'Til Now

One shot for the "Move Over Eric, Sam I Am" contest

Disclaimer: Much to my ever-loving regret, I don't own any of it. But I can borrow!

"Where's Eric?"

"With a redhead."

"Shit Sook." I shook my head and let it hang low, she didn't deserve this again.

"Don't say it k? Just don't say it, Sam."

"Say what?"

"I told you so."

"I wasn't going to."

"You were thinking it though." That always freaked me out. Sookie had some weird sixth sense that threw me for a loop every time. Even through the phone she knew what I was thinking.

"Ok, maybe. I wouldn't have said it though."

Silence. What do you say to the woman you love, when the man she loves just cheated on her… again.

"Sookie, I…"

"Take me away, Sam? Please?"

Running away wouldn't solve anything, but… "Pack a bag, I'll get the tickets."

"Where are we going?"

"Texas."

"What about your bar?"

"Lafayette can handle it."

I had a beach house on the gulf coast of Texas. It was nothing fancy, but you could smell the ocean from every room and it was nice to have a place to escape to. Plus, Texas was home and there was nothing wrong with going home every now and again. I called the airline and was lucky enough to grab two tickets for a late flight. I packed a small carry-on (I had stuff at the house), called Lafayette, and jumped in a cab to pick Sookie up.

She was waiting for me on the stoop of her townhouse. It was a ridiculously expensive place on the Upper West Side. Eric had bought it for them after his first indiscretion promising her that this was the place they'd raise a family. "Weren't schools amazing in the neighborhood he said. And, look, it's across from Central Park; we can take the kids there anytime we want."

It was an amazing place to live. It was also a bribe. That was two and a half years ago, and there weren't any kids running around their huge townhouse. It was another promise left by the curb.

She got in the cab. She looked so damn tired. There was a time when she would have cried and pulled her hair, break a few expensive vases, rip some silk pillows. The following day they would have been replaced with even more glamorous versions, courtesy of Eric. This time, she was just a pale shell of herself. The fact that she was pale was maybe the worst bit of it all. Sookie never smoked, hated to drink, and never cursed, but she was a slave to the sun. It was July, she should have been the shade of caramel by now, instead she looked like a ghost.

She got into the car, scooted close to me, and rested her head on my shoulder.

"Thanks, Sam."

Almost six hours later and we were making it down the dirt path to my place. Sookie had basically fallen asleep at every turn. I woke her up when we got to the airport, woke her yet again to walk on the plane, nudged her awake when we landed and now I was brushing the hair from her cheek.

"We're here, Sook, wake up, k?"

She nodded sleepily. I got our bags from the trunk and helped Sookie to the master bedroom. It was roomier than the guest room, and it also opened up to the beach directly through sliding glass doors – there's nothing like being woken up by the sound of waves. Almost the second her head hit the pillow she was asleep… again.

I was unnerved. But I wasn't scared enough yet to call someone. Maybe she just needed the sleep - I'd never been her shoes but I suspect I would have too.

The next morning, I woke up later than usual. Getting out of bed I opened the curtains to a perfectly sunny morning. The sliver of water I could see from the window was sparkling… the trees on the side of the house were swaying in the breeze. I went to the bathroom, jumped in a shower and got dressed. I walked around the house looking for Sookie and when I couldn't find her, I stepped outside. Ten-twenty in the morning and it was already getting hot.

Sookie was sitting on the beach, her hair down, grazing her shoulders and bare back. She was in a black bikini. Her pale, pale skin practically glowed in the light. She looked like a fairy or something. I walked over and stood beside her – her arm instantly wrapped around my shins.

"It's glorious here, Sam."

"I like it," I replied reaching down to smooth a strand of her hair back.

"Why haven't you ever taken me here before?"

How was I supposed to answer that? Because you were always too wrapped up in some drama with your asshole husband? I opted for saying nothing.

"Sit with me?"

"Ya, sure."

We sat there, side-by-side for minutes, hours, who knows? It was after July Fourth and being the middle of the week the only people we saw were the occasional runner or someone letting their dog run off the leash. I could have sat there for days next to her before I thought about moving.

"Sam?"

"Hmmm…"

"Are you still in love with me?"

You could have knocked me over with a feather for a few reasons. First off, who could fall out of love with a woman like Sookie? Even Eric for all his philandering and shitty behavior still loved her, it had to be the only reason he hadn't left her right? Second, and more importantly, the fact that she knew that I loved her at all was a shock to the system.

The only thing I could do was be honest. "Yes Sookie, I still love you." I always will, I added to myself.

"Will you take me inside Sam?"

I was about to ask why when –

"I want to know what its like to sleep with a man who really loves me. I don't know that I've ever had that pleasure."

"Sookie, Eric loves you."

"Maybe. He says he does of course. He thinks he shows me with every Cartier box and expense account. In the end though, it's someone else he fucks at night."

"I won't be your payback."

She looked at me, teary. "Sam Merlotte," she started as serious as a heart attack, "you're the best man I know. I want to know what it's like Sam. I've been with men who've told me they loved me my whole life. Each of them hurt me somehow. How can that be love Sam? I've never…"

Tears were coming down her cheeks. "You've never what?" I asked quietly.

"Make me a woman Sam. Can you really call yourself a woman if you've never made love with someone who loves you back?"

I didn't know the answer to her question. But I had so many of my own. Did this mean she loved me? Would she stay with Eric after? If she weren't in love with me, could she, would she after I slept with her? Could I live with myself having had her like that, even if she rejected me? Did any of that really matter?

The bottom line was this: I loved her enough to do this, even if it broke me eventually.

We got up together and walked back to the house, through the glass door, and into the bedroom. We stood in front of each other, the bed grazing our knees. Suddenly, I was nervous. I had wanted this for so long that finally having it seemed what? Unreal? Weird?

It became real the moment that Sookie finished untying her top. It fell to the floor silently. I followed it and raised my head to see a prefect pair of breasts. Heavy, rosy tipped, perfectly round, ready to be touched. She sat on the bed, scooted back, and good lord on high, she hooked her thumbs under the elastic of her bikini bottoms. I watched her bend her knees and push the fabric down, down, down until they were flicked away by her toe. She was every perfect image of a woman you'd ever seen. Not bony and flat like so many models and bar tramps, but round and soft - womanly.

She lifted her arms above her head and waited for me as I took her in. Eventually, I threw my shirt on the floor and stepped out of my pants. She took me in as I had her, and when I let my boxers fly over my shoulder, she smiled. I had no idea how I compared to Eric physically - he was taller, blonder, and broader than me - but I'm a damn good looking man and I know it.

Sookie shifted on the bed, laying her entire body flat as I crawled over her. I kneeled between her knees and gently pushed her legs open. She wasn't bare. Her curls were a darker blonde than on her head, but her sex was rosy like her nipples, and much to my surprise, already glistening. I trailed a finger along her slit and moaned at the same time she did. Her hips lifted as I trailed my way back up the way I'd come.

"This might tickle," I warned her.

I hadn't shaved in a few days, but before she could ask what I meant, my head was between her legs. I could smell her arousal. I could feel her tense and I lifted my head only long enough to say, "Relax." Christ, had it been so long for her? Didn't that sex fiend of a husband ever touch her? Kiss or lick her?

I lapped at her sex. She was salty and sweet. She panted gently as her hands made their way to the back of my head. I placed one hand on her abdomen, another found her hand and we clasped fingers. I relished every little gasp, twitch, and pant she gave me. Her gentle noises became more rushed and urgent. She was close and I desperately wanted to see what she looked like as she came. I lifted my head and pressed the pad of my thumb to her nerves, rubbing it. Her eyes were closed, her hair was slightly mussed, and her pretty pink buds were puckered tight. She gasped as her chest lifted off the bed. Her legs shook, but nothing else moved as she released her sweetness onto my hand.

When her body relaxed again, she looked at me. Her expression was something between happy and confused. Something was gnawing at me. I just, I had to know…

"Sookie, how long has it been since you've been with Eric?"

She turned her head to the side, as if she were ashamed.

"New Year's Eve."

Son of a bitch. I could only imagine how many rubies, silk shirts and crystal vases he had purchased in the past seven months. But touching his stunning wife? Even once? It never crossed his fucking mind. She squirmed and I knew she was ready to run off the bed and hide. I couldn't let her do that. I was a fraction faster and pinned her arms to the bed.

I kissed her. I kissed her good and hard, the way she should have been kissed everyday of her life. She relaxed beneath me and let her tongue slide into my mouth. That was all it took for my semi to get hard. She must have felt it against her. Her hand wiggled from beneath mine and touched the shaft. My head reeled back. I needed inside of her in the worst way.

"Sookie…"

"Please, Sam, now."

"Yes ma'am."

Pushing myself into her was something between painful and bliss. She was tight of course, but she was also silky smooth inside. When I was buried inside, her legs wrapped themselves around my hips. Warm. She was so damn warm. I didn't move and just relished the feeling of being in her. Then slowly, very slowly, I rocked into her.

I almost came right then and there. I felt like a fucking teenager.

Pisco Sour. Three parts brandy, one part lemon juice, 1 tablespoon sugar.

White Russian. Two parks vodka, one part Kahlua, one part cream

Side car. One and a half parts bourbon, one part Cointreau…

I got myself under control. I pushed in and out of her marveling at how perfect she felt around me - around my dick, around my waist. Her eyes were closed as she inhaled with every push, exhaled with every pull. I wanted her closer. I pulled out, lay besides her, and urged her to her side. She seemed confused until we were spooning. When I slipped back into her, she sighed, moaned, then whispered, "Yes."

My arms snaked around her body. One hand found itself grasping a perfect breast, the other made its way down her body, finally resting at the apex of her legs. She wanted love? She wanted to know what it felt like? It was making sure that above all else, she was taken care of. I wanted her to come so many times that she begged me to stop. I wanted to feel her release. I wanted to feel her quiver around me.

As I pressed a finger to her clit, she gasped. As we moved in unison, I circled her nerves bringing her closer and closer to her release. Her breathy, sexy moans became more urgent and higher. She was going to come for me. Grabbing her breast tighter, and rubbing her faster she eventually began to shake, go silent, then she cried out as I felt her go to pieces. Feeling her like that, knowing that I had done this to her, it was all I needed to find my own release. When she felt me stiffen and go over the edge, she let out a breath I didn't know she was holding.

When I came back to my senses she was crying. I was terrified.

"Sookie, please darling, please don't cry."

"It's ok," she got out between quiet sobs, "it's ok Sam."

I ran to the kitchen to get her some water. When I got back to the bedroom, she was standing by the glass door, naked, hair a mess. Her back dipped down to her heart-shaped ass. Her legs were crossed as she looked out at the beach.

"Water?"

She turned to me, wiped away a tear and smiled. Shit, I damn near fell over the corner of bed. She was a glorious mess - so beautiful and broken. What was going on in her head? I desperately wanted to ask her every question I had before, but the words wouldn't come out.

She walked to me, took the glass from my hand, and put it on the bedside table. She hugged me, her breasts pressed into my chest, her head resting on my shoulder.

"That's what it like to be made love to, isn't it?"

Christ on crutches. "Yes," I answered because it was the only word I could say just then.

"Then I've never been made love to 'til now."

A/N

Thanks for reading… now it's your turn!

-Zhiv