AN: Thank you for all the reviews! Sorry for the delay, I wanted to be sure of the direction I was taking this now that the plot has thickened (har har). Lemons are in the near future!
LAST TIME
"Min son, what is it?" Godric asks, laying a hand on my back.
I look back at him, still clutching my chest, and I whisper:
"Sookie" Gods, she has finally been returned to me.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SPOV
I tucked and rolled on instinct, and felt a sharp pain in my shoulder as it connected with the ground. I summersaulted for a few moments and then came out of the roll ungracefully. I landed with a WHACK as my heels hit the ground hard, and my back stretched out flat. I opened my eyes, trying to gauge the state I as in and how fast I could move.
Exhausted
Starving
My shoulder was throbbing, and I looked down to see that my joint had popped out of the socket. My right arm lay limp and felt like it was asleep, where the joint of my shoulder was protruding grotesquely forward. In all honesty, it could have been much worse, and I was thankful I seemed to be in one piece and not a mess on the bottom of the fountain's pool.
My eyes bugged, as the memory of my escape comes back to the forefront of my mind. I quickly turn my head around, assessing where I've landed. My head is foggy from the landing, and the weird sensation that had to be teleporting out of the fae realm. It takes me a few moments, but I realize I'm in the cemetery next to my house in Bon Temps.
Happy tears spring to my eyes. After months of wishing to be nowhere but here, I have finally made it home. The sun is high in the sky, and I look at my watch. The arms are flailing madly, and I realize it was one of the many gifts I received in fae, that will likely be useless in this realm. I then see that my dress has been returned to the sad bloody state it was when I was rescued. My brows scrunch at that. Curiouser, and curiouser.
I slowly sit up, and bring my feet underneath me. I then use my good hand to steady myself, lean forward and stand. It was awkward, but it got me up. I let my head adjust to my new position, and feel myself sway. I need to get inside though so I can't waste time doddling, as Gran would say. I start to put one foot in front of the other, and start to move towards my back door. I take a few breaks along the way, resting against the old trees around my property line, but am relieved that no guards seemed to have followed me. Grandfather is terrified of this realm. He won't admit it, but I can see it. There is something about the unpredictability of humans and vampires that leaves him uneasy. As the king of political chess, he does not like to allow even the possibility of losing become an option.
I make it to my backdoor, and notice that the screen looks different. New in fact. I can't say I can remember the last new thing I put on that house. Especially after Gran died, I had lost some of my gusto to restore it. Then that ridiculous maenad went and made it even harder to get back to its former glory. I stared at the door for a minute, before I chalk it up to maybe Jason finally being a good brother and getting it from a neighbour. I swing it open (no creaks?!) and open the heaving wood door. It is unlocked as usual, and I step into the kitchen. I sigh, fighting the urge to collapse right there on the floor, and notice that it somehow still looks clean, even though I've been gone for at least a few months. Grandfather had said time moves differently in the fae realm though…I wonder what day it is here..
My shoulder throbs painfully, and I make quick work of locking the door and getting fully inside. I make my way upstairs, intent on a shower, and chuck the scraps of my dress in the small garbage can in my room. I turn the water on in the shower, and crank it to as hot as it will go, and wait for the steam to start filling the bathroom before I step in, and slide to a heap on the tile floor. The water burns my skin, making it feel like I'm out in the sun tanning, and I see the dirt and grime wash off me in dark puddles down the drain. My shoulder is on fire, but I am still trying to piece together my next steps.
So, let's go with what we know:
Last time I was in this realm, I was kidnapped by a Southern vampire who was working with Steve Newlin. They wanted to turn me into the newest flavour of True Blood.
I was saved by my Royal Great Grandfather who has now decided he wants to breed me, like I'm cattle
So in summary, I am wanted by two different breeds of supernaturals, I'm injured, and exhausted.
As I contemplated just what I was going to do next, I must have dozed off. I woke up to the water cooling, so I slowly stood and turned it off. I grabbed a towel and toweled off best I could, before climbing into bed. I glanced at the clock on my bedside to see it was 5PM, just before I dozed off again.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I lay flat on my back, on my nice comfy bed. I felt like I was floating in the middle of the lake again. My body felt weightless, no pain, with butterfly touches dancing all over my heated skin. It felt as if a feather was being used to trace my limbs. It started on my left shoulder, tracing softly all the way down to my wrist, over to the top of my right shoulder, down to my wrist. The butterfly then traced my forehead, flowing from my hairline to the tip of my nose. My jaw line, down my neck, across my collarbone, down my chest. The butterfly traces the top of my breasts and then seems to move lower, moving down between them. My eyes flutter open as I sigh, taking in the view of my bedroom, and searching for the butterfly that has been tickling me.
I hear the click of fangs, just as my vision settles on the very large vampire form that is hovering above me.
"What the HELL?!" on instinct, I summon my light, intent on flinging the form across my room. A small ball forms, just large enough to singe the vampires face and recoil him back against my bedroom door, where I can finally see his face. I snap to my feet just as he growls. Eric.
"Excuse me? Just what in the world do you think you're doing?!" I screech at him. He is looking at me with the most dangerous level of lust in his eyes and I try to gather some of my energy in case I need to blast him with something bigger than my last blast. His eyes are travelling up and down my form, as I realize that my towel dropped when I stood from the bed.
"Such a strange sensation, when the reality matches what you pictured in your mind so precisely" he says in a husky tone. I awkwardly grab my towel with my good arm and hold it across my breasts to cover at least half of me. Eric starts to take a few steps towards me, with this hungry lustful look in his eyes, and I feel my panic rise.
"Is this a dream? How much of your blood is still in me?" I hear myself asking, which makes him pause and his eyebrow quirk slightly before he continues to stalk towards me.
"I assure you this is no dream" he says, now standing directly in front of me. His eyes have begun roaming my body again, and as I let my eyes quickly travel his form I see that his fangs aren't the only thing excited to see me.
"Then how are you here? I haven't given you an invitation" I ask, clutching the towel tighter to my body. I feel this pull to him, like I want to sink into his arms and kiss the living daylights out of him. The other part of me is still in defensive mode. I have been fighting for my life for the past few weeks, especially the last few hours, and my instincts are to fight or run.
"You don't own the house anymore" he says, dangling keys from his fingers "I do."
"You own my house?" I ask sarcastically "and just how to you think you came to buy my house Mr. High and Mighty? I never put it up for sale, the Stackhouse's have lived in this home for generations! You can't just up and BUY whatever you please! That is NOT how this world works! Why do people with the smallest inkling of power think they can just walk all over us little people?!" I feel the fire start to gather within me, and my hands have started to spark again. Eric looks confused, and takes a step back.
"Sookie, you have been gone for almost 3 years. That day you were kidnapped, Godric and I tried to rescue you, but you were teleported to the fae realm. Your brother had no idea what had happened to you, so after some time, he put the house for sale." Eric explains, watching my reaction closely. "You are injured" he says, as he lifts his long arm to ghost his fingertip over my shoulder.
His eyes have something in them I have never seen before. He looks….concerned. I feel the fight in me dwindle. I want to trust him, I want to let him in. He was going to save me. I wanted him to, that's why I gave him my blood. My shoulders sag, and I feel the sparks in my hands fizzle.
"I escaped." I whisper. The realization has just seemed to kick in. My adrenaline has come down, and everything has started to hit me again. I still feel exhausted and my shoulder is throbbing.
"Niall said you were a Consultant, there of your own free will" Eric says, shaking his head. His mind looks like it's trying to put everything together.
"I was. For the first few months." I reply. My eyes glaze over as I try not to go back to that room with Nevil. "After a while, Niall started mentioning I needed a mate, and that it was time I begun populating the royal line that saved me." I feel bile rise in my throat. My grandfather, the "saviour" that tried to turn me into a baby making machine against my will. "I don't know how many times I can be fooled" I whisper angrily, forgetting Eric is still a mere arm's length away from me.
Eric growls menacingly. "No" he says, "never again will you be a victim". His eyes snap up to meet my tired gaze, and the lustful heat has returned.
"Sookie Stackhouse." he closes the distance, puts his large hands on either side of my head, and punctuates his next words.
"You" a kiss to my forehead.
"Are" a kiss to my cheek.
"Mine" and with that, he leans down to capture my lips, and kisses me for all that I'm worth.
AN: *Ducks* I know I'm terrible. But you'll get ALL the lemons if you send me a review! :)
