TB belongs to its owners. I own nothing.

Thank you all so much for your kind words and the alerts I have received, it blows my mind every time. My apologies for taking lengthy time to update. Real life has been keeping me away from the story so I apologize for such a overdue update.

I do hope you like this one. Am hoping my grammar isn't bad and that my wording is okay.

Chapter 20

My heart pounds with nervousness as Eric remains still on top of me for a moment, leaning upright on his elbows, while he becomes fully sheathed inside me. It's a strange feeling- but in a very good way. I didn't realize anything could get more personal and intimate than having someone inside you.

He closes his eyes for a brief moment, breathing heavily, while I tremble beneath him. Then he looks down at me again.

"You tell me when, Sookie," he breathes, his face pinched in pleasure. "You tell me whenever you want me to stop."

It's intimate in a way I've never experienced before, staring into one another's eyes while he is inside me. But I know for certain what I want then, and its this; This moment, shared with him, right now. There's no going back.

Finding out that speech is well beyond me, I can only seem to manage a brisk nod.

"Tell me," he moans in a strained voice as he shifts with his hips unexpectedly, the movement causing me to cry out suddenly as I fold my arms around him, clinging tight.

"Now," I beg, scaring myself at the strange desperation in my tone. "Keep going, Eric. Please, oh please."

I feel him move in me as he pulls back a little, and then he takes that first thrust forward. The unexpected pleasure that ripples through me makes me gasp in surprise. I had always heard that the first time is always the most painful and uncomfortable experience, and then it'll get better a couple of times after that; Only it hardly feels painful at all. I don't know whether it was due to what he did before, preparing me and making me aroused beforehand, but... its hardly painful in the slightest.

"Okay?" he whispers, his voice raspy.

"Don't stop now," I hear myself plead like a greedy woman, and then he fortunately grants me my wish.

Eric reaches towards me, twining his fingers through the strands of my hair with one hand, while he bends down, pressing his lips to mine as he repeats the motion of before, drawing out and then thrusting in a little, again and again. I can hardly find my breath when he kisses me in a way that dazes me, his tongue entering my mouth. A few more repetitive motions of him thrusting in and out of me tears a whimper from my mouth into his, and my hands blindly clasp onto his shoulder blades, feeling his muscles expand as he moves back and forth against me, again and again.

One of his hands reaches down, and he finds my leg, bringing it up and over one of his in a way that makes the sensations of him thrusting build and grow even more intense.

"Faster..." The single word comes out of me like an impatient demand. I hear Eric chuckle low in his throat, almost growling throatily, before he increases his pace.

My hands, finding their own mind yet again, start roaming past his shoulders downward. Greedily, they grab onto his hips, fingernails digging. Then I feel like touching him there isn't even beginning to be enough. I feel like I want to touch him everywhere, feel and experience everything of him everywhere. Every new thrust, every feel of his bare skin sliding against mine, it seems to make the feeling inside of me increase.

"Like this, Sookie?" Eric asks breathlessly.

"God, yes," I moan, hardly caring what comes out of my mouth. "Exactly like this..."

Just when I believe he couldn't move fast enough or go hard enough, he does. Eric starts moving about me with such savagery that my mind goes completely blank of any thought I could have had. Moans and shrieks break through my mouth, sounds I would have felt embarrassed to make otherwise, yet Eric lets me know he likes how vocal I'm being by grunting against my mouth deeply in seeming approval and delight.

A far-off roaring seems to hit my ears, I can feel my blood hot and thrumming in my veins, and when I feel that time about to come, Eric leans back slightly to look into my eyes, to watch me. A wretched cry erupts from my mouth as the dam at last breaks, a wave of an orgasm sweeping me away, leaving residual tingles all over my body.

Eric groans loudly barely a second later, muttering my name as well as a low oath under his breath as his face twists in sheer ecstasy and pleasure, his eyes still locked onto mine. I never knew someone could look so beautifully handsome until then, with watching Eric unravel. I can't seem to glance away, watching his usually carefully contained expression crumble due to what we are doing together.

"Sookie," he pants as he thrusts one last time, and I feel him spill himself inside of me before he stills of all movement abruptly, bending down to kiss me again, almost bruising me.

I have to lean back in the pillow in order to break away from the kiss so that I can regain my breath. No matter how heavy I pant or work on calming my breaths, it doesn't seem as though enough oxygen is truly getting in. I feel almost like I'm high, floating on an illicit substance. When Eric moves to use his fingers to brush the damp strands of hair away from my forehead, I find myself grinning widely up at him, on the verge of hysterical laughter yet again.

He's clearly not as exhausted as I am; I hear him take in a long, ragged breath before his breathing ceases altogether as he looks down at me- probably because, by all reason, vampires don't need to breathe as much as I do.

"How are you after that, Sookie?" he asks me gently after a moment, his voice deep. He's still inside of me.

"Surprisingly good." I slip up, bursting out laughing. "It didn't hurt as much as I was anticipating it would."

He nods once, licking his lips. "Then I'm glad. So I didn't hurt you at all?"

"Nope, not really. Maybe there was a little bit of pain, but... it was mostly great." I feel my brows crease in worry. For the life of me, I don't want him to move off me, at all. I hardly want to move myself; I just want to stay here, underneath him, with him over me, still inside me. To just recoup, to rest my bones. "I do feel there is something wrong with me right now, though."

"What's wrong with you?"

"I just... I feel like I don't want to move," I admit with a nervous laugh. "I can't move, and I don't want you to move right now. I don't know if that's... strange or not?"

A low chuckle escapes him as he grins down at me, flashing me both his fangs and normal human teeth. "There is definitely nothing wrong with you, Sookie. I find that I don't want to move either."

Him saying that has me mighty relieved then; At least it isn't only just me. "It's like my arms and legs don't want to respond to my commands. It's like my brain has a 'come back later' sign on it, too."

Eric chuckles again before leaning down to rest his much cooler forehead against mine for a moment. Then, all too soon, he is forcing himself to move, pulling himself out of me carefully to lay down beside me on the bed.

"You could probably tell that I didn't know much," I admit, feeling shy all of a sudden.

"So I was your first?" he asks me quietly as he props himself up on one elbow, leaning down over me. "This is your first time with a man?"

Apparently while my brain is on leave, so is everything else; My modesty especially. I can hardly seem to care that I am lying practically naked from the neck straight down to my toes in front of him. But when his eyes roam down my body, drinking me in again, I realize self-consciousness and insecurity is the least I should feel when I see the appreciation there in his eyes for me.

"It was," I agree, barely above a whisper. "I'm betting it was really obvious to you, though. I hardly knew what I was doing?"

"Not at all, Sookie."

Something causes me to glance down. That's when I see the dark-red smears of blood between my legs. Just like that, movement comes back to me. I shoot up quickly, snatching the sheets to cover myself. My period has come. How embarrassing.

"I'm so sorry," I get out nervously. "I didn't realize that-"

"- It's not from you, Sookie, so relax," Eric says, barely sounding fussed in the slightest surprisingly. "It's from me."

"From you?" I can't say I understand.

"It happens for vampires. I ejaculate blood." He hardly seems embarrassed at having to admit that to me one bit, nor does he seem bothered that he is naked all the way up and down as he lays on top of the sheets- not that I don't enjoy the sight of him, King Eric. Then again, maybe he's that old and experienced that nothing seems to phase him anymore?

"Oh, okay." I'm silent for a moment before another inappropriate round of laughter escapes me without my control. "Well, I suppose that definitely explains things then."

My embarrassment leaving me just as quickly as it had come, I sit back down, stretching out longways on the bed next to him, but with the sheets covering me this time around.

Eric shifts closer before he leans against my back, an arm coming around my waist, holding me close to him. Apparently vampires don't mind snuggling or spooning after sex, which is a relief, if I'm to be completely honest because I feel I do need some snuggling together, particularly after all that. I rest the side of my face down against the pillows, another smile on my face when he bends down, pressing his lips around the exposed area of my back a few times. Then I feel him part his lips a little, and his fangs nip and scrape against me, causing a shiver to dart through me.

"How'd you feel when you first saw me?" I ask without thought, finding myself needing some pillow talk with him. "When I was in the hall, all lined up with all the other Bon Temps girls, what were your initial thoughts about me?"

"Honestly?" He breathes the words into my skin. "I didn't know what to expect of you at first. But I thought you were... beautiful."

"Hmm," I moan thoughtfully. Another shiver passes through me when he shifts slightly closer above me, his lips starting to make a slow, leisurely trail towards the crease of my neck. "When I saw you, I thought you were handsome. Handsome and scary. And then I was shocked that you'd picked me as your mate, and I couldn't quite believe it."

"Because you were overcome with relief that you were chosen? You couldn't believe your good fortune?" The words are mostly a sarcastic whisper into the side of my throat.

"No, I really didn't feel it was good fortune at all, definitely not at the time," I admit, deciding to be honest. "I thought you were kind of a... an asshole." I know I probably shouldn't be saying that, especially not to him, seeing as he is royalty and all that. I move back against the pillows to peer up at his face as he leans above me. "And after you tore the head off your guard all because he gave me scratch while shoving me in the car, I admit, I also thought you were somewhat of a... complete lunatic."

To my relief, Eric doesn't look angry or insulted at all. If anything, he seems amused that I'm being straightforward and that I'm not bothering to hide the truth from him. He bends down to kiss me once on my collarbone before lifting his head to glance down at me again. "And now?"

"Now?" I have to think it over deeply for a moment. "Well, now you've definitely grown on me, I'll tell you that much."

He laughs, low and throaty. "Likewise, Sookie." He licks his lips, his eyes brimming over with sincerity. "Since I met you a couple of nights ago, you've definitely grown on me as well."

I stare up at him contemplatively. How strange things can turn out in a matter of nights then.

"I have another conference that I need to attend in two nights from now. I want you to come with me." He isn't so much asking me, as much as he is telling me. I'm not so sure how I feel about that. Then again, he had taken the separation pretty badly in comparison to me. It is only fair I should come, isn't it?

"In Oklahoma again?" I ask, unable to hide my uneasiness. I'm more so nervous about how it would be like, being in another vampire kings headquarters and how they will be than anything else. Also, meeting the vampire that made Eric into what he is, is also high up there in the nerve-wracking stakes. "With your maker Godric?"

"No, it isn't in Oklahoma this time. Godric will definitely be there though, as its part of his requisite."

"Then I don't really got much choice, do I? I'll go with you, that's fine."

Eric shifts so that he is leaning above me more, and he rests one hand on the side of my face, peering into my eyes deeply in a way that suddenly makes my nerves increase. "I feel its only right to warn you beforehand, but this king, Russell Edgington, he is... particularly vocal about what he believes in." He looks me over seriously, like he is desperate for me to fully understand.

"Vocal about what exactly? What does he believe?"

"Just about who the dominate, superior master race is, and who isn't. How he runs things in his court, its... vastly different from how it is here in mine. I like to think I am far more lenient and laid-back, than he is. Russell is very... totalitarian in how he runs things. He believes in asserting his dominance over the humans in his court, he view them as little more than... servants or playthings." I feel my stomach clench in horror. I really don't think I could handle stepping into this Russell Edgington's domain then, yet Eric needs me to be there. "If you come with me, there are a few certain rules that you'll need to abide by on the night." His fingers stroke my hair as he adds, "No doubt certain rules you won't be so happy about."

"What kind of rules?" I ask quietly, though I hardly feel like I want to know. I suppose its best I do though so I know what I'm going to be in for on the night, isn't it?

"For one thing, Russell Edgington doesn't believe that you and I- as human and vampire- are equals." The face Eric makes lets me know that he doesn't quite share that same sentiment, at least. "He considers a human speaking freely without being addressed to first as a grave offense, one that he doesn't take lightly. In all the times I have been at his court, he has punished a few humans when they chose to spoke when not spoken to first."

Really, this was too much. Not speaking unless spoken to first?

"So I'll have to keep quiet unless spoken to first?" I repeat in bewilderment.

"Exactly. While I have claim over you as you are my mate, I can only protect you so much..." Eric hesitates, grimacing. "Also you're going to find it confronting, no doubt. Like how you felt when you witnessed what went on downstairs in the feeding room, but... only a thousand times worse. Some vampires let their perceived powers go straight to their head and, with Russell, he is definitely one of them."

I feel my head swarm over all that he is telling me. If it is really as bad as Eric is telling me it is, then I sure as hell don't want to go. Yet seeing how lethargic my not being near him made him when he returned after the conference at Oklahoma and how interesting it would be to meet Eric's maker, I realize I have no choice either way but to grin and bear it on the night.

Do hope you enjoyed this one? So sorry for being away for long, I've still been sick and busy with working. Hope I can be forgiven. :)