Chapter 4

Eric was sure he was shrinking under Godric disapproving gaze. His maker always had that effect on him, and no matter how much he cared for his maker, Eric hated Godric for it at that moment.

"What do you mean?" Sookie asked, looking between the two vampires in confusion.

"It seems that Eric hired a witch to cast a spell," Godric said, calm as you please. "But something went wrong. Why don't you tell her the details, Eric?"

Eric looked away for a moment, telling himself sternly that this was just a human, a bloodbag (albeit one in an extra attractive package), and that he should not care about her response to whatever he had done. He was a 1000-year-old vampire, for fuck's sake. If he wanted to have a witch cast a spell on a human girl, he had every right to do so.

"It's true," Eric said with as much arrogance as he could muster. "I hired a witch to cast a spell on you, Sookie, to relieve you of your reluctance to yield to me. But apparently, it backfired, and now I find myself affected in ways I could not have predicted."

Sookie stared at him while her mouth slowly sank open. She stayed like that for quite a few moments, until she finally found her voice, and whispered, "What?"

"Allow me to clarify things for you, Ms Stackhouse," Godric said pleasantly. "Eric had a witch cast a love spell on you. However, the witch deceived him, and now every woman is affected by this spell, except for you." Godric looked up at Eric with a quirked eyebrow, silently daring him to disagree.

"You did what?" Sookie shrieked, jumping forward, but Eric stood his ground and looked down at her with a blank face. "Those women tried to kill me, and you put them up to it?"

Before Eric could reply, Sookie slapped him in the face. Though it did not hurt him, it did provoke his temper, and his fangs clicked out while a growl escaped his throat.

But one look from Godric kept him from retaliating.

"You a-hole!" Sookie said, tears brimming in her eyes, and then she fled the living room in the direction of the kitchen.

Silence hung heavy between them until Harley cleared his throat. "So, anyone wanna play some Monopoly?"

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Eric paced the living room, while Godric sat on the couch, still as a statue. Harley sat on the floor, examining the note the witch had left for Eric while paging through a few dusty spell books. The only sound they heard were the quiet sobs coming from the kitchen.

"You really went too far this time, Eric," Godric said.

Eric wanted to throw something at his head, but managed to control himself. Barely. "I know. I had figured that out for myself already, master."

"Stop calling me that," Godric said. At least he sounded faintly amused again, which was something.

"Ah," Harley said, looking up with a smile, but it quickly wilted when Eric glared at him. "I think I've found the cure."

"Tell me," Eric demanded as he stalked closer to the witch.

"The...er...affected parties can break this kind of spell by...physically driving it out of their systems."

Both Eric and Godric stared at the witch, who cleared his throat and ducked his head. "Sex," he whispered.

"Sex?" Eric repeated, still unclear what the hell this human was babbling about.

"Yeah," Harley said with shrug. "You and the girl have got to fuck the magic out of your system, basically."

Eric looked in the direction of the kitchen, a smirk teasing his face, until he realized Sookie's sobs had grown louder. With a dark frown he wondered how the hell he was going to convince Sookie she needed to have sex with him for everything to go back to normal. He had a feeling she wasn't going to agree with that anytime soon, the stubborn human that she was.

"I will speak with her," Godric said, and disappeared into the kitchen.

"Er...I'm just gonna have a smoke," Harley said and rushed out of the front door.

Eric silently moved closer to the kitchen, careful to stay out of sight.

"You must understand, Ms Stackhouse," Godric said quietly. "Eric is used to getting his way."

"You mean, you spoiled him?" Sookie asked with a snort.

Eric wanted to rush in there and demand Sookie apologize to his maker for daring to speak to him like that, but Godric merely chuckled in response.

"I think this has more to do with Eric's personality than my guidance to him. And, of course, there is the fact that Eric has not cared for a human in a very long time, and I believe he was overwhelmed by his feelings to such an extend that he went about courting you in the wrong way."

Eric's eyes widened as he took in Godric's response. It had finally happened. His maker had gone senile in his old age.

"What do you mean? Eric doesn't care about me. He just wants to have sex with me," Sookie said, sounding very sure of herself.

There. At least the human understood how things were, Eric thought as he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

"Ms Stackhouse, Eric was so desperate for you to fall in love with him that he was willing to ignore the dangers of dealing with witches just to change your feelings for him. For a vampire like Eric, that is as good as a declaration of eternal love."

Ridiculous! How Godric could fabricate such nonsense, Eric just couldn't understand.

Wait.

Of course Godric was fabricating such nonsense! He was trying to sweet talk Sookie into going along with the cure! A great sense of relief washed over Eric. He should never doubt his maker ever again. He'd always known that Godric was twice the vampire he'd ever be, and this just proved it once again. His maker was a genius for playing on Sookie's sentimental side like that.

"You really think so?" Sookie said, and she sounded far less upset than a few moments ago.

"I know so," Godric replied. "I have known Eric since I made him a vampire. I know him better than he knows himself. He has feelings for you, Ms Stackhouse. Very real and very deep feelings, but centuries of hiding his emotions have left him unable to deal with them in a good way."

"Well," Sookie said, and Eric could practically hear the shrug in her voice. "I suppose that's possible. But Eric knows I have a boyfriend. He shouldn't be - "

Godric cut her off. "Shouldn't be in love with you, Ms Stackhouse? How could anyone prevent themselves from falling in love?"

"I don't know," Sookie said pensively. "But him having feelings for me is no real excuse for getting us in this mess."

"Perhaps not. But there is a cure."

"There is?" Sookie asked, surprised. "What is it? When can we end this curse?"

"It is something you and Eric must do. Together. It is the only way to break the spell."

"Well, what is it?"

Godric remained silent for a few moments, as though trying to search for the correct words. "You and Eric must consummate his love for you."

"What?"

"You must have sex. Together."

"No!" Sookie shrieked, her chair scraping across the kitchen floor as she jumped up. "I can't have sex with Eric. I have a boyfriend."

"And yet you having sex with Eric is the only way to break the spell," Godric said reasonably. "Would you rather hide out here for the rest of your days, Ms Stackhouse? Because if you ever set foot out this house again, any woman you come across will try to kill you, as I understand it."

"Yes, but...I can't have sex with Eric! He's a manipulative pervert!"

"And he also has a thousand years of experience in pleasuring women. I guarantee you, Ms Stackhouse, you will enjoy the experience," Godric said smoothly, and Eric wanted to kiss his maker. All over.

Sookie cleared her throat, and Eric was willing to bet good money she was blushing. "I'm sure he's...very good at what he does, but...I have a boyfriend. I love Bill."

"You do not need to love Eric to enjoy sex with him, Ms Stackhouse."

"I get that, I really do, but still..."

"Your boyfriend need not even know about it," Godric offered, and Eric couldn't keep the grin off his face. Godric was backing Sookie into a corner so effortlessly that it made Eric a little weak in the knees at the sheer brilliance of his maker.

"That would be cheating," Sookie whispered.

"No, it would be breaking a curse that would otherwise destroy your entire life."

Sookie swallowed audibly. "Bill could never know. It would hurt him so badly."

"Ms Stackhouse, if you agree to the cure, I will personally command Eric never to share this with your boyfriend."

Eric frowned. Rubbing his conquest of Sookie in Compton's face had always been an important part of his plan, but he supposed he could go along with Godric's offer to Sookie. Not that he had any choice when it came to a command from his maker. Still, he could always tell Pam, and have her tell Compton. That wouldn't break the command.

"I guess we can try it, at least," Sookie murmured, and at once Eric zipped into the kitchen, startling the human who was about to become his lover, at least for a night.

"I always knew I'd get you in my bed somehow, Sookie," Eric said and licked his lips.

"Eric," Godric said, and there was a quiet threat in his voice. Eric took a step back, relaxed his shoulders, and offered both his maker and Sookie an innocent smile. Or as innocent as he could make it.

"Whenever you're ready, Sookie," he said, and gestured to the door, but before Sookie could reply, her body made a very strange, rather unnerving grumbling sound.

"Are you hungry, Ms Stackhouse?" Godric asked, and then gestured to a plastic bag on the kitchen table. "We brought human food for you."

"Starving, actually," Sookie said with a nervous look at Eric, and then started unloading the bag.

Eric leaned against the wall. He could be patient for a another hour or so. But by the end of the night, Sookie would be his.

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"How are we going to do this?" Sookie asked, standing at the foot of the bed, her gaze fixed to the floor.

"Is Bill really such a poor lover that I have to explain these things to you?" Eric asked as he splayed himself across the bed and looked up at Sookie with a daring smile.

"You leave Bill out of this," Sookie snarled. Ah yes, there was that fiery side he enjoyed so much. "It's bad enough I have to cheat on my boyfriend because you messed things up."

Eric decided not to comment on that, and instead removed his shirt. He was pleased to note the increase of Sookie's heartbeat and the soft inhale of breath.

"I suggest we start by removing our clothes." And to demonstrate his point, Eric kicked off his shoes and shoved his pants down, leaving him naked. There was no mistaking how much he was looking forward to their activities, and Sookie gasped and turned around.

"Don't be shy, my Sookie."

"I'm not yours," Sookie said with conviction. "This is just sex. To break the curse."

"Whatever you say, my Sookie." Eric scooted up the bed and padded the empty space beside him. "Come closer, my Sookie. I don't bite. At least, not yet."

"No, no blood!" Sookie whipped around to glare at him, but quickly averted her gaze to the ceiling. "I will not let you bite me."

"But biting is a part of sex with a vampire. If I don't bite you, the curse might not be broken."

Sookie crossed her arms, still not meeting his eyes.

"Take off your shirt, my sweet Sookie. Let me admire you," Eric said with a seductive purr, and smiled when he saw the blush rising up Sookie's cheeks. "Let me see your beautiful breasts before I give them my undivided attention. Lick your soft skin, and suck your hard nipples."

Sookie released a soft moan, and instantly clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes widening.

"I bet Bill never tells you what he's going to do with you, does he? Well, my sweet Sookie, I am going to taste every inch of your skin, and I am going to take my time doing it. Finally, I will taste your beautiful little pussy, take your clit between my teeth and suck until you scream my name instead of Compton's."

A strangled sound escaped Sookie, and then she burst into tears, hiding her face in her hands.

Eric sat up a little, unsure of what the hell was happening now. Sookie had responded so beautifully to his promises, and now this?

"I can't do this. I'm sorry, Eric, but I love Bill, and I can't just jump into bed with you. I need some time," she rambled and then fled up the stairs, leaving Eric to stare after her before he threw his pillow against the wall with such force it exploded and white feathers rained down around the room.

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Eric lay naked in bed, staring up at the ceiling. Absently, he plucked a white feather from the sheets and dropped it on the floor. Beside him lay Godric, equally naked. While their bond had been sexual in the early days, mostly because they both enjoyed sex and it had not always been easy to find other bed partners in Europe during medieval times, their bond had changed over the years and now there were no sexual feelings left between them. Though Eric was seriously considering proposing his maker after the case of blue balls Sookie had given him earlier, just to get some release.

"You were smart to play on Sookie's sentiments like you did to get her to agree," Eric said. The sun would not set for another half hour, so he might as well make some conversation to pass the time and distract himself from his true desires.

"Hm?'" Godric shifted his head to look at Eric. "What do you mean?"

Eric looked back at Godric. "The way you made up those things about my feelings."

"I did not make up anything, Eric," Godric said with an amused smile. "I meant every word I said to Ms Stackhouse."

"Don't be ridiculous," Eric said, before he could stop himself.

"I spoke only the truth." Godric stared back up at the ceiling. "Though I do recommend that if you find yourself having feelings for a girl in the future, you simply tell her instead of resorting to witchcraft."

"I do not like having feelings," Eric said with a snarl.

"That does not mean you don't have them, my child."

Eric turned his back to Godric. He had nothing left to say to his maker. Meddling little bastard that he was.

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The next evening, after both Godric and Eric were showered and dressed (and while Eric gave Godric the silent treatment, much to Godric's apparent amusement), they made their way back upstairs.

Sookie and Harley were camped out in the living room, playing a game of Monopoly. A surge of something bitter stung Eric's chest, and he had the inane urge to yank that witch away from Sookie and throw him bodily from the house. How dare he play Monopoly with his Sookie?

"How are you feeling, Ms Stackhouse?" Godric asked with a polite smile.

Sookie shrugged. "I'm fine, I guess."

Eric stared at her, unsure what to say or do next. Should he demand they retreat to the bedroom now to break the curse? Should he give her more time? Should he let Godric talk with her again, even though Godric had clearly lost his mind and spouted nothing but nonsense in his old age?

Before Eric could come up with a solid plan, his phone rang. He'd turned it off the previous day, mainly because Pam kept calling him and he had no desire to speak with her while she was still under the spell. But he was still the Sheriff of this area, and he needed to be available in case of true emergencies, so he'd turned it on again after he woke up.

Eric pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the caller ID

Queen Sophie-Anne.

Briefly closing his eyes, Eric pushed a button and held his phone to his ear. This was one call he could not refuse. If she found out he'd been meddling in witchcraft and had left such a mess in his wake, the consequences would not be pleasant.

"Your Majesty," he said in his most charming voice. Sookie looked up at him in confusion, but Godric frowned. Harley seemed oblivious. Then again, he was smelling strongly of marihuana again.

"Eric," Sophie-Anne said with an obvious purr in her voice. "How is my favourite Sheriff?"

"I am well, your Majesty," Eric said, feeling a little baffled. Sophie-Ann was not usually one for such informal greetings.

"Bill's progeny came to visit, and she had such riveting tales to share about you, Eric," Sophie-Anne said in a voice much huskier than Eric had ever heard from her before. "I believe you should come and visit me as soon as possible, so we can discuss these matters in private."

Eric exchanged a worried look with Godric.

He was so screwed.