As always – Thank You so much for all that are reading and have reviewed my story – each and every review motivates me, so please continue to read and review!
Hope you enjoy this next chapter....
Chapter 13
Eric did not leave Lillie's house until he knew she was safely inside. As he pulled out of her drive way and headed for Fangtasia, he felt her sadness and knew that she was crying.
When Lillie had closed her door, she leaned against it and slid down it onto her boarded floor and once the tears had begun she wasn't sure if they would ever stop.
As soon as Eric had taken his seat behind his desk at the bar, Pam appeared at the door.
"Eric, we have found the most delicious female for you this evening – do you want me to send her in?" Pam asked.
Eric did not look up from his computer screen. "No". Was all he said. He could sense Pam's confusion. "Anything else you wish to bother me with?" Eric continued.
"No". And with that Pam left the office.
Lillie wasn't sure how long she had been crying for, but she eventually managed to control her tears and dragged herself up, to make an important phone call. As she dialled the familiar number on her land line, the voice that she wanted to hear echoed in her ear.
"Merlotte's". Sam said.
"Sam, it's Lillie". She shakily replied.
"Lillie!" She could hear the relief in his voice.
"Where are you? Are you OK?"
"I'm at home Sam".
"I'm coming over". Sam said. Lillie nodded her head in acknowledgement – she wanted someone with her who she could trust and Sam was the person she wanted.
Sam was at Lillie's in minutes. As soon as she opened the door to him, she fell into his warm and familiar arms. He managed to walk the two of them into the house and sat down on the comfortable sofa. Lillie continued to cling to Sam, saturating his shirt with her tears. He stroked her head and tried to console the weeping girl in his arms.
Eventually, Lillie did manage to stop crying and she leaned up off Sam. Her eyes were puffy from all of the tears which she had shed – she felt she had cried a lifetimes worth.
"Did Eric hurt you?" Sam asked.
"No, he healed me Sam". Lillie really didn't want her Boss and best friend to know that the vampire had first forced her to drink his blood and then in a complete turnaround of events, she couldn't get enough of his blood.
"Do you know who attacked you?" Sam asked.
"No. I just know that there was more than one person there. Sam, I was so frightened, the pain....the pain....I thought I was going to die".
"I think we should report it to Andy". Sam said.
"No Sam, absolutely not! What would they say to the fact that I have no physical injuries?" Eric had asked that she keep the knowledge of vampire blood and it's healing properties to herself, and with all that Eric had done for her she owed him that.
Sam didn't stay long. Lillie didn't want him missing from Merlotte's for long, so as not to arouse suspicion that anything was wrong. They had their 'story' planned – Sam was going to tell the staff at the bar and regular customer's that Lillie was suffering from Mono – as that was contagious, it would keep any visitor's from her door, for a couple of days anyway.
After Sam had reluctantly left, Lillie ensured her home was locked and secure and she retired to her much needed bed. She felt afraid to close her eyes for the fear that the nightmares of her last couple of days would return. As she lay awake in bed, she saw a movement at the foot of her bed, which startled her – it was Eric. He was dressed in just a pair of black, sweatpants. His chest was bare and Lillie couldn't help but notice his well defined muscles and accentuated waist. His milky skin looked cool and refreshing. Lillie sat up, almost finding it unbearable to take her eyes from the gorgeous vampire. As her eyes traced their way up his body, they eventually reached his face and his fangs clicked down to reveal themselves. As Eric stretched forward he grabbed Lillie's bare ankle, dragging her in one swift movement towards him. He released his grip on her ankle only to remove his pants. As he began to pull the waistband down, Lillie could see the dark, curly hairs and then suddenly.....
Lillie jumped up – there was no Eric at her bed, it had been a dream and a damn hot one at that! She lay her heavy head back onto her pillow. Her whole body was hot and her heart was racing. She had just dreamt that she and Eric Northman were about to have sex and the most confusing part is that Lillie hadn't felt disgusted by it. Eric had rarely been out of her thoughts the last couple of days. This was not good she thought – not good at all.
A couple of days later and Lillie has began to feel better. She hadn't seen Eric although he had phoned her each evening and she had also received the flowers which he had sent. Sam had called in on her everyday and this day was the day she was going back to work at Merlotte's. She was looking forward to getting her life back on track again and back to normality. She wanted to try and put her attack behind her.
Lillie's first day back had been a good one and gone so quickly, before she knew it it was midnight that evening and her shift had finished. The waitress's, Terry and Lafayette had of course, been so welcoming on her return and they had all been so thoughtful and kind, not letting her over exert herself. Sam had demanded that Lillie park her car by his trailer in from now on, and he would walk her to her car.
Lillie felt relieved that her shift had gone so well and had also planned to go to Fangtasia after Merlotte's. Sam gave her a huge hug when she left and told her that he had missed her. Before she left, she changed from her shorts and t-shirt into her best blue, boot cut jeans that hugged her body perfectly with her red and white checked shirt, that again fitted perfectly around her chest just to show just enough cleavage. As she combed her hair and clipped it up she stopped to look at her reflection in the mirror in the ladies room at Merlotte's. Why was she making such an effort just to go to work? Lillie had thought about Eric and the dream she had had about him and all the daydreams since then. It was precisely at that moment that these new 'feelings' that she had just discovered she had for the Sheriff had become more frequent and intense since he had healed her. She knew that to find answers she would need to confront Eric.
Fangtasia wasn't busy at all, as Lillie made her way through the bar to Eric's office.
His door was open and he was signing some cheques at his desk when Lillie lightly knocked on his door.
"Hey". She said to him. He was wearing one of his now infamous black, racer back vests which showed off his well built torso and perfect, muscular arms. For a moment he took her breathe away.
Eric put the pen down and looked directly at Lillie. He had been waiting so patiently for her to arrive it had seemed like an eternity. If he had a heart that beat, this was a time when it would have beat so fast and hard it would have felt like it was going to burst right out of his chest.
"Well, Hello". He half smiled.
"Eric, can I just have a word?"
"Be my guest". The vampire replied.
Lillie stepped into the office, closing the door behind her.
"Your blood......that...I, I, er...drank". Eric knew immediately that this beautiful human girl in front of him was more than a little uncomfortable. Not only did she find the words difficult to pronounce but she shifted from foot to foot and repeatedly touched her hair.
"What is....that going to do to me?"
Eric smiled. Lillie could tell that he found the situation humorous which angered her slightly.
"Do you really want to know? He asked, teasingly.
"Yes, I do". She wanted and needed to know the answer.
The office was silent for several moments and Lillie felt the atmosphere heavy and slightly suffocating.
"My 1000 year old blood healed you – you would have died without it. You will notice.....changes."
"Like what?"
"You will notice that you have keener senses". Eric continued. Lillie immediately thought of an incident earlier on in the afternoon when she had Lafayette empty Merlotte's fridge as she was sure that she could smell rotting food.
"Your libido will increase" That explains the dreams, she thought.
"I don't have a boyfriend, so that doesn't matter". Lillie replied. She felt she had to reply to Eric, and she tried her best to sound as casual as she possibly could.
"But the most important advantage is that I will now be able to feel what you feel – should you be in danger I will sense it immediately and I can find you – fast". Lillie was astounded at this revelation but at the same time she felt anger build in her.
"How long will that last?"
"Forever"
"Forever? Are you serious?"
"Yes, very."
"Why are you smiling about this Eric, it's not funny!" Lillie said, raising her voice. Eric continued to smile and Lillie was infuriated with him.
"You did this on purpose! I should report you!" She said, vehemently.
At vampiric speed, Eric was suddenly towering over her, his fangs clicking down with anger.
"I do 'not' respond well to threats". He said.
For a moment Lillie struggled to catch her breathe and she felt paralysed and unable to move from the space that she occupied.
"I..I...I sshould get ttto work". She stammered after a few moments.
Eric took a step back from her frightened form. He watched how she scurried out of his office. He could feel her fear through the bond they now shared and he felt angry with himself for being the one to have caused such fear.
Lillie only stayed for almost two hours at Fangtasia, and she had regretted going in at all, what with the confrontation with Eric.
She arrived home just after three and felt thoroughly exhausted, but she was glad to have finally got back on track with her life. As she got out of her car, there was a strong scent of something that she could not quite put her finger on. She hurried into the house and locked the door immediately.
Lillie was unsure what to do, she couldn't contact Andy or Bud because they weren't aware of her attack. She contemplated Sam, but if there was someone or something lurking around her home, the last thing she wanted was to put Sam in danger, so she contacted the only other 'being' that she could think of – Eric.
The phone had barely rung when the vampire answered it.
"Miss me already?" He said. Lillie could hear his smirk over the telephone.
"You wish!" She replied "Eric, I'm calling 'cause I think there is someone outside my house".
"Why do you say that?" The vampire asked, nonchalantly.
"There was a.....familiar smell as I got out of the car and I know it sounds stupid, but I can kinda 'feel' that there's someone around".
"It's Pam – I've ordered her to keep watch of you and your home at night". Lillie was astounded at Eric's new information.
"Pam from the bar?" She asked, incredulously.
"Yes, Pam from the bar". Eric replied, clearly irritated he had had to answer the question twice.
"Oh....I.....Thank You for that". Was all Lillie could say.
"I'm only protecting what is valuable to me".
"Eric, I'm not valuable to you, you are completely disillusioned that I will, one day, allow you to feed from me – or do anything else with me for that matter!" Lillie said.
"Mmmmm.....we will see". With that, the phone went dead.
Now that Lillie knew it was Pam outside, she thought the least she could do was offer her a beverage, so she made her way to the front door.
"Pam?.......Pam, I know you're out here somewhere – I've spoken to Eric!" Lillie said.
Suddenly, Pam appeared from around the side of the house. When Lillie had seen the female vampire she had always been dressed immaculately, that had now changed – she was wearing a purple, velour sweat suit which was muddy and her hair was out of place and Lillie could make out a couple of twigs embedded in it. Lillie knew from Pam's expression that she was pissed.
"Do you want a bottle of blood?" Lillie asked.
Pam sighed.
"Not really, but I'll take what I can get I s'pose". The vampire said and she followed Lillie into her home, after being invited in of course.
Lillie handed her a warmed bottle of Tru Blood, she had begun to keep a couple of bottles in should Eric visit – even though he always refused them and ranted on about how human blood was so much better.
"Well, isn't this quaint!" Pam announced, as she eyed Lillie's kitchen.
"Thank You for looking out for me". Lillie said, she was grateful to both Eric and Pam.
"This is not my idea. I wouldn't be here if Eric hadn't ordered me!" The vampire said wryly.
"Well, Thank You anyway".
"You reek of him y'know"
"Excuse me?" Lillie said, alarm clear in her voice.
"Now that you have his blood in you, I can smell him all over you!"
"Eurgh!! That's just so lovely to know!" Lillie replied, sarcastically.
"Just what it is about you that has Eric so 'up in the air' I don't know?"
Lillie suddenly felt the centre of attention, which was something that she did not like.
There was a short silence, before Lillie announced that she was retiring to bed. She offered Pam to stay in the house if she wished and she made her way to bed leaving the vampire with her options.
Lillie expected to lie awake, unable to sleep so she was surprised to wake at just turned nine the following morning, feeling refreshed