Huffing breath, I leaned back in the shade in the house. Sookie puttered about, leaning over to place a cool damp cloth over my brow.
"I told you to take a breather," she lightly scolds.
"What happened?" Ben asks, frowning as he stepped into the room. He was wiping his hands on a dirty rag.
"Fae fainted in the yard," Sookie calls back, shifting to move a second cool cloth over flushed skin.
My eyes were shut, wincing in light pain as she did so.
"What happened?" Niall demands as he comes from nowhere by Ben.
"Fae fainted," Sook calls back, attention mostly to the deep flush on my cheeks.
She shifts to the side, dipping the cloth in a large bowl with ice water. Her worried eyes shift to Ben and Niall. I'd not argued with her fawning, a definite change and alert.
"I heard the mowers cut and she didn't answer. Found her laying in the back."
Niall quickly moves around Ben, worry in his eyes as he reaches to touch. Sookie catches his hands quickly, hands dripping cold water. The look was sharp, threatening at least a bit.
"Don't."
"Something could have-"
She pushes his hand away. The wet rag is traded with the now hot one from her brow.
"You wont get a clear picture either way. She doesn't think like others."
"Has she said anything?" Ben questions, trying to give them room but stay where he could see. "I thought she said this was over with."
"What ever they've been giving her to help may be out the window," she says, moving the cloth over my neck. "She's not been there most of the time for days now. So I think she may not have been getting it. She'll be fine after she cools down. The flush is already looking better."
And it was. The only flush was at my face, paling steadily before their eyes. My breathing was softening, easing as the tension slipped away.
"Is it something with her power?" Niall questions, putting two fingers to my hot cheek.
Sook gives a little shrug, replacing the cloth again. "Don't think so. That gives headaches and nose bleeds. She's just pale as a ghost, body don't handle the sun as it should."
"She eat anything?" Ben questions in the short quiet as they just watch.
"Not since yall got here. Think that's it?" She looked to Ben, really questioning.
"Might be. I can keep an eye on her for you."
Sookie gives a relieved smile. "Thanks. I'll get cleaned up."
"I want a cheeseburger."
Sookie turned back at the raw voice, moving to grab the glass she'd been drinking of tea. Ben laughs, hands to his hips. My eyes flutter open as Sookie pushes the glass into my hand.
"You gave us a scare," Niall firmly states.
I quirk a look at him over the glass, drinking greedily. "Perhaps it would be best to stay in sight if you are prone to fainting fits."
"That's hardly reasonable," Sookie defends as I sit up. I was fine as ever, leaning forward to put the cup down. My eyes spared a lazy flick at Niall, lounging back on the couch again. "She just needs whatever they were giving her."
Both looked to me. "What would that be?"
I shrug. "Never asked. A milkshake of sorts."
The look Niall sent Sook had lifted brows and a distinct, 'Told you so' feeling. I push to my feet, back giving a loud pop.
"Welp. Yall do your thing. I'm finishin' the yard."
"You should stay where you are out of sunlight," Niall calls, turning as I slip from his reach with ease.
"How about I help you," Ben offers, catching my arm to stop me on the way by.
My hand reaches back, patting his cheek. "Do what you want."
He smiled, letting my arm slip through his fingers. Our fingers caught a moment before contact broke and I was stepping into sunlight again. But I stopped short, head snapping up. Ben almost ran into me. I took a breath in, eyes burning as I felt the change come quick and sudden. I was a bit tired, but normal one moment. The next I've a surge of burning warmth and blood in my mouth as my teeth cut cheeks and tongue.
A shaking breath slipped out, swallowing the taste as I felt it all heal as quickly as it happened. And it was clearer, flesh emitting heat as I strode quickly after the scent.
"Fae?"
Sookie was rushing from the house with Niall after her. Urges flashed about my mind, nothing concrete. But a vicious urge to hurt or hunt was there. I didn't turn to look back, lips parting as I could all but taste this potent scent of smoke and amber. Rather like my own.
Ben caught my arm again, pulling me a few steps back. I didn't look to him, not fighting it, but clearly searching something out.
"What's going on?"
"Faelyn?" Ben quietly asks by my ear, curving against me from behind.
My eyes fluttered, urges crossing and nearly altering. But it was something else, his closeness and a sort of hum about his person that had me sagging into him.
"Don't let her close," I gasp out, fighting hard for the control that Godric so easily brought. "Please."
"It's nothing," Ben calls back, arms crossing a bit tighter about my front to tuck me closer so we were nearly plastered together.
"You sure?"
Sookie was stepping down the stairs toward us in the drive. Ben twists a bit, glancing back with a playful grin. "I was teasing. Everything's fine."
Sook huffs a small laugh, head shaking. "You gave me a startle. I'll get some tea made."
Ben twists to lean down again, lips brushing my ear as I focused hard on breathing. My hand tapped at my leg in the same pattern Godric used. It wasn't stopping, but I was calming. Sook turned, heading in as she spoke in a light tone with Niall about dinner plans.
"Tell me."
My lips parted, gasping in a breath as I felt a sort of tug at the burning need that raged with this heat. But I could feel it as well as I could smell it. It felt like I was being drawn. Called. A hand lifted, short nails long like talons or sharp claws, color changed to black with a purple sheen. A finger extends to the feeling. Ben's eyes narrow, turning his attention toward the direction after sparing a hard look at the hand.
His hand encased my own, pulling it back to hide it from sight of any behind us. My attention was unwavering from the space, watching. It was toward the road. Something moved and I was struggling in Ben's hold, growl low in my throat as the urge to destroy whatever that was became a single focus.
Ben couldn't do much more than hold me to him tightly, still grasping one hand and crushing it about me. My other hand grappled at the one higher on me, across shoulder and under the other arm. Flesh broke easily under the sharp additions to my fingers.
All fight ceased, eyes fluttering at the onslaught of smell. My mouth watered instantly, lips slacking as the fighting turned to holding on. What was that smell? Ben was stiff. Something shifted and my eyes snapped down.
The arm by my face where I'd been pulling had two gashes. Gashes from the sharp claws on my fingers. He didn't move. Gave no sign of what to do. No sign of how to react to this. A part of me was horrified that I'd hurt him. But that burning hunger had my teeth aching, salivating heavily.
An unsteady breath was pulled in, eyes shut to help fight for control as the last bit of my thoughts fought to keep focus on what was happening. The arm shifted up, the hand that had held mine weaving through hair to cup the back of my skull and push. Thick and wet touched my lips. And there was no restraint. Ben hissed out a sound of clench jawed pain as a bit of teeth closed in flesh. It wasn't deep, nor was it all of the teeth in a wide bite. The front few teeth of top and bottom closed over the gashes, tongue ravenously lapping up the liquid.
It wasn't nearly as warm as most blood. But it was warmer than vampire blood. A pleasured moan left me, hands carefully lifting to grasp at the arm around my mouth in a loose hold. Ben was breathing heavily, pulling me close. My rear shoved back a bit, pressing harder into him with my shoulders as well. The hand in my hair slid down to splay along jaw line and throat. There was a tremble in the hold, breath stuttering in my ear.
He was turned on, possibly fighting to not try to take me there. It was a two way street. I pulled from his arm, his flesh healing seconds after my teeth left it. A sharp pull of breath was taken in, chest heaving.
"Shh shh," he pants, tucking tighter against me.
His nose was near my throat, breath unsteady against my searing flesh. The burn didn't hurt anymore. No, aside from being distracted with the . NEED! For more contact in any way I could with Ben. Just shove him down and rip off his-
I felt far better than before. Far better than any other time I'd changed over. I felt all pain gone. The heat was the greatest comfort I'd ever known. The hunger that hadn't felt fully sated was quiet. While I felt like I could run miles. Like I could take the world on. Like nothing could stop me short of some godly intervention. Like I could take Ben then and there, damn any who watch.
But it was like eating too much turkey on Thanksgiving. I felt full. Too full. And I felt my eyes fluttering as I sagged into Ben with a small sigh. He easily held me up, a small click heard by my ear. His hand shifted and brushed bare flesh.
Images shifted and flashed in my mind, unbidden.
Young Sookie with her hair in braids laughed as she ran after me. My own laugh was louder, skipping and whirling as we moved about the little tree with what looked like Spanish moss hanging like streamers to the ground. It wove from our play.
"Flowers!" Sookie calls with a motion to the left.
Run! I was heaving breath, blood upon my face as I screamed out for Hoyt and Jason. My hands were extended out, heaving for breath as if the pathway were restricted. I'd fallen to a knee, voice shrill as it screamed for the boys.
Jason dragged Hoyt from under the flaming tree held aloft. He looked to have rolled in ashes, his young form struggling under the weight of our friend.
"Run!"
"Fae!" Jason screams after they get clear and past, moving to leave the scene.
A woman I didn't look much like at all frowned at me. Her hair was blond like the rest of the family, a dark sort of honey blond that was cut severely short. Her eyes were a honeyed brown that looked amber with the make up around them.
"I told you not to go showin' off, Faelyn."
"I didn't, mama!" My young voice was higher in pitch.
The sharp sting of the hand striking staggered me to the side before I could keep the balance and fell. There were no tears. Rage burned as I tilted my head to look through ashy white blond strands at the woman. There was more force than just a hand behind that. She'd used a bit of power behind it. I bellowed out a yell at her.
The car behind her shook, groaning as it shifted. Her eyes snapped wide in horror as she looked to the car then me. A stubby fingered hand opened toward me. The fingers curled down to a grasping motion and yanked. My form shot up by the shirt on me, slamming hard into her. She had a little nose bleed as she seethed at me.
The next smack had me hitting the stilled car. "Never!" she cries loud enough to startle wild life. "You'll get us both killed, idiot!" Her hands curled in the fabric of my shirt to lift me and shake a bit.
I cried, sobbing as I grasped at her arms. "No, Mama! I don't wanna leave!"
"You should have thought of that before you let your mouth run!"
The images stopped, the half memories that were as vivid as the days they happened. Ben was stiff, breath gushing across my neck a moment. I shift, tiredly humming a bit before nuzzling my face into his chest.
I lay on my back on the bed in my room at Eric's. My head was rested on an unmoving and cold chest. The mound of bared chest around a lace bra was in clear view around the phone I held with both hands. The rest of me was just as bared. Pale legs kicked lightly with only the panties to match the bra on. The feeling of utter contentment was there. A cool hand rested on my head a moment, having paused in the motions of running fingers through the wispy strands.
"Go! Go!" I excitedly call at the phone, tensing a little as my fingers tapped. "Come on. Come on. Come on! Mama needs this badge, Charazard. Double hit it."
The male chuckle rumbles from under my head, fingers moving again. It soothed in a way I'd only had in short moments in my life. My feet kicked in the air as a fist shot out with a short shout of victory.
"HAHA! Didn't loose any of 'em!"
The phone dropped to the side, twisting to flip to my front and rest my chin on the chest. Godric's handsome and youthful face held a bit more of the smile than the little flick of the corners of his lips. There was a softening in the eyes that said he was amused. A bare hand patted excitedly at his chest.
"Come on, you have to try the game."
"I believe you have more than conquered it for the both of us."
"That's hardly the point, Godric. Play it. I can get the emulator on your phone, show you how to use it."
The look given was a tender one usually given from parent to child. Those cool fingers curved down my head to brush along cheek before cupping it. There were a number of moments of just him gazing at me like this. And a warming in my heart that hearkened to the last to look to me this way. Antony would do the same since I could remember. My eyes close a moment, pressing my cheek into his hand.
A breath pulled in, content to just lay there as is for a time more.
THUNK.
"Well, well well. I see the both of you are getting on well."
My eyes snapped open, the moment ruined by the snide words of Pam. "Well, come on then, Fae. We've got to get you ready for work."
"Can I just not?"
Godric chuckled, shifting his weight. It sat me up as well. "Perhaps we shall get food for you."
Ben frowned as he looked down at me all but sleeping in his arms. My cheek shifted against him, slipping from the shirt to rest on bare chest. A contented sigh escaped, slipping further into the cloud of cotton and peace. Ben found an opening. It was a different sort of experience for him. With this contentment, he was able to read me with touch.
It was heavy in the feeling and emotions. More than the images of most humans. Everything was vibrant and felt deeper. So he used the moment to pry where he could.
A blond male that was tall and glaring blue eyes with a more muscular physic leaned back on the front of a desk. The gaze of Eric Northman set upon me defiantly facing him. He wore slacks and a dress shirt that was a bit open at the top to show off the pale flesh. The jacket for it was draped over the chair behind the desk.
"You're throwing yourself at a stranger," Eric growls, as if trying to talk sense into me. "It's no better than your cousin."
"He's nothing like Billiam," I snap, sharply annoyed with the whole situation. "Can't you just let me be happy while I can?" My hand swings up and out with my words.
"You let yourself be blindly attached to a stranger that could leave you. That could use you. If he breaks your heart?"
"Then so fucking be it!" I cry out, heart clenching in pain at the very idea. But I was resolute in my stance on this. Both hands pressed at my chest, as if desperate to explain the emotions. "Then I rage and cry it out. Move on. This is the first time I've felt so connected to somebody, Eric. The first time I've not wanted just a one night stand. This is the first time I've felt happy at just the thought of somebody outside of family. Like he's accepting without the plot of everyone else.
"There's just an ease with him that isn't saying he just wants in my pants."
Eric gives a disgusted sneer, eyes accusing. "You love him."
The idea sounded like it disgusted Eric. My chin lifts, determination and stubborn will set upon him.
"Maybe. But, I'd rather this moment in the sun and the searing pain of the after than to not feel it at all. I may not deserve much, Eric, but I deserve at least a moment of happy in this sea of chaos. Damned if the Authority were to take me tomorrow."
Eric growls, head snapping away to furiously glare to the wall. His jaw was tight and arms crossed with the hands giving a painful grasp at each other. It was a tight control to not physically lash out.
I hardly noticed this. I let out a shaky breath, eyes closing in the bliss of thought. Warmth at the thoughts of that dimpled smile. The sound of his laugh. Waking in his arms. My eyes opened, feeling lighter than I had in a long while. Eric stared at me, shoulders slouched as if defeated.
"You're a fool."
"I never said otherwise," I lightly laugh, smiling merrily to him. My heels click as I step slowly closer to let my hands grasp just under his own, a little space between us, but I knew he could feel the heat from my body. My head tilted back to look up at his eyes, smiling gently at him. "I'm not saying I'm abandoning everything, Eric. I don't abandon those I care for."
The jaw loosened, words in the eyes that were not forming on his tongue. I reach up, patting his cheek playfully.
"Besides, who else will argue with me just because? You know me better than that. So don't get all pissy."
I wink, pulling away to strut from the room. The flirty look was shot over a shoulder as I opened the door. "If you must know; it's Ben."
Eric's jaw clenches again, nothing said before I was moving down the hall with sway to my hips and seductive confidence unending.