Disclaimer: No matter what Sookie thinks, she's not her own woman, but I don't own her either.

Breathesgirl was so kind that she betaed this chapter for me.

Previously:

When I looked up again I saw that Eric was scanning the room with his eyes, looking from one present vampire to another. Apparently he was thinking about which one of them he wanted to go with me.

"It would be good if it was someone with good self-control," I suggested gently.

His eyes lingered for a second on Charles but when Eric turned back to me it was a different name he said:

"Pam."

I smiled. I liked Pam.

"Great," I said sincerely.

Someone must have released Pam from door-duty, because I saw her at the other side of the room. Her head snapped in our direction when Eric uttered her name – or maybe he called her in some other way? One corner of her mouth turned up when she met my eyes.

She walked toward us slowly, with a cat-like grace, her movement perfectly synchronized with the music.

"Eric," she greeted with a slight nod of her head.

It looked like Eric did summon her, after all. I was just glad that their relationship was the way it was, and she was using his name while talking to him, instead of addressing him as her 'Master', the way many vampires had to with their superiors.

The fangbangers loved it and quickly adopted the custom, using the title whenever they could, but personally I found it obnoxious. I knew that Eric and Pam co-owned the bar, and while I wouldn't go as far as saying that they were equals with Eric being so much older and being the area sheriff, I got the feeling that they were partners not only in name. There was an underlying trust and fondness between the two.

"You're going to help Sookie," Eric said without any preamble.

My mouth hung open. The flatness of this statement shocked me. Eric's tone didn't leave any room for discussion.

"With pleasure," Pam purred her reply, flashing a hint of fang.

Her eyes lit up with mischief. It made me keep my mouth shut, even though I was really tempted to comment on Eric's rudeness – only Pam seemed honestly pleased with her assignment and not at all surprised that Eric was sending her away from their own bar without even bothering to ask for her opinion on the matter. I also didn't miss the fact that he said she was to go to help me, not Sam.

"These are my terms," Eric said turning to me and adopting a business tone. "Sam will provide Pam with a safe place for the day and unlimited access to blood."

I nodded. I was sure that Pam knew how to take care of herself and her dietary needs, but these were reasonable requests.

"What about money?"

"Let's just say that I like the thought of Sam owing me one. I don't want any other payment."

I knew this last part could be tricky, but I decided that Sam could judge it himself, so I used the cell phone he had lent me just with this particular use in mind and called him to let him know the verdict. While I was reporting to Sam, Eric turned to Pam and switching to some foreign language he started to talk to her so rapidly that I probably wouldn't understand him even if he was speaking English. Maybe he was giving her some instructions, or maybe they were talking about something entirely unrelated.

Sam seemed to be resigned when I repeated everything to him.

"There is one place in the bar where a vampire could hide during the day," he said. "So be it. Blood, light-tight space and a favour. When can she start?"

"Tomorrow night," answered Eric, who of course could not only multitask, but also hear both sides of the conversation.

When I hung up Pam smiled at me and said:

"Until tomorrow, Sookie. You'll see, we're going to have so much fun."

Then she winked at me and left.

I shook my head with a smile. Pam was the closest thing to a friend I had among vampires.

"Is there anything else for me to worry about?" Eric asked unexpectedly.

I blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"Let me give you an example: if, let's say, somebody else came close to killing you lately, it would be a reason to worry."

I couldn't decide if he was teasing me or if he was completely serious.

"I'm sure it keeps you awake at… well, day," I said trying to use the same, enigmatic tone he did.

"Do you doubt it?" his follow up question didn't really help me to solve the mystery that was his current mood.

Was it a joke? A reproach? A challenge?

I narrowed my eyes.

"Is there any particular reason why you find my fate so interesting?" I asked suspiciously.

"There are a lot of reasons"

"Name one of them."

I could swear that he hesitated for a split second.

"I have many wicked plans regarding your person," he clued me in, this time with a smirk.

I made a show of making a face, even though I felt the rush of heat hitting me and I knew that Eric could hear all that blood pulsing wildly in my every artery with a doubled speed. I had no doubt as to what kind of plans he had in mind.

"Name a different one."

"You're very useful."

Useful. Oh yes, of course.

"Then no, you have nothing to worry about."

Eric shot me a weird glance. I suddenly remembered that I wanted to fix things with him, so I shouldn't snap at him.

"I'm fine," I added hurriedly. "You?"

He looked genuinely surprised with the question but not in a bad way. I supposed it wasn't often someone asked him how he was.

"It took some time to clean up the mess after the witches but everything is back to normal now," he replied evasively.

Which didn't explain in the slightest why he was so pissed.

"Eric, are you still mad at me?" I surrendered at last.

He gave me a long look. There was a dangerous glint in his eye.

"It depends."

"It depends? On what?"

"Will you dance with me?"

I almost choked on my ginger ale. I looked at him in disbelief and barked a short, nervous little laugh. I wasn't sure what was going on.

"You'll stop being mad at me if I dance with you?" I made sure that I heard him right.

"Exactly."

In a blink he was standing in front of me with his hand outstretched. I took it slowly and with some hesitation. I glanced at the almost empty dance floor before returning my gaze to Eric. I knew that I should not decline his offer. He was doing me and Sam a big favour – and he was reaching out (figuratively and literally) to me.

"Let's go, then," I said, getting up.

There were many reasons for me to feel unsure about accepting his invitation. I could feel the eyes of every single person at Fangtasia on us when we approached the dance floor. I couldn't figure out Eric's actions. I was afraid that in agreeing to his proposal I was taking part in some game without knowing its rules or where it would lead.

None of that mattered.

The moment Eric's arms wrapped around me everything else faded into the background. I felt the stress melting away for the first time that evening. I almost sighed out loud in contentment. Much to my surprise I discovered that despite the height difference we danced together quite well. It seemed natural. Despite my initial worry, it didn't feel awkward, even with people staring at us. What can I say – dancing with Eric was simply pleasant.

I suddenly realised with full force that all it took was for Eric to stop playing an arrogant ass for a moment to make him very hard to resist.

"I don't want to fight with you," I said quietly.

"Good," he said and his voice came from a much closer distance than I expected.

I raised my head and then I made a mistake – I looked into his eyes. My breath caught in my throat. I couldn't look away. If I didn't know it was impossible I would have thought he glamoured me. He was close – too close – not close enough. Somehow, stealthily, gradually – closer and closer – to the point where he bent his neck so much that the loose strand of his hair tickled my face. By the time the last notes of the song rang in the air and we stopped moving slowly, I was so dazed that I needed a few seconds to even remember where I was. I recovered only when I noticed Eric's gaze dropping to my mouth.

"Thank you," I said stepping out of his arms hurriedly and giving him a slightly crazy smile.

An expression crossed Eric's face, the one I couldn't decipher, but that was slowly becoming familiar.

"I should go now," I added hastily. "It's been a long two days."

The second I said it, I suddenly felt all the fatigue and the sleepless night crashing down on me.

"I'll walk you out," Eric said after a pause.

I went back to the booth to collect my purse. Eric held the coat for me and then, before I could protest, without a word, he buttoned it, one button at the time, starting with the one situated the lowest and moving up. With each button he fastened my breaths were getting shallower. At last, Eric smoothed the cranberry fabric with open palms and pinned me with that icy-blue stare of his again.

"It's a perfect fit," he said with a straight face.

I only gulped, unable to find my voice.

Oh my, oh my. I needed to get out of there – like, right then!

I could see Pam watching me closely from a distance when I was leaving the bar with Eric, but luckily she didn't do or say anything. I waved at her and walked out as fast as I could without running.

The cooler air hit my face. I was desperately searching for something I could say to change the mood.

"Hey, I was meaning to ask you, do you by any chance know that creepy vampire, Mickey?" I suddenly remembered when we had almost reached my car.

Eric's reaction was unexpectedly violent. He grabbed my wrist so strongly that I squeaked in pain.

"Ouch!"

He loosened his grip, but only fractionally.

"Where did you meet him?"

"Merlotte's," I said, confused, "why?"

"What was he doing there?"

"Eric, let go," I demanded. "It hurts."

His eyes shot down to my hand, as if it was only then that he realised what he was doing and he finally let go of my wrist.

"He was sitting at the table with my friend Tara and drinking Red Stuff," I answered when he released me.

"What is she doing with him? Last time I saw her she was with Franklin Mott."

I remembered that Eric had met Tara in Jackson.

"Yes, they were dating at the time. I have no idea. I hoped that maybe Mickey was her bodyguard, or something?"

"Not likely."

"What is wrong with that guy?"

Even if I didn't trust my own instincts Eric's reaction to his name would be enough to get me worried.

"Stay away from him. Don't get in his way. Don't talk to him."

"Eric?" I asked uncertainly.

"Sookie, I'm serious. Stay out of it."

"I have to talk to Tara," I said, suddenly afraid for my friend.

"No! Stay away from her too. Don't try to help her."

"I can't just ignore it!" I argued, annoyed by his attitude.

"Damn it, Sookie! You have no idea what he's capable of."

I rolled my eyes. Same old, same old.

"Sookie, Mickey is capable of things that even other vampires wouldn't do," Eric said slowly and with emphasis.

Okay. That gave me a pause.

"I don't have so many friends that I could afford to lose one of them," I said grimly.

Eric gritted his teeth.

"If she's seeing Mickey, I don't give her a bright future," he told me with a brutal honesty. "You have nothing to do with that. Leave it."

He put his hands on my shoulders. This time I knew for sure that he couldn't glamour me – if he could, he would have already done it. We glared at each other.

"I can't risk anything happening to you."

I looked at him surprised.

Ah, yeah. I remembered: useful.

"It's not your business, Eric."

A few long seconds passed, and then he let me go and took a step back.

"Goodnight, Sookie," he said coldly. "Pam will be at Merlotte's tomorrow night."

He turned on his heel.

And he was mad at me. Again. I clenched my teeth. I exhaled through my nose. I was sick of it. Enough is enough.

"Okay, that's enough," I said loudly.

Eric froze. Luckily, he wasn't moving with vampire speed. He looked over his shoulder and gave me a questioning look.

"I know you've been angry at me and I understand why, even though you could take into consideration how all of this looks from my perspective."

Eric raised an eyebrow.

"And it doesn't look good."

I don't know if he wanted to say something to that because I had no intention of letting him saying anything until I got it all off my chest.

"But you have to make up your mind about what you want! I apologised –"

I did, didn't I? I was sure that I did.

"I haven't seen hide nor hair of you since then – that's fine too! Okay! I get it! You have a right to stay away," I was talking in a raised voice, "but then you can't just come out with something like this! You can't interfere in my life and make choices for me! You can't just disappear and then be mad when things are not the way you'd like them to be when you decide to reappear! You've been gone for weeks! Why are you being like this? What's going on here? How am I supposed to know if you even still want to have anything to do with me? How can I know if you even care what's going on with me? I can't read your mind!"

Yeah, that was part of the problem – and, at the same time, a blessing.

Eric narrowed his eyes.

"And… don't look at me like that! I have no idea what it means!"

I was catching my breath. Eric was looking at me for a few seconds, and then he took a couple of long strides and before I realised what was going on, I found myself pressed between my car and Eric's body and being kissed as if the world was coming to the end.

It was as if someone suddenly switched the gear that was trying to bounce off from the moment I stepped inside Fangtasia and wired me up. It surprised me that there were no visible sparks flying from every inch of my body that was touching Eric's.

Something changed. Eric had kissed me a few times in the past (okay, probably more than just a few times, but that was all I remembered) and each time it had been a highly pleasurable experience, but this time something was different.

While I was trying to figure out what the difference was (and catch my breath), my hands had a mind of their own and wandered toward Eric's head and shoulders. My body knew his capabilities better than the conscious me did and it knew exactly how to make the best use of them.

And then, suddenly, I solved the puzzle and came up with a paradoxical answer: the kiss was less perfect.

When Eric had kissed me before, he'd been doing it the way one could expect from someone having a thousand years' worth of practice – flawlessly. It had been smooth, harmonious, full of delight and two hundred percent power of seduction. Skillful. Splendid.

This – this wasn't a skill. This wasn't art or craft. This was voracious, boiling, impatient and an absolutely wonderful hot mess.

It crossed my mind that he was kissing me as if he was trying to force me to remember.

A kiss breaks a curse - a stray thought filtered through my muddled brain. - It... wakes… someone…

It was definitely waking something.

I managed to break away before I passed out from the lack of oxygen. I gulped in a big draught of air loudly. I closed my eyes and waited for my head to stop spinning.

It was a safe bet that my subconscious was going to serve me a dreamy remake of that scene the following night.

"Why do you not want me?" Eric surprised me with a question.

I looked at him as if he was crazy. I was so dazed from the kiss that I could barely comprehend what he was saying. Did I look like I didn't want him?

"Why did you want me then, but don't want me now?" he continued with the questions. "Was it because you knew the spell was temporary? Did you do that out of pity? Did you think I was someone else, that I wasn't myself? Did you let it happen only because you believed it wasn't really me?"

He sounded as if these questions had haunted him for some time. I hadn't even thought that it could have been be bothering him. I had no answers for him. I wished I had them myself. I tried to force myself to sober up, but there were so many emotions and hormones battling inside me that I didn't even know what I was feeling.

"Eric," I said helplessly. "I have no idea what I was thinking."

He was the first one to recover. I could see the moment when the look in his eyes shifted and his face morphed back into its composed expression when he got himself back under control. I felt an unexpected pang of regret when he straightened his back and looked at me, once again perfectly collected.

"One day you'll remember," he said.

I just wanted to thank you all for being so amazing and still reading it - I don't know if you realised, but you bore with me for over ten chapters and it's only now that I gave you a decent kiss (though I can feel Eric glaring at me all the way from the other universe for calling any of his kisses decent).

So... now that we have all major players in place we can just sit back and watch them play. Don't forget to tell me what you think!

Next time: Sookie gets into an argument and some old questions resurface.