A/N: My first attempt at writing FanFiction. Set after the Nevada takeover but before book 10. Timelines are not perfect. Eric is angry because Sookie didn't tell him everything about their time together and decides he's not going to let her get into another relationship with another man or run from him again, until they work things out. No lemons in this chapter but the M rating will be appropriate later. Please be gentle with me. If you are interested in knowing more I'll keep writing. If this is lousy and boring, please tell me so I can rethink it. Thanks!
Chapter 1: Fly Me Away
It sure had been a busy day! Sookie had worked the late shift at Merlotte's and there had been a football game at Bon Temps High. The local team had won, and the bar was full of proud supporters in addition to the usual crowd. It was a good thing she was practiced at blocking out the thoughts of those around her, she thought, if the boring sports conversation was any indication of what was inside their heads. She hadn't had a moment to sit down or even catch a breath. So, it was with relief that she finally pulled onto Hummingbird Lane with her house a welcoming sight in the distance.
The security lights were on, as usual. Nothing looked out of the ordinary and she breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't uncommon to find a vampire or a fairy waiting in the yard, or the house for that matter. Tonight she was planning on spending a few extra minutes under the hot shower to un-knot the muscles of her neck and shoulders, and maybe catching up on the latest romance novel that she'd only gotten a quarter of the way into. It was too early to go to sleep.
Unlocking the door, she peeked in and turned on the lights, but no supernatural creatures were sitting in her living room. She headed straight to the kitchen and poured a glass of milk, then she sat down and ate the piece of coconut rum cake she'd brought home. There had also been a birthday celebrated at the bar tonight and the birthday boy had shared his cake with all the waitresses. That probably wasn't the only thing he'd wanted to share, but none of them had been keen to continue the celebration at home with him.
After her shower, during which she'd stood under the nozzle until the water started to cool, she pulled on a cute yellow cotton sleeveless baby-doll with eyelet lace at the collar and ruffles at the shoulders. It had been a gift from Gran a few years back, but somehow it had gotten stuffed in a drawer and forgotten about. She'd found it among her bras and other lacy things when she'd gathered them up to move into Gran's room, which was now hers. It fit her perfectly; Gran had always been good at knowing her size, even though it fluctuated (another word-of-the-day) frequently.
She stood at the sink with her toothbrush for an extra-long time, making sure that she scrubbed every last bit of coconut out of her teeth. Dental work wasn't an expense she wanted to deal with right now. Then she walked across the hall to her bedroom pulling the towel through her still-wet hair. As she came through the door, she let out a yelp and jumped back several inches. From underneath the towel, she'd glimpsed a pair of boots that didn't belong to her! They were sitting neatly at the foot of the bed, separated from their owner.
Her eyes quickly scanned the room and finally traveled upward, taking in the long legs, narrow hips, muscled torso, blue eyes, and long blond hair. Eric stood across the room leaning casually against the closet door frame, beautiful enough to make a girl cry. He was wearing his usual tight black jeans and tank top that emphasized his impossibly wide shoulders and narrow waist. In his hand he held her romance novel, flipping through the pages very quickly. Speed-reading, she supposed. Show-off! He didn't seem to notice her entrance.
"Eric!" she exclaimed. "You scared the life out of me! What are you doing here? How did you get in?" She didn't immediately remember inviting him in again after she'd rescinded his and Bill's invitations into her home some time ago.
He looked up from the book and slowly replaced it on the night stand where he'd found it. "Your windows were open," he said simply, as though that were a fine explanation for showing up in a lady's bedroom while she was in the shower. His eyes were wide, but she wasn't buying any innocent excuse for his being here.
She rolled her eyes in exasperation and folded her arms. "Yes, I know," she sighed. "I opened them." she really should have known better than to open her windows at night given all the things that had happened to her lately, but the warm breeze had felt so good against her face that she'd wanted to enjoy it a while longer.
"Is that really safe?" Eric quipped. It worried him that Sookie would so foolishly leave her windows open like that. He decided to address that concern later, however. Instead he was still playing the innocent, and he knew that she knew he had to have a reason for coming all the way here from Shreveport when he had vampire business to attend to. The Sheriff of Area 5 was a busy man.
"Apparently not," she retorted, looking at him expectantly. But then her thought pattern changed from irritated to worried. "Why are you here? Is something wrong? Pam? Bill?"
"No, no; calm down Sookie!" He held out his hands in front of him, annoyed that Bill's name had come up in her short moment of panic. "Nothing is wrong."
Sookie wasn't buying it. Something was up. She folded her arms and cocked her head to one side, staring at his face with a look of exasperation. She felt a nervous tension that hadn't been there earlier and knew that there was only one place that could be coming from.
Eric and Sookie were bonded. At the disastrous vampire summit in Rhodes that Sookie had attended while working for the late Queen of Louisiana, a horrible vampire named Andre had wanted to gain control of her by forcing her to mutually exchange blood with him. This would have formed the beginnings of a blood-bond that Andre could have used to control her in ways she didn't even want to think about. Eric had come along at exactly the right moment (if you could call it that) and had talked Andre into letting him be Andre's replacement. He'd callously said that Sookie already "heeled" to him nicely and that she'd had his blood before, so he was the natural choice. At the time, Eric had been the lesser of two evils, and she really hadn't had a choice in the matter. Eric and she could now feel each other's emotions and each had a vague sense of where the other was. He was always there in the back of her mind, but now his emotions were front-and-center and wreaking havoc inside of her. What she felt was turmoil, determination, and something else that she couldn't identify.
"I don't believe you, Eric." Her voice was soft but firm.
He had been gazing out of the window, but now he looked her directly in the eye. Sookie sensed that he had made up his mind about something, and his expression was anything but casual. He was staring at her with more intensity than he ever had before. She stared back, slightly uncomfortable but unwilling to show him that.
"I remember, Sookie," he finally said. "I remember everything." He deliberately kept his voice and expression neutral.
She gasped softly and her mouth went dry. Her blue eyes widened and her jaw would have hit the ground if it hadn't been attached. She swayed a little and her hand came up to her chest. To say that she was shocked would have been an understatement. Of all the things Eric might have come to say to her, this was what she'd least expected. The room was silent, his statement hanging in the air like a weight and threatening to come crashing down right on her heart. She couldn't form any words to respond.
Eric had been cursed once by an angry witch who took away his memories. Sookie had found him running down her road in the middle of the night, scared and defenseless, not knowing who or where he was. She'd agreed to let him stay with her, out of sight, until Pam and the other vampires closest to him could find the witch and the curse could be broken. It had only taken a few days and was now referred to as "the witch war."
That first night, Eric had sat quietly in her kitchen like a frightened child while she washed blood and dirt from his bare feet. But any resemblance to a child had quickly evaporated when he'd climbed into the shower with her later. Since then they'd had sex on practically every horizontal surface in the house and a few vertical ones as well. She'd learned more about the virility and stamina of vampires than Bill, her first lover and a vampire, had ever shown her. But it was more than that. Eric had worshiped her body like a rare treasure and gave her more pleasure than she'd ever thought possible. He'd made her feel beautiful and cherished.
He'd needed someone to take care of him, but he'd also needed to feel strong and vital. The only thing he'd had in the world to call his own was her and she'd allowed it, even though she was uncomfortable with the possessiveness of vampires. He'd been unguarded, playful, and had laughed easily, completely unlike the scary vampire she'd known before. She'd found herself falling for this new, and temporary, Eric. Then, of course, his memory had come back and he'd become his arrogant, infuriating, and domineering self again.
She'd counted on his memory of those days never returning for many reasons. The biggest reason was that she didn't want him to think he held any more over her than he already did. It was bad enough that he'd tricked her into a "marriage" of sorts by arranging for her to present him with the ceremonial knife that had been used during their blood-bonding in front of Victor Madden, the number one sidekick of the new King. That meant that, to the vampire community, they were the equivalent of husband and wife. Except they weren't normal spouses because vampires considered humans beneath them, so Eric "owned" her in their eyes. Sookie's modern feminine sensibilities completely objected to that but it did keep other vampires away from her for the most part. Neither of them had ever pushed the issue.
Eric had also buried the body of a woman she'd killed in self-defense back in the woods on her property while he was struck with amnesia. She had no idea how he'd use all of the information he now remembered, but she didn't doubt he would. He never failed to take advantage where he could and she was sure she wouldn't like whatever he had in mind. This was Eric, after all.
With his words still echoing off the walls of her bedroom, Eric pulled himself up into a standing position and took a step forward. She automatically took a step back, still staring at him wide-eyed and silent. She was desperate to keep the bed, or anything, between them. He cocked his head, and his eyes changed. She knew that look. Vampires are predators after all, and she'd just become his prey.
"Eric, I.." Her words stuck in her throat and she stopped, not really knowing what she'd planned to say. She raised both hands, palms forward, in a defensive gesture. He took another step forward, still giving nothing away in his face or body language. Her eyes flickered to the bedroom door and she sidestepped toward it without thinking. Then he moved.
Before she could take another step, or even a breath, her back was pressed flat against the wall next to the door. His big hands were on her shoulders, and he gave her collarbone a caress with his thumb before planting both hands firmly on the wall behind her. She was trapped. She sucked in a breath and closed her eyes, unsure of what he would do. He was so close that she could feel his breath as he prepared to speak. She sensed danger but was oddly unafraid.
"I think," his voice was below a whisper next to her ear but she heard him loud and clear. She sensed, rather than saw, that his fangs had come out. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. He continued to speak slowly and softly, his mouth almost touching her skin. "We have some things to discuss. Do you not agree?" When she felt his breath on her neck, she put both hands on his chest and pressed lightly. Not that she could stop him if he really wanted to bite, but she had to try.
He breathed in slowly and held it, then he rested his forehead against the top of her head. The tension in the room was palpable. She trailed her fingers down his chest and tentatively put her arms around his waist, pulling him closer. It had been weeks since they'd been anywhere near each other, months since they'd been intimate, but somehow touching him still felt natural. She rubbed his back gently with both palms, hoping to soothe him. He was like a coiled snake, ready to strike at the slightest provocation. Sookie realized that he was right. They did need to talk. Whether she wanted to or not.
Finally he raised his head and let out the breath he'd been holding. She heard an audible "click" as he retracted his fangs. The danger had passed, for the moment. She opened her eyes and looked warily up at him. His eyes no longer threatened her, but they still held a question. "Why didn't you tell me, Sookie?"
"Come on, Eric," she replied, smiling weakly. "I did tell you that we slept together!" 'Yeah, after you blackmailed it out of me,' she thought. She was using the same bright tone that she used with obnoxious customers at the bar. He was still just inches from her, hands still on either side of her shoulders. Suddenly uncomfortable, she tried to slide out from between him and the wall to put some distance between them. He wasn't having that. He put both hands on her shoulders and pressed her firmly back against the wall.
"That is not what I am talking about, and you know it!" His mouth settled into a firm line and his eyebrows came down over his eyes. He was not a happy vampire. Sookie suddenly realized that he hadn't teased her or made a single sexual innuendo since he'd been here. This must really be bothering him!
She was so not ready to have this discussion and she was going to make him spell out exactly what he wanted. She wasn't giving in easily. "What then? You know I killed Debbie Pelt in self-defense. It was your idea to hide the body! Do you plan to blackmail me again?" She folded her arms and looked away, frowning.
His hand appeared under her chin and he tilted her head up, forcing her to look into his eyes. She closed hers again and tried to move her chin away from his fingers. He wouldn't let go. "Look at me!" he commanded. He had a thing about eye-contact. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes. As soon as she did that, his mouth descended on hers. He cupped the back of her head to hold her while his lips and tongue ravished her. The kiss was raw, deep, and hungry, and she felt it all the way to her toes, which curled involuntarily into the soft carpet.
She didn't even hesitate. Something inside her made sure that she responded eagerly, their lips and tongues dancing together in an ancient rhythm that set off a host of other delicious feelings all over her body. Her hands were now clutching the front of his shirt and his body was pressing against hers. She made a whimpering sound in the back of her throat as he took control of the kiss, thoroughly dominating her as he held her in place. It was hard to ignore what was pressing urgently against her abdomen, causing another set of fluttering, hungry sensations in the center of her body.
For his own part, Eric reveled in the soft sounds he heard coming from her. He had been unsure about coming here tonight, unsure of how she would receive him. Felipe DeCastro, the new King of Louisiana, and his sidekick Victor Madden, had demanded much of his time over the past weeks. He'd been building a rapport of sorts with them while he cemented his place in the new hierarchy, and he'd noticed that DeCastro and Madden had what he considered to be an unhealthy interest in Sookie. Unhealthy for her, that is. He hadn't contacted her because he didn't want her anywhere near either of them until he was sure of what was between himself and Sookie. This would better enable him to keep her safe.
Eric didn't like feeling unsure of anything. This tiny little barmaid, whom he should have considered beneath his notice, had somehow shattered every belief that he had about vampires associating with humans. Vampires used humans for blood and sex; they didn't care about them. When they wanted continued companionship from them they kept them as pets. They didn't want to keep them safe and hidden from the eyes of those who might be a danger. Yet that was exactly what Eric wanted to do for Sookie. He didn't want her anywhere near Madden or DeCastro. And he couldn't remember the last time, if ever, he had ever cared how a human woman felt about him. The feelings that he felt toward Sookie, the ones he couldn't identify on his own, had truly shaken him to his core. He also respected her for the way she had always stood up to him and others of his kind but he was reluctant to let her know that.
Feelings aside, though, Eric knew that Sookie would soon be very angry at him once she found out what his plan was for this evening.
Finally, Sookie had to come up for air. She nipped softly at his lower lip with her teeth and he reluctantly pulled back. 'Damn,' she thought. He did remember that signal she'd always used with him. 'I wonder what else he remembers.' She hoped he didn't notice the blush that appeared and made her face feel hot at that thought.
Eric's eyes were wild and his breathing was ragged (even though he didn't technically need to breathe). So was hers, and her knees were weak. "That, Sookie, is what I am talking about." he growled at her. She was leaning heavily against him and he held her arms to steady her back against the wall. He didn't move away to allow her her space; instead he placed those hands again on either side of her shoulders. He looked down at her, and cocked an eyebrow.
Damn him; he could feel what he had awakened inside of her! Her face flushed again hotly and she turned her head away. Predictably, he cupped her cheek and brought her gaze back to him. She closed her eyes and sighed, leaning into his hand. "What do you want me to say, Eric?" her eyes fluttered back up to look into his. "It was always, well, good between us. I never denied that!" Very, very good. More than very good. But his ego didn't need another boost.
"No!" His frustration caused his ancient accent to come out, the one she only heard in unguarded moments or when he was upset. "If it were only sex I would lay you back on that bed and fuck you until you could not walk!" His hand gestured sharply toward the bed in question and then gripped her shoulder, shaking her once for emphasis. Finally, he moved away from her and turned around, raking his hands through his golden hair. She could feel his anger through their bond and wondered why it had so suddenly flared. "Do not," he wheeled back around and pointed his finger at her when she straightened away from the wall, "try to leave this room!" His voice was quiet, and deadly, and his fangs were still out. He must have seen her gaze flicker to the door again.
She hugged herself and leaned back against the wall, rubbing her arms to combat the chill she'd felt when he left her. Goosebumps had erupted all over her upper body and she shivered. She stood there like a mouse locked in the eyes of a hawk, unsure of what to say or do. This was strange. She was never at a loss for words, and neither was Eric. She wanted to bolt, but she didn't think she'd get five steps before he caught her and dragged her back.
She took two steps forward, earning a warning glare from Eric, and stopped to stand between him and the wall. She needed him to calm down before he got her riled up and one of them said or did something they'd regret. She whispered, hesitantly, afraid to look at him. "Ah... A lot happened while you were here."
"Yes, I know that!" he exclaimed with exasperation. "Today," he continued, "before I rose, I had a very strange dream. You and I lay in this bed together speaking words of love to each other. Tell me, did I imagine that? Do not lie to me, Sookie." He kept his back to her because he didn't want her to see in his face how much the answer to that question really meant to him.
This was something she definitely had not expected. She floundered, unsure of what to say. He must have felt her trepidation through the bond because he said "Tell me." This was an order, not a request. He finally turned to face her, keeping his expression neutral.
What could she do? She would never lie to Eric, even if the bond wouldn't reveal it, no matter how angry she was at him. "You didn't imagine that," she said quietly, unable to meet his eyes. Then another thought occurred to her and she stared at him with huge eyes. "Wait a minute!" she exclaimed. "Vampires don't dream. You told me that!"
Eric really had to struggle to keep his own disbelief from showing on his face. He had wondered about this development as he'd traveled here tonight to see her. "Indeed." he responded cryptically.
Sookie stood there a moment before realizing that he didn't plan to say anything more about it. Then she shook her head and sighed again, wishing just this once that he could read her mind. Sometimes he seemed so distant and unfeeling! When he'd left she'd felt cold, abandoned. She hadn't been prepared for him to lose the memory of their time together when he regained the rest of his memories.
Losing the Eric she'd come to love so suddenly and unexpectedly had left her reeling with sorrow and disappointment. But she'd worked really hard to stuff those feelings in a tiny little box and bury them in the back of her mind. Now as he stood before her looking stoic and unruffled as usual, she was finding it hard to keep cool herself. What right did he have to demand answers from her when he had just up and left like that? And then he'd stayed away even though it should have been obvious that they had some unfinished business between them! Suddenly she couldn't hold it in.
"You don't understand, do you?" she shouted at him. "What could I do, Eric? Tell me! You are the big bad Viking, the ruler of Fangtasia and the Sheriff Area 5! You left me! You went back to your life like nothing had happened! Where did I fit into that picture?"
His mouth had settled into a hard line when she'd raised her voice. His arms were folded, and he was glaring at her. She was taking her chances making him angry like this, but, dammit, he'd provoked her! He rolled his fingers in the air, telling her to continue. She rolled her eyes at his impatient gesture.
"What was I supposed to do? Was I supposed to just walk into Fangtasia and say, 'Hi, Eric! You told me you loved me and wanted to give all of this up to be with me. I know you don't remember that but...'?" She was very close to crying and trying hard to keep the tears from spilling on to her cheeks. "You would have laughed and had me thrown out!" she pointed in the general direction of outside to emphasize her point.
"Would I?" His voice was deadly quiet. "Are you absolutely sure about that?" He advanced on her again and she put up a hand to stop him.
"Yes! I am!" her voice was starting to break. "You talk about the vermin who hang around your bar, the fang bangers, the humans who are beneath you. Well, in case you haven't noticed, I'm human! What can I be to someone like you? You can't glamour me, and I will NOT willingly sit at your feet like a pet or a slave!"
She would do just exactly that if he wanted her to, he thought arrogantly. He didn't say it out loud. If she knew exactly how much control he was capable of exercising over her, she would freak out, scream at him, and try to run, in that order. He preferred to avoid that possibility.
"You think that is what I want from you?" Now he looked surprised, incredulous (another word-of-the-day). "You are so wrong about that. You have no idea how wrong you are." The tone of his voice hadn't changed, and now he was walking slowly toward her, stalking her again. She couldn't help but to take a step back. And he did it again.
This time she ended up on the bed, and he was hovering over her. He held her wrists in his hands pinned on either side of her head. "Dammit, Eric! Stop doing that! Let me go!" She tried to squirm out of his grasp but he was determined to hold her there. His fangs were out but he made no attempt to bite her.
"Now I have a few things to say, Sookie Stackhouse, and you will listen!" She guessed she had no choice in the matter. "You have deeply offended me. We are bonded, and you have discounted and ridiculed that bond. I was tolerant because you are not Vampire and do not know the truth of what it means. But no longer." His blue eyes had turned to steel to match the tone of his voice. He was deadly serious.
"What are you..." she started to ask.
"I am not finished!" He never raised his voice but she knew better than to interrupt him again. "In addition to being bonded, we are pledged to each other, another fact you have chosen to ignore. You have defied me by going out with other men. I would be perfectly within my rights to punish you severely for this."
Well, now he had her attention. Punish her? What kind of medieval bullshit was this? She could feel his anger and sense of self-righteousness. She also felt hurt and a sense of betrayal coming from him. She stared at him, dumbfounded and, again, speechless. She didn't understand where he was going with this conversation.
Eric knew he'd gotten her attention and wasn't sorry for using harsh words. He felt an extreme need to make her understand the way things were in vampire society. On the first night they had met he had felt drawn to her and had made up his mind that she would be his. Bill Compton had been a fool to bring her before him innocent, untasted, and unbonded. If not for the police raid he would have demanded that Compton give her to him that night.
In a way he was thankful that some events had transpired as they had. If he had taken her that first night and had his way with her, he could not be certain that he wouldn't have used her in such a way that would make her hate him. While it hadn't mattered to him at first, he found that it would matter a great deal to him now. He wanted more from her than just fucking and feeding. Even without her gift he knew that she was special enough to be placed far above the other humans. His biggest regret was that he had not done enough to secure her affections for himself and, as a result, had had to watch as she became involved with other men. The thought of those other men made him very angry.
Sookie watched the play of emotions on Eric's face and was about to ask him what he was thinking when his grip tightened on her wrists to the point of pain. "Eric!" she complained. "You're hurting me!" He immediately let go and sat up on the edge of the bed, his face in his hands. She began to rub the circulation back into her wrists and moved to sit up next to him. Then his hand was on her chest, pushing her back down and holding her there. She had never been afraid of Eric, even when she'd seen him in all-out vampire mode and watched him kill people. This, however, was starting to make her very nervous. His behavior and the remark about punishment made it impossible for her to hold her tongue any longer.
"This is America, Eric. Not the Middle East." She spoke calmly, trying to reason with him, but she didn't feel calm at all. "Women are not possessions here, especially not in this day and age. You can't do anything to me for going out with other men."
That was not what Eric wanted to hear. "Can't I?" he hissed, getting right up in her face.
Sookie knew she had to stand her ground with him. "No, Eric, you can't!" She said it with far more conviction than she felt.
Her denial had infuriated him. If he'd ever doubted that what he was planning to do was right, Sookie had just erased that doubt. Now was the time to show her where she stood with him and educate her about how it was to be with a real vampire. The time for soft words and tenderness would come later. He knew she was going to fight him on this and decided that swift action would be the best. His decision made, he bent to put his boots back on.
"Are you leaving?" Sookie asked in surprise. She didn't want to continue arguing with him, but she didn't want him to just leave in the middle of one, either.
"No," Eric replied simply, finishing tying his boots. With no further explanation he turned around, scooped Sookie up into his arms, and headed for the front door.
"What the hell!" Sookie shouted and began struggling against his hold. "Eric Northman! You put me down this minute, dammit!"
"Be silent, woman," was his only reply. He kept walking right out onto the front porch, pausing only to lock the door behind him with a key she didn't know he had. "I tire of this argument. We are going, now."
"Who the hell do you think you are?" she was just catching on to what he planned to do and had no intention of going along with it. Her struggles increased so that it was difficult for even him to hold on to her. "I am not going anywhere with you! Put me down!" She was pushing at his chest and shoulders trying to loosen his hold.
"I am your bonded, and your mate, Sookie," he replied harshly. "Have you forgotten so quickly?" He kept walking, out into the middle of the front yard. "And no, I will not put you down." He actually thought Sookie's attempts to get away from him were funny but he wisely kept from smiling. He didn't want to anger her more than he was about to.
"Wait a minute! Eric! This is ridiculous!" Only then did she look around and notice what was missing. "Where is your car?" She was having no luck getting him to let go of her and did not like where things seemed to be going.
"I flew," Eric answered, finally coming to a stop. "Now stop fighting me and hold on tight!"
Sookie was starting to panic. She was scared of heights and didn't want to fly with Eric anywhere. "No, Eric, please! No!" Tears had started to flow freely from her eyes.
Eric knew that he had to do something to calm her, so he did something he had never thought he would do. He opened his side of the bond fully and sent calm and strength to her. He had vowed to himself that he wouldn't take unfair advantage of her by influencing her emotions as many vampires did to their bonded humans. But this was different. He was taking her with him, whether she liked it or not. He realized now that he should have brought his car but there was nothing he could do to change that fact.
Sookie felt what he was doing and asked point blank, "are you forcing me to calm down?" He thought that she was much too intelligent and perceptive for his own good.
"Yes, because I do not want you to fear. I will not drop you and we will get there quickly this way." He was honest; she had to give him that.
"Eric, please, I don't want to go with you!" Sookie finally admitted defeat when he again refused to put her down. Then she realized that she was only wearing pajamas. "Eric, I am not going with you to Fangtasia dressed like this!"
"We are not going to Fangtasia," he told her. "We are going home. Hold on tight." Before she could respond, he took to the air.
Sookie screamed and buried her face in his chest, locking her arms around his neck like a vise. "I swear, if I don't die of a heart attack I am going to kill you when we get there!" She yelled at him. For the first time that night, she heard him laugh.
In a car, it would have taken over an hour to drive from Bon Temps to Shreveport driving the speed limit. They made it there in a matter of minutes. As they touched down in the back yard of a big, dark house, Sookie decided not to think about how fast they must have been going. She never got a chance to see the yard as he typed a code into a security panel, opened a pair of French doors, and hurried them inside.
Eric set her down and turned on the light. She looked around, stunned. She was standing in a dream kitchen! There was an island with a teal colored countertop and a sink, a huge pantry, and counter space galore. The cabinets were fronted with teal, pink, and gold frosted glass and black framing. There were professional-looking stainless steel appliances, including a huge French-door refrigerator and a double oven. The tile floor had an intricate modern pattern of teal and black and looked very expensive. There was a break in the wall and she could see through it into what looked like a huge family room. Sookie momentarily forgot her anger. "Wow!" was all she could think to say.
Eric chuckled and she hoped he had recovered from his black mood. He took her hand and led her through the darkened rooms, not bothering to give her the full tour. Then he scooped her back into his arms and flew down a flight of stairs, through two sets of security doors with retina and fingerprint scanners, finally depositing her on the softest, plushest carpet she had ever felt. Of course, they were in his underground resting place, and it was all Eric.
The walls were painted a dark red and there were no windows. The furniture was very dark wood, almost black. There was a huge armoire against the wall opposite the bed flanked by two tall chests-of-drawers. On the side wall there was an open door, beyond which was a huge walk-in closet, and an arch which led through an alcove with a vanity on one side and another closet opposite. Beyond that was the bathroom, which was dark so she couldn't see it.
The bed was huge and had to be bigger than even a California king. Of course, a man of Eric's size would need something like that. Not surprising, the sheets and pillowcases were red. The sheets were covered by the softest black velvet comforter that she had ever touched. Coming out of her reverie, Sookie finally remembered why she was there and rounded on Eric, ready to let him have it.
He stood a few feet away, watching her. He could feel Sookie's anger and fear through the bond and hated that he'd caused it. At the same time, though, he felt immense relief and satisfaction at finally having her here with him. He had dreamed of this moment ever since he'd first met her.
"Well, now I'm here," she spat at him. "Whatever you had in mind, you'd better get on with it." Sookie was afraid in this moment, knowing that there was no way for her to get back out through all the security until he was ready to let her go. She straightened her spine and looked him in the eye, refusing to give him the satisfaction of knowing how afraid she really was.
Warning: Chapter 2 contains content depicting Eric giving Sookie a cruel punishment. Many have been shocked by chapter 2 so I thought I would prepare you. Please continue at your own risk. Thanks!
***** Many many thanks in advance for your reviews! *****