"Invite me in!" Eric growled urgently and for the first time I wondered if his intentions were something other than to get in my pants. The sudden anger in his voice had nothing to do with persistence and a lot to do with...possession? Protection? I wasn't sure but the whole mood had changed.
"Please come in." I breathed and he shot past me into the living room. Following him, I stopped dead at the sight of a snarling, growling wolf crouched on the floor, shifting its hackles as though preparing to launch.
The fight was titanic but, as per usual, Eric came out on top. Smug bastard. I stared miserably at the dead animal dripping on my floor.
"Well that was...energetic." Eric's eyes were twinkling and his fangs were slightly extended. His predatory gazed roamed over my body and I cleared my throat.
"It can't stay there." I told him primly, ignoring the flush in my cheeks. "We'll have to bury it somewhere."
Sighing, Eric flipped open his phone and made a call. Leaving him to it I went to the kitchen and made myself an iced tea. Feeling slightly uncharitable, since he had saved my life after all, I popped the lid off a bottle of synth blood and warmed it up in the microwave for Eric. We southern ladies were nothing if not hospitable after all.
I took it through to the living room for him just as there was a knock on the door. I looked up at Eric concerned but he smiled slightly. "It's ok, you can let them in."
"Door's open!" I called. "Come on in."
Pam walked in with a couple of vamps I had seen at Fangtasia but didn't know all that well and nobody bothered making introductions. Eric gave them quick, concise instructions about hiding the body and they left, dead were in tow, almost as quickly as they'd arrived. I stared at the patch of blood on my nan's cream rug and bitter sorrow scratched in my throat. I still missed her every day and as much as she found the undead world fascinating she would have been horrified at the violence played out in her family home.
Grinding my teeth with displaced rage I stalked to the kitchen and fetched a tub of cold soapy water and a scrubbing brush, remembering at the last minute that hot water sets blood into fabric. Eric watched with some interest as I stalked back past him standing in the doorway and got down onto my hands and knees with the basin. Shaking some of the water out of the brush I began to scrub the carpet.
After a few moments Eric whistled. "Sure is a fine view from up here." He smirked.
I looked back at him over my shoulder. "If you haven't got anything smart or helpful to say then get the hell out of my house." I snapped.
Holding his bottle up in amused surrender he returned his gaze to my backside. Now that I knew he was looking at it I realised it must be bobbing up and down as I scrubbed and my cheeks flamed with embarrassment. I was damned if I was going to let him unsettle me though so I gritted my teeth and carried on scrubbing.
When I finally had it all out after a couple more trips to the sink I got down with a cloth and started blotting up some of the water.
"You want to scrub me down now?" Eric asked in a husky voice. "I got blood on me too." I got up and turned round to snap at him but the words died in my throat. He was standing there shirtless, low slung jeans riding so low on his hips that I could see the V that led all the way down to his- Sookie Stackhouse! I reprimanded myself. Get a grip!
"I don't see any blood." I responded lamely, staring into his face so I didn't have to look at his firm abs or his sculpted pectorals...Sookie!
"I don't think you're looking close enough." He told me mildly, pushing away from the wall and stalking towards me, all muscles and feline grace.
"Well you can either stand in the yard while I hose you down from a distance or you can take yourself up to the shower." I told him primly, backing away. "If you give me your shirt I'll wash it for you." The backs of my knees hit the sofa and I stopped, nowhere else to go.
"You'd hose me down huh?" His lips twitched as he continued towards me, less than a foot away now and showing no signs of stopping.
Deciding that attack was the best form of defence I lifted my chin. "Cold water is better for blood stains."
"On skin?" Now he was definitely smiling and I felt foolish.
"No on fabric!" I snapped. "It's not as though you're going to stand naked in the yard, is it?" I regretted the words the instant they left my lips.
"I'd be naked for you anywhere." He pushed me down onto the sofa and straddled me so I had nowhere to go.
"Eric Northman! Get off me this instant! You know I am Bill's." I squeaked as large hands landed on the back of the sofa and he leaned his face down to mine.
"If I said I wanted a shower would you join me?" He asked in a throaty murmur, saying it quietly into my ear as he settled himself comfortably.
I was trying to think of a way out of this but his neck was so close to my face and he smelled so good, some sort of expensive cologne with earthy undertones that were all man. It was immensely distracting. He nipped my earlobe so quickly I wasn't really even sure he did it and whispered again.
"Would you come and get naked and wet with me?"
"No." I moaned, squeezing my eyes shut tightly and repeating Bill's name again and again in my head.
"Have you dreamed of me Sookie?" He practically purred, sliding his cheek against mine. "I dreamed of you."
Oh boy had I dreamed of him...if the reality was anything like the dream version I was SO in trouble.
"Please Eric!" I attempted but I felt his cheeks stretch as he smiled.
"Please what?" He chuckled and then mimicked my voice. "Please Eric! Take me until I can't remember my own name!"
"No!" I raised my hands to push him away but his skin was so firm and smooth and immovable it was like pushing at a marble statue, all clean lines and beauty. Lowering his face he nibbled at my neck and it felt so good I didn't realise I'd tilted my head to give him better access until he laughed softly, bringing his hand up to cup the back of my head and holding it in place.
"In my last dream we were at the club." He murmured, laying kisses and nips across my collarbone and back along the top of my shoulder. "You were wearing that white and red dress. You beckoned me into my office and made me take my jacket off. I hung it up by the door and when I turned round you were bent over the desk waiting for me."
"Eric!" I gasped, scandalised and strangely thrilled at the image of myself bent over his desk, but he didn't stop, swapping hands to tilt my head the other way.
"I came up behind you and pushed your skirt up. You weren't wearing any underwear. Your ass was so perfect and smooth under my hands. I wanted to take my time but you were wriggling like you were ready for it so I stroked you down there."
I had been so focused on his words and what he was doing to my neck that I had totally lost track of his other hand and I stilled instantly when it brushed up my skirt and trailed tinglingly down the front of my knickers.
"You were so wet!" He whispered, running his tongue round the shell of my ear. "I didn't know whether to get on my knees and taste you or fuck you there and then." His fingers slid inside my knickers and teased softly in my folds as I moaned and squirmed beneath him. "So I asked you what you wanted me to do and you told me you wanted to be fucked hard. It was so filthy, coming out of that sweet, god-fearing mouth of yours with your cutesy southern belle voice...I couldn't get my cock out fast enough. But then I stopped. I wanted to hear more." He slid a long finger inside me while his thumb circled my clit and I arched helplessly against him, my fingers tightening on his chest. "I wanted to hear you beg for it, plead for it, tell me exactly what you wanted me to do to you. I held you down on the desk and ran my cock backwards and forwards across your opening. Lover, you did not disappoint – you begged and pleaded, moaning and panting you wanted it in you so badly. You said you would promise me anything I asked for. Do you know what finally made me snap?" I was trembling so hard I wasn't sure if my slight shake of the head was noticeable but he was in full flow anyway. "You told me that if I did this for you, then next time I could put it anywhere. I fucked you so hard we pushed the desk clear across the room all because you served up that perfect ass of yours on a platter for me to take any time I wanted." His hand suddenly fisted in my hair and he lifted his head, looking straight into my eyes while his fingers relentlessly teased me to the edge, everything tightening low in my belly. "Make no mistake lover, it is mine and I WILL have it. Maybe not today but soon."
I couldn't respond, sheer sensory pleasure had made me mindless and he smiled as I moved against his hand, grinding down, trying to get more of him inside me. As though of their own volition my hands dropped to the button of his jeans, struggling to undo it, and I moaned softly in anticipation when it finally popped open. Releasing me he stood up and shucked off his jeans. He wasn't wearing anything underneath them and, before I even had time to admire him naked, my skirt was around my waist, my knickers were in shreds on the floor and he was in me, growling softly "Mine! Mine!" over and over again.
I cried out as he picked up the rhythm, my legs wrapped round his waist as his ass flexed beneath my calves with each thrust. One hand was gripping my thigh hard enough to bruise, the other thumb was slowly circling my clit, driving me wild.
Everything built up within me until I felt like I was on the edge of the precipice and then, in a moment of blinding light and heat, I went into freefall, shuddering as the sensations imploded around me. He came moments later with a roar of possession and I barely felt his fangs sink into my neck.
Late that afternoon I awoke to a note propped on my pillow in Eric's large scrawl telling me he had gone to work. They were expecting a busy night at the club, what with it being a Saturday and all, and he had to oversee some deliveries they were getting to restock the bar.
Humming softly, I climbed out of bed, relishing my aching muscles and the throbbing low in my body, and climbed into the shower. I shaved my legs and washed my hair, taking extra care with the conditioner and using a lightly cinnamon scented body wash all over my skin. I dried my hair into loose curls that sat on my shoulders, put my make-up on and then carefully stepped into my outfit.
When I walked into the club Eric was sat in his usual place up on the stage and when he caught sight of me he looked like he'd swallowed his tongue. With a smirk on my lips I stood there in my white and red dress and beckoned him towards the office...