A/N: Hey guys! I wasn't going to upload this until tomorrow, but meh. AND I got Chapter 18 done, so I guess there will be 3 updates next week, too! Yay! I haven't done anything on YnB in a few days, so I will likely work on that over the weekend if the muse is nice. And maybe I should do housework... Nah. Thanks to my beta ilovemysteries for being awesome.

Chapter 15

Creature Fear

I woke up in an unfamiliar room in a bed with my head in Eric's lap. He was stroking my hair and looking down at me. He smiled. "Good morning, Sookie."

"What happened?" My voice sounded raspy and small.

"Isabel. She threw the car. You weren't buckled in, and you went through the windshield when it hit a tree. When we heard the crash, we came. Isabel got away. Pam chased her, but Isabel can fly."

"Vampires can fly?"

"Some can. Like me." The grin. "But Pam cannot."

"Why didn't you chase her? Didn't you know she could fly?"

"I did know, but I had to stay with you. You were gravely injured. I had to give you my blood. You were dying." He was still stroking my hair.

"I thought you didn't give out your blood."

"I don't give it out to anyone. But you're not anyone. You're very special. To me."

"Why didn't Pam just give me her blood?"

"I'm much older than Pam and my blood is much much stronger." I thought he was done speaking. He stroked my hair some more. "And because you're mine."

My brow creased and I tried to get up. "I'm still mad at you. What do you mean I'm yours?"

"Sshhh." He held me down gently, and then kept stroking my hair after I stopped struggling. "As you said, Sookie, it's inevitable. And I don't blame you for being angry with me. I'm angry with me, too. I was an asshole."

"A high handed asshole."

"That too."

"A high handed patronizing asshole."

"Sookie…"

"No, Eric. You made me feel incompetent and insignificant. Like I'm weak and fragile and can't take care of myself. Like you don't trust me to do what I have been trained almost my whole life to do. You made me feel like shit."

He sighed. "I'm sorry."

I got up slowly and sat across from him with my legs folded.

"It's nearly dawn. Please stay with me. There is some food and water in the bar fridge, and an ensuite bathroom."

"Eric…"

And then I realized that if he had my blood, he was able to feel my emotions. I started to panic. My eyes darted around, looking for the exit.

"Ssshhhhh."

He pulled me to him, cradled me and started to rock. I struggled at first, but it was completely useless. As strong as I was, he was a thousand times stronger. A million. It didn't matter. I gave up fighting and looked up at him, terrified that I would find pity in his eyes. I didn't, thank goodness. I closed my eyes and got a handle on my emotions and wrestled them into submission. And then I took hold of my shields, and I pulled them over my emotions. When I opened my eyes, he looked shocked, and almost afraid.

"You can't have that power over me. I can't let you."

When I struggled again to get up, he let me go. I sat across from him cross-legged again.

"What happened to the terrorists?"

"The humans are all dead. Khatami got away."

"Shit. I don't have his address or anything."

Eric shrugged. "He has many known associates. He was injured, although he has probably healed by now. The NSA is on it, and the Pentagon is on high alert. Hopefully something will turn up." He shrugged.

"If you had let me come, we would have ended the whole plot."

"I know, Sookie. I get it. I fucked up."

I crossed my arms and hmphed at him. "Isabel was in love with Quinn. And Furnan. She blames me for seducing them away from her and then killing them. She called me a black widow."

Eric wrinkled his nose. "She was with weres?"

"And that right there was one of the problems. Stupid bigotry like that. You're better than that, Eric."

"Am I?"

I shrugged. "I think so. I hope so. I think you could be. Anyhow, she didn't glamour Quinn to rape me. Who did?"

"I don't know."

We sat and looked at each other.

"Please, Sookie. You can leave if you want to. I won't make you stay. But it really would make me feel better. I… I find that I'm not comfortable with leaving you alone right now. I know that might make you feel small…"

I could tell saying that had cost Eric. He didn't want to feel vulnerable, either.

I sighed. "Ok."

I used the bathroom and drank a bottle of water and changed into one of Eric's t-shirts over my panties. I hadn't eaten much that day, but I didn't think I'd be able to choke anything down if I tried. He was lying in bed, and I laid down next to him. He was wearing a pair of blue silk boxers. He slid his arm under my neck and pulled me to him so I was cradled against him. He smelled my hair, a long slow breath.

"Do I really smell different?"

"Oh yes. Sweet and delectable and intoxicating. And you taste incredible. Like spun sugar and sunshine and sex."

I looked at him, confused. He held me closer again.

"Vampire saliva contains coagulants and antibacterial properties. It cleans and heals cuts and prevents infections. I needed to tend to your wounds. And the blood was already spilled; no point in letting it go to waste." He grinned at me. He kissed my forehead. He kissed my nose and then my eyelids. He looked in my eyes and waited for my assent before he kissed my mouth. I gave it to him. I opened my mouth and he stroked my tongue with his and then sucked on it. He pulled the elastic out of my hair, and plunged his fingers into it.

"Sookie, I want you. There isn't time tonight. But…"

I wrapped my arms around his neck and he rolled onto me.

"Please. I need to feel you. To know that you're alright. Let me feel your emotions."

I couldn't do that. I opened my legs and wrapped them around him instead. There was nothing between us but the t-shirt, which was pulled up to my waist, and satin and silk. He was kissing me again, and we were moving rhythmically against each other. lt felt incredible, and I was already starting to get close. This was as close as I had ever come to being a normal teenager, dry humping her boyfriend in his bed. Never mind that he was a vampire and my NSA handler and I had just drunk his blood because I'd nearly died after the car I was in was thrown into a tree.

I pulled my mouth from his. "Does it hurt?"

"What, my lover?"

"Being bitten?"

"Yes… and no. I can be very gentle. And during sex, the little bit of pain makes the pleasure feel incredible. I understand it is extremely erotic, and the endorphin rush very pleasurable. I promise it will feel nothing short of amazing."

I bared my throat to him. I was teetering on the edge. He licked my throat hard and paused. "Please." I didn't know why, but I needed him to. Then he sunk in his fangs. When he bit me, I came, and I let down my shields to him.

When I came back to myself, he was stroking my face and whispering to me in a language I didn't understand. I opened my eyes. He said, "Thank you."

I didn't answer. I kissed him and turned around in his arms so his front was pressed against my back. The wet spot on his boxers soaked through the back of my panties, but I didn't mind. I pulled my shields back over my emotions and his arm closer around me. I found that being in control of it was enough. Sharing was ok on my terms.

Eric kissed my neck, my shoulder, my ear. He pulled me tighter against him. I sighed in contentment and fell asleep in his arms.

A/N: So, Asset Management was originally sort of inspired by my love of the TV show, Chuck. Not that AM is anything like Chuck. Well, except for maybe Chapter 13's 'stay in the car'. :P Anyhow, one of the best scenes in the whole series (S02E21 Chuck Vs The Colonel) features the Bon Iver song Creature Fear, and the lyrics from the first chorus just fucking fit perfectly with this chapter, so I couldn't resist: So many foreign worlds (So relatively fucked) So ready for us So ready for us, The creature fear.