I'm sorry for the long delay to update! Real work intruded, and since they pay me...what can I do? :)

I have to admit, I was very WTF over S4 E10 on True Blood, and please be aware that this story goes up to only the early part of the above mentioned episode.

"I'm not in the mood, Pam." Sookie sighed, brushing past the disdainful blond vampire.

"Not anymore. But you apparently were for awhile." She leaned against the doorway, "So, what's changed?"

"I don't wanna discuss this with you."

"Discuss what? That that shade of yellow makes you look washed out?" Pam's smirk faded, "Or that you've got Eric wound tight around that little finger, and you're too stupid to appreciate it?"

She could only wish, Sookie thought to herself. Eric did what he wanted, when he wanted, and damn anyone else's opinions. It was one of the big differences in his attitude now compared to when he had amnesia. "Why do you care, Pam?"

"Because Eric is my maker." She raised an eyebrow at Sookie, "And whether I think his involvement with you is a good idea or not, you're what he wants. So it's time you wake up from your little dream world and realize what a good thing it is that you're hiding away from."

"Pam." The one word, drawled by Eric in his low, sexy voice, had them both turning towards the back door at once. "That's enough."

"Eric-"

"Take Charles and head on back to Fangtasia. I'll be staying here for the rest of the night." He looked at Sookie, "Unless that's a problem?"

His calm, relaxed feelings settled her too, and she couldn't deny the sense of contentment she felt now that he was with her. "No, it's fine."

...

Russell strolled around the empty warehouse, impatience boiling within. Eric Northman had proven a worthy adversary thus far, guarding his beloved Miss Stackhouse from Russell's reach quite well. Even his spy couldn't manage to get the girl completely alone, yet.

"I can only be gone a few minutes," Charles reminded him, drawing Russell back from his thoughts.

"Where does Northman sleep?"

"During daylight, if he's not at the bar or Sookie's, he's apparently got a house in Bossier. But, I've never been in. "

"Hmmmmm….any way to get his casket out of the bar during the day?"

"It can be done," Charles nodded. "But the problem is that he's only been sleeping at the girl's house."

"Which he owns!" Russell grinned, "So that's no problem, is it?"

"Actually…" Charles crossed his arms, "He gave the house back to the girl. So now, only the vampires she invites in can get in. And she's guarded by the King's men during the day, so no one I've hired is willing to try to take her during the day."

"That son of a bitch," Russell muttered. "He knows he's got me spinning like a top. Find me a way to see Ms. Stackhouse at night. Even if he spots me, it'll be worth it. I want him to know that I'm gonna destroy her. And then I'm gonna rip him apart."

...

Eric leaned back against the sofa, one leg crossed, watching Sookie pacing the living room. "Pam shouldn't have said anything to you."

"She loves you." Sookie shrugged, turning to face him before taking a deep breath. "And she's right."

He looked intrigued, "About what?"

"I can't keep hidin' out from you." She moved over to the sofa, sitting next to him. "We have to discuss what happened."

He had to admit that she caught him by surprise. He was silent for a moment, letting her anxiety wash over him, before he decided how to respond. "The Eric you cared for isn't gone, Sookie. The feelings I had for you didn't just disappear when you broke the curse."

"But I'm not exactly your usual choice. " She struggled to find the words, the odd feeling of jealousy stirring in her. "Pam, Eveta, god only knows how many other women. I don't want to be just another in a long line." One that didn't have a century's worth of memories with him, or the body of a stripper…

"Pam is my progeny. It's not like that with us."

She sighed, her thoughts so jumbled she couldn't seem to phrase things right. "I know that. I just-"

"You are…you. " His voice was completely serious. "I wanted you before the witch cursed me. I wanted you when I didn't know who or what I was." He tucked a blond curl behind her ear, then cupped her chin in his hand, "I want you now. Only you. Not because of a bond, not because of your blood. Because I'm in love with you."

Her heart skipped a beat as their gazes locked, his normally cool expression far more tender than normal. "I love you, too," she whispered, feeling like her world had tipped on its side.

"Good," he murmured, leaning forward and kissing her. She responded fervently, breaking away only to straddle his legs before their tongues met again in a sensuous duel, her fingers working at the button of his black pants.

His movements were just as feverish, his strength making short work of her flimsy yellow dress, ripping her peach colored bra and panties off and running his hands over her aching breasts, the damp apex between her thighs, their kisses increasingly deepening as he pulled her rounded hips towards him. The frenzied reunion culminated as he sank deep inside her, his powerful thrusts fast and deep, the incredible feeling roaring through her as her nails marked his muscled shoulders, her soft cries and his deep growls filling the fire-lit room.

...

She snuggled against his cool chest, absently stroking his well-muscled chest. "Do you ever even have to work out?"

His low laugh rumbled through her, "No. What made you think of that?"

She grinned up at him, "Just imagine, one bad acne day and you'd have been marked forever…"

As he smiled, she quietly confessed, "I wish you were always this relaxed."

Ah, here it was, he thought. She had to reconcile the fact that he realistically couldn't be the same innocent soul she'd allowed herself to open up to. "I'm not an innocent young vampire, Sookie. I haven't been for a long time. But that doesn't mean I don't have feelings. "

"I know." She laid her head back on his chest. "It'll just take me a little while to get used to the old you again."

"The old you you would have "never allowed" in your bed" He asked, his voice laced with amusement, and she couldn't help but grin once again, surprised at hearing her own words.

"Well, we're not actually in my bed." She let her hand slide down his well-defined abs and stomach, stroking him gently. "But, if you want to work your way back there-"