Chapter 4

"I'm so sorry," Sookie wheezed, wiping furiously at her eyes.

"Don't cry," Godric pleaded. He didn't care any longer if she liked his gift or not. He just wanted her to stop crying, because it made him decidedly uncomfortable to see her tears, no matter how delicious they smelled.

"I know you're just trying to be nice, and I do appreciate you getting me a gift, but I just can't afford a cell phone," Sookie rambled. She rummaged through her purse until she found a tissue.

"It's already paid for," Godric pointed out.

"But I can't afford the monthly bill!" Sookie said with a squeak, and more tears followed.

Godric wanted to smash something to pieces for his own stupidity. He should have realized there were costs involved in owning a cell phone. Joseph had always taken care of the cell phone plans for the Dallas nest, getting them all a good deal, so Godric had never had to worry about it before.

"Just...wait..." Godric held up his hand, and got his own phone out and hit the speed dial. "Eric," he said, the moment his child answered his phone. "I need an affordable cell phone plan."

Eric burst out in laughter so loudly, Godric pulled his phone away from his ear for a second because it was painful.

"Eric," Godric growled, putting a little authority in his voice, and Eric stopped laughing though he did keep chuckling.

"I assume it's for the telepath?"

Godric made an affirmative noise.

"We can add her to our plan as a business expense. Just text Bobby the details of her phone and he'll see to it."

"And how much would this cost?"

"As long as she doesn't go calling to Hong Kong every other day, about ten dollars a month."

"Ah. Thank you." Godric closed his phone and looked at Sookie with a comforting smile. "It will only cost ten dollars a month, and Eric is willing to pay for that if you work for him."

"Oh? Just ten dollars?" Sookie swallowed and wiped the last of her tears away. "Okay, then I accept your gift. But I will pay for it myself. Your friend is already offering me a job, he doesn't have to go out of his way to pay my bills, too."

Godric just nodded, happy to see Sookie calm again. He didn't understand why she insisted on paying for it herself, but after her outburst, he wasn't about to question her decision. "So..." He offered her the box again with a hopeful look.

"Thank you," Sookie said, accepting the box. Then she leaned over and pressed a wet kiss to Godric's cheek. Her lips were so warm it made Godric shiver for a second at the unexpected touch. "I really do appreciate you getting me a gift, even though you really didn't have to."

Before Sookie could pull back, Godric spotted a stray tear on her cheek, and he wiped it off and brought his finger to his mouth to taste it.

Delicious! Godric wasn't sure if he'd ever tasted anything quite like it. And if this was how her tears tasted, he couldn't wait to drink her blood.

And where the hell had that come from? He hadn't had the urge to drink from a human in months now.

"Did you just taste my tears?" Sookie asked quietly.

"Yes." Godric stared down at his shoes, realizing he'd just made some human faux-pas. "You taste very good. But I apologize if this upsets you."

"No," Sookie said a little awkwardly. "It's just...a little weird. I'm not used to it, I guess."

Godric shrugged and stared out the window.

Sookie released a strained giggle. "Just as long as you don't go biting my neck, I guess it's okay."

Godric wanted to comment that he much preferred the thigh over the neck, but he figured that would be the wrong thing to say. "I swear I will not bite you unless you wish to be bitten," he decided to say instead.

"All right then." Sookie placed the box and her purse near Godric's feet and started the car. It only took two tries to get the motor running this time.

They sat in silence for a while as Sookie drove them down the dark country road. "Where are you from originally?" Sookie asked him out of the blue.

"Dallas," Godric said without thinking.

Sookie burst out in laughter, and Godric looked at her in confusion. "You were born in Dallas? Texas?'" Sookie asked, her eyes bright with mirth.

"Ah. No, of course not. But I have lived there for the last seventy years or so," Godric said, and for some reason this sobered Sookie up right quick.

"So you don't live around here? Are you just on vacation?" she asked softly, staring at the road ahead of her in determination.

"I was just visiting, yes. But now I have decided to stay." Godric frowned, and wondered how much he should tell her. He did like the idea of her knowing things about him. "I told you Eric is the vampire authority in this area. I am the vampire authority in that area of Texas."

"Oh." Sookie glanced at him with frown. "But if you're staying here...are you quitting your job? Can you do that?"

Godric chuckled. "Who's going to stop me?" he said, more to himself than to Sookie. "I have grown bored with vampire politics, so I am ready for a change."

"And this Eric, he's letting you stay? Have you known him for a long time?"

"For a thousand years," Godric said. He didn't want to risk telling her of his true bond with his child, as it was clear she didn't understand much of the intricacies of the vampire world. The less people that knew the better.

"Is he mean?"

"What?"

Sookie swallowed audibly. "This Eric. Is he mean? He's going to be my boss, after all."

"He's a vampire," Godric replied thoughtfully. "We are not human, and we may sometimes do things that humans find...repulsive. But Eric is not mean. He will treat you well." And if he didn't, Godric would make him.

Sookie bit her lip and cast him a furtive glance. "Yesterday you said you'd killed people," she said so quietly even Godric almost had trouble hearing it.

Godric stared straight ahead. He would not lie to this girl, but he also didn't want to scare her away. He chose his words with care. "I am very old, Sookie. I have done many things I am not proud of. I have lived in times when a human life was worth less than that of a head of cattle. When humans were bought and sold for a few pieces of copper, and whole families were slaughtered so others could steal their grain and their sheep. When stealing a loaf of bread to fill your starving stomach earned you a trip to the gallows, and when parents abandoned their children to the wolves in the forest because the didn't have enough food to see them through the winter. Yes, I have killed, many times, and I even found pleasure in it on occasion. But not for a long while now."

Sookie didn't say anything, and Godric was afraid to even look at her until he felt her warm hand seek out his cold one as she curled her fingers around his.

"It can't have been easy, living in times like that," Sookie said as she offered him a tiny smile.

"No, it wasn't," Godric agreed. "Humans complain so much about the world today, but very few of them have ever seen real hardship. You are all rather spoiled if you ask me."

Sookie tried to suppress a giggle and squeezed his hand again. It was a pleasant feeling, and Godric gently squeezed back. Sookie continued to hold his hand until they reached the driveway and she needed both hands on the steering wheel to navigate the potholes.

Adele already stood in the doorway waiting for them. "Jason's here," she said with a slight warning in her voice as Godric followed Sookie up the porch steps.

"Great," Sookie sighed, and Godric wondered who this Jason was. He was sure Sookie wasn't attached to a male, as she had made that clear last night.

"Hello, Godric, it's so nice to see you again," Adele said and reached for his hand to give it a squeeze.

"And you, Adele," Godric replied with a genuine smile.

In the living room stood a young, blonde man holding a bottle of beer, and Godric immediately noticed the family resemblance. And since Sookie had mentioned she only had one cousin, Godric guessed this was her brother.

"This your vamper, Sook?" Jason asked, taking a swig of his beer.

"Jason!" Sookie said reproachfully. "This is Godric." She looked over her shoulder at Godric. "This is my brother, Jason."

"Nice to meet you, Mr Stackhouse," Godric said politely, but Jason didn't reply.

"What have you got there, Sookie?" Adele had apparently noticed the box in Sookie's hand.

"Oh, Godric got me a gift," Sookie replied airily. "A cell phone."

"A cell phone?" Jason demanded in disbelief. "You that kind of woman now, Sookie? You letting him suck your blood for a phone?"

Godric had trouble keeping his mouth from falling open at the sheer audacity of this human. Sookie, meanwhile, looked mortified.

"Jason Stackhouse!" Adele said, her eyes narrowed. "You will be polite to guests in my house, and you will not talk about your sister like that. She's a good girl, and you know it!"

"Guests? Gran, he's a vampire. He's probably the one that killed poor Maudette last night. Maudette liked fucking them vampires. I seen it for myself!"

Sookie exploded. "He's not the one the police hauled into the station today, now is he?"

"But I didn't do it." Jason gestured wildly with his beer bottle. "But last night a vampire shows up and suddenly Maudette's dead. I find that a big coincidence, if you ask me."

"Nobody is asking you," Sookie said with venom in her voice. "But just for your information, Godric's not the only vampire in town."

"Oh?" Adele gave Godric a pointed look, and Godric quietly nodded his head to indicate that yes, they'd met the procurer.

"More vampers?" Jason sounded outraged. "Well, we don't want y'all here."

"Jason, out of my house, now!" Adele shrieked. "You can come back when you can be polite, but until that time I don't want to see you!"

"Gran!"

"Now!"

Godric stepped to the side to let Jason pass. Jason brushed his shoulder against Godric, probably to push him away, but Godric stood still as a rock, barely feeling the impact, and Jason flinched when his shoulder met something hard and unyielding. With a slam of the door Jason left.

"I'm so sorry you had to see that," Adele said, shaking her head. "That boy is a handful at the best of times."

"He's just stressed because he got questioned by the police today about Maudette's murder." Sookie flopped down on the couch, and Godric was amazed Sookie was defending her brother after the things he'd said about her.

"It's all right," Godric assured them and slowly sat down beside Sookie.

"Now, I think it's nice you got Sookie such a useful gift. I'll be sleeping easier knowing she can call you no matter where she is what with all the trouble coming our way." Adele inhaled a deep breath. "I got some of that TruBlood at the store today. Can I offer you some?"

"Yes, thank you," Godric said, and when Adele disappeared into the kitchen, Godric turned to look at Sookie, who seemed rather deflated.

"Sorry about my brother," Sookie said with an apologetic smile.

"You two are nothing alike," Godric observed.

"Thank God for that!" Sookie giggled and placed her purse on the floor and her new cell phone on the table. Adele returned and offered Godric a bottle of blood and Sookie a glass of lemonade.

"Tell me about this new vampire," Adele said as she sat down in one of the cosy armchairs.

"His name is Bill Compton. He says he was born in this town, though I do not know when that was. He said he's moving back into his ancestral home."

"Jesse Compton!" Adele said at once. "Our neighbour. He died just a few weeks ago. They must be related."

"Your neighbour?" Godric asked carefully. He did not like that news one bit.

"The house across the cemetery," Sookie said, with a vague gesture to her right where Godric guessed the cemetery was.

"Well, we won't be welcoming Mr Compton to the neighbourhood," Adele said with determination. "I think for once we can forget our manners."

"That would be for the best," Godric agreed. He made a mental note to ask Eric later what he knew of this Compton. But for now he wanted to get their business out of the way. "I brought the contract. Would you like to see it now?"

"Sure," Sookie said, leaning towards the table as Godric pulled the contract from his pocket and unfolded it. Together they read through the contract while Adele indulgently looked on.

"A company car?" Sookie asked. "Why would I need one?"

Because yours is a piece of crap, Godric thought, but he didn't say that out loud.

"You'll be driving to Shreveport and back a lot, Sookie," Adele said reasonably.

"This is a lot of money," Sookie said in disbelief when she saw her yearly salary. "It's too much."

"No, it's not," Godric assured her. His child had been generous, but not outrageous.

"I think it's about time someone appreciated you," Adele said firmly, giving Sookie a no-nonsense look.

They read through the rest of the contract, and while Sookie seemed a little overwhelmed, she didn't question anything else. Godric was pleased to see Eric had mentioned that Sookie would be escorted at all times by a vampire of Eric's choosing if she ever worked outside his area. Godric had a good idea who that vampire might be.

"It's very...generous," Sookie said once they were done.

"Sookie, girl, I think this is a very good offer, especially considering the alternative," Adele said, and Godric was glad to have her on his side. He realized Sookie took great stock in anything her grandmother said.

"Yeah, I guess it is. I better get a pen." And with that Sookie signed the contract, and Godric thought he could relax just a little now that the first layer of protection for Sookie was in place.

The contract, combined with the fact that Godric had claimed Sookie for himself earlier in front of another vampire, should hold off Compton and Sophie-Anne, at least for a while. He also realized he should probably explain his claiming of her to Sookie, lest she heard about it from Compton or even the shifter, as he was sure the shifter had heard every word the two vampires had said.

"So who is Maudette?" Godric asked once he'd tucked the contract away safely in his pocket.

Adele shook her head. "Maudette Pickens. A local girl that got killed last night. She was...loose, and Jason knew her. That's why the police wanted to talk to him today."

"How did she die?" If there were vampires killing girls in this area, Eric would want to know about it.

"Strangled," Sookie said. "But she did have vampire bites on her body."

"Fresh bites?" Godric asked. Vampires rarely strangled their victims, but it wasn't unheard of.

"I'm not sure," Sookie said with a shrug.

"I'll see what I can find out later," Godric offered, and at Sookie's confused look he added, "I'll go down to the police station and ask some questions. Eric will want to know about this, if there is a chance a vampire was involved."

"So you didn't know her?" Sookie asked, biting her lip.

"No. Besides, I haven't fed on a human in months."

Sookie blushed bright red while Adele looked at the fireplace in determination, a small smile on her face.

"Godric, I'm sure you'll be looking after Sookie in the future, but I would like to be able to put my mind at ease. Could we meet her new boss here? Do you think he has time to come over tomorrow with you?"

"Eric? Yes, I can ask him to visit with me tomorrow. He'll come." Godric knew Eric would come; he was far too curious about the telepath, after all.

"Thank you. Sookie's off tomorrow, so how about eight? Does that suit you?"

"We'll be here at eight," Godric agreed easily. He was already looking forward to seeing how Adele would react to his child. Adele liked him well enough, but Eric was something else entirely.

"Wonderful." Adele got up from her chair. "And now it's time for old people to go to bed. I'll let you two youngsters enjoy the rest of the evening."

Godric raised both his eyebrows at being called young, but Adele only winked at him in response before she left the room.

Sookie reached for her lemonade and Godric took a sip from his blood, and they remained quiet for a few moments.

"I'll have to tell Sam I can't work for him anymore," Sookie said with something like regret in her voice. "He's not going to like that."

"Surely he can find a new waitress?"

"Yeah, that's not the problem." Sookie sighed and leaned back in the couch. "He was real upset I tried to save you last night. Turns out, he doesn't like vampires one bit."

Godric wasn't surprised to hear that. Vampires and shifters rarely got along, after all.

"I'm gonna miss working there, I guess, even though my new job pays better."

"Why did you decide to become a waitress in the first place?" To Godric, working such a job was clearly beneath Sookie.

"I never did well in school. The voices in my head distracted me too much. Being a waitress was one of the few things I could do and enjoyed doing."

Godric nodded his understanding. "I never went to school," he said with a smile. "I didn't learn to read and write until I was 1200 years old."

Sookie stared at him as her mouth sank open.

"I never saw any use for it. Back then, very few people knew how to read and write. But Eric finally convinced me we should learn it. So we did."

Sookie give him an intent look. "I can't imagine what it must be like to live for that long and see the world change the way it has."

"It's not always easy," Godric said as he stared at the bottle of blood in his hands. "I like certain modern things. Indoor plumbing. Automobiles. The Internet. Movies. But I do miss the ancient forests, the abundant wildlife, the cleaner air."

"Gran's asleep," Sookie whispered and sagged back into the couch. She stretched her legs, kicked off her shoes, and closed her eyes. "It's so quiet. You have no idea how nice it is to sit here talking to you while my head is quiet."

Godric stared at her, suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to touch her, but she looked so peaceful. He didn't want to startle her. But he knew she liked one specific kind of touch, so he slowly inched his hand towards hers and curled his fingers through hers. The warmth against his cold skin was heavenly.

Sookie blinked her eyes open and looked at him.

"You're very beautiful," Godric whispered. It was the truth.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Sookie slowly shook her head, her cheeks flushing. Godric reached out with his free hand, and touched a finger to her cheeks. He could feel the heat of her blood so close to her skin.

Sookie stared at him, and Godric could see plainly in her eyes that she was enjoying his touches, and might enjoy even more of them.

Was he going to seduce this woman? He wasn't even sure how. Eric had always been good at seducing women. Not him.

Godric leaned a little closer, slowly, so she could pull back if she wanted to. But she didn't, and eventually he was so close that he felt her soft breaths on his lips.

The kiss came easily, naturally, and Godric closed his eyes as her hot lips moved against his own. He parted his lips just when she did, too, and he moved his tongue inside her mouth, tasting her with gentle strokes.

Sookie trailed a hand up his chest to rest it on the back of his neck, her fingers touching the short hairs there. Cupping her cheek, Godric pulled her a little closer still, and they kissed for so long, Godric lost track of time. Eventually, he moved his hand down her side, and then up again until his fingers found her breasts. The feeling of her full breast against his palm snapped a little of his control, and his fangs snapped down.

Sookie pulled back and stared at him, though not in fear. She merely looked curious. "Why did that happen?"

"I am aroused," Godric said, licking his tongue across his fangs.

Giggling, Sookie leaned a little closer to get a good look, and much to Godric's astonishment, she raised a finger and touched it to one of his fangs. She stroked it down, but hadn't counted on the fact his fangs were razor sharp.

Sookie hissed as she cut the tip of her finger, but she didn't pull back. Instead, she pushed her finger down against his tongue.

The flavour of sweet, sweet blood exploded in his mouth, and before he knew what he was doing, Godric grabbed hold of her wrist and sucked for all he was worth.

He had never tasted blood such as hers, so sweet and rich and full of life, and at once years of abstinence and months of drinking nothing but vile synthetic blood finally caught up with him.

Godric wanted to push Sookie back against the couch, fuck her raw, rip her throat out and bathe in her blood.

And the moment he realized that, he shot away from her, pressing himself against the other side of the couch, clenching his teeth, barely holding onto what little control he had left.

He was 2000 years old, but Sookie's blood had him acting like a fucking newborn.

"Godric?" Sookie asked hesitantly.

"Get me a bottle of blood. Please," Godric gritted out.

Sookie got up at once.

"Sookie." Godric stared at her, his knees drawn up, his arms wrapped tightly around them, his fangs slicing against his own lips. "Don't run."

A/N He's a vampire after all! Who knew? ;-) Now let's hope he doesn't rip Sookie to pieces, so he can take Eric to visit them soon. That should be a fun scene. I'm looking forward to writing it.

Thanks everyone for your many comments! I'm so happy and overwhelmed by the response to this story. It's made my day, for sure! Let me know what you think of the story so far!