All I will say is this: I expect reviews. Lots of reviews.

Chapter 17: Sweetheart -Jont

Eric

After Kathleen and Pam had left, he knew he should have also taken his leave, but two things stopped him. One being he didn't want to, and the second that he literally couldn't leave Sookie after a night like tonight. The thought of leaving her made him almost dissolve into an anxiety ridden breakdown.

Sookie joined Lafayette and Eric back in the living room after showing Annabelle the door and sat next to Lafayette on the couch, across from Eric. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She was tired. He should leave, but something in him told him not to.

Lafayette then said, "Well, I guess you's has the winning worst first date stories out there Sook," he teased her. She cracked an eye open and chuckled lightly at him before smacking his arm softly. He yawned loudly and stretched then looking between the two.

"Well I am takin' my ass to bed. I'll lock up Sook," he said, sashaying across the living room.

"Night," she called to him.

She focused her glance on Eric and he noticed that she looked nervous and anxious.

"Sookie? Are you alright?"

"Uh, yeah. Eric, I have to tell you somethin'. Well, many things."

Eric gulped and his mind racked to think of what she could want to admit to him. She looked scared and was that guilt?

"Okay," he said.

"Um, first thanks for savin' me," she began.

"My pleasure," he said dryly.

She nodded and then said, "The second is that I am sorry. So sorry, Eric."

He looked at her in confusion and she immediately began explaining. "When we were..together… I didn't think that you could ever feel about me the way that you did when you were…here with me, without all your memories. And I know I rejected you when we were at Bill's after that tolerance thing, and I am sorry for that."

Eric couldn't believe she was willingly bringing this up now. At every juncture, she had run from this kind of conversation. She had found some reason to flee from him and now here she was, bringing it up with him.

"And I wanted to tell you that after I did the severing spell, I found that it was Bill's blood that generated my feelings of attraction and love for him. When it was gone from my system, I felt nothing for him. When I first met Bill, I was working and was mystified and intrigued by him being my first vampire to meet and the silence of his mind was like a paradise I had never known. I had never been seriously involved with anybody before and I got swept away with it I think, which was only encouraged by his constant blood feedings."

Eric's whole body was tense, wondering where this was going. How the hell had they begun talking about Eric, and now they were talking about Bill? It seemed like a nightmarish rerun he was forced to watch over and over.

Sookie, sensing his confusion and frustration by his iron grip almost breaking the arms off of her chair, quickly said, "Anyway. The point I was going to make is that I actually…always had feelings for you that were legitimate, and they only increased over time and me takin' your blood. And now, tonight, I realized that, well, I…am in love you," she rushed out in a long breath of air.

Eric jerked at her statement and for a moment thought his spine might snap in two from the blow she just landed him. She looked nervous, scared, relieved, and curios. He stood and looked down at her, then turned from her and began pacing.

She loved him? Just now she realized this? Eric had never heard another say this to him besides his mother, father, and Godric. He had always felt love from Pam, but she had never said it out loud.

Eric looked to Sookie and saw she had tears in her eyes. She looked upset, angry, and disappointed. She shook her head when she saw him looking at him and put her forehead in hands.

Eric moved to her and knelt in front of her and she abruptly stood and moved away from him. "Why are you crying Sookie? What has you so upset?"

"Annabelle was wrong," she choked out, tears leaving her eyes and streaming down her face.

"About what?"

"She said she believed you to love me and that I just couldn't see it. I know you care. Ya know, let's forget what I said. Sorry," she got up and headed for the foyer, but he grabbed her elbow.

"Stop saying you are sorry, Sookie. Annabelle was right. I just never thought that you could feel how I feel for you or at least never admit it," he growled out in frustration.

"Annabelle was right?" she asked in shock.

He nodded and cupped her face, using his thumps to wipe away her tears.

"I love you, Sookie," he said softly. He had never said those words to another person. Ever. She would be the only one to ever hear them from him.

Sookie's eyes filled with tears and he begged, "No, stop them, please. They hurt me."

"I can't help it!" she cried out closing them tight.

He chuckled and kissed the top of her head, inhaling the smell of her hair. Lavender? Jasmine? Honey? He couldn't pinpoint what it was, but he was going to find out.

He pulled back slightly and tenderly kissed her forehead. She focused her big brown eyes up at him and she inhaled deeply. He leaned forward, keeping his eyes on hers and brushed his lips against hers. Each nerve ending rejoiced and sent electric jolts to his heart, attempting to wake it from its dormant state.

She placed her hands on his shoulders and slowly slid them to the back of his neck. Their mouths were simply touching lightly, barely any contact, but it was driving him wild with anticipation. When she pulled him forward a fraction, he couldn't wait any longer and crushed his lips to hers. She responded urgently and tangled her fingers in his hair. Eric wrapped his arms around her, pulling her up against him firmly.

She opened her mouth and his tongue took immediate advantage of the fact by slipping inside of her mouth. He moaned in to her mouth and she responded by arching against him, looking for maximum body contact.

She pulled away from him, gasping for air and he kissed along her jaw as she raked her nails lightly against his scalp, breathily moaning in his ear his own name. He growled low in her ear and she shivered and trembled in his arms.

Eric's heart almost exploded in happiness as he held her and his lips brushed along her throbbing carotid. He kissed it tenderly, and then brushed the tip of his nose along it inhaling deeply.

Sookie pulled him from her throat and their lips were drawn together like magnets, fighting to fuse together permanently. Sookie was now moaning into his mouth as he massaged her tongue with his, skillfully suggesting that another part of him wanted to be massaging her elsewhere.

But he wouldn't tonight. He wanted Sookie to know this wasn't about him fucking and feeding from her. She would call all the shots. Well, mostly he thought as he imagined her in about 30 positions he wanted her in right at that moment. He released her mouth from his own and although she was panting from oxygen deficiency, she made a frustrated sound in the back of her throat that made him chuckle.

Only now did he realize he had completely lifted her off the floor and she had helped him by securing her thighs on either side of his waist tightly. He looked to the ceiling and thought of things that didn't turn him on, trying to will his raging erection and urgent need for Sookie right at this moment away.

He couldn't so he eased her to the floor, making sure she could feel exactly what she did to him and she again shivered in pleasure.

When she was on her feet, she was still firmly pressed up against him and he kissed her lips chastely, and then led her back into the living room.

"Sookie, I need to apologize as well. Will you sit?" he asked.

She sighed in frustration and said, "Whatever you need to apologize for, I promise that I have already forgiven you."

He chuckled and maneuvered her over to the couch and pulled her to sit down with him. He wrapped his arms around her and she relaxed in his embrace. "Sookie, I am sorry for my part in this mess we have led ourselves into as well. Especially about the night you came to Fangtasia to see me," he said, clearly suggesting the time with fangbanger.

He felt Sookie stiffen slightly, but he pulled her tighter against him. "Sookie?"

She looked up at him, over her shoulder and said, "I forgive you, but…"she abruptly stopped and Eric kissed her temple, "Please Sookie, say it. We need it out of the way."

Sookie

She hesitated, because if Eric answered one way it would mean they could be together, but if he answered differently, she couldn't be with him. She was willing to admit her feelings and give herself to him. But on this matter, she was unwilling to budge. If that was his answer, she would be heartbroken.

"Would you, well, feed off or….be with other people if you were with me?" she asked nervously, her voice trembling slightly.

"You mean fuck other people? Feed off of other people's acid tasting blood. No, absolutely not."

Sookie breathed out in relief and she turned around and flung her arms around him. "Thank you, Eric."

He pulled her away from him slightly and asked, "You think I won't be satisfied with you alone? Sookie, I have been unsatisfied since I left you. I would never go back to that part of my life again. Ever. I would never hurt you like that either."

Sookie's eyes began to water, but he kissed her roughly, trying to prevent them from escaping. Just as quickly as he had kissed her he broke the kiss, breathing in heavy pants, blowing his own breath in her face.

She kissed his open lips soft and quick and kissed his neck, causing him to shiver. She smiled against his neck and she kissed lightly there too.

She breathed in his smell deeply, finding his scent intoxicating. Was he wearing cologne? "You smell like the ocean in winter," she whispered in his ear as she ran her finger lightly up his chest. He pulled her back and stared at her in wonder.

Okay, talk to me. Was it as good as you thought it would be? I will get to the *goods* (wink, wink) soon. But, as always, I am gonna need some feedback people. So hit review and show me some love.