Since Bill has confirmed for himself that Sookie is at Eric’s house, it seems more than a little stupid for her to insist on going back to Merlotte’s to wait tables the next day with such a huge threat hanging over her head. That’s one of several things that have never made sense to me from SVM, TB, or FFs — what kind of stupid does a person have to be to prioritize showing up to wait tables at a dead-end job over accepting the offered protection & expertise of a powerful vampire set on keeping her alive & out of the enslaving clutches of the monarch in pursuit of the moment?

I’m not trying to pick on this story about it. It’s a canon thing that most FF writers adhere to, but it doesn’t make it any less stupid, regardless of the author. Personally, if someone told me I had a king or queen’s henchmen pursuing me to capture me then turn me & enslave me for eternity and I had to choose which option to take, I would be hunkering down in the fortified & guarded digs of a centuries old vampire warrior without taking even a nanosecond to think through the ‘choice.’ I wouldn’t give a damn about a greasy bar in a podunk town being short a waitress until the danger to my life passed. Sam would be lucky if I even thought to call him & tell him I wasn’t coming. (He’s always lousy at managing his staffing anyway. It serves him right to have to cope with the consequences of his own shortcomings.)

UGH! Alcide. There’s that steaming stream of urine I was expecting earlier.

I’m crossing my fingers that he will be different than canon in this story.

The choice to have this Eric’s interest in Sookie to this degree so quickly be explained by her & her dangerous situation enlivening the life that was feeling tiresome AND to have him bluntly telling her just that, is a refreshing approach in this fandom’s fics. A very few other stories I’ve read have nibbled at the edges of a similar approach, but you’ve got this one by the throat & under your deft control. Well done!

This story feels like a vampire story should. Thank you for not turning Eric into a Ken doll, a begging lapdog, an eager to make babies with the most wonderful woman in the world moony-eyed bitch, an egomaniacal dolt who needs Sookie to survive, or Mr Perfection who has everything perfectly under control with an inconceivable number of special abilities that make him unbeatable. This feels like authentic vampire storytelling. So rare out here. You’re making me giddy!

Seriously Slutty Sookie. She’s quickly losing the moral high ground for considering Jason to be a man whore. What kind of ‘good, innocent, Christian, virgin girl’ goes from naked adventures in her own bed the night before with a vampire she is just getting to know (but who is clearly aggressively & possessively seeing to her personal protection) to being ready to publicly make-out with her hired bodyguard?

I was expecting to have my cereal peed in by bringing Alcide in as the ‘competition’ mentioned, but worse than that, you pooped in my hot fudge sundae by bringing Quinn to the story. GACK!

For the moment, I’m going to try really hard to reserve harsh judgment since Eric found out early and he let know Sookie know what Quinn was meant to be there for. My fingers are crossed however that Eric will ream Quinn in a big way for asking Sookie out instead of guarding her. I sooo don’t feel like slogging through any Sookie/Quinn romance. He’s so disgusting I’m sometimes amazed that a woman created that character!

I’m not expecting a sweet, gooey romance story between E&S here, but I’m not here to be grossed out either. I’m liking Eric the Hunter in pursuit of Sookie the prey. Him having to protect his quarry from nearby predators while he’s stalking her is a nice layer of complexity, just so long as I don’t have to watch her suck face with the others.

That this Sookie can feel more of a vampire’s mind than just the standard/canon ‘void’ (& maybe even read vampires) at this point in the story is intriguing. It would be overwhelming, especially in this situation & her inexperienced sexual status, to suddenly be feeling not only her own confusing responses, but also what he’s feeling, both mentally & physically. Wow!

This Eric character is also ramped-up beyond the usual. This one has ‘dangerous predator ready to spring at a moment’s trigger’ rolling off of him. He much BIGGER in the way he reads on the page than the standard sexy, charming, frat boy, man whore, who also happens to have some personal & political power we usually see him written to be. Instead of feeling like you’re face to face with a flirty, hot, mysterious man creature, it feels more like sitting nose to nose with a large, unrestrained jaguar. Gulp!

"To make the word inch stand out even more in his persuasions Eric had stroked his growing erection through his jeans, drawing Sookie's line of sight downward."

Seriously? Honestly author, do you really think that Eric would be so pathetic? Or that Sookie of all people would find it hot that a random guy she just met is just casually masturbating in front of her? -_-

This was great. Wish it had a sequel!

I am a FF addict and I'm always excited when I discover a new story. Darker Desires was an amazing marathon read. I stayed up until 3am because I could not stop reading ... It was well worth my sleep deprived state this morning!

Really enjoyed your story! Thanks for sharing!

Use all the "vulgar" words you want!

crazy

MMMMMM...WE huh?

That Pam is pretty crafty.

He is such a hottie.