A/N: Hey everyone! Writing is going slowly, but it's going. My brain is a little broken right now, but hopefully sleep will happen and it won't be such mush. I will try very hard to get a couple more things out this week (both 7 and 22 of YNB are on the go) and reply to some reviews. :) Thanks so much for reading and reviewing and following and favouriting. And thanks to ilovemysteries for being so great. And to NewPuppy for keeping me company in the middle of the night. :P

Chapter 6

When he rose, he discovered that she had turned over again in her rest. Her back was spooned against his chest, and his nose was buried in the crook of her neck. His cock, so fucking hard, was wedged against her ass. Fuck. After taking a deep sniff, and then another, he carefully pushed her again to the other side of the bed. She wouldn't be rising for another half an hour, but he didn't want her to think that he had pulled her to him and broken his word. She rolled onto her back, but then was still.

He felt so much closer to her this evening. She seemed so fragile, and he felt even more protective of her after spending the day with her in his arms. Pam had been his, and she was Pam's. And didn't that make her his now that Pam was gone? He wondered at his sudden change of hear… mind.

He needed to go to Sophie-Anne's to announce Pam's final death. And, of course, to find out whether or not she was responsible for Pam's final death. But Sookie was a major complication. Hadley, who did everything she could to gain attention, would almost certainly have run her mouth if she had a telepathic cousin. He wouldn't be able to hide Sookie from the Queen for long, even if they went straight back to Shreveport. Vampires gossip incessantly. If he showed up anywhere with a newborn, everyone would talk and word would get back to the Queen quickly. Plus Sookie really needed access to a few donors. And she could read Hadley's mind and find out why she had staked Pam.

But, as he had thought the night before, Sookie was orphaned in Sophie-Anne's area. Being his child's child was not enough of a claim to overpower the Queen's desires; if the Queen wanted to lay claim to Sookie, she would. But nobody besides them and the Weres knew that Pam was Sookie's maker. If everyone thought Sookie was his… They were already bound after all, and now he couldn't imagine sending Sookie to someone else to foster, anyway. Trying to convince Sookie to do that kind of exchange after last night was not going to be a walk in the park, though.

He watched her for a few moments. She really did seem almost human. Nearly alive. She wasn't breathing, of course, but her nose even twitched in her rest. And then she stretched and opened her eyes and looked at him. He hadn't even had a chance to think about what he was going to say. How was she awake so early?

"Good evening, Sookie."

"Hi."

He thought maybe lying down was the best way to have this conversation. So he wasn't looming over her. He propped himself up on one elbow.

"Sookie, Hadley belongs to the Vampire Queen of Louisiana. Hadley staked Pam. I recognized her scent on the stake, once I knew what I was smelling for. Do you think you would be able to read Hadley's mind to see why she did it?"

She just looked at him for a long time.

"But she's my cousin."

"I know. Does she know that you are a telepath?"

"Well, sure. I guess so. Nobody really talked about it, but yeah." The only times were when her Mama asked her to use it to steal or cheat. She always lied and said she couldn't make it out, or they wouldn't think of the right information, or they just didn't know. Her Mama thought that she was useless as well as creepy.

For some reason she didn't understand, Sookie felt bad about Pam, but she wasn't going to help Eric kill Hadley, either. She was sure Had wouldn't have just killed someone for no reason. But what if she could find something that would clear Hadley's name somehow?

"Would you be willing to try?"

She shrugged, but then nodded.

"You no longer have a maker, and you were made and orphaned in the Queen's area. Hadley has almost certainly told her of your telepathy, and if she hasn't, she will as soon as she sees you. As things stand, the Queen would be able to order you to do whatever she wishes. You would be at her complete mercy. She would use you for your gift, at the very least, but you are very attractive and you smell delicious besides. I do not think you would enjoy the palace, Sookie, or being under the Queen's thumb. Or Andre's, especially. He is very quick with the use of torture for those who do not do what they are told. If you stay with me, you will have your own space. You will be able to make your own decisions, for the most part. I will protect you, teach you everything you need to know, and give you as much autonomy as I am able. I will treat you as if you were my own progeny.

"Sookie, I don't know how, but we already share a bond. I can already feel your emotions. If I drink much of your blood, and then give you much of mine, it will strengthen the bond, and you would smell like me. Others would not be able to tell that you are not mine. According to Vampire law, my claim as your maker would protect you from the Queen. It's likely that I wouldn't be able to command you, but I would be able to communicate with you through the bond, in a way, and prove the connection. And it would make training easier. I should be able to push emotions at you as well, although that might take another exchange or two. I could calm you if you started getting out of control. We would feel more connected to each other, more like maker and child."

"But what if I don't want to?"

"Then you will likely be taken by the Queen. You are too well-known around the city, and you would almost certainly not be allowed out of the palace again until after we come out in the open. It will be at least five years. Probably closer to seven. Your wolves would likely not be welcome at the palace, unless they applied for security positions."

She started to cry again. He pulled her to him, and she went easily enough, sobbing into his chest. He kissed the crown of her head, and then wondered at himself for doing such a thing.

"I know I behaved poorly yesterday, Sookie. I was… am… very upset about Pam. I am a good maker. Fair. I've even been accused of spoiling Pam. You would be treated very well. I am the Sheriff of my area, and I would demand that others treat you with respect."

And she made him feel closer to Pam. And maybe having a project would help him through his grief. And he hated the thought of being childless, or at least without one whom he needed, and who needed him. And she was a telepath, which would prove extremely useful. And he needed to make sure that she was protected. And she could help him to find out why Pam was finally killed.

She had stopped crying and pulled away from him.

"What about me?"

"I do not understand what you mean."

She looked at him and then looked away. "You said that you would protect me and teach me what I need to know and treat me well and make others respect me. What do you expect me to do in return?"

He really should have figured that one out.

"I will only expect you to listen and do as you are told."

She stiffened. Maybe she really wasn't so timid after all...

"I will only ask things of you that are reasonable, Sookie. I will not touch you against your will, or force you to do things that you find morally wrong." At least not to start. But morals change.

"Do I have to decide right now?"

"I am afraid so. We need to go to the palace so that you can feed." And so that he could find out why Hadley killed Pam.

Her wolves had told her that she should trust him. That their Pack Master had vouched for him. He had scared her - a lot - and he'd been really mean, but he hadn't actually hurt her. And he'd saved her when she jumped out the window. What in the hell had that been all about? And she had liked Pam, before she had started biting her, at least, and Eric had said that Pam couldn't have helped it if Sookie smelled like a fairy. And being a prisoner in the palace didn't sound like much of a choice.

She sighed. "Ok." It was almost a whisper.

He sat up against the headboard, and directed her to sit between his legs. Because he'd been such an ass, he even set a pillow down in front of his cock first. He moved the hair away from her neck, and while he hadn't meant to run his nose along her throat, he had. She smelled delicious. He would formalize the bond with the knife when they returned to Shreveport, and he would register her as his own progeny. And after they used the knife, it would be true to the letter of the law and not just the spirit. Well, more or less.

But no one would have cause to question his word that Sookie was his. She would smell like him. She was certainly his type, blonde and blue-eyed like his Pam. Like him. Hadley hadn't been out of the elevator long enough to stake Pam and see Sookie dead in the bedroom. Pam must have been in quite a state indeed to let someone like Hadley get the better of her.

Since he could fly and often used the door off the balcony in the living room, nobody could track his comings and goings to prove that she wasn't his with surveillance cameras, either. He had seen no other vampires other than William and Sookie since Thursday night in California, and it was now the following Thursday. After speaking with Pack Master Flood and Sookie's Weres, there shouldn't be any problems.

He bit her neck and stifled a groan. Her blood was at room temperature, of course, like his, but it tasted warm. And very much like sun-kissed sweetness. So incongruous for a vampire to call to mind the sunshine, but it was hard to deny. Even now, as a child of the night, she was Sunshine.

And she also tasted of Pam, and pain clawed at his chest. After tonight, she would taste more like him than Pam, and he would never be able to taste her like this again. He savored every drop.

He was full, but he still had a hard time stopping. He needlessly licked her neck and then gave her his wrist. When she bit, and then started to suck, it almost felt like she was sucking his cock. He had to smother another groan. What in the fuck? He had given his blood to injured vampires many times before, and had even exchanged blood with Pam during sex a few times over a century ago, and never had it done anything like this. He wondered what it would feel like if they bit each other at the same time. And he thanked the gods that he had thought to put that pillow down. And that he had a change of pants in the closet.