Please note: italicized words would be the thoughts from another's mind they hear. So when it's Sookie's POV, the italics represent things of Eric's she hears. And if it's Eric's POV, the italics are things of Sookie's he hears.

Chapter 11

"Your food pinged," he announces so innocently but I don't have to be facing him to know he's probably got an arrogant grin on his face because he knows how incredibly sexy he is.

I know, Pervert.

I hear him chuckle which means he got my message.

After another minute, I finally open the microwave and place my plate on the table before grabbing the pitcher of lemonade out of the fridge and a glass.

I sit down opposite him and start eating.

"You should only eat during the day so it doesn't interrupt my sex," he announces as he stares at me casually, as if he's not naked underneath my great grandmother's quilt.

"Well I need my strength to recover from massive blood loss every day, not to mention other activities that exert my energy. What a way to burn calories, though."

The way he's staring at me is unnerving, like that first night in Fangtasia and I stare back as I try to catch what he's thinking but it doesn't work.

"I don't get it. I drank a lot of your blood but I still can't hear anything, but you could hear mine. I wonder if it's because my blood lets you do that? So… you try to send me something."

Next time you're on the rag, I'm going to tie you to my bed spread eagled, and I'm gonna take my tongue to your pussy so hard that you'll be begging me to turn you so we can do it all night long with no interruptions.

"ERIC!" I squeal at him in shock.

"Well we know it worked. Perhaps it's only when we mean for each other to hear?"

I'm still shocked. That was- I've heard from pretty nasty things but that might be the nastiest.

"Welcome to the thoughts of a vampire, Lover," he says. "Because it'll happen if you stay human; I guarantee you that."

"Eric-"

"It's blood, Sookie; it's just blood."

"You're trying to distract me," I accuse. "We'll… cap that conversation and get to the other since you're in a chatty mood. So break it down for me. The mine thing."

"Well… there are many different meanings the word mine has in the vampiric world. Throughout history, vampires seeking to settle in an area and not be nomadic would keep humans, many against their will. They'd be chained up or caged and brought out to feed on, kept alive and fairly well so as not to leave a trail of bodies. The vampires considered these humans theirs in the way that plantation owners kept their slaves. This use of the term is mainly over simply because of the changing times and certain from the revelation."

Well this is good because it's a history lesson but the way he talks about it and the feelings I get from him through the bond speak of his great distaste for this practice.

"I've done a lot of things in my life, Sookie, some of which I hope you never discover, but I always thought this practice was barbaric since you could glamour them into willingly staying, which some did and do. Again… there have always been humans drawn to us, willing to give their blood. And I've never had a shortage of people wanting their turn under my-" he pauses and finishes with "fangs."

"Cocky arrogant ass," I say with a roll of my eyes as I eat. "Go on."

"The bond we share from our blood exchange connects us, our emotions are tied. Vampires can bond with many humans and some do because the feelings are a rush. We don't have adrenaline rushes or hormones so feeling what they do to you is incredible."

"That why you have sex with humans a lot?"

"I haven't bonded with them. And I have sex with vampires too."

"I just haven't seen you. I mean… I assume you and Pam have had sex."

"Yes, many many times in the century that I've had her. Recently she's been claiming she's a lesbian or something like that, but, yes. Some vampires don't have sex with their makers. Some makers feel like you shouldn't be with your progeny like that, but that's sticking to human rules too much for my taste."

"So you and Godric had sex?" I ask, the thought never having occurred to me.

"Oh yesss," he grins. "He may have looked young and innocent but he was far from it."

He really is feeling chatty and I like actually feeling like I'm starting to know the real Eric, not the amnesia one and not the public façade he puts on when he sits on his throne, but the real him. The Eric Godric and Pam and-

"Nora too?" He nods and I process that information too.

"Genetically there's no connection if your human brain likes that better."

"No, no," I shake my head. "Just learning a lot of information here. It makes sense. I mean… there's only so much mayhem you can cause. What else would you do with your time?"

"Read, back in the old days. Surf the internet, watch TV, travel… but there wasn't much to do back in the day. The technology of today is amazing."

God, he's seen all of that change. ALL the change. The Industrial Revolution. Hell, the printing press. When he grew up, there were no books.

"This is fascinating, Eric. I mean… I know you're over a thousand, but I'm just starting to think about everything you've seen happen in the world. It's just crazy. Hell, when you were growing up, everyone thought the world was flat! I mean… I've learned about history but you've lived it. You could have been there. Do you ever think about that? Fuck… we shouldn't be trying to kill vampires. They're living history."

"Especially a lot of the European faction. When humans were ditching Europe for the Americas, so too were many younger vampires who didn't like the European Authority. The Europeans are often much older. The oldest I've ever met was roughly six thousand."

This is all so interesting but here again, we're getting distracted. "Eric, mine. Keep talking."

"You're the one who keeps distracting me," he complains and I throw my fork at him which he catches and tosses toward the sink. I continue listening as I get up to rinse the dishes. "Well the point is that the term means different things. Some vampires keep their humans as pets, meaning they take care of them, protect them... some treating them more like pets. I've met vampires whose humans sleep on the floor on a dog bed. But in all these different uses of the word, Sookie, blood is only given one way."

I'm quite happy he's sharing so much and so freely. With all the lies and deceit from Bill, and even from Eric to some extent, it's really good to finally be getting the truth.

"Your blood is singing to me, Älva," he says and I turn toward him and before I can blink, he's lifted me up onto the counter, pushed his jacket off me, and wrapped the blanket around us both. My heart is pounding already in anticipation of his touch. I scoot forward so I can wrap my legs around him.

"Ditt blod sjunger för mig. Den berättar hemligheter. Den talar om din lycka och din önskan. Jag kan känna det inom mig." (Your blood sings to me. It tells secrets. It speaks of your happiness and your desire. I can feel it inside me.)

I touch his face as I stare at him and ask, "How did I understand all that?"

"Because you're mine," he says with a soft growl. He plays with my hair a little as he runs his fingers over my breasts and sends shivers down my spine. "In all my years, Sookie," he says softly while his tongue dances over my heated flesh. "There's only been one human I gave my blood to; there has never been another human I've met who I wanted to bond with, who I felt deserved my loyalty and protection."

My entire body is humming, almost vibrating, from his closeness. I feel his hardness rubbing against me and I move my hips against his to feel him more. My heart feels like it'll jump out of my chest.

"Tell me you're mine, min älva," he requests in a passionate whisper to my ears that sends chills down to my core. "Tell me you're mine, Lover." His fingers slide up the outside of my thighs and around to grip my ass and pull my hips closer to his. "You know what it means already." He plants soft kisses along my collarbone as his fingers dance between my thighs, teasing my center. "You feel who I am and what I want in your blood. You feel it in your core, literally and metaphorically." God, all my senses are heightened, my skin itching with need, wanting him to touch me, to take what's clearly already his. "You know you're safe with me."

"Jag är din," I whisper in his ear and everything that happens next is a wonderful blissful blur of him sliding into me and kissing me breathless. We're moving together, our hips dancing. I'm grabbing onto him and the counter or cabinets, whatever I can hold to ground myself and keep from floating away. I don't know what emotions are his and what are my own, but it's all a force that seems to surge through us both. It feels like one long amazing orgasm takes over my body and this incredible lightening explodes from my palms and surges through us both as darkness takes over my mind.