AN: All credits to Alexander Woo, Alan Ball, HBO and Charlaine Harris.

Three important things:

1. I follow the format of the show, up to a point. You will find situations and pieces of dialogue that are straight from True Blood, but I always put my own twist on things. Differences will become increasingly marked as the story progresses.

2. Regarding the characterization of Sookie, you will have noted that she's quite angry, hostile and cynical compared to the show version. This is a direct result of what happened to her in Fairy. She won't always be like that, but it's necessary for now. This story is meant to be a romance eventually.

3. I forgot to write this in the first chapter but, in regards to the Hot Shot storyline, everything is as happened in the show up to the final episode of season 3. In this universe, Crystal Meth didn't leave with Felton but instead stayed to take care of the Deliverance cast and has been dating Jason all this time.

Thank you all so much for the wonderful feedback.

Chapter 3: New Deal

The next morning I retrieved four firestones from Keelan's satchel and went down to the storage room to collect some gardening tools. I buried the stones around the farmhouse (one facing each compass point) then I cast the protection spell. I felt the magic set as I ended the incantation – from now on, anyone with nefarious intentions would be prevented from stepping onto the property.

I showered and ate breakfast, then I put the remaining firestones in my bag and went on my way. I found Jason's house empty but assumed he'd spent the night at Crystal's. After warding my brother's home, I stopped at the bank to put my financial affairs in order. There had been no miracle there: I was still poor. I phoned the practice of Sid Matt, my family's attorney, but was informed that he'd turned over his firm to a young lawyer called Portia Bellefleur, who agreed to meet me later at Merlotte's after I'd explained my predicament to her.

Around noon, I reunited with Terry, Arlene and Laffy at Sam's bar. We all pleasantly caught up but my boss' appearance definitely put an end to the levity. He was quite plainly pissed off, and demoted me to the rank of junior waitress. I couldn't really blame him: I'd have been mad too if someone I cared about had just fallen off the face of the hearth only to reappear months latter with a bullshit explanation. I seriously hoped he'd get over it, though, because I valued his friendship… and I needed the money.

Portia turned out to be a pretentious little princess (she actually showed up to Merlotte's in a cocktail dress and ordered a cappuccino). She had found out that AIK was an untraceable shell company, so I was back to square one. I finished my shift then drove home in my banged-up little car (the only thing I owned that hadn't been upgraded).

I was feeling eager for company so I called Jason to invite him over for dinner again, but I only got his voicemail. After washing Merlotte's grease off my skin, I put on a cute white silk teddy and a matching robe I had found in my wardrobe, then performed my nightly beauty ritual.

I was slathering some cream over my legs when I became acutely aware that somebody had materialized behind me. I froze and began gathering my magic.

"Do you need help with that?" a familiar voice purred.

I wrapped my robe tightly around my body and twirled around. "Eric! What the hell?"

I briefly considered blasting him away. The wards were in place so I knew he didn't mean me harm or he would have been unable to set foot in the house, but he needed to be taught a lesson about personal space and privacy. In the end, I decided against it; not because I had any concern for the bastard's well-being, but because I wanted to avoid wrecking my bedroom.

"Let's make this a full-body massage," Eric continued, shamelessly undressing me with his eyes.

"Get out of my home, you giant creep!" I yelled.

"Actually, it's my home," he replied as he produced a set of keys from his pocket.

"You? You are behind AIK? But.. but, why?" I stammered. Eric was the last person I'd imagined would have an interest in owning an old farmhouse. I took him for the mansion type of guy.

"Because I always knew you were alive; and if I owned the house, then I would own you." He then said, punctuating each word with a step towards me: "Sookie. You. Are. Mine!"

His fangs extended and I gaped at his face in shock before bursting out laughing. It was obviously not the reaction Eric had expected, but I couldn't help it. That little speech was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard.

What the fuck was he on? Can vampires get high?

I laughed so hard that I let go of the side panels of my robe. The garment fell open, revealing my bare legs. I knew Eric had spotted the scars on my thighs when his expression went from discomfiture to anger in a flash.

He moved even closer to me. "Who did this to you?" he demanded.

I sobered and got up in his face. "You need to get the hell out of my room or I will have you arrested for… for… sexual harassment!" I seethed.

Okay, even I knew that was a pretty empty threat. There was no way I could have Eric arrested, considering I was technically squatting in his home. I was the law-breaker here. Eric raised a skeptical eyebrow but thankfully turned away.

"I will wait for you downstairs," he threw over his shoulder.

I waited until he'd left to pull some pajamas pants and put my damp hair into a ponytail. I found Eric in the dining room, looking at some family pictures on the wall.

"Do you like what I've done with the place?" he said when I joined him.

He looked calmer than he'd been upstairs but I couldn't help having a dig at his crazy ownership talk. "It's lovely," I said dryly. "I hope my tan doesn't clash with the drapes. I wouldn't want to spoil the overall decoration."

Eric didn't take the bait. "I kept all your things," he simply remarked.

"Yeah, thanks. I'm back now, so I'll want the house back. I'll compensate you for all the work you've put in it, of course. Will you agree to a payment plan?"

"No."

"No? Eric, I don't have that kind of money just laying around!"

"The property is mine. I'm keeping it. You're welcome to stay here as my guest."

"Your guest?" I cried out in anger. "This house has belonged to my family for generations! It has no value to you, while I have a lifetime of memories in here."

Unperturbed, he countered: "And the place is now in better shape than ever. As you can see, everything is in good hands."

His phlegmatic attitude told me that I was getting nowhere fast.

Damn him.

I gritted my teeth and swallowed back the volley of insults I wanted to throw at him. There was one way I could get him to hand me back my home, and that would be killing two birds with one stone.

I put my game face on and gestured towards the dining chairs. "Sit down. I want to talk."

"About?"

"About your offer, if I can even call it that."

He angled his head and looked at me curiously. "Really? How… reasonable."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you usually let your emotions run away with you instead of relying on your wits."

I was about to tartly remind him of his own outrageous behavior just five minutes ago but I bit my tongue. I would most likely need him in the very near future and, as the popular wisdom went, you don't catch flies with vinegar.

As soon as we were both settled, I went right down to business: "What does it mean to be yours?"

A crooked smirk grew on his lips and he let his eyes roam over my chest.

"Apart from the sex," I groaned with annoyance.

Eric raised an eyebrow. "Is this a job interview?"

"Yes."

"Alright. Being Mine means that I will take care of you."

"In what way?"

"In any way you need taken care of."

The lewd smirk was back and I huffed exasperatedly, but Eric grew suddenly serious.

"I will take care of your financial and material needs, as I've already begun to do with this house."

"I don't want your money," I chimed in. "I'm not Yvetta."

"Regardless, you will be provided with whatever you might require. But most importantly," and here he leaned forward, "I am offering you my protection. You are too smart not to understand that it's only a matter of time before your attributes become more widely known in the supernatural community. Be it for your telepathy or the elixir running through your veins, you will always be coveted. If you want to survive, you will need a powerful ally. You need me."

I already knew all that but I didn't want to seem too eager, so I pretended to think over his words for a few of minutes. My prolonged silence apparently made Eric a bit nervous, because he sighed unnecessarily and said: "Contrary to what you might think, Sookie, I do care about you."

I raised a dubious eyebrow. It's not like I hadn't heard that one before. I decided to bring up the one issue that prevented me from accepting his offer: "Why shouldn't I go to Bill? He is your superior, after all. I'd probably be even better protected with him."

Eric snorted derisively. "I have served under many royals, Sookie, and I have outlived most of them. Being King means walking around with a giant target stuck on your back. You've known two monarchs so far, both of whom were much older than Compton, and where are they now? Make no mistake: all the trappings of power are not enough to stop an ambitious upstart determined to wear a crown, and there are many such vampires. The truth is: Bill is too busy protecting himself to effectively protect anyone else."

"There's also the fact," Eric continued after a pause, "that Compton is practically an infant. When it comes to the heat of battle, who do you want standing between you and danger, Sookie: a 1,000-year-old warrior, or a 150-year-old politician?"

I had to admit that Eric was making a pretty convincing case, but I still wanted to know more about Bill's new position. I proceeded to quiz him about the inner workings of the vampire hierarchy and, to my surprise, he was very forthcoming with information. He told me about the division of America into clans, about the Authority (a group of ancient vampires who had supreme jurisdiction over all vampires), about the top enforcer of vampire justice in North America (a humorless creep called the Magister), and a few other things. Considering I'd been involved for six months with someone who was pathologically secretive, Eric's candidness was refreshing, to say the least.

"What kind of King is Bill?" I asked when he was finished.

Another snort. "The unpopular kind."

"But he commands you."

"Technically, yes. But I have powerful friends of my own, and that gives me a lot of leeway. If you're afraid that he could just take you away from me, don't be."

I waited for him to expand, but it was clear he had said his piece on the subject. "Would you go against older vampires for me?" I pressed.

"I defied Edgington, didn't I?"

"What about other creatures?"

"Like fairies?" he asked pointedly.

I nodded. I heard the tell-tale snick as his fangs extended. "I love fairies!" he exclaimed with a broad (and rather sinister) smile.

Hum, yeah, I bet. I thought it was as good time as any to raise the topic of my blood: "Since you love the taste of fairy so much, how do I know you won't lose control and drain me altogether?"

His amusement faded. "I am not Bill," he replied sharply. "I am almost ten times Compton's age, and I have a hundred times his self-control. Besides, you are only a small part fairy. You are in no danger from me."

"Okay," I sighed. "We've talked about what you would do for me. Now I want to know what would you expect from me in return."

"Everything," he replied without missing a beat.

"You'll have to be more specific than that."

Instead of expanding his answer, Eric merely held my gaze and slowly lifted an eyebrow.

Damn him.

Of course, I wasn't so naïve as to think he would be content if we just held hands and braided each other's hair. I was prepared to do whatever was needed to ensure my survival, but I still wanted to see how little I could get away with.

Firstly, I needed to establish some ground rules: "I have no intention of letting you chain me up in your filthy dungeon and fuck me unconscious," I firmly stated.

His conceited expression faltered a bit. "I wish you hadn't seen that," he said quietly.

"Really?" I shot back skeptically. "You didn't seem to care at the time. It's not like you to try and hide what you really are."

"I am not planning on using you in that manner," he insisted. "Unless you beg me to," he added with a wink, "in which case it can be arranged."

I scowled. "Not gonna happen."

He chuckled and leaned back in his chair. "So, do we have an understanding?"

"You haven't answered my question."

"I will not demand sex from you. You will come to my bed of your own free will… and sooner than you think."

"You sound awfully sure of yourself."

He shrugged. "I know you are attracted to me."

Well, there was no point denying that. Even before he'd tricked me into drinking a few drops of his blood, I had been drawn to him. Eric might be an infuriatingly cocky bastard, but he was a seriously good-looking one. And he was a pretty stellar kisser too. And he had the body of a Greek God. And he knew how to rock a leather jacket. Yeah, the point was: he was hot and he knew it. But in spite of the Keelan episode, I was still reluctant to have sex with a man I didn't love, and I didn't love Eric.

The vampire carried on: "What I want in exchange for my protection and support is your time."

"My time?"

"Yes. We can start slow, say … two or three nights a week, then we will gradually increase the amount of time we spend together."

I frowned. "Spend time doing what, exactly?"

Shrugging, he replied: "Talking; getting to know each other better; having fun… What humans call hanging out, I believe."

"This is your price?" I asked incredulously.

To my surprise, Eric confirmed with a nod. He obviously felt pretty confident that my legs would soon magically open for him, because I couldn't imagine just 'hanging out' with him. His idea of fun was probably to start the evening by draining a Were then proceed with an eight-hour fuck-a-thon.

The object of my musings was looking at me expectantly. I took a deep breath and said: "We have a deal."

Eric gave me a triumphant smile. "I knew you would come to your senses eventually, and I'm pleasantly surprised by how pragmatic you are about the whole thing."

I said nothing and waited for the inevitable demand for blood, but instead he bit his wrist and extended it to me. Uh oh! I should have known there would be a catch.

"To seal our agreement," he explained.

"No!" I said instinctively.

Eric looked offended. "What do you mean, 'no'?"

"I will not let you pump me full of your blood so that you can manipulate me!"

He leveled me with a stare and when he spoke, his voice was icy: "Again, I am not Bill."

"Prove it," I challenged.

His gaze softened. "I seek to protect you, Sookie, not control you. I will only give you a small amount; just enough to be able to sense your fear if you are in danger and to make you smell like me to other vampires."

"And you're saying that's all it'll do?" I retorted dubiously.

"My blood will also improve your health and appearance, and you will most likely have erotic dreams about me."

I already knew about the dreams, considering I'd had a few vivid ones since Dallas. I would be lying if I said I hadn't enjoyed them, but I was determined not to be anybody's puppet.

"And you don't think that's manipulating me?" I demanded.

"No. You're already attracted to me. A few dreams won't change anything. Having my blood in Dallas never prevented you from turning me down or defying me. What Bill did was different: he fed you a large quantity of his blood before you had formed an opinion about him. You had no way to differentiate between your true feelings and his influence."

I had to admit that he was making a fair point. Regardless, I hated the idea of having my emotions tampered with, even a little bit. After being so thoroughly fooled by Bill, I wanted my mind sharp and clear.

"Can't this wait?" I pleaded.

Eric regarded me for a beat then conceded. "We will perform the ritual in a week."

I breathed a sigh of relief at the small reprieve. A week should give me some time to research bond-magic and with some luck to learn some useful trick on how to protect myself from Eric's influence. To placate the vampire, I cautiously offered: "You can have a bit of my blood, if you want."

I expected him to jump on the opportunity, but he surprised me once again by replying: "Not tonight. Not until you're healed."

That was the first mention of my cuts he had made since our confrontation in my bedroom. I knew I would have to explain their origins one day, but I was grateful that he wasn't pressing for answers tonight. I didn't see fit to mention that the scars were most likely there to stay, so he was in for a long wait, but I briefly wondered who he would be feeding from if not from me.

"So… now what?" I asked awkwardly.

"I imagine you want to be left alone with your thoughts for now, so I will see you tomorrow night," he said, standing up.

I followed him to see him out (manners cost nothing). Eric noted that the back door was creaking and said he would see that it was fixed. I made no comment, since it was his prerogative to spend his money on a home he owned. I hadn't asked him for my house back as part of our agreement, not because I was happy to let him have it (I definitely wasn't), but because I knew him well enough to guess that he would hold onto it until he was convinced of my loyalty. I planned to broach the subject in a couple of weeks.

Eric made to cross the threshold but changed his mind at the last moment. Turning back to face me, he slowly leaned forward until our faces were mere inches apart. He hovered there for a moment and I knew that he was giving me the option to back out.

I didn't.

Our lips met in a soft, almost chaste kiss. I was dimly aware of our noses brushing against each other in a sensuous caress, but it was the electric feel of his skin touching mine that I was concentrating on. I opened my mouth to lick at his lower lip and moaned when his response was to suck on mine. I wanted to deepen the kiss, to taste him. I pushed up on my tiptoes and leaned against his torso but I suddenly found myself kissing air. I opened my eyes to see Eric sporting a shit-eating grin. He kissed my forehead and whispered, "tomorrow," before leaving.

I knew exactly what he'd just done: he'd demonstrated that he could put me in a state without even trying, with just the ghost of a kiss, and without any help from his blood. His point made, he'd swaggered away, leaving me hanging with the female equivalent of a case of blue balls.

Damn him.