Chapter 10

Good as Dead

I have no rights to the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris. I recently read all eight books of the series in one week and couldn't wait until May to think of what might happen with the characters. :) Hope it helps you pass the time as well! This is my first fanfic attempt. Enjoy!!!

Thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate them- in fact they make my day. I realize now that the story took a slow ramp up in the first few chapters while I got used to being in Sookie's head, so to speak. Thanks for staying with me for the long haul! Also, I'm sorry if any of my cliffhangers were cruel. I hope I'm getting the hang of this more and getting better.

In case you haven't figured it out, huge Eric lover here! *raises hand*

Caution: Gracious plenty ahead :)

"I'll take care of this whore." Pam glared at the woman. "Eric, you two are going to incite an orgy or a feeding frenzy if you don't go. I will handle everything for the rest of the night. We have plenty of minions to help."

*

Eric stood up from the sofa and swept me up into his arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck and tucked my head into his shoulder, a little of my embarrassment creeping in, as we made our way through the, ah, frustrated crowd. The band started up and caught everyone's attention as we went through Fangtasia and out the back door (that was currently being reattached by some vampire repair guy). I had a moment's regret that we weren't staying to dance. Eric's red corvette was parked out back and he eased me into the passenger seat. He kissed me as he fastened my seat belt and then I drew a slow breath with my eyes closed. "It's too far to my house unless this thing can fly." I said plainly.

He got in and started the car. "I'd like to take you to my house," Eric reached down and took my hand in his much larger one. "If you are willing."

Oh, I'm willing alright. I squeezed his hand, "Yes."

We drove in silence, but there was an electric current running through our hands and the emotion in the car was palpable.

We got off the highway and started down a road, fewer businesses and homes visible, then no street lamps to illuminate what was beyond the headlights. We crossed a set of railroad tracks and a couple of bridges. I could see a lake out of Eric's window. He turned left and we arrived at a wrought iron gate with a crest on it. He opened his window, entered a code into a small pad outside and the gate opened for us to drive through.

The woods were surrounding us as we went down the long winding drive to a clearing. A large A-frame log cabin was set against a backdrop of the moon shining down on the lake. There was a small shed-like building and a big pole barn to the side with a series of garage doors; one that was opening for us. Honestly, it all looked pretty modest for my impression of how rich Eric is.

The "garage" was exceptionally clean and mostly empty besides a boat trailer and a shiny, black Escalade. Some of the sexual energy started calming down as I grew a little nervous about seeing Eric's place for the first time.

We got out of the car and walked toward the house. There were pine trees along the flagstone path. Everything earthy smelled wonderful and familiar through Eric.

"I've never brought a human here before," Eric told me as we stepped up onto a huge deck overlooking the lake.

"Never?" I was shocked.

"Never. I admit, I have another place I've taken people, but this is my sanctuary," he looked out over the water.

I felt honored and a little scared as I realized the heightened significance of being there. I rubbed my hands over my arms, getting chilly in the night air.

"Come in," he said as he swung open the door. He didn't have to tell me twice. I walked through the door and he went straight for the stone fireplace and started placing logs in it. The house looked more like a North Country retreat than a vampire haven to me.

The living room had vaulted ceilings with exposed logs and beams. The stone chimney of the fireplace went all the way up to the ceiling where it was flanked with two huge windows. Everything seemed to be wood, leather and glass. There was a nice kitchen with state of the art appliances Eric probably never used, and a dining area with a table that looked like a huge slab of a tree. The place was rugged, masculine and modern all at the same time. Kind of like its owner.

I sat down on the brown leather sofa and Eric wrapped a quilt around my shoulders. The fire was growing and warming up the room quickly.

"Is there somewhere I could get cleaned up?" I asked him and looked down at myself. I couldn't believe I hadn't even looked in a mirror since Eric and I had finished our little strix battle. I momentarily debated the dangers of contracting the Asian bird flu from the nasty things.

He gave me a classic Eric look. "Of course, I will prepare a bath for you." I watched him as he went down a hallway between the kitchen and a set of stairs that went up to a loft. Hate to see you go, but love to watch you walk away. I smiled.

I laid my head on the arm of the couch and stared into the fire. It had been quite a long day and I was pretty tired. I thought of just closing my eyes, but I knew if I slept now I would wake up in the morning and Eric would be good as dead. And I had no car, no way to get out of here. I sat up. What was I supposed to do, eat squirrels from outside? Drive Eric's corvette to the corner store?

I scrambled to my feet to look in the kitchen. I opened the fridge to find two full shelves of True Blood. No shocker there. But, there were also eggs, a full gallon of milk, orange juice, vegetables, fruit and a few other staples. The freezer held steaks and ice cream. I opened the cupboards to find coffee and sugar, some baking ingredients, canned goods (yikes – pickled herring?) and boxes of cereal.

I looked up to see Eric looking at me with a furrowed brow as I stood there; the fridge, freezer and every single cupboard door in his kitchen wide open.

My mouth fell open. I must have looked like a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar. I felt like a crazy snoop. A very suspicious, crazy snoop.

"I thought you said you never had humans here," I said crossing my arms and standing up straighter; trying to retain some of my dignity.

Eric closed the doors I'd left ajar and then pushed himself up to sit on the granite countertop. Anything else might have buckled under his brawny body.

"That is correct," he raised his eyebrows as if to challenge me to ask another question.

"Well, then what is all this food doing here?" Is he lying to me? Did he have this planned all along?

"After the strix were gone, Niall and I decided it was best for you to stay with me for a short while."

"So, I wasn't to have any say in the matter," I snapped.

"I told him I would keep you safe, but I wouldn't force you to do anything you didn't want to do," he said slowly. "You did agree you were willing to come here."

I rolled my eyes.

"Once we were certain you would be okay, Niall watched over you while I sought provisions for you here." He looked pointedly at me. "Just in case."

Somehow I couldn't see him sending anyone but Pam on such a personal errand. "You sent Pam in the middle of the Halloween party to buy groceries just in case I came here?"

"No, I didn't send Pam. I went to the store and brought everything here myself while you were incapacitated," he explained.

Now that was a shocker. "You brought them? You went to a store and bought food." I was flabbergasted.

I pictured the tall, blonde and sexy vampire at the grocery store. Eric dutifully pushing a shopping cart; strolling along with his manly viking gait past the deli. I could just hear the gasps and sighs of on-looking ladies in the bakery department.

"You pushed a cart around a grocery store?"

"Yes." He looked thoughtful. "It had a bad wheel." I broke into a huge grin.

"And you got me coffee."

"Yes, and sugar," he added with confidence. I had to press my lips together to stop myself from tearing up or laughing. He continued, "A lot goes into selecting these food items. Did you know you have to open the carton of eggs to make sure they aren't cracked?"

I pictured a nosy lady in the dairy section telling Eric he needed to check his eggs.

My smile broke open and I turned into a fit of giggles. I could just see him in line with his little wobbly cart, reading US Weekly. A tear streamed down my face as I laughed.

He looked at me like I had completely lost my marbles. "What is so funny?"

"You..." Whoo. Deep breath. "…picking out eggs."

"I remember you had eggs at your house," he looked a little miffed, so I clamped my lips together, but the corners of my mouth wanted to curve upward.

Eric went to the grocery store for me. He remembered what kind of food was in my house. "The eggs are great. Thank you, that really is so sweet." I thought maybe calling him sweet would be emasculating and shut my mouth. He already thought I was laughing at him. But then again, he had been making plans for my safety without talking to me and was banking on the fact I would come to his house. More irritating than that, was the fact that he was right. I had willingly come. "Very, very sweet of you."

"Sweet?" Rather than being put off as I expected, he flashed a smug look. "If I recall correctly, the last time you thought I was sweet, we were making love every night." Checkmate.

I still wondered if I could get a copy from the grocery store's surveillance tapes just to see it first-hand. "Eric, I'm really sorry for snooping through your kitchen. That was…"

"Don't apologize," he interrupted and shook his head. "I want you to treat my home as your home," he pushed off the counter. "In this kitchen, I only use two shelves of the refrigerator and the microwave. You can take full ownership of the rest."

"Okay," I said in a non-committal way.

"Your bath is ready," he whispered as he took my hand.