Thank you all for your reviews, and the feedback that you've given me. I'm going to try to integrate some of the other characters, starting with this chapter. However, Eric and Sookie are not going to leave the house just yet. Please enjoy!
This chapter is unbeta'd. All mistakes are mine.
Disclaimer: True Blood is the property of HBO, Alan Ball, etc. Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Mysteries are the property of Charlaine Harris. I own nothing. No copyright infringement is intended.
Some time later, Sookie was the first to open her eyes. She was confused and disoriented. Her head felt fuzzy and something seemed to be pushing on her consciousness. She realized quickly that it must be the bond; somehow there had been a disconnect or she had shielded herself from it. Closing her eyes, she was able to sense the shield her mind had erected for her protection, and lower it. Visions flooded her head! A storm; Eric's protection; a bolt of lightning; darkness. These things should have frightened her but along with them flowed the now familiar comfort and companionship of Eric, whom she could now see was still unconscious.
He laid atop her like a dead weight, unmoving, his member still inside her. She tried to roll to one side or the other to dislodge him, but felt that she was wrenching against his sensitive manhood and didn't want to hurt him. She pushed at him but the act was futile. "Eric?" she queried, tentatively. "Eric?" A little louder. "Eric! Eric! Eric, wake up, please!" her voice had gotten louder and more high-pitched.
Maybe it was the note of distress in her voice, or the bond telling him that something was wrong, but Eric finally stirred. His eyes opened and at first they darkened with bloodlust. His fangs dropped, and he growled. Sookie knew that she needed to soothe him somehow. The only way to break into his madness was with sex and/or blood. As he was still inside of her, she tightened her inner muscles and rotated her pelvis seductively. She could feel him harden but still sensed his bloodlust. He must have woken as disoriented as she had. She knew that she had to somehow give him her blood before he took matters into his own hands. She was so completely vulnerable to him right now that whatever he did might hurt her, or cause something worse that he would regret.
The growl intensified; his hands started to tighten on her body and he began to move inside her, his movements rough and forceful. She knew it was time to act, now. She reached out, urgently cupping her hands around the nape of his neck, raised her head, and kissed him, hard, deliberately cutting her lips and tongue with his fangs. It hurt but she knew he would heal her once he had come to his senses. At first he tried to pull away from her but then he tasted her blood. His hand flew to the back of her head and his other encircled her neck, holding her to him. He was pounding her, hard, and she was meeting him thrust for thrust, raising her hips against him. Gradually his menacing growl changed to a pleased one and he continued to kiss, lick, suck, and bite her lips and tongue. They moaned together as the sex became less about force and domination and more about pleasing each other. Soon he stopped biting and his licking became more gentle. She felt and tasted as he cut a gash in his own tongue to offer his own blood in return. Eric kept them both bleeding for several minutes, both of them soothed by the blood exchange. Sookie realized that she not only felt Eric being calmed and reassured, but some of that feeling was coming from her too. In one day had she gotten that addicted to his blood? Somehow she sensed that some of his instinct had been instilled in her as his bonded. It was scary, and intimate, and sensual all at the same time.
Then Eric's movements began to get more erratic. At the same time she knew she was coming close. The blood had excited them both and now they writhed together in a frenzy. He shoved into her hard, raising his head in a Viking cry that Sookie had never heard before. His seed shot into her and she went over the edge too, crying out his name as her body was engulfed in strong sensation. She felt it to the tips of her toes, while Eric's entire being exploded with passion. He was gentle now, rocking softly against her as the tide of feeling ebbed to a low pleasure buzz throughout both of their bodies. This was the bond telling them that they were as one. Eric used his own blood to heal Sookie's mouth where it had been cut and bitten, and his own wounds healed. He cleaned every bit of blood from her face, chin, and neck where it had dripped. Sookie was surprised that she felt the need to do the same for him, although there wasn't as much to clean since gravity did not go up.
"Sookie," Eric whispered at last, and she knew her Vampire was himself again. "What happened? Did I attack you?" He raised his head higher to look her over and was relieved that she looked unharmed. "Did I hurt you?" He threaded his fingers through her hair and she closed her eyes at the simple contentment this act gave her. She massaged his neck and scalp at the same time, unable to form words for what had just happened.
"I don't know," she finally admitted. "We passed out. I woke up and you weren't responding to me. I was scared!" She closed her eyes briefly to shut out the pain she felt.
"I am here now, Love," he calmed her with soft words and tone. "But I awoke with blood lust again." He wasn't asking. They both knew.
She nodded. "It's all right, Eric. You didn't hurt me." She wrapped her arms around his waist, stroking his back.
He made no move to pull out of her. They both needed the intimate contact now, to reassure them that all was well. It pained Eric to say the next words. "Perhaps we should not sleep together. I do not want to do something I would regret later."
She shook her head, for once more knowledgeable about something than he was. "No, it will get better," she told him.
"What do you mean?" He needed to be convinced.
"When you were cursed," she hated to say that word, "the same thing happened. When you woke up next to me, or even if you could smell me close, you would come after me the way you're doing now." She hoped her explanation would persuade him that it would be all right.
"And?"
"You were very analytical. It was cute!" she smiled, remembering. His brows came down over his eyes.
"I am always analytical!" he retorted.
"Not when you don't remember who you are!" she shot back at him, but then resumed her serious talk. "We figured out that once you smelled, tasted, felt me, and I was familiar, the blood lust went away. Like just now. As soon as you had my blood you calmed down."
"But that does not excuse the fact that I was going to attack you before I tasted you!" he insisted.
"You're not getting it, Eric!" she exclaimed. "What you need is something familiar. Something you recognize right away. Well, there was one piece of clothing of mine that you really loved. You wanted me to wear it all the time, when we were snuggling on the couch watching TV, or whatever. It had your scent on it, and mine. The white robe?"
"The one that I destroyed?" he asked.
"Yes. I would put that on every evening right before you rose. You would always grab me hard, but then you smelled the robe and it calmed you down enough that you were yourself. You still drank from me and wanted sex, but it wasn't like you were attacking me any more. I put it on this evening hoping you would recognize it, but it didn't work."
Eric was thoughtful. "Probably because I do not have the emotional connection to it that I did before." He was quiet for a moment, considering. "So all we have to do is find something that has both of our scents on it. Something I will identify with right away."
"Yes, exactly!" she told him. "And there's something else." With those words she blushed red as fire.
Eric was intrigued. "What is this 'something else' that makes you blush?" He waggled his eyebrows at her and his fangs made their appearance with a soft 'snick.' He knew this had to be good.
"Well.." she lowered her eyes and turned her head, still embarrassed but knowing she had to tell him.
"Sookie!" This time his voice held a note of warning. Now that she had brought it up he wasn't about to let her get away with not telling him.
"OK, OK!" and her blush crept from her face to the rest of her body. Inside of her, he was getting hard. She decided to just spit it out. "It has to be.. You have to.. It.. Well.. It can't cover me up!" she finally said.
"What?" He licked his fangs involuntarily. She was making him horny. He couldn't help but to push forward inside of her, just to relieve the tension his dick felt as it thickened.
She responded with a soft, "Oh!" Maybe that was all she needed to be able to speak freely. "You have to have full access to my body. Oh, I can't believe I'm saying this to you! We tried a few things and if you couldn't… get to me, you know… You ripped them to shreds."
His eyebrows went up high and he licked his fangs again, imagining. He wanted to teach her to dress for him in a certain way sometimes, as his submissive. There were rules he would impose. This went right along those lines and he knew that she would be more receptive to his desires because of this. "First," he whispered, leaning down close to her ear and running his tongue along the outer edge, "I am going to fuck you." At Vampire speed he reached around to where her hands were still stroking his back, grabbing her wrists and pinning them to the bed. "Then, I think I have just the thing!"
She smiled, and he recognized this smile from one of his fleeting visions. This was the smile meant only for him. This was the smile he had wanted from her from the day he met her. When she lowered her eyes, the beast inside him roared and he had to take her forcefully, give her a taste of his dominance.
"You. Are. Mine." He told her, punctuating each word with a deep thrust. "Say it. Now!" he demanded.
She loved this side of Eric, the side she had initially been afraid to encounter. His power over her was intoxicating. "I am yours, Eric!" she said with feeling.
He growled. "Open to me. Give yourself to me. You belong to me!"
She smiled again and opened her legs as wide as she could, arching her pelvis to give him the best angle to bury himself deep inside her. She relaxed every muscle in her core and breathed deeply, feeling the bond between them and flooding it with acceptance, openness to whatever he wanted or needed.
Eric was very pleased that she responded to him this way. "Oh, yesssss!" he hissed, thrusting deep and hitting her inner pleasure button over and over.
"Eric!" she cried over and over, keeping herself still and waiting to do his bidding.
"Hold on to me Sookie!" he ordered. "Show me your strength!"
She tightened her inner walls ever so slowly until she was holding him inside of her and he was buried deep. She wrapped her legs around his waist and rotated her hips, increasing the sensation for both of them.
"Ohhhh, yessss Sookie! Fuck me back! Yessss!" he moaned, surprised at her strength but loving the way it enhanced their lovemaking. Then he was coming, hard, his body tingling as his cock pulsed madly, flooding her with his seed. The moment she felt it, slick inside her, he rubbed across her sweet spot again, over and over and she imagined she was floating on a cloud with him while light flashed all around them. The waves of ecstasy poured over them until, again spent, they lay together, limbs entwined, staring with fascination into each other's eyes.
"I do not know what magic has brought you to me," Eric told her, "but I thank the Gods for you Sookie! You are everything to me!"
"I love you Eric," she responded. "Is it the bond that makes this so amazing for us?"
"I am at a loss," he said. "I do not know. I have never bonded to a human before. This experience is entirely new to me."
Suddenly the hallway was lit with golden light, and both turned their heads to see what was happening. It was not frightening to either of them; in fact they felt the presence in the bond with them.
"Godric?" Sookie was the first to recognize him. The diminutive, tattooed figure of Eric's fallen maker stood before them. Sookie pulled the sheet up to cover herself.
"Godric!" Eric made to stand before his maker, but Godric waved his hand. "There is no need, my child," he intoned gently.
"Eric, Godric I can feel you!" Sookie exclaimed in awe.
"Yes, you have bonded with Eric. You are my child as well," he smiled at her. "I will never forget your kindness to me as I prepared to die on the roof of that hotel. Eric, you have chosen well. She is worthy."
Eric was still astounded at the appearance of his maker in their bedroom. "Thank you, Godric," was all he could manage to say. "Will you give my Bonded the respect of turning away so that she may clothe herself?"
"Of course, my apologies," Godric bowed his head to Sookie. "I would not have come if this matter were not of grave importance."
As Godric turned away, Eric went right to Sookie's chest of drawers and pulled out one of her favorite nightgowns. Sookie watched with bewilderment, wondering how Eric knew exactly where to go. She did not press the matter, but she would later. He helped her to put the gown on over her head and then picked his boxers up out of the corner where he had flung them hours ago, putting them on and sitting down next to her. "She is decent now," he said, and Godric turned to face them.
Sookie sensed Eric's emotional state and tucked herself under his arm, putting her arms around his waist to show him her love and support. The strong, fierce Viking Vampire Sheriff looked down at the woman he loved, and knew that he needed her in this moment. He pulled her close.
"I questioned your motives in Dallas, Eric. Now I understand your need to form a connection with Sookie. I would not have wanted to let her go, either." He smiled at Sookie, who smiled back sincerely.
"She knows," Eric admitted. "I have told her what I did that day."
Godric smiled wisely. "As you should share all things with your Bonded. When will you pledge?"
Sookie looked questioningly at Eric. "Pledge?"
"We have only just reconnected, Godric," Eric explained. "I have not had time to ask her."
"Ask me what?" Sookie demanded.
Eric turned to her. "It is much the same as your human wedding ceremony," he explained. "In front of witnesses, you present me with a ceremonial knife. We mix our blood in a sacred vessel and drink, to acknowledge our eternal commitment."
"Oh," she responded. She truly had not thought about a marriage ceremony of any kind with Eric. "This is moving a little bit fast for me!" she admitted.
"Please pardon me for bringing up the subject out of turn, but I do have a reason," Godric said to them both. They both looked at him, both curious and apprehensive about what he might say next. "Eric, the one you imprisoned in a concrete tomb has emerged. He has not yet made his presence known but I fear you will be his first target."
"What?" Eric jumped up. "How? I buried him ten feet below the surface! It should have taken him a hundred years or more to get out!"
Sookie had no idea what they were talking about. "Is there something you need to tell me, Eric?" she asked, her eyes wide.
Eric closed his eyes. He had not told Sookie what he had done to try to make her safe from Russell Edgington, the King of Mississipi and whose consort Eric had killed to avenge his murdered family. Edgington had vowed to get revenge on Eric, and he had wanted Sookie's blood to try to resurrect Talbot, the one Eric had killed. He knew he'd better start explaining.
"Russell Edgington," he told her, and she gasped.
"I thought he was dead!" she cried out.
Eric hung his head and knelt before her. "I bound him in silver and took him to a construction site, where I buried him in concrete. I knew he would come after me again but I wanted to make you safe from him for your lifetime."
Sookie didn't know what to say, or do. "Godric? What do you know about this?"
"The fault is mine, my dear," Godric said solemnly. "I implored Eric not to kill him. I wanted Eric to turn him in to the Authority, but Eric had his mind made up.'
"I had no faith in the Authority to give him what he deserved!" Eric shouted at Godric, visibly upset. Sookie moved to take his hand but he shook her off. He began to pace. "Now Sookie is in danger again! I will protect her with my life! I will not allow him to harm her!"
"I fear that his lust for her blood is secondary to his need for revenge upon you. You must tread carefully, Eric!" Godric argued back. "I fear that he will try to take Sookie to get to you. You must not let this happen!"
"What do you suggest I do?" Eric asked somberly.
"You must make your relationship official!" Godric insisted. "Only if you are legally pledged will the Authority assist you if she is taken! You know the penalty for separating ones Bonded and Pledged from them is final death!."
Sookie stared back and forth between the two of them. "When were you planning on telling me any of this, Eric?"
He knelt before her again. "Truly, we have not had time to speak of this! Do you not agree with me?" he implored her. "I thought you were safe from him. There was no need to tell you immediately!"
Sookie thought about the way they had spent the last 24 hours. Had it only been one day? Eric was back in her life and once again she was in mortal danger. "But you were going to tell me. Right?"
He looked into her eyes pleadingly. "Yes!" He took her hand and held it over his heart. "Feel, Sookie. The bond will tell you."
She closed her eyes, concentrating on her hand touching Eric. This was one of those rare times when she wished she could read Vampire minds, or at least one Vampire's mind. She could feel him, and what she felt was love, determination, protectiveness, and honesty. She opened her eyes, looked at him for a moment, then held out her other hand to him. He fell forward on his knees into her arms and they held each other. "I believe you Eric. I love you. It's all right." She whispered, rubbing his back tenderly. She looked up at Godric pleadingly. If they had ever needed his wise counsel, this was the time.
Godric observed his child in the arms of this fragile human, and he did not belittle Eric for his need for reassurance. He was proud of Eric. He had thought that Eric had lost his humanity but it was obvious that this woman had brought it back out. He could feel what Eric felt, and Sookie's love encompassed all three of them. It was beautiful and had been lacking in Eric's life for too long. Her love was what would save Eric from himself. Godric could no longer touch Eric physically but he poured his own love into the bond. Astonished, Eric turned around.
"Godric?" he asked, confused.
"Yes Eric, that is my love you feel. You were unable to recognize it before. See what Sookie has helped you to achieve? You are as ruthless as you ever were, but now you have love to strengthen your cause and give you something more to fight for."
Eric sat back on the bed next to Sookie, possessively placing his arm around her. "She is mine. I will not let her go." Sookie nodded and leaned into him, knowing that he needed to be dominant here.
"You must pledge yourselves to each other before the Authority," Godric repeated. "I think that your Sookie may be a powerful ally against the fallen king."
"How so?" Eric demanded. He moved back into the center of the bed, pulling Sookie in front of him and wrapping his arms around her. He folded his long legs in front of her, effectively surrounding her completely. She bent her arms and held his hands with both of hers. His thumbs came up atop her hands, caressing lightly.
"This is not the time, but we may be able to harness her powers, give her some control over them. I have powers of my own. If you agree, Eric, we may be able to use the bond to channel my powers through her."
"I will not have her fighting in this war!" Eric decreed. "She stays behind the scenes, safe from his intrusion."
The last thing Sookie wanted to do was undermine Eric in any way, but she had to say something here. "Eric?" she inquired softly.
"Yes, Dear One," he responded.
"Godric may have a point," she suggested, keeping her tone even. "What if he comes after me and you are not with me?"
"That will not happen!" Eric stated emphatically. "From this moment, you go nowhere without me. This is not up for debate Sookie! Do not attempt to argue with me!"
She could feel his determination and strength of mind. She wanted to talk about this but would not do so in front of Godric. She would not undermine Eric's authority. As much as it infuriated her to be subject to his will, she had given herself to him of her own free will. She understood what being his meant. This was why she had fought against it for so long. She was used to being independent. But even she had to admit that her spirit of independence had gotten her into trouble more than once. Eric had more experience in, well, everything, than she did. It would do her some good to listen to him in this case. She leaned back and put her head on his shoulder. "Yes, Eric," she said softly.
Disbelieving, Eric bent his head to look at her. "Sookie, look at me," he ordered. He let go of her so that she could turn sideways to look him in the eye. "Do you mean this?" He had to know. "You are accepting my authority over you?" Sookie had always made a show of defying Eric. Lucky for her, she had never done it in a situation where he would have had to punish her publicly. It would have broken Eric's heart to have to whip her while his underlings watched, but he would have done it. Now she was his, and he could punish her for the smallest transgression. That was why he was making sure that she now understood what he was saying.
"Yes I am," she responded calmly.
"Sookie, I want to make sure that you understand what you are saying. You are giving me the right to punish you for disobedience, for even the smallest thing."
Sookie could feel the bond probing at her. Eric wasn't sure that she was sincere. She looked at Godric, and then at Eric, right in his eye. "Eric. In front of Godric, your maker, I am pledging my life and safety to you. I am yours. You have my body, my heart, and my free will. Put your hand on my heart just like you did mine a few minutes ago." Eric released his hold around her to rest one hand in the center of her chest. She put her own atop it. "Feel my sincerity, Eric."
He did the same thing she had. He closed his eyes and concentrated, feeling the bond. Sookie was being honest with him. She was pledging her life to him. He opened his eyes and smiled. "Thank you Sookie," he said softly, kissing her forehead. She smiled and leaned into him.
"I think a small blood exchange is appropriate," Godric said.
Eric agreed. "Sookie, do you agree to that?"
She nodded without hesitation. "OK."
Eric took her index finger and cut it with his fang, then squeezed it to get the blood flowing. He did the same thing with his own finger, cutting a much larger gash because he knew it would heal quickly.
"I pledge to you my body, my heart, my will, my honor, and all that I possess. I am yours, Eric." Sookie said.
"I accept," Eric said simply. Then he put her finger in his mouth and held his out to her. She took it and they felt each other's blood strengthening their bond. Eric healed her finger as his own healed in her mouth. She made sure that she licked his finger clean, and he did the same with hers.
"Godric, you are our witness," Sookie said. "I'm glad you're here." She smiled at him.
"Thank you, child," he responded, smiling back warmly. "I will take my leave so that you may talk about the future. I will see you both soon. Do not worry, Sookie. We will make you strong. Right, Eric?"
Eric nodded his agreement. "She will benefit from being able to control her powers. Thank you Godric!" he said solemnly.
"Goodbye, my children," Godric said, and he disappeared, leaving Eric and Sookie to stare at the place where he had just stood.
Then they looked at each other. "What do we do now Eric?" she asked.
This chapter was shorter, but what did you think? Has Sookie done something she will regret? Where is Russell Edgington and what is he going to do? Please review!
Those familiar with my other story, "Yours For the Taking" (.net/s/6261191/1/), will remember my "Eric threats." Do you want me to bring them back here? By the way, I have not abandoned the other story. I've just got major writer's block and have more feeling for this one at the moment. Thank you to everyone who has followed that story.
Once again, please review! And thank you in advance.