A/N: Ok this is kind of a filler chapter and I apologize for that but they are necessary at times. I was going to have much more in this chapter but then I thought it would be best to have what follows this chapter have it's own chapter. So now it's looking like the final count on chapters is 33, which again may change, depending on how I write the story, I may want to cut off chapters to up the anticipation or just help the flow of the story.
Make sure to check my profile for new stuff on the story and updates. I did make a banner for the story that you can check out, as well as a photoshoped pic of what Taryn looks like to me, and I have videos of Taryn's performances. Oh and still looking for a Beta, anyone interested or know someone who is?
Oh and don't forget to try your hand at the "What is Taryn" Contest. Look forward to your entries. As we get closer I will give you clues, or more likely things you shouldn't be focusing on. I'll steer you away from the from the wrong answers rather than lead you towards the right one. Good Luck!
Big thank you goes out to , Jensi, mixmatched9, Just Wait and See, blueicefireNINJA4, Textcrazy, amroberts17, Night Owls, brandibukeye, Calliope's Inspiration, ChristabelLaMotte, ThatGirl54, cherrytattoo, and sxevlbtch. Of course thank you to all my readers. Hope you enjoy and as always please please Read and Review.
Eric's hands moved from their precarious position and smoothed the shirt back down so that she was covered before he moved away from her. He stood and faced the woman who Taryn now saw was a striking red-head with a piercing set of blue-gray eyes. Her hair was soft tumble of finger waves, a look Taryn tried and could never accomplish in all her years of trying and the make up was dramatic yet simple, a very forties flare, and the elegant gossamer blouse with the pencil skirt and floor length, pure white mink coat she wore only amped up the drama. She was a gorgeous woman, except for the fact that she now looked down at Taryn with pure unadulterated hunger and lust.
Eric stood from the bed but didn't reach down to help her up, he actually didn't even look at her or speak to her. She looked up at his profile while he proceeded to drop his head, gaze shifting downward so he wouldn't look the woman in the eye. If Eric's stiffness dragged a chill down her spine just seconds before, the fact that he didn't want or couldn't look this woman in the eye completely froze her blood in her veins, it was the only way to describe the paralyzing cold that over came her.
"Your Majesty I had no idea it was you, if I had know I would never have spoken to you, My Queen, in such a manner." Eric said and Taryn could see the tenseness in his muscles. She knew he hated having to debase himself to this woman, but since he was, there was only one clear reason as to why... he had no other choice. Taryn still rested on the bed, knowing that it would do nothing but draw the Queen's lascivious attention, she'd never been granted the ability to move, and with Eric playing the subversive follower it would be best for her to play the same card but a million times more inferior.
"That's fine Mr. Northman, just don't let it happen again." She said distractedly, eyes never leaving Taryn while Taryn fought not to look her in the eyes. "Was I interrupting anything?" She questioned eyes finally flicking away and without the weight of her gaze Taryn finally felt like she was capable of breathing, the breath came out in a soft sigh but no matter how soft it was the Queen's eyes returned to it's unwavering glare of her body. "Because if I was I'd permit you to finish... as long as I could stay that is." She tacked on and Taryn could tell her eyes had fallen on the small black lace panties and they froze there as if she stared long enough the lace would simply melt away. Taryn allowed her a moment to flick her gaze to Eric who was also looking at her, and the stoic mask she saw was not comforting... also the fact that he didn't speak up to tell the Queen she hadn't interrupted anything was not reassuring.
"No." The word left her lips a little louder than she'd intended, and when both eyes fell upon her, Eric with that stoic and cold gaze doubled with the Queen's slightly displeased glance, she froze. Swallowing hard on the lump of fear caught in her throat, threatening to choke her, she forced her mind to think and think fast. Her tongue darted out to wet what felt like chapped lips, and the Queen's eyes quickly followed it trek, and Taryn knew from the heat within her gaze that she would have only one card to play here. Since Eric wasn't doing anything to help them out of whatever jam they were in for whatever reason, it was up to her, because right now only she had a way of distracting the Queen. "You weren't interrupting anything, your majesty." She added on into the silence and the Queens eyes met her's once more and she purposefully let them catch her gaze before looking away as bashfully as she could muster.
"Pity... I could have used a good show, since I missed yours a few days ago." The Queen purred and Taryn was worried that's she'd order them to have sex right there and then for her entertainment anyway, but then her attention snapped away to Eric. "I hear it was all the rage, a sight not to be missed." She said eyes not intent upon Eric.
"Well you're Majesty, that is quite an easy fix. We're closed for business tonight and I'm sure Taryn wouldn't mind putting on a repeat performance just for you." He said his voice cold yet polite, his hand extended to Taryn but his eyes didn't follow the gesture. Regardless of his detached manner Taryn took the hand and let him pull her to her feet by his side. The Queen's eyes followed her trek like a tiger in cage.
"I'd love to." Taryn added on, keeping her gaze away from Eric and off of the Queen's eyes. She didn't need the woman to try and glamour her, if that happened and when she realized she failed, they'd all be in really deep shit, and it seemed like they were waist high in it already.
"I'm glad to hear that, except as much as I like this establishment Eric, it is hardly the proper place to really enjoy this little morsel and all her talents... don't you agree Mr. Northman." She purred dangerously.
"Of course your majesty." He answered automatically.
"Good I'm glad, I'll give you time to get your affairs in order. I'll expect you at the manor in no less than two hours. You'll be spending the day, as I'm sure you've already figured out." The Queen said icily before turning her eyes back to Taryn. The Queen lifted her hand and her fingers reached out to touch Taryn's face but a bass and dangerous growl rumbling past Eric's lips had her pausing and flicking her eyes Eric before dropping her hand and turning swiftly and exiting in a bounce of red hair. Only when the door closed behind her did Taryn turn to Eric, eyes searching his face, but his eyes were trained to the empty space the Queen had just occupied.
"Am I going to get any kind of explanation out of you?" She said, aggravation coloring her words.
"Probably not as much of one as you'd like." He said as he turned away from her and towards his closet, eyes never meeting hers. Then the clack of heels she'd come to associate with Pam sounded behind her and sure enough, when Taryn turned, there she was.
"What does she want Eric?" Pam asked and the fact that her normally sarcastic manner was gone, again spoke of the severity of their situation.
"A visit, from me and Taryn." He said cooly.
"You've got to be shittin me." Pam spat out and Taryn was reduced to sitting on the bed and watching them argue. "What if she figures out your little dancer has some secrets, She'll kill us for not bringing the little bitch to her." Pam spoke in their native Swedish, forgetting that Taryn was fluent. Eric turned then and gave Pam a glare, he opened his mouth to speak but Taryn beat him to it.
"Please don't speak of the little bitch like she's not present." Taryn spoke back to her in Swedish, which gave Pam pause but that cool and angry glare soon returned to her features.
"I'll speak to you however I want to." Pam stated coolly.
"No Pam, you will speak to her however I say is fit for you to speak to her, and childish name calling is really beneath you but if I must forbid you from using it I will. I have much I have to discus and a hell of a lot to figure out with little time to do so. Pam do not make this any harder on me by distracting me and picking a fight. Now will you please pick out an outfit for Taryn that the Queen is sure to love and Taryn will not hate too much." Eric stated while pulling out a charcoal gray suit from his closet with a black shirt and charcoal gray tie. With a slight huff Pam left the room.
"What's going on Eric?" She said and finally Eric looked at her, and the worried and scared look in his eyes as they finally met hers was when it all finally locked into place. She'd been getting small hints at how bad this was, but when she saw that Eric Northman, stoic, smart ass, confident, Eric Northman was scared... then she needed to be completely terrified.
…
This evening was turning out to be a grand ole cluster fuck. It has started out with good, with news that Taryn was stable and in the clear, then she'd awoken and they'd fought, but that only led to them laying out as many cards as they were comfortable sharing on the table, a big breakthrough for the both of them.
Then those moments when she'd been in his arms, writhing and gasping, her body heating up at his touch, that had been... utterly amazing. The feel of Taryn's supple skin, the sounds of her fervent moans, the sight of her body flush with excitement, the honey taste of her mouth, and the smell, the smell of her completely ripe for the taking. It was an experience to behold, to be cherished only slightly less than he would cherish the feel of being able to swim in cool waters under a hot sun once more.
Then that bitch had to come in and ruin it all. What did she want? She couldn't know about Taryn, hell he didn't even really know about Taryn, he was still grasping at straws as to what she was, how could the Queen know anything about it. Him, Alcide, and Pam were the only...
Eric paused as realization dawned on him. There was two other people that knew there was something up with Taryn, and one of those people he didn't trust. Bill Compton. If indeed the Queen had grown wise to the mystery of Taryn, Eric knew exactly how she'd found out, and if anything happened to Taryn... Bill Compton was dead.
With angry hands he tore off his shirt and removed his pants, and the strangled gasp that sounded to his left had him turning to see an obviously blushing Taryn with her head turned and hands covering her eyes. Regardless of the situation, a smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
"Well that answers that question." He heard her muttering, knowing she was simply talking to fill what was awkward silence to her. He resumed dressing, not having the time to mess with her like he wished he could.
"What question?" He asked as he pulled on the suit pants and zipped them up.
"Girls always wonder one thing about men... boxers or briefs... and now I know that in the case of Eric Northman the answer is Commando." She said softly and he chuckled and once the pants were buttoned she dropped her hands to look at him again and he could see the light blush across her cheeks.
"Get a good look there?" He questioned as he reached for his shirt with a mischievous smile.
She began to shake her head no, but he could see the slight twinkle of laughter in her eyes, and sure enough. "Yes." came out of her mouth with a soft chuckle. "Not that I was trying to, your pants were off before I could even register what was going on, and like a lady, I looked away." She said her tone moving to slightly defensive.
"Taryn... you are nothing, if not a lady." He said as he began buttoning up his shirt. "A sometimes foul mouthed lady... but a lady not the less." He said and he could see her lips curl into a smirk out of the corner of his eye.
"Thank you... so are we going to talk about what' going on or am I going to be left completely in the dark here?" She questioned and sure enough that's when Pam decided to enter, tossing a pile of clothes on the bed next to her.
"I gave you a choice." Pam drawled, hands moving to rest on her hips as she scowled.
"Thank you." Taryn said softly, and Eric could see the slight quirk of her eyes, and he knew that Pam hadn't expected any kind of gratitude.
"You're welcome, when will we be leaving?" Pam then asked turning to him.
"Taryn and I will be leaving as soon as she is dressed, you will stay here, if anything should happen to me you are not to come to my rescue, you are to go to anyone of the human's staff's home and hide there and make your way to Huston and pledge your fealty to Isabel, she should take you in no questions asked." He said, wishing there was a way to keep Taryn safe as well but if they failed in this tonight they were both dead. At least he could keep one person safe and he was determined to do so.
"Eric..." She started to complain but he cut her off.
"As your maker I command you." He said coolly and watched as Pam narrowed her eyes and then turned in a huff and left them alone.
"So you were gonna tell me what's going on." Taryn said as she began looking over the pile of clothes and shoes.
"Well that woman was Queen Sophie Anne." He stated buttoning up the sleeves of his shirt.
"Queen of what?" She asked as she stood, dress, shoes and necessary and matching undergarments piled in her hands. She then motioned for Eric to turn around. He gave her a glare, He'd just had her half naked in his arms and his hands in very precarious places, yet she wanted him to turn around when she changed. He went to open his mouth to complain but she cut him off.
"I don't wanna hear it Eric, we don't have the time, just turn around." She said and even though there was joking in her tone he heard the underlying wariness and she was right. They didn't have the time so he turned.
"Queen Sophie Anne is the vampire Queen of Louisiana, which means she's My Queen and I her loyal subject." He said not able to keep the vehement loathing out of the words loyal subject.
"Ok so what's going on, what do we have to do to navigate the shit creek we so often seem to find ourselves on... Sans paddle and all." She said as he heard the clothes she was wearing now hit the floor followed by the soft scratch of the cloth then being pulled against her skin as she dressed. Gods, knowing exactly what was going on behind his back was not helping his concentration at all.
"Well I'm hoping that we go, we entertain the Queen, and she'll let us leave the next night after many many rounds of kissing ass and Yahtzee."
"Yahtzee?" She questioned and he heaved a very defeated sigh. "Yes the Queen loves to play Yahtzee, it's a game of chance so human and vampires are all on an equal playing field, which isn't true with many other games considering our enhanced reflexes and senses. She always wins, and do what ever you can to make sure that doesn't change."
"Ok... so that's best case scenario, which as much as we'd like to hope that's the case... knowing our luck it's not. So give me worst case scenario Eric." She said and he heard her picking up the pile of clothes from the floor. "You can turn around now." She tacked on and he did. Everything stopped as his eyes landed upon her.
She'd picked a black lace dress that was almost see through, bits of skin showed through the the lace but it was still dense enough that there was no fear of it being obscene. The dress clung to her body like a second skin and all down the sides large patches of fabric were missing, so that there were only straps of lace keeping the dress intact. It was enough skin to surely entice the Queen without being suspicious or inappropriate. His eyes finally lifted to Taryn's eyes and he could see a slight smile upon her face, she then took the few steps forward and her hand lifted slowly till her fingers brushed his chin. She then processed to apply a little pressure, moving her hand upwards and his chin with it. Only when his bottom lip met his top lip did he realize he'd literally been gawking, complete with wide eyes and gaping maw.
"Worst case scenario..." She prompted and he gave a slight shake of his head.
"Right, well worst case scenario, is she knows you're... well that there is more to you than meets the eye. " He mention and he could the slight amusement she'd had on her features completely melt away.
"That's not good."
"No that's not good. If she doesn't know and only suspects we will simply give her nothing to go on. One thing I know for sure is this meeting is about getting a read on you, and our relationship. The best plan I have is that you are my... pet, and it will go over the best if you play the willing and subservient party. You belong to me and wish to only please me, nothing is more important to you than that... if we can pull it off... she'll let us go." He said and Taryn gave a nod, but he could feel the fact that she wasn't happy with the part she had to play in their little act. "It will also require us to at least appear that we've been far more intimate than we've actually been."
"Ok, be submissive and polite... and no squeamishness. I think I can handle it." She said with another nod.
"Don't think Taryn... do, we have no room for error." he stated and she gave him a wary glare. She closed her eyes and took a great breath before releasing it slowly. When she reopened her eyes all the wariness was gone.
"Ok. So can I call you Eric, or should I refer to you as Sir, Master." She said and the Master came out in a tone that spoke clearly that he'd end up paying for that later.
"Sir is fine, with an Eric thrown in here and there." He said and he could feel her relax slightly. She heaved a sigh and stood up straighter.
"I guess the time for stalling is over." She said and he nodded. He lead her from the room and up the basement stairs to the back door. They didn't pass Pam on their way out and he had a feeling he wouldn't. Pam and he were horrible at goodbyes and since this was quite possibly a goodbye they both shied away from it.
When they'd reached the outside he turned to Taryn and proceeded to lift her into his arms. She gave a surprise yelp and he couldn't help but smirk.
"I thought you were going to take the car." She said begrudgingly as she rested in his arms, her hands moving to wrap around his shoulders to make the position more comfortable.
"This is much faster." Was the only warning he made before he lifted off the ground and sent the soaring into the air.
Chapter Title/Song Lyrics
"Vulgar before me" by Candlebox
To you. Seperation, only to put it down.
To you. Desperation, only to be around.
So on and so under, misdirected in other words.
Always I wonder is there anything I can do for you?
Anything I can do? Well I can do anything...
To some, I've been singled out, always I take your fall.
To some, same and broken down,
All we've left is dropping around you.
And you know these lines they're open ended.
These books were meant to be followed,
And your rules left to be read...
Is there anything I can do?
I can do anything. I can do anything,
It's vulgar before me...
Is there anything I can do?
I can do anything. I can do anything.
It's vulgar before me, vulgar before me...
Vulgar before me, vulgar before me.
Vulgar, vulgar before me.
Anything I can do?
I can do anything. I can do anything.
Vulgar before me, vulgar before me...