Disclaimer: The characters found herein are the property of Charlaine Harris, and I make no claim toward them.

A/N: It seems that many of us share the same view of Eric, and I'd like to thank you all for your comments, PM's and reviews. You made me laugh, and I hope that I entertained you as well. As always, please enjoy…

This chapter is rated M.

Chapter 7

He wanted an answer. Now.

My mind raced.

I thought about keeping mum, and being stubborn and safe. I had too much to risk; too much to lose again. Despite what Eric said, my thoughts went to Bill and how he'd played me, when I was with him. First it had been the Queen's mission and then Lorena and the pension. I had been stupid and naïve and so entranced with the quiet and tranquility that accompanied the Vampire mind, that I forgot that his was still a male's mind, whether I could hear it or not. I had been starved for acceptance and affection and he'd lead me along a trail of breadcrumbs to his bed. Bill had taken so much from me; he'd taken all the love I gave and then he'd taken my pride with his lies. In the trunk of that car in Jackson, he'd taken by force everything that I had willingly given once upon a time; that was a deep, private hurt that made me unwilling to move forward, trust fully. Even though I had made excuses for him, tucked it away, and never spoke of it, it had left its mark. The fairytale wasn't supposed to end that way…I had to let that go, if there was any hope for me, any hope for something real.

Was that something real this thousand year old, golden Viking vampire, beautiful and naked in my bed, and holding onto me right now? Reality has always been different for me, I guess. Real or not, Eric was here and needed me to make a choice; he demanded that I make a choice, and he would not accept prevarication, or delay. If his steely glare, or the tight set of his mouth, that brooked no argument, was anything to go by, time was short. Even the bond between us that a minute ago had been pulsing with lust, was now cool, still; the ever-present lust muted.

I clenched and unclenched my hands imprisoned in his larger ones, nervously biting my bottom lip. His eyes narrowed slightly.

He wanted me. Again.

I wanted him, too. I wanted him more than anything, or anyone else, I realized. Moreover, I didn't want to lose him, again. He'd been my Eric when he'd lived with me, and then he'd walked out the door after the Witch war without knowledge of our most intimate moments, our mutual revelations. Secretly, I had hoped that the intense feelings that we had shared would have survived the return of his memory, and I was a little miffed when he had looked at me without its familiarity. I should have been strong enough to tell him, then, that our relationship had changed, that I felt something special for him, and wanted to explore those feelings. However, fear of him having the upper hand had kept me silent, and I had waited and the memory of us had come to him months later, but did it still have the same significance that had had us once toying with the word love?

I wanted to believe so.

I had used the bond, without really knowing how, and I had brought us together, tonight, through my longing and need of him. He could have fought it, but he'd thrown caution to the winds, and come to me. I had said I wanted to be first, and he'd put me above everything, everyone, even himself. Wasn't that what I'd demanded of the others only to have them fall short of my expectations…yet, I'd never asked it of Eric and he'd offered it willingly. Crazy Sookie-what took you so long!

"Baby, let go," I whispered, and his hands fell away from mine and I reached for and framed his way-too-handsome-face in my hands, loving the rugged feel of him as always, my legs sliding down so that I could draw him even closer. I looked into his eyes, and I tried to get a handle on the fear. Again, I felt the sensation of calm reaching out to me, and taking a deep breath, I told him what he wanted to hear.

"Eric, I love you, but-" He didn't wait for the rest. I registered a glint of triumph in his eyes before his mouth came down hard on mine, taking my open lips as his tacit invitation. He stole my breath with his zeal before he gentled and the tenor of the kiss changed. With careful deliberation, he sucked my tongue into his mouth, slowly, degree by agonizing degree, deliciously stroking it, as he maneuvered himself onto the bed, pulling me down and away from the headboard, and nestling his huge body between my thighs. I closed my eyes enjoying the erotic sensation of his talented tongue as it played with mine, the salacious swirling, the titillating tugging which I felt much, much lower. Yes, yes, yes.

When he lifted his mouth from mine, I couldn't stop myself from uttering the words again into the space that separated us. It was as if once they had been spoken, they felt the need to fly about with reckless abandon. "I love you. I love you. I love you," I intoned and felt a singular altering of something in our bond. It was both strange and beautiful, and totally foreign to anything I'd felt in it before now. Yet, I could not reason this out, as Eric sought with lips, tongue, teeth and hands to make every cell in my body aware of him and his rightful possession of me. His heated rightful possession that is, as his body seemed to warm mid-kiss. Then all attempt at thought slid away, as he hauled me down into another kiss, that chased my words of love, as though he would take hold of them, and bind them to him forever.

I wrapped my arms about him, seeking to do some binding of my own while his hands roamed my skin finding erogenous zones known only to him. I ran my nails along his broad back, scoring a path to his buttocks, which I kneaded in pure hedonistic delight. I sank my nails into the bottom of each cheek, and raked them back over their hard muscular fullness. With a contented sigh, I rotated my hips into him, feeling his gracious plenty hard and heavy against my belly, and thigh. He groaned against my lips in response, and pleasure rolled into me, through the bond, dampening my skin and heightening my arousal, further drenching my core. I squeezed those glorious glutes and felt them quiver, bunching and releasing sharply, beneath my hands. I absolutely loved his ass. And Eric appeared to love me loving his ass, because as I squeezed a cherished cheek, his fair head fell back, his fangs ran down and a dangerous, guttural sound escaped his parted lips. He was beautiful, golden and dark, and he drove me near out of mind with lust for him. I leaned up and raked my teeth down his chin to his throat sucking at the muscular cords that stood out in relief, feeling them vibrate beneath my swollen lips as he made an incoherent noise, and rocked his hips hard into me. Oh, oh, oh.

Gathering my strength, I rolled us, so that he lay on his back and I straddled him. The power was almost dizzying in that moment. The eyes that captured mine reflected a sensuous surprise, while he cottoned to his new position, easing me upward with his hands so that my breasts jiggled, just above his grinning lips. I had a second before he leaned forward and tipped the scales and touched his tongue to the tip of a breast, greedily sucking it into his mouth, with rough, deep, draws, that he tempered with soothing strokes of his tongue. The noise I made was strangled, and totally unladylike, as my head fell weakly forward and my hair curtained his head, my fingers gripping the sheets near his shoulders. His large hands swept upwards, cupping, and massaging my breasts as his mouth leapt from one swollen peak to the other, intent on destroying any sense of equilibrium or power I'd imagined, and drawing me closer to the edge. I, literally, leaned back, but he came with me on the bed, sitting up, and continuing his oral campaign on my breasts, and turning me into a quaking mass of sensations. In moments I began to feel that dulcet give in my loins, the tiny ripples starting in my core and fanning outward after every concentrated tug. I closed my eyes…

"Look at me," he whispered. Commanded.

My eyes found his glowing ones and clung, haplessly, while my breath stuttered about in my lungs. He gave me a sudden wink, and caught a nipple up rolling it slowly against his bottom lip. One hand glided between us, and his thumb stroked my nub in an inhumanly quick side to side motion just as his teeth clamped down on my breast. Pain and bliss merged in that moment and rippled through me with a blinding sweetness, which shook me, and him.

Did I scream? I don't know; I couldn't hear a thing. I could just feel…

When the ability to hear again came rushing back at me as if through a tunnel, I opened my eyes to my smiling Viking, who was gently smoothing his hands along my spine, his chest rumbling against my breasts. He leant forward and licked my swollen lips-he was hungry, and I could taste it.

I shoved him backwards against the pillow, and his eyes danced. He chuckled as he waggled his eyebrows at me.

"My lover--" He began, and I bit down, not so gently, on his sensitive male nipple, and smiled as whatever he was going to say ended up in a hiss, that rushed harshly from his still chest. Now that I had his attention, I eased back, sucking the hard nub into my mouth with a strong tug, and circling it with my tongue. He moaned and one big hand slipped to the back of my head and held me in place. I shivered as I got that exhilarating sensation that pulsed from the bond when it began to amp up and reverberate with our feelings of lust, pleasure.

I moved swiftly to the other nipple and without preamble, I bit down, harder, not enough to draw blood, but hard enough to bring that thought, to the fore of his mind. It had the desired result.

"Sookie, Sookie," he moaned, his voice thickening, a tremor shooting through him into me. I knew it was sweet torture for him, and I bit again, pulling his nipple upward, working it with my tongue and teeth, as his hips surged forward, and he groaned. I reached down, and let my hand close on his gracious plenty, which rubbed incessantly against my thigh and hip. I stroked him once, and watched him as his eyes closed, and he bit down on his lower lip drawing blood. I ceased my mouth's punishment, but let my hand have free rein as I lowered my mouth to his, my tongue darting out to trace his extended fangs. His eyes flicked open, as I lapped at the droplets on his lips. His blood was sweet, and when he was excited like this, it was better than chocolate, and a natural aphrodisiac. Everything in me quickened, and my senses sharpened.

He smiled at me as only Eric can, and I felt a crazy grin form on my face. A wicked gleam lit his eyes, as his hands settled about my waist, and he pushed suggestively against my hand with his gracious plenty.

"Kiss me," he ground out, his voice a throaty whisper.

He didn't mean his lips.

I let my gaze leave his face and meander down our bodies, to where his penis pressed pointedly against my flesh. My eyes met his again, and I could swear they were darker, fiercer…But I was in control, and there was one thing I wanted to hear from him, and it was the same thing he'd demanded of me. Tit for tat; quid pro quo, and all that.

"Mmmm. Don't you have something to say to me?" I teased, my heart standing still, belying my taunting voice. I waited. I had to know. I had to hear it, even though our bond beat wildly with it. I wanted the words, too.

He looked on, his eyes narrowing, his lips curling. "Stop teasing and fuck me?" he queried, a hint of laughter in his sexy, husky voice.