A/N: Hey there. Sorry I've been absent. I (finally) have a BSC chapter done, and that will be out tomorrow. I have a good start on the next SE chapter and the next BSC chapter, and I'm quite excited to write the next one of these. Thanks so much to ilovemysteries for being a swell beta. And thank fuck for LeaveSookieAlone who pulled my head out of my ass and then myself out of my head. :P
Chapter 9
They spent the evening in each other's arms — in the shower, on the couch watching more Buffy, and later in bed. After they'd made love for the second time, she propped herself up on her elbow with her chin in her hand and looked at him.
"I'm really happy."
He smiled and stroked her hair. "Me, too. I… I find that I have feelings for you."
Sookie smiled. The wide, sweet, happy one that made her eyes sparkle and his chest tighten. She looked beautiful.
"Me, too."
She leaned forward and closed her eyes and they kissed again.
The next several days — and nights — were more of the same. Andy was still an asshole and she was still only getting a handful of day shifts a week, but she worked hard and kept out of his way and pasted a smile on her face, even if it was the crazy one.
The nights were wonderful and… intense. It was always just the two of them. There were never any distractions. She stayed up until dawn most nights and they spent all of their time together, talking and laughing and making love. They were just starting the second season of Buffy and she'd rented a few vampire movies from Bon Temps Video Rental. She'd spent a couple of sessions in the tanning bed while she was there, too, just because. Eric had even sat and watched Gone With The Wind with her. After, he'd swept her up into his arms and carried her into the bedroom before making love to her for the rest of the night. And, unlike Scarlett O'Hara, she had been more than willing.
One night, a few days past mid-January, Sookie lit a fire in the fireplace and turned on some music. She spread the afghan from the couch onto the hearth rug and turned off the lights. The flames were reflected in his eyes when he looked at her and his beauty kind of took her breath away. Before she could sit down, he offered her his hand. When she took it, he pulled her against him and wrapped his other arm around her waist and held her tight. There was a slow song playing on the radio and he began to move them in time to the music. She laid her head against his chest and followed his lead. They were both excellent dancers and being in his arms always felt so right.
The next song was uptempo, but they continued to hold each other and move slowly, to the same rhythm as before. She looked up into his eyes and he smiled down at her and they kissed, still swaying.
She didn't know if they kissed for five minutes or fifteen, but she was beyond hot and bothered when he pulled away. She untangled her hand from the hair on the nape of his neck and pulled him to the blanket on the floor with the one she was still holding. They kissed again and slowly undressed each other before lying in front of the fire. They made love, kissing or staring into each other's eyes the whole time. He cupped her cheek and she smiled at him. She couldn't help herself. It just slipped out.
"I love you."
Her stomach knotted up as soon as she said it, even though she was pretty sure that he felt the same way. He leaned down and kissed her softly and then smiled back at her. "I love you as well."
Their lovemaking was still sensual but became not quite so languid. Soon, she was moaning, and a couple of minutes after that, she was crying out. She was so close.
"Oh my god, Eric. Yes! You feel so good."
He couldn't help moving his hips faster. He was chasing his orgasm, wanting them to cum together. He kissed her jaw and then her throat and then whispered in her ear.
"I want you to have some of my blood. To be mine. To have that connection to me."
They looked at each other and they seemed to have a whole conversation without saying anything. Eventually, she nodded. He smiled.
"Please bite me when I bite you. Hard. It feels so good."
He bit her neck and she bit his shoulder and sucked. They both came hard at the same time. Sookie had never felt as good as she did right at that moment. It was incredible, and it made her feel incredibly close to him. And the salty-sweetness of his blood tasted just like his kisses that first night when he'd healed her tongue. Based on what Eric had told her, she decided that they would be having a very long talk before they exchanged blood again, but she felt too good to complain.
He collapsed on top of her, having to recover for a few moments before he could make himself move. He kissed her slowly again and rolled off onto his back. She rolled onto her side, pressing herself up against him. She pillowed her head on his shoulder with her left arm and leg thrown over top of him. His left arm was wrapped around her with his hand resting on her hip.
She kissed his chest and then sighed, playing with the hair below his belly button. Her life had changed so much since the end of December. She was happy — so happy and fulfilled and crazy in love. She felt cared for. She had known that she'd been lonely, but being with him made her realize just how lonely she'd been and how much she'd been missing. In twenty nights, he had become her family and it was so easy to imagine a lifetime together stretching out in front of them. Something she'd always dreamed of and never thought she could have.
The fire had burned down to embers. He kissed the top of her head and then picked her up and carried her to bed. After they made love again, Sookie fell asleep in his arms. He stroked her hair and kissed her forehead and held her until he had to go to his rest.
The next morning, Sookie slept in well past the time she should have gotten up for work. When she finally turned over and looked at the clock, it was only twenty minutes until her shift was due to start. She threw on her clothes and put her hair up in the world's fastest ponytail and ran out the door without even having a cup of coffee. She arrived seconds after Holly did, but that still left most of the prep undone when it was time to open. Andy, of course, blamed it on her and yelled at her for being late, even though she hadn't been. Not by the clock.
The day had gotten worse from there. She brewed a pot of coffee first thing, but Andy didn't give her a chance to drink it and had Sookie doing every job he could come up with. In the meantime, the bar filled up quick. She got flustered and had a really hard time shielding, and people were still speculating about her secret lover, weeks later. She spilled a glass of sweet tea all over JB DuRone, fortunately when Andy was back in his office. JB winked at her and then ran back out to his truck to change his shirt before coming back in. She apologized profusely and paid for his lunch herself. She managed to drop a keg of beer on her toes when Andy made her run one out to the bar, and it hurt like a bitch. She had a couple of really rude customers and then Mack Rattray smacked her ass. Mack Rattray, who had killed a vampire, and who would almost certainly try to kill hers if he could. She came so close to slapping him but somehow managed to walk away.
And then Arlene was late. She'd called Andy and told him that she'd be there at five-fifteen at the latest, but by five-thirty, she still hadn't showed. Shortly after, the parish road crew started to arrive. Sookie was in the back hauling out cases of beer for Andy. He glared at her when she got behind the bar with the loaded dolly.
"Get back out on the floor. There's customers waiting."
She quickly looked down. "Sorry, Andy."
She could feel her eyes tearing up. She was pissed and embarrassed and feeling really sorry for herself. She just wanted to get the hell out of there. Eric was going to rise very soon and she was stuck there until Arlene showed up. She swiped at her eyes with her fists and rushed right out to her section and came face to face with her brother, Jason. She felt like she'd been punched. Looked it, too. It was Jason's turn to glare at her.
"You ain't supposed to still be here."
She shrugged one shoulder and didn't make eye contact. She sounded both defensive and sad. "Arlene is late."
She hated this. She took a deep breath and set her shoulders and finally made herself look at him. "What can I get for you?"
He glared a little longer. "A pitcher of Bud and fried pickles to start."
She took another breath and then wrote it down. She nodded. "Coming right up."
She turned around to put in his order and pour his beer and to get herself a little space to compose herself. When she'd gotten a couple of steps away, she heard him say, "And you can damn well pay for it, too."
She froze. She didn't turn back around to look at him. The bar was suddenly almost silent, although the mental volume inside went sky high. She took a shaky breath and kept walking.
She gave the order for the pickles to Tack and started pouring the pitcher of beer. Andy was sitting on a stool just a few feet away from her. He chuckled, and it made her skin crawl a little bit. She turned so her back was to him and tried to will the tap to pour just a little bit faster.
She could hear the leer in Andy's voice. "Well, I guess that answers that question. Lovers' spat?"
He imagined Sookie and Jason together in graphic detail. He was a strong broadcaster, and it came through in Technicolor, with Dolby sound. It was absolutely disgusting. They were going from position to position to position.
The pitcher started to overflow and she pulled it away. She turned to look at Andy and the evil glee was written all over his face. She was riding Jason. He was fucking her from behind. She was sucking his cock and then she was sitting on his face, grinding herself on his mouth. It didn't stop. Scene after scene. Fucking her ass. Reverse cowgirl. Sixty-nine. Missionary. She took a deep breath and blew it out. She walked the two steps to Andy and dumped the pitcher into his lap.
His face and scalp turned bright red and he jumped to his feet. Before he could start to yell, she slapped him, and it sounded almost like a gunshot. It carried throughout the bar, which was otherwise completely silent. Even the jukebox was quiet. Everyone was staring at them. His cheek was snow white from the blow before it started filling in red. He opened his mouth to yell again, but she beat him again.
"You should be ashamed of yourself, Andy Bellefleur, but you're not. You don't have any shame. Fine. You got what you wanted. I quit."
She took off her apron and threw it into the puddle on the floor at his feet and then walked into the back, her head held high. After another beat, everyone started talking at once. Sookie grabbed her coat and went out the back door and headed for home.
Home. It used to just mean her house. The place she lived. But now it was much more complicated. Her house was still her home, of course, but so was her vampire. And, right then, it wasn't her house that she was anxious to see. She drove home a little faster.