Hello! Aren't we lucky tonight?! House of Flesh on Fire updated! SQUEE! It was so hot! If you haven't read it yet, do it now! Ppppffffbbbttt.... Who am I kidding? You all are on that shit.

I want to thank all my readers and reviewers once again! You guys rock! I love reading and answering reviews, it's so fun!

Thank you to FDM for your help with this chapter! I made some minor changes, so any mistakes left are all mine!

Chapter 14

It was finally Thanksgiving. I had been looking forward to it for some time. Sookie was going to stay with me during the break. She and Amelia didn't want to go back to their hometown for the holiday, and Tray preferred to stay as well, so we came up with a nice arrangement. Tray would stay at Sookie and Amelia's apartment during the break, and to give them privacy, Sookie would stay with me. I was very happy to be able to spend even more time with her, and was looking forward to going to sleep with her next to me every night.

The last couple of weeks had been really great. We had quickly established a routine together. We would meet up at the library, sometimes staying to get some work done, and then go back to my apartment where we would watch TV, talk, have supper, make out, and sometimes go a little further than that. We hadn't gone beyond going down on each other, except for a couple of instances of mutual masturbation, which was really, really hot. I almost liked it better than the blowjobs…almost. Her ability to deep throat definitely tipped the scales in favor of the blowjobs. I was shocked when she first did it. I had no idea how she managed to fit all of me into her tiny mouth, but she did, and it felt incredible.

I also discovered that she had figured out how turned on I got by her eating. Her moans and little noises of satisfaction had gotten louder, and she seemed more aware of them. When I saw a smirk on her face, I knew she had it figured out. She used it to her advantage as well, because on the nights that she was feeling particularly frisky, she would really put on a show for me. Those were the nights I made sure she called my name loudly. I always got something out of it too, of course.

What I was even more excited about was that I finally felt like I was ready to have sex. I was confident that I could please Sookie, even though I knew I wouldn't last long. It also just felt like it was time. I hadn't told her yet, but I planned on it. We had a full week off school, and I had a feeling I was going to want to do it more than once, so the timing was perfect. I just really hoped she was receptive to it. She hadn't pushed me at all, but I had a feeling that she was ready for more.

The plan was to spend the whole day at Sookie and Amelia's apartment, where we could all hang out until we had Thanksgiving dinner that night. Sookie wanted to take care of the cooking, but I insisted on helping her. She and I were the only ones who had the ability to not burn something within five minutes, and I didn't want her to cook everything by herself. I took a quick shower, and dressed in a nice sweater and a pair of jeans, and then I headed to the next building over.

Tray answered the door, and we shook hands. "How you doing, man?" he greeted, and then yelled, "Sookie, your man's here."

"I'm fine, Tray, and you?" I laughed.

"I'm hungry, but Sookie keeps slapping my hand when I go for a taste."

Sookie came into the room, and quickly wrapped her arms around me. Tray immediately tried to head for the kitchen, so Sookie yelled at him.

"Tray, keep your damn hands in your pockets! You can eat in a little bit."

Tray sulked back into the living room, and Sookie looked at me expectantly. I bent my head to kiss her, and then she said, "Hi."

"Hi," I said back. "What do you need me to do?"

"You can help me with the noodles," she said with a smile, and then took me by the hand into the kitchen. It smelled mouthwatering in there, and I could see why this would be a problem for Tray. I pushed up my sleeves, and Sookie put on an apron to protect her dress, and we got to work. Amelia came out later, and made a comment about us having everything under control and not needing her help, then she joined Tray in the living room to watch TV. Sookie heard Tray whining again, so she finally pulled out some cheese, summer sausage, and crackers, and took them to the living room. I heard Tray yell, "Food!" and then Sookie came back in the kitchen.

Everything was more or less prepared, and just needed to heat up, so Sookie began double-checking that we had everything we needed.

"Shoot!" she exclaimed.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I forgot the whipped cream for the pie. You can't have pumpkin pie without whipped cream." She was getting flustered.

"Don't worry, I'll run to the market and get some. It's still open for another hour or so. I'll even take Tray with me before he eats all the appetizers."

"Really? Oh, thank you!" She hugged me, and then I gave her kiss.

I managed to pry Tray from the platter of crackers, and we headed out. Tray had a car, but the market was within walking distance, and I wanted to ask him something, so I convinced him to walk. He couldn't stop talking about being hungry almost the whole way there.

"I'm telling you, Eric, it's all the sex Amelia and I have. It burns the calories like crazy. I eat all the time, but I never gain any weight."

"You don't work out?"

"I do that too, but not enough to lose anything. I just lift weights to stay toned. Amelia likes the muscles."

"Yeah, Sookie seems to like mine too." I felt a bit uncomfortable talking to another guy about what Sookie liked, but it was Tray. I knew he didn't feel that way about her, but I would have to be careful because I'm sure he saw her as a sister, and I didn't want to say anything that would piss him off.

"You know, she's very happy with you. I don't think I've ever seen her smile this much."

"Can I ask you a question, Tray?" I finally had the opportunity to ask what I wanted. This had been rolling around in my head for a while, and I felt like I needed to know.

"Sure."

"You and Sookie have both alluded to something bad after Bill, and I want to know how bad it really was. All I know is what she told me."

"How much did she tell you?"

"That she and Bill dated, and he pressured her for sex a lot. She said he openly flirted with other women in her presence, and that he set it up for her to catch him cheating so that she would break up with him."

"There was a bit more to it than that. It's sort of a long story."

"We've got time. I would ask Sookie, but if it's as bad as I think, I don't want her to have to think about it."

"You're right, you should probably know anyway, but I'm only telling you because I trust you."

I nodded that I understood.

"Sookie's parents died in a car accident just before our junior year. She had a really hard time with it. Her brother took off when the life insurance came in, and she still doesn't hear from him that often. When we went back to school, Bill took an instant liking to her. I never liked the guy. He slept around a lot, and he didn't treat girls well, but Sookie had always had a crush on him, and she had a void to fill. So when Bill started paying attention to her she was smitten, and trying to forget about everything else going on in her life. She couldn't see that he was using her. Amelia and I tried to be supportive of her, but it was hard…" he trailed off.

"Why was it hard?"

"Bill was very emotionally abusive to Sookie. She refused to see it. He made her feel worthless all the time. She was always second-guessing herself. He really pushed her into sex too. It was just bad. He flirted with other girls in front of her, and acted like it was nothing. When she caught him with another girl, it really broke her. She hadn't dealt with her parent's deaths yet. She had a ton of resentment for Jason. She was very depressed for a while. She stopped eating, stopped caring…" His voice trailed off again and his expression turned very grim as he remembered. "Amelia and I had to put her back together. It was slow going, and pretty painful for us all, but we did it. You have no idea how much you've helped her. She's more and more like the old Sookie all the time."

I let all of what he said sink in. I was feeling pretty pissed at Bill again. I wanted to kill him for abusing Sookie, and for taking advantage of her like he had. I was also incredibly sad. I just couldn't picture my fun, loving, caring, and kind Sookie ever being that depressed, nor did I want too. We finally grabbed the whipped cream, which we had been standing in front of for five minutes, and paid for it. I was quiet the whole way back to the apartment. I couldn't stop thinking about what Tray had told me.

As soon as we got back, I made a beeline for Sookie. I pulled her to me, one hand on her waist, one on the back of her neck. I kissed her. I kissed her with more passion and heat than I ever had before. She responded in kind until Amelia told us to get a room. We broke away from each other with goofy smiles on our faces.

"What was that for?" she whispered.

"Just because," I whispered back.

She smiled up at me, and it reached her eyes. I loved it when she smiled like that. Knowing that she probably hadn't smiled like that in a long time made me sad, but I was happy that I was the reason she was doing it again. She asked me for help with the turkey, and about a half hour later we were all sitting down at the table eating a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. We all ate until we were full, especially Tray, and then Sookie and I packed up some leftovers to take with us back to my apartment. We all pitched in to help clean up, and soon enough it was time to leave.

Sookie went to her room to get her bags. She was staying with me for four nights. I grabbed the food we were taking as Sookie hugged Amelia and Tray. I shook Tray's hand and Amelia gave me a quick hug, we all said our goodbyes, and then Sookie and I were out the door. When we got to my apartment, I stopped to put the leftovers in the refrigerator, and then helped Sookie take her bags to my room. She hadn't been in there before, and she really seemed to like it.

"You have a very big bed, Eric," she said as she sat down on it.

"What can I say, I'm a big guy," I replied as I pulled off my sweater, "So what would you like to do? We can watch a movie if you want, or would you rather go to bed? You look exhausted."

"Bed sounds nice. I am pretty tired. I got up early to start cooking."

"You did make an awful lot of food."

"I wanted there to be enough for Tray and Amelia to eat on after I left. I don't want them eating fast food the whole time I'm gone."

"Tray will have it all gone by tomorrow night," I laughed.

She joined me, "You're probably right."

She bent to take off her shoes, and I did the same. Then I took both pairs over to the corner where I kept all my shoes while Sookie rummaged through her bag.

"Eric, can you help me with my zipper?" She asked and turned her back to me, sweeping her hair aside with her hand. I kindly obliged, giving her one kiss on the base of her neck as I did so. "Thank you," she whispered.

"You're welcome."

I thought she might want to go to the bathroom to change, but she didn't. She let her dress fall into a pool of fabric around her feet, and then she stepped out of it. She was wearing a matching black lace bra and panty set, that made me want to throw her onto the bed and have my way with her. Unfortunately we were both tired, and so full that if we did anything fast we'd probably throw up. I quickly turned around and tried to focus on getting dressed myself. I pulled off my jeans, and put on my flannel pajama bottoms, and then pulled on my long-sleeved button up top. Only after I had it on did I realize how nerdy I probably looked. I had a feeling that Sookie wouldn't care though. When I finally turned back around, I saw that she was pulling on a T-shirt. She had on boy short underwear too, and I was wondering when she was going to put on some pajama pants, but she never did. She simply folded up her dirty clothes, and put them in her bag, and them turned around with her bathroom bag in hand.

"What?" She asked.

I was staring. "Oh, nothing. Aren't you cold in that?"

"No, this is what I always wear to bed. Do you want me to put on something else? I think I have some sweatpants in my bag."

She was purely trying to make me comfortable, and it made me smile. "No, what you have on is fine. I'm just feeling a bit like a nerd now," I said, gesturing to my clothes.

"You don't look like a nerd, and I happen to like flannel. I'm sure you'll feel great to snuggle up to," she smiled. "I'm going to use the bathroom."

"Okay," I said as she walked past me and into the bathroom across the hall. I went out to make sure the door was locked, and everything turned off. I heard Sookie come out of the bathroom and go back into the bedroom, so I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth.

When I got back to my room, Sookie was already under the covers on the right side. I smiled, because I like the left. I climbed in next to her, but sat up against the headboard.

"I need to tell you something." I had decided on the way back from the market to tell her.

She sat up with a concerned look on her face, "What is it?"

"You know I live off an inheritance, but I never told you who it was from."

She stayed silent, but nodded to let me know she was listening.

"I got it from my aunt Sophie. She was my father's sister, and she was always very fond of me. My parents wanted me to be lawyer, but literature was my passion, so my aunt encouraged me to pursue it. She was always buying me books, and taking me to plays. When she got sick, she didn't tell anyone, not even me. I suspect it was because she knew that if the family knew, she would have all sorts of family members sucking up to her to be put in her will. Most of what she had, she got when her husband died. She owned a lot of property, and lived quite comfortably. When it got to the point that we would have noticed that she was sick, she went back to Sweden for a vacation. She went there to die. I should have known. She cried when she told me goodbye, and once again encouraged me to do what made me happy. A couple months later we got the news that she had passed, and I was shocked. Her lawyer came to pay me a visit about a week after that. She left everything to me. All of her property, her money, and her possessions. All of it is mine. I own a house here in Louisiana, a flat and a country house in Sweden, and a lot of rental property. I could probably afford to never get a job at all."

I looked at Sookie, and she looked so sad. She reached out and held my hand. "I'm so sorry you lost someone you loved."

If it were anyone but Sookie, I wouldn't have been able to believe it. I had just told her, in not so many words, that I was extremely wealthy, and she hardly seemed to notice. Her only reaction was to feel sorry that I had lost someone dear to me.

"It's okay. She lived a good life. My whole point in all this that when I came to college, all my professors told me that I was technically a good writer, but my words had no emotion to them. They said I needed more life experience. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do it. I was afraid I would fail at this, and end up doing what my parents wanted of me. Sookie, since I've been with you, that's been changing. My writing has improved a lot and I get excellent feedback from my professors now. I feel inspired all the time. It's all because of you. You mean so much to me, and there are so many things already that I wouldn't have been able to do without you. I just wanted you to know that."

Her eyes welled up a little, but she didn't let any tears fall. I scooted down in the bed, and she immediately curled up next to me, our bodies molding together like they were made for each other.

"Thank you, Eric," she whispered.

"You're welcome," I replied, and with that, we both drifted off to sleep.

Awww...I just love him.

Surprise! I have the next chapter almost done, so there shouldn't be a long wait for another update! Yay!