Tyra's POV.
'So, these trusted vampires, do I know any of them?'I ask Eric while biting into one of the dried apricots I've taken from the bag on my lap, surprised when I taste that it's been spiced with cinnamon. It makes for a very nice flavour.
'There's one you know, Rob, one you've at least met, Fabien. The rest will be unknown to you though, they do not frequent Fangtasia in their leisure time' he replies slowly, eyeing the fruit I'm eating yet not making a sour face, looking like he's trying to work out if he can put up with the smell or not. Turns out he can when he moves closer to me, pulling my legs over his lap and stroking my thighs under the large towel that's still wrapped around me, and then leans in and gives me a slow, lingering kiss.
'Sorry, what was I saying? I get ever so distracted by you when you aren't wearing much' he then adds, making me laugh a little.
'And who are the rest?' I ask him with honest interest, after obliging him another kiss.
'They need no introduction other than the one you shall receive face to face with them. I'm calling a meeting with all of them, the werewolves too two nights from now. Until then, I'd appreciate if you didn't travel anywhere without either Pam or I with you. For someone to have sent the reaper out after you in the woods clearly points to the fact that you were being watched and you still may be too. I quite understand you have a life to lead, but I would rather you had more vampires aware of the situation and keeping an eye on you in night hours other than myself and Pam, and daylight hours are where your werewolves come in. If someone from Edgington's camp is watching you, I want someone from mine watching you too. At least when I'm not there to do it, and in the day time werewolf protection will be all you need, they're savage and strong enough to head off most things not vampiric, and at night, you will have me first and foremost and five others all aware and watching out for you too. It isn't ideal I realize this, but I have to do what I have to do in order to keep you safe. I hope you understand that' he tells me, while I nod immediately.
'Believe me; even I'm not so proud that I can't see I'm at danger, especially after what was sent to get me a week and a half ago. I completely understand your reasoning, and as long as you can promise me revealing what I am to these vampires and werewolves can be trusted to be kept quiet, and that they are all completely trustworthy in knowing, then I agree totally' I reply, Eric laughing a little, and quite darkly in reply at first.
'They are all aware of my wrath, and just how sizeable it is if I'm ever crossed. None of them would dare' he tells me quietly, but with steely assurance. You'd have to be very brave, or very stupid to cross a vampire as powerful and ferocious when he's angry as mine is.
'Then I agree' I tell him, being met with an efficient nod that closes the subject for now. After I've finished eating, cleaned my teeth and braided back my damp hair and hung up the towels in the bathroom we dress and head up to the club for a couple of hours, indulging in conversation about the events to come with one of the vampires who will be there, Rob the clubs DJ.
'My maker told me something about your kind once, that you'd be extinct for a very long time though' he says, after thinking over his words for a few moments. With Rob, there's a very long pause before he'll answer you. He's very thoughtful, and very quiet, and not very approachable unless he's used to you. Then he's fairly pleasant, only fairly though. It's safe to say he only tolerates humans; oddly enough for a vampire he isn't even keen on having sex with them, which is strange since feeding and sex often go hand in hand most favourably with vampires. But not Rob, he likes his girls dead and for the most part his food out of a bottle. 'So how can she be?' he adds after another long pause, addressing Eric while changing the track on the laptop in front of him without even looking, listening through one big can on his headphones as he holds it to his ear.
'She just is, you do not need to know specifics. And if you have any further questions they can wait until the meeting' he replies, Rob giving him a swift nod in reply before turning his attention to a human girl the other side of the booth, extending his head to her to hear her song request and then nodding his head and holding up four fingers, to indicate he'll put it on in four songs time. She hangs around giving him an expectant look for a few minutes, to which he raises his eyebrows in a 'what the fuck do you want' kind of manner, making her turn and leave with embarrassment written all over her face.
'Breathers' he scoffs darkly to Eric, who just raises his eyebrows and puts his arm around me.
'Not all of them are as infuriating as you think Robert' he replies casually, before steering me away and back over to the stage where we sit and look out over the masses, with me being entertained as always since my place by Eric's side naturally means I receive glares from virtually every fang banger in there. Like I say, it's something that amuses more than it bothers me, especially when I visit the bathroom after a while, and find four pairs of those glowering eyes all on me when I open the cubicle door after flushing.
'Ladies' I address them all with, as they stand with folded arms, looking both mean and expectant.
'So, there's one thing and one thing only that we wanna know' the ringleader looking woman asks as she steps forward, sweeping a hand through her mid length black hair.
'And what might that be?' I ask casually as I wash my hands.
'What in the name of all things unholy, is Eric Northman like in bed you lucky, lucky girl!' she then states in a voice totally changed as she and her friends begin to smile warmly and friendlily at me, showing me their mean facade was all just put on.
'We've seen you up there with him a few times now, so we assume you're like his girlfriend or something? But we didn't think he actually dated humans, we just thought he, ah, fucked and moved on to the next' another girl, with beautiful natural auburn hair all curly and free flowing down her back asks me.
'Yes, I'm his. But no, I'm not strictly human either so that explains it for you' I reply, not prickled by them at all. They seem a lot more level headed women than some that frequent this club, and sound more excited and curious than devious and nosey.
'Really? You're a Supe?' the woman who originally questioned me asks. 'What are you?' she then adds, using the shortened name for a supernatural I've often heard.
'I like to keep that to myself, no offence. But back to your original question, that I can answer for you, sex with Eric is like the greatest, most earth shattering orgasm you've ever had multiplied by a thousand. But sometimes, not even that description comes close, pardon the pun' I reply while the four women stand and giggle raucously.
'Well do us all a favour; enjoy him on my behalf too please!' The red head asks.
'Me too' come the voices of the other three women all at once, causing more laughter I actually join in on.
'Rest assured, I will' is all I answer them with, giving them a smile and a wink before I dry my hands and leave the bathroom, heading straight back to my vampire's side.
'Nicely handled' he comments, making me give him a quizzical look as I sip my gin over ice.
'Oh, been listening in have we?' I ask him, amusement all over my face.
'Yes I have, I watched them follow you into the bathroom, so thought it would be wise to sharpen my ears in that direction. And I must say, I do like it when you praise me so highly' he replies, looking thoroughly smug.
'You deserve it' I reply, smiling at him and then feeling a little shocked when he returns the same big smile, leans over and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, and then kisses me in front of everyone. As I've stated before he isn't into the whole public display of affection, so it surprises me whenever he does indulge in it. Pleasantly surprises me though I should add. 'Oh by the way, I'm starting to run out of clean clothes, would you mind chaperoning me home in a little while so I can go and collect some more, and put what I need to in the wash?' I then ask him.
'Yes, let's go now so we have enough time to get back before sunrise' he tells me, and with that agrees to meet me out by his car while I go and retrieve what I need to, before we head over to Bon Temps. We arrive outside my home at just gone 2am, and find that there's someone waiting for me on the porch as we pull up next to the house. But that someone is very welcome to my eyes indeed.
'Hello pretty kitty' I tell Poontang as she jogs over to me, meowing incessantly. I pick her up and kiss her head as I stroke her fur, Eric taking my keys from me and easily carrying my case full of dirty clothes into the house with him after he's opened the door, while I make a big fuss of the furry little princess in my arms. I've missed her a lot.
'Shall we just stay here tonight? It would save us having to rush back when you're all finished doing your washing and re packing clean clothes, and to be honest I think someone has missed her owner too' he tells me, coming over and reaching out to tickle Poon behind the ears, bracing his arm when she crawls from my grasp and walks along his huge muscular arm until she's sat perched on one of his broad shoulders, looking down at him and meowing, and then butting her face off his head and purring. She likes her Eric. 'And missed me too it would appear' he then adds, scratching her back and then removing her from his shoulder before taking off his long leather trench coat and placing it over the back of the armchair on his way to the couch.
'If you don't mind yeah, it'd be nice to spend a little time at home' I reply. It also means I can catch up on my work tomorrow too, since through Lafayette I organised all of my clients to send their overdue bookwork to his place (at my expense too of course), which I can go and collect from him in the morning, and to also thank him for caring for Poon so well for me too. And it turns out that when I enter the kitchen, little Poontang has been quite the spoiled cat by Uncle Lafayette and Uncle Jesus while I've been away. Before I get to the note Lafayette has left for me I've already noticed she has a brand new collar on, a purple one with little sparkles for detail. I wouldn't have picked it for her, but when you leave your cat with two gay men for a week and a half, these things are bound to happen...
Hey peach tree, hope everything is going well, haven't been able to get you on your cell so I left this just in case you popped home for anything. Just to let you know little miss kitty has behaved herself well, Jesus and I took her to Pet City the other day because her claws needed a trim (go there next time instead of the vets, they only charge you ten bucks!), and we picked up the new collar for her (she came back minus hers a few nights ago) as well as some toys while we were there. Her bed, transport bag and said toys plus her food (I brought her another bag of chow since she was running low) are all back at my place. And no, you don't owe me a dime either sugar. See you when I see you!
Immediately I call my friend to thank him, but find his cell has been diverted to voice mail, which means he's either 'getting his fuck/smoke/drink on' (as he words it, delete where appropriate) so just leave him a voice mail to tell him to text me when he's free and that I'll head over to pick everything up again. And with that I'm free to unpack my case and throw all my dirty clothes straight in the wash, and put back a few items I didn't wear into my closet when I head to my bedroom in search of fresh clothes to take back to Eric's with me tomorrow evening. It's good to be home, and it's good to be home with him too. But was isn't good is the timing of things after I've gone into my bedroom, put the clothes away and got some fresh ones out and then gone to my jewellery box, which a sudden plunge into darkness makes me drop all over the floor. Great, what a time for a power cut, and even with my improved night vision this shouldn't be a problem to locate all the small bits of jewellery currently scattered across the carpet, but I feel I need a little extra help. It was one hell of a large jewellery box. And then help arrives, carrying a candle with him that he uses to light the ones over on my dresser, and the small scented ones on either nightstand.
'There, I don't need the light but I thought you might, even with your improved vision' he tells me, placing the large green pillar candle he's carrying down on my dresser and crouching down to help me pick up all the jewellery that's been scattered all over the floor and underneath my bed.
'Greatly appreciated in this current situation' I tell him with a smile, holding out the box for him to tip a handful of jewellery he's collected up into, before something right under the bed catches his eye. And after half of him disappears underneath to retrieve it, after passing the small thin gold bracelet back to me it would seem something else has caught his eye.
'Well, what do we have here then?' he asks me with much interest in his voice. Who knows? I have absolutely no idea what the hell is under there, a lot of it was just 'random stuff' as I word it shoved under there because of lack of a better space when I first moved in. But when he pulls out the steel case lockable box, I remember soon enough. Especially since what's caught his eye was obviously put back haphazardly when it was last used, and is hanging over the edge of the shut box. A single lash of a cat o' nine tails; a real one too and not some cheap reproduction copy, which is revealed to a very, very interested Eric when I click open the locks and lift the lid.
'I forgot I still had all this stuff! I thought James took it with him when we split up. He was the boyfriend I had before Harrison, who was the only guy I've dated bar you that was even vaguely interested in all this' I reply, before laughing loudly at just how thrilled Eric looks as he gently slaps the cat o' nine tails off my bare shoulder. And then he goes back to the box, and begins to laugh that laugh I rarely hear; the amused little rumble that's much louder than his usual few bursts of air through his nose.
'Are so many buttons and whistles really necessary to bring a woman to orgasm? Oh, lights too' he says as we both laugh a little more, and he switches on the rampant rabbit sex toy I had stashed away in there, looking very amused by it as it rotates around, and a cluster of multi coloured lights flash at the bottom. It's very pretty and girly for my liking, but Anna brought it for me for my birthday years and years ago stating that I just 'had to try it', which is what I voice to him.
'And I take it since it's been stuffed in here that you tried it and didn't like it?' he asks me, turning it off again and putting it back in the box before he continues to rummage.
'It wasn't as impressive as she made out, too many of those buttons and whistles you mentioned. Besides, now I share my bed with someone who can move his tongue as quickly at this thing can vibrate I don't need it' I tell him with a wink, taking it back from the box and tossing it in the trash. 'It doesn't work properly any longer anyway, I wore it out in discovering if I liked it or not' I add, watching him pull a slight knowing face and hearing him mutter 'I can believe that' under his breath. So in reply I grab the cat o nine tails from him and give his arm a good whack with it, the leather making that sexy snapping noise (well, I think it's a sexy noise) it does just before it meets the muscles.
'Oooh, again' He says in a lust filled tone that also yields comic undertones. And so I do.
'Mmmm, again' he replies, starting to smile at me. And so I oblige him, but cannot stop laughing as I do at the face he's making. He rarely really makes me chuckle hard, but when he does I really do let go and enjoy it. He's a lot more humorous than you'd give him credit for, but only very, very occasionally. He isn't laughing later on that morning, when I'm flogging his bare back with it and licking away the blood afterwards. Oh no, the only noise he makes is that highly aroused growl I've come to expect and like from him.
'I think I enjoyed that a little too much' he tells me afterwards, after I've taken the cat o' nine tails into the bathroom to wash all the blood off the leather lashes, his blood and not mine. I don't like the feeling of it much, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy beating someone with it for their own enjoyment.
'Yes, my insides can vouch for just how much you did enjoy it too' I tell him, feeling very internally tender from the sexual battering my body just took as I climb into bed with him, curling up on top of him. I have of course drunk some of his blood for its healing effects, but it doesn't work instantly. But one thing that does come instantly is the sleep we both fall into just a few moments later, blissful, undisturbed slumber that we both need. And it's nice, so nice to fall asleep next to him knowing I actually can do just that, fall asleep without worrying about him now he's recovered. Our next task together is going to be finding out who sent that soul reaper after me in the first place, and more importantly, why. I wake up eight hours later, feeling refreshed and ready to start my day (even though it's 2pm in the afternoon when it starts) I firstly head over to see Lafayette and collect my cats things and all the box files of invoices he kindly took in for me before heading back to mine and beginning my work, work that lasts well into the night, even after the change in location after we head back to the club (Eric being adamant I'm not to be left alone at all until after the meeting tomorrow night), and I sit and tirelessly add up sums downstairs, while he entertains the masses by just sitting there looking as devastatingly handsome as he does. I often note that he has the easier job of the two of us, but don't you ever tell him I said that. Can you imagine the tirade? I can!
And as I sit and work, managing to catch up at speed since Eric's apartment is so far down that the noise from the club just doesn't penetrate the concrete I find contentment in the fact that I can come here to work undisturbed, that he really doesn't mind and also doesn't expect me to give him my sole and undivided attention at all times. He understands how much seeing him messes with my sleeping patterns, since my waking hours can switch from daylight to nocturnal at the blink of an eye. It's why I'm going to suggest we don't see each other unless he comes to me for about a week after he's arranged everything he needs to at the meeting tomorrow night, I'll need that long to catch up with everything and also all those daylight hours do come in useful for seeing my friends and family. I suppose I have to get around to telling my parents I'm in a relationship with a vampire at some point, even though I know how it'll go already. Dad will be fine I'm sure, he has a few vampires who work for him on the night shift (of course) at the shot blasting company he owns and manages just outside of Baton Rouge so I know he'll be totally supportive. My mother on the other hand, well, she has a tendency to worry. And not stop worrying, or questioning those she's worried about. But before my mind can sit and conjure up the scene between my mother and me when I tell her about Eric any further...speak of the devil.
'Far be it of me to tell you what to do, but you need to rein in your cookie consumption a little I think' he tells me, taking the packet off the table in front of me, screwing the top up and then putting them in the draw of the old, very old desk of his I'm sat at.
'Do you think I'm getting a little chubby then?' I ask him, totally honestly. And if I am, I want him to say yes so I can do something about it. I like honesty, I'm not one of these silly women who asks if she's put on weight just because she wants to hear a sugar coated lie that she hasn't, I genuinely want to know.
'Not at all, but if you keep eating those little chocolate baked goods at the rate you are, then you'll never fit this' he tells me, moving like lightening and opening the door to his walk in wardrobe to reveal a beautiful, elegant long black dress that makes my eyes feel like they're about to pop out of my head hanging up on the back of the door.
'Eric, it's beautiful! Thank you' I tell him, watching him make a pleased looking sort of face at my approval of his choice.
'You're very welcome' he tells me, taking it off the hanger for me while I strip off to try it on, him helping me with the zip once I've pulled it on. It's a beautifully cut dress I must say, it has two layers of fabric to it, one matt black and the other black iridescent with tiny little black crystals sewn onto it, only one shoulder, and a high slit almost to the thigh. 'I think Jean Paul outdid himself with this one' he then adds.
'Jean Paul?' I question.
'Gautier, it's a couture piece, so be careful with it' he tells me, while once again I feel my eyes bulge. Gautier couture is one thing other than incredibly beautiful, it's incredibly expensive too.
'I will be, and thank you once again, I feel very spoiled' I reply as he puts his arms around me.
'I like spoiling you' he replies, touching a finger under my chin to lift my head and plant a soft kiss on my lips. And it's then that I notice it, how...different he looks right now, and not in a bad way.
'You look...I don't know, there's something different about you. Does that sound strange? You just look, like something has changed' I voice to him, a little bafflement in my voice as I really can't work out exactly what is different.
'Something has changed' is all he replies with, smiling down at me before kissing me again. And little do I know it yet, but it doesn't take me long to find out what the change is either.
Authors note - As always, THANK YOU for the reads and reviews! You are ALL WONDERFUL! Keep them coming, I really enjoy hearing what you guys think! xxx