A/N: I do not own any characters or the world of True Blood, but I do like to play in it.
Thanks for all the feedback guys! I try to answer most of them personally as much as I can, but here are a few responses people might be wondering about. Yes, Sookie could have left Sam a note about the money, but neither she nor I thought of that! No, I don't think Eric is really interested in the money, lord knows he's probably got more socked away over the years than he knows what to do with or he would have gone after Yvetta personally for stealing from him. The money in question is the money that Tommy stole from him, but the question remains… did he shoot his brother to get it back?
Soon enough they were pulling into the familiar roads of Reynard Parish, and Sookie perked up a little to be home.
"Do you want to go home or to the bar?" Eric asked, slowing a little as they left the highway.
"To the bar please, I don't feel right keeping all that cash at my place."
"I could take charge of it if you like." Eric's eyes glittered with avarice.
"Thanks all the same, that'd be a bit like putting the weasel in charge of the hen house." She snorted.
"Mind your tongue, woman. A proper companion would not liken me to a… weasel." He said with distaste.
A roll of the eyes was given. "Oh Eric, I sooo want lessons on how to be a proper companion." She fluttered her eyelashes at him dramatically, her voice high and simpering before she dropped to her normal tone. "We're not at the queen's place anymore, so we can drop the act, remember?" She reminded him.
"There are many dangers apart from the queen's court, remember?" He retorted, his voice deadly serious.
Sookie wasn't thinking about danger as they pulled into the parking lot at Merlotte's. The familiar cars, the lights and the music drifting out from the jukebox were like a soothing balm to her soul, giving her a comfort she hadn't realized she'd needed. Almost as soon as the car came to a stop she was opening the car door, but Eric was faster. In a flash he was by her side, opening offering his hand. A little taken aback by the gallant gesture, Sookie placed her hand in his. "Why thank you kind Sir." She smiled, allowing him to help her out of the car.
Eric pressed a chaste kiss to the back of her hand before releasing her to take up the bag of money, following right behind as she entered the bar.
Inside Merlotte's was a cacophony of noise, and Sookie stood just inside the door for a moment, taking it all in. Rob was mixing drinks while simultaneously entertaining two ladies at the end of the bar. Arlene was shooting the breeze with Quill while he bussed an empty table. Lafayette was in the kitchen muttering to himself, which was never a good sign.
Jessica was the first person to notice her, approaching with two menus. "Welcome to Merlotte's, would you like a table or a… Christ on a cracker it's Sookie!" The young red head's voice reached a pitch that only dogs could hear in her excitement, and all heads in the bar swiveled in their direction.
Sookie's pleased smile grew a little strained with so many eyes on her at once. "Hey, I see y'all got along just fine without me." But her composure quickly began to crumble once she'd crossed the threshold and she was barraged with a combinations of greetings and personal thoughts, all jumbled together.
"Hey Sook, good to see ya back!"
*Lord I thought we'd never see her again…*
*Looks like she's found herself a new sugar daddy, or would that be a sugar vamper?*
"Jason's been lookin' for you…"
*Will you get a load of that fella… I wonder if he's the one from that vampire bar up in Shreveport?*
*Wonder where he makes his marks on her, I bet it's someplace dirty…*
Mind reeling, Sookie just nodded, her smile stretching wider still as she tried to erect the defenses she'd gotten out of habit of raising from being in Eric's company. Reaching for his hand, she greedily slid into the cool silence his presence afforded her, wrapping the comforting quiet around her like a security blanket. A slow, deep breath and she lost a little of the panic behind her eyes. If Eric found her behavior strange, he gave no sign of it, standing behind her with an aloof expression on his face.
"Oh thank god!" Arlene called out, hurrying over to give Sookie a hug, her usually well manicured nails bitten to the quick. "We've been worried sick you wouldn't come back in time!"
"In time for what?" Sookie blinked, clinging to Eric's hand even as she gave her friend a one armed hug.
"There's a stack of invoices a mile high on Sam's desk. Earl from the distillery said that he wouldn't make any more deliveries until we'd paid some of the past due bills and Carmelita down at the power company called and said they were gonna shut off the power next week…" Arlene went on and on until Sookie's head began to spin again despite Eric's soothing presence.
"All will be well." Eric interrupted her, drawing Sookie into the shelter of his arm. "We have things well in hand, you may rest assured in that." He even gave the older waitress a charming smile that made her preen and tug at her skirt like a girl half her age.
"Well, that's good to hear, it's nice to have a man to take charge of things." Arlene simpered, backing up a few steps until the back of her legs struck an empty chair and she turned to get back to her tables.
"It's nice to see a woman who knows her place." Eric murmured; an amused smile on his face.
"I'm not even gonna touch that one." A roll of the eyes was given. "Let's go back into Sam's office." Sookie suggested, shrugging off his protective arm to head back to the employee area, not caring in that moment if he followed her or not as she heard the rumble of his laughter behind her.
Eric stopped at the bar and gave a single look to Rob, who finished filling a mug of beer and nodded for Quill to take his place, following Eric back to where Sookie sat at Sam's desk.
Sookie could not believe how many things needed addressing in the short time she'd been gone. Of course she hadn't been paying any of the bills and invoices that had accumulated in Sam's absence, hoping he'd be back in time to see to them, but it was looking like that wouldn't be the case. When Eric and Rob entered, she was in the process of putting them in order by date with the most seriously overdue ones on top.
Leaning against the corner of the desk, Eric looked to Rob expectantly.
For his part Rob seemed to think it was perfectly normally that the two had entered together and that Eric was awaiting his status report. "No worries here, everything's smooth as silk. No matter what Red's been squawking 'bout, I've got things in hand. The liquor supplier'll keep things coming or I told him we'd find a new supplier, like you said."
"And the other issue?" Eric prompted him.
"Not a sign of him. It's like he vanished from sight or maybe he was… you know…"
"No sign of who?" Sookie asked, listening to the little report with half an ear, still sorting through invoices. When no answer came, she looked up, surprised to find Rob gone. "Where did he go?"
"Back to work, you saw how busy it was out there. It doesn't pay to leave the crowd thirsty, rule #1 in running a bar." Eric replied easily, looking surprisingly relaxed in Sam's wood paneled office.
Sookie recognized a dodge when she saw one, leaning back in the chair to study him. "What's going on Eric? What else do you have Rob and Quill working on for you out here?"
"I am merely holding up my end of the bargain in the search for your former intended."
"They're looking for Bill?" Sookie's eyes widened in surprise. With a pang she realized that she hadn't given Bill much thought of late, there always seemed to be something else to worry about. "So he's still missing with no sign of where he disappeared to?"
"Sookie," Eric rose and came around the desk to stand before her, towering over her in the chair. With a slight frown over their positions, he plucked her out of the chair and sat down, tugging her into his lap. "You have to come to the realization that there is a chance that Bill is no longer among the undead."
"Hey…" The halfhearted protest was given as he manhandled her into his lap, but Sookie made no move to pull away, too distracted by what he was saying. "You think he's… dead?" She gasped, the word tasting like ashes on her tongue.
"He was very distraught the last time I saw him. It is possible that he chose to greet the dawn."
Sookie's head was already shaking by the time he had finished the sentence. "No way. Bill would never do that. He just… well, he wouldn't." She maintained stubbornly. "Not without saying goodbye at the very least."
"You did say that you didn't wish to speak to him again." He reminded her gently.
"I was mad!" Sookie's lower lip trembled as she hurled the words at him. Good god could Bill really be dead and gone? All because she'd broken up with him? It was too awful to contemplate. "I didn't want him to do something like that…" Fat tears spilled from the corners of her eyes and rolled down her cheeks and Eric gathered her close, cradling her to his chest.
"I know, alskling. Do not take it to heart until we have all of the facts." His voice was soft and gentle, as was his touch on her cheek. It was that tenderness that opened the floodgates and she began to weep in earnest. Eric held her until the storm of her emotions began to subside, and she had cried herself out.
"I'm sorry." She sniffled, swiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. "I know, you probably think it's weak, going on like this over someone I'm not even with anymore…"
Eric reached for her chin, tipping her face to look up at his. "You have a tender heart; that is nothing to apologize for." He replied earnestly. "But it is also strong; it will survive this, even if Bill is truly gone forever. Time will heal your wound." He added sagely.
"My wound?" She blinked, not quite tracking what he was talking about.
"You said it yourself. Your words were spoken in anger. It would be unreasonable for me to think that you no longer carried Bill in your heart simply because he angered you. Your tears are proof enough of that. You weep at the mere thought of losing him forever."
There was a tinge of sadness to his words that surprised her, as if it really bothered him that she might still have feelings for Bill, but accepted it. But just as quickly, that hint of emotion was gone.
"You think I'm still in love with Bill?"
"Are you?" He fixed her with those icy blue eyes, and she could read nothing behind them, so deeply shuttered away were his emotions as he awaited her response.
Was she? Bill had been her first love, her first everything. While at one time she had thought she would love him until the day she died, they had endured more stops and starts than her sorry excuse for a car.
When she'd sent Bill off that last day the last straw had been broken and she'd been sure she never wanted to see him again. But then again, hadn't she felt some of the same towards Eric? Only his betrayal hadn't cut her so deeply. In fact, after she'd cooled off a bit, she found she could understand Eric's motivations in turning her over to Russell. But Bill… he had betrayed her on a much deeper level, and not just once… It was that feeling that she couldn't count on him in the end that had closed the door to her heart to him forever.
So why was she sitting there bawling on Eric's lap over the guy?
Sookie chose her words carefully, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Part of me will always love Bill and what we shared together. Even knowing some of it was a lie doesn't change the fact that I know he loved me in his own way. But at the end of the day, I couldn't count on him. Not to be there for me, and for sure not to be straight with me. Trust is a big thing for me. Without trust… you can't really let someone in to your heart." She paused, wondering not for the first time if she could really put her trust into Eric, or if she was making an even bigger mistake? "But am I still in love with Bill? The answer is no, not anymore. Did any of that make sense?"
Eric's expression remained inscrutable as he processed her words, and then he spoke, his voice deep and slow, choosing his words just as carefully. "I value trust, though that may sound strange to you coming from one such as myself. Deceit is stock in trade for many vampires, especially those who hold a position of power. But I understand loyalty well enough. There are few that I place my loyalty and trust in Sookie, but I count you among those precious few. You may trust in that, and you may trust in me. I swear it to you on my mother's grave." He brought her fingertips to his lips and kissed them solemnly.
Her eyes widened slightly as something passed through them in that simple contact and Sookie caught the briefest glimpse of his thoughts. His sincerity and honor were drawn around him like a cloak, and she had no doubt that he meant every word he'd just said to her. "I believe you." She whispered, almost stunned to find that she meant it. "I…"
Eric cut off the rest of her response as he crushed his mouth to hers in a searing kiss. There was no audience to stake his claim for this time, but Sookie felt as though he was branding her as his with every stroke of his tongue and talented hands. This time she gave in to it, no protests, no teasing games, she kissed him back for all she was worth, forgetting where they were. There was only the taste of him, the feel of his hands, and the ever growing hardness beneath her as evidence of how much he wanted her.
And she wanted him too… oh how she wanted him…
"Sookie?" A knock at the door sounded, Jessica's hesitant voice on the other side.
"Not now." Eric growled, tearing his mouth from hers long enough to inject the right amount of threat into those two words.
Feeling hot and flushed, Sookie pulled back to try and gather her thoughts, but Eric just reapplied his attention to the swell of her breasts now that he had better access to them. "What is it Jess?" She called out, more than a little dismayed at the quavering pitch of her voice as his fangs scraped against her skin.
"Um…" There was even more hesitation in her voice. "I wanted to talk to you about the schedule and so does Lafayette but… it can wait till later."
Struggling to retain some semblance of clear thought while Eric's mouth quested lower, Sookie drew in a shaky breath. "I'll be out in a few minutes, okay?" She managed to get out in a strangled voice.
"Okay, no rush or anything." Jessica replied, sounding happier.
"Eric…" Sookie gasped then as he stepped up his tender assault, finally tugging at his hair as hard as she could to get his attention.
His head came up, a knowing smile on his lips. "I can feel that you want me just as I want you."
"Not here, not like this…" She protested, drawing upon an inner strength she hadn't known that she possessed.
"When then?" Eric pressed. There was a hunger in his eyes that she hadn't seen before, but instead of frightening her, it gave her a rush of power.
"Later tonight? After I wrap up some things here?" Came her breathless response.
Eric considered this with more patience than she had given him credit for. "I must go and see to some business. But I will return to you with plenty of time before the dawn for us to finish this… discussion." He gave her a wolfish grin. "Unless… I can talk you into something quick to tide us over?" His tongue laved over her pulse once, twice.
"Unh uh, nope." Sookie reached for his face, bringing it up to hers again. "There ain't nothing quick about what I want to do to you." She smiled back. Two could play at that game.
"Later tonight then." He all but purred in satisfaction. "Prepare yourself for me."
A/N: So what do you guys think? Too soon for Sookie to place her trust in him? Too slow? Just right?
Feedback is love people