Chapter 57

Eric Northman's Finely Tuned Bullshit Detector

Eric's POV

I reached beside me, searching for her, feeling nothing but emptiness. I sat upright and scanned the darkness of our sanctuary from the daylight. I saw nothing, I was mid-leap from the bed to the floor when I heard her movements in the house above me. Relief flooded my insides. She was safe, it had been only a dream. I sat back down on the bed and rubbed the bridge of my nose. Such a tiny female to contain so hazards to my health.

It had been only a dream that had awakened me in such a high tension state, but that in and of itself was troubling. I had not dreamed in over 900 years, then I met Sookie Stackhouse. Since our first meeting and continuing up until now, I have dreamed often. She is always in my dreams. Sometimes the dreams are sexual, sometimes they are like scenes from everynight life, last day's dream was bad. She had walked into the sunlight and I had followed.

I heard the sound of her blurring down the steps and I expected that she would bound onto the bed with me. Instead she passed me by and headed for the bathroom. Curious.

I'll be right back, sweetheart, I need to brush my teeth, I've got a bad case of evening breath.

She was lying to me. Why did she feel the need to lie to me? I was furious, I had never been so lenient with anyone before and I did not like the way I felt when I allowed her to do such things with no repercussions. Pam had made it clear that she felt it would be bad for my relationship with Sookie to punish her for these infractions. I cannot understand these liberated females. In my time, women did as they were told and should they disobey, they took their punishments without complaint. I don't care for the politics of a modern relationship very much. But I do love Sookie, so as much I it displeases me sometimes, I will do what I must to keep her happy and at my side.

She jumped as I appeared behind her, running a finger up from the small of her back, following the path of her spine.

"Hey there sugar." She was laying it on thick. She looked tasty to me, even with the circle of toothpaste around her mouth.

"I will wait for you to finish." I leaned in to give her a kiss on her neck and I felt my blood surge as I smelled something on her that did not belong. It was the smell of a shifter! Who had she allowed inside of my home?

I snarled and growled loudly as I spun her around and pressed her against the wall next to the sink. Her eyes were terrified, I finally had earned the look of respect I deserved from her.

"Who have you brought into my home?"

"I swear to you, I brought no one here!"

"WHO HAVE YOU BROUGHT INTO MY HOME SOOKIE?!"

She was crying now, the tears flowing in crimson streams down to her chin and dropping onto her naked breasts. I was losing my focus. ....!

"I command you to tell me the truth, alskarinna!"

The story she told me was unbelievable, but it had to be the truth. She was bound by my blood to do as I commanded as her maker. It would have been impossible for her to lie. Try as I might, I simply could not understand how one who has been made vampire would be able to walk amidst the sunlight. I knew how she came about having the ability to will things to happen. I did not feel that she was ready for that knowledge yet. It was dangerous enough that she had learned of the ability at all.I felt anger still but could not rightfully direct it at her any longer. She seemed to have learned a great deal from her mistake. I shook my head at her and smiled.

"My lover, why do you feel the need to remove yourself from me so swiftly when we have only just found each other? I despise that you can walk during the day. This is not from envy but from knowing that I am helpless to stop you or protect you. I suppose I could command you to stay in my bed and never leave my side for a second, but how long would it be until you resented me and wished to leave me?"

I had pushed Pam to that point many years ago. She was never a mate to me the way Sookie was now, but even an obstinate Viking can learn from his mistakes. It had stung when my child had left me, it had stung more when I had finally realized that it had been because I had stifled her.

"Eric, there's something else. I fed."

Now this was interesting, my eyes widened as I wondered whom it had been. Maybe the irritating redhead with the insolent mouth, or the psychotic short order cook with the nervous tic? The crazy ones always tasted better, a little wild.

"I ate a cheeseburger." I couldn't help the laugh that rumbled throughout the bathroom. My Sookie, the one with fangs in triplicate, fed on a cheeseburger. "It was a damn good one too, stole it right off of Andy Bellefleur's plate." She laughed along with me and it felt good to be having a normal moment with her. Just two lovers talking about everynight things. We just both happened to be vampires.

"So tell me, Sookie, what IS it about these cheeseburgers that are so appealing?"

We bantered back and forth in the shower, washing each other and laughing about Pam fucking a Were-tiger, a male were-tiger at that.

"You know we still owe her, Eric."

"We owe her nothing! She failed to complete the task she set out to do and so we owe nothing to her. I blame her for the pain you suffered at the hands of Bill Compton. If she hadn't assured me that he was as good as dead in the hands of The Fellowship, I would've been watching more carefully."

"Eric, honey, my Gran always said that hindsight is twenty twenty." I did not know what this meant, my face must have shown this. "What she was saying was that when you look back on things, you can always see what you should have or could have done perfectly. Pam did the best that she could. She has been really preoccupied and worried since you and I have become a couple."

"Why would this worry her? I know that she is very fond of you and I am her maker."

"Exactly! You are her maker and as far as what I've gotten from the two of you, there's been no one else except the two of you! Until me that is." She was looking at me like I should be making some sort of connection. I did not have a clue as to what I was supposed to be connecting to.

"Sheesh, Eric, for someone so old, you really are dense."

"And you are starting to sound more and more like Pam every second."

"She's worried about how she'll fit into this new, um, arrangement. You know, worried that she may have been displaced."

"That's ridiculous! Pam does not worry about anything. I am the one who takes care of everything, she has to worry about what color her fingernails are or whom to flirt with at Fangtasia, what catalog to browse through to look for curtains while I am running the business!"

"Again with the denseness! Hello, blockhead vampire! Has it ever occurred to you that maybe her definition of worry differs from yours?"

I had not given that thought pause. Could Pam actually be worried about her status as one of my underlings? I had just assumed that she would know that her place was still at my right hand. I knew I could count on her and she was irreplaceable to me. We had run together for many years and enjoyed each other in many ways. A smile crept upon my face as I thought about Pam's dirty little mouth and the wicked things she would sometimes say as I....

Hey, hey, hey! Easy! You know, I have been known to be jealous! I wasn't there when it happened so I don't wanna know!

"My apologies. You are right, lover. We do owe her. I am obstinate sometimes and expect much from the people around me. She did everything she could to ensure the best outcome for both you and I in New Orleans. We are agreed that there is a debt to be paid. So, when shall we set up this payment we owe our Pam?" Soon, soon, soon. It could not be soon enough.

"Let me think on this. I want to make sure it's perfect and that when it's all said and done, she knows that she belongs here, beside you like always, just with me along for the ride. And plus, I wanna try out my little Jedi mind trick on a woman!"

How could I possibly love this woman more?