Again I own absolutely nothing to do with True Blood.
Thank you all again for your such kind reviews, they make my day! Hoping you enjoy this one :) Feel free to let me know, as I love reading them! Thank you so much! x
Chapter seven
"Will I'll always be having to do that for you until you've finally reached home through this portal?" I asked, on the ride home from church. I was embarrassed to even mention it to him in somewhat casual conversation.
He dragged his gaze away from the scenery whizzing by the window on his side. "Do what, Sookie?" He sounded utterly nonplussed. At least he had already gotten over my inappropriate church groping. Then again, maybe he just didn't see it so much as a big deal than I did? I got flustered and hot just by remembering.
"You know..." I shrugged, trying to make it seem as if I was completely nonchalant myself. "Touch your...yahoo in public whenever you have trouble controlling your- your - hand light?"
"Photokinesis?" He supplied casually. Huh. So, that's what it's called.
"Well, yes." I smiled at him thankfully. "Your photo...thing?" Lord, I couldn't even begin to pronounce it properly.
"Not at all, Sookie." His look turned mischievous. "In fact, you can touch me whenever the need strikes you. I would not mind it."
I gave him an extremely dirty look to illustrate how serious I was being. It worked: His smile fell.
"On a more serious note, no. It won't be necessary as I will refrain from letting my curiosity take hold. I will not place you in a situation like that ever again." His words were solemn and sincere. "I apologize most heartfelt for any discomfort I have caused you at your church today."
Damn. Damn. Damn. He was too polite for his own good.
"Oh, I never meant..." I trailed off awkwardly. How could you not instantly forgive a man like that? "I never meant it like that. It's just... I think I about shocked myself with being so eager, especially in God's sacred place! I could totally go to hell for it!"
Eric turned to look at me, about to say something, but then seemed to decide against it out of reluctance. "Your world is definitely far different from mine. We don't have these... churches, as you do." He waved a hand in front of himself for emphasis. "We do gather every nightfall and celebrate our existence. We do not exactly have God."
"So, you don't have religion?" I asked, unable to curb my interest.
"Not quite. We hold festivities and dance to the joys of living. We do not have these... churches."
"Festivities? Dancing?" It sounded pretty wonderful to me.
And while I didn't know much about his world, it seemed super exciting to me. I wondered then if they allowed tourists into his Fairy world or not. Then realized sadly, probably not.
I had a few hours until I had to start my shift at work. I thought brushing my hair, then taking a shower and getting ready seemed like a great idea, but then Eric sort of threw a spanner into the works. Just as I was busy brushing through my hair on the sofa, he found one of my books I had innocently left hanging about and decided to interrogate me on it.
"You are halfway through reading this?" He tapped the hardcover of the book loudly with his fingers.
"Um, yeah."
Much to my mortification, his curiosity did not stop at a mere glimpsing-over of the cover. He picked it up, both eyebrows quirked, and flipped through several pages. Then, clearing his throat, he started ceremoniously: "He held her close, and Janice could feel his abdominal muscles clench into the base of her spine. He put his mouth over her left ear, and a sigh escaped his lips. 'I will receive great pleasure in bending you over that counter and proceed to...'" He paused instantly once it dawned onto him just what type of book it was, and never in my entire life had I felt so deviant for my penchant in erotic romance novels. In my defense, Gran thrived off them, too. Sometimes we would even trade, after we'd finished, and make recommendations. "Oh." He looked just as abashed as I felt. "And this book is something you enjoy to read?"
"Yes, it is." I tried to make it sound as if it was something utterly normal, because no doubt, it was. Surely all women liked reading that type of stuff in the privacy of their own bedroom, right? Well, really it was my fault for leaving it sitting around in my living room where anybody could have picked it up.
"This is a sex book, correct?"
"It is a mixture of both romance and sex, yes." Whether it was his intention or not, he had succeeded in making me feel humiliated. My hand tightened over my hairbrush in all the effort it took to refrain myself from hauling it straight at his face.
He was surprised. "And you like the way this man talks to her? It is something you find pleasing?"
"Maybe," I answered stiffly. Now he was just being downright invading.
As if to further his investigation, he resumed reading softly, "He pushed Janice down onto the bed roughly and carelessly but she did not mind that. 'I am going to make you see stars and stripes, Janice,' he grunted, over her neck viciously. 'I am going to drill into you like a screw, or like a jack hammer to a pavement strip. You will be sore for-'"
"All right, Eric!" I shrieked over him. "Enough! It's a mere form of escapism, all right?"
And then I just had to get away from him, even for one minute. It was a little overwhelming, having to justify yourself and every little thing you did to someone. I know he didn't mean anything by it, but I needed a break. I scooted off the couch with my hairbrush. Plus, his voice while reading aloud was far too intoxicating for me to handle.
"Listen, honey," I started gently, because he looked hurt. "Can't we take it one day at a time, please?" Suddenly, a shower sounded wonderful. "I have to get to work in a few hours, so I'm gonna take a shower."
Before he could say anything, I ran upstairs, fighting against the gnawing guilt I felt.
Soon as I climbed underneath the shower, all I could feel was relief at having a bit of time to myself. It didn't last long, however, and my little private bubble of relaxation was instantly ruined, when I heard him next.
"Am I very different?" His voice came from behind the shower curtain, apprehensive and quiet. "Than most men in your world?"
Wiping the water from my eyes, I quickly poked my head out through the gap of the curtain. My breath got stuck in my throat. Eric was sitting perched on the edge of the closed toilet seat, still adorning the clothes he wore while he attended church with me this morning. He was staring down at his worn pair of shoes, almost critically. It was the last thing I had expected in having Eric in the misty bathroom trying to hold conversation with me while I showered.
"What? You're just fine," I whispered, hopefully reassuringly. He tilted his head to look at me doubtfully. Hastily, I moved back in behind the curtain and wet my hair underneath the spray again. Unlike him, some of us weren't comfortable with others seeing our naked bodies... "What are you asking such a silly question for? You're fine." You're literally the most interesting man I've ever met, period. A little annoying right now, but still.
"I don't know. I just feel... different, Sookie."
"Well, maybe that's because you are different."
"Hmmm." He seemed to consider that in silence for several minutes. Then he said, "To you, is that in a positive or negative light?"
I frowned, reaching for the shampoo. Why would it even matter what I thought of him?
"In a positive way, of course." I squeezed a dot of shampoo into my palm. Of course, the bottle had to go and make a very impolite noise on me. Eric laughed loudly at the sound.
"What was that, Sookie?"
Bless him, and his endearingly clueless ways. He reminded me a bit of an easily amused child, even though he was a full-grown, huge adult man.
"It never came from me, I swear!"
"Where, then?"
"The shampoo bottle."
"The what?"
Good Lord. "Are you telling me you don't know what shampoo is?"
I got my hair wet again, then lathered the foamy shampoo into it. I heard it- just in time- when the shower curtain was yanked open. I yipped, startled, and reopened my eyes to find a very curious Eric stepping into the shower with his shoes and white button-up shirt and dressy black pants.
I gasped, and tried to cover my breasts but, by then, it was already far too late and he had seen everything.
"Oh," he gasped himself, and belatedly shielded his eyes with his hands. "Sorry. I forget that shower means naked!"
Something told me he purposely decided not to remember that little tidbit... After all, surely a mature man couldn't possibly be that innocent, Fairy or not. Hell, he probably just wanted to see me naked.
"I did not mean to walk in on you." And yet, he was still standing there, stock-still, getting his clothes soaked.
"Oh," I laughed dryly. "I think that is exactly what you meant!"
"Well, yes," he caved in reluctantly. "But I...I do not mean to make you uncomfortable in me seeing you. I can..." He was talking faster and faster by the second, then faltered uncertainly. He peered at me through his fingers. "My clothes are getting wet. Should I take them off?"
I deliberated for a moment; I ought to be doing the right thing in saying he shouldn't. I was meant to be helping him find this portal- and yet, I hadn't even started. But then I got to thinking that I wouldn't have minded seeing that beautiful body of his again.
Oh, who the hell was I kidding? It was like today at church. As if I minded. Any sane woman in their right mind would have done the same. I was human, after all.
"You might as well, since they're already wet."
Gingerly, I faced the water so I couldn't watch. I heard it as he pulled off his shoes and tossed them out of the shower, then the splat of his wet clothes hitting the tiles. And then he grabbed me by my wet shoulders, spun me around, and kissed me. It was a surprisingly hard and... compatible kiss, one filled with want and desire for me. I couldn't even notice I was actually kissing a Fairy, rather than a completely regular man, like Bill. I could feel the entire length of his bare body pressing into mine; wet warm skin on skin. Part of me- my libido, especially- was dying to just leap in and pounce and devour him whole, and yet the more reasonable side of me knew that if I did let it progress any further, the side that existed within that equated sex with feeling would pop up and take over. It wouldn't be prudent to have feelings for a man who, any second now, would be on his way home very soon.
While I stood around, caught in a vicious wave of conflicting wants, he was obviously not as undecided as I was. He ran his large hands lightly down my breasts.
"Why? Why are you so beautiful?" He was speaking so softly, tenderly, like he truly meant it. His shining blue eyes met and held mine with such sincerity in them, too. And it was flattering, really. But I couldn't-
I stepped back, until I felt my shoulders hit the cool tiles of the shower wall behind me. He mistook that for something else, though, and I could tell.
Slowly, he slid down onto one knee and started rubbing his hands and calloused fingers up and over the back of my thighs, and down to my calves. I couldn't even so much as look at him. I realized I was breathing far too unevenly than I would have been proud of for a girl who was trying to be responsible, in the circumstance.
"Goddess," he said hoarsely at my right knee cap, then bent forward to press his lips into my inner thighbone. His chin was scratchy with stubble and it tickled a bit. I laughed, deliriously loud, and reached down with my hand to run my fingers through his blonde hair. It was very thick and wet with water.
I curled my fingers around his water-soaked chin and brought his line of sight back up to me. His expression alone almost had me crumbling with need, but I fought against it with all my might. He was breathing loudly in a very urgent manner, as if he had just ran a marathon; Lips parted, shining wet with water.
"I'm sorry." My voice was low and hesitant with regret. "I don't think we should be doing this."
He arched his eyebrows up at me, confused. "But why not?" His voice came out raspy and thick.
"Because..." I smiled down at him ruefully. "I'll just only be equating this with feelings and I can't be feeling things for you." Hadn't we already had this conversation before?
"And what is wrong with having feelings for each other? I am a man, and you are a woman." Oh, God.
"Can't you see that's the whole problem? You're not just an ordinary man. You don't belong here in my world!" I didn't want to get angry at all, but I couldn't help it. "I'm supposed to be helping you find your way home, Eric, not having sex with you!"
After a few stunned moments of digesting my outburst, he stood. "I want to make love to you." His voice was soft, and when I peered up at him, he laid his palm against my cheek.
"Well, you can't," I whispered shakily. "So, please. Stop saying all these terribly sweet things to me. Tomorrow, I'll help you find this portal. Okay?"
"Fine." He said it through gritted teeth. And then he reluctantly put some space between us.
"Thank you," I managed, through gritted teeth of my own.
He dipped his head into the spray of water, ran his hands over his hair, I caught a very gorgeous view of his round butt, and then next thing I knew, senselessly and going against my strong reasonings, I jumped him.
"Jesus H. Christ! What do you want, Earth Woman?" he growled heatedly, as he pinned me flat against the tiled wall. I twined my arms around his neck, as he started kissing around my face. It was so downright impossible to believe this man was over four-hundred-years-old, and I let him know by trailing my hands down his broad shoulders and lower.
"Four-hundred, my bare behind!"
I've never actually written a build-up to lemons, haha, its probably terrible, but in the next chapter there will be plenty more to come. ;) Hope you enjoyed this one none the less. Thank you all so much, I'm new to this, so its very reassuring to hear that I'm doing okay! Until next update x
