the phone. I told him that you are here unharmed."

I looked at the door and said, "I should go out there and at least thank him for coming all this way to check up on me. I asked Arlene to tell him I was going since he'd gone out back for somethin' when you came to pick me up."

Eric held his arm to stop my forward movement and then handed me my shirt so that I could put it on before going out to see Sam. My eyes went wide, I took the shirt from him and held it tightly to my chest, then grabbed my bra from where it had fallen onto the floor and then ran like the wind into my room to throw them on my body. As I did that I saw that my hair was a mess, I quickly pulled a brush through it before heading back out.

I took a deep breath and focused on going outside to see Sam. I kept my head down and made a beeline for the door.

Once outside I saw Sam and the relief on his face was evident. He looked at me, "Thank god. Is everything really okay?"

Eric's voice boomed, "I told you that Sookie was fine. Questioning my word can be very dangerous, Shifter."

I ignored that and addressed Sam, "I'm fine, really. I looked for you before I left, but they said you went out on an errand so I asked Arlene to tell you that I'd left with Eric." I could tell that he was very worried and that something must have happened.

"Claire was attacked inside the bar." He told me, "Someone tried to strangle her while she was inside getting some ice for Arlene's party. She's in the hospital now. Whoever it was must've heard me out back 'cause he was nowhere to be found when I got to Claire." Sam eyed me, "You alright over there, Cher?"

I stammered, "I... I... talked to Claire just before I left." I asked, "Is she going to be okay?"

Sam nodded his head, "Yeah, she has some cuts and scrapes from the struggle and a nasty ass bruise around her throat but she's going to be fine, physically at least. The police are going to have a guard at her door incase the guy tries coming back to finish the job."

"That must have been awful for her." I said to Sam, "I think she was supposed to work the shift before mine tomorrow, I'll work her shift if you need me. Maybe we can take up a collection among us and send her something from the gang. Do you know what room she's in?"

"I don't know if she has a room yet." He told me, "I last saw her on the gurney going into the ambulance. Once I realized you were not nearby I started looking for you. I did ask Arlene if she'd seen you but all she'd say was that she couldn't believe someone would do such a thing on her special day."

"Oh, I'm so sorry Sam." I went over to him and gave him a hug. In that brief moment I heard Sam's thoughts; he was thinking that I smelled like "the goddamn vampire" and that the smell of my arousal was intoxicating. I didn't hear Sam often, so when I did it was a bit of a shock. I tried not to let it show and said to Sam, "I am fine. I just can't believe that happened! And to Claire of all people!" Claire was a really sweet person, she didn't deserve that.

Satisfied that I was relatively safe, Eric's presence making him both more and less certain of that since he himself was dangerous, Sam got back into truck and left. Eric and I went back inside the house.

I took out a glass, filled it with water and gulped it down. Then I started on a second glass, but drank more slowly as I started to process. Poor Claire, I'd find out if there was anything that I could do for her like cook some food for her that would be easy on the throat. It was sweet of Sam to come racing over here looking for me. I couldn't believe what I was doing when Sam came over! That last thought made me turn red.

I chanced a glance at Eric, but I couldn't look at him directly. I was just too embarrassed. I should have been ashamed of myself, I'd only known him for days, not months and I was acting like a harlot. He saw my breasts! That last thought got me to thinking about what he did with my breasts, my nipples, how he touched my stomach and nuzzled my neck. I became aware of dampness in my panties. I hadn't peed myself since I was in preschool. I hurried into my room to get a fresh pair of undies and then into the bathroom to take care of the problem while praying that Eric's keen sense of smell didn't pick it up. Then what Sam said about my arousal hit me; were my panties damp then? I panicked a little wondering if the dampness got onto Eric while I was on his lap.

I was not going to hide in the bathroom though. Stackhouse's were no cowards. After I freshened up I went right back out there.

Eric told me, "Your friend should be fine now; she is surrounded by people in the hospital and from what we can tell the killer prefers his kills to be private."

I swallowed; I'd already moved on to thinking about other things. That wasn't very nice of me, was it? I nodded my head in response.

Eric seemed to be thinking about something so I asked him what was on his mind. He said to me, "You. I really wished we hadn't been interrupted."

Wow! I pressed my lips together and kept my head down. I just couldn't look him in the eye right now. Eric walked over to me, put a hand under my chin and gently lifted it until I gave in at looked at him. His eyes were so incredibly blue, I could get lost in them. Suddenly, I was aware of the moistness between my legs. I tried not to turn red with embarrassment and then turned to head back to my room to clean up again.

Eric grabbed my arm to stop me. He wasn't harsh though, so it didn't alarm me. He questioned, "Where are you going?"

I pointed to my room with my thumb, "I won't be long really. I just need to go freshen up is all." I tried not to think of why I needed to freshen up and failed miserably. I could feel myself flush as he stepped into me. Eric leaned down to me and kissed me. It wasn't just a peck on the lips either, this was an all consuming kiss and for a moment I couldn't distinguish his mouth from my own. We broke the kiss so that I could catch my breath and then I ran into the bathroom before I embarrassed myself further by wetting myself again and flooding the floor.

After changing, yet again, I came back out but kept my distance as best I could. He must have thought that I really was nuts. Oh well.

The next thing Eric said was not what I was expecting, "Since you have not agreed to be my human, I'm calling in the favor. I want you to come to Fangtasia to read some vermin's minds. Someone has been stealing from the bar and I would like your assistance in finding out who is responsible."

I paused for a moment before responding then said, "I don't agree with the favor thing since I never asked for any of it, but I have no problem with helping you under two conditions." He gestured for me to continue, "First, you have to promise me that you will turn the human responsible over to the authorities."

Before I could say number two, Eric cut me off, "Vampires do not take offence against them lightly. And, how I deal with the offender is of no concern to you."

I looked right at him and said, "It does too. I'll not be a party to torture, murder or whatnot. Besides, if you're willing to do that for me then I might read minds for you again; willingly."

Once again he had an amused look on his face, "If you agree to work for me as needed." I gave him a nod and he nodded back, "Well played Ms. Stackhouse. I'll agree to your first condition. What is the second?"

"If I'm going back to Fangtasia..." I set my eyes on his face to make sure that he knew how serious I was, "I want your word that I will be safe, that includes being safe from other vampires trying to claim me as theirs." I hastily added, "You keep saying that I'm fair game, but I won't be going into Fangtasia to see which vampire will snag me first."

Eric rubbed his chin and looked at me. "That will not be a problem, this time, since you will be coming at my request. Do not, however, come to Fangtasia on your own unless you have request from me. You will once again be fair game; therefore any vampire can claim you."

"Fine. I won't come back there again after that." I reasoned, "I get my fill of drunken people acting stupid as it is at work, I don't have to pay to go somewhere else to see it. 'Sides, I'm trying to be smart and not go out too much without an escort since there's a killer on the loose."

The vampire growled; something I'd said didn't sit well with him and he told me, "You shouldn't be going anywhere without an escort. I cannot come to you during the day and although I can protect you at night, I need to know when you require an escort as I do have other matters to attend to back in Shreveport."

I gave him an odd look. I couldn't understand why he was so concerned with my safety. "It would be easier if you were mine." Eric looked at me as if contemplating, "It would be easier for me to protect you."

I shook my head in disbelief, "How? I highly doubt that you'll suddenly develop an ability to walk in the sun just 'cause I said that I was belonging to you. You still wouldn' know when I needed an escort at night, unless I called you." Which, I wasn't sure I was comfortable with. For one, we weren't a couple so calling on him for something like that would just be wierd. It was odd enough as it was that he was doing it without me asking. For another, my body did odd things around him and I wasn't sure how I thought about that.

Eric looked at me and answered, "If you were my human any vampire that neared you would know. Traces of semen last for days, not seconds or even minutes; any vampire that came near you would know that I'd had you and therefore you were off limits."

I spurt out, "You're shitting me. And no offense intended here, but I find the idea of drinking blood gross and I have no intention of doing that." That didn't come out exactly as I thought it should, but surely he'd know what I meant to say.

He raised an eyebrow, "You do not need to drink vampire blood to belong to one of us. In fact, vampires rarely give blood to their humans. And no, I am not shitting you. In return for allowing me to please you in bed, I could arrange for better security for you both at day and at night." I had been thinking about bloodletting in general being gross, I hadn't thought about a human drinking blood; that thought made me shiver. Eric answered my unspoken question, "Vampires do nothing for free Sookie."

I blew a gasket and gave him a what for, "I'm not going to have sex with you because you say that you'll protect me if I do! I'm not that kind of girl! How dare you suggest such a thing!" Then I added for the sake of it, "Not even Bill Compton did that. He got those other creepy vampires to back off of me when he claimed that I was his but he never insisted on sex."

Eric said to me, "Claiming to have a vampire master is declaration to that vampire that you will have sex with that particular vampire. It also tells him, or her, that you will let the vampire feed on you. Believe me when I say that you'd be under him right now had you not protested when he claimed you."

My mouth gapped, "Bill Compton might be a bit odd but he's been nothing but kind to me. He once offered to give me blood so that I'd heel faster. He never demanded my blood or anything else in return."

Eric looked very surprised with this information. He furrowed his brows, "When was this?"

I told him, "The night after I chased off two drainers that had him chained down outside... he was supposed to meet me in the parking lot when I got off from work. I thought that the Rats might try something so when I noticed that Bill wasn't there yet, I waited a few minutes in the bar. I left the bar and headed right for my car once I figured he wasn't coming. I made sure to stay in the lit area of the parking lot. Before I made it to my car I saw Denise smiling at me and then realized that Mack was coming up from behind me; I guess they didn't care if they got seen or not. The rest happened really quickly... I tried to get to my car but at some point I got pushed to the ground... I think that was after I sucker punched him. Anyway, the two of 'em were getting ready to kick me while I was down and then Dean came..." I smiled slightly thinking about my furry hero, "...he's a stray dog that hangs around Merlotte's a lot. Anyway, Dean put himself in front of me and defended me as best he could. Then, it all stopped. Bill stopped them." Yeah, I knew that he killed them but I didn't wish to dwell on that detail.I was lucky that they hadn't killed me. I told Eric, "I was more shaken than anything; just a few scrapes really. Dean got in there before they did any real damage and then Bill got to them before they could kill me or the dog. Bill apologized for being late and said that none of it would have happened if he were there." I snorted at that, cause he was the one needin' saving the night before, and then stated, "He said that he would heal me if I'd allow him, that he owed me that much."

Eric's face was stony, "Bill Compton is quite devious indeed."

I pried, "What?"

Eric explained without talking down to me, "If you had ingested his blood you would have become his; you would have his scent in your veins. I do believe that Billy Boy was trying to play you, Little One."

I set my arms akimbo, "I read their minds, Eric. The Rats really were out to drain him and I know that they had drained vampires before because I heard that too."

Eric nodded, "Bill may have glamoured them to think and do those things. Or, he may have simply found the opportunity that he was looking for."

I hesitantly spoke, "What opportunity?" My voice got stronger, "For those creeps to drain him dry? That doesn't make any sense."

Eric replied, "The opportunity to make you his before you even knew what was happening." He looked me up and down, "Vampires will go to great lengths if they want something enough."

I huffed but didn't say anything. The whole scenario was ridiculous. I narrowed my eyes, "I thought you said a vampire can claim any human without a master?" He nodded his head so I continued with my query, "then why would he go to such trouble when he could have just taken me?" I involuntarily shuttered at that thought.

"He wanted you to believe that it was your choice." Eric was pensive for a moment and then stated, "That's the part I'm trying to figure out myself, and it's against our nature to seek permission from the human."

I knew he expected me to ask him another question, but I was afraid I'd get the answer. He leaned against the door frame, "You'll let me know them?" Huh? I'd lost track of the conversation. Eric reminded me, "You will get back to me on the next evening that you will be available?"

"Oh, yeah." I thought for a moment, "Hey, what about Sunday? Merlotte's is closed so I don't have to worry about memorizing what shifts I'm taking over for Claire.

Eric informs me, "Sunday it is. My day man, Bobby Burnham, will be here thirty minutes before sunset to pick you up."

I questioned, "How will I know it's him?"

"Good point," Eric looked at me with interest, "Can you read a human's mind from the other side of a door?"

I informed him, "Well I don't know, it depends on the human." He looked at me with eyebrows raised so I told him a little more. "Like my boss, Sam, his thoughts aren't so easy to read unless he's really intent on something. Usually I can only tell what he's feeling. I've heard him clearly a couple of times. But I figure whatever it is that makes him different from most of Bon Temps can't be too strange 'cause every now and then someone else comes in that is kinda like Sam. Some of the people that live in Hotshot come into Merlotte's once in a blue moon and they're kinda like Sam with me not being to read their thoughts and all."

Eric chuckled softly as if I told a joke, and then said, "I doubt that you'll have a problem. If you question it, don't open door; wait for me to call. I have little doubt that you will be able to read Bobby's thoughts."

"Not to be rude, Eric." I looked up at him, "but I have to get up in the morning to see a lawyer about Gran's estate and I want to be mentally prepared to deal with my brother when I meet him there."

Eric stepped toward me, "I take it your Gran had a favorite grandchild."

I smiled at that, "Yes, but not like that. My cousin Hadley was her favorite blabbermouth, Jason was her favorite hellion, and I was her favorite amiable grandchild. Jason's a little jealous that Gran put the house in my name but he doesn't have much room to speak, he got mama and papa's house when he was old enough to take it over." Eric nodded his head. I didn't tell him the full reason why Jason and I were bound to argue tomorrow.

I motioned for Eric to leave. He looked at my funny for a moment before going out the door. Eric told me that he'd check around the area before he left and then bid me good night.

When I lied in bed I chastised myself for acting so weird around Eric; my body just didn't act the way I wanted it to around him. I did get a thrill out of seeing him in Merlotte's parking lot waiting for me to leave Arlene and Rene's party. Then it hit me, the killer wanted to kill me.

I cried when I realized that it was my entire fault; it shouldn't have been her. I was the one that went in for the ice and I was the one that didn't turn on the lights inside 'cause I knew the place so well that I didn't think to walk clear across the bar to turn them on. Claire came into the dark bar to fill the ice bucket for the party so that I could head on out.

Once I realized what had probably happened, I wasn't sure that I'd get any sleep at all. I felt responsible for Claire being in the hospital and scared to think that someone wanted me dead. Needless to say, it was a long night.

XXX

The next couple of days I worked at Merlotte's as much as I could, visited Claire, and had Tara over. I focused on keeping my mind occupied so that I wouldn't go crazy with guilt or fear since neither would have done me any good anyway.

One night, Arlene and I drove over to Claire's double wide after work with some Burgers Lafayette. Claire didn't much want to come back to the bar but she needed another paycheck since her medical bills would be coming in. We ate and talked about work and how she was missed. All us waitresses agreed that we'd work with her, if she was afraid of a night shift or something we'd help her out as best we could.

It was during our visit with Claire that I next saw Eric Northman. I didn't know it was him until a tremendous crashing sound echoed outside and we all raced to the window to see what caused it.

There was a fight going on in the trailer park. But this wasn't no white trash fight. This was vampire fighting and Eric was outnumbered four to one. It didn't seem to faze him though until one vampire with gloved hands threw some silver at Eric's face. I started to think of what I could do to help, as I saw Eric's skin sizzle. Knowing that his hand would burn too, Eric used his bare hand to pull off the silver that was clinging to and singeing his face. He looked positively livid. The vampire that had thrown the silver on him lost his throwing arm within seconds of Eric taking off the silver. I'd say that the others were beaten to death but they were already dead so I guessed they were beaten until they just couldn't keep going.

We watched as Eric pulled out a cell phone to make a call. He looked around and I could see people in another trailer pulling back from the window when he looked their way. He looked awful, with all of his cuts and scrapes. I hated to admit, but his disheveled look with the injuries he was sporting made him look sexy; like movie warrior sexy.

A few minutes later, the four beaten vampires were taken by some other vampires that came into the trailer park. Then, there was a knock at the door. I offered to get it for Claire given what she'd gone through recently and told her, "If it's a vampire he can't come in unless you say he can so you're in no danger."

I didn't recognize the vampire at the door. He looked to be in his late twenties. He introduced himself as a member of some group doing a survey and then he tried to glamour me. My friends were back a bit so they couldn't hear anything from where I was if I kept my voice down.

The vampire was shocked when, in the middle of his spiel, I spoke my own words instead of being in his glamour induced trance. "Listen, I understand y'all have secrets that you'd like to keep and all so if you really want I'll ask my friends to come to the door so you can make them forget. In fact, I think they ought to forget but it won't work on me so there's no need to keep trying." I tilted my head, "Is Eric still out there?"

The vampire stood stock still for a moment before simply saying, "Sheriff?" Then, gestured in my direction when Eric appeared next to him. "This human seems to know who you are."

Eric turned to see me, "Sookie, I hope that I didn't scare you off from coming to see me on Sunday. I do still expect you to come."

"Sookie?" I turned to see Arlene. She called to me, "Honey, do you think it's safe to go back out there? The baby sitter just called and Coby's sick. He threw up all over the living room coffee table; poor thing didn't even make it up off the couch in time.

Eric looked over the top of my head and spoke to Arlene for a moment. This got Claire's attention and he used to opportunity to glamour them both before Arlene left saying to me, "Now you be sure to call me when you get home. If you don't I'm gonna send Rene over to make sure you're okay."

"Alright Arlene," I hollered back with a smile.

I turned back to Eric, "Are you okay? That looked really nasty, especially the silver."

Eric told me, "I'll be fine. I'm healing already."

I nodded my head and then mumbled to myself, "Thank god." I think he heard me because he was suppressing a grin right after that.

Eric left Claire's front door to speak to another vampire while I said good night to Claire. She too, told me to call her when I got home.

As I headed to my car I overheard a vampire inform Eric "There's bottled blood in a cooler in the back of the car if you need, Sheriff. Surely you'll need to drink something tonight."

Eric responded, "I really don't care for that synthetic crap. I can wait until later."

Next, the other vampire told Eric, "A new, average looking, redhead has been hanging around Fangtasia; what she lacks in looks she makes up for in sexual ambition and her blood type is AB Negative."

Eric told the vampire, "I'll get something later, thank you Charles." Evidently, Charles was dismissed with those last three words.

I got into my car only to be startled after buckling my seat-belt. Eric informed me that he'd follow me home and make sure that all was in order, and that is just what he did.

I was inside the house when Eric came back to tell me that the perimeter checked out. I wanted to offer Eric a blood but I had no more bottles of TruBlood to offer him.

Eric was truly amazing. As I looked at him, I couldn't make out where his injuries were. They healed so quickly! He silently showed interest in what I was thinking. The only thing that came to mind was, "Amazing." He had a little blood on his jacket, but I didn't see any more anywhere else. I offered to work on the blood spattered jacket with some special cleaner that I kept in the cabinet. Without his jacket on, I could see even more of Amazing Eric.

I turned back to look at Eric. What I wouldn't have given to watch him sweating, shirtless, under the sun, drinking a cold one. That's what guys did when they were working hard, and when they were finished they'd go and get themselves something real nice to drink. I bet he was thirsty. It was awful rude of me to not offer him a drink, that's not how Gran raised me. I decided to ask Eric if he minded if I went to the store to get him some blood ('cause I would mind if I didn't). I said to him, "Do I want you to have my blood?" My eyes went super wide. Where did that come from?

Eric smiled a little, "I don't know what you want. Do you?" No. Eric said to me, "I've lived a very long time. I do not have to feed as frequently nor do I have to take as much for survival as the younger vampires do." He added nonchalantly, "I'll feed later."

I swallowed, not sure that I wanted to know who he would feed off of. "You're not thirsty?" I looked at him, uncertain of what I wanted him to say.

Eric said, "I am. But I am not parched."

I didn't know what came over me but I asked him, "Does it hurt? The human you feed on, does it hurt them when you feed?"

The vampire answered, "It depends on the setting and the vampire that is feeding. If the vampire cares nothing for the human or how the human perceives him, he may bite rather savagely. Other vampires might not care about humans much, but realize that happy humans are more likely to come back willingly. The human may feel a sharp pain that quickly ebbs or a slight discomfort which is simultaneously stimulating, that depends on the human's mood and the vampire's attentiveness."

"What about glamour?" Didn't some vampires just feed and then glamour the human to remember it differently? I think Bill told me that.

"There are some who rely on glamour. They tend not to have many repeat donors." Eric explained, "Glamour only does so much. If a human is truly traumatized by the feeding then the underlying trauma, and the desire to stay away from it, will remain even if the human does not remember what caused their recently developed fear."

I hesitated, "If I offered, would you be too thirsty to... um..." What was I doing?

Eric answered, "I am not too thirsty to control myself. If you are offering, I will not decline."

I took a deep breath, "I'm offering." Then I hastily added, "But just this once. I don't want you thinking that I'll do it again if it's just awful."

He smirked, "Understood." Then, he took one giant step toward me and planted a kiss. He said to me, "You'll want to be in a more comfortable position for your first vampire bite." Then, Eric led me to the couch in the living room where he sat and gently pulled me onto his lap facing him.

I nervously laughed, "This feels a lot like what we did a few nights ago."

Eric responded, "Good, you seemed to enjoy that as much as I did." Wow! My eyebrows drew together and my eyes widened; was he going to bite me or make out with me? This gorgeous man that I was sitting on started to massage my back and said, "Have patience, I'm going to help you relax first."

There was no way on god's green earth that I could relax knowing that at any moment he was going to draw my blood. I didn't think he'd kill me; he already proven that he wanted me alive for some reason. But still, he'd have to break my skin to get my blood. That was bound to hurt.

I found myself distracted from my thoughts just by watching the muscles move in Eric's shoulder's as he rubbed my back. He had a very nice chest too; you could tell even when he had a shirt on. He kissed me gently on the lips and we got progressively heated from there. I think I managed to get his shirt off before he took off mine.

At one point our bodies were too close for me to grope his chest so I made do with his shoulders, neck and head; Eric was kissing and nipping at my neck. Even though I felt it too awkward to reach between us he somehow manage to have one hand working my chest while the other was on my back both soothing me and making sure that I didn't fall off of him.

Then the most curious sensations filled my body. He pinched a nipple and I honestly could not say if it hurt more than it turned me on or if it turned me on more than it hurt. When he did it, it was like a signal went straight down there. My coochie was reacting to this and instinctively I knew it was preparing for more. I was vaguely aware at this point that Eric was kissing my neck with his open mouth. Without thinking, my hands traveled up to his head and grabbed his hair. As soon as I did that, Eric pressed his lips on my neck with more vigor.

Everything was going great, fantastic even. My body was craving some attention below and by golly tonight was going to be the night. My nether regions were being neglected so I fumbled to unfasten his pants and then to undo my own shorts. Then Eric asked me, "What do you want?"

My response was, "You."

Then Eric ruined it by saying, "Only if you agree to be my human."

That took a moment for me to process and then I said, "I'm not property and I ain't gonna be." I sat there for several minutes, stewing. I was so frustrated. I wanted him closer to me; to be inside me and pressed against me. But I could not get over the "his human" issue.

Thankfully, Eric didn't say anything. He sat and waited for me to catch my breath. Once that was accomplished Eric looked smug, "I do believe you enjoyed donating your blood tonight. Thank you for a most delicious experience."

I blushed and then said, "You didn't really bite me? I mean I didn't really feel... I mean I felt other places that... you couldn't have fed on me there's not a speck of blood on me."

Eric said to me, "Go look in a mirror."

I got up to look in the mirror and what first shocked me was that I was seeing myself topless and I hadn't just come out the shower. I covered my breasts with one arm, leaving the other free to pick up my shirt when I turned back around. But as soon as I had my chest covered with my arm, Eric was behind me. I saw him look at me through the mirror. His hand went to my neck and caressed it. Sure enough, I had two small red dots.

What Eric did next shocked me even more. He wrapped an arm around my waist and while maintaining eye contact with me through the mirror, bent to put his mouth to my throat once more. I couldn't help but reach one hand back to touch his head and use the other to touch his arm; leaving my breasts uncovered for both of us to see in the mirror. The image shocked me because it was me in the mirror doing this with him but I stared at us, mesmerized. He lifted his head and once his hand went back to my neck I saw that my bite marks were gone.

I turned to him, "How did you do that?"

Eric replied, "My saliva has healing agents; just as my blood does."

"Oh." I wonder aloud, "Why did you do that?"

Eric nuzzled my neck and a sensation went right to my hoochie once more. He told me, "You're not a fangbanger. You deserve better treatment." He saw my expression and added, "fangbangers just want to be with a vampire for the thrill of it and they don't care who they have sex with, who feeds on them, or how many different vampires they are with. For them, bite marks are something of a badge. Whereas for us, bite marks are more like advertising."

I managed to say, "Well, I ought to thank you then for doing that."

Eric grinned, "You are welcome. Thank you for the most delicious blood I have had in centuries." I snorted and rolled my eyes. Eric gave me a look that told me he was serious and said as much, "I mean it. From your scent alone I thought you were a virgin." My expression betrayed me, and I knew that Eric caught my reaction. Now he knew that I really was a virgin. He had a gleam in his eye, but continued to tell me, "Virgin blood is savory, but your blood is far better than any virgin blood I've ever had. It is reminiscent of something but I can't quite place it."

I surmised, "So people have flavors? Do any people taste bad?"

Eric chuckled. He seemed to be surprised that I'd ask. The blond vampire nodded, "Yes some people taste awful. We usually know that we don't want to feed on them based on their smell. Among humans, there is very little difference among sexually active adults."

Eric gently tugged me back to the couch. Then he looked at me and asked point blank, "Are you a virgin, Sookie?"

I flushed and my eyes cast downward; this was awkward. I responded, "I thought you said you could smell that."

"I don't mind if you are a virgin, Sookie. In fact, it makes me think higher of you." Then Eric said to me, "Your blood is not normal; not like another human virgin so once I tasted you I could not be sure. What are you, Sookie?"

I gave him a weird look; what else was there? Somehow I doubted that I was part vampire on my mother's side. Eric seemed to understand that I didn't know what he was talking about and then questioned, "So I am correct, you are a virgin?"

I raised my eyebrows, "What does it matter if I am?"

Eric grinned, "It matters because you made it clear earlier that you wanted to go farther with our activities. I need to know for when I take your maidenhead."

"You could have had it earlier, why did you stop me?" Crap! Now he knew for sure!

He smiled, "Because I want you to be my human."`

I asked, "Why?"

Eric answered, "When you are my human I can do things for you without looking weak among my kind."

I filled in, "Because they'd know that you were getting paid with blood and sex." He nodded and then I said, "I couldn't do that Eric. That would make me no different than a whore."

Eric briefly tensed as he clearly didn't like what I'd said. But he schooled his features and went back to his usual calm self. He said to me, "Human men still give their women gifts and help them when they need it, correct?"

I nodded my head, "Well yeah, but that's when they're in a relationship. He doesn't own her and he doesn't pay her for sexual services with gifts unless she's his mistress."

He asked me, "Your father never gave your mother a present?"

"That was different! They were married." I protested.

He smirked, "Your parents had a legal agreement. Let me guess; he worked, and spent money on his wife and family." I nodded, not so sure that I wanted to think about my parents having sex. Next Eric said, "Did your mother have sex with him so that he would spend money on her and the family? Or, perhaps she did so because she felt close to him and enjoyed it."

I looked at him, "What are you saying Eric?"

He told me, "I would like for you to feel close enough to me for us to have sex and I would like to know that it was me who brought you pleasure. I would also like to do other things with you and for you but aside from potentially making me look weak among my retinue, your sense of pride would get in the way and you would refuse; I've already figured that much out."

I told Eric, "Owning a human is not the same as being in a relationship. I could only do that if you were mine too."

Eric had a shit eating grin, "You would want to call me, yours?" I blushed and he kissed me on the top of my head. "What would it mean to be Sookie's?"

I hesitated for a moment and then said, "Well, he'd be supportive; like after a hard day at work he'd be willing to listen to me gripe even if he'd heard it a thousand times. I'd do the same for him if he needed to vent. He would try to get along with my brother for my sake even if he didn't like him. We'd have dinner parties once in a while so we could get together with our friends and catch up, and we'd both be friendly to the other's friends or at least tolerate them since they're important to the other one. He'd have to be willing to dance once in a while, I don't do that as much as I'd like. And my man would only be with me, no one else."

"Monogamy?" He said with a hint of expectation, maybe? Then he added, "I can do that."

That was not the answer I was expecting to hear, "Say what now?"

Eric smiled at me and brushed back a lock of my hair. "I can be monogamous if you'd like. I want my human to be happy. Among humans, you may say that I'm yours if you wish."

I perked up, "Really?" He silently told me that he meant his words. Next I asked him his own question, "What would being yours be like?"

Eric looked smug, "You will provide most of my meals and I will see to it that you enjoy the process as much as me. We will have sex as often as our schedules allow. If for some reason you are not amiable to such activities, you will not be forced. As a side note, don't use that as a selling point with your friends if they are looking to become someone's human; not all vampires will be so considerate with their human. Back to the main point, I will see to your safety and comfort; things in which the men in your family are deficient." He growled a little. Then he told me, "You will spend some time with me in Fangtasia so that my people will know who you are and I can teach you what to expect when one of my people addresses you. I will ask that you wear the jewelry that I give you, particularly when you come to Fangtasia so that the other vampires know I favor you and that I am not looking to share you with anyone. If, as my human, anyone disrespects you that person will have to answer to me whether or not the person is Vampire."

I said to him, "Gran always said that if something seems too good to be true it probably is... What might I not like about being yours?"

He nodded his understanding and told me, "I'll start with the obvious. Since you're a telepath, I am sure that you will hear many things from the patrons at Fangtasia that you will be uncomfortable with; you may have noticed that they are not the same kind of crowd that comes into where you work currently. Since I am Sheriff of Area Five, you will likely hear and see things that you would rather not."

Something he said earlier is bugging me, "Could someone take me from you?"

He pressed his lips together into a thin line and then answered. "Yes, but few people will have that ability."

I looked at him, "And the one's that do?"

Eric told me, "They do not live in Area Five and I will do my best to keep you away from them. Your scent is like a beacon, should an elder or a royal wish to take you our options will be limited."

"But there would be options?" I just wanted to be clear on that.

"Yes." He stated.

Next I asked him, "Don't you want to know what someone wouldn't like about being mine?"

Eric chuckled, "I have already figured out that your brother will be one factor, but I can deal with him. I do not like you working; particularly at that shack you call a bar. I will not try to force you to leave your job, but it will no longer be necessary when you are mine."

"Whoa. Hold up." I said to him, "It's sweet of you to say all of that but I need a job to pay my bills. I won't let you pay them for me."

Eric nodded and growled a little, "If that is what you wish."

I had no delusions, I knew that he'd try and worm his way in, get me to quit Merlotte's and do whatever it was that vampire's humans did. But I was determined that I would keep my job and pay my own way, it wasn't like we were getting married; there would be nothing official about our relationship. Our relationship. I'd never really had one of those before. Did I really want to do that?

I thought of what it meant as far as Eric told me. It wasn't so different from a human one. We'd spend time together and do things for each other. We might go away on a weekend trip somewhere like real couples do. And we'd have sex, like normal couples do.

That last thought got me to thinking about sex with Eric. I wanted to feel him, his body pressed to mine. I imagined my hands roaming over him, kneading and caressing that award winning ass that I'd only seen in jeans or sweat pants. I imagined what it would be like for Eric to touch me further south than he had so far.

Then I became aware of two things that made me very self conscious. Eric was watching me intently and I was feeling rather damp. I blushed like crazy and went to extricate myself from him. He held me to him and brushed back my hair with his free hand. Next he said, "You will let me know when you're ready, yes?" He kissed me before I could answer.

"Yes," I said when the kiss broke. Only the way that I said "yes" made me sound like I was saying yes to being his. Did I really want that? Eric tilted his head and raised his brows to ask if I really meant it. Without even thinking, I nodded my head in response. My damn body had a mind of its' own.

He asked me, "What are you doing tomorrow?"

Okay, I was not expecting that. "I'm supposed to go to Fangtasia to read some humans. Don't tell me that you forgot tomorrow's Sunday. I said I'd do it and I keep my word."

Eric clarified, "I meant during the day. Is there anything that you're doing during the day?"

I told him, "I don't have anything pressing. I was just going to catch up on my laundry, clean, read a book and maybe sunbathe if the weather holds out." I was curious as to why he was asking.

"I was thinking that we could go back to Shreveport tonight. You could stay with me. My quarters are light tight so we will have more time together before I sleep for the day. You deserve a proper introduction and that requires more time than we have if we remain here." He answered my unspoken question by adding, "I can stay up for a while after dawn, but only in a light tight space. It's one of the benefits that comes with age."

I couldn't decide if I was going against my better judgment or not, but soon I was packing for a trip to my... to Eric's house.

XXX

Eric's home was nothing like Fangtasia. It was large, homey, bright and modern with a handful of ancient looking items here and there. We took our shoes off before walking on the ultra plush light colored carpet. The kitchen was small, but it did have everything necessary for human habitation should he ever wish to sell. Eric placed some food stuffs that I grabbed from my own kitchen, into his refrigerator and then he gave me the rest of the grand tour.

The home was big and in a private community that had its own security. It wasn't as big as a palace or anything, but compared to the average home it was humongous. It didn't have many more rooms than most homes either, but each room was much bigger than average; all except for the kitchen that is. His room had a California King Size bed, yet he had more space to move around between his bed and the other furniture in the room than I did with my twin bed and the four walls of the room it was in back at home.

Eric encouraged me to put my things away in the closet or in a drawer while he went off to do something. I hung up my dress for tomorrow evening and then put away the shorts and t-shirt that I'd wear tomorrow into a drawer along with my undergarments and nightgown. I folded up the bag and looked around for a place to put it when I heard the sound of a faucet being turned on.

The tall blond came into the room, kissed me and took the folded bag from me only to place it on a shelf in the closet. He turned back to me and kissed me again. Our kisses became more frantic, but then Eric took control and slowed it down; making me crave him more. He looked at me with the hottest expression I have ever seen and suddenly I was aware that I was wet. I couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

He slid his hands down my sides and gripped my shirt. Since we'd done this a couple of times already, this part wasn't as awkward as the first time. I did the same for him and then he undid my bra. Next he undid my shorts and slid them down my body pausing at the area still covered by my panties and inhaling deeply. When he came back up, I saw his broad smile. Next, I undid his belt just enough so that I could unfasten his pants and pull them down. I started to pull down but then paused when I realized that I wasn't seeing any boxers or briefs. I thought I'd caught the hem of his underwear while pulling his pants. Eric was quiet and let me come to realization on my own; he wasn't wearing anything under his pants. I took a deep breath as it dawned on me what I'd be seeing next and then I pulled his pants down the rest of the way.

This was the first time in my life that a naked man stood in front of me. I wasn't sure where I should look, so I looked everywhere but there. Eric hooked his fingers around my panties and brought them down so that I could step out of them. Then, before I could feel even more embarrassed, he kissed me again. Only this time I could feel him against my stomach. I tried to remember to breathe and I tried to ignore the feeling of excess moisture since I had figured out what it really was.

Eric led me to a giant tub which had warm water filling it. He helped me to get in and then he joined me. We talked about nothing really important. When he asked me about how and when I started working at Merlotte's, Eric had me in front of him and he massaged my back while I told him how I came to work there.

That massage felt really good and it relaxed me to the point that I leaned back onto Eric as if he was my body pillow. He massaged and caressed my chest and my torso, occasionally venturing a little lower than he had before. Finally, his hand reached my hair down there. Never before did I think that such touching could be pleasurable. My pelvis rocked, but he stayed on the outside softly touching me until I rocked again.

This was heaven and hell at the same time. I loved every minute of it, but I wanted more; I didn't want him to go so slow. Eric slipped his fingers just inside my lips and glided them up and down. That elicited my loudest moan yet. He went to the top and started playing with the nub there. Not that I'd done it often for myself, but I knew what that could do. At the moment I didn't care if someone else was doing the deed for me, I wasn't about to stop him. My body seized and spasmmed with more force than I had ever felt before. As I regained control of my breath I felt a finger slip inside me, deep inside. It didn't hurt at all, it felt marvelously weird. He moved and twirled his finger inside me and used his other hand to rub me again. As he rubbed me, I felt him put in a second finger. It still didn't hurt, but it felt very tight. Once the second finger was in, he increased the pace where he was rubbing me. Within seconds my whole body jerked and I was aware of my body, down below, gripping onto his two fingers. Eric waited until I was breathing normally before his pulled his fingers out.

I turned around to face him and if not for the walls of the tub and Eric, I would have fallen on my side. I felt drunk almost. I said to him, "Thank you. That was amazing!"

With a smile of satisfaction he told me, "That was just the beginning." He kissed me again and then pulled the plug on the water.

He got out and dried off while I started to get out as well. Eric came over with a towel for me and lifted me out of the tub. I started to walk back to the room but I guess I was still a bit high from the events in the tub 'cause I couldn't walk straight. He helped me to get back without crashing into anything.

Once we made it into the room I noticed that his hair was still dripping. So I took my towel off and dried it a little more and then to get the drops that dotted his body. I had a compulsion to do something to him, for him, but I didn't know what to do.

Eric asked me to lie down and get comfortable while he poured some oil between his hands. He started with my head and worked all the way down to my toes before I lazily turned to lie on my back. The frontal massage, which included attention to both breasts, was very stimulating. He massaged all of me, including the pubic area which was where he stayed after he'd gotten to everything else. The last thing he did would have gotten him thrown in jail if he worked in a massage parlor; after he'd been massaging my groin and stuff for a bit, he slipped two fingers in and massaged me inside!

Then, as if of its' own accord, my body reacted. I spread my legs for him. I wanted him inside me, my body was craving it. But Eric had other plans. Eric lowered himself so that his face was right there, not even an inch from my bush. And then I learned why people made such a big deal out of oral sex.

I never imagined a man putting his mouth on me down there. It just seemed too dirty, but at the moment I was enjoying dirty very much. Every new sensation made me squirm and writhe. He told me to watch him as he played with me. I didn't think that I could, but I did. I feared that the memory of it alone would keep me permanently aroused; I was quickly becoming sexually depraved in my own opinion. I watched as he let his fingers and thumb take the place of his mouth so that his mouth could play with the soft flesh of my inner thigh. He kissed the flesh and then opened his mouth wide. I felt a slight scratch maybe and then the definite sensation of him sucking on me. The sucking did me in. I felt myself pulse around his fingers and release a large amount of moisture. He kissed the puncture marks on my thigh and then pulled out his fingers. I couldn't believe how wet they were.

Eric licked his fingers and then kissed me. First, he kissed me in that spot that his fingers had just come out from. Then he did it again a little higher, and again, and again as he made his way up my torso, my chest, and then to my throat. Next up, would be my mouth. He looked at me to ask if I was ready. My legs spread even more before my brain realized that he was at my entrance. I nodded my consent. He kissed me and pushed in a little. He deepened his kiss and it was hard for me to pay attention to what was happening below until I felt myself clamp onto him. He looked at me and then it dawned on me just how full I felt below. I never thought I'd ever get to experience this, this wonderful experience. I started to cry. Eric was not comfortable with this development and he asked me with his voice rough from what we'd been doing, "What's wrong?"

Nothing was wrong, absolutely nothing. I told him, "I'm happy, Eric. I didn't think I'd ever find you, but here you are." Shoot. I was going to worry about having said that when I got to thinking straight again.

Relief showed in his usually unemotional features, "I was thinking the same thing about you." His eyes pierced mine and he said, "You're mine now, Sookie."

I was simultaneously turned on and turned off by that statement. As a woman that was drawn to him and loved what he did to my body, I wanted to be his. As a woman of this day and age, it was demeaning even if he didn't mean it to be. My body won the argument and I agreed, "I'm yours." I'd probably kick myself later. Next I told him, "Move, please." He smiled and obliged.

Now that I'd had sex, I understood why people did it so often. Who in their right mind wouldn't want to do this again? I could understand why some people were sex addicts; I was afraid that I might be one of them now. I didn't want to think of how many nights we'd miss being together because one or both of us had to work and we lived in separate towns. Yep, I had to admit, I was addicted to Eric already.

I was tired, exhausted really, once we were done. I wanted to sleep but I wouldn't be able to sleep in our fluids.

Evidently I was wrong and I did sleep in the bed after we had sex. I woke up a little while later to feel Eric snuggling against me. I was still tired but not tired enough to go back to sleeping in the mess that we'd created. I told Eric, "I'm going to take a shower." Then, I got up and went to the drawer with my nightgown, making sure that I kept my back to him. I scurried off into the bathroom.

I wasn't trying to walk funny, but I was really sore. Nothing really hurt while we did it, but now was different. Now, I was more aware of my parts below than I had ever been before. Yet, I didn't really mind.

I started the shower and got in. Eric came in shortly after me. My first reaction was to cover myself. Eric joked, "No need to hide, I've already seen you. Besides, I know you're a bit sore. It's to be expected, but I don't imagine you'd feel up to having sex again so soon." I shook my head to agree that I would not.

We had a lovely shower together that morning. He washed my hair, giving my head a fantastic massage in the process and he lathered up my body giving it really good attention. There were moments when I forgot that I was sore. Then he took the shampoo to wash his own hair, but I slapped his hand and took the bottle. I washed his hair and then soaped him up. Whenever I reached there I was uncertain of how I should touch him but I got the job done and he didn't complain.

Drying each other was fun. He dried me off with a fresh towel and some licking with his tongue. I dried him off similarly, but let the towel do most of the work in areas that I wasn't used to touching. I dried his ankles and feet last. When I straightened my kneeling position I was eye to... his manhood was right about at eye level with me.

Again, my body moved of its' own accord. I leaned forward and gave him a light kiss. That felt nice, so I did it again. I went for a third time but licked him a little. I liked the texture of his skin on my tongue and the taste of his skin. I went in once more and gave him a light, open mouthed kiss. As I did that I wasn't sure what to do with my hands. Then it hit me, I didn't have a clue what I was doing. I stopped and turned beat red. I looked down at the floor and said to him, "I'm so sorry. I should have asked if you wanted that." I started rambling, "Which, of course you wouldn't 'cause I don't know how to do that kind of thing."

Eric bent down and pulled me up. "What you did was fine, and I'd like for you to do it again. But I don't want you to feel like you have to, some women don't like that."

I stated rather shyly, surprised at my own admission, "I kinda liked it." Then I told Eric, "And I didn't try to do that because I thought I had to. I... I..." I played with a few of his chest hairs and spoke to them, "I want to be able to do to you what you do to me."

Eric stooped for a moment to catch my gaze and he had a shit eating grin. "How did I get so lucky?" Then he swept me off of my feet and carried me back to the bed. Evidently he had changed the bedding and sheets before he joined me in the shower.

He placed me on the bed and covered me up, and then he got in behind me. If I didn't know any better I'd think he was tired too. I turned to look at the time, "Eric! The sun should have come up over an hour ago."

"Yes, sleep is calling." He murmured in my ear. "When you wake again, you will find a note on your nightstand. I wrote it while you were sleeping earlier. We will have some time after I wake up before we need to head out. Feel free to roam around the house or to use the pool out back."

"I didn't bring a swim suit." It hadn't occurred to me that I could sun bathe while staying over at a vampire's house.

"Then go out after the gardener has left. That shouldn't be a problem if he comes in the morning as he should. No one will disturb you and no one will see you."

I didn't think I could do that, but I told Eric "thank you" anyway. I couldn't believe how sweet he really was. Then, for the first time ever... for the second time ever, I fell asleep in the arms of a man that I'd had sex with. I couldn't have been happier.

Xxx

I was anxious through all of the next day. Luckily, I wasn't awake for much of it so I only stewed for a few hours. I tried reading my book, but I couldn't concentrate. I would have gone swimming, but I've never been without a bathing suit. I ate a little, but not as much as I normally would.

My insecurities were getting to me. Eric had some good lines, but was that all they were? I worried and fretted over how he'd treat me now that he'd gotten what he was after. My anxiety was peaking as the sun started to wane.

I did look around a little bit, while trying to ease my mind. His home looked like it was owned by a wealthy business man. I smiled to myself, because I guessed he was just that. Eric was a wealthy business man who just happened to also be undead.

I went to the kitchen for a glass of water after I finished looking around. That's where I was when Eric joined me. All he was wearing was a pair of shorts.

He had an infectious smile as he came over to greet me. He asked me what I did and I fibbed a little. I told him that I looked around his beautiful house (true), that I read a little (technically, one paragraph of one chapter but still true) and that I went outside for a bit (also true, even if I didn't sun bathe or swim; I did go outside to look around and gawk at the pool).

Eric said to me, "You smelled stronger of the sun yesterday. I do not believe that you spent much time outside today."

I nodded my admission and told him, "I went out to look around." I didn't tell him that I spent almost half of my time awake lying next to him and dreaming about us as if we would ever really happen and that I spent the rest of the time fretting over what the realty would be.

We talked for a bit and then started to get ready to go to Fangtasia. I wore a simple pink shirt-dress and Eric wore sweats. Once I was done dressing, Eric twirled a finger to get me to turn my back to him and said, "I have something for you."

A moment later, Eric was placing a necklace on me. It was an exquisite piece. The gold chain had a pendant on it that was full of diamonds. The pendant was in the shape of a cat. I looked in the mirror and gawked. "Eric, this had to cost you a fortune. I don't want you spending money on me like that."

Eric responded, "I have the money to spend and I will spend it as I wish." I growled at that but rubbed the pendant wondering why he chose a cat of all things. Eric noticed my movement and told me, "I know that you have a cat. So does Freyja, in fact, she has two."

I asked, "Who is Freyja?"

He smiled, "She is a goddess often associated with cats, seiðr, love, beauty, fertility, wealth, war, and death."

"Cats?" I couldn't be serious.

He nodded, "Two cats pull her chariot."

"Oh, cool." I teased, "Shouldn't the cat have fangs?" Eric laughed and then asked me if I liked it. I told him that I did but I wouldn't appreciate it if he bought me stuff like that all of the time. I didn't want to feel like he was trying to buy my affection; especially since he already had it.

To which Eric responded, "I will not buy you things so that you will show me affection, Sookie. I will buy you things when the mood strikes." I looked at him sideways.

We arrived at Fangtasia before anyone else. We went into his office. I sat and looked around while Eric took care of some business from his desk. He had told me to feel free to walk around but I was content to watch him while he was working. I didn't say that though.

Before long Longshadow joined us and so did Pam. Shortly after that, a few humans arrived. The vampires and me all went out to the bar area. Most of the humans stayed in the employee lounge, while Pam brought a relatively short, chubby man to the table where I sat.

Eric made introductions and I went right to work. The accountant didn't know what happened to the money, that's why he'd reported it; he didn't want the suspicion to land on him. I told Eric that he was clean and then read a few more people. I was coming up empty until I read the airhead barmaid that waited on us the night I met Eric. Ginger knew, but she couldn't say the name; it was as if it was locked away in a safe. Supposedly, she and a waitress named Belinda were close. I questioned Belinda next, the waitress knew nothing about the money but she did know which vampires Ginger was with. The answer being any vampire that would have her. Just then, Belinda thought of who Ginger had been seeing most recently. I chanced a look at the vampire, but he was a blur in my vision.

Longshadow came after me a savagely bit my arm which I'd instinctively put in front of me. It hurt like fiery hell and I was fighting off a losing battle for what seemed like an endless amount of time, but was probably only a second or two. Then he stopped. His face was full of shock and then his body sort of exploded; turning my pink dress vampire red.

I coughed and heaved and made a funny face when I realized that I had some of Longshadow's blood in my mouth. "Ew, gross."

Eric showed me where I could go to shower and clean up and told me that Pam would find something for me to wear.

Pam came in just as I was turning off the shower. There was a towel nearby so I grabbed it and dried off before wrapping it around me and stepping out. The pretty blond handed me some clothes, "These should fit you." She kept looking at me so I gave her my own look back. Pam said to me, "It's about time you yielded to him. Eric has been an insufferable bastard for some days now."

"What do you mean?" Surely I hadn't caused him to act in the manner she said.

Pam clarified, "Sookie, that vampire has hardly feed from humans at all and I know he hasn't fucked one since before you walked your gorgeous ass into our bar." She stepped forward and kissed my cheek a little more sensually than I was comfortable with. Then she said, "I'm glad to know that he was more than satisfied with you." She looked me up and down once again and then left.

I hurried like crazy to get dressed again before she came in and caught me naked.

A short while later Eric and I were on the road back to my place. Fangtasia would be closed the next day but not Merlotte's. I was due to work tomorrow and my shift started in the morning.

Once we were back at my place Eric pulled me into him and sat on the bed. I was still a little sore but I wanted Eric; sometimes I hated my body. We kissed just a little and then Eric said to me, "I have a request." I looked up at him wondering what he wanted. Maybe he wanted me to lick him and stuff after all; I'd seen and heard enough in other's heads that a lot of men really enjoyed that kind of thing. I wasn't sure that I'd be any good, but I was willing to learn. Eric kept his eyes on mine, "I'd like for you to drink some of my blood."

Of all the things that he could have requested, that was not one that I saw coming. I looked at him sideways, "I thought you said that vampires rarely did that."

He nodded, "That is true. And the reason for that is because it does more than just heal a human, make the human feel good, increase the humans emotions and make the human easy to find. This kind of exchange also allows the vampire to feel what the human feels. Most vampires find that annoying and do not wish to have feelings, some feed their blood to humans so that they know what the human is feeling and that makes it easier to manipulate a person." So why would he want to do this? Eric answered the question that I asked only in my head, "I want to know what you're feeling. I want to be able to come to you if you're afraid or hurt and I want to be able to find you quickly."

"I don't know Eric." The idea that someone could feel my emotions like I could with other humans just seemed too weird to me. Next I shared one of my reservations, "I'm not a vampire, Eric. I don't drink blood. No offense is meant when I say this 'cause I know you need it and all, but that's just gross."

I'd swear that vampire was disappointed when I told him that. He hugged me tight and said, "Perhaps it is better that you have time to think about it. If you take my blood now you will heal and you might not like that. I just don't want to lose you if giving you my blood can help prevent that from happening."

"Whoa, back up." I looked at him, "What do you mean that I might not like being healed?"

Eric had a sardonic smile, "It's been nearly twenty-four hours so the tears inside of you are not fresh but giving you blood now may still regenerate some of what you lost. I would have given you my blood right after we had sex, but I did not think that you would appreciate growing back your maidenhead."

"But because you didn't do that right after, it won't grow back all the way... and it might not grow back at all?" I restated to make sure that I understood. He nodded in response.

I swallowed, "I wouldn't have to drink a lot of your blood would I?"

"For the purpose of keeping you safe, only a couple of drops are necessary." Eric smirked, "But I'll let you have more than that if you wish."

I snorted at that. "You're lucky that I'm even entertaining the idea, buddy."

"Buddy?" He nuzzled my neck and groped my chest, "I hope I mean more to you than a buddy?"

Physical contact, it seemed, always made me feel braver with Eric. I took a deep breath and said, "I'll try it but I ain't gonna promise you that I'll keep it down. You might want to have a lined basket ready for just in case."

He chuckled and I could feel his chest move. As I sat sideways on his lap I watched him bite into his own wrist. He lowered his wrist and silently encouraged me.

Tentatively, I took his wrist and brought it up near my face for closer inspection. There was a trickle of blood running down his arm. I wasn't sure if I could do this. Then I decided that instead of licking the blood that lined his arm, I would go straight for the two little holes. I'd kiss them, just like I'd do with Coby or Lisa if either of them had a booboo (of course, I'd normally kiss it after it had a band-aid if it was a bleeder). I kissed his booboo and then hesitantly licked my lips. It was... not bad

Drinking vampire blood from the source was quite thrilling. Once I had that small taste, I found myself latching onto him to pull out more of his blood. It tasted so good and was not icky and gross like I thought it would be. Eric had his own good moment when I sucked hard on his wrist, apparently vampires liked to be sucked in more than one way. All too soon, his wounds closed and I found myself licking up the blood that had trailed down his arm.

The bloodletting led to love making which was sweet and gentle. I had been expecting it to be, well, not so gentle. But it was perfect. After we finished and cleaned up, I looked at the clock and felt a little depressed.

"What is bothering you?" Eric asked me. I told him it was nothing, but he told me that he knew I'd just lied to him and that something saddened me.

"That's from me having your blood?" He nodded and then waited for me to enlighten him. I said, "I don't want to close my eyes 'cause when I wake up it'll be light outside and you won't be here." Then I had a little wave of panic, "I don't have a light tight space. Oh Eric, please tell me that you'll have plenty of time to get home. I don't want anything happening to you on my account."

Eric smiled softly, "I will be staying nearby. I have some business to tend to in the area tomorrow and I wish to see you this evening."

"Oh," my heart did a little happy dance knowing that I'd see him again tomorrow.

Eric said, "Please tell me that you have an escort to and from work tomorrow."

Aw, he was looking out for me. I just hoped that it didn't get old. I said, "Arlene is coming to get me after she drops the kids off at the baby sitter's. I'll get a ride home from Jason; he usually comes in after work and he should be out of jail by then since he didn't do anything. I'll ask him to take me home when he's done eating."

"Do you have a backup plan?" He really seemed worried, "What if this Arlene is not able to come for you in the morning? You once told me yourself that your brother Jason is not reliable."

I informed him, "If I need to I could just go on my own." He clearly didn't like that answer so I wasn't about to tell him that I'd done just that a few times this week. I said to him, "If Arlene can't make it, I can call Sam." Not that I would, but I could. Next I said, "After work, if Arlene or Jason isn't available, I'm sure I can hitch a ride with one of Jason's friends." I tried to assure Eric, "They all work on the Parish road crew together so they're all really strong and tough, for a human. Hoyt is a sweet mama's boy who'd do anything for Jason since they've been best friends since elementary school, Hoyt's one of the few people that doesn't think bad about me at all and is always willing to help. His other best friend is this Cajun guy that he's known for a few years now. Rene is really sweet and tells me that I remind him of his sister; he's also engaged to my friend Arlene. I'll be fine, Eric."

"I don't like the uncertainty." Eric told me, "I want you to meet someone tonight after work. He'll be able to escort you and see to your safety when I cannot, he will work around your schedule."

"Don't you think that's a bit much?" I looked at him.

He answered simply, "No."

Xxx

The next day was relatively quiet. Arlene picked me up for work as we had planned. The day started out slow since not as many people came in on Mondays and most that did tended to come in for dinner rather than lunch and we'd gotten there for the start of lunch. Our third waitress, Holly, was out today because her place flooded early this morning after someone hit a fire hydrant up the road a piece and most of the water rolled right into her place. It didn't matter though; Merlotte's was slow enough that Arlene and I could handle things without a third waitress.

My shift was fairly quiet in that not much happened and nothing out of the ordinary happened. Claire came into work about an hour early as the place was starting to get a little busier. Luckily, it was not too busy when Arlene got a phone call from the sitter saying that Coby was sick again. That boy saw more viruses than a doctor's office. Arlene left work a little early which was fairly normal for her.

The highlight of my day came when an average looking man entered the bar. The man was pleasant with his words, but his thoughts were not very gentlemanly. But he wasn't the highlight; he brought it with him. The man introduced himself to me as Bobby Burnham and then handed me an envelope. I tried not to dwell on Bobby's thoughts of how his master tended to have prettier women than me and that he thought of me as a gold digging whore; it's not like the jerk said those things out loud. I opened the envelope to find a note with a set of keys inside.

Dearest Sookie,

The doors and windows at the farmhouse were not very secure. I had some people resolve that issue for you today. I asked that Bobby place your new house keys in the envelope along with this note so that you may enter your own home when you arrive from work.

-E

The highlight of my day also made me mad. As sweet as it was for Eric to do that, he had no right. It was my house; he didn't even ask me before he went off and made costly changes. It'd take me lord knows how long to pay for that. I just prayed that he didn't replace all of the windows; my house had a lot of them.

As my shift was winding down Hoyt and Rene took a seat in my area. They'd just gotten off from work and they'd come in for dinner. Jason wasn't with them because he was still being held on suspicion of murder. I didn't have to ask them if they wanted beer; they always ordered their beer. I took a pitcher of Dixie Draft with me along with two glasses and greeted the guys. I took their orders and dropped 'em off at the hatch for Lafayette.

Twenty minutes before my shift ended I chided myself for not driving my own behind to work. Arlene had left before our shift was even over; Sam had to make a run out to Clarice for a part before all the food in the walk in freezer started to thaw; and Jason hadn't left County yet. I supposed that I could wait until dark, but I couldn't call Eric at Fangtasia because he'd told me that he'd be staying near here. I didn't have another number for him.

I hated to bother Jason's buddies, but I did ask if one of them could help me out. Hoyt was eager to help and said he'd take me home but no sooner did he say that then his phone rang. His mama wanted him to come home 'cause she needed his help with something, right away. Rene and I overheard enough of the conversation to know that Mrs. Fortenberry was making a big deal out of nothing once again, but that was how she operated. Rene told us that he'd take me home so that Hoyt could get home before his mama got too excited and passed out. That was fine by me; I just wanted a way home. I told Lafayette that I had a ride with Rene and asked him to pass it along to Sam. Then I went out the door.

Rene had a fairly thick Cajun accent; we didn't hear it too much around my part of Louisiana so he was kind of a novelty. He was a real southern gentleman; he treated Arlene well and even stuck up for me once when some idiot grabbed my behind. He made sure that I was buckled in before we left the parking lot.

Back at my house he said, "You got some nice new doors there, you."

"Yeah, they were just put up today." I told him, "The other doors were too easy to break into I'm told."

"Yeah, you can't be too safe now can you, Cher?"

Since he was nice enough to drive me home, and he didn't have to drive this way to get home, I wanted to thank him and offer him some tea. It was really hot inside the house, but that's because all of the windows and doors and been closed up tight. I apologized to Rene for the uncomfortable climate and then set to pour him some tea.

While I poured the tea, I heard his thoughts. His accent was not Cajun though. He was thinking about how disgusting I was to be whoring around with dead things. -He only knew about Bill and we hadn't even done anything! Then I saw Dawn, Amy, Maudette and some other girl in a waitress uniform; and I saw how he killed them. Then I realized that he was in the kitchen with me.

I pasted on my crazy smile and turned around. The closest weapon of any type nearby was a broom. I pulled it out and pretended to sweep saying that I'd spilled some sugar. Rene lunged at me and I swung the broom like a bat. It cracked and Rene went down yelling, "You fuckin' bitch!" I hit him once again and ran.

There was nothing nearby except for dead people; dead dead and undead. Bill Compton wasn't too far, but the sun wasn't down all the way just yet. That left the cemetery between his place and mine. Luckily, the cemetery was old so many of the trees had trunks that I could use to hide behind so I ran into the cemetery and hugged a tree while praying that I'd figure out what to do next.

Rene came running into the area and screamed, "I'm gonna kill you, ya fuckin' cunt!" He ran around like the crazed man he was. I had a hard time keeping track of him because I kept getting mental images of his past kills. I probed to see if I could find out more on the mysterious waitress and then I found out that she was his sister. Somehow Rene knew that I was listening in on him. He screamed, "Stay out of my head you goddamn freak! You're an abomination!" The ranting continued for a while. A couple of times I had to race to another tree or crouch behind a headstone.

Then Rene became very quiet. He projected thoughts into my head; saying that he wouldn't really hurt me. He wanted me to believe that it was all a bad joke; he didn't mean to give me a scare. Then, suddenly, I was grabbed from behind.

I screamed and kicked with all my might. He put a hand over my mouth and I bit him, making him holler. Good. Rene then pushed me to the ground and kicked me hard. After that, he knelt down with one knee on my stomach. He started punching me and I didn't know what was worse; the pain from his blows or knowing that he intended to have sex with my corpse. Then, I saw my fury savior.

Dean the dog growled and leaped on Rene. Only once before I'd seen the little dog be aggressive; he didn't look the type, but I was thankful that he had that in him. Rene managed to get the dog off of him, picked up a large rock and hit it hard. Dean was down for the count. I had to do something. Maybe I could find another one of those big rocks. I groped the dirt as I saw an unbelievable sight before me. Dean became a man. The man's back was to me, so I couldn't tell who it was but... the dog was a man! I had to get it together before Rene turned his attention back on me. At the moment he was pulling out a hunting knife and cursing that the world was full of "goddamn freaks."

I tried really hard to move, but my body wasn't cooperating. Next, I heard a crunching noise and after I blinked a few times I realized that Rene's head had been knocked off.

Eric pulled out his cell phone and called someone. He said that he needed a body to be taken care of. I knew that he was going to cover this up, but if he did that no one would know who the killer really was. I protested as vehemently as I could. Eric warned me that there could be a backlash because he decapitated a human and I countered that he'd saved a human from a serial killer. Not to mention the fact that many people were in fear right then, if they knew that Rene was gone, they'd sleep better at night.

He said, "If I call the police, they'll want to see your injuries as that will be part of the evidence."

I nodded, "I know... I think it might've been worse if I didn't have your blood last night." I might not have lived if it weren't for his blood boost.

Eric called told the person on the phone, "Don't take care of the human body, we'll let the police handle it. I'll need you to take care of the shifter though. No, he is still alive. Sam Merlotte, no he is not. Yes, he looks human now but he lacks clothing; that could be difficult to explain. I expect you will." He didn't say "goodbye" or any type of farewell he simply hung up.

The naked dog man started to move on his own, albeit slowly and then Eric called the police. Within minutes, Eric was surrounded by every Bon Temps law enforcement official, all five or six of them, with their guns drawn. The naked dog man had left the area; it was just me, Eric, and the parts formerly known as Rene Lenier. Eric rolled his eyes at them and explained the situation exactly as he had over the phone. After the guns were put away, he told the story again. But the third time he said it, he glamoured the person to write it down and not ask again; he felt it unnecessary to keep repeating the tale.

An ambulance crew came to check me out. I had a couple broken ribs, maybe a punctured lung, my left cheek bone was broken and I'd twisted my right ankle on my way down to the ground. I screamed when they moved me onto the gurney; I just couldn't take it anymore.

Eric rode in the back of the ambulance with me. He was not supposed to go into the examination room, but no one dared to give him any problem over it. A police photographer took pictures of me before the doctors went to work. I passed in and out of consciousness a few times.

The next time I woke up, Jason was at my bedside. He apologized profusely and couldn't believe that his best friend was a murderer. He told me, "Andy and Bud done found out that Rene wasn't even his name. It was Drew, Drew Marshall. All this time, I thought I knew him. I'm so sorry, Sookie."

Arlene came by with a huge bouquet of flowers. She had no idea what to say, but neither did I. Arlene didn't know what Rene AKA Dew was; I couldn't blame her for any of what happened. She didn't stay long, but that was okay; I understood.

Tara sat next to Jason and then proceeded to tell me that she'd come over and help me out back at the house. Tara would stay with me if I wanted and (she looked at Jason) Jason would mow the lawn and take care of the outside shit. That was news to Jason, but he didn't protest.

Eric interrupted Tara's spiel, "you will not need to do those things for Sookie. She will be coming home with me tonight."

Jason shot up out of his chair, "The doctor said she could go home in a couple of days, not a couple of hours. And what makes you think she wants to go with you?"

"I do, Jason." Jason wasn't happy, but it's what I wanted. I could see that it meant a lot to Eric, especially now. I wasn't going to (try) to deny him.

XXX

Eric took my home against hospital orders. I had expected him to insist that I drink his blood again, but he didn't. Instead, he told me that he would like me to drink from him again but that I should be aware of what would happen.

I furrow my brows, "The second time isn't like the first?"

He chuckled, "But it is. You have a tie to me now that will never go away. If you drink from me again, that tie will become even stronger."

"Do you not want that?" I was afraid of the answer, but I put it out there anyway.

"I very much want that, Lover." Eric said, "But I don't want you to think that I tricked or mislead you into something you don't want."

I next wanted to know, "If I go a long time without drinking your blood, does the tie weaken at all?"

He nodded his head, "Yes. The connection cannot ever be fully severed unless one of us dies, but it can weaken considerably."

Having him feel my feelings is new, weird and strange. But the thought of that changing bothered me; I just couldn't let that happen. I told Eric, "I wouldn't want that."

"I'm happy to hear it." Eric then said, "You will not need to take my blood often to keep the connection. In fact, it is not good to do it too often; doing so could cause you to lose your free will. I don't want that to happen, so if I say that you've had enough, you've had enough."

I nodded that I understood, and then I asked, "What would happen if you fed from me while you fed me? Could that stop it? The whole, losing the free will bit."

Eric looked at me with shock and hope. He said, "It would do so much more. Sookie, that kind of exchange leads to a permanent bond that no other vampire may break or dishonor regardless of age or status. We do have marriage in our world, but a blood bond goes deeper than a marriage."

"Oh." That's all I could manage at that moment. A blood bond must be pretty intense and Eric showed a lot more emotion than he normally did when he told me about it. He said that it was even more significant than a marriage. I hoped he was thinking about me. No, that's way too soon. Eric smirked, I guess he picked up on whatever I was feeling just now.

I took Eric up on the offer of blood and was healed in mere minutes. I needed to remember though, that healing made a person itch a lot.

We spent a couple hours talking about what I'd do on my few days off. Then I remembered that I was mad at Eric for making a major change to my house without my consent. The jerk knew that I was happy about it too and he used that against me. I fell asleep that night in the arms of the biggest, sweetest jerk I'd ever known.