A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed and added this story to your lists. A huge thanks to my beta, Charhamblin.
CH owns SVM, I'm jsut playing around.
Chapter 37
The Mercury is Falling
S~
My back hit first and stars burst before my eyes as my head followed suit, slamming on the ground and rattling my brain painfully. Without thought, my left hand shot up toward my attackers' neck, making contact and pulling her closer so I could slam the heel of my free hand to her nose.
She screamed in rage as my aim struck true and I had to block another blow to my face while I rolled us over and jumped to my feet. I took the offensive this time and feigned a kick to her shoulder but actually making contact with her face, allowing my kick to carry all my force. She stumbled back, blood dripping from her eyebrow as well as her nose now and suddenly her backward momentum shifted into a low crouch.
Shit, I knew this move and I had yet to figure out how to defend against it. Last time, I'd tried to meet her head on like a rugby player and had landed on my back, so this time I tried jumping over her as she lunged at me. She had aimed low, her whole body horizontal to the ground, but at the last moment, her upper body moved in impossible ways and she grabbed my airborne legs, piercing my skin with her nails.
We both hit the ground and she clawed her way up my body, giving me a chance to knee her in the neck, kick my legs free from her grasp and climb atop of her. I grabbed her by her short, light brown hair and smashed her face into the floor and then screamed when she grabbed my hand and twisted it with both of hers. I had to roll off her to keep the bones of my wrist attached, but on the way, I landed another blow to the back of her neck with my opposite elbow.
She pushed herself up onto her knees and let go of my wrist, grabbed my hair and cocked her hand back to punch my face. Right before I defended myself with a kick to her head, a loud alarm sounded from the side of the room, bringing all action to a halt.
Sheila sat back on her heels and wiped the blood off her face with the bottom of her shirt. "Another stalemate thanks to your boyfriend," she said as she backed away from me, retrieved her phone and sent Eric his requisite text for that period of thirty minutes. Most of Eric's 'requests' for security precautions were reasonable, but this was one that I would have found a way around, if I had to do it. Sheila didn't seem to mind and she stuck to the routine of reporting to him like clockwork.
"Are you referring to my husband or your boss?" I asked, looking down at my bloodied legs, which were already healed.
She laughed, "Uh-oh, I'd better watch out, the fairyfae's getting feisty now," she taunted as she reset the timer on her phone and rolled her shoulders a few times.
Against all odds, I was beginning to find a sick form of enjoyment from my enforced time with Sheila. She was a royal bitch all right, but she had a good sense of humor and was the first supernatural training partner I'd ever had who was willing to beat the crap out of me and not worry when I bled a little. The Britlingens had been happy to train me until I was completely exhausted, but I'd had to wear my armor all the time so I was protected from the intensity of the blows and from any injuries. They would be absolutely horrified to see my blood being spilled this way. I didn't mind, I found it freeing and a great way to release my tension.
Once I'd learned that Sheila healed faster than the average shifter, I was eager to get back in the training room with her. She was happy to oblige and we'd spent some time here yesterday and now today. The only rule to our engagement was that she couldn't shift and I couldn't use my 'extras' as she called them, including my telepathy.
"Don't you need a rest? After all you're really just a mutt, you shouldn't push yourself so hard." I tossed back at her. I was getting better at holding my own with talking smack with her, although I still was somewhat cautious about what I said. She was so good at it because she didn't care if she hurt anyone's feelings.
"Thanks but no, however you might want to go hide behind your boyfriend, I think I spilled a little of your blood there. Maybe you need him to save you," she said with a slight smile and then she chugged a whole bottle of water.
I helped myself to a few sips of my own bottle, "I think I'll be just fine since I healed before you picked your bruised body up off the mat. How about you? I don't want you unable to do you job of protecting my husband," I said with false sincerity.
"I'll be healed by tonight. I'm a mutt, remember?" she said with a wicked smile, her yellowish-green eyes sparkling with pride at her heritage. I was more curious than ever to learn exactly what that heritage was, but she wasn't willing to share just yet.
"Are you ready, you've wasted enough time already. Only twenty-five minutes until you have to report back in to your boss," I said walking back out to the center of the mat.
"Yeah? She countered, "and whose fault is that, Miss. 'I'm going to forget my phone and be over five hours late'."
I grimaced; Eric was still recovering from those five hours. Last night I'd returned half an hour early and we'd gone through our steps of continuing my weapons training, but he wasn't himself. He'd yelled at Will when his guard had thrust his sword at my prone chest after knocking me to the ground during a fantastic training session in which I had been holding my own and keeping him on the defensive over half the time.
My armor had held firm as both Will and I had known it would, but Eric had demanded on taking over as my instructor again at that point. I learned a lot from him of course, but I needed more and I needed it from someone who was less overprotective of me.
Today Sheila and I were definitely giving each other 'more.' We'd been in the training room for three hours already, having met here right after sunrise. The goal had been to see who would have won the fight that Eric interrupted the first night I was introduced to the guards, but each time we fought, we were interrupted by the damn timer before we determined a winner.
"I didn't need it," I said in a voice that was more like a growl, sick of defending my actions. She threw her empty bottle of water at me and I batted it away.
"Right. The prince of the fairies is out to get you and you don't need a phone or a weapon. You're an idiot," she said circling me.
"I have weapons," I said, "do you want to see them?"
She smiled nastily at me, "That's alright, I already saw your 'weapons' yesterday, remember?"
I had to laugh at that one, recalling the look on her face as we teleported for the first time. She'd grabbed onto me like I was her life raft and in the process, ended up with her face smashed into my bikini-clad cleavage. The look on her face had been beyond priceless and had given me my first belly laugh in what felt like forever.
"I thought shifters were all fine and dandy with nudity? What? Are you a were-prude? Is that your secret?" I asked, still smiling. I knew that her attack was coming and that this conversation was just an attempt at distraction.
"I'm fine with my own nudity, I don't need yours too. Keep that for your boyfriend."
"Husband," I corrected again with a snarl and then I lunged at her, signaling the start to our next session.
o-o-o
"Holy shit!" Sheila exclaimed as she stumbled away from me, wrenching her arm out of my hand and eventually ending up falling onto her jeans clad ass on the hard, but luckily for her, well-worn volcanic rock.
I laughed out loud at her again. I was filled with euphoria at the sight of this annoying woman rubbing her ocean water covered ass with a look of mixed shock and nausea apparent on her tough-girl face.
Yesterday morning, I'd prepared her for the variety of things that might happen to me here and had warned her about Pele's son, telling her to keep her distance from him if he made an appearance. She wouldn't have a chance against him, hell, I couldn't think of anyone who could defeat him besides Pele.
Of course she'd argued with me about every step in my plan and every suggestion I made for her and so I'd given up. What did I care if she was uncomfortable in her jeans and black shirt with no blanket or towel and definitely no bathing suit? At least she'd agreed to slap on some sunblock and had covered her eyes with a pair of wide sunglasses, but she'd refused a hat, saying it would block her vision. Hopefully her short cut hair and black tank-top would keep her cool enough.
I watched her curiously as she surveyed the area. Again I was struck with the belief that she wasn't a Were and tried to determine just which type of shifter she could possibly be. She stood still, facing the cliffs, only turning enough to visually inspect each inch of the land around us. As she scanned, she sniffed the air and tilted her head slightly to the side, listening intently.
After a few minutes, she grumbled to herself and climbed a rock wall; occasionally leaping from one rock to another using that same slinking pattern of movement I'd seen her use in the training room. I was pretty sure that she had to be some kind of predator, but something more feline and flexible than the wolves.
Once she settled down, alert but still, and almost faded into the background, I had to focus on myself. I'd hoped this would be easier today, and it was. In fact, I really didn't feel a thing besides a general level of comfort. Excellent.
I removed my backpack which contained my weapons, cell phone, extra change of clothes, sneakers, towel, water and some food Sheila brought for both of us. I still hadn't figured out where I could get food on my own, it just seemed to appear when I needed to eat. That would have to change soon.
Freed from my physical burden, I stood and stripped off my shorts and shirt, having learned yesterday not to travel with Sheila without a shirt over my bikini top.
I spent some time in the water, just floating, enjoying the water and the morning's bright sun. Then I swam over to my rock seat, which unfortunately was right below Sheila's perch. It was time that I explored the give side of the give and take of power more actively. I gathered up the new energy I'd gained from the water and sun, placed my hands on the rocks around me just below the water's surface and pushed the energy out, enthusiastically envisioning the cycle I belonged to.
The release of energy felt good and I was in the middle of a deep sigh of relief when the energy rebounded on me and a huge wave hit me at the same time, picking me up and tossing me up onto the rocks right at Sheila's feet.
"Well, damn." I heard Sheila's laughter filled voice say over the crashing of water, "Who'd you piss off now, Fairyfae?"
Good question. I shook my hair out of my eyes and rearranged my bikini top, which had shifted significantly before looking up at Sheila. I had to smile when I saw her brushing water out of her eyes and frowning down at her soaked jeans as huge drops of water fell from the rocks above her.
"Who knows," I answered, "I never got my instruction manual."
Maybe I wasn't supposed to try and give the energy back quite so directly. Maybe just the normal energy I spent during my days and nights was enough to maintain the cycle. It had worked for me until now, so I decided to stop trying so hard, hoping that simply spending time here on Hana would suffice. I picked myself up off the ground and found a smooth rock to sit on while I caught my breath.
"So what's the deal? Why do you come here?" Sheila asked. I shrugged and we sat in silence for a few minutes. Sheila got impatient, "So you come here because…?" She asked leadingly.
"And you're interested because…?" I threw back at her.
She sighed, "Listen, I know you said you come here to heal and to gain energy, but it doesn't seem to be doing much for you today and you were pretty strong this morning. You were stronger than yesterday at least so is there somewhere else we could go? This spot is a defensive nightmare. You said you lived around here. Why not go home?"
I glanced around the inlet, but I didn't feel pulled here anymore and she was right that this was a very hard place to defend against attack. Maybe it was time to move on. I nodded at Sheila and stood to go retrieve my backpack. Once I had the bag secured, I turned back to her with my hand held out, "It's probably best if we teleport," I said trying and failing to hide my smile.
"How far is it?" she asked, clearly wanting to walk instead. "Only a few miles, but you're going to have to get used to traveling this way with me anyway and you don't want to be stumbling around in front of the guys. Eric has only teleported with me once, but he didn't even flinch. You're on your fourth try, so it's probably better to get used to it when it's just you and me."
"Like that's any better," she muttered looking so unhappy that I took pity on her. "Listen, it might help if you had a clear picture of where we're going in you mind. Let me share my thoughts with you for a minute so you can at least pretend that you're in control. Maybe you can fool your body into thinking that you are," I said with a shrug.
"Keep out of my head," she said aggressively and I sniggered. "I'm always in your head when I'm trying to listen for anyone else, you're a little difficult to ignore, especially when you're spewing hate at me like you were the first night we met." It took her a minute to process that and then she just shrugged, deciding that she didn't care what I heard. She was convinced she wouldn't think anything she wouldn't say and as far as I could see, she was right.
"Fine, go ahead," she said, holding out her hand to me. I gave her my forearm to grab, projected the image I had of my backyard into her mind and teleported us both there. To her credit, she only stumbled a little when we arrived, "Yeah, that worked," she said as she released my arm and looked around. "You live here?" she asked incredulously, "Tough life you lead."
I ignored her, grinning like a fool as I looked around my home again. I'd missed being here so much. Although neither Hunter nor I had been here in over a year, it still looked perfect and there were signs that the landscapers had been by recently. Even the flowers on my porch looked healthy, someone must be watering them. Macey, it had to be Macey or one of the girls.
I wandered up the walkway and onto the lanai to the backdoor where I activated the fingerprint door lock. The door unlocked and I swung it open, very happy to be back. I pointed out the bathroom to Sheila and told her to feel free to explore, but she insisted that I wait while she explored around the house for any intruders. I sighed since I knew full well that no one else was on the property, at least not a being that I could sense.
Once she gave me the go-ahead, I set some water on to boil to make iced tea. Thankfully someone had been in here to empty the fridge and take out the garbage when I'd disappeared to Britlin for a year. That would have made for a very unfortunate welcome home surprise.
A few minutes later, we were settled down at the cliffs, me on the rocks, looking out at the water and Sheila in a chair, facing the land. She was much happier here, feeling that she was at less of a disadvantage in this environment than at the bottom of the bowl of the inlet.
She actually relaxed a little and after a while, she was ready to talk again. "So what are you really? Eric says you're a mixture of fairy and another type of fae, but you don't act like any fairy I've ever met."
I shrugged, lying down on the rocks and closing my eyes, "There are all kinds of fae," I said. She snorted, "Great. Thanks. That's really going to help me protect you two."
I opened my eyes again, propped myself up on my elbows and looked at her, "What are you?" I asked pointedly.
"I'm your guard," she responded. I closed my eyes and reclined back down on the rocks. When she realized that I wasn't going to say anymore, she gave it one more try. "I'm a shifter."
The corner of my lip twitched, so we were going to play that game. Once again I found myself enjoying her even though she annoyed me, "What kind?" I asked.
She answered with a question, "What kind of fae are you?"
I shook my head in frustration; this was going nowhere. I decided to take the first step, she probably knew everything I was willing to tell her anyway and if not, she needed the information. "What do you know about the fae?" I asked.
She made a face and then sat back in her chair, eyes and ears still alert, but she answered me, "I know the most about fairies since Eric does so much with them, but we've met some elves too. I was young during the recent fae war, but I've learned that two of the clans, water and sky fought and at the end the sky fairies won and closed the portal into this world, leaving behind all the trouble we've been dealing with ever since."
I nodded, "Right, so there are fairies with an affinity to water or the sky and there are fae with an affinity for the land. I'm a combination of sky and land although since the sky and water fairies have now joined together, I imagine that they're really one and the same now. But who really knows what's going on in Faery?" I deliberately left out any mention of fae with an affinity for fire, since Eric and I had decided to keep my true heritage a secret for now.
"So I'm guessing that the land fae and sky fairies don't get along," she said with a flat voice and I laughed sadly.
"Not in the least," I said.
"So which do you consider yourself to be?" she asked.
Another good question, "Both, I guess, but also neither. I don't belong with either group, since they hate each other so much," I said with a wave of my hand.
We sat quietly for a while, but I couldn't get anything from her since her mind was back on securing the area. She was certainly serious about her job. After she was confident that we were still alone, she relaxed again.
"What about you?" I asked.
She quickly glanced at me and then returned her eyes to scanning for dangers, "I'll tell you since Eric already knows. I'm a hybrid too," she finally answered.
I sat up again, staring at her, "I didn't know that was possible," I said. I knew that to create a were-panther, two full-blooded panthers had to mate for the first time, but beyond that, it was pretty confusing to me.
"I'm the exception, not the norm. My dad's a were-cheetah and my mom was a were-coyote, but it's the demon blood way back on my dad's side that makes me really unique here in the states." I gave her a wide-eyed look, so she continued. "There's a large population of demons in Africa, they played a big part in the indigenous shifter cultures there. Many African-based were lines have demon blood somewhere in the mix since their blood makes us stronger and more resilient while not affecting our ability to breed successfully reproducing shifters."
"I thought you were from the Long-Tooth Pack in Shreveport," I said, truly intrigued now.
"I am. Being part coyote, I'm happiest as part of a pack so when I moved here for this job, Eric set me up with Alcide's pack since he knew them best. I run with the local pack at the full moon, but I'm officially affiliated with the Long Tooth Pack."
"It's nice they don't care that you're not a wolf," I said, unable to avoid drawing a parallel between our situations.
She looked at me as she took a sip of her iced tea and she too knew what I was really saying. "Yeah, it is. Some of them don't like it, but they have to do what their pack master says."
That seemed to bring that part of the conversation to a close, so I rolled over and just enjoyed relaxing in this beautiful place. Following my initial pleasure at being here, I realized that it felt empty without Hunter and it no longer felt like home with Eric being so far away. It was a comfortable and familiar place to be, but my home was with Eric now, wherever he was.
I thought about all the times I sat out here dreaming of Eric, wondering what he was doing, how he was and I had to stop myself from popping back to him. We were together again, but spending my days here was part of the price I needed to pay for being with him in Louisiana. I would do it and treasure every minute we had together at night.
I registered that Sheila got up to wander along the wooded areas close to us twice and when I sat up to get a drink, she returned with something on her mind. I finished my drink and reached over to grab my backpack since I was getting hungry.
"Because I didn't want to kill you," I said, answering her unspoken question.
"What?" she said, on the alert again, scanning and listening.
I chuckled; I enjoyed playing with her, "You were wondering why I didn't use my powers against you when we were fighting the other night." I left it at that as I dug to find the cooler bag and smiled when I opened it and saw two turkey, walnut and cranberry wraps, two containers of almonds and two more with strawberries and blueberries. I tossed Sheila her food and a fork and began eating.
"You wouldn't have killed me," she said after swallowing a huge bite of the wrap.
"Really?" I answered skeptically.
"No, as you saw, I heal quickly."
I looked up at her, "Is that because you're a shifter or due to the demon blood?"
She smiled, obviously proud of her abilities, "Demon blood, I heal much faster than basic shifters."
I looked at her closely; her bruises and small cuts were already fading. I wouldn't tell her, but I was incredibly relieved that I hadn't actually hurt her. I didn't care if it made me weak or soft, I don't want to cause anyone, who didn't harbor true ill will toward me, any injury.
"Are you honestly telling me that you'd like for me to burn you? Because that's what I did to Will and James. I don't think you'd like it and I can't imagine that you'd heal as fast as they did." She shrugged and tilted her head slightly in acknowledgment of my words. "Yeah," I said, "I didn't think so."
She shot me a dirty look so I changed the topic slightly, "Do all demons heal quickly?" I asked. Sheila kept her eyes on the surroundings, searching for dangers, "Full and half-blooded demons can't be hurt in a fistfight. It takes a very skilled warrior with an exceptional weapon to take down someone with that much demon blood."
I shivered as I remembered very clearly the demon remains in my backyard, "I remember," I said quietly. Sheila's eyes were suddenly on me.
"You saw Gladiola get killed?" she asked and then tore her gaze from me to return to her scanning.
"After. How'd you know it was Gladiola I was thinking of?" I demanded.
She shrugged, "The Cataliades and Maimonides families are two of only a few demon clans in this country, and she's the only one who's been killed in the last fifty years or so. I just made a guess."
"Do you know Mr. Cataliades or Diantha?" I asked, trying to hide my interest in the lawyer. I'd been thinking it was time to contact him again.
"Not really, I grew up in Oklahoma as part of my Mom's coyote pack and never really explored my dad's side of the family until a few years ago."
"Are you related to the Cataliades family?" I asked, curiosity getting the best of me. I knew demons mated with humans since Mr. Cataliades was a half-demon. Actually, I'd always just assumed that the other half was human, but now that I thought about it, he could have been part shifter or something else all together. If I'd learned anything being a telepath, it was that it was stupid to assume that anything was really what it appeared to be at first glance.
"Demons have been in Africa and breeding occasionally with shifters there for thousands of years. From what I hear, the Cataliades family has only been here for a hundred years or so, but I don't know where they came from originally. So I don't have a clue. Why are you so interested? How do you know them?"
"Sophie-Anne used Mr. Cataliades as her lawyer and I had to work with him a few times," I answered cryptically.
"Yeah, but I heard that he and Eric had a falling out when Eric took over as king. He uses a couple of different lawyers and occasionally demons from other states, but mostly it's that dirty little human that I don't trust, Glassport."
I groaned, "Don't trust him and don't be alone with him, he's got one of the most disturbing minds I've ever heard and no redeeming characteristics except perhaps that he values money and his life so Eric can manipulate him with threats and bribes."
She shot me an irritated look and rubbed a hand through her tawny hair, "Like I couldn't figure that one out on my own," she huffed.
"Do you know how to contact Mr. Cataliades?" I asked nonchalantly, but she glared at me quickly.
"No, and you'll have to talk to Eric about that before you do any more fishing. He doesn't trust Cataliades and he doesn't like people going around behind his back. I imagine that even pertains to his girlfriend," she said quickly. It was my turn to shoot her a 'no shit,' glare.
I needed to find out exactly what had happened between Mr. Cataliades and Eric and get Eric away from Glassport. Plus I needed a lawyer and I would only trust Mr. Cataliades for a specific part of my needs.
We were silent for a while. I let myself relax again, knowing that Sheila was alert and still reporting in to Eric and that I had my phone alarm set so that I would be back thirty minutes before sunset just like I was yesterday. I wasn't playing with that fire again.
Suddenly Sheila jumped out of her chair, pulled me off the ground and threw the backpack to me. She pulled a foot-long dagger from under the hem at the ankle of her jeans and held out her forearm to me. "Beam us home Sookie, someone's coming."
While she'd been preparing to defend us, I'd focused in and to my shock I realized that she was right; someone was coming. How in the hell had she heard the car before I even sensed the mind? She gave me another demanding look and waved her arm at me to spur me on, but I just shook my head at her. "It's just my best friend coming to take care of the plants. You can trust her."
"Oh yeah?" Sheila said skeptically, "And just what are you going to tell her? That you 'popped in for the day'? If you want to talk to her so much, then call her, don't be stupid and expose yourself this way."
She was right; I nodded at her and then gestured to the back door. We both ran to the lanai with me carrying our glasses and the remains of our lunch and she, her dagger. I put everything in the fridge since I didn't have the time to wash them or get them back into the bag and then pulled the door shut behind me. As I grabbed Sheila's tense arm, I heard Macey's tires coming closer on the asphalt. It was so hard for me to leave her, but this was the prudent choice. I'd call her soon.
I locked into Sheila's mind, gave her the visual image of Eric's office to focus on and she retained her defensive stance as we arrived. It seemed that having the destination in her mind helped her to retain her dignity after teleporting.
After surveying the room, she replaced her dagger and glared at me. "You're going to have to change the way you think, and fast. That kind of shit isn't going to work here."
I willed the shorts and shirt that I had in the bag onto my body, I wasn't in the mood to be scolded while in a bathing suit here in Eric's office. "Explain what you mean," I demanded.
She rolled her eyes, "Putting yourself at risk to see an old friend, which by the way puts her at risk too, teleporting to Hawaii without your cell phone or weapons, eating food that I provided without even asking where it came from."
"Listen, I know you think it's your job to whip me into shape," I began.
"It is," she confirmed and I sighed.
"Do you take weapons when you go up into your quarters here?"
She gave me a 'fuck you' glare, "No because I have an entire arsenal in there already," she spat at me.
"Well I lived in Hana for fifteen years without any problems." Of course I'd spent most of that time training and preparing to be attacked, but once I left and entered the real world again, finding danger at every footfall, I realized how safe I was in Hana.
"And by the way, I didn't forget my phone and weapons. I made a decision that they weren't necessary where I was going. Eric was asleep so he wouldn't be calling and I could just pop home if I needed to. Anyway, having physical weapons or a phone wouldn't have stopped what occurred from happening," I justified with my arms crossed defensively.
She continued to glare at me and gave a small irritated laugh, "You're a fool. Stop thinking with your heart and think with your brain, it'll make all of our jobs easier." She walked past me out of the room, but before the door shut, I heard her say, "I'll meet you upstairs tomorrow at the same time for a rematch."
As the door closed, I let my head fall back and groaned out loud. We'd made some headway today and I was hopeful that someday we might be able to enjoy more than irritate one another, but that day was pretty far off.
I was used to tough love from instructors and I could take it from her or anyone else, but I would like to find someone I could eventually call a friend here besides Pam and Eric. I enjoyed Sheila's honesty and her humor; I just hoped that we'd reach a point soon where they weren't so intensely directed at me.
I let myself into our quarters and stripped, leaving my clothes on the floor alongside Eric's. Why not join the party? Then I climbed into bed with him. He was exactly as I'd left him at dawn except that his hair was dry now. I squirmed under the covers, pulled his left arm out away from his body, threw my leg over his and pressed my trunk as close to him as I could get, resting my head on his shoulder.
From this angle, I was staring at his strong neck and his Adam's apple. I leaned over and kissed it, running my hand down his jaw to his other shoulder. Finding myself way too comfortable here with him, I closed my eyes and relaxed.
The next thing I knew, gentle touch, a cool breeze, barely notable brushed across my back. I knew I was safe, completely safe and loved. I rolled over, humming with contentment, and now the breeze was tickling my neck, hips and thighs. A cool gust of air ghosted across my ear, delivering soft chants of endearments and promises that were impossible to keep but wonderful to hear. Liquid warmth that had been building, intensified and I sighed as a cool blanket covered me lightly and gave me peaceful pleasures, but it was the slow yet intense orgasm pulsing through my body that woke me from my dream.
I opened my eyes to find that the blanket covering me was actually Eric's long body levitating above me so that he just barely touched me. The wind was his fingers and mouth gently caressing my skin. My eyes closed of their own accord when he slid himself into and onto me, capturing my lips with his own and nestling himself in as deeply as he could go.
He stayed there, removed his lips from mine and held me still with his body, and as soon as I opened my eyes, with his gaze as well. There was a depth of intensity and love in his eyes that had me holding so still that I didn't breathe for a few seconds. Then he stroked out and back in twice, breaking my trance before stopping again, lowered his brow to mine and then he continued his deep thrusts once again.
I loved when he was in this kind of mood. Well, actually, I loved most of his moods, but this one was rare and so I treasured it and him even more.
My second orgasm built slowly and was more diffuse than usual, centering deep within me, crashing through my entire body and completing its cycle at my heart. A tear escaped from my eye and rolled into my hairline and for once Eric didn't seem to even notice the pathway of the tear. Instead, his eyes never left mine as he reached his completion silently, which only seemed to intensify the significance of the act we were sharing.
His fingers traced my lips, my brow and my jaw, "You have no idea how much I love waking up with you by my side," he said in a whisper. "Even before I could move, I could smell you and feel your heart pounding in my chest. I felt your breath ticking my neck and your hot body wrapped around mine. Thank you."
"You're welcome," I said with a lazy grin, still completely blissed out by our loving.
He pulled his face back from mine and smiled down at me, "Good evening. How was your day?" Before I could answer, he sniffed me, "Mmm…you smell like sunshine…sea water…and" he moved his nose down my arm and then grimaced, "Sheila."
I laughed out loud, "That's your fault," I said waggling my forearm in front of his nose and he pinned my arms down and buried his face between my breasts. "That's better," he said with a muffled voice causing me to laugh again. My laughter changed into a shocked gasp as his fangs so very gently pierced my skin and his cool tongue lapped at the blood that pooled in the valley between my breasts.
I freed my hands and ran my fingers through his hair, holding his head to me until he finished and laid his head on my chest. He still wasn't taking enough blood from me and I knew that he'd have to supplement, but he seemed to be enjoying himself so I didn't worry about him.
"You look like a very contented cat," I said, smiling down at him.
He gave me a mock pout, "Why do you insult me? I am simply a vampire under the spell of your delectable blood."
I chuckled at him and then his words suddenly triggering a thought, "Oh, you might want to tell Will and James to avoid the training room until it's aired out again, Sheila and I tried to finish our contest from the other night and I'm sure it smells quite a bit."
Eric extricated himself from my breasts and stared at me, his pleasure now gone and concern apparent in his eyes. "You fought? And she drew your blood? What if she lost control? She's very strong," he said, his voice tighter than usual.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Eric, and yes she drew my blood, but I drew more of hers. And she wouldn't lose control, we could hardly get into the fight before her timer went off and she had to text you," I said, gesturing to his phone.
He ignored my sass, "I don't like you fighting her when I'm not there," he said and I had to refrain from rolling my eyes.
"Eric, this is part of my training and what I need to do to be a part of this team. Sheila and I are making progress; we actually had some fun today…sort of. I enjoyed sparring with her, and yes, we drew blood, but both of us are fine and we're ready to do it again tomorrow," I said, planting that seed while the garden was already turned up.
Eric frowned and reached for his phone on his bedside table. I put my hand over his, "Please don't tell her to go easy on me."
He shook his head, "No, you're right. I was going to take advantage of the situation upstairs. Did you clean up any drops of blood on the mats or elsewhere?" he asked.
I nodded, "Yes, but I'm sure it still smells."
He smiled and raised my eyebrows at him but he gestured for me to wait while he sent a text. When he put his phone down, he said, "I just sent Will and James upstairs so they can spend some time adapting to the scent of your blood."
"Oh, good idea," I said, relaxing back onto the bed. "Anyway, I know the real reason you don't want me fighting Sheila without you there is that it turns you on so much and you don't want to miss it," I said with a wicked smile.
"I am…busted," he said as he kissed me and rolled us so that I was on top of him. "Tomorrow I have told my Area sheriffs and other top cabinet members to join us here to meet you. I've decided, following the trouble we had with Will and James, that you need to meet them under very controlled circumstances. That means that tonight is our final night with this building all to ourselves."
I was sad to hear that rather than having two nights, we only had one, but there was nothing I could do but make the most of the time we had.
"We'll continue our tour of the building including the underground passageways once all the humans are gone and then we'll travel with Maeve to my home just outside of New Orleans and have her ward it." He ran a finger over my shoulder and down my arm so I shivered.
"My hope is that once you see it, you will consent to live there with me. It is my most secure home and…"
I quieted him with my lips on his, "My home is with you Eric. Wherever you are is where I want to be," I said with my lips brushing against his.
He smiled sweetly up at me and I kissed the crinkles at the edges of each of his eyes. "Speaking of homes," I said, "there are two things I need to do in regards to Hana." I sat up and reached over to get Eric's phone, entered the information I wanted him to have and then gave it to him. He flipped though his screens trying to figure out what I'd changed. I knew he'd found it when he frowned at the screen.
"You've given me the names of two tour guide companies in Hawaii?" he asked and I smiled. "I didn't want it under their names and I thought that if anyone got their hands on your phone, this wouldn't stand out too much. Those numbers will connect you with my closest friends in Hana. Just in case you need to reach anyone there who knows me.
Use the safe word, "pineapple," and they'll know they can trust you." I'd discussed safe words with Macey, Larry and Pua before just in case someone had come looking for information about Hunter and I, so they would know that they could trust him if he used this word.
"Macey, Larry and Pua," Eric said slowly and I nodded. "That's all? Those are your only friends there?"
Ouch, that stung a little, "No, I have others, but these three and Macey's kids are the only ones who know of my connection to the supernatural world. They were the ones in the vault the night you came to Hana." I said quietly.
Eric nodded, reached up and cupped my cheek with his large hand, "Thank you Sookie. I will only use these numbers if I have no other choice."
I nuzzled my face into his hand, "I do want you to meet them, but this just isn't the right time," I said, kissing his palm and hating that I was agreeing with Sheila once again.
"No," he agreed. "Now what is the other thing relating to homes that you wish to discuss with me?"
Ah, this one would be more complex. "I have a number of things that I need to do in regards to my life in Hana. The most important ones have to do with my home and the Foundations I developed and I need a lawyer to assist me. I have my own lawyer back in Hana, but I'd like to develop a relationship with one here too."
"That's easy, I have three lawyers on my payroll at all times, you can take your pick," he said with a wave of his hand.
I wet my lips, "That's good for those things, but I also need help setting up some trust funds for Jason's kids and for that, I already know who I want to use. Eric, I want Mr. Cataliades to help me," I said firmly, looking deep into his eyes.
"No," he said, sitting up and setting me on the bed facing him. "No, Sookie. I don't trust him." I knew this would be his response so I was ready for it.
"Were you aware that I'm the one who identified Jade Flower as the one who killed Gladiola? Or that both Mr. Cataliades and Diantha would have died in Rhodes if I hadn't alerted them about the bomb?" Eric shook his head to the first question and nodded at the second. "Mr. Cataliades himself told me that he owed me, Eric. I doubt demons say that lightly."
Eric was thoughtful and I gave him time, but when that time spilled over into fifteen minutes I interrupted his thoughts. "What happened Eric? You used to trust him, at least as a lawyer. What happened that would make you trust Glassport more than him?"
He picked up a lock of my hair and wound it around his finger as he spoke, "When you were killed," he shrugged his shoulder, "Cataliades came to me to finish the paperwork which would formally create my alliance with Freyda. When that was completed, he provided me with your Will." He took an unnecessary breath and then continued; "He is a good and capable lawyer because he keeps himself emotionally detached from his dealings, however, his attitude and demeanor changed significantly toward me when the topic shifted to you. I sensed during those few minutes that he blamed me for your death. I still believe that I was right, for I had never seen him be anything but calm and relaxed no matter what the situation, until that moment.
"He liked and admired you Sookie. I knew that if he blamed me for your death, then he would be a terrible enemy to have. So I cut off all dealings with him and found other capable lawyers to work with instead of him. I chose Glassport to defend me at the trial because he had experience with Sophie Anne's trial and he is ruthless and easy to control."
I thought through what he told me and it didn't make sense. Mr. Cataliades had known that I was alive and well. Why would he be angry with Eric? Then it hit me. I remembered our conversation when I was asking him for help with getting away from Bon Temps and the supernatural world altogether. Mr. Cataliades had said that he'd been waiting for Eric to act on his own in order to keep me safe. He'd finally run out of time and had contacted me to…do what? I'd never found out what he would have suggested since I was so focused on running away. Well, that was water under the bridge.
But if I hadn't been so overwhelmed with my own emotions I might have caught onto his irritation with Eric. But surely he couldn't still be upset now.
"Do me one favor regarding this, Eric. Call him. Don't say anything about me, I just want to hear what he has to say to you. I still trust him and I won't trust anyone else with this information I have about Jason's kids."
Eric thought through my request and then got up to go to his office, leading me by the hand. He stopped briefly to warm a bag of blood on the way. As the blood was heating, we continued to the office where he activated his computer and pulled up Mr. Cataliades' number.
The microwave beeped and I went to get the blood and an empty glass for him. When I returned, he had just finished dialing the number and was waiting for Mr. Cataliades to answer. At my gesture, he put the phone on speaker and set it on the desk. I mouthed 'Thank you,' to him and sat in one of the deep leather chairs in front of his desk.
The phone rang three times before Mr. Cataliades answered, "Your Majesty. I was about to contact you myself."
Eric's jaw tightened, "Regarding?"
"I am aware that Miss. Stackhouse is currently staying with you. Both of you are in need of some information I have. I would appreciate it if you would facilitate a meeting in the very near future."
My mouth dropped open. It didn't bother me so much that he knew I was here, but the fact that he was eager to tell us something was not a good omen. I took a quiet breath to speak, but Eric held up his finer to silence me. I could see comprehension darkening his eyes and setting his jaw and I hoped he could control his growing anger.
"You can imagine that I am unhappy that anyone knows of her whereabouts, and that you have apparently known where she has been for some time. However, she is here with me now and she is well, so your participation in her disappearance has had a happy ending so far. What is it that you need to discuss with us now?"
"Nothing I can reveal over the phone, but I am in town and can meet you both at your headquarters within the hour."
Eric glared at the phone but maintained his cool. "The underground entrance has not changed. Meet my guards at the elevator marked 'Four.' Be aware that our building is being watched by fairies so bring whatever weapons you require, but be prepared to leave them in the underground area."
"Very well," Mr. Cataliades replied. "I will arrive in twenty minutes."
Eric ended the call and looked at me with an expressionless face. "So it was Cataliades who you turned to for help," he said and I nodded. We had hashed and re-hashed this so many times that this information was not as much of a blow as it could have been and thankfully, Eric was able to let it go.
"What do you think he wants to tell us?" he asked and I shrugged my shoulders.
"I don't have a clue. I don't know how he knows I'm here either."
"We don't have long until we find out, let's get ready. I'll inform James and Will of our visitor while you shower and get dressed," he said and I hurried off to the bathroom.
When I came out of the bathroom, Eric was dressed all in black with tight pants, and an even tighter sleeveless shirt, heavy boots, a thick belt with a wide silver buckle. He had his hair pulled tightly back at the nape of his neck and wore a ring I'd never seen on his right index finger. His choice of clothing made him look larger and more severe than usual and I knew he wanted to present an intimidating front.
Pam was present too, looking demure in her below the knee gold-colored skirt and dark green sweater. She was the perfect study of first impressions leading to the wrong conclusions since she looked like a young woman going out for tea when I knew just how deadly she really was.
Eric was the opposite, dressed to look menacing and he did, especially when he removed a long thin Japanese sword called a katana from its koshirae stand and slid it into its black leather shirasaya or scabbard. He caught my eye, "It's the best weapon for fighting demons; quick, strong and very good at slicing." I remembered far too well that Jade Flower had thought so too.
I didn't think it would matter how Eric dressed since Mr. Cataliades always seemed so comfortable and confident around all supernaturals. So I had a hard time believing that anything Eric did would intimidate him, but it was what Eric needed to do, so I just appreciated the view.
"Will and James are on their way down to meet him now. I'm sorry our night has been thrown off course, but this shouldn't take long," he said as I rushed out of the room to my closet and picked out one of Miriam's outfits. I chose a charcoal colored thigh length skirt with triangular horizontal patterns in black that hid the usual dagger and stake and matched it with a sweater of muted purple, red, blue and brown stripes and checked to make sure the iron chain was present in the hem.
Satisfied, I ran my fingers through my hair and slipped on a pair of flats that had good gripping soles and a strap at the ankle to secure it to my foot. I turned to Eric and he gave me a small smile and held out his hand to me, gesturing back to his office.
"We'll be meeting him in one of the smaller rooms," he said as he led me into the corridor between our quarters and the various meeting rooms. We passed two doors and entered through the third. Pam was already waiting there.
This room was the smallest and most severe we'd seen and had a rectangular table in the middle that was about eight feet long and six feet wide and had six chairs, three at each end. It was clearly a table designed for parties that didn't trust each other very much since it would be hard to pass papers from one side to the other much less attack without warning. The walls were painted a rich brown and the table and chairs were a warm reddish brown. So despite the lack of any other decorations besides some simple recessed lights in the ceiling, I felt comfortable in this room. Eric's designer was very good at setting a mood.
"He'll enter through the elevator," Eric said, pointing out the discrete entrance to the elevator at the far side of the room where Pam was standing. "I want you to stay on the opposite side of the table from him at all times," he said, "and don't touch him at any point. I still don't trust his motives for coming here."
I nodded and tossed out my mental net, listening for his arrival. I found James and Will directly below us, both on alert, both armed and both…hungry. They were hungry from being upstairs with my scent. Fuck. Maybe it wasn't such a great idea to work on desensitizing them tonight. Of course the last thing they would want to drink would be a demon so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
I paced the room, listening and at Eric's insistence, I opened my mind to him so he could follow what was happening below. Pam glared at us so I included her in the loop as well. We all froze as we felt another mind arrive, quickly, very quickly moving toward Will and James. The thoughts were veiled but it had to be Mr. Cataliades.
He was nearing the two vampires when at least seven more minds popped into the area and all hell broke loose.