Chapter 3

Getting Down to Business

I was watching Eric closely as we pulled out past the cop cars.  He didn’t say anything, but his hands flexed on the steering wheel.  For the first time in my life, I was alone with a man and my own thoughts.  I took full advantage of the mental silence to stare at him shamelessly, studying his profile in the dim, flickering light of passing street lamps.  He was simply beautiful, from the ocean blue of his eyes, the pearlescent glow of his skin, to the full curve of his lips.

Despite the near call with the police and the fact I was trapped in a car with a GQ vampiric predator that could remember the crusades, I was feeling surprisingly relaxed.  Maybe it was because I didn’t have to keep my mental shields up around Eric, but I could feel the tension draining away from me the further away from the club we got.

“It is fortunate you were there,” he said eventually, breaking the easy silence.

“Well, sure,” I said, a little miffed that he hadn’t actually said thank you.  “You’re welcome,” I added deliberately, but he didn’t respond.

“You are a…” he said instead, doing a little hinting of his own.

“I’m a telepath,” I said with a sigh.  “I hear people’s thoughts.”

His head whipped sideways and he stared at me darkly.  I got nervous that his eyes weren’t on the road, but the car stayed firmly between the lines.

“Even me?” he asked flatly, but there was a dangerous look in his eyes.

“No, no,” I said hurriedly.  “I can’t hear vampires.  In fact, it’s rather soothing being around y’all.”

He stared at me for a few seconds longer, but I met his gaze calmly until he turned his attention back to the road.

“I believe you,” he said, and although it was dark in the car, I could tell he was smiling.

“Why’s that?” I asked, although I had a pretty good idea.

“You’re not blushing.”

I certainly was now.

“There,” he said, sounding tremendously satisfied.  “See?”

I frowned at him.

“I won’t tolerate dirty talk, Mr. Northman.”

“Call me Eric,” he insisted.  “And no, I didn’t imagine that you would.”

“Okay,” I said, mollified.  Then, “I guess you can call me Sookie.”

His smile grew wider.

“You’re not even the slightest bit afraid of me, are you?” he asked amusedly.

“Let’s just say I’m cautious,” I said carefully, flashing back on his monstrous expression in Fangtasia when I had told him the cops were coming.

“I’ve seen enough the last couple nights to realize y’all aren’t exactly human.”  And just like that, he was back to the bored face he’d been wearing when I first saw him in the club.

“No,” he said coldly.  “We are not human.”

“I’m not judging,” I said gently.  “Lord knows people have judged me for years because I’m different.  Just ‘cause y’all get deadly sunburns and can only go out at night doesn’t mean anybody has a right to treat you with anything but respect.  And human or not, y’all have a responsibility to reciprocate,” I said, proudly using my word of the day.

“We’ve all got to live on this planet together.”  He considered this for a moment before speaking.

“Not all vampires supported the Great Revelation.  Many of us felt forced.”  This conversation was taking a decidedly dark turn, but I was curious about how a thousand years had changed his views on humanity.

“Forced?  Why?  Isn’t it easier not having to hide what you are all the time?”

“To a certain extent yes, but many of us spent centuries hiding in the shadows, feeding in secret.  We were laws unto ourselves, and that is a hard thing to come back from.  Not everybody believes we should be playing house with the blood bags.”  Well, there was something to be said for brutal honest.

“And you?” I asked.  “What do you believe?”

“I think it depends on the blood bag.  You, for example, are definitely worth playing house with,” he said, turning to look at me again.  His handsome face was full of wicked lust, and my body reacted in kind.  I licked my lips nervously, but I found I had a hard time getting angry with him.

“Eric, I told you…”

“Yes, I know.  No dirty talk for now.”  I studiously ignored the ‘for now’ part of that sentence.  “You won’t let me seduce you, and I can’t scare you or glamour you.  Whatever am I going to do with you, Sookie?” he teased.

“Try getting to know me,” I shot back.

“Oh, I will most definitely be getting to know you,” he said, sounding like a fallen angel.

My mouth went dry, but I was saved from having to say anything as we pulled up to a guard house at the edge of a gated community.  Eric flicked his fingers to the guard and we were driving into the quiet community.

“This isn’t what I was expecting,” I said as we passed street after street of classy, custom houses.  No cookie cutter mansions for Eric Northman, it seemed.

“Yes, well, Louisiana is fresh out of castles and moats, I’m afraid.”  I laughed at that.

We drove to the very edge of the community and pulled up next to a gray field stone house with a two car garage; the bulk of the house was set into a slope to form an unnatural basement.  Eric pressed a button and the garage door slid up so we could drive in.  Once we were parked, he was out in seconds to open my door and offer me a hand.

“Thank you,” I said as he brought me to my feet, close enough to the car that I bumped into him.  I expected him to take a step back, but he didn’t.  Instead, he towered over me, and I had to tilt my head back to look up into his face.  His eyes were unfathomably dark in the shadows of the garage, and I shoved my palm to his cool chest to try and stop him from moving any closer.  I might as well have been wrestling a mountain.  His arms stretched out on either side of me, until I was effectively caged between his hard body and the corvette.

“Eric,” I whispered as he leaned down.  “What are you doing?”

“Getting to know you,” he whispered back, and then neither of us was talking.

His lips were cool and shockingly soft on mine, full and patiently persuasive.  Although his body kept me trapped, the kiss was tender, if not gentle, and fangless.  I knew if I wanted to pull away I could, but he was doing his best to make sure I wouldn’t.  His tongue pressed firmly against the corner of my mouth until I opened, then slid along the inside of my bottom lip in a sure stroke, tasting me, teasing me.  I whimpered into his mouth, and suddenly the hand on his chest wasn’t pushing, but sliding up to cling to his neck.  I pulled myself tight against his unyielding torso and deeper into his kiss, and it seemed Eric had spent a thousand years learning how to kiss me just for this moment, just like this.  My blood rioted under my skin, my heart beat desperately against my ribs.  In my eagerness, my nails sank into his neck, his fangs popped, and he yanked violently away from me.

“I was right,” he growled.  I was gasping.  Sometime during the kiss, his fingers had worked themselves into my hair, and he was clenching fistfuls of it so I couldn’t more away from him.  Not that I would have, even if I could.

“About what?” I asked dumbly.

“You taste even better than you smell, and that is saying something.”  My knees felt weak, my eyes dropped shut.  Eric Northman had stolen my bones, and he was working on my virtue.

“And you’re trembling.  So exciting, and here I’m trying very hard to behave with you, Miss Stackhouse.”

“Well, isn’t this a pretty sight,” I heard Pam say.  My eyes shot open and I jerked away from Eric.  His hands dropped quickly from my head and he took a step back.  If he was uncomfortable being caught in a compromising position, it certainly didn’t show, but a squadron of fire fighters couldn’t have put out the fire in my cheeks.  At this rate I would never need to buy blush again.

While I was relearning how to breathe, I heard the sharp beep beep of automatic car locks, and my gaze flew past my grinning cousin and taunting Pam to the driveway.  My shock at seeing silver minivan was a blessed distraction from my embarrassment.

“You actually drive a minivan?” I asked Pam as she and Hadley walked into the garage; I was unable to resist.  I guess the soccer mom vampire thought wasn’t far off.

“It makes it easier to transport the bodies,” she said without missing a beat.

Hadley started laughing, and Pam just smiled at me as I tried to hide my shock.

“Shall we go inside, then?” Eric said, interrupting our fun.  Pam rolled her eyes at his back, but followed as he walked up the steps leading to the house.  Hedley and I were close behind.

“Um, Eric, where’s the bathroom?” I asked once we were inside his sterile kitchen.  The gin and tonics had finally hit my bladder.

“There is a hallway after you pass through the living room.  It is the second door on the right.”

“Thank you,” I said before I wandered in the direction he had sent me.  I looked around in fascination at his living room, and was pleasantly surprised by what I found.  The walls were a blue nearly as bright as Eric’s eyes, with pure white crown molding.  There was a large, deep seated crimson couch with a love-seat in a matching red and gold to offset it.  In the far corner was a bright emerald chair with a gold throw, and a large, hand carved coffee table sat in the middle of the room.  The walls were bare save for a single painting, a seashore oil on canvas so realistic I could practically smell the salt air.

After my brief survey, I went to the bathroom as quickly as I could, but when I reached for the toilet paper, I was dismayed to find that there wasn’t any.  Fortunately, I had a few tissues in my purse.  I washed my hands and hurried back to the living room.

Eric had changed into a t-shirt while I was in the bathroom, and was now barefoot.  He stalked towards me slowly, looking for all the world like a lion on the hunt.  I guess that made me the gazelle.

“You’re out of toilet paper, Eric,” I blurted out nervously as he came closer, but he shook his head.

“You’re not?”

“I cannot be out of something I have never had.”  Pam snickered.  “But I’m sure Pam won’t mind procuring some for the next time you visit,” he finished smoothly.

“Get Bobby to do it.  My personal shopper doesn’t do retail.”  Eric snarled something to her in a foreign language, and her lips drew back from her fangs.  I was uncomfortable until I saw her eyebrow pop.

“I’ll do it,” Hadley offered.  “I remember what brand she likes.”  Eric ignored her.

“Sookie, why don’t you have a seat on the couch,” he offered, taking me by the elbow and leading me around the coffee table.  I sat down and instantly sank into the heavy cushions.  He sat next to me gracefully, his long legs spreading out, hands folded over his stomach.  I had a flashback of his abs and was hit by a wave of lust so strong that I swallowed air.

“Now,” Eric said with authority.  “What has happened at the club, Pamela?”

Hadley had seated herself in the green chair with her legs tucked up under her.  Pam stood over her, idly playing with her curls.

“I spoke to Longshadow on the way over here; he stayed and talked to the police.  The offending vampire wasn’t one of ours.  She was visiting from area 9.”

“Yes, I remember her when she presented herself.  A Taryn something or the other.  She’s rather new, but nonetheless, Stan will not be pleased.  You’ve spoken with him?”

“With Isabel.  Stan was… preoccupied when I called.”

“I will deal with it tomorrow.”  His hard gaze settled on Hadley.

“Now, for a more pressing question.  You were aware of Sookie’s abilities, Hedley?”  I didn’t need telepathy to hear the cold censure in his voice.  Hadley had to have known this was coming, but it still hurt to watch her brace herself against Eric’s anger.  I was about to defend her, but she caught the expression on my face and shook her head, so I kept my mouth shut.

“Yes,” she said, “but I also knew she couldn’t hear vampire thoughts.  It was her secret to tell, not mine.”  Pam had frozen with her fingers trapped in Hadley’s hair, and Hadley, too, was perfectly still, waiting for Eric’s response.  My heart was thumping like a demon in my chest.

“You were being loyal to your family,” he said finally, giving her a short nod, and everyone in the room relaxed.

“Sookie,” Eric said next, turning his focus to me.  I struggled not to squirm under his serious gaze.

“How long have you been telepathic?”

“My first memories are full of other people’s thoughts.”  He seemed to consider this.

“That must have been difficult.”

“It still is.”  I found myself getting a little teary eyed just thinking about it.  Stupid alcohol.

“Humans are naturally jealous,” he asserted, and choked back a sniffle.  He frowned.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m trying not to cry,” I said, opening my eyes wide so the tears wouldn’t fall.

“You will not,” he commanded.  I had to be imagining the panic in his voice.

“I’m sorry,” I said, struggling to get myself under control.  “It’s just…  I’m not used to this.  Any of this.”

I gave him a watery smile.

“Explain.”  As if I could summarize 25 years of being a social pariah into a few short sentences.  But I would try.

“I don’t ever talk about any of this, not even with Gran.  My whole life it’s been like a dirty secret.  Most people just think I’m crazy.”

“They are fools,” he said dismissively.  “But who else besides us in this room is aware of what you can do?”

“Well, my family of course,” I said, smiling at Hadley.

“You are the only one in your family with this gift?  Or anything similar?”

“Nobody’s ever said anything, that’s for sure.”  I looked at Hadley.

“Hadley, did anybody in the family ever say anything to you about something similar?”

“No,” she said.  She was currently playing with the lace skirt of Pam’s dress.  “Nobody’s ever said anything to me.”

I looked back at Eric and shrugged.

“I guess not, then.”

“And your boss Sam Merlotte, is he aware that you have read his thoughts?”

“I’ve read his mind a few times accidently when I wasn’t shielding,” I admitted, “but I try my best to stay out of his head, and he knows that.  I like my job.  I don’t want to find something out and have to quit.”

“Anyone else?”

I thought about it for a minute.  “My friend Tara.  Everybody else that suspects, they just think I’m psychic.”

“And this shielding you mention.  It allows you to block thoughts?”

“Most of the time.”

“Were you shielding tonight when you heard the cop?”  I hesitated at that.

“I was experimenting,” I decided out loud.

“Experimenting how?”

“Well, once I realized that you all, vampires, I mean, were blank zones to me, I focused on you like you were an anchor.  The alcohol loosened up my brain, and I just sort of floated through the thoughts at the top of my head while I was using the rest of it to fli- talk with you,” I finished hastily.  “It was like skimming cream.”

“You have never done such a thing before?”

“I’ve never even met a vampire before last night.  And no, I’ve never experimented on people before.”

“You said you heard the cop while he was in the bathroom.  Does distance affect your ability?”  I was beginning to understand that Eric Northman was a ruthless, thorough sort, but I had to admit his questions were good ones.

“The further away I am, the harder it is to hear someone, yes.  Touch helps bring it in to focus.”

“Det är bra.  Endast shifter vet, och hon uppenbarligen har stor kontroll,” he said abruptly.

”Hon är lycklig hon inte faktiskt gå galet,” Pam shot back.

”Ja.”

”Pam, you and Hadley will go retrieve Sookie’s car for her,” he said, switching back to English.  ”Enough time has passed, and I wish to speak with her further.”

”Of course,” Pam said, walking over to me with Hadley on her heels.

”Your keys?”  I hesitated.  Did I really want to be alone with Eric again?

”Don’t worry,” he said with a teasing grin.  ”I won’t bite unless you ask me to.”  I scoffed.

”In your dreams, Eric Northman,” I said as I reached out to the coffee table for my purse and keys.

”Oh, most definitely in my dreams.”

”We’ll be right back,” Pam said, my keys clanking dully as they hit her palm.

And just like that, I was once again alone with my Viking suitor.

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Swedish translations:

“Det är bra.  Endast shifter vet, och hon uppenbarligen har stor kontroll.”  -This is good.  Only the shifter knows, and she obviously has great control.

”Hon är lycklig hon inte faktiskt gå galet.”  -She is lucky she didn’t actually go crazy.

“Ja.”  -Yes.