I changed back to Bill's POV for this one. I missed him. We're flashing forward a bit to meet up with the Real World time line. After the blatantly smutty things I just wrote, I felt they should get some plot back. Just for a little while at least.

I do not own any of the characters from Southern Vampire Mysteries. They all belong to Charlaine Harris. Bless her for sharing them with us. Mattie is my very own.

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Chapter 16

Many weeks had passed by since Mattie had finished the bulk of her training. She and Eric still sparred on occasion, but it was more of a pissing contest than anything. I honestly do not know why she insists on trying to "one-up" him all of the time. She always loses.

Sookie and I had in turn helped her to finish up her studies and hone her gift. She seemed to be able to function well in all aspects of her life. Working at Fangtasia had become a regular occurrence. She was there at least 3 nights a week and fully able to control all of her senses in a room full of vampires. I was able to work on my various computer projects while she wasn't there to be such a "distraction".

The first night she drank my blood we were all uncertain how it would impact her. I was happy to see she gained only two distinct side effects. The first being that we never needed to turn lights on in the house anymore. Her night vision was almost as good as mine, along with the rest of her senses.

The second and most obvious change in her, at least to me, was her ravenous libido. She had gone from a mildly exuberant sexual partner, to the horniest woman I had ever met. There were actually nights when she would come home from work, that I had to fend her off. I am after all a vampire, not a force of nature.

I fed from her almost daily, but only allowed her my blood once more. We still wanted to be careful. She didn't appear to acquire any new side effects and her longer-lasting enhanced traits didn't seem to be strengthening from feeding on me. Thank God.

It was nearly February and I had a deadline on a project I was completing for Eric. Mattie was thankfully at Fangtasia and I was alone in the house diligently working. My cell phone began buzzing in my pocket.

"HI THERE HANDSOME!"

"HELLO DARLING."

"MISS ME?"

"TOO BUSY."

"WHAT'S TAKING YOU SO LONG TO TEXT BACK?"

"I AM WORKING. ALSO YOU KNOW I AM NOT VERY GOOD AT THIS."

"YOU HAVE MAGIC FINGERS BILL, THIS SHOULD BE EASY FOR YOU ;-)"

"SHOULDN'T YOU BE WORKING?"

"ERIC WANTS TO SEE YOU. HOW SOON CAN YOU BE HERE?"

"ONE HOUR."

"YAY! WHAT ARE YOU WEARING BABY?"

I slapped the phone closed. There are only so many texts I can send in one night. I had to shut down my work and get to Fangtasia. I didn't have time to play sex games with Mattie over the phone.

When I arrived at Fangtasia, the crowd was thinning out. I walked in the door and took a seat at the bar. I knew it would only take her a second to find me.

She took my earlobe in her mouth and sucked, pulling it out with her teeth before letting go to kiss me on the cheek. Her breath was warm as she softly whispered in my ear. "Hi Bill." She knew exactly how to push my buttons.

I rotated the stool around to face her, wrapping my arms around her waist. She was dressed in a second vinyl cat suit Eric had purchased, this one was blood red. I couldn't help but let my fangs run out.

Eric had gotten the idea to have Mattie and Pam stage battles at random times to increase authenticity for his patrons. I had seen it once and I could understand why this was believable to humans. Someone always came to tear them apart, kicking and screaming before they killed each other. They would send violent glances at each other across the bar for the remainder of the evening. I think they both enjoyed the role-playing. I know all too well that Mattie does.

"I missed you baby. When you're done talking to Eric, let's go home and....."

"Compton, can we speak privately?" Eric interrupted her before she could finish, although I could fill in the blanks.

"Certainly" I followed him into his office, shutting the door behind me.

"Felipe has asked that we bring Mattie to meet him and formally introduce her to the rest of his retinue. I have been trying to avoid this for some time now, but he will not be put off any longer. We leave tomorrow night."

"I understand. Does she know?"

I had been dreading this inevitable event for weeks. I was able to protect her here in Louisiana. Her employment with Eric had of course made that easier.

I could predict what was going to happen when we took her to meet the king. He would try and relinquish her from Eric's employ and ask her to serve him in Nevada. He had desired the same thing of Sookie, but Eric was able to convince him that she was essential to his business acumen.

I was not nearly as powerful as Eric and Mattie had nothing to do with the money I made the for the king. I could only hope that Eric could use some of his clout to keep her in Shreveport.

"I thought I would leave it to you to tell her. Shall I call her in here now?

"Please."

She was immediately sitting in my lap when she entered the room. I shifted her over to the other side of the couch. Eric seemed to think it was quite humorous. Pam and Clancy joined us as I took Mattie's hands in mine.

"Mattie dear, we have to make a trip to Nevada. The King has asked that you be presented to him. He has heard of your gift and your job here at Fangtasia."

"You mean we get to go to Vegas? Really Bill? I've never been there. Can we gamble? Where are we staying? Wow! I gotta call my mom. She's gonna flip!" I was afraid I would get this reaction out of her. My little adrenaline junky in Sin City. God help us all, we had created a monster.

"Matilda, this is serious. He could try and take you away from me. We have to be very cautious." I was using her formal name so she would know how serious I was.

"What do you mean 'take me away from you'? I'm not a Vampire Bill, I don't have to listen to him. If he asks, I'll just tell him no thank you."

"You are an asset to Eric and as such, Felipe can add you to his collection any time he wishes. There is very little I will be able to do for you if he demands that." I could see she was finally beginning to understand the severity of the situation.

"Eric won't let that happen to me. Will you Eric? You wouldn't let him take Sookie, why would you let him take me if I'm such an asset to you?" She was staring intently at him almost like a child asking her father to make it all better for her.

"I will attempt to reason with him little one. I will inform him that you're work here at Fangtasia has been lucrative for business. I will warn you that it was easier to keep Sookie from him because of our bond. I am a powerful sheriff and she is my mate. I cannot guarantee I can keep you with me without that type of connection."

Mattie's face was blank. She spoke to me quietly.

"I understand. When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow, my love. Our flight is just after dark."

"OK. Can we go home now Bill?"

We drove home in separate cars, but arrived simultaneously. I watched as Mattie walked into the house in a daze. She began packing her things for the trip. I wanted to sit and talk with her, try and reassure her that I would protect her as best I could, but she needed some alone time.

When it was near dawn, I locked the door to our room and slipped into bed, wrapping my arms around her in a tight hug. She was sobbing softly.

"Don't cry my darling. We still have many options."

"Such as?"

"Well, I can tell him you are mine, we are mates, and that I love you."

"I'm not sure he'll care too much that I'm your personal blood bank Bill. As for the love part, do most Vampires even recognize love? I mean, you and Eric are not like most Vampires."

"I promise you, I will exhaust any and all options before I let him have you. If my ideas don't work, you could always kill him?" I was teasing her to try and lighten the mood, but she hardly recognized it.

"Goodnight Bill. I love you."

"I love you too Mattie."