Spellbound

I apologize for the delay in posting this chapter. I needed to work on my other story because I hadn't updated the story in a month. So this week, I will be posting at least three chapters to this story so that I can go back and forth and work on my other stories. It was so much easier with this story because the chapters are short but I will keep you updated.

I want to thank you all for reading and reviewing.

"Eric's going to have to take you home."

She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Eric was going to have to take her home. That's not what she wanted. She'd had enough of his company for one night and now she was going to have to ride in a car with him? Sookie didn't have much of a choice in the matter since Claudette made the decision for her.

"What?"

"Claudine needs me here so," Claudette said as she shrugged her shoulders. "He'll get you home safe but if you need me at all for anything and I mean anything, you just call me."

"I need a ride home," Sookie whispered.

"I can't do it. You could pop yourself home," Claudette suggested.

Whispering so that Eric couldn't hear her, Sookie said, "No, I can't. I told you that I'm not feeling all that well and I can't pop myself home. You can give me a ride home."

Claudette said, "I have to stay here … until Colman returns. You don't have to worry about anything." She began pushing Eric and Sookie out of the door. "Goodnight," she said as she slammed it behind them.

So in the end, Eric was her ride home or so she thought. Instead of turning onto Gentry lane, he drove past the road that would have led them home. Sookie turned around in her seat and looked at the long forgotten road before returning her attentions to Eric. "Where are we going?"

"I thought …" Eric hesitated before he finished his sentence.

Unease began to fill her. Eric seemed nervous. He wasn't this nervous when he was courting her. "What did you think?"

"I thought that maybe you'd like to go out for dinner."

"I'm not dressed for dinner." She didn't know where they were going but she didn't feel comfortable wearing her lunch dress to dinner. Adele always told her grandchildren to dress appropriately for any and all situations. Lunch attire is not suitable for dinner.

"You look great but it's up to you. Just say so and we can go home," he offered. "I thought that dinner would be nice."

"Just us?" she asked. Sookie's voice was filled with surprise. "Just you and me are going out to dinner?"

"Sure," he said. "Why not?"

"Because we only ever go out when it's business," she said.

"Since when?" he asked.

She looked at him as if he was crazy. "Are you kidding me? It's been that way since we've been married. Once we got married, you changed. Our dinners, when you deemed them necessary for me to be there, were always alliance related. There were no romantic notions at all when we'd go out to dinner. It was all business. You know that." Sookie gave a sarcastic snort. "You're delusional if you believed it to be any other way."

Eric frowned but knew not to say otherwise because she was right. "Well I think that it's time that we change that." His voice was cheerful and his expression wasn't hidden. It was open to her.

For the first time since they'd married, he was open to her. His eyes weren't dead and cold. His demeanor wasn't stiff and standoffish. He wasn't the same vampire that she'd married. He was different and it scared her. She didn't trust it. She knew what to expect if she trusted him; disappointment. That was one road that she didn't want to travel down again.

Sookie didn't say anything for the remainder of the ride; not even when he parked the car away from the restaurant. Before she could open her car door, Eric had blurred to the passenger side and opened it for her. He offered her his hand but she declined.

"I can get out on my own, thank you."

When she got out of the car, he stepped out of her way. The walk to the restaurant was long and silent. Eric wanted to relieve the tension but he didn't know what to say or what to do. He began to wish that Sookie would let him hold her hand. He wanted to feel the warmth of her skin against his. He missed the connection that they shared. Though it's only been a couple of days since they've been together, he felt as if a part of him was missing. He needed to touch her. He wanted to ask her if he could hold her hand but he knew that it wasn't the right time.

Eric's nervousness began to make her feel uneasy. She could sense that he was up to something. His colors were nervous and blue. His mind was closed to her and for the first time ever, she wanted to hear what he was thinking.

That's one of the things that she loves about him … loved about him. His mind doesn't invade hers. In the beginning of their relationship, Sookie wrapped herself in his silence. It was comfortable. It felt like home. The only comfort that she has now is in her arms so she wrapped them around her body.

"Are you cold?"

"Not really," she replied. "But I'll be fine."

"There's a jacket in the car," he said as he pointed over his shoulder. "I can go back and get it if you want me to."

"No, thank you."

"It won't be a problem."

"I said that I'll be fine."

Eric changed the subject. "Tonight was fun."

Sookie had to force herself to concentrate on Eric's words. She wanted to relax but she was afraid to. She should've told him to take her home. She couldn't be angry with him. It's not like he forced her to come with him. He gave her a choice. She chose to come with him. She almost wished that she could go back to when he asked her but she stopped herself. She decided that she wanted to go with him and now she has to stick it out.

"It's a shame that you missed so many of our infamous movie nights. We've always had them; my cousins and me. When we lived in Faery, we had movie night. Gran and grandpa would watch with us when they could. Claudine would come here and she would find the best comedies or dramas and we'd have the most fun. I always loved the romances myself. They always make me feel ... never mind." She looked up at Eric from the corner of her eye and said, "It doesn't matter."

Eric glanced at her as they walked. He wanted her to finish her sentence but he let her drop it. When she was ready to share with him again, she would. "I can see why you enjoy their company. They are quite amusing. Claudette is quite funny."

She agreed with him. "I don't know what I'd do without them. In this world, they're all the family that I have. I don't know what I'd do without them. I'd have gone home long ago if not for their companionship."

He looked and felt uncomfortable at the words she'd spoken. There was no way that he could argue with what she'd said. It was true but that was going to change. Her cousins weren't going to be her only family. He was going to see to that.

"Claudette threatened to kill me."

She looked up at him and grinned.

Eric looked at Sookie with a cocked eyebrow. "That amuses you?"

She looked up to meet his eyes. "It does."

"Do you want to know why?"

"She told me." Sookie's smiled broadened. Shrugging her shoulders, she said, "I guess you'd better behave yourself tonight. There's something that you might know about Claudette."

Eyeing her curiously, Eric asked, "What is that?"

"She doesn't make threats." Before she could stop herself, she giggled.

"I guess I'll have to keep that in mind."

"You'd better." Sookie dropped her hands by her side; the smile growing even bigger.

They started laughing as they walked along. Without thinking, Eric reached for Sookie's hand. She pulled it away and moved away from him. Her arms were once again wrapped around her body.

"I apologize," he said.

She didn't say anything else. The rest of the walk was silent.

Eric finally said, "We're here."

She looked up to see that they were standing in front of Bloody Goodness. It was the restaurant that catered to the most important members of vampire society. It was the restaurant that vampires went to if they wanted to be seen. Eric placed his hand on the small of Sookie's back. When he reached out to open the door, she smacked his hand away.

She was no longer giggling. The smile was gone. "I'm not going in there."

"What's wrong?"

"Why would you bring me here?"

"For dinner," he answered. Eric looked surprised at Sookie's sudden change in demeanor.

"Lots of vampires come here."

"So?" he replied.

"I don't want to go in there. I'm not going to go in there."

"It's only dinner."

Eric was trying to figure out what was wrong. He only wanted to share a dinner with her. He'd called ahead and asked the manager to save the private room for them. He'd even requested that guards stand outside the door so that they could be alone. Sookie was extremely popular among the vampires. They loved being in her presence but tonight was just for them. Tonight, he wanted to do something special for her. Take her somewhere special. Plus it was the restaurant closest to home. If she'd gotten sick, he could take her home as quickly as possible. There was no hidden agenda.

"No." Sookie began walking away.

Eric watched her. He didn't understand what was going on. Eric followed after her. He was soon standing in front of her. "What did I do wrong?"

"You brought me here."

"For dinner," he proclaimed.

Sookie looked up at him and said, "You must really think that I'm stupid."

"What?" Eric was surprised at her words. "I don't know what you mean."

"Really?" she asked. "You weren't hoping that Stan or Godric would be in there? They'd see us together and think that all is well in the Northman marriage. That wasn't your plan?"

"I don't care if they are in …"

She cut him off as she looked up at him. "The one place that was mine … the one place that allowed me to be me and you took it. Why did you have to come tonight? I've invited you dozens of times and you never wanted to come but tonight you decide that you want to spend time with me? What are you trying to do?"

Eric was stunned at her words. He'd assumed that they had a great time at her cousin's house. "Where is this coming from?"

Then the dam burst. "Insecurity, fear, distrust," she exclaimed. She pointed in the direction of the restaurant. "You ask me to dinner and against my better judgment, I don't tell you to take me home and this is where you bring me? Was the entire night a ploy? Was it just to show the others that I'm yours?" Looking up at the stars, Sookie asked, "Why do I keep letting you do this to me?" Tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Please don't," he begged. His voice was low and gravelly. It was so thick with his Viking accent that she almost didn't understand him. He used his thumbs to wipe the tears away. "Please don't cry. Tonight was not a ploy. I swear to you."

She only stared up at him.

With his hands still cupping her face, he said, "We don't have to go in there. We can go anywhere; anywhere you want to go. I'll take to buy jelly sandwiches and milk if you want. I just want to be with you."

He was sincere. She took his hands from her face and held onto them for a brief second. "I just want to go to home."

"Okay," he whispered.

They walked back to the car without so much as saying a word. Once they were settled in, Sookie turned on the radio to drown out the deafening sounds of their silence. Eric didn't want to listen to the radio. He wanted to talk to her. He wasn't going to clam up. He wasn't going to let her shut him out.

"Claudine makes a beautiful mother."

"She is, isn't she?" Her face lit up as she talked about her cousin. "She's always been the beautiful one. Back home, she was the prettiest of the Brigant girls."

"No she's not," Eric countered.

Sookie looked down at her hands. Until last night, after they'd married, Eric never once told her that she was beautiful. She wasn't used to it. She didn't know how to take it.

When Sookie didn't respond to him, he continued talking about Claudine. "When does she have the baby?"

"It's unknown. It's in the essence. It's in the love."

Eric was confused but he understood Sookie's way of talking in riddles. That's the way all of her kin speak. They speak in riddles and they don't bother with explanations. "Have you ever wanted children?"

Sookie looked at Eric from the corner of her eye. He wasn't trying to be funny. He really wanted to know. She looked out into the night. "Yes," she whispered. She looked down at her hands before turning to face him. "I've always wanted children."

When she said that, she could've sworn that Eric's face changed. It was a mask she'd never seen on him before. It was sadness. "I had children once."

She couldn't believe what she'd heard. She knew that Eric had a wife in his past life before he'd been turned but he'd never mentioned children to her before. It pained her to know that when he was turned, he'd lost everything that meant anything to him. He not only lost his life. He lost his children. He'd never gotten to see his children grow up.

"How many children did you have?"

Eric stared straight ahead as he gripped the steering wheel. His white knuckles were whiter than they were before. "Two; I had two sons. My brother married my wife after my death and raised them as his own. That was the way it was supposed to be. Upon my death, he was next in line to take my family as his own. My brother was an honorable man. I know that he raised my sons to be honorable men. My family bred sons; strong, brave, and honorable." Eric silently added, "I had sons."

"I'm sorry." She placed her hand on his arm. The feel of her warmth relaxed him.

The rest of the ride was in silence. After a moment, Sookie placed her hand in her lap. Eric could still feel the warmth of her hand on his arm. He needed that. He enjoyed her companionship; her willingness to listen to him and he loved it. He loved the sharing.

Since he's been vampire, Eric never talked about his children; not even to Pam. He loved being a father. He loved spending time with his children. When he'd return from his battles, the sounds of their voices and their laughter greeted him as soon as he entered their home. Playing with them, family dinners', teaching them to hunt and to fight; those are things that he missed the most about being human.

"We're home."

Sookie's voice interrupted his memories. He didn't realize that they were home. The car was in the garage and parked. The key was out of the ignition. "How long have we been sitting here?"

"Not long," she replied. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," he answered. "Thank you."

She smiled at him and got out of the car.

Once they were inside, they headed upstairs to their bedrooms. Instead of walking to their bedrooms, they looked at each other. Both of them had shy looks on their faces. A stranger would have believed that they had just met.

"Goodnight," Sookie said.

"Before you go, I have some things that I want to say."

"Okay."

Eric looked down at her with his eyes filled with sincerity. "I'm sorry that I took your place from you. I'm sorry about ruining dinner. I only wanted to have dinner with you. There was no hidden agenda. And to be truthful, I chose Bloody Goodness because they cater to all walks of life … despite the name. I know how you've been missing home and I thought that you would've enjoyed a taste of Fae. I also had a selfish reason for taking you to dinner. I just wanted to be with you."

Sookie felt awful. She'd automatically assumed the worst. She placed her hands over her face in order to hide her embarrassment. She even laughed at herself. "I didn't mean to make you ... I'm sorry."

Eric shrugged his shoulders. "It's not your fault. I've done this to us."

"Thank you." She placed her hand on his shoulder and said, "Goodnight. Don't work too hard." Sookie began walking to her bedroom.

"Sookie?" Eric called out to her.

She turned around when he called her name.

"If you're not too tired," he said, "you can come with me … if you want to." When he saw the look on her face, he hastily added, "I know that you haven't been feeling well. That was selfish of me. I shouldn't have said anything."

Sookie shook her head no. She didn't want to say so but she was suddenly hit with a wave of nausea. It didn't make sense. She was fine earlier but now, it took all of the energy that she had to stay on her feet. The only thing that she wanted to do was go to bed. "No, thank you. I'll see you tomorrow night."

He noticed that her voice was softer. When she began walking away, he noticed that she was walking slower than before. Before she had time to protest, she was in his arms and in her bedroom. She looked up at him and she wanted to argue but she didn't have the energy. As gingerly as possible, Eric placed her on the bed and began removing her clothes and her shoes. He went to the bathroom and took her nightgown from the hook on back of the door. He dressed her. Once that was done, he helped her to her feet.

"Lean on me," he ordered.

She did.

While he held her upright with his body, Eric pulled the covers back and helped Sookie get into bed. He pulled the covers up and tucked her in.

She looked up at him and smiled. She didn't have the energy to speak.

He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead and before he could stand to his full height, she was asleep. Eric left the room and closed the bedroom door. He rested his body against it. He had no choice. He didn't know whether or not he would still be standing if it hadn't been there. He took out his cell phone and called Dr. Ludwig.

"What is it, vampire?"

"You need to come to my home. There's something wrong with my wife."

Dr. Ludwig laughed. "I'm out of the country. I'll be back in a few days. Why don't you call her kin? They can help her a lot better than I can."

That was the last thing that Eric wanted to do. Fintan would use her illness as an excuse to take her away from him. He was surprised that Adele didn't do the same.

"I need you."

She sighed. "I'll be back in a few days. If that's not good enough for you, call her kin." She hung up on him.

Eric hung his head and sighed.

For the first time in over a thousand years, he was scared.