Hi guys, Ok, here's chapter 4. There's a little bit of lemon juice at the end so hope you like it! As ever I dont own any of these guys. Thanks to Jo for all the hard work you put into this for me.
When I awoke alone in Eric Northman's bed on the second day, (second day!) of the Last Request tour I had the best idea ever to grace the mind of a Stackhouse. Avoid Eric. It would be carried out with military precision. Operation Avoid Eric. I could feel my face burn when I remembered allowing him to sleep beside me. I hid my face in Eric's pillow from…well myself. Big mistake. It held the scent that was Eric. I was glad I was alone and that he had got up and went on without me. I would have been so embarrassed waking up with him here, and who knows what would have happened.
I somehow managed to drag my lazy ass from the bed and make my way to the shower, stopping to grab my stuff on the way. It was late September and Dallas would still be a little hot. I somehow managed to squeeze my body into a miniscule shower, wondering how all the big guys got in here, and had a good wash. Pam had told me yesterday that our last two nights in Dallas would be in a hotel, giving the guys, and us, a chance for some privacy. Of course we were to spend five nights in Dallas, so I had two more to go on the bus. I knew exactly how I would cope. It was my earlier plan. Operation Avoid Eric. As I brushed my hair out I thought about him. My first night in New Orleans was marred a little (at least for Pam and Sophie-Anne) by Eric and his social life. I was probably another notch on the guitar so to speak. Well nothing happened so maybe I was more of a paint scratch than a notch.
Once I was dressed in a light yellow summer dress and sandals I made my way upstairs. I waved hi to Maria Star who was working at her laptop. Her camera was sitting beside her.
"Hey Sookie. Good night last night?" She asked. She was smiling.
"Just a normal run of the mill night. Nothing out of the ordinary." I said, plastering my big smile on. Oh no she knew. Everyone must know.
"I was knackered last night. You know I thought the bed on this bus would be uncomfortable but as soon as my head touched the pillow I was asleep. I'm only up."
I let out a deep breath. She didn't know. "Me too. I must have woke just after you." I looked around. There was no one else about. "Hey what about going out exploring. I'm starving."
"Sookie you took the words right out of my mouth. Let me grab my purse and I'll be right on it."
We headed towards a diner Maria Star had eaten in last night. Deciding to be bad I ordered the pancake stack with strawberry sauce. Maria Star had the same. It was divine, and I knew my hips would increase about 6 inches. I didn't care, I was so hungry and this was so good. As we left we met Tray. He was heading towards the concert venue and I decided to join him. We walked towards the hall that for the next four nights would be filled with the sound of Last Request.
Once inside I watched the various roadies build up the stage, adding lights, smoke machines, and of course various instruments. Sounds were tested and retested. Microphones were moved all over the place. The drums were assembled, tried out by Tray, disassembled and reassembled about a foot from where they originally were. While I was standing at the front of the stage one of the sound guys stopped to chat. I asked him if he would mind doing a quick interview about what it took to put a show like this on the road. He told me that would take a long time so I asked a few questions about his role instead. I grabbed a pen to jot his answers down and told him I would look him up every so often till we got a whole interview. After we finished our little chat I sat down on a crate to scribble some notes I thought might interest fans.
"Boo!" A voice said just above me. I jumped, I was so engrossed in what I was doing I hadn't noticed Eric arriving on stage. Claude was at the other side looking at the back of the venue. I wondered what he was thinking
"Hi." I said embarrassed. "How are you?" I could have kicked myself. How are you? How original.
"Great." He said slinging the strap of his guitar over his shoulder. "What about you. I didn't know you snored?"
"I do not snore thank you very much Eric!" I said. How dare he suggest I snore. Of course I wasn't even awake when he was asleep to see whether he snored or not.
"Ladies don't snore. Unlike you Northman, who sounds like a fucking fog horn at a harbour." Claude sniped. He was hanging over the microphone now much like he was doing that first night I saw him sing. He looked hot with tight blue jeans and a red tee-shirt on.
"Whatever." Eric said, looking equally as good in black jeans and a muscle top. Claude looked a little annoyed Eric didn't go for the bait. Instead Eric flipped a few switches and soon the most delicious sounds were coming from his very fingertips. I sat back to enjoy the show.
There was something very erotic about watching Eric playing guitar. His hair was giving the illusion of privacy as his head bent watching his fingers work their magic. I don't know how long I sat on the crate listening to Eric. I wasn't the only one enthralled by the guitar. I noticed Claude standing beside him, arms slung over the microphone and his head bent to the side. He was captured by Eric's music too it seems. I didn't recognise the rhythm he was playing.
And then he done it again. He looked it me. I was lost in those pools of blue. It could have lasted for a second. It could have lasted for a lifetime. All I knew was that those eyes were fixed on me and there was no escape. No getting away.
The spell broke when Claude began to sing a rough tune, putting words together, then changing them. Tray was beating out a more definite rhythm on the drums. Eric turned to him and grinned. They must have liked what they were doing. They looked excited.
After a while they stopped, grinned and laughed together. Obviously some sort of male bonding was happening I wasn't privy to. Maria Star had joined me, sharing the crate. When Alcide and Victor arrived they began to practice in earnest. Pam and Clancy were behind us. The men putting together lights and effects stopped to listen as well. Sound guys made adjustments and soon the empty hall was filled with some of the best music ever to be played in Texas. In my opinion anyway.
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My ears were full of white fuzz, but it was good white fuzz. I was buzzing, I was high. The boys were practically quivering with excitement. They left immediately after their first gig for the clubs of Dallas. I opted to head back to the bus. Maria Star joined me. We giggled the whole way there from the venue. The music was still flowing through our bodies and I wanted to get this feeling into the blog immediately. Maria Star couldn't wait to crack that kick ass camera of hers open to scan the pictures she had taken on to her laptop.
I typed furiously for over an hour. I had so much I wanted to get out of my head and I was frightened of forgetting even a second. Maria Star sat beside me. We were at the back of the bus on the comfy sofas, our laptops resting on the little coffee table. I caught the odd glimpse of some of the images and they were amazing. Finally I saved my work, intending to check it in the morning and then post it, I didn't want to miss mistakes because I wasn't careful enough tonight. The door opening downstairs let us know someone was home. Whoever it was there was just one of them. It was Claude. Alone.
"Home early?" Maria Star asked.
"My body is a temple. I like to limit the toxins I imbibe." Claude responded. He walked over to where we were sitting and forced us to move apart so he could sit between us. Ever polite I noticed. He grunted at us to move. Big arms were slung around each of our shoulders. "Now ladies, let me see these wonderful pictures."
Maria Star was given strict instructions not to change picture until he told her so. I cuddled into his side. I couldn't help myself. He may not have been the world's most charming man but he was sex on legs. His thumb was rubbing little circles on my bare arm as he looked intently at the pictures. His favourite seemed to be any of himself, although he did pause longer than usual on one he was sharing with Eric. It was a fantastic picture. Eric's head was thrown back, his long neck exposed. His fingers were working their magic. His legs were planted apart and he was lost in the music. Claude was looking towards Eric, his long hair was caught in mid toss and it looked wild and sexy. His eyes were closed. That picture was pure orgasm material. I decided I would somehow nab myself a copy. There was another picture that caught my attention. It was from the practice session the boys had this afternoon, it was the moment we had shared when he was playing guitar but looking into my eyes. The angle she had used had somehow managed to capture both our faces in the image. Our eyes were locked together. I didn't get to look at it long before the picture was flipped forward. Claude really wasn't interested in anything he wasn't involved in I noticed.
"You know I wouldn't be adverse to sex with either of you." Claude suddenly spoke. I almost chocked, Maria Star let out a nervous giggle. "If you want to all you have to do is let me know and I'll arrange it." Suddenly I imagined Claude with a little diary, fitting us in when he got the chance. 2pm or 4? I did my best to stifle my giggle.
"I'll keep it in mind Claude." I said patting his shoulder in a friendly, uncomfortable way. I decided it was best to untangle myself from him. My day was not going well, I had messed up Operation Avoid Eric when I listened to him practice, and now I was getting propositioned, if you could call it that, from Claude. Maria Star just got up and made her way downstairs. Leaving me with Claude. Alone. Great. Thanks Maria Star.
Then Eric arrived, just seconds later. I swear you couldn't plan it like this if you tried. I still hadn't moved from where I was sitting beside Claude, but I wasn't cuddled into him any more. His arm was still around me though. Eric scowled at us a little and prowled towards us. "Good evening?" I asked him.
"The best kind. That gig was so…fucking…wow!" Eric was lost for words. He sat down beside me. I was trapped between Eric and Claude.
"I know." Claude agreed. I felt like scowling myself. How did I get myself into this. Oh yes…Hadley. She called me and invited me to New Orleans. This was all Hadley's fault.
"And what did you think Sookie?" Eric asked me. He was looking into my eyes like my opinion was the most important in the world. Perhaps it was, it was my version of the gig that would go onto the band website after all.
"I was blown away." I admitted. "My favourite song was Down My Road. It reminds me of home." I thought of the song, of the memories a song could give me, memories long forgotten. I decided I would call Jason in the morning. Or lunchtime, when ever I got up. It was well after 2am.
"Really. Claude and I wrote that one night while waiting for a bus to take us home. It was raining and we were broke. We just had enough cash for a bus fare and a bottle of cheap whiskey to keep us warm once we got home."
I tried to imagine these two big guys sitting beside me down and out on their luck. I was having trouble with that image. They were so independent and strong. "Do you miss home?"
"All the time." Eric admitted. "But home is were you make it and I've made it right here." He said pushing his fist into his chest.
"Dead on." Claude agreed. He put his arm back around me. Eric scowled and threw a long leg over mine. I was well and truly trapped. He managed to get his arm around me too. I thought I might suffocate.
"I'm looking forward to reading our first gig blog." Eric said, finger tips brushing my shoulder.
"I'm really pleased with it Eric, and I'm gonna' work with Maria Star in the morning before I publish it, get some really good pictures to go with it. Actually you guys could help us with clever captions." I said. I was feeling a little cramped from the fact that two big guys over 6 foot tall were using me as a footstool. My knight in shining armour appeared at the top of the stairs.
"You know you're going to kill that girl." Pam's dry voice said from the other end of the bus. I had never been so glad to see Pam in my life. They both moved, as if they remembered I was there, but still scowled at each other. "Well that was a good night but I'm off to bed. Sookie, make sure you don't get into any trouble tonight, but then again you shouldn't, Vic's found himself a girl."
I blushed, I hadn't realised anyone knew I slept in Eric's bed last night except me and Eric.
"I'm pretty tired guys." I said getting up. I stepped over Eric's legs His hand brushed the back of my leg. It sent little electric currents through me and I was glad I had changed into jeans. I made my way quickly past Pam
That night, I tossed and turned in my own bunk, and ignored the sounds of the guys bedding down for the night.
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I published my blog before any of the band had rolled over for phase two of their night time sleep. Tray was first up and couldn't wait to see what Maria Star and I had done with the website. He grabbed a coffee and a bagel and made himself comfortable on the sofas with his laptop. He was really pleased with the blog and pictures, we could tell from the goofing and laughing. We had yet to post our favourite pictures we picked out for the caption section. We also planned to suggest to fans post better captions if they could think of them on a forum. We would pick our favourites and the winner would win something cool, we just hadn't worked out what yet. We would have to discuss that with the guys, Pam or even Sophie-Anne. Apparently once we got to LA we were having a big meeting with the website administrator, Sophie-Anne and of course the band, and we thought that would be a great time to bring this idea up.
Alcide was next to come upstairs, he gave us both a kiss on the cheek but his hand lingered a little longer on Maria Star's shoulder I noticed. I would have to quiz her soon. Alcide grabbed a coffee and joined Tray at the sofas. Tray sat back and watched Alcide's reactions to the pictures. They would laugh together at pictures.
I was sitting at the edge of the long comfy sofas that faced the tables when I felt big hands on my shoulders. I knew who it was immediately. He squeezed and bent to kiss the top of my head. "Morning beautiful." Eric said to me before letting go and heading towards the little makeshift kitchen to grab himself a bottle of water. My shoulders tingled where he touched me. I sighed, would this feeling ever leave?
"Its afternoon." I told him playfully as Maria Star sat down beside me. We had planned on going for a little walk and I was just waiting for her to grab her sneakers. He frowned when he saw us getting up to head out.
"I'm only just awake and the prettiest girls on the bus are leaving!" He told us.
"Eric, we have plans. If you can't be up early enough to hang out with us its not our problem." Maria Star teased. He rolled his eyes at us and went to join the others on the sofas.
"I'm hungry." Maria Star said, almost as soon as we stepped off the bus.
"You're always hungry." I told her teasingly. We walked towards the same diner we ate in yesterday. After giving our order I looked her in the eye. "Right, you and Alcide. Spill."
"Whatever do you mean? What about Eric and yourself?" She asked her eyes widening. Her eyes were beautiful I noticed, almost amber, which looked brilliant with her soft dark curls.
"This is about you. We'll talk about me later." I told her. I wasn't ready to talk about Eric and myself yet. Not that there was anything, I had a crush and he was a tease.
"Ok. But you have to spill. I saw him greet you this afternoon." She narrowed those beautiful eyes. "He likes you." She sang at me. Eric liked anything in a skirt.
"Ok. Later, I promise." I said as our food arrived.
"Ok. Alcide and I are actually old friends. My grandfather used to live next door to his grandparents. It was in a little gated community in Shreveport. We used to call it the reserve. It tickled us something shocking when we were younger." She said laughing to herself at the memory. "So anyway, I was really close to grandpa and at weekends I would go to stay with him, Friday to Monday. There weren't many kids our age so we would hang out together in the gardens and talk. He asked me out, the way all 15 year old boys do, and I said yes. Of course it was a difficult to have a long distance relationship at that age, he was in Jackson, I was in Shreveport. We broke up after four months. I dumped him actually because the head cheerleader at Bon Temps High thought he was cute and he was pleased with the compliment. I heard from a friend of mine she was a slut." She whispered to me.
Lorena, Bill's 'prize'. I was sure that was who she was talking about. "But Alcide didn't do anything did he?" I asked her.
"No, he didn't. I dumped him because he was pleased he got a compliment from a slut." She told me. "Oh to be 15 again!" She said to me and we both laughed. She took a sip of her drink before she took a deep breath. "So anyway we had a laugh over remembering each other the first night at Sophie-Anne's party. Then when we met the other morning on the bus we just clicked like old times. We've hung out when we can ever since." She picked at the last of her salad with her fingers.
"That's really sweet. So are you going out?"
She covered her mouth and giggled when I asked this. "I don't know." She said. I felt like I was 15 myself again and I was sitting in the courtyard at school with Tara and Lafayette talking boyfriends. "I think so."
"We should get back." I said standing up.
"I know what you're up to Sookie. You are trying to avoid talking about yourself." Maria Star told me.
"Am not." I argued back at her. I paid the check and we left. Instead of heading back to the bus we took a long walk around the arena to check out what was happening. There were loads of fans waiting already to get inside. We walked among them towards the doors. There were posters of the band on the doors. Claude was looking sexy, Eric was looking bored, Victor was trying to look menacing, Alcide was looking happy and Tray was looking like Tray. It was a good picture. It was all dark and moody and Last Request.
We decided to go back to the bus when the fans began to get a little excited, apparently it was only 5 hours till performance! I made myself comfortable on a corner of the sofa once I was back on the bus and began to get my blog ready for the evening. To be fair not much had happened worth mentioning today but I had to figure out a new angle, I couldn't write the same concert over and over again after all. I hardly noticed when Eric sat down on one side of me and Claude the other. Victor was looming over us with his hands on his hips. Tray and Alcide were behind him.
"What?" I asked. At first I was confused, then just like the song I was petrified. My laptop was taken from me and Eric held me hostage in his arms. He pulled me onto his lap. "What's going on?" I asked.
"Oh we think its about time we had a bit of a say in this blog of yours. After all, it is all about us." Victor said. Eric arms tightened and he pulled me against him.
"Now just sit still and we'll introduce you to our fans." Tray ginned to me.
"Traitor." I told him, narrowing my eyes.
I wiggled again and tried to free myself. Eric groaned low in his chest. "Just like that." He whispered in my ear and all of a sudden I felt his erection against my hip. I stopped moving immediately. How the hell do I get myself into these situations. I closed my eyes and willed myself to calm down. At the same time I begged whatever deity felt like helping me out and making sure what the boys did to my blog wasn't too bad.
The feeling of his breath on my neck as he held me captive only served to excite me further. I guess I was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome (ha-ha). I think I need a big dose of help.
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"You really need to relax Sookie." Pam told me. We had been in Dallas four days. I had spent four days sticking to Operation Avoid Eric. I had worked my fingertips to the bone. I was sure there was more skin on my keyboard than on my fingers right about now. "You're so…tense." She purred. I looked at her. We were relaxing on the balcony of her room sunbathing. I love to lie in the sun, call it my vice. I don't care about the consequences, I just want a nice tan. Today the sun wasn't doing its job though. Oh sure it was tanning me, but I wasn't getting that relaxed feeling I usually get from the warm sun on my skin. Pam was right, I was not relaxed.
Pam looked good. She was wearing a baby blue bikini. I was wearing my favourite red polka dote one. "I'm not that tense. I'm ok." I lied. I was tense. I was uptight. Every time I saw Eric I wanted to run away.
To start with he looked confused by my attitude but that soon turned to amusement. Eric's love life was a big thing with the guys, band and crew. I didn't want to be another of Eric's girls, and I was doing my best to avoid him. I had already met some groupies, Felicia, Belinda, Ginger, all who wanted to kill me it would seem. This was what I guessed from the heated glares I got whenever I spoke to a member of the band in front of them. I couldn't understand why anyone would hang around this much when all they got were passing smiles. They must get more somewhere along the line. Right?
"I can help you relax you know." She purred. Her neat little hand moved onto my thigh and began to massage in circles. I lay back imagining how good a whole massage would be. Or sexual tension release. As if she read my mind her hand drifted higher. At first I let it pass, but when her fingers brushed the edges of my panties.
"Pam!" I squealed, jumping. I couldn't believe what she was doing.
"Shush. Relax Sookie, I know what I'm doing. Do you trust me"?
"Not right now I don't!"
"Don't you want to alleviate some of that tension Sookie. A delicious orgasm will do that. I can do it with these fingers." She said, wiggling the digits in question against my covered sex.
"You're pretty sure of yourself!" I snapped.
"I've had lots of practice. Lie back and relax."
Before I knew it I had laid back and Pam's hand was moving my panties to the side. Her hands were small and her fingers nimble. She moved one of those delicate fingers into my wet (wet! How the hell was I wet) folds and slipped inside of me. "You are so wet baby. Now. Close your eyes and think of him. Or her. Think about whoever you want. I'm not even here, I'm just a friend, giving you a hand…" She giggled at that and I found I did too.
"But what about Amelia?"
"Oh we're very open. Sometimes we even share." She curled her fingers. I moaned. Share, what the hell did she mean by share.
Her hand fit me perfectly. Her thumb made teasing circles around my clit while her tidy fingers slipped in and out of my wet channel. I was gasping and moaning, I had never felt anything so good.
I pictured deep blue eyes and strong firm lips. His fingers would be longer and thicker and I imagined he would be more firm than Pam. She was gentle, which surprised me. I pictured him lying beside me, he was on his side, one hand holding his head up to look down at me. He would be wearing jeans and aviator sunglasses. Nothing else. He would be smirking at me because he is always smirking at me. Occasionally his pink tongue would sneak out and lick his lips. I would want to kiss him but he would refuse for now, he would tease me, pleasuring me just with one hand. It would give him power over me and I would encourage it. I was shocked to find I wouldn't mind giving myself completely to Fantasy Eric, because that's all he is. Fantasy.
I was close, I could feel my body ready to explode. I opened my eyes to get my bearings, I was drifting too far away. My fantasy must have been good because I could still see his blue eyes watching me. Only he was wearing a black vest. And no sunglasses. And he was sitting at the bottom of the sun lounge, not lying beside me. And my eyes were open.
"Eric!" I gasped as Pam's clever fingers made me cum. He was watching me. Us. I could feel my climax wash over me like a river chasing the tension away, but in front of me Eric was watching and a new tension came after the old one was washed away. His eyes were clouded, his lips parted slightly and I could see his chest move, his breathing was heavy. I couldn't help myself, I smiled at him. Then I looked away.
I looked over at Pam. She was grinning like the cat who got the cream. I suppose in a way she just did. She brought her hand out of my pussy and brought it to her lips, but before she could taste me Eric's long fingers closed around her slender wrist. Never breaking eye contact he flicked that tongue out to lick Pam's fingers clean. She whined in disapproval but didn't try to pull her hand away. He moaned in pleasure. When he finished he looked away. Finally.
"I'm sorry but I'm so greedy." He said and then he kissed Pam's lips, giving her a little taste.
Two things happened.
I was turned on. And I was jealous. That was one of the sexiest things I had ever seen. I didn't want anyone else to kiss Eric.
Then he leaned over and his lips brushed mine. "You look beautiful when you cum Lover. Just wait till I get my hands on you." He stood up and went into the room. "Pam, we'll talk about whatever you called me for later." He called over his shoulder.
"Hurry up Sookie. Gig tonight and then sleeping on the bus. Day after tomorrow you'll be waking up in Las Vegas!" With that Pam got up and made her way into the room.
I stayed where I was and wondered to my self what the hell just happened.
OK so I hope you enjoyed this little chapter, let me know what you think, good or bad!
