7.
A/N: I don't use a beta in this fandom. (Well, I do but he just got Dead On cuz I'm really only making him do copy editing when I'm done because he's not a fan, but he likes me). So in the meantime, the mistakes are on me.
BTW, am I the only one totally addicted to SilverVintage82's "I See You" video on YouTube? I watch that like four times a day.
Oh, one more thing. Head over to E! online and vote for our little sweeties for TV's Top Couples 2011. They're lagging a bit. Vote early, vote often!
~Sookie~
Being shut in with Eric wasn't as boring as I thought it would be. First of all, I was up pretty late on Sunday and so I slept most of the day Monday anyway. If I dreamed either Sunday or Monday nights, I didn't remember.
When I woke up on Monday, after I ate, I spent what ended up being a few hours just watching Eric well, be dead. It was sort of creepy because he didn't breathe, but at the same time, he looked like he was sleeping. He also didn't lie on his back like I thought he would. Okay, so I thought he'd actually have his hands crossed on his chest; excuse me, I'd never seen a real vampire "sleep" before. In The Lost Boys, they hung upside down. Thank God he wasn't doing that either. No, he was lying on his stomach, covered from the waist down with a sheet. He looked peaceful; nothing like the fierce being I saw threaten Bill Compton with a sword in my dream.
He was absolutely oblivious to me. I wondered if he could wake up if he absolutely had to. I tiptoed around at first. I didn't want to disturb him. When I realized that was pretty much impossible, I didn't bother anymore. Not that I started slamming things around intentionally to see if he'd show any reaction at all – okay, so I dropped one book just to see what would happen – but I was making my normal amount of noise.
It turned out the TV was not too hard to work and I got sucked into a Lifetime movie. It was nice to just lay low and do something brainless for a while. I was fascinated when Eric woke up. He just sat right up. His eyes scanned the room quickly and fell on me where I was on the couch. He smiled and I swear I got goose bumps. Jason was a bear when he woke up in the morning, man-grunting and generally being surly until he got a cup or two of coffee in him.
"Wow." I brilliantly greeted.
"Hello, lover. Are you enjoying yourself?"
"I am actually."
"Did you eat?" What, like he was going to make me something if I hadn't?
"Yes, thank you."
He popped out of bed and sauntered over to me. He put these Lifetime guys to shame. In fact, he put pretty much every guy I knew to shame. He leaned down and started kissing my neck. Somebody was frisky when he woke up. Typical man, if the other waitresses at the bar are to be believed.
"I didn't think you'd be awake for another few hours." I stuttered. "This is a nice surprise."
He froze for a fraction of a second and then pulled back and looked at me. "What time is it?"
"It's just 4 o'clock." I said. "You probably can't go outside yet, right?"
"No, I wouldn't think so." He said. He seemed distracted now. I watched him pull on a pair of jeans, cross to the fridge and pull out a bottle of True Blood, then warm it up in the microwave. Huh. For a second there, I thought he was going to bite me for breakfast. Guess not.
"You haven't tried it?"
"Being up this early without physical side effects is unusual for me." He said.
"What are the side effects?" I asked cautiously. I didn't want to be unhealthy for him if this was because I was here.
"They're called bleeds. It is possible to go without rest, but our strength is drained and we, well, bleed."
"That sounds kind of gross."
"I can tell you I'm not at my most attractive then."
"So you're saying you can be woken up."
"Once I'm at rest, I could be woken up. Pam probably couldn't be, but I'm older. However, I would be very limited in what I could do. I wouldn't expect me to get up and fight for instance."
"So if Buffy the Vampire Slayer got in here when you were sleeping, you'd be toast."
"She'd likely win, yes. But then again, it might almost be a pleasure to die at her stake."
"You're such a guy." I scoffed.
"I'm not sure that was a compliment."
"So you're not up this early because of me, are you? I don't want to make you uncomfortable or anything."
"I'm not uncomfortable at all." He assured me. "But, yes, I believe it is because of you."
"This is going to be another thing I don't like, isn't it?"
"There is a legend among vampires that if we drink fairy blood, we'd be able to walk out in the sun without burning. It's the ultimate vampire dream and why I do not want anyone to know you are fae."
"Might be fae."
"Sookie, it's 4 o'clock in the afternoon; yesterday I woke up at 4:30. You have an energy surrounding you that I've only ever heard of being associated with fae. You saw, with perfect clarity, what I was doing in a dream. Your father carried the name Brigant, who is the Prince of the Fairies. You are telepathic, which I've never heard of with fairies, but they're secretive so I suppose it's possible. You cannot be glamoured. And you have the most delicious blood I've ever tasted. You are fae."
"Might be fae." I repeated.
"You explain it all then; I would love to hear your explanation," He shot back.
Of course, I couldn't come up with anything. I still couldn't believe all this was real. Eric was right; my life did change in shocking ways. I was about to make a snappy comment about that, but then I remembered none of this was Eric's fault. He was just the messenger – the extremely hot messenger. Things could have been a lot worse.
But then another thought occurred to me.
"How do we prove it?"
"Prove that you are part-fairy?"
"Yes. If I'm not and I'm just freaky then no one will care, right?"
"You'd still be telepathic, so I doubt that very much. And it has been proven. You've passed the tests."
"Vampire tests." I retorted.
He paused then said, "You want to meet a fairy?"
"It seems the most logical. They would be able to identify their own kind, right?"
He was thinking about it. "Yes."
"So, can I meet one?"
"It might take a little time." He replied. "They won't be anxious to speak with a vampire. They're not the easiest to track down; still, it might be possible."
"Will it be dangerous?"
"For whom?"
"I don't want to cause a war or anything."
"I told you, Sookie, I will not let anything happen to you." He replied. "I know it's hard to grasp because not all that much has happened yet, but it will. And when it does, rest assured, my beauty, if anything does happen to you, it will be because I am truly dead."
"I don't think you need to go that far; you hardly know me."
I don't think I could ever get used to how fast he moved. He was next to me and sliding up the couch towards me in the blink of an eye. "On the contrary, my darling, I think I know you pretty well so far. But I have not discovered all there is to know about you yet and I'm very much looking forward to it. So I'd like to keep you around for that.
"You couldn't possibly know how you have changed me in such a small amount of time, Sookie. You have given me something to look forward to. You have given me a purpose. You have given me reason to feel and I'm not quite ready to give all this up yet. My word is not something I take lightly. And even if it were, I am compelled right now by something much stronger."
"And what's that?" I asked. I really should have known better in hindsight, but at the time, I really didn't know what he would be compelled by other than the taste of winning.
His lips were on mine, but it wasn't desperate like it seemed before. It was gentle. Much more gentle than I thought him capable of; not that he had been rough up until this point but he was definitely…filled with passion, I'd say. But I also didn't have anything to compare it to either.
When he pulled back and looked into my eyes, there was something different in them that I hadn't seen before. Before they looked filled with lust, now they almost seemed filled with need. His hand slid up the back of my neck and his fingers tangled in my hair. He kissed me again and slowly we stretched out on the couch. His free hand leisurely slid down the side of my body and back up again, over and over, like he wanted nothing more than to learn the contours of my body.
"It doesn't always have to be hot, lover," he whispered against my neck. "It can also be beautiful."
"And has it been beautiful for you often?" My breath caught in my throat. I was stuck on why someone like him would want this little country girl with no experience. How could I possibly excite him?
"No, not quite like this."
"Why do I have a hard time believing that?"
"You will in time." He was very confident; like he was absolutely positive it couldn't be any other way but his way. That was something we'd have to work out. If he was going to be my man, he wasn't always going to get his way. But I was cool with it for now.
I ran my hands around his bare chest and arched an eyebrow when he chuckled. "Don't tell me you're ticklish."
"I guess you could say that." He smiled. "That energy I told you about comes out of your fingertips and dances around my skin where you touch it. Not always, just when you're excited like this. I can't wait to discover where you'll touch next. You've ruined other women for me."
"Now you're just going overboard."
My body arched up into him as his hand slipped under the t-shirt I was wearing (and since I wasn't planning on staying over and had no other clothes with me, that's all I was currently wearing) and along the skin across my stomach. His fingers trailed lightly around the plain of my stomach and just brushed the underside of my breasts, just enough to make me long for him to touch them.
That rat bastard. How was I supposed to compete with that?
In retaliation, my "energetic" fingers slid down his back, right past his waist and down the back of his jeans. When I boldly grabbed his ass, his eyes widened.
"Well now, aren't you kicking things up a notch?" He recovered quickly.
His reaction made me feel a little wicked and a little bold. Maybe he was telling the truth. Maybe he really had never encountered someone like me before and it was as new to him as it was to me.
I pulled my hands out from his pants. He looked disappointed but curious. I slid them up his chest and his lips quirked again. When I got to his shoulders, I gave him a little nudge. Picking up on what I wanted, he rolled to his back and watched me intently. I worked his pants off, a new experience for me, which would have gone much quicker had I just made him do it. I propped up on my elbow and hooked my leg over his.
He raised his hand to touch my hair and I smacked it away. "I'm in the driver's seat now."
"That's not usually my style."
"I thought you said vampires like to try new things?"
"You are clever, aren't you?"
"I've got skills you can't even dream of, cowboy."
"I don't have enough imagination to have created you in a dream."
Well, isn't he smooth? I was coming to know him well enough to determine that he wasn't one to use pick up lines. If he could hypnotize someone, why bother? I got the distinct impression that he never said anything he didn't mean. He didn't find it necessary to sweet talk a woman he was only going to know for a few hours. And I was willing to bet, given all the things I've seen on TV and read about these so called "fangbangers" that Eric would have no short supply of willing women anyway.
And so I knew he meant that and it was the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me.
"Aren't you sweet?" I said, as I lowered my head to his.
"Not hardly." He whispered, just as my lips made contact with his. My hand slid lower and lower until my fingers teased the tip of what was a very impressive erection. He smiled and closed his eyes. I stroked and pumped and caressed while I watched him lose himself under my fingers. It was amazing. Was this what he saw when he watched me?
I had no idea what he was thinking right now. What was he thinking? I tried to open my mind and reach out but all I came away with was yellow. Did that mean something? I didn't have time to wonder because I was instantly on my back and he was pushing inside me. I gasped in surprise but whereas that movement was urgent, he slowed himself down, almost as if he remembered his earlier words about it not all being lust-crazed.
I liked it slow. I also liked it lust-crazed. But this was nice. The pleasure inside was a slow-burn gradually coming to a crescendo and drawing out.
"Sookie, look," he whispered.
Was he kidding? He was talking to me now? I was kind of in the middle of a moment here. I opened my eyes and he was looking over my head. When I angled my head up, I couldn't see what he was looking at, but something had him absolutely riveted.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Can't you see it?"
"I don't see any -" I broke off as I picked my head more to look around. There was a soft glow around us that I didn't remember being there earlier. "Did you light candles?"
"No." He smiled, looking back down at me. "You are light, Sookie."
"Wow."
"I told you it could be beautiful."
I was the light and that made him the dark. Interesting that the dark drew out the light; but on the other hand, he was up early because of me. So in that case, the light drew out the dark. My brain was starting to hurt from thinking too much there. I could only put my full energy into one thing at a time and at the moment I chose to focus on making love with Eric and the extraordinary thing we could apparently create together.
Whether the glow continued, I couldn't tell you because I closed my eyes as I gave myself over to another orgasm and then I felt Eric collapse to my side. He hadn't bitten me. I thought that was something he did in his happy moment, but maybe I was wrong?
"You didn't bite."
"It didn't seem…right." I chuckled as he burrowed his face into my shoulder. "You are laughing at me."
"You have quite a conscience for a member of the eternally damned."
"I never had one until you came along."
"No way, fella, you came after me." I volleyed. "I was just going about my life and then you came along and turned it all on its ear."
"How is it you're still wearing your clothes?" He was grinning as he rubbed his hand along my back over the shirt that I somehow managed to keep on.
"That's your oversight." I was big on blame at the moment. "And speaking of which, what am I supposed to wear? I wasn't exactly expecting to stay here."
"Pam was going to go shopping last night. She was to get you food and clothes. Since you said you ate, I imagine there are clothes for you in the closet. I apologize ahead of time. I haven't seen it, but she was only supposed to get you a few things. Knowing her, there is an entire wardrobe in there."
I thought of the leather clad vampire in Eric's office and was suddenly not overly enthusiastic about the prospect of a new wardrobe. I extricated myself from Eric's side and wandered over to the closet. I slowly opened the door and peered in. The closet, naturally, was likewise enormous. Given Eric's previous warning, I wasn't surprised to see a rack full of women's clothes. I was surprised that they were my size and not black leather. There was a wide selection, too. I was embarrassed to see that she even got the bra and panty size right. How would she know that? I didn't want to think about it. But then again, if she came in while I was sleeping to put the food in the refrigerator and hang up all these clothes, maybe she came in to see my dress size before she left? It was just best not to dwell on it.
I picked out jeans and a t-shirt. There was probably some ensemble they were supposed to be a part of, but I really wasn't the kind of girl that could be trusted with that kind of thing.
"Mind if I take a shower?" I called over my shoulder.
"Wet, naked Sookie?" Was Eric's response. "Why on Earth would I mind that?"
Eric, of course, joined me in the shower. And believe it or not, there was actual bathing involved…mostly. And to his credit, he did a very thorough job of soaping me up, even washing my hair.
I was beginning to feel…taken care of. I liked it. I wasn't used to it, but I could see how I could get used to it, especially if he let me take care of him too, as I'm sure he would be reluctant to do.
After I dried off and got dressed, I combed out my hair. Eric's hair was delightfully disheveled from being dried with a towel. I liked that look.
"Tell me why we're bothering with clothes."
"I can't stay down here until I have to go to work on Tuesday, Eric."
"Why not?"
"Well, for one, I'm not your prisoner."
"Not to cause ire where none exists, my lover, but technically speaking you have no idea how to get out of here. So, I beg to differ."
"That's not a point in your favor." I glared in return. He shrugged and pulled on shoes. "I need human interaction, Eric." I continued. "It's too overwhelming when I return if I'm away from people too long."
He put his hands in his pockets and watched me as I put my sandals on. "I didn't think of that." He confessed. "That makes sense. There are humans here today. The bar isn't open on Mondays, but there are still people upstairs. I have some things I need to do here. When I'm done, I could take you home."
"I drove here."
"I meant to my home." He smiled. I was curious to see Eric's house.
"I could pack some of this stuff up." I said, gesturing over my shoulder at the closet.
"I'm pretty sure she put stuff there too." He said with a slight wince.
"Eric really, you can't spoil me like this."
I yelped when suddenly I was in his arms and he was kissing my neck. "Lover, I've made a pretty good start of 'spoiling' you so far, but believe me, there's a lot more headed your way."
I tipped my head back as he went lower with the kisses, then stepped away when his hand slip up towards my bra strap. "Really. I can't stay down here all day."
He groaned, but not in a good way, then took my hand and led me from the room. By the time we finally emerged from his room, Pam was awake and upstairs ordering around the staff. She arched an eyebrow when we came through the basement door and crossed her arms over her chest. I was surprised to see her in a pink sweater and a pair of khaki pants. Her outfit was the polar opposite of what she wore the night before. Even her hair and makeup were toned down. I guessed her image when the bar was open was just for show.
The human thoughts flooded my mind. I looked around the room and picked out the humans from the vampires. Everyone seemed to have one interested eye on me. The humans were wondering who exactly I was, what was so damn special about me and how long it would be until Eric moved on. They also wondered what the hell I was doing coming up from the basement. I gathered they didn't really know about where Pam and Eric stayed during the day. Given the security to get into their rooms, I assumed that was information that they didn't often share.
"Sookie, how unfortunate to see you dressed." Pam smiled.
I blushed right down to my toes.
"She's trying to get a rise out of you." Eric said giving Pam some kind of look. "You were covered when she was in there."
Pam huffed and crossed her arms again. "Are you not going to allow me any fun with all this?"
"No." Eric said. He kissed my temple and disappeared into the office. I was left with Pam. Eric's child. This was awkward.
"Ginger!" Pam called, keeping her eyes on me. The bleached blonde girl from the day before with scattered thoughts came running over. "Bring Sookie the take out menus. She'll want food soon."
"Yes, ma'am." Ginger nodded and scurried off.
"Thank you for your help." I smiled when we were alone again.
"At the moment, you seem to be making Eric very happy. Eric hasn't been even a little bit happy for quite some time now. So if you're happy, he'll be happy and he'll be off my back." She gestured to the bar stools near us and sat on one. "Have a seat. Let's have girl talk."
Well, this should be…mortifying. I certainly didn't have the comfort level with Pam that I had obtained so quickly with Eric. In fact, the other vampires that were in here were scary too. I honestly got the feeling that the only reason I wasn't being feasted upon was because of Eric. I suddenly felt very grateful for his promise of protection.
She eyed me steadily and I knew this was an intimidation tactic. It was working, but I refused to let that show.
"Have you always been with Eric?"
"If you mean with in the carnal sense, no. Eric and I have not been lovers since just a few decades after he turned me. He's good in bed but I prefer women." Pam said. My eyes widened in surprise. I wasn't expecting that. She threw me right off my game. She laughed at the expression on my face. "You are sweet. Don't worry, sweetheart, we've got no designs on each other. A sexual relationship between a vampire and their maker in the beginning is typical. They don't last."
She paused for a minute here. I had a feeling it wasn't so that this would have time to sink in a bit and I could get accustomed to the idea, but so I could make the next logical connection that if it was so typical, Eric probably had that kind of relationship with Godric in the beginning.
He was right. His world was very shocking. And I still had a lot to learn.
"But if you mean with in the other sense," she went on and I was positive she knew exactly what I was originally asking. "The answer is no. I haven't always stayed with Eric. He lets me go my own way, like Godric does with him. He did call me back a few years ago to help him start up our various businesses here, but now I stay with him willingly. He's a good boss. He's fair. And it helps to be the boss's child." She winked at me and it struck me how human a mannerism that was. I bet Pam could charm the pants right off her prey.
"What has Eric told you about me?" I asked her.
She looked around at the other vampires and humans in the room. "I will not get into that here. Suffice it to say, he has shared his suspicions with me."
I nodded. So he did tell her he thought I was fae. "And what do you think?"
She gave me a fangy grin and I leaned back a bit. "I have not had the pleasure of experiencing you the way Eric has so I couldn't say. But Eric's been around a while. If he gave voice to it, then he must be pretty sure."
I nodded uneasily. Suddenly finding out you are not what you thought you were and your family isn't who you thought they were is a lot to accept. I trusted Eric. At the moment I didn't have a choice. But so far, I've also seen no reason not to trust him.
"This is all very overwhelming."
"Well, Eric thinks you're up to it. He would not have bothered if he didn't." She said bluntly. "And if you're not, you're with the wrong vampire. Eric is very powerful and he has a lot of influence in our world. He is very ruthless, Sookie. He has to be. You have not seen all there is to see of him. He doesn't make a move without thinking it through. He doesn't say anything he doesn't mean. And he certainly doesn't make promises he can't back up. You have changed him. It may be for the good in the long run, but right now, I can feel his distraction. He has been completely absorbed in this."
I didn't say anything to that. I was hardly the one to blame. Like I said to Eric, I was just going about my life. It wasn't my fault that the higher ups in the vampire world suddenly took an interest in a waitress from Bon Temps. It's not like I was doing anything to draw anyone's attention. In fact, I was doing my damned best to just blend in.
"Eric said you've seen my cousin Hadley." I suddenly blurted out.
Pam's grin got wider. "Yes, I have."
"She's well?"
"Oh, she's very good."
"Do you see her often?"
"No. I don't go to New Orleans much."
"If you see her again, will you tell her I asked about her? Will you tell her I miss her?"
"I suppose I could do a favor for you, breather." Pam shrugged. "But sooner or later, you'll have to meet the queen whether Eric likes it or not. It's just good sense not to hide you from her. And when you do, I'm confident you'll see Hadley. She's the queen's favorite."
"Eric said she's still human."
"She is; for now. The queen will probably turn her though. She is quite fond of Hadley."
"I should knock her out for saying anything about me to the queen."
"Hearing you speak of violence, Sookie, is cute." Pam smiled. "The queen is very influential and Hadley was likely glamoured. I'm sorry to say she's an easy mark."
"Well, I'm not." I informed her. I was surprised that she hadn't tried to glamour me once. Eric must have told her at some point that it wouldn't work. And if someone as old as Eric couldn't hypnotize me, I'm sure a young vampire like Pam wouldn't be able to do it.
"No, you're not. You seem very willful and headstrong. That is a good thing, but too much independence on your part could put you in very grave danger. Keep in mind that you are in Eric's world, and he knows it well."
I appreciated Pam's bluntness, even if I didn't like most of what she was saying. She spoke of an Eric I didn't know, that I had yet to meet. I didn't know if she did it to warn me, shock me, or make me clear on her place in his life. I understood that she was his child and so they would be very close. And quite frankly, I really didn't care what Eric had done up until the point he went to bed with me, nor whom he'd done it with. What mattered was how he was from this point forward. He promised me exclusivity and as Pam just told me, he wouldn't make a promise he couldn't back up. And quite frankly, after the things we've experienced, I was quite confident I could hold his attention.
After that, we spent some time in the bar. Pam pointed out who everyone was and what their job was. I didn't interact with anyone, but I did read the humans. They were an interesting bunch. Every one of them had been a lover or lunch of Eric or Pam's at some point. Most of them were hooked up with the other vampires on staff, or more than one. All of them seemed to be pretty devoted to the sheriff and his second-in-command.
None of them were overly thrilled at my presence. I didn't dress like them. I didn't look like them. I had Pam's attention. I quite obviously had Eric's attention. Eric never showed an actual interest in any of them or any other human they've observed him around. According to Eric though, I wasn't human and they would never know that. I was used to hearing unflattering things about me.
"Anything interesting?" Pam asked snapping my attention back to her. She was watching me carefully. She knew I was reading the staff.
"Not really." I shrugged. "You and Eric have a lot of admirers."
"They're boring me now." Pam said disinterested. "But they're well trained and hard workers. So I'll wait for someone else as tasty as you to come along. Of course, I'm not sure I'll wait a thousand years like Eric."
Speaking of the devil, he reemerged from the office then. The atmosphere in the room changed. It was almost charged. The staff had a very different reaction to their sheriff than they did to his lieutenant. Not that they didn't respect and fear Pam, but Eric was something more.
He didn't pay them any mind.
"Had enough human interaction yet, my lover?" he asked. I registered surprise from the humans around us that heard his words. I couldn't help feeling a little smug.
I lowered my voice and leaned in to him. "They're kind of depressing."
He mimicked my movement. "Humans typically come here because they have some sort of death wish, my beauty. We are death. We are danger. They find it exciting. And they get too wrapped up in it. And when they discover it's real, it is usually too late."
"Okay, you really didn't sell yourself there." I replied with a slight shiver.
He smiled down at me and kissed my forehead. "Well, you didn't run away screaming, so I guess Pam wasn't too terrifying. She must be losing her touch."
"We had a very enlightening conversation."
"Which I'm sure wasn't good for me."
"Well, I didn't run away screaming…" I said, tossing his words back at him.
Pam rolled her eyes. "If you two are quite finished with your little floor show, I have actual work to do. It seems the staff is much too entertained by the Eric and Sookie Hour and need to be reminded of what exactly it is they do here."
The staff instantly scattered and Pam left us alone.
"Come, let's go. I'll feed you." He said, grabbing my hand and leading me towards the door.
"With a smooth pick up line like that, how can any girl refuse?"
"It's a wonder."
I was glad to leave Fangtasia behind tonight. I was glad to be out of that environment and in one I knew and was more comfortable in. Though I was sure I'd miss Eric, I was happy that I would be returning to Merlotte's the next day. It would feel good to be back around things and people I understood and where things were definitely not complicated.
