A/N: Oops...Didn't mean to make you wait so long for an update. Anyway, here's where the story earns it's M rating.
Sookie comes to in an empty bedroom. Unfamiliar, and saturated in a pale gold light. Her clothes are gone. Too blood-soaked to salvage, she guesses, only her bra and underwear remain. She clutches the sheet close to her chest.
She places her feet on the floor, and winces. The ache in her side throbs, and she inspects the damage. Nothing-not even a bruise, the only evidence was the tenderness.
Stabbed, by a silver stake, not meant for her, and yet she acted without thinking, and ended up, once again, bleeding out on a dirty floor.
Vampires , good for nothing but trouble and pain.
"So, you're finally awake."
She startles.
Eric.
He stalks in, all sharp edges and lean muscle, but there is a soft look in his eyes. She's seen it before, but only when they're alone and only if he can't help it. Now, he wears it plain on his face, and she wonders if that means something.
He stands at the foot of the bed, hands buried in his pockets; studying her. He lingers on the bare skin exposed. Eyes narrowing, she pulls the sheet closer.
"Did I pass out?"
"Yes."
"Did you undress me?"
"Yes."
"Is this your house?"
"Yes."
A beat.
"Any more questions?'
"No."
He sits down beside her. The bed dips under his weight and their shoulders brush when she sinks closer to him. She tries to scoot away, but his hand on her leg stills her.
She shrugs, the witch's thoughts echoed in her head aim for the heart. don't miss. aimfortheheartdon'tfuckingmiss.
The witch imagined Eric collapsing into a pile of bloody goo. A surge of… something shot through her, she couldn't name it; it was reactionary-almost instinct. All she knew was she couldn't stand the thought of Eric meeting the true death in a lame magic shop because some backwater witch got a lucky shot in.
"That's what you pay me for."
"No, I pay you to read minds, not by my bodyguard."
"Well tonight you got both."
His hand was moving under the sheet; cold hands find her hot skin; goosebumps breakout. "Yes, and I am grateful."
She blinks. Eric never thanks her in words, only in cash. She appreciates the money, but the simple sincerity shocks her. She wants to make a crack about marking the calendar, but the joke dies on her lips when she catches his expression. There's a vulnerable arch to his brow, and a soft set to his mouth; the menace that normally lines his skin is absent.
A funny feeling snakes it way up her chest. She doesn't know what to say so she settles for a dismissive, "Whatever."
Eric frowns, like her answer disappoints him. He doesn't speak; instead he moves closer, and cradles her nape, his thumb brushing across the high arch of her cheekbone. For a moment she leans into his touch, and sighs.
She missed this; being held and touched like a lover. Loneliness has been her bedfellow these past months, but it left her unsatisfied at night and cold in the mornings. She doesn't regret ending it with Bill, but there are times when she wishes things had been different.
Thoughts of Bill make her gloomy, and she tries to pull away. She grasps his wrist, pink nails digging into his skin. "Eric, don't."
"Why?" His grip on the base of her skull tightens, "I've been patient-waiting for you to get over B-"
She cuts him off. "I never asked you to do that."
His jaw clenches, and his hold loosens. She's knows he finds it annoying when he's interrupted; she doesn't care. He stares at her hard, and she stares right back. She won't let him bully her into submission.
He relents. "No, you didn't ask me. I did it because I wanted to. I did it because I find myself thinking of you all the time; the memory of how your blood tastes gets me hard like nothing else. When I fuck other women I imagine you in their place."
Half scandalized, half pleased, she blushes. "Eric…"
He kisses her.
She freezes, and just like that all cognitive functions are rendered useless by the feel of Eric's lips against hers.
And like their first time it only takes her a moment to kiss him back. It morphs from a gentle display of affection, to feverish; desire licking at the inside of her belly.
Eric eases her back against the mattress, his body a pleasant weight on top of hers. Gasping, she breaks away from his lips, sucking in much needed oxygen, but he chases her mouth, closing the gap between them once more.
Feeling bold she slips her hand between them and strokes his dick through his pants. She hears a growl low in his chest and her name whispered against her lips; she slowly feels the heat in belly spread to all of her nerve endings; setting them ablaze. Eric grabs her hand to still her stroking, clasping it above her head; lacing their fingers together. The unexpectedly affectionate gesture from him sends her heart fluttering.
His fingers push the fabric of her panties aside; his cool fingers a shock against the hot sensitive flesh. She feels his touch along her slit; a soft whimper escapes her lips, and she buries her face against the mattress.
Eric seizes her chin, forcing her to look at him, "Don't." He dips two fingers deeper inside her, his thumb grazing her clit, before bringing them to his mouth, "Watch."
His pupils are blown wide, black overtaking the blue, and she draws a sharp breath as she watches him suck his fingers.
When he finishes Eric brings his hand between them again, and with a quiet tear, removes her underwear. In a blur he drops to his knees by the edge of the bed, and pulls her close, legs thrown over his shoulders. Dazed, by the time Sookie realizes what he's done the thought already floats away, nebulous and insignificant.
Eric doesn't tease her; with his fangs bared he licks at her cunt. Pleasure blooms inside her, from the tips of her toes to the top of her head; it grows inside her until there was no room for anything else. Writhing under his tongue, she comes, white sparks behind her eyelids.
He stands up, and undresses. Sated, she views him appreciatively through half-lidded eyes from the bed. He notices, and preens under her gaze.
"See something you like?"
"Nothing I haven't seen before."
He hisses, and she laughs, with a gentle shove he pushes her back against the mattress. Eric looms over her; the dim light behind him casting an angelic glow around is hair. He kisses her deep, and all saintly allusions evaporate as he pushes himself inside her.
Her breath catches. He pauses, giving her time to adjust before he begins to move, exhaling; she lifts her hips to join his.
They fall into an easy rhythm, and she feels pleasure swell inside her once more. Her eyes fall shut, but she can still feel Eric's eyes on her; her blood is hot beneath her skin.
With only a slight hitch in their rhythm he rolls over, the new angle lets him hit a different part of her, and she shudders. The stitch in her side burns, but she focuses on the pleasure she feels. She rolls her hips, and her head falls back, hands braced on his thighs as she fucks him.
His hands are warm from her body heat, and his grip on her hips is almost painful. He sits up, the sudden movement catches her off balance and she falters. They're closer now, faces inches apart. They kiss, and she's careful not to cut her tongue on his teeth.
She coils her arms around his neck, and presses her heels to his lower back. She bounces on his lap, and she knows she's close.
With a few more thrusts, and the feel of his rough fingertips on her clit, she comes undone.
He follows soon after, his face buried in her neck as he groans his release. She feels the tips of his fangs graze the skin of her throat; poised to puncture.
Sookie freezes.
She would refuse him this; her body she'll give, but not her blood.
"Don't," She swallows thickly. "Don't bite me."
He goes still; if he was human she would feel his breath ghost along her skin. Tension hums like a resonant chord between them; she wonders if he'll bite her anyway, he doesn't, instead Eric presses a chaste kiss to her jugular, "Next time then."
A promise.
She avoids his eyes as she untangles herself from his arms. He lets her go, and lies atop the sheets next to her; unabashed in his nudity.
Sookie was not so, and she covers herself.
"Sookie-"
His phone goes off somewhere in the vicinity of his discarded pants. He looks annoyed, and when he answers, he barks, "What?" into the receiver.
She tries to follow the conversation, but he soon slips into his native tongue. She curls on her side, and allows herself admire the muscles of his back, the way his skin stretches over his shoulder blades.
She drifts off, not aware that she had until Eric calls her name, waking her.
His eyes are soft again, but the tightness of his mouth betrays him.
"What's wrong?"
His expression shifts, and his face goes blank. "It's nothing. Come on," he drops a shirt in her lap. "I'll take you home."
"You're kicking me out?" She's not offended, not really- just curious.
"Yes," he pauses, deciding how much to reveal. "I'm having visitors, and it would better if you were not here."
Vampire visitors, she assumes, and he's right, she'd rather not. She throws on the shirt, and follows him downstairs; her purse and blood-splattered shoes waiting for her.
Carly Simon croons over the radio and Sookie leans her head against the window, watching the bright lights of Shreveport fade into the familiar darkness of Bon Temps' back roads.
They don't speak; Eric seems preoccupied with his thoughts, and Sookie can't find anything to say.
This was a mistake, she thinks, as she worries her bottom lip with her teeth. Giving into whatever is thing was between them will only encourage Eric to be even bolder in their interactions. Something she had been trying to dissuade him from. She sighs.
When they pull up to her house, she finally allows herself relax.
He walks her to the door, and she makes sure to pull the hem of the shirt down, careful not to accidentally flash him.
In the doorway she thanks him, and he responds in kind. It's all very polite and proper; two words she would never associate with Eric.
Before he leaves, he steals a kiss, "Goodnight, Sookie."
"Goodnight, Eric."