A/N: So y'all, I have a confession to make; I got nothin'. I have no clue where this story is going, because my creativity has dried up and I'm stuck, somewhat, between not having anything to write and wanting desperately to write because I just realized the last chapter was put up three weeks ago. That's insane. I hate doing that, and you guys deserve better. So I'm asking you to bear with me, because I hate leaving stories incomplete, and I will finish this if it's the last thing I do; it's just a matter of when. In the meantime, let me know what you think, even if you're pissed off like you have every right to be.

Chapter Three

Humming in approval, Sookie latched her mouth on to my neck, raising goosebumps all over my body. I found myself thanking God that the last time Dawn was over had been nearly two weeks ago and that I'd changed my sheets since then as I put Sookie down, so they were clean even to the superior senses of a vampire, or so I hoped. Sookie hopped down and together we pulled the covers aside, her fingers quickly slipping under the hem of my shirt and pulling it off before I even had the chance to consider returning the favour. Easing her dress over her head, I was rewarded with the sight of her perfect breasts supported by a lacy push-up bra, and the most surreal, perfect body I'd ever seen.

"Are you going to be okay?" she teased at the sight of my jaw hanging open.

"Eventually," I nodded and disposed of the bra, tackling her back onto the mattress to become closely acquainted with her breasts.

"You have the rebound rate of a vampire," she murmured much, much later and I smiled, far too exhausted to form a coherent reply as I moved from atop her body. To my utter displeasure she moved away, sitting up with a good six inches between us.

"Where are you going?"

"Nowhere." She gave me a puzzled look.

"Then what's this?" I gestured between us.

"We're no longer having sex."

"So? You don't cuddle?" Who didn't cuddle? Even Dawn would always lie beside me for a little while, and she was callous by nature.

"I'm a vampire."

"So?" I repeated, this time with a frown. "Come here. Lie down." I extended an arm towards her where I lay on my back, the sheets pulled up to my waist. She shot me another puzzled look before moving over, awkwardly resting her head on my shoulder with the rest of her body perfectly straight and rigid. I couldn't help chuckling as I moved her arm to lay it across my chest and hitch her leg across my hips, pulling the sheets over both of us.

"You're warm."

"Indeed," I smiled and scratched absently at the base of my neck where she had drunk from me.

"Shit, sorry, let me heal that." In the blink of an eye she bit into her finger and rubbed her blood over my damaged skin, and I squirmed as it itched. "There. Good as new," she murmured, pressing a kiss into my neck.

"Your blood heals?" My ignorance of vampiric abilities had no bounds, apparently.

"We don't advertise it. Drinking it is better for bigger injuries; broken bones, internal bleeding." She shrugged. "Some vampires like leaving marks, but I don't. It's tacky. And you have lovely skin."

I smiled at the odd compliment; odd for a man anyways. "You do too." I stroked the expanse of smooth skin on her back and she pressed herself to my side. "So what's the deal with cuddling?"

"Vampires don't cuddle when they sleep together. The humans that sleep with vampires these days aren't so much into cuddling as they are into whips and chains, and I don't sleep with fangbangers. Rarely with other vampires." She shrugged.

"Why not?"

"There's nothing arousing about hearing your partner's thoughts as you fuck. More often than not, their thoughts are things you'd rather not hear because they're thinking of how to maximize everything."

"Is that what you were thinking of?" I asked with a raised brow and she lifted the sheets to give me a very pointed ogle.

"Any more maximization there and you'd break me, Eric."

Grinning at the ego stroke, I gave her ass a little squeeze. "I wasn't really having any coherent thoughts while we were in the process," I told her, just so she knew. "Mostly gibberish and 'oh god, oh fuck, right there'."

"Good," she grinned back.

"What's the verdict on cuddling then?" I tightened my arm around her, wondering whether my skin had cooled or if she was warming up.

"I'm warming up to it," she winked and I groaned.

"Funny. Will you have to leave before dawn?"

The smile left her face as she nodded, and I rushed to bring it back. "Stay here until then?"

"What would we do?"

I shrugged. "Talk, watch TV. Talk while watching TV. I could warm up some food for me and see if I have it in me for a couple more rounds." I winked and felt the relief when she cracked a smile. We ended up staying in bed and talking about mundane things until I fell asleep at some point and woke up with my cock in her mouth. My initial anxiety over her fangs causing damage faded away once the pleasure fully sank in and I let it wash over me, closing my eyes and enjoying the sensations. She crawled on top of my body when I came and kissed me, asking for permission to drink from me again, which I gave quite willingly and found myself moaning as she bit into my neck and healed it afterwards, the way she had done earlier. When she tucked her face against my neck I smiled, noting that she was being physically affectionate without my encouragement so I hugged her waist and told her I'd like to see her again.

"Then I guess you'll see me again," she chuckled and kissed me once again, thanking me for the blood.

"You're welcome," I smiled, equal parts drowsy and sated.

"Have a steak tomorrow, yes? And probably some iron supplements if you're feeling weak. I was quite greedy with you."

"You can be greedy all you want with me. Sleep tight."

"You too."

I watched through half-closed eyes as she got dressed and left, and the next thing I knew was the sound of my alarm clock. Sam and I alternated shifts on week days so I had the day off until about four, providing me with the perfect opportunity to do what I loved least: house work. Grumbling to myself with no satisfaction at all, I did laundry and vacuumed, coming to the sad realization that I needed to dust every so often, especially if I was going to have a vampire over more often. And on that note, I should probably get a six-pack of True Blood as well. I made myself a couple of sandwiches before getting in the shower, shaving and styling my hair back from my face. I realized, as I put on my favourite grey jeans and a fitted red plaid shirt that I was dressing up, hoping that Sookie would drop by. Smiling to myself, I rode my bike to work and parked it behind the restaurant before heading inside to do my usual walk through and relieve Sam. Everything continued going smoothly as all the waitresses arrived on time and Lafayette briefed them on the dinner specials before telling them to "go forth and waitress, my little angels". I laughed and brought him his nightly beer, giving him a kiss on the cheek and popping my foot just to be a goof, and he grabbed my ass just to be himself. My great mood, however, was ruined when Dawn strolled in wearing her tightest shorts and tiniest shirt, and proceeded to grab my ass, which was sadly less welcome than Lafayette's had been.

"Hey, baby," she grinned, revealing brilliant bleached teeth, stroking up my bicep. I side-stepped the caress.

"Dawn, we should talk."

"Do we have to?" She flirted, "We can do other things with our mouths." I caught her hand when she walked her fingers up my chest but had to put our talk on hold when a ketchup emergency arose and I had to take care of it. By the time I got back from locating the elusive ketchup in our storeroom Dawn was distracted and I managed to avoid her for the rest of the night by ignoring her, which always worked out pretty well because Dawn had daddy issues the size of Mount Rushmore; if you didn't pay her any attention, she refused to acknowledge you back as a coping mechanism. As the sun set I sent off a quick text to Sookie, wishing her a good night, and smiled when she sent one back.

How committed are you to my having a good night?

I grinned as I formed a reply.

Pretty committed. What did you have in mind?

I wish I could convey my coy look properly.

We went on that way for a while, bantering flirtatiously until closing time, and I called her as I walked out into the parking lot and got on to my bike.

"Coming over?" So she meant it about seeing me again.

"I don't know, I'm pretty exhausted, I don't know if I'll meet your standards tonight." I really was, beyond exhausted. It was actually quite interesting to consider how evenly matched Sookie and Dawn were in their sexual appetite, even though it was always a bit of a chore to fuck Dawn. But sitting in the dimly lit back lot of Outlaws' with a faint breeze cooling the warm night, I realized something. "Sookie, I don't want a fuck buddy. I don't know what you want, but I want more." She was quiet for a long time while I grew keenly aware of the fact that had she been human, I could have comforted myself with the sound of her breathing. As it was, she was absolutely soundless.

"This explains the cuddling," she said at last and I laughed, glancing around at the trees lining the edges of the lot.

"No, I just like cuddling."

"And me."

"And you," I smiled. "And long walks on the beach. And Hemingway."

"You like Hemingway? That's depressing."

"He was really talented," I defended.

"That he was. And strangely sexy."

"Tell me you didn't sleep with Hemingway."

"Ernie? Of course I did, I was in awe of him. His mind mid-sex was terrible though, he was chockfull of issues."

"You're unbelievable."

"It's why you like me."

On second thought, it actually was. She was unbelievable; surreal and so beautiful. I'd never met anyone like her, even if she had been human. "It is," I agreed, sounding far more serious than I had intended.

"Come over then."

"You know I'm going to fall asleep, right?"

"We can just cuddle." I could hear the smile in her voice and it made me relent. I pulled up in her small driveway not fifteen minutes later, smiling when she opened the door to come out and greet me.

"Wow, it looks great!" I exclaimed. The place looked better than I could have ever imagined.

"I'm working on it!" She defended, mistaking my tone for sarcasm and following my gaze to the external shutters which no longer bore the peeling paint. "I got all new appliances too."

"No-no, I was being sincere!"

"Uh huh," she rolled her eyes and indicated for me to go in. The living room was actually furnished now, a beautiful Persian carpet adorning the floor beneath an antique chest serving as a coffee table, and a leather loveseat positioned against the wall facing the flatscreen mounted on the wall. She'd put a portrait up over the mantle and I paused in front of it with the strange feeling that I knew the subjects.

"Is this your family?"

"Indeed. My parents and my siblings and I."

"You all look really familiar," I frowned and then it hit me. How I had failed to draw this connection was beyond me, but there it was. "You're related to the Stackhouses."

"I'm Jason's great-great-great-grandmother," she nodded, a mix of amusement and discomfort on her face, and I looked back at the portrait with fresh eyes. Sookie's brother bore an uncanny resemblance to Jason, around the eyes especially. That was surreal.

"I can't believe I didn't even think to ask." Stackhouse was not a common name, but I'd stupidly assumed that she couldn't possibly be related to anybody because she was dead. "Sookie, that's insane! I slept with my friend's great-great-great-grandmother!" I laughed and she hip-checked me playfully.

"Are you disgusted?" Sookie quirked a brow dangerously.

"No. Why, do you feel bad that you're sleeping with someone the same age as your great-great-great-grandson?"

"Oof, now that you put it that way. Maybe you should leave then," she winked and I scooped her up in my arms to kiss her. Her lips responded enthusiastically and we kissed until her lips felt warm against mine, but I honestly was exhausted so I set her down.

"Hold on, you just got up but you're going to cuddle with me until I fall asleep? I can go home if you've changed your mind, you know."

"I like you too," she told me out of the blue. "I wasn't supposed to have actual feelings for you, but then again I wasn't supposed to tell you I'm sent here to procure you either, so there's that. In for a penny, in for a pound, huh?"

"I'm not complaining." I tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. "So what does this mean?"

"It means that you are mine."

"And vice versa."

She blinked. "That won't mean anything to any other vampire. You being mine means that nobody else can lay finger nor fang on you, but in my world, you have no real claim on me."

"Does it mean anything to you?"

"Of course," a smile played at the corner of her mouth.

888

I reached out, smacking the snooze button and feeling irrationally angry when the ringing didn't stop. Through my drowsy haze I realized that it was actually the Hawaii Five-O theme, therefore obviously not the clock.

"Motherfucker, someone had better be dying," I groaned into the phone, my voice muffled by a pillow.

"Well, it's 2 PM and you're not at work so I thought you might be."

"Shit, seriously?" I sat up fast enough to give myself vertigo. "Sorry, Sam. I'll be right there."

"It's alright," he drawled, sounding more amused than anything. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah yeah, just had a late night. I'm going to jump in the shower and head over, alright?" I hung up and stumbled into the shower, running some gel through my hair and pulling on some dark low-slung jeans and a fitted t-shirt before getting onto my bike. I was fucking starving and a bit sluggish, from sleeping in so late or anemia, I wasn't sure. After the night I'd spent at Sookie's we started spending more time together, and last night we'd gone on an impromptu walk that had resulted in us fucking against a tree.

The upside to the situation was that I was literally five minutes away from work, and the best chicken-fried steak in town so I stuck my head through the kitchen window to ask Lafayette for lunch before heading over to the office.

"Hi Sammy," I grinned.

"Hi Sleepy," he laughed. "Rough night?"

"Nah." I shook my head, less than willing to ruin his good mood by telling him exactly why I was so late today. "Just late."

"Well, Dawn got to work on time. Did you dump her bony ass?"

She did have a bony ass. "Um, not exactly. Not yet. Things kind of just happened."

"With who?"

"With whom," I corrected and burst out laughing when he threw a pen at me. I sunk down onto the couch just in time for Lafayette to come on with my food. "Laffy, you beautiful, fabulous, sexy motherfucker. You are going to make some man very happy some day," I grinned as he handed me my plate and set down a Heineken in front of me.

"And until then, I've got you two dirty skanks to feed. Even though my cousin is willing to take care of this one for me," he added, gesturing to Sam who of course turned bright red. "You two go out yet?"

"I had to reschedule," Sam shook his head. "Tommy got the stomach flu and I had to stay home and take care of him."

"Pussy," Lafayette and I chorused, and he gave us both the finger.

"Can we focus on who Eric slept with last night?" Sam tried to steer the conversation and Lafayette's head snapped up.

"Not Dawn, she got to work on time for once," he said.

"You two need to pay attention to your own lives." I pointed at them with my steak knife and cut out a huge bite of meat. Sweet, sweet meat.

"Welcome to my life," Sam muttered as Lafayette started chanting, "Spill, spill, spill."

"Yeah, joke around now, you won't be laughing once I tell you."

"Did you sleep with Maxine Fortenberry?" Sam deadpanned while our other friend gagged.

"Think older." Much older. By about a hundred and fifty years. The guys got matching confused looks on their faces. Lafayette realized it first, his dark complexion lightening to the point where he could probably get away with attending a KKK rally.

"Are you serious?"

"What, who?" Sam looked back and forth between us until he too realized it. "Are you fucking serious?"

"Called it," I mumbled as I took another bite of steak.

"What are you, a fangbanger now?" Sam asked and Lafayette reached over to turn my head, inspecting my neck for the telltale fangbanger bite marks. I was suddenly even more grateful that Sookie found them tacky.

"Nah, Eric's got a crush."

"So what if I do? Have you seen her?"

"Uh-uh, if you wanted looks, you would have stuck with Dawn. You dig Sookie because of her personality, and not the kind in her bra." Though those were pretty fantastic as well. I shrugged.

"So what if I do?" I repeated. "She's funny, she's sweet. She's smart. She likes me." I added with a smile.

"Of course she likes you, you're her walking buffet," Sam rolled his eyes.

"You done?" I snarled and he looked at me with shock. "There are much easier targets out there for dinner if that's what she wanted and we both know it. At least give her the benefit of the doubt. Give me the benefit of the doubt."

"Darlin', she's got you whupped!" Laf grinned and stood up, giving me a friendly slap to the shoulder. "Just be careful, you hear?" I nodded, thanking him for the food and ignoring Sam once the two of us were left alone.

"Eric, vampires are dangerous," he began in a calmer voice.

"I don't believe that," I responded. "People can be just as dangerous."

"You know they can Glamour you, right? Make you forget shit, get you to do things you wouldn't do otherwise." His voice was low, his blue eyes earnest and filled with concern for me.

"She can't Glamour me, Sam. She tried it and she couldn't."

"How do you know that? She could have messed with your mind so you would forget it."

"I have no reason to distrust her, Sam! She hasn't done a single thing to make me be wary of her, nothing but be honest with me. Stop thinking that she's some huge villain in my life, because she's not. If she were any other person, if I'd spent the night with a human and came in looking as happy as I know I look, you would have high-fived me for getting over Dawn."

"But she's not just any other person."

"No, she's not. Besides, it's not like we're shacking up or getting married or anything. We're just… seeing each other." I shrugged, feeling a fair bit of guilt over downplaying my relationship, and saw Sam looking unconvinced. "Lighten up, Sammy. I appreciate your concern but I'm a big boy. Don't you think I'm going to run the other way if things start getting dangerous?"

888

Two weeks later, I tugged at the wrist restraints and groaned when neither one gave. I'd sorely underestimated Sookie's character and what she was capable of, clearly, since I was tied up with no chances of escape.