Chapter 7:
Sookie quickly burned through her month of absence from New Orleans. She'd felt so certain at the beginning that she would be tearing at the bit to get back to her life of high adventure, slaying vampires.
But on the day she should have packed up her bag and driven back to New Orleans, Sookie stood on her front porch with a cup of coffee to greet the dawn, and decided she couldn't go. There was a tranquility about her farmhouse in the woods at this hour, the mist over the prehistoric trees, the birds singing a thousand joyful songs to greet the day as the sky slowly lightened in the East, that moved her to the core.
The past ten years, Sookie had forgotten what exactly peace felt like.
She'd run like hell from her memories tied up in the location, but now she suspected there were a few things Gran could teach her yet. Though perhaps physically Gran had passed, her essence remained in the house, her imprint tied up in every wall, every piece of furniture, every dish and pot and pan. Mornings Sookie cherished most: she could almost have a conversation with her late Grandmother, sitting in the kitchen where they'd shared so many words and so much love.
Before her brother's stupidity sent all their lives to hell.
Yes, her brother.
With a shock that morning, Sookie realized she no longer blamed Eric for her life falling to pieces. That maybe he hadn't been a saint, but neither was he the devil of her story.
Too bad he was so fucking infuriating.
Thirty days on paper sounded like a long time to address her deepest seated demons, but in the end Sookie discovered the notion to be absolutely absurd. Sookie's C.O. felt certain she'd lost her mind, and hissed and moaned when she called to break the news of her extending her leave.
How long?
She didn't know.
However long it would take.
He'd threatened all sorts of things, but Sookie found nothing he could take from her truly mattered. Money, status, the badge. All rubbish.
She'd become so tied up in death, she herself had forgotten how to live, she realized now.
In the thick of the battle, she'd had no time to think on her life, simply always pushing forward, on to the next case, next vampire, next adventure. But such a life of fast violence took its toll , and now Sookie realized she was tired, and twisted up inside with knots that were killing her slowly.
A rage burned inside her, all the time, and she grew weary of its constant fire eating at her insides. Part of it was simply being dhampir. The berserker potential always kept at a low boil, that allowed her to fight the creatures of the night with such success.
But her dhampirism couldn't account for all her fire. No, not all. Some of it was undeniably and uniquely hers, and she'd come to loathe its constant and insistent hold upon her way of dealing with the world.
She would be damned if she sought the help of a shrink, but the vampire slayer allowed herself to hope that just maybe in the stillness of the farm in Bontemps, she could regain a foothold in the world that didn't involve raging against it.
III
On the long stretch of highway leading to a certain farmhouse outside of Bontemps, Eric shifted his fire-engine red Audi TT into fifth, baring fangs with the joy of breaking the speed limit to appalling degrees.
What was he doing driving to Sookie's house?
In short, they had a date.
After the months of furious fucking that had passed, the very idea seemed absurd. He'd had her against the wall in the hall, and upon her kitchen table. On the couch of his office, the desk, and the floor. The woods, the railing of the front porch, and even the swing. All encounters were peppered with traded insults, rough kisses, deep scratches and fierce hair pulling.
Sookie had made it clear: if he was to have her body, he would not be allowed to make love. Not once had he seen her bedroom upstairs.
And yet, though outwardly the vampire slayer remained stubborn, there seemed to be a glimmer of change about her. Something so faint in her aura, he could only see it out the corner of his eye, and didn't quite know what to make of it.
Yet.
But the vampire intended to find out.
She'd sauntered into Fangtasia three nights ago, expecting the usual fare, never fathoming that he would deny her what she wanted, even if he was working and business was in full swing. In response, he'd bent her backwards over his bar with the furor of his kiss, hands tangled in golden tresses she'd let loose in a very very small concession to his preferences in her appearance.
Some of the women glared, and some of the vampires sneered with disapproval, but most who did not realize her identity, ( the Sookie Stackhouse, vampire assassin extraordinaire) gave a howl of approval, catcalls and other suggestions of what the Viking vampire should do to the young lady for their viewing pleasure.
Eric, naturally, ignored them. His world began and ended in the clear blue of Sookie's irises, held fast with the intensity of his own gaze. "We're going to do something different," he'd decreed.
Shakily, she'd drawn a breath, but her words still came with a steadfast confidence. "Is that so?"
"Yes. Before I fuck your brains out this time, we're going on a date."
In truth? He'd expected her to laugh at him, and saunter right back out the door.
Instead, she floored him, the corner of her mouth upturning in a Mona Lisa smile.
"Alright. I'll humor you, Northman. But you better not disappoint."
Only Sookie would dare say such a thing to him, and the wind whipping through his hair with the top down, Eric laughed aloud with the thought.
He thought on many things, daring to draw small fantasies in his mind as he drove.
A motorcycle whipped around him, and he hardly gave it a thought, until the angry flash of brake lights flared in front of the Audi, forcing him to slam on his brakes. Eric cursed, large hand gripping the gearshift in a way that would certainly leave an imprint. Deeply annoyed, he swerved to go around, but the motorcycle wove with him, refusing to let him pass.
The vampire contemplated a multitude of ways to make the driver of the Ducati in front of him sorry, and places to bury a body in the woods alongside the road, until he noticed a tendril of long blond hair escaping out from beneath the beetle-black helmet, whipping in the wind.
Before he could look more closely, the motorcycle was off like a rocket, red tail light a sudden pinprick in the distance.
Eric pulled up in Sookie's driveway, the engine of the Ducati still clicking as it cooled. He could hear the vampire slayer up in her bedroom, dressing quickly for their date. Tunelessly she hummed, and he recognized the clatter of cosmetics, the pffft spray of perfume.
As he waited he walked in circles about the bike, inspecting it with lips pulled in a crooked smile of approval.
"It's a Ducati Monster," said Sookie from the porch. "I just bought it yesterday." Eric turned his attention up to her, his breath catching at the sight of her. A short black dress hugged her curves, sharp stiletto heels stabbing at the creaking steps as she descended.
"I did not know you rode motorcycles," he said, expression almost neutral, though he began to salivate as she neared closer.
The vampire caught a whiff of her perfume upon the evening breeze, a scent he recognized as Chanel No. 5. She'd come a long way from fruit-flavored body sprays; at times he mourned the loss of her innocence, the young woman she'd once been. But he found that night he also felt equally intrigued by the woman she'd grown into.
He'd loved her then, and he loved her now.
He'd come to accept the ache within his chest as almost normal, and that within itself alarmed him to no end.
"Are you surprised?"
"A little."
"Hmm." Sookie sauntered up to stand before him, head tilted to meet his hungry gaze. "Well, I do seem to have a penchant for powerful monsters between my thighs."
A penchant was not how he would have chosen to describe any of her feelings about him between her legs, up to that point.
But he'd been wrong before.
"Well, this date isn't going to finish itself," she quipped, and intrigued, he watched her hip swinging gait as she navigated the gravel to the passenger side of the Audi. Suddenly he appeared at her side, holding open the door for her. She sank down into the black leather seat, looking about the car's interior appreciatively.
"Are you in such a hurry to get it over with?" he asked.
"Maybe not. We could just drive around all night. This is a significant improvement over the Corvette, which was cramped, and smacked just a little of red-neckery."
A laugh escaped Eric, a genuine outburst of mirth at her opinionated observation.
Both froze at the sound of it, startled as though by the crack of a gunshot.
Once, such laughter could be heard between them often.
But, since their lives became entangled again, until that moment both Sookie and Eric thought such things to be an animal long extinct.
Against the trill of the cicadas, hearts thundered in the darkness.
Eric reached out to cup Sookie's cheek in his large palm, his thumb tracing the curve of her cheek lightly. Slowly, he leaned down towards her, and she watched his approach with wary eyes, memories of the past weighing down upon her. But she did not push him away, as his lips brushed against hers in a hauntingly gentle kiss.
That too was a first, since their strange reunion, and the sensation of their mouths touching without the punctuation of furious passion seemed sweetly alien at the moment.
Sookie watched him silently, until at last Eric came to settle down in the driver's seat beside her. "Where are we going?" she asked, voice barely audible over the breeze.
Hunting for redemption Eric answered in his mind. But aloud, he voiced, "You'll just have to wait and see."
III
The night started with dinner at a nice restaurant in Shreveport, a typical but delicious item on a date agenda. Eric watched Sookie eat her way through an expensive cut of beef, medium rare. He found it titillating to watch her slice apart the meat with sure strokes, popping small bites of the bloody flesh into her mouth.
However, it was not until later, that the evening truly began. Eric navigated the Audi down a country road that appeared to have been deserted for longer than Sookie was old, pot holes appearing in the headlights that seemed large enough to devour the car and its occupants whole.
It Eric was worried, he did not show it, a small smile curling his lips as they drove. At long last, they pulled into a flat grassy field, what appeared to once have been a parking lot. "What is this place?" asked Sookie, looking around. And then she noticed the hulking if not disheveled screen towering at the opposite end of the clearing. "Are we in an abandoned drive-in?"
"Only somewhat abandoned. I own the land."
He'd bought it ten years ago, in anticipation of a special surprise for her.
Then their world fell apart.
He'd never dreamed the opportunity would arise again to use it.
"Stay here," he instructed, disappearing for a moment.
The screen came alight, and Sookie felt a thrill of childish delight, a sensation she'd nearly forgotten. A moment later, he appeared back in the car.
"If my memory serves, I believe this is a favorite of yours."
Sookie raised a cynical eyebrow, though involuntarily, her mouth curled up ever so slightly in a smile. The theme music of Gone With The Wind came over the Audi's speakers. Internally, her jaw dropped, but she couldn't quite allow herself to show it.
"So, you bring girls here and ply them with their favorite feature film?" she snarked, rolling her head against the seat to look at Eric.
"No, Sookie, only you. And I can't help but have noticed, you're not a girl anymore."
"Hmm. I feel like an old woman inside, but it's not polite to remind a lady of it."
Eric regarded her with ancient eyes, and Sookie fought the urge to squirm as a specimen under a microscope. "A violent life can take its toll," he finally, and carefully, said. He knew, all too well.
"Yes."
"You're tired." It wasn't a question, and Sookie understood he didn't mean physically.
The slayer looked down at her hands folded upon her lap. "Yes," she admitted in a whisper.
"Then perhaps you should quit while you're ahead."
Sookie narrowed her eyes at the vampire Sheriff. "Perhaps you should mind your own damn business."
Sensing the edge returning to Sookie's tone, Eric decided not to push the issue farther. The evening had gone so well, thus far. It would be a shame to ruin now.
Little did he know, as soon as the harsh words escaped Sookie, she regretted them. Where did all the venom come from? At times she felt as a spectator, watching her impulses push the whole world away in short but irretractable bursts.
The vampire reached into the backseat, producing a small golden Godiva box. "Chocolate?"
Sookie's eyebrows raised high at the offer. Dinner and a movie with gourmet chocolate in the middle of the Louisiana woods with Eric Northman, vampire Sheriff. Could her life get any more absurd?
It began as a tremor, deep in her belly, and then the shaking grew and grew, until she couldn't contain it. Sookie laughed aloud, a joyous peal she herself had not heard in years. She laughed, and laughed, until tears pressed from the corners of her eyes; a floodgate opened in her soul, and she could not contain it any longer.
The sound evoked so many memories in Eric, of the open and loving girl she'd once been, that she still was, deep down. Hidden beneath layer after layer of life's disappointments and fears. His heart fed from the sound, as surely as his body took sustenance from blood, and in that moment he hoped she felt as happy as he.
When the vampire reached over to take her hand, Sookie gave no protest, allowing herself to simply enjoy the contact, her small hand almost lost in his.
III
At intermission, Sookie turned to Eric once more, the corner of her mouth curled in a mischievous smile. "Four minutes of intermission. What are we to do with ourselves?"
Eric watched, impressed, as Sookie navigated the center consul, the gear shift, and successfully straddled him. Though he'd already had the seat scooted and tilted back, he hadn't dared hope, even if maybe he'd dreamed.
"Oh, this is much better than the Corvette," she repeated, appreciative of the extra room, and the convertible top.
"We managed alright in the corvette," Eric protested, having had no idea she harbored such negative feelings for his late car. It died a fiery death in a wreck, the result of going too fast around a curve in the rain. Eric walked away with a shrug and a few scratches, and purchased the Audi the next day.
A few torrid memories of their time in and on his previous car crossed Eric's mind, before Sookie's words and hands upon his shoulders brought him back to the present.
"Maybe you did," she teased, sighing as large hands slid up her thighs, pulling her closer into the cradle of his body. "I seem to remember hitting my head against the roof several times."
Eric glanced up at the blanket of stars above them, thousands more visible out there without light pollution to spoil the view. "No need to worry now." He kissed her deeply, exploring her mouth with languorous but thorough strokes of his tongue. And they went on kissing, until the movie came back on.
No clothes had been ripped, no mothers insulted, no tufts of hair yanked from the scalp.
Eric expected Sookie to crawl back over to her side of the car for the rest of the movie, but the dhampir stayed put, fisting the hem of his designer t-shirt in her hands. "You're missing the show," he teased as she drew his shirt up over his head.
Looking his bare torso up and down with an arched eyebrow, pale flesh sculpted like the statue of David, Sookie shook her head to the contrary. "No I'm not."
Soon after that, Eric might have ripped her dress a little, but only out of enthusiasm.
The vampire sheathed inside her, both nearing climax, Sookie tilted her head, exposing a long line of bare neck that Eric pressed wet kisses to, pulling her down further upon him. But she surprised him immensely as her fingers slid into his hair at the back of his head, holding him there. "You can…if you want," she offered between gasps of pleasure.
Just the thought of piercing her in that way as well nearly finished Eric. "You're teasing me," he groaned.
"Suit yourself."
Eric found he could barely think amidst the cloud of pleasure of Sookie's warm body all around him. But he also found at that moment he wanted to taste her so very badly, that he could truthfully plead momentary insanity, if he only imagined the invitation. Cradling her head in his hand, he found the sweet spot with his lips, that strong pulsing vein, and bit down.
Sookie cried out, but not in pain, pulling Eric closer.
Her blood filled his mouth, swallow after swallow, a heady and intoxicating rush, the strength of her life coursing through his veins making him feel invincible. The vampire growled appreciatively, the vibrations carrying through his body and into hers. It was not long before Sookie lost herself in the sensation, and the clenching of her most intimate space paired with the cocktail of her blood brought Eric to a hard finish.
Collapsed against his body, Sookie leant her forehead upon his shoulder, as languidly he licked the puncture wounds closed, enjoying every last drop with an expression similar to that which she'd made upon tasting the Godiva chocolates.
At any moment, Eric half expected Sookie to jump up from him, to accuse him of taking something from her she had not offered, or in her usual manner, to refuse any sort of post-coital cuddling.
But she remained in his arms, her breath a tickling sigh against the skin of his neck. He'd turned her limbs to jelly, and she couldn't fathom any sort of movement at the moment.
Several peaceful minutes passed, until the vampire slayer finally shifted. "I'm not sure how to move without making a mess," she confessed, and chuckling softly, Eric reached over into the glove compartment, drawing out a wet wipe. He cleaned her with gentle strokes, the cloth cool and soothing, and Sookie sighed, snuggling into the bend of his neck.
"Hmm. Someone likes that," he mused with pleasure, taking account of every sigh and hitched breath, storing the memories of their frequency and timbre for a lonely night.
"I'm sure I don't have to tell you, but you're quite good at it." Sookie's voice came laden rich with post-orgasmic languor.
"Come home with me, and I'll wash you all over," he offered with hope, thinking of his bathtub that could easily fit the two of them.
Slowly, Sookie sat up to regard him, and his face fell as lazily she shook her head no.
It smacked just a bit too much of giving in completely, though looking around, she realized she'd already fallen remarkably far from her original intentions.
She couldn't be sure yet, if she regretted it or not.
After the movie finished, Eric drove her home. They sat in her driveway in silence for a few moments, neither quite sure what sort of note to end the evening upon. Every night before that had been simple; one or the other would simply walk out, eventually.
But now?
"Well, that was unexpectedly lovely, Eric," Sookie finally spoke. "Thank you."
She made to exit the car, but her hand on the door handle, Eric caught her arm.
"Sookie, wait…" A thousand questions burned in his mind, but the most important she read in his eyes.
Where did they stand now?
She had no definite answer. Something inside her finally let go, and she didn't know where it would take her, or if tomorrow it would clamp up again. But for now, for the first time in ages, she felt free. She wanted to sit with this feeling in solitude. She wanted to poke and prod at it, until she understood its origin and construction.
She found she could feel his longing through the bond, and knew exactly what he wanted, just as she knew she wasn't ready to give it to him. Perhaps he coveted the bedroom upstairs, the room where they'd first made love, but it was still her sanctuary, and Sookie couldn't quite bring herself to give it up.
Gently, she shook her head back and forth. "Not tonight, Eric."
He watched her climb from the car, ascend the steps, and slip through the front door. And heart pounding in her chest, she waited for the Audi's engine to fire, for the vampire to drive away.
He did so on the wings of hope once more. Did not tonight mean maybe later?
A/N: As usual, I have to send out a huge thank you to all you readers and reviewers out there! Thank you very much for your support and criticism!