A/N: Since it's a holiday and all, I thought I'd celebrate by offering up 2 chapters in one day! I know I've got a busy week ahead, so I may not update for 4 or 5 more days. Thank you thank you thank you for all of your kind words about this little story! It makes me smile every time my phone flashes that I have a new email alert. Seriously, your encouragement spurs me on… so keep it coming!

Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, was not clever enough to come up with these characters myself. The credit and the brilliance belong to Charlaine Harris. I just like taking a ride on the disco stick ;)

Chapter 10

EPOV

This was going to be impossible. I needed to be in five places at one time, and the only place I wanted to be was next to the blonde girl who was currently being chatted up by Alcide Fucking Herveaux. As much as I wanted to walk over to him and rip him to pieces for even looking at Sookie, I had other responsibilities to see to. A night in the life of a club owner never stopped. There was always something that needed to be attended to – bartenders and cocktail waitresses not agreeing, patrons getting out of hand… hell, we even had an amateur stripper that had to be stopped before it passed R and went to NC-17. As much as I didn't like the thought of Sookie and Alcide together, I knew that Alcide was nothing if not a gentleman. And hell, it helped that I had Felicia and Charles watching over them too. So I was a bit protective of her, whatever.

After breaking up the strip tease in the corner, I looked over to the bar and had a moment of panic when I couldn't spot her. Besides my own intentions towards Sookie, I knew that Pam would have my head if anything happened to her. Felicia saw the alarm in my eyes and inclined her head towards the dance floor. Well fuck. I saw Sookie's golden hair through the throng of moving bodies and felt immediately reassured. Then I saw Alcide come up behind Sookie and grind himself up against her. Sookie turned around and laughed uninhibitedly as she raised her arms above her head. And when he skimmed his fucking hands down her sides, I saw red. Without forming a conscious thought, I stormed across the dance floor and roughly pulled her away from Alcide's ever-wandering hands.

"Eric!" She squealed, throwing her arms around my neck. I felt my body immediately respond to her touch. I was like a fucking Ferrari, from pissed off to aroused in 6 seconds. This woman was going to be the death of me. I glared at Alcide over her head and the fucker just shrugged at me with a cocky grin before moving onto a brunette next to him. God that man was infuriating.

Sookie, meanwhile, began to gyrate her body against mine in beat with the latest Lady Gaga song and all thoughts of killing Alcide immediately flew out of my head. The woman knew what she was doing out on the dance floor and I was putty in her hands. Those hands, by the by, were currently making their way down my chest. I grabbed her wrists when they reached my waistband and it was obvious that she had no intention of stopping there. "Stop it Sookie," I said lowly. She looked up at me with a wicked grin and pushed her hands down further, diverting away from my bulging erection to reach around to grab my ass and pull me against her, never stopping her gyrations. I was going to fucking cum in my pants like a 14 year old. That was it. I removed her hands from my ass and dragged her across the dance floor and down the hallway towards my office.

"Oh goodie," she said as I opened the door and pulled her inside behind me. I turned to shut the door behind us and was immediately attacked by Sookie. God that mouth. She pressed hot, wet kisses against every inch of skin she could reach – my chest, my neck. I couldn't stop myself from leaning down and returning her urgent kisses with my own. Yes she may be drunk, but you try having a raging hard on and the cause taunting you without giving in a little bit.

I mustered up some control and broke off the kiss. "Sookie, you are drunk and not yourself." I led her over to the couch – the couch we'd enjoyed so much earlier – and sat her down forcibly on it. "You need to sit here while I take care of things."

She looked up at me with a pout. "Eric, I just wanted to show you my gratitude for rescuing me." She began laughing at her own words… at my words. Damn her.

"You can show me your gratitude when you're sober Sookie. Right now I need you to sit here and behave yourself." There went that pout again.

"Fine," she said and crossed her arms angrily over her breasts. "Fine. I get it. You're not interested." Fuck. God knows I was interested. One look at the front of my pants would show you exactly how interested I was. I gave her an exasperated look, turned on my heel and stormed out of the office. I saw Felicia walking down the hallway. "See to it that she does not leave my office," I barked.

I spent the next 40 minutes closing up the club, all the while thinking about that vixen on my couch. Yeah, this wasn't going to be fun. I was tempted to slam back another drink to ease my pain, but stopped myself. I allowed myself to have two drinks a night and no more. I wasn't about to tempt fate and drive Sookie home in any less than a sober state.

At 2:30 when we'd managed to clear the club and complete all closing procedures, I walked back into my office to find Sookie asleep. Thank you God. She stirred when I picked her up and buried her face into my neck as she wrapped her arms around my neck. I could handle a sleepy Sookie. Barely. I just hoped she stayed that way. She woke up as I set her into the passenger seat of my Corvette and smiled up at me suggestively. Well shit.

I climbed into the driver's seat and did my best to not look over at her. We weren't even two minutes out of the parking lot when I felt her move, and before I could discern what was happening I felt her warm mouth on my earlobe. Yep, there went my hard-on again. "Sookie," I growled lowly, hoping she would stop, but no that just encouraged her and she began to trace my ear with her tongue. "You know what I like best about you Eric?" She said between licks. When I didn't answer she continued. "I love your ass. I could stare at it all day long. If there were a prize for best ass, you'd win hands down. Maybe like Miss Universe, only Mr. Univass. Maybe I could have a sash and tiara made for that delicious behind." She giggled to herself in my ear. Was this woman seriously trying to be seduce me by creating a fake pageant for my ass? Well fuck, I'll admit it was working. The combination of that giggle and her hot breath on my ear sent the blood rushing down to my nether regions. That was it, I pulled the car over to the side of the road, unhooked her seatbelt and pulled her onto my lap. She giggled as I grabbed her head and devoured her mouth with my own. Her hands explored my very willing body as our tongues mated. Her body felt amazing on mine and her squirms against my erection drove me over the edge. I was ready to throw all of my principles out the window and just give her what she was asking for when I heard a loud series of honks and looked up to see a truck-full of rednecks hollering at me to "Go for it!"

"God dammit Sookie," I barked out. "Get in your seat and fucking stay there." I don't know how long she angrily glared at me before the motion of the car lulled her to sleep.

She thankfully remained asleep as I carried her into the house and up to one of the spare bedrooms, but she began to stir when I laid her down on the bed. She sleepily opened her eyes and smiled up at me. "My savior," she said with a smile and pulled me down onto the bed with her. Thankfully she was half asleep still and just burrowed her body next to mine. I let myself give in, a little spooning wasn't really taking advantage, right?

I don't know how long I laid there with her body draped across mine, but I must've fallen asleep because I woke up to find Sookie sitting up in the bed with her dress halfway off. "Hmpfh," she said, trapped with her dress halfway over her arms.

I couldn't help but smile. "Sookie?"

"Help," she said quietly. I sat up and helped her find the edge of her dress. Big mistake. Two seconds later I found myself laying in bed with a very attractive, very appealing, very drunk woman who was wearing nothing more than a pair of lacy, nude colored boy shorts. "Oh God," I groaned to myself. How was I supposed to behave when those amazing breasts were staring me in the face again?

I quickly pulled off my own shirt and helped her into it. I definitely wasn't going to be able to resist temptation with a topless Sookie. Before I could pull my hands away, she grabbed my wrists and pressed my palms against her breasts. "Come on Eric," she said with a sexy growl. "Let's take up where we left off." I reluctantly pulled my hands away from her and shook my head. I absolutely would not do anything more with Sookie tonight. Unlike some, I liked my women fully conscious, when we were pleasuring each other.

"No Sookie," I said sternly. "Go to sleep."

"Please Eric?" She begged and leaned in to latch her lips on my right nipple. Ugh, what in the fuck had I done to deserve this? I jumped off the bed and out of her reach. If I let her touch me even once more I knew I was done for. I didn't want her to hate me tomorrow. I didn't want her like this. I wanted her to come to me, completely sober, and to ask me to fuck her.

She flopped herself backwards on the bed and glared at me. "Fine." She rolled over onto her side away from me and let out a loud "hrmpf".

I covered her with a blanket and left to go to my own big, empty bed. I definitely did not sleep well that night – I spent hours tossing and turning as I tried to think of something other than the woman on the other side of the wall and her pleas to have me fuck her. After four hours of no success, I got up and went for a run. The last thing I'd expected when I returned was to find Sookie in the kitchen wearing nothing but my shirt.

It was obvious that she had no recollection of the night before. Shame really, but it just reinforced my decision to leave her last night. The temptress had gone away and was replaced by the timid Sookie I'd become accustomed to – or at least as accustomed as you could get for knowing someone for a grand total of three days. Good, I was more confident around this one. This one I could make squirm. This one I could make blush, and I set about doing exactly that.

"Seems like we're having a hard time keeping our clothes on around each other," I said as I toyed with her shirt. Well, my shirt. "I guess we're even now. I can't wait to see the rest." That definitely set her squirming. Oh this was going to be fun. I was debating how far to push her. As much as I enjoyed making her nervous, I still wanted her to ask for it. "Don't be so gun shy Sookie. I'm not going to attack you. You're clearly hurting from everything you drank last night, and I want you to be completely cognizant when we become lovers. I want you to make the next move Sookie. I'll wait for you." She didn't respond. Well I guess I didn't really expect a response. As much as I had enjoyed being her sexual prey last night, there was something charming about her innocence. It just meant I'd have to convince her to come to me and offer herself again. I was going to win the battle; that I knew.

"Come on," I said, grabbing her hand and helping her stand up. "I've got a great remedy for a hangover. It was the Northman specialty back in Stockholm. We'll have you up and at 'em in no time." She looked at me and I could tell the giant caution warnings were going off in her head. "Come on Sook. Trust me. I'm not going to eat you, promise." Well, not yet at least.

Pam POV

I pulled my SUV into the driveway and saw that Sookie's car was still here. Well that's a promising sign, but I wasn't about to get my hopes up. My plan, my brilliant plan if I say so myself, to get them on each other would be a trial on my nerves. I swear Sookie and Eric wouldn't know what to do if I handed them an instruction manual. Shame really, but they'd get there eventually.

I'd known that getting them together would be a long process from the minute the idea had popped into my head. They really were quite perfect for each other. Eric was far too jaded from his years as Stockholm's golden boy, and Sookie was just what he needed. She'd been in some pretty shitty relationships and needed someone to take charge and treat her right.

Now you might think it's weird that I decided to pair my brother with my best friend, but I was frankly sick of both of their whiny shit. Eric was always complaining that women weren't ladies anymore and hated how they threw themselves at him all the time. And Sookie, while she never exactly complained about her love life, or lack thereof, just needed someone to show her the perks of a good relationship. Two birds, one stone. Oh sure, there is the possibility that it will all blow up in my face, but I'm willing to take the gamble. Plus, I liked making Eric a little bit miserable.

As much shit as I liked to give Eric, he was a kick ass brother and I did want to help him out. He'd always kept an eye out for me and I tried to do the same for him. We were all the family each other had for all intents and purposes. Mom had been too busy with her career and now she'd gone off to God knows where to practice her new religion with that quack guru new husband of hers she'd met at yoga class. Good riddance as far as I was concerned. After 2 months of hearing about her spiritual enlightenment courtesy of her fucking yoga teacher, I was ready to scream. And Father… well let's just say that Father was more interested in his position than he was in our well being.

Our Father had always expected pristine behavior from us. Bad behavior in his children reflected poorly on him, and boy did we ever hear about it. He never ever yelled at us, but I can't even begin to count the stern, "adult" conversations I'd had with him over the years. Once he had his mind made up about something, there was no room for argument.

Sure Father had been hard on both of us – but he was especially so on Eric. Eric was the only son and was responsible for carrying on the Northman name. That's all Eric had heard from the time he was out of diapers. We'd both gone through our rebellious stages – shit, as far as Father was concerned, my whole existence was a rebellion against him. I'd learned early on to push his buttons and frankly I didn't give a fuck what he thought of me. Eric, on the other hand, had chosen the path of least resistance and did his best to keep a low profile.

Needless to say, when that story had hit the papers about Eric and Pernella's detailed - and non-existent - sex life, Father hadn't been pleased. I'd never heard Eric so pissed off about anything as he had been when he told me about his conversation with Father. Father had never liked that Eric worked at a club. It was "beneath" someone of his status, and he "knew" that something like this was going to happen. Oh sure, it hadn't been Eric's fault at all, but that didn't matter. The family name was in the paper associated with scandal and that wouldn't do.

I couldn't help but wonder how much that conversation had to do with Eric agreeing to move to Shreveport to open the club. He'd done his best to lay low since he arrived, avoiding most of the women that had thrown themselves at him. I'd only ever seen him show interest in one girl other than Sookie in the past six months. Dude needed to get laid and quickly.

I had to pat myself on the back. I knew how to play Eric like a well tuned violin. He'd always done exactly the opposite of whatever I told him and his reaction to my hands off rule for Sookie was no different. Make her the forbidden fruit and she was all he had a taste for. If I hadn't masterminded the whole ordeal, I would have thought my brother was quite pathetic the way he'd stalked her at the club last night. I'd been pleasantly surprised when I saw Sookie put the moves on him during their impromptu tour. I have to give it to my girl, she knew how to work it even if she didn't practice very often.

I pushed open the door and heard a giggle come from the kitchen. That was definitely Sookie. I turned the corner in the kitchen to see a scene I couldn't describe as anything but cozy – Sookie seated at the counter being literally fed by Eric. Her eyes were shut and she emitted a moan that sounded nearly orgasmic. "That is delicious. What is that?" She asked, opening her eyes wide. Eric gave her one of his trade-mark winks and turned around. "Family secret." The guy had restraint; that was for damn sure. That groan Sookie had emitted practically had me hot and bothered and I'd gotten my rocks plenty in the last 8 hours. I cleared my throat and both of their heads snapped towards me. "Isn't this just precious?" I asked stepping into the kitchen.

"Hey sis," Eric said. Oh if only looks could kill. I laughed with delight and sat down next to Sookie.

"Got some of that for me?" I asked innocently and turning to Sookie. "How are you today Sook? You don't look too bad considering how much you drank last night."

She beamed her signature goofy smile at me. "That's thanks to your genius of a brother." Yeah, she definitely just gave him the once over. "I wanted to crawl in a hole and die just 30 minutes ago, but this hangover cure is a miracle!"

"Yes, Eric is quite the miracle worker isn't he?"

"How was your evening Pamela?" Eric asked as he threw the plate in front of me with a force that showed exactly how much he disliked being interrupted. Good, I'd gotten under his skin.

"Quite pleasurable," I said with a wicked smile. "The devil had more than she'd bargained for, that was for sure. Yours?"

Eric cleared his throat. "It was… closing went well." Tight lipped are we? Yes, something had definitely happened between the two of them. I can sense these kinds of things. Call it a special talent.

"Sook," I said turning my attention to her. "Don't you have brunch with your Gran and Jason this morning?"

"Shit," she mumbled, jumping out of her chair. She reached out to steady herself on the counter, obviously feeling some side effects from the night before. "Gran is going to kill me." She raced towards the stairs and stopped in her tracks. "Do you have something I can wear?"

"Take anything that works." She was up the stairs in a flash. I only turned back to Eric when I heard the door click. "So brother, what exactly did you get up to with dear Sookie?"

"None of your business Pamela." Okay, so I needed to back off. Eric rarely lost his temper, but you did not want to be around him when he did. I'd been on the receiving end of it too many times and knew better. He turned back to the stove and placed the dishes in the sink.

I laughed with delight. "Fine. But you and I both know it's only a matter of time."

Sookie rushed down the stairs and was halfway out the door before backtracking into the kitchen. "Sorry, that was rude of me. Thank you for seeing me home safely last night Eric, and thank you for helping me with this damn hangover this morning." He beamed at her like a fool and watched intently as she ran out of our line of sight.

I watched Eric and could help but laugh gleefully when he turned to glare at me. "Shut the fuck up Pamela," he barked and turned around to tend to the dishes.

Yes, this was turning out better than I had expected.