Never End Ch.06

Chapter Six

Chapter Six: Sleepless Overs

“All settled in, girls?” Sookie crooned at Mags and Junes when Eric returned from disappearing with her overnight bag, and the dogs’ travel bag was placed on the kitchen counter. Sookie kept a travel bag for her dogs prepared at all times in the event that on a whim she went to visit her Gran.

“Are you all settled in?” Eric asked when he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I never thought we would get here.”

He was, of course, referring to the constant stop and go between her apartment and the ten miles to his house. First, she had realized she had left her flowers in the car, and Eric had offered to run them back up to her apartment. Then, when he returned, her stomach had growled loudly, and he insisted that she at least stop somewhere for drive-thru. Finally, about halfway to his house and half a cheeseburger meal later, Sookie suddenly pulled over to ask what he would do about his car. That had lead to a fifteen-minute roadside discussion about his ability to fly.

At last they were at his home with Mags and Junes instantly claiming his couch.

“I’m ready to get back into bed,” she admitted, biting her lip bashfully.

Squeezing her tightly to him, Eric asked, “Do you think you can keep yourself calm long enough for a quick tour?”

Sighing with an expression of great effort, Sookie muttered, “Maybe if you make it super quick.”

Laughing, Eric showed her around the house, explaining how his security system worked as well as the codes for arming and disarming so she could leave during the day for work or food. He apologized profusely for not having food in the house, but admitting that he had not anticipated her coming home with him. He had not felt compelled to admit the offer to invite her home was an impulsive one that he had been surprised to have requested.

Shortly after that they arrived in Eric’s room, and Sookie stared in wonder while they went through one door, only to find a four foot long hallway and another keypad next to a second door.

“Light safety measure,” he explained, and punched in a number while reciting it to her. Sookie thumped her hand against the wall before going through the door. “Cinderblock reinforced,” he explained when there was no echo.

“Wow,” she exclaimed, surprised at all the measures he had taken.

Eric merely smiled at her wonder and flicked on the lights for the room. “There is a bathroom there,” he told her, gesturing to a door diagonally off the entrance. Sookie noticed her duffle bag sitting atop of his dresser and realized this was where he had gone with it when she was settling in her dogs.

“With a toilet?” she asked in surprise.

“Yes, it already existed at the time, and I felt no need to remove it.”

Sookie tilted her head curiously, “I didn’t think a master bedroom and bathroom would not have windows..?”

“Oh, they did, I had them removed and bricked up when I reinforced the walls.”

“That makes sense.”

Sookie wandered around the room taking in the crisp blue of the walls, the vibrancy of the bamboo flooring and the deep wood tones of the furniture that seemed to subdue the high contrast of the floors and walls. The bed was a deeper blue than the walls, but in the same oceanic color palette.

“It’s very relaxing in here,” she commented.

“It is one of the few rooms where I spend much of my time,” he confessed.

“Oh?”

“A few hours before and after dawn, a couple hours before sunset.”

“You don’t spend much time at your house?”

“Not really. I never bring anyone here. Most of my fucking is done at Fangtasia.”

Sookie cocked her head to the side, “Why did you bring me here?”

“Because I wanted to hold you while you slept, even if I could not have a memory of it,” he admitted.

Biting her lip shyly, Sookie hid behind her hair while she stared at the bed once more. “You say stuff like that…and it… It makes me happy…and scared.”

“Why does it make you happy?” he asked.

She fiddled with a lock of her hair as she murmured, “It makes me feel as if I’m your girlfriend or something.”

Another smile lit his face. “Why does it make you scared?”

“You know why,” she whispered.

“Because I could leave you?”

She nodded. “Because I sort of want you to want me that way.”

“I thought you wanted superficial last night?”

“You told me to let you know if things changed,” There was no denying that her reaction to his flowers had been far more than lust fueled fantasy. ‘Not running’ had struck a much deeper chord than carnal motivations. Sookie had exposed the grim birth of her path toward law enforcement, and to have Eric accept that, even begrudgingly, drew her to the vampire.

“That I did.”

Pushing her hair behind her ear she asked, “Is that going to be a problem?”

Eric shook his head. “Not at all.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I sort of wanted you to want me to want you that way,” he teased.

“Really?”

Eric reached to push the hair on the other side of her face behind her ear. “Yes, really,” He pressed his forehead to hers as he confessed. “I was infatuated with you the second you walked into my club. By the end of last night, I wanted very much to give you everything and anything you could possibly want or need,” He planted a chaste kiss on the tip of her nose. “However, I know how injured you are emotionally. I know that I need to move at your pace and your pace alone. I agreed to that superficial fucking because it was what you thought you wanted. I held back when you unknowingly pushed your limits. I pushed when your emotional injuries kept you from going toward what you truly wanted.”

“It seems kind of impulsive for you to invest so much time and energy in someone you met two weeks ago,” she mumbled.

Eric laughed a bit. “It might to you, but I am over a thousand-years-old and have only created one progeny in Pam. I am not moved to such strong motivations often. When I felt this pull toward you, I wanted to focus on nothing else.”

“So, you’re not just impulsive and fickle?”

“Not at all.”

“Then you want to keep me around for a while?”

“Sookie, I would keep you around forever if you would allow me,” He pulled away to look into her eyes as he said, “But you are not sure enough of what you want yet. That is why I want you to be honest about your wants and needs. I want to prove to you a million times that I can be anything you need of me, and I will be any and all of those things, gladly, happily if it means you will stay.” He stroked his hand against her cheek before continuing, “I can feel that this is getting to be too much for you. So, we will leave it there for now.”

“Thank you,” she answered gratefully. “That was quite a bit for me to take in… Still… Does that mean I can call you my boyfriend?”

“Yes, you may,” he laughed joyously.

“You won’t call me Miss Stackhouse or Detective Stackhouse anymore?”

“Miss, rarely. Detective… Perhaps if we are playing some dirty games,” he winked.

“Will you tell people I’m your girlfriend?”

“If the sentiment pleases you, I will do that,” He nodded in consent.

“You don’t care for saying boyfriend and girlfriend?”

“I am unaccustomed to it, but not against doing so.”

“Because it’s what I want?”

Eric smiled. “Yes, and because it makes you happy. I always want to make you happy.”

“You do,” she assured.

“Unfortunately,” Eric began slowly, “I do have one heavier topic that I need to address.” Sookie groaned, pulling away from him and flopping onto his bed. Eric had to focus his attention away from how her breasts jiggled with such a violent movement. “It is about an error in judgment I made earlier this evening.”

Sookie’s head shot up, and he felt her anxiety spike. “Wh-when we were…”

Eric rolled his eyes. Of course Sookie would think that he was regretting having sex with her! Silly girl. “When I licked your palm before we left the apartment that was a big mistake.”

Sookie flushed at the memory. “How so?”

“Your blood was part of the mixture as was mine since quantities of it are infused with my emissions, although it was actually the blood from my finger that qualified the exchange. My emissions are not quite enriched enough to accomplish such a feat.”

“You had my blood last night and it didn’t matter,” she pointed out.

“True, but you had not consumed my blood that evening. Tonight you did, and I, inadvertently, drank yours.”

“What’s the big deal?” Sookie asked, crossing her legs on the bed, too relieved at knowing he did not regret sleeping with her to be concerned over a little blood swapping.

“If a human and vampire share blood in the same evening, it is a mutual exchange. If they were to do three mutual exchanges, The Bond would be forged, and they would be connected eternally from then on.”

“Connected how?” Sookie asked.

Eric sat down next to her on the bed, taking her hand in his and playing with her fingers in a somewhat self-conscious gesture. “The human would be able to feel the vampire the way that I can feel you right now. Our emotions would be available to one another at all times. The way humans speak through gestures of love rather than words, but internalized. You could send affection or desire to me from great distances, and I could send those same emotions back to you. We could find one another anywhere on the planet.”

When Sookie’s hands stiffened, Eric could hear her heart begin hammering in her chest. “How do you break a Bond?”

“You do not. It can only be severed in True Death. If the human-half committed to becoming a vampire, the Bond would survive the metamorphosis, Bonded Mates for all eternity. If the human chose not to cross over when they died, their Bonded usually meets the sun.”

“They kill themselves?”

“Surviving without one’s Bonded is… Unrecorded.”

Frowning to herself, Sookie considered what he was telling her. “What if the vampire died, not the human?”

“The same thing, only without the combustion. It would be poison or slitting wrists. Either way, the human half would find a way to kill themselves. Although, I can only recall one instance where the human outlived their vampire mate,” he confessed.

“So, they can’t be separated. Ever,” Sookie considered his words.

“Never,” he agreed.

“And that’s three mutual exchanges?” Sookie asked.

“Yes. I did not intend to broach this topic at such a stage in our relationship, but seeing as I unintentionally set the possibility into motion, I knew you should be made aware. Accidents are not something I am accustomed to, but there you have it.”

“I appreciate that,” she answered quietly.

“Tell me what you are thinking?” he requested merely because he was surprised that she was not in a state of panic after what he had told her. Her emotions were rather peaceful, despite the spike in her heart rate.

“Honestly?”

“No,” he dead-panned, “lie to me.”

Rolling her eyes, Sookie admitted, “I’m intrigued. More than I wish I was…”

“How do you mean?”

“If we were Bonded, you could never leave me,” she whispered. “Still, all of this is too much. Too new. I can’t know yet if I want ‘forever’, you know?”

“I do know,” he assured. “I did not wish to put such considerable thoughts on your mind just yet. I had hoped to put this off for several months-”

“Eric, I’m not scared off,” she reassured him. “We’ll try to keep your blood out of my mouth for the time being, okay? We’ll revisit this later, when I know what it’s like to be in a relationship.”

Eric let out a relieved sigh. “That sounds like the perfect plan.”

“Good, now I believe you promised to show me something when we got here?” she hinted with a blush.

Grinning at her, Eric leaned toward the woman; planting a hand on either side of her while he captured her lips with his own. Carefully, he eased her once more onto the bed before pulling back and peeling up her shirt.

“Hey,” she scolded in annoyance, “I thought you were gonna show me your… Um…”

“My cock?” he finished for her.

“Yeah. That,” she said.

“Say it, Sookie,” he commanded amusedly.

“Can I see your… Cock?”

Smiling at her hesitation, Eric rose from the bed and began undressing. When he stood naked before her, he watched with entertainment while she tried to force her eyes to appraise him. After some time her vision finally wandered between his legs before darting away and playing with her hair.

He could feel a dose of confusion coming from her and his curiosity piqued.

“Something wrong, Lover?”

“It’s not as big as I remember,” she confessed.

Eric laughed, “I am working up to it.”

“Oh, it doesn’t just…” Her hand flicked with a sharp movement to gesticulate his ‘rising to occasion’.

Chuckling deeply now, Eric explained, “Lover, I would bust a zipper every time you walked past if my erections came that swiftly.” Sookie placed the bent knuckle of her index finger between her teeth as she considered his meaning. “Do you want to touch my cock, Sookie?” After a moment’s pause, she nodded and tentatively reached for him, surprised when he tilted away from her caress. “Say it, Sookie,” he encouraged, wanting to help her overcome her verbal shyness.

Fidgeting, Sookie mumbled, “I want to touch your cock.” He quickly grabbed her wrist, bringing her hand to grasp his shaft, and clenched her fingers around him. Slowly now, he helped her find a rhythm to stroke him, and Sookie eventually turned her head to watch what she was doing. She could feel a throbbing building beneath her hand and marveled as the fingers that surrounded him grew further and further apart until they could no longer touch. “What makes it throb? You don’t have a pulse.”

“It is my body forcing more of the blood I have consumed to the organ. I do not know why it throbs rather than steadily swells. Although, I think the pulsing sensation is much more pleasurable than if it merely built up pressure,” he explained.

“Th-this is how big it gets?” she asked in breathless surprise.

“Almost,” he laughed at her expression. “Do you want to put my cock in your mouth, Sookie?”

Knowing what he would say if she did not voice her desire, she nodded and answered, “I want to put your cock in my mouth, Eric.”

“Good girl,” he whispered, using the hand that had been assisting her stroke, and placing it instead at the base of her skull. He urged her face toward him, and Sookie parted her lips automatically to receive his shaft. She recoiled violently when he struck the back of her throat, and she coughed while trying to settle the lurch her stomach had given.

“S-sorry,” she mumbled in embarrassment.

“You are doing just fine, Sookie,” he said softly. “You do not have to take the whole thing in your mouth. Just take the first two inches or so between your lips, and stroke the rest of me with your hands,” he instructed patiently. Following his guidance, Sookie found the technique much more manageable. “You do that so well, Lover,” he moaned, running his fingers through her hair and twirling the strands luxuriously. “Explore however you like,” he encouraged.

One of her hands immediately abandoned his cock and traveled up his thigh to trace the sharp lines of his lower abdominal muscles. It highlighted that line between his upper thigh to his abs several times before returning between his legs and exploring the sack below where her mouth was working. She tested the weight of his balls, squeezing them experimentally before pulling her mouth from the head of his cock and drawing her tongue along a large blue vein. When her mouth came to his scrotum, she sucked his balls into her mouth while her hand continued to stroke him.

“Enough,” he growled, making Sookie pull away in surprise, a little hurt. When he shoved her away onto her back, she desperately tried to discover what she had done wrong. While Eric yanked off her shorts, shoved her thighs apart, and plunged his tongue inside of her, she realized why he had stopped her so abruptly.

“I was doing good?” she panted her inquiry when his tongue took her breath away.

“Too good,” he snapped, thrusting a finger inside of her with just enough force to be aggressive, but not enough to hurt her. A second finger joined the first and Sookie twisted beneath his technique. “Apparently it was good for you, too. You took two fingers easily this time. Are you going to let the third one in just as nicely?” he asked as his index finger attempted to gain entry. “No, still nice and tight.” With a bit more wheedling, his third finger worked its way inside, and Sookie sobbed when his mouth finally began playing with her clit.

“Please, please, God,” she cried as her body coiled, teetering on some precipice she had only discovered the previous night.

“Do not give Him my credit, Sookie. Call out the name of the one doing this to you,” Eric snarled. “Cum and scream my name!”

“ERIC!” Her wail rang in his ears as her inner walls attempted to crush his invading digits.

Before their flexing could ebb, Eric once again replaced his fingers with his cock and delighted when their throbbing renewed. With a single movement, he was smashing his pelvis against hers, feeling her thrash violently beneath him.

“Yes, Sookie, keep cumming around my cock,” he husked into her ear, taking short, deep strokes against her. He kissed the soft spot behind her ear, and then tugged at the lobe with his teeth. She jerked sharply as she wept beneath him. When he reached between them to play with her clit, she mewled and began writhing. Her hands lashed out, gripping and scratching anywhere she could find. She turned her head to the side and bit down on his forearm where he was bracing his weight.

“Eric,” she whined against his flesh still clenched between her teeth.

“Yes, Lover?” he asked in a teasing voice as he changed his pace to long, slow, and luxurious strokes. He felt her walls finally sedate in their throbbing, and he contemplated the thoroughly ruffled woman beneath him amusedly.

“What was that?” she panted.

“Hmm?” he hummed curiously.

“That wasn’t like any of the other three orgasms you’ve given me,” she sucked in oxygen greedily between words.

“Well, if you can still keep count of how many you have had, then you can expect even more before the evening is over,” he said as he found the sweet spot where his maximum girth rubbed against her the most sensitive part of her inner walls. He shortened his stroke to rekindle her passion, and hissed in her ear, “I want to feel you cum around my cock over and over until you cannot keep your eyes open any longer.”

Sookie mewled at his demand. Her body was already coiling around him once more, and when he adjusted his movements, crushing his coarse curls against her begging clit, she arched painfully.

“You can do it, Lover. Cum again and again like before.”

Tears in her eyes, Sookie exploded around him, feeling his shaft spending inside of her and filling her again like earlier. He roared and cursed against her breast, biting it fiercely with his sharp fangs. While he nursed the wound she felt her orgasm evolve into something more. Her entire body thrummed with life. Her limbs felt weightless. Her brain was empty of everything but the joy and pleasure spilling out of every pore.

Pulling Sookie onto her side to hold her to his body, Eric spoke soft sounds of pleasure as she continued to throb around him. He could not remember a woman’s orgasm taking as long to subside, but he smoothed her hair while he continued holding her, kissing her neck sedately to ease her back into cognitive thought.

Eventually she opened her damp eyes again, and Eric smiled at their glassy appearance. “Feeling well?” he asked softly.

Sookie smiled up at him and reached her arms around his neck to pull Eric into a gentle kiss. “Amazing,” she assured. “I can still count though,” she taunted tiredly.

“Perhaps, but your body cannot take any more. Those were some quality orgasms you were having,” he teased right back. “I fear if I gave you another, your body might forget where it should be focusing your blood flow.”

“You mean into your mouth?” She pointed to her breast in a playfully, accusing manner. “Aren’t you afraid of another mutual exchange?”

“There needs to be a sunset between mutual exchanges,” he assured. “This makes me wonder if I should give you a bit more blood. I do not want you in any pain tomorrow…”

“I’ll be fine. Really, I don’t feel any discomfort.”

“That is because my emissions have similar healing properties as my blood,” he explained. “Although that will not help your poor, little clit.” He looked between their bodies with a bit of chagrin. “You will probably be quite tender there.”

“That’s okay. A little reminder of you to get me through the day,” she said with a wink.

Eric smiled at her coyness. “I enjoy this side of you.”

“Which side?”

“This flirty side. You are so much more brazen now.”

“It’s all you, Eric,” she assured. “I couldn’t be like this with anyone else. Not because…” she paused to let out a deep, toe curling yawn. “Not because I’d be too shy…” she yawned again despite her best efforts to resist. “But because I wouldn’t want them when I can have you.”

Eric smiled at her confession. “That is lovely to hear from you, Sookie. You are falling asleep. We will talk more when I rise tomorrow.”

“I don’t want to sleep,” she pouted.

“It is almost three in the morning and you worked all day,” he pointed out.

“But…” she tried to bite back another yawn. “But I want to stay with you.”

“I will be here,” he whispered. “I will hold you the whole time.”

“My dogs,” she mumbled, and he felt her body twitch as if to rise.

“I will let them out once you are asleep,” he placated her objection. “Then I will come back and wrap you up in my arms.”

As her eyes drooped tiredly, Eric returned to soothing her hair until her breathing evened out and she fell asleep. He did not know how long he held her before he slowly raised her thigh enough to slip out of her sated entrance, but she let a forlorn moan escape her lips at his absence, even in her sleep.

“I hope you always want me so near, my Sookie,” he spoke softly, kissing her crown before climbing out of bed.

Eric grabbed his jeans from the floor, sliding them back on before leaving the bedroom. When he exited the second door, Junes and Mags were lying on either side of the threshold looking up at him expectantly while he closed it behind him.

“Come on, girls,” he ordered, leading the dogs to the patio door of his house. He opened it for them and the shepherds took off into the night. Leaning against the frame, he watched them run around the acreage until they were ready to come back inside. Mags was noticeably quicker than her sister, and came darting to him when she was content to do so. She immediately jumped onto the couch and turned around several times before settling in.

Junes took her time coming back to the door, sniffing around interestedly at the new surroundings before gracing the vampire with her decision to come back inside. Like her sister, Junes went straight to the couch and jumped onto it, making herself comfortable.

“Night, girls,” Eric whispered, returning to his safe room, engaging the security system, and finally curling once more against Sookie’s back. His arms enveloped her loosely so she would not have any trouble escaping when she awoke. He spent the remainder of the dark hours caressing her skin and memorizing every aspect of her scent.

Finally, shortly after daybreak he had determined her aroma. Sunshine. She was the closest he would ever come to smelling sunlight, and it was far grander than the real star could ever be.

On to Chapter Seven