Disclaimer: I own nothing related to True Blood.
"I can't even believe you're doing this."
It took a great deal of self-restraint for Paige not to roll her eyes – Jamie had said this exact same thing at least twenty times in the past hour, and while Paige knew she shouldn't be complaining about the fact that her friend cared enough to worry for her safety, she was anxious enough about her impending trip back to Fangtasia as it was without the added stress of Jamie's paranoia. The redhead finally stopped her pacing and faced her friend, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt nervously.
"I don't have a choice, Jame." She reminded the blonde. "He said he'd come and get me himself if I didn't show up."
While Jamie heaved and shook her head, Paige glanced at the clock on the nightstand to check the time; it was nearly eleven thirty now. And after an excruciatingly long day of fretting over her visit with Eric and being subjected to the girl's theories about what it all meant, the time to actually head for the nightclub and see Eric again was fast approaching and would soon be upon them. Though she was nervous as hell and a little apprehensive about how this night might go, admittedly there was a small part of her that was also a bit excited with everything that had been happening. Paige lived a normal, mundane life and usually didn't see very much excitement – now a vampire was taking interest in her.
"What does he even want?" Jamie asked, almost sounding angry as she mulled over the million dollar question. "It isn't like you're gonna see him after this weekend – we don't even live in the same state, for Christ's sake."
"I know." Paige finally snapped, her nerves getting the better of her. Jamie immediately fell silent and stared up at her, clamping her lips closed at once to keep from saying anything else – now feeling guilty for snapping at her friend, Paige sighed and plopped down on the bed next to her. "I'm sorry." She apologized. "I just never thought I'd meet a vampire and now a really powerful, really attractive one is all but demanding I spend time with him. I'm just…a little stressed out." Paige then admitted, even though this was something her friends had already been well aware of.
"I'm sorry." Jamie apologized.
Paige sighed. "It's okay." She said, before turning a wry smile on her. "Lord only knows what he wants from me…probably wants to drink my blood or turn me into a vampire or something." She added with a snort, trying to ease the tension by making light of the situation – Jamie didn't laugh.
A knock sounded on the door, causing both girls to jump before Paige patted Jamie on the shoulder and went to answer the door. Anna, Kim, and two other girls named Vanessa and Zoë were waiting out in the hallway – Anna and Kim looked excited to be going back to the club. Vanessa and Zoë were both very fidgety and looked more than a little anxious.
"Ready to go?" Anna asked with an unsettling amount of zeal, wagging her eyebrows at Paige. "Your new boyfriend won't want to be kept waiting..."
"He is not my boyfriend." Paige grumbled at her before turning to retrieve her purse. She paused before leaving to cast a look back at a very worried Jamie, offering a small smile before turning to the other girls and nodding resolutely. "Alright, let's get this show on the road."
"Wait!" Jamie interjected before they could leave, already leaping off the bed and quickly crossing to the door. The blonde hesitated for a nanosecond before wrapping Paige up in a tight hug that felt eerily like a final farewell, as though she were going to her imminent death tonight and would never return. "Please, please look after yourself." Jamie pleaded in her ear before pulling far enough away so that Paige could see the worry on her face.
Paige nodded and smiled encouragingly…or, at least, as encouragingly as she could given the odd atmosphere that had surrounded their group all day long. "I'm always careful." She said matter-of-factly. Jamie didn't look convinced but released her anyway, choosing not to say anything else on the matter. "I'll see you in a little while, alright?"
"Okay…"
And with that Paige and her four companions left the hotel and headed back to Fangtasia.
The entire car ride to Eric's night club was spent fidgeting and fretting – why did the vampire want to see her again? Did he want something from her? And if the answer was yes, then what was this 'something'? Paige distinctly remembered him mentioning her 'virgin blood' more than once the previous night, so was that what he was hoping to get from her? She immediately stiffened at that thought – if he believed he could take advantage of her and just steal her blood from her, Eric the vampire had another thing coming to him.
When they reached the club, they were greeted with the sight of a familiar female vampire – Pam was standing in front of the entrance and checking identifications as patrons slowly filed their way into the club. She smirked as they approached then casually extended a hand, palm facing upward, towards Paige. In return, Paige glanced uncertainly down at the vampire's hand, not one hundred percent sure what she wanted.
"Identification, please." Pam requested with a quirk of her eyebrow, using a sickly-sweet tone that completely contradicted the condescending smirk on her face.
"Seriously?" Paige asked in surprise. Seeing as Eric had literally demanded that they come back to the club, she hadn't thought this would be necessary – she had to wonder if Pam was carding her just to be difficult.
Pam's eyes narrowed. "Though Eric might allow you to speak to him with such disrespect, mortal…" She growled at Paige warningly. "You will find that the same cannot be said for myself. So until you learn to treat your superiors with respect, I suggest you keep your mouth shut around me." Pam emphasized her point by glaring at Paige intensely for a long few seconds. "Now, be a good little pet and hand over your fucking identification." She finally finished in a low, warning hiss.
Paige and the other girls immediately began fishing out their identification cards from their purses, all of their hands shaking and fumbling around clumsily in their sudden nervousness. Pam, however, only bothered with Paige's card and took a moment to scrutinize it. "So young, so innocent…how sickeningly adorable." Pam mused aloud before slapping the card back into Paige's hand. "Go inside." She ordered, motioning them through. "And try dressing up next time." The vampire hissed at Paige as she passed by.
Paige frowned and glanced down at her outfit as they walked into the club, thinking there was absolutely nothing wrong with the flattering jeans and nice white blouse that she'd opted to wear tonight. No, her attire clearly didn't fit the club's apparent dress-code of leather, whips, and chains, but Paige certainly hadn't thought she looked a frumpy mess, either.
"So what do you think Eric wants with us?" Anna asked quietly in her ear, her eyes already roaming over the crowd - it was just as crowded, if not more so, as last night.
"Your guess is as good as mine." She murmured back, also searching the crowd for any sign of the tall, blonde-haired Eric.
Paige recognized the faces of many of the patrons, having seen several of them the night before. They too seemed to recognize her because they moved out of her way as she and her friends passed through, much like they had the night before. Paige was fairly certain in that moment that she had underestimated just how powerful Eric truly was – he couldn't possibly just be the owner of nightclub, there had to be more to him than that to garner this sort of behavior. Granted, if she was a vampire she probably wouldn't want to anger the owner of her favorite hangout either, but the lengths they were going to suggested Eric the vampire was capable of doing far worse than just banning them from a nightclub.
"Why don't we get a drink?" Vanessa suggested, already grabbing Paige's arm and heading towards the bar. "I could really use one right about now." The other three girls quickly followed after them, not wanting to be left behind.
Paige frowned as, yet again, the crowd parted to clear a path for them – this time the other girls shot each other quizzical looks, clearly just now starting to notice how oddly the vampires around them were behaving. They made it to the bar with minimal fuss and were able to claim a few barstools, all of them looking around uncertainly and feeling unsure as to what they were supposed to do now that they were in the club. Suddenly a burly, long-haired vampire appeared in front of them, not bothering to conceal his fangs as he smirked at them.
"Good evening, ladies, and thank you for joining us at Fangtasia. Everything you order is on the house tonight, courtesy of the owner, Mr. Northman." He announced, gesturing around rather grandly for a moment. Then his eyes turned to Paige. "Mr. Northman requests a private audience with you in specific, Paige. He will send for you as soon as he has finished attending to his work." Paige nodded jerkily in response, ignoring the looks her friends were giving her right then. "Now, what can I get you started with?"
A few minutes later each girl had a drink in hand and had turned to survey what was happening in the club – again there were leather-clad vampires dancing on tables to the delight of the crowd, though many of them were moving so quickly that Paige could barely even see what they were doing. Gathered all around these dancing creatures were both humans and vampires alike, watching with earnest interest and, in some cases, blatant desire.
"Who knew so many humans were interested in vampires." Anna commented offhandedly before taking a long gulp of her drink.
Paige shrugged a shoulder, her eyes drifting around the room until they landed on a lifted stage on the far side of the club. Resting right in the center of it was what appeared to be a throne – she immediately had an idea of who was normally the one to occupy that throne-like chair. "Look at that guy." Anna continued, catching Paige's attention again as she pointed something out to her – she was gesturing to a man that was literally groveling at some female vampire's feet. "He's literally begging like a dog." Anna huffed in disbelief.
"Guess he likes what he sees." Paige commented distractedly, her eyes already shifting back to the raised stage – Anna started like she was going to say something in response but stopped short as a few male vampires passed by slowly, eyeing them with greedy expressions. Neither stopped to say anything to them, however, and the girls relaxed again as the two continued on their way. "What do you think that is?" Paige finally asked, nodding her head towards the stage.
"The place they sacrifice humans?" Zoë guessed with a dry smile on her face, quickly hiding it behind her glass when Vanessa shot her a look that clearly told her to shut her mouth.
"Correct." The long-haired bartender suddenly piped up from behind them, his sudden appearance making them jump in surprise. He was smirking at them when they all warily turned to face him. "But usually only on special occasions or holidays – you know…birthdays, Thanksgiving, All Hallow's Eve..." Paige couldn't tell if he was pulling their legs or not, but decided she'd just rather not find out. "But when we aren't killing humans, Mr. Northman likes to hold his meetings there." He continued for clarification.
"Got it." Paige said with a nod.
The vampire's smirk suddenly widened, the look on his face saying that he knew something she clearly did not. "Your meeting, however, will be held in his private office tonight."
Her eyes suddenly widened and her heart skipped a beat – she was going to be alone and with Eric in his private office? Paige took three large gulps of her drink, dreading this meeting with Eric now more than ever. Why couldn't they follow standard procedure and have their meeting in public, where people could actually hear her scream if something went awry? Why was any of this even happening to begin with? Why?
Paige nearly jumped a mile in the air when a hand suddenly dropped on her shoulder – when she whipped around with wide, frightened eyes, she was greeted with the smirking face of Eric's sidekick, Pam. "He's ready for you." She announced, already ushering Paige out of her chair and starting to lead her through the crowd – Paige cast a helpless look at her friends over her shoulder, all of whom were watching her leave in obvious concern.
She and Pam made their way easily through the crowd and didn't stop until they'd reached a door in the back corner of the club – a sign reading PRIVATE was secured to the outside and she read it quickly with an audible gulp. Pam knocked twice, making Paige flinch both times, then quickly departed with one last, unpleasant smirk.
Paige watched the vampire go until the sound of a door opening caught her attention. She faced forward again to see that the door to Eric's office was now flung wide open and that Eric himself was standing right in front of her, his eyes already scanning the length of her body. Paige shifted under his scrutiny, only vaguely aware of the fact that every vampire in the near vicinity had fallen silent and was watching them with interest. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Eric stepped to the side and motioned her into his office.
Once Paige was inside, Eric closed the door behind them and slowly turned to face. It felt like all of the air had been sucked out of the room, an unexplainable tension suddenly surrounding them, and Paige crossed her arms over her chest for some sense of security, feeling a little vulnerable as he continued to unwaveringly stare at her. Eric looked even better than she'd remembered - his hair was pushed back out of his face tonight, making his icy-blue eyes even more pronounced and giving her a much better view of his handsome features. He'd forgone wearing a jacket as well, choosing a fitted black t-shirt instead; she couldn't help but to appreciate the sight of his large, well-built arms.
"You were on time." He finally said. "I was very pleased to hear it, Ms. Collins."
Paige somehow managed an articulate response in spite of her nerves. "Well, I wasn't feeling up to being hauled out of my hotel room against my will. So – " She paused, feeling rooted to the spot as Eric suddenly started in her direction. He stopped just in front of her, forcing her to cran her neck so that she could still see his face, and smirked as he moved one large hand in her direction and flicked the collar of her blouse. She didn't know what the hell the look on his face meant or what might possibly be going through his head, but due to his close proximity, didn't quite have the capacity to try and figure it out. "So," she finally continued, "I figured I'd make it easier for everyone and just play along."
"Smart girl." Eric commented.
He finally stepped away from her and headed for his desk, making her sigh in relief now that there was a bit more distance between them. She turned to watch him, appreciating his broad, muscled back as he went. As he slid smoothly into his seat on the far side of the desk, Paige cleared her throat and slowly trailed after him. "So…any particular reason you wanted me and my friends to come here tonight?"
Eric leaned back in his chair, raising an amused eyebrow at her. "I couldn't care less about your friends, Ms. Collins – my interest is solely in you." Paige was taken aback by his directness, his words sending a zing of awareness down her spine. "The only reason I requested the presence of your friends was so you wouldn't get mauled the moment you entered the club." Silence fell between them for a moment as she mulled this information over, before Eric finally gestured towards the chair opposite his. "Please. Sit."
Paige nodded and did as she was told, unable to help noticing the fact that Eric never once turned his eyes away from her. She eased into the chair and crossed her legs tightly, feeling uncomfortable for a number of reasons underneath his intense gaze – she suddenly wished that she had brought her drink. She could really use the alcohol right now.
"You're twenty four." He stated, catching her a bit off guard.
"Er…" Paige started unsurely. "Yes, I am." She then confirmed, though not without frowning in slight bewilderment.
"And you're not from around here?" This sounded more like a statement than a question, leading Paige to believe the he already knew the answer.
Again, Paige said, "No..."
"What do you do back home – are you in school or do you work?"
Now Paige hadn't really known what to expect from this meeting with Eric – she didn't know if he had wanted to see her again because he wanted to feed on her, because he wanted to get into her pants, or what have you – but what she hadn't expected was to be grilled by him as though she were here on a job interview. "Why do you want to know?" She asked before she could stop herself.
"That's no concern of yours, just answer the question." Eric retorted quickly before raising his eyebrows in obvious expectation.
Paige blinked in surprise, feeling a bit thrown for a loop – how could his prying into her personal life not be her concern? "I'm taking a break from school." She found herself reluctantly revealing. "I wanted to start making some money instead, so I took a job at a privately owned bookstore. It's not the best job in the world, but it pays the bills and I like the people I work with."
Eric's only response was to nod his head and raise a hand up to his face, idly rubbing his jaw as he regarded her with interest. He finally dropped his hand to the desk again and straightened up in his seat. "I have seen you in Shreveport before." Eric admitted as he began to sort through some papers on his desk. Paige was too stunned by his admission to wonder what he was looking for – he'd seen her around town before? When? Where? And how had she never seen him before? "You gamble at DiamondJacks quite frequently…" He turned his gaze upward again, raising his eyebrows at her in question. "Why?"
Paige was a bit at a loss for words – if Eric had seen her before (and more than once, apparently), then why had he waited until now to approach her? How long had he been watching her and what else did he know? And, she wondered with a start, had he purposefully gone to DiamondJacks the night before to seek her out? All of these questions raced around in her head, making it hard to come up with an intelligent response to his question.
"I don't know…it was the first place I ever gambled at. Maybe I'm just a creature of habit?" Then she tilted her head, regarding him with suspicion. "Why?"
Eric met her stare for a long moment before casually leaning back in his chair. "Because, Paige Collins from Houston, I'm considering investing in the casino." He revealed anti-climactically. "And I wanted to find out whether it was worth my time or not."
That was it? He'd gone through all this trouble just to ask her questions about some stupid casino? Paige didn't know why, but she felt oddly crushed. "It's probably worth your time." She answered quickly, trying valiantly no to show him how disappointed she was. "That place is always packed."
"Good, that was what I hoped to hear." He said in response, his eyes never leaving hers. "Now I have a favor to ask of you."
Paige's left eyebrow shot up, uneasiness washing over her with that statement. "A…a favor?" She echoed uncertainly.
Eric nodded his head. "I have already arranged a meeting with the owner of the casino, an older gentleman eerily reminiscent of George Hamilton. I think you may be acquainted with him, actually." Paige could recall the exact person Eric was describing – the man in question had tried to sweet talk her more than once, despite always receiving a gentle rejection from Paige. "My problem lies in the fact that this man does not trust me any further than he could throw me."
"So how do I come into play, then?"
Eric smirked at her, looking rather pleased with himself. "You will accompany me to the meeting next weekend at DiamondJacks – he seems to have taken a liking to you and I think I shall find him more willing to hear my propositions if you are in attendance." He then explained.
Paige wasn't sure if she should feel angry at him for literally demanding that she join him at this stupid meeting or feel discouraged knowing he'd only made contact with her to try and get further in his business endeavors – in the end she just decided to be angry with him. "I can't just come to Shreveport every weekend, Eric." She shot at him with an angry frown. "I have a life, you know."
Eric's expression hardened some, letting her know that he didn't appreciate the attitude in her voice – it effectively reminded her that she needed to be more careful with the way she spoke to him and had her immediately pressing her lips together to keep from saying anything else. "I have seen you in Shreveport three times over the past month and a half. One more trip will not kill you."
Paige still eyed him untrustingly. It would probably be a mistake, but if she was going to put herself in danger by teaming up with a vampire – and a powerful one, no less – she simply had to know. "And what about you?" Paige asked, making his eyebrows slowly inch upwards. "The trip might not kill me…but for all I know, you might."
He was silent for so long that she began to fear she might have actually outted his plan. But then he finally said, "Paige – " She involuntarily shivered at the sound of her name on his lips. " – if I wanted to kill you, trust that you would not be sitting where you are right now." His response sounded daunting, but it did give her at least some reassurance.
A long, pregnant stretch of silence settled around them after that. While Paige mulled the situation over and tried to decide whether partaking in Eric's business endeavors was a good idea or not, Eric continued to stare at her as though he could see into her very soul, making her fidget – it was very hard to concentrate with Eric looking at her like that. Finally, in an attempt to both bring an end to his staring and earn herself a little extra time to think everything over, she spoke up again.
"How did you know how old I was and where I was from?" She asked in a convincingly casual voice. "Do you have special powers of telepathy or something?"
Eric didn't comment about the subject change. He smirked instead, looking amused. "Sorry to disappoint, but no." He answered. "You showed Pam your driver's license at the door…do you not remember?"
Paige, feeling like a Grade-A idiot, shook her head at herself and chuckled. Smooth, Paige. Real smooth. "Right, now I remember…" She said, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. She turned her eyes away, looking at anything in the room but the vampire sitting opposite her, and her gaze quickly landed on an open door in the far corner of the room - she could just barely see the corner of what was obviously a bed and quickly deduced that must be Eric's bedroom. It made her heart skip a beat.
"My personal quarters." He confirmed, as though reading her mind. Paige made a thoughtful noise in response, her eyebrows furrowing together. "Something you're thinking of?" Eric asked curiously, clearly unsure what to make of her reaction.
"I just…I thought vampires slept in coffins or underground." She said with a shrug, cringing as she realized how naïve that made her sound.
"Most do, myself included." Eric admitted truthfully. "My quarters are for when I have…" He paused, his head tilting to the side some as his eyes blatantly scanned over her form. "…company." He finally finished, making her release a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
"Who are you, Eric Northman?" She finally asked to try and direct their conversation in a safer direction.
He finally shifted his gaze away, the expression on his face very nonchalant. "I am the owner of Fangtasia...you know this already."
"Bullshit." Paige inwardly cringed as soon as the word slipped past her lips. Her bold retort made his eyes snap back to hers – she wasn't sure whether to feel worried or a little victorious, however, when she saw how taken aback Eric was. "I'm not as naïve as I look and I'm certainly not stupid – there's a lot more to you than just that."
Paige then crossed her arms over her chest and waited patiently for him to respond. She knew she was probably trying his patience but justified her actions by blaming him – he was the one that had more or less forced his way into her life and, let's face it, he was the one that would probably force her to go to that stupid meeting. If he planned to involve her in his schemes and force her to spend time with him, then she thought it only fair that he even the scales by telling her the truth. Then again he was a vampire – for all she knew, vampires didn't operate in that sort of way.
When Eric took too long to respond, Paige sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry, but if you won't tell me what I'm getting myself involved with then I'm afraid you'll be going to DiamondJacks alone."
The words had been said with a great deal of authority, making her sound way more confident than she actually felt. Eric himself was wearing an expression that was hard to read – she almost thought he looked angry with her for declining his 'invitation' yet also thought she spotted a hint of challenge lurking in his icy gaze, as though her were daring her to defy the order he'd given her. Her stubbornness flared at that acknowledgement, so to prove her point to him she grabbed her purse and got to her feet.
"Now, if we have nothing further to discuss…" Paige said before inclining her head to him and then turning to leave.
Eric moved so fast that Paige never would have even had a hope of seeing him move. One second she was taking a step towards the door, knowing she was probably royally pissing him off but too committed to her dramatic exit to back down - in the next Eric had grabbed her by the shoulders and whirled her around until her back connected with one of the walls of the office. His face was only inches from hers, his body pinning her into place, and she couldn't help but gasp when she saw the storm raging in his blue eyes. He stared at her for a long moment before he slowly dipped his head to trail his nose along her neck, inhaling the scent of her skin.
Despite being terrified out of her mind that any second might be her last, Paige could not recall having ever wanted anyone else as badly as she wanted Eric right then.
"Did I say you could leave?" He asked, his voice low and gravelly as his lips neared her ear. When she put up some semblance of a struggle, he quieted her movements by pinning her wrists to the wall on either side of her. "You are the most stubborn human I have ever met." Eric informed her, though she couldn't tell if this annoyed or amused him.
Paige opened her mouth to protest but hesitated when he pressed even closer to her, allowing his nose to trail up into her hair. It was all she could do not to let her knees give way or, even worse, give into temptation and press herself against him – he was dangerous, he was powerful, and she knew he was not someone she should get mixed up with, but damn it all to hell, Eric Northman was the most beautiful creature she'd ever laid eyes on and he had awakened something within her that was impossible to ignore.
Paige snapped back to reality as his eyes connected with hers again – he was so close that she could have easily kissed him; no matter how badly she lusted after him, Paige knew better than to actually do so. "Do not ever turn your back on me again, Paige – I am to be treated with respect. Do you understand me?"
She hesitated for a second before slowly nodding her head. "Yes…" The severity of Eric's expression dimmed a little, approval entering his gaze instead. "But only if you treat me with respect in return." Unsurprisingly, his spine stiffened at her words. "As far as I'm concerned you have to give respect to get it."
Eric said nothing in response, merely moved one large hand away from one of her wrists so that he could lock it gently around her neck. Paige gulped, knowing he felt the movement underneath his palm, and felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up when she spied his malicious smirk. "I could kill you right now with just the twitch of a finger." He said in a low voice, though he made no move to actually do so. "It would be very easy."
"I…I know that." Paige admitted, certain he was just trying to frighten her into being more 'respectful' or cooperative. "It still doesn't change how I feel on the matter."
Eric tilted his head, all of the malice fading from his handsome features as he watched her with interested, albeit perplexed eyes. "Are you not afraid of me?" He finally asked her, sounding a bit confused by the possibility of such a thing.
"No…I'm terrified." Paige told him truthfully, flashing a quick, nervous smile.
To her surprise, a lopsided smile appeared on Eric's face. Paige felt her heart lurch at how handsome this vampire was, even if he was sort of an arrogant asshole.
Without warning his fangs appeared, making her start a little and her eyes widen – they extended down from his lateral incisors and gleamed in the light of the room. She'd never seen anything like it before, and was both fascinated and unnerved by the thought of what Eric was capable of doing with them. She only tore her gaze away from them when he shifted his hand to the side of her neck, allowing his thumb to trail over her jawline. Paige couldn't help it – the touch sent shiver through her body, making her eyes fall shut in pleasure. Eric took advantage of her distraction to slide his hand further back, locking his fingers into her red hair before tilting her head and exposing her neck.
"You are most fascinating." Eric grumbled in her ear, making her forget how to breathe for a moment. Then he lowered his mouth to her neck, just barely skimming his lips along her skin – desire blossomed in the pit of her stomach, making her yearn for him to put his mouth on her. "I can only imagine how divine you must taste, Paige…"
Those were the words that finally broke through the haze of desire and had her thinking somewhat coherently again – this wasn't just a regular man that she was dealing with; Eric was a vampire. And he had very sharp, very lethal fangs. Fangs that were now extremely close to her vertebral artery.
"Wait." She managed out, maneuvering her hands between them and placing them on his large chest. She tried to push him away but her efforts were futile – he was much bigger and much stronger than her and didn't budge an inch. But the pressure on his chest did seem to catch his attention and had him lifting his head to meet her gaze; his eyes were dark, though whether with hunger or anger or desire, Paige did not know. "You're not allowed to bite me." She told him firmly once she was certain she had his attention.
Eric smirked. "I'm not, am I?" He asked her a bit condescendingly – she shook her head at him. "And what makes you think you could stop me if I decided to taste you?" He asked, fangs still glimmering in front of her eyes.
There it was again, that heat that started to pool in her belly at his words – she needed to get away from him. Now. Before she ended up making a decision she might end up regretting. "I wouldn't be able to." Paige conceded, finding no point in stating otherwise. "So I'm asking you – please honor my request and keep your fangs to yourself."
Eric shook his head, letting out a small huff before nodding his head one begrudging time. Paige relaxed when his fangs disappeared, but when Eric also dropped his hand from her face and stepped away, she suddenly had to fight back a frown of disappointment. "Had you been anyone else, I probably would have killed you by now." He told her, crossing his arms over his chest. And it didn't sound like he was joking, either. He regarded her for a long, silent moment before saying, "If you promise that you will come with me to DiamondJacks next weekend, I will tell you who I am." He told her, returning to the conversation that she had all but forgotten about by this point.
Her eyebrows rose in surprise to hear his new terms. If she wasn't mistaken, it almost sounded as though he'd decided to be cooperative. "It's just a meeting?" Eric nodded once. "Nothing more?"
Now a tiny, almost mischievous looking smirk appeared at the corner of his mouth. "Well…that remains to be seen."
She didn't know what the hell he meant by that, but it could have been a number of things. She decided not to question him on it for now. "Okay." Paige finally agreed, almost instantly regretting doing so but knowing there was no backing out now. "I'll go."
Eric seemed pleased with her response. Then, in keeping with their deal, he squared his shoulders and held his head a little higher. "We are currently within the boundaries of vampire Area Five…which I am the Sheriff of." He revealed. "All vampires in this area, whether passing through or residing permanently, answer to me."
Well, now Paige understood perfectly why vampires scattered like roaches whenever Eric passed through; a tiny part of her had to wonder if they had moved for her because they assumed she was involved with their Sheriff. "I see…" She said with a slow nod. So Paige not only had unexpectantly found herself working with a vampire, but he just had to be one of the higher ups, too? She cursed whichever higher power it was that had decided to start tampering with her life and make her the butt of all these cruel jokes.
"You should go back to your friends now." Eric suddenly said, already heading for the door. "Our business is finished for tonight."
Paige crossed her arms and watched him go in disbelief, a little offended by his unceremonious dismissal. Eric stopped at the door but didn't make a move to open it just yet, shooting an expectant look at her instead. Paige resisted the urge to roll her eyes and finally started towards him. "Would it kill you to be nice?" She asked with a small scowl once they were standing face to face again.
"Possibly." He shot back at her, looking quite serious.
Paige huffed, figuring there was no point in putting up a fight, and moved to open the door. She froze, however, when Eric suddenly placed his hands on her waist and leaned down to press his nose against the side of her neck, inhaling deeply. Paige gasped and gripped the door handle tightly for balance, her other hand itching to rest on top of his. When Eric finally moved back some and released his hold on her, Paige chanced a look at him over her shoulder – he stood so close that she could just barely feel his body brushing against hers and there was a very intense look in his eyes, one that made her knees feel a little wobbly.
"I look forward to seeing you again, Ms. Collins." He murmured near her ear before resting a hand on top of hers and forcing her to turn the door knob.
The feel of his large, cold hand on hers made her nerves jump back to life. Paige nodded, swallowing thickly, and quickly pulled the door open before walking out of Eric Northman's office on shaky legs to go and find her friends.
A/N: Review!