A/N: I hope you're okay.

Chapter 17

Sookie sat not-so-patiently on the edge of her bed. She had emptied her drawers into the suitcase and thrown in a toiletry bag she'd filled with a few things from the bathroom. She had the picture of her and Jason and Gran sitting on top of the blanket she liked, which was folded neatly on her lap. Eric was bringing a luggage cart with him and she would just hang the contents of her closet on the rod and wheel it all upstairs when the time came.

Part of her couldn't believe she was getting a respite from the small, oppressive room and the horror and neglect and monotony of her daily life as the fuckable mascot of the VIV Club. She was so excited, but she was also a little bit terrified. And she resented the hell out of being forced into a blood bond, but she was glad that, if she had to have one, it was going to be with Eric. The thought of it being with literally anyone else made her feel like throwing up.

She sensed a vampire approaching her room and sat up a little straighter. Her heart sped up even more. She heard the key in the lock and the doorknob turned and then Victor grinned at her from the doorway. Her smile disappeared.

"Well, Sookie, I hear you're going to be leaving me soon. For now, at least. I guess I need to get my fill while I can and strike while my little slut is hot."

"I belong to Eric and the King."

She said it loud enough for others to hear her through the open door. Victor grabbed her wrist before she'd even seen him move and he dragged her out of her room and into the main part of the Club. The things on her lap had fallen to the floor and Victor made it a point to step on her only picture of what was left of her family on the way out. She knew she shouldn't, but she tried to twist and pull her arm out of his grasp. She needed to get away from him and buy herself a little more time. Eric would surely be there soon. She was a lot stronger than she'd been before having so much of his blood the night before, but Victor was a thousand times stronger than she was. More. Struggling wasn't doing anything but tiring her out. He pulled her onto the stage, ripped off her dress, and forced her down onto her knees, with zero effort.

She knew very well what she could and could not get away with when it came to Victor. Saying no was pointless and ill-advised; it would either excite him or piss him off, and then he would just do whatever he pleased anyway, only with a little more oomph. She had already tempted fate enough by contradicting him and trying to get away, and it had maybe gained her a few extra seconds, if that. She hoped it would be enough. Eric was already going to lose his mind when he arrived and saw her on her knees in front of Victor Madden. If she had Victor's cock in her mouth, she was afraid he might go on a rampage and get himself finally killed. She belonged to Eric. They would be permanently bonded within the next hour or two. Maybe sooner. He'd called her mine in California, and again the night before, when they had made love for the third time. Or maybe the fourth. And she was his, by order of the King. Eric's ownership of her was not in question, and he would not stand for Victor Madden touching her, or using her, or hurting her, or trying to take her away from him.

She used to hate the vampire possessiveness, but she was used to it by then. She had been a possession for over three years, so it was old hat. And she knew he would protect what was his and keep her safe.

Of course, Victor had been calling her mine over and over again for over a year and a half. She knew he thought of her that way, too, although he had no problem sharing her body around. But she wasn't Victor's. He knew better than to say she was where the King might overhear. He didn't have Felipe's blessing and he hadn't given Sookie any of his blood; the King had made it very clear that Victor was forbidden from doing so. Victor had no real claim to her, and he knew it, but that didn't change the fact that he was livid.

Victor had one hand on Sookie's head, holding her down on her knees, while he opened his pants with the other one. His fingers were tangled in her hair and he pulled out his hard cock and stroked it once. Sookie tried to jerk away, but all it did was excite him more. She was a spunky little bitch to fight him after what she'd gotten two nights before. Maybe she hadn't quite learned her lesson.

He yanked on her hair and held her head still, right in front of him. Her mouth was almost touching his dick and she couldn't even budge, let alone move away.

"Be a good girl and open wide, Sookie. Suck it, or I'll finish what Felipe started the other night. I want you to go to your new master covered in my cum. I want him to taste my cock when he kisses you. I want him to know who you really belong to."

They all heard a low growl from the entrance and then Victor was being held several inches off the floor. Sookie yanked herself free and scrambled out of the way, leaving several blonde hairs behind, twined around Victor Madden's fingers. Eric was grinning and his fangs seemed impossibly long. His eyes glowed red.

"Sookie is mine."

Eric threw Victor across the Club. He bounced hard against the far wall when he hit and fell, but then popped right back up again. He tucked himself into his pants, zipped up his fly, and returned Eric's grin before shooting back the way he'd come. Eric met him in the middle.

The room had begun to fill up and the betting started almost as soon as the first punch was thrown. Eric and Victor were both very old and very skilled at hand to hand combat, and the odds seemed close to even. Eric was a better technical fighter, but Victor fought dirty. It was a hell of a matchup and the vampires in attendance were thrilled. There had never been a fight of this caliber at the VIV Club, and they were all expecting a slugfest.

Eric and Victor landed several glancing blows and bites early, but none of them did much damage. The quiet didn't last. Eric ducked a wild right hook just a couple of minutes in and then caught Victor with a clean, hard punch to the temple. Victor blinked and swayed on his feet for a moment before shaking his head to clear it. The fight was essentially over, but Victor hadn't realized it yet. He moved to attack.

Before he could, Eric punched him in the temple again and saw the lights go out in Victor's eyes when he lost consciousness. Eric grabbed him by the shirt before he could slump to the floor and held him up again. Victor hung from his fist, limp. Eric had no intention of stopping until he was bathed in Victor's blood. He pulled his arm back to hit him again and would keep going until nothing was left.

"Eric!"

He stopped before he threw the next punch and looked at Sookie, calling to him from up on the stage.

"Eric, you need to stop. If you kill him, Felipe will end you. He'll blame me. I can't lose you before I even get you in the first place. I can't be yours if you're finally dead."

Eric looked back at Victor and then dropped him on the floor before going to her. He stood on the stage and kissed her hard and then made it a point to make eye contact with every vampire paying attention.

"Sookie is mine. And I do not share."

Unfortunately, except with the King.

Victor wasn't the only one who was angry about losing access to Sookie. Almost every vampire in the room had had her, and knew exactly what they'd be missing. The rest had been anxiously awaiting their turn so they could find out how good she was for themselves. They were all bitter he'd been brought in from Louisiana for the job instead of Felipe giving it — and her — to one of them.

Angry and bitter or not, those vampires were going to protect Eric and Sookie from taking any blame for the fight. Victor had tried to take her, even though the King had told Victor himself that she was off limits because she belonged to Eric. This wasn't something everyone would excuse with a clenched jaw or a wink and a nudge, like Felipe's unreasonable reasons to punish Sookie a couple of nights before. Victor had defied not only vampire custom but an unwritten law by trying to take a human who belonged to another, and he'd done it by force. More importantly, he'd flagrantly disrespected and disobeyed the King in front of a dozen witnesses. The story had already started to spread to the new arrivals. Felipe would have no choice but to punish Victor severely. And, after Victor's disobedience, he would surely be eager to do so.

Eric and Sookie were in the clear. This time.

Pam wheeled the luggage cart into the Club. Victor was still lying in a heap on the floor and she glanced at him as she walked past. She stopped in front of her Master and realized she'd arrived in the middle of a standoff. She looked from the vampires in the audience to Eric and Sookie, center stage. She raised her eyebrows.

"Is everything alright?"

Eric glared at the vampires glaring back a moment longer before turning to her.

"Yes. Everything is fine. Come, Sookie. Let's get your things. We must get you moved into our room."

Our room. Sookie's heart kind of flip flopped.

Pam led the way. The door was still standing open from when Victor had dragged Sookie out. Pam went straight to Sookie's closet and began to go through her wardrobe. Sookie bent down to pick the picture up off the floor. She hoped Victor hadn't damaged it too much. There was a smudge covering Jason's face, and she was afraid it might be a scuff mark, but it wiped right off. She let go of a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. The photo was wrinkled a little, but she could live with that. She didn't notice she was crying again.

Eric took the suitcase and blanket and placed them on the rack below her clothes while she got dressed again. She made sure to grab the picture and he took her hand. He bared his fangs for the walk back through the Club to the exit, warning everyone away. Victor was already gone.

Sookie and Eric both relaxed a little when they stepped out into the casino and the door closed behind them. They looked at each other and smiled. Hopefully, they wouldn't have to go back inside anytime soon.

Pam, however, was planning on going right back down just as soon as she was finished getting Sookie settled in. She wanted to have some fun. Then, she thought she would get a donor or two and go back up to her new room and have some more. She was claiming the trip as a business expense.

When they got to Eric's room, Sookie propped her picture up against the lamp on the bedside table and Pam unpacked Sookie's suitcase and arranged her closet to her liking. She winked at Eric and said, "Have fun, kids," and headed downstairs to the VIV Club.

Eric sat on the edge of the bed and Sookie stood between his legs and wrapped her arms around his neck. He nestled his face into her throat and held her close, enjoying her scent. He kissed the skin against his mouth.

"We should go and get you some food, my lover. I do remember humans are supposed to eat more than once a day."

She sighed.

"I don't want to go out. I'd rather just order room service and stay up here tonight. I really need to read minds tomorrow, but I want tonight to just be the two of us."

She leaned forward and kissed him. He fisted her hair with one hand and squeezed her ass with the other, pulling her tight against him. After a minute or two, he untied the back of her sundress and it fell to the floor. He had to stop kissing her for a moment to admire her again in her pretty bra and panties set before pulling it all off. She tugged at his shirt but he stood up and she wasn't tall enough to come close to getting it up over his head. He pushed her hand away and picked her up and threw her onto the bed and then buried his head between her legs. She tangled her fingers in his hair and moaned.

His mouth felt so amazingly good. He was by far the best lover she'd ever had. Nobody else had even come close, even with Victor's fuckpotion. At least this was real.

After her third orgasm, he undressed in less than a second and then kissed his way up her body, stopping for several long moments when he reached her breasts. When he made it to her mouth, he kissed her softly and slid inside her.

They shared a few quick kisses while they made love, but mostly they stared into each other's eyes. Sookie's closed a few minutes later when she came again, and he couldn't look away. He was so fascinated by her expressions, flitting between innocence and lust and back again. The Madonna and the whore were now his. Sookie was. She stretched her head back and he kissed her bared throat and sucked on her pulse point.

"I need to bite you now, my lover, and I want you to bite me. Drink my blood and become mine." Forever.

Her stomach clenched, but she was afraid some of it was in anticipation. She kissed the place where his neck met his shoulder and he nuzzled into her throat. They bit.

Their orgasms were immediate and seemed to last forever. Nothing had ever felt that good. She sucked hard on the bite and he moaned into her neck again. She held his head to her throat, keeping him in place, and took another long swallow of his blood. It made him cum even harder.

She pulled away and licked the wound she'd made that was already starting to heal. She didn't realize she was crying again until she felt a tear run into the shell of her ear and then pool in the opening. He pulled back, too, and looked down at her and licked her tears away. There was a trickle of her blood in the corner of his mouth and his fangs were peeking through his parted lips. She could still taste him and she wanted him again. She reached up and licked his mouth clean, and then kissed him, mingling their blood together in their mouths as well as their bodies.

He was still hard and sheathed inside her, so he slowly pulled out and then pushed back in again, and again, and again, making love to her and immersing himself in their new bond.

Sookie closed her eyes again and just let herself feel. Being suddenly hit with all of his emotions on top of her own was a lot to deal with, especially in the middle of the best orgasm of her entire life. She had no choice but to let the feelings come while she was wrapped in the grips of ecstasy. She hoped the intensity of his emotions lessened over time, or that they would be manageable under less intense circumstances, or that she just plain got used to them. It was a lot to deal with, especially on top of her disability.

She looked up at him again and his eyes burned back at her. She could see and feel how much he wanted her. How he couldn't get enough of her, the way she couldn't get enough of him. She reached her hand up and touched his face and kissed him.

There had been a monumental shift in their relationship when they'd exchanged blood for the third time and their tie had become a bond. She had gone from being pretty sure she might be falling in love with him to being absolutely positive she was already there. She didn't like that it was affecting her feelings to that extent. She wanted to know how she felt, not how he and her connection to him were making her feel, but she didn't have any choice but to trust her brain and her heart and her gut, and they were all telling her to trust him.

They were also telling her to maintain a sense of caution for when the inevitable happened and she lost him. But she wouldn't focus on that. For the first time since coming to Nevada, she had someone really on her side. Someone who would go to bat for her. He had come to her rescue once again and had protected her from Victor. He had warned the rest to leave her alone. She knew he cared about her as a person rather than just a gourmet fuck and feed who would do anything you asked and let you do just about whatever you pleased to her, without consequence. Thanks to the bond, she could feel it. And it felt like he cared very much.

She buried both of her hands in his hair and their kisses grew even more passionate. He sped up his hips and put a little more force behind it and soon she fell apart again. He came right behind her and had to lie on top of her for a minute or two once he was spent.

He rolled off onto his back and she immediately followed, moulding herself against his side and throwing her leg over his. She kissed his chest and sighed, happy and sated. She could feel how pleased he was, too. How satisfied and content and smug, even. How proud that she belonged to him. She looked up at him and he had his eyes closed with a small smile on his face and it made her heart ache a little. He was just so beautiful and she fell a little deeper in love.

A stray thought popped up, reminding her just how much Felipe was going to punish her for her feelings once the King had no more use for Eric and sent him away. Or finally killed him. She tried to push the thought out of her head and eventually succeeded when her stomach growled.

Eric smiled a little wider and then opened his eyes and kissed her forehead.

"You must eat, my lover. You are very hungry and all you've had tonight was my blood."

His cock hardened a bit and twitched at the memory from a few minutes before, but he ignored it. It wasn't yet time for him to have her again, but remembering how incredible it had felt when she'd bitten him and drank his blood — and how it had felt even better when they'd done it at the same time — made it hard for him not to get excited at the thought.

And he found he liked being bonded to her, very much. Being able to feel her presence inside him, so strong and clear. Having the physical connection that bound them to each other forever, and would allow him to find her if she were lost. Feeling precisely how she felt inside, and being able to influence those emotions, at least to some degree. Possessing her, knowing everyone wanted her but couldn't have her because she was his.

He had no more reservations about Felipe's decision to make her his. He was quite sure he would have wanted to bond with her if they'd met somewhere else, under different circumstances. And he wouldn't think about what would happen if Felipe decided to separate them. No, not if. When. He hoped the King wouldn't exist long enough for them to get to that point.

Sookie smiled back.

"Is it okay if I order crappy chain pizza again? I have a craving for pepperoni and extra cheese."

"Of course, Sookie. You can have anything you like."

She was a little taken aback.

"Anything?"

He shrugged with one shoulder.

"Whatever you want, just as long as I can find it here or get it delivered. Just say the word."

She was overwhelmed by how much her life had changed, just in the past couple of nights. But life seemed to do that to her a lot. He kissed her head again and she reached up for another on her lips. It lingered but her stomach growled again and he pulled away and laughed.

"Food first, then we can kiss for as long as you like."

She laughed, too.

"Kissing is nice, but I can think of a few other things we could do at the same time."

She bit his chest and sucked hard but didn't break the skin and he moaned. She looked up and he kissed her again, and it lasted a little longer this time. After he pulled away, he swept a piece of hair away from her face.

"I enjoy other things very much as well, but they must wait until after you've eaten."

This time she kissed him and then deepened it. It lasted well over a minute before her stomach complained again and he pulled away.

"Sookie…"

She sighed.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going."

She made herself get up and then stretched. She could feel the strength and power of Eric's blood inside her and her muscles almost felt like they were thrumming. Stretching them felt good and she did it again and moaned.

Eric almost did, as well. His cock twitched again and his fangs ran down a little at the view.

She went to the bathroom and then called the vampire concierge and ordered her pizza, along with a Coke and a gooey chocolatey dessert to go with it. And then, despite Eric's insistence that she needed to eat before they really got started on the kissing — and the other things — they made sure to get good and warmed up and then got some practice in for the twenty minutes it took for the pizza to arrive.