A/N: And… we're back Hope everyone had enjoyed the holidays. So, I took a bit of a hiatus, I admit it – I got all inspired with the holidays and wrote a Christmas Carol parody for the NoN contest. If you're interested, or just want to show me how much you luuuurve and adore me, the link is on my profile ;D
Before we return to our regularly scheduled program though, I hope you'll bear with me for a couple of pimptastic announcements:
First, a word about the Naughty or Nice contest. I think this contest may have been a bit overlooked among all the other ones, and the craziness of the holiday season in general They have extended the deadline to January 17, so I hope you will all consider entering. If not, please at least go and r&r the entries. You can check them out here:
http://www . Fanfiction . net/community/Naughty_or_Nice_One-shot_Contest/76327/99/0/1/
And secondly, I wanted to mention a cause that's very dear to my heart. The Vampire Author Auction raises much needed funds for Stacie Holeman (truelovepooh on LJ and in fandom). Stacie has Breast and Ovarian Cancer and no medical insurance. A few of your favorite SVM authors are participating, including txone, Nyah, youbettago, Kyss, TexanLady and many more. If your favorite author isn't participating, they might if you just ask them. Show your support for this great cause and you favorite authors by bidding!
You can find more information here:
http://supportstacie . com/
CHAPTER 6: TAKE TWO
Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.
~Pablo Picasso
Sookie
I could practically hear the happy-go-lucky melody of Movin' On Up in my head as we sat in the plush leather seats of the limo, on our way to Paramount Pictures Studio.
I felt like I had officially arrived at Hollywood. And the bubbly we were downing as if it was water as we tried to relax in the back seat only heightened Amelia's excited giggles, and, in turn, mine.
I had heard that it took forever to get anywhere in—or near—L.A., but I was still shocked that it had already been half an hour, and we were still a long way off from our destination. Of course, it probably seemed longer because of all the built-up anticipation. I mean, I may have been able to pretend with Gran that the highlight of my trip to L.A. would be the opening of my own show, but really, this is what I'd been waiting for the entire weekend. They were going to be showing the two hour season premiere on the actual soundstage of the Fiends set, and we would be watching it while sitting next to EN, as well as the other actors, of course. This was pretty much a fangirl fantasy come true.
Attempting to calm my own nerves, I poured myself another glass of champagne and watched Amelia. She seemed content, sipping the bubbly and texting ridiculously silly updates to her twitter account. The girl seemed to have a bottomless tolerance for alcohol. There was one empty bottle tossed at her feet, and we were already more than halfway through the bottle we were presently working on. While I drank from a fluted glass, she chugged the stuff straight from the bottle. Since I was only on my third glass, I knew that she was definitely outpacing me. I wasn't even sure how she was still typing coherent sentences into her iPhone.
When the car finally pulled to a stop, we sat for a surreal moment, like the heavy, still silence of the calm before the storm. We examined each other closely, fixing up stray hairs and adjusting garments and touching up lip gloss. Amelia surprised me when she pulled me to her abruptly, and raised her iPod.
"Say Fiends," she sang, right before the flash of her camera went off.
"Amelia! What the—"
"Oh, relax, Sookie," she admonished. "You're gonna want some snapshots from tonight. Besides, you know as soon as we open this door there'll be lots more flashing lights."
I rolled my eyes, biting back a retort because she did have a point, and we both knew it.
She stashed her phone and gave me one more questioning look over her shoulder. We gave each other a quick nod, and then Amelia turned to the door and opened it.
Our nerve-induced giggles had reached epic proportions by the time we entered the theater. I couldn't even remember what we were laughing at anymore, but we both seemed incapable of doing anything more coherent or appropriate. It just seemed so surreal to be here at the Fiends set, surrounded by all the pretty, famous faces. It was kind of like standing in front of the Eiffel tower after years of only seeing it in postcards. Thankfully, we were at least able to resist pointing and staring like the awe-struck tourists that we so obviously were.
Amelia stopped abruptly in front of me, and I stumbled into her. As soon as I half-recovered my balance, I caught a glimpse of what had made her stop in her tracks. Damn. I let a long breath out, steadying my rocking body. It should be illegal to be that gorgeous.
EN smiled at me as his eyes caught mine from across the room, and I won't lie—I melted more than a little. Dear Lord, how can a man be so damn perfect? Well, physically perfect anyways.
His eyes never left mine, staring at me with what I could only assume was his best panty-incinerating stare—with a smirk to match—even while he continued talking to and laughing with the small group of people who surrounded him.
He looked like he should grace the cover of a romance novel. Without the skank factor most of those male models had. You know, like that male gigolo-looking guy in those butter substitute commercials? That caused me to erupt into another fit of giggles. Like butta indeed.
He was just—Guh. Squared. No, scratch that. Quadrupled. Well, I wasn't really good at math, but you get the picture.
He had his hair pulled back in those hot Viking braids like Bjorn sometimes had on the show, but there were some loose wisps hanging around his face, no doubt from his nervous habit of constantly running his hands through his hair. It seemed to be the only human crack in his god-like perfection.
It looked like he had foregone his favorite gray suit tonight in favor of a black velvet one. The material seemed to cling to his broad shoulders and muscled physique even more than any other material I'd yet seen him wear. Yum.
Yes, EN was perfect in every way. The only problem was, he was all too aware of just how perfect he was.
I was startled out of my thoughts when I felt Amelia's arm slowly slip out of mine. When I looked to my side, I saw that she was greeting Pam with an extra friendly hug. After some minimal small talk, they slinked away with a thinly-veiled excuse.
I was still sputtering and muttering in disbelief when I looked around me, only to see EN heading my way. I barely had a chance to take a deep breath and pull myself together before he reached me.
"I see you haven't seen the light yet," he said, lips tugging into a smirk.
"Pardon?"
"Well, as much as I would have liked to see you wear my gift, I must admit, you do look delicious tonight."
"Oh," I mumbled, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks.
His smirk widened into a full out grin. Leaning in and brushing his lips against my cheek, he purred, "Wearing my favorite color again, I see."
I pulled back sharply, fumbling to hide the tremors his hot breath and words inflicted on me. I was focusing on minimizing the hot flush to my cheeks so I didn't notice the man who had approached us.
"Northman," the proximity of his nasal voice, tempered with a familiar Southern twang, startled me. "Are you going to introduce this sweet little morsel to the rest of us?" He finally came into view from behind Eric's impossibly broad shoulders, fixing his dark eyes on me with the words.
I could feel the expanding heat in my face radiating all the way to my ears.
William Compton, the actor who played vampire Bill on the show, seemed to smile wider as our eyes met. He leaned into Eric, patting his shoulder jovially, but kept his hungry gaze locked on me. "You didn't actually think you could keep her all to yourself, did you?"
Eric's shoulder noticeably stiffened. He glanced at Bill's hand with a mixture of annoyance and disdain and shrugged it off his shoulder. Bill's satisfied smirk only widened at Eric's reaction before Bill turned to me and reached for my hand, smiling sweetly.
"I don't believe I've had the pleasure of your acquaintance, yet, miss …." he inquired with somewhat exaggerated old-world fashion, brushing his lips against my hand while keeping his eyes trained on me.
I was searing alive in a mix of embarrassment and shyness, my lungs laboring heavily. "Oh, it's Sookie," I stammered, retrieving my hand. "Sookie Stackhouse."
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Stackhouse."
"Oh, please. Call me Sookie."
"If you insist, Sookie," he replied, his eyes eating me up.
"Now that you're curiosity has been satiated," Eric cut in with a clipped tone. "Is there anything else we can do for you, Compton?"
Bill was about to reply, when Eric cut him off. "Oh, good. We were just about to take our seats."
The satisfied smile on Eric's lips, dressed up—though not very convincingly—as a polite one, made me think that Bill was probably not going to be sitting anywhere near us for the screening.
Then, EN actually placed his hand on my lower back as he led me toward our seats! I tried not to gasp too loudly at the electrical current that felt like his palm was imprinting my back, sending the most delicious shivers up and down my spine. I knew he had large hands (in fact, I will admit, it was the topic of many a fangirl-gush, and maybe a tad bit of an obsession), but feeling how much of my skin he was able to cover with his palm made my eyes widen so much that I began to worry they might actually pop right out of their sockets.
I was so focused on slowing my breathing to a normal pace that I didn't even notice we had gotten to our seats until I suddenly felt a tug on my hand. I turned my head just as I felt my body give, and suddenly found myself plopped in a chair, my face a mere inches away from EN.
Well, these oh-shit moments were just racking up, weren't they?
Breath gradually returned to me when only a moment later, the lights began to dim. I was never so relieved to hear the sound of HBO snow.
Eric
It took me about twenty minutes to extricate myself from the annoying questions of the cloying crowd after the screening was over. Almost a personal record, I mused, as I walked out to the courtyard, which had been transformed into a vampire watering hole. The space was dotted with gazebos, half of them draped in red velvet, the other strung with protective plastic garlic.
I picked my way through the crowd, scanning for her blonde head as I nodded and smiled politely at the guests, hurrying past them. After a few minutes of fruitless searching, I made my way to the bar, hoping some alcohol would help me to calm the fuck down. And maybe even see straight. Really, I should be alarmed and disgusted at my pubescent-like giddy anticipation to be near her again, but—I'd rather just be near her again.
Heineken in hand, I took a couple of long swigs and turned to face the throngs again. I smiled when I spotted the head of golden waves for which I had been searching. But my elation soon turned to disappointment, and then to pure unadulterated rage, when I discovered who was standing next to her.
Of course. Leave it to fucking Compton to weasel his way in at the slightest opening. He was so damn pathetic, it would be sad if it wasn't so irritating.
I could feel my hands grip the bottle in my hands dangerously tighter and the tension stiffening my muscles as I watched Compton lay it on thick with his lame-ass simpering smile. Fuck, it just made me want to gag, and then kick his ass some more, when I saw him run his hands through his man-bangs in feign absentminded sexiness. What a douche. It was so glaringly obvious that he knew exactly what impact that had on the ladies. Too bad it didn't decimate panties anywhere close to the rate they melted for me when I ran my hands through my own long, blond hair. Sorry Billy boy, but ladies are suckers for long hair.
What the fuck? I was rudely slapped from my thoughts, or rather, from patting myself on the back, by the sight of her. She was giggling and darting her eyes around like a damned school girl as Compton leaned in closer to her, his lips forming words from behind that idiotic smile.
Was she actually falling for his pseudo Southern rake routine? Unbefuckinlievable. And why the hell did I actually give a crap?
I was just about to head toward them, contemplating what would feel most satisfying—the crunch of his skin tearing under my fists, or hearing his grunts and moans when I kicked his ass—when I felt soft, cool hands snake around my waist.
Two sets of arms crossed around my back, hands settling on each side of my waist. I glanced around to see two of my favorite red-heads standing beside me—Sophie-Anne Leclerq and Jessica Hamby.
Aside from their coloring—red hair and pale creamy skin—these two were as different as night and day. Sophie-Anne, who played Bjorn's love interest for a few episodes this season—a kinky dominatrix—was all curves and sex. Jessica, on the other hand, who had a guest spot as one of Leif's conquests, was beautiful in an awkward but horny schoolgirl/band-geek kind of way—with her lanky body and wide gray moon-eyes. They were both hot as hell.
"Ladies," I said with an appreciative, leisurely glance at each of them.
They returned my greeting in eager do-me unison, both reaching for handfuls of my chest with their free hands.
This was exactly what I needed. A good fuck—or two—would fix my little blonde problem. I silently thanked the god of horny co-stars finally able to snap myself out of this ridiculous spell this chick had somehow cast on me. It was a well known law of physics—no two objects can inhabit the same space at the same time. And I was an expert in physics.
"Enjoying the show, Viking?" Sophie-Anne purred at my side with a significant wink.
I was more than happy to play along when she began to caress my ass, while Jessica fit herself under my arm, nuzzling into me.
"Indeed," I breathed into her ear as I leaned in closer, giving Jessica's ass a quick squeeze.
The girls nestled themselves into me, tracing my chest and back as they giggled coyly, growing more brazen with the movements of their hands.
After a moment, I took another discreet peek at Sookie.
She was still standing at the exact same spot and Compton was still at her side, but they had been joined by Pamela and Amelia as well. Sookie looked like she was focusing on the girls, which, I must admit, came as a relief. But, just when I was about to look away, I noticed Compton had spotted me. In fact, his eyes were boring into me.
As soon as he caught my attention, he leaned down to whisper something in her ear. Her response was immediate, and it both turned me on and irritated the hell out of me at the same time. Her lips turned up into a shy smile and she cast her eyes down, her blush deepening into that shade of crimson that looked so goddamned hot on her.
When Compton lifted his head again and met my eyes, one corner of his mouth was turned into a crooked smirk. Motherfucker.
Well,I guess she really was Team Vamp—all the way. Fuck it then.
She might be hot, in a Southern Belle, adorable and sweet kind of way, but if she wasn't interested, there were plenty of other takers. Eager and ready at that, I told myself, returning my attention to the girls beside me. I pulled both girls closer to me, relishing the feel of their soft bodies against mine.
"Come on big boy," Jessica whispered, her breath hot against my skin. "Let's go somewhere a little more comfortable." She looked up at me through long lashes, her mouth turning up in a devious smirk as she gave me a wink.
I chuckled, which only seemed to encourage their groping hands.
I briefly contemplated warning Sookie, or at least Amelia, that she was better off staying far away from Bill, but I quickly pushed the thought away. She was a big girl—and I wasn't a fucking babysitter.
Slinging my arms around each girl, I turned and led the three of us toward the back, where I knew my limo would be waiting. "My thoughts exactly."
Sookie
EN was surrounded by a crowd almost as soon as we got up after the screening. For a split second, I considered hanging back and waiting for him. But, the crowd around him only seemed to grow, and I realized it was going to keep him busy for a while.
I headed out to the courtyard, where they were holding the after-party. I was just considering whether to first get a drink or some food, when my eyes bugged out at the site of what looked like a dessert buffet, with the most mouth watering arrangement of cupcakes. Seeing all that butter cream goodness only a few feet away almost made my knees buckle.
I was startled out of my reverie by a voice at my back, low and smooth as molasses.
"Sookie," Vampire Bill said.
"Oh, um … William," I stammered.
"Please, I do insist you call me Bill."
I nodded in agreement. After a short but awkward silence, he offered to get me a drink and I consented, calling out after him to snag me a cupcake as well.
His flirting was shameless and incessant, but the booze and the sugar made the time go faster, as I waited for Amelia to reappear. I still couldn't believe she had abandoned me like this to fend for myself—I mean, doesn't that saying, 'bros before hos' apply to girls too? I giggled at that thought, and immediately regretted it, because I could tell by Bill's satisfied grin that he thought I was responding to his advances.
He took the opportunity to lean in a little closer, running a hand through his hair and fixing me with a smile that I guess was supposed to be charming, but really just gave me the willies. Gosh, they must either do a lot of edits, or a lot of takes, because he seemed to pull off this-I'm-sexy-without-trying-to-be-sexy thing much better on the screen.
"Well, Sookie," he purred, "I must say, now that I have gotten the opportunity to spend a little time with you, I can certainly see why Eric is so taken with you. Aside from your breathtaking beauty, you are just so charming and sweet."
I knew he was convinced that he was reeling me in with his own charm, but his old-world language and sweet gentleman demeanor was so overdone, whether on purpose or not, that I couldn't help but burst into fits of giggles. At least I could feel the blush return to my cheeks, so it didn't totally look like I was laughing at him.
"Oh, I don't know about that," I demurred, glancing around frantically for Amelia, or, really, for any other lifeline to grasp onto.
My luck seemed to be turning, because she emerged from the crowd, Pam on her arm, before Bill had the chance to utter another word.
Time seemed to drag on and on, but I was happy to have Amelia and Pam to focus on, and as the alcohol worked its magic, I was feeling pretty relaxed. Bill was growing on me, but I couldn't be sure whether it was him, or the booze, or both.
My eyes started to wander around the crowd, hoping to catch a glimpse of EN. He must have made it out here by now, I thought. I would never have admitted it out loud, but I was kind of hoping, even expecting him to find me. He had been laying on the charm pretty thick all through the evening, even during the screening.
I was jarred from my thoughts when I felt Bill's breath, hot against my ear. "So," he whispered, "I am awfully curious. Are you Team Vamp or Team Human?"
I looked down at the ground with a sheepish grin, feeling the heat of my deepening blush spread across my cheeks.
When I looked up again, Bill was chuckling with a devious gleam in his eye, so I knew he wasn't exactly holding his breath for a reply.
Amelia began to regale us with one of her numerous anecdotes from her years of bartending, so I allowed my eyes to roam once again, while I nodded and laughed at all the appropriate spots.
When I finally caught site of EN, my smile all but disappeared. I spotted him nestled in between two red-headed ho's, who had draped themselves all over him, feeling him up and rubbing themselves all over him. I wasn't sure what was more disgusting—the way they were throwing themselves at him, or the fact that he didn't seem to really mind.
Then, I saw the taller, skinnier one whisper something between fluttering lashes, even giving him a wink. Slut. He looked like he actually responded with laughter, which only encouraged the girls even more.
What kind of a man actually likes that kind of woman?
Manwhore.
I looked away, swallowing hard against the taste of bile rising in my throat, and returned my attention to Amelia's story. As I struggled to pick up the rhythm of smiles and amused snorts, I berated myself for being such a stupid, naïve girl.
What had I expected? He is Eric fucking Northman, after all. Hell, he could have any woman he sets his eyes on, why be surprised that he had his eye on more than one, literally? I so should have known that he was just playing his part, since I won the contest—being nice to me the only way he knew how. Hell, he probably had to be nice to me. Now that the contest was done, so was whatever had been, or hadn't been, between us.
My laughter took on a bitter quality, realizing how stupid I was to ever think it was anything more than that. I could feel myself fading fast from the conversation. Knowing I wouldn't be able to keep up the pretense much longer, I spun around and walked away from the group.
"Hey! Sook! Where—" Amelia called out after me.
"I need a drink," I yelled over my shoulder, hoping they'd all get the hint and keep their distance.
Eric
As soon as we got in the back seat of my limo, they were all over me, just like I knew they would be.
Yes, this was exactly what I needed, I told myself as I grabbed a handful of red hair and pulled Jessica's face toward mine, our lips crashing against each other's with rough, almost bruising force. Her lips parted, inviting me in, but before taking her up on it, I pulled her lower lip into my mouth, sucking her in, tasting the sweet raspberry flavored lip gloss. I felt and heard her soft whimpers and moans spill into my mouth, while Sophie-Anne grew bold on my other side, slipping her hands under my shirt and pushing it up. Her mouth descended to my skin, tracing a path from my chest down to my stomach with her hot, talented tongue.
I groaned as Sophie-Anne began to rub her hands over my crotch, bucking up into her hand. I began to grind against her as we found each other's rhythm, my hips moving against her hand at a pace that matched the movement of my lips and tongue with Jessica's.
But all I could see was golden blonde waves and sky-blue eyes, tanned glowing skin and perfectly pouty lips. I growled deep in my throat. What. The. Fuck.
Luckily, the girls only increased their efforts double fold, thinking my growl was an indication of arousal, and not the irritation it really was.
I closed my eyes tighter, giving into it, into her. As one girl began to suck at my ear, making her way down my neck, and the other started unbuttoning my pants, I focused on the image of golden waves cascading around me, and imagined that the lips on my skin were Sookie's. When my phone began to buzz in my back pocket, indicating a text message, I ignored it, focusing instead on Sookie's talented hands wrapping around my cock.
When my phone went off again, Sophie-Anne rudely forced me out of my fantasy.
"You gonna get that, big boy, or shall I?" she whispered in what was meant to be a sexy purr, but it didn't have a trace of a Southern drawl, so I was forced to wake up from my dream.
Opening my eyes, I gave Jessica's ass a playful smack before removing my hand to reach for the phone. It buzzed with another text message just as I was grabbing it.
I flipped the phone open as the girls returned their attentions to my body. I was planning on just turning it off, but when I saw the three texts were from Pam, my curiosity was piqued.
Where the F are you? She's LEAVING.
Going, going …
And GONE. Just left out back to limo.
Fuck. I could feel myself growing limp in Sophie-Anne's hands, now that I could no longer pretend that it was a certain blonde in my lap, and not just two ho-bags.
Screw it. I didn't really understand what my deal was, or rather, my cock's deal, with this hot little Southern belle, but I sure as hell was going to find out. Hell, I'm Eric fucking Northman. She may take a little more convincing than most ladies, for some unfathomable reason, but I always did enjoy a challenge. It brought out the Viking in me.
Anyway, no one could resist the Northman offensive for very long.
Having made my decision, I shoved both of them away, answering their questioning looks and gaping mouths with an apologetic smirk and a wink. I lifted Jessica, setting her on Sophie-Anne's lap and out of my way, and exited the limo without so much as a backward glance.
I hurried along the line of limos, hoping to head her off before she reached her ride. The street was abandoned. I began to walk back toward the party, hoping that maybe I might still intercept them on their way out, when I froze at the sound of car window lowering. Pivoting on my heels, I was slammed with the sight of Sookie practically leaning out of the car, surveying the surroundings as if she was trying to take a mental picture, until her eyes landed on me.
Even from my distance a few feet away, I could see her shoulders slump ever so slightly before she squared them and raised her chin in a prideful slant. She met my eyes for the briefest of my moments and then shook her head. I barely had a chance to catch a glimpse of the disdain twisting her lips before she rolled up the window.
All I could do was stand there like a total fucking idiot, watching the car pull out and speed away.
A/N: *Exit stage right, ducking rotten tomatoes* Now before you get too upset, just keep in mind … this is just a tiny little speed bump, in a pretty long ride. This fic is going to be about 20-25 chapters when it's all said and done. Did ya notice the change in rating to M? There will be ESN, and, yes, even an HEA, eventually. But the road there will be twisty and windy… so buckle up and enjoy the ride kiddies :)
Oh, and reviews make the brothers Erikson talk to me (and maybe other things we all enjoy?), so please press the little green button and tell me what you thought.
Nutella kisses to my amazing betas nycsnowbird and youbettago. You girls rock my socks ;D Any mistakes remaining are purely my own ;p
Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the characters in SVM or the HBO series True Blood. However, the original content and ideas below are mine all mine.