AN: I have no chill. lol. I guess I'll just upload whenever I have the chapters written, until I don't. Anyway, y'all are super sweet for the birthday wishes, but trust me, hearing that you liked the chapter was plenty. So, here's another. Let me know what you think, and, as always, enjoy! Oh, and PS, I highly reccomend you listening to Tili Tili Bom on youtube. Super creepy. There's a vid with a disturbing painting of a child as the thumbnail. That one has the English translation subtitles. Give it a go.

Chapter 8

Season 2, Ep. 5

Never Let Go

He appeared behind her in an instant, his cold body pressed to hers and his breath on her neck. Maria was still, sure that even the slightest bit of movement would stir the monster.

Immeasurably strong hands grasped her hips. Slowly, they began to climb up her sides, disappearing beneath her shirt. They were icy, forcing her skin to prickle as they moved up.

When they reached her chest, his steely fingers enclosed around her breasts and squeezed. Maria let out a soft whimper, her eyes fluttered shut, and her heart beat erratically. She had to chew on her bottom lip just to keep it from quivering. He pulled her against his chest as he continued to caress and massage her.

"Say it." He told her.

"No," Maria's voice held no power or conviction, just weak defiance.

He grabbed her harder and jerked her back against him, forcing her to remember he was the one in charge.

"Say it." He growled into her ear a moment before biting into her neck, racking his blunt teeth across her skin.

Maria gasped, but put up no resistance. Instead, she complied with his demands.

"I need you." She said. "I want you. Please."

The sound of tearing fabric filled the space. With quick hands and sure grip, she was stripped of everything within seconds.

He spun her, lifted her into the air, and set her back down on his desk. Maria stared up at Eric's stormy grey eyes and felt as though she would come through her skin in the best sense. He held her thighs and stepped between her parted legs. Maria couldn't catch her breath, so excited for the prospect of what was to come.

Eric instantly claimed her lips and kissed her viciously. Maria returned the sentiment, nipping and biting at his lips while their tongues dueled one another. She heard the sound of his belt, and then the whir of a zipper. When he drew back, he pressed his forehead to hers. Maria's breath hitched in her throat when she felt him at her entrance.

"You're mine." He growled possessively. "I own you."

"Yes," she whimpered.

Eric thrust into her and-

Maria shot awake, breathing in a desperate gasp of air. Her heart raced uncontrollably in her chest, her ears were ringing, and her skin was flush with sweat.

It took minutes for her to calm down enough to realize what had happened. She'd just had a nightmare, one unbelievably more graphic than any she'd felt before, but lacked the fear she should have felt. Still, it was a nightmare to her, nonetheless.

"Christ," she sighed to herself.

Maria propped up her knees and rested her elbows on them. Her head dipped. She took in deliberately slow breaths, anything to regain control over herself. That had been the most graphic sex dream she'd ever had about Eric Northman, and it left more than just her forehead and chest damp.

She ran her fingers through her hair, peeling it away from her sweaty skin, and looked to the clock on her bedside table. It was barely seven o'clock that evening.

The nightmare about Northman that woke her was far from the first one she'd had that night, but it was the last straw. Maria decided at that moment that she wasn't going to try and sleep again. There was no point. She'd ingested so much of Eric's blood that the dreams were overwhelming. Sleep, peaceful sleep, just wasn't possible anymore.

She grumbled to herself as she rose from her bed and headed for the bathroom. A bath to clean her skin would be a good idea. A vampire's senses were unrivaled, and the last thing she needed was for him to smell her arousal. It wouldn't take a genius to realize the cause behind it, and Eric Northman was already an intelligent creature. She wasn't in the mood to make the already arrogant vampire even more so.

As the warm water filled the tub and the bathroom with steam, Maria added a few of the bath salts that had been provided. She couldn't say if the hotel offered spa-like treatment to everyone who rented a room, but it was a luxury in the ridiculously-sized suite she shared with Northman.

After stripping herself of her clothes, Maria slid into the bathtub. It was enormous, more than enough for the water to cover both her knees, and her boobs at the same time. When it was filled adequately, she turned off the tap with her toes, and began to relax. It was the first chance she'd had in quite some time.

The heat of the water filled the room with the scent of roses. Sure, it was mildly synthetic, but the essence of it was there, and it brought back painful memories.

As a child, Maria was catered to and spoiled. Despite being the middle of five children, she wanted for nothing, and rose baths were her favorite. Her nanny would bring in a bowl of freshly plucked rose petals and toss handfuls of them into her bathwater. It scented the air and her skin for days. A small, heavy smile curled her lips as she remembered her brother and sisters, her mother and father, and numerous staff that helped raise her.

But they were all gone, now. Maria was the only one left from her entire family name.

Eric rose just after sunset. He hadn't meant to, but there was too much to do that night. He was eager to speak with Isabel and Stan, the two left behind to watch over Godric's territory now that the vampire himself was gone.

Girl would be joining him, alongside Bill and Sookie. He felt she needed to begin earning her keep. He had to find some way to justify bringing her to Dallas with him.

When he entered the living space and found it empty, Eric crossed the suite to Girl's door. Before he could knock, he heard the faint sound of her singing, and rustling water. She was taking a bath. Without reservations, he entered her room and approached the bathroom door. Her singing was clearer than before and while his Russian was a bit rusty, he recognized that what she was singing was a lullaby called Tili Tili Bom, and it was an unsettling song.

Eric had heard the deceptively sweet melody before. It was like all nursery rhymes, though, filled with disturbing words and stories. Tili Tili Bom was no exception. Hidden within the dulcet tune was the story of a boogeyman-like character stalking a child from outside the home before making its way in, then moving upstairs to eat the child who was still awake late in the night. It was a cautionary tale to children who didn't want to go to bed. If they didn't, He would find them and snatch them away.

He stood there silently listening to the young woman in the bath, barely separated from him by a hollow wooden door. He couldn't pinpoint why he was so intrigued. It was disturbing, true, but perhaps that was why he remained. Regardless, the way the bathroom caused her words to echo and the gentle way she chose to sing them made the song so haunting that it kept him in his place.

When it finally came to an end only a few moments later, he finally knocked on the door. There was a loud jostle of water on the other side. He knew he'd frightened her and she simply overreacted.

"What?" She snapped from within.

"I have things to do tonight, and you're going to join me." He told her plainly. "We're leaving by ten."

"Fine," She grumbled.

He could sense her agitation with him, her annoyance and likely embarrassment because of what happened when they fed from each other. It caused him to chuckle to himself.

As he left her bedroom, Eric paused. Something, faint but there, crossed his nose. He did his best to sift through the scents that surrounded him. There was her lotion, the rosewater from the bathroom, the smell of the cleaners used in the suite, and…

Eric's grin returned and was downright sinister. He could smell her arousal. It had faded, true, but he could still smell it emanating from the bed.

Eric arched a brow and continued to smirk as he exited her side of the suite and returned to his. For the next few days, he was certain Girl would be too embarrassed about what happened to meet his eye for long. He hoped she'd blush and fidget, that she would show him the thousands of signs that went along with the emotion, because he would savor it all. Girl consistently did her best to remain emotionless and distant, so even the slightest break in that exterior was welcomed.

Maria stared out the window, doing her best to ignore the people in the SUV with her. Eric was driving, Bill was in the passenger's seat, and that Sookie bitch was sat beside Maria in the back. Northman never told her they'd be driving together. While she didn't truly have a choice in the matter, she wished she had known. She could have prepared herself.

"I really am sorry." Sookie said for the third time since they'd begun the drive. "I didn't mean to shoot you."

Maria rolled her head to the side and leveled her nearly fluorescent eyes on Sookie. The blond swallowed hard and shifted in her seat. When she forced herself to look away, Maria returned her stare out the window.

For the last twenty minutes, she'd been struggling to keep her breathing to a minimum because Sookie had bathed in perfume, and even if she hadn't, the scent coming from her skin curled Maria's nose. It was sweet, sickly sweet, and it stirred the animal inside her. It wasn't entirely uncommon for something to trigger the animal, to make it act out reflexively or instinctually. That was a byproduct of being a duel-natured creature. But, she never reacted to anything like she did Sookie. Whatever she was triggered a deep, deep "fight or flight" reflex in Maria and, unfortunately for the blonde, Maria's only response was "fight".

As she sat there doing her best to ignore Sookie, Maria proceeded to crack her knuckles. She used her thumb to press down on her index finger, cracking the knuckle once, and then proceeding onto her middle finger, then her ring, then pinky. She repeated the process over and over again, even after her knuckles stopped popping because it gave her something to do.

"I like your gloves." Sookie said after a lengthy silence. Her southern drawl grated on Maria's nerves. "Where'd you get 'em?"

She remained silent.

"What's yer name?"

Again, Maria remained silent.

"Your friend isn't very hospitable, is she?" Bill asked Eric.

Maria arched a brow and glanced briefly to the brunette vampire. If he thought he was being discreet in the way he spoke about her, he was mistaken.

Eric turned his head lazily to Bill and said, "Your waitress shot her."

"And has apologized." Bill said with a surprisingly stern edge, all things considered.

Maria heard Eric sigh his loud agitation with the situation they both found themselves in. She had noticed he was already stressed when they left the hotel, but Bill's prompting for Maria to apologize or be kind to the woman who put a nine millimeter round through her chest was ridiculous.

When Eric spoke again, he spoke in Russian, a language Maria didn't realize he knew, or that he was aware she spoke.

"Humor them." He told her. Maria looked up and met his eye in the rearview mirror.

"No," She said plainly. "Why should I make her feel better about shooting me? If I was human, I'd be dead."

"Don't exaggerate. I would have healed you."

"It doesn't matter." She snapped. Maria was losing her patience. She felt she was in the right not opening her arms to Sookie, but somehow, she was being scolded for it. "They can't honestly expect me to be nice or accommodating. Why should I do anything at all?"

"To keep Bill from badgering me."

"He can suck a dead donkey's dick."

What happened next shocked all those in the car. Eric laughed. He laughed loud and happily. It lasted for only a moment, but it happened, and it was disarming.

Maria stared at the back of his ashen-blonde head with wide eyes. She didn't like his laugh. On anyone else, it would have been a nice sound. It would have been contagious enough to make others laugh, but not on Eric Northman. On Eric Northman it was unsettling as hell.

She wasn't the only one shocked by the outburst, either. Both Sookie and Bill stared at him just as unsurely as Maria did, but he didn't bother acknowledging any of them.

The laugh effectively put an end to talking in the SUV. No one spoke again until they made it to Godric's den.

Once inside the palatial home, things devolved quickly. Stan and Isabel were at one another's throats, bickering like children because –apparently- neither of them was capable of having a rational conversation. Worse yet, Northman was amped up as well. The air inside the home was electric, filled with emotions so strong they made Maria increasingly uncomfortable.

"Idiots," Eric hissed through his teeth seconds before he charged out of the house.

Everyone watched him leave and no one moved to follow, except Maria. She was growing angrier and angrier and knew she had to intervene whether she truly wanted to or not.

When she stepped through the front door, she found Eric pacing in the driveway. He walked perhaps ten feet then would turn sharply on his heel and walk the same distance in the other direction. The sound of crunching gravel narrated each angry step. He was practically vibrating with rage.

Maria didn't hesitate to stand directly in his path. When Eric turned with every intention of keeping his pace going, he was abruptly stopped by her.

"Move," He growled through his teeth.

She arched a single brow and remained where she stood.

Eric closed the majority of the distance between them. He loomed over her, forcing Maria to look up at him through her lashes.

"I said move." He repeated in the same threatening way.

"Kneel,"

Eric flinched. His hardened exterior wavered and she noticed that it took his brain a moment or two to actually comprehend what she'd said.

"What did you just say to me?"

"Kneel," She repeated without reservation. Northman opened his mouth, ready to berate her for her comment, but she interrupted what would have been a long tirade. "I can't reach your head comfortably with you standing."

As before, his brows pulled together and he stared down at her with confusion. It was in that confused state that he, for some reason, began to comply. Slowly and stiffly Eric began to lower himself until he was on his knees in front of her. She could tell that even he didn't understand why he was complying.

On his knees, Northman's head reached Maria's chest. She was an average-heighted woman after all, and he was a Viking giant.

Maria stepped forward until she could comfortably reach out to him. She easily glided her glove-covered fingers through his hair, starting at his temples and moving to the back of his head. Eric's eyes drifted shut and a satisfied groan echoed deep in his throat. Maria wasn't entirely certain he realized he'd made the noise in the first place.

The two remained silent as Maria continued to massage his scalp, running her fingers through his hair and applying the perfect amount of pressure. She knew it was working because Eric's head dipped to the point his chin touched his chest, and he was swaying under the strength of her actions.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked after a lengthy silence. "Still feeling the effects of last night?"

Maria clenched her jaw and jerked his hair sharply. Eric's head shot back and he glared at her for the petty reaction to his comment, but she could tell he wasn't truly upset. Within the steel-grey of his eyes, she saw a flicker of a smile that never reached his lips.

Maria met his stare head-on, without the slightest hint of fear or worry over what she'd done. After another moment of silence, Eric dropped his head again, and Maria continued to massage his scalp.

"I need you calm." She finally said, answering his previous question.

"Worried about me?"

The taunting tone wasn't lost on her and caused Maria to openly roll her eyes.

"I'm worried about me." She clarified. "I don't need you getting me killed because you have the temperament of a child."

Perhaps she should have been more wary about speaking to Northman like she was, but she wasn't. She never had been. Maria just assumed that if it bothered him, he'd have done something in the previous months.

After another silent moment or two, Eric reached up and grasped Maria's wrists, stopping the massage. She felt ice shoot through her veins and her heart race, reactions she did her best to keep from her face.

The Viking gradually rose to his full height still holding her wrists, and stared down at her with an expression she couldn't immediately identify. On anyone else, it would have looked like gratitude, but with Eric Northman, she couldn't say for certain.

Her discomfort with the situation was enough that she had to snatch her hands away from him. He seemed to find it amusing, which caused her to scowl. An actual grin graced his lips as he ran his fingers through his hair and straightened it once more.

Without a word, he returned to the house with her in toe. Maria stared at the back of his head, second-guessing what she'd done for him. She wasn't lying when she told the Viking that she'd tended to him to keep his mind calm. Maria didn't want to be sucked up into the whirlwind of destruction that would most likely follow Northman should he lose his head. Unlike him, she couldn't heal instantly, she couldn't run as fast or act as fast as he did. It was less likely that she'd survive than him.

On the other hand, perhaps it wasn't the best timing. Given the night they spent feeding from one another, she was well aware that any contact between the two would hold a sexual undertone, whether it was real or otherwise.

The conversation moved along inside, though Maria paid little to no attention to them. Vampires whining about their stupid problems didn't matter to her, truthfully. She was content to remain in her own mind until she heard something that brought her almost violently to the foreground. While Eric was off to the side with Bill, she heard him mumble something that terrified her.

"He is my Maker."

A bolt of fear, pure and unchained, rocketed through her body. If she thought she was worried about his erratic behavior before, it was nothing compared to what she felt after that declaration. If Godric, the vampire Sheriff who'd been missing for however long was –in fact- Northman's Maker, then Maria genuinely doubted there was nothing he wouldn't do to find him.

"Fuck," She hissed to herself.

Pam's glamor suddenly made even more sense. Until that moment, she simply assumed it was because Pam was protective over her Maker. Turned out Pam knew things Maria didn't, things that would have at least prepared her for the truth.

The ride back to the hotel was in silence, as was the trip in the elevator to their floor. Maria and Northman remained silent even as they entered their suite. It wasn't until Northman nearly disappeared into his room that Maria finally made herself speak.

"Viking," She said. Maria, for some reason, refused to call him by his name. It was a level of comfort she didn't want with him. Eric paused and looked at her over his shoulder. "Is the missing vampire really your Maker?"

He shifted to face her, turning slowly and giving her a warning stare. In it, Maria had her answer. She couldn't help but shake her head and sigh. She knew in that moment that he would gladly sacrifice her and everyone else just to save his Maker.

With nothing else to say on the matter, Maria retired to her room.

The trip to Dallas was going to kill her.