The last chapter was important to set up things to come. :) Thanks for the follows and reviews.

I own none of the characters in this fan fiction. They are based on the Sookie Stackhouse series. This story is located somewhere between "Dead as a Doornail" and "All Together Dead". It takes parts from the whole series, but there is a twist I promise. I was devastated when the author did away with the blood bond and ultimately ended the relationship which I think defined the series. This is very Team Eric / Sookie.

Sookie's POV

I know that I don't have to go to Merlotte's, but still I wanted to see everyone and I knew Sam would appreciate the extra help. I grabbed my keys and was just about to grab the door knob when someone knocked. I leaned up on my tip toes and looked through the keyhole.

"Alcide" I smiled big as I opened the door. "What are you doing here?"

"It appears that I'm your new body guard" He leaned forward and swept me up in a big bear hug.

"Well okay then. I'm just about to leave." He motioned towards his truck.

"Your chariot awaits Miss Stackhouse." Alcide was always so polite. It is one thing I appreciated about him. I studied him as he walked around the truck. Well if I had to have a bodyguard I'm glad it was someone that I was at least comfortable with. I smiled as he climbed into the driver's side.

On the forty-five minute drive, we caught up on everything that happened since my dramatic rescue from Bertrand. He was heavily involved in the pack. He was seeing a nice girl. Although he always under played his affection for anyone, probably because of me, he smiled when he talked about her. We pulled into the lot at Merlotte's. As I got out of the car, I tuned into someone; someone close. I jerked my body around towards the woods. All I need is one drop. When I turned around I heard a rustling in the woods and whoever it was took off running.

"Sookie what is it?" Alcide was beside me searching the woods. "I can't leave you. What did you hear?"

"I don't know. I heard something. But whoever it was ran away." I started to walk towards the woods.

"Sookie you are NOT walking in the woods alone" I heard from behind me.

"Oh fine. I'm not even sure what they were talking about." I headed towards the door and flung it open. I always ended up slamming it accidentally. Sam was at the bar. Arlene looked towards me and rolled her eyes and went back to serving her table. "Hey Sook. What a nice surprise."

"Hi Sam. I'm here to work." I smiled brightly. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure Cher. Let's go in my office." He showed me towards the back hallways. Alcide started to follow us. Sam turned around. "She'll be fine."

Alcide didn't stop following us back the hallway. I turned around and put my hand on Alcide's chest. "Alcide. It's okay. I'll be fine in his office. Just give me a minute."

I shut the door as I followed Sam in the office. "So what's up Sookie?" He looked at me. God I miss her. She's so beautiful. I wish she'd leave that fanger. I shook my head and stopped listening. Not that I was purposely listening but sometimes it just slips through.

"Sam I know you said I could come in whenever I want. I appreciate that. I'm going to work when you need me for the next two weeks. Things are changing though with Eric and I and I am going to have to quit." I smiled at him softly.

"Oh Cher its okay. I kind of figured that was coming anyway. You aren't in Bon Temps that much anymore. I miss you though and I really hope that you will come visit us once in awhile." He smiled and shifted uncomfortably. I figured he was covering up his feelings. "You can have the front section. I gave Felicia the night off."

"Thanks Sam." I smiled and headed for the door. The night was uneventful. Alcide sat at the bar, looking way too obvious the whole night. It took him four hours to drink one beer. Well at least he was attentive.

I cleaned up my section. The night shift was covered, which I'm sure will make Eric happy. I headed to get my purse. Just one drop. I spun around and came face to face with a tall man with slightly graying beard and green eyes. I narrowed my eyes. "Who are you?"

Without saying a word he grabbed my wrist hard and pulled it towards him. I started to scream and he covered my mouth with his other hand before I could get it out. "Shhh…I'm not going to hurt you." Dropping his hand, he grabbed something from his pocket, pricked my finger with something and ran out the back door.

"Alcideeeee" I yelled. Alcide was standing in front of me in no time at all. "Alcide. Someone…was here. He pricked my finger." Alcide ran towards the door to look out.

He walked back and grabbed my hand. A look of confusion spread across his face. "He pricked your finger?" I nodded at him.

Eric's POV

I heard the messenger approaching the door. Okay, here it goes. I answered the door and there he stood. He was a shifter. I nodded at him.

"Mr. Northman. I have a delivery for you." He glanced down at a copy of document boxes with a sealed document on top.

I nodded back and reached for the clipboard to sign. As I handed it back, the messenger looked at me. "I'll be back in 3pm in three days."

I picked up the boxes and headed towards the office. As soon as I crossed the threshold, my phone rang. I looked down. It was Alcide. "Alcide, what is it?" I felt the anger rising and my skin heating up. "You had one job Alcide. Protect Sookie. I understand she wasn't hurt. Just bring her home." He assured me they were on their way home. Damn it. I loved that Sookie was independent but sometimes it was a bane.

I sat down in my office to read the extensive document sent to me by the council. There were pages of tributes and accounts, duties and territory information. I heard Alcide's truck coming down the street. Finally.

I flew to the front door at vamp speed and opened the door. I saw Sookie talking as they pulled in the driveway. She got out of the truck and headed towards me with a bright smile. How is it that she has the power to just take all my anger and make it disappear in a second? I smiled at her and pulled her in my arms. I looked down at her with a concentrated look. "Sookie. Lover. I'm glad you are okay."

"Eric nothing happened. The guy pricked my finger with something." She glanced back at Alcide concerned.

I sighed deeply. "Nothing will happen to Alcide." I said with resigned indifference. She smiled again and headed into the house.

"Northman."

"Herveaux."

We all filed into the kitchen. I motioned to a stool. "Alcide. This kind of stuff can't happen. It wasn't serious that we know of. Or maybe it was," I reconsidered. I squared my jaw and turned to Sookie. I need her to understand.

"Sookie. You can't go anywhere alone. Lover I know you like your shifter and friends but it's dangerous. It will only get more dangerous. Now there's another player. Please don't take any chances."

"It was my fault…" he continued "I looked away for a second. "She went to get her purse."

"Be that as it may, it simply can't happen anymore."

"Herveaux. You can leave. Thank you for being there." He nodded and stood.

"Sookie" he smiled and turned to walk out the door.

"Lover, I have to go read some documents in the office. Would you like to sit with me and read or something? I'm sorry there isn't a lot of time for us tonight. King business."

She sighed and jumped off the stool. "I'm just going to grab my book. I'll be there in a minute." She reached up grabbed me by the neck to pull me down to her level and kissed me on the lips sweetly.

I poured over document after document. It was truly amazing how many businesses the authority was invested in. I was floored by the numbers. They had investments in virtually every public entity and private commercial business there was. Some of the businesses weren't even making money. There were several extravagant "member's only" clubs in New Orleans, which I guessed were fronts for underground vamp business. Of course I knew that Vampire money was old. People don't understand how old vampire money is exactly. Vampires control about 70% of the world's wealth in one way or another and have for centuries. My money is old too, but at least I was smart about my investments. Their investment strategy seemed nonsensical to me. Why would they invest in a gas station in a deserted town outside a deserted government base? After I understood the lay of the land, which took hours, I started to go through the individual territories and look at the individual Sheriff's accounting. Louisiana territories were in good shape. Minor changes here and there, but Felipe's accounting was good.

I glanced over at Sookie who had fallen asleep on the red velvet sofa in my office; the book collapsed on her chest. Sighing, I don't know what they want. I don't know who is following her. How could they even know she'd be there? Something isn't right. They were obviously after her blood. I shook my head…which is definitely is not a good thing.

I diverted my attention back to the paperwork and decided to dig into the boxes. Mostly it was supporting documentation for the businesses, who owned them, investment information and so on. I spent the next five hours getting to know every name in every file. I don't like to rely on paperwork. I'd rather keep things in my head. I'd taught Pam to do the same thing. She calls it a "vault". I call it memory.

It was getting close to time to head to my chamber. I locked up the files and headed towards the couch to where she lay sleeping. I picked her up gently. She yawned and opened her blue eyes, a smile coming across her sleepy face. "Hi" and then promptly fell back asleep.

I put her in bed and decided to lay down for a few minutes. I pulled her into my arms, to which she responded by instinctively throwing her arm over my chest. I leaned my head down and kissed the top of her head.

After about forty-five minutes, I got up silently and walked towards the door, glancing back at her fast asleep in my big bed, exactly where she belongs.

Sookie's POV

I could hear the birds singing outside the focus. The room was completely dark but I knew it was daytime. I told Sam I would be back Friday to work the afternoon shift, so I didn't have to work. I lazily forced myself from bed and headed downstairs to have breakfast. With all the excitement yesterday I forgot to eat and now I was starving.

After I retrieved a bagel and a piece of fruit, I plopped down on one of the stools. I needed something to do. I loved reading but reading every day was going to get old fast. I flipped open the laptop on the counter. Eric had gotten it for me a few months ago, but I never looked at it. It blinked on and I started to aimlessly browse the internet. I noticed an ad for the University of Louisiana online program. Hmmm. I could never go to college, too many thoughts, that would drive me crazy trying to learn. High school was bad enough, but now there was school online. I think I'll go to school. Or I'll think about going to school.

I started researching it and before I knew it the time passed. I found out that there were a lot of accredited online programs and that some of them were very good. The University of Louisiana was among the 50 best in the country.

I lost track of time. I felt Eric wake up and before I could get off the stool I felt him behind me. His lips brushed against my neck. "Lover." I knew what he was in the mood for. He was exuding sexuality at the moment. His large hands found their way to my waist. I turned around and stared up into his eyes. His skin was flawless, the setting sun was casting a beautiful golden hue through the window and it made his skin glow. I could feel the lust oozing from him. He pressed against me and I could feel his hardness against my leg.

He let a growl escape from his lips as he yanked me closer to him. His hands went up to the collar of my shirt and he ripped it away in one motion. I gasped as he drew me into a deep kiss. "Not here" his rough whisper penetrated my body. Before I knew it we were standing in front of his massive bed. I reached down and started rubbing his hardness through his jeans and grasped the button to undo them. He leaned me back on the bed; his hot kisses trailing their way down my stomach, while he grabbed the center of my bra and tore it from my body. I could feel the heat in my body rising as he pressed himself into my center.

He grabbed each side of my panties and pulled them down. I could feel his tongue make contact with my clit and I arched backwards sharply as the sensation filled my body. His tongue began darting in and out…his hands firmly gripping the sides of my waist. It was just too good. I was sucking my breath in and panting it out so hard that I thought I was going to hyperventilate. He didn't give an inch. OMG. I felt his fangs scrape the side of my thigh and then slide into my skin. He then began a pattern of drawing on the wound and plunging his fingers deep inside me.

"You are so wet Sookie. Are you watching me lover?" he breathed in between sucking hard on the wound.

I could barely speak. I grunted "yes" as I looked down at his blonde head between my legs. I grabbed his hair and pulled him back up to me, using my legs to guide him where I wanted him. I felt him push the jeans down and press into my opening and then stall.

I was beside myself. "Eric please. NOW" I panted insistently. He withdrew and then ploughed into my center. His engorged member filling me completely. He moved in and out. I could feel his body tense as we both neared our end. God I just wanted him further in me. He withdrew one more time and slammed himself inside me forcing my hands to go above my head, he held me there as we both felt the release and relaxed into each other.

He leaned up and looked at me, a smile spreading across his face. "Good evening lover. Mmmm I love the way you taste..." he paused. "in every way."

I smiled back at him. I couldn't help it, he was just too adorable. I giggled out loud, realizing that I think a 1000 year old vampire as adorable.

We both got up…our clothes were strewn around the room. We both got dressed and headed downstairs.

"Eric," I said thoughtfully and slightly pausing, "I think I want to go to school."

"Of course Sookie, whatever you want, but isn't that difficult with your … gift?"

"Well I was researching today and a lot of colleges offer online courses. It seems to be just as good as going to classes and it wouldn't drive me crazy that way."

"Then I think you should. What were you were thinking of taking?"

"I was thinking of business or finance or something art related."

He looked at me and considered for a minute. "You should do what you think will make you happiest. I know you want to work, even though you don't need to. Please consider letting me pay for it though. There is no sense in getting trapped in student loans."

Eric and I always came to a dead end when it came to money discussions. I didn't want to be a kept woman, however, in this case I tended to agree with him. I did have a little bit of savings because he insisted on paying for everything whenever we were together. I tried to argue in the beginning but it was a losing proposition so I accepted that he would do that. I still paid my own bills and stuff like that. He would have paid for that too. In his mind, we were always going to be together so there was no sense in me paying for anything. It's not that I didn't trust that, I actually thought I would always be with him, but there is this realistic side of me that just wants to have my own things. I don't think even if we were married that I would change my mind about that.

He noticed that I was in deep thought. "Sookie?"

"Oh sorry. I was just thinking that I agree. There's no sense in getting loans or using my savings."

His face lit up and he smiled. "Great! Just let me know what the bill is and I will pay it." Then he surprised me.

"I have to go run an errand tonight. I'm going to call Pam. I need to meet with her later anyways. I want you to be there. We need to go over some stuff."

I nodded. "Okay. Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?"

"Yes I'm sure. " He smiled and walked towards me. I could feel reassurance coming from the bond as he leaned in to kiss me.

An hour later, Pam arrived on our doorstep. She rang the doorbell, however, she didn't wait, she pushed open the door and walked in. "Hello Sookie." Her outfit was very soccer mom today. She had on an A Frame white dress with pink and yellow flowers and a tiny yellow belt. Her pink ring leather Versace shoes completed her look. It made me laugh how "suburban" she could look.

We sat in the kitchen, me drinking coffee and her drinking blood, having a pleasant conversation about the newest fashion trends. I don't really pay attention to that kind of stuff, but Pam was all about fashion and labels. Eric was only gone about an hour and a half.

His framed filled the doorway as he sat there listening to us for a few minutes.

Eric's POV

"Pam. Sookie."

Sookie looked at me. I could feel the slightest hint of insecurity coming from her. "Hi. How was your errr appointment." I smiled sending her reassurance.

"It was good. And how was your chat?" Right when I asked, my phone rang. "It's the council" I said glancing down at my phone. I absently walked away towards my office as I clicked the 'accept' button.

"Eric Northman."

"Northman, this is Roman. Hope you are well this evening. We have a matter of pressing importance. The Sheriff from Area 2 needs to be replaced immediately. There have been some reports of misconduct and abuse of power."

I was confused. Usually there was a trial before the magistrate to decide matters of this nature. "Is he not going to be tried?" I asked.

"Yes. He will. However, it is best that we remove him first." Roman paused on the other end of the line. "The council wishes to replace him immediately. If he is found not guilty, which is doubtful, we will re-investigate the matter and reconsider his position. Any problem with this Northman?" A momentary silence filled the air.

"No. I'll take care of it." I grabbed the papers Pam needed to sign while I was standing there.

I hung up and headed back into the kitchen where Sookie and Pam sat staring at me. It took me a moment to notice.

Pushing the papers towards Pam…"These are for you to sign to assume control of Area 5 as Sheriff. I already checked them but feel free to check them yourself."

She rolled her eyes; a habit which I personally despised and I was never able to break her of. I gave up after the first hundred years. She grabbed the pen and signed without even giving it a second glance. "I'll read them when I have time," she said taking one copy.

I nodded. "So I have contacted several people that I have trusted over the years. There is a rotation of four guards on the house. Two were's during the day…They came highly recommended from Herveaux; although I'm not super impressed after he let Sookie get attacked. Max and Joe will be taking the night shift. They are friends from New Orleans. Pam you will remember them."

Sookie sighed in displeasure. "Eric 'attacked' is a little strong, don't you think?"

"No I don't think it's a little strong. It could have been much worse and we have no idea what they wanted with your blood."

I took my phone out and dialed Herveaux. "It's Northman. Can you come over to my house?"

"Yes. I'll be there in about a half hour."

Sookie's gaze landed square on me. I could feel the displeasure at being left alone again. She could sense that was what was happening.

"Pam and I have an errand to run in Area 2 tonight. I should only be gone a couple of hours lover." I leaned over and kissed her softly on the head, trying to soften the news. I felt her relax. She forced a smile and then said "okay". She still wasn't happy but she understood.