Never Walk Alone Chapter 14

Chapter 14

AN: I apologize to all my readers. I won’t belabor you with reasons for my absence, but for all of y’all who are still willing to stick with me, I appreciate your reviews and support-it means a lot to me!

Also, I just found out from my friend Naima I have been nominated in three categories for the “You Want Blood Awards.” As a “new kid on the block” writer of fanfiction, I am humbled and flattered to be nominated. Regardless of who you vote for, please take a moment to honor all the hard work by the talented SVM/TB writers out there, because it really is a labor of love to write fanfiction and this is one special way to show your support! (Youwantbloodawards dot wordpress dot com)

Thanks as always, to my beta VAlady, as well as naimademars (nanou13) for her ongoing support. You ladies are the cream in my coffee…

Quick recap:

Eric purchases the Compton house and is inexplicably drawn to Sookie, who is grieving and having visions/dreams after Gran’s death. He begins spying on her, as well as sneaking into her room to sample her blood, and…other temptations (heh heh). Sookie reveals to him that Gran came to her in a dream to tell her she made a dying wish (using the cluviel dor) for Sookie find her soul mate. Sam, who is in love with Sookie, confronts Eric and tells him to back off, but of course the Viking tells him in no uncertain terms that Sookie is his. Undeterred, Sam decides to visit Octavia, the voodoo priestess, to cast a spell to cause strife between Eric and Sookie, as well as cloak his thoughts. Eric and Sookie grow closer after a date where he takes her sailing and later have an intimate encounter, during which there was more mutual blood exchanged, though not yet enough for a full bond. Waiting for the spell to work to tear Sookie away from Eric, Sam asks Sookie to work Arlene’s shift, but has a double-motive:

….

….

Eric’s eyes opened before sunset.

Immediately, his cock came to life, hardening in his grip as his first thoughts were of Sookie. To take the edge off, he brought himself to a quick, jolting climax while he recalled their recent intimacy.

Afterwards, he took a shower and dressed in a black t-shirt, faded jeans, and boots, allowing his long wet hair to air dry as he made his way around the underground chamber. After perusing his email, he checked his cell for voice messages. Skipping over one from Pam, several from local area vamps, and no less than five from the annoying realtor, he went straight to one from Sookie. She had left it earlier that morning.

His smile melted from his face as he heard her sweet, southern accent haltingly explain that she wouldn’t be able to see him tonight because Merlotte had asked her to cover a double-shift for a co-worker.

He immediately smelled a rat….a shifted rat. How fucking convenient. Well, well. Merlotte thinks he can keep Sookie away from him? He’d see about that.

….

Sookie couldn’t remember when she had been so busy at work. It was one of the few times that she actually was glad she was telepathic. Since the bar was understaffed with wait staff (just her and Holly, who was pretty much worthless due to a monster sinus infection), she had to stay on her toes, scanning everyone to make sure she stayed on top of the orders. During rare moments when she could catch a brief respite, she kept checking her phone to see if she had any calls from Eric, but was disappointed to see there were no messages.

The bar started to thin out about half an hour before closing, and Sookie had just finished wiping down the tables and was refilling the napkin dispensers when he walked in.

Sookie’s eyes widened as she took in all 6 foot 5 inches of Viking blocking the entire door entrance, his pale blue eyes focused on her with laser-like intensity. Taking two large strides, he sat down at a table closest to her.

She felt an inexplicable, bone deep pull towards him. His eyes scanned her from head to toe, causing a frisson of pure lust to shoot through her core. As if from a distance, she heard Jane Bodehouse’s drunken but admiring thoughts: “Hmm, what a mountain of a man. I’d love to climb him and…”

She tuned the drunk woman out. Licking her lips and smoothing back her hair, she walked towards him.

Smiling his brilliant smile, he reached for her hand and brought it to his lips, gently kissing it while taking in a deep and unapologetic sniff of her skin. “Mmmm, sweetness,” he murmured. “I missed you. Did you miss me as well?”

Sookie blushed as she drank in his intense expression. “Well, um, I…yeah…I’m…I guess you got my message, huh?” She felt flushed and embarrassed as she continued to babble. “I got your note and know you planned on coming over, but Sam was short-handed here, and…”

“Sookie! We’re about to close up here. It’s last call.”

She turned to see Sam glaring at her and Eric from behind the bar and immediately spun back to him with an apologetic smile.

“I…I’m sorry, Eric. We’re about to close up. I don’t suppose there’s-”

“I will have a glass of red wine. Or is that even available at this type of establishment?”

“Uh yeah, we have red wine. Sure thing.” She turned and headed to the bar. Before she could open her mouth to give Sam the order, he interrupted her.

“I heard what he ordered,” Sam hissed, low and full of venom. He kept his eyes on Eric the whole time, lids narrowed in anger.

Sookie noticed he didn’t make a move to fill Eric’s request. She stared at Sam for several seconds in disbelief before she stomped behind the bar and grabbed a bottle of wine. She made a huffing noise when she looked up and saw both men engaged in a pissing contest, boring holes in each other with their stares.

She put the glass of wine in front of Eric, who thanked her and kissed her hand again, all the while maintaining his unwavering glare at Sam.

Sookie stood for several seconds, watching the two of them until she shook her head and went back to cleaning and prepping for the next day.

She made it a point to ignore them until midnight rolled around. She took Eric’s drink (untouched, of course) back to the bar after he paid and insisted she keep the change from a Ben Franklin. Everyone else was out of the bar, even Jane Bodehouse, who needed a cab to drive her back home. Lafayette had winked and leered knowingly at Sookie before making a beeline out the back door. Holly also left quickly, but not before shooting a nervous glance at her boss and the giant, good-looking (but scary) blonde hunk, who seemed to want to tear each other’s heads off.

Sookie had just finished wiping down the bar and cleaning the glasses (walking around Sam, who stood immobile). Finally, she took off her apron and went into the employee area, where she retrieved her purse.

She walked out to the main floor and announced irritably, “Well, I’ll just leave y’all to your staring match, but I’m heading home. See y’all later.”

At her dismissal, both men stirred.

Eric broke eye contact with Sam, immediately dismissing him without a backwards glance. Standing quickly, he stood and walked over to her, whispering in her ear, “Lover, I will meet you back at your house.”

Stunned, Sookie watched him turn and saunter out the door, never hesitating as he got into his corvette and drove away.

She fidgeted when she became aware that Sam was staring at her.

“Well, Sam, I gotta go. I’m bushed. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow since you mentioned it looks like Arlene’s gonna be out again?” She turned to leave, but was stopped by Sam’s grip on her arm.

“Cher, please tell me you’re not gonna let him in tonight!”

She slowly turned to him, and said sharply, “Now Sam, I thought we had an understanding about this. You agreed you’d keep your nose out of who I’m dating. Or did you forget about our little talk so soon?”

Sam sensed the anger coming off of her in waves, and so dropped his hand. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. In his head, he steeled himself against the nausea he felt rising as he imagined what Northman intended to do with her tonight. He needed to just bide his time until Octavia’s spell came to fruition. He repeated it to himself like a mantra.

He opened his eyes and held out his hand to Sookie, lightly cupping her cheek for a brief moment. “Sook, I…I’m sorry. I’m just worried about you is all…I got…good reason to feel protective. Now that’s not a crime, is it? To be looking out for…a friend.”

Her gaze softened as she placed a light kiss on his cheek. “No, Sam, it’s not a crime. And I do appreciate your…concern. But as I told you the other day, please, no commentary about my personal life, huh?” She frowned at him. “And I know I don’t need to remind you about the no sneaking around clause?”

Sam cringed internally and gave her a weak smile. “I know, Sook.” She didn’t notice that he had not explicitly capitulated to her demands, he thought grimly.

She cocked her head and looked at him appraisingly, a small frown wrinkling her brow.

Shit. She probably was noticing she couldn’t get a bead on his thoughts, which would have otherwise revealed that he had given Arlene a week off with pay and his role in the witch’s spell. To hide his guilt, he quickly distracted her by offering to escort her to her car.

She accepted, but he didn’t miss the sidelong glance she shot his way.

He waved as he watched her drive off, his stomach in knots. The thought of that cocky undead bastard touching the woman he loved was so goddamned difficult. He didn’t know how much longer he could stand it…

Gritting his teeth, he turned back inside to finish up some final closing duties. Maybe it would take his mind off the burning, near obsessive desire to shift and follow her home….

…

AN: FYI, the next chapter is already written, just tweaking it a bit, so expect an update soon! Thanks for reading!