A/N - sorry - it's all Eric this chapter. Life has been hectic. I'm a pregnant working mom, so sometimes I get too busy to write...I just keep making lists of ideas! Don't worry - E/S will be together in the next chapter. I promise some ESN. :)
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It was just after dark in New Orleans. Eric and Chan sat at a table in the Cat’s Meow sipping lukewarm TrueBloods and waiting for Simon and Trey to arrive. It was an inconspicuous meeting place as vampires rarely visited the inside of this trashy human bar. They found prey outside in the street; drunk and either flashing their breasts, trying to get someone to flash their breasts, or vomiting in the street. Bill was in the hotel using his computer and Eric was glad to have a break from listening to his incessant rambling. Chan kept him entertained and reminisced about previous trips to New Orleans in what he called, “the good old days.”
“Do you remember how many women I had that night? It was like a buffet!”
Eric pursed his lips a little, “You remind me of your sexual prowess quite frequently, and if I didn’t know better I would think you were overcompensating. But yes, I remember that night. I remember that all of the women were diseased and disgusting.”
“Pah – human diseases mean nothing to me.”
“Yes, well…to each his own.” He shuddered a little bit, grateful that hygienic standards had gone up greatly over the years.
“I am thinking about opening my own store again.”
Eric rolled his eyes, “Chan, are you not saving money and able to send it to your descendents?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Then please, let us not go through this again.” Chan looked a little incredulous, “Every 20 years of so you have some descendent that needs money or to work their way through college. You reopen your own dry cleaners and then what?” he paused. “Your damn relative robs you blind. That’s what happens.”
“It only happened twice.”
“Yes, and I remember the consequences of the last time quite well.” The Asian actually grinned thinking about it, but Eric continued, his face grim, “You showed up months later half starved and then disappeared in Canada. The next thing I heard, you were almost staked – by the King of Vancouver.”
“How was I to know he would be that upset?”
“You got in bed with him and his wife!”
“She said he could learn from me!”
They both laughed and then as if a switch had flipped, Eric became serious and glanced towards the door. A second later Trey and Simon entered the bar and joined them. Eric made the introductions, although he thought perhaps that Chan already knew Simon. They had both spent a fair amount of time in the western US over the years and since the vamp population out there was so small, it was likely they had run into each other.
Trey had been around New Orleans for some time and had worked his way up the ladder of vamps. Before Sophie Anne died he was little more than a gopher. When Victor took over he was given more responsibilities and had proven an effective investigator. He was the kind of man who would prefer to work for a boss he liked and respected, but had been vampire long enough to know how to work for whoever won the fight and be glad to not meet the sun.
Simon had come from the west after Katrina. The vampire numbers had dwindled and they needed some capable investigators to help clean up the riff raff of vamps that began preying on the helpless humans stranded in New Orleans, or the sad people trying to come back and make a home out of the destruction. Simon worked for Victor, but had ambitions of his own. He knew he could make sheriff someday, he just needed the experience and figured New Orleans would look great on a “resume.”
A new waitress stopped by the table and took their drink orders. Eric began asking the local investigators what they knew and what they thought needed to be done. Simon immediately took charge and told Eric that he was concerned about a group of vampires that had taken over the 9th Ward. He had phone records from King De Castro’s staff linking them to Victor and felt that they needed to be “dealt” with right out of the gate. Trey agreed and did not add much else to the conversation. Eric nodded and thought that Bill might actually be right; Simon was the one with the head for the sheriff’s job.
“Who leads this group? Would I know him?”
Simon shook his head and pursed his lips a little, “No sir, I don’t think you would. The leader is called Booker. He is a young vampire, maybe 200 years old?” He looked at Trey and he nodded in agreement. “I believe he came from California originally, he was a sailor, but mostly worked merchant ships. It seems that he continues to live a hardscrabble hand to mouth existence, but he has become a captain of sorts with a group of followers.”
Eric couldn’t believe what a bastard this Booker was. Actually, he could. Booker reminded him a lot of himself before he had understood that survival meant playing the game, at least enough to make it look like you respected the hierarchy. Eric nodded, “How do you propose we deal with them? I have heard that they are boldly discussing their involvement in Victor’s plot as though there are no consequences.”
Trey continued to stay quiet and Simon spoke, looking from Eric to Chan, “We can scare the hell out of them and keep Booker for trial or we can publicly kill him to show them that there is still law here and they will have to obey it or face the final death.” Eric was really liking the way this one thought. However, he knew that killing the vamp was not an option. They would have to take Booker into custody and wait for the King to deal out his punishment.
Eric told them that killing the man would not solve their problems and that he knew that the King would never condone it. Felipe believed that it was his duty to exterminate what was left of Victor’s followers. They discussed the suites that remained in Victor’s compound that could be used to imprison Booker and some other zealots in his crew. Eric agreed that they best form of imprisonment involved silver to ensure that no one escaped. Simon knew what needed to be done and agreed to set up the meeting with Booker.
He left a message for the “captain” inquiring about letting Eric meet his crew and helping them establish their place in the city. Booker called back shortly and although quite cocky, seemed awestruck that the great Northman would come to meet his crew. Was it going to be that easy? To show up at this meeting and take the fool? They agreed to meet that evening at an abandoned church in the 9th Ward.
They drove to the church in Simon’s Hummer while Trey drove a van ready for prisoners. Eric was thinking to himself that this would actually be much like Victor’s own demise. Booker was just too dumb to keep his mouth shut. Sure enough, the meeting began and introductions were finished and not a second later Booker began talking about the plot to overthrow King De Castro. “We stand here tonight being recognized by one of the strongest Sheriff’s in our state because we know that Louisiana can not be ruled by some fool in Las Vegas. We will not be micro-managed from another part of the country. We will find our own way and our own leader.” It went on and on, with some cheers from a few in the audience, but mostly the vamps in attendance were looking at Booker like he was nuts.
Eric knew that the others were taking notice of the vamps that were in support of Booker’s thoughts. He knew that they would have to be taken as well and knew that between Chan, Bill, Trey and Simon they would be grabbed. As Booker wound down his chest thumping, Eric nodded and began to speak, “You are correct, Louisiana should not be lead from a far.” Booker grinned and took Eric’s hand as he reached out to shake it. In a flash he pulled the man towards him so that he had an arm around his neck and a stake to his heart. A few people jumped up, but the crowd was stunned, “That is why the King made me his second in command you fool.” Bill stepped up with leather gloves on and placed silver handcuffs over Bookers long sleeves. Eric’s men grabbed 3 or 4 other vamps that had started towards the pulpit. Eric looked around, and spoke to the rest of the crowd, “Do not underestimate me, or the rules of our kind. Simon is the new Sheriff here and Trey is his second. They will not tolerate your insubordination. DO NOT make me come back to New Orleans to deal with your group again. You will not be punished for believing a zealot – but do not think your involvement in this little group will be forgotten. The King will be here to hold a trial to determine what to do with these traitors. I hope you will all witness the outcome and know that you could very well be on trial as well.” A few people in the crowd actually clapped and on his way to the car a couple tried to shake his hand. Simon was walking out at his side with a blank look on his face and Trey seemed a little pissed.
When they got in the car Eric spoke before anyone else could have the chance, “Simon, I believe you are ready for this job. I will support you in whatever you need.” He looked at Trey in the backseat with Bill and Chan, “Trey, Simon will need your help. He will not be able to straighten up this town without you.” He sat back and checked his watch, “Now, get me back to my car so I can drive home. I do not wish to wake up in a strange place tomorrow evening. I will see you for the trial if not sooner.”
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Dead on New Years Chapter 14
I’m sure I was at my most human when I cocked my head a little and blinked a couple of times, “I’m sorry, what?”
She laughed, “Eric said you might be interested in working for me. Well really, what he said is that if you got a job here in Shreveport you would need to work for one of us and I was hoping you might be interested in working at my store.”
I relaxed a little, “I’m not entirely sure I’ll be able to work a lot of hours. And I may need to go out of town with Eric on occasion. I’m not sure I’d be a great employee in that regard.”
“Ah, but you would. I won’t even make you wear the uniform.”
I put my hand forward and shook my head a little, “Wait, wait. I don’t even know what your store is yet.”
“It’s in the next block, walk over with me.”
I looked at Felicia who had heard the entire conversation with her vamp hearing and she nodded. It was nice to put up appearances, but really I was stalling while I asked Eric in my thoughts if it was okay to leave with this woman. “It is fine lover,” he thought, “And Pam will want your discount if you choose to work for Ellsey.” That really didn’t make me feel better, but I untied my apron and stashed it behind the bar and followed her toward the door.
We walked a block and stood in front of a small storefront that appeared to be a lingerie store. Before I could start telling her how I would not be wearing a bra and panties and nothing else for work she started talking. “This is my store, Ellle’s. There are 3 L’s in the name to stand for Leather, Latex and Lingerie. This is my second store as the first was destroyed in Katrina. I couldn’t face rebuilding there after the storm. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but when I got to Shreveport I realized that I might really have a chance here. Back in New Orleans stores like mine were a dime a dozen. There aren’t any other stores around here that serve the goth or fangbanger crowd, not that they are the only ones that shop here, but you know…” She opened the door and headed in. I couldn’t believe that the store was open after midnight, but it was vamp run.
I looked around and saw that the store was much bigger than it looked on the outside, most of the racks held black clothing, and it was truly separated in to 3 sections to sell the three L’s. I saw a vamp woman behind the counter wearing a black silk robe, the uniform. Ellsey straightened some of the latex on a mannequin and I sat down in a chair near the dressing room and asked her how she had gotten out of New Orleans.
She shook her head, “I have lived a long time and it was the worst thing I have ever experienced.” She kept straightening and pulling on the latex, “You know the city is basically under the water level anyway, right? I had a safe place that I shared with two other vamps in a cemetery. We had a watertight crypt that we used to hole up during bad weather; otherwise we all had hiding places in our homes. I’ve been through hurricanes before; I’m not one of those people that laugh in the face of Mother Nature. I take heed and buckle down. So I called Henri and Lorelei and we went to our crypt to wait. It was really getting old, I mean, hiding from hurricanes seriously disrupts your life on the Gulf Coast and being a vamp it means you have to be vigilant watching the weather channel so you can be hidden during the day before the weather hits. We stayed in there several times before and the weather had totally missed us.”
She sat in the chair next to me and continued her story. I had heard survivor stories before and they never ceased to amaze me. “That day, we waited it out, well, we slept through the daylight. Then Henri poked his head out a hatch in the top of the crypt. When he came back down he could hardly describe it. When I finally understood him he was saying that there were people in boats paddling though the cemetery. We weren’t prepared for that. He went back out and found two coffin lids that had been dislodged and brought them back to us. We knew we couldn’t use our vamp powers to get out of there – the humans were so terrified we were afraid we’d be staked. So we paddled along side them until we got to a place where we were alone. The city – it was just gone. The humans were acting crazy and there was no help. We knew that many of our friends were gone, the flood had brought them into the sun and there was nothing they could do.”
She looked at me with a sad smile and shrugged, “We saved our selves at that point. We got on each side of Lorelei and she flew us out of there. We stole a car when we got to dry ground and cried for the devastation and loss and thanked god that we each had foreign bank accounts. We came to Fangtasia that night to find shelter. There were about 20 dislocated vamps that found their way there and Eric opened up the basement of the bar to let us all sleep the following day. And here I am…still in Shreveport.”
I shook my head at her with tears in my eyes, “I still cannot believe how awful it was.”
She stood up and went over to a rack of leather bustieres and pants and changed the subject, “You’ve been through some awful things in your life. Pam used to order clothes from my store in New Orleans. We have been friends for a while and I’ve heard a lot about you. Have you been staked just the one time? Or have I missed anything?”
I laughed, “No, I think you must have heard the whole story. Eric thinks I’m a magnet for trouble, I prefer to think that it’s him.”
She smiled, “He didn’t tell me why you couldn’t work for humans anymore. I’m assuming it is because living with him you will know too much about our kind. I do not need to know more. From all that I’ve heard about you, you won’t sit at home and do nothing, and I understand why he wouldn’t want you working in his bar, that just wouldn’t do. I know you have experience working in restaurants. So you can handle customer service and a cash register.” I nodded. “What I need here is a human that can help with the softer side of our clientele. Those that are coming in for the first time to buy a sexy outfit to wear for their partner or someone that wants to try on leather pants for the first time.” She smiled at me, “Have you ever?”
“Tried on leather pants? No,” I laughed a little, “I’ve never been able to afford them.”
She kept smiling, “See, that’s the thing. You don’t realize that they are not that outrageously priced.” She eyed me up and down and handed me a pair of black leather pants that laced up the crotch and opened a dressing room door for me. “These only cost $300. It sounds like a lot, but you could save that in a short time.”
As I was admiring myself in the privacy of the dressing room she continued, “Aside from my manager, my daytime help tends to be college-age goth girls who want a discount. They don’t sell a lot to the soccer moms that come in and are terrified of them. I was hoping that you could do some sales during the day and maybe help some of my employees not be so, well, frightening.” She paused for a second and asked, “Do they fit?”
“They fit perfect.” I was thinking how it would be a waste of money however, because Eric would rip them off me in a second and they would be destroyed. And then he spoke up through the bond, crap I was a block away and he could hear me. I guess I knew it, but I was so used to tuning out the humans that I hadn’t realized I was hearing HIM.
“Lover, put the pants on my tab and wear them back here.”
“You’ll ruin them! They aren’t worth it!”
“I pledge to you that I will refrain from destroying the pants…At least the first two times you wear them.”
Ellsey interrupted our thinking and said, “Come show me!” I stepped out and she grinned. “I thought you could work those pants! The cowboy boots have to go though.” She walked over to a rack of shoes. There were crazy stripper heels and a few boots that Jason would call shit kickers. I didn’t think I could walk in the heels and was glad when she grabbed me a pair of boots.
I checked my reflection in the full length mirror and then took sat back down. The leather really felt fabulous against my skin. “Ellsey,” I started, “I understand what you’re asking, but I’m not really sure this is my type of store.”
“I can understand that. But your options for work will be limited. I don’t see you working at the dry cleaners or the blood bank,” She grinned. “It’s a standing offer Sookie. You can think on it and enjoy not working for a while, but whenever you want to pick up a shift, let me know and I’ll have my manager show you the ropes. So what do you think? Should we put those pants and boots on a tab for Eric and head back to the bar?” I was a little offended for a second, that she would think I couldn’t afford the pants or that I expected Eric to be paying for them. She seemed to sense my unease and said, “He told me to pick out a present for you.”
“Oh,” I laughed. That sounded like him. “Yeah that sounds good. Let’s have him buy me some lingerie too.” She laughed and we picked out two really sexy outfits.
We were still laughing when we walked back into the bar with my bag. Eric was sitting in his throne and the fagbangers were dancing around him and trying to catch his eye. He saw me in the lace up pants and moved his tented hands to cover his immediate erection. “Lover, you are right, they are a perfect fit.” I took my bag to his office and wondered if he would follow me. When he didn’t, I headed back to the hallway to see what was going on. Chan had come in and he and Eric were moving to sit in his booth. Chan managed the blood bank, so I figured they had business to discuss. I got Eric’s attention and jangled my keys at him to let him know I was going home.
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I considered wearing my new lingerie, or the black lace thing I’d shoved in the drawer earlier, but I decided on going bare. I lit the candles around the bathtub and started filling the tub. I knew Eric would head home as soon as he could, so I wasn’t really worried about the water getting cold. Even if he couldn’t get Chan out of there ‘til closing time he should be home within the half hour. Not to mention that the hot water heater in this place was enormous – we could refill the tub if it got cold. I turned on some music and climbed in.
I was pretty relaxed when I heard the garage door go up. I had sensed Eric coming down the driveway and wondering where I was, but I was so blissed out that I just smiled. As he came through the house I knew he thought I was in bed, and he may have thought I was asleep. I sensed a little confusion and then his lust when he stood in the bathroom doorway. I opened my eyes and said, “Hi.” He started getting undressed and asked if I hadn’t trusted him enough to leave the pants on.
I just laughed, “No. I got undressed to put on some lingerie for you and this is as far as I got.”
“I appreciate you efforts,” he said as he slid into the tub behind me. We sat just holding each other and enjoying being near for a few minutes. “Lover, it is nice to relax with you. I have had a tense couple of days.”
I was not naïve enough to believe that the peaceful Eric that I saw on a regular basis was the image he presented in public. I knew that he still had to be ruthless and competitive in the vamp world to keep his jobs and his life. I saw images of him beating a vamp in his mind and him grabbing someone else by the throat. I hesitated and then asked if he wanted to talk about it.
“No Sookie, I don’t want to drag you into the details. It is enough that I must endure what has happened in New Orleans.” He was starting to rub my nipples with his thumbs and resting his forehead on my shoulder. “You are helping me more than I can explain by just being here. I have not had anyone to share things like this with for centuries. I truly did not realize that I needed it.”
I turned around to face him in the tub and saw how tired his eyes looked. I kissed him lightly and gave him a gentle stroke, which was all he needed to be more than ready. He sighed a little and ran his hands down my back. I kissed his neck and whispered in his ear, “You just relax. I’ll do the work.” He groaned and I moved myself to rub against his length. He leaned forward to suckle my breast as I slowly lowered myself to take all of his length. I set a slow pace that was making me burn inside. He was pressing my breasts together so he could cover both nipples with one swipe of the tongue. I was concentrating on keeping things slow because it was building an unbelievable feeling in my center. He dropped on hand to rub my clit and bit into my breast to drink and I threw my head back and came with a scream. While I was quaking and clenching him he lifted me almost to his tip and brought me back down on him hard. My orgasm just continued to roll and he thrust me against him twice more before he found his release.
After a few minutes he pulled the plug on the tub and moved us to the shower. He was hard and ready again and he kept bumping it against me as he moved to turn the water on and adjust the shower head. I had thought I was ready to just shower until I kept getting nudged by his cock, like it was reaching out for me. I turned to face him and ran my hands up his chest and down his powerful arms. I was eye level with his nipples and I had to have one in my mouth. I leaned in and began licking and sucking and rubbing my thumb over the other one. I was holding him tight to me with one hand on his ass and rubbing myself against his thigh. He growled and took control, turning me around and pushing me against the cold tile. In one smooth move he parted me and pushed all of the way in. I barely caught my breath when he began pumping into me at what could only be called vampire pace. I was glad I was pushed against the wall or my boobs would have given me black eyes the way he was banging into me. It didn’t take long and I came again, feeling my muscles try to hold him in as he moved in and out. He didn’t slow down at all and just kept moving, saying my name and whispering. I heard him start to growl and I grabbed his wrist and pulled to bring it to my mouth. I bit as hard as I could and began to suck. The feeling of his blood going down my throat and the rich taste that couldn’t compare to anything pushed me to another orgasm. As soon as I bit he threw his head back and yelled as he shot his release high into me.
Eric showered me off and washed my hair and then wrapped me in a towel and sent me to the bed while he took his own shower. When he finished he came to the bedroom and pulled me up to sit with him while he brushed my hair. “Lover, what did you think about Ellsey and her store?”
“I really liked Ellsey. I don’t know how to describe it, but she’s very, human, for a vampire.”
He laughed, “Yes. That’s a good way to describe her. I think she was a gypsy when she was alive. She fights only when necessary and usually is very laid back, although superstitious.”
“I’m not sure about working there. It’s not really me. I mean, I wouldn’t wear half of what she sells in there.”
“You do not have to wear it, just sell it. And besides which, you do not have to work there. It was just an idea. Although there are not a lot of options…”
“I know… the dry cleaners and the blood bank.”
“There are a couple of other options, but yes, hers is probably the best fit for you.”
“I’ll think about it Eric,” I sighed. “What else do you need to tell me about New Orleans? When will we need to go back?”
“Lover, I do not think I want you to come to New Orleans until it is time for the hearing. It has become quite lawless in the vamp world there and I need to get a new sheriff lined up as soon as possible. Things will be better in a few months, but for now I do not want you to come with me.”
I thought about it and agreed, “Ok, when will you go back?”
“Bill and Chan and I will go the day after tomorrow. I need to finish up some paperwork at the bar and I’d like to see if Trey and Simon are capable. I’d like to promote one of them to sheriff, so I have Bill doing some research for me.”
He finished brushing my hair and took the brush to his own. I fell asleep to the sound of the brush going through his hair.
She laughed, “Eric said you might be interested in working for me. Well really, what he said is that if you got a job here in Shreveport you would need to work for one of us and I was hoping you might be interested in working at my store.”
I relaxed a little, “I’m not entirely sure I’ll be able to work a lot of hours. And I may need to go out of town with Eric on occasion. I’m not sure I’d be a great employee in that regard.”
“Ah, but you would. I won’t even make you wear the uniform.”
I put my hand forward and shook my head a little, “Wait, wait. I don’t even know what your store is yet.”
“It’s in the next block, walk over with me.”
I looked at Felicia who had heard the entire conversation with her vamp hearing and she nodded. It was nice to put up appearances, but really I was stalling while I asked Eric in my thoughts if it was okay to leave with this woman. “It is fine lover,” he thought, “And Pam will want your discount if you choose to work for Ellsey.” That really didn’t make me feel better, but I untied my apron and stashed it behind the bar and followed her toward the door.
We walked a block and stood in front of a small storefront that appeared to be a lingerie store. Before I could start telling her how I would not be wearing a bra and panties and nothing else for work she started talking. “This is my store, Ellle’s. There are 3 L’s in the name to stand for Leather, Latex and Lingerie. This is my second store as the first was destroyed in Katrina. I couldn’t face rebuilding there after the storm. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but when I got to Shreveport I realized that I might really have a chance here. Back in New Orleans stores like mine were a dime a dozen. There aren’t any other stores around here that serve the goth or fangbanger crowd, not that they are the only ones that shop here, but you know…” She opened the door and headed in. I couldn’t believe that the store was open after midnight, but it was vamp run.
I looked around and saw that the store was much bigger than it looked on the outside, most of the racks held black clothing, and it was truly separated in to 3 sections to sell the three L’s. I saw a vamp woman behind the counter wearing a black silk robe, the uniform. Ellsey straightened some of the latex on a mannequin and I sat down in a chair near the dressing room and asked her how she had gotten out of New Orleans.
She shook her head, “I have lived a long time and it was the worst thing I have ever experienced.” She kept straightening and pulling on the latex, “You know the city is basically under the water level anyway, right? I had a safe place that I shared with two other vamps in a cemetery. We had a watertight crypt that we used to hole up during bad weather; otherwise we all had hiding places in our homes. I’ve been through hurricanes before; I’m not one of those people that laugh in the face of Mother Nature. I take heed and buckle down. So I called Henri and Lorelei and we went to our crypt to wait. It was really getting old, I mean, hiding from hurricanes seriously disrupts your life on the Gulf Coast and being a vamp it means you have to be vigilant watching the weather channel so you can be hidden during the day before the weather hits. We stayed in there several times before and the weather had totally missed us.”
She sat in the chair next to me and continued her story. I had heard survivor stories before and they never ceased to amaze me. “That day, we waited it out, well, we slept through the daylight. Then Henri poked his head out a hatch in the top of the crypt. When he came back down he could hardly describe it. When I finally understood him he was saying that there were people in boats paddling though the cemetery. We weren’t prepared for that. He went back out and found two coffin lids that had been dislodged and brought them back to us. We knew we couldn’t use our vamp powers to get out of there – the humans were so terrified we were afraid we’d be staked. So we paddled along side them until we got to a place where we were alone. The city – it was just gone. The humans were acting crazy and there was no help. We knew that many of our friends were gone, the flood had brought them into the sun and there was nothing they could do.”
She looked at me with a sad smile and shrugged, “We saved our selves at that point. We got on each side of Lorelei and she flew us out of there. We stole a car when we got to dry ground and cried for the devastation and loss and thanked god that we each had foreign bank accounts. We came to Fangtasia that night to find shelter. There were about 20 dislocated vamps that found their way there and Eric opened up the basement of the bar to let us all sleep the following day. And here I am…still in Shreveport.”
I shook my head at her with tears in my eyes, “I still cannot believe how awful it was.”
She stood up and went over to a rack of leather bustieres and pants and changed the subject, “You’ve been through some awful things in your life. Pam used to order clothes from my store in New Orleans. We have been friends for a while and I’ve heard a lot about you. Have you been staked just the one time? Or have I missed anything?”
I laughed, “No, I think you must have heard the whole story. Eric thinks I’m a magnet for trouble, I prefer to think that it’s him.”
She smiled, “He didn’t tell me why you couldn’t work for humans anymore. I’m assuming it is because living with him you will know too much about our kind. I do not need to know more. From all that I’ve heard about you, you won’t sit at home and do nothing, and I understand why he wouldn’t want you working in his bar, that just wouldn’t do. I know you have experience working in restaurants. So you can handle customer service and a cash register.” I nodded. “What I need here is a human that can help with the softer side of our clientele. Those that are coming in for the first time to buy a sexy outfit to wear for their partner or someone that wants to try on leather pants for the first time.” She smiled at me, “Have you ever?”
“Tried on leather pants? No,” I laughed a little, “I’ve never been able to afford them.”
She kept smiling, “See, that’s the thing. You don’t realize that they are not that outrageously priced.” She eyed me up and down and handed me a pair of black leather pants that laced up the crotch and opened a dressing room door for me. “These only cost $300. It sounds like a lot, but you could save that in a short time.”
As I was admiring myself in the privacy of the dressing room she continued, “Aside from my manager, my daytime help tends to be college-age goth girls who want a discount. They don’t sell a lot to the soccer moms that come in and are terrified of them. I was hoping that you could do some sales during the day and maybe help some of my employees not be so, well, frightening.” She paused for a second and asked, “Do they fit?”
“They fit perfect.” I was thinking how it would be a waste of money however, because Eric would rip them off me in a second and they would be destroyed. And then he spoke up through the bond, crap I was a block away and he could hear me. I guess I knew it, but I was so used to tuning out the humans that I hadn’t realized I was hearing HIM.
“Lover, put the pants on my tab and wear them back here.”
“You’ll ruin them! They aren’t worth it!”
“I pledge to you that I will refrain from destroying the pants…At least the first two times you wear them.”
Ellsey interrupted our thinking and said, “Come show me!” I stepped out and she grinned. “I thought you could work those pants! The cowboy boots have to go though.” She walked over to a rack of shoes. There were crazy stripper heels and a few boots that Jason would call shit kickers. I didn’t think I could walk in the heels and was glad when she grabbed me a pair of boots.
I checked my reflection in the full length mirror and then took sat back down. The leather really felt fabulous against my skin. “Ellsey,” I started, “I understand what you’re asking, but I’m not really sure this is my type of store.”
“I can understand that. But your options for work will be limited. I don’t see you working at the dry cleaners or the blood bank,” She grinned. “It’s a standing offer Sookie. You can think on it and enjoy not working for a while, but whenever you want to pick up a shift, let me know and I’ll have my manager show you the ropes. So what do you think? Should we put those pants and boots on a tab for Eric and head back to the bar?” I was a little offended for a second, that she would think I couldn’t afford the pants or that I expected Eric to be paying for them. She seemed to sense my unease and said, “He told me to pick out a present for you.”
“Oh,” I laughed. That sounded like him. “Yeah that sounds good. Let’s have him buy me some lingerie too.” She laughed and we picked out two really sexy outfits.
We were still laughing when we walked back into the bar with my bag. Eric was sitting in his throne and the fagbangers were dancing around him and trying to catch his eye. He saw me in the lace up pants and moved his tented hands to cover his immediate erection. “Lover, you are right, they are a perfect fit.” I took my bag to his office and wondered if he would follow me. When he didn’t, I headed back to the hallway to see what was going on. Chan had come in and he and Eric were moving to sit in his booth. Chan managed the blood bank, so I figured they had business to discuss. I got Eric’s attention and jangled my keys at him to let him know I was going home.
***********************************************************
I considered wearing my new lingerie, or the black lace thing I’d shoved in the drawer earlier, but I decided on going bare. I lit the candles around the bathtub and started filling the tub. I knew Eric would head home as soon as he could, so I wasn’t really worried about the water getting cold. Even if he couldn’t get Chan out of there ‘til closing time he should be home within the half hour. Not to mention that the hot water heater in this place was enormous – we could refill the tub if it got cold. I turned on some music and climbed in.
I was pretty relaxed when I heard the garage door go up. I had sensed Eric coming down the driveway and wondering where I was, but I was so blissed out that I just smiled. As he came through the house I knew he thought I was in bed, and he may have thought I was asleep. I sensed a little confusion and then his lust when he stood in the bathroom doorway. I opened my eyes and said, “Hi.” He started getting undressed and asked if I hadn’t trusted him enough to leave the pants on.
I just laughed, “No. I got undressed to put on some lingerie for you and this is as far as I got.”
“I appreciate you efforts,” he said as he slid into the tub behind me. We sat just holding each other and enjoying being near for a few minutes. “Lover, it is nice to relax with you. I have had a tense couple of days.”
I was not naïve enough to believe that the peaceful Eric that I saw on a regular basis was the image he presented in public. I knew that he still had to be ruthless and competitive in the vamp world to keep his jobs and his life. I saw images of him beating a vamp in his mind and him grabbing someone else by the throat. I hesitated and then asked if he wanted to talk about it.
“No Sookie, I don’t want to drag you into the details. It is enough that I must endure what has happened in New Orleans.” He was starting to rub my nipples with his thumbs and resting his forehead on my shoulder. “You are helping me more than I can explain by just being here. I have not had anyone to share things like this with for centuries. I truly did not realize that I needed it.”
I turned around to face him in the tub and saw how tired his eyes looked. I kissed him lightly and gave him a gentle stroke, which was all he needed to be more than ready. He sighed a little and ran his hands down my back. I kissed his neck and whispered in his ear, “You just relax. I’ll do the work.” He groaned and I moved myself to rub against his length. He leaned forward to suckle my breast as I slowly lowered myself to take all of his length. I set a slow pace that was making me burn inside. He was pressing my breasts together so he could cover both nipples with one swipe of the tongue. I was concentrating on keeping things slow because it was building an unbelievable feeling in my center. He dropped on hand to rub my clit and bit into my breast to drink and I threw my head back and came with a scream. While I was quaking and clenching him he lifted me almost to his tip and brought me back down on him hard. My orgasm just continued to roll and he thrust me against him twice more before he found his release.
After a few minutes he pulled the plug on the tub and moved us to the shower. He was hard and ready again and he kept bumping it against me as he moved to turn the water on and adjust the shower head. I had thought I was ready to just shower until I kept getting nudged by his cock, like it was reaching out for me. I turned to face him and ran my hands up his chest and down his powerful arms. I was eye level with his nipples and I had to have one in my mouth. I leaned in and began licking and sucking and rubbing my thumb over the other one. I was holding him tight to me with one hand on his ass and rubbing myself against his thigh. He growled and took control, turning me around and pushing me against the cold tile. In one smooth move he parted me and pushed all of the way in. I barely caught my breath when he began pumping into me at what could only be called vampire pace. I was glad I was pushed against the wall or my boobs would have given me black eyes the way he was banging into me. It didn’t take long and I came again, feeling my muscles try to hold him in as he moved in and out. He didn’t slow down at all and just kept moving, saying my name and whispering. I heard him start to growl and I grabbed his wrist and pulled to bring it to my mouth. I bit as hard as I could and began to suck. The feeling of his blood going down my throat and the rich taste that couldn’t compare to anything pushed me to another orgasm. As soon as I bit he threw his head back and yelled as he shot his release high into me.
Eric showered me off and washed my hair and then wrapped me in a towel and sent me to the bed while he took his own shower. When he finished he came to the bedroom and pulled me up to sit with him while he brushed my hair. “Lover, what did you think about Ellsey and her store?”
“I really liked Ellsey. I don’t know how to describe it, but she’s very, human, for a vampire.”
He laughed, “Yes. That’s a good way to describe her. I think she was a gypsy when she was alive. She fights only when necessary and usually is very laid back, although superstitious.”
“I’m not sure about working there. It’s not really me. I mean, I wouldn’t wear half of what she sells in there.”
“You do not have to wear it, just sell it. And besides which, you do not have to work there. It was just an idea. Although there are not a lot of options…”
“I know… the dry cleaners and the blood bank.”
“There are a couple of other options, but yes, hers is probably the best fit for you.”
“I’ll think about it Eric,” I sighed. “What else do you need to tell me about New Orleans? When will we need to go back?”
“Lover, I do not think I want you to come to New Orleans until it is time for the hearing. It has become quite lawless in the vamp world there and I need to get a new sheriff lined up as soon as possible. Things will be better in a few months, but for now I do not want you to come with me.”
I thought about it and agreed, “Ok, when will you go back?”
“Bill and Chan and I will go the day after tomorrow. I need to finish up some paperwork at the bar and I’d like to see if Trey and Simon are capable. I’d like to promote one of them to sheriff, so I have Bill doing some research for me.”
He finished brushing my hair and took the brush to his own. I fell asleep to the sound of the brush going through his hair.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Dead on New Years Chapter 13
Our first week back in Shreveport flew by. I moved some of my things into “our” place during the day and Eric spent three nights in New Orleans with Bill doing some investigating. I expected him back tonight until he called to say he was at Fangtasia dealing with a bartender problem. I was staring at the slinky black negligee I had planned to wear when he explained that Pam would surely make him stay and deal with some other issues that had cropped up in his absence, so he most likely wouldn’t be home until the bar closed.
I had been feeling miserable all day. My chest was tight and there was a knot in my stomach. At first I thought I was coming down with something, but later I realized it was simply because Eric and I had been apart for too long. I wasn’t really thinking about what I was doing when I shoved the black lace back in the drawer and pulled on my jeans, cowboy boots and a Fangtasia t-shirt. (Pam had gifted me with the entire line of “Bar with a Bite” gear.) I grabbed my cowboy hat and keys before I realized I was headed to the bar to help out and be close to Eric.
I walked in the back door of Fangtasia and saw that Eric’s office door was closed. I took a deep breath, since I had pulled into the parking lot the tightness in my chest had released and I was feeling, well, alive. I grabbed an apron off the rack in the break room and made my way into the bar. Pam was no where to be seen and Felicia was buried in customers behind the bar – all by herself. Now Merlotte’s is a bar that can operate with only one bartender, but not Fangtasia. I scooted in behind Felicia to go to the enclosed far end of the bar. I figured it would be the safest place just incase I was really enticing to the vampires with my new and improved fae scent. It was really busy and loud, so I hollered to her that I would catch up the wait staff and then give her a hand with the bar customers. She grinned like mad, showing a little fang and hollered back, “Sookie, I love you!”
I was sweating like crazy and working like mad behind the bar. The wait staff was caught up and I stationed myself near the enclosed end of the bar and their station to make sure it stayed that way. Thank the stars that Eric had invested in a hot water bath to keep the blood warm on busy nights. It made serving the stuff so much easier. You just wiped it off, shook, and twisted off the cap. The new drink special on the other hand, was killing me. It was an intricate “Bite Me” Martini with a splash of True Blood in it for the daring, grenadine for the tourists.
I was serving up some beers to tourists from Kansas when I felt a crazy bolt of lust come through the bond. I glanced over and saw Pam and Eric in the hallway that led to his office. Igor was forcefully escorting the, apparently, former bartender out the front door. Eric was shaking his head at me and stalked to the bar. I could feel through the bond that he was both totally aroused and completely pissed at me for working at his bar. He repeatedly told me that I didn’t need to work and that I should not feel that I owed him anything. “What are you doing?” he boomed when he reached me. The tourists were terrified and grabbed their beers and got as far from the bar as they could.
“I’m tending bar Master,” I said sweetly. He just growled and his thoughts swirled. This could be fun. “The boss here,” I looked at him and licked my lips, “He works me hard.”
Eric leaned close to me and said so that only I could here him, “And I bet he punishes you when you misbehave, doesn’t he?”
I looked him straight in the eye, “He’s been know to whip me into shape.”
The lust in the bond flared between us. I was getting wet and feeling flush. His fangs ran out, “My office. Now,” and he stalked away.
Felicia was watching us and trying not to laugh. I raised my eyebrows at her and headed off to follow my Viking. She lost it and cracked up. “Thanks for the help girl!” she laughed as I squeezed behind her to get out of the bar area.
Eric’s door was open but I didn’t see him. I moved into the room and he stepped out from behind the door to slam it behind me and slam me up against it knocking my cowboy hat to the floor. He was grinding against me and kissing me something fierce. I knew my lips would be bruised but also knew his blood would help heal me. I threw my legs around his waist and held on for dear life wishing that there were spurs on my cowboy boots. When I couldn’t breathe anymore I pulled back and Eric didn’t pause at all as he swung us around and moved to the leather couch. He slowed down long enough to tear off my shirt and pull my pants down, yanking my boots off and tossing them aside. He sat me on the couch and pulled me forward so my legs fell over his shoulders. He opened my folds and saw me glistening and I heard him moan.
And then it was like a feeding frenzy. He was licking and stroking and nipping and talking in another language again. His eyes were glassy when I could see them and his thoughts were crazed, the only thing I could make out was the occasional, “Mine,” and “Fuck her hard.” I really hoped that my grandfather was right and that Eric would not go crazy from my fae blood. He was shoving his tongue into me and trying to hit the spot that would push me over the edge. I was trying to hold myself as close to his mouth as I could but it just didn’t seem like I could get close enough. Then he pushed two fingers into me and bit my femoral artery and I boiled over. I was quaking and pulsing and feeling like I might not have the coordination to breathe.
Before I recovered Eric was standing and pushing his pants down to reveal his erection. He pulled me up on the couch on all fours and turned me how he wanted me because I wasn’t really moving on my own at this point. He put one knee on the couch and kept the other foot on the floor for leverage. He ran the tip of his cock over my wet opening and I began to shudder all over again. The next thing I knew he was pushing into me and whipping my back and buttocks with the lanyard that his flash-drive was on. Give the man points for ingenuity. He was gripping my hips with one hand and pulling me hard against him as he drove his own hips into me. I couldn’t believe how far he filled me from this position and I loved the feel of his thighs against mine and his balls slapping me from behind. I was pushing back with what strength I had and mumbling, “Oh yeah, oh yeah, Eric, ohmygod, don’t stop, ohgodyes.” He gave me a hard thrust and a good swipe with his makeshift whip and I felt myself going over the edge again. As my body tightened on him I felt him starting to lose himself as well.
He was lying on top of my back and I was running out of strength to hold us up when he pulled out and moved us so I was sitting on his lap. He was rubbing my back and holding me while I came back to reality. When I finally looked at him with clear eyes he smiled, “Lover, what were you doing working behind my bar?”
“I was just helping out.”
“You know you don’t have to work. Here or anywhere.”
“I know Eric. I just…I couldn’t sit at home knowing you were this close. I had to come here to be near you, so I figured I might as well help out since you were down a bartender.”
He sighed and kissed my forehead, “Lover, it has been a very long time since someone has aided me out of pure kindness.”
I snuggled closer, “I guess you should get used to it.” We rested like that for a minute and I began to think we should get dressed. Pam always barged in at the least opportune moments. Eric heard me through the bond and helped me up to find our clothes. While we were dressing I asked what he had found in New Orleans.
“It is interesting lover. After Katrina the city is a hodgepodge of humans and vampires. Many of the older vampires have left the city for good. Those that stayed are loyal to Sophie and just tolerated Victor and Felipe,” he was leaning against his desk and I was sitting in his office chair to put my boots on. “The younger vampires, they are a tribe apart. They do not seem to understand the basic hierarchy of our kind. It is almost as if New Orleans has become the Wild West.”
“So were some of the younger vamps involved with Victor?”
“It seems so lover, and they are so cocky that now that Victor is gone they are not trying to hide it.”
“What will happen next?”
He shook his head, “I will work with some of Victor’s investigators and a team of my own vamps and take care of them.”
“You’ll kill them you mean?”
“I should lover, but no, killing them makes me no better than Victor. I will prepare them for a hearing and they will be judged by our court and their King.”
“Oh. How do you prepare them for a hearing?”
“They will be…imprisoned… until it is time for the hearing.”
“Imprisoned?! What does that mean? Is there some kind of vamp jail?”
He nodded and smiled a little at me. “The trial will be in New Orleans in a few months. We will get a room at the new vamp hotel in the French Quarter for a few days. I cannot wait to enjoy the city with you.”
I grinned back, “You just want to see me drunk and flashing my boobs on Bourbon Street.” I saw him picturing it in his head and then he pictured us having sex right out in the open like you saw during Mardi Gras. “Eric,” I said firmly to get his mind back on reality, “THAT will not happen.”
He barked a laugh and Pam knocked on the door. “Enter,” Eric responded.
“Master, I need to discuss some accounting and scheduling issues with you when you are ready.”
He motioned her to come into the office and leaned down to kiss my forehead. “I will probably be in here the rest of the evening,” he said checking his watch, “Will you help Felicia for a while or head home?”
“I’ll help out a while. I’ll let you know if I am going to head out,” I said as I walked to the door.
Pam inhaled deeply as I passed her. I froze for a second waiting for her to say something. I had been okay behind the bar, but if she was sensing the fae in me I could be in trouble. She sighed, “You smell…” my breath caught and she finished, “satisfied.” Her eyes were a little glassy and her fangs were out. Eric growled at her and she grinned, “What? I love the smell of sex and the two of you have clearly just had some.”
I shook my head as shut the door behind me and went back to the bar. The crowd was still pretty big and one of the waitresses was filling her own drink order when I slid back into my spot. I took over for her and once again caught up the wait staff while cursing the “Bite Me” Martini campaign that had partially been my idea. When things were back on track I realized that the Fangbangers and other regulars were flocking to Felicia’s end of the bar while I was dealing with nervous tourists and nosey vampires. I could hear the tourists’ wondering what a nice girl like me was doing working in a Vamp bar and I had to bite back my laughter. I wanted to tell them I was living with the owner, but that would be too much for some of them.
Things finally started to slow down and I felt someone watching me. A lovely vampire dressed in latex that would make Pam extremely jealous was off to the side of the bar area watching me work. I tried to ignore her, but she was starting to creep me out. Felicia seemed to realize what was going on and she came over to me and pretended to wash a glass, “That’s Ellsey, she’s cool.”
“Why’s she staring at…” I started, but stopped when realized that Ellsey was heading towards me.
She stood in front of me at the bar and smirked a little, “You are perceptive for a human.” I nodded and waited for her to continue. “Sookie Stackhouse, I am Ellsey Graham. Eric suggested that you might be interested in working for me.”
I had been feeling miserable all day. My chest was tight and there was a knot in my stomach. At first I thought I was coming down with something, but later I realized it was simply because Eric and I had been apart for too long. I wasn’t really thinking about what I was doing when I shoved the black lace back in the drawer and pulled on my jeans, cowboy boots and a Fangtasia t-shirt. (Pam had gifted me with the entire line of “Bar with a Bite” gear.) I grabbed my cowboy hat and keys before I realized I was headed to the bar to help out and be close to Eric.
I walked in the back door of Fangtasia and saw that Eric’s office door was closed. I took a deep breath, since I had pulled into the parking lot the tightness in my chest had released and I was feeling, well, alive. I grabbed an apron off the rack in the break room and made my way into the bar. Pam was no where to be seen and Felicia was buried in customers behind the bar – all by herself. Now Merlotte’s is a bar that can operate with only one bartender, but not Fangtasia. I scooted in behind Felicia to go to the enclosed far end of the bar. I figured it would be the safest place just incase I was really enticing to the vampires with my new and improved fae scent. It was really busy and loud, so I hollered to her that I would catch up the wait staff and then give her a hand with the bar customers. She grinned like mad, showing a little fang and hollered back, “Sookie, I love you!”
I was sweating like crazy and working like mad behind the bar. The wait staff was caught up and I stationed myself near the enclosed end of the bar and their station to make sure it stayed that way. Thank the stars that Eric had invested in a hot water bath to keep the blood warm on busy nights. It made serving the stuff so much easier. You just wiped it off, shook, and twisted off the cap. The new drink special on the other hand, was killing me. It was an intricate “Bite Me” Martini with a splash of True Blood in it for the daring, grenadine for the tourists.
I was serving up some beers to tourists from Kansas when I felt a crazy bolt of lust come through the bond. I glanced over and saw Pam and Eric in the hallway that led to his office. Igor was forcefully escorting the, apparently, former bartender out the front door. Eric was shaking his head at me and stalked to the bar. I could feel through the bond that he was both totally aroused and completely pissed at me for working at his bar. He repeatedly told me that I didn’t need to work and that I should not feel that I owed him anything. “What are you doing?” he boomed when he reached me. The tourists were terrified and grabbed their beers and got as far from the bar as they could.
“I’m tending bar Master,” I said sweetly. He just growled and his thoughts swirled. This could be fun. “The boss here,” I looked at him and licked my lips, “He works me hard.”
Eric leaned close to me and said so that only I could here him, “And I bet he punishes you when you misbehave, doesn’t he?”
I looked him straight in the eye, “He’s been know to whip me into shape.”
The lust in the bond flared between us. I was getting wet and feeling flush. His fangs ran out, “My office. Now,” and he stalked away.
Felicia was watching us and trying not to laugh. I raised my eyebrows at her and headed off to follow my Viking. She lost it and cracked up. “Thanks for the help girl!” she laughed as I squeezed behind her to get out of the bar area.
Eric’s door was open but I didn’t see him. I moved into the room and he stepped out from behind the door to slam it behind me and slam me up against it knocking my cowboy hat to the floor. He was grinding against me and kissing me something fierce. I knew my lips would be bruised but also knew his blood would help heal me. I threw my legs around his waist and held on for dear life wishing that there were spurs on my cowboy boots. When I couldn’t breathe anymore I pulled back and Eric didn’t pause at all as he swung us around and moved to the leather couch. He slowed down long enough to tear off my shirt and pull my pants down, yanking my boots off and tossing them aside. He sat me on the couch and pulled me forward so my legs fell over his shoulders. He opened my folds and saw me glistening and I heard him moan.
And then it was like a feeding frenzy. He was licking and stroking and nipping and talking in another language again. His eyes were glassy when I could see them and his thoughts were crazed, the only thing I could make out was the occasional, “Mine,” and “Fuck her hard.” I really hoped that my grandfather was right and that Eric would not go crazy from my fae blood. He was shoving his tongue into me and trying to hit the spot that would push me over the edge. I was trying to hold myself as close to his mouth as I could but it just didn’t seem like I could get close enough. Then he pushed two fingers into me and bit my femoral artery and I boiled over. I was quaking and pulsing and feeling like I might not have the coordination to breathe.
Before I recovered Eric was standing and pushing his pants down to reveal his erection. He pulled me up on the couch on all fours and turned me how he wanted me because I wasn’t really moving on my own at this point. He put one knee on the couch and kept the other foot on the floor for leverage. He ran the tip of his cock over my wet opening and I began to shudder all over again. The next thing I knew he was pushing into me and whipping my back and buttocks with the lanyard that his flash-drive was on. Give the man points for ingenuity. He was gripping my hips with one hand and pulling me hard against him as he drove his own hips into me. I couldn’t believe how far he filled me from this position and I loved the feel of his thighs against mine and his balls slapping me from behind. I was pushing back with what strength I had and mumbling, “Oh yeah, oh yeah, Eric, ohmygod, don’t stop, ohgodyes.” He gave me a hard thrust and a good swipe with his makeshift whip and I felt myself going over the edge again. As my body tightened on him I felt him starting to lose himself as well.
He was lying on top of my back and I was running out of strength to hold us up when he pulled out and moved us so I was sitting on his lap. He was rubbing my back and holding me while I came back to reality. When I finally looked at him with clear eyes he smiled, “Lover, what were you doing working behind my bar?”
“I was just helping out.”
“You know you don’t have to work. Here or anywhere.”
“I know Eric. I just…I couldn’t sit at home knowing you were this close. I had to come here to be near you, so I figured I might as well help out since you were down a bartender.”
He sighed and kissed my forehead, “Lover, it has been a very long time since someone has aided me out of pure kindness.”
I snuggled closer, “I guess you should get used to it.” We rested like that for a minute and I began to think we should get dressed. Pam always barged in at the least opportune moments. Eric heard me through the bond and helped me up to find our clothes. While we were dressing I asked what he had found in New Orleans.
“It is interesting lover. After Katrina the city is a hodgepodge of humans and vampires. Many of the older vampires have left the city for good. Those that stayed are loyal to Sophie and just tolerated Victor and Felipe,” he was leaning against his desk and I was sitting in his office chair to put my boots on. “The younger vampires, they are a tribe apart. They do not seem to understand the basic hierarchy of our kind. It is almost as if New Orleans has become the Wild West.”
“So were some of the younger vamps involved with Victor?”
“It seems so lover, and they are so cocky that now that Victor is gone they are not trying to hide it.”
“What will happen next?”
He shook his head, “I will work with some of Victor’s investigators and a team of my own vamps and take care of them.”
“You’ll kill them you mean?”
“I should lover, but no, killing them makes me no better than Victor. I will prepare them for a hearing and they will be judged by our court and their King.”
“Oh. How do you prepare them for a hearing?”
“They will be…imprisoned… until it is time for the hearing.”
“Imprisoned?! What does that mean? Is there some kind of vamp jail?”
He nodded and smiled a little at me. “The trial will be in New Orleans in a few months. We will get a room at the new vamp hotel in the French Quarter for a few days. I cannot wait to enjoy the city with you.”
I grinned back, “You just want to see me drunk and flashing my boobs on Bourbon Street.” I saw him picturing it in his head and then he pictured us having sex right out in the open like you saw during Mardi Gras. “Eric,” I said firmly to get his mind back on reality, “THAT will not happen.”
He barked a laugh and Pam knocked on the door. “Enter,” Eric responded.
“Master, I need to discuss some accounting and scheduling issues with you when you are ready.”
He motioned her to come into the office and leaned down to kiss my forehead. “I will probably be in here the rest of the evening,” he said checking his watch, “Will you help Felicia for a while or head home?”
“I’ll help out a while. I’ll let you know if I am going to head out,” I said as I walked to the door.
Pam inhaled deeply as I passed her. I froze for a second waiting for her to say something. I had been okay behind the bar, but if she was sensing the fae in me I could be in trouble. She sighed, “You smell…” my breath caught and she finished, “satisfied.” Her eyes were a little glassy and her fangs were out. Eric growled at her and she grinned, “What? I love the smell of sex and the two of you have clearly just had some.”
I shook my head as shut the door behind me and went back to the bar. The crowd was still pretty big and one of the waitresses was filling her own drink order when I slid back into my spot. I took over for her and once again caught up the wait staff while cursing the “Bite Me” Martini campaign that had partially been my idea. When things were back on track I realized that the Fangbangers and other regulars were flocking to Felicia’s end of the bar while I was dealing with nervous tourists and nosey vampires. I could hear the tourists’ wondering what a nice girl like me was doing working in a Vamp bar and I had to bite back my laughter. I wanted to tell them I was living with the owner, but that would be too much for some of them.
Things finally started to slow down and I felt someone watching me. A lovely vampire dressed in latex that would make Pam extremely jealous was off to the side of the bar area watching me work. I tried to ignore her, but she was starting to creep me out. Felicia seemed to realize what was going on and she came over to me and pretended to wash a glass, “That’s Ellsey, she’s cool.”
“Why’s she staring at…” I started, but stopped when realized that Ellsey was heading towards me.
She stood in front of me at the bar and smirked a little, “You are perceptive for a human.” I nodded and waited for her to continue. “Sookie Stackhouse, I am Ellsey Graham. Eric suggested that you might be interested in working for me.”
Dead on New Years Chapter 12
I had a late breakfast with Alcide at the hotel, okay, it was really lunch, but it was my first meal. Then I headed to the spa for my massage and facial. Alcide went to the gym and said maybe he'd see me before he flew home. I had told him that Eric and I were staying an extra day, but I didn't give any indication why.
I dawdled in the cafe and the gift shops, hoping that I could time it so Eric would be up and showered by the time I went back to the room. I knew if I was there when he woke we would end up in bed and our discussion about everything that had happened last night would never happen. I sat in the cafe and had some coffee and made 2 lists of questions. One list was regarding the Second in Command job and the other was about everything Niall had told us last night. I went to the gift shop and bought some playing cards and some sparkly sunglasses for myself and a shot glass for poor Felicia, she still thought I would be the death of her, but she seemed to at least like me. When I felt like the cashier thought I might be casing the joint I figured I should head up stairs.
Eric was in the living area of our suite using the laptop when I came in. He smiled, "Lover, I missed you when I woke up."
I smiled, "I've missed you all day, but I knew we had things to discuss and it wouldn't happen in bed."
"Or in the shower."
"No, not in the shower either."
He made that sexy come hither motion he used, "Come, sit lover, where would you like to begin?" I pulled my lists out of my purse and he barked with laughter. "You are serious lover."
I shrugged my shoulders, "A lot of serious stuff happened last night." He was smiling now so I knew he was only teasing me, I had felt it through the bond, but I needed his face for reassurance. "I guess we should talk about what De Castro might offer you tonight."
He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, "Mind you, I am not certain that he will offer it to me, but he hinted at it. Then with Niall here last night, it seems very likely." He stood and walked to the window. I think he really liked being able to stand in front of the glass during the day without any danger from the sun. "Lover, being second in command will keep us in Shreveport, but will require trips around the state and also out here to Vegas on a fairly regular basis." He paused, looking out the window and then looked back at me, "I'm afraid that because of this and because of what Niall told us last night that you will no longer be able to work at Merlotte's."
I nodded. "I know Eric, I called Sam today. He isn't happy and he doesn't understand. I told him I would talk to him when I got back. In the meantime Barry will get someone to fill in for me until Sam finds a replacement."
"Sookie, you know I never really liked you working at that bar, but I would not have forced you to quit."
I put down my lists and walked to him at the window. I wrapped my arms around his waist and lay my head on his chest. "I know Eric. It's okay. There's just a lot of things changing for me."
"I have been thinking of what else you could do in Shreveport. Of course it is up to you, you can go to school or stay home if you choose. It will probably not be possible for you to work for a human or a shifter anymore. You will need to work at one of my businesses or at the business of one of my subjects. I have a few in mind to suggest, but we can discuss that any time."
"When will you meet with him?"
"In 30 minutes. Everyone else is headed back to Louisiana shortly. I had a message that Dani will meet us in the King's suite and the two of you are to go to dinner on his tab."
I was still standing with my arms wrapped around him, "I understand what you told Niall about having to accept the position. What will it mean for me? Will Felipe be able to require my services?"
Eric sighed, "It really won't change lover. I don't think you realize how much power he already had over us. He will never be able to require your assistance without my presence. I can not decline his offer, but the position would give me more respect from both Felipe and other Kings."
"How much more danger will we be in?"
"Lover, we are always in danger."
"Yes, but will we be in more danger?"
He gave a chuckle. I loved it when he laughed and I had my head on his chest. "I truly cannot say. We will have to wait and see." He gave me a tight hug and sighed, "Lover, you smell delicious."
"Mmmm," I sighed. "I went to the spa today." I just stood there in his embrace. I was relaxed from my massage and Eric was sending waves of calm through the bond. I loved how he did that. I checked my watch and realized that I needed to hurry and shower so I could go to dinner with Dani. I was planning on just ordering room service, but now I needed to be ready for something more.
Eric kissed the top of my head. He had been listening to me ramble in my head and he told me that there was a dress in the bedroom that Felipe had sent for me. That scared me a little. Eric kissed my neck, "I already checked lover. It is beautiful and appropriate."
************************************
King de Castro greeted us and offered us drinks. Eric was again given the Virgin True Blood and this time I was given a gin and tonic. I thanked Felipe for my dress. It was beautiful and appropriate - basically a little black dress just kicked up a Vegas notch with some serious cleavage. He apologized that he needed to have a private meeting with Eric but promised that Dani and I would be given the royal treatment in the hotel's premiere restaurant. We said our goodbyes and Eric said he would call me when he was finished.
Dani and I had a nice dinner. The prime rib they had was to die for. She told me how she ended up being a D.D. for Felipe and it was about as funny as how I got mixed up with all of the vamps and supes. She didn't go looking for the job; it found her - working as a human resources person who could track down the lies in anyone's resume. Before the Great Revelation she worked in one of Felipe's hotels without having any idea it was Vamp run. Her supervisor had asked her to stay late one night and she met Felipe who needed some assistance tracking the activities of another Vamp. She was totally freaked out at the time, but he began paying her very well for the side jobs and she earned his trust. After the Revelation, when he came out of the coffin, he promoted her to working for him full time.
We hadn't heard from Eric when we finished dinner, so Dani handed me some chips that Felipe had provided us and we headed to the casino. I made sure to ask her how much they were worth - it was only $1,000 this time. (It could seriously help me with my bills this month, but I didn't think it would be right to just go cash it in!) We played some black jack and Dani explained some of the basic ideas. All I knew was that you wanted to get as close to 21 as possible without going over, apparently there was a lot more to it.
After I lost about half of my chips my cell phone rang. I finished the hand and checked my voice mail. Eric was back in our suite and wanted me to join him. I thanked Dani for spending the evening with me, even though I'm sure she'd been paid, and headed up to meet Eric. I don't know what I expected to find when I got to the room, but I was not prepared for what I found.
Eric was bloodied and bruised and sitting on the couch sipping a True Blood. I rushed over to him, trying to feel his emotions through the bond, "Eric, what in the world?"
He gave me a half smile with a fattened bloody lip, "It's okay lover, I'll be healed in an hour or so."
I was running my hands over his face. His nose looked broken and I think he had lost a tooth. "What happened?"
"The King wanted to be sure I wasn't in on Victor's plans before he offered me the job."
My eyes were wide with alarm, "Eric, I don't think you want this job." He shook his head at me with a small laugh, "Oh, yeah. No choice."
He pulled me up to sit on his lap and wrapped his arms around me. "It's alright Sookie. I expected some kind of test."
"Well, you could have warned me."
"I told Felipe you would be unhappy with him."
"Unhappy is an understatement,” I growled. I snuggled into his arms and leaned my head on his chest. “Ok, lay it on me. What did he tell you?”
“Well, I will be able to keep my status as sheriff of area 5 and take on the additional duties of being his second in command. My first job will be to go to New Orleans and investigate things to find out who else was in on Victor’s plan. I will have to…take care of those that were involved, and then find a new sheriff for that area.”
“What about us? Will he interfere in our relationship?”
He huffed a little, “He’ll interfere with our lives that is for certain, but our relationship, no. I reminded him that we were bonded and that you would be traveling with me. He didn’t seem to mind, but he suggested that you should no longer work for a shifter. I informed him that you had already quit. He was quite pleased.”
“I’ll bet he was. Jerk. So what now?”
“Now we relax and then we fly home mid morning. The King has arranged transport for us.”
“You didn’t bring a coffin, we flew here at night.”
“He’s loaning me one lover. I will be fine. I will be transported to the airport and you will just need to wait for me at the airport. It should be dark by the time we get home because of the time change.”
“Okay, so let’s relax. What do you want to do?”
“Lover, I am…uncomfortable. I would take some of your blood to speed my healing.”
“Oh my gosh, Eric! Of course! I wasn’t thinking,” I said as I held my wrist to his mouth. He groaned as he bit and his eyes closed as he drank. I felt him hardening against my thigh and heard his thoughts in his mind. He was thinking that he was so grateful to have an eternity to spend with me and that he was amazed at how I just accepted all of the changes we were facing. It was so sweet that it did the same things to me that his dirty mind would have done.
He finished drinking and went to lick my wounds closed but I shook my head. He looked confused as I undressed quickly. I lay back on the couch as his eyes began to darken and he sighed my name. Then I squeezed my wrist and let drops of my own blood fall on my breasts and my stomach, leading a path to the blond curls between my legs. I took my wrist and smeared blood on my lips and then held it out to him. He sealed the wounds quickly and kissed me hard, licking the blood from my lips. Then he was licking me everywhere, cleaning the blood from my body and rubbing his face on my skin. He was frantic and whispering in a language I did not understand. It was heaven and torture all at once. By the time he reached my center I was writhing beneath him. He buried his face in my heat and inhaled my scent. When he looked up at me his eyes were glazed and his thoughts were dirty and scattered. He grabbed the lukewarm True Blood off the coffee table and paused briefly before he poured it between my legs. The sensation was strange at first, but as he began licking and sucking it was heavenly. He had spread my legs and his face and nose were pushing against me as he cleaned the blood and pleasured me at the same time. He slid his fingers though my wetness and mixed it with the True Blood before he plunged them into me.
It seemed to always work out this way, I set out to seduce my Viking and he was the one giving all of the pleasure. I was moaning and moving my hips and had thrown my legs over his shoulders to give him better access to me. He was whispering again and thinking in that same language so I couldn’t understand what he meant. He kept pushing his fingers into me at a furious pace and then moved his head and bit me, just above my bikini line. I screamed and nearly bucked off the couch as my muscles clenched around his hand. He never paused as he moved his mouth back to my clit and kept pushing me to a second orgasm.
As I was catching my breath he pulled away to get undressed. He used his shirt to wipe up some of the True Blood and then opened his belt and began to take his pants down. He was commando and the sight of him flipped a switch in me and I felt wild. I sat up and knocked him off balance and threw him back on the couch. His pants were around his waist and I was straddling his hips and rubbing my wetness along his length. He started speaking again in that foreign language as he grabbed my breasts and pinched my nipples. I leaned over him and whispered in his ear, “You need to speak or think English, but I think you’re telling me to fuck you - hard.” He groaned and I continued to rub myself on him.
I took him in my hand and held him so his tip just brushed my opening. We both moaned a little and Eric was trying to grab at my hips and pull me down. I held myself up and moved his hands to my breasts. I took one hand and began sucking on his fingers and running my tongue over them. When I was sure his eyes were on mine I impaled myself on him fully. I cried out and heard Eric shout. He pulled his hand from my mouth and grabbed my hips. He was pounding me down onto him and pushing his hips up to get himself in even farther. I held my breasts to stop them from flying everywhere. Eric’s fangs were out and I heard him say, “Ride me Sookie. That’s it.” My head was back and my hair was brushing my back and suddenly my body was shaking and I felt my muscles grabbing on to his cock as I came with a rush. He continued pounding me and then I felt him sit forward and latch onto my breast. When he started to drink I cried out. Then he pushed on my swollen clit with his finger and I began pulsing all over again. When I could breathe again I was savoring the feel of him still inside of me. I didn’t want to move. Eric had come back to his senses as well and I heard his mind, “We won’t fit in the coffin to fly home this way lover.”
I pushed him down on the couch and stretched out on top of him, careful to keep him inside of me, “How about this?”
He was chuckling a little in his head, “It would work fine lover, except that you get claustrophobic and there is a lack of oxygen in the cargo hold.”
“Details,” I sighed as he rolled us over on the couch and began to slowly thrust inside of me.
I dawdled in the cafe and the gift shops, hoping that I could time it so Eric would be up and showered by the time I went back to the room. I knew if I was there when he woke we would end up in bed and our discussion about everything that had happened last night would never happen. I sat in the cafe and had some coffee and made 2 lists of questions. One list was regarding the Second in Command job and the other was about everything Niall had told us last night. I went to the gift shop and bought some playing cards and some sparkly sunglasses for myself and a shot glass for poor Felicia, she still thought I would be the death of her, but she seemed to at least like me. When I felt like the cashier thought I might be casing the joint I figured I should head up stairs.
Eric was in the living area of our suite using the laptop when I came in. He smiled, "Lover, I missed you when I woke up."
I smiled, "I've missed you all day, but I knew we had things to discuss and it wouldn't happen in bed."
"Or in the shower."
"No, not in the shower either."
He made that sexy come hither motion he used, "Come, sit lover, where would you like to begin?" I pulled my lists out of my purse and he barked with laughter. "You are serious lover."
I shrugged my shoulders, "A lot of serious stuff happened last night." He was smiling now so I knew he was only teasing me, I had felt it through the bond, but I needed his face for reassurance. "I guess we should talk about what De Castro might offer you tonight."
He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, "Mind you, I am not certain that he will offer it to me, but he hinted at it. Then with Niall here last night, it seems very likely." He stood and walked to the window. I think he really liked being able to stand in front of the glass during the day without any danger from the sun. "Lover, being second in command will keep us in Shreveport, but will require trips around the state and also out here to Vegas on a fairly regular basis." He paused, looking out the window and then looked back at me, "I'm afraid that because of this and because of what Niall told us last night that you will no longer be able to work at Merlotte's."
I nodded. "I know Eric, I called Sam today. He isn't happy and he doesn't understand. I told him I would talk to him when I got back. In the meantime Barry will get someone to fill in for me until Sam finds a replacement."
"Sookie, you know I never really liked you working at that bar, but I would not have forced you to quit."
I put down my lists and walked to him at the window. I wrapped my arms around his waist and lay my head on his chest. "I know Eric. It's okay. There's just a lot of things changing for me."
"I have been thinking of what else you could do in Shreveport. Of course it is up to you, you can go to school or stay home if you choose. It will probably not be possible for you to work for a human or a shifter anymore. You will need to work at one of my businesses or at the business of one of my subjects. I have a few in mind to suggest, but we can discuss that any time."
"When will you meet with him?"
"In 30 minutes. Everyone else is headed back to Louisiana shortly. I had a message that Dani will meet us in the King's suite and the two of you are to go to dinner on his tab."
I was still standing with my arms wrapped around him, "I understand what you told Niall about having to accept the position. What will it mean for me? Will Felipe be able to require my services?"
Eric sighed, "It really won't change lover. I don't think you realize how much power he already had over us. He will never be able to require your assistance without my presence. I can not decline his offer, but the position would give me more respect from both Felipe and other Kings."
"How much more danger will we be in?"
"Lover, we are always in danger."
"Yes, but will we be in more danger?"
He gave a chuckle. I loved it when he laughed and I had my head on his chest. "I truly cannot say. We will have to wait and see." He gave me a tight hug and sighed, "Lover, you smell delicious."
"Mmmm," I sighed. "I went to the spa today." I just stood there in his embrace. I was relaxed from my massage and Eric was sending waves of calm through the bond. I loved how he did that. I checked my watch and realized that I needed to hurry and shower so I could go to dinner with Dani. I was planning on just ordering room service, but now I needed to be ready for something more.
Eric kissed the top of my head. He had been listening to me ramble in my head and he told me that there was a dress in the bedroom that Felipe had sent for me. That scared me a little. Eric kissed my neck, "I already checked lover. It is beautiful and appropriate."
************************************
King de Castro greeted us and offered us drinks. Eric was again given the Virgin True Blood and this time I was given a gin and tonic. I thanked Felipe for my dress. It was beautiful and appropriate - basically a little black dress just kicked up a Vegas notch with some serious cleavage. He apologized that he needed to have a private meeting with Eric but promised that Dani and I would be given the royal treatment in the hotel's premiere restaurant. We said our goodbyes and Eric said he would call me when he was finished.
Dani and I had a nice dinner. The prime rib they had was to die for. She told me how she ended up being a D.D. for Felipe and it was about as funny as how I got mixed up with all of the vamps and supes. She didn't go looking for the job; it found her - working as a human resources person who could track down the lies in anyone's resume. Before the Great Revelation she worked in one of Felipe's hotels without having any idea it was Vamp run. Her supervisor had asked her to stay late one night and she met Felipe who needed some assistance tracking the activities of another Vamp. She was totally freaked out at the time, but he began paying her very well for the side jobs and she earned his trust. After the Revelation, when he came out of the coffin, he promoted her to working for him full time.
We hadn't heard from Eric when we finished dinner, so Dani handed me some chips that Felipe had provided us and we headed to the casino. I made sure to ask her how much they were worth - it was only $1,000 this time. (It could seriously help me with my bills this month, but I didn't think it would be right to just go cash it in!) We played some black jack and Dani explained some of the basic ideas. All I knew was that you wanted to get as close to 21 as possible without going over, apparently there was a lot more to it.
After I lost about half of my chips my cell phone rang. I finished the hand and checked my voice mail. Eric was back in our suite and wanted me to join him. I thanked Dani for spending the evening with me, even though I'm sure she'd been paid, and headed up to meet Eric. I don't know what I expected to find when I got to the room, but I was not prepared for what I found.
Eric was bloodied and bruised and sitting on the couch sipping a True Blood. I rushed over to him, trying to feel his emotions through the bond, "Eric, what in the world?"
He gave me a half smile with a fattened bloody lip, "It's okay lover, I'll be healed in an hour or so."
I was running my hands over his face. His nose looked broken and I think he had lost a tooth. "What happened?"
"The King wanted to be sure I wasn't in on Victor's plans before he offered me the job."
My eyes were wide with alarm, "Eric, I don't think you want this job." He shook his head at me with a small laugh, "Oh, yeah. No choice."
He pulled me up to sit on his lap and wrapped his arms around me. "It's alright Sookie. I expected some kind of test."
"Well, you could have warned me."
"I told Felipe you would be unhappy with him."
"Unhappy is an understatement,” I growled. I snuggled into his arms and leaned my head on his chest. “Ok, lay it on me. What did he tell you?”
“Well, I will be able to keep my status as sheriff of area 5 and take on the additional duties of being his second in command. My first job will be to go to New Orleans and investigate things to find out who else was in on Victor’s plan. I will have to…take care of those that were involved, and then find a new sheriff for that area.”
“What about us? Will he interfere in our relationship?”
He huffed a little, “He’ll interfere with our lives that is for certain, but our relationship, no. I reminded him that we were bonded and that you would be traveling with me. He didn’t seem to mind, but he suggested that you should no longer work for a shifter. I informed him that you had already quit. He was quite pleased.”
“I’ll bet he was. Jerk. So what now?”
“Now we relax and then we fly home mid morning. The King has arranged transport for us.”
“You didn’t bring a coffin, we flew here at night.”
“He’s loaning me one lover. I will be fine. I will be transported to the airport and you will just need to wait for me at the airport. It should be dark by the time we get home because of the time change.”
“Okay, so let’s relax. What do you want to do?”
“Lover, I am…uncomfortable. I would take some of your blood to speed my healing.”
“Oh my gosh, Eric! Of course! I wasn’t thinking,” I said as I held my wrist to his mouth. He groaned as he bit and his eyes closed as he drank. I felt him hardening against my thigh and heard his thoughts in his mind. He was thinking that he was so grateful to have an eternity to spend with me and that he was amazed at how I just accepted all of the changes we were facing. It was so sweet that it did the same things to me that his dirty mind would have done.
He finished drinking and went to lick my wounds closed but I shook my head. He looked confused as I undressed quickly. I lay back on the couch as his eyes began to darken and he sighed my name. Then I squeezed my wrist and let drops of my own blood fall on my breasts and my stomach, leading a path to the blond curls between my legs. I took my wrist and smeared blood on my lips and then held it out to him. He sealed the wounds quickly and kissed me hard, licking the blood from my lips. Then he was licking me everywhere, cleaning the blood from my body and rubbing his face on my skin. He was frantic and whispering in a language I did not understand. It was heaven and torture all at once. By the time he reached my center I was writhing beneath him. He buried his face in my heat and inhaled my scent. When he looked up at me his eyes were glazed and his thoughts were dirty and scattered. He grabbed the lukewarm True Blood off the coffee table and paused briefly before he poured it between my legs. The sensation was strange at first, but as he began licking and sucking it was heavenly. He had spread my legs and his face and nose were pushing against me as he cleaned the blood and pleasured me at the same time. He slid his fingers though my wetness and mixed it with the True Blood before he plunged them into me.
It seemed to always work out this way, I set out to seduce my Viking and he was the one giving all of the pleasure. I was moaning and moving my hips and had thrown my legs over his shoulders to give him better access to me. He was whispering again and thinking in that same language so I couldn’t understand what he meant. He kept pushing his fingers into me at a furious pace and then moved his head and bit me, just above my bikini line. I screamed and nearly bucked off the couch as my muscles clenched around his hand. He never paused as he moved his mouth back to my clit and kept pushing me to a second orgasm.
As I was catching my breath he pulled away to get undressed. He used his shirt to wipe up some of the True Blood and then opened his belt and began to take his pants down. He was commando and the sight of him flipped a switch in me and I felt wild. I sat up and knocked him off balance and threw him back on the couch. His pants were around his waist and I was straddling his hips and rubbing my wetness along his length. He started speaking again in that foreign language as he grabbed my breasts and pinched my nipples. I leaned over him and whispered in his ear, “You need to speak or think English, but I think you’re telling me to fuck you - hard.” He groaned and I continued to rub myself on him.
I took him in my hand and held him so his tip just brushed my opening. We both moaned a little and Eric was trying to grab at my hips and pull me down. I held myself up and moved his hands to my breasts. I took one hand and began sucking on his fingers and running my tongue over them. When I was sure his eyes were on mine I impaled myself on him fully. I cried out and heard Eric shout. He pulled his hand from my mouth and grabbed my hips. He was pounding me down onto him and pushing his hips up to get himself in even farther. I held my breasts to stop them from flying everywhere. Eric’s fangs were out and I heard him say, “Ride me Sookie. That’s it.” My head was back and my hair was brushing my back and suddenly my body was shaking and I felt my muscles grabbing on to his cock as I came with a rush. He continued pounding me and then I felt him sit forward and latch onto my breast. When he started to drink I cried out. Then he pushed on my swollen clit with his finger and I began pulsing all over again. When I could breathe again I was savoring the feel of him still inside of me. I didn’t want to move. Eric had come back to his senses as well and I heard his mind, “We won’t fit in the coffin to fly home this way lover.”
I pushed him down on the couch and stretched out on top of him, careful to keep him inside of me, “How about this?”
He was chuckling a little in his head, “It would work fine lover, except that you get claustrophobic and there is a lack of oxygen in the cargo hold.”
“Details,” I sighed as he rolled us over on the couch and began to slowly thrust inside of me.
Dead on New Years Chapter 11
After I digested what Eric said, well, partially digested, I realized I was not ready to talk about it or think about it. From the look on his face and the confusion I felt through the bond, I guessed Eric wasn’t either. There was just too much going on tonight. So I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the door. “Come on, there’s something I want to do with you.” He snapped out of his thoughts and gave me a sexy leer. “Not that!”
We held hands as I walked him down to New York New York. We could see the roller coaster moving outside the building and he sensed my excitement. “This is where you’re taking me lover?” He was grinning from ear to ear, “I had no idea you were so adventurous.”
I laughed, “I lover roller coasters. The anticipation, the rush -it’s great.”
We went on the coaster twice - me screaming and Eric just enjoying the wind in his hair. I should have known that the adrenaline would excite him. We were standing on the fake Brooklyn Bridge practically having sex on the street. I pulled back after finally hearing some of the thoughts of passer-bys, “Get a room!” “Fangbangers, Ugh.” “He’s fucking her with his mouth!” I was a little offended, but glad they were thinking it and not shouting at us! I grinned at my Viking and pulled him along back to the hotel. He had to un-tuck his shirt and was walking stiffly, but we made it. I held him off in the elevator (I so didn’t want another video of us out there somewhere) but I started unbuttoning my shirt in the hallway to tease him.
I backed into the room and was pulling him into my arms when Eric spun me around behind him and made a horrible hissing sound. I was trying to clear my head and figure out what was going on when Niall stepped out of the shadows and Eric relaxed slightly. “Prince, you surprised me.”
“Yes Viking, I see that. I also see that you are very protective of my granddaughter. That pleases me.”
We came into the room and I tried to be nonchalant as I re-buttoned my shirt. We all sat down in the living area and I was wracking my brains to figure out why Niall was here. Eric didn’t respond to my thoughts other than to say, “Relax lover, he is your blood.” That really didn’t make me feel any better.
“I understand that Victor is dead,” Niall began and looked at Eric. “This leaves a gap in Felipe’s armor, does it not?”
“In a sense, yes it does,” Eric answered while mentally shushing me and telling me to wait to find out what Niall was after before telling him that we thought Felipe planned to use Eric to fill the gap.
“You are a shrewd individual Northman. Do you not think this is the right time for you to move ahead in the ranks of your kind?”
I was seriously getting angry with my grandfather. He hadn’t said a word to me since we walked in. Eric was trying to calm me through the bond while trying not to tip his hand to Niall. “The selection of Victor’s replacement is up to Felipe. I will accept the position if it is offered.”
Niall smiled, “You would do this without consulting your bonded?”
Okay, now Eric was pissed to. That made two of us, because now I was fuming! How dare he say that he would accept it! We hadn’t even talked about it! I heard Eric in my head loud and clear, “Listen Sookie, you will understand.” And then he was speaking out loud, “Niall, I am unclear on the purpose of your visit. But you are coming close to crossing a line into dangerous territory with me. You know full well that anyone Felipe offers this position to will have to accept. It would be a death wish to decline. The King will see it as disloyalty and disobedience. Refusal is not an option.” Eric was right of course and I did understand but was reminded again that I hated Vampire politics.
Niall was still smiling and it was still irritating Eric. “You continue to please me Northman.” He paused and looked at each of us to be sure he had our attention, “I am here tonight because there are things that the two of you need to know about your bond. I know that you and Sookie are able to communicate with your minds now. It was the sign I was waiting for to come and explain things to you.”
Ok, he had my interest. Eric was trying to act casual, but I could tell how tense he was, or perhaps it was just Niall’s scent doing that. Eric took my hand and I spoke on our behalf, “Grandfather, please, start explaining.”
He looked at me like he was a little surprised I had spoken up. I think he was not used to women being independent or strong, which was very strange because those are two of the words that come to mind immediately when I think of my cousin Claudine. “Sookie, the pairing of a vampire and a fairy, even a partial fairy, is quite rare. I’m sure your Viking already knows this.” Eric made a nodding motion, waiting for Niall to tell us more. “As you know I’ve been aware of your bond, and I know things about your connection that may surprise you. I am not able to see into your minds, do not concern yourself with that. The fae magick allows me to see the strength of your bond and that tells me a great deal. The fact that you are now hearing each others thoughts means that the bond is much stronger than even I anticipated. It means that you will always be connected, for eternity.”
Eric gave my hand a squeeze and cleared his throat, “Sookie is not immortal. We do not have an eternity together.”
“That is what I am trying to explain. The two of you are, as best as I can describe it, soul mates. Whenever the two of you met in the course of time, you were destined to be together.”
I was feeling overwhelmed. It was a good thing right? I wanted to be with Eric. But destiny….eternity? I was getting a little claustrophobic. Eric was laughing a little in his head as he listened to my thoughts flying everywhere. Really what I was freaking about was that I could sense Niall had more to say. What more could there be after immortality and soul mates? Eric was actually calm. He could also sense that Niall had more to say. He asked the question because he knew I wasn’t going to be able to talk, “And what more does this mean?”
“Well, the short version is that the combination of your blood will make Sookie immortal, well, barring a few bizarre circumstances. You will not need to turn her vampire if you continue to renew your bond. Sookie, you will need to drink from Eric at least weekly. And Sookie’s fae magick will now flourish and grow. She may eventually learn to teleport and wield some control over the forces of nature.” He looked at me and made sure I was paying attention, “As Eric cannot touch silver - you should avoid iron. You cannot touch it with your skin.”
I’m sure my eyes were wide open from taking everything in. I had a lot of questions, but I was mostly worried that even though we were “destined,” that my fae blood would drive Eric, well, insane. Niall assured me that as a bonded pair Eric would be no more influenced by my blood than he had been already. Unfortunately, I would smell sweeter to other vamps, but luckily, I would not have the scent of a full blown fairy. Basically he said I would be “resistible.”
“Alright, so you said that I may learn to teleport and control nature. How will I learn to use these powers?” He explained that I would need “lessons” from Claude or Claudine for a while. I could go stay with them for a while, or see them a couple of times a week. He seemed to think that I couldn’t answer that question right away, but I told him that I would not leave Eric for an extended period of time.
We were all quiet for a while and Eric knew I was done for the night. It was late, or early if you will, and I still needed to talk to him about the whole second in command business and now we were a destined pair. Eric took the lead and stood up. “Niall, I have a feeling that there is more for you to tell us, but Sookie really cannot handle any more tonight. She needs to process all that has happened and all she has learned.”
“Yes Viking, there is more to tell and I can see that my granddaughter needs to rest. There is one additional important detail that I must share with you tonight. As your connection continues to grow you will find it difficult to be separated for more than a few days. In addition, neither of you can survive more than a short time after the other dies. You are destined to be together always not that you have found each other.”
I was blinking and looking at Eric and I thought I was going to be sick. How many times in the past two years had we come close to death? Niall stood to leave. He stopped and took my hands in his, “Granddaughter, I know you are afraid, but this is your fate, your destiny. You would have found your way to Eric no matter what. Everything that being fae entails will make your life better and easier.” Oh, I so didn’t believe that.
“Also, you have my phone numbers, but you need to know, now that you are coming into your own, all you need to do is call my name and I will come to you. The same goes for your cousins, although they don’t always listen very well. If you need to get a message to me you can place it under the fairy statue in your front garden. It will be found.” I was confused; I didn’t have a fairy statue in my garden. Niall seemed to understand the look on my face and smiled, “Claudine put it there this afternoon. It wields some protections on your home and proclaims the presence of the Royal bloodline to those who would recognize it.” He pressed his cheek to mine and stepped away. With a nod to Eric, he disappeared.
I think my eyes were still a little buggy. What a night. Eric crouched in front of me and put a hand on my cheek. “Lover, all is well.”
I just looked at him. All is well? All is freaking well? I am becoming an immortal fairy and our lives are locked together. I was going to have to drink his blood weekly. Death of one is death to the other and he is probably going to be the second in command – the head man on the ground in Louisiana for the King. I will probably have to quit my job in Bon Temps to live in Shreveport and I can’t very likely work at his bar and have vampires drooling over me all of the time. He put his other hand on the other side of my face and kissed me deeply but sweetly. He put his forehead on mine and sighed, “Lover all of these things are trivial. We know now that we are meant to be together. None of those little things matter. We have found each other and we will be together for eternity. You do not have to become vampire.”
I could hear his thoughts and was amazed that he was controlling himself so well. Every other thought in his mind was that I smelled like fairy and he wanted to fuck me and rub the smell all over himself. “Lover, we have centuries to work out the details. Come to bed with me.” He was still being calm outwardly, but I could see the erection in his pants and the lust in his eyes that matched his wicked thoughts. This mind reading thing was pretty hot.
I knew I wasn’t going to have an important conversation with him all jacked up on fairy, and his lust was definitely heating me up through the bond. I stood and began to unbutton his shirt. “I can hear what you’re thinking,” I whispered, “And you don’t want to go to the bedroom.”
“No,” he growled, “I want to fuck you right here -in front of the window.” He began rubbing my nipples through my shirt.
“No one can see in the window Eric, it’s tinted glass.”
He kissed me right below my ear and then sucked on my earlobe, “Imagine if they could lover.”
He tore off my shirt and bra (so much for that lesson on how hard it was to find a good one). Then he turned me around and my nipples brushed the cool glass. He held my hands up over my head and then slowly kissed his way down my back. He lowered my skirt and ripped away my thong. I heard his zipper go down and his hands slid up the inside of my thighs. "Mmmmm," was all I could manage to say.
I could hear his thoughts and they had gone from dirty to triple x. He was now listing places that he wanted to cum in me and on me, "..In her womb, in her throat, on her back, on her breasts. I want her to be covered in my scent for weeks." My brain was really no longer working, I'm pretty sure the only thoughts in my head were a running loop that was something like, "Yes, please, don't stop, oh lord, do it now, keep going, more..." He used his hands to slightly spread my legs and I gasped a little as his tongue began to caress me. I was so hot and it was so cool, the contrast was heating me up even more. He set a driving pace with his tongue thrusting into me and moved one hand forward to rub my clit. I was leaning hard against the window and pushing myself into his face and hand. He had learned my responses and knew as my breath caught that I was about to come. At that instant he turned his had and sank his teeth into my thigh to drink; that was all I needed and I was soaring.
As he licked my wounds closed I realized that my release had me practically dripping. I could still hear his filthy thoughts as he tried to decide if he wanted to take me right here or bend me over the back of the couch. Eric stood up slowly, his chest lightly grazing along my entire body. As he reached his full height I felt his erection against by lower back and I shuddered. I. HAD. TO. HAVE. HIM. I began to turn around and reached for him, but he grabbed my arms with one hand and held them up over my head again. He used his other hand to caress my side and with a groan he spread his legs apart to even our heights and thrust into me hard. He continued to hold my hands up so all I could do was push back against him. He grabbed my hair with his free hand and pulled my mouth around for a kiss. He was frantically thrusting into me as hard as he could, the side of my head was bumping against the glass when he growled deep in his throat and licked my pulse, "You are mine - forever." The he moved both arms around my waist to hold onto me. He bit into my neck and we came together. Our thoughts swirled between us, a combination of love, fairy lust and satisfaction.
I was shaky on my feet and he carried me to the bedroom. We lay together, just looking into each others eyes. "Eric," I started, but he cut me off.
"Lover, we have much to discuss and much to think about. But you still smell of fairy," he nudged me with his erection, "and I am no where near done with you for the evening." I was trying to hold some sort of resolve and wanted to pull away to talk or think, when he leaned up on his elbow and began kissing below my ear and then licking and sucking my ear lobe. I was a sucker for that, just like he was, and my mind shut down again. All I could think of was Eric, and all of the ways he wanted to take me. He laughed, "I forget you can hear me lover. This could make our love making quite interesting." He licked my lips, upper and then lower and was lightly biting my bottom lip. I took him into my hands and began teasing him with slow strokes.
I sighed, and thought, "Was there an order to the ways you wanted to have me, or is this good?"
He began rocking his hips into my hands, "Ladies choice." I laughed and moved down to take him in my mouth as he groaned. We spent hours exploring each other, he tried every position he thought of earlier and then some. My body was achingly sore and he did his best to heal me with his blood, but with all we had heard from Niall, I began to think it was just muscle soreness, that my body was just frankly not used to being bent and used that way for so long. I thought that if I could get out of bed in the morning, I was going to have to go straight to the spa for a massage. Eric heard that thought and just laughed. He led me to the shower to clean up and ease my muscles. Every time I showered with him it was more erotic than the last. This one had ended with Eric pulling down the towel bar and my almost falling out of the shower because of it. The glass in our room had been treated for vamps, but apparently the shower had not been built with vamp strength in mind. After he brushed my hair and rubbed lotion all over my body, we slept like we were both dead this time.
We held hands as I walked him down to New York New York. We could see the roller coaster moving outside the building and he sensed my excitement. “This is where you’re taking me lover?” He was grinning from ear to ear, “I had no idea you were so adventurous.”
I laughed, “I lover roller coasters. The anticipation, the rush -it’s great.”
We went on the coaster twice - me screaming and Eric just enjoying the wind in his hair. I should have known that the adrenaline would excite him. We were standing on the fake Brooklyn Bridge practically having sex on the street. I pulled back after finally hearing some of the thoughts of passer-bys, “Get a room!” “Fangbangers, Ugh.” “He’s fucking her with his mouth!” I was a little offended, but glad they were thinking it and not shouting at us! I grinned at my Viking and pulled him along back to the hotel. He had to un-tuck his shirt and was walking stiffly, but we made it. I held him off in the elevator (I so didn’t want another video of us out there somewhere) but I started unbuttoning my shirt in the hallway to tease him.
I backed into the room and was pulling him into my arms when Eric spun me around behind him and made a horrible hissing sound. I was trying to clear my head and figure out what was going on when Niall stepped out of the shadows and Eric relaxed slightly. “Prince, you surprised me.”
“Yes Viking, I see that. I also see that you are very protective of my granddaughter. That pleases me.”
We came into the room and I tried to be nonchalant as I re-buttoned my shirt. We all sat down in the living area and I was wracking my brains to figure out why Niall was here. Eric didn’t respond to my thoughts other than to say, “Relax lover, he is your blood.” That really didn’t make me feel any better.
“I understand that Victor is dead,” Niall began and looked at Eric. “This leaves a gap in Felipe’s armor, does it not?”
“In a sense, yes it does,” Eric answered while mentally shushing me and telling me to wait to find out what Niall was after before telling him that we thought Felipe planned to use Eric to fill the gap.
“You are a shrewd individual Northman. Do you not think this is the right time for you to move ahead in the ranks of your kind?”
I was seriously getting angry with my grandfather. He hadn’t said a word to me since we walked in. Eric was trying to calm me through the bond while trying not to tip his hand to Niall. “The selection of Victor’s replacement is up to Felipe. I will accept the position if it is offered.”
Niall smiled, “You would do this without consulting your bonded?”
Okay, now Eric was pissed to. That made two of us, because now I was fuming! How dare he say that he would accept it! We hadn’t even talked about it! I heard Eric in my head loud and clear, “Listen Sookie, you will understand.” And then he was speaking out loud, “Niall, I am unclear on the purpose of your visit. But you are coming close to crossing a line into dangerous territory with me. You know full well that anyone Felipe offers this position to will have to accept. It would be a death wish to decline. The King will see it as disloyalty and disobedience. Refusal is not an option.” Eric was right of course and I did understand but was reminded again that I hated Vampire politics.
Niall was still smiling and it was still irritating Eric. “You continue to please me Northman.” He paused and looked at each of us to be sure he had our attention, “I am here tonight because there are things that the two of you need to know about your bond. I know that you and Sookie are able to communicate with your minds now. It was the sign I was waiting for to come and explain things to you.”
Ok, he had my interest. Eric was trying to act casual, but I could tell how tense he was, or perhaps it was just Niall’s scent doing that. Eric took my hand and I spoke on our behalf, “Grandfather, please, start explaining.”
He looked at me like he was a little surprised I had spoken up. I think he was not used to women being independent or strong, which was very strange because those are two of the words that come to mind immediately when I think of my cousin Claudine. “Sookie, the pairing of a vampire and a fairy, even a partial fairy, is quite rare. I’m sure your Viking already knows this.” Eric made a nodding motion, waiting for Niall to tell us more. “As you know I’ve been aware of your bond, and I know things about your connection that may surprise you. I am not able to see into your minds, do not concern yourself with that. The fae magick allows me to see the strength of your bond and that tells me a great deal. The fact that you are now hearing each others thoughts means that the bond is much stronger than even I anticipated. It means that you will always be connected, for eternity.”
Eric gave my hand a squeeze and cleared his throat, “Sookie is not immortal. We do not have an eternity together.”
“That is what I am trying to explain. The two of you are, as best as I can describe it, soul mates. Whenever the two of you met in the course of time, you were destined to be together.”
I was feeling overwhelmed. It was a good thing right? I wanted to be with Eric. But destiny….eternity? I was getting a little claustrophobic. Eric was laughing a little in his head as he listened to my thoughts flying everywhere. Really what I was freaking about was that I could sense Niall had more to say. What more could there be after immortality and soul mates? Eric was actually calm. He could also sense that Niall had more to say. He asked the question because he knew I wasn’t going to be able to talk, “And what more does this mean?”
“Well, the short version is that the combination of your blood will make Sookie immortal, well, barring a few bizarre circumstances. You will not need to turn her vampire if you continue to renew your bond. Sookie, you will need to drink from Eric at least weekly. And Sookie’s fae magick will now flourish and grow. She may eventually learn to teleport and wield some control over the forces of nature.” He looked at me and made sure I was paying attention, “As Eric cannot touch silver - you should avoid iron. You cannot touch it with your skin.”
I’m sure my eyes were wide open from taking everything in. I had a lot of questions, but I was mostly worried that even though we were “destined,” that my fae blood would drive Eric, well, insane. Niall assured me that as a bonded pair Eric would be no more influenced by my blood than he had been already. Unfortunately, I would smell sweeter to other vamps, but luckily, I would not have the scent of a full blown fairy. Basically he said I would be “resistible.”
“Alright, so you said that I may learn to teleport and control nature. How will I learn to use these powers?” He explained that I would need “lessons” from Claude or Claudine for a while. I could go stay with them for a while, or see them a couple of times a week. He seemed to think that I couldn’t answer that question right away, but I told him that I would not leave Eric for an extended period of time.
We were all quiet for a while and Eric knew I was done for the night. It was late, or early if you will, and I still needed to talk to him about the whole second in command business and now we were a destined pair. Eric took the lead and stood up. “Niall, I have a feeling that there is more for you to tell us, but Sookie really cannot handle any more tonight. She needs to process all that has happened and all she has learned.”
“Yes Viking, there is more to tell and I can see that my granddaughter needs to rest. There is one additional important detail that I must share with you tonight. As your connection continues to grow you will find it difficult to be separated for more than a few days. In addition, neither of you can survive more than a short time after the other dies. You are destined to be together always not that you have found each other.”
I was blinking and looking at Eric and I thought I was going to be sick. How many times in the past two years had we come close to death? Niall stood to leave. He stopped and took my hands in his, “Granddaughter, I know you are afraid, but this is your fate, your destiny. You would have found your way to Eric no matter what. Everything that being fae entails will make your life better and easier.” Oh, I so didn’t believe that.
“Also, you have my phone numbers, but you need to know, now that you are coming into your own, all you need to do is call my name and I will come to you. The same goes for your cousins, although they don’t always listen very well. If you need to get a message to me you can place it under the fairy statue in your front garden. It will be found.” I was confused; I didn’t have a fairy statue in my garden. Niall seemed to understand the look on my face and smiled, “Claudine put it there this afternoon. It wields some protections on your home and proclaims the presence of the Royal bloodline to those who would recognize it.” He pressed his cheek to mine and stepped away. With a nod to Eric, he disappeared.
I think my eyes were still a little buggy. What a night. Eric crouched in front of me and put a hand on my cheek. “Lover, all is well.”
I just looked at him. All is well? All is freaking well? I am becoming an immortal fairy and our lives are locked together. I was going to have to drink his blood weekly. Death of one is death to the other and he is probably going to be the second in command – the head man on the ground in Louisiana for the King. I will probably have to quit my job in Bon Temps to live in Shreveport and I can’t very likely work at his bar and have vampires drooling over me all of the time. He put his other hand on the other side of my face and kissed me deeply but sweetly. He put his forehead on mine and sighed, “Lover all of these things are trivial. We know now that we are meant to be together. None of those little things matter. We have found each other and we will be together for eternity. You do not have to become vampire.”
I could hear his thoughts and was amazed that he was controlling himself so well. Every other thought in his mind was that I smelled like fairy and he wanted to fuck me and rub the smell all over himself. “Lover, we have centuries to work out the details. Come to bed with me.” He was still being calm outwardly, but I could see the erection in his pants and the lust in his eyes that matched his wicked thoughts. This mind reading thing was pretty hot.
I knew I wasn’t going to have an important conversation with him all jacked up on fairy, and his lust was definitely heating me up through the bond. I stood and began to unbutton his shirt. “I can hear what you’re thinking,” I whispered, “And you don’t want to go to the bedroom.”
“No,” he growled, “I want to fuck you right here -in front of the window.” He began rubbing my nipples through my shirt.
“No one can see in the window Eric, it’s tinted glass.”
He kissed me right below my ear and then sucked on my earlobe, “Imagine if they could lover.”
He tore off my shirt and bra (so much for that lesson on how hard it was to find a good one). Then he turned me around and my nipples brushed the cool glass. He held my hands up over my head and then slowly kissed his way down my back. He lowered my skirt and ripped away my thong. I heard his zipper go down and his hands slid up the inside of my thighs. "Mmmmm," was all I could manage to say.
I could hear his thoughts and they had gone from dirty to triple x. He was now listing places that he wanted to cum in me and on me, "..In her womb, in her throat, on her back, on her breasts. I want her to be covered in my scent for weeks." My brain was really no longer working, I'm pretty sure the only thoughts in my head were a running loop that was something like, "Yes, please, don't stop, oh lord, do it now, keep going, more..." He used his hands to slightly spread my legs and I gasped a little as his tongue began to caress me. I was so hot and it was so cool, the contrast was heating me up even more. He set a driving pace with his tongue thrusting into me and moved one hand forward to rub my clit. I was leaning hard against the window and pushing myself into his face and hand. He had learned my responses and knew as my breath caught that I was about to come. At that instant he turned his had and sank his teeth into my thigh to drink; that was all I needed and I was soaring.
As he licked my wounds closed I realized that my release had me practically dripping. I could still hear his filthy thoughts as he tried to decide if he wanted to take me right here or bend me over the back of the couch. Eric stood up slowly, his chest lightly grazing along my entire body. As he reached his full height I felt his erection against by lower back and I shuddered. I. HAD. TO. HAVE. HIM. I began to turn around and reached for him, but he grabbed my arms with one hand and held them up over my head again. He used his other hand to caress my side and with a groan he spread his legs apart to even our heights and thrust into me hard. He continued to hold my hands up so all I could do was push back against him. He grabbed my hair with his free hand and pulled my mouth around for a kiss. He was frantically thrusting into me as hard as he could, the side of my head was bumping against the glass when he growled deep in his throat and licked my pulse, "You are mine - forever." The he moved both arms around my waist to hold onto me. He bit into my neck and we came together. Our thoughts swirled between us, a combination of love, fairy lust and satisfaction.
I was shaky on my feet and he carried me to the bedroom. We lay together, just looking into each others eyes. "Eric," I started, but he cut me off.
"Lover, we have much to discuss and much to think about. But you still smell of fairy," he nudged me with his erection, "and I am no where near done with you for the evening." I was trying to hold some sort of resolve and wanted to pull away to talk or think, when he leaned up on his elbow and began kissing below my ear and then licking and sucking my ear lobe. I was a sucker for that, just like he was, and my mind shut down again. All I could think of was Eric, and all of the ways he wanted to take me. He laughed, "I forget you can hear me lover. This could make our love making quite interesting." He licked my lips, upper and then lower and was lightly biting my bottom lip. I took him into my hands and began teasing him with slow strokes.
I sighed, and thought, "Was there an order to the ways you wanted to have me, or is this good?"
He began rocking his hips into my hands, "Ladies choice." I laughed and moved down to take him in my mouth as he groaned. We spent hours exploring each other, he tried every position he thought of earlier and then some. My body was achingly sore and he did his best to heal me with his blood, but with all we had heard from Niall, I began to think it was just muscle soreness, that my body was just frankly not used to being bent and used that way for so long. I thought that if I could get out of bed in the morning, I was going to have to go straight to the spa for a massage. Eric heard that thought and just laughed. He led me to the shower to clean up and ease my muscles. Every time I showered with him it was more erotic than the last. This one had ended with Eric pulling down the towel bar and my almost falling out of the shower because of it. The glass in our room had been treated for vamps, but apparently the shower had not been built with vamp strength in mind. After he brushed my hair and rubbed lotion all over my body, we slept like we were both dead this time.
Dead on New Years Chapter 10
Luckily I located my underwear and put them in the bedroom trash can because they had not survived the Viking raid. Eric was still dressing when the others began arriving.
Everyone was laughing when they came in. Alcide was telling a story and I hoped it wasn’t about me. Turned out he had run into some Vegas Supes in the casino and was telling the group how he had beaten them all at Texas Hold Em. He had made $3,000 and was quiet happy with himself. I stood behind Bill and listened to see if I could hear his thoughts. Eric walked in to find me standing behind Bill’s chair concentrating on trying to hear him. I heard him make a little laughing noise and then he thought, “Do not hurt yourself lover. I did not think you would be able to hear anyone else.”
After handing out a round of drinks (True Blood for the Vamps, a Gin and Tonic for me – Pam was a heck of a bartender, and a Corona for Alcide) we got down to business. The plan for the night was to question Lars first and basically let him bury himself. Then Alcide would talk about his cousin (without letting Lars know exactly who he was) and I would testify that there were no humans present at Fangtasia. Victor would sit in on the whole thing and eventually, Felipe’s staff would present the phone records showing that not only was Victor in Shreveport the night of the attacks, but that he and Lars had talked more than 100 times in the 2 weeks leading to New Years. It all sounded very cut and dried and sounded as if nothing could go wrong. I was not quiet naive enough to believe it though.
As we made our way up to Felipe’s suite, I hung back with Eric and caught his attention. I still didn’t have the hang of this talking through the bond thing. He laughed at me and leaned down to whisper, “Lover you don’t need to get me alone anymore, just think whatever you need to and I’ll hear it.”
“Fine,” I thought. “I want to know how you are going to get all of the security tapes from Felipe from yesterday.”
“Security tapes? Why do we need those?”
“Because he has tapes of us… you know… in the elevator!”
“Yes, I do know. His security system is state of the art. The video is actually quite good.”
I grabbed his arm, “What do you mean the video is good?!”
“Relax lover. He gave me the CD last night. He had the hard drives wiped clean so no one could upload it to the internet, but he thought we might want a copy as a souvenir.”
“Souvenir? I want to destroy it!”
He burned me with his eyes and said, “Oh lover, I think we’ll watch it together and then you can decide if you don’t want to keep it, or make more for that matter.” Then he leaned down and kissed my neck and gave me a lick right over my pulse. He had done it to me again. We were walking in to an important meeting and my body couldn’t decide if it wanted to throw up or have an orgasm.
Felipe greeted us and brought us into the conference room. He introduced us to Dani and Jeanette (two of his D.D.’s he explained they were there to document the hearing), the reps from the AVL and the Tribunal Court officers that had flown in for the “hearing.” Victor was sitting to the right of Felipe’s vacant seat. The King showed off by offering the vamps True Blood’s new “Virgin” drink that apparently had pheromones or hormones in it to make it taste, well, virginal. (I didn’t really understand, it’s synthetic but now they were using real hormones? It just upped the ick factor on TrueBlood for me.) Oddly though, he served the blood from a carafe and gave it to everyone in coffee mugs. “I’ll be damned, but that is genius,” I thought and Eric almost spit his drink out. I mean, I’m sure it stays warm longer that way as opposed to just serving in the bottle. Anyway, Alcide and I were offered coffee or water. (Thanks for breaking the bank on us Your Highness.)
Lars was brought in wearing long leather gloves and what I assumed to be silver handcuffs and seated at one end of the table. This was actually my first look at the Florida King. He was tall and appeared to be Nordic, very blond and blue eyed – but I had no idea how old he was. I heard Eric answer my thought, “Not old enough lover. He’s only about 400 years old. He had a rapid rise in Florida. There are many hurricanes and a lot of vamp turn over in the sunshine state.”
Felipe began speaking and sort of reading the list of accusations against Lars. Everyone was quiet and then Lars was asked to speak in his own defense. He told a story of being framed by the Fellowship of the Sun to drive a wedge between the vampire Kings. One of the AVL reps asked him what evidence he had that FotS was involved. He talked about strange hang up calls on his cell phone and a fire at his dry cleaning store that in no way indicated FotS involvement to me. I felt Eric willing me to keep my mouth shut through the bond. I thought, “I am behaving Eric. Leave me alone.”
I heard him laugh in my head and he said, “Speak to me like that in private all you want lover, but remember that the King things you like to obey me.”
“I don’t think I ever gave him the impression I liked it.” We quieted our minds and listed as the court members asked some of their own questions. Nothing Lars said was anywhere near convincing to me. He talked about “human bodies” found outside of the attacked establishments recently that indicated the New Years attacks were part of a larger plan. I had to bite back my sarcasm, I mean really, FotS was not responsible for drug over doses and drainings that occasionally happened near vamp bars and parties. I had no idea how Lars thought he would get away with this using such a pathetic excuse.
After a few more questions from the Court reps Felipe gave Lars a pitiful look and said, “That is all quite interesting. But not only do I have a witness from one of the attacks that will confirm that there were no humans involved in the raid, but I have another witness who has knowledge that you planned these attacks from the Supe bar in Jacksonville.” He let that sink in a little and asked Lars what he had to say to that. He really had no response and looked completely shocked that he had been found out. Alcide and I quickly made our statements and we were all asked to take a break while the Court officers and the AVL folks made a decision. Lars was escorted to a room across the hall and the rest of us stepped into the suite for more refreshments.
I stood by Eric and Pam and said, “Well that wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected.”
Pam looked at me like I was a little crazy, she did that a lot, and Eric said, “Oh lover, that was the easy part. I’m afraid the bloody part is about to start.” Then I heard, “When we return to the hearing lover, be sure you sit next to me. I do not know how Victor will react to being threatened.”
We regrouped in the conference room, although without Lars, and Felipe didn’t wait a second to stir things up. “The representatives from the Court and from the Vampire League have discussed what they think an appropriate punishment should be. Before we discuss that, I’d like to ask Victor how he feels about this. He is my second in command in Louisiana and this did all happen under his watch.”
Victor cleared his throat, he clearly felt powerful and unbeatable. “Attacking another King is a heinous crime. Making three coordinated attacks on vamps and an attack on Supes in the area at the same time is unforgivable.”
I could feel myself starting to hyperventilate a little; the man was about to throw himself out in to the sunshine and he had no idea. Eric put his hand on my leg and spoke through the bond, “Lover, just wait. Be ready to run if this get’s ugly.”
But Victor just continued, “If we are trying to make our place in society we cannot be plotting against each other like savages. Lars should be sent into the sun, there is no question.” He looked around, clearly quiet pleased with the speech he had made.
Felipe smiled, “That is what you truly believe Victor?” He confused Felipe’s evil smile as one that said he was proud of his second in command and gave a firm nod. “That is good to know. Now, let me allow two more witnesses to speak about your involvement in this ordeal.” Victor visibly paled, not that he could get much paler, but he did. You could feel the tension in the room. The AVL folks were stunned and you could see Victor’s jaw working as he tried to come up with something to say to save himself.
Dani spoke about her job “pinging” cell phone calls. She told everyone that Victor had been in Shreveport, two blocks from Fangtasia when Felipe called to warn him about the attacks. I truly think there was smoke coming from one of the AVL guys ears. Then Jeanette explained that once they knew Victor was lying about his whereabouts on New Years that they investigated his connection with Lars. Not only had they found the over 100 phone calls between Lars and Victor in the 2 weeks before the attack, they had discovered a very large wire transfer going from one of Victor’s businesses to Lars’ Dry Cleaners account. Victor looked like a cornered animal; it was not going to be good.
Felipe began to make a grand statement about how glad he was that Victor knew the consequences of his crime when I saw the muscles in Victor’s shoulders tense. Eric pushed me back as Victor launched himself at the King. In the same instant, Pam grabbed me and the Sheriff’s moved toward Victor. They were too late though because he was beginning to disintegrate and goo was flying across the room. Felipe picked the gooey stake up from the floor and handed to a very shell shocked Jeanette. Everyone was a little dazed and Felipe was bleeding where Victor had grabbed his throat going in for the kill. After a moment, the King spoke, “Well, I did not quite wish for that ending to the evening, but I had prepared just in case. Now, we have agreed that Lars will also meet his final death due to his roll in the attacks, not to mention his blatant attempt to lie about it. The Court Officers will handle all of that. You are all dismissed. Please enjoy your stay here at my hotel. If you’ll excuse me, I need to get cleaned up.” He strode from the room without a backwards glance and was gone.
Eric checked in with me through the bond but I was okay. This wasn’t my first vamp murder, it wasn’t pleasant by any means, but all of my vamps were safe and I just wanted to get out of there. Our group from Louisiana headed back to our room downstairs. We each had a little bit of vampire goo on us, but we had all been at the far end of the table, so a change of clothes and a wet cloth here and there were really all that we required. Alcide was looking thoroughly disgusted with all things vamp and said he would see us tomorrow. He told me to call him if I wanted breakfast or anything in the morning. Eric actually thanked him and he was gone. We were all still pretty shocked; I don’t think anyone was ready to talk about what had just happened. Since we were in Vegas, we decided to head downstairs and do some gambling. Eric was going to teach me roulette.
Eric explained the basics of the game to me and gave me some chips, I didn’t know how much they were for, but I bet one on red. The wheel spun and spun and landed black. I was reading the number board to see what I should do next when I heard Eric think, “That board means nothing lover. Every time it’s a 50/50 chance. Just pick what you want.” Well, I like red. It was the color of love and blood and vampires, so I stuck with it again. The ball was dropped and I watched the wheel spinning…RED! The dealer added some chips to my stack and Eric smiled. “You’ll win more if you choose a specific number.”
“I’ll lose more often if I pick a specific number too.”
“Just making sure you had listened.” He stood behind me and rubbed my back. We played for a while and I ended up making a little money. It didn’t seem real since it was chips and I handed it all back to Eric. He grinned at me, “Lover, you may keep your winnings.”
I kind of wrinkled my nose, “Nah, it’s yours.” I took his hand and headed towards Pam and Bill playing craps.
“Lover, you just won two thousand dollars.”
I stopped in my tracks, “I what?”
“Well, you started with $10,000 and just handed me 12 – so you won two thousand.”
“Why on earth would you give me $10,000?! Oh my lord, what if I had dropped a chip? Eric, that is too much money!” I was rambling.
He pulled me into his arms for a kiss and his cell phone rang. “Northman,” he answered. Eric stepped slightly away from the gaming tables so he could hear and spoke only for a moment and then returned. “Lover, we need to call Barry and your shifter boss. Felipe would like us to stay an extra day.”
“What does that mean?”
He sighed a little, “I think it means I am going to be his second in command.”
Everyone was laughing when they came in. Alcide was telling a story and I hoped it wasn’t about me. Turned out he had run into some Vegas Supes in the casino and was telling the group how he had beaten them all at Texas Hold Em. He had made $3,000 and was quiet happy with himself. I stood behind Bill and listened to see if I could hear his thoughts. Eric walked in to find me standing behind Bill’s chair concentrating on trying to hear him. I heard him make a little laughing noise and then he thought, “Do not hurt yourself lover. I did not think you would be able to hear anyone else.”
After handing out a round of drinks (True Blood for the Vamps, a Gin and Tonic for me – Pam was a heck of a bartender, and a Corona for Alcide) we got down to business. The plan for the night was to question Lars first and basically let him bury himself. Then Alcide would talk about his cousin (without letting Lars know exactly who he was) and I would testify that there were no humans present at Fangtasia. Victor would sit in on the whole thing and eventually, Felipe’s staff would present the phone records showing that not only was Victor in Shreveport the night of the attacks, but that he and Lars had talked more than 100 times in the 2 weeks leading to New Years. It all sounded very cut and dried and sounded as if nothing could go wrong. I was not quiet naive enough to believe it though.
As we made our way up to Felipe’s suite, I hung back with Eric and caught his attention. I still didn’t have the hang of this talking through the bond thing. He laughed at me and leaned down to whisper, “Lover you don’t need to get me alone anymore, just think whatever you need to and I’ll hear it.”
“Fine,” I thought. “I want to know how you are going to get all of the security tapes from Felipe from yesterday.”
“Security tapes? Why do we need those?”
“Because he has tapes of us… you know… in the elevator!”
“Yes, I do know. His security system is state of the art. The video is actually quite good.”
I grabbed his arm, “What do you mean the video is good?!”
“Relax lover. He gave me the CD last night. He had the hard drives wiped clean so no one could upload it to the internet, but he thought we might want a copy as a souvenir.”
“Souvenir? I want to destroy it!”
He burned me with his eyes and said, “Oh lover, I think we’ll watch it together and then you can decide if you don’t want to keep it, or make more for that matter.” Then he leaned down and kissed my neck and gave me a lick right over my pulse. He had done it to me again. We were walking in to an important meeting and my body couldn’t decide if it wanted to throw up or have an orgasm.
Felipe greeted us and brought us into the conference room. He introduced us to Dani and Jeanette (two of his D.D.’s he explained they were there to document the hearing), the reps from the AVL and the Tribunal Court officers that had flown in for the “hearing.” Victor was sitting to the right of Felipe’s vacant seat. The King showed off by offering the vamps True Blood’s new “Virgin” drink that apparently had pheromones or hormones in it to make it taste, well, virginal. (I didn’t really understand, it’s synthetic but now they were using real hormones? It just upped the ick factor on TrueBlood for me.) Oddly though, he served the blood from a carafe and gave it to everyone in coffee mugs. “I’ll be damned, but that is genius,” I thought and Eric almost spit his drink out. I mean, I’m sure it stays warm longer that way as opposed to just serving in the bottle. Anyway, Alcide and I were offered coffee or water. (Thanks for breaking the bank on us Your Highness.)
Lars was brought in wearing long leather gloves and what I assumed to be silver handcuffs and seated at one end of the table. This was actually my first look at the Florida King. He was tall and appeared to be Nordic, very blond and blue eyed – but I had no idea how old he was. I heard Eric answer my thought, “Not old enough lover. He’s only about 400 years old. He had a rapid rise in Florida. There are many hurricanes and a lot of vamp turn over in the sunshine state.”
Felipe began speaking and sort of reading the list of accusations against Lars. Everyone was quiet and then Lars was asked to speak in his own defense. He told a story of being framed by the Fellowship of the Sun to drive a wedge between the vampire Kings. One of the AVL reps asked him what evidence he had that FotS was involved. He talked about strange hang up calls on his cell phone and a fire at his dry cleaning store that in no way indicated FotS involvement to me. I felt Eric willing me to keep my mouth shut through the bond. I thought, “I am behaving Eric. Leave me alone.”
I heard him laugh in my head and he said, “Speak to me like that in private all you want lover, but remember that the King things you like to obey me.”
“I don’t think I ever gave him the impression I liked it.” We quieted our minds and listed as the court members asked some of their own questions. Nothing Lars said was anywhere near convincing to me. He talked about “human bodies” found outside of the attacked establishments recently that indicated the New Years attacks were part of a larger plan. I had to bite back my sarcasm, I mean really, FotS was not responsible for drug over doses and drainings that occasionally happened near vamp bars and parties. I had no idea how Lars thought he would get away with this using such a pathetic excuse.
After a few more questions from the Court reps Felipe gave Lars a pitiful look and said, “That is all quite interesting. But not only do I have a witness from one of the attacks that will confirm that there were no humans involved in the raid, but I have another witness who has knowledge that you planned these attacks from the Supe bar in Jacksonville.” He let that sink in a little and asked Lars what he had to say to that. He really had no response and looked completely shocked that he had been found out. Alcide and I quickly made our statements and we were all asked to take a break while the Court officers and the AVL folks made a decision. Lars was escorted to a room across the hall and the rest of us stepped into the suite for more refreshments.
I stood by Eric and Pam and said, “Well that wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected.”
Pam looked at me like I was a little crazy, she did that a lot, and Eric said, “Oh lover, that was the easy part. I’m afraid the bloody part is about to start.” Then I heard, “When we return to the hearing lover, be sure you sit next to me. I do not know how Victor will react to being threatened.”
We regrouped in the conference room, although without Lars, and Felipe didn’t wait a second to stir things up. “The representatives from the Court and from the Vampire League have discussed what they think an appropriate punishment should be. Before we discuss that, I’d like to ask Victor how he feels about this. He is my second in command in Louisiana and this did all happen under his watch.”
Victor cleared his throat, he clearly felt powerful and unbeatable. “Attacking another King is a heinous crime. Making three coordinated attacks on vamps and an attack on Supes in the area at the same time is unforgivable.”
I could feel myself starting to hyperventilate a little; the man was about to throw himself out in to the sunshine and he had no idea. Eric put his hand on my leg and spoke through the bond, “Lover, just wait. Be ready to run if this get’s ugly.”
But Victor just continued, “If we are trying to make our place in society we cannot be plotting against each other like savages. Lars should be sent into the sun, there is no question.” He looked around, clearly quiet pleased with the speech he had made.
Felipe smiled, “That is what you truly believe Victor?” He confused Felipe’s evil smile as one that said he was proud of his second in command and gave a firm nod. “That is good to know. Now, let me allow two more witnesses to speak about your involvement in this ordeal.” Victor visibly paled, not that he could get much paler, but he did. You could feel the tension in the room. The AVL folks were stunned and you could see Victor’s jaw working as he tried to come up with something to say to save himself.
Dani spoke about her job “pinging” cell phone calls. She told everyone that Victor had been in Shreveport, two blocks from Fangtasia when Felipe called to warn him about the attacks. I truly think there was smoke coming from one of the AVL guys ears. Then Jeanette explained that once they knew Victor was lying about his whereabouts on New Years that they investigated his connection with Lars. Not only had they found the over 100 phone calls between Lars and Victor in the 2 weeks before the attack, they had discovered a very large wire transfer going from one of Victor’s businesses to Lars’ Dry Cleaners account. Victor looked like a cornered animal; it was not going to be good.
Felipe began to make a grand statement about how glad he was that Victor knew the consequences of his crime when I saw the muscles in Victor’s shoulders tense. Eric pushed me back as Victor launched himself at the King. In the same instant, Pam grabbed me and the Sheriff’s moved toward Victor. They were too late though because he was beginning to disintegrate and goo was flying across the room. Felipe picked the gooey stake up from the floor and handed to a very shell shocked Jeanette. Everyone was a little dazed and Felipe was bleeding where Victor had grabbed his throat going in for the kill. After a moment, the King spoke, “Well, I did not quite wish for that ending to the evening, but I had prepared just in case. Now, we have agreed that Lars will also meet his final death due to his roll in the attacks, not to mention his blatant attempt to lie about it. The Court Officers will handle all of that. You are all dismissed. Please enjoy your stay here at my hotel. If you’ll excuse me, I need to get cleaned up.” He strode from the room without a backwards glance and was gone.
Eric checked in with me through the bond but I was okay. This wasn’t my first vamp murder, it wasn’t pleasant by any means, but all of my vamps were safe and I just wanted to get out of there. Our group from Louisiana headed back to our room downstairs. We each had a little bit of vampire goo on us, but we had all been at the far end of the table, so a change of clothes and a wet cloth here and there were really all that we required. Alcide was looking thoroughly disgusted with all things vamp and said he would see us tomorrow. He told me to call him if I wanted breakfast or anything in the morning. Eric actually thanked him and he was gone. We were all still pretty shocked; I don’t think anyone was ready to talk about what had just happened. Since we were in Vegas, we decided to head downstairs and do some gambling. Eric was going to teach me roulette.
Eric explained the basics of the game to me and gave me some chips, I didn’t know how much they were for, but I bet one on red. The wheel spun and spun and landed black. I was reading the number board to see what I should do next when I heard Eric think, “That board means nothing lover. Every time it’s a 50/50 chance. Just pick what you want.” Well, I like red. It was the color of love and blood and vampires, so I stuck with it again. The ball was dropped and I watched the wheel spinning…RED! The dealer added some chips to my stack and Eric smiled. “You’ll win more if you choose a specific number.”
“I’ll lose more often if I pick a specific number too.”
“Just making sure you had listened.” He stood behind me and rubbed my back. We played for a while and I ended up making a little money. It didn’t seem real since it was chips and I handed it all back to Eric. He grinned at me, “Lover, you may keep your winnings.”
I kind of wrinkled my nose, “Nah, it’s yours.” I took his hand and headed towards Pam and Bill playing craps.
“Lover, you just won two thousand dollars.”
I stopped in my tracks, “I what?”
“Well, you started with $10,000 and just handed me 12 – so you won two thousand.”
“Why on earth would you give me $10,000?! Oh my lord, what if I had dropped a chip? Eric, that is too much money!” I was rambling.
He pulled me into his arms for a kiss and his cell phone rang. “Northman,” he answered. Eric stepped slightly away from the gaming tables so he could hear and spoke only for a moment and then returned. “Lover, we need to call Barry and your shifter boss. Felipe would like us to stay an extra day.”
“What does that mean?”
He sighed a little, “I think it means I am going to be his second in command.”
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Dead on New Years Chapter 9
When I woke up my body was totally confused what with jet lag and keeping vampire hours recently. I checked my cell phone and saw that it was 11 am already. Eric was sleeping like the dead but I was starving. I figured with the time change and sunset here in Vegas he would be up around 4 or 4:30pm. I noticed I had a voice mail and got up to grab a piece of fruit from our welcome basket while I listened. As I munched my apple I heard Alcide on the other end of the phone. Ugh… I wasn’t awake enough for this yet, but I listened anyway.
“Ah, hey Sookie. I know we haven’t talked lately. I’m not sure if we’re friends, or whatever, but since we’re the only ones that will be up and around during the day I wanted to give you a call. Um. I’m sure Eric doesn’t want you wandering around unprotected and, ah, if you want to get out of the room or something, just give me a call. I’ll escort you where ever you want to go. I’ll behave. I promise. I mean, I know Eric will kill me if I don’t. So, yeah. Call me if you want.”
Well crap. What was I supposed to think about that? Eric hadn’t said anything about not going out alone, but Alcide was probably right. Damn, I hate that. And he was right, I didn’t want to sit around in the hotel suite for like 5 hours. I called him back and asked him to meet me in the lobby in 30 minutes and teasingly made him promise again to behave. I grabbed a quick shower, pulled my hair back and threw on jeans and one of Eric’s sweaters.
Alcide looked good. There were several women in the lobby looking at him. They were not happy to see me wave from the elevator and come over to greet him. He gave me a quick hug and smiled shyly. “Are we okay Sookie?”
I smiled back, “I’m not really sure what we are, but I think okay covers it.”
“Good. Okay. So what do you want to do?”
“You’ll think it’s silly.”
“Whatever you want, I’m game.”
I grinned a little with embarrassment, “I want to eat at a big buffet and I want to ride on the rollercoaster.”
He laughed, “The roller coaster at New York New York?” I nodded. “Okay, that’s close by. Might I suggest we do the roller coaster first and then eat?”
“Oh, yeah. Good idea.”
He smiled and cocked his head toward the door, “Then let’s go.” We walked down the strip and I couldn’t believe how busy it was even before noon. People were walking around with drinks already and the little guys where handing out flyers of naked women. We were enjoying our selves and taking pictures with my phone. I even posed with a guy that had on a t-shirt saying “GIRLS direct to your room!” We made it to New York New York and wandered around a bit inside. I loved the way it looked like a true city inside. Alcide had been to New York City so he was telling me about different landmarks in the hotel that he recognized. We headed for the roller coaster entrance and I started to get nervous. I mean, I like roller coasters, but it’s always a little scary to go on a new one for the first time. There was a short line and then we were off!
As the coaster came back inside the building to finish the ride I was laughing and smiling and I said the first thing that came to my mind, “I am so bringing Eric back here tonight!” Alcide winced a little but didn’t say anything. I started to say something, I’m not even sure what I was going to say, 'I’m sorry you don’t like my boyfriend?' But he stopped me.
“No Sookie. I’m behaving. You should be sure to bring him here tonight. I think he would like it.”
“Thanks,” I said and we were both thoughtful for a minute. “So you’ve been to Vegas before, right? Where should we eat?”
He thought for a minute, and said, “Well. My favorite buffet is all of the way down at the Bellagio. I think we should head down there and I’ll show you the Venetian too. I think you’ll want to go there with Eric at night as well for a gondola ride.”
“A what?” I said laughing.
“A gondola, you know a little Italian boat.”
“They have those there?! Man, I need to get out of Louisiana more!” He just laughed and put his arm out for me to take his elbow. I put my hand in the crook of his arm and we were off walking. It was a long walk, but I enjoyed all of the sites and seeing all of the people. As we walked by the water show began at the Bellagio fountains and it was amazing. I had seen it on the travel channel, but it was so cool to be right there in front of it. We made our way in to the hotel and found the buffet. I had to laugh a little; they weren’t going to make any money off of Alcide at the buffet. Were’s could EAT.
I was on my second plate and Alcide on his third when the conversation kind of dried up. I felt like he had something to say, so I put down my utensils and just waited. Finally he sighed, “I’m really trying to behave Sookie.” He looked at me for a minute and continued, “I know the vamps think I’m jealous and I want you back, but that isn’t it. I’m no good for any woman right now. I’m still trying to get over losing Maria Star. I’m just worried for you. Eric isn’t the most predictable of vampires and he has never really had a human mate before from what I’ve heard. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I appreciate your concern Alcide, but what can I do about it? I mean, I’m worried for me too, but I can’t risk giving up what I have with him because it might not work out. He’s risking a lot to be with me. His area, his business, and the loyalty of the locals…I think I can risk being with him.”
He shook his head at me, “You’re amazing. Sookie – he has rebuilt his life countless times over 1,000 years. You talk like the biggest risk is getting your heart broken again. I’m not worried about your heart as much as I am your mortal life. Can’t you see that?”
I was a little shocked at that. I mean, it kind of puts things in perspective. But I just looked at him and said what I was thinking, “I’m not sure I have a life without him any more.” He started to say something and I stopped him. “Alcide, I know how hard it’s been for you since Maria Star. You just told me you’re not ready to move on. That’s how I feel about Eric. I think it’s just taken us both a while to come to terms with our Blood Bond and our feelings for each other.” I could not believe I was having this conversation with Alcide when Eric and I hadn’t really talked about it yet. This was actually the first time I was able to put to words some of the things that needed to be said.
He reached out and put his hand over mine on the table, “Sookie if you love him as much I love Maria…” He paused and I thought about how he still used the present tense, “Then you should commit and be with him always. Don’t miss a single moment with him. Do you understand? I won’t get in your way and I’ll do anything I can for you to make it work.” His eyes were a little teary and I thought I might cry as well.
“Thank you Alcide,” I sniffed.
He smiled a little and raised his eyebrows, “I don’t know about you, I need some dessert.” I laughed and nodded. We headed up and found some devilishly good treats. By the time we had finished eating I was ready to walk back to the hotel, grab a shower and nap with Eric. Tonight was going to be a big night for several reasons. I had figured out how I felt about Eric, but I wasn’t sure what that would mean for our future. I mean, I still didn’t want to be turned, but could we live together if I wasn’t? Where would we live? What was going to happen tonight with Felipe and Lars and Victor? It was too much to think about.
I showered to get Alcide’s scent off of me and sent my clothes to the cleaners. I wasn’t hiding it from Eric, I would tell him right away, but no need to have the smell around to make him angry. I stretched out in bed next to him, but my mind was racing and I couldn’t sleep. So I did my hair and make up and then sat in the living room in my robe drinking coffee and looking out the window.
I heard a rustling noise and Eric was standing in the doorway rubbing his face. When he finished stretching I could feel him searching the bond to see how I was feeling. He came over and crouched in front of me, “Lover, is everything alright?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. I just did a lot of thinking today.”
“And what prompted that lover?”
“Something Alcide said today at lunch,” I said without thinking. Eric tensed and I felt frustration and anger in the bond. “We had a nice day Eric. He went with me because he didn’t think you would want me to go out alone.” That made him feel a little, but not altogether better. “He told me he was worried about my safety being with you.” Before he could get angry I looked into his eyes and continued, “I realized that I don’t want to live without you.” Okay, now he was shocked. I smiled and put my hands on his cheeks, “It just struck me that I’m not really afraid of what could happen because the worst thing that I can imagine is losing you.” I felt joy and warmth through the bond. He kissed me gently and took me into his arms.
Then after a minute he pulled back. He walked to the window and looked out for a second before he spoke. Then he turned and leaned on the glass looking at me, “Sookie, I need to tell you something. That night at your home, when Compton said he would die for you…” He shook his head a little, “I was offended for you that he would offer such a weak profession of love, but I knew it would not have been right to redress him. It was not the right place or the right time, but you need to understand. Compton might lay down his life, but would he raise a sword? He would die for you lover, but I…I would kill for you. I would protect and defend you and if I died in the process, so be it.” He came to me again, crouching and putting his hands in my hair and kissed my forehead, “I have rebuilt my life several times, and yet, I don’t know if I could do it again without you.”
I threw my arms around him and kissed him. It was passionate, yet tender. He pulled back to look into my eyes again and I knew I had to say it. “Eric, I am in love with you.”
He sighed, it was almost a shudder, “Lover, I am yours. I have never felt this way before, not in my human life and not in 1,000 years as a Vampire. You make me feel things that I have long felt were dead in me. When you are near, I feel your heart beat and it’s as if I am alive again. I never thought I would say this, but Sookie, I love you too.” And then he clutched me so tight I thought he might break my ribs. Tears were running down my face, not from his grasp but from the joy that we were both feeling.
He sat back a little and held my hands, “Lover, there is much more we must talk about, but it will have to wait. The others will be here soon and we’ll need to talk about what is going to happen tonight. I need to shower and change, but first, I need you to drink from me.” I knew he could feel my resistance and he continued, “We must go into this tonight with you at your strongest. I do not think you are in danger, but we need to refresh our bond. It will ease my mind.” He stroked my hands and asked, “Will you do it?”
I nodded my head and he gathered me into his arms and leaned back against the glass. I heard the awful crunching noise and he put his wrist in front of my mouth. Eric sighed as I began to suck at his wound. There really was nothing more erotic than drinking your lover’s lifeblood. I felt him hardening behind me and I was getting aroused just remembering other times I had taken his blood like this. It seemed to really turn us both on, and it was again. Eric put his other arm around my waist and helped us stand up together. Then I felt my underwear being ripped off and, with only that warning, he was pushing inside of me. I was drinking and trying to figure out how he got his boxers off and then I forgot everything as he thrust all of the way in. He was moving in and out of me slowly as he pulled his arm from my mouth. After he gently licked the wound closed he began kissing my neck and kneading my breast with one hand. The other hand found its way to my center and worked its magic and I began to whimper. I had my hands on his hips and was pushing back against him in time with his slow strokes to take him in farther. I could feel myself getting close and I knew Eric was too. Before I could even say, “Faster,” he increased his pace and began pounding into me. I felt like Eric wanted to drink from me, so I moved my hair from my neck. He growled and bit down and we came at the same time. I was so overwhelmed that it took me a second to realize that the voice in my head saying, “I love you,” wasn’t mine. I stiffened for a second and Eric tensed.
“What is it lover?”
Oh hell, should I tell him? He would get it out of me eventually, so I said quietly, “I heard you.”
He chuckled, “I’m sure you did lover. I roared like a lion in your ear when I came.”
“No Eric. I heard you thinking…Think something else.”
He spun me around to look in my eyes and I heard him think, “I want you to cover me in that chocolate you love and lick me clean.”
I felt myself blush a little, but I grinned at him and thought back, “Really? Won’t that be messy?”
Eric’s eyes got wide and then he just laughed. “This could be fun lover.”
“You’re not upset? I mean, I can learn to shield it…”
“Sookie, I do not think it is part of your telepathy. If I can do it too, it is because of our bond. I do not think we can shield each other from this.”
“Oh. Shit.”
He laughed again. “It will be okay lover. We will just have to get used to it.”
“Do you think I can hear other vamps now?”
“I don’t know lover, I wouldn’t think so. But several of them will be here in,” He looked at the clock, “about 15 minutes. So we’ll find out then.” I was feeling a little panicky and he could feel it too. He took me in his arms and held me, rubbing circles on my back. “Lover, I will be with you always now. That can’t be so bad, right? Now, let’s get ready to meet our guests.” He leaned back to look me in the eyes and grinned, “You better find your underwear while I get in the shower.”
“Ah, hey Sookie. I know we haven’t talked lately. I’m not sure if we’re friends, or whatever, but since we’re the only ones that will be up and around during the day I wanted to give you a call. Um. I’m sure Eric doesn’t want you wandering around unprotected and, ah, if you want to get out of the room or something, just give me a call. I’ll escort you where ever you want to go. I’ll behave. I promise. I mean, I know Eric will kill me if I don’t. So, yeah. Call me if you want.”
Well crap. What was I supposed to think about that? Eric hadn’t said anything about not going out alone, but Alcide was probably right. Damn, I hate that. And he was right, I didn’t want to sit around in the hotel suite for like 5 hours. I called him back and asked him to meet me in the lobby in 30 minutes and teasingly made him promise again to behave. I grabbed a quick shower, pulled my hair back and threw on jeans and one of Eric’s sweaters.
Alcide looked good. There were several women in the lobby looking at him. They were not happy to see me wave from the elevator and come over to greet him. He gave me a quick hug and smiled shyly. “Are we okay Sookie?”
I smiled back, “I’m not really sure what we are, but I think okay covers it.”
“Good. Okay. So what do you want to do?”
“You’ll think it’s silly.”
“Whatever you want, I’m game.”
I grinned a little with embarrassment, “I want to eat at a big buffet and I want to ride on the rollercoaster.”
He laughed, “The roller coaster at New York New York?” I nodded. “Okay, that’s close by. Might I suggest we do the roller coaster first and then eat?”
“Oh, yeah. Good idea.”
He smiled and cocked his head toward the door, “Then let’s go.” We walked down the strip and I couldn’t believe how busy it was even before noon. People were walking around with drinks already and the little guys where handing out flyers of naked women. We were enjoying our selves and taking pictures with my phone. I even posed with a guy that had on a t-shirt saying “GIRLS direct to your room!” We made it to New York New York and wandered around a bit inside. I loved the way it looked like a true city inside. Alcide had been to New York City so he was telling me about different landmarks in the hotel that he recognized. We headed for the roller coaster entrance and I started to get nervous. I mean, I like roller coasters, but it’s always a little scary to go on a new one for the first time. There was a short line and then we were off!
As the coaster came back inside the building to finish the ride I was laughing and smiling and I said the first thing that came to my mind, “I am so bringing Eric back here tonight!” Alcide winced a little but didn’t say anything. I started to say something, I’m not even sure what I was going to say, 'I’m sorry you don’t like my boyfriend?' But he stopped me.
“No Sookie. I’m behaving. You should be sure to bring him here tonight. I think he would like it.”
“Thanks,” I said and we were both thoughtful for a minute. “So you’ve been to Vegas before, right? Where should we eat?”
He thought for a minute, and said, “Well. My favorite buffet is all of the way down at the Bellagio. I think we should head down there and I’ll show you the Venetian too. I think you’ll want to go there with Eric at night as well for a gondola ride.”
“A what?” I said laughing.
“A gondola, you know a little Italian boat.”
“They have those there?! Man, I need to get out of Louisiana more!” He just laughed and put his arm out for me to take his elbow. I put my hand in the crook of his arm and we were off walking. It was a long walk, but I enjoyed all of the sites and seeing all of the people. As we walked by the water show began at the Bellagio fountains and it was amazing. I had seen it on the travel channel, but it was so cool to be right there in front of it. We made our way in to the hotel and found the buffet. I had to laugh a little; they weren’t going to make any money off of Alcide at the buffet. Were’s could EAT.
I was on my second plate and Alcide on his third when the conversation kind of dried up. I felt like he had something to say, so I put down my utensils and just waited. Finally he sighed, “I’m really trying to behave Sookie.” He looked at me for a minute and continued, “I know the vamps think I’m jealous and I want you back, but that isn’t it. I’m no good for any woman right now. I’m still trying to get over losing Maria Star. I’m just worried for you. Eric isn’t the most predictable of vampires and he has never really had a human mate before from what I’ve heard. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I appreciate your concern Alcide, but what can I do about it? I mean, I’m worried for me too, but I can’t risk giving up what I have with him because it might not work out. He’s risking a lot to be with me. His area, his business, and the loyalty of the locals…I think I can risk being with him.”
He shook his head at me, “You’re amazing. Sookie – he has rebuilt his life countless times over 1,000 years. You talk like the biggest risk is getting your heart broken again. I’m not worried about your heart as much as I am your mortal life. Can’t you see that?”
I was a little shocked at that. I mean, it kind of puts things in perspective. But I just looked at him and said what I was thinking, “I’m not sure I have a life without him any more.” He started to say something and I stopped him. “Alcide, I know how hard it’s been for you since Maria Star. You just told me you’re not ready to move on. That’s how I feel about Eric. I think it’s just taken us both a while to come to terms with our Blood Bond and our feelings for each other.” I could not believe I was having this conversation with Alcide when Eric and I hadn’t really talked about it yet. This was actually the first time I was able to put to words some of the things that needed to be said.
He reached out and put his hand over mine on the table, “Sookie if you love him as much I love Maria…” He paused and I thought about how he still used the present tense, “Then you should commit and be with him always. Don’t miss a single moment with him. Do you understand? I won’t get in your way and I’ll do anything I can for you to make it work.” His eyes were a little teary and I thought I might cry as well.
“Thank you Alcide,” I sniffed.
He smiled a little and raised his eyebrows, “I don’t know about you, I need some dessert.” I laughed and nodded. We headed up and found some devilishly good treats. By the time we had finished eating I was ready to walk back to the hotel, grab a shower and nap with Eric. Tonight was going to be a big night for several reasons. I had figured out how I felt about Eric, but I wasn’t sure what that would mean for our future. I mean, I still didn’t want to be turned, but could we live together if I wasn’t? Where would we live? What was going to happen tonight with Felipe and Lars and Victor? It was too much to think about.
I showered to get Alcide’s scent off of me and sent my clothes to the cleaners. I wasn’t hiding it from Eric, I would tell him right away, but no need to have the smell around to make him angry. I stretched out in bed next to him, but my mind was racing and I couldn’t sleep. So I did my hair and make up and then sat in the living room in my robe drinking coffee and looking out the window.
I heard a rustling noise and Eric was standing in the doorway rubbing his face. When he finished stretching I could feel him searching the bond to see how I was feeling. He came over and crouched in front of me, “Lover, is everything alright?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. I just did a lot of thinking today.”
“And what prompted that lover?”
“Something Alcide said today at lunch,” I said without thinking. Eric tensed and I felt frustration and anger in the bond. “We had a nice day Eric. He went with me because he didn’t think you would want me to go out alone.” That made him feel a little, but not altogether better. “He told me he was worried about my safety being with you.” Before he could get angry I looked into his eyes and continued, “I realized that I don’t want to live without you.” Okay, now he was shocked. I smiled and put my hands on his cheeks, “It just struck me that I’m not really afraid of what could happen because the worst thing that I can imagine is losing you.” I felt joy and warmth through the bond. He kissed me gently and took me into his arms.
Then after a minute he pulled back. He walked to the window and looked out for a second before he spoke. Then he turned and leaned on the glass looking at me, “Sookie, I need to tell you something. That night at your home, when Compton said he would die for you…” He shook his head a little, “I was offended for you that he would offer such a weak profession of love, but I knew it would not have been right to redress him. It was not the right place or the right time, but you need to understand. Compton might lay down his life, but would he raise a sword? He would die for you lover, but I…I would kill for you. I would protect and defend you and if I died in the process, so be it.” He came to me again, crouching and putting his hands in my hair and kissed my forehead, “I have rebuilt my life several times, and yet, I don’t know if I could do it again without you.”
I threw my arms around him and kissed him. It was passionate, yet tender. He pulled back to look into my eyes again and I knew I had to say it. “Eric, I am in love with you.”
He sighed, it was almost a shudder, “Lover, I am yours. I have never felt this way before, not in my human life and not in 1,000 years as a Vampire. You make me feel things that I have long felt were dead in me. When you are near, I feel your heart beat and it’s as if I am alive again. I never thought I would say this, but Sookie, I love you too.” And then he clutched me so tight I thought he might break my ribs. Tears were running down my face, not from his grasp but from the joy that we were both feeling.
He sat back a little and held my hands, “Lover, there is much more we must talk about, but it will have to wait. The others will be here soon and we’ll need to talk about what is going to happen tonight. I need to shower and change, but first, I need you to drink from me.” I knew he could feel my resistance and he continued, “We must go into this tonight with you at your strongest. I do not think you are in danger, but we need to refresh our bond. It will ease my mind.” He stroked my hands and asked, “Will you do it?”
I nodded my head and he gathered me into his arms and leaned back against the glass. I heard the awful crunching noise and he put his wrist in front of my mouth. Eric sighed as I began to suck at his wound. There really was nothing more erotic than drinking your lover’s lifeblood. I felt him hardening behind me and I was getting aroused just remembering other times I had taken his blood like this. It seemed to really turn us both on, and it was again. Eric put his other arm around my waist and helped us stand up together. Then I felt my underwear being ripped off and, with only that warning, he was pushing inside of me. I was drinking and trying to figure out how he got his boxers off and then I forgot everything as he thrust all of the way in. He was moving in and out of me slowly as he pulled his arm from my mouth. After he gently licked the wound closed he began kissing my neck and kneading my breast with one hand. The other hand found its way to my center and worked its magic and I began to whimper. I had my hands on his hips and was pushing back against him in time with his slow strokes to take him in farther. I could feel myself getting close and I knew Eric was too. Before I could even say, “Faster,” he increased his pace and began pounding into me. I felt like Eric wanted to drink from me, so I moved my hair from my neck. He growled and bit down and we came at the same time. I was so overwhelmed that it took me a second to realize that the voice in my head saying, “I love you,” wasn’t mine. I stiffened for a second and Eric tensed.
“What is it lover?”
Oh hell, should I tell him? He would get it out of me eventually, so I said quietly, “I heard you.”
He chuckled, “I’m sure you did lover. I roared like a lion in your ear when I came.”
“No Eric. I heard you thinking…Think something else.”
He spun me around to look in my eyes and I heard him think, “I want you to cover me in that chocolate you love and lick me clean.”
I felt myself blush a little, but I grinned at him and thought back, “Really? Won’t that be messy?”
Eric’s eyes got wide and then he just laughed. “This could be fun lover.”
“You’re not upset? I mean, I can learn to shield it…”
“Sookie, I do not think it is part of your telepathy. If I can do it too, it is because of our bond. I do not think we can shield each other from this.”
“Oh. Shit.”
He laughed again. “It will be okay lover. We will just have to get used to it.”
“Do you think I can hear other vamps now?”
“I don’t know lover, I wouldn’t think so. But several of them will be here in,” He looked at the clock, “about 15 minutes. So we’ll find out then.” I was feeling a little panicky and he could feel it too. He took me in his arms and held me, rubbing circles on my back. “Lover, I will be with you always now. That can’t be so bad, right? Now, let’s get ready to meet our guests.” He leaned back to look me in the eyes and grinned, “You better find your underwear while I get in the shower.”
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