Chapter 8

EPOV-FLASHBACK

“Eric!”

It was cold outside, a normal human would not be able to stay outside like this in this winter’s storm. The sky red, and the snow falling, and it covered the earth like a blanket, a cold blanket.

I was going to blur away in the blink of an eye, but the voice that had called out to me was older, therefore faster than I.

“Eric Northman!” I didn’t want to turn around to face her.

I had spent two hundred years away from her, and her family. I knew she was angry.

“Eric, At least turn around and look at me.” She pleaded. “I don’t have much time, before Aidan and Godric find out I’ve gone missing. I managed to slip past my guards, but they’ll notice soon…”

Guards? What Guards?

Was she in danger?

I didn’t want to look back at her, but I couldn’t resist. Curiosity got the best of me. When I turned around, the small smile that had probably graced her lips, and the nice tone of voice she had carried, had suddenly disappeared.

“Eric, I can’t believe you!” She said with a growl. “You disappear off of the face of this earth for two hundred years, and not one letter?! At least a phone call would have been nice, we do live in a modern world where technology allows us to call each other without having to see each other face to face!”

“As you can see, I’m quite alive.” I sighed. “Selene…please—“

I swore I could see steam coming out of her head.

“Don’t you dare, “Selene please” me, because do you know how worried sick I was?”  She hissed at me, as she tugged on to my clothes, her hands trembled. She then pulled my face down towards her, staring into my eyes. She let go of me, and then she pulled back a bit, suddenly I was in her arms. This petite woman had enveloped me in a warm embrace, that made all bad feelings go away. I felt safe here.

“Two hundred years, and you haven’t changed much.—Eric are you eating properly? Are you taking proper care of yourself? Are you keeping yourself safe, out of harm’s way? Did you find someone to walk eternity with you? Do you love anyone? ”

I was bombarded with questions, as she held me close speaking to me in the softest most gentle voice, the way a mother would speak to a child. We looked funny, I was a giant compared to her, she was so tiny, but she had a giant subdued in her arms, and I didn’t want to pull away.

“Selene…I am over a thousand years old.—“ She quickly cut me off with a glare. “Eric don’t you dare. I don’t care how old you are. You can be ten thousand years old, but in my eyes you will always be that child I took in, and loved as my own, and I still love as my own.”

She pulled away from me, stroking my cheek gently.

“I love you Eric. You will always be loved, By both Aidan and I. We love you, so try not to be an ungrateful brat, and drop  a notice every now and then, at least.” She said placing a tender kiss on my forehead.

“Selene, you said you escaped guards, and if I am correct, Aidan wouldn’t do that unless there was real danger to you. What are you doing out here? What if I had killed you?”

“Oh stop it. You silly men think that just because I’m pregnant I’m suddenly a fragile little thing that can break with ease.”

“You’re pregnant?!” A shock indeed! Our kind did not conceive so easily, and what a grand blessing it was when we did. Selene never mentioned wanting a child, but I was glad for her.

I was also angry with her.

“If you are pregnant, then they’re right. You shouldn’t be out here. It does not mean you are weak, it means that you must protect that precious cargo. Our kind can barely conceive children, it took you two thousand years to do so, how are you going to endanger yourself so easily?” I said angrily. What a foolish woman she was being!

“You’re right, this was careless, but this is also you. You will never harm me.” This woman was far too confident and that made me fear for her.

“If you promise to marry my daughter when she is older, then I promise to listen to you and everyone else, I will stick with my guards at all times, I will stay safe.”

“How can you just forfeit your daughter’s life to me?!”

“Because.” She sighed. “ I don’t want her to marry anyone from any of the other remaining families. I do not trust them with my daughter, and I would never trust them with my daughter. But I trust you, Eric. I trust that you will love my daughter and care for her like no one else will. I know that she will be happy with you, and this is also an opportunity for you to continue your bloodline, restore your family name to its rightful power.”

I truly didn’t want this, this was absurd. While Selene had a point regarding my blood and family name I did not want to give such a responsibility to her child.

“Do not think like a human, Eric. You know what is required of our kind. There are very few of us remaining, that the moment my child is born, the council will want to put her up for auction to the other families, and they probably won’t even wait until she is of proper age.”

The council was very adamant of having our kind repopulate, our kind as in the pure blooded. Selene was serious about this, and she wouldn’t back down. If this meant giving her child protection, then I would do it.

“Very well, I will marry your daughter .”

Selene smiled, and thanked me. She pressed a kiss to my brow and stepped back.

Diana Agron, as Selene Brigant

“I will allow you to leave Eric, but you should stop by every now and then to see your future bride.” She winked, and laughed all at the same time. Sometimes I think this woman does things to rile me up.

“And remember, don’t be a stranger or I will —ahh !” She shivered. “I should go. Aidan has discovered I have escaped. I will head back before he destroys something.”

 

---

SPOV

Fake smiles, soft and soothing music that was played by an orchestra, and the outfits that everyone was wearing made it seem like something from a story book.

I wasn’t a stranger to these type of events I usually attended, but kept myself in the shadows, watching everyone, making sure nothing went wrong.

Though calling hunters to these type of events was ridiculous. These Supes only wanted to threaten each other with us here; but to us, we were just content with trying to keep everyone alive.

I glanced over to Eric, who was speaking with Sophie Anne Leclerc. He was beautiful; no words could describe how he looked tonight. His attire from Fangtasia was so different from today. Eric wore an expensive Armani suit, and his hair was slicked back and braided down.

He looked so regal; he looked like the powerful and deadly creature he was born as. Why would a man like that want me as arm candy?

Two weeks ago I had spoken to Gran about Eric, and she seemed pretty supportive of my feelings. I didn’t see Eric until last week when he came by wanting me to be his arm candy for the night.

He said body guard, but in the end I was arm candy, because he was high handed, and it was the only way to get me to agree to come along.

This wasn’t the first time Vampires or other Supes had hired a hunter to help maintain the peace, and this wasn’t my first type of high class social event either. I had been to plenty, either as arm candy or as a hunter.

Pam had called it a date.  She had a field day when I stopped by Fangtasia to pick up my dress that Eric had bought for me. I didn’t like that he was buying me things, but he insisted that it was part of my job and Gran insisted as well. Who was I to deny the dress when Gran was being so approving?

I stood off into the sidelines watching Eric from afar. I had slipped away without him noticing, I was beginning to get a little too overwhelmed by all of this.

This type of setting felt familiar to me. I felt like I had done this with Eric before, which was one of my motives for slipping away so easily. Not that I wanted to be away from him, I wanted to be near Eric at all times not because it was a part of my job, but because I felt this need within me to stay with him and protect him.

I usually only had the desire to protect my family, but Eric was slowly worming his way into that circle, even if he wasn’t family I know I cared enough to keep him safe, and it wasn’t because of his status in this world. It was because of how I felt about him.

I liked Eric, and maybe a little more. I wasn’t in love with him, not yet at least. But I had a feeling that I was getting there. It was something that should scare me, but it wasn’t scary at all.

“Sookeh, what are you doing here?”

I seriously wasn’t expecting that voice, or that vampire to be near me. I turned my head around, mustering up the best smile I could offer. I inclined my head politely. “I’m here because I’m Eric’s date.”

Beehl didn’t look so convinced.

“Sookeh, if you stay with me I can take you home. When will you understand that he’s glamoring you? A person like you couldn’t possibly be allowed to enter here, he just brought you here to humiliate you. Please come with me.” He said grabbing my arm.

I couldn’t let Bill know that I was a hunter.

I was also offended at his phrasing on ” how  a woman like me could attend these kind of social events.” What the hell did he think I was?

He was harassing me, in front of my colleagues. Eric was nowhere to be found, and I assumed it was due to some political crap and I was fine with it.  The rest of the hunters here also knew my current situation.

“Miss, is this Vampire harassing you? We could have him escorted out, if he continues to be a problem.” A hunter pulled Bill away from me before I could give into temptation and stake him. Bill looked angry.

“Get your filthy hands off of me.” He hissed. Though that didn’t faze the hunter, not one bit.

“Sir, you forget that I could care less about what and who you are. I could put a stake through your chest and let it be done and over with. You have no authority on me, and no one would dare interfere with me right now, so please behave yourself, and back away from Mr. Northman’s lady friend.”

Realizing he had failed once again, Bill backed away. The Hunter turned around and smiled. “Miss Hale, enjoy the rest of your night.”

When Eric had appeared next to me again, he didn’t seem too pleased.

“I’m sorry.” He said.

“For what?”

“For not realizing that he was here as well,” He took my arm and I could swear I could hear him inhale. I heard a low growl rumble in his chest. I found it hot.

Eric started to pull me away, and I knew I should have questioned where he was taking me, but I didn’t. I stayed quiet. I was excited.

We ended up in a secluded hallway; there was not one soul around. Eric stared back at me; I could tell he was angry.

“Did he touch you? Did he harm you?” He grabbed the arm Bill had touched, and he looked at it, trying to find something wrong. I pulled my arm away from him, and placed my hand on his cheek. “Eric, I’m fine. Did you forget I can take care of myself, Mr. Northman?” I winked back at him. He seemed to relax at my touch, his hand gently touching mine, holding it in place. My heart fluttered in my chest, Eric was looking at me as if I was something so fragile to him, for a minute, I could have sworn I saw fear cross his eyes.

“Thank goodness you’re un-harmed; I would have killed him regardless of the amount of surveillance from your people.” He said as he took my hand and kissed it.

“Would you care for a dance?” I suddenly felt like I was in a fairy tale, like Cinderella being asked by her Prince to dance. I was suddenly afraid that the magic would be gone at midnight. I automatically nodded and accepted his hand.

The sound of the music was faint, but I could still make it out as Eric led me around the empty hallway. Vampires had different tastes with music. When it came to events like these they usually pulled out the orchestras and what not and they stuck to ballroom dancing. I learned a few dance moves here and there but Eric had a thousand years on me.

It felt so magical. Eric moved with grace, and he hummed along softly to the sound of the music. We forgot about the world around us, it was just the two of us. I moved along with Eric, my movements felt light like a feather, we twirled around and at one point we held each other gently as we danced along.

My body began to take a mind of its own, and then Eric began to follow along. The song suddenly felt familiar to me and my body knew it, Eric had started out with different movements to this song so he could allow me to move with ease, but my body automatically knew the moves and I began to change the pace and suddenly, Eric and I were moving in complete synchronization. The dance made me feel like I was some sort of fairy, dancing in water underneath the moon light.

I felt free, I felt like a swan spreading its wings, alongside Eric. We intertwined our hands and twirled around again, at one point I pulled away and Eric pulled me back in. We each held each other’s face as we danced, and then I pulled away and I turned around only to have Eric twirl me again, I held onto him though, wrapping my arms around his neck, and Eric wrapped his arms around me, our foreheads touching, our nose touching each other. I was only inches from his lips, and I was tempted to kiss him.

We stopped, and we stayed there for a while. When the song was reaching its end, I smiled at him and I pulled away, but Eric was having none of it, he pulled me back in, and pressed his forehead against mine. There was a beautiful smile on his face, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

In that moment I decided to take a giant leap of faith. I took action and I kissed him.

 

———————————————————————-

EPOV

I wasn’t sure how, but she had remembered this song.

She remembered how to dance to it, and it made me so elated that she did. I was so fucking happy words couldn’t express how happy I was. But I made it known to her, how I felt when we danced. I held her as if she were made of glass. Susannah danced as if she were Aislin again. It gave me hope.

Towards the end of the song when she began to pull away I pulled her back and in that moment we shared, she kissed me.

She actually kissed me.

And god, did I miss those lips.

I kissed her back enjoying, and relishing in the moment. It had been too long since I’ve tasted her lips, far too long since I’ve gone without kissing her. It was perfect, this moment, our moment, it was all too good to be true.

My control began to slip, I wanted to taste her. I wanted to taste every inch of her until I couldn’t have more, I wanted to erase Compton’s scent off of her and cover her with my own scent.

Susannah pulled back, gasping for air.  She licked her lips, flashing me a smirk. “You taste good.” She said, and it made me growl in anticipation, I stepped back trying to think of other things so I wouldn’t claim her, right here in this empty hallway.

As if she could understand how I was feeling, she leaned in towards me a little.

“I think we should take this somewhere private.” That was enough for me to pick her up and flash us out into one of the private rooms on the venue. I quickly shut the door behind me and locked it. Susannah stood against the door, laughing softly she continued towards me, and I stepped backwards. This time she was more predatory than I was. I was honestly wondering where this side of her was coming from, but I wasn’t complaining.

When I was finally backed up into the wall, she pulled me down to kiss me once more, this time her kiss was quick but sweet all at the same time.

“I don’t know why I’m doing this.” She said.”But I realized today, that I love doing this with you.” I couldn’t agree more, but there was still a lingering doubt in my mind.

“What about the others before me?”

“There has been none, you silly vampire. No one else has had my attention but you.” The beast inside me was roaring with pride. She hasn’t had another in her time apart from me. She was still mine, and that’s all that mattered.

She grabbed my face, and pressed her lips on mine again, and this time I had us flipped around so she was backed up against the wall. Her kiss was still as full as passion as it was when she still had her memories intact. Her kiss could still make me; a thousand year old vampire, weak in the knees.

Oh and by the gods how I wanted to taste her blood. Her blood is the only one I ever yearned for, and controlling myself was very hard right now so I pulled away from her, my fangs were already out, but something in her gaze made me stay right in place, unable to look away from her.

“You’re hungry.” She said, stating the facts.

“We can’t do this. I’ll lose control.” She seemed to look annoyed at my response.

“I’m calling the shots here, “ She said. “If you’re so hungry, then feed from me.” She said tilting her neck, and brushed away part of her hair.

“Eat. You need it.”

I still hesitated, and when she saw my hesitation, she pulled me down towards her, and she moved my face down towards my neck.

“I’m giving myself to you, I trust you, so please eat.” I brushed my nose alongside her neck, inhaling her wonderful scent. She still smelled the same as always, that honey and sunshine still lingered on her. As fucking happy as I was at her offer, I wasn’t going to bite her just yet. I pulled away from her neck, and kissed her, pulling away from her lips I began to kiss down her jaw line, all the way down to her neck, to where I was going to bite. I lingered there for a moment, and brushed my tongue on the area.

There was no hesitation in her, she was as calm as always, and before I bit I grazed my fangs along the area, before finally piercing the skin, and sinking my fangs in. Susannah moaned, she wrapped her arms around my neck, her hands trailing up to the back of my head, her fingers threading through my hair. She brought me down even more as I fed, and we ended up sliding down to the ground.

This was probably one of the best moments of my life.

————

 

 

Watch this video, it’s what inspired Sookie and Eric’s dance!