Chapter 4

It was weird how they had to go about this. This love test, it seemed to Sookie. And though it was certainly odd circumstances that she was in, strange had become the new normal for her, especially as of recent days and weeks. But as she snuggled into bed, her pink negligee and matching silk shorts cool against her body, she could only wait with baited breath, worrying about their fate.

And then here he came, dressed only in tracksuit bottoms, plundered from his closet down in the cubby in which they had a steamy history. Though radiating confidence, almost to the point of arrogance, he looked troubled, knowing that should she remain with him even if they were not soul mates, she would suffer a drawn out demise. And so she shifted over in her new four poster bed she had recently gotten, a old fashioned style complete with a opaque lavender curtain that could wrap around the whole of the bed. The bottle she had been given fit snugly in her hands and so she clenched onto it tightly as if afraid to let it go, that it would literally be a chance that would slip from her fingers, smashing to bits on the ground,

Scooting up next to her in the lush bed that he had yet to visit, Eric saw the wheels turning in her head and frowned, his gaze on the bottle in her hand. "This isn't going to be the end, I refuse to accept defeat, no matter what happens."

"You know perfectly well what will happen if I stay with you should things not work out in our favor. I don't want to die, but let's face it, Niall wouldn't let me risk myself and not warn me of….." she couldn't get her thoughts into words, she started choking up again, leaving him to stroke her long hair, a soothing, gentle gesture she knew only he could do as he did. And it seemed to help, she leaned her head into his chest.

"We could maybe not do this at all, I mean, me not taking the potion. Then there's no worry about me winding up fairy dust." she said, closing her eyes, allowing her cheeks to be dampened with her tears. "I can't put you thought losing me….again….I promised that I wasn't going to cause you or anyone else pain again and I wm not going to go back on that promise. I wont. I can't."

Looking at her with narrowed eyes, he stopped stroking her hair and lifted her face to look into his own. "So you would stay with me and let me watch you suffer and then die as a result of you going against what would need to be done to save you…..do you know how that would be to me? Seeing you doe and not being able to do anything for you, save for leaving you and I can't do that to you either. There's only one way forward and as much as I hate the repercussions should things go…well….I would hate to think that this could work and you didn't take the chance." he took the bottle out of her hand and waggled it before her. "I would never hate you for having to leave me should this not work. Whatever is meant to be is meant to be and I believe you and I are meant to be. What do you think, Sookie?"

"I….haven't felt this way about anyone else in my life before…so yes, I think we are meant for each other too…..I just….I can't not be worried about what could or couldn't happen." and with that, she kissed him on she lips and there they spent a good several minutes together, fire and passion clearly between them. And then, she took the bottle and gulped it down in a less than dainty gulp, unleashing a very unlady like burp, to which her companion found rather amusing. And as she slapped him playfully the levity was quickly drowned by a strange sensation that overtook her and, she saw, by the way he was looking at her-more like a meal than a person-that things were quickly escalating. For better or worse, it had started.

She felt a surge of energy bubbling within her and it was scary and invigorating sensation, one she hadn't felt before. She could tell that he was having trouble restraining himself from getting too rough and though she knew her body could take far more than it ever could before, she still felt the need to push his head off her neck when he started biting a little too hard. "Hey…I am not a steak….don't make me go get one….and not the meat kind, the other kind." she surprised herself by the empty threat as she let him do what he would, finding herself in more pleasure than she had ever felt before. Even back in the time they had been together when he had been amnesia stricken, nothing could have prepared her for the fairy magic assisted lovemaking. And though he had never been a weakling in bed-she knew very well of his stamina-she was taken aback when finally, they stopped a hour later, the magic effects wearing off and as she saw scratches healing on his torso and back, he too gaped at the bruises and the like he had left upon her. To which he apologized.

"I….did not intend to leave you marked up…" he said almost ashamedly. "I really did try to stay controlled, but that was….that was truly the best hour of my life and certainly I have had plenty of hours to look back on, Sookie." he rolled onto his back and turned his head to look at her, her blonde hair bedraggled and damp.

"No apologies needed." she replied dreamily, "I should apologize for what I did to you….I mean I see you're healing up already but…..I never felt like….such an animal. That is some powerful magic." she said as she glanced at the empty bottle still tangled in the comforter atop them. Feigning a insulted expression, the Viking smirked. "You think I need anything to enhance….anything?"

She burst out laughing until she realized just what they had done. What she had done. How would she come to know if what they had attempted had worked? She was about to pose the million dollar question when she felt a aching pain in her head, a tightness in her chest and a awful pain in her midsection. Was this the answer? Was she to get away form him now before it was too late? Doubling over in pain, she felt his arms grab onto her and screaming out for Niall, the equally fearful Eric raced out of the house, screaming to the heavens as he felt her tremble in his arms, unsure of what to do, if there was anything that could be done, save for the one thing he dreaded would need to occur for her to live.

To Be Continued