The King's Telepath

by Sleepy Lotus

On a tour of Europe Sookie is snatched up by vampires and sold to the highest bidder. Five years later, a slave in King Russell's court, she meets a certain Viking sheriff - naturally, her world will never be the same.

The King's Telepath

By: Sleepy Lotus

A/N: After bawling my eyes out while writing the last chapter of Sookie the Vampire Slayer I found I just had to write something a little lighter…if you could call this lighter. Lol. Enjoy!

On a tour of Europe Sookie is snatched up by vampires and sold to the highest bidder. Five years later, a slave in King Russell's court, she meets a certain Viking sheriff - naturally, her world will never be the same.

Chapter I: The Forgotten Art of Choice

Swift as a hurricane, change descended upon the deep south of the United States. Borders and alliances torn asunder, drawn anew. No new thing, in the vampire or human world, mused the vampire sheriff. It was a practice as old as man himself. There would be new names, new maps. And later, the cycle would renew. Countries, kingdoms, collapsing under their own weight, fiefdoms snatched up at the edge of a sword.

Well, King Russell Eddington had not quite used a sword. The blade of his cunning proved perfectly sufficient, in taking over the neighboring state of Louisiana. In name, he bound the territories with a ring, under the guise of a royal marriage, a ceremony that would soon take place. In truth, it all came down to money, the way all things seem to. Since man stumbled on that foolish idea to deem a soft yellow metal taken from the ground valuable.

Make no mistake. Eric Northman remained plenty fond of gold, in all its forms. But he had plenty of money, and the power that went with it. As of late, it was a different sort of shiny that caught his interest.

Fleetingly, he'd been awarded with glimpses of her, the King's pet telepath as she was ushered two and fro through the palace by her keepers, reading minds of the newcomers that came with the takeover. A shade to match his own, her hair shone metallic in the low light, and often the sheriff felt the urge to follow after her, just to run fingers through those tresses, curious if they were as soft as they seemed.

Rumors abounded of her, the beautiful woman Russell kept close, but did not taste. Her assets, for the King at least, lay elsewhere. She'd proved invaluable, countless times. She held her head high, with a certain dignity as she went about her duties - only to look in her eyes, such a startling shade of clear blue, would one know her to be a slave.

Only allowing himself a moment's distraction, as she passed through the hall outside the door, Eric turned his attention back to King Russell, committing royal instructions to memory. As it was, Eric remained the oldest thing in Louisiana, nearly as ancient as Russell himself. Both King and Sheriff were creatures of the old ways, they understood each other in a fashion the youth of their race could not fathom. They'd reached an agreement; business could be carried out, without ill will or temper. Eric would be the King's eyes and ears within the Pelican State without qualm.

Eric had never liked Sophie-Anne much, anyway.

OIOIOIO

Sookie's feet ached as she was escorted down the hall, yet again, the pencil-thin heels of her stilettos clicking against the hardwood floors. Another room full of waiting humans. The takeover had tripled her workload, so many newbies to scan for any sign of treachery.

She had yet to find anything of interest. Like everywhere else, the human population of Louisiana offered little original or even interesting fare for her gift to sift through.

The telepath recognized Russell's cultured southern tone in the study up ahead - - slightly curious, she peered through the door as she walked, catching a flashing glimpse of one of his new acquisitions. This vampire positively towered all others in the room, dwarfed the King himself in size. Her heart caught in her throat as he glanced her way, struck by his beauty, taken for a moment by the weight of his ancient stare, eyes blue as artic ice.

Quickly, she broke herself away from his spell.

He was a vampire, and therefore, she hated him, she reminded herself. Over the years of her captivity, they'd proved time and again they were all the same. Cold, practical, and bloodthirsty as hell.

OIOIOIO

After finishing her task, Sookie was allowed to go into the kitchen, for what equated at one in the morning on her strange schedule, to dinner. Under the excessively watchful eyes of her were guard, Timothy, she warmed up one of the pre-prepared dinners allowed to her, a carefully balanced nutritional meal to bolster her human fragility.

The King wanted his telepath well and available at all times.

In five years, she had yet to fail to appear to the slightest crooking of Russell's slender finger, though not always of her own effort. But the vampires proved long ago they held no qualm in dragging her around.

Still, after all this time, Sookie's predicament left a bitter taste in her mouth. She'd been snatched away in the dawn of her young life, forced into servitude just one month before she was to begin her first semester at Tulane. Things were supposed to be…different.

Lost in her thoughts, the telepath's hand slipped as she went to place her dishes in the sink for the maid to tend later. The antique dish she'd eaten upon, a fine bone china thing five times her age, hand painted and gilt with gold, crashed into a hundred pieces upon the marble floor.

As she stared in horror at her mishap, her guard only smirked her way.

Talbert cherished the china, as he did every piece the vampire picked by hand to furnish he and Russell's home. Perhaps Russell was to marry Sophie Anne, but Talbert reined as the true queen of the household, and he would be furious.

Sookie learned long ago she would not like what came of a furious vampire. They tended to get creative in their punishments, particularly this lot.

The shards had not lain for two seconds upon the floor, when Sookie already began to dread what the rest of the night might hold for her.

OIOIOIO

Reflecting upon the night's events, Eric sprawled across one of a pair of wingback chairs, staring into the flickering flames dancing in the fireplace. They were in the dead of winter in the south, and a freak cold snap besides, which amounted to little compared to the winters he'd once endured in his homeland. Still, he liked the fire; its familiarity helped him think.

He would shelter here in this guest room for the day, and return to Louisiana the next night, to assume his new role. It was all rather boring, really. No great change. It seemed he would be allowed to continue with his own endeavors back in Shreveport, for what they were worth. Paltry amusement, it seemed at times. But, the bar was a steady source of food, at least. Only during times of war, did vampires have it better, when it came to blood.

An unexpected knock sounded upon his door, inspiring a spark of annoyance within him. After taking orders all night, he'd hoped to finish the evening with a little peace. It was probably one of the many vampires in Russell's retinue who seemed to take a fancy to Eric; the majority of the residents of this palace were homosexual, a flavor Eric had tasted in his long life, but did not exactly prefer. With a certain sense of exhaustion, the Viking wondered what he might be forced to endure yet that evening, to secure his new place of favor with the King.

"Enter," he called, and it was much to his surprise, when the blond telepath he'd admired earlier was roughly escorted through the door by Talbert himself.

"I've brought you a gift for the night," offered Russell's lover, releasing the telepath with a flourish. "A token of hospitality."

The telepath openly wore a scowl, but said nothing, clenching her fists at her sides.

Though Eric did not show it upon his stony features, a curl of intrigue bloomed within him. Obviously, she'd done something to anger Talbert, and he certainly couldn't refuse the gift without being rude.

"How kind of you."

With a sneer, Talbert looked the woman up and down. No straight man would regard her in such a way; her tan glowed against the fine white fabric of her dress, voluptuous form accented to perfection, four inch heels the icing on the cake. "You might not think so, later. Prove yourself useful, Northman, and mine some grace from this girl. Five years, and I have yet to succeed."

In response Eric raised an eyebrow. "As you wish," he finally answered.

"Excellent. Do as you will with her, my handsome Sheriff, just leave her in one piece. Someone will return for her at dawn."

The door shut with a forceful sound, causing Sookie to jump. For a moment she and the vampire sheriff sized each other up, weighing each other with cool blue gazes meeting across the room. She kept a stiff lip, but Eric could clearly sense her fear.

"Would you care to sit?" he finally asked, motioning towards the wingback chair across from his.

At long last she showed an emotion: distrust.

"Not particularly."

"Suit yourself," the vampire shrugged, turning back to the fire. "But if you're staying here until dawn, you might as well make yourself comfortable."

The telepath stood in the middle of the room for a full minute, before the sound of feet crossing the floor turned Eric's attention back to her. A truly beautiful sight to behold, and unabashedly he appreciated the view as she seated herself by the fire, drawn by its warmth. She held her head high, fire-shadows dancing across her skin.

"You seem graceful enough to me," the sheriff noted offhandedly.

Sookie's eyes slid sideways to regard this large vampire. The chair barely contained him, his long legs extending out so that they nearly touched hers. He seemed sprawled, at rest, the top button of a charcoal grey dress shirt undone, his suit jacket tossed away upon the bed across the room.

"I broke a dish," she confessed, revealing the reason for Talbert's ire.

Eric's well-formed mouth quirked slightly in an ironic smile. Queen Talbert would make a fuss over such a thing.

The silence between them stretched on, and though Sookie had certainly become acquainted with the still manners of vampires, still she fidgeted slightly. Nervous, though she fought not to show it. She'd been in this situation before, given away to visiting vampires with more heterosexual tastes than their hosts.

It never ended well for her.

"You are afraid," noted Eric, studying her intently. He liked the way the fire highlighted her hair, made the long tresses seem they were forged of beaten gold threads.

"Wouldn't you be?" she snipped, amusing the ancient vampire.

"Were I you? Probably. But you needn't be."

"If I had a nickel…" For every time I heard that one, just before fangs sank into my throat, I'd be a rich woman.

Eric laughed, a low sound from deep in his chest that set Sookie's hair to stand on end. Not exactly from fear.

"You fear I will force myself on you?"

Sookie found she could not meet his eyes, looking back to the fire. "It seems to be the usual protocol, for this sort of thing."

"Yes." He could imagine, he even knew. In a way, he'd been there before, himself, many many years ago. "But I am not a vampire to force women. I find it distasteful."

Blond eyebrows shot high, as Sookie pursed her lips. "Are you sure you're a vampire?"

Again, that deep chuckle came, and Sookie felt surprised to find she liked the sound. Almost as surprised as Eric, for having given it, twice in less than a minute. Amusing, was this human.

"I do find you very beautiful," he confessed. "I would happily make love with you, if you wished it."

Sookie's breath hitched in her throat; make love. Special, gentle words she had not heard from another's mouth within these walls, in all the time she'd been here.

"You're giving me a choice?" She seemed bewildered.

"Of course."

Eric could not help but notice, as she shifted her thighs slightly, pressing them together in search of some relief as she pondered her answer. For strangely, she found herself tempted to say yes, to this tall vampire's proposition.

And yet, it had been a long time, since she'd been able to say no to anything.

For just the forgotten power in refusal, Sookie shook her head slowly. "I think I'll pass, then."

Eric seemed to understand her decision perfectly well, even maybe respected her for it. "As you like."

The telepath let out a small, broken laugh, and she couldn't exactly say why. It might have been relief. "I'm Sookie, by the way," she introduced herself, offering her small hand.

Vampires did not usually shake in greeting, but Eric found he wanted to touch her, even if only her fingers. Her hand disappeared in his as he clasped it gently. "Eric."

She barely repressed a chill, as his thumb glided lightly over her knuckles, before releasing her.

"So you are truly a telepath? You read others thoughts?"

"Only humans," she clarified.

"And how did you come to be here?"

"That's a long story."

"We have all night."

With a sinking sadness, Sookie realized she'd never told her story, to anyone. It existed as a dialogue in her own head, but never left her lips. There'd been no one to tell. The extent of her isolation in captivity weighed upon her as a ton of bricks, and suddenly chilled, she wrapped her arms around herself, sinking farther into the chair.

"I was…taken," she said slowly.

Eric nodded, having guessed as much. His expression betrayed no empathy, and yet there was a gleam in his eyes, that told Sookie he might really be interested. But why? Curiosity? A small flame ignited inside her, a desire to speak at length of her predicament, and she hoped she had not misjudged this vampire. Invented his interest out of desperation.

"From where?"

Bontemps, Louisiana. The words hardened in her throat- she knew not quite how to form them.

In silence, they sat, but the vampire Eric did not become impatient with her. In stasis, he waited, ancient eyes never leaving her.

But eventually, Sookie broke the barriers down in her throat, and spilled forth her tale. Though it was slow going at first, peppered with many pauses, she soon gathered steam - courage - strength - to see the story through to the end. She told him of the hopeful girl she'd once been, fresh out of high school, a telepath who planned to take off a couple years to save money for university and work on her shielding abilities. Working her butt off, she'd saved tuition money, and then some. With the extra, she'd decided to take a trip to Europe. In the fall she'd been due to start at Tulane as a fine art student, and wanted to tour the work of the masters that could only be found across the Pond.

Sookie made it through France, Spain, and part of Italy, reveling in the artistic heritage, practically living in museums, always careful, using her head as a woman traveling alone. Ironically, it was her last stop, in Rome, that was to be her downfall.

After an exhausting day of touring the Vatican, at a disco she decided to let loose a little more than usual - a celebration, for soon she would be returning back to Louisiana. She'd met a young man whose mind she couldn't read - intrigued, and inebriated, she'd followed him, not realizing him to be a vampire. She'd never encountered one before. She let slip her ability, and soon found herself incarcerated, sold off to the highest bidder. Ironically enough, the highest bidder took her just a state away from home.

"…and now, here I am." More than a little bitterness slipped in her tone - she reminded herself not to criticize her captors too harshly in this one's presence. Facts were facts - opinions and resentments, however, could be used against her.

Weighing her words, Eric cupped his cleft chin in his hand, regarding the telepath intently. Most would be mad by now, he realized. Broken. He credited this woman with a great deal of internal strength, to have withstood such treatment, and remain so very lucid. She seemed perfectly intact, really, and he wondered how much of it to be a mask and armor.

Intriguing.

"Russell is not so bad as many," he finally offered. "He is practical, and brutal, but not cruel for the sake of cruelty."

Sookie narrowed her eyes, losing just a little ground in the fight to stay her tongue, now that it had been loosened. "I'm still a slave. Every aspect of my life is dictated - Talbert even dresses me as his doll, in all the expensive couture clothes he himself can't wear. He especially loves shoes."

Eric glanced down at the Gucci pumps Sookie sported with a raised eyebrow - he couldn't help but admire the way they became her shapely legs. Elegant in form, a slender heel of at least four inches, beautifully crafted - - and no doubt they felt like hell after an extended period of time.

"He forces you into such footwear every night?"

Sookie suddenly suspected the vampire before her poked fun at her predicament. She knew she walked around on nearly a thousand dollars worth of shoe, and that many women would have killed for such a closet. Suddenly wary, Sookie pressed her lips, looking back to the fire as she barely nodded in affirmation.

The telepath jumped, as suddenly, the vampire gripped the sides of her chair, lifting the heavy piece of furniture as though it were a feather, scooting her closer to his own seat. Settling in his chair once more, he gestured for her foot, and Sookie regarded him with a perfectly surprised expression. A few seconds passed before comprehension set in, and at long last she offered him her foot, tentative of his intentions.

With an expression crossed between fascination and horror, she watched as this vampire cupped her small foot in his hands, tracing the thin strap that encircled her ankle before delicately unbuckling it, sliding the shoe gingerly from her aching foot. "What are you doing?" she asked, somehow alarmed as he gripped her naked foot in his hands.

One long thumb slid down the length of her planter's tendon, eliciting the telepath to squirm in surprise.

A soft laugh escaped him at sight of her blue eyes held wide. "You don't like it?"

A small, almost strangled sound escaped her, as strong hands kneaded into the aching pads of her foot, Sookie involuntarily leaning back in her chair. "God, that's divine," she answered. For a moment, she allowed herself to close her eyes, enjoying the marvelous sensations his skilled hands wrought from her, even as she wondered why he would be so nice to her. There would be a catch, she felt certain, but for this small spot of sunshine in her ever gray world, it just might be worth it.

With hawk eyes, Eric watched her reactions to his touch, taking pleasure in her enjoyment. It was certainly a change of pace from the women he usually found himself acquainted with, the used up fangbangers who only wanted a taste of his legend and an orgasm from his bite.

"If you were to gain your freedom tomorrow, what would be the first thing you'd do?" asked Eric gently, switching to the other foot.

Visit Gran's grave, thought Sookie, but it was far too personal an answer.

Even after all she'd imparted, she deflected with a light if not false laugh. "I'd march straight into the Café du Monde for a beignet with a café au lait. I think its been three years since I last tasted sugar."

A small smile pulled at the corner of Eric's mouth, for he too recognized it as an evasion. Hands moved farther north, working the muscles of her calves with an arresting skill. Eyes hooded, Sookie watched the vampire intently, his touch not only soothing, but inspiring a certain warmth to bloom across her skin. He was a gorgeous specimen of manhood, and it had been years since she'd taken a lover of her own choosing, she mused. "Are you trying to seduce me?" she asked quietly, shuddering as his fingertips caressed the blade of her shin.

"Are you hoping I am?" he countered with amusement, rolling those fathomless blue eyes up to hers. She felt pinned by the weight of such years in his eyes, and wondered just what she had sitting across from her, massaging away all her ills.

"How old are you, Eric?" she posed, sighing as he traced the bones in her feet and ankles with his thumbs.

"Guess."

"More than five hundred."

"Mmm. Keep going."

"More than eight hundred?"

"Yes."

"Are you as old as Russell?"

"Not quite."

"A thousand then, give or take. Talbert called you Northman. Were you a Viking?"

Eric sat back in his chair, his cool hands simply resting upon Sookie's legs now, soaking up the heat of her life as a lizard upon a sun-warmed rock. He had not expected their path to come this way, to dip into his own past. "You're a perceptive little thing."

"Comes with the territory."

"I suppose it would."

She couldn't tell if the vampire stood impressed, or annoyed.

Sookie felt the slightest pull upon her mind, a curious probing, and recognizing the tell-tale signs, she shook her head lightly. "Ah, ah," she scolded lightly. Somehow, she'd shifted from being terrified earlier, to flirting with this ancient vampire.

"You can't be glamoured, can you." It came as more statement than question.

"Not in the least. Would you really try, if I could be?"

"Probably not."

"I imagine a vampire like you doesn't have much use for glamour, when it comes to women."

She won another wry smile. "Glamouring into submission loses its appeal, after a few years. It lacks a certain…truth, I crave in life."

"You like to be wanted."

"Don't you?"

"Depends who's wanting," Sookie declared, waving in the direction of Russell and Talbert's rooms.

Gently, Eric moved her feet aside, leaning forward so that his arms rested lightly on either side of her. "What if I am?"

Sookie's heart pounded in her chest, as light as a feather, Eric's nose brushed hers.

Permission.

He was asking permission to kiss her, and she could have wept for such a simple thing.

Choice.

Its taken for granted, until the power is gone.

Sookie made a choice at that moment, with the Viking's broad body before her, offered as a gift, not brandished as a threat. She closed the few centimeters between them, brushing her lips against his gently.

They were soft, and full, and a small groan escaped her for the sweet sensation.

Eric shifted, going to his knees before her, and only by a fraction was Sookie taller, seated in the chair. She felt a certain fascination with having this vampire kneel before her; it gave at least the illusion of power, and she reveled in such a forgotten feeling.

"What now?" she whispered, suddenly feeling lost. Perhaps she was caught in the net of his beauty after all.

"Anything you like," he answered in kind, watching her interestedly.

Exhaling a shuddering breath, Sookie lightly placed her hands upon his shoulders, but found she could go no further than toying with the fine fabric, tracing a circle with her fingernail, her eyes averted to the side.

"Sookie." Her name on his lips inspired a thrill to march down her spine.

Her eyes flicked back to the vampire, and clearly, he could see she felt torn. Cradling her hand in his, he kissed her palm lightly.

"I don't know…" What to do. What she wanted.

Choices.

It had been so long.

"Do you like me?"

The simple question seemed to take her back. Perhaps she was surprised by the answer. "Yes."

"Do you desire me?"

Sookie's heart pounded just a little faster, her pulse audible in the blood rush to her head. "Yes," she whispered.

"Then let me make a suggestion?"

Two blond eyebrows raised expectantly, waiting.

"Let me lead, and if you do not like something I do, you will simply tell me to stop."

The telepath blinked with surprise. She'd become so used to vampires who would take what they would, simply because they could. "Would you really?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I like you."

"You barely know me." He shrugged - - disagreeing, or it wasn't important.

"Things should have been different for you." A flat statement, a simple truth. "But I cannot fix that."

However, he could offer her this. One night, a taste of the life she should have had.

Sookie bit her lip. She understood, yet still felt leery, even as she knew she would regret saying no to Eric for the rest of her life. "You won't hurt me?"

The vampire shook his head. And then he could see the shift in her eyes; acceptance. Slowly he lifted his hand to cup the side of her face, stroking her cheek with a thumb, tracing the swell of her lower lip.

"By Odin, you are a beautiful young thing," he declared, and languorously placed his mouth upon hers in a gentle and exploring kiss. Slowly, Sookie relaxed under his attentions, melting as chocolate left out in the sun as his hands smoothed up and down her arms lightly, slid through the wealth of her long blond hair.

"And just to think tonight was supposed to be a punishment," she sighed, head tilted back as his lips trailed downwards, mapping the contours of her graceful long neck.

"For breaking a dish," Eric couldn't help but scoff through a smile. "You'll have to tell them I was awful to you, you know." He scooped her up in his arms, easily bearing her to the bed as a bride, and laying her to rest upon the soft down comforter. "Tell them I called you horrible names, and made you do unspeakable things."

Joining her upon the bed, he clasped her small foot once more, cool lips soothing her burning skin upon its arch, winning a sigh of delight.

"You horrible beast," she moaned through a smile filled with wonder; this was not the way she'd expected this night to go.

He felt an inexplicable urge to treat this poor woman to something sweet; something she wouldn't soon forget. He wanted her to feel special tonight, and it was something he would never do for the hordes of fangbangers that paraded through his office.

"Turn over, lover," he directed, and without a qualm Sookie complied, sighing as he freed her of her dress via the zipper, one inch at a time. His lips greeted the freshly revealed skin, planting kisses in his fingers' wake. Sookie shuddered at the sensation of his soft lips at the nape of her neck, his words a whispered wind across her skin. "May I take you out of this?"

She usually regarded her clothing as armor, but this night, it suddenly felt good to shed them, as a skin no longer needed. "Yes," she agreed, and Eric slipped the dress over her head, leaving her in only the lace underpinnings that cost nearly as much as her shoes. She looked over her shoulder to find Eric's eyes hungrily roved over her body, and somehow she found she felt comfortable like this, with him. She suddenly thought she might very much enjoy being devoured by him.

"So lovely," he sighed once more against her ear. The vampire straddled her narrow torso, and as his large hands smoothed over the aching muscles of her back, a surprised cry of delight escaped her, a sound almost wanton in its abandon. She did not realize how very hungry she'd been, to be touched by hands not having the intention of doing her some sort of harm. "And so tense," continued Eric. "Really, Talbert should keep a Swedish masseuse on staff for you, if he wants you in top form."

"Would you like to fill the position?" she asked through a blissful smile, hanging her head in abandon. His large hand could palm her whole shoulder, span almost her entire lower back, and apparently he'd picked up a little knowledge over the millennium he'd lived.

"I'll take the matter up with Talbert immediately." In a way, Eric wished his words could be more than jest. Skilled fingers flicked open the clasp of her bra, and the little telepath sighed as he freed her skin, his strokes able to address her muscles more freely. Little by little, she relaxed beneath his touch, feeling quite at home between his powerful thighs. And amidst the ease, there was also the kindled flame of desire; she found she wished those large hands would drift elsewhere upon her.

Eric was not a man to miss any detail, working over her neck filled with knots, arms to hands to fingertips, sides and buttocks, thighs and tight calves. But it wasn't until lips brushed her skin that Sookie cried out again, a surprised sigh of desire as he kissed her neck. "And where else might you want me to touch you?" he asked coyly, a wicked smile curling his lips as her cornflower blue eyes widened with the thought. His lips traveled across the curve of her shoulder, blunt teeth scraping her skin in a way that won him a pronounced shudder.

In a moment of complete honesty, her guard down as far as she'd allowed since the night she'd been kidnapped, Sookie sighed, "I want you everywhere."

Eric lifted his weight from her, so that she could turn beneath him, and her small hands made short work of the buttons of his shirt. The vampire found he delighted in her undressing him, warm touch pushing his shirt from his shoulders, the fine fabric falling into an unimportant pile upon the floor. With a similar wonder as he'd paid her, her fingertips explored his contours, every dip and ridge and line.

"You're beautiful," she complimented, and even as Eric knew it in all his ego, he liked that she thought so.

His breath hitched as her fingernails grazed his waistline. She felt surprisingly powerful, in the way this vampire seemed to want her, the way he surrendered to her touch. She unbuckled his belt, sliding the leather through loops with a careless abandon.

Eric too felt as though bit by bit, she freed him from the prison of his clothing, until both lay nude as the day they were born. "Come here." Upon his side, Eric pulled her to spoon against his long body, his head propped in his hands.

"What-"

He interrupted her with a kiss, and fingertips sliding in swooping arcs across her body, stealing her breath away as he paused to pay special attention to pebbled nipples pulled taut with desire. "Do you want me to stop?" he asked, kissing her neck gently.

As his fingers trailed south along the center of her abdomen, Sookie could not even form the two letter word no. Plaintively she shook her head, sighing in relief as his fingers combed through her pubic triangle, slipping between her moistened folds. He groaned for the heat of her, and the vibration of his voice through his chest struck some primal note in her; she knew she was lost to him, and resented herself a little for being reduced to simply hoping he would continue to be good to her.

But Eric filled her hopes, as he massaged her in maddening circles, and he groaned for the way she writhed against him as he slipped a finger inside her, stretching her channel clenched tight. He brought her to the edge, and happily she tumbled over, crying out with abandon as pleasure exploded in her nether regions, leaving her toes and fingertips tingling, the world seeming slightly off kilter when finally she opened her eyes once more.

She lay supine against him for several moments, unable to lift a limb. "Oh dear lord," was about all she could muster, winning a chuckle from the vampire.

"You enjoyed the first one?" he asked, mouth curled in a rogue smile that sent her heart to skitter once more.

"I think my heart may burst if I have any more," she confessed with a lazy smile.

Eric climbed above her, and she suddenly could have wept for the strange relief in feeling the weight of him pressing her down into the mattress, her body gathered in his arms. She wanted to use him as a shield from the whole world at that moment, pull him around her, hide in the oblivion of the beauty of his eyes.

"Trust me, it won't," he assured her, smoothing a lock of hair away from her eyes. He rolled his hips against her, and she spread her legs further, strong thighs squeezing him longingly. "Please?" she requested, and he knew exactly what she wanted from him. Needed, even. Eric had not thought it possible to engage in such emotional lovemaking with a near-stranger, and yet here he was, ambushed by the alarming impulse to carry this girl away. Defend her from the monsters within these walls.

But he was a monster too, he reminded himself, even if he didn't quite seem so, at the moment. The sun would rise, a new night would come, and his duties as Sheriff and go-between messenger would beckon once more. He would return to Louisiana- -Sookie would stay here.

Sookie sensed the storm of his thoughts as he hovered outside her entrance, even if she could not read them. Her hands smoothed over his cheeks, through his hair, as though she could take the worries away with just a touch. If only she'd known.

Eric's hand slid into the hair at the nape of her neck, gripping lightly as he pulled her gaze to lock with his. The eye-contact alone in all its intensity stole Sookie's breath away - - and as Eric slid inside her, stretching her, filling her completely, she had no breath to cry out with, her mouth fixed in a silent O. She gripped his shoulders as he pushed in to the hilt, his forehead pressed to hers as he could barely stand the pleasure of her tight, hot sheath around him. With a shudder he pulled out, only to press back in once more.

Reduced to whispering in his mother tongue, for all else escaped him at the moment, Eric spoke ancient words of love against her skin as he navigated their vessel to the sweet waters of paradise. In a way he felt grateful she could not know what he said, the things he promised her in the throes of such arresting passion. She drove him wild, the feel of her, her sighs and expressions of abandon. Eric proved an athletic lover, demonstrating a plethora of positions across the expanse of their large bed. However Sookie found it was the ones in which he held her close that she enjoyed most. Making note of this, Eric pulled her back into missionary as he knew he neared his end, unable to stave off orgasm any longer. As Sookie writhed beneath him (it was her third) Eric spilled inside her with a shuddering groan, his face buried in the soft bend of her neck.

In a boneless pile the lovers lay, Eric barely able to hold himself up from crushing her. In one last feat of strength for some time, he rolled onto his back, pulling Sookie to rest upon his chest, nestled in the cradle of his arms. In that ancient language, he muttered words of wonder to the ceiling, lungs burning for breath even as his undead body no longer needed the oxygen.

Through a curtain of long lashes Sookie peered up at Eric, a satisfied smile curling her lips. She'd never been loved so thoroughly in all her life. "What is min alskar?" she asked quietly, having heard it several times from between his lips.

Eric granted her a gentle smile, kissing her fingertips. Her heart clenched at the perfection of that moment; she felt certain he was the most beautiful thing she'd ever laid eyes on. And when the sun rose, he would be gone, her world would return to gray once more. "Lover," he answered. "It means my lover."

She found the language beautiful, whatever the meaning, and tried not to read too deeply into his words, knowing it could only end in disappointment.

"Perhaps I should have gone hunting for Munch, instead of the Italian masters," she mused absently, wondering at how her life could have been different, were she not in that particular Roman nightclub that one night, that one hour even. She might have had a completely different life, she mused, her imagination running wild. Maybe she would have met a nice Swedish boy instead, an artist too, and they would have collaborated in a mission to add beauty to the world from a northern ski cabin, staring out at the white winter landscape while painting…

"You wanted to see Scandinavia?"

"I'm intrigued by snow," she confessed.

"There is no snow here."

"I know."

Sookie sighed, closing her eyes upon his chest, his fingers blazing trails across her back in ways that caused her skin to erupt in gooseflesh. She lay in bliss for what seemed a long time, until she detected his eyes upon her. Glancing up, she found she knew that solemn expression, though saw it rarely in the vampires that walked these halls. Empathy.

She knew he wished he could help her, just as she knew there was nothing he could do, without risking everything. And they didn't know each other that well. "It's ok," she assured him, stealing a kiss. "There's nothing you can do for me, Eric. This was…I will remember you for the rest of my life, even if we never see each other again."

Eric closed his eyes against the intensity of her large blue orbs; could she read vampire thoughts as well? "I am sorry."

"Don't be."

"I do hope to see you again."

"Me too." And he kissed her, a lock of lips that curled her toes, melted her bones once more, leaving her pliable beneath his hands. Dawn wouldn't be for two more hours; more than enough time to make love at least once more, he reasoned.

Sookie seemed to agree.

OIOIOIO

Eric lay upon the bed, stretched out as a great cat, watching Sookie dress with an observant yet mournful gaze.

He found he did not want her to leave, but dawn was moments away. Someone would come to collect her. Strangely, he felt he would trust her to remain with him as he slept, vulnerable in the thrall of the daytime, but her keepers would only be suspicious. It would be all too obvious he had not punished her, but made her the happiest of the past five years of her life.

Sookie paused to look upon this beautiful man, his skin pale and glowing against the burgundy sheets. Had they really just made love for hours? Had they really only just met that night?

"Why couldn't you have bought me at the auction block?" she mused absently.

A hairline frown creased Eric's brow. "Because I do not buy slaves at auctions," he answered.

"You get them elsewhere?" she couldn't help but question, even as she found she didn't want the answer.

"My Viking days are long over, Sookie. I have not owned a slave in a thousand years." She detected the notes of distaste in his tone, a rare thing for a vampire. "I myself was a slave once, you know," he found himself imparting.

"You?"

"Yes. To my maker." Even now, she could hear the echo of pain in his words, and she wondered at his story, her heart filled with empathy for him.

"But you escaped."

"Eventually. Hang in there, as they say, sweet Sookie. There's always hope."

There was a knock on the door, Sookie's guard come to collect her. At that moment, she could not quite muster any hope. She went to Eric, bending to steal one last kiss. Which quickly became two, then three as his hand slid to hold the back of her head. She didn't mind, but knew they only stalled the inevitable. "Be brave," he whispered against her skin, and nodding, she padded on bare feet to the door.

Looking over her shoulder, her hand on the doorknob, she sighed longingly for the sight behind her, before slipping through the door, back into her real life as the king's pet telepath. And as Eric watched her go, he felt a pang in his chest that very much alarmed him.

An unexpected complication.

Deep in his heart, Eric found he hoped he would see her again.

A/N: Thank you, THANK YOU, everyone for the overwhelming response to this fic! I hope to continue it soon. Meanwhile, I have EXCITING news! If you enjoy my vampire writing, check out my profile page for news about my first original book!