Disclaimer: The characters found herein are the property of Charlaine Harris, and I make no claim toward them.

A/N: Thanks for hanging in there with me. I think I mentioned that I'm an Ericaholic, but I never did say how I felt about Bill. I won't. I'll let Eric express that. Happy Memorial Day!-Again, my thanks for reading.

Chapter 10

It was times like these, that I regretted the turn that my life had taken. I missed those days when I could just sit outside and enjoy a southern night without ever worrying about anyone popping in out of nowhere. I was never popular; it was more like the opposite. No one had ever just stopped by in those days for the sole reason of enjoying my company. After all, I was crazy Sookie Stackhouse. Now, impromptu visitors were a staple for me. Between my fairy great-grandfather, vamps, somebody's minions, half-demons, weres, or a supposed stray dog, my home was destined to be the Grand Central Station of the Supe world.

In a way, it made sense that Eric didn't want to talk about something that had to do with Vamp business, out in the open. Some thing could overhear him and then we'd be in the soup, again, or worse. I had to remember to make an effort to understand, before I jumped on my high horse and rode off to be slaughtered.

I dared to open my eyes and look up at Eric. I'd shut them when I'd realized that Bill was here, and that Eric was pissed. My hand went out to touch Eric's arm, and it was my turn to send him calming feelings. Surprised, he glanced down at me, his eyes fierce, feral even, his mouth an unforgiving line. I hoped that he noted the silent plea in my eyes. Peace, please, I begged.

Without breaking eye contact with me, he spoke into the darkness, his fangs glistening like white daggers. "Sookie does not require your assistance, Bill. Return to your home." Eric's accent was detectable, and that gave his words an emphasis that any who knew him, would have recognized.

Bill was not so easily dispatched. He spoke as if Eric hadn't issued an order. "If it's all the same to you, Eric, I'd like Sookie to answer. I heard her scream. Are you alright, Sookie?" he insisted. This was a breech of protocol and even I recognized it. If Eric had said everything was fine, Bill didn't have the right to question him, no matter what our past relationship had been. I had learned that much in my limited dealings with Alpha vamps. My mind went back to the moments in the stairwell that had changed the path of my life, when Eric had questioned Andre's actions toward me. He had been much more canny, and respectful. Eric and I had both survived that night, as a result of his shrewdness. Bill was not so clever.

If Eric had looked stony before, he, now, looked like a storm about to break, something dark and unfathomably dangerous. The intense glare he directed at Bill was nothing short of murderous, and I believed that Bill had placed himself in a perilous position, and I felt us moving toward an inescapable moment. I didn't think, I stepped into Eric and reflexively, his arm came up about my waist drawing me closer. I swiveled to face Bill. With my other hand, I reached for Eric's large, cold, hand, that was clenched, claw-like at his side, and was rewarded with his fingers relaxing and closing gently about mine. Reassuringly. I felt a wave of pure love. If there was any microscopic cell in me, that doubted that Eric loved me, it ceased to exist. Eric loved me, and because of that, Bill would live another night.

Oblivious to the moment that passed between myself and Eric, Bill stood just below the steps of the porch, a part of the night in austere black, his handsome, white face a cold, relentless mask. His skin lay taut across his jaw, and his eyes were nearly as fierce as Eric's. Nearly. I made myself smile, and I'm afraid it was that crazy smile that I give when I'm nervous. I was nervous for Bill.

"I'm fine, Bill, really. Eric and I were just talking. He surprised me is all. You go on home."

Bill did not move, but glanced pointedly at the two of us, his dark eyes lingering on Eric's arm at my waist, our clasped hands, before flickering away to the luggage. When he trained his displeased gaze upwards again, it was only for me.

"Where are you going, Sookie?" I'm already gone, Bill. Can't you see?

"That's something Eric and I are talking about." I felt Eric's fingers dig into my waist. I shifted, uneasily.

"This is not your affair, Bill, and Sookie is not your concern, unless I tell you it is so." Eric's tone was all business and he'd gone swiftly from possessive lover to power-wielding Sheriff. I knew enough to be quiet. I didn't want to subvert his authority, even if I felt a twinge of pity for the defeated look in Bill's eyes.

"I apologize," Bill said, unapologetically to Eric. "Sookie, I am at your disposal, should you need me."

I was watching Eric, and he rolled his eyes, expressively.

I smiled once more at Bill. "Good night, Bill. Thank you. There's no need to worry; Eric'll take good care of me." I knew that I'd said the right thing, because Eric leant down and brushed his lips across my cheek, while his hand stroked the curve of my hip.

However, Eric wasn't finished with him, and he whispered to me, "Go inside out of the cold. I will join you inside, momentarily, my lover." I was being dismissed, and like any good coward, I tucked tail, and ran. I didn't even look back.

II.

He watched Sookie walk away, from the corner of his eyes, which had become dark slits in his white face. As the door closed behind her, he let slip the veneer of humanity, and the animal in him surfaced. To say that he was angry, was to belittle his true feelings. He bit his lip and tasted rage, black and delicious on his tongue. A low growl erupted from deep within his chest, and he shook back his thick mane of hair. He could rend Bill in two with his bare hands, and only the woman he'd come to love kept him from doing so. It may not always be the case, and the thought of that, sustained him. Insolence, and blatant challenge to his authority was not anything that he would tolerate and Bill needed to understand that.

He let fury flow through him, like sweet, hot blood, as he thought of Bill lurking about Sookie's home at night. He'd caught his scent when he'd arrived last night, but he'd had other things on his mind, claiming his lover, his bonded. Thinking back, he believed that Bill had been there, present amongst the shadows. Did he stay to listen, as he made love to Sookie, again and again? Had her screams brought him then? He could scarcely contain the fury that burned within him. Was Bill truly that masochistic? Tonight, Bill had known that he was there, and still he had ventured forth in challenge. He knew that he was ruthless. What was his angle?

When he moved, he was as swift as Death, and Bill was taken totally by surprise.