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Chapter 4: Nótt Elska

I winced, pressing my lips more tightly together as Eric circled me, his eyes keen with predatory intent. I felt like a kitten that had wandered out into the middle of the sea and suddenly found that a great white was circling me. The only thing left to do was put on the same mask of indifference that I had acquired in serving the snippy little pricks that ate at Merlotte's.

"It always amuses me when humans try to pretend like they're completely impartial to my presence." His fingers skimmed along the back of my hands, sending an electric current up my arm. I hissed, baring my teeth at him , the instinct to fight back kicking in. Eric smirked, a daring kind of light turning his eyes the color of a freezing lake.

"And here I was under the impression that you think I'm not human," I snapped, barely reigning myself in as he circled to my front again.

"Close enough," he dismissed, his hand flicking out ghosting across the shell of my ear.

"Stop touching me," I hissed which only seemed to amuse him more as his fingers made a cool trail down to the curve of my collarbone. My breath stalled. I stilled. The tips of his fingers aligned perfectly and gently over where my heart pulsed beneath my skin. Fear skittered up my spine. Definitely like a kitten being circled by a great white.

"Close enough to human," he murmured, his eyes almost hypnotic as he gave me a slow smile. "That I could rip out your beating heart right now and you would crumple to a heap at my feet."

I shivered, my eyes flicking to the floor. He was right. I felt like I was in more danger than ever before, the realization making my heart beat painfully against my ribcage. And the most terrifying thing was the other realization that came along with that. That the man standing in front of me, his fingers dancing along the skin exposed by my top, was the most powerful person that I had ever come across.

My lungs ached painfully as I kept my mouth shut, my lips trembling the barest amount as he leaned forward, his fingers dancing back up my collarbone to cup the nape of my neck.

"But I won't do that." His breath blew coolly along the shell of my ear, causing a resulting shiver to roll through me as he pulled away and I caught his smirk.

"Eric," Bill hissed threateningly as I finally sucked in a breath and Eric tilted his head toward the man that was still situated near the bar. Sookie had long since gone into the bathroom, Pam running off to find her an extra pair of clothing. I closed my eyes, listening to the quiet sobs of Ginger and the sloshing of blood and vampire bits being heaved into a bucket. Poor girl had been forced to clean up the mess.

And I had been left to get the second degree by Mr. Northman.

"I almost forgot that you were here, Compton," Eric drawled, his eyes going heavenward as an expression of complete loathing tilted his lips down. I stared up at him through my lashes, my head still bowed. He was powerful but there was something extremely likable about this man. And that, in itself was what irritated me the most. His eyes met mine. I quickly let my eyes slide back to the ground. "Have you claimed her as well as the blonde one?"

"Like hell," I snarled before I could help myself, my shoulders rising in indignation. Dammit. Bill's eyes met mine, his expression similar to the one my Gran got when she had caught me feeding our goldfish hotdog bits.

Eric gave me a wolfish grin, his fingers going to tug at the dark strands of my hair as he leaned in to whisper in my ear again. "Keep that attitude, little human."

"I have claimed her sister-" Bill snarled, trying a different track as Eric pulled away from me with an eye roll.

"Does claiming a human automatically make you their whole families protector now? I didn't think I was so far removed from our politics." Eric mused, his head tipping back as he turned a cool eye to Bill who looked absolutely enraged at being this tongue-tied. Eric's eyes slowly turned back to meet mine. "Did you drink from Mr. Compton, little human?"

This seemed like a trick question. I wasn't sure about claiming and everything but the way that Bill was looking at me - I knew that it mattered. It mattered and I sure as hell wasn't going to roll over even if Eric's presence did make me want to do exactly that. I blushed. And a little bit more. I couldn't lie. I sucked at lying. My lips pressed tightly shut, my eyes dropping to the floor.

It was a bad idea.

I gasped, trying to press down on my initial instinct to arch as Eric's fingers tangled in my hair, forcing me to meet his eyes. He was barely wearing anything. I was barely wearing anything. And he was pressing me to his front like I was another layer of clothing. I hissed out a breath, heat burning up my spine along with something more carnal. Bad thoughts. Bad thoughts. My mind went a little bit fuzzy as I felt the slow roll of his chest against mine, his abs contracting against my stomach. Dammit. I let out a squeak, agitated tears collecting in my eyes. This motherfucker had to be a spartan in his human life to have a body like his. It was a damn near injustice.

And he fucking knew it, the asshole.

Eric's lips tipped up even more, the fingers in my hair pulling a bit more as if he was reminding me. "Tell me."

Fuckity fucking fuck fuck FUCK!

"No."

His smirk grew into a full-blown grin, his lips skimming along my ear. "Good girl."

And then he was pulling away with one final tug on my hair, the effect going straight to my own arousal. Fuck all these vamps, I seethed, shooting a wilting glare towards Compton. I couldn't glare at stupid Eric. He would just laugh. Bill gave me an apologetic stare as the taller man turned to him.

"You have no claim here," he drawled nonchalantly. With a mockingly sympathetic final stare, Eric turned back to me, beginning his circling once more. I felt stripped bare. I felt like his eyes were hands, each sweep running over my bare skin. My arms, my waist, my breasts. Heat rolled up my neck. "Runa."

The way he said it sent hot coals up my spine. Far from the awkward southern drawl that was accompanied with the unusual name, the way he said with was smooth. He rolled the initial r and made it sound like… something else. My eyes met his, my breath stalling as he circled in front of me. His eyes had gone calculating as they wandered over me, considering.

"Odd name for Louisiana," he mused and my eyes narrowed. He was testing the waters. He was digging around for something.

"The world is filled with odd things, Mr. Northman," I said thinly, my spine going ramrod straight.

"I think you can give me a better excuse than that. Come on. Be inventive."

I glared up at the tall man, meeting his eyes. "I didn't think I would have to defend my name. You might want to talk to my parents."

His teeth flashed as he grinned down at me. "I would love to talk to your mother and father, Mrs... Stackhouse."

My jaw worked. "They're dead. You can go to their graves and try to resurrect them if you want though, Mr. Northman."

His brows quirked. "Is this where I'm supposed to say that I'm sorry?"

"As a matter of fact, it is."

"My apologies." He circled me again and I felt his eyes running along my back.

My voice dropped to open aggression. "Is there a point to this?"

"You look nothing like the blonde one," Eric stated blandly and my nose twitched. It was a tick of mine. I was so fucking pissed. This man was getting under my skin more than any other person on this planet that I had come across.

"I'm adopted."

"Last name?"

My tongue worked around the words that were about to spill from me. This wasn't going to be good. My eyes met his expectant ones.

"Nóttelska," I whispered and his lips twitched. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Bill shift as well.

"Nótt elska," He said it like my name was two different words. I blinked. And then before I could draw in another breath, he was beside me again, his fingers brushing back the hair at my neck as he took a deep breath. He was sniffing me, his nose traveling up my neck in a long inhale. "Mara."

"Eric." My eyes snapped toward the blonde woman standing just by the doors to the women's bathrooms, a sardonic smile curling her lips. "Hogging all the goodies already, master?"

The blonde man drew away from me, his fingers gently untangling from my hair as he rumbled out a laugh. That was when I realized that his fangs had come down. Shit. My heart shivered inside of my chest, the air that I had collected in my lunges suddenly going stale. How close had I been to being bitten? Would I have fought him? My body was definitely telling me that I might have been closer to throwing my arms around his neck and letting him suck the fucking life out of me. And then after that I might have ripped off my own panties for him. Fuck!

Pam's eyes met mine, her nose scenting the air as her fangs clicked down into place as well. "Smells like candy and sex."

"For another time," Eric said with a hint of humor in his voice, breaking away from me with what was becoming a tradition by tugging lightly at my hair.

"For yourself you mean," Pam said with a sigh, her eyes lingering as they traveled over me. She scowled across the room at the blonde man. "You always were a selfish bastard."

"Language," Eric chided with a smirk, wandering over to Bill.

Suddenly ice blue eyes were staring into mine, red lips pulled up in a sultry smirk.

"Pity," she drawled, one long nail running up my throat. "You would want to play with me, right? Boys don't know how it works."

Eric snorted across the room and I got the sense that he knew all too well how the female body worked. His eyes were translating that message loud and clear to me at the moment. Somehow I forced my eyes away from the sexual pits of absolute heat.

"I don't want to play with anyone in this bar at the moment." I gave her a thin smile. "Even the undead slush that Ginger's cleaning up right now."

The girl in question let out a bubbling sob, ending in a series of gags.

Throwing her head back, Pam gave a loud laugh and then gave me a long, sardonic stare. "Good for you. That's what I told myself when I was a good little human too."

I gave her a toothy, unhumourous smile, submitting to the southern belle accent that I had tamped down to a gentle lull. "Glad to still have the title."

"When Ginger is finished," Eric suddenly cut in, his gaze a blank mask as he stared down at the skinny blonde. His eyes flicked up as Pam gave a sigh and made her way to his side. "Glamor her for me."

Her brows tipped up. Across the room, I met Bill's eyes and blatantly ignored the accusation in them.

"Are you sure? She's been glamored one too many times already. Who knows how much of her's left."

I kept my mouth shut. I knew exactly the answer to that question.

My eyes skated across the bloody floor, slick with tendons and melted down muscle. Her dark eyeliner had smudged, slithering down her chin to make her face a grotesque mask. It was a testament to her usefulness that they hadn't simply hauled her into the back and drank her into a rubber glove of bones and skin.

Even I could sense how badly she had been damaged. Her fears were white around the edges and so numerous that they could fill the entire sky. She was a broken record that was skipping and repeating the same song.

"Either that or turn her." Eric looked decidedly blank to the option. "Want her?"

Across the room, Bill shifted, his brows furrowing at anger. Apparently he didn't approve of how laxly they were tossing around the option of turning a human. But how much could you call someone a human when they were so warped on the inside? She barely had her fears and nightmares to herself.

"Please," Pam scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I'm not that desperate. Glamor it is."

"Excellent," Eric murmured and I quickly lowered my gaze back to the floor as I felt his eyes run to me. There was no way that I was going to let him try out that little trick on me. Through my lashes, I saw shadows pass by. A hulking shadow with blonde hair. "Come. I'll buy you a blood."

For some reason, I didn't think he was talking to me. My shoulders relaxed. I let out a breath. No more questions. No more sexual tension.

Too soon. I drew in a sharp breath, stilling as fingers brushed over my chin. "I'll be seeing you soon, nótt elska."

My nose twitched. My hands clenched. I glared up at the man. "You vampires must not have a good sense of time if you think I'll be sniffing around here again."

He smirked, a thumb running roughly over my bottom lip. I snarled, my teeth snapping shut as I tried to give him a warning bite. Which only seemed to make him hungry, his eyes swirling darkly.

"The next time you come here I doubt there will be any…" He grinned, his fangs clicking down. "Sniffing."

Infuriating man, I seethed, watching as he whooshed away with puppy dog Bill right behind him. I wanted to punching him in the face but I was pretty sure that he would rip me to shreds if I even raised my hand.

"Don't get too sexually frustrated, doll," Pam drawled on her way past with a sobbing Ginger. "You might make me do something that would upset my master."

And with that I was left alone. In a bar filled with the smell of deceased vampire. I huffed, shoving a chair back and sitting heavily in it. I had a lot to digest. First was the fact that there was dead vamp on my converse. Second was the fact that Eric had said a lot of freaky fucking stuff. And he pronounced both my first and last name - well. I rubbed a hand over my eyes. It had sounded right. I had never heard my name pronounced like that before but it had sounded right. Which was infuriating and maddening and plain crazy and so fucking scary on so many levels.

Mara. He had whispered that. What did it mean? My brows knit together, my nails working at a small scratch in the granite table. The word pulled at something in the back of my mind the feeling similar to having a string stuck in a jagged nail. But there was no fucking way I was coming back to this asshole for answers. I would sooner dig my own grave and try to turn myself into a vampire so that I could become Bill Compton's fuck girl for the night.

I rolled the answers around my head, trying to pin down a way to spell out the word. So many different variations. Maera. Maira. Mara. Ma-

"Runa." My eyes snapped up, my neck cracking as I looked up to find Sookie. Dressed in a leather corset and skirt. Her eyes welled up for a moment before she pushed it down and walked slowly over to me, her steps halting and slightly pigeon toed. No wonder. She was wearing fuck-me pumps.

"New kink I should know about?" I whispered, coughing as my voice came out raspy.

Sookie ignored me, coming to sit next to me, her eyes sliding to the mess. "What did he say? Eric Northman?"

My heart squeezed painfully. I forced a smile. "He said that I was fucking bangable and that he would like to ride me til his vampire instincts made him go dead again in the sunlight."

My sisters gagged, slapping my arm. "Runa, ew."

"I declined," I offered innocently, my nail scraping along the mark more insistently until a gentle screech filled the room. "But then he took your boyfriend to the back and I…"

I gulped, my eyes flicking to the back room as worry surged through me. I hated to say that Compton had burrowed a little hole inside me. He had tried to defend me. And it was so fucking easy to make fun of him.

"This isn't going to go away is it?" Sookie whispered and I squeezed my eyes shut, my fingers curling through hers. I didn't say anything. She knew it wasn't going to just disappear. The puddle of snow-vamp gush at our feet was proof of that. The hunky blonde vampire in the room giving Compton a little "chat" was proof of that.

And the promise that leashed us to Eric Northman was proof of that.

But my sister didn't need to hear all that from me. She already knew.

"Sookie." Both of us snapped to attention at the deep voice. Bill was heading towards us. I winced. And he did not look happy. We could talk about it in the car.

Scrambling down from my perch, I made an Olympic race towards the door. I would have gotten gold.

"Let's blow this blood bank," I whispered, already opening the door and sliding in.

No comments. We made the trip home in relative silence.

"She's all drama and theatrics." Bill was making a big show of not letting on that he was in giant horse shit. I followed a few steps behind, my head ringing softly. I just wanted a fucking shower and a night's sleep. All the fears that I had drawn out from all those humans was getting to me.

We made our way up the steps, Bills hand in Sookie's as he opened the door and sent me a reassuring smile.

"I assure you everything's going to be fine."

Everything was far from fine.


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Old Norse:

Nótt Elska: Night Love