Chapter 5
Eric left me a couple hours before dawn to take care of some vampire business, and I slept soundly past one o'clock. When I woke, I saw a row of department store shopping bags lined up near the door, and guessed that Pam must have brought them over at some point during the night. I stretched in the big bed and sensed the soreness between my legs. I drifted off for a few minutes, remembering the feel of him, the pleasure of it all.
Finally I looked through the bags, and found jeans, fuzzy sweaters, a tube top, t-shirts, a couple of blouses, a short terrycloth robe, and a soft velour track suit. One bag held an assortment of shoes, all my size. And two bags full of assorted outrageous lingerie. Bless Pam's heart, she just couldn't help it.
I took a quick shower and put on some jeans and a t-shirt, and went downstairs.
Eric had made me promise not the leave the house, and I soon discovered that Bobby had been assigned to shadow me constantly. My requests to call Jason or Sam or Tara fell on Bobby's deaf ears. Only the phone in Eric's office had an outside line; the rest were just house phones. Bobby did make me a nice lunch – a big salad with shrimp – but I chafed at his hovering. He didn't seem real thrilled about it either.
Seeking privacy, I retreated back to the big master bathroom upstairs, and this time I lounged in the shower, scrubbing myself and experimenting with the fancy jets in the walls. I took my time doing my hair (I'd found a hair dryer), and painted my toe nails. I tried not to think about Russell and his brutal thugs, and Bill's mysterious fate. There wasn't anything I could do about any of that, right now.
In Eric's bedroom, I discovered a big flat TV in the wall, hidden behind a painting. I opened the drawers of the console cabinet below it (okay, I snooped), and found piles of DVD's. They were mostly porn, both human and vampire varieties. Not that I'm any expert. I closed the drawers quietly.
A knock at the bedroom door made me jump, but of course it was just Bobby. He wanted to clean the room (and reassure himself that I hadn't climbed out a window, I heard in his head). He pointed me to a loveseat by the fireplace, and I sat. He wouldn't let me help, and he had more opinions about how to meticulously fold things than Gran ever did. He didn't want much conversation. From his thoughts, I knew that he was troubled by my presence in the house. I didn't seem like a fangbanger to Bobby, and he wasn't quite able to define the connection between me and Eric. His orders were crystal clear, though: keep Sookie safe, and make her comfortable.
I felt a little cooped up already. Eric's house was a real nice cage, but I'm not used to sitting around getting waited on. I couldn't take it out on Bobby, though; he was just doing his job. When he was done in the bedroom, Bobby escorted me down to the library, where he cleaned and re-stocked the fireplace. I thumbed through a stack of oversized coffee table books: Golf Courses of the World, Gothic Architecture, Classic Cars of Italy. I had no idea if Eric loved these books, or had never opened them.
With a sigh, Bobby settled into a chair nearby and began to study a thick Neiman Marcus catalog like he was going to get quizzed on it later. He caught my expression and shrugged defensively.
"Gonna be winter soon… Eric wants some new clothes. Coats, and stuff."
"Let me see," I said, holding out my hand for the catalog. Bobby handed it over with some relief, and that's how we spent the rest of the afternoon.
Bobby and I had a simple supper in the kitchen, and the sun set as we ate. He cleaned up afterwards, while I fidgeted in my chair. I felt a happy anticipation about seeing Eric, and impatience that he hadn't yet appeared. Pam was the first vampire to arrive tonight.
She was carrying a garment bag from some boutique, which she tossed to Bobby without a glance at him. He caught it – barely – and stomped out.
"Good evening, Sookie," she drawled, with a happy purr in her voice.
"Hi, Pam." I hadn't seen her since the eventful night at Fantasia. Pam looked much more relaxed now. She wore a snug wrap dress, and delicate heels covered in rhinestones. Her dangling earrings matched the shoes. Her big purse probably cost more than I made in a month, or two.
"Back among the living, I see," she smiled.
"Pam, thank you for donating blood for me," I said, and I meant it sincerely. I hadn't forgotten that she'd been quite willing to hand me over to Russell, and Eric had probably ordered her to donate blood, but I still wanted to thank her. "And the clothes, too," I added. "I really appreciate it."
"Speaking of clothes," she answered, "You need to go change. I brought you the perfect thing."
"Why?" The jeans and t-shirt I was wearing seemed fine to me.
"The clothes I brought you before were day clothes," she said, as if I was an idiot. "And now, it's nighttime."
"Are we going somewhere?" I asked.
"Well, you never know," she shrugged. "Scoot on upstairs and try it on. Eric will love it."
I got an ominous feeling at that last remark, but I was feeling indebted to her. Upstairs we went, and the bag she'd brought over was lying on the freshly-made bed in Eric's room. She handed it to me.
She eyed the bed. "He certainly got right down to business with you," she chuckled, and I blushed a little and fumbled with the bag's zipper.
"Where's Eric?" I asked.
"Paperwork," she said, sounding bored.
Pam had brought me a blouse and a skirt, and I breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't some itty-bitty latex thing like the Fangtasia staff favored. The skirt was a soft black wool, very slim and maybe knee length. The blouse was silk, light as a feather, and seemed to be missing its back. The fabric's pattern of tiny gold dots against steel grey was tasteful, even pretty.
She made an impatient gesture with her hand, and I handed the outfit back to her and unbuttoned my jeans. I gave her a glance, and she rolled her eyes to the ceiling. That was as much privacy as I was going to get.
I had my jeans and t-shirt off and was reaching for the skirt when she suddenly exclaimed, "Not that underwear," and began digging through the bags she'd brought earlier. "Here," she said, and handed me a little lacy thong.
A few minutes later, I was dressed. The skirt fit me like a tight glove to just below my knees, and only the slit in the back allowed me to walk. The blouse was more like a loose halter, cut very low in front, with a soft bow behind my neck and another at the back of my waist. Pam had had to tie those, and seemed to relish the task too much. My back was bare, and my breasts swayed a little under the draped silk in front. Pam insisted that no bra on earth would work with this top.
With a flourish, she produced a pair of heels from her purse, and I sat on the bed to put them on. They were black patent, very high, with a flouncy ribbon bow on a wide satin cuff around each ankle. I stood in them, feeling tall and shaky, and Pam looked delighted.
"And now you can go see him," she said happily.
I teetered downstairs with Pam trailing behind me. She pointed me to Eric's office, and she strolled off towards the library.
Eric was indeed in his office. It was just as cluttered as his office at Fangtasia. He sat behind a big carved desk which was mostly covered in haphazard piles of papers. He was wearing a charcoal grey suit and a black dress shirt without a tie, very unlike his usual casual look. Pen in hand, he studied me as I approached, still wobbling in my too-high heels.
"What has Pam dressed you in?" he asked, shaking his head slightly and smiling a little. I had the distinct feeling that Pam had gift-wrapped me… a little present for her master.
"She didn't give me any choice, Eric."
His hand on my hip gently turned me so he could evaluate the rear view. "You look delicious," he said thoughtfully, "and I think… it is very Pam. Don't let her get too bossy."
I rolled my eyes. "Wish me luck with that," I murmured, and Eric smiled. I shifted a couple of folders from one pile to another and perched myself up on the corner of his desk, my legs crossed. His eyes wandered over me.
"I'll look forward to undressing you later," he said, and glanced at my feet. "We'll leave those shoes on, though."
He turned back to his papers, which he started stuffing into a folder.
"You're all dressed up, too," I said. "What's the occasion?"
"Sookie, I must leave you tonight, briefly. I have a meeting downtown soon." I felt a ping of disappointment, and realized that I'd been hoping for some sort of date with him. But then I couldn't really picture Eric on a date… it seemed almost absurd.
"What kind of meeting?"
"Lawyers," he replied, sounding annoyed. "We can discuss it later. Pam will stay with you."
A question had been nagging me all day. "Eric, can you explain something?" I asked, and he looked up from his folder. "When you took my blood, a lot of it… at the bar, and then I got blood from Pam and Chow… why didn't I turn into a vampire?"
Eric's face remained perfectly neutral, and his eyes still met mine, but his body went very still. I was beginning to be able to read him better, his subtleties, though I felt nothing through our bond at this moment. Like he was blocking me out. I had a sinking feeling.
"Sookie, it's not an exact process," he said coolly, after a moment.
"Did you try to turn me?" My voice came out as a whisper.
"I would not have you die," Eric answered in a low tone. I heard the non-answer in his answer. Then he tossed the folder to the desk, and leaned back in his chair, which at least gave the affectation of relaxing. "And that's the past, Sookie," he continued, "and here you are, healthy and beautiful... and human. There's no need to worry about turning vampire." He patted my knee. Discussion finished.
My temper rose. "Let's get this straight," I said, trying to stay calm, "I don't want to be a vampire… ever. I don't want to die any time soon, but if that's about to happen, you'll have to accept it. Don't turn me, Eric. No matter what."
His mouth set into a hard line, and he was silent for too long. I felt a little chill.
"You should not decide this now, Sookie. You may come to change your mind. Human life is very… unpredictable."
I hopped off of the desk and curled onto Eric's lap. He seemed almost startled.
"And vampire life isn't unpredictable?" I asked.
"It's predictably unpredictable," he sighed, and his lips quirked into a hint of a smile. "Usually."
"I don't want to be a vampire," I said softly, but determined.
Eric ran his fingers over my neck, casually. It was a gentle gesture but I felt the tiny hint of a threat too.
"You would be mine forever," he answered me, just as softly. "I would be an excellent master for you, Sookie. The things I could teach you... You would become a great vampire, a very powerful one. Give it more thought."
His hand moved to the back of my neck and pulled me forward for a long kiss. He's trying to distract me, I thought. The kiss seemed a proxy for our argument, fighting each other but locked together. I suddenly sensed his mood: a surge of dark arousal. Eric shoved some papers aside on his desk and lifted me without effort onto it, then pushed my shoulder back until I was draped across the desk.
Eric quickly tugged my skirt up, and removed the little scrap of my underwear. His mouth landed between my legs, opening me, and the sensation was both delicate and demanding. I gasped as his tongue set a rhythm on the bundle of nerves at my core. God, he was good at this. Soon I couldn't focus on anything except wanting. My hips bucked, my heels scraped across the desk, and I craved him inside me.
I breathed his name. "Eric, please… please…"
He didn't answer. His mouth was unrelenting, dragging me closer and closer to release. His hand pushed one of my legs even further back, and suddenly he bit me high on my inner thigh. The pain and then the first luscious pull of blood sent me hurtling right over the edge, shaking and gasping. Smaller spasms of pleasure rolled through me as he drank briefly, and then gently licked the marks.
Eric stood, and put his hands on his desk near my head, so he loomed over me. I looked up at him, and felt dazed as I tried to catch my breath. He licked his bloody lips.
"Mine forever, Sookie," he said. He leaned down to kiss my mouth softly, and then picked up a couple folders and his cell phone.
"Think about it," he called back to me as he left.