Disclaimer: I own nothing other than the little pillow I cry into every time I wake up and realize that it was just a dream and Eric is not really mine.
A/N: Sorry this update took so long, RL interfered as it usually does, but here it is and I hope it's good enough to make up for the delay.
Chapter 7
Sookie jumped out of the tub feeling completely mortified at having been caught in such a revealing position. She put on her night shirt, a white button up shirt she had stolen off of Jason years ago, without taking the time to dry her body off, and wriggled her black cotton booty shorts on over her still dripping legs, then took a moment to brush her hair and fan out the damp ends. Grabbing the door knob, she paused for a long, very long, moment, to take a deep fortifying breath of steamy air trying to gather her nerves back together before she faced the possibility of seeing Bill again. Not that she wouldn't be happy to never ever have to see again after what he had just caught her at, but she had no way of knowing whether he was still there or had left. Her face flushed with mortification of having to be polite to the man who had just seen her doing…that and she briefly wished for a hole to open up and swallow her whole. No sooner than she had thought and a hole did open up in the floor under her feet.
She tumbled into the kitchen below, landing heavily on her bottom with a painful crack and a loud curse. She then immediately slapped her hands over her mouth and looked around towards the door to the living room, praying that she would be cut just one lousy break in this godawful night and Bill was not standing there having witnessed yet another shameful action of hers. Not to mention the hole that had already disappeared from her ceiling. That would be difficult to explain away. Someone must have heard her prayers, and Bill thankfully appeared to have left before he could witness her unexplainable and ungainly landing and her loud unladylike curse.
Then she heard loud laughter coming from the back door and spun around to see Eric standing on her back porch watching her through the screen door, and enjoying himself far too much. Screw ladylike. Gran would just have to forgive her from her spot in heaven because Sookie had lost all ability to be polite and ladylike after this absolute horror of a night. "What the fuck?! You didn't get hurt enough already tonight Viking?"
Eric enjoyed seeing the jump he had startled out of the so called southern gentleman and it showed clearly in the smirk he gave the pitiful creature. His opinion of Compton was at an all time low after catching him skulking in the woods and touching himself while looking at Sookie's house. He had seen him exit the back door as if the hounds of hell were on his heels, so he obviously had an invitation, so why the hell was he pleasuring himself in the woods?
Eric knew if he had an invitation into the she devils house, there was no way he would have to resort to self pleasure. He would find his pleasure with her lush body, her plump lips and her warm hands, not his own calloused palm. This only proved Compton to be less of a vampire, less of a man, than Eric had given him credit for. Not that he had given him much credit in the first place.
"Y…your bonded? She is not your bonded, she was not gone long enough and she would never agree to tying herself to you that way!" Bill sputtered shoving his hands in his pocket to hide his shameful state of arousal.
"And yet, we have already shared one mutual exchange and I have come for the next. Only to find you lurking on her property fondling yourself like a prepubescent boy." Eric sneered at his underling. "Why are you here?" he demanded.
Bill stood straighter and actually found the balls to look Eric in the eye. "I am watching over her in case she needs any help." he said firmly.
"Is she in danger?" Eric asked, his hackles rising despite the fact that he knew damn well she could protect herself. Did Bill know about more than her telepathy? If he did then there was no doubt Sunbeam was in danger. Compton had long been a lackey for the queen and had greatly enjoyed court life. He was already suspicious of the man's sudden desire to mainstream and now he felt almost certain that he was really here for Sookie. But how much did they know?
"No. But Sookie must be protected." Bill spoke firmly, still looking Eric in the eye.
"Well that sounds like an edict, but it couldn't be, or I would know of it." Eric said in a smooth, dangerous voice. It better not be an edict, he thought. There would be hell to pay if his authority had been subverted in such a way. It only made it that much worse that it may have been Bill sent to work around him and keep him in the dark about his own area.
"There is no edict." Bill said, a little too quickly, a little too forcefully. "Sookie is special. To me." He was lying. Eric had no doubt.
"Not anymore." Eric said. "Leave. Go back to your home and do not let me come across you or your scent on Ms. Stackhouse's property again. This is an order from your Sheriff.
"There is a killer in Bon Temps. I only wanted to ensure that she is safe." Bill said, hoping to change Eric's mind.
"I am here now. I will keep her safe from any killers… or perverts." He looked pointedly at Bill. "Now leave."
Bill turned to leave but that didn't prevent Eric from hearing him mutter softly, "Who will protect her from you?" Fortunately for Compton, Eric was more eager to see Sookie again than he was to send Compton to his final death, so he decided to let the comment slide and walked up to the door he had just seen Bill rush out of.
The door was open, leaving only a flimsy construction of aluminum and screen netting between Sookie and the dangers of the night. Well, that and a magical barrier against uninvited vampires. He reached the door just in time to see his soon to be pet and possibly future childe fall through the…ceiling?…and land on her tail bone with a loud crack that may have signified a fracture, and an even louder curse that he would have almost thought her too polite and innocent to know if he had not already gone a couple of rounds with her.
She slapped her hands over her mouth as if to shove the unsavory word back inside and looked around, obviously horrified that someone may have heard her. Eric could not help himself. For the first time in more centuries than he cared to count, he found himself overcome by an emotion other than rage or bloodlust. He laughed harder than he could remember ever laughing. When she swore again and asked if he hadn't already been hurt enough tonight, he could only laugh harder. His knees were feeling weak and he placed one hand against the side of her house in an effort to prop himself up but soon found himself sinking to his knees, still over come by laughter. He could feel her growing anger but was helpless to stop laughing until the anger he could feel running through the bond from her abruptly ended and was replaced by an intense jolt of pain that was accompanied by a muffled scream that forced its way past her tightly gritted teeth. He flashed to his feet and crashed into the invisible barrier separating him from her.
He could see no discernible threat, but that did nothing to calm the primitive need he felt to get to her, to protect her and rip apart whatever was causing her so much pain. Just before he was going to begin ripping her walls down just as he'd threatened to do to his own home earlier this night she tried to rise up from her undignified sprawl and they were both assaulted by the same intense pain as before, Eric to a much lesser extent than Sookie. His raging need to tear and rend apart that which was hurting her faded into anger aimed at the very one he felt such a vehement need to protect. She was the one causing herself the pain. He had been right about the sound he'd heard when she'd landed on the floor, a spectacle which, though he still didn't understand, he suspected would make him chuckle at the memory for a long while to come, she had undoubtedly fractured a bone in her delectable behind when she'd landed.
"Invite me in, Lover. I can help you with the pain." he said softly, holding back his curiosity and anger and not letting it show in his voice.
"Do I look stupid enough to give you an all access pass to my house Viking?" she demanded the pain straining her voice and making it nearly unrecognizable. "And don't call me Lover! I am not and will never be your lover!"
"Yes you will." he stated confidently. "In the meantime, I only wish to assist you and take away your pain. Invite me in."
Sookie had to wonder if he really believed that repeating his insane demands would change her mind. She began to slowly and carefully scoot herself closer to her kitchen table, jaw clenched tightly in an effort to hide the pain this caused her. "How would you take the pain away, Eric? Force more of your blood down my throat and make the bond even stronger? I don't think so, I'd rather suffer until morning comes and I can go to a hospital."
"You have fractured your tail bone Lover. The hospital will not be able to take the pain away and you will suffer for weeks if you choose not to accept my aid. It will be difficult for you to move around and this is not a good time for you to be weakened or vulnerable in any way. I am fairly certain that Bill's sudden presence in your town is related to your powers rather than his old homestead as he claims." He warned her, watching her painful maneuvering as she reached the table and reached up to grab the edge, his jaw clenched tightly against the useless need to help her and take this pain away from her. Why the hell did he feel such a strong need to protect her? He didn't even feel this protective of his childe, never had, and Sookie was obviously more capable of protecting herself than Pam had been before he turned her.
"Yes I know. He is here to acquire me for his queen. He's supposed to seduce me and bond me to him then take me to her and hand me over so she can make use of my telepathy." she stated calmly, grimacing as she slowly and painfully pulled herself to her feet praying that the old kitchen table was stronger than it looked and wouldn't collapse or tilt under her weight. Her prayers, she soon realized as the table began a slow tilt towards her just as she was halfway up and still not able to support her own weight. Damn her pride, there was no way she was going to land on her ass again if she could help it. "Eric come in!" she spat out quickly. Thank goodness for vampire speed, as soon as the barrier was gone, he was at her side, keeping her from falling again and helping her the rest of the way up.
He had many questions for her as to where her information had come from, and he was already planning the many ways he could punish Bill, without letting him know that Eric was aware that he had been sent by Sophie Ann, but his first and most urgent priority, much to his own irritation, was to help this little woman who had so shocked him and his perception of the world in so many different ways in one short night. "You will take my blood then, to keep you strong and protect you from the Queen's machinations."
"Who will protect me from you, then?" she asked him in an unconscious echo of Bill's question just a short while ago. She was desperately trying to ignore how hard the arms holding her up were, and how chiseled his chest looked when she had glimpsed it earlier through the scorch and burnt areas she had left on his shirt.
He couldn't help the small grin that came to his mouth and became a smirk when he scented the arousal rising off her. "You have already proven yourself more than capable of protecting yourself from me Lover." he reminded her, giving in to the urge and scooping her up in his arms, holding her soft heat close to his body.
"Then what's to stop me from protecting myself from your queen?" she asked.
"Not just my Queen." he pointed out. "There is also Bill," he grinned widely when she snorted at the thought of Bill being a danger to her, "and her guard, as well as all the vampires in her retinue and her Queendom that she may wish to call to the cause." He carried her to her living room, looking around at the flowered and feminine home, knowing immediately that she had not been the one to decorate. "Do you really want them all to know about your…other abilities? At least as my bonded, she will have to go through me and make a request to use you for her own purposes. Surely that is better than being made a slave for her to use whenever and however she wishes. After all, you already know that you are more than capable of handling me." he pointed out, trying to reason with her again, despite her failure to see reason once already this night.
"Or I could not be your slave either, and continue to live my life belonging to myself as I always have." she countered.
"You will be hunted until you are either caught or dead." he informed her succinctly. This was something she had already realized and accepted, but she really didn't want to be bonded to Eric. She was honest with herself about the intense attraction she felt for the large vampire, and knew that her physical reaction alone gave him more power over her than she was comfortable with already. She really didn't want to give him any more power over her than he already had, but her choices were limited and she knew it. "Drink from me so you will feel no more pain." he demanded again standing over her couch and feeling reluctant to put her down. He not only did not want to be parted from her warmth, he did not want her to feel the pain that would undoubtedly come if he were to place her on the couch.
"Could you just please put me down and give me today to think about your offer?" she said tiredly briefly allowing her head to rest on his chest. "Come back to tonight and I will have either an answer or a counter offer to renew negotiations with, I just… I need some time to think. My entire life is going to change in ways that I don't want and I need some time to think before I make any decisions." He could feel the emotional exhaustion that was crashing down on her and he almost regretted being a large part of the reason for how helpless she was suddenly feeling. Good thing he was a vampire and didn't feel regret.
"If I leave now you will be in pain all day. I do not want you to suffer for so long." he was shocked that this was an honest statement, and not just something he said to get his own way. "If you take a little blood and I do not drink from you making it a mutual exchange it will heal you without strengthening the bond. You will think more clearly if you are not in pain." He tried once more to reason with her, although he was not sure that her thinking processes could ever really be described as clear or reasonable based on what he had seen of her so far.
She sighed and lifted her head, looking into his eyes as if she would find the truthfulness of his words there. Apparently satisfied by whatever she thought she saw there she nodded her head. "Fine. But only a little and you better keep your fangs away from me."
"Hold on to my neck Lover." he ordered her, waiting until her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck before he removed the arm that supported her back and brought his wrist to his mouth biting down and offering it to her. He didn't bother suppressing his moan when he felt her pull lightly and heard her swallow his blood, or his disappointed groan when she stopped after one small mouthful. He held her for a few more minutes, feeling her heal through the bond, then he wrapped one arm tightly around her back, pressing her chest into his, and released her legs, savoring the sensation of her entire body pressing against his. He held her in place for a drawn out moment looking into her eyes and smelling her increasing arousal as she glanced fleetingly and repeatedly down to his lips, so close to hers that he could taste her breath. He resisted the strong urge to kiss her, devour her mouth and claim her lips as his own and slowly let her slide down his body, reveling in the sensation of her soft curves dragging against his hard angles and sliding down the length of his aching erection. Her feet landed on the floor after a long aching moment during which her eyes glazed over with lust and her body nearly overrode her desire for some time alone. His head dipped towards hers, bringing their lips closer and she tilted her head back, granting him access. That was what he had wanted to see so he quickly stepped back, barely managing to suppress a chuckle when she stumbled a little at the sudden loss of his support. "I will see tonight then Lover and we will finish this conversation." With those words he used his vampire speed to leave her house. Once outside he rose into the air an began to fly to his home, but not before he heard her mumbled words.
"Stupid sexy vampire with his stupid super speed."
He didn't bother suppressing his chuckle this time, he was too pleased with himself for leaving her wanting more.
