The Seven Seas of Rhye

by ShadoKat

Ignore the title! It has nothing to do with the content! This is what I think should have happened between Eric and Sookie at the end of the season. He did not remember their time together, but he was damn sure going to find out! M for ESN and kinky sex

4. Chapter 4

Let me start by writing a short A/N here. Many of you have expressed concern about Eric and Sookie's relationship and how he seems to want complete control over her. If you're familiar with my stories you know that I do like to write them in a Dominant/submissive relationship. That's what happens in a Dominant/submissive relationship. One partner has control over the other. BUT, Eric's goal isn't to put her down to the point where she has no fire and does everything he says. She will continue to voice her opinion, talk back, sass, and play with Eric. We're three, now four chapters in. Eric is still feeling his way around this new relationship that he's wanted for so long. He's making mistakes. She will never cow down and silently obey him in all things, but she will let him be the dominant partner. This Sookie enjoys that side of Eric, as she's expressed in the story. If you read this chapter, you'll see a lot of love, friendship, and camaraderie between Sookie and Eric as they unite against a common foe. I hope you'll stay with me but I do respect you if you're so uncomfortable with some facets of the relationship that you have to move on. Thank you for coming this far with me.

This story is unbeta'd. All mistakes are mine.

As always Alan Ball and HBO own True Blood. Charlaine Harris owns Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Mysteries. No copyright infringement is intended.

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"Mr. Eric?" Bubba said cautiously. "What're you doin' out here? I thought you lived in Shreveport!"

"I could ask you the same thing, Bubba," Eric said grimly. "This property belongs to a human woman. Why are you here?"

"King Bill sent for me!" Bubba stood to his full height proudly, still not quite as tall as Eric. "He said there's a pretty lady in this house who needs protectin' and I'm to sit out here and let him know if anybody goes in there."

"Have you seen anyone go in there?" Eric said smoothly. It was obvious that Bubba hadn't seen him arrive, so this must be his first night of "guard duty."

"I did see a man just about an hour ago," Bubba looked at the huge watch he wore. "But King Bill told me not to go over by the house so alls I did was contact him on this here." He held out a cell phone to Eric, who had to laugh. It was one of those with "big buttons," made for the human elderly who couldn't see or understand how to use a regular cell phone. The buttons even glowed in the dark!

"Did you call him, or send a text?" Eric wanted to know.

"Oh no! I didn't call him!" Bubba exclaimed. "No, he told me to type words and then hit that green button, so that's what I did!"

Eric took the time to listen to the night. His senses were better than most, if not all, Vampires in the area because of his age. He didn't sense anyone around them, and he did not quite let his guard down with Bubba either. Slow though he may be, Bubba was still a Vampire, and Eric had no idea why "King" Bill would have Bubba watching Sookie. Did Bill know something? Eric easily went through the phone's menu to find the sent messages. "MAN BY HOUSE" had been sent to what he knew was Bill's number almost exactly an hour ago. "Bubba, you stay right here!" he commanded, knowing the weaker Vampire would comply. He pocketed Bubba's cell phone and took to the air, looking for signs of intrusion around the house. The weather had been dry so there were no footprints visible. Scanning a very wide range before landing, he finally set down softly next to the front porch. He smelled a Were whose scent he did not know. He crept onto the porch and found signs that whoever this was had tried to pry away at the shutter surrounding the door and one window. Very faint marks were there, only enough that he could see. He was glad that he'd had them made of the most indestructible material he could purchase. He followed the scent around to the side of the house where he found more marks on a window shutter. Then something on the ground caught his attention. He reached down and picked it up. It was a button of some kind, but more importantly was the symbol etched on it. A swastika! Russell's wolves had worn this type of symbol, but their brand had contained more than just a simple swastika. He wished he could have seen if this Were also bore that brand. He was suspicious. Was this a sign that it was Russell coming after Sookie, or had it been planted there to point suspicion in that direction? But who knew that Russell was out, and for that matter, who knew what Eric had done to Russell? And something else bothered him. If Bill had planted Bubba out in Sookie's woods to watch for intruders, why hadn't he sent anyone to investigate when Bubba had made a report? Eric flew around to all edges of the property and he did find the scent of a car the Were must have driven there in. Otherwise, though, he found nothing.

He ran at Vamp speed back to Bubba and hit the dialer on the phone.

"No! Mr. Eric! You'll get me in trouble!" Bubba was exclaiming just as his royal hind-ass himself answered the phone.

"Bubba? Didn't you understand not to call me?" Came Bill Compton's voice across the line, irritated, after the phone had rung several times. Eric could hear two feminine voices in the background and rolled his eyes.

"He did understand not to call you but this, in fact, is not Bubba," Eric said smoothly.

"Eric?" Bill said, the pitch of his voice rising higher. "Why are you on Sookie's property?"

"I think it might be more prudent to ask you why you have Bubba sitting out here on her property, as the lady in question is bonded to me, and as such is under my protection," Eric demanded.

"Bonded? To you?" Bill's voice reeked of disbelief.

"Come now Bill," Eric said. "I find it very hard to believe that you did not know, unless your sense of smell has faded away?"

"What are you talking about?" Bill demanded.

"Sookie herself told me that I bonded to her while I was cursed and living with her. I know for a fact that the two of us met with you prior to the spell's being taken away, and also that you spent time consoling her as she longed for me later," Eric told him. "So, unless you can't tell when your former lover has another Vampire's blood inside of her…?" He left the question hanging in the air.

Bill sighed. "All right, yes Eric I did know you were bonded to her. But you took off and went back to Shreveport! What was I supposed to do?"

"Bill, as much as I would like to spend numerous hours debating this with you, the fact is that I cannot. I have a warm bed and an even warmer heart to get back to, so notify your guards that we are coming, now." Eric stated. "And unless you want your, uh, female companions to see Elvis with blood on his face and hands, I suggest you sequester them somewhere."

"Eric! No! Wait!" Bill sputtered as Eric hung up the phone and handed it back to Bubba.

"Come on Bubba," Eric motioned with his sword. "We are going to play the king a visit."

"You don't like King Bill, do you Mr. Eric?" Bubba observed as they walked along. When Eric gave him a glare, he shrugged his shoulders. "Just sayin!"

Eric gave an unnecessary sigh. "What I do not like is when one Vampire sets another to spy upon the home of a human he has no right to bother."

"You bonded to her?" Bubba smiled slyly at Eric, who smirked in return.

"Yes, she is mine," Eric gloated. "Something our monarch has yet to understand that he cannot interfere with."

"Uh, maybe I shouldn't say nothin,' Mr. Eric," Bubba told him. The tone of his voice was confused and unhappy, and this made Eric pause.

"Well, now that you've mentioned it, you will tell me," Eric ordered. He really liked Bubba and hated that Bill was getting him involved in whatever this was.

Bubba looked away from Eric, wringing his hands. He was confused. He liked both Eric and Bill but Bill had been nicer to him in the past. Eric kind of scared him. He didn't reside in Louisiana so he didn't owe his fealty to either one of them. But somebody was being dishonest and that didn't sit right with Bubba, so he told Eric. "King Bill told me the lady was his."

This angered Eric greatly but he was able to keep it hidden from Bubba. He raised both brows. "Oh really?" Bubba nodded guiltily, as though he had done something wrong. Eric smiled at him. "Thank you for telling me Bubba. When you meet the lady you will know the truth of the matter. She is full of my blood."

"I get to meet her?" Bubba seemed excited.

"I will give you an introduction," Eric promised him.

"Thanks Mr. Eric!" Bubba smiled excitedly. "Do you know if she has a cat?" Bubba had an unfortunate liking for the blood of cats.

"She used to," Eric told him. "Somebody killed her cat in a very brutal way. It upset her greatly!" Eric's fangs dropped, remembering how a member of Sookie's brother's work crew and the fiancée of one of her friends had murdered the cat and had tried to murder Sookie. Eric hadn't known her long at the time but he had wanted her.

They reached the perimeter of the "royal" property and were met by two guards. "I'm sorry, Sheriff Northman, but I can't let you cross the property line with that sword," they insisted, speaking respectfully to him even as they stood hip to hip holding automatic weapons no-doubt loaded with wooden bullets. The Fellowship of the Sun had unfortunately made that practice a little bit too wide-spread.

Eric rolled his eyes and stuck the sword into the ground. Then he looked the two Weres threateningly in the eyes. "It had better be there when I return!"

"Yes, sir!" one of them said while the other picked up his walkie. "On our way in, post four," he said quietly and received acknowledgment.

The house was in much better condition now than when Compton had come back to Bon Temps, Eric observed as he followed Bubba and the two guards through the foyer and into what Bill now called the "receiving" room on the right. They were told to wait and the king would be with them in a moment. Bill did, in fact, appear a few seconds later, barefoot and wearing nothing but a pair of blue jeans, his hair mussed. He probably wanted to gloat to Eric about how much tail he was getting now that he was king. Eric really couldn't care less. He had all he wanted in the farmhouse next door. Bubba immediately bowed to Bill at the waist, while Eric merely inclined his head a fraction of an inch.

"For what purpose is it necessary for you to come over here to talk to me?" Bill said petulantly.

"I did not wish to alarm Sookie by the sounds of raised voices on her property," Eric told him. "Now, I wish to thank you for taking the safety of MY Bonded into consideration, but as I am staying there with her, there is no further need." He glared directly into Bill's eyes. "Besides, what good is your protection when you do not bother to check out reports of intruders on the property?" He raised his brows and cocked his head.

"Since when are you staying there?" Bill laughed. "When last I heard you were back to entertaining everything with a pussy that walked into Fangtasia. When did you come back? And what do you mean there was an intruder?"

"Last evening," Eric responded calmly, refusing to let Bill's insults bother him. Then he walked to the fireplace and firmly set the button down on the mantel. "A little something I found around the marks of a Were trying to break in." He told Bill.

"Why don't you just leave her alone Eric?" Bill demanded. "Do you know that I sat with her for more than two weeks while she cried over you?"

"A fact which you should have made me aware of!" Eric growled. "I have been calling her at least twice daily for weeks, and she has refused to answer or respond! Only out of frustration did I finally come there last night to find out what was happening!"

"What have you done to her?" Bill shouted. "As the reigning monarch, I have the right to…"

"Leave us the fuck alone!" Eric finished for him. "You may be the reigning monarch, but you do not have the right to interfere between another Vampire and his Bonded. She is mine to do with as I see fit!"

Bill knew that in this one thing he was powerless. "Come on Eric! We both know that you care nothing for her beyond using her for your own gain and a few hours of fun between her legs!"

Eric was across the room in a flash, pinning Bill up against the wall by his throat, fangs out. Two security guards had run in, but Bill waved them away. Bubba cowered in a corner. "You will not speak of her again in that manner!" Eric said in his softest, most deadly voice. "King or not, I will destroy you if you do. She is a lady unworthy of your crassness." He held Bill there for another few seconds, glaring at him, before he put his fangs away and walked back to stand in front of the fireplace.

"MY crassness?" Bill was foolish enough to go on. "I was a gentleman with her! I asked her to marry me!"

"As have I," Eric stated truthfully.

This caught Bill off guard. "You what?"

"Sookie has agreed to become my bride, both in a Vampire pledging and in a human ceremony. We had planned to bring the good news to you together once things calmed down." Eric couldn't help but gloat over the fact that Sookie had said 'yes' to him but had not done so with Bill.

Bill looked thunderstruck for a moment. "I can block the ceremony, you know," he finally said.

Eric rolled his eyes and shook his head. "You claim to love her. Would you really do that to her, especially once you find out that she wants to be wed to me? I did not coerce her in any way. You will see this when you speak to her."

"And when will you allow that?" Bill said sarcastically.

"I find that we may have to stay out of sight for the most part, at least in the immediate future," Eric told him, smirking. "It has come to my attention that Russell Edgington is back." He gave Bill a meaningful look, as Bill had been the only witness when Eric had Buried Russell in concrete. Eric suspected that Bill had aided Russell to escape, but wanted Bill to know that he did know. 'This button bears a swastika and I suspect his involvement." Eric did not reveal his other suspicion, that the button had been planted to make him think it was Russell, when in fact it may not be.

"Where did you hear this?" Bill asked suspiciously.

"I have my sources," Eric said, not willing to reveal the advantage that Godric could present. "Let us just say that I know where there is a big hole in the ruined floor of a parking garage." He had gone there a few times after imprisoning Russell in concrete just to walk over the spot where he was buried and assure himself that Sookie was still safe. It had to have been very recently that Russell had gotten out.

Bill seemed to be at a loss for words but he tried to hide his unease. "Bubba, you may go wash up if you wish, and go to your day's rest. I see that the lady is safe." He smiled gently at Bubba.

"Thank you, King Bill," Bubba said, bowing again. "Good to see you again, Mr. Eric!" Eric also gave him a friendly smile. It wasn't Bubba's fault that he was being used by an asshole. Eric decided that he needed to get back to Sookie before he was missed. He didn't want her angry with or worried about him, but he knew he would have to tell her he'd gone out tonight to visit Bill.

As Bubba left the room, Bill's demeanor changed. Where a moment ago he had been the haughty king, suddenly he adapted an air of camaraderie. "I have two beauties upstairs," he said with a smile, clapping Eric on the shoulder. "I am willing to share!" He waggled his eyebrows at Eric.

Eric remained stoic. He knew what Bill was up to. First, he knew that Bill had long harbored lust for him and would love to get him involved in a scene of some kind. Second, he wanted to test Eric's loyalty to Sookie. Eric decided not to put Bill down for his obvious trickery. "Thank you, Your Highness," he said, inclining his head. "I have all that I want waiting for me at home! Now, if I may, I must get back to her."

Bill tried to hide his disappointment. "Of course, Eric. But I would like to see the two of you together in the coming nights."

As much as he hated having to bow to the authority of Bill Fucking Compton, Eric knew that he must. "We will make it so." Bill walked with Eric to the door and then Eric started heading across the property back to where he'd left his sword. Once he had retrieved it, he took to the air, circling back toward the Compton house. Bill still stood on the porch, gazing in the direction of Sookie's house, which could just be seen through the trees across the cemetery. He had his hand on the crotch of his jeans and was rubbing himself! Eric made a decision. He couldn't get Sookie out of here fast enough!

So fast that he couldn't be seen, Eric landed and made his way to the outbuilding where he stashed his sword and hurried back up into the house. He was anxious to be with her, to feel her warmth next to him, to hold her and reassure himself that she was his. Soon enough he was back on the second floor where he secured the security doors, climbed back into the silk boxers that she loved, and eased into bed with her. "Eric? Where have you been?" she asked sleepily, turning to him and wrapping her arms around him.

"Ssshhh Love," he soothed her. "I am here now." As he wrapped his body around hers, he sensed an undercurrent of upset from her. He would tell her the truth when he rose tomorrow. She knew something was up and he wouldn't try to hide. He wouldn't let her keep secrets from him and he realized that this went both ways. He had to give her his honesty as well. He couldn't help but laugh at himself as he laid there waiting for dawn to arrive. All of the plans he'd made, all of the rules he'd planned to enforce on her to keep her completely open to him.. All of those applied to him too. He could neither close a door in her face as he would let her close one to him. He knew one thing without a doubt. He would not be Bill Compton. He would honor her and cherish her love the way it was meant to be cherished. The thought of Bill staring at Sookie's house while he stroked himself gave him the creeps. He would not leave Sookie alone in this house without his protection again. Ever. Those were his last thoughts as the sun came up, and death claimed him for the day.

Sookie slept the entire day next to Eric and was roused when she heard him growling menacingly in her ear. She was face down and he was lying on top of her, pinning her there with his body. His hand came around to encircle her throat and she froze completely, closing her eyes. She knew from experience that the best way to calm him was not to struggle or speak. The signals coming through the bond were not as threatening as they had been the day before. As he held her, both hands felt the silk at her shoulders, and suddenly he buried his nose in her hair and she space behind her neck. His growl turned from scary to contented. "Sookie," he whispered. She relaxed, but not completely. She knew he still needed blood, and sex, and he would take it. His amnesiac counterpart's style had ranged from confused and unrestrained to downright brutal depending on his mood. She could see that this Eric was reacting to the scents on her new robe and his madness was calmed, but how he would take what he needed would be up to him.

Eric was working against his bloodlust, trying to keep himself from ripping every stitch of clothing from her body. But the new robe had done what Sookie said and calmed him enough so that he was aware of his actions. Before it got the best of him he used his knees to part her legs, pulling down the front of his boxers and getting ready to enter. But she wasn't ready. He touched her and she was wet, but not as wet as he wanted her to be. He knew how to get her there. He grabbed both of her wrists in one hand and pinned them under her body, using his other hand to spank her lightly while he used his tongue and fangs to tease her earlobe and the most sensitive spot behind her left ear. When she giggled and tried to block his fangs, he spanked her again and pulled her head to the side, going for her blood. He heard her softly moan and knew she was his, so he used his other hand to guide him home and took her, hard and fast. It wasn't long at all before he was coming, and taking her right along with him. He raised his head and roared his pleasure to his Gods, finally settling down on top of her with his weight resting on his elbows, still buried deep inside.

"Good evening, Lover," he said contentedly.

She rested her head on his hands and kissed his fingertips. "Good evening yourself," she chimed back at him in her soft and musical voice.

Eric knew that if he relaxed the way he wanted to, he would collapse on top of her. He lifted himself away and she protested, not wanting to lose the intimate contact. He told her to wait just a moment and while he moved onto his back she pulled his boxers completely off him. Eric smiled at her seeming need to have him naked for her and he pulled her back up onto his chest. He was still semi-hard and it was she who moved him back to her entrance and slid smoothly onto him, both of them sighing happily. Eric pulled the blankets back up over both of them and Sookie went back to sleep. He started thinking about what he wanted to do this night. His cell phone was on the night stand and he reached for it, sending Pam a quick text. He wanted an assortment of boxes delivered to this house within the hour and was specific – boxes for clothing, books, and anything else Sookie might want to take. He had gone through Sookie's refrigerator, cabinets, and pantry a few times while he'd walked this house many nights as she slept. With his perfect memory he was able to recall all the food she had in the house from her favorite brand of tea to how many pounds of chicken and hamburger she kept in her freezer. A truck was to be filled with all of the food he listed and delivered to Fangtasia. Later, Eric would give instructions for its final delivery. Whether she liked it or not, Sookie was moving tonight. He was not taking her to one of his safehouses, either. He was taking her to his primary residence. He debated whether or not to let her see just yet where he lived – he knew at some point he would have to allow her to come and go from there. But that presented a problem. There were always people – Weres, Vampires, all manner of supernaturals – looking to gain an advantage on Eric. There would be those who would try to follow Sookie to find out where he lived once their association was made public. Sookie would hate it if she had to be locked up in his house for the rest of her life, and Eric knew he could never do that to her. Sookie was a social creature, a creature of the sun. She brought the sun into Eric's life. He would never deny her the sun. She also had to be around people to maintain her shields, and she had family and friends who were important to her. They would have to work something out. But for the time being, while Russell Edgington's whereabouts and intentions were unknown, Sookie would have to remain sheltered in Eric's lair and she would not know where she was. He hoped Sookie would understand why it had to be that way, and that he would not keep things this way forever. Back when they had first met, when his plans for her had been to take, force, and dominate, things had been simpler, he thought. He chuckled at that. Now that he loved her and planned to deal with her as a partner and companion, his life would be so much more complicated! He could always revert back to the original plan, and would if he had to, but he was loath to do it. If Sookie Stackhouse ever stopped loving him, that would be the day that even the moon and stars ceased to exist for Eric. She meant that much to him.

She started to wake. Eric put down his phone and began rubbing her back with his skillful fingers. When she lifted her head from his chest and opened her eyes, she had that smile ready for him. The smile he would kill to keep, and die if he lost. "Well rested, My Love?" he asked softly as she moved forward to kiss him. She yawned, turning her head to the side and apologizing about "morning breath." Eric couldn't help but laugh and he told her again that no smell that came from her was unpleasant.

"You haven't been around me after my Granddaddy Earl's chili then, that's for sure," she joked, a joke he completely didn't get. "Never mind Baby," she smiled at his obvious confusion. But then her bladder forced her to get up and run for the other room. Eric sat up on his side of the bed, glad when he didn't have to remind her to keep the door open. When Sookie came back into the room wearing nothing but the ivory robe, Eric had to contain himself. He wanted to take her back to bed but tonight they couldn't do that. "Why are you getting dressed already?" she wanted to know. He had put on a fresh pair of black track pants and his hair was sticking up all over the place. He looked so adorable that Sookie couldn't help but wrap her arms around him and hold on tight.

"As much as I would like to spend tonight as we did last night, we cannot," he said regretfully. He had picked up the remote and opened the security doors to the rest of the house. "There are things we must discuss, and an unpleasant visit to make."

"Visit?" she was confused.

"Let us go downstairs and get you something to eat while I tell you," he said, holding out his hand to her.

"You sit down first for just a minute!" she ordered him, causing him to tweak one eyebrow at her. "I'm gonna fix your hair!" She told him firmly. He was willing to sit down for that, so he obediently sat back down on the bed while Sookie got to her knees behind him with a comb and brush. She loved the way Eric's hair felt in her hands. She'd never been especially fond of long hair on men, but with Eric it was another story. It suited him and she hoped he'd never change it. She took her time getting the tangles out and brushing it until it shone while Eric closed his eyes with simple contentment. He had never allowed anyone close enough to care for him in this way, not even when he had turned Pam. But Sookie was a care-taker, a nurturer. Eric had seen that and coveted that part of her when he'd seen her with Compton. Who was he kidding? He'd coveted every part of her. Now he had her and he would never let her go.

Just as she finished tightening a black covered elastic band around his ponytail, he reached back and grabbed her around the waist, growling playfully and snapping his fangs at her body. "You had better get dressed, Lover, before I put all your hard work to waste!"

"I would like to shower first, Eric," she told him, giggling and pushing at his hands and hungry fangs.

.We will do that later," he told her firmly. He had two reasons for denying her request, one of them being that he wanted to remind her that she had given her body over to him, therefore giving him the right to command even this small thing about it. He was giving his body to her as well. If she told him to shave a heart shape into the middle of his chest-hair, he would, but he wasn't about to suggest that to her. For now he would keep the control to himself until they had gotten used to each other, but eventually she would know. The other reason he would tell her shortly.

Sookie was still getting used to this facet of their relationship. She had allowed Eric to reign over her body completely when he had been cursed, and he was only just back in her life. She felt incredibly sexy at his obvious interest in every little thing from the way she shaved her legs to the kind of lotion she wore. She found it easy to be submissive to Eric in at least this way. "What do you have to tell me?" she wanted to know.

He went to her dresser and threw some jeans and a T-shirt at her. When she tried to go around him to get undergarments to go with them, he told her no. "I have something else I would like you to wear."

"But if I don't wear a bra under my clothes it's very uncomfortable!" she protested.

Eric did not consider this to be disobedience or sass. This was simply a request to be comfortable. "This may help," he said, waggling his eyebrows at her. Pam had been a great help in this matter because before a few days ago the existence of what he was about to show Sookie was unknown to him. He got into the drawer where he had placed his boxers next to her things and drew out a garment, handing it to her with a fangy smile.

She held it up. It was actually quite pretty. It was a soft pink made of lace and heavy silk, with elastic just where it was needed and padding as well… except in one place. It was a cupless shelf bra. She looked at him like he was crazy. "Is this what I think it is?" she asked incredulously.

"It is," he said simply. "Pamela chose it for you. She said that it would give you all the support you would need."

"And give you every chance to get your hands on me!" she exclaimed with a deep blush. She wasn't sure how she felt about this. She knew that this new life with Eric would mean a lot of changes. She knew what kind of a man Eric was. He was very forward, sexually. Bill had been very old-fashioned, once asking her to dress in petticoats! There had been a time when Sookie would have thought such a garment shocking, indecent even. But, standing there staring at it, seeing the sparkle in Eric's eyes and knowing he wouldn't be able to put his fangs away if he tried, she couldn't help but get a smile on her face. This was very risqué! "I'll try it on one condition!" she finally said.

"And that is?" He was willing to hear her out.

"If it makes me look, or feel, ridiculous, I won't wear it!" She told him adamantly.

He knew that she was a genteel southern lady and he didn't want to do anything to make her feel like she was anything less than beautiful. "Sookie, you made a promise to me, remember?" he asked. At her nod, he continued. "It is not my wish to humiliate you. You are a beautiful and sexy woman. I want you to feel that way. I believe this will make you feel sexy." He smiled a rakish smile that Sookie couldn't help but melt over. "Your body is mine, given to me of your own free will. You have given me the right to command even what you wear." He reached out and put his arms around her waist. "There will be times when I will do that, and tonight is one of those times. If you do not like it, I will not force it on you, but you will wear nothing under your clothing."

She decided that this was the best compromise she was going to get from Eric right now, so she turned her back to him and asked him to help her take off the robe. She would have remained facing away from him, but his gentle hands on her shoulders turned her to face him. When she blushed, he decided to say more.

"You have no reason to be shy with me, Love," he said gently. "I have seen, touched, and tasted every part of you. And I always let you see every part of me. When do I ever turn from you or go to another room to get dressed, or undressed? Here, will this help?" Since he was already dressed, he sat down on the bed and took his pants back off. "There. You see, now I am as naked as you are." He smiled encouragingly at her.

She got that secret smile on her face again and cast her eyes down. At this show of submission Eric had to will his manhood to stay down by thinking of anything unpleasant he could. Having sex with Bill Compton. Ugh. That did it. He didn't want her to think that getting dressed in front of him was entertainment for him. He respected her, and he kept thinking of Bill Compton's hand on his balls to keep his body behaving. She undid the hooks at the back and pulled it on, turning around for his help fastening them. After he did this, he turned her around and helped her to fix the straps so that she was comfortable and well supported. He thought the bra looked magnificent on her. Her breasts stood high and proud, the shelf holding them at just the right angle, giving enough support on the sides that she didn't spill in all different directions. He knew he could make her nipples hard for him in a second but he was determined to behave himself. She took his hand and dragged him to the bathroom, knowing that he would follow anyway, to look at herself in the mirror. The pink blended well with the creaminess of her skin and she found to her surprise that she didn't look like a slut. This new garment was comfortable and held everything up. She looked into Eric's eyes in the mirror and her eyes shone. She liked it. So did he.

Eric disappeared for a moment and came back with the T-shirt he'd pulled out of the drawer earlier. He helped to slip it over her head. As soon as the fabric touched her bare nipples the sensation went right to her core. Every movement of her upper body caused a new throb down below. She heard Eric take a deep breath in and felt his manhood standing in attention at her back. "Eric! It makes me horny! I can't walk around all day like this!" She protested, turning bright red and burying her head in his chest, embarrassed.

"It makes me horny too, Lover! Can you see?" he whispered conspiratorially, taking her hand and putting it on him. She looked up at him and they both burst out laughing.

"I will do this for you Eric!" she told him firmly. "On one condition!"

"Which is?"

"You damn well better be ready to take care of me after we get back from wherever it is you want me to go dressed – or undressed – like this!" Sookie wasn't stupid. Eric had mentioned going out tonight, right before he had dropped this bomb on her.

"Oh, I will be more than ready, Lover!" he said enthusiastically. "The thought of you walking around all night like that, knowing that all I have to do is put my hands…" And his hands started to travel up underneath her shirt.

"Oh, no you don't!" she stopped his hands. "First you're going to explain why this is so important to you!"

Eric knew when he was defeated. Dominant though he was, he wasn't about to stomp out his Sookie's fire. He loved it too much. The fun they would have when they returned home later! To his home, he reminded himself, not this one. They made quick work of getting dressed in the bedroom together, Eric also going commando at Sookie's insistence (if I have to, so do you!), then headed downstairs. Eric wanted Sookie to have her breakfast before he hit her with everything that was going to happen this night.

Soon they were sitting together at the table, Sookie having a big plate of ham and eggs, Eric with her wrist in his hand having his breakfast from her for the second time that night. It painted a very domestic picture to Sookie and she decided that this was better than the other "normal" she had once imagined. The other "normal" hadn't included someone like Eric as her mate, either. All in all she was sure she had come out better than she'd ever thought she would. Eric healed her and gave her a tender kiss the way he always did, and she kissed his lips the way she liked to do after he fed, to show him her love and acceptance. Eric's heart may not have been beating, but it was always warmed after such a display. He decided that he'd better start talking.

"Sookie, I have a confession to make," he started. She had washed her plate and was sitting with the last of her coffee in her cup. She had known something was coming and was glad he was finally ready to tell her. "I went out last night, after you went to sleep."

"I know you did," she responded after pausing for several seconds. Eric stared at her in disbelief. She had not been waiting to scream at him when he'd come back in, after all.

"You are not angry?" he asked. He remembered the undercurrent of something he'd felt within the bond that morning as he'd slipped into bed with her.

"At first I was," she said, pursing her lips. "I was convinced you'd lied to me."

"Sookie, I…" he started to say, but she held a finger up.

"I went through the whole conversation in my head. You never said you wouldn't go out. You said you wouldn't put yourself in danger," she told him, surprising him again. She looked into his eyes. "I know how you are, Eric. You're obsessive when it comes to protecting me. I love you for that!" she smiled into his eyes but then went on. "But we have to talk about better communication! I don't want you telling me what you think I want to hear and then doing something else. What would happen if I had given you such a vague answer and then sneaked out of the house last night?

He knew. He would have been angry. He would have come to find her, and he would have punished her. He might have even locked her up in the house for the immediate future, just to make a point. He would have justified his actions by saying she needed to obey him for her protection. But even this sat wrong with him. "Sookie, I would not have tolerated such behavior from you." He hung his head, peeking up at her before going on. "But you understand the difference between the two of us, do you not? I am stronger, more capable of defending myself. And we have agreed that I am dominant here!"

"Yes Eric, I did give you control, but that does not make a double standard all right here!" she insisted. "I understand that I gave myself to you and I stand by that. I won't object to you making the decisions. All I ask in return is your honesty. Can you give me that?" She took one of his hands in both of hers and kissed his palm. "You have me. I'm not going anywhere! You don't have to paint a pretty picture for me of what our lives will be. I am yours." She placed his hand around her throat, effectively showing him her trust and submission. He tightened his grip, but only slightly, enough to show her that he accepted what she offered.

"You understand that you will not always like what I tell you?" he asked. "That I may not always be able to take your feelings into account in my decisions?" She had asked for honesty so he wanted to lay it all on the table. "You also understand that you must not – and I cannot emphasize this enough Sookie – must not question me in front of other supernaturals, especially Vampires? If you did that I might have no choice but to punish you in front of them! If I am going to give you what you seek, you must understand all that it entails."

"I just want to know where you are, Eric!" she explained. "And if somebody like Bill tries to plant lies in my head, I can tell him to go to hell! So that we are always one step ahead of them! You know?" Her voice was impassioned, showing him just how strongly she felt about what she was saying.

Eric had never taken this into account and he was impressed that she had thought of it. His respect for her rose even higher, if that was possible. "Sookie, you amaze me!" he enthused.

"Of course I won't embarrass you in front of them Eric! I know it's a matter of life and death! I've been in enough scrapes now that I can't forget!" She continued.

Eric was already convinced. "I will give you what you ask of me. Please, Love, do not ever make me regret it!"

Sookie smiled her "only-for-Eric" smile and the rest of the world evaporated for him. "So, what happened?" she asked about the previous night, waiting expectantly.

It took him a few seconds to get his bearings back. She'd truly caught him off guard! "You will not believe who I found out there, so I am going to show you later. And, we must go to see Bill."

"Bill? Why?" She let her distaste be known. She hadn't told Eric that the last time she'd seen Bill he had tried to get her into his bed. All of the consolation over Eric's apparent abandonment and his gestures of friendship had been lies. She knew Eric would kill Bill if he ever found out. She had told Bill never to come back, that she belonged to Eric even if he didn't want her any more. She had attributed the fact that Bill hadn't tried to force the issue to his guilty conscience, not knowing that Eric had come to her house nightly while she slept, sometimes even coming inside.

"For some reason, our noble "king" decided to set someone to guard your property and report comings and goings to him," Eric explained. "I found that person on your property last night."

"Did you kill him?" As much as the idea grieved her, Eric was a Vampire, and a very possessive one at that. She wouldn't put it past him to kill anyone on her property who was not supposed to be there.

To her surprise, he smiled. "No, Sookie, I did not kill him. You will get to meet him later!" He didn't explain further, leaving her to wonder why she would "get to meet" the spy Bill had set on her property. "I confronted Bill and told him of our plans for the future."

"Oh, I bet he was full of congratulations and good wishes, wasn't he?" she replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Eric got the joke and laughed with her. "You have no idea! Anyway, he thinks that I am somehow forcing you to be with me, and he has demanded that we appear before him together."

"I don't have to do anything he says!" she insisted.

"No, Sookie, you do not. But as much as it offends me, I must respond to his demand," Eric told her disgustedly. "I thought we would go over there tonight."

Sookie swiftly put two and two together. "Is that why the..?" she pointed at her chest, the cupless bra. "And why you wouldn't let me take a shower?" Her eyebrows raised in an almost perfect imitation of Eric.

This was exactly Eric's reasoning. He had wanted to flaunt to Compton that the two of them were having a lot of sex, that Sookie was much freer sexually as a result, and rub in his face that he had lost Sookie thoroughly. But now he sat nervously, waiting for her reaction. To his surprise and extreme satisfaction, she laughed vigorously and threw her arms around him.

"Eric! We have to do better than this!" she cried, tears running down her face as she continued to laugh. Then she surprised him even more by reaching for the waistband of his pants. "I have to be thoroughly ruined by you!" She winked. Then she thought better of what she was doing and stood up, grabbing his hand and heading for the living room. He let her pull him along, curious and extremely aroused by her behavior. She sat him down on the couch and then got on her knees in front of him. She reached for the waistband of his pants again, but then shyness overtook her. "I, um, well, you'll have to help me. I'll swallow most of it, but I think you should get some on me. Maybe even in my hair!" she giggled, and Eric finally knew what she was up to.

"No Sookie, you do not have to do that!" he said, smiling as he pulled her up on to the couch with him. He paused for a second to think 'Am I really turning down a blow job?' Yes, he was, because Sookie was worthy of more respect. "We already smell of each other from this morning!"

"I want to be thoroughly saturated with you so that it's coming out my pores!" she insisted. "And, can we do the blood sharing thing too?"

Eric could only sit and stare at her. Once again he marveled at his luck, and wondered what he had done to please the Gods so much that they had sent her to him. Her like-mindedness to him and enthusiasm pleased him greatly! "No, here is what we do, Lover! I am already all over you. You must be all over me as well!" He pulled his pants off and lay down on the couch, then went for her jeans. She smiled hugely for him and let him get them off her at Vampire speed, then straddled him as he helped her. She was glad that this was a big, wide couch, or they wouldn't have been able to do this. Eric reached up under her shirt and pinched her nipples, and she decided that she loved this bra that he'd given her. She wasn't as wet as he wanted her to be – he didn't want to hurt her – so he pulled her down onto him to kiss her deeply, his tongue moving in and out and doing what another body part would be doing within minutes. He reached down and while one thumb circled her little pleasure button, the fingers of the other hand pushed inside her, gaining rhythm along with his tongue. He brought her to the edge like that with his hands, then stopped and pushed inside of her. This time he took control, moving them together in unison to put maximum pleasure on her clit as he thrust deep inside. In just moments they were both screaming their release together, and Sookie lay down onto his chest to stop the room from spinning. "Sookie, you are the sexiest woman on this planet," he whispered as his hands were busy playing with her nipples under her T-shirt. His hands were wet with her juices and he was "spreading the wealth." All too soon, he was lifting her off of his shaft and setting her down on his abdomen so that their combined fluids would leak onto both of them. He smeared everything over his stomach and both of their thighs, then kneaded her ass with both hands until he had rubbed it into her skin. "Satisfied, Love?" he asked her as both of them were now completely filthy with their come and other juices..

"Not yet," she said, and she slid down so that she could lick his stomach clean, then she shimmied back up his body, giving him total torso-to-torso contact, and thoroughly kissing him when she was close enough.

Eric had to put his hands on her waist to stop her movements. "Sookie, if you do not stop that we will never leave the house!" he threatened, growling at her and flipping them over so that he was on top. He put his hands on her and quickly stimulated her to another orgasm, sealing his mouth over hers in a hungry kiss when she would have screamed his name. "Have I not satisfied you yet, wench?" he teased her when she wrapped her legs around him and ground against him yet again. He spanked her twice with his open palm, and she rotated her pelvis one more time, this time giving HIM a growl. Before the sex was completely gone from their blood, he sat them up, holding her in front of him, bit into his wrist and offered it to her as he sank his aching fangs into her throat.

The blood exchange finally calmed them both, and they were a hot mess! The beautiful ponytail that Sookie had worked so hard to put in Eric's hair was half pulled out, and he wondered when she had started pulling his hair. He was quite sure that he must have enjoyed it, though. Laughing and holding hands, they ran up the stairs to change clothes and put themselves back together. Sookie insisted on wearing a thin white T-shirt with that bra that Eric was almost regretting having given to her. Her nipples poked out enticingly even when she wasn't aroused, and it set his teeth on edge to think that soon Compton would be staring at them. But he consoled himself in the knowledge that those nipples were HIS, and that Compton would never touch them, or any other part of her, again. It was a serious offense punishable by up to final death to touch the Bonded of another Vampire. He would enjoy the show he and Sookie were about to put on for their illustrious king right before he whisked her out from under the bastard's nose for good.

He sent a text message over to Compton to ask if it was an appropriate time to stop by. Almost too quickly, he received a reply that it was. Eric deactivated the security shutter only for the front door, leaving everything else intact, and they strolled hand-in-hand across the lawn toward the Compton estate. Eric knew, from his spying last night, that Bill could see them coming, the picture of love and domestic bliss. He had brought Sookie in on this little joke, so she made it a point to pull herself in close to Eric and lean on his shoulder, both arms around his waist, as they walked. 'Payback is a bitch, asshole,' she thought toward Bill as she smiled adoringly up at Eric. They'd had a conversation right before leaving the house. In front of Bill, not only would Sookie show how much she loved Eric, but she would put on a show of total submission to him. This was something that Bill had never accomplished with Sookie. Had he made her submissive to him, his mission to bring her to the former queen might have been successful. Eric thanked the Gods that it had not been successful. To see "his" Sookie in complete love with Eric Northman, presenting the picture of perfect submissive beauty, would drive Compton completely crazy.

"Here we go," Eric whispered as they approached the two security guards who would be escorting them, the same two from last night. They were both familiar with Sookie and greeted her with familiarity. She remained silent and looked to Eric before greeting either of them. At his nod, she demurely greeted each one by name as Eric glared daggers at them, laughing hysterically inside at the expressions on their faces. As they approached Bill, Sookie clung to Eric as they stared lovingly into each other's eyes; he hoped it was enough to make Compton want to puke. As was appropriate protocol, Bill greeted Eric first, and Eric gave him the same insolent head nod that he had the previous evening. Then Bill reached out to embrace Sookie and Eric went ballistic, baring his fangs and taking his king by the throat as he thrust her protectively behind him. Again, Bill waved off his two guards when they would have attacked Eric. The scary thing, Eric noted to himself, was that it was not an act. He really did want to rip out the other Vampire's throat for even attempting to touch his Sookie. For her part, she did not jump in and tell Eric to back off as she would have done in the past. Instead, he held his arm out to her and she sidled up against him as he placed her back in his possessive and protective embrace.

"Sookie, what has he done to you?" Bill exclaimed, appalled at the display. Only then did a breeze blow through, carrying on it the full revelation of Sookie's and Eric's earlier activities. His cock twitched violently in his pants as his nostrils flared, giving him a full whiff. Behind their backs, Eric and Sookie pinched each other to stop from laughing wildly at the sight, the bond between them reveling in the humor of the moment.

Once again, Sookie looked at Eric as though requesting permission to speak. Only at his nod did she say "He hasn't done anything to me Bill." Her voice was neutral, but laced with enough acid to let him know that she hadn't forgotten, or forgiven, his last actions toward her. Eric sensed her ire and made a note to ask her about it later.

"He hasn't done anything to you?" Bill demanded in disbelief. "You aren't even allowed to speak without his permission, and he hasn't done anything to you? Sookie, Sweetheart, I can protect you from him!" He reached out again, only to have his way once more blocked by Eric.

"Attempt to touch my Bonded again and you will find your head separated from your body," Eric threatened through his bared fangs. "Even your guards know that I would be in the right, be you king or not!" He felt Sookie rooting him on through the bond and sent back his amusement, even though he was not feeling particularly amused. Bill had the good sense to step back. Eric and Sookie repeated the action of him reaching out for her, and her coming back to the comfort of his embrace. The sight of Compton's eyes bugging out every time they did that was great entertainment for them both! To add insult to injury, she kissed him on the cheek and he winked at her. "She has graciously agreed to be mine, in ALL ways, and for that I honor and respect her. Sookie, you may speak freely with him." He kissed the back of her hand and she rubbed her cheek against his shoulder.

"Thank you Eric," she said sweetly, casting her eyes down and batting her lashes at him. Compton looked like he had just swallowed a turd. "What do you want to know, Bill?" she was civil and polite but devoid of warmth when addressing Bill.

"Come inside, please," Bill invited them. "Surely, Eric, you will allow her to sit comfortably?" Sookie did not move until Eric led the way into the house, where he seated her in a comfortable chair by the fireplace and stood behind her. She continued to hold his hand.

Bill wanted to take her hands into his own and make sure that Sookie was all right with Eric, but he wasn't about to test Eric's patience again. "Sookie, Eric tells me that you are to be pledged. Is this true?"

She squeezed Eric's hand. "Yes it is. Why would Eric lie to you about that?"

"He has agreed to a human ceremony as well?" Bill was visibly upset by this, having once asked her to marry him the same way.

"Eric loves me, Bill," she told him. "I don't see why you seem to have a problem with that."

"Do you love him?" Bill had the gall to ask.

"More than anything, Bill. More than anything." She squeezed Eric's hand again and the bond told him that was true.

Bill got up and began to pace. "Sookie, you don't have to do this. You are in my house. I am his king. You have but to say the word and I can take you under my protection!" He was almost begging, he sounded so desperate.

"Why on earth would I do that Bill?" she seethed at him. "Eric loves me. He understands me. He doesn't lie to me." She was glaring now and he couldn't stand it.

"Has he told you what he was doing last night?" Bill inquired petulantly. He was determined to do or say something that would get Sookie away from Eric. If he could only get her alone again! He knew if he could just talk to her without Eric's interference, she would see reason. He was delusional.

"He said he was over here," Sookie responded calmly, effectively shutting Bill down. "He said you threatened to block our pledging!"

"Not threatened, Sweetheart, offered!" Bill implored her. "I offered to get you out of this mess!"

Eric thought it was time to break in. "I take great offense at you calling my Bonded your sweetheart," he said icily. "She is in fact MY sweetheart. Isn't that right, Sookie?" He smiled at her again, sending his love through the bond. She smiled back.

"I am simply yours, Eric." She crooned at him, sending him lust.

Bill got another whiff of sex from them and was suddenly transfixed, staring at her chest. He must have just realized what she wasn't wearing under the T-shirt. She decided to antagonize him a bit more. She stood up and turned to Eric, rubbing her chest against him. In response he wrapped both arms around her and kissed her deeply, passionately. But he never let down his guard, and this kiss was for show, to gauge Compton's reaction. Bill crushed the edge of his desk with his hand. Sookie turned back around and sat in her chair, her nipples now straining against the thin white shirt she wore. Something else was quite noticeably straining against both men's pants. Then Compton thought he might try a different tack, to try to make Eric look bad.

"Eric, you know I am your King," he began.

Eric knew exactly where he was going with this and he almost laughed out loud. "Yes Your Majesty," he replied, for once using the title that Compton did not deserve.

"You know that I am entitled to your fealty, and as such, the use of your property should I deem it necessary," Compton went on, walking casually toward the two of them.

Eric's hand went to Sookie's shoulder and he squeezed it encouragingly. He wasn't sure how she would react to what he knew Compton was about to ask of him. "Of course, Your Majesty." There, he'd said it twice.

"Sheriff Northman, I require the use of your human," Compton said smoothly, his fangs dropping down as he stared hungrily at Sookie.

Sookie's hand went to Eric's and the tension in the room could have been cut with a knife. She didn't know if Bill could legitimately ask this of Eric, and suddenly she was afraid. Eric sensed this and tried to use the bond to reassure her. Then, Eric's rich, hearty laughter rang out in the room.

"Why are you laughing, Sheriff?" Bill asked irritably.

Eric was laughing so hard that he actually had to wipe away a bloody tear. "Do you not know the laws under the Authority?" he asked, suddenly deadly serious. "In truth, the customs set forth before either you or I was made?"

"I believe I do," Bill stated confidently.

"No, you do not," Eric's voice got quieter. "She is not my property. She is my Bonded. Now, if she were my slave, or my pet, you would be entitled. As such, you are not."

Sookie was done with playing the submissive. She stood up and stalked over to Bill. "You dirty piece of shit!" she yelled at him. "You were trying to order Eric to give me to you!" And she reached up and slapped him.

Bill's fangs came out. "Sookie, you are going to regret striking your king!" His hand went up, and suddenly Eric was there between them.

"I told you not to touch her!" Eric exclaimed.

"You are not my king!" Sookie screamed from behind Eric.

The security guards had run into the room, but were at a loss. Their king was the one in the wrong and they were loath to defend him.

Eric swiftly took control. "Your Majesty, you know that you deserved that!" he said matter-of-factly. "Sookie is not a plaything to be passed between us. How can you claim to have ever loved her if you will treat her this way?" His voice had changed, now seething with anger and contempt.

"Deserved or not, she struck me!" Bill fumed. "I am entitled to see her punished for that." He refused to look at Sookie, ashamed and embarrassed at his own actions.

"Oh, she will be punished, rest assured," Eric told him smoothly. "Nothing you could do would have nearly the effect that I have on her." While Bill looked the other way, Eric reassured Sookie with a loving smile and a wink. She lost her fear instantly. "Now, here is what is going to happen," Eric explained to Bill like he was a simpleton. Which, of course, they both thought he was. "You will report to the Authority that I wish to pledge to my Bonded, and you will not interfere with the process."

Bill turned back around and nodded, reserved. "Sookie, I am sorry for my actions. I was…"

"Yes, she has that effect on me too," Eric interrupted him, stroking Sookie's face. She was back to playing the submissive with him and she turned her cheek into his palm, closing her eyes and smiling serenely. She had no further wish to talk to Bill at all.

"Where is Bubba?" Eric suddenly asked of Bill. "I would like for Sookie to meet him." At Sookie's inquiring look, he explained. "Love, I want you to meet BUBBA, the Vampire who was helping Bill to watch your house last night. BUBBA wants to meet you as well."

Sookie couldn't understand why Eric was making such a big deal out of the name of this Vampire, but she was willing to go along. "OK Eric, I'd love to meet Bubba."

At that moment, Bubba walked into the room, having been summoned by one of Bill's guards. Sookie's jaw almost hit the floor. Eric again took control of the situation. "Bubba, this is my Sookie, the lady you have been keeping safe. Sookie, this is Bubba." Eric held out his hand to Sookie, who stood up out of her chair, and then he kissed the back of her hand. Eric placed Sookie's hand in Bubba's outstretched one. Bubba clumsily mimicked Eric's action of kissing her hand and then smiled, a little embarrassed, winning her heart immediately.

"So happy to meet you Bubba!" she smiled sweetly at him, and he looked at Eric and nodded. Bubba now knew that Bill had lied to him, because Sookie smelled of Eric in every way. She was full of more than just his blood. He smiled bashfully back at Sookie.

"Did I hear tell you were gettin' pledged, Miss Sookie?" he wanted to know.

Sookie smiled and stepped back into Eric's embrace. "Yes, we are," she told him, kissing Eric on the cheek.

"It would be my honor to sing at your ceremony," Bubba told her shyly.

This surprised even Eric! Bubba did not like reminders of his former self and he rarely if ever performed for the Vampires or anybody else. Mostly he stayed with whomever he was working for at the time. He was handed around like Vampiredom's best kept secret. For obvious reasons he had to be kept out of the spotlight.

"We will be honored to accept," Eric said with a huge smile. What a coup it would be for Bubba to sing for his Sookie in front of the Authority! "Now, we have to be going. We have many things to do this night!"

"I was so pleased to meet you Bubba!" Sookie smiled, holding her hand out to Bubba one more time. At Eric's nod, Bubba kissed her hand again. He was smitten.

"Me too, Miss Sookie. Mr. Eric!" Bubba nodded respectfully at Eric as they turned to go.

Bill walked them to the door, ever the gracious host. "Eric, by the way, please make sure that you do." At Eric's inquiring look, he went on. "Punish her!" With that he leered at Sookie, causing Eric to move between them.

"The next time you look at or speak to her that way will be the day you meet your final death," Eric said quietly. "She deserves your respect, you jackass!" Then he clapped Bill on the back a little too hard, causing the younger Vampire to stumble a little. "We will wait for the Authority to contact us about the ceremony," He said loudly for the benefit of the others in the entryway. Then, taking Sookie in his arms, he swept her off her feet and carried her out the door. "You did well, Love," he whispered, proud of her.

"I loathe him!" Sookie seethed.

"Did you see the way he looked at you?" Eric asked, winking at her. They both broke out laughing at that, the sound carrying back to Bill who was still on the porch. He couldn't figure out what they would find funny.

As soon as they were off the "royal" property, Eric left the ground and flew them to the front door of the house, where he let them in and reactivated all of the doors. He set Sookie on her feet and stalked her into the living room, growling. "My king has ordered me to punish you," he said, his voice dripping with menace and sex, his eyes glowing. She backed away from him, not really trying to get away from him, and he reached out and ripped her T-shirt down the front. He HAD to see her in that half-bra that he had been thinking about nonstop. "Lover, you are in such trouble!" He dropped his fangs and licked them, still stalking her.

"I am?" She pretended not to have a clue. The flow of lust back and forth in the bond was almost palpable in the room. She batted her eyes at him. "Why, whatsoever are you going to do to me?" He reached out for her again and she jumped back, knowing that this time it wouldn't anger him.

Eric gave her his most predatory grin, knowing he was about to lose patience in their game of cat and mouse. He reached out and caught her around the waist, pulling her close and setting his mouth on those luscious nipples of hers. One hand was full of breast while the other was kneading her ass cheek, still clad in denim but not for long. "I am going to FUCK you so hard, that you won't be able to walk for a week!"

"Such language you use! Oh my stars!" She put a hand to her forehead to play "damsel in distress."

He tore his own shirt from his body and flung it across the room. "You like it when I use language! You want me to tell you I am going to FUCK you. Before I FUCK you, I am going to tie you down, and then maybe I'll FUCK that hot little mouth of yours too!"

"No, please kind sir, I will do anything!" She pretended to struggle against him.

"Oh, yes, you will do anything, and everything I want!" He threw her over his shoulder and headed upstairs to the bedroom, where he proceeded to make good on all of his threats.

Outside the house, unbeknownst to either of them, a lone figure perched in a tree just yards from the bedroom window. The king had followed behind them as they returned home and had heard the exchange in the front room. The shutters on the house may have been break-in proof, but they weren't sound-proof. At least not to one with Vampire hearing, anyway. He'd had to find out for sure whether or not Sookie had been forced in any way by Eric, and he had to know what kind of "punishment" Eric would inflict on Sookie. Listening to her laughter mixed with Eric's playful growls, not to mention the soft sighs and whispers that he could barely make out followed by screams of pleasure from both of them, he had his answer. Concentrating on the sounds of Sookie having an orgasm , screaming Eric's name louder than she had ever said his, he had pulled himself out of his pants and was so overcome by his own stroking that he fell out of the tree.

Inside the house, Eric and Sookie were laying quietly after Sookie's climax of just seconds before when Eric raised his head abruptly, pulling her close to his body. He had heard something outside.

"What?" Sookie began to say, and Eric shook his head, holding up one finger to his lips. Then he pointed to her head and made a gesture out and around. She understood it to mean that he wanted her to scan the area around the house again, so she closed her eyes and did so. She was easily able to sense one void outside the house, almost directly beneath the bedroom window, and nobody else anywhere until she began to sense guards at Bill's place. She easily recognized the void – Bill – and had to stifle her laughter. Eric looked at her quizzically and she pulled his head down to whisper ever-so-softly in his ear. He stared at her in disbelief and she nodded. Then they both grinned at each other. Eric began growling loudly at her, taking her nipple in his teeth which made her shriek with the pain-pleasure of it. He began thrusting deeply inside of her again and she caught on, moaning loudly and saying Eric's name over and over and trying not to laugh out loud. They enjoyed a playful and rather loud session of lovemaking, finding release together in just minutes. Sookie made sure that she said Eric's name more than she normally would; near the end saying "Eric, Eric, Eric," every time he thrust into her.

Eric interjected "mine!" and "you are mine!" into the conversation, finally demanding in the throes of passion just before they both climaxed, "Who do you belong to?"

"You, Eric, I am yours!" she screamed at him, which brought him to the euphoria he was seeking. Sookie screamed out his name again while he let loose the Viking war cry. As the aftershocks died down, they grinned at each other and Sookie closed her eyes to scan the surrounding area. All she sensed was the void that was Bill moving swiftly back toward his own property. Satisfied that they could no longer be heard, they both broke out into peals of laughter.

This, for Eric, was the perfect time to bring up what he planned to do with the rest of their night. "I can not believe that he came over here to listen! He has stooped to a new low!" Eric exclaimed.

Always kind-hearted, Sookie tried to defend Bill. "We don't know that's why he was over here," she said. Eric gave her a look that said 'Come on, really?' and she laughed. "OK, I guess I can't think of any other reason why he would have come over here. Are you behind on your taxes or something?" she teased Eric.

Eric decided to try to give Bill a little credit. A little. "He may have been concerned for your safety knowing that I am here with you. When I confronted him last night about having a spy on your property he thought I was forcing you to be with me."

"Well he'll just have to get over himself," Sookie exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "I hope we just demonstrated that I am with you because I want to be!" She flounced out of the bed and stretched her arms over her head, enjoying the way Eric's fangs came down as he watched. "C'mon, can we go take a shower now?" Eric smiled and got up, holding his hand out to her so they could enter the bathroom together.

After they had gotten cleaned up and dressed again, they found themselves downstairs with Eric sitting on the floor in front of Sookie, who was perched on the couch and again fussing with his hair. He had already become completely addicted to her touch and this little scene of domesticity felt completely natural. This time she was running her fingers through it over and over, removing the tangles and drying it gradually. Eric had noticed the boxes he had ordered sitting on the front porch when they had come home from Bill's place. "Sookie, there is something else that we need to discuss," he stated, taking the elastic band from where it was wrapped around her hand and tying back his own hair. He stood up.

Sookie knew that he wasn't making idle chit-chat. The bond told her that he had something very serious to talk to her about. She smiled up at him and waited expectantly.

"Sookie, what just happened with Bill strengthens my resolve even more in what I am about to say," he began. "I know how you love your home and your independence but I find myself having to insist that you come to live with me, at least for the time being."

She had known that eventually he would bring up something like this. "I can think about it Eric, but…"

"No buts," he interrupted her. "You do not understand what I am saying. Finding out that Russell Edgington is back on the loose and the actions of Bill Compton have convinced me that this is no time for negotiations. I have had boxes delivered here and they are waiting on the front porch. I will help you pack what you wish to have with you, and we will go to my home, tonight."

"Eric…" She saw the logic in Eric's plan and tried to form words to protest. She couldn't think of any. "Can't we stay here?"

He liked the fact that she used "we" in her sentence. At least she wasn't thinking of separating from him. "It is too dangerous here. We are miles from any of my people and vulnerable to attack. Everyone knows where you live, Sookie! Nobody knows where I live."

"Won't I be putting you in danger then?" she wanted to know.

"Somewhat, yes, but I accept that as part of my responsibility to keep you safe." He told her, pacing around the room. "I cannot abandon my business or my duties as Sheriff indefinitely," he continued. "

But there is no way that I will leave you here alone for any length of time!"

"But Bill is right across the property!" she told him.

He couldn't believe how naïve she was. He turned, knelt down in front of her, and took her by the shoulders. "Sookie, Bill is one of the reasons why you are not safe here! As king, he could order me away on some bogus assignment, forcing me to leave you here alone! Do you realize that he can come here in my absence? Because you no longer own the property you cannot rescind his invitation. You know this! He can remove you and lock you away, claiming that I am a threat to you. The authority would become involved, but who knows what he might do to you before I can get things straightened out and get you away from him? He is stalking you, Sookie!"

"He was just jealous, Eric!" she insisted. "He heard us! He knows now that I want to be with you! He won't…"

"Sookie, will you listen to yourself?" Eric bellowed. This startled her. Eric never raised his voice. "How can you continue to trust him? He hired someone to spy on you! But when there was an intruder on this property reported to him, he did not send anyone to investigate! He was over there having a party with a couple of women!" Eric pinched the bridge of his nose, imagining that even he might get a migraine from this conversation. He could not believe Sookie's inability to see Bill for what he truly was.

"How do you know that?" she demanded, focusing in on the women Eric mentioned and seeing red. Had Eric been involved with them?

"I told you, I was over there Sookie!" he yelled at her. "He tried to get me to stay there and party with him, to be unfaithful to you! How can you still harbor any trust whatsoever for him?"

Sookie was thunderstruck by this news. She didn't know what to react to first, the fact that Bill had tried to get Eric to stray from her, or that he hadn't investigated when he'd been told somebody was snooping around over here after he'd taken it upon himself to get Bubba to watch her place. She did know one thing. Eric was right. Bill couldn't be trusted. She stood up and began to pace next to where Eric was standing, his arms folded in a posture of stubborn insistence. "Why is it," she began in a tightly controlled voice, "that I always seem to put my trust in the wrong place?" She couldn't look at Eric just yet. "Time and time again, you've stood there telling me the truth, and you were the one I refused to listen to!" Eric didn't respond or change his expression. "And here I am about to do it again! I'm so sorry, Eric!" She walked to him, head down, tentatively putting her hands on his biceps as he stood there unyielding. "I feel you!" she told him. "You're not lying to me. It's you that I need to trust here because even my own judgment is wrong! I am finally seeing Bill for what he is! Will you forgive me, Eric? What do we have to do?"

Eric didn't really know what to do. He was, for once, at a loss. He was hurt. Once again Sookie had been about to defend Bill, take his side over Eric's. Even as she claimed to love and trust Eric she had tried to paint Bill's treachery in a different light, giving Bill the benefit of the doubt and leaving Eric in the cold. Now she said she was sorry. Was he ready to believe her? He closed his eyes, fighting the instinct to crush her to him, force her to his will. But, actually, if she told the truth, that wasn't necessary. She was here, with him, not with Bill. Maybe they both needed to calm down. Sookie was still touching him. He couldn't push her away, not after he had worked so hard to bring her to him. He reached out and drew her into his arms. "This is the kind of thing we have to fight, Sookie!" he said softly but passionately. "There is nobody I love, nobody I trust, more than you." He realized the truth of his words as he said them. At some point, even Pam had taken a back seat to Sookie.

She couldn't deny his love or his sincerity. The blood bond wouldn't let him lie. "Get the boxes, Eric. Even if I don't finish packing, we'll go tonight! Fuck Bill! You're right. I'm not safe from him and I'm not safe here. I don't want him to pull us apart!"

They embraced for a long moment and then Eric deactivated the security covering the front door. There were flat bundles of boxes, just as he had ordered. He stepped outside the door and bent down to pick up the first bundle.

That was when Sookie heard a tangle of thoughts, excitement. She was only able to make out a few words – 'There he is!' "No!" She exclaimed. She ran to the door just in time to see a head pop up over the bushes a few yards from the porch, and the person was holding a gun pointed at Eric! "Eric!" she screamed, throwing herself between the gunman and Eric just as the shot went off. She felt a blinding pain shoot through her shoulder. 'Not again!' she thought. She had just been shot a few weeks ago in the middle of the witch war.

Eric took only a split second to realize what was happening. His fangs came out and he snarled angrily, his first instinct to take off after the dead man who had dared threaten them. For that was what this man was. Dead. Just as soon as Eric could get his hands on him! But Sookie was lying on the ground, bleeding. He couldn't leave her. What if there were more? He heard scurrying in the underbrush; whoever it was, was running in the direction of the road. "Listen well, whoever you are!" Eric shouted loud enough for anyone across three counties to hear. "You have made the worst, and the last mistake of your miserable life! I will find you! You had better run but you cannot run fast enough to escape my wrath!" He heard a car speeding away in the distance. But his first priority was Sookie. He fell to his knees next to her. "Sookie? Sookie! Are you all right?"

"God Dammit!" she suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs. She was conscious, holding onto a bleeding wound just below her left shoulder. "Why can't they just leave us alone Eric?" She held out her good arm to him, crying.

He could see that she was not seriously injured and he tenderly picked her up, carried her inside, and set her on the couch. He ran back to the door and threw the rest of the boxes inside before reactivating the security door. He needed to get some things moving but first he had to see to her. "Let me look, Love!" he said softly. At her nod, he ripped the shoulder of the shirt that she was wearing, exposing a very messy wound. The bullet had gone clean through but the wound was full of… splinters?

"Eric, it was a wooden bullet!" she exclaimed, reaching over to pick off some of the splinters stuck to the outside of her arm. She was angry. "Those mother fuckers were after you, not me!" She used all of her strength to pull Eric close to her and he allowed it. He could feel how shaken she was.

"Sookie, I have to heal you!" he said forcefully. "The bleeding is not stopping! You are going into shock!" His face had gone pale, paler than normal. He could not let her continue to bleed. "Listen to me! Take my blood, now!" He bit into his wrist and first bathed both sides of her arm with the flowing blood. He knew it would hurt her, but he used his fingers to push his blood inside the wound to stop her bleeding. She screamed but gave him a grateful look. Before the gash on his wrist could heal, he forced it to her lips. She understood the urgency and drank. When the wound closed, he reopened it and gave her more. She had fed him well this night and the night before. He was able to heal her completely without feeling any weakness of his own.

"Get Bill on the phone, Eric!" she demanded. As he started to get up to move to his phone, she said "Wait!" in a softer voice. He knelt back down next to her and she began taking his shirt off of him. He helped her, and then she reached for his waistband.

"What are you doing, Sookie?" He was confused. Did she want sex, now?

"I have to see you Eric!" she said shakily. "I have to know you are in one piece! Please Eric!" She was getting frantic again.

He understood then, and stood up, shedding everything and turning around for her. She relaxed visibly. "I think you just wanted to see me naked!" he teased, winking at her. She gave a weak smile and held out her arms to him. He came to her and held her. She clung to him like a life preserver in the middle of the ocean. "Sookie," he said gently. "I have to make some calls. Get people moving on this."

"Can't you do that with me attached to you?" she asked, a little bit irritably, refusing to let go of him.

"My phone is over there," he told her, pointing. Then she held out her hand like she had done it a million times before, and the phone flew across the room to her!

They both froze.

"What just happened?" They said in unison. She looked at her hand like it was foreign to her.

"We must tell no one of this!" Eric said. "Do you think you can do it again?" He knew that if they could harness this new power of hers, it could be a great asset!

"I don't know!" She looked at one of the pictures on her mantelpiece, held out her hand to it, and it flew into her hand! "How am I doing this Eric?" She was a little bit afraid.

"I do not know!" Eric then thought of Godric. Godric would know, if he would appear to them again! He looked around the room, half expecting Godric to appear just because he had thought of him. Of course, he didn't. "I must call Pam before we involve Bill. I think you know who will be the more efficient source of assistance here," Eric said, and Sookie laughed at the small joke. Of course Pam and Eric's people would do a better job of tracking down whoever had just tried to kill Eric. Sookie just wanted to yell at Bill, which was why she'd demanded that Eric call him. Eric opened his phone and called Pam. They began speaking Swedish in one of those Vampire-fast conversations that Sookie wouldn't have been able to follow if they'd been speaking English.

Her first instinct was to cry, but she had already done that. She wouldn't be of any use to Eric if she turned into a basket case. But the thought that she had almost lost him – again – was too much for her to bear. If she had heard that Were's thoughts a split second later things might be very different now. She couldn't lose Eric! She had to stand next to him and fight! But they had some time before the troops descended. She would indulge her need for reassurance from him. She continued to cling to him, shaking, patting parts of his body over and over as if to make sure there weren't any gaping holes anywhere.

Eric was unfamiliar with this level of concern from anyone. He knew that Pam loved him, but in times when he had been injured, or nearly injured, Pam had remained cool and calm on the surface. Sookie was much different. She chose to wear her heart on her sleeve in this moment with Eric, and he was touched. This was the Sookie he'd wanted for himself so badly that he could taste it. She had thrown herself in front of a bullet for him! He would never have asked that of her.

"I guess we're even now?" she joked with him as he hung up the phone with Pam.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You took bullets for me in Dallas. I guess it was time I paid you back!" She laughed self-deprecatingly.

Suddenly he was angry. "You will not do that again! Do you hear me?" He shook her slightly. "You could have been killed!" The trauma was only just starting to affect him. How lucky he was that she had only been hit in her arm! He pulled her into his arms and held tightly. "I should punish you Sookie!" he stated, his voice full of emotion. "You disobeyed me. I told you never to put yourself in danger for me again!"

Sookie had never seen Eric in such a state. He was usually stoic, in control, very much in command of his emotions. This was a very different Eric, not much different from the cursed Eric who had been so open about his feelings. "I'm right here," she told him. "Punish me if you want. I'm not gonna just stand there and let some asshole murder you!"

He looked at her and his eyes were rimmed in blood. ".." he ordered her through bared teeth and fangs. She decided just not to answer. She licked the blood from his face and they held each other.

Just a few minutes later there was a knock at the door. Sookie used her telepathy to detect one void, who she recognized as Pam. Eric stood up and got dressed before letting her in. Pam took one look around the room and said "What the hell happened here?"

"Pam, you will stay here and pack up everything in this house. I do not want anyone else in here!"

"You brought me here to move Sookie's stuff?" Pam asked incredulously. "What about the fucker who tried to kill you?" She bared her fangs. "Sookie, you look well." She smiled at Sookie, grateful for what Sookie had done to save her Master.

"I will go out now and follow his trail. I want his scent in my memory!" Eric stood up and disappeared from the room without another word.

"I take it you two have made up?" Pam asked, raising her eyebrows in a perfect imitation of Eric.

Sookie blushed. "Pam, you know him better than anybody," she began, unsure how to phrase her question. "Is he.. OK?"

"I think he's better than OK now, Sookie," Pam said seriously. "He drove me nuts for weeks. You know he came here, almost every night! You wouldn't talk to him but he had to see you. I finally pushed his ass out the door. I told him, 'man up! Go get what you want!'"

"So this is all your fault!" Sookie joked, smiling fondly at Pam.

"I guess it is," Pam said slyly. "Now do me a favor. Don't fuck it up!" She came over and sat on the couch next to Sookie. "He's really putting himself out there for you Sookie. I've never seen him like this before. Don't you dare hurt him or you will have me to deal with!" She smiled, baring her fangs at Sookie. It was a threat, but a friendly one. Pam knew that Sookie would take care of Eric but she had to put her two cents in.

"I'll try!" Sookie said shyly, smiling back. Then she thought of something. "Pam, did Eric tell you that he and I…?"

"About the pledging?" Pam said brightly. "Yeah, he did. I'm happy for both of you!"

Sookie had to confess that she needed Pam's help. "I've never even been to one of these before!" she exclaimed. "I don't know what to wear, who to invite…? Will you help me?"

Planning a social event was one of Pam's favorite things to do. "You and Eric will need to match so we'll have to buy your outfits together," she mused staring off into space. "I wonder who will officiate, since we're without a Magister at the moment? Oh God, I hope it doesn't have to be Bill Compton!" Both she and Sookie made faces of disgust, and were laughing together when Eric came back in.

"I see my girls are getting along nicely!" he beamed at them. "Anything I should know?" He looked between the two, wondering how Pam had gotten Sookie to laugh.

"Planning your pledging!" Pam told him. "I have a lot of work to do. Do you know when it is yet?"

"No, Pam, not yet," Eric explained. "We have only just notified the.. ahem.. king." He rolled his eyes and everybody in the room was laughing, when the devil himself walked through the door. Eric had called him just before coming back in the house.

"You need to knock when entering my house!" Sookie yelled at him, starting to advance. Eric grabbed her arm and gently pulled her to his side. She kissed Eric's cheek and said "sorry I was rude, Eric."

Bill watched the scene with more disgust, still trying to think of a way to separate Sookie from Eric so that he could talk her out of this nonsense of marrying him. "What is this nonsense about Sookie being shot?" he demanded. "She looks perfectly fine to me!" He folded his arms and tried to assume a powerful posture in his expensive suit, but he looked foolish next to Eric, who simply wore track pants and a T-shirt. Two Weres had stationed themselves outside the door of the house. At least they seemed to respect someone else's home.

"I have healed Sookie's injury," Eric said. "She foolishly jumped in front of a bullet meant for me." He looked at Sookie with a mixture of pride and censure.

"She did what?" Bill strode over to where they were standing and finally saw Sookie's torn T-shirt and the blood everywhere. He reached out as if to inspect the area and Eric bared his fangs. Bill held his hands up in a gesture of surrender while Sookie huddled closer to Eric. "How do you know the bullet was meant for you?" He addressed the question to Eric.

"The bullet was made of wood," Eric stated. The room was suddenly silent. Even Bill Compton had to take note if there was a group running around Bon Temps trying to kill prominent Vampires with wooden bullets. "Sookie heard what he was thinking just as he popped his head out to shoot."

Everyone turned to look at Sookie. "I can't always read Weres. Their thoughts are kind of scratchy, kind of like a TV where you're trying to adjust the antenna. You get a few words but mostly it's just interference. Then I heard 'There he is!' and I jumped out. All I wanted to do was push Eric out of the way but I ended up getting shot. Again." She sighted and pouted as she leaned on Eric for support.

"It would seem, then, that Eric was the target," Bill stated emphatically. Then his eyes lit up. "Sookie, I will have to remove you from his custody until the culprit is found." He started to come forward again.

This time not only did Eric growl and bare his fangs, but Pam stood shoulder to shoulder with him while Sookie backed up behind him and yelled "Like Hell Bill!"

Bill gave a malevolent smile and gestured for his two guards to come into the room. They did, pointing their guns at Eric and Pam. "Now, you will come with me Sookie!" He pushed Eric out of the way and grabbed her arm.

"NO!" she screamed, trying desperately to wrench her arm from his grasp, but Bill was stronger. He managed to drag her halfway across the room before white light shot out of both of her hands, momentarily blinding everyone in the room. When the light went out, Bill was on the floor and Sookie held both guns that had formerly been in the hands of the security guards. Everyone was staring at her, dumbfounded. "Eric!" she screamed and started to shake, and he was there instantly, his arms around her, soothing her.

"Shhh, Sookie, I am here Love. I am here." He glared menacingly at Bill while he rubbed her back and she sobbed into his chest. He took both guns and smoothly handed them to Pam, who removed the clips and tossed them back to the security guards. "What is wrong with you Bill? Has she not gone through enough in one night? She was shot less than an hour ago, and all you can think about is getting your slimy hands on her because of your jealousy!"

"She will be safer with me!" Bill insisted, finally getting up off the ground and dusting himself off. "You know, I can still take her. I can have her arrested for assault!"

"Give it a rest Bill!" Pam piped up in the back. "You were the one doing the assaulting!"

Once again Eric had to take control. "You will do nothing of the sort!" he stated in his cool, calm voice. "Now, you and I will take your guards and walk out to where the shooter was. We will become familiar with the scent and do some investigating." Eric had already investigated thoroughly, and he had found another one of those swastika buttons. He just wanted to get Bill out of the same room as Sookie. Still addressing Bill, he continued. "You will bring in an investigator to find out who did this. I will be pressing charges!" Then he addressed Sookie. "Love, I am going to take Bill out to investigate what happened. You are safe here with Pam. Pam?" He motioned for her to hold on to Sookie, who was still visibly upset.

"Bill, you get out of my house!" she cried, turning to face him. "What was that word Alcide said he used with Debbie? I abhor.. no, I abjure you, Bill Compton! Does that work with Vampires?" She stood there between Eric and Pam while Bill narrowed his eyes at her and his fangs came out. "I don't know why you keep trying to get me away from Eric but it won't work! I am with Eric! Get it through your thick head! I am Eric's! I belong one hundred percent to Eric. I gave him everything, Bill!" She turned again to cling to Eric's side, and he held her close.

"Why would you do that Sookie?" Bill shouted. "You do not know what Eric is. What he will do. What he… what he does with women! Do you remember Yvetta?" Bill was horrified that Sookie would end up chained in the basement of Fangtasia for Eric's entertainment.

Sookie knew exactly what Bill was talking about, and in the midst of this horrible argument, despite the fact that she had been shot and then traumatized by Bill, she stuck her hand down the back of Eric's pants and pinched him lightly, making him jump. She stared up at him with lustful eyes full of promise. Eric let himself grow hard for all the world to see as he stared back at her with the same expression. Then Sookie turned back to Bill. "Eric can do whatever he wants to me! I enjoy everything Eric does to me Bill! And it's none of your goddamned business! I will never leave Eric! If you somehow manage to take me from Eric, I will make your life so miserable that you will want to vacation in hell! Do I make myself clear, Bill?"

Eric was proud of Sookie for finally standing up to Bill. The two security guards, standing behind him, were nodding their approval of her tirade. They had seen Bill repeatedly tell Sookie how much he loved her and then as soon as she would leave, Bill would bring in woman after woman. They were loyal to their king but they knew what a letch he was.

Bill seemed to recover his composure, and he stood to his full height. "Fine but…" He sputtered a bit. "This isn't over, Sookie!"

"Oh, I think it is very much over, Bill!" Eric interjected smoothly. "She is my Bonded. She will be pledged to me. She has told you over and over that this is of her own free will. By law I can forbid you from even speaking to her, because she is mine. Even if you are king. You know this to be true. And I do that now. From this day, you will not speak to her. And Sookie," he turned to her, "You will not speak to him either." Am I clear?

"Yes, Eric!" Sookie's voice was clear and calm. Eric took her hand, feeling the emotional turmoil inside of her through the bond and hoping to reassure her. Pam took her other hand and wrapped an arm around Sookie.

"You boys go on out and check out that trail," Pam drawled, giving her most charming smile to the security guards. "Sookie and I will be fine here!"

Eric went to Sookie and hugged her close, and they whispered to each other for a moment. She nodded up at him and kissed him sweetly. Bill seethed as he watched this exchange. He could see her trust and love for Eric and wondered how it had come about. He had tried his best to paint a picture of Eric as an evil womanizer in front of Sookie. How had that been turned around on himself?

As soon as the men left, Pam turned to Sookie. "Where do you want to start?" Sookie looked at her, confused. "Packing!" Pam exclaimed. "Eric wants you out of here tonight and I am sure there are things you will need to take with you! I will tell you that he has had a truckload of groceries delivered to Fangtasia, and I have had them transported to his home tonight. You will have plenty to eat."

"When did he start planning this?" Sookie exclaimed.

Pam could see that Sookie's hackles were being raised, so she decided to sit her down for a girl-to-girl talk. "Sookie, do you see what you're doing?" She said firmly.

"No, what am I doing?" Sookie asked, confused.

"The same thing you always do! You're being an idiot, again!" Pam wasn't going to mince words here. "Every time Eric tries to do something for you, it makes you angry. You've got to stop that! You're his now! Completely his! Can't you just trust him? Let him take care of you? Why does this piss you off?"

Sookie thought about it. "Well, I don't like him just making decisions for me like that!"

"Newsflash, Madonna!" Pam said, exasperated. "He is making all your decisions now! You gave him that right! Do you want to be fighting with him over stupid shit like this for the rest of your life? Get over it!" Pam rolled her eyes. "I'll be up in the bedroom packing all of your clothes. Come join me when you grow a brain." She stood and took the steps to the bedroom at Vamp speed.

Sookie sat there for a few minutes in a huff. Who the hell was Pam to tell her off like that? Eric needed to tell her about things like this before he just did them! Didn't he? It was so hard for Sookie to acclimate herself to what she had done. She had given in to Eric, and she had given in so completely and irrevocably that there was nothing left to do but learn how to accept her new way of life. The first time she had heard Eric's voice it had drawn her from across the room at Fangtasia. Bill had told her Eric was the oldest thing in there. Eric had spoken to someone and it had carried to her. His voice was so quiet but commanding. It had made her wet, and maybe that was what had caused him to suddenly look up and notice her. Her insides clenched at the memory and she felt herself moistening for him even now. When she had been hurt by the maenad, it was Eric's voice that she had held on to, not Bill's, as she was cleaned up and healed. When he'd implored her to trust him at the Fellowship of the Sun… well, she'd already confessed that one to him. It felt natural to let him command her in bed, as he had done when he was cursed. Now she'd given him the right to command everything. Every time he spoke it was like a piece of fishing line was tied around her clitoris, and it would tug, making her throb for him. She wanted to give over to him. She'd wanted to give over to him so badly that it scared her, and that was why she'd fought it for so long. So now he had gone ahead and made arrangements to have food for her delivered to where they would be living. Was that really an offensive act? Maybe he was just trying to take care of her and see to her comfort without her having to worry about it. He was like that. Always thoughtful. She sighed. Pam was right. This was ridiculous. It was such a stupid thing to fight about. She got up, intending to join Pam, but began to worry about Eric. He had been gone with Bill and the security guards for quite some time now. She carefully scanned out on the property to see if she could tell where they were. They were out near the road, probably where a car had taken off. Two voids, two Weres. Now what were the Weres thinking?

'Shouldn't be doing this,' one came through.

'Won't help him kill Northman. I wonder if Northman will hire me…' came another one.

Cold fear crept up her spine. Eric was in danger. What was Bill out there planning? Nothing seemed to be happening at the moment because the thoughts of the two Weres were calm.

'Find out where that food truck is going…' came a thought from one of the Weres.

Food truck? Hadn't Pam mentioned a truck full of food? They were somehow tracking the food truck so they would know where Eric lived!"

'Edgington…' Oh shit! One of them was thinking about Russell! She ran up the stairs as fast as she could.

Pam had already packed the entire contents of her closet, stripped the bed, taken down all the pictures and packed everything neatly in boxes. She sat as though she had been waiting for Sookie to join her. "Well? Did you think about what I said?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Pam! There's no time for that! We have to do something!" Sookie cried frantically. "Eric's in danger! I think Bill is going to try to kill him, or somebody is! I heard one of the Weres think Russell's name!"

Pam stood up. "Are you sure, Sookie?"

Sookie was jumping up and down and shaking her hands. "Yes, Goddammit Pam! We have to go get Eric! NOW! And you have to stop that truck from delivering the food to his house!

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Is someone trying to kill Eric, yet again? Who is behind it all? Is it Bill? Russell? Someone else?

I hope you've enjoyed the chapter and will send me your reviews! Thank you for reading!