Dead Boys

This is another entry for the Eric and His Great Pumpkin One-shot Contest. This one has a human Sookie and Eric, but I think you’ll still know their story. AH, AU, OOC. Rated: M – Drama/Romance – Chapters: 1 – Words: 7,621 – Published: 9-23-09

Charlaine Harris own all this.

Thank you to my lovely beta, Thyra10, whose stories you should be reading!

A/N: This story contains a human version of what happened to Sookie in the trunk in Charlaine Harris’s books. This in no way romanticizes rape, but takes a different look at the original scenario and (hopefully) has a more rewarding outcome. If you find reading about rape disturbing, please go no further.

I was a twenty-five-year old waitress in a little bar in Bon Temps, Louisiana, when Bill Compton moved here. I was also a virgin, but that didn’t last too much longer. I was bored of all the local boys and pretty excited when Bill arrived fresh off a tour with his band, Dead Boys. I guess I should say with his former band because they had just broken up. I’d never seen them but I knew who they were. Pretty much everybody in Louisiana did. So when Bill walked into Merlotte’s, he was the closest thing to a superstar I’d ever seen. Within weeks, I was stuck on him like white on rice. He was handsome with dark hair and pale skin and had perfect southern manners. Plus he had a charisma that I’d never seen before—the kind you get from seeing the world outside of Bon Temps. I wasn’t sure what part of Louisiana he’d grown up in, but after the band broke up, he came to live with his uncle and aunt at the old Compton house right by my family home. My grandmother had passed away leaving the Stackhouse home to me, and I had acquired a roommate named Amelia who I met once on a trip to New Orleans. I’m not sure why she’d want to live in a little backwater town like ours, but I was grateful for the company.

Bill and I had been dating for awhile when I got wind of a new nightclub that had opened in Shreveport. I wanted to see it, but Bill hesitated for some reason. It wasn’t until I threatened to go with Amelia that he finally gave in and took me. As soon as I got there, I knew the reason for his reluctance: Eric Northman. When Dead Boys first formed, Eric Northman was their lead singer. They were young and gorgeous and had a great Louisiana sound. Their popularity skyrocketed almost overnight. They toured the state and then the country, but as their popularity grew, something went wrong within their ranks. After the first year or so, Eric left the band and struck out on his own. It turned out that that draw to that unique Louisiana sound was mostly due to Eric’s velvety vocals and breathtaking stage persona. On his own, his success grew tenfold and he left Dead Boys in the dust.

I’d read about Eric in the tabloids and magazines and knew that he had just up and walked away from a blossoming career, saying he wanted to go home and take some time off. I had no idea what that meant until I walked into Fantasia and saw him sitting in a booth, clearly the master of all he surveyed. He owned the place both literally and figuratively. He was the most stunning specimen of a male I had ever seen. He was very tall, although I wasn’t sure exactly how tall since he was seated, and had long blond hair (the same color as mine) and the most beautiful clear blue eyes I had ever seen. I could tell that his upper body was perfectly developed by the way the fabric of his shirt clung to his lithe muscles, and I found myself wondering what the rest of him must look like underneath that table. My eyes wandered down even though my view was obstructed, and when I looked back to his perfectly chiseled face I was startled at the intensity of his stare and looked away blushing.

“Oh, you noticed him, did you?” Bill sounded pissed.

“Um, no. Well, yeah, I guess.”

“Everybody does.”

I looked around the room and there were a lot of eyes on Eric Northman. I got the feeling that many of the woman there were only there to see him and hope for his attentions. I wondered what that must be like for a man. I was watching a few of the leather-clad beauties drooling at him before I realized that he had stood and walked up to our table.

“Compton.”

“Eric.” There was a momentary awkward silence as Eric just stood and stared at me with a smirk on his face. I hoped my mouth wasn’t open. “I’m sorry. Where are my manners? Eric, this is Sookie Stackhouse. Sookie, Eric Northman.”

I shook his hand and we made small talk, exchanging pleasantries. I complimented him on the bar, welcomed him back to Louisiana. Before he turned to leave, he mumbled something under his breath about a candle in a coal mine and gave me a smile that could only be described as seductive. I just about melted into a puddle.

I tried not to look Eric’s way too much after that which was pretty hard, let me tell you. Bill’s mood got kind of pissy, but eventually he seemed to get over it and we started dancing and had a couple of drinks. The bar was really hopping and the dance floor was always packed, but I noticed that Eric never left his booth. There was a constant stream of gorgeous women talking to him and even more watching him from afar. I couldn’t imagine what kind of a giant ego he must have from all that female attention. I was on my way back to our table after a trip to the ladies room when I noticed that Eric was missing from his permanent spot. I glanced around the room and then slammed into him as he stood in front of me like a perfectly sculpted statue.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry.” I resisted the temptation to touch his chest.

“Dance with me.”

Before I could even answer him, Eric had grabbed my hand and we were on our way to the dance floor. We pushed our way through the gyrating bodies until we were in the center of the floor and then suddenly the music changed and the beat of the song slowed way down. Eric took my hand in his and stepped closer. I nervously glanced around to see how the other couples were dancing. Some were still moving separately to the slower beat, but a few were touching and beginning to hold each other. I tentatively placed my hand on Eric’s shoulder as I felt his strong fingers grasp my waist. We began swaying to the music and I looked up into Eric’s eyes. The confident smirk was gone. He was smiling gently as his eyes dropped from my eyes down to my lips. I wondered briefly if he was going to kiss me and I felt my heart race. But he didn’t. He just kept studying my face, his warm hand on my waist, his thumb absently stroking the fabric there. He took a step closer and folded our clasped hands into his chest. I could feel his muscles with the back of my hand and wondered what he would look like without that shirt on. His eyes left mine as he tenderly brushed the side of his face against mine. We moved like that for most of the song. Occasionally, he would turn his head and his nose would nuzzle into my hair as his hand would squeeze mine just a little tighter. I breathed in his intoxicatingly male scent and shocked myself by moving my hand from his shoulder to the back of his neck, pulling him even closer to me. His face was buried in my hair, hidden from view and he took the opportunity to steal a few light kisses from just below my ear. My knees buckled and I felt a rush of warmth between my legs, but he held me up and continued swaying from side to side. I suddenly wished we were alone and I wanted his lips on mine. My breathing sped up and I had to suppress a moan as I detected the briefest swipe of his tongue on my neck. I clutched his neck a little tighter, holding on for dear life when my reverie was broken by a voice behind me. “Are you ready to go?”

I pushed away from Eric and turned to see Bill standing there looking like he could spit nails. I felt like I had been caught having sex on the dance floor and looked around in a panic, wondering when the song had changed back to a fast one.

“Oh, sure. Um…” I looked back to Eric.

“Thank you for the dance, Sookie.” He released me and gave a solemn nod to Bill, then one last smile to me before turning and walking away.

The ride home was uncomfortably quiet. I finally asked, “Bill, are you mad at me or something?”

“Why would I be mad? Just because you were acting like some horny groupie and letting Eric Northman slobber all over you.” I kept my mouth shut, probably because he was right. “Eric is a selfish prick, Sookie. The only person Eric ever thinks about is Eric. I didn’t want to take you to Fantasia because I knew he’d try to get in your pants. He’s always been jealous of me. You’re nothing but a trophy whore to him. He’d be all too happy to fuck you to get back at me, but don’t think for a second that he’d ever give a shit about you. He only cares about himself.” Well, that certainly smarted.

For the next few weeks I tried really hard not to think about Eric Northman, but it was pretty much impossible. I thought about what Bill had said and wondered what Eric had thought of me. I knew it was silly to think that he may have considered our dance special. He was a big rock star who was constantly surrounded with adoring women in his bar. I was just a waitress in a nowhere town with a crush just like everybody else. Okay, maybe it was more than a crush. Maybe I pictured Eric’s face when I closed my eyes and let Bill make love to me. And maybe I looked forward to late nights alone a little too much because I knew I could pleasure myself in the dark and whisper his name. Maybe I was in a little trouble with my feelings for Eric Northman. In spite of Bill’s warning, I couldn’t stop thinking about Eric.

Bill started spending time in Shreveport at his friend, Andre’s, house. Andre had been a member of Dead Boys and he and his girlfriend, Sophie-Anne, had moved to Shreveport when Bill came to Bon Temps. I never went with him when Bill went to Andre’s. Bill said I’d be bored, that they just jammed in the living room and talked about music. I was working a lot anyway, so I didn’t push it, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bother me some that Bill didn’t seem to want me around when he was with his band friends.

I was leaving Merlotte’s late one night driving home when my car started to sputter and finally stopped. I was tired and really didn’t feel like dealing with a broken-down car. I pulled my phone out and tried to call Bill but just got his voice mail. My next call was to triple-A. I knew it would be awhile before they got to me because I was so far out in the boonies, so I just sat inside my car and resigned myself to a wait. Within minutes I saw headlights behind me and wondered at how fast the tow truck was until I realized that the car in my rearview mirror was too low to be a truck. The lights turned off and I saw that it was a red corvette. A red corvette with Eric Northman at the wheel.

Eric got out and approached my window. I had a rush of guilt as I stole a glance at his crotch before he stooped to speak to me. “Sookie, hi. Car trouble?”

“Yeah. I called triple-A, but they’ll be awhile.”

“Want me to look under the hood?”

“No, that’s okay. You don’t have to. They’ll be here eventually. Thanks though. You don’t have to wait.”

“Well, I’m going to. You shouldn’t be out here alone, even with the tow truck guy.” He was probably right and it started to freak me out a little. Then I realized that I really didn’t know Eric very well either and wondered if I should be sitting out here in the middle of nowhere with him. He must have sensed my sudden trepidation and stepped away from the window a little. “I’ll just wait in my car, okay?”

“Okay.”

I watched him walk back to his car in my rearview mirror. Even in the dark I could see how perfect his behind was. Sweet lord. He sat in his car and closed the door and started looking at something in his lap. Suddenly I felt like a complete idiot. I wasn’t afraid of Eric. Maybe I was afraid of how attracted to him I was, but I certainly didn’t feel like my safety was in any jeopardy. Maybe my heart. And maybe my ability to keep my hands to myself. I got out of my car and walked over to his passenger door. He popped the lock and I got in. Eric put his phone down—apparently he had been scrolling through emails or messages or something. He turned to me and smiled and I felt all my earlier tension just melt away and smiled back.

“So, what brings you down to Bon Temps?”

“Actually, I went to Merlotte’s looking for you, but they were already closed.” My mouth must have fallen open.

“Oh…why?”

“I just wanted to see you. Now I see that I should have come earlier, of course. Actually, I wanted to call first, but I don’t have your number.” Before I had a chance to re-think it, I picked up Eric’s phone and punched in my number. I let it ring once and hung up.

“Now you do.”

“Thanks.” God, that smile.

“How did you know I worked at Merlotte’s?

He shrugged his shoulders. “I asked around.” I couldn’t imagine who in the world he could have asked other than Bill. Eric must have noticed my look of confusion.

“You know, most of Dead Boys are in Shreveport now. Plus their…you know…friends, girlfriends, whatever.” There was a long pause as if he were trying to decide how to ask me something. “Do you…um…hang out at Andre’s a lot?”

“I’ve never been, actually.” He seemed almost relieved.

“So, are you and Bill serious?”

I felt my face turn red. “Um…I don’t know.” God, I sounded stupid. Maybe I was. I really had no idea how serious Bill and I were.

“So…if I were to call you sometime…” And before he could finish his sentence (or his question?), the lights of the tow truck filled the car as it pulled up behind us.

I jumped out to greet Tray who agreed to tow the car to his garage and call me in the morning. Eric stood beside me and when Tray asked if I needed a ride, I turned to Eric.

“No, I’ll take her home. Thanks.”

The ride was mostly silent except for my directions. As we pulled up to the house Eric complimented me on it.

“Thanks. It’s just an old farmhouse really. It’s been in my family for a long time.”

“No, it’s a great old farmhouse. Really.”

I thanked him for the ride and opened the door, but before I had even stepped out into the driveway, Eric was taking my hand and leading me up to the porch.

Suddenly I felt nervous, like I was on a date. And then I realized that I wished that I were on a date with Eric. I put my key in the door and as I opened it, I turned to thank Eric again. He whispered a “you’re welcome,” as he leaned in and touched those perfect lips to my cheek. I floated into the house, locking the door behind me and sneaking a peek through the peep hole at that glorious butt as he walked back to the car. I knew that I should feel guilty about how Eric made me feel. Bill was my boyfriend, after all, serious or not. But I couldn’t help feeling attracted to Eric. And in spite of Bill’s warning that Eric only thought about Eric, he sure seemed decent enough to me. In fact, he had behaved like a perfect gentleman—a gentleman that happened to be the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen. Yep, I thought to myself, I might be in a little trouble here.

The following morning, Amelia and I were having breakfast and I was filling her in on my little encounter with the incredibly sexy Eric Northman when my phone rang, and yes, it was Eric. He asked how my car was and I told him that I hadn’t spoken to Tray yet so I didn’t know. He offered to give me a ride to and from work later which was pretty amazing considering how far out of his way it was. I asked if I could let him know later and he said that would be fine.

It turned out that the car wouldn’t be ready until the following day, so I would need a ride. Amelia pretended that she wasn’t available just because she wanted me to see Eric again, but I knew that she could do it. I was getting ready to call Eric back when Bill called. I filled him in on the car stuff, omitting my late night rescue from Prince Charming of course. He insisted on being my ride and so when Eric called back I told him that Bill would take me but I thanked him profusely.

As Bill drove me in to work, I asked if I could go with him to Andre’s sometime. I got a weird vibe from Eric when he’d asked me about Andre’s and I wanted to see what it was like there and meet Bill’s friends and former bandmates. Bill said that there would be a big Halloween party there, and so if I could get off work, he’d take me on Saturday night. I had completely forgotten that Halloween was on Saturday and remembered that I should have the lunch shift that day, so I told him that I would definitely love to go.

I was in a good mood all through my shift, looking forward to seeing Bill later. But when it came time to close up, Bill was nowhere in sight and his phone just went straight to voicemail. Sam, the owner of Merlotte’s and my good friend, offered to take me home, but I told him Bill was coming. We sat on the porch of his trailer waiting because he wouldn’t hear of my standing in the parking lot alone. Finally my phone rang, but I didn’t recognize the number.

“Bill?”

“Sookie. No, it’s Eric.”

“Oh, hi.”

“Listen, I’m sorry to call so late, but I’m on my way to pick you up.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Um…Bill couldn’t make it. Is there somewhere safe you can wait for me? I’m about twenty minutes away.”

“Sure. I’m on Sam’s porch. His trailer’s behind the bar.”

“Are you alone?”

“No, Sam’s here with me.”

“Good. Great. Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Eric pulled up and I hopped in as if we did this all the time. As much as I had hoped to see Bill, I had to admit that I was even happier to see Eric. As he drove me home I asked if he had spoken to Bill.

“Not exactly. I went over to Andre’s earlier and could see that Bill wasn’t in any kind of shape to drive. Sophie-Anne took his keys and I offered to come and get you. Bill’s probably gonna be pretty pissed when he sobers up.”

“Bill was drunk?” I was shocked. I had never seen him drunk before.

“Um. Yeah, I guess so. You know things can get kinda wild over at Andre’s.” I had no idea, I thought. I’d never been there.

Eric walked me to the door again and I thanked him again.

“When will your car be ready?”

“Around noon.”

“Can I take you to lunch? Then we can pick your car up.” Oh my god, did he just ask me on a date?

“Tell you what, Eric. You’ve been so…well…gallant. I’d like to return the favor. Why don’t I pack us a picnic lunch.” His perfect mouth spread into a smile. I realized that I had been staring at it.

“Perfect. I’ll pick you up at noon?”

I nodded, smiling pretty broadly myself. I got another soft kiss on the cheek and a breathy goodnight as I closed the door and floated to bed.

By noon the sky looked a little threatening, but we decided to chance it and go on our picnic as planned. We drove to the park down by the river behind Merlotte’s and had it all to ourselves, probably because of the darkening sky. I spread the food out on the blanket and Eric and I sprawled out comfortably and dug into my very special fried chicken. He seemed surprised and grateful at how well I cooked and when it started getting chilly, he helped me into his jacket and I noted how his fingers lingered on my shoulders a little and it made me feel happier than it should have. We talked and laughed for hours, completely forgetting the time. I probably would have stayed there all day until the thunder let us know it was time to pack up. We were almost finished when the bottom dropped out and it started to pour. We frantically threw everything into the basket, grabbed the blanket and ran to the car. Eric tossed everything into the back while I jumped into the passenger seat. He quickly joined me in the driver’s seat as we both laughed at how wet we’d gotten so quickly. Our laughter died down as our eyes met, but we were still panting heavily when he leaned over and caught my lips with his. It was a soft, brief kiss, and then he pulled back a little to look into my eyes, silently asking permission for another. I answered by pressing my lips into his again only harder. He tasted sweet and his lips were so soft, and I had imagined this moment so many times that I couldn’t stop myself. My lips parted and his tongue found mine as we both moaned a little. His hand went into my hair and mine reached around his waist, hungrily feeling the muscles of his side and then his back as he drew closer. As he pulled me to him, his lips left mine and he kissed along my jaw and down my neck. I missed that tongue and so grabbed his hair with the hand that wasn’t massaging his back and pulled him back to my mouth. This time I sucked hard on his tongue, unwilling to let him go again. He responded with a tighter grip in my hair and a low groan. I wanted to devour him, make love right there in the car, but Eric stopped the kiss and began covering my face in softer kisses—on my cheeks, my nose, my eyelids. I felt my breathing slowing down a little as he asked, “Will you go out with me on Saturday night?”

“Yeah.” I would have said yes to anything at that moment. “Wait. I can’t. That’s Halloween. I’m going to Andre’s party with Bill.”

The kisses stopped, his back stiffened. He disentangled his hand from my wet hair and took a deep breath. “Right. Bill. You know, I don’t know what I was thinking. I can’t leave the bar that night anyway. We’re having a big Halloween party too.”

He sat back in his seat and looked out the windshield, nodding as if remembering where he was. We both took a deep breath as he gave me a sweet smile that made my heart break. “How do we get to the garage?”

I wanted to take it back, tell him that I wanted to be with him and not Bill on Saturday night, but instead, I just put on my seatbelt and started giving directions to Tray’s.

I did have the lunch shift on Saturday, but Sam had asked me to stay and work into the dinner shift as well because it would be so busy. So I told Bill I’d have to meet him at Andre’s at about eleven.

Sam knew that I had plans so at about nine he told me I could take off. I ran into the bathroom and quickly changed my top and touched up my makeup. I hadn’t had time to come up with a costume. A cuter top with my black work pants would just have to do. I drove to Shreveport and arrived at Andre’s at almost ten o’clock. The house was full of people and music and smoke that didn’t smell like cigarettes. I wandered into the living room, looking for Bill. Sophie-Anne spotted me and knew who I was I guess from my description and took me into the kitchen to introduce me to a very drunk Andre. She poured me a glass of wine and led me by the hand into the dining room where I met the giant brothers, Sigebert and Wybert, also former Dead Boys members. They both seemed to be feeling no pain as well. Sophie-Anne left me and said she’d go and look for Bill. I tried to make small talk to the two drunk men, but finally gave up and decided to look for Bill myself.

I climbed the stairs and peeked into the first bedroom. There were six people sitting on the bed. One was snorting coke off of a mirrored tray in the center of the bed. Nobody looked up as I passed by. I was beginning to wish I hadn’t come to Andre’s after all. I told myself I’d finish looking in the bedrooms but if I didn’t see Bill, I was taking off. I passed what I assumed was the bathroom. The door was closed and I heard distinct sex sounds coming from the room. I set my glass of wine down on the hall table, ready to make my getaway. I decided to check the last open door down the hall and ignore the closed ones. As I approached the door, I recognized the back of Bill’s head as it was buried in the bosom of a beautiful brunette. They were both fully clothed and I couldn’t imagine what he was doing until I heard the snort and saw the white powder. He was licking her cleavage when I must have made a sound. His head snapped up and looked my way. I turned and ran as I heard him calling my name.

I drove for a few blocks until I decided to pull over because I was crying so hard, my vision was blurry. I felt like such a complete and utter fool. Suddenly it made sense why I was never invited to Andre’s. And I understood why Eric had picked me up from work earlier in the week. He’d said that Bill was in no shape to drive. Apparently, getting messed up at Andre’s had become a regular thing for Bill and I’d had no idea.

I was still upset, but soon my tears turned to anger and I no longer cared to let Bill Compton ruin my night. Maybe some of the evening could still be salvaged after all. I put the car in drive and headed for Fantasia. The line was fairly short because it was pretty late. Most of the people were in costumes, but I didn’t really care. I just wanted to see Eric. When I got to the front door, I handed my i.d. to a guy dressed as a Viking. He scanned the list on his clipboard and said, “No charge. Have a nice time.” I was shocked that my name would be on a guest list. I went inside and walked straight towards Eric’s booth. I saw a tall blond man with a mask on sitting at the booth surrounded by beautiful women and suddenly I lost my nerve. I decided that coming here was a mistake and so I turned to leave. I ran smack dab into a rock hard chest and looked up to see a smiling and unmasked Eric. “Sookie. I’m so glad you came.” Then the smile left his eyes. “What’s wrong.”

I felt like a big baby, but the events of the whole night seemed to hit me at his innocent question. I felt my lower lip quiver and my eyes fill with tears. Eric took my hand and quickly led me through the crowd and down a hallway to his office door. Once we were inside, he closed the door and took me in his arms. The events of the night just hit me and I started sobbing into his incredibly perfect chest. He just gently rocked me from side to side and said, “shhhh,” until I was able to calm down. Then he sat me on the sofa and held my hand while I told him about the awful scene at Andre’s.

“I should have said something. I’m sorry.”

“What do you mean?”

“I knew what goes on at Andre’s. That’s basically why I left Dead Boys. I’m probably the biggest prude in the music business, but I’m just not interested in wasting my time getting fucked up and doing drugs. I tried to live and let live, but in the end, I just couldn’t do it any more, so I left. I thought that maybe you knew about the drugs, but then as I got to know you, I thought that maybe you didn’t. I guess I was hoping that you weren’t like that. I felt like it wasn’t my place to say anything to you about it though. It’s none of my business. But I want you to be my business.”

I reached out and tried to wipe the wet spot I’d made on his shirt. “I’m sorry, Eric.”

“It’s okay, sweetie. It’s just a shirt.” It was hard to cry seeing that smile on his face. Plus he’d just called me sweetie.

I smiled back. “How long have I been on your guest list?”

“Since the night I met you.” His thumb wiped the tears from my cheek and he planted a kiss on the same spot. But before he had a chance to do the same to my other cheek, we were interrupted by a knock on the door.

Eric stood and opened the door to a man dressed as a vampire. “Those guys from Dead Boys are here again. Felicia refused to serve them and that Wybert guy took a swing at her. We’ve kicked them out but they’re still making a scene in the front parking lot. Should we call the cops?”

Eric sighed. “Yeah, go ahead.” Then he turned to me. “I’m sorry, but I need to take care of this. Will you be okay?”

I nodded as he left and then went out myself in search of the ladies room. I was trying to get the mascara out from under my eyes when Sophie-Anne came in. “Sookie! Are you okay? Bill told me what happened. He feels just awful.”

“I’m fine, thanks.”

“Listen, Bill is crazy about you, and there is nothing going on between him and Lorena anymore. They were just doing a little blow. I’m sure it looked all kinds of awful, but really nothing happened. He was a wreck after you left. He got completely fucked up.”

“Well, I appreciate your explaining it.”

“You should go and talk to him. He’s in the van in the parking lot. He was too upset to come in. At least give him a chance to apologize.” I just looked at her, not knowing what to say. She took me by the hand and led me down the hall to the back door. We stepped out into the night air and she pointed out a white van. “Just go to him, okay?”

She gave me a little push and then disappeared back into the building. I took a tentative step towards the van. Maybe I did want to hear what Bill had to say. Maybe I wanted to say some things to Bill too. The back of the van was unlocked and so I peeked inside and saw Bill asleep on the floor. I crawled in and closed the door. “Bill.”

No answer. “Bill!” He was so still and for a second I panicked and wondered if he was breathing. I crawled closer and knelt by his head. He stirred and reached up to grab my wrist. I was relieved to see that he wasn’t dead, but that was quickly followed by a sense of panic as he roughly pulled me down to him and climbed on top of me. I struggled and called his name again, but he just pushed my hands up over my head, holding my wrists firmly with one hand. His other hand started pushing my pants down as real fear welled up in me and I shouted, “Stop!” His face was buried in my hair as he freed his erection and shoved it into me without warning. I cried out in pain and tried to kick, thrashing my head from side to side. He bit into my neck, sucking hard as he thrust roughly, still holding my wrists with one hand and my hip with the other. I screamed and yelled, “Bill, stop! It’s me, Sookie!” I repeated it twice before he suddenly stopped. He pulled out and his teeth released the skin on my neck.

“Sookie?”

“Yes, it’s me, Sookie!” My screams turned to loud sobs. He sat up, releasing my wrists. I yanked my pants back up and curled into a fetal position. I felt his hands on my head, but I turned away from him and buried my face into the carpet on the floor still sobbing.

I felt a rush of cold air as the back doors opened, but I didn’t look up. I knew Bill was gone and I heard a scuffle, but just kept crying. Within minutes, I was aware of the flashing blue lights and heard a woman asking if I needed an ambulance. I quickly said, “no,” as I sat up and looked out the back doors. Eric and Bill were both leaning up against police cars, both with their hands cuffed behind them. Eric was looking at me, but Bill was facing the roof of the car, blood dripping from his nose. “Eric.”

“You know these men?”

“Yes. Why is Eric in handcuffs?”

“He attacked the other guy.”

“Bill.”

“Okay, he attacked Bill.”

“He was protecting me. Bill was hurting me. Please. He shouldn’t be there.”

The woman officer stepped away from the van and spoke to two other cops. I watched as Eric’s handcuffs were removed. His eyes never left mine as he turned and ran towards the van. I scrambled towards the doors as he reached the van, grabbed me and pulled me to him. He sat just inside the van as I clung to him. I felt his arms wrap around me as I settled onto his lap and buried my face into his chest.

I sat like that for a long time. I didn’t make a sound but I felt the tears stinging my eyes. Eric rocked me like a baby, his hand stroking my hair. I could feel the woman officer sitting beside Eric. I finally opened my eyes and looked at her. “What’s your name?”

“Kenya. You wanna tell me what happened here?”

I took a deep breath. “He raped me.”

Eric and I came in a little early the day after Halloween to make sure the bar had been cleaned properly and restored to its normal condition. Halloween was always a wild night in a bar and last night was no exception. Of course, last year’s Halloween will always be the most noted one in my memory. I sat at the bar and watched Eric straightening a few bar stools thinking of how far I had come in the past year.

The biggest changes of course were that I lived in Shreveport with Eric and was enrolled part-time in college. I still spent some time in Bon Temps visiting friends. Amelia still lived in my house, but Tray was beginning to seem like a permanent fixture there as well since they had begun seeing each other. Who knew that my clunker of a car would be responsible for Amelia finding true love.

I work at Fantasia a few nights a week now. Eric wanted me to cut back at the bar and take more classes. Maybe I will next semester. His sister, Pam, is moving to Shreveport next month and she’ll be able to help Eric more than I can. Between my classes and volunteering at the Women’s Crisis Center, sometimes I do feel like I’m stretched a little thin. Honestly, I’d love to just have more alone time with Eric, and hopefully, Pam will help make that possible.

One of my biggest achievements has been learning to forgive Bill. I’d worked on it in therapy of course, but I think finally seeing him helped a lot as well. He had pleaded down to a lesser charge and spent his time in rehab rather than prison, which was fine with me. He’d moved to New Orleans and was playing with a new band, but came to visit his aunt and uncle in Bon Temps and asked to see me. Apparently part of his recovery was making amends, and so he wanted a chance to apologize. Eric sat beside me on the sofa in his office holding my hand while Bill told me how sorry he was. He had very little memory of that night, but still took full responsibility for his actions. I accepted his apology and wished him well and began closing that chapter of my life.

The chapter of my life that I was the happiest to begin was standing in front of me, satisfied that the room was ready for another night. “We have time for dinner somewhere nice before we have to open. What do you feel like, love?”

I smiled and led Eric back to the office. I closed the door and pushed his back up against it and pressed my body to his, lifting my chin for a kiss. He happily complied and then kissed down my neck as I answered him. “Maybe we can order take-out….in a little while.” I heard the click of the lock behind Eric’s back and felt him smile into my neck.

“Good idea, lover.”

I began unbuttoning Eric’s shirt as his lips found mine again. I sucked gently on his tongue and lowered a hand to find him more than ready to delay our dinner. That earned me a low growl into my mouth as Eric started walking me backwards towards the sofa. I sat down and continued unbuttoning and unzipping until I found one of my favorite things in the world. I gave it a playful lick and a few strategically placed kisses before Eric got onto his knees and started doing a little searching of his own. I watched as my clothes were peeled off and discarded piece by piece and then I relaxed into the glorious anticipation of knowing the pleasure I was about to feel. Eric’s talented tongue primed every inch of flesh that he knew by heart before he removed his own clothes and settled on top me. My body instinctively wrapped itself around his, waiting for the last piece of the perfect puzzle to fit into place. As it did, Eric’s beautiful eyes held mine and he whispered, “I love you so much.” I was beyond words by then but communicated my pleasure in other ways that he clearly understood. We took our time, sweetly savoring each moment. Each touch, every movement was a practiced skill that we had learned together, guiding us to the end of the path where we shared the brightest of lights and the sweetest satisfaction. As we came back down to earth, clutching each other in gratitude, we were both able to whisper the words that we had demonstrated with our bodies.

Later when we were back in our clothes and finishing up Chinese food, I watched my beautiful fiancé enjoying his meal, hoping that he was as happy as I was. “Do you miss performing?”

“What? No. If I did, I’d just do it again. No big deal. I like what I’m doing now. If that changes, I’ll figure out something else.”

“Okay. I just want you to be happy.”

“I am.” And then he gave me a significant look. “I am.”

“Me too.” We shared a smile and took a satisfied breath as we started cleaning up the little white cartons and chopstick wrappers. My life had changed a lot in the past year, mostly because of Eric. All those changes pointed to what I knew in my heart would be a very happy and fulfilling future ahead, and I couldn’t wait to see what was next.

XXX

A/N: Please read Beyond Dead Boys for Eroc’s POV.