A/n: As always, I bow to the awesomeness of my reviewers: Sydkiwi, IkeaGoddess, foxgodess07, downbelowgirl, VALady, ap630, Anna-Rogue-Marie-Howlett, cdsnow, bbet, erin1705, spygrrl, footychick, ericismine, CeruleanKitten, Ericsfae, sluggysmom, prndth, Queen of Night, Aishiteru Koinu, Kaia Ray, Ozzykomakozzy, JordyGirl92, nordiclover, lilah66, RockBouvier21, , rcherry1977, ArmyGirl2010, DawnLeon, UndercoverCaptain, aprilshowers021, ebm1, livesimple, chalese, ncmiss12, Caleb, KoteDiM, Jezebelnhell, topdog19, and whitstripes123.

Heheh. I got a creative growth spurt and ran with it. Still not quite as tall as Eric though (insert sad face here).

I would also like to thank you all for your amazing show of support; this story has only been up for a week, but we've surpassed a hundred reviews AND over a hundred alerts. Thank you all so much!

Suggested song for the chapter: Dancing - Elisa

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 5: Success

Chapter 5: Success

"What have you done to me?"

Sookie smiled, using their newly renewed revived bond to soothe and calm him.

"What I wanted. Don't worry, Viking, it's not permanent – and you're still a Vampire, make no mistake about that."

"Why?"

"Shh…hush, lover. Don't be upset with me." She kissed him gently, sweetly. "I only have seven days with you – I wanted to make the most of them, including the daytime."

"I can…walk in the sun?" The reality was setting in.

"For now, yes; our bond and my blood, which is now more Faery than it was before, have given you the ability to walk in the sun until the end of my lunar cycle. My magick, which has made your heart beat once more, will only last until then as this is when I am strongest. Sookie," She warned him, seeing his train of thought "Will not be able to do this."

He was, for all intents and purposes, alive once more. His eyes filled with wonderment and he turned them back to Sookie, who was watching him work things out in his head with an amused expression on her face. She laughed, her voice rich and throaty, before returning to her previous task: seducing him well and thoroughly. They were slow this time, coaxing things from each other. Eric let himself succumb to her will, as he had sworn to do, and was not disappointed.

He felt no urge to hurry this, this moment he had been waiting for. He kissed her brow…her nose…her cheeks, all the way down her neck, delighting in her scent and the dusky peach colored skin. It would be all the brighter in the sunlight, something he had never hoped to see again. She was beautiful now, with only the moon and stars to illuminate her features – how would she look in the sun? Her glorious golden hair spread on the grass, shining like wheat colored glass; her fine eyes deeper than chocolate, brightened by the exercise; her skin rosy under the suns unyielding heat. It would be a wonder, to see things in sunlight again; water, the trees, the grass, birds, flowers… All things that had been taken from him so long ago.

Her bright eyes followed his movements, never blinking, expressing the desire she would not say. She reached around behind her, undoing the laces of her sundress as he continued to kiss her everywhere he could reach. Her hands stopped when his covered them, and pulled them towards him. He kissed the palms of her hands before placing them on his chest, his own reaching around to finish undoing the laces of her dress. The dress slid down her body and pooled at her waist, bearing her lithe form before him. His lips captured her in sweet lovers kiss, trailing down to suckle her collarbone.

She moaned in ecstasy, and it empowered him to push forward; she was under his control now. His tongue swirling around one nipple at a time, he denied her nothing. In the back of his mind, he could hear Reason reminding him about Sookie, the real Sookie, how upset she would be. Eric brushed it away as one might do a hovering gnat. He was doing this for her safety and well-being, and she would get over it. It sounded hollow, even coming from him.

As though she could feel the doubt starting to form, she pulled him from his ministrations and kissed him soundly, hurriedly. Memories of their one true kiss, when he had decided to give himself up to fate and take Russell Edgington with him, began to flash before his eyes.

"You are distracted, lover," She whispered against his mouth, her lips trailing down his neck and leaving love bites.

"By you," He replied, telling the truth but withholding it at the same time. "Always by you,"

The answer was ambiguous at best, but it satisfied her. Even still, she decided it would be best if she removed all possible thought from his brain, so she did. Eric watched with rapt attention as she pulled the dress over her head, leaving him to observe her in all of her glory. She slid away from him and all Eric could do was watch, confused and unable to conceive why she was moving away. She stood and pulled him with her, her fingers leaving trails of warmth over his skin.

"We're a little at odds, Eric," she whispered, pulling his head down to kiss him, keeping his attention on her. Her hands found their way to his belt, which was quickly undone, then to his zipper. Eric, able to see where this was going, shimmied out of his jeans, pulling his shirt over his head in the next moment. The second the shirt was off, her hands were on him, all over him. Her kiss was one of desperation, passionate and hurried as though time was running out. He picked her up and her legs wrapped around his waist, unintentionally brushing her thigh against him. He groaned at the contact but was satisfied with their current position; Sookie was flush against him, no space to be found.

He sank to his knees smoothly, never breaking the contact between their skins. One hand, which had been crushing her to him, left its position to brace them against the ground. They sank slowly into the blankets, managing to avoid breaking any contact, and kissed with renewed fervor. As they settled into their makeshift bed, Sookie unhooked her legs from his waist and instead let them relax on either side of him. He settled on top of her and let her feel him, all of him.

Her arms encased him in lovers embrace, and let one leg curl up, applying pressure to his outer thigh. Their kissing had slowed to sweet, chaste kisses that left her breathless, to Eric's unwavering amusement and delight.

"It's ok," She whispered in his ear, assuaging any doubt that remained.

He leaned back ever so slightly, and let himself fall at her entrance. She was ready; he just wasn't sure if he was. She kissed him and let her hand slide down to guide him in. For all of his doubt, he couldn't stop now if he wanted to. He slid between her folds and entered her slowly, agonizingly slowly. She inhaled sharply, her back arching and pressing her against him further. The Faery let out a pleased shudder, an exhale of breath, and let him set the pace- this was what she had been waiting for – and then he began to move. Her hips rose to meet him, enjoying the slow rhythm. He kissed her and, in a split second decision, opened the bond. They were both flooded with emotion and feeling, anything and everything they felt was doubled – right now, it was pleasure.

He gradually began to pick up the pace, enjoying the feeling of the Faery losing control. She was being overrun by his feelings and couldn't keep her head straight, left without rationale or control. Her hips moved of their own accord, keeping the pace though she had no conscious thought of doing so. The more she writhed beneath him, the more difficulty Eric had in maintaining control. Her scent was overpowering him. His thrusts grew more erratic, harder, until she could no longer keep up.

Feeling the timing of their releases, Eric felt his fangs release and didn't wait for permission. His fangs sank into her neck as their release hit them full blast, her blood filling his mouth and encouraging his lust driven frenzy. They came simultaneously, paralyzing them both in time as they felt the trifold pleasure their open bond had caused; his pleasure, her pleasure, the blood bond.

Sookie smiled at him, her skin glistening with a fine sheen of sweat. She shuddered beneath him and he heard her whisper, almost too low for him to hear, "I have succeeded. We are safe."

Eric was in no frame of mind to analyze her words. Her blood had sated his hunger, but had refueled his lust. He began to move within her again, whispering things in her ear that he hadn't ever thought, let alone spoke.

Hur kan jag säga...

Hur kan jag säga om din röst är vacker.
Jag vet ju bara, att den genomtränger mig
och kommer mig att darra som ett löv
och trasar sönder mig och spränger mig.

Vad vet jag om din hud och dina lemmar.
Det bara skakar mig att de är dina,
så att för mig finns ingen sömn och vila,
tills de är mina.

Abruptly, he felt a change in their bond, a shift.

"Eric…?" Sookie gasped, her legs instinctively curling around his waist to bring him closer. He kissed his way back up the valley of her breasts and laid a deep kiss on her sweet, heart shaped mouth. When his eyes met hers, Eric knew what had changed. Faery Sookie, having gotten what she wanted, had relinquished control to his Sookie. Her beautiful brown eyes looked at him in a haze of lust and confusion. Looking at her, and knowing it was her, released Eric of all inhibition he felt. He kissed her passionately, silencing her doubts, and let their bond be flooded with his happiness and mutual pleasure.

He held nothing back in this, what could be considered their first real round of love making. He could feel her building up, could feel her muscles begin to tighten, and abruptly slowed, deepening his thrusts. As the sun began to rise, he quickened his pace once more. Nothing mattered to him more, right now, than having her be the first thing he saw for his first sunrise in over a thousand years.

He didn't really count the Russell Edgington incident as his first sunrise – there wasn't a whole lot of time to enjoy it. She came hard, just as the sunlight graced her features, and pulled Eric in with her.

He let himself rest on top of her, carefully balancing his weight so as not to crush her, watched her come down. Her chest heaved, her breathing ragged. His head turned, ever so slightly, and watched the sun rise over the trees, before casting his gaze back on Sookie. She was looking at him now, and for a moment he feared her reaction.

He slid off of her to give her some breathing room, and took the time to look at her body in the sunlight as she came back to her mind. His fingers slid

between hers, and he pulled her body flush against his as they rested, nose to nose. She let out a tiny mewl of surprise, and Eric forced the chuckle back down his throat before she started spitting fire. Everything about them was twisted twined together; their hair, arms, legs…everything. He pulled her forward a little further and slid his arms around her, her head lying on his chest. Though the sunlight didn't burn him, he still felt the call to sleep, even as much as he wanted to ignore it.

As it turned out, it was unnecessary to worry about it. When he glanced back down at Sookie, he realized that her eyes were heavy and she was already halfway asleep. He covered them with a blanket and was duly rewarded when Sookie, now completely asleep, snuggled into the crook of his neck.

This was an experience he had never appreciated before, when he was alive. Not just seeing the sun rise with a lover, but to feel their hearts beat as one in a synchronized rhythm, the relative afterglow in the post-coital snuggle. His eyes closed slowly, the beating of their hearts lulling him to sleep. They could talk when they awoke, and, he had no doubt that they would talk. Sookie wouldn't have it any other way. His fingers threaded in her hair, gently stroking it.

His mark had been made; in the heat of the moment, Eric had neglected to heal the bite marks on her neck. Eric smirked. She was going to be furious, he knew, but that was fine by him. She had submitted to him, consented to be his, and he vowed that there would never be another time in her life when she wouldn't be marked as such. No one else would touch her. No other vampire would feed from her. No other man would experience what he had in his arms. She was his, and that's all there was to it.

She would see things his way eventually, but she was going to live his way starting immediately. She had a penchant for trouble, and keeping her out of it was his new project – it would only be successful if she was kept under his watch. His eyes grew heavy and he eventually succumbed to the Sun's call, sated in all the ways that mattered.

He wiped his hands on the towel his servant brought after using the washing basin to rinse his hands clean of the blood. He slipped his rings back on his fingers and gave a short, hard knock on the oaken door. The door opened instantly and the man left the room, whistling as he walked up the stairs.

The old man would break soon, he was sure. He passed a mirror in the hall and grimaced; the fool had gotten blood on him. His breeches were stained, but could likely be cleaned. His shirt was beyond repair and would have to be burned. It hardly mattered, being covered in dirt and blood; he was still handsome. His dark hair was perpetually windswept, but kept short, unlike the rest of his court. His eyes were a rare hazel, a recessive trait among the Faery, and were called beautiful by some – who was he to argue? The servants that passed him in the halls dropped to their knees before him, as was their proper place, and he took pride in the fact that they were so well trained.

He reached his room and shut the door behind him, stripping off his clothes piece by piece. It was as he reached to hang his belt up that he noticed she was still asleep in his bed. He continued undressing as he observed her. Her hair was the color of honey wheat, her skin inexplicably fair. It was her eyes that he had the problem with. Many had called this woman a great beauty, and to many she was – but not to him. She was passable, to be sure, but her eyes lacked that essential fire that made his blood thrum. She could never compare to her.

God knows he had tried to make it work – had forced her to keep her eyes shut, even to keep her head down – but she could not compare. He could tell it wasn't her; her body would have scorched his skin; her spirit would not have broken. It should have been her! Her cycle would be upon her now, as it was everyone else. Had she Chosen, or had she let her silly human sentiments get the better of her and go into hiding?

He needed to know. He needed to find her. He had barely eaten, barely slept since he had met her. The midsummer's ball had been the first time the Seelie and Unseelie courts had convened in over three hundred years, since the split between Queen Titania and King Oberon. A war raged for the better part of two hundred and seventy years, until he came to their court. He was part human, common enough in the present day, but part Faery royalty, and he had taken the Seelie throne when no one else would – it was a death sentence. His name was Earl Stackhouse – now, High King Niall – and he had had enough of war.

He brought the war to a stand still, a stalemate, and talked the Queen of the Unseelie court into a truce. Finally, everything was settling down. And then she arrived. Everyone had been talking about the part human Faery granddaughter of Niall that had fled the human world in a moment of danger, but no one really said anything. Niall kept her hidden, and hidden well.

There were whispers about her intelligence, her wit, her charm, but nothing concrete. The only thing that was certain, was that her presence caused a disturbance in Niall's court. His Faery wife, a jealous woman of a fine pedigree (as was often the case), did not like the fact that a new heir had been introduced – one that was not beget of her bloodline. She attacked the girl when the girl was asleep, it's said, and tried to kill her. The girl fought her off and Queen Mab was forced to deal with the consequences of her actions, namely the fury of her husband. She had been banished to their castle in Winter, for it.

And then, Niall brought her to the ball. He had never desired someone more in his long life. Her beauty, her southern charm and sass… it all suited him. Of course, she refused him – it was only proper, for a lady of her stature and standing. But then she refused him again, and he got angry. By the third refusal, he decided to do something about it. He was, at one point in time, High King Brion Boru ofIreland– he could not be refused. Though he was merely a prince in the Faery world, for now, that did not mean that he was not still a king in every other way.

Brion crossed the room to look out the window as the sun began to rise, and waited, ever so patiently. His master at arms was hard at work; Niall was screaming louder, now. Brion had no doubt in his mind that he would learn of Sookie Stackhouse's whereabouts within the hour.

He turned back to observe the naked woman in his bed, and decided that she looked enough like Sookie to sate him until Sookie herself was found; She could help him while away the next hour or two until Niall divulged the location of his granddaughter. Honestly, what did the old man have to lose? By marrying him to Sookie, the courts would be united forever. No more war, ever. Of course there was that whole little matter about Sookie not wanting to be a game piece, but that didn't matter to him. Brion loved her with more passion and ferocity than he had ever felt before – she wasn't chattel to him, not at all, but he would use people who thought she was in order to obtain her. She would see things his way, in the end. She would have to.

Brion returned to his bed and ran his hands over her skin, lightly at first, to wake her. When she was awake and saw him, a smile crept onto her features in anticipation; Brion was nothing if not a generous lover.

Half an hour later, a sharp rap sounded on his door. The wanton woman writhing beneath him begged him not to stop, to let the door go unanswered, but he could hardly do so given the fact it was likely his master at arms with information of Sookie's location.

"Come in," He ordered, even as the woman huffed in irritation. She moved to cover herself but was stopped by Brion himself, who merely smirked and continued to thrust as his master at arms entered the room. She shrieked and tried to move away and save some dignity but was not allowed.

Had she been truly offended, Brion would have stopped immediately – she may have been a replacement for Sookie, but that did not mean she didn't deserve respect – but that was not the case, as she had only become more aroused when the master at arms entered. These sheltered courtiers all had their wicked little fetishes. Hers was, apparently, being watched.

"Your highness," The master at arms bowed, not even blinking at the sight before him. "Niall has given us her location."

"Excellent work, Donough. I want you to prepare for my departure; I leave within the hour." In less than two hours, Sookie Stackhouse would be in his arms.

He quickened the pace, deciding that he no longer desired the replacement when the real thing was so close. He would have her, if it was the last thing he did.

Nothing would stand in his way. He would make sure of it.

A/n: So…yeah…Brion kind of took over that last bit. Not really sure what else to say aside from the fact that I kind of adore my villain. Some food for thought, though: Is Brion really the villain? Maybe, maybe not. So soon said, we shall see.

In case anyone was more than curious about what Brion looks like, do a google image search of Jonathon Rhys Meyers Tudors.

A HUGE hug and platter of desserts must go to my new Beta, Rachael, who made this chapter fit for human eyes.

The lines that Eric whispered to Sookie in Swedish was actually a Swedish love poem, titled 'How Can I Tell' by Karin Boye.

Here is the English translation:

How Can I Tell ...

How can I tell if your voice is beautiful.
I only know, that it penetrates me
and makes me shake like a leaf
and tears me to shreds and splits me.

What do I know about your skin and limbs.
It makes me tremble that they are yours,
so for me there is no sleep or rest,
till they are mine

Review please! Muahahahaha!