A/N: I do not own True Blood or any of the characters.
I'd like to thank all of the readers and to everyone leaving reviews. I appreciate it.
Please enjoy!
Chapter 7:
Temptation
It was dark.
But, when one leaves the apartment at eleven o'clock at night; of course it was going to be dark.
It had been several days since the Masquerade. Eve was scheduled to work days at the mansion all week and tonight would have been the first time she worked at the mansion since that night.
To say the least, she chickened out and asked Godric for the night off. He obliged, of course and said he would only do it once on such sort notice.
What was the girl to do on a Friday, work free, night? Party with friends, of course.
Eve was on the way to meet up with friends at a new nightclub in the heart of Dallas. She hadn't seen her human friends in a long time. She keeps odd hours now; so it was always hard to get together with her old co-workers.
She wore a red mini-dress and red pumps to match. The dress had an open back that extended to the small of her back just above her bottom. Along with her outfit she had a small red purse to hold her essentials. The dress came from one of the many shopping trips with Isabel. She just never has had an excuse to wear it. She normally wouldn't dare to leave the apartment looking like this, but Isabel's voice was ringing in her head, Live a little.
It was a bit of a walk to the club. She felt perfectly safe walking downtown in Dallas at night because she had been claimed by the Sheriff of the area. All vampires knew she was untouchable. His scent was raiding off of her in waves. Only non-local vampires could cause a problem.
The club was just getting busy when she found her friends already waiting in line.
"Hey, guys," Eve said.
"You walked here alone?" Jen asked.
"It's a nice night," Eve replied, "I enjoy my walks."
"You're not afraid?" Brittany asked.
"Brit, we forget that she works for vampires now. She's one tough cookie," Jen said.
"It's not like that," Eve defended, "It's like any other job out there."
"So, you're asked to sleep with your vampire boss?" Jen teased.
"No, I just dream about it," she said.
"What's it like working for vampires?" Brittany asked.
"Its…extreme but I love it," she said, "The pay is unreal."
"Is there any job openings?" Jen asked.
All three of them laughed.
"Tessa told me it's hard to get in the club after midnight, but its well worth the wait," Brittany said.
Jen put her arms around them, "Well, with these three hot bitches, we shouldn't have trouble getting in. Plus, I gave the bouncer a twenty ten minutes ago. He said he'll make sure we get in just before midnight…Look, he's waving us over now."
"First round is on me," Eve promised as they worked their way to the front of the line.
After a couple of drinks, the girls abandon their table to dance on the overcrowded dance floor.
Where have you been…All my life
A Rihanna song blared all over the dance floor.
Eve usually doesn't act this way in public because she knew this kind of behavior can lead to trouble, but the alcohol in her system had other plans as she danced in between her friends.
Her brown hair was loose around her shoulders as she felt the beat raiding through her body. She closed her eyes as danced, feeling tipsy from the alcohol she drank.
She opened her eyes and saw across the room through the horde of dancing, sweaty bodies, a familiar face. A face that belonged to the vampire that she desperately wanted to avoid that night.
With a smirk on his face, Eric didn't hide the fact that he was staring at Eve. He spotted her in the red dress the moment she entered the nightclub. He released his glamour on the young woman he planned on drinking from in the restroom. He watched her being carefree with her human companions.
He couldn't deny the fact that he wanted her even more as he watched her dance or the fact that he wanted to tear every man apart who tried to take her away from her companions. He was pleased that she turned every one of them down even in her tipsy state.
He savored the moment when she opened her eyes and almost stopped mid-motion as she spotted him. He really couldn't hide the smirk.
Eve spotted him. She was shocked to see him. It seemed almost unnatural to see him in a place like this. It was like seeing a shark mingling with its food supply. It was almost dangerous. It was the kind of danger that can bring a person in.
Her arms found their place on her sides as she stared right back at him. Even among the bodies and the flashing lights, she could see him clearly smirking at her. And she found it sexy.
Eve turned away suddenly like she was going to make a run for it when Eric appeared before her, blocking her path. In her pumps, he didn't tower over her as much like he did that night in the garden.
Eve was about to say something, when Eric gently placed a finger to her lips to silence her. Then, he placed two hands on either side of her hips and almost swayed with her to the music. It wasn't dancing, just movement. He bent slightly to whisper in her ear, "You look delicious."
Wide eyed, Eve turned around in his arms to face her friends, who were now watching the strange couple with matching smirks on their faces, "I need a drink," she said over the loud music. She passed between her friends as they separated to let her and Eric through who had began to follow her after she left the embrace of his arms.
They were lucky enough to get their table back as Eric went over to the bar to get everyone a drink.
"Who was that?" Brittany asked.
Eve looked down, "Nobody."
"He was not 'nobody'," Jen said, "Is that a blush? I'm guessing you have seen that gorgeous man naked."
"I need tequila now!"
"No need to shout," Eric said, laying down a tray of drinks. He took a seat closely next to Eve, "Are you ladies have fun?"
"The best!" Brittany cheered.
Eve downed a shot of tequila.
"How do you two know each other?" Jen asked with a drink in her hand.
Eve glanced at him. He didn't have an answer. A little tipsy, "He's more like the bosses son," she said.
Jen and Brittany got the hint.
"So you have seen him naked," Brittany said. Eve wasn't the only one who had too much to drink.
"Eve's not the type to kiss and tell," Eric said, lazily running a hand on her left leg under the table. She thought it was comforting, but then again, it was probably the alcohol talking.
"Either way, I see why we haven't heard from her in a while," Jen smiled.
Eric's handed continued to gently rub her leg as it got higher and higher on each stroke; to the point that he was riding up her red mini-dress. She turned to him as her friends began to talk to themselves. She didn't stop him; she just watched his face as he turned to look at her too.
His hand took a different course after it reached her lacey panties. With fingers, he began to trace her private core on top of the panties. It was so lightly, she almost thought he had stopped touching her, but her body knew otherwise. He left trails of fire and she welcomed the heat.
"Eve," she heard her name as she turned away from Eric and his touch as if they had been caught. Jen was talking, "I'm going to take Brittany home. She's such a light weight."
"She's not the only one tonight," Eve whispered. She stood up and straightened her dress, "It was so nice to hang with you guys," she hugged each of them, "We have to do this again."
"It was so much fun," Brittany said, "It was nice meeting your boyfriend," she slurred, "Though, I hope he plans on getting a hair cut soon."
"Night ladies," Eric said.
Once they left, Eve grabbed her purse from the table, "I should get going too."
Eric stood, "I'll walk you home."
"That won't be necessary," she said, flagging down the waitress who served them earlier, "This is for you."
The waitress took the money, "Thanks. Come back," she said before leaving.
Eric came up from behind her, "You tip too much."
She turned to look at him, "I do not. Wait staff gets crappy tips."
"And you know from experience?"
"That's what I did for years before I came to work for Godric," she said.
He held out his arm, "Are you ready?"
Eve could tell he wasn't going to take no for an answer so she accepted.
They walked out into the crisp night air. The temperature had drop some since she arrived at the club with her friends.
"So you come here often?" she asked.
"Stan told me it was a hot bed of choices for a quick meal," he said.
Her night could have been worse. It could have been Stan that she ran into. She stopped him, "If you think by walking me home, I'm going to invite you into my bed. You have another thing coming."
"You have to invite me into your home first," he teased as they continued walking down the street.
"I live at home with my mom and little brother. There will not be in any hot crazy sex happening tonight," she made perfectly clear.
"And we can't do any of that with your family under the same roof."
"When I think of crazy sex with you, it's going to be loud hot sex," she said before frowning, "I think I had too much to drink and my feet are killing me."
Eric laughed at her as they stopped, "Take them off. I'll carry you home."
She did as she was told and waited for him to put an arm around her back and one behind her knees to lift. Once he did, her arm was wrapped behind his neck. She rested her head against his shoulder, "I'm sorry about the other night," she whispered.
"That happened in the past," he said, "All we can do is move forward."
"You're nice Eric when you want to be…or when you want something," she said.
"What do I want?"
She looked up at him, "I don't know," she whispered, "What do vampires want in the afterlife?"
Eric didn't answer her question as he stopped walking, "This is you."
Eve looked up at her apartment building and realized she never told him where she lived, "How do you know this is where I live?"
"I followed your scent. Its very unique, it wasn't hard to pick out," he said.
"That's either a very nice compliment or something a stalker would say." Eric set her down gently and watched her open the gate before turning around to face him, "Thanks for carrying me home."
He stepped toward her and took one of her hands to kiss, "It was an extreme pleasure."
The way he pronounced the word 'pleasure' made her want to fall down to her knees and faint.
She smiled at him as he let go. He waited until she was safely inside her apartment before taking off down the street to find someone to quench a thirst that suddenly came over him.
XXX
The Tuesday after Eve spent her night off clubbing with friends; Godric, Isabel and Stan had to leave suddenly appear at an American Vampire League (AVL) event out of state. They could not refuse AVL; Nan Flannigan invited them personally to discuss vampire politics and the future with all the important vampire leaders. Godric couldn't go into a lot of detail with Eve, but he asked her to make sure the day work at the mansion continued while he was gone.
This meant that the mansion will be vampire free for two nights. No vampires also meant no blood bags running around the house. Eve almost didn't mind because some of the girls were smart; while others needed to be looked after constantly.
It was also spring break time for her little brother, Jimmy. He had been bugging her for months to let him come to the mansion with her to see all the vampires. Seeing Isabel sometimes at the apartment just wasn't enough for him anymore. He wanted more. Now was the perfect time to bring her little brother to the mansion. No vampires! She could keep him safe without worrying about loosing her job because she killed a vampire for looking at her brother like he was a meal.
"Okay, again, what are the rules?" Eve asked her brother as she was driving over to the mansion.
"There aren't going to be any vampires, so what's the point of the rules," Jimmy complained.
"Do you want me to turn this car around?" she threatened.
The boy sighed, "Rule one: No open wounds. Rule two: No staring. Rule three: No talking."
"Good," she said, "Children shouldn't be seen, heard or smelt at vampire mansion. Today is okay, because it's only going to be you and me and some building contractors working on the roof. That reminds me; Rule four: Don't touch anything. You break, I die."
"What am I supposed to do all day?" the boy asked.
"Watch TV in the kitchen."
"I could have none that at home," he said.
"I can still turn this car around," she said.
"No!"
Sometime later…
"The roof isn't going to leak on that side of the mansion anymore?" Eve asked Ben the contractor outside as she looked up at the roof.
"It shouldn't ma'am," he said, "If it does, just give us a call and we will fix it free of charge along with today's work."
"That's very generous."
"We appreciate them as a customer," he said, handing her the bill.
"I will write a check and send it out in the morning," she said, shaking his hand, "Thank you."
Eve went inside after she watched the contractors leave. She found her half asleep in the kitchen on a bar stool watching TV.
"Are you done yet?" he asked.
She laughed, "I'm almost done and then we can go home. Mom should have dinner waiting on us," she eyed his cup, "I hope that's water."
"It is."
"Good, I don't want you jumping on the furniture," she said.
"It's almost seven," he complained.
"I know. You said you wanted to come," she looked at her watch, "Give me 10 minutes and then we can go. Why don't you go get cleaned up while I clean up your mess here. Do you remember where the restroom is?"
"I'm not a baby," he said, shutting the TV off.
"Alright, little man, that's debatable," she said before he ran off to clean up.
Eve quickly cleaned the kitchen before making her way to Godric's office to take care of the contractor business. Once she was finished, she placed everything in an envelope to go out in the morning.
She closed the office door and heard voices coming from the living room, "Jimmy," she called.
"In here," Jimmy called back.
She walked into the living room and was surprised to see her brother talking with Eric on the couch, "Eric? I didn't think you would be here."
"I would rather meet the true death than sit in a room listening to vampire politics," he said, standing up to greet her with a kiss on the cheek.
"What's a true death?" Jimmy asked.
"Your brother asks a lot of questions," Eric said.
"Yes, nine year olds tend to do that," she said, "I hope he hasn't been begging you."
"No, he hasn't. It's been good to clear the air about certain vampire myths," Eric teased.
She laughed, "I didn't realize it had gotten that late. If I knew you where here, I wouldn't have brought him."
"I'm hungry," Jimmy interrupted, "Can we go now?"
She looked at Eric, "I should get him home."
"Eric can come to dinner," Jimmy said, "I still have things to ask him."
"I'm sure he has a busy night," she said.
"Actually I don't," Eric said, "I would love to come to dinner."
The blonde vampire sure did know how to make common words and phrases sound completely dirty.
Eve smirked and thanked whoever that her brother was obvious to Eric's meaning, "Mom is going to freak but okay. You can come, Mr. Northman." Jimmy ran back to the kitchen to get his backpack, "You better behave or I will resend your invitation."
"I will be by best, Miss Jones," the vampire teased.
"Suck up."
On the drive to their home, Jimmy didn't stop with his vampire questions.
"Can you fly?"
"Can you turn into a bat and then fly?"
"Do you actually sleep in coffins?"
"Is Dracula real?"
"Why do you need blood to survive?"
"Stacey's mom is dating a vampire; she says it's always about blood and sex. Is that true?" Jimmy asked, as Eve parked the car on the curve.
Eve turned around in her seat, "Jimmy! You don't ask questions like that," she looked at Eric beside her in the passenger seat, "Don't you dare answer that question."
"If it's true," the little boy continued, "Is that why you are dating Eve?"
She turned around in her seat further, "This is not the time or the place to be having the birds and bees conversation, and don't ask what that means either…And we are not dating. You're friends…We work together," she corrected herself, "Sort of."
"Allow me," Eric said before turning around to look at the boy, "I agree with your sister, you are too young to be asking those questions, but there must be a reason for you to be asking in the first place. Am I correct?"
Jimmy look ashamed, "It's just…I don't want you to hurt Eve. She's been hurt by guys in the past. I may be nine, but I'm not blind. I'm man of the house and I'm in charge of taking care of her and mom."
Eve didn't think it was possible, but the little brat actually shocked her and it was clearly written all over her face. She didn't know how to respond. Luckily, a tall blonde vampire knew.
"It takes a lot of responsible to take care of your loved ones and I respect you for that," Eric said, holding out his hand to the boy, "I'll make you a promise; I won't hurt your sister as long as you take care of things here when she's at home."
Jimmy shook his hand before holding up to fingers, "Scouts' honor."
Eric was a bit confused by that phrase, "Of course."
"Now that this male bonding time if over, let's go in," Eve said, "Jimmy, no more questions okay?" The boy nodded. "Thank you. Go on ahead. I need to speak with Eric and please inform mom of our dinner guest." She got out of the car to watch her brother run up the steps and go inside. Eric joined her on the sidewalk. "Thank you for that."
"I meant everything I said," Eric said, taking the back of his hand to run across her cheek.
She laughed, "Those weren't just meaningless words to a boy?"
"They were words," he said, leaning toward her, "I spoke the truth," he kissed her softly on the cheek. "We should get in," he whispered.
At dinner, Eve sat beside Eric with her brother and mom directly across from them. If her mother was shocked about a vampire joining them for dinner, the older woman was hiding it well. Isabel had been over to visit a few times, but this situation was completely different. Eric was gorgeous; even Eve's mom could see that.
Even though Eric didn't eat human food, he respectively sat at the table with an empty dinner plate in front of him and waited for them to finish. They didn't have Tru Blood to offer him (He wouldn't drink it if they did. He hated the substance), but he drank red wine with Eve and her mother.
Eric listened to Mrs. Jones as she rattled of stories of when Eve was younger. Completely embarrassing Eve in the process, but she laughed along with everyone the same. Under the table, he even intertwined their hands.
Eve watched Eric poor another glass of red wine for her. She smiled at him, "This will be my last."
The clock on the wall chimed nine o'clock.
"That time already," Mrs. Jones said, "Time for bed Jimmy."
"But mom, I don't have to go to school tomorrow," he said, "I'm on spring break."
"That's right," Mrs. Jones giggled because of the red wine, "I forgot. We can watch TV or pop in a movie."
"Do you want to stay for a movie?" Jimmy asked Eric.
"I think we have imposed on Eric for tonight long enough," Eve said.
Eric looked at Jimmy, "She's right. I do have some things to do before dawn. Things I'm going to need her help on."
Eve was surprised, "Really?"
He nodded.
"Well, don't let us keep you," Mrs. Jones insisted, "Mr. Northman, please make sure she doesn't drive tonight."
"You have my word," he said.
"Mom, do you need help before we go?" Eve asked.
"No, I'm just going to run these in the dishwasher. Won't take but a minute," she said, "Run along now."
"I'll see you tomorrow," Eve said, kissing her on the cheek and then doing the same to Jimmy, "Don't stay up too late."
"Thank you for the wine, Mrs. Jones," Eric said.
"Anytime," she said before the two of them left the apartment.
Walking to the passenger seat and tossing Eric the keys, "What's so important tonight?" she asked.
"You'll see," he said, getting in before driving off, "Where's your father?"
"He left shortly before Jimmy was born," she said, "They were going to get a divorce and they rekindled for a bit. My dad didn't want to be responsible for raising another child, so he chicken out and left mom with divorce papers. Haven't seen the bastard since; I was almost sixteen."
"You and your mom raised him well," he said.
"Thanks. Funny thing is over the years a lot of people thought he was mine," she turned to look at him, "What about you? I'm sure you had parents once upon a time."
"When I was human I did," Eric said almost holding back, "I only remember certain things about that time before Godric found me. As time goes on, human memories fade away. As my prodigy Pam would say, human life is nothing but small blip."
"You have a vampire child?"
"Is that so hard to believe?" he asked.
"Yes. I bet she is just like you…How does one become a vampire?"
"By feeding humans our blood and then die with it in their system," he answered.
"That simply."
"Yes. There are more traditions with what comes after," he said as he pulled up to the mansion.
Eve unlocked the mansion and entered with Eric following her. She walked to the living room before turning around to face Eric.
"What was so important that I come here tonight?" she asked.
"We are finally alone," he said, taking a step toward her suggestively, "After weeks."
She took a step back instinctively, "Yes, we are."
He smiled, "Are you afraid of me?"
"Yes. I try not to be but I can't help it," she said.
"Why?" he asked, stepping closer.
"Because you're like temptation in the flesh. You reek of it," she said.
"Is that so bad?" he asked, standing before her, "Am I so bad?"
"I don't know. You've done a complete one-eighty since the first time I met you. I sometimes don't know who you are. Ever since the moment your eyes landed on me, here in this very room, I knew what you wanted. And now, I still know what you want," she said.
"And?"
For once, Eve was the one to step closer to him, "The only difference is that I'm more willingly to give it to you."
Eric captured her lips and he savored the taste. He could still taste the red wine on her lips. He ran a hand down her arm and then pulled her closer without breaking the kiss. He released her for a moment for air while his mouth explored her neck.
Eve was breathless when her hands began to explore his upper body. How many times had she fantasized about touching him? Too many. She began to pull on his shirt to get his attention, "My room," she whispered.
He knew what she had referred to as he picked her up and ran upstairs to the bedroom she stayed in weeks ago. He put her down and watched her walk backwards into the room. He closed the door. There was barely any light coming into the room, but he could see her in the dark.
He closed the distance between them once more and allowed her to remove his shirt and felt her hands graze his chest. He quickly removed her shit before picking her up to place her on the bed.
She gazed up at him as she laid here with her red bra and pants still on and watched him get on the bed between her legs. He proceeded to unbutton and unzip her jeans and slipped them off her legs along with her lacey red panties.
He held up the red panties, "My favorite color on you," he said before tossing them on the floor with the pants. She sat up to kiss him passionately as he unclasped her bra before pushing her gently back onto the bed.
He placed himself at the base between her thighs before he went onto making her scream out in pleasure for the first of many times that night.
XXX
Before dawn, Eve woke up to light kisses on her face. She opened her eyes to see Eric hovering over her.
They didn't say anything. They really didn't need to say anything to each other.
She continued kissing him until she felt liquid running down her cheek. He stopped by lying on his back. She hovered over him and saw that he was bleeding from ears. She whipped the red liquid from her face.
"Vampires bleed when they are up past dawn. It's been a few minutes but after last night, they came quickly," he explained.
"Then why are you still up?"
He stroked her face, "I wanted to kiss you before I let sleep take me."
She leaned down to kiss him, "Get some sleep…I'll see you tonight," she smirked, "Sweet dreams."
He placed his arms to his sides before closing his eyes.
Eve smiled before rolling onto her back to stare at the ceiling. She eventually got up to retrieve a robe from the bathroom. She came back and covered Eric up. In the nude, he was too distracting. She searched and grabbed her clothes before going into the bathroom to shower for the day.
She planned on going home, and then coming back later before he woke.
He would be dead until dark.
XXX
To say the least, Eric and I spent the next few nights together. Usually, with our clothing off. It saddened us both when Godric returned to the mansion. It truly was the only place we could be alone together. It was a great few nights.
Everyone in one form or another is tempted by something or someone.
Let me be the first person to tell you, temptation…is overrated.
Just take whatever you want (under normal circumstances).
What's the worse that could happen?