Chapter 8

"We should call in the others," said Sookie, opening the door to Eric's office. He placed his palm against the door and shut it again.

"We're not talking to anyone until we settle this between us. I don't care if it takes all night. Your mind is still uneasy. I can feel it."

"Well of course it is!" Sookie threw up her hands in frustration. "Let's see if I understand the situation correctly: The legion of doom is coming to Bon Temps and the only way to stop them is to end my blood bond with you so you can start a blood bond with another woman so she can keep her vampire super powers and make you king. I get it! I really get it! You'll have to excuse me if I'm not as comfortable with it as you seem to be!"

"I am not 'comfortable with it'."

"Bullshit. You love the idea of being king."

"I do," Eric conceded. "But I love you more."

"Then why are we doing this?" Sookie demanded. "There has to be another way."

"Sookie, I've been trying to think of a way around this ever since I read Godric's letter. If Godric had had other children, this would be easy, but he didn't. If I could appeal to Godric's maker, this would be easy, but that's impossible."

"Because he's dead," said Sookie, completing Eric's thought. She blinked with astonishment when Eric shook his head. ""Wait, you're telling me Godric's maker is still alive?"

"Yes, as far as I know." Eric answered uneasily. "But he hasn't been seen in nine hundred years, and even if I could find him, he would not help me."

"Why not?"

Eric drew a deep breath. Not because he needed to, but because he was frustrated and some human habits die hard. Even in one thousand year old vampires. "Godric and his maker had a falling out over me. Besides," he said, changing the subject, "you were never in favor of our blood bond. As I recall your emotions on the subject have ranged from furious, to resigned, and on a really good day, you're ambivalent about it."

Score one for the Swede.

Sookie couldn't deny the truth in what he said. There were times when she thrilled in the bond between them. The feeling that he was always close, and that he always understood her was an amazing intimacy. And blood bonded sex? Whoa, Nelly!

But other times the bond was intrusive. She could be having a perfectly cheerful evening, only to be overwhelmed with anger or anxiety for no apparent reason – Eric's anger and anxiety. And he'd sure been having a lot of it lately. Truth be told, sometimes the bond made her feel trapped. Eric didn't know it, but she'd even looked into having Octavia find a way to break their blood bond. She wasn't sure if she would actually do it, but it would be nice to have the option.

Eric sat down on the couch and pulled her into his lap. He pushed her hair back and whispered into her ear. "You could choose to look at this as an opportunity to explore your true feelings for me, without supernatural interference."

Sookie laid her head on his shoulder and took in his words along with the emotions he felt when he spoke them. Fear? She'd felt anxiety, anger, joy, happiness, amusement and lust (lots of lust) from him before, but fear was entirely new.

"Eric," she proceeded carefully, "breaking our bond isn't what bothers me. I'm upset about you making a bond with another woman."

Eric nodded his head in agreement. "That's reasonable. I would feel the same way if the situation was reversed. But this isn't the same kind of blood bond. This is…business."

"I know. So you keep saying," said Sookie. "But it's been my experience that swapping blood with vampires always leads to sex."

"Your experience is somewhat limited."

"Really?" Sookie leaned back and looked him square in the eye. "Have you ever established a blood bond that didn't lead to sex?"

A darkness came over Eric. Quietly, he answered, "Yes."

Sookie could sense that she had ventured into dangerous territory. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, but I will." He set her gently aside on the sofa and stood up. He walked over to his office window and looked out over the deserted parking lot. The horizon was just beginning to show the faintest hint of pink. "It was during the first Slaugh war. I was taken captive. I don't know why they didn't kill me outright. Perhaps they thought I would make a good Slaugh and wanted to turn me. I don't know. Anyway, they tortured me. I'm not going to go into details, but suffice to say, what the fairies did to you was just foreplay to the Slaugh.

"I don't know how long it went on – days, maybe a week. Godric and another one of the seven brethren came to rescue me. You've never seen anyone fight the way they fought. They had broad swords – double edged – silver on one side and iron on the other. Long story short, they got me out, but I was on the brink of final death.

"Godric was bleeding from probably a dozen wounds he received in the fight, and he put my mouth on every one of them. He would have let me drain him if Mian hadn't pulled me off of him. I drank from Godric and my physical wounds healed immediately. Unfortunately, I was barking mad.

"Godric went to ground for two days to heal, and when he rose on the third night he fed from me, and then gave the blood back. He did this every day. His dedication was remarkable when you consider that I tried to murder him every time he came near me. The blood bond was established and our psyches were linked. It took almost two years, but he pulled my mind out of madness. Once I was well, we allowed to bond to fade. You have to believe me. There was nothing sexual about it."

Sookie joined him at the window and wrapped her arms around his waist. She blinked back tears. "Oh my god, Eric. That's horrible, and now you have to face them again."

He shrugged. "It was nine hundred years ago. I'm over it. I didn't tell you this story so you would feel sorry for me. I told you so you could see that not all blood bonds are sexual."

"I appreciate that. Really, I do. But this is a totally different situation than you and Godric. You're healthy, and she's…healthy."

"She's not you." Eric kissed Sookie on the nose. "The situation is different, but the principle is the same. A blood bond connects two people's psyches. Nothing more. Nothing less. You can sense where a person is. You can sense how they feel. You feel better when you're around them, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you want to have sex with them." A look of hungry delight came over his face. "Granted, it always seems to mean that with our bond."

Through their bond, Sookie could feel that he was ready to go again, and suddenly, she was too. She shook it off and gave him a playful punch in the arm. "Stop that! My stars, we could be talking about anything and you can turn it into sex! We're having a serious conversation here."

"So I'd rather talk about sex than torture and madness. Sue me." He smiled kindly. "What else would you like to know?"

"And what are your thoughts when you're swapping blood with Hope?"

"Not sex, that's for sure. You're just going to have to trust me about that." He looked off, deep in thought. "I not sure I really think about anything in particular. The first time I made her feed from me I felt pissed off about everything. I was pissed because the Slaugh were returning, because Godric has set up this ridiculous situation with his daywalker, and because she broke my nose. Tonight, I felt…" He pressed his lips firmly shut.

"Felt what?" Sookie laid her hand gently on his face.

"Afraid."

Sookie had to make a concerted effort to keep her jaw from dropping. From Eric, that was a stunning admission. She pressed him gently, "Afraid of what?"

Eric stared at the floor. Then the ceiling. Everywhere except at Sookie. "I was afraid that you would be so angry that you would stake me in my sleep," he said with an ironic laugh. All of the humor went out of his voice. "But mostly I'm afraid because when our bond breaks, I know I'm going to lose you."

Sookie opened her mouth to protest, but he stopped her with a gesture. "Let's be honest. I can be a real dick sometimes, and you don't even know the half of it. You overlook a lot now. You're not going to overlook things anymore without the blood bond."

Sookie's first instinct was to reassure him that she would love him with or without the bond, but then she stopped. He was a giant dick when he pulled the bullet sucking stunt. And then there was the fact that she probably really didn't know the half of it consider. Yes, Eric was correct; he could be a real dick sometimes. Still, beneath the occasionally dickish veneer, she knew without a doubt that he had a noble soul.

"There's another option that you apparently haven't considered," said Sookie.

"Oh?" Eric raised a questioning eyebrow.

"You could stop being a dick."

Eric threw his head back and roared with laughter. "I don't know, lover. A thousand year old habit could be hard to break."

"Try."

"For you, anything." He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. He lingered there, increasing the intensity of the kiss when Sookie weaved her fingers through his hair. After a moment, he pulled back and smiled down at her sadly. "You're still bothered by something."

"Nothing gets by you," said Sookie. "It's not important."

"Tell me."

Sookie took a deep breath. "It's not that I don't trust you. You said that the blood swap with Hope isn't sexy, and I choose to believe you. I just don't understand why you asked me to leave if it's no big deal."

"Yeah, that was one of those 'damned if I do, damned if I don't' situations," said Eric. "I thought it would be painful for you to watch, and I know it would have been uncomfortable for me to have you watch."

"You could have asked me." He didn't answer, but through the bond she felt that he was clearly unwilling to ask such a question in front of others. He told people what to do. He didn't ask them what they wanted to do. "Ok, never mind. Next time I'm staying."

"I don't have a problem with that," said Eric.

"Good."

"So, this is resolved?" he asked.

"As resolved as it can be. Should we call the others up now?" Sookie yawned. "It's really getting late."

"No, it will be dawn soon. We'll go down to them," said Eric.

When they got to Pam's private lounge, they found Hope asleep with her head resting on a pillow that laid on Bill's lap. Sam had left. Bill and Pam were engaged in quiet conversation.

"It appears that our diurnal friends have checked out for the evening," said Eric.

Bill tapped his watch. "Your nocturnal guests need to turn in as well. I'm never going to get to Bon Temps before dawn. Do you still keep an extra coffin here?"

"I'll do you one better," said Pam. "That's a sleeper sofa and the room is light tight. You're welcome to it." Pam tapped her chin. "I wonder how Hope will like waking up wrapped around a dead man?"

"Wouldn't be the first time," said Sookie. It came out sounding cattier than she intended. Or maybe it didn't.

"I'll take the chair," said Bill, giving Pam and Sookie a mildly reproachful look. "Sookie and Hope can have the bed. Sookie shouldn't drive tired."

"Now there's a lovely thought," Pam purred. She wasn't talking about Bill's sense of chivalry.

Sookie looked at Pam and decided that the best response was no response at all. She turned to Bill. "That's very gentlemanly of you, but you don't have to sleep in the chair. I'll crash on the couch in Eric's office."

"As you wish," said Bill. He started to wake up Hope so he could set up the bed, but Pam held up a finger, indicating that he should wait. She left the room and returned a few seconds later with the "I could have staked you, but I didn't" sign that Hope has pinned to her blouse two days ago. She looked at Eric and Bill, "It's just too good to pass up."

Even Bill had to admit there was a certain poetic justice in the act.

Pam placed the sign on Hope's chest, and just as she went to pin it, her wrist was caught in a lightning fast, iron grip worthy of a vampire. Hope gave Pam a tired smile. "Good plan. Lousy execution."

Author's note: I'm going to be honest. I hadn't planned to write this chapter. This is the first time I have ever added a chapter to a fic in response to reviews. A lot of people have expressed really strong opinions regarding Sookie's feelings about the bond with Eric, and I can see where everyone is coming from.

My take from the books, particularly Dead in the Family, is that Sookie is conflicted about this blood bond. She didn't ask for it, she didn't want it, but now she's got it, and there are times when she loves it and times…well, not so much. I hope this chapter clarifies things a bit. To paraphrase Eric in this chapter, we could choose to look at this as an opportunity to explore Sookie's true feelings for Eric, without supernatural interference.

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it. Thanks for the feedback!