Disclaimer: I do not own True Blood!

A/N – I'm back! ~ I'm actually excited myself to finally write more. It feels as if I'm reading the story like you guys are! (Is it weird that I get excited by my own story? Hmm…) Anyways, I'll warn you guys now…there is M rated lemon in this chapter…if you know what I mean *wiggles eyebrows*

Chapter twenty-four! ~

At first, I thought I was imagining it. I thought I was hallucinating. Of course, I wasn't. However, my brain refused to acknowledge the prospect that what I was seeing was probably true. But the longer I stared at the empty bed, the broken bed straps, and the open window blowing in a cool breeze, I knew it was true.

Aaron had escaped.

I took a couple shaky steps up to the bed. It looked as if there had been a struggle. The bedsheets were tossed around wildly; the thick, brown straps that were supposed to hold him down were ripped apart, like a wild animal had been present. The clear vase on the bedside table, which had previously held an assortment of summer flowers, had been smashed and left in pieces on the table, with some jagged glass pieces lying on the clean linoleum floor. The flowers had been trodden on, judging by the way they were mushed against the floor.

The blood in my veins froze when I saw the body. I let out a strangled gasp, staring wide-eyed at the human – most likely the nurse or caretaker – lying motionless on the shiny floor. I immediately crouched down beside him, and placed two fingers over his neck.

There. A pulse.

He was alive. Aaron had had the decency to knock out the poor man, not kill him. Aaron wasn't a killer. Right?

He will do absolutely anything to get you… Audrey's words floated about my head like a relentless ghost. If Aaron was willing to do absolutely anything to get me…did that mean he would…?

No. I refused to think that. Aaron would never kill somebody. I repeated those words in my head like a mantra, but it took me a while to realise that I didn't believe a single word of it.

Something fluttering on the windowpane caught my attention. A piece of paper, looking like it had been hurriedly ripped out of a notebook, was stuck to the inside of the window. A note, I thought, a little panicked. Probably from Aaron.

I reached up, and snatched the note off the window. His writing was an untidy scrawl – it looked as if he'd written words down in a hurry. I scanned the words in a rush. Realising I wasn't even reading the words in my panic; I slowed down and took a few deep breaths. After I had calmed myself considerably, I read the note properly.

I didn't want to leave you, but I can't stay here. I have a plan, my love, and I will come for you. Don't bother trying to find me – the person I've gone to is much stronger than your precious Godric.

-A

I stared at the note a while longer, unblinking. Unmoving. What did he mean, he had a plan? And who on earth could have possibly been stronger than Godric? He was two thousand years old, for crying out loud! I felt a chill run up my spine. Whatever he had planned, it wasn't going to be good. I had to tell somebody. Now.

Just at that moment, a familiar face stepped into the disarranged infirmary. Rory's black, cropped hair looked like it always did, and his odd purple eyes glinted as he took in the mess of the medical room. He had gone for a casual approach today: he was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt – the sleeves having been rolled up to his elbows. Also, Rory was wearing a pair of black jeans, and matching colour cowboy boots.

Despite his casual attire, his eyes burned with fury. Rory didn't need to ask to know what had happened. It was obvious enough. "The little prick!" He spat out furiously. Rory stomped over to me, and grabbed the note out of my hands. Usually, I would give any guy a good kicking in the balls who was that rude to me, but I let his behaviour slip. Just this once.

He read the note, and re-read it a second time. Rory growled out in anger, and crushed the note up in a ball, before tossing it in the wastebasket. It landed inside perfectly, but Rory didn't stop to celebrate his excellent aim. He paced the room, rubbing his temples or running a hand down his stubbled chin every so often.

"What do you suppose we do?" I asked him quietly. I didn't particularly feel like stirring up his anger – it was best to keep calm. Rory let out a ragged breath, and turned to face me. His magenta eyes were burning with frustration and anger, but his face remained impossibly relaxed.

"I don't know," Was all he said. He crossed his arms, and shut his eyes. I stood there watching, as his brow creased deeply in concentrated thought. I could practically see the ideas running through his head. After a while, Rory let out a long sigh.

"I can't think of where Aaron might have gone, or how he escaped," Rory muttered out, adding, "But we have to inform Godric…"

I nodded slowly, mulling over his words. "I guess. But I don't want Godric to harm Aaron any more than he's already done," I pointed out hastily. "I mean, he got beaten up pretty bad –"

"Why must you always defend him?" Rory cut in harshly, staring me down. "He's crazy, Rosalie. He needs to be locked up, and taken far, far away from you. You read that letter! You can't –"

"Rory," I cut him off this time, raising a hand to stop his rant. "I don't give a shit about how crazy he is, or what the fuck he's up to. He's a human being – a person – and I will treat him as such!"

Silence filtered through the trashed room, as Rory stared at me incredulously. Something flashed across his face. Regret? Understanding? Worry? It was hard to say. Rory's face was a mixture of emotions.

After a while, his shoulders slumped in defeat. "Yeah…you're right, Rosalie," He agreed quietly, and my eyes widened a little in shock. I hadn't expected him to agree so quickly. "…I guess I'm being a bit of a prick. Aaron's a good guy, really. Just a bit messed up. You know – here," He gestured to his left temple, and twirled his finger about to suggest that he was crazy.

Which, unfortunately, Aaron was.

"Listen," Rory sighed. "You go out and have some fun. I'll speak to Godric tonight about all this. There's no point in sitting about all day worrying," He said, then added, "You've got school in a week, right? You shouldn't waste the rest of the summer over him."

I nodded, smiling in pride at his better personality. Not that grumpy, perverted guy I'd first met in the hallway. "Thanks, Rory," I flashed him a meaningful grin. Suddenly, a mock scowl graced his features.

"Aw, don't get all soppy on me now, princess," He grunted, and turned away. But he was smiling too as he walked out the door.

"Yeah, I still can't believe that whole fellowship thing on the news," My friend Arianna blurted out. "That Newlin guy is crazy. I mean, I know you guys wouldn't know much about him, but I do. My father did business with him once."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. My friends knew nothing about me being in the fellowship, and witnessing the whole fiasco, and I intended to keep it that way. At the moment, I sat in a circle, on a grassy hill in the park. The hot sun was blaring down on me – but all I felt like doing was correcting Arianna's mistakes.

"…And that vampire they locked up! It must have been an ugly, savage thing…"

Okay. Now I felt like bitch slapping her.

"Babe, come on," Taylor scoffed, "You can't suggest that it was ugly! Aren't vampires supposed to be like…incredibly hot?" She waved her hands about. "You know, flawless skin, nice abs on the guy vamps…"

Okay. So I couldn't argue with that. But I didn't appreciate the way Taylor was addressing Godric as "it". It took all my willpower to not scream in their faces what he was really like. Realising that I was slowly losing my patience, I counted up to ten nice and slow. Sure, they were my friends – but they could be pretty clueless sometimes.

I got to my feet, eager to escape the conversation. My friends could gossip really badly, and I didn't particularly feel like staying around to hear what little bits of useless information they'd feed to me. Seriously, I was better than that. A lot better.

I was just relieved that it was the summer holidays, and not school right now. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to avoid the girlish conversations.

Arianna grabbed my wrist, looking up at me pleadingly. "Where are you going, R?" She asked, shock oozing into her tone.

"Yeah, you can't go yet!" Another one of my friends, Emily, demanded. "We haven't discussed what we're wearing to Luke's party, yet." The group nodded enthusiastically, and I rolled my eyes, reluctantly plopping down onto the grass again.

"What's this about a party?" I asked them out of sheer politeness. In all honesty, I couldn't care less what parties the jocks and popular people were throwing. I'd have rather been at home, encased in Godric's warm arms, his lips against mine, his gentle touches and caresses –

"You haven't heard?" Arianna asked incredulously, snapping me out of my short reverie. I blushed a little, scolding myself mentally for having such thoughts about Godric now. Fortunately, the girls took my blush as shame, for not knowing about the party.

"Aww, baby," Taylor cooed, hugging me. "Don't you fret, hon. We'll help you get a dress. Luke's party isn't until next Monday, anyway."

I shot Taylor a look. "That's when school starts back up," I pointed out. "Why doesn't he have it over the holiday?"

Emily giggled. "That's the only time Luke's parents are actually away," She said, "Apparently they're going on some long business trip." Everyone nodded at Emily's words.

"You're coming, right?" Arianna turned to face me; her blue eyes alit with hope. I sighed deeply, knowing I couldn't thaw myself out of this one. I wasn't a party person, but I knew that if I kept blowing my friends off, they wouldn't want to be my friends anymore.

I forced myself to nod. "Of course," I said, my words strained. The girls didn't notice. They just burst into squeals of delighted happiness.

"Oh, thank God, R!" Taylor burst out, "I really thought you were going to say no. We're going to have so much fun!"

"We sure are," I muttered sarcastically as the girls launched back into their heated squabble.

"Sookie," I grunted irritably into the phone, "What do you mean, you're leaving?" After managing to escape the onslaught of, "what material is your dress, and is it designer?" from my friends, I headed straight back to the house. Currently, I was lying spread-eagled on my humongous bed, phone latched onto my ear.

"I'm sorry, Rose," Sookie apologized, "But I have to go. One of Eric's…friends is taking me to where Bill is."

"You know where Bill is?" I asked, surprised. I hadn't expected her to get leads so quickly. "How did you find out?" I heard Sookie sigh into the phone.

"It's a long story," She pointed out. I rolled my eyes good-naturedly.

"I've got time," I replied huffily.

"Yeah, well, I don't, sweetie pie," Sookie retorted back as calmly as she could. "Bill's in Jackson. That's where I'm going."

"Jackson?" I asked incredulously. "In Mississippi? But why –"

"No idea," Sookie cut me off. "But I'm going with Alcide today. From there we're going to find leads."

"Whoa, whoa. Slow down," I sighed, exasperated. "First of all, how did you find out about Bill being in Jackson? And secondly, who the hell is Alcide?"

I could hear my sister's impatient tone. "A werewolf almost attacked me the other night, and I read his thoughts. He was thinking about Jackson. Oh, and Eric told me he had a Mississippi accent."

"Umm…wouldn't that have been kind of obvious? Why did Eric have to tell you?" I heard Sookie huff in annoyance.

"I couldn't tell the difference, okay?" Sookie whined. I snickered a little.

"You thought Jackson was a person, didn't you?" I asked, laughing. "Oh, that is priceless, Sook."

"Don't you backchat me, missy!" Sookie snapped, clearly embarrassed, but I could hear a tinge of amusement in her tone.

"And who is Alcide? That's a pretty weird name," I pointed out.

"Eric sent Alcide. He's my werewolf bodyguard," Sookie replied. I raised an eyebrow. Werewolf bodyguard?

"Well, um. Okay then. When do you think you'll be back ?" I asked Sookie. Sookie sighed tiredly though the line.

"I'm not sure, hon. As long as it takes to find Bill," She answered.

"Will you be back before I start up school again?" I asked hopefully.

"No, I don't think so, Rose," Sookie sighed sadly. "I'm sorry, sweetie. Oh, I've gotta go now. Alcide's started the van."

"Wait, Sook," I croaked. "There's a lot I gotta tell you. There's this guy called Aaron –" I didn't finish, as the line went dead. I removed the phone from my ear, and stared at it wistfully. After a while, I put it down, sighing heavily. Looks like Sookie would be gone for a while now.

I laid back on my bed, thinking. I wondered where Aaron was – what he was up to. What was he planning? Just thinking of that note he'd written me sent chills down my spine, and raised the hairs on the back of my neck. Sure, he was my friend, and I was determined to help him – but he just seemed to be getting creepier.

Despite my predicament, I couldn't help but pray that he was safe. That he wasn't doing anything reckless. He was, after all, mentally unstable. I sighed deeply, sinking into the plushness of my pillow. How would Godric take this? Would he send out vampires, and immediately issue out a search party? Or would he take matters into his own hands, and hunt him down? Both choices didn't seem to look too good. I couldn't see Aaron being forgiven by Godric for a long time.

I lay there for a bit, just staring up at the ceiling, contemplating. After a while, I got up and went for a much needed shower. With all the stress and worry, I needed to relax. A bit of TLC, so to speak. So it was nice to just stand under the shower, and let the hot water soothe out my tensed muscles and sore joints. I let all my worried thoughts flow out my jumbled head in that moment.

I felt a lot better, and, in no time, I was sitting comfortably under my bedcovers, dressed in a pair of cookie monster pyjama shorts and a black, overly large shirt. I had a book in one hand, and a cup of steaming hot cocoa in the other, (I had to admit, Godric's servants made a damn good hot chocolate).

I must have been so absorbed in my reading that I didn't even realise that it was already dark outside. I wondered briefly how Sookie was doing. Did she make it to Jackson? Had she gotten any leads yet? I let out a sigh. I was doing it again – worrying. I snapped my book shut, and slurped up the last of my hot beverage, before collapsing onto the pillow. I shut my weary eyes almost instantly.

"You certainly look relaxed, don't you?"

My eyes flew open in shock. It took me a while to register the face above me. "Godric," I acknowledged the grinning vampire. I hadn't even heard him come in. Godric seemed to read my thoughts, and his grin only widened.

"You forget, my love, that I am two thousand years old," He chuckled deeply in his lovely, mixed accent. "I can be as quiet as a mouse, yet as loud as a tiger when I choose to be."

I rolled my eyes. "How poetic of you," I snickered, drawing myself up a bit so I could sit Indian-style. I took this moment to inspect Godric. He was wearing a black, sleeveless top, with a low neckline – kind of like the ones blondie wore. Because of this, the tattoos on his front side were mostly all exposed. The blue jagged ones on his right arm, the two smallish ones wrapping around his left arm in a circle, and the one on his chest. Of course, there were more of them on his back.

"Are you…checking me out, my beauty?" Godric asked, smirking. I blushed a million different shades of red, and cleared my throat awkwardly.

"N-no," I replied back quickly. Too quickly. Fortunately, my mate found this amusing. His deep laugh bellowed through the room, sending a pleasurable shiver up my spine.

Suddenly, my back was pushed into the mattress, and Godric was on top of me, his hands behind my head. His lips found mine, and he kissed me passionately. I kissed him back, and his tongue swept over my bottom lip, before poking itself in. I let my wandering hands weave up his black tank top, and massage his impossibly hard chest and muscled abs. Godric groaned deeply, his hot breath fanning over my face.

"Rosalie," He sighed huskily, dropping down an inch to suckle at the base of my throat, where my pulse was throbbing madly. His lips ghosted upwards and behind my ear, then down again to nibble at my earlobe. His hand wandered downwards, and I stiffened considerably when his hand slipped under the waistband of my cookie monster shorts.

In my panic, I almost didn't hear the words Godric whispered into my ear. "If you aren't ready for this, my love, I'll stop," He said breathily, his voice full of lust. I shivered, and bucked upwards when his hand squeezed my inner thigh. Godric growled, and ground his hips down to meet mine. There was no mistaking the hard lump in his jeans, which he made no attempt to hide. In fact, with his quick vampire speed, he had his jeans and black tank discarded in a messy pile on the plush carpet, leaving him in just his plain black boxers.

Godric kneeled on the bed above me, and his erection was painfully obvious. He carefully lowered himself down to me again, and I felt his hardness push against my thigh. Godric kissed my lips, and stroked my cheek, staring into my dark eyes. "Give me permission," He croaked out, his bluish-grey eyes full of need and want. "Tell me you want it."

In my haze of euphoric lust, I grabbed the bulge showing through his boxers, and squeezed roughly. Godric's fangs dropped down almost immediately, and he let out an animalistic growl that reverberated off the bedroom walls. His eyes darkened, and he leaned down to bite at my already pink, swollen lips.

"Oh, you definitely want me, don't you?" Godric growled deeply, wantonly. His fingers curled under my t-shirt, and he ripped it up over my head, before tossing it in some random direction. He rubbed the bulge in his boxers against my shorts, grunting. "You're a little tease."

His stared at my exposed chest appreciatively, his eyes roaming over every square inch. I blushed furiously, and tried to cover up my breasts with my arms, but Godric had them both pinned in no time. "Do not hide yourself from me," Godric said lowly, commandingly. "I want to see my mate. My lover." He leaned down to suck on my already hardened nipple, while his left hand played with the other. Almost without realising, a string of soft, almost inaudible whimpers escaped my lips – but Godric heard every one of them.

My breathy moans increased, and his grunts and groans grew louder as he continued to grind into me. His lips were still latched onto my breast, suckling and teasing the hardened flesh. I could feel the hot wetness in between my legs, and I knew that Godric could smell it, judging by the way he hurriedly grappled at my pyjama shorts. He yanked them down, discarding them without a second thought.

Godric continued to tease me mercilessly, starting with sucking at my neck, biting and nibbling the delicate skin. His hands trailed over my collarbone, raising goosebumps as he went. He continued downwards, his fingers trailing everywhere they could, taking every opportunity to elicit a needy moan from me.

"Stop teasing me Godric," I breathed out, and the ancient vampire smirked. Godric didn't stop his actions, however, and continued rubbing and stroking my skin, teasing out the flesh. His pale hands continued their descent, stopping only when he got to my abdomen. His lips lowered onto my flat stomach, where he planted trails of icy kisses, creating sparks deep in the pit of my abdomen.

Godric's lips found my inner thighs, and kissed the hot skin dangerously close to my slick heat. His tongue flicked out, tasting my womanhood. I jerked violently upwards when his teeth caught my swollen bud, causing his chin to dig in a bit. That almost sent me over the edge, had Godric not grabbed my hips to keep me steady.

He dug his tongue down into my wetness, and explored everywhere he could. I was so aroused and turned on by now, that I was sure I would explode any moment. But Godric wouldn't allow it. He went deliberately slow, teasing me as much as he could – stalling that wonderful finish. My hands instinctively reached out to weave into Godric's dark hair, as if doing that would somehow stop the pleasurable torture.

Suddenly, Godric's muscly arms snapped forward, his hands curling under each of thighs. His mouth left my pulsing heat, and he pushed himself upwards, and then yanked my legs over his hips. A tiny gasp left my throat when I felt his bulge push against my heat. I bit my bottom lip, trying desperately to reign in the batch of loud moans that threatened to spill out. Unfortunately, I bit too hard on my lip, causing a glob of blood to dribble down my chin and land between my breasts.

Godric's eyes bulged out as he watched this, and his fangs sharpened – his arousal adding enormously to the blood lust. He dove towards me, his mouth instantly on my bottom lip, sucking up the dab of blood that peeked out the small cut I'd made. He groaned deeply, his hands entwining themselves into my dark locks.

I couldn't stand it anymore. It was too much. Before my brain could register my actions, my fingers hooked under the band of his boxers, and I pulled them down swiftly. His hardened member sprang free, slapping the side of my thigh.

Godric seemed surprised by my forward actions, but his surprise was quickly replaced by darkened lust. He rubbed his erection on my inner thigh, dangerously close to my dripping heat. He lowered his mouth to my ear, and whispered harshly.

"Is that good, Rosalie?" Godric breathed lowly, nipping at my earlobe, his member still caressing my skin, "Do you want me? Tell me you want me."

I nodded, my eyes half-lidded. I was barely able to make an audible response. "I – I want you, Godric," I moaned. I was beyond being embarrassed – all I wanted was him inside me.

"Where do you want me, baby? Tell me," He demanded darkly. I let out a breath of needy frustration.

"Inside me. I want you inside me," I answered quickly. Godric growled, and in a flash of inhuman speed, thrust his erection deep inside me, breaking my hymen in a burst of incredible pain.

Tears streamed down my cheeks, the pain evident on my scrunched up face. "It hurts, Godric," I cried quietly. "T-take it out!"

My vampire caressed my cheek softly with his long, pale fingers, and leaned down to kiss away my tears. "The pain will go away, my love," Godric promised, keeping his member still inside of me. I nodded, whimpering.

Eventually, the throbbing subsided, and Godric started to move slowly. Just so I could get a feel to it. Fortunately, it felt amazing for me, and I found myself wanting more. Godric, sensing my need, picked up his pace, his thrusts becoming deeper, faster. I splayed my hands on his back, holding on for dear life. I could feel the toned muscles in his back working, as he pounded harder into me. I met each of his thrusts with vigour, and an insatiable hunger for more.

"You're so tight, my love," Godric groaned, his lips near my neck. I knew I was screaming, crying out Godric's name in ecstasy, but I didn't care. The bed shook violently, causing the wall to shake, too, and the mattress to slide slightly off the bed. If the residents of Wooburke mansion didn't know we were having sex before, they would now.

Godric, his bloodlust doubled by his arousal, bit cleanly into my neck. He lapped up my blood as he continually pounded into me, letting out a feverish moan. I climbed higher and higher to my climax, and Godric was moving so fast he seemed to be just a blur.

Suddenly, I felt myself reach the peak, as did Godric. We both screamed out each other's names as the world exploded into bright colours, and Godric released himself into me.

We both lay there, spent. I was breathing heavily, still slowly working myself down from my towering peak. Godric, on the other hand, due to being a vampire, wasn't panting – he was resting his forehead on mine, his bluish-grey eyes staring deep into my dark brown ones. His eyes were full of love and happiness, and it brought a swell to my heart. I knew before I'd met him in that filthy cage, he'd been miserable. Suicidal.

As if reading my thoughts, Godric whispered, "You are everything to me now, my Rose," He said, stroking my jaw, and kissing my nose. "Absolutely everything."

I blushed, suddenly feeling embarrassed. Godric, sensing my discomfort, raised an eyebrow in a silent question. I blushed harder, and Godric seemed rather confused by my embarrassment. "Um, could you…um, you know…" My eyes flickered down to the rapidly shrinking member still inside me.

Godric, realising what I was asking, let out a roaring laughter that shook my entire body, (due to the fact he was still on top of me). He stroked my cheek, and kissed me lightly, a wide grin stretched across his face. His beautiful eyes twinkled as he spoke. "You could have just said so, my love," He chuckled, and removed himself from me. I closed my eyes in a short moment of pain and bliss, until he was completely out. I opened my eyes when I felt Godric beside me. He brought me into his naked, muscled chest, and weaved his hand through my mussed up hair.

"You look very cute right now," Godric murmured, pressing a sweet kiss to my forehead, his hands still threading through my hair. I pouted.

"So I don't look cute most of the time?"

"No, you don't," He agreed with me, and my mouth hung open in shock. The guy fucks me, and then insults me? "Most of the time, you don't look cute, you look absolutely beautiful, like a goddess."

I blushed, suddenly feeling foolish. "Oh," I said, not really believing him. But the seriousness in his eyes sent me reeling mentally a little. Was I really that beautiful in his eyes?

He hugged me tighter to his chest, his hands now twirling with strands of my hair, his head resting atop mine. "You are the most radiant and divine being to walk this earth. The prettiest woman on this planet would surely have to admit defeat." I laughed loudly at that comment, but Godric looked down at me, a deadly severity in his eyes.

"I mean every word, my beauty," He whispered, and I looked at him in shocked awe. I wasn't really sure how to respond to that, so I averted my eyes, and angled my face away. Godric hissed softly, curling his long fingers under my chin, and brining my face back. "Don't ever do that," He told me seriously, a slight anger to his tone.

I furrowed my brow. "Do what?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"Turn away from me," Godric answered, staring deep into my eyes. It felt as if he could look into my soul by doing that. "It hurts here when you look away from me," He said truthfully, taking my hand and placing it over where his still heart was.

My lower lip trembled with sorrow, and my eyes tore up a little. "Godric, honey," I gasped, "Please, I don't mean to make you feel emotional pain," I croaked, snuggling my head further under his chin. His muscular arm wove around my back, keeping me in place.

"Just…don't ever leave me, my Rose," Godric pleaded softly. He planted a soft kiss on my pinkish lips. "I love you."

My face beamed, a smile stretching across my features. "I love you too, Godric," I whispered back.

"More than your brother?" He asked hopefully, and I chuckled.

"What do you mean?" I giggled. "I love both of you guys." I felt Godric's mood darken with jealousy, and his other arm came to wrap around me. He held me to him, wrapping himself around me like a cocoon.

"You cannot love both of us," Godric snarled softly. I sighed, rolling my eyes good-naturedly.

"Godric, we've been through this," I pointed out, "I love Jason like a sister loves a brother. I love you, well; I love you like a lover loves a lover." I frowned, checking to make sure that sentence made sense. Godric chuckled, understanding completely.

He gave me one last kiss before I fell asleep in his arms.

Well, what did you think? In all honesty, that was actually my first "lemon" piece I've written. I didn't want to make it too…dirty, if you get what I mean. It was kind of a nice lemon. Well, that's what I hope at least. If you guys think my lemon writing sucks, please tell me!