"And how are you going to overthrow the government?" I said.

Eric closed his eyes and used one hand to rub both of his temples. I could almost hear his internal sigh.

"We are discussing that."

"It's just," I said measuring my words carefully. "You must have tried at the beginning, and they're only stronger now."

"Yes," he said. "But now with your family also having so much at stake, I've contacted Niall to form an alliance."

"Wait, you don't need me to put you guys in touch?" I said.

He smirked at me. "I have other ways of contacting him." There was enough of a smile in his expression that his brush off didn't piss me off.

"Okayyyyy," I said.

"With what we know now, thanks to you," he continued. "Our hand is actually strengthened. We can counter-glamour. Kill our rivals. Go to CNN."

"Oh wow," I said. "You're going to expose them?"

Eric shrugged. "Not so much that it makes all vampires look bad, but yes, there will be some political intrigue."

"How very Frank Underwood of you," I said.

Eric looked at me blankly.

"Catch up with Netflix," I said, with a dismissive wave of my hand. "When will this all go down?"

"I've already put a call out to Niall and he should be here tomorrow to discuss," Eric said. "The plans could be put in motion as early as tomorrow night."

"And you've told him what I learned or are you dangling that in front of him?" I asked.

"I passed that information along," Eric said. "That is why I believe he will be there tomorrow."

"And I am invited to this meeting, right?" I said.

Eric nodded. "He expects to see you there in 'good health.'" He did air quote marks for the last bit. It was shocking how much more expressive he was when it was the two of us.

"So on to thing number two," I said, deciding to rip the bandaid off now that my family's future had been addressed. "I owe you an apology. A really big one."

Eric's eyebrow went up. My heart raced and my stomach filled with butterflies.

"Lochlan or Neave, or at least I think it was Lochlan or Neave, maybe there were other fairies there that night of the first party," I said rambling but forcing myself to maintain eye contact. "Anyway, they projected a fake thought to me. Of you. With someone. When you went to the feeding room."

Eric froze for a second and opened his mouth to say something before shutting it again without uttering a sound. "Ah," he finally said.

I swallowed. "Yeah. I should have thought it through, or asked you about it, or even marched in there and yelled at you instead of taking off like I did. It would have saved you and Claudine a lot of pain. My telepathy has never been messed with before so I thought it was real. I wouldn't have even thought to question it if they sent me a thought of Santa Claus flying through the sky. But acting the way I did was uncalled for."

The last few words I had looked down, blinking rapidly to keep back the tears. Saying it outloud was excruciating. How could I have been so stupid? They could have died and it was my fault.

"I'm really, really sorry, Eric," I choked out.

Eric crouched down to be in my field of vision.

"The captives did it again tonight?," he said.

I nodded.

"That explains your feelings and that look of shock," he said. "How did you know this time that they were fake?"

I barked out a laugh.

"They hadn't done their research apparently, and decided to include Andre enjoying someone with you."

Eric scoffed.

"Exactly," I said. "It's how I knew."

"Sookie," he said, taking my hands into his. "You haven't told me much about your telepathy but with the bond, I can feel your honesty, and your pain. I am not angry that you believed it. Can you also feel that I am not mad at you?"

It was true, I felt mellow feelings of acceptance from him. It was tempering my upset feelings. It didn't make any sense. "But how can you not be angry?" I said, ripping my hand away to wipe my tears away, which were stupidly falling freely.

Eric pulled my hands back to his. "I am still in awe of all you've done for me," he said. "I appreciate being informed of what happened but I don't think you need to apologize."

I sat there wiping away my tears.

"It is already forgotten," he said squeezing my hands. "We must talk about the bond."

I nodded, leaving a hand in his hands as I wiped away the last of my tears. Hopefully.

"What do you know about bonds?" he asked.

"Only what you told me," I said. "That after three exchanges it's permanent. Is that what happened tonight?"

Eric nodded. "I believe so. I've never bonded to anyone but the amount I can feel you, and the fact you can feel me, leads me to believe this is a permanent bond."

"Oh shit," I said. "I'm sorry Eric."

Eric looked at me surprised. "Why are you sorry?"

"Well, because, you have this bond with me, it must suck," I said. "I am kind of use to being tuned in to people all the time but you shouldn't have to deal with it."

Also, no matter what he said about it being okay, I did not see how he could be fine with being bonded to someone who had stormed off and put us in needless danger. I could have never have been so forgiving.

"No," Eric said, taking my hand again. "It's fine. I like it."

I looked at him unbelieving. But as I did, I became aware of some warm and fuzzies. They weren't mine.

"Why?"

"It's not a burden," he said with a grin spreading on his face, in what I imagined was a reaction to my wild feelings. "It's nice to feel such feisty fairy emotions."

"HEY," I said, taking a playful swipe at him. "I am so not that feisty and not even so much a fairy, thank you."

Eric grabbed my offending hand and pulled me to him after I was done mouthing off. He wrapped his arms around me and pressed the side of his face to the top of my head.

"And you will like feeling my infuriating vampire feelings, too," he said.

And he was right. It was wonderful being in his arms but I felt like we were both on the same frequency. I wrapped my arms around his waist. My mind felt even silenter than usual.

"Mmm," I said. "This is nice."

Eric reached down and tilted up my face and pressed his lips to mine. My eyes shot open but his eyes stayed closed and seemed untroubled by the situation.

So I went with it.

His arms went around my shoulders and before I knew it, he was slipping my dress off with my bra following. He made noises of appreciation as he took in my chest and then looked back at me. His fangs were out and I reached up to touch them lightly with my fingertips. That did it. He swept me up bridal style and laid me on the bed removing my undies in one fell swoop.

He crawled up my body and I moaned as I felt his fangs run across my breast. I realized I wanted him to bite me. And badly. But all he did was barely run them across my breast while using a little more pressure running his hands along my body. I felt pressure in my stomach start to build.

I braced myself waiting for a bite, but instead I was pushed forward against his headboard as he settled between my legs. I reached back and got a hold onto the headboard, just knowing I was going to need a grip on something.

I sucked my breath in as his tongue swept across me. His fangs were still out and running along my skin and still he never bit. The anticipation of it had my heart racing.

He ran his fingers up the inside of my legs before stroking me with two fingers, gently easing them in and out of me at the pace of his tongue. It wasn't long before I panted out an orgasm that he drew out with fingers and well-timed pressure on my clit.

He flipped me over and pulled me down so I was sprawled out on top of him in the middle of the bed, still riding the aftershocks. He was kissing my the side of my face and gently running his fingers down my back.

I sat up and moved down his body so I was sitting in his lap, straddling an impressive bulge. I unbutton his shirt and pushed it off his shoulders. He pulled his pants off in a blink of an eye. I ran my hands down his body and gripped him. I ran my hand up and down a few times, keeping eye contact with him. I lined him up with my entrance and lowered myself onto him.

We both moaned with his hands running down my back and settling on my waist. I pulled up a little and then started to sink down again. I repeated the process, lifting myself until just the tip was inside me before sinking down.

I stayed still for a moment, letting myself get use to him and revel in the feel. If I thought a hug felt nice with the bond, this was absolutely next level. I was feeling my pleasure but his was right there, filling me until I thought I would fly.

I started rocking my hips and pressed my hands into Eric's shoulders to get a good purchase. Eric moved his hands to my hips and helped me along.

He flipped us over so he was looming above me. He thrust in hard, but slowed the pace. It was a pace that built me up slowly, but I could feel orgasm could possibly blow me apart.

"Bite me," I said. "Please, Eric."

Eric leaned down and kissed my face to each of his thrust. He moved his mouth to my neck and started to nip, also in time with his hips. Right as I was about to cum, Eric bit. I screamed out and was pretty sure I saw stars as I came. Eric was still attached to my neck but managed to gruff out an impressive roar with a final thrust.

He detached from my neck and gave me shivers as he licked my neck clean. He was still nestled inside of me and I had my eyes closed in bliss. He shifted, sadly detaching us, so we were laid there with his arm under my head as I caught my breath. I slung my arm over his chest and snuggled close.

"Will everyone be able to tell we are bonded," I asked a few minutes later, breaking the comfortable silence.

"No," Eric said. "And we should keep it that way in the meantime. It may prove advantageous."

"But wouldn't Andre have been acting on Sophie-Anne's orders? So he will have had to have told her something," I said.

"I don't think Sophie-Anne knows," Eric said. "She hasn't said anything or done anything to make me think she know. I wouldn't be surprised Andre would do this without permission, thinking it would please her."

I propped up my head on my hand. "Do you think she would have been pleased?"

"It would depend on how you reacted," he said, turning to look at me. "If you were upset about it, she would not have seen it as worthwhile to piss off Niall's kin. But otherwise, yes probably."

Eric reached out and pulled me to him, putting my head back on his arm and wrapped it around my back.

"But instead you lucked out and are stuck with me," he said. "It's almost dawn. We will talk more tonight, lover."

I hadn't been sure about the sleeping arrangements but was pleased we were in a room that he could stay in. Considering he had pretty much fucked me sleepy, I was right there with him being dead for the day.

I woke up around four, wrapped around Eric as usual, and haphazardly put on my dress sans underwear and bra and ordered food. I figured I was presentable enough to grab food and slam the door in whoever's face. When I heard a knock, I tried to check the brain on the other side of the door, but he just dropped off the food and went on his merry way. I opened the door and found a meal on a tray next to a huge Saks bag.

I grabbed both and shut and locked the door quickly. There were no windows in the hallway but I didn't like the exposure anyway.

I peeked into the bag and found a few dresses and undergarments in my size. There was also a toiletries bag and a shoebox with a pair of black Lanvin ballet flats. At the bottom was some men's clothing that looked to be Eric's size. The bag reeked of Pam's expensive style but I would have to wait until Eric woke up to find out for sure. I stuffed myself on the food in the meantime, the fried chicken and the side kale salad were excellent. I felt the food coma coming on and groggily slipped out of my dress, passing back out next to Eric.

I woke up again to find a very happy vampire leaning over me, inhaling around my neck. I was glad I had managed to get my dress off before going back to bed.

After a quick but satisfying romp, Eric checked his phone and said we had to get to Sophie-Anne's office. He went to the Saks bag and pulled out the men's clothing.

"I had Pam get us some clothes," Eric said by way of explanation.

"I didn't think she would piss on me to put a fire out," I said. "She was not pleased, to say the least, about you getting hurt on account of me."

"Pam will do as I say," Eric said. "Including protecting you."

"That doesn't mean she's going to be easy to be around," I said under my breath.

We dressed and headed down stairs. As we crossed the hallway to Sophie-Anne's study, Eric took my hand in his. He knocked on the door with his other hand and waited until we were called in.

The office was packed. All the vampires from last night, plus Niall and his guard and my brother.

"Jason," I exclaimed, dropping Eric's hand to rush over. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey sis," he said, pulling me into a hug. "I'm here to save the world with you."

"Uh, ok Jay," I said turning to make eye contact with Niall who nodded at me in a reassuring way that I hoped meant Jason was not in charge of anything important. "Sounds good."

"You will have time to chat later," Sophie-Anne said to me. "We must begin this meeting now."

Eric looked stoic but the feelings he was projecting were a little miffed. I stifled a smile and walked back over to him. I casually pressed my arm against his, presenting my hand to him if he wanted to take it again. He smoothly pulled my hand into his and I squeezed.

The meeting was shorter than I imagined. Plans were in place. Vampires would be going out and glamouring American politicians to be disgruntled with being subservient. They wouldn't want to overthrow them, just redistribute the power more equitably. That would be done through legal channels and take months. So in the short term, the worst of the vampires government were going to be taken out one by one to keep them from figuring things out for as long as possible. Niall was responsible for keeping Breandan's people busy in Fae.

To keep the other side from getting suspicious, some vampires that use to be in charge, like Sophie-Anne and Eric, were going to go about their normal life. Sophie-Anne said they were being watched, and maybe even had more leaks like Hugo, so they along with some other former leaders would keep a low profile. Maybe even help throw off the scent.

Sophie-Anne clasped her hands together. "We will still have these meetings regularly. They would be more suspicious if we didn't appear to be planning something. But we will drop clues of a big offensive instead of the current arrangements."

She ended the meeting and we trickled out of the office. Niall came up to me and Eric, who was still holding my hand. He nodded formally at Eric and turned to me, asking what I planned to do.

"I'm going to stick around," I said shrugging. "I don't have a role right now but that could change. Maybe I'll find a leak."

Niall turned to Eric. "Take care of her vampire," he said. He walked off before either of us could respond.

I turned to Eric a little mortified. "Sorry, he's protective," I said. Eric's eyebrow went up.

Jason came over, chest puffed out. Oh lord help me. I was going to have to apologize for another male family member.

"Hey Sook," he said. "This your new man?"

I heard him think about Claudine informing me that I was dating a vampire and letting him know under no circumstance was he to make a big deal about it. But in his opinion, he still had to do his big brother duty and let Eric know that if he hurt me, there would be consequences. Vampire or not.

"Yes Jason, this is Eric," I said. "Eric, this is my brother Jason."

Both nodded at each other. Well, Jason sort of jutted his chin out in a vaguely 'hey man' way.

"You hurt her dude," Jason said. "And you're dead. I mean, you're dead already but I'll kill you again."

Eric smiled widely, fangs out. He was taking all these threats so well.

"You don't have to worry about me," Eric said.