A/N: This chapter took a bit longer to get up than I had originally planned, I do apologize for the delay.

Thanks as always for reading and reviewing my story, you guys are fantabulous.

Again, this is unbeta'd so forgive my many errors.

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, Charlaine Harris does.

SPOV

I couldn't believe I had said that. I instinctively buried my face in my hands and just waited for Eric to go running. I was so embarrassed.

I felt his hand brush along my cheek and down to cup my chin and lift it, until my eyes to meet his.

God, what I wouldn't give to be able to read his mind right now, his eyes were questioning, as if he was trying to figure out if I had said what he thought I said. I let my eyes close in defeat and admittance.

"Did you think that would scare me off?" he asked quietly.

No! I don't know what, the hell, I thought. I suddenly felt the crowd around me and had to look around to make sure no one else heard my proclamation. Apparently no one did. I grabbed a glass of champagne as a waiter passed and gulped it down. Thank goodness.

Well, so much for being graceful about my purity. Hell, I can't do anything about it now. I took a deep breath and swallowed my insecurities before I spoke.

"That's not exactly how I planned for that to go." I said with a laugh. Hey, if you can't laugh at yourself.

I felt his chest bounce with laughter and the tension suddenly left my mind and moved to a lower region. What the hell?

So much for purity, Stackhouse.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, you know." He said smoothly. "Surprising is all."

What?!

"How is it surprising?" I asked with a bit of steel in my voice.

"Well…" he started and his face suddenly looked flushed.

Wait! Was he blushing?

"Well what, Eric? Why are you blushing?" I asked trying to stifle the laughter in my voice.

"I find it hard to believe that you…" he passed his hand in front of me before he continued. "Have not had plenty of opportunities."

"I didn't say I hadn't had the opportunity. I said that I hadn't done it. Now, I don't know what kind of girl you think I am…" My voice had built up speed and intensity. "…But it I am not thatkind of girl, most surely."

Eric held his hand up in apology as he spoke in a genuinely repentant voice. "I would never make such an assumption, Sookie."

He tugged on my hand for me to follow him off the dance floor, so we could have a bit more privacy.

"Wait." I started when we were alone in the hall. "Where are we going?"

"Right here." He said as he turned to face me again. "I could sense that you were a bit uncomfortable, I wanted you to feel more comfortable."

Well that makes sense, and it was so nowhere close to where my apparently dirty mind was going. The champagne was really getting to my head.

"I only wanted you to know." I started as I took a hesitant step towards him. "I didn't want this…" I gestured my finger between the two of us, "…whatever, to be any more weird that it already is."

So eloquent Sookie.

"So, you are admitting that there is something between us. Are you Sookie?" he said with a smug little grin.

Is that what I said? I don't know, probably.

"I am admitting nothing." I stated firmly as I lifted my chin.

He laughed a contagious sort of laugh and I felt myself begin to snicker.

Eric came to tower over me and he reached to pull my forehead to his mouth and place a full lipped kiss there. "When I told you I could be patient, I was serious." He caught my eyes with his for a moment before speaking again. "I will not force you to do anything, Sookie."

I had a sudden surge of bravery, and I stood up on my tip-toes, took his head in both of my hands, and pulled his lips to mine. "Lets go dance." I said as I turned away from him and headed back to the big room.

I dared a look over my shoulder to make sure he was following, he was. So, I flashed him a huge grin.

When we met up with the crowd in the big room, I noticed that there was an older gentleman standing at the podium. As he began to speak, I felt Eric's hand on the small of my back, and I relaxed against it.

"I would like to thank everyone for coming here tonight and showing there support and dedication to the success of Save the Children." He began his voice very deep and oddly smooth. Kind of like Barry White.

"I would also like to thank everyone on behalf of our organization for their generosity. Several of you have already made sizable donations, I know. But there are also several privately owned businesses that have offered services of another kind. We will begin the auction here in a few moments."

I felt Eric tense against me, but he didn't say anything so I just shrugged it off and continued to listen.

"Our auction tonight is for an evening out with a representative of these wonderful local businesses. All proceeds made tonight will go to help children in need all across the world. Please remember that in your bidding this evening. Now we will begin. When I call your name, please come and join me on the stage and we will begin the bidding.

"Shit." I heard Eric mutter, and I knew that this could not be good. I turned to look at his face questioningly, at that exact moment I heard the announcer.

"Sookie Stackhouse."

My eyes burned holes in Eric's and I felt my mouth open in shock, as he looked at me apologetically.

"Is this for real, Eric?" I hissed.

"Sookie, it is for charity. Please." He nodded his head in the direction of the stage.

I could hear whispers and feel the eyes of everyone in the room looking to me, wondering what the hell was taking so long. So I grabbed another glass of champagne from the waiter that passed, downed it, turned on my heels and made my way to the stage.

I held my head high as I climbed the steps to the stage and pasted on a huge grin, until I reached the platform where I was to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

I looked to Eric, and just stared intently. I don't know if he knew what I was thinking, but he certainly looked sheepish enough. Now, I am not sure if the heat in my face was caused by my anger or from the fact that I have been downing champagne like a fish tonight, but I could feel the red in my ears.

I was silently telling him that this was far from over and I was pissed the hell off.

The announcer started the bidding, but I paid no attention to what anyone was saying. I kept my eyes locked on Mr. High and Mighty, making sure he knew I was not through with him.

It is not like I would have really minded. If only he had asked me. I mean really, how could I say 'no' to helping children?

I saw Eric answer his phone and he seemed intent on whatever he was saying. And then his focused changed direction.

I followed his gaze until I came to rest on the mayor who was, apparently bidding on me. I had not been paying attention until now. And the way the mayor looked at me made me very uncomfortable. So I looked back to Eric questioningly.

He raised his hand in gesture to bid. And the bidding went back and forth between Eric and Mayor De Castro for a moment.

Eric had, at some point hung up his phone and started walking towards the stage. The glare in his eyes that was aimed at the mayor was just plain intimidating and frightening. I heard the mayor bid again, and Eric's face lit up with rage.

He stopped about half the distance between me and the mayor and took a protective stance in front of me as he spoke loudly.

"One hundred thousand dollars." He said in a voice that boomed through the crowd. But what he may as well have said was 'Don't fuck with me'.

I felt my mouth pop open.

A hundred thousand…holy cow!

I looked to the mayor again and his wife nudged him to hush. My god, what kind of sick man would do that to his wife. His intentions for me were written all over his face, and I despised him even more.

The auctioneer finished and I had, apparently been bought by Eric Northman for one hundred thousand dollars. I was dismissed and I made my way down the stairs.

I walked right passed Eric. I was grateful that he saved me from that slime De Castro, but there was no way I was letting the rest of it go.

I grabbed, yet another, glass of champagne from a passing waiter that probably thought I was a slosh, but at that moment, I simply didn't care.

I made my way through the crowded room hastily. I stormed right through the lobby until I felt the cool wind of the night air on my face.

Once I was outside, I didn't really know what to do. For one, Eric drove me, so I didn't have away home. For two, I was drunk as a skunk and the night air seemed to amplify the fact. I got light headed and ended up stumbling over to a bench.

As I sat there, I put my face in my hands, trying like hell to stop the whirly birds in my head.

Stupid stupid stupid!

I felt a warm body sit down next to me. I knew who it was. So without even looking up, I spoke.

"What do you want, Eric?" I mumbled through my palms.

"Sookie." He stated simply.

I honestly didn't know if he was saying it to get my attention or if he was answering my question. So, I went with the latter.

"Well, apparently you own me now. So, I guess you got what you wanted." I spat looking him dead in the eyes.

"I thought you might prefer me to that slime, De Castro." He growled.

"I might would have." I spat

"Would you rather, him?" he asked with a look of disgust

"Ughh…" I made a disgusted face. "No!"

"Then what is the matter? All is well." He stated with a smug smile.

"All is not well, Eric. You may have saved me from a horrible night with Mr. Perv, but that does not make everything ok."

"You are mad?"

"Yes, I am mad. How could you not have told me?" My voice was betraying my emotion and I hated it.

"I forgot." He stated simply, as he turned his face away from me.

Forgot! Forgot!

How do you forget to tell someone you are auctioning off a date with them? I decided I would give him the benefit of a doubt and play along with his line of thought.

"How do you forget something like that, Eric?" I said alarmingly calm.

"With everything that has happened…" he started as he caught my eyes with his own.

I knew what he was saying. All the times we had been together, I ended up throwing him out or beating him up. We had not had many opportunities to actually talk. Then I remembered.

"You could have told me tonight, before we came." I reminded him.

"I don't know about that." He said with a shameful expression, while trying to hide a smile.

"What do you mean? It is not like I would not have done it for you… well for the kids." I corrected. Hell, I know I would have done it for him too. But I wanted to know his reasoning.

"Sookie." He said as he took my hands into both of his.

I looked to his eyes impatiently, waiting for his excuse.

"I went by your apartment to tell you this morning, but you were not there."

Duh!

That still didn't answer my question. So, I just stared at him, tapping my foot in annoyance.

"And when I saw you this evening…" he started as he looked down at our hands and then back to my eyes. "…You absolutely took my breath away. You honestly have no idea how truly beautiful you are. Do you?"

Damnit!

I could see the sincerity in his eyes and I could feel it in my chest. I wanted to stay mad at him, but I didn't think I could at that point. I felt defeated and flattered all with one sentence.

I stood up and took a few steps away from him. A part of me wanted to be mad at him, but the larger part wanted to kiss him for his wonderful compliment. I was so frustrated, in every way possible.

I crossed my arms in front of me as I thought about what I really wanted. And as if on cue, I felt Eric's hands come around both of my shoulders as he turned me to face him. I took a moment to look up to his eyes, but as soon as I found them, I knew I was a goner.

I blame the champagne, but without giving it much more thought than that, I lifted my hand up to brush the edge of his jaw and allowed it to stop at the base of his neck. He noticed the signal I was giving him and lowered his lips to meet mine.

Kissing Eric is like nothing I have ever experienced before. His lips, though rough and demanding, seemed to gently mold to my own as we found a smooth rhythm. I felt his tongue graze across my bottom lip as it opened to allow entrance.

My hand gripped the nape of his neck as my other hand roamed along the buttons of his shirt. My tongue danced with his and I could taste the sweet champagne on his lips. His hand found its way to the small of my back and began gripping and pulling at the flesh there, in attempt to get me closer. I felt my body fall flush with his and the temperature in my core seemed to reach a critical level, as I felt his own growing arousal against my hip.

Reality came crashing down as I remembered where we were. I shifted back slightly, not wanting to break all contact. But I definitely needed some distance. Eric's apparent arousal only seemed to feed mine on more.

I raised my fingers to his mouth tracing the lines of his lips as I spoke. "Can we go?"

He didn't answer he simply waved to the valet, who I didn't even know was standing there, to signal him to retrieve the car.

We stood there in silence as we searched each others eyes. I continued to trace his lips as the other hand rested gently on his chest. Eric's hand gripped me firmly at the small of my back, while his other hand was playing with the loose hairs along my shoulder.

The car finally arrived and he helped me in and made his way to his seat.

Sitting down seemed to make my head spin worse, and I was really feeling the effects of the champagne. That and the mind blowing kiss.

I felt his hand brush across my thigh as it searched for mine. The flimsy fabric did not do much to block the heat from his hand and I felt myself shudder under his touch.

My rather inebriated state seemed to bring out my inner sex kitten. I moved our now entwined hands to rest on his thigh and let my fingers brush along the pleat in his pants, tracing the patterns of his muscles. I felt him stiffen at my touch and smiled at his response.

Wanting to see how far I could press this, I let go of his hand and palmed his thigh, rubbing inwards slightly. I felt Eric jump back a bit as a low hiss escaped his lips.

I saw him steal a look out of the corner of his eyes at me, and that seemed to feed my less inhibited self. I lowered the seat belt off my shoulder and leaned over the tiny console towards him and positioned my tongue and moistened the flesh just below his earlobe. The car lurched forward, and I didn't even want to know how fast we were going.

I let my hand rub across the front of his chest and come to rest on his tensed abdominals. Being driven forward by the sheer effect I was having on him, I licked again and blew my hot breath across the moist flesh as my teeth nipped at his earlobe.

Eric's arm came around me to grab my ass and tug desperately at the offending fabric there. I pulled back slightly and checked his expression, which looked actually very stressed. I kissed lower down his neck to leave a dampened trail down to the indentation in his throat. I heard a low rumble in his chest that seemed to resonate in my nether regions.

I felt the car screech to a stop, and he was out of the car before I realized where we were. We were back at the apartment already.

Eric slung my car door opened, gripped me by the wrist, and yanked me out of the car. One hand gripped at the small of my back as the other grabbed the back of my head and yanked me to his mouth.

His mouth was hot and demanding and I could not get enough. I kept up with his intensity, as I fisted the collars of his jacket. I felt his hand slide down my hip to grip the side of my thigh and lift it to curve around his as he shoved me back against the car. His growing erection rubbed against my throbbing center from the angle, soliciting a gasped moan to escape my lips.

I let my hand roam down and around to get a grip on his delicious ass and grind him into me even further.

My head was spinning and I was breathless and the growing need for release was becoming all too intense.

I pushed him away slightly as a whispered. "Somewhere…" is all the sentence I could form.

He understood and turned grabbing my hand to tug me along "Purse…?" I said breathlessly.

I didn't seem to be able to form a sentence my head was not working right. The fact that the ground was spinning beneath me wasn't helping. I felt him release my hand and I stumbled backwards. I felt my eyes roll back in my head briefly. I was grasping for his hand to stabilize me but it was too late.

I passed out…

A/N: Yep! I did that shiznit. *ducks* "Stop throwing stuff at me!"

Leave your comments as always. I will update soon, I won't make it torturous for you.

FYI: Did you know that 23% of Americans don't recycle, among these 1 in 6 say that they don't recycle because it is not available in there area.