Chapter 28
Sookie POV
Oh shit.
I ease away from Eric, carefully pulling my shirt up to examine the wound, bracing myself against the pain.
Only, there's no pain.
My stomach is totally unmarked, except for a blood-smear that has soaked through my shirt. I look over at Eric to see that the blood that I thought was mine is actually his. His red spot is a little bigger, but I can tell that the blood-flow is slowing, and that he's already healing.
Something primal rears up in me, and I need to be kissing Eric. Now.
That's not hard to accomplish, since we are still pretty closely entwined. I pull him close and do what I have been wanting to for so, so long. I don't think about why, or my plan, or how if Eric had sat down on the other side of me I might be dead. At first it's just mindless; crushing my mouth over his, franticly stroking his tongue with my own.
Slowly I calm down enough to leisurely suck on his lower lip, twining my fingers in his hair. As though it is a monumental feat, he pulls his head away from mine. His eyes are bright with pleasure, and something else.
"Sookie, quickly, you must suck the bullet out."
"Suck it out?" I repeat dumbly. That's right, Eric tricked me…
"Yes, it will heal over and stay inside me otherwise."
Eric is trying to trick me into drinking his blood my brain narrates. My lust, my gratitude and whatever other feelings I have for Eric get pushed aside and I am blinded momentarily with rage. I will not be controlled. I will not ingest one drop of blood on these terms.
I swallow my anger, and smile. No sir, I won't be tricked this time.
"Sookie, please." His tone is serious, and would be really convincing if I didn't already know the score.
I can tell he is trying to rush me. No doubt because the bullet will just pop out on its own given a little more time. Luckily, I can think of a really good way to buy myself that time.
I lean in to kiss him again. Slowly biting and teasing his lips. I can tell he wants to protest, ask me to suck out the bullet again, but I don't let up. If ever I needed proof of my sexual power over Eric, this is it. He can't seem to make me stop, even to get something he really wants: his blood inside me. Soon we are making out like teenagers again, and I find my way to his lap, straddling him. I grind down on him, just a little, swiveling my hips in a small circle.
Just as I complete the circle, I feel something small drop into the groove created by my thigh against his lower abdomen. I pull away a bit and carefully reach down to pick up the bullet.
My face and tone take on an ironic seriousness. "Well, would you look at that? The bullet just came out all on its own."
Eric's face goes blank, showing nothing, but I've totally caught him and he knows it.
I take the bullet and wipe the residual blood off onto his shirt, and put it in my pocket. I lean it to his face again, but this time it isn't to kiss him. Eric does not respond well to threats, and he doesn't like intimidation, but he needs to understand my complete seriousness. I'm only a few inches from his face now, and bring my hands back up to his hair to angle his head so that we are on the same level looking eye to eye.
"Don't ever, ever, try to trick me into drinking your blood again." I don't even recognize my voice. If it didn't sound like such a stupid description, I would say that I sound dangerous. Eric tenses under me and all around me. He looks like he's about to loose it. His teeth are bared, and he's gripping the sofa on either side of himself.
I'm not going to lie. I'm a little scared. I'm also incredibly turned on, and I know that I can't just leave it at that. I have more I need to say.
In order to say it, that is, in order to keep him from storming away (or worse), I need to do some serious damage control: I lean in and carefully run my tongue over his lips, slowly tracing his exposed fangs (without so much practice kissing vampires I probably would have cut myself. Let him chalk it up to natural talent). He still looks pissed, but now he mainly looks confused and aroused.
I kiss down along his jaw, past his ear and lightly over his neck. I tongue the place where his pulse would be if he were human. "Eric" I whisper, in what I want to be a seductive voice. It mainly sounds desperately horny, but I guess that will have to do. "Eric, if and when I do have your blood…" I leisurely bite at his neck; at first as softly as I can, gradually increasing the pressure until I am right on the precipice of breaking his skin. I am one tiny movement away from letting his blood flow into my mouth.
He lets out a deep guttural moan that practically shakes the whole sofa.
I ease off his neck, no longer biting at all. I hover, letting my breath hit his neck as I speak: "If and when I do have your blood, it will be because I want to." I kiss lightly back along his jaw up to and face, meeting his eyes. "It will be because I want you; because I want all of you inside me. Not because of a trick or a game." I move his hair aside and place one final peck on his neck where I almost bit him, and sit back.
"Sookie."
That's all he says. We sit there for a whole minute, just looking at each other. I have no idea what he's thinking, but I think he's gotten the message. He slowing runs his hands over my back, and I settle into him, switching positions so I'm just leaning against his body as before, only this time with my legs swung over his lap.
I rest against him suddenly totally at ease, and revel in the fact that now, more than ever, he feels like my Eric.
Eric POV
I am enraged.
I should be enraged.
Never has a human spoken to me thusly; never and lived. I tighten my arms around her as she repositions herself across my lap. We seem to have come full circle: from sitting quietly together, to getting shot at, to Sookie threatening me, to sitting quietly together.
'If and when I have your blood'
I rub my face in her neck to relieve some of the tension that builds at recalling her words. Despite her forcefulness, I cannot help but admire her. It was a game well-played; she has proven again and again that she is a difficult woman to fool. But I had to try. My need for her is overwhelming me. Having her take my blood would give me some level of control, some way to know what is happening. We are so similar. So determined that the only one who should have power over us is ourselves. But there are powers out there that cannot be controlled; cannot be fought. Total randomness, unpredictability.
Like when a fucking religious fanatic tries to shoot you. So silly; just a small hunk of metal. Humans do have a talent for finding the most efficient ways of killing one another.
She was almost shot. She was almost taken from me.
I repress a growl. I hate this. I hate feeling this. She is causing me to feel fear. Fear. Me. I have not feared anything in my human or vampire life, but now…
Yes, for a split-second I was afraid for her life.
Sometimes I don't wonder if I am under some kind of spell. These feelings. But then I look at her, and think of all she has done, all she could do, and I know it must be real.
'If and when I have your blood'
'…when I have your blood'
I hold her close, and let myself just enjoy her warmth. She looks up at me with a small smile and brushes her lips against mine and mutters "Thank you."
Bill walks up to us, and with no inflection says: "Our plane leaves in one hour; we must depart."
He totally ignores that Sookie is on my lap. Good; if I had my way he would ignore her completely. We stand, and I make a mental note to send Sookie a new blouse… and a pair of flip flops.
I kiss her on the cheek and walk toward the door with Bill.
We are almost out the car when we hear Sookie scream from inside the house.
Bill and I are by her side in the kitchen in an instant, and find her kneeling on the tile over the young man I was 'rude' to.
"Toby!" Sookie yells.
He is face-down in a pool of his own blood.
