Story Notes: Takes place immediately after the graveyard scene in "The Fourth Man in the Fire."

Bill scooped her up in his arms while she was still panting through the aftermath of her orgasm. Sookie clung to her gloriously naked vampire as he carried her quickly through the cemetery and into the house. He moved with vampire speed, sending her head spinning more than it already was. Bill was alive!

As she tried to collect herself, he set her down in the shower and stripped off the tattered remains of her dress. "Get clean. I'll be back." There was something flickering in his deep blue eyes that she couldn't quite identify, but he was gone before she had a chance to question it. Naked and with dirt in places she didn't even want to think about, she took his advice and turned the shower on.

She scrubbed the mud and sweat from her skin, hissing slightly when the soap seeped into the open wound on her breast. Her body was sore, but humming with the knowledge that her vampire lover was alive. Or at least not any deader than he had been when they met. She hadn't had a chance to ask him what had happened that night before, but Sookie wasn't sure it mattered now that he was safe.

Finishing her shower, she wrapped herself in a towel and combed out her hair before going to look for Bill. She found him in the living room, stoking the fire. He was already clean and dressed; vampire speed proving useful once again.

"Bill…." He turned to her and she nearly gasped at the heavy emotion in his eyes. The flicker she had seen earlier had turned into a storm roiling through the intense blue. "Bill, is something the matter?" He regarded her silently for a moment before turning back to stare into the orange flames. For one quick moment, Sookie wished she could read his thoughts as the silence weighed on her but she shook the thought away, knowing it was only fleeting. She would just have to wait for him to tell her what was wrong. Finally, he spoke, though he kept his back to her, the tension in his shoulders evident.

"I must apologize for the way I treated you tonight."

"What d'ya mean?"

"I was very rough with you. It can be difficult for vampires to control ourselves when we first wake. Yet it was wrong of me to be so boorish and inconsiderate."

"I wasn't exactly complainin'" she replied, blushing red at the memory of her wanton reaction to Bill's coarse treatment. Good girls weren't supposed to enjoy rough sex with vampires in cemeteries – maybe she wasn't such a good girl after all, though she found that she didn't really mind. But as she was embracing her new sexuality, Bill was struggling to be the southern gentleman he was raised to be.

"Still, this was only our second night together and it should not have happened like that."

"So how should it have happened?" Bill turned from the fire to look at her once again, surprised to see her lips were quirked in a playful smile. She stepped closer to him. "Tell me what you would have done differently."

Her boldness surprised him, but also pleased him. Bill started to relax as he realized his human hadn't been scared, injured or turned off by their animalistic graveyard tryst. She didn't shy away from his vampiric nature; she accepted him and wanted him. So he let his remorse slip away and reached out to tuck a damp strand of blonde hair behind Sookie's ear.

"Why don't I show you instead?" he said, lowering his lips to hers. Sookie let her eyes drift close as he captured her mouth, his kiss sweet and soft, showing the affection that had been lacking in their earlier contact. He cupped her cheek, tilting her head to the perfect angle, his cool fingers a sensual contrast to the heat emanating from the fire.

Tender and slow worked for awhile, as they explored each other's mouths, but they couldn't keep their hunger suppressed for long. Bill deepened the kiss, making Sookie's toes curl against the hardwood floor and her fingers twist in the fabric of his shirt. She pushed her tongue against his, desire stirring low in her belly.

Bill pulled back when his fangs ran out, but she didn't let him stay away for long, tugging him back to her with her hands on either side of his face. Their lips met again, greedy and eager, Sookie pushing up on her toes to get closer to her vampire.

After long minutes, she reluctantly broke away to catch her breath, but Bill granted her no respite, his lips and tongue caressing their way over her jaw, her neck, her ear. Sookie panted as she clutched at his shoulders, loving the delicious things his mouth was doing to her ear, promising many more delicious things to come. Bill stepped back and met her eyes, his own blue orbs dark with want, then drew a finger down her chest to the place where her towel was tucked into itself. Their eyes still locked, he untied the towel, letting it pool at her feet.

Sookie's breath caught in her throat as the terrycloth dropped and Bill followed it, falling to his knees before her. He pressed a kiss to the two small puncture wounds on her left breast before circling his tongue around her nipple. She gasped and he palmed her other breast, her flesh hot and supple beneath his hand. She swayed towards him, her knees suddenly weakened by desire.

Bill tightened his grip on the small blonde in his arms, quickly moving them across the room to seat her on the couch. He positioned himself between her spread legs, once again on his knees. Sookie ran her fingers through Bill's dark hair, nails digging into his scalp when he sucked at her nipple, a hint of fang pressing into her flesh. He growled in response, moving his mouth lower.

She tried not to tense as Bill's tongue traced wavy lines down her stomach. In their very brief period of intimacy, they hadn't done this; no one had ever done this to her. She was unsure of herself, but she didn't want her lover to know. Their blood bond, however, precluded any attempts she made to hide her nerves. Bill took his mouth from her and met her eyes, although he kept his fingers moving, stroking soothing circles on her knee and thigh.

"Sookie, it's all right. We can stop if you want."

"No." She shook her head vigorously. Whatever insecurities she had were nothing compared to the passion he was stirring in her. "I don't want to stop."

"Good," he nearly purred and she felt another jolt of desire at the sound. He lowered his head again, pressing a wet kiss above the small thatch of blonde hair between her legs. His fingers gently stroked up her thigh, between her legs, bringing the nerves to life. He teased her for a moment, running his fingertips over her folds while his mouth worried a ticklish spot on her hip. His enhanced senses relished the scent of her growing arousal, which spiked when he drew his index finger across her clit. She shivered and gasped.

"So beautiful," Bill murmured against her flesh before slipping his tongue between her folds. He moved leisurely, reverently, wanting to worship her the way he had neglected to do in the cemetery. Sookie moaned and dropped her head against the back of the couch, her hips pushing up to get more.

She closed her eyes, her body overwhelmed by the wonderful sensations Bill was introducing her to. She rode the waves of pleasure, letting her vampire guide her to new heights. He lifted her tan thigh over his pale shoulder, opening her further to his ministrations, sliding one cool finger then another into her hot depths.

"Bill, oh, Bill," a high, needy voice chanted and Sookie was surprised to realize it was her own. Bill certainly wasn't calling his own name, especially with his mouth so deliciously busy. His skilled tongue swirled over her center, tension coiling low in her stomach with every stroke.

The smell and taste of his lover, the sound of her blood rushing in her thigh and her fervent moans left Bill aching with need, but he stayed focused on Sookie's satisfaction. He stretched her with a third finger, curling his digits inside her, searching for that special spot. She cried out when he found it, flying over the edge, her scream getting louder as he sank his fangs into her femoral artery and stars exploded behind her eyes.

Drifting pleasantly through space, Sookie let her head loll back against the couch, a contented sigh escaping her lips. Finally regaining her senses, she glanced down at Bill, his cheek pillowed on her thigh as he lapped at the wound on her thigh. She giggled, tenderly brushing a lock of brown hair out of her lover's eye. He looked up, meeting her gaze. "What's so funny?"

"The first time we met, you told me you wanted to bite me there. I just didn't think I'd enjoy it so much." Bill chuckled, rising up on his knees to brush a sweet kiss to her mouth.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," he murmured against her lips, pressing her further into the couch with the cool weight of his body. Sookie wrapped her legs around him, drawing him closer and gasped softly when his erection met her core. Apparently, they were not finished yet.

They worked together to remove Bill's clothes as quickly as possible. Naked, he tugged her hips to the edge of the couch and forcefully sheathed himself inside her. She sat up, looping her arms and legs around Bill, locking her body to his. Sookie's breath hitched as he bottomed out inside her, his full length stretching her deliciously. Then he was moving, his hips thrusting against hers, his mouth devouring her lips, her jaw, her neck, her collarbone, his hands caressing any skin he could reach. Sookie's nails dug half-moons into his back as she clung to the vampire, hoping to anchor herself in the incredible pleasure he so easily brought to her. Need swept over her relentlessly, causing her to pant and moan and arch into his body.

Bill groaned into her neck, careful not to let his fangs nick her skin. He had already bitten her twice tonight, so he would not do it again, though the call of her rushing blood was unbelievably enticing. She was so hot and tight around him, the heaven he had been denied in a tiny blonde package. He gripped her thighs tightly, twisting their bodies so that he ground his pubic bone against her clit. Soon, Sookie's cries were growing louder as she approached another peak, her body shaking out of control. He followed her into bliss, her name coming from his lips in a passionate growl.

Sookie rested her head on Bill's shoulder and he stroked her hair absently as their bodies slowly relaxed. "That was amazing," she whispered. "You should show me things more often."

The edge of Bill's mouth twitched upwards in a smile. "I will."

---End---