Disclaimer: Charlaine Harris owns all.
Rated M for several reasons.
Chpt 10 Bond Villain
SPOV
He lets that sink in for a while, its working, I'm scared, not that I'll give him the satisfaction of knowing it.
He smirks. Damn, I've had his blood, he knows.
Despite his apparent decision to hate my guts I still trust Eric, and being bonded to him would probably protect me from being taken by another vampire but still, I loathe that he'd force me. And besides, what will he do if he finds out he can't control me? And what will he expect? He's not fucking me and feeding from me like a Fangbanger . . . .
"Does it help if I tell you that Compton has asked me to do this?"
"What? No! What?" I'm eloquent when I'm surprised. Not.
"He asked me to claim you and protect you because he cannot."
Filed for later consideration.
"I'm sorry Eric but I can't see you doing this out of the goodness of your heart, especially not for Bill."
"How very perceptive of you."
"Then again, Eric, why?"
"Perhaps I simply do want to protect you. You are turning out to be a valuable source of revenue after all, it would be extremely inconvenient if someone borrowed you and failed to bring you back."
Like a book at the library. Lovely. It's a motivation I can believe him capable of though.
"I thought you said you'd rather not have anything to do with me at all."
His eyes flash and I resist the temptation to avert mine again.
"Willing or not Sookie we will exchange blood tonight. I have no interest in keeping you as a pet, this is purely a business arrangement between us. Your life is your own unless I require your services as a telepath, services for which you will be financially compensated."
"That's it?"
"Not quite."
I knew it, if something's too good to be true it probably isn't Gran used to say.
"Since I will be blocking off our bond at my end most of the time, as mentioned I have no interest in you, I expect you to advise me if you are leaving my area. Failure to do so will result in me using the bond to find you and dragging you back by the hair."
Viking, Bill told me.
"You will be provided with daytime protection . . . ."
"What?"
"You will be provided with daytime protection. A bodyguard. A werewolf. He will not impinge on your life but if you attempt to give him the slip I refer you to my previous comment regarding the hair. His name is Alcide Herveaux and he will be at your house at dawn."
We'll see about that.
"There are certain appearances that must be maintained in order to support our bonding. I do not care who you fuck or why but when you are with me and in the presence of vampires you will not ever have the scent of another male on you or in you. Of any kind, human, were, vampire or other. Do you understand?"
Disgusted, but nodding.
"You must never willingly take another vampire's blood nor allow them to take yours. It is my responsibility to prevent that happening but vampire can be devious."
Yes, I've noticed.
"If you are asked whether or not you are shared. You are not. If you are asked about the nature of our bonding, look demure and refer the questioner to me."
Sharing? Ew.
"Do. Not. Ever. Disrespect me or talk back to me in front of other vampires. I will be forced to punish you and you will not enjoy it."
No, but I bet you will.
"There is bound to more but they are the main points. Do you have any questions?"
Millions.
"I'm not getting a choice in this?"
"No. You should be grateful. I am making a mutually beneficial arrangement with you. Other vampire would simply take you and use you as they saw fit."
An offer I can't refuse, but something that might work in my favour, the way he's described it he might never notice the bond isn't quite right and it will fade over time anyway. Knowing I have to be practical I fight down the completely normal urge to run screaming into the bar, begging for someone to save me.
Time ticks by as we glare at each other. I'd thought being Eric he'd just want to do this thing but he seems as reluctant as I do.
. . . . cannot touch her . . . . do not want . . . .
What?
Oh shit, shit. Please tell me that's not Eric, not again . . . .
Abruptly he jerks to his feet, moving over to the sofa and sitting back down.
"This will work best if you sit here." He indicates the space between his long, spread thighs.
Gulp.
Oh god, he's hard. I don't want to do this, can't we just use a cup and a knife or something?
He's caught me looking and for once he actually seems uncomfortable about it rather than obscenely proud.
"It is not you." He growls. "The giving and taking of blood is a highly erotic thing for vampires. I cannot help it."
I hesitate and suddenly he's off the sofa, grabbing me and sitting down again with my body firmly trapped between his thighs.
I'm terrified and hyper aware of him as he pulls me back against his chest and clamps an arm around my waist to hold me in place.
"Please, Eric, please." I whimper. "I don't want to do this, I don't care how sensible it is, I'm scared, please, don't make me . . . ."
"We have no choice."
And his fangs snick into place.
"I do not wish to hurt you Sookie, trust me."
He pulls my hair out of the way and I nearly have a heart attack when he gently rubs his nose up and down the skin of my neck.
"You must relax or my bite will hurt."
I can't relax, I can't . . . .
His nose continues to stroke my neck, so soft, like a butterfly fluttering against it. And then his cool tongue darts out to taste me, swirling over my skin.
He groans slightly, pressing his erection into me and to my absolute horror my body pushes back at him. He tightens his grip around my waist, raising his other arm to his mouth and I hear his fangs tearing the skin.
"Drink." He orders in a low voice, pressing it my lips.
My tongue darts out of its own accord, lapping at a drop of blood trailing down his pale skin.
He groans again, pushing himself into me with more force, pulling me back with the arm at my waist. I'm warm, warm all over, but still as afraid as I've ever been.
"Drink me." He murmurs into my neck, fangs scrapping lightly across the skin as he undulates our bodies together again.
I close my lips around the wounds sucking his rich sweet blood delicately.
"Ungh. Drink me. Sookie . . . ." His voice is a throaty low moan now, our bodies rocking together.
The hand from my waist is now rubbing me through my jeans. Feels so good. I don't even notice when his fangs slide into my flesh, I only know they're there because now everything is ebbing and flowing in perfect unison. My sucks from his wrist, his pulls from my neck, our bodies writhing against each other, his fingers curling into the fabric of my jeans between my thighs.
I'm so warm, no, so hot, I feel like my muscles have turned to liquid fire, can't breathe, he tastes so good, feels so good . . . .
I release his wrist and cry out in surprise as a soft but exquisitely powerful orgasm rolls through me, leaving me shuddering against him as he reaches a climax of his own, his fangs vibrating slightly in my neck.
I feel weightless, boneless and witless as he rolls our bodies together gently, bringing us down until his fangs retract and I feel his tongue again, closing and healing the puncture marks.
Trouble is coming for this, I know it, but for now I collapse back against him and his arms close tightly round me. It's, comforting.
"I cannot feel you." He says quietly, making no effort to move, nor allowing me to. "Can you feel me?"
I hunt around inside myself for anything that's different. Definitely had more vampire blood, I'm alive with it and all my senses are sharper. And there he is, I know it's him, it feels like him in a way I can't quite explain. He's a pulsing white light, for want of a better description, in my mind. It's not as unpleasant as I was expecting, not that I really know what I was expecting, big dark cloud in my head with Eric's glowering face in it possibly.
But I can't feel his emotions. I wonder if it's something to do with my shields for the telepathy or if it's just the fairy thing and I'll never be able to do it. I poke around for a bit and to my relief discover that I can open the bond at my end.
He floods into me like a force of nature and I hastily shove the shields back in place before he washes me away. There's a lot to Eric, apparently, and I won't be doing that again in a hurry.
"I felt your surprise." He chuckles. "Briefly."
"It's my disability, it blocks you like it does other people's thoughts. But I can't let you in like that, it's too much, I'm only human."
"I was not prepared. I was pushing my emotions at you to see if you could feel them. If I ever need to do it again I will be more cautious."
"Thanks."
"This is good." He observes. "I will not need to be bothered by you and you will not need to be bothered by me. However if you are in danger and need me you can open the bond and let me know."
"How will that work if you're blocking at your end?"
"Good point. Perhaps we can knock?"
Knock? Oh.
"Close down your end, let me try."
He nods against my shoulder, we're still cuddling, I'll get to that later . . . .
There he is, the Eric light. Hey, knock, knock.
No reaction.
ERIC!
Nope.
I give him a good mental slap and his body jerks behind me. Just before I close him off I feel surprise from him.
"Your turn." I prompt, fighting back a smile.
Nothing.
Still nothing.
I turn my attention inward, the Eric light is still pulsing but it looks, annoyed. I let him in briefly, yep annoyed, and then shove him out again.
"I have to be paying attention to know you're trying to get through." Is he buying what I'm selling?
"Then you had better be sure you are paying attention when I need you to." He sounds amused.
"I don't see a problem if I can't feel you. No offence but I probably don't want to feel some of what you do."
"We will have to work on it. There may be times when it would be useful if I could send a warning or instruction."
"Like what?" I ask suspiciously. Instruction sounds like control to me.
"Run? Duck? Be careful? Shut up?" He offers.
"Okay." I concede. "We can work on it."
We fall back into silence.
And, then the trouble comes.
A knock on the door has me crashing all the way back to myself and struggling to get away from Eric at the same time, fortunately he lets me go. What the holy fucking hell is wrong with me? One orgasm and I'm anybody's? This is Eric for crying out loud. He doesn't even like me anymore, other than the unfortunate dry humping he couldn't have made that any more obvious. How could I . . . . What's wrong with me? It's not even like I can avoid him, I just bonded to him, I am such an idiot . . . .
"Enter." Eric commands.
Pam surges in and her fangs run down as the sniffs the air.
I throw my hands up in frustration. Is nothing private? Not even my every damn mistake?
"Eric. Your visitors are waiting."
"I will be out shortly."
Pam withdraws and I'm forced to look at Eric again. The hard and angry look is in his icy blue eyes again as he looks back at me.
Old Eric, who turned up briefly just now, is gone and new, not improved Eric, the Sookie hater, is sitting in his place. Talk about coming back down to earth with a bump.
Without a word he gets up and disappears into the closet, emerging a few seconds later in clean jeans and a light blue shirt.
"My visitors are human, this will be a good opportunity for you to read them."
"What am I looking for?"
"It is a simple business deal. Look for their motivations and intentions."
I follow him down the hallway. A simple business deal. Look for motivations and intentions. I could almost take that as advice.