A/N: I just love you guys so freaking much. You're reviews, alerts, and favorites for this story humble me and just make my day! Thanks so very much from the bottom of my heart.

Krismom rocks the beta thing on this and all my other stories. I love her a lot too. She's all kinds of fantastic!

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. Sometimes that makes me sad, but then I remember I get to play with them and I'm all better.

Previously...

I didn't even wait to see if he left. I just walked back into the kitchen and grabbed a glass from the cabinet. I'd hardly poured half a glass of chocolate milk before another knock sounded.

I huffed, splashing a little milk on the counter as I stomped back to the door.

"I told you I have nothing to say to you, Bill... Eric? What are you doing here?"

He didn't wait for and invitation, just walked right on in and made himself at home on my sofa. "We need to talk."

SPOV

I couldn't believe the nerve of him. I needed a stake, or some silver. I'd carry it on my person at all times. Robe or Sunday best, I'd have it stashed away for instances such as this. Maybe there was some sort of equipment I could stash and strap weapons of such under my clothes.

God, he smelled good. And I was getting off track.

"Well, I don't much feel like talking just now. So...if you'd be so kind." I still hadn't left the doorway, and I gestured for him to go back where he came from.

I wasn't really surprised when he didn't budge, but I huffed and puffed anyway. I stomped right on over to the sofa, pulled a blanket over my legs and crossed my arms. I was pouting and childish, I knew it. Didn't really care at the time either. I was three point two seconds from rescinding his invitation too.

"The queen of Louisiana was expecting to take you with her this evening." I raised an eyebrow, but otherwise kept my eyes on that particularly nasty spot on the wall. "Imagine her surprise when I claimed you as mine, and told her I had bonded in blood with you."

He'd certainly succeeded in getting my attention with that one.

"I'm listening." I turned to look at him, trying to keep my expression impassive. And failing miserably, no doubt. My nose must have been extra sensitive because I could still smell him, even sitting across the sofa. It was distracting.

He scooted closer, but I didn't budge. Though I feared that looming gaze was not used as an intimidation tactic of his, but a whole different form of catching me in his snare. But I was an idiot and allowed it to happen, by not looking away. Lose-lose situation, if I ever saw one. I feared there were going to be a lot more of those if I continued to associate with Eric Northman.

"Definitely a perk of having a flawless memory. That's something I would never want to forget. Though I can think of a few things that would have made it better. You naked, perhaps?"

I didn't really think I would forget it either. Wasn't going to tell him that. And I certainly didn't want to know where that particular train of thought of his was heading. "Is there a point you're going to be getting to, or are you just going to talk dirty all night." Annoyed was a far better route to go than feeding that over-grown ego of his. Far better.

"Several points actually. No need for me to hide my intentions of making you yield to me, however." I felt a little like an antelope to his lion right then, and gulped. He was the perfect hunter, and I was the perfect prey, all helpless and naive and trusting and human. "No matter, there is always time for that later, or sooner if you'd rather." When the hell did winks become so damn sexy?

"Not gonna happen, Eric." I snapped and turned my attention elsewhere.

"Oh, it will happen. Maybe not today, but one day. You will yield to me."

I opened my mouth to argue, thought better of it and asked, "the point?" Let him believe what he would. I wasn't going to convince him with my words. I had to do it with actions, which would probably be a lot harder than I feared. A whole lot damn harder.

Eric was a very beautiful man. A blind woman would know that. And I wasn't blind. Far from it in fact.

"You have exchanged blood with Bill, yes?" I nodded. We'd both had each others blood. It wasn't anything like what Eric and I had done. Not even close. I assumed there was a difference. "What happened with us was not an exchange, it was a bond, tying you to me and I to you."

I wasn't quite sure I liked the sound of that. "So, what's the difference? What does that mean for me? I'm not yours, Eric. And don't expect me to claim to be."

His face got hard. "You would if you knew what was good for you." I started to respond but he continued. "You know of Bill and his treachery now, so you are aware that his task was to bring you to his queen." I couldn't help but to blanch at his words. It still hurt, no matter how badly I didn't want it to. "I am sorry for the way you had to find out."

"Why do you care?" It came out before I even thought about it, and I felt bad as soon as it did. It wasn't his fault. And it wasn't fair for me to take my anger out on him.

"I don't know." His face grew serious as if deep in thought, and I wondered what he was thinking about that made him look so sad. "I wish you had listened to me, heeded my warning. Perhaps you would not be in so much pain."

How did he know how I felt? "Look, Eric, you haven't exactly been forthcoming either. I had no reason to trust you. But it's not your fault." The tables had turned so fast, it was making my head spin. How in the hell had I ended up consoling him? And why did I care? Ugh, my head was going to explode.

"I know the fault is not mine, but I knew that leech was up to something. If I had investigated things sooner... You've been crying."

It wasn't a question, it was an observation, and the tenderness in his voice caused my eyes to prick and my throat to swell. I wasn't going to cry anymore. I took a deep breath and swallowed hard.

"It doesn't do either of us any good to go through the 'what if's'. I made plenty of mistakes all on my own, and it's part of living to learn and grow. Everyone gets their heart broken. I don't want your sympathy, Eric. And your remorse for...whatever, it's unnecessary. What Bill did, well... he did that all on his own. There's nothing either one of us can do about it now."

Eric leaned closer, and when his hand touched my cheek for the tiniest moment, I couldn't help but to lean into it and close my eyes with a sigh. "I can't figure you out, Sookie Stackhouse."

His hand was back in his lap, but his eyes were piercing. "Well, that makes two of us. I can't figure me out either."

He chuckled, and it was the most human sound I'd ever heard come from Eric. A snort and everything accompanied, I found myself smiling in return. Then I remembered I was still supposed to be mad at him, or at least trying to figure out what the hell was going on. He must have sensed my change in mood.

"You and I have bonded in blood. In the vampire world you are mine. No one, regardless of their status or position, can so much as touch you without my permission."

"Are you kidding me right now?" I stood, the afghan falling to the floor at my feet. "I'm so tired of you vampires trying to trick me and control me and claim me like I'm some sort of dog in an animal shelter. I'm not yours, or anyone's for that matter. I'm just me, my own person."

"Don't you see, woman!" Eric voice was hard and frightening. I tried not to flinch back as he stood to his full height and towered over me, but I did it anyway. "If no one had claimed you, if I hadn't bonded with you by blood, you would have no choice. The queen would have taken you as her prisoner, or worse. I find you ungracious and infuriating."

Ungracious? Infuriating? "Ugh!" I shoved him hard in his chest and did it again as he stumbled back a step. "You are infuriating." I shoved him again, stomping towards him. "You are ungracious." The words were spat as I shoved him one final time into the wall. "I saved you. Saved you. And you what? Want me as a pet now? I'm not a thing. I'm not to be owned." I kept probing him with a finger to his chest, huffing in my fury.

Eric's eyes were bouncing from my hand to my face, his expression fierce but unreadable. I squeaked when he caught my hand in both of his and pulled me against his hard, cool, body. I struggled and scowled, but it was of no use. He was stronger than me.

"I have saved you, you ungrateful woman." Eric didn't give me the chance to argue, opting to silence me with his lips instead.

I fought and wiggled, and tried to keep my body and mouth from responding. But I couldn't help it. I was so overwhelmed with anger, and so hurt, and mad and broken. My lips and teeth meshed with his, my tongue smoothing over his and then tangling.

His hands found my hips and slid to my ass, squeezing and kneading until I was panting. I tangled my fingers in his hair, trying with all my might to get closer. Our mouths were angry and our bodies were battling, he'd push forward and I'd push back. It was raw and rough, and hot as hell. My blood boiled for his touch, his kiss.

And then like one of those horrible nightmares you can't seem to wake up from, the reality of what I was doing came back one heartbeat at a time.

I shoved him back, breaking our mouths apart as I practically jumped across the room, desperate for distance. "Goddammit, Eric." I tried to growl, but it came out as a breathless moan. "I can't do this. I want you to go."

His gaze was hungry, and it didn't take me half a second to realize why. I tugged violently at my gaping robe in order to cover what had been exposed. Luckily I hadn't come completely out of it, but he got a nice peek at a good portion of my cleavage and a little bit of my stomach. I may as well have still been naked. His eyes didn't waver.

"We're not finished," he said after a moment.

"I can't do this right now. I'm tired. I want to sleep. I just can't." It was true, I felt utterly exhausted all of a sudden. Like my brain had just shut down. I wasn't in any mind set to talk or even remotely comprehend anything he said to me.

"This is not finished here. We are not finished." Eric half growled as he stepped forward.

"I can't think right now, Eric. I'm not going to pretend to understand what you did, or why you did it. And I'm certainly not going to pretend to like it, or go along with it. Just go. We'll talk later."

"I did this for you," he whispered as he walked passed and towards the door. "Only for you, Sookie." I shuddered, remembering something very similar said to me in a dream. "I would never want to own you."

Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. Maybe I could trust what he was saying, maybe I couldn't. But what I definitely couldn't do was figure it out before I slept. Probably for a week. Or two. God, my head hurt.

"Good night, Eric. I'll call." I didn't wait for his response, simply shut the door.

I don't remember walking to the bedroom, and I don't remember getting between the sheets. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, waking only once to close the window I didn't remember opening. I didn't even think about why my room smelled like Eric, just succumbed to sleep once more.

A/N: Please don't hate me. I hope you don't because there definitely was some good in this chapter. But I just can't, I really can't change the way that they are. Eric will be Eric and that is really why we love him so much. Sookie will be Sookie and that's why we love to hate her so much.

Be sure to check out the new writer contest I am co-hosting with some of the fab gals in the SVM fandom, we're welcoming TB entries as well. You can find it here, or in my profile there's also a link. Http: / www (dot) fanfiction (dot) net/u/2507718/A_New_Chapter_Contest There are several promo fics for the contest, one of which are mine. Please check it out!

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Check out the entries to the Kiss A Cook Contest. It's anonymous, but I may have written one of them. Please take the time to read and review the entries here http: / www (dot) fanfiction (dot) net/ u/ 2434344/ KissACookContest

Reviews = teasers. I hope everyone enjoyed the sneak peek from this chapter. I hope I didn't miss anyone.