Chapter 016: That Sounds Like Heaven

Sookie looked down at Eric’s pants―still pooled around his lower legs―and giggled once again.

He quirked a brow, “You like this look, Miss Stackhouse?  Do you find it irresistible?”  He leaned into her sexily, despite the pants stilting his movements.

“Oh―it’s definitely you,” she chuckled.  “Such gracefulness.”

He teased, “I’d like to see you try walking like this.”

“Why didn’t you just fly us over here?” she quirked a brow of her own.

He chuckled warmly.  “Once I was inside of you, I think I forgot I could fly there for a minute.”

She giggled, “Well—if it makes you feel any better, I think I forgot my own name for a while.”

He reached down and pulled up his pants as best he could―given the fact that most of the buttons were now missing―before taking off his boots and socks.  Once his feet were bare, he flexed his toes cutely.  Seeing this as she reached down to right her own pants, Sookie smiled and a bolt of joy poured from her and into the bond.

He looked at her in question.

“You flexed your toes,” she grinned as if he’d just mastered an amazing skill.  “It was cute.”

He returned her grin and picked her up again.  “Let’s go put on something comfortable and curl up next to a fire―shall we, min kära?”

Sookie’s smile warmed and she purred, “Yes please.  That sounds like heaven.”  She wrapped her arms around him and laid her head comfortably onto his shoulder as he walked them to their bedroom.

“Would you like some of your popcorn food?” he asked as he set her gently onto their bed.  “Living room?  Bedroom?”

She smiled.  “I’d love some popcorn.  And how about the living room tonight?  We can put on a movie?”

He kissed her nose.  “Sounds like a plan.”

Quickly, he shed his ruined jeans and pulled on some track pants and a T-shirt while she went into the bathroom to wash up a bit.

He zoomed into the kitchen and pulled a bag of popcorn from the cabinet; he quickly read the directions and put it into the microwave.

At that moment, he realized that he’d not fed from Sookie during their intercourse.   He shook his head a bit.  Before Sookie, he’d never had sex with a human without also feeding.  However, Sookie was the very definition to him of the phrase “never before.”  Never before would he imagine that he’d be satisfied―ecstatic even―to simply spend a night sitting in front of a fire next to his woman as she chomped her treat.

The kitten rubbed his leg.  “Ah,” Eric said, “I know what you want.”  He reached down and picked up the creature gently, walking it over to its food bowl.  He placed the cat in front of the bowl and then filled it.  “Sorry―I forgot to do this before I left, didn’t I, little one?”  The kitten meowed and looked up at him before turning to his food.

After quickly picking up Sookie and his clothing—a lot of which was now in scraps—from the living room floor, Eric washed his hands and then pulled out a blood for himself and a soda for Sookie.  He knew that she enjoyed the bubbly drink with her popcorn, and he fixed it with ice as he’d seen her do.  He inhaled deeply.  He enjoyed the smell of this particular food―the salt and butter mixing with the corn scent.  He pulled out a bowl as the microwave beeped and emptied the popcorn into it before putting his blood into the microwave.  He zipped into the living room with her food and drink and pulled a few quilts and pillows onto the floor and then went back to the kitchen as the microwave once again sounded.

He quickly downed the blood and put the empty bottle into the recycling after rinsing it.  He was unconsciously wiping his mouth with the back of his hand when he turned to find Sookie grinning at him.  The bond between them was ‘grinning’ too.

“Now what?” he asked with a goofy grin of his own face.

“You,” Sookie said simply as she turned to go into the living room.  He followed her and pinched her bottom lightly as he rushed past her to start the fire.  The kitten padded along, trailing happily after his master and mistress.

“Did you just pinch my butt?” Sookie asked in mock anger as she reached down to pick up the kitten.

“Beautiful butt,” he said, repeating the words he’d used the night he’d been drunk on fairy blood.

Sookie tried to groan as if angry, but the bond betrayed her amusement and happiness.  She sunk down onto the floor and put the kitten on her lap as she reached for the bowl of popcorn.  She grabbed a handful of the treat and began chomping away as she watching Eric’s movements in making the fire.  His own beautiful bottom was much more enthralling than any movie she’d ever seen.

The fire started, he sunk down onto the floor next to her, and she arranged herself so that she was sitting into him with her back to his chest.  It had become their favorite way to sit, and he wrapped his arms around her, settling them on her stomach.

“What movie were you thinking, lover?” Eric asked after a few minutes of silence had been filled with only his inhaling her scent and her resting against him comfortably.

“Well, I never actually got to watch all of Iron Man,” Sookie laughed.  “Someone kept distracting me.”

“Who?” Eric asked innocently as he kissed and nipped at her neck.  “I’d be happy to make sure he never does it again.”

“Don’t you dare,” Sookie purred, turning around to kiss Eric on his cheek.  The kitten sauntered around them and began to rub its body onto the entwined fingers of their left hands.

“Have you thought of a name yet?” Eric asked.

“You were supposed to be helping with that, Mister,” Sookie said.

“You were the one who rejected my suggestion.”

She giggled, “We are not naming him Eric Junior.”

Eric sighed contentedly as he scratched the kitten behind the ears.  “In that case, I’m still thinking.”

Sookie chuckled and pet the cat as well.  “He just doesn’t seem to fit anything I’ve thought of yet.”

Just then Eric cocked his head.  “Pam,” he said quietly.  “Be right back.”  Eric quickly kissed her forehead, rose, and zipped up to the bedroom to get his cell phone.

He was listening to Pam’s report already as he reentered the living room and retook his place behind Sookie.  “Fine,” he said.  “Make sure that we have eyes on him when he leaves Merlotte’s.  After tonight, I trust him even less than before.  He is likely desperate to the point of idiocy.”

He listened for a few more seconds and then spoke again, “Pam, I’m going to put you on speaker so that Sookie can hear what you have to say too.”

Sookie sighed loudly and sank into her husband as he put the phone on speaker and then held it in his right hand, which was now propped up on one of his lanky knees.  He’d unconsciously retaken her left hand in his own.

“Hi, Sookie,” Pam said with amusement in her voice.  “Miranda told me all about the halftime fireworks this evening.  Sorry I missed it.  I have never enjoyed football, but it would have been nice to see the show.”

“Oh―hey, Pam,” Sookie responded.

“What is the status of Jessica?” Eric asked.

Pam sighed, “Do I really have to become a fulltime babysitter?  Miranda told me what you said to Bill.”

“Come now, Pamela,” Eric said with a smile in his voice.  “It will be fun for you.  I told you it was time for you to be a maker, and now you can have some practice.”

“I don’t think fun is the word I would choose, Eric,” Pam pouted on the other end.

“She could be a good vampire, Pamela―despite her maker.  You saw her the night we went to fight the witch.  With good guidance and proper training, she could become quite something.  Plus,” Eric paused, “you have told me yourself that you like her and have high hopes for her.  However, if you do not wish this, Pam, I will not force it upon you.”

Pam answered quickly.  “It is true that Jessica is not nearly as annoying as she once was.”  She added flatly, “But I want your permission to stake her if she does something that truly gets on my nerves.”

Eric chuckled.  “I trust in whatever decisions you make as her,” he paused emphatically, “stepmother.”

Pam scoffed loudly.  “Don’t fucking call me that, or I’m not gonna do it.”

Eric laughed louder and was joined by Sookie.

After a few moments, Eric asked, “Has Jessica been told?”

Pam answered quietly, “Yes―before I started her punishment.  She is under silver as we speak, though I am keeping it lighter than my usual.”

Eric spoke teasingly, “See—you do care for the girl.”

“There’s no need for her to suffer unduly just because her maker’s an incompetent douche,” Pam deadpanned.

“And the Were―Dawson’s nephew?” Eric asked.

“Fine.  Ludwig reports that he will be ready to go home within the week, and his mother and uncle are with him now.”

“Excellent,” Eric said.  “And Bill?”

“As I was saying before,” Pam said, “he seems quite out of sorts this evening―thanks to you, Sookie.”

“Um―thanks, Pam,” Sookie said, not knowing how else to respond.

“No thank you,” Pam deadpanned.  “Lillith was here this evening but left quickly an hour ago, giving some excuse about a call from a ‘friend.’  Once she got to the mansion, Bill told her about what you did to him―though in his version of the story, Eric forced you to do it.  Miranda’s version was quite different.”

Sookie seethed, “Bill needs to wake the fuck up from delusion-land.”

Pam chuckled and then continued, “Lillith cautioned Bill to go along with the sentence concerning Jessica, and they talked mostly of how they were glad that Jessica has been told nothing of their plans.”

“Well that’s good to know,” Sookie said.  “I’d hate to think of Jessica helping them.”

Pam’s voice grew angry, “In the end, Bill decided letting go of his duties as maker was for the best.  Though he told Lillith that he’d come to feel some affection for Jessica, he admitted that he will be glad to have her ‘out from under foot,’ as he called it.”  Pam’s sighed heavily.  “His fucking disregard for his child makes me want to drag his ass down here and put him under silver instead of her.”

Eric smiled, and Sookie could feel her husband’s pride for his child.  “You will—I think—prove to be an excellent maker, Pamela.”

Sookie heard another sigh from Pam.

The vampiress spoke up, “I will endeavor to be better than what she has had.”  Sookie was surprised to hear no sarcasm in Pam’s voice.  “But this needs to be done properly.  Get Jesus and,” Pam sighed with exasperation, “Lafayette to make sure that Bill’s hold over Jessica is severed and that the bond I make with her is just as good as if I’d turned her.”

Sookie looked up at Eric with a bit of surprise at Pam’s quick acceptance of taking on Jessica.

Eric winked at her.  “I was already planning to do so.”

There was a moment of silence on the line.  “Good,” Pam said simply.

“Anything else?” Eric asked.

“Lillith has told Bill that they need to plan for a while and lay low.  She told him that she has me right where she wants me,” Pam chuckled.  “Of course, it was I that had her right where I wanted her earlier this evening, but that’s just semantics.  In fact, she was quite good at lying right where I wanted,” the vampiress purred.

“T.M.I., Pam!” Sookie cried out.

Eric reflected for a moment, “A frightened Bill is probably good for now, especially if he is concerned about what Sookie did tonight.”  He unconsciously began to draw lazy circles along Sookie’s arm, and his pride flooded the bond.

“Anything else to report?” Eric asked.

“One more thing,” Pam said.  “Mike Conway called and left a message.  He said that he found the items you were looking for.”

Eric tensed a bit, and Sookie turned around to face him fully.

“Thank you, Pam,” Eric said evenly.  “Call if you have anything else to report.

After he’d hung up, Sookie asked, “Who is Mike Conway?”

Eric looked at Sookie intensely, “Conway is a private detective I use sometimes.”

Realization dawned on Sookie.  “So that means that,” she paused.

“Yes,” Eric completed.  “That means that your cousin Hadley and your nephew Hunter have been found.”

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