A/N: Well, as of today the SVM series has officially come to an end. That, more than anything, finally reignited my desire to conclude a fanfic that has been ongoing since 2008. I realize that Slept Like the Dead hasn't been updated in years, and honestly I'd be shocked if many of you even remember it. However, a lot of us joined this site all those years ago at the same time due to a shared love of Sookie and Eric. I write this for them, and for you.
Forgive me if I'm a bit rusty.
Chapter 30
"What's good about it?" I replied, laughing a little.
"Do I need to show you all over again?" He asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.
"No, Eric, but thank you for clearing my head a little. It has been a trying day." I said, fatigue creeping into my voice.
Eric then disentangled himself from my grasp and eyed me worriedly.
"Tell me what happened." He said seriously, and reached out to hold my hand gently.
With much difficulty and more than a few interruptions from Eric, I relayed the endless phone conversations I had had throughout the day.
"So, to sum it up: Felipe had a contingency plan to ensure your cooperation? One that involved kidnapping your shifter boss, while also involving an ex-lover" He asked succinctly "and no one really knows anything more" he added, frowning.
"Basically, yes. But regardless of Quinn's past treachery, he's a Were. I can't believe he would consent to abduct Sam, a shifter. Doesn't that go against some kind of supe code?" I asked, hoping for some reassurance that this was all some kind of mistake.
Eric's look at that was incredulous.
"Sookie, you were in a supe war last night. Quinn answers to De Castro and we already know he can be manipulated when his sister is threatened. My guess is that Felipe made another similar threat. Besides, while Weres and Shifters may be similar to an outsider's mind, believe me they are quite separate." Eric said, and then he got up from the bed and pulled on a pair of pants that had been crumpled on the floor. Pacing anxiously, he ran a hand through his hair and grabbed his cell phone from the nightstand.
"How could he get the jump on Sam anyway? Sam can shift into a lion for goodness sakes!" I said in frustration.
"I think the more pertinent question is why Sam at all? Why not Jason? He's a much easier target and a blood relative." Eric said, before beginning to dial a number.
"Eric, wait a minute before calling anyone else. I've been on the phone all day and I want to make some kind of plan, now that you're awake, before we involve other vampires." I said, and if I sounded petulant well I think I'm entitled.
Eric softened at that and returned to the bed, sitting by my side and rubbing my arm absentmindedly. His cool touch still had the ability to warm me, the dark and fierce depths in his eyes the ability to bring me some sense of strength amidst the chaos.
"Lover, unfortunately your bosses' abduction is not the only concern we have to deal with, or even the main one. Felipe is still missing and we can assume very hostile. Even without an army of subordinates he's a threat and a danger to you. And you are my first priority. I also have much to discuss with Preston, some of which cannot wait." He said in a voice of practised authority.
"Sam is my friend. I have to do something" I said "I know you have a lot to coordinate here, I understand that, but I should go home."
"No!" Eric thundered, startling me a little. "You are my bonded, I demand, no I desire you to be here by my side. I can't protect you otherwise." He said, looking pained.
"I don't want this Eric. I just wanted a vacation. A chance to talk to you and sort things out, an opportunity to see a place I'd only dreamed of visiting before. All this-
I cut myself off. There was little point in rehashing it. Drama shadowed our every move.
"You've already told me you have Alcide's pack and Calvin's pack looking for Sam. Not to mention Claude and Claudine. There's little else you can do right now. Sookie, please, give me tonight to take care of some of the backlash from the war with Nevada. Preston may be a friend, but he is still a king. With Felipe out for blood, we need more than ever to secure our position" Eric said, his eyes grave.
It was his expression, more than his words, which finally convinced me.
"Alright, I will stay another night. But I have to get back to Bon Temps tomorrow no matter what. If anything happened to Sam because of me I could never forgive myself."
Eric nodded and was on the phone with Pam before I could say another word.
Right, so, what next? I asked myself a little numbly before heading to the shower.
Less than a minute later I found out. A fairy popped right into the bathroom where I was currently getting ready to take a shower.
"Claudine!" I exclaimed, shocked. "What on earth are you doing here? There are vampires everywhere! It's too dangerous!" I said, immediately standing between her and the door as if that would make any difference at all.
"Oh I think I'm perfectly safe here in this bathroom" she said lightly, and then added "cousin, you look like something the cat dragged in."
"That's in poor taste under the circumstances don't you think?" I said, a little snippily. Sam had only just been dragged off by a tiger after all.
"Oh, ha ha, forgive me" she laughed suddenly, catching on. Her laughter was as clear as a bell, her expression lovely. And she had come dressed to impress as usual, from the teal stilettos on up. Everything about her was pristine.
I should call her Pristine Claudine, I thought suddenly to myself.
Yep, definitely exhausted.
Claudine must have realized that too because before I could say a word of protest, she shooed me into the shower stall and turned on the tap.
"I won't peek, honey. I just popped here quickly to talk. I don't have much time so listen closely. Grandfather alerted me to the war here last night, and to your shifter boss' abduction. Claude and I will do whatever we can, but that's not why I'm here. Niall would be furious if he knew I came" she said, and I got the impression that she was very anxious indeed.
I couldn't see her though, since I was showering and she was back on to me.
"What Niall sent you, that parcel, you should know it serves a greater purpose than killing vamps" she said that last part more quietly, I suspect because of Eric.
Actually, now that I thought about it, it was rather strange that Eric hadn't busted in on us the moment she arrived. Before Claudine could resume speaking, I said so.
"There is a very very temporary ward on the bathroom. It's why I can't stay long. The magic required is extremely tiresome and I need to maintain enough energy to pop back to Monroe. As far as your Viking is concerned you are alone in here." She said proudly.
"Well, uh, thank you for coming" I said, a little dazed. There wasn't much else I could think of to say, considering.
"You're welcome" Claudine said primly. "Now, as you may or may not know, the dagger is a Brigant heirloom. It only gets passed to someone who possesses a very specific aspect of the essential spark within the royal line. I always knew you were special, Sookie, but this, well, this means-
Claudine suddenly trailed off.
I stepped out of the shower to see if she was okay, just in time for the bathroom door to swing open.
Eric stood on the other side, naked and ready to join me in the shower. What he hadn't been expecting, was to walk right into my Fairy cousin Claudine, and to find me standing next to her naked and dripping wet.
Blushing a furious shade of red, I immediately grabbed a towel and startled him into alertness by throwing it at him away and closing the door in his face. I promptly grabbed another towel for myself and started drying off, cursing a little under my breath.
"Jesus Christ Shepherd of Judea, Claudine, I thought you said the bathroom was warded!" I said, suddenly immensely weirded out by the intimacy of the situation.
"It was!" She replied, indignant. "Unless you two are so closely bound that he is excluded from its effects?" She wondered aloud, obviously more to herself than anything because I surely didn't know the answer to her question.
"And I'm just going to say this once, Claudine, because I really do appreciate everything you've done for me and the fact you came here at all. But I am certainly not comfortable with being naked around family. I guess I'm just not very forward thinking in that Supe way that y'all are." I said, and it was pretty much final.
Claudine did her best not to look affronted. Now wrapped tightly in a towel I decided to give her a quick hug by way of showing I meant no offense. That brightened her up considerably.
A second or two passed and then suddenly Eric's voice sounded from the other side of the door.
"How is it that I can't hear you two in there?" He asked, sounding simultaneously impressed and a little annoyed. "And why are you here at all, Claudine?"
"Ah, I must have gotten mixed up in my haste and only warded for sound." Claudine said, smiling, as though she had solved a huge mystery.
"The Northman certainly doesn't mince words, does he?" She continued, looking at me pointedly.
I shook my head, and then realized that if the bathroom was only protected from listening ears, it would do nothing to subdue Claudine's scent. Eric had been able to control himself in the past, but the other vampires? Preston? It didn't seem as likely. As soon as this thought occurred to me, my cousin seemed to come to the same conclusion.
"I have to go now Sookie" she said immediately, before kissing my cheek "we will finish this conversation soon. Be safe!"
She was gone as quickly as she came, and then Eric came barrelling back through the bathroom door.
The towel was on the floor in an instant, and I was pushed passionately against the bathroom wall.
"Lover, Pam and Bill will be here in minutes, and you smell like" he paused for a moment as though looking for words "like Valhalla. Like honey and sex and summer and blood and life."
With that, he licked my neck ravenously and began sucking on my lips as though starving.
Minutes ago I had been worried, perhaps even a little helpless with fear for my friend. Now my thoughts were a haze of want. It was though all reason had left me. Since arriving here, we could not be sated by one another. Not by half.
"I love you Sookie" he said, his mouth now pressed to my breast as he continued tasting me "and after all this is over" his fingers were moving towards my mound, finding my sweet spot and rubbing furiously "I will make you happier than you ever imagined."
His erection was huge and hard against my hand as he licked and kissed and touched me. With one hand in his thick blond hair, I reached for him and began to stroke with the other. We were desperate for one another. Ravenous. All the fear and love and sex and excitement, the anxiety and uncertainty and passion and promise combined in a heady mixture of wanting that is impossible to describe.
There was Eric, and me, and our skin touching, and the sound of my breathing. I felt blood pumping through my veins to every part of me. I felt awake and powerful. Eric's rhythm against my clit hastened, my own strokes speeding up to match.
In a move that surprised even me, I dropped to my knees before our release and took Eric in my mouth. When his seed hit my tongue I came undone. It was an orgasm so intense we both collapsed on the bathroom floor. Eric was shouting something in Old Norse while I struggled to regulate my breathing.
Then there was a knock at the door. I had been expecting Pam and Bill.
It was Preston.
Well, that makes sense.