As mentioned in the summary, this fic has BDSM themes and an Eric that is all vampire with very little regard for humans. Please do not read if you are under 18 or if these themes offend you.
I took a last look in the mirror as I heard Dawn's car coming up the drive way. I was wearing my favorite dress, a white knee-length one with red flowers. It was a dress that had been hanging in my closet for a long time. I bought it on a whim one day to have as a first-date dress, but I didn't get to use it much on account of never getting asked out.
It's not that I'm not attractive. At least that's not what I hear from the thoughts of the men of Bon Temps, the small town in Louisiana where I've lived all my life. Some of them are very graphic about what they want to do to me. Some are very sweet, like my boss Sam.
But none of them actually dare to ask me out and I can't imagine being in a relationship with any of them. The reason is as simple as it is weird: I can read their minds. Not Sam's, for some strange reason, at least not very clearly, but pretty much everyone else's.
People don't actually know that I can read their minds, but they know I'm different. I get tired sometimes or distracted and that's when I slip up. It only takes a second of not paying attention to accidentally confuse somebody's inner voice with their actual voice. Answering a question that hasn't actually been asked out loud is not something most people react to very well.
So I'm known as crazy Sookie around these parts and though most people are nice to me, mostly because everyone loved my Gran and like my brother Jason, I don't have any close friends and I've never had a boyfriend. At 24 years old I'm still a virgin and it's definitely not by choice. Tonight I plan to do something about it.
"Seriously, Sookie?! That's what you're wearing?" Dawn looked me up and down as I got in her car. "It's a BDSM club, Sookie. You look like you're headed to church."
"My leather corset is at the cleaners, Dawn, so this is what you're stuck with." I was trying to be funny, but her comment hurt me more than I wanted to admit. I knew I was going to be out of place at this club. I had no experience. I had never done any of the things I imagined would happen in a club like that. But I wanted to. Badly.
It had taken me a long time to admit to myself that the reason I couldn't find a boyfriend in Bon Temps wasn't just because of my telepathy. It was also because I wanted things that most people would find repulsive. The things that I fantasized about when I was alone in bed at night were things that good girls would never want done to them. I knew I would never dare to tell any of the men that Gran had wanted me to date - Sam, Hoyt and Bill – about the things I really wanted. So as nervous as I was, as out of place I knew I was going to be, I still had to go. If I was ever going to find someone who could satisfy my urges, Fangtasia was the place it would happen.
"My, my. Aren't you just precious?" The woman at the door actually licked her lips as she carded me. I felt my cheeks burn.
"Perfect." She smirked. "Just perfect."
A few minutes later I was nervously clutching my gin and tonic, watching Dawn dance seductively with a tall, muscular guy covered in tribal tattoos.
"You look good enough to eat," a deep voice whispered behind me, close enough that I could feel his breath on my neck. I froze. I wanted to turn around, to see the man the voice belonged to, but I didn't dare.
"Don't be scared. I won't hurt you. Not unless you ask me to." He touched my arm, and even though his fingers were cold, my skin felt like it was on fire.
"Turn around. Look at me." I knew it was a command, but it felt like an invitation. An invitation into a world that I desperately wanted to be a part of, but that scared me so much I couldn't think straight. I took a deep breath and steeled myself. If he looked half as good as he sounded, I would be done for.
I obeyed. My breath hitched as my eyes drank him in. He was absolutely stunning. Tall and and imposing, with muscular arms, pale blond hair and mesmerizing blue eyes.
"I'm Eric. Come with me."
I took his outstretched hand as if I were in trance. I knew I shouldn't but I wanted to. Badly. He walked briskly out of the main area of the bar down a long corridor. He opened a door and pulled me into a dark room. He pushed me up against the wall and covered my body with his.
"You shouldn't be here." I felt a small kiss on my neck and a shiver ran through my body.
"This isn't safe for you," he whispered and bit my earlobe. A moan escaped my lips before I could stop myself.
"You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into." His lips touched mine and as I started to kiss him back I heard them. Their thoughts weren't about sex, which was what I had been mostly picking up until now. Instead they were focused on an attack of some sort. I realized they were cops and they were here to arrest the man I was about to kiss.
"Eric, there's going to be a raid."
"Are you an undercover cop?" his voice was harsh and demanding.
"No, but the place is crawling with them. One of them has an warrant out for your arrest. What did you do?"
"How do you know this? Who are you?"
"I can't tell you how I know, I just do," I whispered. "You have to get out of here." He grabbed my hand and led me through the room. I couldn't see anything but I heard what must have been heavy furniture being pushed around and then Eric picked me up and quickly walked down what felt like a flight of stairs. We moved quickly through the dark before I heard the sound of a heavy door being opened and we were outside. The dark was different here, it wasn't as all encompassing as it had been inside. The moonlight and the streetlights bathed the street in an eerie glow. We seemed to be a few streets down from the club and I couldn't see or hear any cops close to us.
Eric walked over to a car and effortlessly opened the door and got it started even though he had no key.
"Take this car. Go home. I will come to you when I've dealt with this." It says something about how muddled my brain was that it didn't even occur to me how he knew where I lived.
"What? I can't drive a stolen car!"
"It's not stolen. It belongs to one of my employees. I will let him know, he won't mind. I'll come pick it up tomorrow. It's fine. Now go!"
I got in the car and drove in the opposite direction of the club. The streets were dark and empty and I was trying hard to stop my hands from shaking as I clutched the steering wheel.
I had gotten off the highway and was getting close to Bon Temp when all of a sudden a large animal ran across the road. I swerved to avoid hitting it, immediately losing control of the car and hitting a tree off the side of the road. The pain was instant and all-encompassing. There was blood everywhere and for an instant my addled mind wondered where it had come from. Then I realized it was mine and the world went black.
