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Chapter 18: The Preacher's Wife

"Jason, where in the world are you?" I hissed into the phone, turning away from all the people that were crowding around my bar. Tara gave me a raised browed stare, silently asking me if everything was alright. Nodding, I ducked behind the fridge, squeezing into the little alcove there beside the bar exit.

"I told ya'll that I was going to one of them fancy religious camps," came his voice, the distant sound of night insects and voices.

I rubbed my temple. The only information that I had gotten was that he had gone to some Fellowship thingie and that it had cost nearly all of his savings.

"It's in Dallas," he said with an eagerness that made me think that he was actually having fun. Jason had always been the sort of person to want to go to summer camps.

"Dallas?" I croaked out, glancing uncertainly around the bar. Sookie and Bill and Jessica were already on their way to the airport. Before she had gone she had been debating whether the dress she was wearing was fancy enough for a private jet. "Why are you in Dallas?"

I blinked, my eyes ticking over to the clock to find that they wouldn't have even gotten to the airport.

"Haven't you been listening?" Jason snipped. "You and Sook never listen to me."

"Sorry," I muttered, tearing my eyes away from the clock. We couldn't possibly be going to the same location. Dallas was a big place right? "I just… I was talking to someone else. When will you be home?"

"Oh." His voice dropped bashfully and I could picture him, standing in the dark, kicking at rocks like a scolded child. "Well, um this course is supposed to be real long…"

"With an end date," I snapped, my stomach churning with an odd sort of uncertainty. "What is it?"

"Well, see, Rune," he started haltingly. "This is like an intro course. After this… well, they might ask me to stay on."

What was this feeling? Something like one of the bricks falling out from underneath you when you were walking a steady route. Bon Temp wasn't a normal place. Once you got here, you didn't leave. Whole families lived and died here, entire cemeteries dedicated to one last name. Even Bill ended up back here. So to imagine that Jason would… My heart ached, something lonely and cold starting to blossom in my stomach. I had never pictured us apart. There was a certain safety in having all of us so close to each other, able to reach out and help whenever.

"You haven't told Sookie yet have you?" I whispered, turning further into the alcove corner. Even with her being so snippy with me lately, she would have told me something like this.

"You know how she gets," Jason huffed. "She'd flip out, probably come over here and do that weird whisper-shout that she does when I get her angry. It'd just be too much, ya know?"

I gave a noncommittal grunt, glancing at the clock again. It was only 30 minutes until I got off and I was absolutely dreading it. Against my ear, my phone gave a dull ding and I resisted the urge to look. Eric had been messaging me since a few days ago, his texts jolting through my system in a giddy kind of confusion. An undead Viking messaging me about plans to go to Dallas to catch some mysterious kidnapper - what an odd turn of events.

Our messages had gone something along the lines of:

Where were we fucking tonight, lover?

Can't recall. Sad that even my subconscious can't pump you up enough to get the job done.

I think first-hand experience is the direct cause of that. Don't you think it's about time we remedy it?

I don't like having sex with men that are holding life debts over my head.

Say the word and it's gone.

What word is that exactly?

Yes.

Always in the wee hours before dawn, right as the sun was licking at the edges of darkness still left in the sky, that message would pop across my screen. Where were we fucking tonight, lover? And my sweat-soaked sheets would seem like a cage once more that I had been given over to. Agitation would quickly follow only heightened by his absurd texts. I mean what kind of vampire texted?

"Hey, do you think that having sex with a preacher's wife is bad?" I blinked, snapping back to the present.

"I'm sorry - what?"

"You know, like, um when you see a regular girl and think she's hot you just go for it but are there rules if its a preacher's wife?"

My head hurt.

"Okay, first of all, anybody's wife is off-limits, Jason," I replied slowly, taking the time to wave at a particularly gutsy patron who was snapping her fingers at me. Raising her brows, she pointed at her empty shot glass, miming drinking. Raising my brows, I pointed at my phone, miming choking her out. By her lack of response, I was pretty sure that she thought I was telling her that I would be there in five minutes. "Secondly, even people of the cloth fuck sometimes, Jason."

There was a long pause before he replied. "So there aren't any rules?"

My head made a light thunk on the refrigerator as I took a moment to breathe. "Aside from the fact that she's married to someone other than you, no. There aren't any religious rules if she's just a preacher's wife."

"Cool," he said.

I closed my eyes. "Jason, please don't have sex with the preacher's wife."

"Oh, nah," he laughed. "I was just asking because I was curious."

"Yeah," I replied lamely. "I'm sure that was all it was."

"Seriously, Rune," he went on earnestly. "I've changed. I don't do things like that anymore."

I sighed. "As long as you're happy, Jason."

"It's cool here," he assured me. A low whistled drew his attention for a moment and I heard him lift the phone away as he spoke to another person. Finally, he came back. "Hey, I gotta go, Runa but I'll call you in a few days. Love you."

"Love you too Jason," I said, hearing the distant click on his end. Sighing, I looked down at the phone in my hand. He was going to get himself into trouble, I could feel it.

"Another scotch please," the annoying lady who had snapped at me called, jiggling her glass of melting ice cubes. I resisted the urge to say something snarky back, giving her a strained smile as I took the glass and quickly poured it. "Lovely evening."

"Not really," I replied, sliding the glass to her quickly before turning away to do brush down for Tara.

There was a lot to be done before I took off for the next week. On paper, my leave had been indefinite, something telling me that plans with Eric Northman could quickly turn from days to weeks. So that meant that I needed to organize the bar before I left, setting the alcohol and syrups and salts in the right area instead of the area that I preferred.

"Oh," I muttered, stopping my mad attempt at trying to sort the small stack of TruBlood and diving for my bag just beneath the bar top. Catching Tara's eyes, I waved the identical lavender packages. "Here. I almost forgot to wish you a happy birthday before I took off."

The way Tara was looking at me, you would think that I was offering her a rattlesnake instead of a gift. Her dark eyes went wide, her mouth tipping down and back. "You really shouldn't have."

"Sookie's the one who remembered," I said, shoving the boxes into her hands. Quickly, she tucked them behind the bar, her face turning away from me. "Oh my god, are you crying?"

"N-no." The raw, stuttering way that she said it was enough of an answer for me. I grimaced, tucking all of my stuff back into my bag quickly.

"Please don't do that," I said.

"You think I'm trying to cry?" she whispered back accusingly. "You're the one who had to go and surprise me like that."

"My bad for thinking that you could act like a normal human being," I hissed, swatting back at her as she gave me a slap on the arm.

"Okay." She took a deep breath, rubbing at her eyes roughly and then taking another breath. "Okay." Mouth firm, she turned to me. "Sorry. Birthdays just aren't… that great. So I wasn't expecting… Thank you for giving me those."

Nodding, I skirted around her for the stack of TruBloods again. "Just don't do that again. It was unsettling."

"Says the girl who's regularly unsettling," Tara muttered.

I snorted, tossing a couple of expired blood packets.

"Runa." Sam had stalled out on his way into the main dining area, a steaming tray of food balanced on his palm. His blue eyes flicked to the clock on the wall. "You were supposed to be off 20 minutes ago."

"Oh shit," I hissed, checking my own watch. Maybe I had been stalling a little bit but now I was late and Eric Northman didn't seem like a man who was accustomed to waiting. Tearing off my apron, I quickly tossed it in the sink and sprinted to the back to get my suitcase and then sprinted back to get my purse. "Tara-"

"I got it," she called, already loading the TruBlood back into its box.

"Be careful and have fun!" Sam called as I rushed out of the restaurant into the front parking lot.

It was hard to think that just a month or so ago that woman's carcass had been found in this very lot just a few yards away. Now the lots were all filled with dusty Louisiana cars and rusty trucks. Street lamps dotted the parking lot and standing beneath one of them was the hulking form of one Eric Northman.

His hair was golden in the light, slicked back away from the hard planes of his face. I had the sudden realization that I had never seen him completely at ease, his brows not drawn in that cutting fashion that made his crystal blue eyes shadowed. A dark jacket hugged his broad shoulders, tipped up at the collar and black jeans emphasized his tapered waist and long legs. Sookie had once described him as "an egotistical, rotten hunk of a vampire" and I found myself fully agreeing.

Eric Northman was definitely a hunk.

As I hurried towards him, his tipped up ever so slightly, his eyes running over me darkly in a way that made me think that he knew when I was coming out even before I had gotten my stuff to leave. Could vampires hear through walls, across parking lots? That was a disturbing thought.

"Think about me lately?" he called, almost casually and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"Every night," I replied blandly, setting my luggage down. It wouldn't do me any good to underscore the fact that we were having mad, passionate sex every single night in my dreams. He already knew.

And apparently he was enjoying the notion.

"Often," he said with a smirk.

"Luckily it doesn't last that long," I said snarkily and he grunted, his lips twitching. Our eyes connected for a moment longer than I expected. Our little banter… Was I having fun? Was he having fun?

"You're 45 minutes late," he murmured, switching gears swiftly.

"I lost track of time," I mumbled, blushing. My heart gave an awkward rap as he took a long breath in. For some reason, it seemed more like he was breathing me in. "I'm sorry."

A single brow quirked up. "You're sorry?"

My shoulders went up. "I can admit when I was wrong."

"Apologies," he murmured, his eyes flicking around. "I was just under the impression that you would never apologize to someone like me."

I shifted, my mind flashing back over all of my sharp words toward him. I didn't entirely know what that meant or if I should address it at the moment - someone like him. Shaking my head, I decided to move past it.

"You know you could have just gotten me a commercial flight right?" This time it was my turn to change the subject, coughing lightly. The way that he was staring at me was making me uncomfortable.

"And missed the opportunity to come and get you myself?" His smile was cocky as he hunched down, his shoulders almost curving around me.

I pursed my lips debating for a moment. When I had finally stopped our little messaging war and come out with the real reason why I needed to speak to him he had come up with a simple solution: He would come pick me up and drop me off at the airport where a private jet would take me to Dallas. A proposal that was both surprisingly sweet and terrifying all at once. Moving from spending almost zero time in the company of each other to him taking me to the airport? Leaps like that made my social anxiety skyrocket.

However, my feeble protests had been quickly squelched when he pointed out the fact that it was either this or A. buying my own ticket or B. not going at all and leaving Sookie to fend for herself.

So here I was, standing in the middle of Merlotte's parking lot with a Viking vampire who was looking down at me like he wanted to throw me up against the nearest wall and make all my dreams come true.

His nose twitched as he took a long breath, his eyes crinkling as he smirked. "What are you thinking of, lover?"

"Lover implies that we're having sex," I whispered, heat searing across my face. I looked away from those intense blue eyes. "Which we're not."

"Except for every night in your dreams," he murmured, drawing a step closer until I could feel the soft chill from him.

"That doesn't count."

"Did you cum?" His words were blunt and guttural, his gaze going heavy as he leaned down so that we were eye to eye. I opened my mouth and then closed it, shivering. His eyes crinkled more, his fangs clicking into place as his gaze traveled to my lips. "Then it counts."

God, this guy could melt the panties of anyone he wanted to.

"Where's the car?" I bit out, quickly changing the subject again as I glanced away, pretending to search the parking lot. A bit away the restaurant door opened with a tinkle, a pair of drunk humans stumbling out with a few loud belches.

"Car?" he murmured but his eyes were on the men, narrowing slightly as one gave a low whistle, his eyes on my ass.

In all honesty, the skirt did make my legs look fantastic.

"You said you were taking me to the airport." I blinked, surprised to hear a low rumble starting somewhere deep in Eric's chest, his eyes still firmly set on the pair of men. One of his hands curled possessively around my hip, yanking me closer to him. "Eric?"

"Damn, she's hot as fuck," one of the men slurred, stumbling a little bit closer. I flinched, something uneasy knotting my stomach as a full snarl burst from Eric.

"They're drunk," I whispered, tugging on the collar of his jacket. His neck corded as another low growl rumbled from him.

"They're irritating," he replied tightly, still glaring across the parking lot. He flashed his fangs in a toothy snarl. I sighed as the pair gave resulting yelps, their eyes wide as they stumbled away.

"That was unnecessary," I muttered, realizing that Eric had pressed me to his front, his arm wrapped around my waist.

His shoulders eased, a slow smile starting to curl his lips as his fangs flashed in the streetlight. "I enjoyed it." I rolled my eyes. A single brow quirked as he flipped his wrist, catching sight of his watch. "Your flight leaves in fifteen minutes."

"Oh my god," I gasped, panic flaring in my stomach. Shoving at him, I snarled. "Did you plan this, you asshole? We need to-"

"Pet," he broke in, looking highly unimpressed by my pushing as he kept me plastered to his front. "Don't insult me. I'm a vampire."

My heart stopped beating. I gaped up at him, suddenly realizing what he had in mind. And then I really started struggling, flashing my teeth. "OH HELL NO! YOU ARE NOT GOING TO CARRY ME AROUND LIKE A BARBIE! YOU-"

I was starting to get hysterical. There were few things that I was really, truly scared of. Before today, I had never left Louisiana - never even left Bon Temp really. And now not only did this fuck head want to toss me into a tin can with wings but he also wanted to toss me over his shoulder and fly me to the airport himself.

Those blue eyes met mine, a stray strand of blonde hair falling as they twinkled down at me. "Hold tight, pet."

"You di-" The rest was lost in a shriek as my stomach slammed up into my throat, wind whipping my face until it was hard to breathe. There's something about being incredibly high and also going so fast that makes your body revolt. Your mind stops working. Your lungs stop working. And your heart goes into cardiac arrest.

Whether I wanted to or not, my body locked up, cinching tight around the nearest, most stable surface. And unfortunately, that was Eric. Or maybe, fortunately. All of my brain cells were going towards praying to whatever power there was in the universe to just not let me die to think about that right now. My arms closed around his neck, my legs wrapping around his waist until I was so tightly wrapped around him that I could feel the corded muscles of his stomach and chest press against my front. A low, appreciative rumble rolled through his chest into me as his arms tightened around my waist, broad hands squeezing down on my butt. Maybe in a different situation, I would have snapped out at him but at the moment I would take anything that he gave me that would keep me secured to him.

The muggy night of Louisiana dissipated the higher we got, turning from oppressive to dewy and then there was nothing but the wind whipping against me. It tugged at my hair, yanking at my scrunchie until it went tumbling into the open sky below us, down, down, down. I squeeze my eyes shut, shaking. If I thought about how far that scrap of rubber and cloth was falling, I was going to have a heart attack.

It went on forever, me clinging onto him as my hair whipped me in the face, punishing me for thinking that Eric Northman wouldn't have something shady up his sleeve. And then we were falling, dropping so suddenly that I gave another yelp, my guts cramming up to where my stomach.

And then... stillness.

"You're scared of heights." It wasn't a question. We were on solid ground now - I could see the tarmac for the planes and the signaling lights and they took off - but I couldn't move.

Woodenly, I nodded, my teeth chattering from the fear that was still pumping through me. How pathetic, I thought weakly. Someone who could make people literally die from freight scared into a shivering, stiff mess.

"I...apologize…" The words seem foreign, his voice dipping as if he was uncomfortable with the words. Slowly, he made his way over to a nearby light post, sitting down heavily on the slab on concrete that made up its base. He had landed on a strip of grass just beside the runway, a little away from the hangar of an idling jet. "Runa?"

"You're an ass," I force out, feeling raw and tired. Like coming down from a serious workout. Unwanted, my head tipped down until I was curled into the strong line of his throat. Sea air and fir trees reached my nose, soothing me. He smelled like...home. I close my eyes, tired.

"Mister Northman," a deep voice says just a few feet away. Eric's hands tighten on my ass as he looks up, giving a small grunt. I force my head up too, catching sight of a skinny man with slicked-back black hair, dressed smartly in a suit. Resting beside him was my suitcase and purse. Huh. I hadn't even known that I had left it.

"Leave it there," Eric said by way of dismissal. By the way that the man disappeared, he was definitely a vampire too. One of Eric's hands rubbed up my back, drawing my attention. "There is a matter that we need to discuss before you leave to Dallas."

"We're going to the same place," I stated blandly, suddenly liking the idea of a comfy seat where I could curl into and fall asleep. Still, I forced my head up, meeting his eyes. His nose skimmed along mine, his breath cool against my lips.

"Yes but now we're both alone now," he murmured with a small smile that made my heart flutter. His hand was still rubbing slowly along my back, the other holding me tightly to his hips. Now that I could think properly, I realized just how close we were. I was spread across him, my thighs hugging his hips in a way that left no room for shyness. Against me, I could feel the hard press of his erection. My body tightened, hyper-awareness setting in. Unwanted, my eyes drifted to his lips. His next words were said on a smirk, white teeth flashing. "I have a feeling that that pesky sister of yours will be fluttering around you."

Dazed, I nodded, not really even sure of what he was saying. Who could think with a man like this in front of them? Softly, his thumb came up to chuck my chin, forcing my eyes to meet his own amused stare. "Pet, we need to talk about Lafayette."

I blinked. Talk about a mood killer.

"Um, excuse me?"

"His wounds have become infected," he stated bluntly.

"How do you know that?" At the tipping of a single brow and the flash of his fangs, I shook my head. "You know what? I don't even want to hear all the sordid details."

"Ah, pet, you love my sordid details." His smile was absolutely evil before his gaze grew serious. "I can offer my help to him."

My eyes narrowed. "What do I need to do?"

Eric's eyes narrowed as well, a silent debate waging inside of him before he looked away, jaw tense. "Nothing."

I blinked. "Nothing?"

"No," he gritted out, still not looking at me.

"No hidden clauses?" I pushed. "No trap cards?"

"None," he growled, shooting me a glare.

I stilled, taking in the hard planes of his face, the strong line of his jaw. He would heal Lafayette. For nothing. What benefit could that bring him?

"Why?" I asked, suspicious.

His jaw worked for a moment, the cords of his neck pulsing. Beneath me, his whole body seemed to give a roll. "I don't enjoy having you question every single one of my actions. It gets tiresome."

I continued to stare at him until he rolled his eyes. From his obvious irritation, it seemed like he didn't often have people press him for answers.

"You're fond of your friends and I'm fond of you," he stated blandly. "By process of elimination, I've gathered that it would make you extremely unhappy if one of them died. Which would make you unhappy with me since I may have shot him. Saving him means little to me and costs me nothing."

My brows went up. Wow.

Striking eyes searched my face, dipping to my lips as he drew in a deep breath. "Besides…" Gently, his hand came up to cup my face, a rough finger rubbing along my lower lip as his eyes darkened. "You're so fucking cute when you feel like you're indebted to me."

I didn't know whether to be turned on or annoyed. Either way, my sex was pressed against his hard erection, his palm unforgiving on my ass as he pressed me a little bit closer, forcing my thighs a bit wider. I was just as affected and if I was being honest with myself, I had been since I realized how close we were. Bubbling emotions churned inside of me, sparking and fizzling. Sometimes he said things… A whimper escapes me before I could help it.

Because I want him. I'd wanted him for so long that it hurts.

His eyes darken to a stormy grey, a short breath escaping him. "Fuck, pet. I can smell you." His voice was rough as he yanked me into him, no space between us anymore as I give an involuntary wiggle and he lets out a responding snarl. I arch into him as the hand on my back grabs onto my neck, dragging me closer. "How am I supposed to be good when you obviously want me to fuck you so bad?"

My own desperate arousal throbs frantically between my legs, making my hips jerk in a responding plea that made us both let out a groan. His nostrils flared, ravenous resolve darkening his eyes as his fangs clicked down. And I was drenched because I knew how those fangs felt in my dreams but here he was in real life and I just wanted him to-

"Miss Stackhouse." I jerk, dazed and confused for a moment as Eric let out a snarl, his eyes like the bluest flames.

"What?" Eric hissed and I almost felt bad for the poor mortal quivering behind me.

"The plane…" he replied feebly.

There was a long moment of silence broken only by the nervously shuffle of the human. Eric took a long calming breath, his head bowing slightly as his hands tightened and loosened on my neck and ass like I was his own personal stress ball. Which wasn't helping my arousal level decrease at all. I bit my lip, trying to find some calm. And not rip off my underwear and embarrass myself.

Giving a small grunt, Eric straightened, his big hands keeping me tightly wrapped around his waist even as I gave a yelp of surprise.

"Eric," I hiss, trying to wiggle away only to have him drag me a little bit closer, his hips rolling into my sex enough to make me choke down a moan.

Each step is a lesson in torture as we make our way into the plane and to the private seating area. By the time he set me down, I'm almost out of my mind, the slickness between my thighs making me slippery.

I'm so lost in trying to wiggle a little bit more on him that I don't even know that we've made it to my seat until he peels me off of him, setting me down in the plush leather with a cocky smirk. Slowly, his eyes darted down to where my nipples are beaded through my sweater and then even lower to where my skirt has hitched higher than decency. Even though his lips are curled up there's a dark, serious tilt to his eyes that belies it as he leans down, his hands resting on either side of my chair.

"When we finally fuck, Runa," he murmurs, his mouth hovering over mine. "You're going to ask me for it. You're not going to fight and I'm not going to just give it to you - you're going to beg for it so until then…" His eyes lit with amusement, a small click breaking the heated air around us. "Buckle up."

And with that, he was stalking away, leaving me a frustrated mess in his wake. With my seat belt tightly fastened.

"Don't you ever fucking interrupt me again," I heard him growl just beyond the plane door to a stuttered apology.


I hope you guys like it! Please REVIEW and follow/favorite. I don't know if I've emphasized this enough (just kidding, I know I have) but I love it when I get comments on my chapters. It makes me feel really good about where my stories are going and if my readers are invested. So yeah - PLEASE REVIEW.