I don't own the Characters. Charlaine Harris does.

I just own the new plot, but Ms. Harris is welcome to it if she ever wants to use it.

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There just aren't enough "Sookie loves Quinn" stories out there, so this is dedicated to all you Quinn aficionados.

For you Sooke and Eric lovers... there's a little Eric goodness in here to.

Spoilers: Set after From Dead to Worse

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CHAPTER 2

Having Eric the Viking Vamp along while I tracked down my crazy weretiger ex-boyfriend was not my idea of a good time. I could feel the showdown a-commin', I just wasn't sure who the showdown would be with… me and Eric, me and Quinn, Quinn and Eric. All of the possibilities seemed plausible; and frightening.

The more I thought about it, the more having a ticked off, overly possessive vampire and an unstable weretiger in the same vicinity seemed like a really, really bad idea. But, it was a little late now. Eric and I were almost to Mississippi.

"What's wrong, Lover?" Eric asked.

He could always sense my anxiety. Curse this emotion-hijacking blood-bond!

"I'm just thinking. I'm worried."

Eric had been quiet most of the ride. He suddenly pulled over his raging-red corvette, and slammed on the breaks. He looked into me deeply, and then took a big breath. Since vampires don't need to breathe, this had to be one really tough subject that was coming up.

"Do you love him?" Eric asked.

"I… I… don't know," I responded.

"Do you love me?"

"I… in a way."

"So you love me, but you want to be with him." Eric had a nasty habit of turning questions into statements. Most people did the opposite.

"I don't know what I want." I started this tentatively to guard both his feelings and mine, but the more I hesitated the more he looked peeved. Okay, fine. He wants the truth, I'll let him have it.

"I feel things for you, but because of our blood-bond thingy, I don't ever know if it's really me. I don't know if you are really attracted to me, or just the fairy in me. Nothing between us is real, Eric. With Quinn, it's all real. He doesn't go ga-ga for fairy blood, and we don't have any suped-up sentimental overdrive. It's just genuine. It's just truth. With you and I, Eric… how do I separate? I just don't know."

He put his hand on my face and touched my cheek gently. I tried to look away, but his other hand came up and forced my head to stay turned to meet his gaze. "I do know. I love you, Sookie Stackhouse. And it's driving me crazy."

His blatant admission threw me off guard. As I was lost in thought trying to digest his words, he leaned in and kissed me; rough. It was rough and ragged; a kiss that tasted of need that had gone unfulfilled for too long. My body reciprocated, but my mind recoiled.

Oh no, here we go again.

"Stop it, Eric." I slapped his face. "How do you know? How can you be sure it's not merely our, our… fluid exchange?" He was stunned, and I was seething.

Eric looked down at his feet. He actually looked sheepish; as sheepish as a viking sex god can look, anyway.

He answered so quietly the mosquito next to my ear was almost louder. "Because I loved you before we exchanged blood."

I was shocked. I was floored. I was dog-poo on the bottom of the car tires.

"But, Eric… the first time we exchanged blood; when I sucked the bullet out of you… that was a long time ago."

"Yes." His eyes narrowed, and his lips locked tightly. He put the key back in the ignition and started the car. I guess that was it on the subject. We drove the rest of the way in silence until we reached Mississippi.

As we crossed the Mississippi border a chill ran up my spine. I remembered a little late that I had made a pact with the Pelt family that they wouldn't try and take revenge for the death of Debbie as long as I stayed out of Mississippi. Now that I had crossed the state line, I guessed all bets were off. Come to think of it, Sandra Pelt had tried to kill me since that time, I had reason to believe she had killed her own parents to break the pact, and now the rest of the Pelts were plotting to go after me with Quinn's mother. So I guess all bets were off anyway.

We pulled into a gas station to fuel and stretch. It would be dawn soon. The trees around the station were tall and foreboding. They had been left to grow wild for decades, and now thick kudzu vines had completely overtaken them all. As I thought about Quinn, I realized that amidst the vines it did look a lot like a jungle. I could see that a Bengal Tiger could be happy here; Weretiger or not.

As I opened the door to get into the car, I thought I heard the distant roar of what sounded like a wounded tiger… or was that just the rumble of thunder in the distance?

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It had taken Eric and I two days; or shall I say nights, to track down the most promising leads of tiger spotting. We guessed that he had been somewhere near the Pelt's cabin (or "friend-of-Pelts'-cabin" to be more accurate). It would appear that since Quinn's and my last dealings with them (oh yeah, Eric had been there too) they didn't want a repeat of the past, so Pelts and Company had scattered.

We were two days away from a full moon, and I really didn't want to still be in Mississippi with a bunch of angry two-natureds running around, if we could help it. The more we searched the further behind it seemed we were, and the more unlikely getting out of town by the full moon seemed to be.

Eric and I had been walking through the woods for what felt like hours. Someone was following us. The crickets had gone quiet, and all night sounds had stopped. This couldn't be good. Eric had sensed it to, and I could tell that he was ready to leap into flight at a moment's notice. Handy thing about being next to a vamp that could fly; escape routes came easier.

I was just about to say something about this to Eric, when I was almost attacked from behind. A thin, graying weretiger jumped toward me. I would have been meat scraps if Eric hadn't quickly pushed me out of the way.

We were in a dense part of the forest, and for Eric to fly we would need clearance. Eric placed himself between me and the tiger, but the weretiger was ignoring the vampire altogether. It was definitely tracking me. Have you ever seen a snake track a mouse that it's decided is going to be dinner? Well, I had (on the Discovery Channel, of course) and that is exactly how I felt.

This tiger wasn't Quinn. It's eyes were wild and mad. It was thinner than Quinn, and moved as if it's mind was out of sync with it's body. Every time I had seen Quinn in tiger form, he had moved with more grace and ease than he did in his human form. Seeing as his human form was darn near perfect; that was saying something.

"I think it's the mother", I whispered to Eric.

He gave a slight nod of understanding.

I suddenly had a horrible thought. What if the tiger we had spent two days trying to track down wasn't Quinn at all. What if Quinn was no where nearby, or worse, no longer in Mississippi. What if this had all been a set up between Frannie and her mom. Frannie had been there too when I told her mother Quinn's and my relationship; or lack thereof, was none of their business. Frannie had been just as angry as her mother, and both had blamed me for hurting Quinn.

I started to feel sick to my stomach. Now was not the time for a heave-fest. Hold it together. I was backing up toward a clearing so we could make lift off, when I stumbled over a root. Dang, my clumsy feet!

Within seconds of me falling the tiger leapt toward me. This was it. Death by tiger mauling. Claws extended I felt them tear the flesh of my chest. I screamed. I heard a loud roar above me, and my head fell back against the ground. There was a rush of wind, and I hate to say it, but I fainted.

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TBC

Thank you all for having patience as I learn the "ins and outs" of FF's platform. I think I'm getting the hang of it, and I'll have another chapter up soon.