Hey guys,

how are you all doing? Good I hope. I'm very good, no freshers flu :) i've had a very good week, lots of work and lots of down time too. I went to the British Museum last saturday so expect to have that in here at some point because it's simply so magnificent that i can't not have it in. Tomorrow i'm going to the MCR gig in London, can't wait, it'll be the fifth time i've seen them. Anyway, i'm sorry this is a little late in posting, it's technically saturday morning here, but you know, life got in the way.

I want to say thank-you to my wonderful betas campyrs and trajedy99 who have really helped this week. I haven't been giving them a lot of turn around time with the chapters recently but they've been real champions. You'll be pleased to know i'm pretty much done with the next chapter. Erm, Charlaine Harris owns the wonderful Southern Vampire Mysteries and on with the chapter! Oh and livesimple, you almost didn't get what you asked so nicely for in your review but the lovely betas decided it was about time too, so enjoy.


I laid awake the following morning, it was late and the sun was streaming brightly in through my open curtains. I'd just had enough energy to go and open them so that I could truly bask before sliding back into the comfortable bed. I'd been out until the early hours of the morning; I was fully rested now though, it was just that my body refused to listen to my brain when I wanted to get up. It was scary how long it took me to realise what emotion I was feeling, happy or at least halfway there. Last night had been the best I'd had in months, I couldn't remember having such a good time since Amelia and I had gone out for my birthday, it seemed I was a poor excuse for a young woman in her prime. I closed my eyes again and sighed as my memories flooded my brain giving me warm fuzzy feelings deep in my stomach.

"How did you manage to swing this?" I asked in complete awe of the vampire standing behind me with his hands gripping my waist a little protectively.

"They open late on certain nights. I may have just persuaded them to let us, with it being so late, have our own capsule." I didn't have to be looking at him to know he was smiling, I imagined it to be a smirk with the possibility of the tips of his fangs poking out over his bottom lip.

"But, it's the London eye!" I exclaimed again, earning a chesty chuckle that I could feel rumbling he was pressed so close against me.

We were in our own capsule on the London Eye, late at night with the city before us lit up in a way that even from the boat I'd appreciated but now it was nothing less than spectacular. The boat we'd gotten on had gone down the river past the houses of parliament and had docked at a little jetty behind the large wheel. Most of the people had disembarked and gotten straight into the queue. We'd stayed until the very last, gaining a capsule on our own for privacy. We were now nearing the top of the cycle and were looking down on everything around us. With it being night I couldn't necessarily see all the landmarks clearly but it was so much more beautiful; there's nothing quite like a manmade splendour illuminated in artificial light. If you're not going natural you shouldn't cut corners at all.

"That is Buckingham Palace," he whispered to me even though there was absolutely no need at all, it wasn't like anyone else could possibly hear us. His lips didn't stay near my ear though they trailed down my neck, brushing against the skin with intermittent kisses that sent shivers shooting down my spine. I felt his chest rise in an unneeded breath and then cool air whooshed across my skin softly, raising goosebumps, before his lips kissed me properly, the tip of his tongue tasting me. I leaned back into him completely, letting his strong muscles support me so I could just feel what he was doing to me.

"St Pauls Cathedral all the way over there." How he could formulate a sentence, never mind articulate it, was beyond me but I managed to nod appreciatively before leaning towards him more. He got the hint and his nose began to nuzzle into my neck more, I could feel him breathing deeply, taking in my scent and the next time he kissed me I could feel hard peaks behind his lips from his elongated fangs.

This time I didn't bother saying anything, I simply spun around in his arms so that his hands were resting on the top curve of my bottom and I could see his shining blue eyes in the dim light of the capsule. I brought my lips up to his and I kissed him, feeling his smirk disappear as his tongue slipped into my mouth, exploring and setting me on fire. His cool body was delicious next to my heated one and my arms slipped up his arms, gripping the muscles there firmly until I reached his broad shoulders. With fingers splayed I felt his power yet kept moving until I reached his neck where I wrapped my fingers into his hair and went up onto my tip toes to reach him better. I wouldn't be too sorry if I spent the entire ride like this; I could always see these sights from a picture.

That was exactly what we did too, we just kissed and explored until we were startled by a bright flash of light that had Eric spinning around with a snarl on his face and fingers curled into claws. I had been left standing, terrified on my own with eyes wide, feeling like a rabbit caught in headlights and it was only after much heavy breathing on my part that I realised we'd been photographed by the standard ride camera that was automatically operated. Eric eventually calmed down, coming to the same conclusion as me though he was much more worried about having been caught unaware than I was. The only real worry I had was if the photograph had captured anything incriminating. It hadn't. All you could see was Eric's back; I was completely hidden from view, even his hair covering up my hands that had remained gripping the back of his neck.

We hadn't shared another kiss until we'd gotten back to my hotel room; in fact, from that point onwards he'd been a perfect gentleman, though he hadn't had to keep up that impossible charade for long since after the London Eye ride we got a taxi back to the hotel. I smiled again at how I'd had to physically move him out of my hotel room.

"You have to go," I said again reasonably, the smile on my face probably didn't help get across that I was completely serious; my body was warring with itself about whether it actually needed to sleep or not, although the definitely less fun side was winning.

"Why? We have hours." He replied, meaning that there was still hours to go until sunrise; he was correct, all three of them. If we were going to do this, I didn't want three measly hours, I wanted a night.

"I need to sleep."

"Sleep during the day," was his reply that I barely heard since he didn't bother pulling away fully from my neck where he was tracing his fangs over my skin; I wasn't entirely sure which of us he was teasing the most.

"I'm human."

"I know," he whispered and pressed his teeth in a little bit harder so that he was breaking through my skin.

Closing my eyes tightly I sucked in a deep breath and let it all out again in a massive sigh then I brought my hands up to his chest and shoved as hard as I could which didn't have any affect at all. "Stop," I reiterated and accompanied the command with another shove, this time making him actually stop and pull back slightly, though I was still wrapped up in his arms.

"Why?" He asked and I couldn't help but compare him to a pouting child who wasn't getting his own way.

"I'm not doing this tonight," I told him honestly although skimming over a few facts like I really did want to do this, just not now. "You," I poked my index finger into the middle of his broad chest. "Are going back to your own room." When he began looking at me seductively with a mischievous gleam in his eye I remembered what I'd missed out. "Alone." With that I squirmed out of his embrace and took the couple of steps to the door and threw it open as soon as I could. "Thank you for the wonderful night." I thanked him again, I'd said it at least ten times since we'd gotten off the London Eye but I felt the need to really reinforce the message since I was kicking him out of my room.

"Some other night." He stated, entirely too confident in himself but I nodded slightly nonetheless. "You are much too much fun Sookie Stackhouse," he whispered to me as he passed by, letting his lips trail all the way from my ear to my lips as he went. Even when I made him leave he made me want more. Damn him. I shut the door, a little too loudly for the late hour on his laughing, retreating figure and tried to calm myself down.

When I came back to reality, albeit sadly; I found that I'd successfully daydreamed and snoozed the entire morning away. I didn't regret it at all though; lazy days were very few and far between to boot. I'll admit now that even after seeing the time I didn't rush around, just lazily went about showering and getting ready for the evening, hell I even ordered in room service taking full advantage of my daily allowances. That was a bonus I often overlooked; since vampires didn't eat or drink anything other than blood, they provided a very generous daily food allowance since they didn't know any better.

Soon enough, six o clock rolled around and I made my way downstairs. Tonight was the Summit Fair, an event I was almost looking forward to. It was the event I was dreading the least. I walked straight into the conference rooms, the same ones used for the ball, had been opened up to accommodate all of the stalls. The place was already heaving with people; well vampires, and every wall space was taken up by posters advertising a stall. I started down the left hand side as I had no specific tasks except to keep my mind open.

"Well, good evening Miss Stackhouse," a deep yet rather cheerful voice called out to me, breaking my attention away from an ingenious set of black out blinds that looked more like standard curtains and weren't even black. They professed to keep out every bit of UV possible. I work a lot of night shifts and want to sleep-in in the morning so I was seriously considering making a purchase. When I glanced up I found Eric relaxing against the wall of a stall, wearing a crimson shirt with 'Fangtasia' written across it in a black, curling script. "Couldn't stay away could you?" He asked with a broad grin and sparkling eyes.

"Have you seen Sophie Anne?" I asked, completely ignoring his question and moving onto safer ground for in the middle of a crowded conference room.

"Not yet, she'll be here soon. She's calmed down a lot since last night. The broken down deal means she isn't going to be getting a lot of money that she expected but she's dealing with it the only the way she can."

"Board games?" I spent as little time in her presence as possible but I still knew she was a board game fanatic with a particular liking for monopoly and dingbats, not that she was very good at either.

"Board games. She doesn't seem to be asking questions now though, applying the forget technique to money loss."

"So, what are you doing here?"

"This is my stall." He spread his arms wide and I glanced at all of the little knick knacks; each one seemed a little too gaudy to suit Eric's tastes. I quirked my eyebrows at him, willing him to further explain. "Fangtasia is my Bar; Pam is looking after it while I'm here." Now, Pam I'd actually met a few times during my dealings and she was pretty cool as far as vampires went and she had a decent sense of humour. "We have a range of gifts and drink-ware especially designed for Vampires, we're trying to branch out actually, and if things go well here, we'll open another bar in London."

"So, why London?" I asked, taking a position next to him, leaning against the wall with only a few inches between us.

"I've always liked London and Pam is from here of course." This was true, she still had remnants of her British accent since she wasn't too old; only around two hundred and I now had a feeling that perhaps Eric was Pam's sire. "If we set up a bar here Pam would run it for as long as she wants, she deserves it."

"Are you Pam's maker?" It was best to be straightforward with matters like these. Eric had a tendency to be rather blunt on some matters.

"Yes."

"Okay." We remained in silence for a few seconds until Eric got called away by someone who wanted to purchase a set of bottle openers in a truly cheesy design of dripping Vampire teeth. I watched him work, the way he became more authoritative once he'd gauged the other Vampire's age and more persuasive and charming when he was closing in on the sale. I also happened to notice the way his muscles made the material of the sleeves strain whenever he flexed even the slightest.

"See something you like?" He asked me with a wiggle of his eyebrows when he turned back to me and caught me staring at him.

"Yes," I answered truthfully with crimson staining my cheeks and I caught the broad smirk on his face at my reply, the way his fangs ran down he appreciated the honesty.

"You're hanging out with me tonight," he commanded and I had to admit it was deliciously powerful; as long as it stayed to things like this. It was also rather strange to hear such modern terminology coming from someone so old.

"Actually I believe the Queen has me scheduled to sit in the meeting with her tonight." The meeting was with several of the Vampire leaders to discuss the up and coming decision from the Shifter community to reveal themselves to the humans. It was also the reason why I wasn't completely looking forward to tonight; the good fair was ruined by the overshadowing this meeting brought. It was doomed to fall into some form of brawl.

"Good job then, I'm in the meeting too."

"Why?" I asked before I could censor my tone too much, it came out sounding harsher and more disbelieving than I'd really intended.

"I'm Sheriff over Area five." I did remember him telling me this, Area five also happened to incorporate Bon Temps into its borders, it also meant it was some sort of minor miracle that we'd never met. "Shreveport is where I live and it has one of the largest Were packs in the United States."

"Wow," I replied after mulling that over in my head; the pack consisted of precisely forty one members plus five half members from the local army base. That this was one of the largest packs was a little scary; I knew Weres of all sorts suffered from infertility problems, I just hadn't quite realised it was so bad and widespread.

"It's likely to affect Shreveport a lot if things don't go well with the reveal since the Weres are quite well known in the public in their human guises." I wasn't particularly worried about Shreveport, I was worried about little old Bon Temps; Sam Merlotte owner of the bar where I worked and good friend was a true Shifter and he was also stepping out of the closet. My little town had handled the vampires quite well; I just wasn't sure how they'd handle the difference with Sam even though it'd always been there. "Do you..." his voice suddenly broke off and he turned his attention away from me though he remained slouching against the wall. I was just about to enquire about his strange behaviour when he spoke again, words that made my stomach fall in my abdomen. "Sophie Anne." I turned around and found the Queen gliding toward us and finally stop a couple of feet away.

"Where did you go last night?" She didn't bother with any preamble and the question was directed only at me, she obviously didn't know about the date last night, which left me with a panic of getting my thoughts together. I wasn't sure how much I should share.

"She was with me," Eric answered for me before an awkward silence could enquire. The Queen's expression didn't alter at all though, it remained impassive and only the slight lifting of her chin indicated she wanted more details.

"We went to the Globe and to see the London Eye," I added, hopefully giving enough details for her to be satisfied but not enough for her to be suspicious.

"You are spending time together. You both need to accompany me in half an hour at the meeting. Don't be late." With that she turned on her tiny, ballet pumped feet and left us alone and with no explanation about her first statement.

"Why is she angry with you?" I asked, remembering last night, and when I assumed she was out of ear shot, she was so tiny I'd quickly lost track of her in the crowd.

"She believes I'm trying to steal you away from her." He shrugged his massive shoulders and I actually felt the move as it shifted the temporary stall wall we were both leaning against.

"Are you?"

"Not for the reasons she thinks," he replied with a slight toothy grin. It was my luck, of course, that another shopper turned up demanding Eric's attention.

We didn't get another moment to talk to each other until we headed to the meeting and then there were too many Vampires around for us to discuss anything. It left me too much time with my own thoughts, there were only mine in my head with so many vampires around. Eric had basically admitted he wanted to steal me away but he hadn't given me an explanation of his intent; he freely admitted it wasn't the reasons the Queen was thinking. Here, yet again, I was making assumptions. The Queen would probably think he wanted to use my telepathy or to gain money from using my telepathy, which also happened to be the reason the Queen kept me around.

So it was in silence that we walked side by side into what was essentially a large lecture theatre complete with a podium in the centre of the semi circle; erected in the restaurant. Eric's cool presence beside me gave me little in the form of comfort, being human, even a rather important one; it was rather difficult to walk into a roomful of probably angry Vampires. Most Vampires were against the Weres coming out, at least now, as some countries were still reeling from the stepping out of the coffins the Vampires did a couple of years back. Oddly it had been Britain that had taken the best stance with them and they were treated like everyone else, albeit with strict punishments and guidelines they had to stick by.

We took our seats, three had been reserved for our group and the Queen was already seated and Eric quickly filed in next to her, putting his body as a physical barrier between us. The Queen didn't bother to acknowledge our presence; she just sat regally as though she owned the place and stared forward, waiting for whoever was going to be running the meeting.

"Ladies and gentlemen," a voice boomed out across the room with no need for a microphone. All the chatter, there hadn't been that much in the first place, was immediately stopped and everyone shuffled into full concentration. "Can I have your attention please?" He already had everyone's attention so there really was no need.

The man in front, his name tag read Isaac, was an imposing gentleman who appeared to be bigger and broader than even Eric. His presence seemed to fill the little stage he was standing on. His jet black hair was plaited down his back, even so it nearly reached his knees. He had blue eyes, so piercing they could be seen clearly even from where I was about seven rows back and he appeared to be taking in every little detail he could. He was of an indeterminable age, there didn't seem to be any wrinkles or even any flaws to his pale skin but he had an air of history, just an oldness about him that said he'd seen more centuries than anyone could believe. He was also not a Vampire nor a Human, I wasn't entirely sure but I had a feeling he was a Demon, his brain held a similar pattern to that of Mr. Cataliades.

"The meeting will run as I direct, I have been appointed by a vote by each of you. You will show me respect or there will be consequences." He flashed a smile showing off his teeth that were sharpened down into points like each one was a tiny fang. "Opinions will be raised during the first half by raising your hand, once everyone has had at least one turn we will stop. Then we decide the course of action we will all take, which again will be lead by me. Begin." A murmur ran through the gathered crowd, it was barely audible since everyone speaking were Vampires, it sounded to me like a low, rumbling hum.

The Demon acknowledged a Vampire who had raised his hand and the room fell into silence again. It was at that point, during the true silence that only Vampires can accomplish that I realised I had no idea why I was actually here; I couldn't read anyone's brain, I couldn't really say my opinions so I was just sat in a room listening to them talk. I caught the Queen staring at me then, her head directed toward the front but her eyes were focused intently on me. It hit me then, why I was here; she wanted to keep an eye on me for some reason.

My hands began sweating then, at the thought of having all of that attention focused on little old me. I had secrets about my telepathy, some that I hadn't told Eric, more than the one that I'd told Eric about briefly. The major one, that the flashes from Vampire minds were longer and more frequent as my power increased, was a secret that I would take to my grave because I knew that if I told anyone a Vampire would find out. If a Vampire found out, they would put me in my grave. I couldn't take the chance of having one of those flashes here, not under scrutiny, they were terrifying, almost paralysing to me with the thoughts or intentions they revealed. Vampires were despicable, at least the ones I'd seen inside had been and I couldn't keep a passive face against that no matter how hard I tried. I clamped my shields down, cut myself off from the Vampires sat around me and stared forward, listening solely to the words being spoken aloud, just in case.

"The Weres shouldn't be allowed to reveal themselves yet, the majority of Humans are still in turmoil, it's too soon after our reveal."

"How do you propose we stop them?" A Vampire from near the back shouted; who earned a deep growl that sent shivers down my spine, from the Demon. Other hands shot up and the Demon indicated them each so quickly that it was more like a standard flowing conversation.

"We need to prepare what we are going to do about the reveal, not how to stop it. Although we are more in number we can't keep them quiet on this, that time has long since gone. We need to decide what stance we take on this, whether we admit we knew about them or play dumb about them."

"We can't play dumb; it's obvious that we'd know about them. We need to minimise the trauma of exposure, a bad event somewhere could lead people into going against us. The last thing we need is another massacre." Calling what happened the previous fall in Dallas a massacre was a large exaggeration. I'd been present for only part of what had happened but I knew only four Vampires had been killed, three seriously injured and more had been hurt although they had healed by the following morning. Essentially the Fellowship of the Sun had raided a state meeting in Dallas and had set a bomb off in one of the meeting halls by driving a car straight into the lobby of the hotel where most Vampires were staying. I'd been safely tucked up in my room when this had happened and all of the humans, apart from the ones who had been driving the car, survived.

"We should embrace it! It'll take the focus off us!" Sophie Anne chimed in with her opinion at that point and somehow effectively summing up pretty much everything that had been said.

"We shouldn't do anything, neither embrace it nor stop it, we can't really do either. The Weres will do what they want, they always have done even when we've tried to suppress them, and they're like vermin, always finding ways around barricades. We just need to pay attention to them, see what happens and be prepared to do damage control if anything happens. Our first thought should be protecting ourselves."

That started off a whole new round of murmuring, growing in volume so that I could actually tell people were whispering. An ear piercing yowl filled the air, so painful that I actually covered my ears and stared toward the front where the Demon had his head thrown back and mouth opened wide. As soon as the room had descended into silence once more the noise stopped though I could still hear echoes around my head.

"Order, I will keep you in order. Now, you."

"Shit," I whispered so quietly under my breath I couldn't even hear it with my own ears. Either of the extremes, sit back and do nothing or eradicate them all, the only way forward, all or nothing. An image of a wolf, already in the process of being transformed back into a human filled my head and it was being torn limb from limb by pale, dead hands. Blood, we all need blood to calm ourselves down. Or a good fight, a fight would clear our heads. Oh yes, I've had enough of this talking. I snapped my shields down and came back into my own head, finally becoming aware of the reality around me.

Eric was staring at me, his hand hovering over my knee as though he couldn't decide whether it would help or not to touch me. He appeared to be the only one who had noticed anything was different with me. No one else was looking at me. I took inventory; my face held a slight grimace and my eyes were screwed up so I was seeing through a slit. His eyebrows were arched, silently asking questions and when I looked at him he gently laid his hand on my knee, letting me know he was there.

"What were you thinking?" I asked as quietly as I could, simply breathing the words out and hoping he'd be able to hear.

"I was wondering what was wrong with you," he replied, his eyebrows had returned to their normal position but that was the only change in his expression, probably due to being surrounded by Vampires. Looking past his large frame I could see the Queen still paying close attention to the Vampires who were taking turns to talk, not even looking at me anymore.

"Before that," I added, hoping desperately that it hadn't been his brain that I'd been sucked into. I couldn't tell and I didn't recognise the voice, I just knew it was someone sitting close by and male.

"About how they have the complete wrong idea, we need to help the shifters. If we don't, it could be detrimental to us. Why?" He asked. His lips were close to my ear so I could hear him speak even when he was being quiet so as not to alert the Demon keeping an eye on us.

"Not here, but someone's wanting to start," my words were cut off by the audible crack of flesh colliding with flesh. "A brawl." I finished just as chairs began scraping back as Vampires clambered gracefully to their feet. Everything happened at once; seven chairs went flying through the air, Eric pushed me to the side and threw his body in front of me, the Queen bared fangs, hovering above the ground and the Demon jumped into the middle of the foray.

"Argh!" I squealed out as I collided with the wall which wasn't far away from where I'd been sitting considering I was on the aisle seat. A deep growl emanated from Eric, his back was all I could see of him though. A throng of bodies had joined up in the middle of the room, moving so fast that I couldn't make out a single one apart from the odd arm that was drawn back smoothly before darting forward to connect with an opponent with a smack that echoed around the room. Eric glanced back at me, huddled against the wall, and then he was gone, throwing himself into the fray, though he didn't disappear his blond head was visible above most of the others.

"Shit," I muttered to myself with as much emotion as I could behind it. I was really growing to love that word by the minute but then again I kept getting myself into situations where I really had to use it. I pushed back against the wall and staggered to my feet, clutching my right shoulder that had collided with the wall when Eric had pushed me to safety. It ached already but it was dull, there was nothing broken and I didn't bruise all that easy anymore, it was like my body had adapted to be more resilient even on this small level.

I leant again the wall, breathing heavily with the adrenaline scouring through my veins and scanned the scene before me, working out how I could get out of the room. The conference room doors were all shut, and I knew they were sound proofed, so I knew no external help was coming to break up the fight, it would only stop when they all burnt out. The guards that had been stationed at the doors were now in the group in the middle of the room, attempting to pull Vampires apart but were more than likely joining in as they just couldn't help themselves. That's when I saw a white figure cutting through the air towards me, and I only had time to move, not to think, before it crashed into the wall only a couple of feet to the side. Sophie Anne sat crumpled on the floor, teeth bared and a fierce glint in her eyes.

"Sophie Anne, you are not to fight," Eric growled out, stalking towards her in a crouched stance, looking exactly like the predators you see on National Geographic. "I will not pull you out again," he added with a longing glance behind him at the fight. It was a swirling mass of black clad pale bodies that was now breaking up into smaller groups, with only a few Vampires fighting each other properly.

"You should have left me you disobedient fool!" The Queen snarled out and I stepped back quickly as she began to get to her feet; at some point she'd lost one of her shoes, the other one was untied, the ribbons trailing along the ground.

"Let's go! I am following you earlier orders." Without further warning he stepped forward and scooped the Queen up bridal style, his massive arms making her seem even more elfin. "Sookie, go to my room, wait for me there." He snapped out at me, his ice blue eyes blazing with an emotion I couldn't decide whic, rage or excitement; it easily could have been either of them.

I didn't need telling twice, I scurried from the room ahead of them, sticking close to the wall so there was little chance a stray arm or retreating Vampire would get me. I shoved chairs into the middle with my good arm and I ran as fast as I could through the clear patches. Still, I only just made it to the doors ahead of the striding Viking even with his burden. The Queen was trying her hardest to flail and escape, I could see her muscles bunching with tension, her head was repeatedly thrown back in frustration but Eric's grip was too strong for her to move him at all. Her arms were pressed down against her sides and her legs were stuck together, with one of his arms wrapped around them.

I ran as soon as we were clear of the conference room though, I didn't want to be closer than necessary to the angry Queen, just in case she got free. With adrenaline upping my flight responses I headed for the elevators while Eric disappeared toward the stairs. Even from across the large lobby I could hear him growling at the Queen, showing true defiance and not caring about the people staring at him.

My heart was pounding as I rode the elevator and my breaths were coming in deep gulps. Everything hit me in one fell swoop; I was in far too much danger too often to be good for me and they couldn't all just be coincidence. I knew I'd realised it before that something was going on and somebody wanted me out of the Queen's power but riding, alone, in that metal box I realised how alone in the sea of Vampires I really was. I knew no other human here except for Caleb and I really didn't know how much I could trust him. He was nice, polite, even friendly, but there was something about him that made my skin crawl and I shouldn't just ignore it. I couldn't ignore it anymore. The Queen was making me work for her more and more, soon she would become suspicious about my powers if she wasn't already; Eric had taken me out of the hotel last night on the premises to avoid her. Then there was the fact that other vampire groups were showing interest in me, too much interest and they only had to offer the right price before Sophie Anne would ship me off, and I would have little to no say in the matter. Then of course, there was Eric himself.

Eric. I didn't really know what to make of him. He was gorgeous, the closest thing to a friend I had here and he definitely seemed to have my back. He didn't give me any form of strange feelings except he made me ache for him in a way that rarely happened anymore, because there were just too many repulsive Vampires and I couldn't stand the thoughts of sexual nature towards men, it was even getting difficult with shifters. My powers may have improved enough for me to protect against them fully in normal situations but night time situations? They definitely weren't normal and I didn't want to be concentrating on shielding. So, back to Eric my thoughts swirled and I had to wonder how much he had to offer me.

All of that I thought of in the less than a minute it took to get to Eric's hotel room. It was only when I was standing at his door, hand already having knocked that I realised I had no way of getting in, I was essentially stranded here. I could go back to my room but the Queen would look for me there and I had no way of knowing if she'd noticed anything from earlier in the conference room. Eric for sure had noticed something, probably one of the reasons for asking me to meet him here. Also, you don't cross an angry vampire so it was safest for me to stay put and wait, no matter how much I disliked it.

Slouching to the floor, back against the door I decided what I really needed; a great big, comforting hug from my grandmother. Except that it didn't have to be my grandmother, she was just the person I immediately thought of and associated with comfort. It was comfort that I sought, the feeling of someone with me, the thought of being cherished enough to be cared for.

"Sookie," Eric greeted me, startling me out of my thoughts with his deep voice. He offered me his large hand and pulled me to my feet, so forcefully that I actually stood up with a little jump. Then I was swept into his room with the door shut behind me before I even realised what had happened properly.

"What's going on?" I asked him, leaning against the wall with a hand over my chest to make sure my heart would stay in there it was pumping so hard from being shocked.

"The Queen, she never learns. She can't fight in something like that to save her life, and then she has the nerve to try punishing me for pulling her out! I was supposed to be acting as a body guard in there, I was doing my job. I should have just left her to it." He spat out, walking into the living room area where he started pacing back and forth. I took a tentative seat on the edge of the sofa, hands folded in my lap but fiddling with the seam on my black jeans to give me something to do.

"How did you not fight?" I asked, not bothering with my verbal filter; he would probably appreciate the bluntness.

"I want to go back and start throwing fists, start ripping and tearing." I stared at him, taking both him and his honesty in. I could see the physical strain it was taking him not to go back downstairs and start fighting, his chest was heaving and his fists were clenched tightly by his sides so much so that his knuckles looked like they were going to split his skin. The fact that he was actually breathing when he was speaking told me enough.

"Then why aren't you?"

"Because I shouldn't, I had to pull the Queen out and then my protective instincts kicked in. Protecting over-powers fighting. It's best when they combine." A broad grin broke out across his face as he remembered happy times, his elongated fangs showing his true joy of a good fight, a fight worth doing for keeping someone safe. My next question though was what I really wanted to know the answer to; who was he protecting?

"Who," I paused to wet my lips, the adrenaline running through my body setting me on edge and the tension that filled the room causing me to panic slightly. "Who are you protecting?"

"You." He stopped directly in front of me, only a few feet away, to stare down at me with his blazing blue eyes. It was him that I needed, him that I craved. It may have been for the wrong reasons, but I didn't care, all I wanted was to feel.

I slowly got to my feet and he was already there to meet me. His powerful hands gripped my waist and pulled me to him roughly; my own hands braced against his chest, feeling the heaving from his breath under my skin. His cool flesh, even through the thin material of his shirt was in startling contrast to my heated hands and I leaned into him more, pressing my body against his as my lips met his.

His lips were hungry, moving with mine in an exploratory dance that sent his tongue darting into my mouth almost instantly. I moaned into him, melting into his arms as I also went up onto my tiptoes to reach him better. My hands worked themselves up his chest to his neck, winding my fingers into his hair that I tugged bringing him ever closer to me. His hands moved from my hips and up, grazing across the planes of my back and up to my shoulders.

"Ow!" I gasped out, breaking our contact at the touch of his hand on my shoulder so much so that I pulled back from him even though I instantly missed the intimate contact.

"What's wrong?" He whispered, voice even deeper than normal and his fingers tracing lightly around where they were when I yelped. "What hurts?"

"My shoulder," I whispered back, my own hand cradling the injured shoulder that I barely noticed now. "It's okay, just be careful," I added before crashing my lips onto his, my tongue instantly going to explore his mouth, taking particular time around tracing his fangs. Muscles deep in my stomach began to clench deliciously and I could feel his excitement pressed into my stomach.

"Careful I'll be then," he muttered against my lips, teasing me and the pulling back swiftly and latching his lips onto my ear, tugging playfully and using his fangs. His hands moved from my shoulders and down, kneading his fingertips into my back and working his way down until he was cupping my butt. He picked me up, carefully, until my hips were level with his and I could wrap my legs around his waist, creating the friction I wanted. His lips moved to my neck, nibbling gently and grazing his fangs over my sensitive skin, daringly just not quite breaking the skin.

I tugged on the collar of his shirt, my hands sliding underneath the black material and down his back, feeling his muscles straining in order to keep me held up. I yanked on the material, ripping it where the seams met over the collar bones exposing his glorious body. I strengthened my grip around him with my legs and pulled upward, signalling I wanted his shirt off which he immediately conceded. His fingers lingered on my jeans clad butt but he let go, sending his arms straight over his head and tugging his shirt with him. I dropped it to the floor, not caring about where it went as long as it wasn't on his body.

My shirt was the next to go with a sound of snapping buttons that I just couldn't bring myself to care about and as soon as I could I pressed my torso against his, groaning at the cool flesh of his. My hands didn't rest in any place, they explored taking in every muscle and every sensitive area that made him quiver or murmur into my mouth. His lips found their way back to mine, our tongues moving together with an eagerness I don't think I'd ever experienced. The art of teasing fangs without drawing blood was a skill I hadn't lost and I made use of it, pulling his head forcefully to mine.

When I pulled back, gasping desperately for air I found that we were no longer in the living room. There was a bed behind us and I realized we were in what was the Human room of his suite. Then I was falling backward and I squealed in protest. My outcries were silenced by his lips, stopping anything more than a moan escaping them and I felt the soft duvet under my bare back as he laid me down. My legs didn't unlatch from his waist, instead I pulled him down on top of me, luckily, he supported his weight on one arm, leaving the other free to make its way down to my waist and start unfastening my jeans.

"You taste," he whispered as his lips started tracing from my lips and to my neck again, nipping occasionally but focusing on flicking his tongue out to sweep along sensitive skin. "Delicious," he breathed out, letting the cool air wash over the area he'd just licked.

He was looming above me then, his mouth still locked onto my neck and my hands kneading and feeling the muscles of his stomach, the hard lines that disappeared down into his jeans. His hands worked back up, and ripped my bra open not caring about destruction just needing to get my chest completely bare. He moved down, guided partially by my hands, his lips never leaving my searing flesh for more than a second as he went, his hands remaining ahead of his mouth.

My jeans, shoes and socks went quick as a blink and then he was gone, leaving me gasping on the bed, almost crying out for him. I settled on a frustrated groan that was more like a growl that sent a deep, rumbling laugh from his chest. He stood at the base of the bed, glorious in the body that would thankfully never change. His chest was broad with the lightest splattering of pale blond hair and a trail of darker hair that led down from his belly button into his jeans that were already unfastened. The palest blond hair I'd ever seen on a man was draped around his shoulders in a mess courtesy of my fingers and I may have felt an actual ache to run my hands through those soft strands again. His blue eyes were blazing with lust and I felt like he could see everything of me. He probably could, but I wasn't self conscious about him, it was truly obvious that he enjoyed what he saw. In fact, it was so obvious I had to gulp at the thought.

He stripped out of his remaining clothes quickly and climbed gracefully back onto the bed, covering my small body with his, enveloping me in his arms so I was completely surrounded by coolness. I wasted no time in sliding my hands down his back until I reached his butt and dug my fingers in, pulling him up swiftly until we were fully joined. I was only aided by a gentle thrust from him. I had no rational or complete thoughts after that, I simply gave into what my body needed and of course, the absolute bliss.


So what did you think? You know I love feedback almost as much as i love a certain Viking vampire. I want to say thank-you for reading and to everyone whose reviewed, this story has been better recieved that any of my other stories. Thanks.

The chapter title This Night is Wild is taken from the Dashboard Confessional song Hands Down.

Thanks again, have a great weekend guys.

*hugs*