Chapter 68: One

Eric wasted no time.  Before she could even take a breath, Sookie was on her back on the blankets, and Eric was on top of her ravaging her lips with his.  He lightly sucked on her bottom lip, requesting entry into her mouth, and Sookie answered greedily, entwining her tongue with his.

Suddenly, Sookie stopped the kiss and pushed at Eric’s chest.  “Wait!” she said urgently.

Eric immediately pulled himself off of Sookie and sat up.  “What is it?  Are you uncertain, my love?  Do you not want to make the third exchange?”  Sookie could feel Eric’s anxiety coming through the bond, even as his eyes momentarily took on the same heartbreak she’d seen from him in the most disturbing of her dreams.

Sookie was immediately sorry to have upset him.  “No, Eric!  It’s not that,” she assured.  “I’m certain.  I want you.  I want to bond with you, marry you, and spend the rest of my life with you!”

Eric immediately relaxed, and his side of the bond calmed.  “What is it then, min kära?  Did you have more questions of me?”

“No,” Sookie blushed.  “It’s just that I brought something―um―special that I’d like to wear for you if that is okay.”

A grin spread onto Eric’s face.  “You wish to prepare yourself for me, min kära?”

Sookie’s blush became darker as she nodded.

“I would be honored by this,” Eric said, bowing his head almost formally.

Sookie jumped up nervously.  “I’ll need just a minute, okay?”

Eric nodded.  “I will be here.”

Sookie grabbed her backpack and ran into the bathroom.  She took some deep calming breaths.  She knew that she wasn’t getting married―or pledged―for a couple of days, but this night and the third blood exchange that would make their bond permanent felt more important to her than even the pledging.  Feeling like a bride on her honeymoon night, she grinned into the mirror and blushed.  She chided herself.  She’d already had ‘primal and passionate sex’ with Eric three times that night, once against a wall for goodness sakes!  And yet, here she was―nervous.

She opened her bag and pulled out the negligée she’d brought.  It was a red silk nightie that fell to mid-thigh.  Simple in design, its only embellishment was a thick strip of matching red lace at the bottom.

Sookie quickly took off her shirt, bra, and jeans.  The nightie certainly wasn’t ornate, but as she put it on, Sookie knew that she looked good in it.  The spaghetti straps showcased her slight tan and the V-neck of the garment hinted at the swell of her breasts.

She ran her fingers over the material, which was soft and smooth.  She’d gotten the garment on sale at Victoria’s Secret more than two years earlier―before she’d even met her first vampire.  She hadn’t had a clear reason for purchasing it at the time; she definitely hadn’t had a man in her life then.  Even when she had been with Bill, she’d never worn it.  The garment hadn’t seemed right for him, and for some inexplicable reason, she’d felt the need to save it for something―or someone―else.  It’s being stored at the bottom of her sock drawer, hidden away for the right moment, was what had saved it from the Maenad.

Now, as she took out her brush to smooth away the tangles caused by her flight with Eric, she knew exactly who she’d been saving the nightgown for.

She pulled a pair of red lace panties out of the backpack.  They hadn’t come with the negligée but were close enough in shade to look like a match.  Taking off the underwear she’d put on after her encounter with Eric against the wall, she couldn’t help but smile to see that they were already a bit damp after only the one kiss he’d just given her.  “Sexy ass Viking,” Sookie muttered under her breath.

She looked in the mirrored and steadied her nerves.  She was about to bond with Eric permanently, and she couldn’t have been more ready.

When she reentered the living room, only the light of the fire lit her way.  Eric was putting another log on, but as soon as he sensed her in the room, he turned around, his heated gaze traveling slowly up her form.

Eric’s eyes sparkled at the sight of her.  He noticed that she was dressed in his favorite color, which offset her skin to perfection.  He noticed the curve of her hip and the swell of her breast in the garment.  He noticed the mixture of strength and fragility in her body.  And he drank in the sight of her eyes, which were now meeting his with a passion that he was certain rivaled his own.

“You are beautiful,” he said quietly―reverently.  He reached out his hand to her.

Sookie came to him slowly, reveling in his form in the firelight.  Her own hand reached to meet his.  And then their other hands connected in the next second.  They stood looking at each other for a few moments before they sank to their knees as one.  Neither had words for the moment, but the shared love flowing through the bond was more weighty than any vocabulary.

Eric brought both of her hands to his heart before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a tender kiss.  Unhurriedly, Eric lowered Sookie onto the pallet and deepened the kiss as his fingertips gently stroked her body over her silk negligée.

Their kiss became more heated as Sookie entwined her arms around him and pulled his body down closer to hers.

Eric’s hands caressed and cupped Sookie’s breasts over her nightgown more and more forcefully as he enjoyed the feel of the silk material, but he eventually wanted―no needed―to feel the silk of her flesh even more.  He brought his hands down to her thighs and began to raise the fabric inch by inch, all the while continuing their kiss.  Finally giving her a chance to breathe, Eric lowered his lips to her neck, worshipping it with open-mouthed kisses.

After a few minutes, he raised Sookie’s nightgown over her head and saw that she had on only lacy red panties.  He couldn’t help the growl of passion that escaped his throat.  “Beautiful.”

Sookie pulled him to her in a frenzy, rejoining their lips in a blazing kiss.

Eric was suddenly very aware of the offensive nature of his shirt, which kept his flesh from hers, and in the next moment, his flannel shirt was lost for good, its buttons flying around the room.  Eric lowered his chest to hers, bare flesh on bare flesh, his cool on her warmth.  They both sighed into each other’s mouths at the contact―at the contrast.  Sookie loved the feel of his weight on her and pulled his body even closer, stroking his muscular shoulders with her hands.

Sookie broke her lips from his to take a breath.  They took the opportunity to use their mouths to explore any flesh they could find.  There was a frenzy of blunt teeth, lips and tongues as they drew their bodies even more flush.

Sookie pulled Eric’s ear lobe between her teeth and bit lightly, an action that caused him to grind into her roughly.  He tangled his hands into Sookie’s hair and pulled her lips back to his desperately, their tongues stroking in time with the movements of his grinding hips.

They groaned in ecstasy at the friction they were causing to each other’s sexes and then in frustration that Eric’s jeans and her underwear were preventing their bodies from touching fully.

“Eric,” Sookie’s voice pleaded urgently as she moved her lips to his neck.

“I know,” Eric groaned back, fueled by a passion that seemed beyond them both.

In a blur of movement that Sookie couldn’t follow with her heavily-lidded eyes, Eric had pulled off his jeans as well as Sookie’s panties.  Immediately, he returned his lips to Sookie’s, and they continued to devour each other’s mouths.  Both moved so that their bodies could create the most contact possible.

“Now, please,” Sookie begged as she briefly came up for air.

“I know,” Eric repeated, his voice a barely audible groan.

Eric lowered his hand to check her readiness, and not able to help himself, plunged two long fingers into her opening.  Sookie arched into his touch.

“Please,” she repeated.  “I need you now,” she gasped.

Eric curved his fingers, finding Sookie’s spot, which caused her to whimper against him.

However, like Sookie, he couldn’t seem to wait for them to be joined.  He removed his fingers quickly and immediately replaced them with his hard length.  They both sighed in relief as they were finally connected.

“I can never be close enough, lover,” Eric gasped as he found a rhythm that made them both moan in ecstasy.  Sookie locked her legs around Eric’s lower back, deepening their contact, as Eric rocked into her.  He changed his angle slightly, and she arched wantonly as he re-found the spot he’d previously primed with his fingers.

“So close,” Sookie muttered after only a few minutes of their rocking into one another.

Eric increased his pace slightly, taking her lips with his again, their tongues in perfect timing with his thrusts.

Sookie moaned into his mouth, and her release came quickly; as she shattered and writhed beneath him, he lunged a final time, his cool seed flooding into her.  He collapsed onto his elbows above her, never breaking their kiss, which had moved from frenzied to slow and tender.  Sookie brought her hands to his hair and stroked it lightly as they sunk into each other further.  The passion in their kiss slowly began to build once more.  Still inside of her, Eric hardened again until he was filling Sookie fully.

They groaned into their kiss, and Sookie suddenly felt as if she was floating.  She opened her eyes as Eric’s lips moved from hers, and she found that she really was flying as Eric had lifted them off into the air and was slowly turning them so that he would be below her.

His cock still embedded deeply within her, Sookie moaned as he resettled them on the floor with him leaning back against the couch and her in a seated position on top of him.

Both sets of their hands slowly entwined together as they looked lovingly into each other’s eyes.  Simply enjoying the way that they fit together, neither moved for a moment.

Finally, Eric brought one of Sookie’s hands to his mouth and kissed the back of it lightly before turning it over and kissing her palm and then her wrist.  She moved slightly against him, causing them both to groan as she brought his opposite hand to her lips, mimicking his actions, first kissing the back of his hand and then his palm and then his wrist.

Neither could break their shared gaze, and Eric felt certainty and love coming from Sookie’s end of the bond.  After one more kiss to her palm, he once again set her hand onto his heart and then reached for the black velvet bag on the coffee table.  His movement caused more friction at the connection of their sexes, and Sookie grinded herself into him, circling her hips into him slowly, reveling in the feel of him inside of her.  Her eyes began to sting as the emotion of the moment threatened to overwhelm her.

Reverently, he took the knife from its pouch and held it between them.  “No going back, min kära,” he said seriously, asking her an implicit question.

“No going back, min kära,” she echoed.

Eric began to move his own hips in small circles to match hers.  “This is where I will always return, my love.  In you, I find my home.  In your eyes, in your flesh, in your love.”

Hot tears streamed unabated down Sookie’s cheeks, but her voice was strong through her tears, “And this is where I will always stay, Eric.  You are my home; you are my light in the dark.  I will love you my whole life.”

“And I you, my love―my whole life.”

Eric handed the dagger to Sookie, who again felt the raised symbols.  This time, the handle warmed in her hands, its magic spreading out onto her palm and causing the magic within her to rise up from her hand and encompass the blade in a white light.

Eric took in the sight and spoke with awe, “I knew this dagger would draw on the magic in you, min kära.”

Sookie smiled at Eric, her tears still falling.  For the first time, she was unafraid of the magic that dwelled within her.  She said with certainty, “Your magic binds us together in love, and mine will keep us that way forever.”

“Forever,” Eric agreed.

“What do I do?” Sookie asked uncertainly, even as Eric wiped some of her tears with his free hand.  He then moved it to join hers on the dagger handle and guided her hand so that the blade was at his chest above where his heart would have beaten.  He entwined his fingers around hers along the handle of the knife.

“Make a deep cut and drink, min kära, and then I will guide the knife to your flesh, and I will drink.”

Their hips continued in slow symphonic circles as Sookie looked deeply into his blue eyes, which shined with his love.  Sookie smiled confidently at Eric through more tears and slid the knife across his chest, causing a deep wound to form.  Eric groaned and thrust into her more forcefully as Sookie latched on and drank from him.

Their hands still entwined around its handle, Eric moved the dagger and created a similar but more shallow wound near Sookie’s neck.  As their blood mingled on the magical blade, Eric moved his mouth to the cut.

Their hands tightened around the dagger as they drank, the power of vampire magic and fairy magic combining within them to create something wholly unique to them.  They were lost in the ecstasy of their connection, and orgasms rippled violently through their bodies even as they drank.

The white light emanating from Sookie’s hand entwined with Eric’s, causing a surge through their bodies, which elongated both of their releases.  The dagger, which they were both still clinging to, heated even more in their shared grasp, and the white light slowly enveloped their bodies as their orgasms subsided and their wounds began to close simultaneously due to the healing qualities of Eric’s blood.

The pair rode out the euphoria of their shared releases, their shared blood, and their shared magics.  Their still locked gazes reflected their wonderment.  Then they brought their foreheads together intimately and rested into each other, the bond between them fully open and now permanent.

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