Up All Night: Chapter 4

Charlaine Harris owns almost everything. I own the rest.

Here are a few things you should know:

All mistakes are my own. Padore is amazing. This chapter is NSFW.

____________________________________________________________

Chapter 4

Eric’s POV

Eric manipulated the camera to get closer to Sookie. She seemed distracted, checking on Beth frequently. She didn’t look at the cameras and smile like she normally did, but it didn’t matter, she was still there, about to go in his room.

He zoomed in and frowned when she walked straight toward him. Her face filled the screen when she stopped inches away from the camera.

“It’s you. I knew I recognized your … scent. I just couldn’t place it. Until now.” She sat back on her heels and pressed her lips together and glowered at the camera. She jerked the sheets off, got a new set, scowled at him again, and finished without another glance.

Sookie hugged Beth when they were done cleaning. “You holding up okay?”

Beth nodded. “Wanna go out again?”

Sookie looked right at the camera in the front room and said, “How about tomorrow? I need to take care of something.”

The house went dark.

Eric paced in front of his desk. Is she coming here again? Why was she so mad? What does she need to take care of?

Ten minutes later, he got his answer.

Sookie burst through the front door. She stormed up to the bar and pointed a finger at Eric’s face. “You’ve been watching me!” Her jaw clenched.

Everyone in the bar looked at her.

“Calm down,” Eric said.

“I will not calm down,” Sookie shouted.

Moving quickly, he came around to her, gripped her arm, and led her down the hall. He tried to influence her to be calm, but just like their previous encounter, she didn’t respond to his persuasions. She continued to protest, twisting and squirming as he led her to the privacy of his office.

As soon as the door closed, she turned on him again. “You’ve been watching me!” she said again. “You knew who I was, and didn’t say anything.”

“Say anything about what?” he replied, feigning innocence.

She glared at him. “Is there sound?”

He lifted his eyebrows.

“On the camera? Can you hear us too, or just see us?” She propped her hand on her hip.

“Both,” he admitted reluctantly, not wanting to incur another wrathful scowl.

She took a step toward him and poked him in the chest. “You should’ve said something. You should’ve told me who you were.”

“Why?” He scoffed.

“It’s only fair!” she whined. Another poke. “I bet you enjoyed yourself, didn’t you? Watching us clean up your mess.”

From his vantage point, he could see down her shirt, her full, round breasts heaving as she scolded him. “I enjoyed some things more than others.”

That time, she pushed him backward, until he bumped into the closed door. “My eyes are right here!” She pointed at them with two fingers and then pushed on his chest again, remaining close to him. “Also I don’t like the way you talked to me last time. You don’t know me well enough to tell me what I’m capable of!”

He couldn’t stop the smile pulling at his lips. Her adorable tantrum was more than he could handle.

“Don’t laugh at me, mister!” She stood on her toes, trying to look him in the eyes, failing miserably. “You’re too tall,” she pouted.

Eric slid his legs out on either side, lowering his entire body until they were eyelevel. “Better?”

“Maybe. That’s not the point. I’m mad.” Her breathing had leveled out a little, and the flurry of energy she started with began to die out, he could see it on her face. Her eyes glazed over.

“Why are you mad?” he asked.

“I, I…” she stammered and then licked her lips. When she blinked, she seemed to open her eyes in slow motion. “You’re just so…” She closed the gap between them, her mouth crashing into his. Her lips opened and her hot tongue snaked out, pushing urgently against his teeth.

He leaned backward against the wall, pulling her with him as his arms wound around her body. His hands slid down to her ass, squeezing the flesh enough to make her moan into his mouth. She leaned against him heavily, pressing firmly against his straining cock, making him groan.

Without warning, she pulled away, flushed and beautiful. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have…” She gasped for breath and took a step backward.

“Sookie, please,” he begged. He needed more.

“You know my name too?” Her forehead creased with anger and then she bolted for the door.

“Fuck.” Eric grunted and hit the wall behind him, making a hole.

* * * *

“I’m going to stay here and wait for her,” Eric said the following Sunday evening, as Pam got ready for work.

“I suppose I have to go to work.” She lifted an eyebrow at him.

“Yes.”

“What if she doesn’t show? What if she’d rather lose her job than be around you?”

Panic gripped him. “Shut up, Pam. That’s not going to happen.” But what if she’s right? He stormed into his room. “I’ll wait here. You should leave.” Before you open your mouth again, he wanted to add.

“Fine. But if she doesn’t show, don’t say I never warned you.”

* * * *

He could smell her as soon as she opened the front door and he had to resist the urge to go to her. She worked quietly; shuffling back and forth down the hall while Beth cleaned the kitchen and front room. She pushed his bedroom door open and inhaled deeply before switching the lights on.

She slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle the scream escaping her mouth. “Holy shit, you scared me,” she whispered.

“Sookie? You okay down there?”

“Yeah,” she called out. “Just a bigger mess than I expected.”

“Let me know if you need a hand!” Beth yelled down the hall.

“Okay,” Sookie replied, and closed the door behind her. “What are you doing here?” she whispered, scowling.

“We need to talk,” he said, keeping his voice low. He sat on the edge of his bed.

“There’s nothing to talk about!” She started cleaning his dresser. She paused, put her hands on her hips, and turned to face him. “It’s not fair.” Before he could reply, she went on. “I remember reading something in my contract that said the houses would be empty while we cleaned.”

“Fuck your contract.”

She stomped closer to him. “I happen to need this job.” She stared at him. “I have bills to pay, food to buy.”

He put his hands up. “I just wanted to talk. We got off on the wrong foot.”

“I’ll say.” Sookie rolled her eyes. “Move. I need to change your sheets.”

He leaned back on his hands, spreading his fingers wide, anchoring himself to his bed. “Make me.”

She narrowed her eyes and then went around to the other side of the bed and yanked the sheet off the mattress. She moved from corner to corner until the sheet began to curl in toward Eric. “Move,” she said again, slightly louder.

He shook his head, a smile tugging up the corner of his mouth.

Fueled by anger, Sookie pushed on his shoulder with all her might. Her feet scooted against the ground, but he didn’t move. She growled, straightened her back, got right in front of him, and then pushed on his chest. Once she got between his legs, he fell backward. Sookie’s momentum forced her on top of him. She panted, her warm breath caressing his jaw. Her entire body went rigid. “You did that on purpose.”

“Don’t go.” He locked his arms around her and watched the battle of emotions crossing her face. He pressed his lips together and squeezed his eyes shut as she tried to roll off, rubbing against him in the most delectable way. “Stop moving,” he said through clenched teeth.

“Why?” She grunted and pushed against his arms, arching her upper body like a cobra.

He groaned. “Because I’m going to come if you keep doing that.”

She relaxed instantly, her body molding to his. “Oh, I didn’t…” She started breathing hard again, and then she kissed him. She dug her fingernails into his chest as she devoured him. That time, he thrust his tongue inside her mouth and she sucked on it hard.

The scent of her arousal filled his nostrils, and try as he might to keep his fangs tucked away, there was just no stopping them. They slid down, nicking her lip.

“Sookie, is everything okay in here?” Beth asked as she touched the doorknob.

Sookie panicked and rolled over, while Eric dove for the side of the bed. He hit the ground with a muffled thud just as Beth came into the room. The bed creaked as Sookie bounced onto her feet.

“Hey, Beth. I was just…” She panted for breath between each word.

“Your lip is bleeding.”

Sookie gasped. “So it is.” She made a sucking sound, the sound going straight to Eric’s cock. “Must’ve bumped it on the bookshelf while I was getting these sheets off.” She walked around the end of the bed and glanced at Eric, who held perfectly still on the floor. He had to resist every urge in his body to stay down, keeping away from her and her blood-smeared mouth.

“You have the worst luck in this room! Want a hand?” Beth’s footsteps got closer.

“Sure,” Sookie said, a little too loud. “Will you take these to the washer? I’ll fold the blanket.”

As soon as Beth’s footsteps retreated, Sookie whispered. “Hide!”

Eric smiled, keeping his fangs hidden under his lips. She smoothed her hair away from her face and tightened her ponytail before joining Beth in the hall.

He jumped up and stepped inside his closet, pulling the door almost closed, leaving a tiny gap to see through.

“So you finished the rest of the house already?” Sookie said.

“Yep. All that’s left is whatever you need to do in the gray room.”

“I just need to vacuum and make the bed.”

“I’ll get the floor,” Beth offered.

Sookie laughed nervously, “Oh, thanks.”

Sookie came into the room first, glancing around and then sighing when she didn’t spot him. Beth started vacuuming, and Sookie climbed up onto the bed with the clean sheets. She hung her head off the side of the bed so she could see under it, and frowned. She scanned the room, her forehead creased until she saw the closet door cracked open. A smile flickered across her face.

When the women were finished cleaning, they walked together toward the front door. Eric’s shoulders fell and then he heard Sookie say, “Oops, forgot something. Hang on a sec, okay?” Her footsteps raced down the hall and into his bedroom.

“Beth’s waiting for me,” she whispered to the closet. “She’s getting impatient.”

He frowned. How does she know Beth is impatient?

“You’re right. We need to talk,” she admitted with a sigh.

He opened the door slowly, a huge grin plastered on his face. “I know.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m free Friday after dinner.” She scribbled something on a scrap of paper and offered it to him in an outstretched hand. “That’s my address, we could talk there.” She glanced over her shoulder as Beth called her name from the front room. “She’s wondering what’s taking so long.”

Eric gripped her wrist and pulled her into the closet with him. Their mouths met briefly as his shoulders dug into the clothes hanging behind him, and then she pulled away.

“I don’t even know your name,” she panted.

“Eric Northman,” he said.

“Eric,” she repeated with her soft, breathy voice. “I’m Sookie Stackhouse and I’ll see you Friday evening.”

No one had ever made his name sound so good before.

____________________________________________________________

What do you think next Friday will bring? Find out in Up All Night: Chapter 5