Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sookie let out a deep sigh while analyzing her appearance. She couldn’t believe her life had come to this.Though new and intimidating, a part of her was excited for this venture. She needed the money, almost desperately. After Gran’s death, Sookie inherited the farm house her family lived in for nearly two hundred years.

Adele Stackouse had left Sookie a small inheritance. Something to cushion the blow of property taxes and home repairs. But taxes had been paid and Jason needed to post bail after Andy Bellefleur busted him for public indecency- a third time. Sookie was sure her grandmother had been rolling in her grave at that. It was no secret Jason got around and was risky with it. Being the star football player in a small southern town affords you certain… privileges. However, that didn’t mean Jason wasn’t going to face repercussions for being caught having sex with Dawn Green in his truck, in the Merlotte’s parking lot. Adding insult to injury, they were caught in broad daylight.

And now the money was gone. Sam had been gracious enough to let Sookie keep her job after the whole Jason getting arrested thing. He didn’t judge her for it. Jason Stackhouse was his own person making his own mistakes. Sookie was trying her best to hold it together after the death of their grandmother Adele. Sam knew that. Sam also knew the extent of Sookie’s innocence. She never dated and shouldn’t be mistreated for her brother’s transgressions. Unfortunately the rest of Bon Temps didn’t think the way he did and Sookie tried her best to block that out. Occasionally her mental guards would slip and she would be bombarded with ridicule that the cowards in her town would be too fearful to say out loud.

It was bad enough she faced immense pity from the people of Bon Temps for being ‘pretty but slow’. Sadly, Sookie had heard it all whether they spoke it or not. ‘Pretty but slow’ is how others thought of her now that she was grown.

As a youth she was an outcast for something she labeled as a ‘disability’. Being a telepath wasn’t for the weak. Hearing people’s worst and most depraved thoughts on a daily basis was exhausting, traumatizing, and anxiety inducing. Her own brother had even joined in on the bullying as kids. He was just so tired of hearing ‘Sookie was special’ from his parents and grandmother. Needless to say, they weren’t the closest of siblings. But she would always help him when she could. Now she needed to help herself.

Sam scheduled Sookie four days a week and usually all lunch shifts. Many of the other servers at Merlotte’s Bar and Grill had kids, and Sam prioritized giving the more profitable and tip heavy night shifts to them. Sookie understood. Sam knew about Sookie’s ‘disability’ as she had called it. She was forced to tell him after she dumped a sweet tea over Andy Bellefleur’s head for thinking perverted thoughts about her and Jason. Though Sam himself was sure Sookie wouldn’t judge his own condition of being a shapeshifter, he still hid that part of himself. Her scent was intoxicating to him and he felt it easier to protect her by only giving her day shifts.

Vampires had ‘come out of the coffin’ so to speak a year prior and he didn’t want to take a chance with Sookie’s safety by making her work at night. If she smelt so good to him and he didn’t have a desire to consume her- he could only imagine how a vampire would react. Sookie took comfort in Sam knowing about her ‘disability’. He was reliable and she trusted him. His protective thoughts didn’t seem to bother her either. But Sookie wasn’t completely obtuse and saw the way he would stare longingly at her from behind the bar. She didn’t dare try to read him in those moments.

Sookie grew up thinking she was going to be ‘forever alone’ due to her telepathy. Physical touch alone made attempting intimacy a nightmare. She was always flooded with degrading thoughts about what they wanted to do to her, or worse- how everything was a hoax due to a lost bet with the intention to humiliate her. It took Gran’s death for Sookie to decide to take her life and sexuality into her own hands.

“This is so stupid.”, Sookie said while adjusting her bikini top and doubting her decision. “But I need the money. A few months and I should have enough saved up that I don’t need to do it again.”

She hoped. Sookie had never stripped before. She didn’t know what the lifestyle was like. Would she be able to hustle enough to stop after a few months? What if she enjoyed it? What if everyone in Bon Temps found out? Shreveport was only thirty miles away… was that far enough? What if she got hurt? She had never met a vampire before or had even seen one in person. She’d just seen the vampire representatives on TV. Sookie considered herself to be pretty liberal despite growing up Christian in the Deep South. She thought vampires should be afforded rights especially with the invention of Tru Blood.

Sookie was excited to meet a vampire. She just hoped she couldn’t hear their thoughts as well. The last thing she needed were thoughts about draining her dry in her mind.

Sookie took one last look in the mirror. She was fairly confident in her ability to land a position as a dancer at Fangtasia. She considered herself to be pretty though everyone in Bon Temps thought she was crazy or weird.

Her long blonde hair was down and cascaded into waves, her skin was sunkissed and freshly tanned from that afternoon, her blue eyes sparkled with a bit of mascara to lengthen and define her lashes, and her lips were covered with a light pink lip gloss to enhance their natural rosiness. Sookie had on a white bikini that popped against her tan skin. It had dainty red flowers on it and some white lace ruffles around the top of the cups. It was her absolute favorite. On top of the bottoms she managed to squeeze into the shortest cutoffs she owned. True daisy dukes. They were a half size too small and made her ass look..wow. For extra measure she left them unbuttoned and rolled the waist down to expose more skin. She was wearing flip flops and had made sure to paint her toes a red that matched the flowers on her bikini. She looked ready.

Anticipation for the unknown bit at her insides, but she needed to do this. She felt so powerless most of her life it was finally time for her to gain some control. She grabbed a white tank top that she cropped and put it on just to maintain some modesty on her drive to Shreveport. Most of her stomach and hips were still exposed and her voluptuous breasts sat perky underneath.

Glancing at the clock she noticed it was 6:15. She had forty-five minutes to get to Shreveport before her audition. Sookie apologized to a picture of Gran, grabbed her purse and keys, and headed for the door. Once in the car she pulled out her phone and retrieved the photo of the ‘Dancers Wanted’ flyer she had seen Dawn holding on one of their lunch shifts together. She plugged in the address to Fangtasia and was on her way.

Through her excitement she couldn’t help but feel a nagging anxiety that she was making a horrible decision. Only time would tell.

Chapter Text

When Sookie had first considered dancing she thought of trying out at the local strip joint- Bayou Babes. After careful consideration of wanting to keep this part of her life private, she decided against it. She couldn’t dance there. Who would want to see “Crazy Sookie” on a pole? Certainly not Jason. He was a recurring customer in that club and would go to see Dawn dance there often.

She imagined giving a lap dance to.. Andy Bellefleur? Bud Dearborn? Hoyt Fortenberry? No fucking way. It was out of the question. Hell would freeze over before she would be able to live that down. She could already hear Maxine Fortenberry’s condescending voice making horrible accusations about how Gran had raised her. Criticizing her was one thing, but Sookie would not stand for any slander directed towards her grandmother.

Her prospects had changed when she overheard Dawn talking about auditioning at a new club in Shreveport that catered to customers of the- undead variety. Shreveport being over thirty minutes away and the club being a vampire run establishment made her feel more secure funnily enough. It was less likely she would be recognized. It was even less likely any small minded bigots from her hometown would ever dare step foot in there. She decided Fangtasia would be the club she would dance at and she was throwing herself to the wolves completely blind.

Dawn had noticed Sookie staring while she was bragging about her audition at Fangtasia later that evening. At first she gave her a dirty look, but quickly took up a sickly sweet tone laced with condescension.
“You know, Sookie, if you need some extra cash I bet you could get a job dancing at Fangtasia. Your tits are nice enough they probably wouldn’t notice you’re slow.”

Sookie clenched her fists and felt her blood pressure rise. Bitch. Dawn laughed as she walked away to check on the tables in her section. But not before putting the flyer haphazardly in her purse. When nobody was looking, Sookie grabbed the flyer and took a photo of it. She called the number on it that night to set up her audition. That was on Monday and it was now Wednesday. She was ready to make Dawn eat her words.

Remembering the encounter on her drive to Shreveport fueled Sookie’s desire to land the job. She had watched a few beginners ‘how-to’ pole dancing videos as well as practiced a few dancing routines in preparation. The routines included a lot of hip rolling, swaying, gyrating, and twerking. She felt as confident as she could.

Sookie pulled up to Fangtasia with a knot in her stomach. There were a few cars in the parking lot. The one that caught her eye was a red Corvette. She found herself wondering who it belonged to. The building itself was nondescript. It was in an industrial part of town as per Louisiana law. All vampire run businesses needed to be a certain distance away from any schools or churches. The building was large and grey and looked as though it used to be a warehouse. The only pops of color were the red awning above the door and a large neon sign that read “Fangtasia” in red script.

It was 6:55 when she gathered her wits about her to get out of her yellow Volkswagen Beetle. The club wouldn’t officially open until nine o’clock. Swallowing as much anxiety as she could, Sookie grabbed the door handle and walked inside. She tried to take it in as best she could.

It was dimly lit with black carpet and crimson baroque wallpaper. There was a grand red chandelier hanging from the ceiling in the center of the room. The stage extended along the left wall and had a catwalk that branched out towards the middle of the room under the chandelier. On the stage there was a DJ booth. The beginning of the catwalk had a pole and there were mini stages on both sides of the main stage boasting…cages? Sookie felt her throat tighten. The catwalk platform was surrounded by chairs that would host customers who wanted to get up close and personal during dances. There were black vinyl booths lining the wall closest to the door and the wall at the end of the bar. The bar went along the right side of the room and was almost as long as the stage. She could see two doorways by the end of it. One looked to be a hallway and the other had black velvet drapes obscuring what was behind them. There was a set of stairs down to the main floor from the middle of the bar with ornate golden railings on each side. Peppered throughout the main floor there were several round tables with two to three chairs at each. There were mirrors- everywhere. Sookie hadn’t noticed the throne at the back of the stage.

Before Sookie could even process what she had stepped into, a woman was standing in front of her in a flash. She was petite with green eyes and sandy blonde hair curled down her back. She was beautiful in a predatory way. The woman was dressed in skinny leather pants, a black corset, and black Louboutin pumps. Her skin was as white as porcelain and had a faint glow. An otherworldly glow. Vampire.

The woman looked Sookie up and down lingering on her breasts and exposed stomach. She inhaled and with a dry voice she spoke.
“Well you must be our seven o’clock audition.”
Sookie swallowed and tried to contain any anxiety that she was sure to be present in her voice. This woman was looking at her like she wanted to eat her. Literally.

“Yes. My name is Sookie Stackhouse.”
The woman’s eyes burned into Sookie’s never averting her gaze. Sookie had noticed a slight quizzical look in them.

“Well, Sookie” she purred, “ It is a pleasure to meet you. Before we get started I must ask you a few questions.”

“Well, sure.”Sookie said fighting the blush creeping up her cheeks from the woman’s intense stare, “Ask away.”

“How old are you, how tall are you, and have you ever been a dancer before?”

“I’m twenty-five, about five foot six, and no. This would be my first time.”

The vampire cocked an eyebrow.

“You are aware this is a vampire establishment, yes? How did you hear about our open position?”

Sookie wasn’t really prepared for so many questions. She didn’t think stripping would require a proper interview.

“Yes, I know this club is owned by vampires and has vampire customers. I didn’t want to run the risk of seeing anyone in my hometown. Things like this get talked about in Bon Temps. I heard about the position from a coworker at my day job. Her name is Dawn.”
The woman nodded her head in understanding and cocked her eyebrow again remembrance.

“ Ah, yes. Dawn. She was here a few nights ago. Didn’t land the position. Far too desperate.” She said with her voice dripping disapproval.

Sookie did her best to hold in her excitement that Dawn wouldn’t be working alongside her at Fangtasia if she were to get hired. She spoke again,
“I have a feeling you’ll do much better.” The vampire rescanned Sookie’s body. She was starting to feel underdressed. In a strip club? Who would’ve thought. This vampire was wearing a headset and pressed a button on it before speaking into the small microphone.

“The seven o’clock is here. Sookie Stackhouse. Twenty-five, five foot six, blonde, curvy, and delicious.” She drew out the last word uncomfortably slow for Sookie’s taste. Unfortunately for Sookie, she seemed to be this woman’s taste.

“You can set your stuff down on the table in the middle of the floor in front of the stage. The stairs are on the right side. I am going to get the sound system ready. Eric will be out momentarily.”

Sookie nodded and headed down the steps to place her things on the table. She ascended the stairs onto the stage and walked to the middle where the pole was standing. It was then she noticed the throne just a few feet away. What’s that saying about confidence? Fake it till you make it? Sookie was doing a lot of faking right now.

Looking down at her feet she cursed herself for wearing flip flops. She’ll just have to go without them. Hopefully that won’t matter too much. She kicked them off and briskly walked to the end of the catwalk. Because she was so elevated she got on her hands and knees to toss her sandals onto the floor by the table holding her belongings. When she stood up, she was eye level with piercing blue eyes whose beauty rivaled her own.

Chapter Text

Eric had been feeding when Pam called him through the headset connected directly to a speaker in his office.

”The seven o’clock is here. Sookie Stackhouse. Twenty-five, five foot six, blonde, curvy, and delicious.”

He could tell by the way Pam stretched out the last word that she meant it. His interest had been peaked, to say the least. Everything his progeny listed were attributes of his general type. However, their types weren’t too far off. Like father, like daughter. He pulled his fangs out of Yvetta’s neck, licked the wounds closed, and told her to get ready for her shift. She pouted and tried to reach for his belt.

Feeding and fucking were very intertwined so it was no surprise that she tried. It’s what always happened when Master Eric called her into his office. But not now. He had business to attend to. Fangtasia was in need of another dancer to better satiate the customers on the weekend. Business was always the Virgo’s first priority.

He had more than enough interest in the woman Pam had claimed was so delicious. He had to know why. It wasn’t often she openly expressed sentiments like that. Swiftly, Eric grabbed Yvetta’s wrist in a firm grip and hissed,
“Not now. I have business. Shower and get ready for your shift. You’re up first tonight. If you need attention that badly I’m sure Pam would be more than happy to oblige.”

Yvetta didn’t press her luck and sulked out of the office. Being in this industry and looking the way that he did, Eric understood how starstruck some of his dancers would get. Though he thoroughly enjoyed the fawning and attention, they would never be more than an employee whom he sometimes fed on or slept with. He liked to keep it that way.

Eric waltzed out of his office and was immediately hit with her scent. Whoever this Sookie Stackhouse was, Pam had been right. She was delicious. This girl was vampire bait and he hadn’t even seen her yet. Hopefully she looked as good as she smelled. Her scent was of pure sunshine and sweetness. And that’s just what he was getting from down the hall. He felt his cock twitch. He needed to know what was up with her.

Walking into the club he saw her kneeling down on stage to toss her sandals onto the floor by the table with her belongings. She was going to audition barefoot. He thought it was an interesting choice, but he wasn’t going to complain. In his thousand years, Eric had learned to appreciate all parts of the female body. Including feet. He was fond of well kept toes.

In a flash he was standing in front of her just in time to meet her eyes as she stood up. He saw the surprise light them up when they met. She was different. In more ways than one.

It was rare for Eric to be surprised. He had become jaded to the human experience long before he met Pam. And yet here he was, enthralled with and curious about a human auditioning to dance in his strip club. The jokes write themselves.

What felt like minutes though it had only been a few seconds of eye contact was intense. What was she? He spoke first, breaking the silence.

”Well hello, you must be Sookie. Welcome to Fangtasia. My name is Eric and you've met my progeny Pam. We are the owners and operators of this fine establishment,” He dialed up the charm to ten with his greeting.

”We’re in need of a dancer to help with coverage on the weekends. Are you ready for the audition?”

Sookie was beyond nervous and was sure it was plastered all over her face.This man was drop- dead gorgeous. Literally. His voice sounded like silk and he had a very subtle hint of an accent. Eric stood approximately six foot four. He was in black jeans, a black tank top, and a leather jacket. On his feet were combat boots. Sookie was noticing a theme here. She might have to get some different clothes she thought to herself. Edgier ones.

Eric’s hair was blonde and almost the same shade as Sookie’s. However his hair made his pale complexion stand out even more. It was short and combed back into a pompadour style. They were very similar and yet there was so much contrast between them. Sookie could tell he had defined muscles under his shirt. He had been strong in his human life as well. To make it appear as if she wasn’t ogling her potential future boss- which she was- she decided to speak.

“Yes. I’m ready when you are.” A smirk had made its way across his face and in less than a second he was seated in the throne on stage with his right ankle perched on his left knee. He needed to sit this way. Her scent was far too intoxicating and he couldn’t run the risk of her seeing what effect she was having on his body. What the fuck was she?

Sookie made her way back to the pole in front of the throne. He took this time to really drink her in. Long golden hair in waves down her back, beautiful blue eyes that popped against her soft and freshly tanned skin. Rosy lips formed a perfect pout and he couldn’t help but imagine what they’d be like wrapped around his cock.

She was curvy in all the right places with voluptuous breasts, hips, and thighs. If he had been human, his mouth would have been watering. He glanced downwards at her long muscular legs that led to delicate feet with toenails painted red. She was the spitting image of Aphrodite. A fertility goddess.
She was so innocent yet so beyond sexy in her tiny cutoffs, bikini, and cropped tank top. He almost let out a growl of approval. He needed to see more of her.

Sookie had reached the pole and pressed her back into it. If she wasn’t nervous before she was now. Unbelievably so. His hard gaze was predatory and also filled with what Sookie thought was..desire? And she certainly wasn’t going to complain. She just needed to stay focused. She needed the money this job would bring her.

” Do you have a song chosen?” Eric asked her. She shook her head ‘no’ without breaking eye contact. He loved that. His mind started to drift to other things they could do without breaking eye contact.

”Ah, so my choice. Excellent. Pamela, play track four.” Eric called over to her with nothing but intensity in his gaze. His eyes never left Sookie’s.

Chapter Text

Pam was fiddling with the DJ booth and within seconds guitar and drums started blasting through the speakers. Sookie had been startled but kept composure and started to rock her hips in time to the beat adding more and more body rolls with her movements. She decided sticking to a dance routine was impractical and thought she should just let herself get lost in the music. She ran her hands up her body and peeled off her tank top before whirling it above her head like a lasso and tossing it aside.

Her beautiful breasts in the tiny white bikini were now exposed, and to Eric’s benefit. She turned to face the pole and grabbed it with both hands while rocking her body against it. Throwing her hair back she could feel herself becoming aroused while listening to the lyrics. Sookie had never felt more powerful than in that moment.

Be my Druidess
Be my everything
Be my Druidess
Be mine

Sookie shocked herself when she dropped it low on the pole and bounced a few times before extending her legs straight and slowly standing. She was completely bent over as she did this, giving Eric -and Pam who was also watching- a perfect view of her thick ass in those little shorts leaving very little to the imagination.

Eric sat in his throne gripping the arm rests with white knuckles. She was better than he anticipated. He would have her. Smelling her arousal was only making him want her more. He knew a band like Type O Negative was far from the usual music she listened to. But the contrast of her innocent appearance while seductively moving her hips and grinding against the pole was a sight to see. He knew he had made the right song choice. His cock was strained beyond belief in his pants and he couldn’t look away. He was bewitched.

Around the pyre, a circle of thirteen
Throughout these woods, ecstatic screams
I look deeply into your eyes
I smell your hair, caress your thighs
Now we’ll make love by fire light
A blaze so high, it lights the night
Long fingernails dug in my skin
Yourself so wet, invites me in

In this moment Sookie had felt sexy for the first time in her life. Under his gaze, in his club, barely clothed and dancing to a song she had never heard before. On a limb Sookie used some upper body strength to lift herself on the pole in a simple move she saw in one of the ‘how-to’ videos. She twirled around the pole and put her back to it again to face Eric once more. His eyes were smoldering with intensity and his nostrils were flared slightly. He was fighting every instinct he had to not let his fangs slip out for fear of scaring her.

Be my Druidess
Be my everything
Be my Druidess
Be mine

Sookie thought it was time to take off her cutoffs. It wasn’t like they covered much anyways. She hooked her thumbs inside the waist and rolled her hips while maintaining eye contact. She then turned around and slowly started to remove them while looking over her shoulder at Eric. Her hips never stopped moving. She was revealing more of her beautiful skin and he was transfixed. He needed to know how she tasted. Everywhere. Consumed with want, images of her bent over the sofa in his office flooded his mind. Those morphed into sitting her on top of his desk with his head between her thighs and her hands buried in his hair. He imagined Sookie riding him in the very throne he was sitting on, her thick thighs wrapped around him and her perky breasts in his mouth.

Our lust increased feeds desire
As we combust, yeah we’re on fire
I feel you shake so deep inside
You scream my name and squeeze me tight
I’ll do anything
To make you come

At this point the shorts were off and Sookie kicked them aside. She was just in the bikini now. She walked around the pole and stopped in front of Eric once more. She slid down the pole with her thighs spread. The tension was palpable. Even Pam had been fixated on the little minx. Sookie fell to her knees with her eyes boring into Eric’s.

Just as she was about to untie her bikini top, Eric’s hand flew up and the music stopped. It was imperative that he saw more of her beautiful body, but not during an audition. He would prefer she be begging him to remove her breasts from their constraint and into his mouth. He didn’t want her to reveal herself in hopes of bettering her chances at getting the job. She most certainly had it. From the moment he saw her.

Sookie was confused and stood up slowly. Was she not sexy enough? Was she too curvy? Could he tell she had never done this before? So many doubts flew through her mind. In a blink he was standing in front of her with her shorts and tank top. She was looking up at him now, they were no longer eye level like they had been when he introduced himself at the edge of the catwalk.

She couldn’t control the smile that graced her lips when he said, “Why don’t you get dressed and meet me back in my office to discuss the terms of your employment.”
With that, Eric sauntered off and headed down the hallway that wasn’t covered by black drapes. He looked just as good from behind as he did from the front.

Chapter Text

Sookie was beyond ecstatic at the news that so much financial hardship was soon to be gone and a weight was going to be lifted off her shoulders. She made her way down the stairs to the table where her things were. Pam had grabbed them and handed Sookie her purse and sandals. She pulled on the tank top and shorts and slipped into her flip flops. Pam had been impressed by Sookie. If she hadn’t felt the nonverbal claim of her maker- she would have loved to see what Sookie was hiding under that little white bikini.

”You were better than I thought you’d be. Customers are going to eat that ‘all American country girl shit’ right up. You will add some variety for them. We’ve been needing something new.” Pam had mused while leading her down the hallway she had seen Eric disappear in.

They walked past bathrooms, a store room, and what appeared to be the dressing room. Stopping outside a door she could only assume belonged to Eric’s office, Pam knocked twice. He called to enter and she let Sookie in before closing the door and walking off. They were now alone together. Sookie’s heart was racing and she was sure he noticed. He did, and rejoiced internally. Eric gestured at Sookie to sit in the chair across from his desk. He was filling out paperwork.

”So based on your performance I would like to extend the job offer.” Sookie smiled and nodded her head enthusiastically.

“There’s something different about you and I know customers will love something…fresh.” He trailed, eyes burning into Sookie’s with the same intensity that they held when on the stage.

“You will bring some light into Fangtasia’s darkness and I believe you will do very well here. Your presence will be refreshing not only to patrons but staff as well. Myself, included.” He said the last part with a smirk.

Sookie nodded as she felt a blush creep from her toes up to her cheeks.

”Thank you. Pam said my dance was ‘all American country girl shit’ and after being here I suppose she’s right.”

”Coming from Pam that was a compliment. She’s the house mother as well as the announcer and DJ most nights.You’ll come to understand her humor soon enough.” Eric smiled as he picked up a paper and placed it directly in front of her.

”As of right now I’m offering you time on Friday’s and Saturday’s. They are the busiest nights of the week for us. Depending on your popularity with customers you may get more nights.” He had no qualms about her popularity. She looks every bit as tasty as she smells and her presence would be very profitable for the club.

”You are required to have three main stage dances per shift and you give thirty percent of what you make from those to the house.The songs you choose to dance to will be a minimum of three minutes long and can’t exceed ten minutes. Everything you make in private room dances goes to you. Many of the girls hustle and negotiate their own prices for that time. They are sold in twenty minute increments.”

So that must have been what was behind the velvet curtains. The private dance rooms. The thought of being alone and away from the watching eyes of Pam and or Eric made Sookie anxious. Eric could tell by the line that formed in the middle of her forehead between her eyebrows.

“If you are weary of the private rooms, there is a camera in every one and I do have a strict ‘no biting’ policy for my customers. I do enforce that very seriously.” He said with his voice almost cold.

He had to enforce it strictly. He couldn’t have his dancers constantly weak from being blood donors to patrons or worse being drained by them. That was bad for business, extremely bad.

The thought of some low life piercing Sookie’s beautiful skin and tasting the sweet nectar in her veins did make him less than enthusiastic. Eric would be sure to watch her private room sessions very closely on camera when they happened.

“You do not need to bare all…though I wouldn’t mind” he added with a sly smile, “Some dancers do. Pasties however, are also acceptable.”

That was a relief to hear. She wasn’t sure she could go through with baring her chest every dance she did on stage for strangers. Let alone her most secret bits. Not just any strangers either, vampires.

“Your first shift is Friday night. Be here at eight o’clock. I will show you around and help you become acquainted with things here. Pam is also able to help you with anything you might need as well. Come ready with your stage name and three songs. In between dances and private rooms you may walk around, talk to customers, serve drinks, and allow patrons to buy drinks for you. Limit to three per shift. I like the girls on my staff to have their wits about them. Any questions?” His eyes softened then. Sookie took notice.

Sure Pam was there to help the dancers, but he would prefer if Sookie came to him with any and all needs. He would be more than willing to facilitate whatever they were.

“Um… no. Everything has been pretty straightforward. I appreciate you for that. This is the first time I’ve ever done this.” She said feeling slightly embarrassed.

“And yet you were a natural and had no issue commanding the stage. You had me transfixed.” He said that earnestly.

Sookie found herself enjoying his validation at her stage presence. The tension was back and you could feel it. She felt her most sensitive parts throb with desire. Eric enjoyed making her blush and relished in the scent of her arousal. He decided he would have her. So long as she was willing. He could feel she would be. Her scent was smothering him and he was fighting the urge to pull her onto his lap in a deep kiss. He wanted her to beg for him. He wanted her to need him the way he felt like he needed her in that moment. Without knowing it, Sookie already had the upper hand.

”Very well. Just sign here on the line below my own acknowledging you agree to the terms.”

She did and the second the pen hit the desk he took the paper from her. His fangs shot down and her blood ran cold. He quickly pricked his finger with one of his fangs and pressed it down onto the paper next to his signature. She was fascinated as the wound closed almost instantaneously. It was now her turn.

“You’re joking.” She said wide-eyed and incredulously. Eric continued to smirk and cock an eyebrow. Did he ever make any other facial expressions?

“I’m actually dead, serious. Vampires sign in blood, Sookie. I promise it’ll be just a small pinch and over in a second.”

She really needed this job and the money it would bring her. She'd never been around vampires before. If they really did sign in blood, who was she to argue? Hesitantly, Sookie held out her hand to Eric. He inhaled softly and quickly pricked her finger making her gasp. He placed her finger down on the paper next to her signature. Eric then took liberty to lift her finger into his mouth and suck. Sookie had to stifle a moan as his tongue swirled, lapping at the blood. She felt her nipples harden and the warmth between her thighs began to grow.

“All better.” He said with a shit eating grin.

Eric had to fight back his own moan when her blood touched his tongue. Warm, sweet, and intoxicating. Even more lively than regular blood. There’s no way she was just a human. Sookie had pulled back her hand to reveal her finger had been healed. She wondered what else his tongue could do before briefly scolding herself.

“Now let me walk you out, Miss Stackhouse. Before we get too carried away.” The predatory gaze was back in his eyes.
He wanted nothing more than to ravage her in that very moment. Sookie nodded, unable to really form a coherent sentence due to her racing thoughts and heavy arousal. She tried avoiding his eyes. Eric knew he had her feeling the same amount of desire as he was. It was only a matter of time. She would be his.

Walking through the club Sookie saw Pam standing behind the bar. Sookie gave her a small wave goodbye and Pam nodded at her and winked. Pam knew she’d break out of her shell eventually. This kind of industry does that to you.

Once outside their eyes met again as she leaned against her Beetle. It was clear to her now the Corvette most likely belonged to Eric. Sookie could see the desire in his eyes and it matched her own. But she couldn’t overstep with her boss. She was a virgin. But Eric was smooth, composed, and charming. That was on top of being gorgeous and she knew he used that to his advantage most of the time. She had to remind herself that this was just a job to her. A few months and she could put this part of her life behind her. She had a nagging feeling telling her that would be easier said than done.

Her breath caught in her throat when he stepped forward and his chest pressed against hers, pinning her to the car. Her heart was racing and he was hyper aware of every ounce of blood within her body. What he tasted had been magical. A bewitching elixir.

“Goodnight, Miss Stackhouse.” He whispered as his fangs scraped against the shell of her ear. The action sent a chill down her spine and her hormones into a frenzy.

”Goodnight, Mr…” She trailed not knowing his last name.

“Northman.” He said before suddenly shooting into the sky leaving Sookie standing there breathless.

She shook her head, climbed into her car, and started her drive back to Bon Temps. The clock read 7:45. So much had happened in so little time. It was exciting as much as it was scary. Sookie had been so overcome with nerves she failed to fully realize she couldn’t hear a single thought in the presence of Pam or Eric. It didn’t even occur to her until she was halfway home.

Chapter Text

Sookie took comfort in the fact she couldn’t read vampire minds. The ones she had met at Fangtasia were pretty good at showing what they were thinking through their eyes and facial expressions. She didn’t need to know what their actual thoughts had been. She could see clear desire in Eric’s eyes through their intensity. The idea of having access to what he was thinking in those moments made her nervous. She wondered if her own lust was displayed as obviously. She hoped not. Unfortunately for her, it had been.

Sookie replayed the moment he sucked the blood off her finger in her mind, multiple times. She had never experienced something so… erotic. She recalled the coolness of his mouth, the scrape of his fangs, and the light caressing of his tongue. She was sure Eric was talented in all facets of sexuality. Being a vampire gives you a lot of time to practice. He had clearly mastered the art of seduction. Still, Sookie couldn’t help but wonder if it had just been an excuse to taste her. That idea scared her. He knew she wasn’t just a regular country girl from backwoods Louisiana, he even told her she was different. Vampires were more perceptive than humans. Could he smell that she was a telepath or possibly taste it? Did her ‘disability’ give her a specific scent?

And the sudden flying, she had no idea vampires could do that. It wasn’t something the American Vampire League representatives arguing for rights on Fox News disclosed. Why would they? It would probably cause hysteria. Eric had simply done it to show off, not that Sookie knew that, and also to release some tension. The few drops of blood he tasted from her finger put his senses in overdrive. He needed to blow off steam. Without realizing it, he hovered above her car as she drove back to Bon Temps. He was far too curious about her. He wanted to know where she lived if she ever needed his help, in any capacity, outside of the club.

With blood like hers and a body to match, Eric knew her performing in his club would be akin to walking into a lion’s den. He would see that nothing would happen to her, she was his. Whether she knew it or not and whether he really wanted to admit it to himself that he was beyond fascinated with her. Under his employment she would be protected. She was a valuable asset. He would seek the true death for any vampire who didn’t respect his authority in regards to her.

Eric stood hidden in the tree line as Sookie pulled up the disheveled gravel driveway to her home. It was a decent sized farm house, a little dilapidated from time, though it still had a lot of character. Getting out of her car Sookie felt the eerie chill of being watched. She slowly glanced around and didn’t hear or see anything. She decided to let her mental guards down and found there was nobody nearby. She shrugged and chalked it up to residual nerves from her first interactions with vampires. Sookie bounded up the steps to the front porch and went inside, locking the door behind her. Eric was determined to get an invitation into her home, eventually.

Having scratched an itch of curiosity about this peculiar human, Eric turned on his heel and quickly took to the sky en route to Shreveport. She plagued his thoughts the entire flight back to Fangtasia. The smell of her sun soaked skin, the softness of her feminine curves, her bashfulness at his charms. Not to mention her taste. The taste of unfiltered purity and sunshine. She could be addictive. She was certainly different. Unlike any human he had met before. She captivated him.

Eric had been with countless women over a millennia. They all ranged in age, ethnicity, as well as social status. None had tasted even remotely close to Sookie. They were also always willing. Eric was more than aware of his own charms and his ego wouldn’t allow him to glamour a woman into bed with him. That was pathetic by his standards. Even worse was taking a woman by force. He had never done that, even in the raids and battles he participated in during his human life. He was a warrior meant to be revered by women, not a coward who needed to force his access to their bodies. That was one of the many reasons Godric had chosen to grant him the gift of immortality. Godric admired Eric’s strong ethics during a time when bloodshed and sexual violence reigned supreme.

Eric landed in the Fangtasia parking lot with thirty minutes to spare before the club opened for the night. He was anticipating Pam’s curiosity about his interest in their new dancer. As long as she’d been by his side, she’d never seen him this fixated on a human. It was interesting. But Sookie wasn’t just any human and he was determined to figure out what supernatural capabilities made her blood so decadent.

Eric walked inside and went straight to the bar. He needed a Tru Blood to satiate the burning hunger left inside him after tasting Sookie. He had a nagging feeling she would be all he craved and that alarmed him. Grabbing an O Negative out of the fridge he took off the lid and popped it into the microwave.

He hadn’t even looked at Pam or said a word to her when he entered. He kept the maker bond closed for the most part so she didn’t have access to his true emotions. But Pam had been with him long enough to be able to read him fairly well. Beelining for the microwave was worrisome. He didn’t drink synthetic blood often. Eric just stood there eyes burning into the microwave and tense as all hell.

“So that Stackhouse girl was really something. Her scent alone will make customers flock here in droves.” Pam said in her usual wry tone.
“I wish you hadn’t stopped her dance. I would have loved to see her ‘good girl’ act fade the second she dropped her bikini.” Pam purred and kept on talking hoping to garner a reaction out of her maker.
“I wonder how she tastes…you think she’s bi-curious?”
Before she could blink, Eric had her pinned to the wall by her throat. Ah, there it is. Confirmation on the elephant in the room. There was a fire blazing in his eyes as he bared his fangs.
“You will not touch her. You will not taste her. She is mine.” He hissed with venom laced in his tone.

Pam was startled. He had never acted this way over a human before. Sure she looked good and smelled even better, but she was just a human. One meant to work for them. Eric’s sudden possessive behavior over her was cause for concern in Pam’s mind. She was used to sharing food supply as well as lovers with Eric. He hadn’t ever reacted this way. Maybe hiring this girl was a bad idea. Would Eric be able to handle her being desired by the customers without having to assert his claim? The microwave beeped signaling his bottled blood was ready and he dropped her back to the floor. Eric ignored the worry and questioning in Pam’s eyes.

He grabbed the synthetic blood and started making his way back to his office but not before stopping right in front of Pam who was standing there perplexed and adjusting herself.
“As your maker, I command you to not press me about this.” His voice was dripping in seriousness.

Eric rarely made maker commands. He didn’t really have to. Pam was loyal enough to take his lead without commands. But this was something he didn’t trust she would leave alone. Her face went from confused to shocked. She was in disbelief that this was all because of a human he hadn’t even seen nude. Mouth agape, Pam just nodded. She had no other choice than to comply.
“Now go check on the girls in the dressing room and get everything ready for tonight. We open in twenty-five minutes.” He said leaving absolutely no room for arguments or sarcastic remarks. Eric went directly into his office, shut the door, and began his deep dive into research about what kind of supernatural being could possess blood as sweet as Sookie’s.

Chapter Text

Sookie leaned her back against the door and let out a deep breath for the first time since leaving Fangtasia. Relief washed over her. She was on her way to becoming financially stable again. She still had her anxiety surrounding performing in a room full of vampires who could kill her in an instant, but she felt secure in being an employee of Eric’s. She had faith his dancers were kept relatively safe. His club wouldn’t be lucrative if the girls kept getting drained. The private dance rooms were a concern she’d face when she got there. Eric did say there were cameras.

She walked into the living room and put her things down on the coffee table, slipped off her flip flops and plopped onto the couch. She couldn’t believe how confident she had felt during her audition, how powerful. And the look in Eric’s eyes made her heart flutter.

Sookie turned on the TV and she was immediately faced with a debate between AVL representative Nan Flanagan and the Televangelist Reverend Steve Newlin. She rolled her eyes at Steve’s inflammatory comments. He was on a tangent about how vampires were ‘creatures from hell who lived in sin and deserved damnation’. Nan Flanagan countered him with remarks about how he spewed the same rhetoric about the LGBT community deeming all his stances based on arbitrary prejudice and hate.

Looking away from the television, Sookie glanced up at the mantle above the fireplace. There was a picture of her and Gran smiling. It had been taken on her 24th birthday, before Gran had gotten really sick. It was the last photo they had taken together. Sookie turned off the TV, walked over to the fireplace, and picked up the photo to get a better look at it. She remembered that day fondly.

It had been a good day for Adele Stackhouse. A good day as in she had known who her grandchildren were, had most of her memories and wasn’t fearful. The Alzheimer’s disease hadn’t fully taken hold yet. It was Sookie’s birthday and though August was the roughest during Louisiana summers, Adele insisted on making her ‘famous’ pecan pie. It was Sookie’s favorite.

Sookie spent that afternoon sun bathing and drinking Gran’s lemonade. In the early evening Jason had come over with a few pounds of fresh shrimp he caught fishing that day along with whatever else was needed for supper, including lots of beer. He set up the outdoor boiling pot while Sookie put up a folding table and covered it with newspaper. They cooked up a seafood boil with all the fixings- shrimp, corn, potatoes, sausage, even oranges. Jason had seasoned it to perfection with his personal secret spice blend and Sam had showed up along with Tara and Lafayette. Jason invited his best friend Hoyt. Though simple, eating a shrimp boil outside with friends and family on a hot August night had been a wonderful birthday for Sookie. It was shortly after that day Gran’s health started to decline.

Feeling a pang of sadness, Sookie set the photo back on the mantle and went up stairs. She decided taking a bath would be comforting enough. She turned on the faucet and plugged the drain. She grabbed some jasmine scented bubble bath and poured it in the tub and watched it foam. While waiting for the tub to fill, she stripped out of her bikini, shorts, and tank top. She pulled her hair into a messy bun on top of her head with a scrunchie and started to remove the makeup she was wearing. She took a long hard look at herself in the mirror and inspected her body from every angle. Maybe she could learn to be comfortable showing so much skin at her new job.

Sookie climbed into the tub of warm and soapy water and felt her muscles melt into it. She became immediately relaxed. Reaching for the faucet she turned off the water and laid backwards. Sookie was covered in bubbles up to her neck. She closed her eyes in serenity. Bubble baths and tanning were her two favorite pastimes.

Sookie found herself thinking about Eric. He was forever going to look like his physical prime of early twenties, but his eyes behind their intensity were a window into the fact he was much, much older. She couldn’t get him out of her head even if she tried. And she was trying. But just like Sam, he was now her boss. She couldn’t overstep with him. Oh but the way his tongue moved over her skin, and the firmness of his muscles pressed against her chest. Sookie bit her lip at the thought. The way he slowly spoke her name when he whispered in her ear. She felt herself getting very turned on. Eric looked at Sookie like she had been the only woman in the world when she was on that stage. She could see how much he desired her.

Sookie began stroking her nipples and let out a slow moan. Her eyes were still closed and her mind was flooded with thoughts of Eric. Her clit began to throb with desire. She thought of the ‘what if’s’ that could have happened had he not chosen to walk her out of his office when he did. It would have taken him no effort at all to have her naked, wet, and begging. She couldn’t ignore her pulsing clit and moved her hand down to rub it in slow steady circles. She pictured his fangs scraping down her neck to her breasts where he would spend adequate time sucking and teasing them. Sookie moaned again, this time it was a little louder.

She started to pick up the pace for the hand rubbing small circles on her clit, and continued to rub her soapy nipples with the other adding in light pinches and twists. In her mind she could see Eric shirtless and her hands were roaming all over his toned body while he trailed kisses over her neck and chest slowly moving downwards. Her breathing was coming out in short pants now. She increased the speed on her clit. She imagined him freeing her of her bikini bottoms and shorts before diving in with his tongue showing her his years of practice and skill. Sucking her finger had just been foreplay leading up to sucking and flicking his tongue on her most sensitive nerve bundle.

Sookie was biting her lip and on the verge of ecstasy letting out loud moans of pleasure imagining Eric licking her with his tongue at vampire speed. Water was splashing over the edge of the tub as Sookie touched herself with fervent need.

She fantasized Eric looking into her eyes while he licked her pussy and pushed a long finger into her, working it slowly against her g-spot. She saw him growling in pleasure at tasting and feeling her reactions to him. And when she saw him in her mind bite into her thigh while pumping his fingers inside her, she came undone. She finished with a loud and long moan. Her body tensed up as she felt her core tighten and release. She was flushed from her chest to her cheeks.

Her eyes flew open. Did that just happen? Did she just get off to the thought of her vampire boss biting her? Though she had been extremely aroused she couldn’t help but feel the shame that started to creep in. Sookie wasn’t a fangbanger that was desperate for vampire attention and here she was cumming at the thought of being bitten by one? Sookie pulled the drain stopper and decided to get out of the tub feeling as though she had spent enough time in there. She stepped out, toweled herself off, and walked into her bedroom. She grabbed an old tattered sleep shirt and pulled it on over her head. Sookie put on her favorite slippers before heading downstairs to the kitchen.

She got herself a hefty portion of ice cream from out of the freezer and sat down with a pen and notepad. Sookie had two days before her first shift at Fangtasia. She needed to come up with her stage name as well as her three songs that she was going to dance to. She felt picking the name would be easiest and began to brainstorm some ideas and jot them down.

Candy… it was cute, but too typical of a dancer's name.
Angel… she liked this one better but the odds of someone already having this name was high.
Belle… though she was southern through and through stripping wasn’t something a real southern belle did.

Sookie’s mind went back to Gran and how she might be feeling looking down on her picking out her name for a vampire strip club. She felt some guilt. Gran had died shortly after vampires revealed their existence. She was sure Gran would be more disappointed in the stripping rather than working for vampires.

The last few days Gran had been alive weren’t the best. The Alzheimer’s had taken over at that point and she was confined to a hospital bed yelling nonsense ramblings. Sookie had been sitting with her, holding her hand, and trying to calm her down. But Adele insisted Sookie was a fairy. Through her ramblings, she also mentioned drinking demon’s blood and claimed that is how Sookie gained her ‘disability’. Sookie was sobbing seeing her grandmother talk like this. It was so unlike her. Her Gran was a soft spoken, God fearing woman and her final days were spent yelling about drinking demon blood.
Jason was equally as upset seeing his Gran in this mental state. They felt relieved when she was no longer suffering and could be peacefully laid to rest.

Sookie didn’t want to believe what her Gran had been telling her during her last days in the hospital. She didn’t think Gran would have ever willingly drank a demon’s blood or believed Sookie was part fairy. She thought her telepathy was just a weird quirk, like how some people were mediums or had visions. She had never met another telepath before so what proof was there? Fairy’s hadn’t exactly come on TV announcing their existence like the vampires did. As far as Sookie was concerned, vampires were the only supernatural beings to exist.

Just as she was remembering this, her stage name came to her. Pixie. Short, cute, and a nod to her Gran’s fairy allegations. She was sure it wasn’t too common either.

She wrote ‘Pixie’ down and circled it. Now she had to come up with three songs to dance to. Sookie needed to get some new clothes before she could really lean into anything other than the ‘innocent country girl’ vibe. So that’s where she started. Any money she made on Friday would go towards purchasing some new dance clothes.

Sookie was able to come up with the three songs she was going to dance to fairly quickly. She decided her very first dance would be to something… country. Her intuition told her to listen to Pam who said the customers would eat it up. She was trying to maximize the tips she got on stage since a percentage was given back to the house. The second track she was going to dance to was a pop song. Something light hearted but also more on the sexy side. And her final dance was to be done to a sexy hip hop song. Sookie felt variety in the song choice would influence how she danced and also appeal to multiple types of customers.

She had long since finished her ice cream and got up to clean her dish before turning off the light in the kitchen and going back up stairs. She had three days until she had to be back at Merlotte’s for the Sunday lunch rush after Church services. She was going to take full advantage.

Sookie curled up with a cheesy romance novel and before she realized it, she fell asleep. She was going to need the extra rest for dancing late nights on the weekends.

Chapter Text

Thursday had flown by in what felt like a breeze and before Sookie could realize, it was Friday afternoon and she was a mere few hours from her first shift at Fangtasia. She was riddled with nerves. What if clients didn’t like her? What if she was uncoordinated? What if she fell off stage? What if Jason had a wild hair up his ass to visit a new club that night and saw her? What if they could smell how anxious she was?
She couldn’t tell if she was more apprehensive about dancing on the mainstage or being alone with Eric. He did tell her he was going to show her around the club to get her familiar. Being in his presence made her heart race and her stomach flip, though she did still feel a tinge of guilt for her episode in the bathtub. She just couldn’t get his eyes out of her head. She was curious to what they had seen over the time he’d been alive. She would be sure to ask him about his human life and his age if she ever had the chance to.

Sookie wasn’t used to working nights and to be on her best a-game, she decided to take a nap before getting ready. She set her alarm, closed her blinds, and climbed into bed drifting off soon after her head hit the pillow. She quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Sookie was dressed in a white lace gown and lying in the grass under a giant oak when she opened her eyes. Wiggling her toes, she felt that she was barefoot and buried her feet in the soft grass. The humid air kissed her skin lightly as a breeze made the Spanish moss hanging above her head sway back and forth. She heard the windchimes singing as the light wind made them collide with one another. Where was she?

Slowly sitting up, she recognized it to be the land around her home , but her family’s farm house was nowhere in sight. In its place, was a beautiful garden alongside a stream leading to a small pond in front of her. All around her was a circle of oak trees all dangling with Spanish moss, windchimes, and various chandeliers. The sunlight cast a golden hue on everything making them shine. Her surroundings were ethereal. Looking down at her hands, she saw that she herself was glowing with golden light.

Intrigued, she stood up feeling the lush grass between her toes. She walked over to the edge of the pond and dipped her toe in. It felt like water but below the surface, it wasn’t wet. She pulled her foot out to see light shoot up from beneath the pond and her skin was dry. It was a portal of some kind. Where it led to, she had no idea. She thought it foolish to try and find out. She turned her attention to the garden and slowly began walking over to it.

It was beautiful and surrounded by a wrought iron gate covered in blooming wisteria. The garden was full of various flowers- jasmine, hydrangeas, gardenias, camellias and roses of every color. Sookie began to wander the mysterious garden. She stopped and decided to deeply inhale with her eyes closed letting her senses be overtaken by the sweet aromas.

“I’ve been waiting for you.” She heard a woman say in a delicate voice behind her. Sookie was surprised and whirled around to see one of the most beautiful women she’s ever encountered.

The mysterious woman was statuesque standing roughly six feet tall. She had thick dark hair curled and thrown in an intentionally messy half up half down style that screamed romance. She had dark eyes, a kind smile, and glossy skin. She was in a dress similar to Sookie’s but it was olive green and it complimented her features well. She looked like a model.

“Who are you?” was all Sookie could ask in awe of this beautiful woman.

“My name is Claudine, Sookie.” The woman began to walk closer and Sookie remained in place. She didn’t feel threatened by the stranger who somehow knew her name.

“Where are we? And how do you know my name?” Sookie asked her, confused but still feeling safe and calm in the woman’s presence.

“We’re in the fairy realm. Where you belong. I know your name because I’m your fairy godmother.” Claudine finished the sentence as she closed the gap between them, grabbing onto Sookie’s hand and leading them towards the exit of the garden.

Sookie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her Gran had spoken of fairies, even claimed she was one before she had died. Sookie had thought it was just Alzheimer’s ramblings. Sensing Sookie’s confusion, Claudine started talking again.

“I would have revealed myself to you sooner, had you been in more prominent danger. I’m here now to warn you.” She said in a serious tone. Caludine’s warm smile was fading. The golden sun that had been shining was quickly slipping away as angry grey clouds were encroaching. The light breeze was turning into stronger wind. A storm was coming.

“Warn me of what?” Sookie asked, wishing the woman would be more forthcoming. They continued walking until they reached the “pond” Sookie had woken up in front of.

“Vampires.” Claudine said gravely. Her features hardened at even mentioning them. “It’s not safe for you to be around them. They are the reason our kind are hiding here.” Sookie jumped as a loud crack of thunder rang out. The whipping winds were getting stronger.

“Wait, what do you mean vampires are the reason ‘our kind’ are hiding?” This was a lot of new information for Sookie to process and she was struggling. Her heart started to race and fear was setting in.

“Fairy blood is highly addictive to them. In the early times we tried to coexist. However, vampires did their best to drain and enslave our people. Our blood granted creatures of the night the ability to walk in the sun. We had no other choice but to go where they couldn’t find us before we went extinct. You are only halfling, but vampires can smell you’re different. You have the essential spark, Sookie.” Claudine was gripping Sookie’s hands as the clouds were getting closer. Another clap of thunder rang out loudly above them.
“I’m here to tell you to stay away before it’s too late. It’s too unsafe for me to come to your aid if you’re in trouble around them. My scent is too strong. They would go into bloodlust and kill me.” Sookie was experiencing a whirlwind of emotions at the information.
“It’s not too late for you to come with me. I can guarantee your safety and your happiness.” The winds were whipping wildly at this point causing Sookie’s hair and dress to become disheveled. She shook her head thinking of her obligations at home. She immediately felt distrust bubbling up inside her as lightning struck down a right outside the oak circle. Claudine had walked over to the pond and stepped inside. She held her hand out to Sookie with pleading eyes.

“I can’t go with you.” Sookie stuttered out. “I don’t know you, how am I to know this is even real? Why should I even trust you? We met five minutes ago!” She exclaimed with anxiety filling her voice.

“Your gifts will not be protected. You need to come with me! You’ll be safe. Vampires will do nothing but harm you!” Claudine yelled over the sound of the wind. The clouds were right above them now. They would burst any moment. The windchimes were no longer beautiful sounding and were clanking together in a way that was overstimulating.

“I’m sorry I just can’t. I have obligations at home. What about my brother? My job at Merlotte’s? There’s people who depend on me. I can’t disappear with a mysterious woman.” Sookie said firmly.
Claudine’s expression changed from pleading to almost angry. She still held out her hand to Sookie.
“I’m giving you one last chance to come with me. You will not be safe working at Fangtasia. You will be in grave danger and I won’t be able to help you. The Viking will drain you dry the second he gets the chance!” Claudine exclaimed. Who was The Viking? Eric? Well that answered her question about how old he was. “Please, Sookie. Just trust me.” Claudine was in the portal up to her neck now. Still, Sookie couldn’t make herself move any closer to grab her hand.
“No.” Sookie whispered. She wasn’t sure if she’d regret this decision to run from it all. But it was her life to live and her mistakes to make. Claudine’s eyes burned into Sookie’s one last time.
“Goodbye, Sookie.” She said before diving under. At that same moment the clouds burst and it began storming in the oak circle.

Sookie sat up with a gasp and drenched in sweat. What a weird dream. Was she really a fairy? What the hell was a halfling anyway? Claudine the dream woman told her she had the ‘essential spark’ what did that mean? Shaking off her nerves, Sookie picked up her phone to look at the time. It was a quarter to six. She disabled her alarm and decided to start getting ready for her shift. Claudine’s words rang in Sookie’s head and she couldn’t help but wonder if she really was going to be in danger working at Fangtasia.

Sookie took a quick body shower making sure to shave her long legs and exfoliate. She wanted to look as appealing under the stage lights as possible. Once done in the shower, she toweled off and got into her plush robe. Sookie decided she was going to really lean into the ‘country bumpkin’ aesthetic. She curled her blonde hair and put it into pigtails. She noticed that style got her more tips at Merlotte’s when she did it and felt it might benefit her at Fangtasia as well.

Sookie started doing her makeup and decided on wearing more than what she usually did. Her skin was clear so she didn't feel the need to use any foundation. She patted on a little loose powder to help with any oiliness she might get from sweating while dancing. She made a mental note to pack it in her bag to reapply later in the night. Sookie applied some blush to the apples of her cheeks and to be over the top, added some fake freckles across her nose. For her eyes, she used some white liner on her waterline and a light shimmer for her eyeshadow.

She kept her eyebrows natural, they were slim with a defined arch. Sookie put mascara on her top and bottom lashes before getting out some false lashes she saved for special occasions. They were more on the natural side but would still accentuate her eyes, making them more doll-like. She finished the look off with her favorite light pink lip gloss. Looking in the mirror, she felt a surge of confidence. Sookie never got this done up. She liked it. She quickly brushed her teeth and applied deodorant before walking in her room to pick out her outfit.

She decided on wearing a matching baby pink push up bra and thong set Lafayette had gifted her for her birthday last year. She had no idea why he had gotten her this seeing as she had nobody to wear it for. He just winked and told her it was for ‘just in case’. If only he knew she was going to debut it working at a strip club.

Sookie missed him and Tara. Lafayette had moved away from Bon Temps when Tara went missing. She had gotten involved with vampires early after their reveal and hadn’t been seen since. It was devastating for them, but Sookie couldn’t help but feel Tara was still alive wherever she may be. The search efforts didn’t really extend past Sookie, Sam, Jason, and Lafayette. Andy Bellefleur despised vampires and thought Tara deserved whatever had happened to her. He didn’t bother searching.

Sookie slipped on the gifted lingerie. The quality was impeccable. It had soft lace and the top of the cups were covered in rhinestones. The thong was equally as high quality and soft. She walked over to her closet and grabbed a pink and white gingham button down tank top. She put it on making sure to leave a few of the top buttons undone exposing a fair amount of cleavage and a hint of the bra. She buttoned the mid section of the shirt and then tied the ends in a very high crop under her bust. Her entire stomach was exposed. She found the cutoffs she originally wore to her audition and wiggled back into them. She kept them unbuttoned with the waist rolled down. Sookie then took liberty to pull the straps of the thong out and over her hips in an effective ‘whale tail’. She had seen girls do this with their low rise jeans in high school but she had never been that bold. But tonight she wasn’t Sookie, she was Pixie. And Pixie dressed like this.

Sookie looked at her entire outfit in the mirror. By her standards, she looked ready for a porno shoot in comparison to how she usually dressed. She almost didn’t recognize herself. She felt as ready as she ever could. Checking the time, Sookie saw she had to leave soon. She slipped into her sandals and packed a bag with her face powder, deodorant, and a change of comfy clothes. She didn’t want to drive home so late in the outfit she was wearing. She finished off her look with a few sprays of Pure Seduction by Victoria’s Secret.

Running downstairs, Sookie grabbed a protein bar out of the kitchen before heading for the door. She had eaten an early dinner and wanted to make sure she wasn’t totally famished working into the night. She locked up and got into her Beetle headed for Shreveport.

Nearing the club, she got a familiar feeling of butterflies. She was going to be with Eric. Dressed like this. She hoped he would like her while she was done up. She felt a pang of insecurity spring up at the thought of him being disinterested. She scolded herself. He was her boss! His opinion didn’t matter! She needed to impress the customers, they were the ones going to pay her. Deep down inside, Eric’s opinion did actually matter to her.

She pulled into the parking lot to see there were more cars than before. Probably the ones that belonged to other dancers. She hoped they would be nice to her. She didn’t want to deal with cattiness or petty thoughts thrown her way. Sookie noticed Eric’s red Corvette. She wondered if she’d ever ride in it someday. She had never been in a car that nice. Sookie was a few minutes early, but decided it wouldn’t hurt if she just ripped the band-aid off and walked inside. Punctuality looked good to new employers.

Eric had been sitting in his favorite vinyl booth by the end of the bar waiting for Sookie to arrive. He had never done this for any other dancers when they started. Not even the foreign ones. His hyperfixation on the little blonde annoyed and worried Pam. He’d been keeping to himself, drinking excess amounts of bottled blood and was holed up in his office when he was in the club. It was very unlike him. He was being almost as reclusive as when Godric met the true death.

Eric had spent the last few nights trying to figure Sookie out. He had paid his day man to go to the Bon Temps library to dig up genealogy records but there was nothing uncommon there. He did find her brother’s police records and the obituaries of her grandmother and parents though. He understood living through the death of family. He firsthand witnessed the death of his own parents.

He spent a lot of his time wishing Godric had still been around to talk to. He had knowledge on supernatural beings that predated vampires- creatures thought to be extinct. Godric’s maker had educated him well. Eric was determined to find out why he was so drawn to Sookie. As for now, she appeared to be just human.

Sookie opened the door to Fangtasia and Eric used his vampire speed to meet her as it closed. She was surprised to see him right as she stepped inside. It was going to take some getting used to.

Eric looked handsome as ever in a dark grey suit. He paired it with a black button down shirt tucked into his pants and secured with a black Gucci belt. He left the jacket unbuttoned along the first two buttons on his shirt exposing some of his toned chest. He was wearing dark dress shoes and a black Rolex watch. His hair was combed back in a pompadour again. He really did look like a business owner this time. Sookie had to stop herself from drooling.

He loved seeing the surprise in her eyes when he used his vampire speed. He could tell she had little to none experience with his kind. There would be a learning curve. He had to control his impulses to pull her into his office when he saw what she was wearing or what she wasn’t wearing, which was most of her outfit. Her curvy figure was on full display and his eyes were feasting. The matching bra and panties peeking out from under her tiny top and shorts were driving him crazy. He could feel his pants tightening. Reigning in his impulses to claim her then and there, he smiled down at her.

“Welcome, Sookie. You’re a few minutes early. But I guess I could get started in showing you around. Do you want me to take your bag?” He surprised himself with the last part. He was nice to his dancers, sure, but he definitely didn’t carry their bags for them.
“Well my Gran used to always say if you’re early, you’re on time. If you’re on time, you’re late. Thank you, but it’s okay. I really don’t have much in here.” Sookie said while adjusting the duffle on her shoulder. She could see the intensity in Eric’s eyes again despite his calm demeanor.
“I insist.” Eric persisted with a smirk. His cool fingers brushed her hand that was resting on the strap before slowly removing it from her shoulder. Her breath hitched and he was paying clear attention to her accelerating heartbeat. With flawless ease Eric slung the bag over his own shoulder.
“Follow me to my office, I need to retrieve your locker combination.” She swallowed and trailed behind him down the hall. She could hear laughing coming from the dressing room when they passed by but the door had been closed.

Eric had been sure to clean up and hide any evidence he had of his research into Sookie’s life. Walking into the office, he left the door open as they walked inside. She felt relieved. Being around him made her nervous, being alone with him was even worse. She had to control her imagination. Eric bent down and opened a cabinet of his desk where he kept employee records, tax papers, inventory lists, shipment invoices, and other miscellaneous information like locker combinations. He retrieved the paper and wrote her information on a sticky note-

‘Locker 13

Combination 7-15-0’

Sookie had been watching him while silently admiring. She watched his muscles flex under his suit jacket and she couldn’t help herself from wanting to feel them wrapped around her. He broke her out of her thoughts by speaking.

“Alright let’s get you set up with your locker. You’ll find the other girls getting ready in the dressing room. There’s a shower in there along with a few vanity spaces. In the future, you’re more than welcome to come early and get ready here. It’s easier that way for some dancers that are coming here after working a day job.” She took comfort in knowing she didn’t have to always drive to and from Shreveport in her get up. Perhaps coming early would provide her with more time with Eric.

She stood behind him as he knocked and opened the door to the dressing room. She could hear a chorus of women saying “Hey Eric” and giggling.

“Ladies meet our newest dancer, Sookie. I want you all to help make her feel comfortable here. She’s never danced before.” Eric turned to her and smiled, gesturing for her to come inside. She complied and looked around the room offering a shy smile and wave. It was then she felt her heart stop.
“Tara…?”

Chapter Text

Sookie thought her eyes were deceiving her. Her childhood best friend-who has been missing for over a year and presumed to be dead- was standing around and laughing in the dressing room of a vampire strip club. Tara looked healthier than ever. Her deep skin had a beautiful glow, her hair was long and smooth flowing down her back, and she was dressed in a hot red corset, a black latex skirt, and tall red ‘fuck me’ heels. She didn’t look like someone who had been held captive by vampires. She was definitely here by choice. Sookie barely had time to scan the room before her shock set in, but she did notice that Tara and Pam were dressed in matching outfits. Pam however was wearing a black corset, red latex skirt, and black ‘fuck me’ pumps. Her hair was curled like it had been the night of her audition. The matching outfits registered a bit odd to Sookie, but she was glad to see Tara.

The energy in the room immediately shifted when Sookie opened her mouth. Tara looked equally as surprised and almost embarrassed- like she had been caught doing something she shouldn’t have. Still Tara couldn’t control her impulses and ran over to Sookie, faster than a human could, and grabbed her by the shoulders.

“Sookie! What are you doing here?” Tara’s voice was excited. It was then her fangs shot out without her control and she gasped holding her hand in front of her mouth. Eric instinctively put his arm in front of Sookie let out a growl as Pam tensed up. Pam really didn’t want to get in the middle of the bloodbath that would take place if Tara tried to bite the blonde.

Sookie was being bombarded with waves of confusion and fear from the thoughts of the other dancer’s who were just sitting watching the scene unfold. It wasn’t every day you got to see vampires fight. Much less over a human.
Tara spoke up again not wanting to scare Sookie or further agitate Eric.

“I’m sorry you just smell so good. I promise I’m not going to hurt you.” Tara said looking into Sookie’s eyes with sincerity.

Tara retracted her fangs and Eric’s demeanor relaxed a little. He found it interesting that the progeny of his own child knew the human who had been taking up so much space in his head. He would be sure to ask Tara for information about Sookie if he needed to.

“I can’t believe you’re here. I was so worried! But it seems you’re fine if not better…” Sookie trailed off feeling awkward with all eyes on her.

“Yes! I’ve been great. It’s amazing to see-” Tara was cut off by a loud fake yawn coming from Pam. Emotions weren’t her strong suit and she was growing bored. There may have been the slightest tinge of jealousy that both her maker and her progeny felt some type of connection to this girl, though Pam would rather face the true death before admitting it.

“While this reunion is touching, Tara has a bar to set up.” Pam said in her dryest tone yet. Wanting to avoid any pettiness from her maker, Tara rolled her eyes and kissed Pam on the cheek before heading for the door. She gave Sookie a look that said ‘we’ll talk later’ and strutted out to the bar.

Sookie regained her composure and turned her attention back to the other dancers that were getting ready and lounging in the dressing room. Most were stage ready in various lingerie sets or costumes and a few were still fastening on heels and or fixing their makeup. All of the girls were more on the gothic side in terms of style. Sookie stuck out like a sore thumb in her farmer’s daughter inspired outfit.

“Hey, I’m Sookie. It’s nice to meet y’all” Sookie remarked not trying to get on anyone’s bad side after the scene that just took place. Most of the dancers were neutral but a few were jealous and thought she was getting ‘preferential treatment’ and too much attention from Eric. Was she? Was he not this gracious with his other dancers?

Sookie then took her time assessing the dressing room. There was a long bench with a wall of red lockers to her right hand side. Further into the room was a row of vanity spaces equipped with nice plush chairs. Behind those were the showers- she could tell by the black and red shower curtains along with the hamper beside them. Vampires seemed to love color coordinating. The showers were more of an open concept similar to ones you’d see at the gym but she was thankful they were there. The very back wall boasted a full length mirror and next to it was a shelf containing things the dancers might need such as towels for the showers, toothbrushes, hair elastics, gum, band aids, pain relievers, tampons, various snacks. She found herself kind of amazed that vampires had put that kind of thought into providing a comfortable environment for their human staff.

The girls greeted Sookie before resuming their chats with each other. Eric took the reins of the situation, walking over to Sookie’s locker at the end of the row, entering the combination, and opening it for her. He gently placed her bag inside and closed it, handing her the sticky note. Sookie put it in her pocket.
“So this is your locker. Feel free to keep things in here so you don’t have to bring them every shift. Deodorant, perfume, makeup, dance shoes- things of that nature.” He had a soft glimmer in his eye.
“Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.” Sookie said feeling comfortable she wouldn’t always need to bring a duffle to work with her.
“Now let’s get on with the rest of the tour. The club will be opening shortly after we finish. Bye, ladies.” Eric had set his charm to ten once again upon saying his goodbye to the other dancers. They all giggled.

Sookie was following Eric when Pam put her arm in front of her to stop her from leaving.
“Pamela…” Eric growled in a warning tone.
“Her shoes. If she’s to immediately go to work after you show her around, she needs to change. Being barefoot might have been okay with you during her audition, but that shit will not fly when she’s on stage.” Pam countered. Her eyes were just as intense as Eric’s.

Sookie glanced down at her flip flops and immediately felt embarrassed. She didn’t want to wear these, she just didn’t own the right footwear. She needed to go shopping tomorrow. Eric looked down to Sookie’s feet in sandals, and though he really wasn’t bothered- he didn’t argue Pam. Taking care of the dancers reminded her of when she was a Madam in her human life. He wasn’t going to undermine her in that way. He nodded and turned to face Sookie.

“You change, and meet me in the club. I’ll be sitting in a booth.” And with that, he walked out.

Sookie was now alone with Pam whom she could sense was irritated by her presence and the dancers who were skeptical of her. She heard a few think she was stupid for wearing her flip flops. Gathering up courage, Sookie looked directly into Pam’s eyes.

“I don’t own any… dance shoes. I need to go shopping tomorrow with the money I make tonight.” Sookie admitted, putting her pride aside.
Pam raised an eyebrow and nodded slowly.

“What size are you?” She inquired. Attention was on them and the chatter had ceased once more.

“I wear an eight…” Sookie trailed off. She was surprised when Pam turned her eyes away to look at the dancers sitting on the bench.

“Who wears an eight?” She asked pointedly. One woman raised her hand shyly. She was small and blonde and looked to be early thirties. She had heavy dark makeup on and a leather body suit that was low cut with the sides cut out. Pam zoomed up to her in vampire speed and softly grabbed her chin in her hands. Upon making eye contact, she was in a trance as Pam directed her.

“Ginger, you will loan Sookie a pair of your heels and you won’t remember you let her borrow them until she gives them back to you.” The woman, Ginger, slowly nodded with her mouth slightly open.

“Yes, Pam.” She said in a daze before Pam let her go and stood by Sookie again.

Holy shit, she just witnessed a vampire glamour someone first hand. She hoped she couldn’t fall victim to that. Ginger appeared in front of Sookie holding a pair of clear stripper heels. They were the basic ones with a clear vinyl strap across the foot, a platform, and a stiletto heel. Sookie had never worn shoes like this. They were intimidating, to say the least. Sookie thanked her and walked down to the end of the bench by her locker. She sat down and buckled herself into the shoes. Sookie slowly stood using the locker as support before fishing the combination out of her pocket. She opened her locker, put her flip flops inside, and closed it before putting the combination back in her pocket. Pam and the other dancers watched in amusement as Sookie used the lockers as support to gain her balance.

“Much better. They’ll take some getting used to, but you’ll be fine.” Pam said wryly moving out of the way of the door. Before walking out to Eric, Sookie snuck a look at herself in the full length mirror. She felt like an Amazonian being so tall. She became determined to master the shoes and have a great first night. Sookie smiled at Pam on her way out of the dressing room.

Sookie walked slowly down the hallway and started to go a little faster when she gained her confidence close to the doorway leading into the club. Upon walking in she heard music playing that matched its interior. Dark. She could see Tara behind the bar stocking Tru Blood and prepping fruit for cocktails at vampire speed. She still couldn’t believe that Tara was in Shreveport just thirty miles away and also a vampire. The time she had been missing was awful. Gran had died shortly before and both losses were very hard on Sookie. She was glad to see her…alive? More like undead.

Sookie scanned the room and saw the top of Eric’s blonde hair peeking out from behind a booth. His back was to her. He could smell her before he could see her. She walked up confidently to the booth and he immediately stood. Though the heels made her roughly six foot, she still had to slightly look up at Eric to meet his eyes.

“So that’s what the weather’s like up here.” She said in jest, breaking the ice. It was time for her Pixie persona to come out and for her to feign confidence. That included trying to joke around with a vampire.

“It’s quite nice and truly a shame you can’t enjoy it more.” Eric retorted, smiling down at her. The heels made her legs look even longer and he was more than pleased. “Now come with me down to the floor.” Eric led the way and Sookie followed. She made sure to grab onto the ornate railing while heading down the steps.

“During your shift you can take time to walk around the floor and strike up conversations with customers. They may want to buy you drinks, buy dances from you, or even just pay you for your time to sit and converse with them. If they attempt to solicit you for anything else, you tell myself or Pam. We do not run that kind of business.” He said with seriousness.
“There is a ten minute lull period in between main stage dances to which dancers have full reign to dance in the cages. We like to ensure everyone gets the same opportunity while up on stage since it’s profitable to us as well.”

Sookie looked at the cages. They were made out of real metal and hosted a small platform inside. They didn’t have a lock but they did have a door that shut. She decided she would pass on entering one of those tonight. Eric could see the look in her eye while she stared at the cages and he broke her out of her thoughts.

“Of course dancing in the cages is not mandatory.” Eric assured her. She had some comfort in knowing that.

Eric held out his arm to Sookie and she grabbed it as they climbed back up the steps towards the bar. Tara took notice and thought it was strange but kept her feelings to herself. Pam had told her of Eric’s distance and interest in a new dancer, she just couldn’t fathom it being her childhood friend. Though even she had to admit, Sookie smelled better than the average human.

Eric walked Sookie over to the private dance rooms. He lifted the black velvet curtain and gestured for her to walk inside.
“Ladies, first.” He smirked.
Sookie felt her heart rate speed up and a blush start to creep in. Eric enjoyed having that effect on her. Sookie entered the private dance area first and Eric took the opportunity to drink in her backside. The tiny cutoffs with whale tail showing would be the death of him. Her toned and smooth legs flexing in the heels as she walked, made him want nothing more than to throw her down and get between them giving her every ounce of pleasure he could.

Sookie looked around the room. There were several walled off areas each with their own curtains. Eric opened one and with vampire speed was seated on the plush sofa inside, hands behind his head and right leg resting on his left knee. His eyes were burning into Sookie’s and he looked ready for a personal dance. Sookie would have loved to straddle him at that moment, but she just bit her lip and looked down at her feet. They were starting to feel pinched in the shoes. This was going to be a long night.

“These are the private rooms. Remember, dances are sold in twenty minute increments and if they want more time they have to pay for it. If someone gives you a problem, let me know.” Eric’s eyes were on fire. He meant it. He would personally handle any transgressions against her.
“Customers are prohibited from biting. There is a camera in every room.” He pointed to it up in the corner.
“If someone gives you a problem, let me know.” He stressed again, his tone very serious. He wanted to make sure Sookie knew she could rely on him. She nodded in understanding and his face softened once more. Eric patted the seat next to him and she walked over nervous to sit beside him. When she did, he turned his upper body to face her.

“Have you come up with a name?” He asked with his tone full of intrigue. He was genuinely curious. Eric thought it would give him some more insight into who she was.

“Yes. Pixie.” She said definitively. At that moment it clicked for Eric. Her smell, her taste, her unrivaled innocence. The name she chose had even been a sly nod to the fact she was Fae. Eric couldn’t believe it. Fairies had been thought to be extinct. Godric had told him stories of the Fae. They were brutal warriors with their blood able to grant vampires the ability to daywalk. Until vampires had drained them all. There’s no way Godric had lied to him. How was it possible for him to be sitting beside one?

“You’re Fae.” He whispered in disbelief.
“What are you talking about?” She asked, confused why he was staring at her like that.

“You, Sookie, are Fae. You’re a fairy. Who else knows?” His guard immediately went up. He needed to keep this as low profile as possible in the event someone tried to take her.

“No one? I don’t even know, myself. You’re the third person to tell me this and I’m struggling to understand.” She was starting to feel panicky. Eric found it interesting she didn’t know of her own bloodline. Somehow she had been brought up into adulthood without it ever being explained to her.

“Who told you about your Fae bloodline?” Eric was looking at her pointedly now trying to sense any lies.

“Well my Gran, before she died. She had Alzheimer’s and would go into these crazed ramblings about me being a fairy.” Sookie omitted the demon blood causing her telepathy, she wasn’t sure she needed to tell him about that yet.
“I thought it was just nonsense.” Sookie looked down feeling a pang of guilt for not having listened to Gran in her last days.

“Who else told you?” Eric touched her hand seeing that talking about her grandmother was a sensitive subject.

“Earlier today, before I came here I had a dream. The woman in it claimed to be my ‘fairy godmother’. She tried to take me with her into the fairy realm. She claimed I was only going to be in danger around vampires and wanted me to go with her into hiding. I woke up feeling weird but also brushed that off.” Sookie admitted this, shaking her head.

Eric knew if it got out she was a fairy that someone would eventually try to take her or drain her. He wasn’t going to let that happen. He needed to have her drink his blood. He would be able to find her if she needed his help. Though wanting to be able to sense her was fresh in his mind, he knew he couldn’t suggest it. Her reaction towards signing in blood was a tell tale sign as to how she’d react at the proposition to drink his blood. He would have to prove himself.

“We are going to tell no one of this. It’s for your best interest. Most vampires will not control themselves if they have knowledge that you are…special. You must act as if you don’t know anything about it. I will do my best to provide you with the safety you need.” Eric was leaning in closer now. He couldn’t help that her scent was inviting him in. Sookie without realizing was leaning towards him as well.

“Thank you. This is all new and scary for me. I just needed some extra money to help me get by…” Her voice caught in her throat as he was mere inches away from her lips. Oh how she wished they would meet. She had thought of it countless times over the past days. He had as well. Eric raised his cool hand to her warm cheek with his lips hovering above hers, just as Pam strolled in.

“Eric, don’t be greedy. She needs to be up on stage in a few. It’s only right we debut our newest dancer first.” Pam turned on her heel and walked out not giving a damn about Eric’s anger. He had been pissy for a few nights now, what’s one more?

Eric let out an irritated breath though he didn’t have to, and pulled away from Sookie. She felt a sting. Eric looked deeply into her eyes and stood up, extending his hand to her. Sookie took it and they walked towards the curtain in silence.

They could hear music playing loudly and the chatter of patrons behind it. The club was now open. Eric turned to Sookie one last time.

“Remember, we don’t tell anyone. You don’t know you’re Fae. Your stage name is a coincidence.”

Sookie shook her head in understanding while biting her lip. A pit formed in her stomach. Eric softly smiled before opening the velvet curtain. All eyes were on them.

Chapter Text

Sookie entered the club and was faced with leering eyes from patrons. She was nerve wracked at the fact she was actually a fairy. Everything she had thought to be just her gran’s delusions or part of a nightmare, was true. She decided she would hide her telepathy from Eric, for now. She knew it would be a matter of time before he would inevitably find out- she just didn’t need him knowing all her secrets at once. The only thought in her mind was her survival right now. If she was able to keep her fairy identity under wraps tonight, she would be able to maintain secrecy until she could stop stripping. Hopefully. She had her mental guards up tightly.

Eric squeezed her hand lightly as a vote of confidence.
“Go prepare to take the main stage. I’ll be in a booth watching. If anyone gets too rowdy, they will be handled.” He warned and waved her off.

She nodded and held her head up high. Most patrons in the club were seated and had gone back to talking amongst each other whilst their eyes were lingering on the bodies of girls walking around the floor. She was surprised to see the vampire clientele consisted of men and women. There were also some human patrons. A few had some dancers perched in their laps or draped around their chairs. Sookie didn’t want to do that, but to get paid she had to play the part. She kept money in the fore thought of her mind as she made her way down steps to the main floor.

Her blonde hair and country girl outfit made her shine like a beacon amongst the sea of black and red. Sookie walked around surveying the scene, hips swaying with every step. She noticed she had caught the attention of more than a few vampires who had been eyeing her with interest. Some of those vampires had their nostrils slightly flared with a look of hunger in their eyes. It hit her that she was now prey in a room of predators.

Eric walked away from Sookie and headed towards the bar. He needed a Tru Blood. He hadn’t fed on a live person in a few nights and with the news of Sookie’s supernatural heritage, he needed to make sure he didn’t accidentally hurt her. He leaned against the bar with his back to it, scanning the room to find Sookie just walking around the main floor. He looked over his shoulder and met Tara’s eyes.

“Tru Blood. O negative.” He said, eyes going back to Sookie. Tara was surprised but knew better than to question Eric Northman. She grabbed the bottle of blood, shook it, removed the cap, and put it in the microwave.
“It’s not like you to drink this shit.” Tara acknowledged out loud.

She was sure Sookie was the reason. Eric could have fed on anyone he wanted and in the time she had known him, he did. So why now would he choose to start drinking synthetic blood? Tara knew Sookie wasn’t the type to walk around and just let herself be bitten. At least, she thought that’s who Sookie had been when they were friends. A year can change a lot.

“You’re right. It isn’t.” Eric’s eyes were still following Sookie as she made her way to the edge of the stage and started to talk to Pam.
“I can’t turn over a new leaf at a thousand years old?” He asked the question with a hint of sarcasm. He knew Tara would catch on. Eric was very set in his ways. Willingly drinking synthetic blood and refraining from sex for more than a night was without a doubt, uncharacteristic. Tara shrugged and pondered her next move. She had to be careful with her word choice.

“No, it’s not that you can’t. It’s more like you don’t have to.”
Eric agreed internally. He didn’t have to. But for some reason he wanted to. He had never tasted blood as decadent as Sookie’s. Everything else was mid at best. Eric didn’t mind playing the long game with a little self torture if it meant Sookie was the prize.

He decided to let her words hang in the air and not respond. The microwave beeped and Tara set the bottle on the bar. Eric took the bottle, gave Tara a nod, and sat in his favorite booth just as Sookie was ascending the stairs to the stage. The show was about to begin. He was on the edge of his seat internally. He took a long swig from his bottled blood and gripped it tightly in his hands.

Sookie was about to approach a customer who had waved her over when Pam had called her name. She gave him a sorry smile, turned around, and went over to the stage.
“What’s your stage name and your first song you want to dance to?” Pam asked her curtly.
“Pixie is my stage name.” Pam raised her eyebrow. That name seemed to fit her.
“And the song I’m going to dance to is She’s Country by Jason Aldean.” Pam nodded her head and a small smile graced her lips.
She liked that Sookie had taken her lead on being different for customers. She strutted back over to the DJ booth. Pam pointed over to the stairs and Sookie took the hint. It was time. She was beyond nervous and felt her palms start to sweat. She was trying her best to ensure it wasn’t visible on her face. Sookie climbed the stairs and looked over her shoulder. She could see Eric’s eyes smoldering from the booth he was sitting in. She reached the pole as the lights dimmed and volume on the music slowly turned itself down.

“Good evening and welcome to Fangtasia.” Pam called into the microphone. “ We have a new dancer joining our ranks tonight. She is quite delicious and will be providing y’all with something a little different.” Pam mused.
Sookie could see a few vampires use their speed to take claim of chairs surrounding the catwalk. She already had an enthusiastic audience. All she needed to do now was impress them enough to garner tips.
“Without further ado, meet Pixie.” Pam said with a provocative tone. At that moment lights on the stage turned on to illuminate Sookie standing at the pole. A few whistles rang out. Through her nerves, she managed to pull forth her Pixie persona. It was now or never.

The music began playing and she started to sway her hips to the banjo and heavy bass drum of the intro. She grabbed onto the pole and slowly began walking around it.

You boys ever met a real country girl?
I’m talkin, true blue
Out in the woods
Downhome
Country

The guitar rang out adding a rock element to the song and Sookie pulled herself up onto the pole whirling around a few times before stopping to face the crowd. Putting her arms above her head she slid down the pole with her back to it spreading her thighs. She could see some vamps at the end of the catwalk already holding out paper bills. Sookie took it upon herself to slowly crawl down the catwalk and the patrons started throwing their money around her completely enthralled.

She’s a hot little number in her pick-up truck
Daddy’s sweet money done jacked it up

At this point she sat up on her knees and began to roll her hips to the beat of the song in a grinding motion. She was giving them a good look at her exposed stomach. Cool hands touched her thighs as they tucked money into the waist band of her shorts. She rubbed her hands up her body as she started working on the buttons and knot on her shirt.

She’s a party all nighter from South Carolina
A bad mamma jamma down in Alabama

Sookie moved back onto her hands and knees giving the vampires ample view of her ass squeezed into the shorts. She felt them sticking money into her back pockets.
Eric was seated in the booth clenching his teeth while watching her dance. They were touching her. In ways he should be touching her. And his scent wasn’t even on her to warn them of who she really belonged to. Though he loved watching the way she wiggled her curves, he couldn’t help the tinge of jealousy that overcame him.

She’s a ragin’ Cajun, lunatic from Brunswick
Juicy Georgia peach with a thick southern drawl

Sookie went face down ass up on the catwalk and threw her ass back a few times. She elicited more whistles and she noticed more vampires surrounded the platform.
She rolled onto her back spreading her thighs.

Sexy swingin’ walk, brother she’s all
Country
From her cowboy boots to her downhome roots

Sookie ripped open her shirt with her back arched. Her large breasts were spilling out of the cups of the light pink push up bra. Her beautiful tan curves were all on display. Cool hands began stuffing bills into the top of her bra as she could hear more whistles and shouts of approval. She tried not to get aroused imagining Eric’s hands caressing her cleavage.

She’s country
From the song she plays, to the prayer she prays

Eric’s pants tightened when she ripped her shirt open exposing delectable breasts spilling out of their confinement. He had to hold back from picking her up off the stage and taking her back to his office. He loved how confident she became when performing. He was unsure of how long he could handle being without her body on his.

That’s the way she was born and raised
She ain’t afraid to stay
Country
Brother, she’s country

Sookie sat up pulling off her top and whirling it above her head before tossing it. She threw her head back and began grinding her hips again while running her hands on her upper body. She made sure to bite her lip and push her already voluptuous breasts together.

The entire club was fascinated by Sookie and her performance. Her good girl demeanor had quickly dissolved the second she started dancing and she channeled her inner video vixen. Tara couldn’t believe this was the same Sookie she had grown up with, and she had to fight to keep her jaw off the floor.

A hell raisin’ sugar when the sun goes down
Mama taught her how to rip up the town
Honey dripping’ honey from a holler in Kentucky

Sookie got to her feet and strutted over to the pole with her back to the audience. She threw her head back and rolled her body against it. She dropped it low and bounced a few times. She found it not too difficult to twerk in the heels. She slowly stood up while bent over- giving the crowd of excited vampires a full view of her ass. It gave her validation to hear the satisfied hollering. She decided she’d be losing her shorts soon.

Get you flippin’ kinda trippy like a Mississippi hippy
She’s a Kansas princess
Crazy mother trucker, undercover lover

She walked around the pole to face the crowd and swayed her hips while hooking her thumbs in the waistband of her shorts. She could see all the money on stage on top of what was shoved in her pockets and bra. She couldn’t wait to count it. The money further motivated her to show more skin.

Thick southern drawl,
Sexy swingin’ walk
Brother she’s all
Country

Turning around she looked over her shoulder as she started to remove her shorts exposing her plump ass in a matching thong. She kicked the shorts aside.

From her cowboy boots to her downhome roots
She’s country
From the song she plays to the prayers she prays
That’s the way she was born and raised
She ain’t afraid to stay
Country
Nothin’ but country

Sookie surprised herself when she began to use upper body strength to climb up the pole. Locking her legs around it, she leaned back allowing herself to slowly twirl around it upside down.

Eric was losing his mind. He was fighting the urge to stroke his very hard cock under the table. He wanted to take her into his office and fuck her senseless on every surface- the couch, against the wall, across his desk. He imagined taking her outside and fucking her on the hood of his Corvette and not caring who saw, just to assert dominance that she was his. The thought made him growl. If she kept dancing like this throughout the night, he would need to feed. Tru Blood would not be enough to satiate the burning desire inside him.

Thick southern drawl
Sexy swingin’ walk
Aw show ‘em how a country girl, does it one time now

Sookie grabbed the pole before swinging around it and lowering herself down to the stage in the splits. The excited yelling increased as she bounced with her legs spread.

During the instrumental bridge Sookie got up to her feet and slowly walked down the catwalk. She made sure to stop and wiggle her hips and ass in the faces of the undead patrons. She could feel them slipping money into the straps of her thong as an excuse to touch her hips.

At the end of the catwalk she lowered her body down making eye contact with the vampire who was sitting front and center. He looked about fourty- or well he had been when he was turned. He had dark brown eyes, dark hair, and a thin mustache. He was relatively handsome for an older man but not really her type. She was sitting in front of him with legs spread. The man stuffed a bill into her bra while sniffing her femoral artery. She saw his fangs poke out in doing so. What was she doing? Offering herself up as a sacrifice?

Eric was ready to send the vampire to his true death if he dared bite her. He thought Sookie was being foolish to tempt him in such a way. Was it to make Eric jealous? She didn’t need to go that far if that was her goal. What happened next, surprised Eric as well as all other vampires in the club who were intensely aroused by Sookie’s performance.

As the last chorus sounded out, Sookie put her platform on the vampire’s chest and pushed herself backwards. Like a proper tease. She was more clever than Eric had realized. Sookie spread her thighs again and welcomed the money that had been pouring down on her while she laid with her back arched. Eric was impressed at her ability to take back the control. The song ended and the lights came on. Eric quickly retreated to his office. She couldn’t see what her dance had done to him.

Pam,who had been majorly astonished at Sookie’s performance, broke the tension by speaking into the microphone. She knew Sookie would be good, but not that good. Maybe having her around wouldn’t be so bad after all. Eric hadn’t sent anyone to their true death over the display either.
“Give it up for Pixie. Our next dancer is one you know very well, Ginger.”

Sookie began regulating her heart beat as she stood up to collect her clothes. Pam with her vampire speed assisted her by picking up all the bills on stage. When presented with the stack, Sookie was wide-eyed. She had never seen so much cash. It was mostly 20’s and 50’s but she could see some blue bills sprinkled in there. That wasn’t counting what was in her bra, thong, and shorts pockets. Sookie removed the cash from her undergarments and threw on her clothes. She decided to leave the shirt unbuttoned but still tied in a knot. Her voluptuous breasts were on full display and Pam couldn’t help herself from staring.

“You were better than I anticipated. I told you they were going to love that country shit.” Pam had been right.
Sookie thanked her, grabbed the money, and made her way off the stage. Sookie’s eyes looked for Eric in the buzzing club but he wasn’t around. Sookie feeling a pang of disappointment, headed for the locker room to put the cash away and freshen up her makeup.

In the hallway, Sookie had bumped into another dancer. They hadn’t been introduced but she was a busty blonde dressed in bondage gear. The woman gave Sookie a dirty look and when their shoulders brushed, she could hear the woman thinking in a European language. She couldn’t tell what it was but it sounded Eastern European.
“Oh, excuse me. I’m sorry.” Sookie apologized.
The other woman rolled her eyes and Sookie continued into the dressing room. Can’t win them all. She didn’t see the woman stop outside Eric’s office.

Sookie sat down in front of her locker with a deep sigh. She felt accomplished and also like a new person. She enjoyed the power of seduction she felt while on stage. Not being able to hear thoughts of the customers who had touched her was also a major benefit. She looked down at the giant wad of money and smiled. She would definitely be going shopping tomorrow.

Sookie reached into her pocket and found the sticky note containing her locker combination wasn’t there. It must have fallen out when she removed the money from her pockets. She was going to have to ask Eric to write it down for her again.

Sookie stood up with the money and walked over to the vanity spaces to inspect her makeup. Nothing was out of place. She smiled at herself, glowing with confidence, and headed for Eric’s office.

Eric had been trying to calm his own nerves and arousal when there was a soft knock at his door. He called to enter and Yvetta walked inside. She slinked over to his desk.

“Why have you not called to see me?” she asked in her thick accent. “You do not drink bottle blood. You drink from me.” She whined.

“I have been busy, Yvetta. It’s nothing personal.” Eric countered, trying to diffuse the situation. He could still feel his hunger from Sookie’s dance.

“But Master Eric, I miss you. We have had fun times together, no?” She said while coming around the desk.

“Yes. We have. As I said before, I’ve been busy.” Eric was refraining from getting angry.

“I can see in your eyes you are hungry. Drink.” Yvetta brushed her hair away from her neck and lowered it in front of Eric. She was right. He was hungry. Synthetic blood could scratch an itch and sustain you, but it wasn’t satisfying. Eric felt his fangs sneak out without his consent. If he fed, he would be less likely to try and bite Sookie out of arousal.

Eric quickly grabbed her and sat her in his lap. He bit into her neck and rejoiced at being able to feed properly. She didn’t taste nearly as rich and sweet as Sookie, but it was marginally better than Tru Blood. Yvetta began to moan as Eric was drawing blood from her neck in deep pulls.

Just as he started to feel the hunger dissipate, there was a quick knock on the door and it briefly opened.
“Oh, oh my god! Sorry!” He heard a voice call out before quickly shutting the door. That voice was Sookie’s. Shit.

Chapter Text

Shit. Shit. Shit. Sookie had just walked in on him feeding on another dancer. This was not going to bode well. Eric pulled his fangs out of her neck, licked the wounds closed, and immediately sent her out of his office.
“Get out. Now.” He growled in a deadly tone. He was kicking himself for being so foolish, for caving into temptation the first time it presented itself. He had been so overcome with the urge to feed that he hadn’t smelled her from behind the door. Yvetta pouted and walked out of the office.

Sookie was more than surprised when she walked in on Eric with his fangs sunk into the neck of another dancer. A slew of emotions were flying through her. First was shock. Next was embarrassment. Then jealousy. Followed by anger.

Was that all the dancers were good for? He had a ‘no biting’ rule for the patrons, what made him above it? If he thought Sookie was going to just be some kind of chew toy for him to sink his fangs into whenever he pleased- he had another thing coming.

Sookie stood awkwardly outside the door. All she wanted was to get the locker combination, put her money away, and go back out to the floor. She was sure there were vampires waiting to pay her for some conversation and she needed a drink to cool her temper.

The woman Eric had been feeding on walked out of the office, and passed by Sookie giving her a smug smirk. Sookie was confused by the woman’s animosity towards her. She hadn’t known the few dancers who had been jealous of her interactions with Eric had been talking amongst each other. Yvetta had been in that group. Feeling like a jilted lover from being ignored the past few nights- she took it upon herself to get attention.

Sookie didn’t bother knocking again before walking into Eric’s office. She could see what she thought had been regret on Eric’s face but that was quickly gone when she opened her mouth. Apologizing wasn’t something Eric Northman did.

“I need my locker combination again.” Sookie said coolly. She wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. She refused to become his next meal. Eric nodded and opened a drawer in his desk. He fished out the paper with the combinations and wrote it down on another sticky note. Before Sookie could blink, he was standing in front of her.

He had her pinned to the door with his chest to hers. Eric took her chin in his hands. Though she was irritated and upset by his actions, she couldn’t help but melt into him. She cursed herself mentally. Eric’s eyes burned into her own and Sookie began to feel a weird tickle in her brain.

“You didn’t see that.” Eric said with surefire confidence. He was going to enact as much damage control as possible. The best way he knew how to do that was by glamour. Much to his dismay, it backfired on him. Sookie felt anger boil up inside her. Was he fucking serious?
It caught him completely off guard when she had pushed him away from her.

“Did you just try to fucking glamour me?” Sookie asked with her voice raising. “You have a lot of nerve!” She yelled. Eric couldn’t believe it hadn’t worked. His influence had never failed once in the thousand years he had been a vampire. He knew he was in deep shit with her now. He wouldn’t have tried glamouring her if he had known fairies were immune to it. Godric failed to tell him that detail about their kind.
“I’m not just some bimbo you can manipulate and feed on when you see fit!” Sookie exclaimed. She was seething.

The entire thing was ridiculous. She didn’t know much about Eric, but the way he had treated her made her feel as though he was honorable enough to not use his hypnosis. She felt relief in knowing she was immune to glamour. Eric didn’t know how to react. He had wedged himself between a rock and a hard place. He was unsure of what to do next. Sookie felt another surge of anger seeing the blatant surprise written all over his face.

“What? You thought you’d be able to just make me forget I caught you feeding off one of the dancers? What puts you above your own rules you have for customers? Is that what you plan to do to me? Because I’ll tell you right now, Mr Northman, I will not be one of your blood whores!” Sookie spat out the last sentence with rage.

Eric was speechless. He knew she was right in calling him out. What did make him more worthy of being the one to taste her blood, and for free at that? Why was that okay when he would gladly rip the head off any vampire who had the decency to pay her before biting? It didn’t sit well that she thought he had ulterior motives to glamour and habitually feed on her. He wanted her to be begging for his fangs to puncture her skin. He would have never used glamour to convince her to be bitten or to forget she had been. If he was lucky enough to taste the sweet liquid in her veins, he wanted her consent and her remembrance. Through her rage, Eric still thought the scantily clad fairy before him was adorable. She resembled Tinkerbell. Eric knew he had no other choice but to concede.
“You’re right. That was wrong of me. I’m sorry.” He said while looking into her eyes again. Hers had been narrowed at him, but he saw them soften for a split second before quickly being covered up by her anger once more. Eric didn’t ever apologize. He was used to taking what he wanted with no thought about the recourse of his actions. In essence: he was very selfish. But with Sookie, he found himself not wanting to be. He felt discomfort at her being so upset. Maybe he was turning over a new leaf…

“It was totally wrong of you! Thank you for apologizing…” Sookie trailed off. She could feel her immediate anger start to subside. “I just don’t want you thinking you can manipulate me into giving you my blood.” Her anger had been replaced with worry and Eric could hear it make its way into her voice.

Tentatively, Eric took a step towards her- closing the space between them. His chest was pressed against her once more. Sookie’s heart began to race. She hated how he made her feel. She was just yelling at him for Christ’s sake! And now she wanted to feel his touch?

“I won’t ever try and do that to you again.” He placed his hand on her cheek and she melted into it once more while maintaining her hard front. He could tell she was conflicted in an internal struggle.

“If you ever allow me to taste your blood again,” Eric’s voice dropped down an octave,
“It will be because you want me to.” Her breath hitched in her throat.
“Because you need me to.” His hand trailed the sticky note softly down her abdomen from below her bust to the waist of her cutoffs. Sookie felt goosebumps spread all over her body. Her nipples hardened inside the baby pink bra she had on full display. He could smell her arousal as it started to fill the office.

“Because you beg me to.” He teased her by sliding the sticky note into her back pocket. He let his hand linger in her pocket for a moment, enjoying her ass filling his hand.
“And you will most certainly remember it.” He said huskily.
It was then he snaked his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. She let out a little squeak as her chest was pressed firmly into his. Eric’s lips were lingering over her own once more. In spite of the anger she felt just minutes before, she wanted him to kiss her. Sookie bit her lip as they were locked in an intense stare with time standing still. He could see her eyes flicker down to his mouth in a brief moment.

Sookie took liberty to reach up and put one of her hands in his hair. He enjoyed the feeling. He wanted to make her be so overcome with pleasure that she pulled it.

“And what makes you so sure I’ll beg for that?” Sookie asked, feigning confidence.
He had the upper hand at this moment. They were alone, she was very aroused, and hardly dressed. Oh to lock the door and sit him down for his own personal strip tease… the idea turned her on even more. Eric took an unnecessary deep breath.

“The fact I can smell just how much you want me right now.” His voice had gotten even deeper with desire.
His fangs shot out and he pressed into her. Through his trousers, she could feel his stiff and impressively large member pressing into her thigh. Sookie accidentally let her guard down and a small moan escaped her lips. His cool hands brushed down her sides and stopped to grip her hips. He loved feeling her soft, warm curves.

Sookie was beet red with her chest rising and falling quickly. She lightly tugged his hair and he grabbed one of her thighs- hoisting it up to wrap around his hips. He slowly grinded into her core eliciting a gasp from Sookie at the same time he let out a territorial growl. Eric’s hand that wasn’t occupied holding her thigh, began roaming back up her curves. It stopped when he felt her large breast fill his hand. He began kneading it, pushing her ample cleavage up. Sookie bit her lip while moaning again. She grinded into his hard cock and gripped his shoulder digging in her nails. Eric’s finger lightly traced the top of the cup barely dipping itself inside her bra, teasing to pull it down.

Their eyes were still locked on each other’s. They were a candle of desire burning at both ends. It was an unspoken game. Neither one of them wanted to be the first to break eye contact in a kiss. Teasing each other was too much fun.

Sookie’s hand moved down his shoulder and firmly grabbed his ass pulling his hips even tighter into her. Eric groaned and his finger dipped fully inside her bra to flick against her nipple. He pulled the bra cup down just enough to give him the access he needed to lightly pinch and roll her nipple in between his thumb and index finger. His other hand had her thigh in a death grip as he ground into her. Her scent was overwhelming. Her clit was throbbing with desire as she rubbed against him. The friction wasn’t enough.

Sookie had her lip in between her teeth as she bucked her hips against him. Eric freed the breast he had been playing with. He marveled at the fullness accentuated with a taut pink nipple. He wasted no time pushing it up and taking the nipple into his mouth. He flicked his tongue over it with their eyes remaining connected. Sookie’s hands roamed down his chest while she moaned loudly in pleasure. She had never experienced this sensation before and it was amazing. Eric let out his own satisfied growl at the sweet taste of her skin. He maintained rubbing against her warm, wet core and making eye contact with her breast in his mouth. She was panting and her frantic hands were all over him.

When his fangs lightly scraped her nipple she threw her head back in pleasure, exposing her neck. Eric knew this wasn’t an invitation to bite her. But he had won their teasing game.

Just as fast as the passion started, it ended. Sookie was left standing against the door trying to catch her breath while Eric sat behind his desk smirking at her. That was just a taste of pleasure he would be able to bring her. Sookie’s mind was spinning. She was so incredibly turned on and yet they hadn’t even kissed. Eric was glad to have gotten her covered in his scent before she was supposed to go out to the floor.

“Well… that was one way to apologize.” Sookie squeaked, adjusting her bra.
“Yes, I hope you can forgive me.” He said, his tone still dripping in seduction.
“You’re still on thin ice.” She countered, giving him a side eye. He let out a chuckle and cracked a small smile.
“Go put your money away and head out to the floor. I’ll be there shortly. Don’t be afraid to mingle.” Eric winked at her.

Sookie left his office in disbelief and walked back into the dressing room. What the fuck just happened? How was he able to make her mad and also willing to fall to her knees for him in a matter of seconds. Sookie had never even been that intimate with a man before and there she was dry humping her boss with her breast in his mouth? She was fearful any news of her being a virgin would offput him in the event things between them escalated. Sookie grabbed the sticky note and felt a blush rise up her cheeks as she remembered how Eric’s large hand felt cupping her ass.

She shook her head and opened the locker. Sookie placed her money inside before closing it. She would be making sure the sticky note wasn’t going to get lost this time. She wasn’t sure she could be alone in his office again without them escalating past what just transpired. Sookie leaned her forehead against the cool locker while she regulated her heart beat. Somehow she mustered up the courage to walk back into the club. She needed a drink. Fast.

Eric couldn’t couldn’t believe how right her body had felt against him. The softness of her thick thighs, the taste of her sweet breasts, the sounds she made while he showed her just how much she had turned him on. Her smell was still fresh in his office and he relished in it. If just her nipple had tasted that delicious, he could only imagine how much he would enjoy the taste of her core. He wanted nothing more than to lap up every drop of honey between her legs.

He walked over to the mini fridge in the corner of the room and downed a bottled blood- not even bothering to warm it up. She was making him lose control and Eric Northman was always in control.

Sookie sauntered confidently into the club. Enough time had passed that she saw Ginger, the woman she got her shoes from, putting her leather bodysuit back on. She got fully nude while she danced. Interesting.

Sookie was caught off guard as the vampire who sat front and center during her dance appeared right in front of her. The man with the mustache. His brown eyes looked almost black in the dim Fangtasia lighting. He had a subtle Latin accent as he spoke.
“Pixie, is it?” Sookie nodded. “Care to spend some time?” He asked smoothly.
“Why, of course. I’d love to.” She lied.

Truth be told she wanted to be back with Eric but part of her job was being a fantasy for these vampires. The vampire gave her a hint of his charming smile and he grabbed her hand leading her over to a small table with two chairs. With vampire speed, he pulled the chair out for her. He was a gentleman. Or least he was pretending to be. Sookie knew better than to trust him. She was the first to speak once they were seated.

“Well it isn’t fair if you only know my name.”
The vampire’s eyes flashed with excitement. He enjoyed banter.
“Forgive me, my name is Claudio.” He purred. His accent was emphasized when he spoke his name. “You were very… skillful on that stage. Your body is beautiful.” He mused with his dark eyes burning into her blue ones.
“Thank you.” She said while biting her lip. She had to play the part of the coi minx. The vampire’s grin grew.
“Are you thirsty? Would you like a cocktail?” Sookie wasn’t going to pass up a free drink.
“I thought you’d never ask.” She smirked. The vampire smiled wider. He was enjoying this. Claudio removed his wallet from his pocket and pulled out a single blue hundred. Surely the drinks weren’t that expensive. Were all vampires this wealthy?
“Go to the bar and get whatever you like. I’ll take an A positive bottled blood if you wouldn’t mind bringing it back to me. The change is yours for being so… sweet.” He said with his voice laced with lust. She wasn’t going to have to be told twice. She got up from the table and left him with a wink. Sookie made her way to the bar and Tara greeted her.
“Hey Sook, amazing dance up there. What’ll it be?” It really was a relief to see Tara doing okay. She couldn’t wait for them to catch up.

“I’m going to need an A positive bottled blood and for myself… a gin and tonic.” Sookie beamed at her.
Tara nodded and got to work making the drinks. Sookie handed her the hundred dollar bill to which Tara raised her eyebrows but accepted. Her change was eighty five dollars. When the drinks were ready Sookie handed Tara a twenty with a wink. She shoved the rest of cash in her bra and began walking back to Claudio, drinks in hand. She saw Eric was seated on his throne, surveying the room. Her table with Claudio was right in his line of vision.

Sookie arrived back at the table with the drinks and set the bottle in front of him. She leaned over with her cleavage closer to him on purpose. She briefly glanced over her shoulder and saw Eric staring at them intently. She sat down next to Claudio with a smile.

“Miss me?” She asked while taking a sip of her cocktail and looking at him from under her lashes.
The vampire cocked his head to the side with a smirk.

“Terribly.” He moved his chair closer to her. They were almost touching. She felt his hand on her thigh as he leaned close to her. She moved her eyes to the side and saw Eric still watching them. The vampire leaned in to smell her. His eyes closed and he inhaled deeply. When he opened them she saw a predatory gaze.

“You smell so sweet..” He purred, “… and very much like your vampire boyfriend on stage staring us down right now.” She was shocked that he could pick up on her smelling like Eric.

Eric had his eyes set on Sookie’s table. He was familiar with Claudio. They had met briefly during the Spanish Inquisition shortly after Claudio had been made a vampire. Claudio knew of Eric’s authority in the area and he was also sure Claudio could smell his scent all over Sookie. He wanted him to. She was his.

“What? I don’t have a vampire boyfriend.” Sookie denied his claims, making Claudio chuckle and take a sip from his bottle. He looked at Eric and raised it with a smirk. He turned his attention back to the blonde next to him.

“It’s okay, I’m not mad. But will he be if we go somewhere more… private?” He inquired with a raised eyebrow. Sookie, feeling a blush in her cheeks, took a sip of her cocktail.

“He shouldn’t be. Business is business.” Sookie countered him. Claudio took another swig of blood from his bottle. His dark eyes never veered away from her.
“I would hate to disrespect the sheriff, but I just can’t help myself.” he hissed, “How much would it cost for an hour of time spent with you? I’m willing to pay top dollar…” Claudio drifted.
He took hold of Sookie’s hand that was resting on the table and ran his cool thumb over her knuckles. Sookie hadn’t thought about what she was going to charge for time in the private rooms. She thought she’d start out at fifty dollars per twenty minutes.

“An hour will be a hundred and fifty.” Sookie stated while sipping her cocktail.
She could still feel Eric’s gaze. Claudio smiled at her and pulled out his wallet. He withdrew two more hundred dollar bills. She was about to correct him when he stopped her.
“A gentleman always tips.” He said lowly with a smile.

She nodded and smiled appreciatively and grabbed the bills on the table, stuffing them into her bra. He finished his synthetic blood before standing up and pulling out Sookie’s chair. He extended his arm to her and she grabbed it while still holding her drink. They began walking over to the private dance area. She glanced over her shoulder at Eric once more. His eyes were following her every move from the stage. She disappeared behind the curtain with Claudio and Eric rushed back into his office. He sat at his desk and turned on his computer monitor to watch the session. He didn’t trust the Spanish vampire with his fairy.

Chapter Text

Sookie was scared shitless beneath her calm and collected demeanor. The only vampire she had ever been alone with like this was Eric. Though Eric’s presence did make her ghastly nervous, he also made her feel safe. Being with Eric was much unlike Claudio. Sure, he had been a gentleman and paid her well for her time and attention, the glimmer that shone in his eyes made Sookie refuse to let her guard down. It was for the best. Claudio’s deliberate taunting of Eric while they sat at their table was worrisome.

Most of the private rooms were occupied. Sookie found it relaxing to not have to worry about so many thoughts broadcasting to her at once. With all the vacant space from her inability to hear vampire minds, she didn’t have to work so hard to block out the minds of the dancers. Sookie let her mental guard slip to better understand how the private dances were going for other girls. Most were thinking about how they wanted the time to be over and the money they received. Some found the vampires they were dancing for attractive and were enjoying the attention.
Sookie decided to keep her mental guards down in the dance rooms. She had a feeling nefarious things happened in them, more often than not.

They walked down to an unoccupied area towards the end of the walkway. Claudio smiled and lifted the curtain gesturing for her to walk in. Sookie complied, and looked up immediately to the camera in the right hand corner. The blinking red light was an indication of the fact it was on and recording. It also faced directly towards the couch.The private dance rooms were decent sized. They had been walled off of course, but each one boasted the same black velvet drapes at the entrance. The walls inside had the same crimson wallpaper as the club. There was a black shag rug on the floor and directly across from the entrance, against the wall, was a black plush sofa. On either side of it were beautiful ornate golden end tables. The lighting fixtures were recessed into the ceiling and there was a dimmable switch on the wall to her left. There were speakers connected to the main club sound system that were playing the same music but at a much more comfortable volume. Directly above the sofa on the ceiling, was a giant mirror.

Claudio used vampire speed and entered the room behind her. He immediately went to the light switch and began to lower the lights slightly before he sat on the sofa. Sookie could feel her anxiety start to turn the gin in her stomach. Her feet were also beginning to feel very uncomfortable in the shoes. Boy oh boy was this going to be a fun encounter. Sookie downed the last of her drink and set the glass on the table.

He had been the one to break their silence.
“Though I quite enjoyed your dance earlier, you do not have to dance for me now. Come take a seat.” Claudio said calmly in his ever present accent.
He gestured over to the sofa and Sookie sat beside him. She tried to maintain her coi demeanor.
“I do not wish to meet the true death at the hands of Northman for bringing you in here to receive private…services,” He had raised an eyebrow. “You reek of him and from his look he wasn’t too happy I called on you…” Sookie swallowed.
If he didn’t want to upset Eric, why did he antagonize him in that way? Had Eric really been that visibly upset at watching her disappear behind the curtain? Vampires were more perceptive… maybe he just wanted to ensure she kept her Fae heritage under wraps to save him trouble of having to actually handle a conflict.
“But under his scent… is yours. And it’s something very, very sweet. What are you?” He asked with his dark eyes boring into hers. Sookie knew to lie.

“I’m a waitress. And a stripper. That sweet smell is Pure Seduction by Victoria’s Secret.” She smiled cheekily and gestured to herself in a way to indicate that’s all there was to her.
He looked at her skeptically for a moment but decided to let it go. He was aware of the camera recording their every move and didn’t want to deal with Eric for glamouring one of his employees in his establishment. Especially one that might be his pet.
Vampires were known for being extremely territorial over their human pets and companions. Claudio could smell they hadn’t been bonded, yet. But he wasn’t stupid. Eric Northman didn’t become Sheriff because he turned the other cheek.

“Ah, I suppose it is…” He trailed off knowing full well that it wasn’t her cheap perfume that made her so appealing to vampire senses.

Their hour together consisted of just talking. Sookie was surprised she got paid for just her company and nothing in return. It felt validating.
He regaled her with many tales about his human life and of the time periods he lived through in his five hundred years. Sookie hung onto every word. He was a walking time capsule. He had been easy to talk to and had quite the sense of humor when recalling the past. More than a few times Sookie had been full-on belly laughing. Claudio had been laughing along with her, enjoying talking about times long since forgotten. It was a reprieve for him as well.

She omitted any details pertaining to her telepathy or that she was Fae when talking about her own past. He enjoyed hearing stories about her simple life growing up in Bon Temps, though he did feel pity for her when he learned she had been orphaned and was raised by her grandmother who had passed the year prior.

Eric had been pleased watching the camera footage from Sookie’s private room. Claudio kept his hands to himself and Sookie didn’t perform for him. He did feel a slight twinge of jealousy watching how easily they were able to converse. He wanted to be the one to make her head fall back in laughter. He knew the antagonizing smirk and raise of the bottle was to just get under his skin. He also knew Claudio didn’t want to face the true death for overstepping with what was his.

Before Sookie had realized it, their hour was up. Claudio stood and extended his arm down to her. Sookie grabbed her glass off the table with one hand and his arm in the other. They walked out from behind the curtain into the buzzing club. She saw Eric in his throne again, watching her. When their eyes met from across the club, a smirk graced his lips. She turned back to Claudio.

“It was truly amazing talking to you tonight, Pixie.” He winked upon saying her stage name. During their talks he had asked what her real name was and she had told him.

“It was lovely talking to you as well.” She smiled back at him. His eyes held a serious gaze then. Not one she had seen during their private conversation.

“You may be favored by Northman, but just remember to be careful. Not every vampire respects authority in the same way that I do. Without a bond, you are for the taking by those who do not respect the Sheriff’s affections. Maintain your guard.” And with that, Claudio left Fangtasia.

Sookie was stopped in her tracks dumbfounded by his warning. What the fuck was a bond? Vampires had Sheriff’s? Eric held authority? She was ‘for the taking’? What a weird mindset vampires held. She wasn’t anyone’s to take. Whether she had a ‘bond’ with a vampire or not. It was the twenty-first century! She was her own woman. Sookie shook her head and walked over to the bar to set her glass down. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Eric still watching her. He looked pompous as ever in his throne- though she had to admit the power he exuded was undeniable.

Eric kept a close eye on Sookie for the rest of her shift. She was very popular on stage during her other two dances garnering lots of attention. A few of the other dancer’s had made a show of being jealous. During her stage performances, they would attempt to slide into his booth. Eric found it highly annoying as he wanted to keep full attention on Sookie. He paid them no mind and sent them away coldly with the flick of his wrist, eyes never leaving Sookie as she danced.

After every dance Sookie received praise from Pam. She had become impressed by her ability to captivate an audience and command the stage. All while teasing her goods and never baring herself. If this had been her brothel from her human life, she was sure Sookie would have been her most profitable courtesan.

In Sookie’s mind the rest of the night went by in a blur. She would dance on stage rolling around in bills thrown at her by wealthy patrons. Then she would flaunt herself to them on the floor whilst engaging in faux flirting and being paid for her attention. She did collect upon giving a few private dances. Nobody had touched her and she maintained modesty in her bra and thong set. As modest as a stripper could be. And Eric watched her the entire time.

Every time she looked over her shoulder, she met his eyes. It made her feel safe to know he was being that attentive. She also noticed how his jaw would set and his eyes would darken every time she laughed and pretended to flirt with a customer. Every time she disappeared behind the black curtain, he would disappear into his office to watch the camera footage. To his knowledge- nobody had suspected she was Fae.

After she had conducted her fifth private dance of the night, Sookie figured she had raked in enough to consider herself off the clock. Besides, her feet were killing her. The vinyl across her toes had been cutting into her for quite some time. She had gotten some pretty nasty blisters.

It was well past two am and the club had to shut down to maintain its liquor license. Vampires were up until dawn so it was very much a ‘you don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here’ kind of vibe. She walked over to Tara who had been doing closing duties and breaking down the bar all at vamp speed.

“Hey, Sook! How did your first night go? They fuckin’ loved you up there!” Tara beamed at her.

Since Pam had made Tara abandon all her friends and family upon turning, she had been lonely. Pam wasn’t the most emotional maker, and it was like pulling fangs to get her to admit there was an element of intimacy between them. Regardless of how often they would spend all night in bed together- or how common it was for Pam to buy them matching outfits down to the lingerie.

Pam however, was a dutiful progeny. Her priority would always be tending to whatever Eric asked of her. Tara had been Pam’s confidant when Eric had commanded her not to ask about Sookie and was being reclusive. It had been a major step forward in Tara’s eyes that Pam had opened up to her about her worries.

Seeing as Sookie was who he wanted and she was now employed there, Tara thought they would mend their relationship sooner rather than later. Pam just wasn’t used to being shut out by Eric the way Tara was shut out by her.

“It went well! Better than I thought, actually. I was scared shitless when I got here tonight.” Sookie admitted. Tara understood. She knew this was Sookie’s first time being around vampires and held some sympathy. Her humanity hadn’t completely left her in the year she’d been gone. Tara had finished up closing the bar and walked around it to face Sookie.

“Come on, let’s catch up in the dressing room. You probably want to change into something comfortable.” Tara smiled at her. It was so good to see Sookie.

They walked into the dressing room. Pam wasn’t in there , so Sookie assumed she must have been talking to Eric. Most of the dancer’s had gone home except a few. With her mental guards still down, she was bombarded with their thoughts about her. They weren’t nice ones. They walked over to Sookie’s locker and were stopped in their tracks. It had been vandalized. All the others had stickers with dancer’s stage names written on them. Sookie hadn’t gotten around to putting Pixie on hers. She didn’t need to. Because on her locker was a sticker with the name ‘Hillbilly Whore’ written on it. What was this? High school?

The dancers who had been standing by the vanity’s watching them, began giggling and laughing. Tara was well aware of Sookie’s ‘disability’. Before they turned around to face the bullies, Tara had a deathly serious tone.
“Which one of them did it?” Sookie knew what she wanted her to do. She entered their thoughts to find it had been the woman she saw Eric feeding on that night. She learned her name from the others. Anger boiled up inside her.
“Yvetta.” Sookie ground through her teeth.

In a flash, Tara had her up to the wall by her neck. The other girls grabbed their things and ran out of the dressing room in fear. Tara knew Yvetta wasn’t even remotely special to Eric. Just another desperate blood bag.
“What? It’s just joke!” She cried in her thick accent. She was swatting at Tara’s hand. Her grip tightened.
“Tell me why I shouldn’t just drain you dry and end this high school bullshit.” Tara spat.

Yvetta’s eyes were wide with intense fear and she wiggled against Tara. Sookie found herself getting some sick satisfaction at how scared she was. This woman vandalized her locker when she hadn’t done anything to her.

“No! Please!” She cried. Tara increased her grip once more. It wasn’t often she got to use it.
Sookie didn’t actually want Yvetta dead. She just wanted to be left alone by her. It was then she spoke up.

“It’s okay, Tara! You don’t have to kill her over this.” Tara turned her head to look at Sookie.
“Are you sure? Because I could go for a bite.” Sookie saw her fangs poking out. It was then she got an idea.
“Just glamour her.” She suggested. Tara slowly put her down and let her begin to catch her breath. She caught Yvetta’s eyes in an intense gaze. She fell victim to it.
“You will leave Sookie alone and control your jealousy.” Tara demanded. The dazed woman nodded her head in submission.
“Anything else you’d like to add?” Tara asked her. Sookie actually did have something she wanted to convey.
“Tell her no more surprise visits to Eric’s office. She won’t feed him anymore.” Sookie stated proudly. Tara let out her own chuckle at that. She maintained her influence on the dazed woman and spoke once more.
“You will stop visiting Eric in his office. You will not offer your blood to him any longer.” Tara said definitively. The woman nodded in her daze and blinked a few times.
“Go home!” She barked. Yvetta wasted no time gathering her things and leaving.

Tara zoomed back to Sookie and her locker, and with ease she ripped off the sticker.
“Dumb bitches.” Tara muttered. Sookie hugged her then. It had just been like when they were kids. Tara was extremely outspoken when they were growing up and had no issue defending Sookie against the hicks in their hometown.
“Thank you.” Sookie whispered. Tara hugged her back.
“Now I’m going to change and you’re going to tell me how this all happened.” Sookie gave her a pointed look that said ‘don’t bullshit me.’

So Tara began explaining. She filled in Sookie on the fact that the vamp she had been involved with manipulated her into thinking she was in a relationship. He groomed her to be comfortable with him before he started pimping her out as a blood slave. Due to AVL fighting to gain vampire rights, what he had been doing was a big offense. Eric and Pam had caught wind of the situation and since it was happening in his area he took it upon himself to end it.

When they had found her in a shithole Motel in Monroe she was in dire condition and comatose. There almost wasn’t a single place on her body, she hadn’t been bitten. The vampire had been selling her body and blood for months. Eric ensured he met the true death as a consequence of his actions. Pam, having been a Madam who took care of her girls, took pity on Tara and turned her.

When she awoke as a vampire, Pam had commanded her to leave her old life behind. It was to help her in the long run. Watching your friends and family age and die while you remain immortal was extremely painful. Though Pam wasn’t the most vulnerable maker, she wished to spare her progeny of that. By the end of her story, Sookie had tears in her eyes.

“Oh my god, Tara! That’s horrific! I’m so happy she saved you!” Sookie cried as they locked in an embrace.
It was then, Pam walked into the dressing room. In her usual dry tone with a hint of intrigue she spoke, “Have room for one more?”

Sookie and Tara looked up at her and let go from their hug. Pam was smirking at them and casually looked down at her nails.
“Eric wants to see you, Sookie. Don’t make him wait.” She said in her slow drawl sticking her hand out to inspect her manicure. She was the queen of nonchalance.
Sookie stood up and walked out towards his office. She had long since gotten changed and was dressed in some yoga pants and a t-shirt with no bra underneath. She remained barefoot walking to his office. She didn’t care. She’d put her sandals on before walking out to her car but she was trying to avoid the inevitable sting of the flip flops rubbing on her fresh blisters. The tops of her feet were in pretty bad shape. This caused her to have a small limp that Eric noticed when she walked in.

He immediately rushed to her side in what one would call worry. It was a new feeling for him.
“Sookie! Are you okay? Why are you walking that way?” Sookie appreciated that he noticed.
“Oh, it’s just from the shoes I wore tonight. I’m not used to them. They cut into me pretty badly, but I’ll be fine.” She said while limping to sit on the couch that was next to her.

Eric looked down at her feet and saw the tops were red and inflamed with skin that had been rubbed raw. Not badly enough to draw blood, but he was sure it was uncomfortable for her.
He sat down next to her on the sofa and moved her legs into his lap. She didn’t argue. She watched as he inspected the wounds on her feet. He released his fangs and was about to prick his finger when she spoke up.

“Wait! What are you doing?” She asked, startled.
“Healing you. Now relax.” He said in a tone leaving no room for her to object.

Eric pricked his finger on his fang, drawing blood. He then began to rub it gently over the wounds. At first Sookie winced but was soon relieved to find that her feet had been healed. She stared down at them in amusement before letting her eyes meet his.
“Ta dah!” He said with a smirk.
“Thank you.” She said with sincerity. Eric took liberty to then grab hold of her feet and slowly massage them. Sookie let her eyes close for a second as she let out a satisfied groan. He had just the right amount of pressure in his skilled fingers. He was equally as pleased at her responses to his touch. She was finally able to bring herself to ask why he had wanted to see her.
“So what did you need to see me for? It’s pretty late.” She said with a yawn. What time was it? Three?

“I know I hired you under the pretense that you would be giving thirty percent of what you make from the stage back to the house,” Sookie could sense a ‘but’ in there.
“But after the glamouring incident earlier this evening, I would like you to keep it all.” He said calmly, still rubbing her feet. He still felt guilt for what she had seen and the fact he tried to just manipulate it away.

“What? Are you sure? I made a lot of money tonight, Eric. I'm sure I could spare the thirty percent.” Sookie said furrowing her eyebrows.

“I’m sure you could as well. You were getting a lot of attention tonight,” He had distaste in his tone thinking about that. “But it won’t be necessary. Consider it an apology gift.” Sookie was speechless.
She was sure she had made over a thousand dollars if not more that night.
“Well thank you…” Sookie replied sheepishly in a blush. Eric smiled at her. Her legs were still in his lap and his hands hadn’t ceased their massage. She wondered what his hands felt like in other places. Sookie felt herself yawn again this time even louder.

“I should get you home. It’s late and it’s dangerous for you to drive this tired.” Sookie sat up in protest.
“No, it’s fine! I’m fine. It’s only thirty minutes back to Bon Temps. Besides, I need to go shopping tomorrow. I need my car.” Eric wasn’t listening though.

“Nonsense. I’ll drive you home. I’m also a very valued Triple A member, I’ll have my day man arrange them to bring your car back to your property in the morning.” He stressed the word valued.
She weighed her options. She was exhausted from so much dancing and social interaction. She bent to his will.
“Alright, just let me gather my things. I’ll meet you by the bar ” Sookie hopped out of his lap. Eric wished she hadn’t. He enjoyed the physical closeness.

She walked back into the dressing room to find it empty. She quickly grabbed her duffle with her clothes and stuffed all the money inside it. She would have the lovely chore of counting it tomorrow. Sookie slipped into her flip flops pain free thanks to Eric and headed for the bar. He was waiting for her and outreached his arm to take her bag once again. She didn’t bother arguing this time. Eric was going to do what Eric was going to do. She handed him her car keys and he placed them safely behind the bar. With vampire speed he turned off all the lights except the security ones, and ushered her outside. He locked the door to Fangtasia while she looked around the empty parking lot. Their cars were the only two there.

She heard the Corvette beep as he unlocked it. As she was going to reach for the handle, he opened the door for her. She smiled in gratitude at him. He returned it. Eric placed her duffle into the trunk and entered the driver’s seat. He found it cute that she put on her seat belt. He went without one. In a flash they were off as Eric chose to show off not only his driving skills, but the features of his sports car. The soft hum of the engine had lulled Sookie to sleep in a matter of minutes. Every minute or so he caught himself stealing glances at the sleeping fairy.

She looked so peaceful and at ease. Angelic even. Though he thought she was adorable while angry, he preferred this view. He pulled up the ragged driveway, cursing what the dips were doing to his vehicle. The jostling had been enough to wake her. She hadn’t told him her address but at the moment she was so tired she didn’t think it was worth asking how he knew. Eric stopped the car, retrieved her bag, and opened her door with vampire speed. Sookie didn’t think she would ever get used to that.

Eric walked her up to her door. And handed her bag to her. She fished out her keys before turning to him. They faced each other. She was glowing under the moonlight.
“Thank you, once again.” Sookie said in almost a whisper. The humid air hung thick around them, silencing.
“It’s my pleasure.” He responded while taking her chin in his fingers. Oh how he wanted to claim her lips in his at that moment.

They stood there for a moment not saying a word just staring at each other. Though she was exhausted, she was still able to study him. His strong jawline, defined cheekbones, full lips, soft eyes. At that moment they were thinking the same thing.

Sookie was the first one to move. She leaned up and as Eric’s eyes closed expecting his lips to be taken in a kiss, he felt the softest pressure on his cheek. He looked down at her concealing his bewilderment.

“Goodnight, Mr. Northman.” Sookie said before unlocking the door and going inside.

Chapter Text

Sookie had pulled an uno reverse. She was the one to leave him standing outside, alone and surprised. Eric didn’t think she had it in her, but she could clearly match his elusiveness. Eric leaned his forehead against the door for a brief moment before walking to his Corvette and driving back to his residence in a gated community within Shreveport.

His thoughts were heavily occupied by Sookie his entire drive. From the fire in her eyes lit by anger, the way she would throw her head back carelessly in laughter, the dazed and hungry look she gave him during their intimate moment in his office, the pure wonder held on her face as she analyzed him, the serenity on her face as she slept, to the calculated slyness of her disappearing behind a threshold she knew he could not enter. She was everything and nothing all at once. Just out of reach.

Eric found himself yearning to know her and Eric simply didn’t yearn. For anyone, or anything. With the exception of deep sorrow he would occasionally feel at Godric’s absence. Eric didn’t survive a thousand years by being emotionally available. Still he wanted to know her in that way, however challenging it may be for him.

He arrived at his home with thoughts still consuming him about Sookie. He would do whatever it took to ensure her safety while under his employment. At least that is what he thought while lying to himself. He would do whatever it took to keep her safe- period. Fairies were thought to be extinct and Eric knew she would become a novelty to greedy vamps seeking to use her blood for the ability to day walk. Her blood did sing to him with an intoxicating scent that almost made him lose control when combined with the scent of her arousal and overall naive sex appeal. He was sure she didn’t know how sexy she really was. But it was her reckless abandon in regards to raising her voice at him and the fire in her eyes as she did so-no matter how easily he could snap her neck-that turned him on the most. Nobody dared to speak to him like that, but Sookie had. And he let her.

Eric had grown bored with the common thin bodies humans had made the popular beauty standard. They were so fragile, so breakable. In his own youth- voluptuous and strong women were revered, worshipped even. They birthed the strongest warriors, and the strongest warriors fought for the right to bed them. His taste was strongly connected to what he enjoyed in his human life. He was no stranger to curves. He had partaken in their great pleasure many times.

His tastes also never faltered throughout the centuries he walked alongside Godric traversing the world, though it became increasingly difficult to find a healthy and curvaceous beauty to satisfy his thirst and warm his bed. Sickness and disease had run rampant throughout most of the time he was immortal. He was fond of the paintings produced during the Renaissance of beautiful women who weren’t sickly thin and riddled with diseases that were overwhelmingly common at the time. It was due to that, Godric taught him to hunt in high society. Together they had taken out entire royal bloodlines in a single night.

Eric pulled his Corvette into his multi-car garage and let out a deep sigh even if he didn’t need to breathe. He wished Godric was here. He needed guidance and a vote of confidence. He was sure he needed to make Sookie trust him but in doing so, would she still be able to tell his own walls were up? Would she be able to sense his struggles with vulnerability and authenticity? Where would his attempts at gaining her trust even begin?

Eric was no stranger to lavish gifts. He bestowed them upon Pam as she was the only woman he had a close relationship to in centuries. Whether they were intimate or not. He was better at communicating his feelings that way. Eric knew Sookie wasn’t accustomed to the finer things but would it be so bad if he introduced them to her? Her own beauty was befitting of a goddess in need of worship.

He entered his home using the biometric lock and sent a text to his day-man telling him about Sookie’s car needing to be brought back to Bon Temps. He also included a gift he wanted delivered to her residence along with a card he filled out in his office. . He hoped she would respond in kind to the gesture. She was sure to be surprised by it. Eric made his way into the kitchen and heated up a bottled blood. He drank it slowly leaning against the black marble island in the center of the room. He was sure it would be only a matter of time before word spread in the vampire community about the little sprite he had dancing on his stage. He was ready to take on any that challenged his claim.

Feeling daylight approaching, he tossed the empty bottle in the trash and walked into his light tight master suite. Stripping nude, and climbing into the four poster king size bed he let death consume him as daylight came.

Sookie felt accomplished at besting Eric at his own game. A smirk graced her lips as she climbed up the stairs to her bedroom. She tossed the bag onto the floor before heading to the bathroom to wash her face. She removed the false lashes and set them next to the sink, before pumping a generous amount of her face wash into her hands and working up a heavy lather. Once her face was clean, she toweled off and took the opportunity to stare at herself in the mirror. It had been an eventful night. One of many soon to come, she was sure.

She was now an exotic dancer at a vampire strip club. Well that’s certainly something to add to her resume. Sookie didn’t feel as much shame as she thought she would have. Maybe that was a good thing? It would make the job easier. She felt confidence like she never had before up on that stage. The howls and whistles she received along with lots of money thrown her way, was validating to say the least.

She had always felt a little self conscious and not just about her ‘disability’. She wasn’t big by any means but she did go up from a size six to a size ten in the years following high school. There were no shortage of curves on her body and as much as she enjoyed what they did for her bust, hips, and ass- she wasn’t the biggest fan of the newfound softness of her stomach. The customers, and Eric, for that matter- had no complaints. Sookie sighed and brushed her teeth before turning on her heel to go to bed. She had another long night ahead of her.

Sookie woke up fairly late the next day. She wasn’t used to staying up so late into the night. Checking the clock on her nightstand she saw it was a quarter to one in the afternoon. She sat up wide eyed. Had she really slept that long? All the dancing and social interaction of the night prior must have done a number on her. Shaking her head she stood up to stretch before padding her way into the bathroom. She took a well deserved and thorough shower while replaying the night’s events. Reuniting with Tara, the steamy moment with Eric, Claudio’s warnings, the drive home. It was a lot to process.

She felt guilty knowing Tara was alive…well undead and decided at some point she would call Lafayette to let him know. He was down in New Orleans living his life the best way he knew how in an openly queer safe haven of the Deep South. Sookie knew it would be a relief to him that Tara was doing okay. Lafayette wasn’t prejudiced towards vampires, but Tara’s disappearance after getting involved with one had made him very weary of their predatory nature.

She quickly finished up her shower and toweled her body off before wrapping up the wet and tangled tresses flowing down her back. Reaching for her plush robe, she tied it on and brushed her teeth. Sookie headed back into her bedroom to pick out her outfit after detangling her hair. She was going to let it air dry, the humidity did wonders for bringing out the fine waves in her hair.

It was October and though well into fall, Louisiana didn’t particularly pick up any sort of chill until late November or December at the earliest. It was still mid 80’s with humidity making it feel at least ten degrees warmer. Sookie decided on wearing a black linen tube top romper. The upper half was smocked with elastic and stretched to fit easily over her bust. The shorts flared out from her waist and stopped a little higher than mid thigh. There was a small string attached at the top of the romper to tie around her neck to keep it in place. It gave Sookie a perfect hourglass shape. She also loved the fact it had pockets. Sookie stuck her hands in them and spun around with a smile before grabbing some ankle socks and her white slip-on Vans.

She had a smile on her face as she grabbed her bag to count the money she had earned last night. She was sure she could have definitely afforded to give Eric his thirty percent cut last night but was appreciative he let her keep it. She dumped it out on her bed and began to count it. She was shocked to find nothing lower than a ten dollar bill in her pile of cash. Her total earned had been just shy of $3,000. Sookie was speechless when she finished counting. She couldn’t believe this was just in one night. Maybe there was a perk to having a different style than what most patrons were used to seeing at Fangtasia. If it was like this every shift, she could stop dancing even sooner than she thought she would have to.

Sookie grabbed a few hundred for shopping and decided to put the rest of her cash in an old shoebox. She hid the box under her bed and grabbed her wallet, phone, and house keys before heading downstairs. She was heading straight to the kitchen when she suddenly remembered. She was without a car. Sookie turned on her heel and walked over to the front door, yanking it open to be met with her car parked right out front. Eric had made good on his promise. That was a relief and a half. She looked down to see two boxes and a red envelope sitting on her front porch. Sookie raised an eyebrow at the packages in question but picked them up and kicked the door closed behind her.

She dropped them onto the table, picking up the envelope first. It was a dark crimson with her name written in neat and concise script. It had been secured by a golden wax seal that had some sort of Nordic rune symbol imprinted. She traced the symbol with her finger softly and almost didn’t want to open it because of the beauty. She carefully opened the envelope to be met with a simple black card. Inside in the same clear script it read

‘Sookie,

You’ll see that I held up my end of the deal and had your car returned before you woke up this morning. Your car key is in the small velvet box. The larger box contains something for you to wear tonight. I hope you’ll find them more comfortable.
I’ll be seeing you later tonight.

-E’

Sookie bit her lip in anticipation. It wasn’t often she got gifts. And she had never been given anything from a man other than some gift cards from her brother during the holidays. She opened the small box to see her car key was in fact nestled inside. Snapping it closed, she looked toward the other parcel.

It was a medium sized black box with a red ribbon tied around it. Vampires really did like color coordination. Untying the bow, she saw simple bold lettering that read ‘PRADA’ in white. Her hands immediately froze while her eyes widened in disbelief. Sookie had never owned anything designer before. This must be a mistake. She couldn’t accept a gesture this grand. He was her boss! And she barely knew him. But she knew how his presence made her feel when she was around him. How her heart would flutter and she couldn’t think straight. Did he really mean to give her this? For what?

With shaking hands, she opened the lid to the box. Inside were a pair of black velvet strappy pumps. They still had a decent platform but weren’t as tall as the shoes she had worn last night. The strap around the ankle was thin and she was surprised to find that every inch of the shoe was wrapped in a luxurious velvet. The top strap wouldn’t cut into her foot the way the cheap clear vinyl had. The top of the pumps were embellished with a simple gold Prada logo. Sookie was stunned. She wasn’t sure how he’d known her shoe size but perhaps Pam had told him she didn’t have any shoes of her own to wear? God, he must just think she was a total charity case. Sudden embarrassment flooded her cheeks and she shut the box with a scowl, pushing it away from her on the table. His note explicitly stated they were for her to wear tonight but she wasn’t sure she could accept them after feeling like they were a pity gift.

She quickly made a sandwich and left the house to go shopping. It was two o’clock and she had six hours before needing to be back at Fangtasia. She headed to the mall in Shreveport with money burning a hole in her pocket and hoped to find what she may need.

The first stop she made at the mall was in a Victoria’s Secret. Sookie had been delighted to find they were having a sale and managed to snag a few sexy bras with matching thongs. All lace, of course. Her favorite she had picked out being a leopard print pattern with a black bow in the center and black ribbon stitched into the top. The thong had been just as cute with a matching black bow on the front.

Sookie had been walking around awhile until she saw a Spencer’s. She knew they had adult only stores in the back and thought it wouldn’t hurt to check if they had any cute role play outfits. She noticed the other dancers were just as much in costumes as they were in lingerie. She lucked out when she found a school girl outfit. Complete with a micro mini plaid skirt, a small tie front white crop top, and white thigh highs that boasted red bows on the front. She had also found a few see through mesh mini dresses with cut out slits down the side and over the bust. Sookie grabbed one of each in the three colors they offered- black, red, and pink. She blushed as a teenager rang her up for it all, giving her a sideways smirk. She wasn’t used to buying things like this.

Feeling emboldened by her commitment to ‘looking the part’ Sookie found herself in what seemed to be a vampire store. Or at least, a store that catered to fangbangers. It was a glorified Hot Topic and was covered in wall to wall bondage clothing, leather, chains, and corsets. She had grabbed a few items there. A faux leather bodysuit that zipped from the crotch to the neck, a black corset, and a black bikini that had chains hanging from the top that draped sexily over her torso. Sookie also tried on several pairs of shoes and found she liked a pair of black heels that had soft feather trim along the top. Not quite as tall as the platformed shoes she had worn or been gifted but were still sexy. She was pleased to find they sold fishnets in the accessory area and grabbed a few pairs along with some black thigh highs.

Feeling satisfied with her purchases, Sookie was making her way out of the mall until she was stopped dead in her tracks by a display. There was a mannequin in a window dressed in an angel costume in what looked like a festival wear store. The mannequin had on white fishnets, white ruffled bloomers, a white corset, and a little halo headband. She felt compelled to buy it. Halloween was a few weeks away…

On her drive home Sookie stopped for some gas and grabbed herself a po-boy and a soda from the hot food station in the back. She ate happily in her car. For some reason, gas stations in Louisiana sold some of the best food. She got back home at roughly around six o’clock. The sun was close to setting on the horizon and Sookie bounded up the steps before any mosquitos could chew her up for being outside at dusk.

She happily ran up the stairs and emptied the numerous shopping bags onto her bed. She analyzed her options before settling on a hot red push-up bra and thong set she thought would go well with the school girl outfit. Sookie packed them into her duffle along with some makeup and comfy clothes. She had decided she was going to dance to Britney Spears for her first dance and thought the school girl costume was pretty on theme. Sookie decided she was going to save herself some time and just get ready at Fangtasia like Eric had told her she was welcome to do. Being there early allowed her more time to get ready.

Sookie was almost ready to leave when she spied the designer box on the table. Curiosity bit her and she caved to try on the shoes. Once strapped in she was surprised to find how comfortable the shoes really were. She was amazed she hadn’t felt a hint of pinching as the soft velvet brushed against her feet. She rolled her eyes at herself and let out a huff.
“Alright, I guess I’ll keep ‘em” she said begrudgingly while also feeling giddy. She changed back into her sneakers and put the designer shoes in her duffel before making her way back out to Shreveport.

Sookie felt more than ready to take on the night. It was being around Eric she wasn’t sure she could do confidently. He had effortless swagger and charm and she knew, that he knew, he did. He also made no moves to hide the smoldering in his eyes while he watched her from his throne or his favorite booth. She just refused to believe it meant anything on his end. But what about the heated moment in their office? The way her body responded needily to his touch? The way his body seemingly reacted to hers the same way? She wasn’t sure why the energy between them seemed to pulse but she liked it more than she wanted to admit. Having his attention on her all night propelled her into wanting to put on a better show. She wanted to press his buttons to even the playing field. She didn’t want to believe she would be the one begging for him, she wanted him to beg for her.

Sookie had arrived to Fangtasia just before seven and the night had barely taken hold. Few cars were in the parking lot. The Corvette was nowhere in sight. She entered the club and walked back to the dressing room. She found a few dancers in there getting ready. Yvetta was not among them.

Sookie was unaware Tara had told Pam what happened in the locker room the night before. Like the dutiful progeny she was, she booked Yvetta a one way back to Estonia without even telling Eric. It was a better outcome than what Eric would do in retaliation to the treatment of his newfound interest. Pam knew it was in everyone’s best interest if she didn’t poke the bear by alerting him. She did feast from her one last time before her departure, however.

Sookie gave a shy wave before heading over to the showers. She kept her mental guards up knowing how many of them disliked her getting attention from Eric last night. A few waved back and some just continued their conversations. Oh well. She was here to make money. Not friends. She set her bag down on the vanity across from the showers and headed over to grab a towel and a few hair ties, she noticed there was nowhere to get undressed. As if sensing her distress one of the dancers spoke up. She was a petite brunette with large green eyes and full lips.

“We’re all girls here. We change in front of each other. You’ll get used to it. Besides, Pam likes it that way.”
She winked at Sookie through the mirror where she was applying her makeup. The comment elicited some giggles from the other girls.

Sookie shrugged her shoulders and started to get undressed, tying up her hair before walking to the shower. She turned it on and it warmed quickly due to the Louisiana heat. Sookie took a fast body shower, amazed at all the options for body wash and settling for something vanilla. She toweled off before wrapping it around her body and stepping over to the vanity.

She got dressed in the red push-up bra and thong set. Her tan skin made the red seem almost more vibrant if it were possible. She pulled on the mini skirt to find the underside of her cheeks slightly peeking out. If she were to lean forward, it was over. She tugged to get it to sit a little lower. It didn’t. Oh well. She put on the top and tied it. Her ample cleavage and red lace from the bra were spilling out. She sat down to pull on her stockings, snapping the tops tightly around her thighs. Turning to face herself in the mirror she took her hair down and put it into 2 Dutch braids pulling a few strands out to frame her face.

As for makeup, she kept the base light like last night. She applied blush to her cheeks, and across her nose. Her eyes she covered with a pale shimmer before applying the false lashes. Her only major difference from the previous night’s look was that her waterline was lined with black liner and she covered her lips in a red the same shade as her bra. She smacked her lips together after applying the lipstick and finally slipped into the designer heels. She finished off her look with a few sprays of Pure Seduction, and slowly got up to look in the full length mirror at the back of the room.

Sookie couldn’t believe her eyes. She looked incredibly sexy but also so innocent. Her legs looked miles long in the stockings. The skirt sat dangerously low on her hips. Her top barely kept anything hidden for the imagination. She looked ready to dance her ass off and make a few more thousand dollars.

Pam entered the dressing room, breaking her out of her thoughts. She had a habit of doing that. She caught her eyes in the mirror and her fangs shot down briefly before she willed them away after analyzing Sookie’s get up. Was that a good thing?

Pam knew Eric would be on edge after seeing her like this. She was equal parts innocent and sinful.

“Alright, ladies,” Pam called,” I will be telling you your stage order for tonight. We expect it to be very busy so be on your best.” She warned.

Pam’s eyes still held Sookie’s in the mirror as she spoke. Sookie had found herself frozen in place.

“First up tonight is Pixie, followed by Destiny, Ginger, Rose, Luna, Misty, Diamond, Mercedes,”

Pam was rattling off names. Sookie was nervous to be first again but it seemed as though it was due to it being her debut weekend. She just knew Eric was about to see her in this outfit and the thought made her heart beat almost out of her chest. As soon as Pam was finished listing off names, she used vampire speed to get to where Sookie had been standing.

Pam’s eyes scanned over Sookie’s exposed curves and a smile graced her red lips. If she were human she would have licked her lips.

“Eric wants to see you in his office. Something about a gift? Don’t make him wait…especially in that outfit”. She drawled before sauntering off. Sookie couldn’t hide the blush creeping up her cheeks. She quickly put her duffel in her locker and walked out into the hallway. She was truly surprised at how comfortable the designer shoes really were. She would make it a point to give the glamoured Ginger back her shoes.

Stopping outside his office door, she exhaled once to gain hold of her nerves before she raised her hand to knock. Eric knew she was there before she did so. He could smell her and hear the hammering of her heart. He wished she would relax around him. He was sitting behind his desk finishing some paperwork as he called for her to enter.

Sookie walked into the Viking’s office and his eyes burned into hers. The way they always did. He was immediately bewitched by her appearance. Her beautiful blonde hair was up in braids, her pouty lips adorned with red lipstick he would love to smear, and a slutty school girl outfit that left nothing to the imagination. He thought of taking her over his desk while leaving it on. He wanted to see how naughty she could really be. Whatever underwear she had on would be nothing for him to tear away. Eric was pleased to see that on her feet were the Prada heels he sent her. Those would also be staying on…

His explicit thoughts were interrupted as his fangs dropped with a click making Sookie gasp. She was now alone with a vampire who looked like he wanted to consume her in more ways than one. He forced his fangs away and ignored the dull ache of their desire. He felt his black jeans straining as his cock sprang to life. He maintained control and tried his best to exude cool confidence. It was proving to be a challenge.

“So I see you went shopping.” Eric said as a smirk graced his lips. Before Sookie could blink, he was standing in front of her and circling her. How a predator did its prey.

Chapter Text

All Sookie could do was nod as she felt her heart pounding in her chest. She felt some warmth begin to pool between her thighs. As much as she was aware of his power and prey drive, she found herself liking the way he was looking at her. She could see desire in the icy blue and felt herself getting turned on. She bit her lip as he circled her, a blush was making its way up from her toes to her cheeks with expedited speed. Eric thoroughly enjoyed what he was seeing. He was going to need a bottle of blood after she left.

He was dressed down from the previous night but still looked handsome as ever. His defined chest and abs could be seen under his black tank top. He paired it with a simple pair of black jeans and black Doc Marten boots. His leather jacket had been draped over his office chair leaving his toned, porcelain arms on display. He looked as though he had been carved out of white marble.

He stopped in front of her and she slowly raised her eyes to meet his.
“And how are the shoes? I trust they’re a good fit?” He nearly purred as he asked the question. Sookie released her bottom lip from her teeth to speak.

“Yes. They’re much more comfortable.” She stammered.

Her heart was pounding in her ears and she was sure he could hear it. His smirk never faltered. Eric felt accomplished that she had accepted his gift. He would have no qualms about giving her more in the future. This just opened the door for it.

“Good… good,” He trailed off. The energy in the room was electrifying and heavy with lust. He could smell her budding arousal and his gums ached to release his fangs. Sookie caught him off guard by what she stated next.

“Why did you get me these? They’re over a thousand dollars.. are you sure you want me to keep them? I might be a country bumpkin, but I don’t need you pitying me like some charity case.” Sookie’s eyes were intense as she said that. Her voice had found its strength with the last sentence. She wasn’t ashamed to have grown up simple but Gran had raised her to be independent. She wasn’t going to let herself be doted on without some resistance. She didn’t want him to try and buy her.

Eric was taken aback. Did she not like them after all? He wasn’t used to gifts being denied. But she was wearing them…? And they fit her nicely? He was unsure of the problem. He didn’t like the accusation that he pitied her. It was the opposite. He wanted to express adoration.

If she was concerned about money, she needed to learn it was really no issue. Being Sheriff offered a hefty salary along with what he made from the club. And that was on top of the wealth he accumulated over the millennia from glamouring the upper echelon and bank owners. Most vampires gained wealth this way. He hadn’t even looked at the price tag on the shoes. It was no concern to him. He wanted her comfortable and in something quality. She may have grown up a simple girl from the country, but he viewed her as a rare gem and deserving of the treatment that came with that.

In an instant, he closed the gap between them. Eric pressed his cool hand firmly to her burning cheek and met her eyes. He could feel her slightly relax at his touch. His eyes matched her own intensity.

“Because I wanted to,” His tone was firm, “it’s insulting to assume I bought them for you out of pity.” He nearly growled. “The price was never considered. Those things don’t matter to me.”

She felt embarrassed for even bringing this up now. She should have just kept her mouth shut and accepted the gift without protest. She saw a hint of wickedness flash in his eyes as his serious demeanor faded into his usual pompous half smile.

“Though I could heal your feet for you every night if that’s what you really want,” He purred. Eric was now leaning to speak into her ear. Sookie felt her body ignite as if the furnace was on in spite of his cool touch. She felt her cheeks flame even more than she thought was possible.

“If you want to feel my touch and experience… my blood, all you have to do is ask.” He surprised himself with the proposition of giving his blood. He never offered it. But she would need it if his claim on the fairy was going to be acknowledged by other vampires. His position of authority could only do so much without a bond.

She shivered feeling the heat between her thighs grow and her nipples harden in her bra. Eric’s nostrils flared as the room was filled with her scent of desire. Against his wishes his fangs shot out with a click. He gently scraped them over the shell of her ear. Sookie’s eyes fluttered closed. She did want his touch. Everything he did to her was pleasureful.

Eric slowly moved his hand down from her cheek caressing her along her collarbone and trailing down her midsection till he got a firm grip of her ass that was hanging out below the skirt. He pulled her flush to his chest, his grip never loosening on the plump flesh. Her lips parted and a slight moan came out until she was abruptly pressed against him. She let out a squeak and opened her eyes to meet his once more. It was then she realized he was serious.

“What do you mean…by experiencing… your blood?” She asked tentatively. Eric’s free hand began to lazily caress her exposed neck. His touch was almost feather-like in comparison to the firm grip he had on her rear end. Sookie didn’t mind his hand placement. She had been enamored by him from the first time their eyes met. She just didn’t want him to be put off by the fact she was a virgin. She was aware Eric had probably been with tons of women and felt insecure at her lack of experience in the bedroom.

“To vampires,” He started slowly, “Blood is sacred. Not only is it what sustains us, it’s used to…bond.” There was that word again. Bond. It was like some sort of inside joke everyone knew about that she didn’t. Bond like emotionally? Her mind went back to Claudio’s warning. He claimed without a bond other vampires could “take her”.

“When a vampire shares their blood, it can be used to heal…” Sookie could tell there was more to it that he wasn’t explaining. Eric could see the questioning in her eyes. He hadn’t wanted to have this conversation so soon but with the way she looked and how she attracted customers, he was sure there were vamps who would do what they could to take her.
“It allows the vampire to be able to find you, in case of danger. It…heightens libido,” He gave her ass a squeeze and pulled her hips to his. Sookie bit her lip in response and tried to stifle a small moan Eric most definitely heard.
“Other vampires can smell when you’ve had another’s blood. It would be forbidden for them to feed on you. Punishable, even.” This took Sookie by surprise that there were such formalities.
“The vampire can sense your emotions and know how you’re feeling. The blood can also influence your attraction to the vampire. Particularly in the form of dreams.” Oh great, the last thing she needed was to have sex dreams about her boss. It was bad enough the hold he had on her. Eric rubbed his thumb over the lip in her teeth and she let it go. He was trying to gauge her honest reaction.

“Well, you literally healed me with it last night. So do we already have a bond?” She asked, confused. She was unsure how this all worked. The side effects of his blood were worrisome. She didn’t want to become some lovesick puppy. He cracked a smile at her naivety. He was sure the next thing he was going to reveal was going to be what made her the most apprehensive.

“No. You would have to ingest it.” Sookie’s eyes widened. She would have to do what?

“Now that’s fucking crazy.” Sookie said exasperated. She suddenly felt very overwhelmed. It was more than a lot for her to take in. Is this what he wanted from her? Before she could pull out of his reach, Eric picked her up and sat her on the edge of his desk while he stood between her thighs. Her heart began to pick up its pace once more. This was something he had thought about dozens of times.

“To you, maybe,” He goaded, “But mutual exchanges can be quite erotic.” His hands slid up her thighs with a fire blazing behind them. They stopped on her hips when he felt the lacy material. Sookie’s breath was coming out more ragged as she tried to focus. She had gotten off fantasizing about Eric biting her but the thought of her drinking his blood in return churned her stomach.
She found her hands clutching the edge of the desk. She was in a much more compromising position with him this time with nothing but a scrap of lace between him and her slick pearl.
“Just something to think about,” He cooed, while breathing into her ear, making her shiver.

“Are they permanent..?” She squeaked. He clearly had no qualms about her taking his blood. In fact, she could sense he most likely wanted her to.

“Mm they can be,” He hummed while nuzzling her neck and listening to her heart. “If an exchange happens three times.” His fangs gently scraped her throat and she let out a breathy sigh. He was smothered in her scent of her arousal. Sookie could feel the wetness pooling in between her thighs. And while they hadn’t exchanged blood, Eric was pleased she would smell of him.

Eric gripped her hips and kept one hand there while the other slowly wandered over the rest of her curves, leaving a trail of goosebumps. Sookie’s breath hitched and her eyes closed, reveling in the feeling. His hand eventually found its way to her ample breasts and began kneading it as he started to pepper feather light kisses on her neck. Sookie let out a breathy moan before her hands went to his back, feeling all the muscles underneath his shirt.

“So let me get this straight,” Sookie rasped, “if I drink your blood,” Eric hummed against her throat. She moaned as his tongue darted out quickly to lick the skin. But she had to focus on the details. She was new to the vampire world and didn’t want to end up a fool.

“You’ll know where I am, know what I’m feeling, I’ll be attracted to you, and no other vampire can make a move on me?” Eric let out a satisfied growl at the thought.

“Yes, that’s all true.” He said, pulling her to the edge of the desk so her core was flush to him. He began to slowly grind into her.

“But those are all benefits for you. How is this beneficial for me?” It was then he froze. To him it was obvious she would be granted his protection and he hoped intimacy would develop between them. He would be able to claim her as his. He broke away from her neck and retracted his fangs, sensing there was a shift in energy.

“You would have my protection. Your Fae blood can and will attract the wrong vampire who would not hesitate to use your blood to day walk. You would be… mine.” He put emphasis on the last word. Sookie immediately sat up straight. She didn’t belong to anyone. She wasn’t property. She wasn’t a vampire pet. She was her own person. Was this why he bought her the gift? Sookie hadn’t been raised to be a kept woman. Was she supposed to give him access to all parts of her in exchange for some gifts once in a while? To her, it didn’t seem like a bargain that was even close to being in her favor. She didn’t want to be under his thumb. And what was it for? His ego? So nobody else could have her?

“And would you be mine?” She countered him. She surprised herself by asking. She had never been in a relationship before and here she was asking a vampire if he would be hers as a result of a blood bond ritual. It amazed her how they were speaking about this before they had even shared a kiss.

Eric had never bonded before. He didn’t keep pets. He didn’t have long term partners. He enjoyed the freedom to fuck and feed on whomever he pleased. But he found himself thinking only of Sookie since he had first seen her. He hesitated before answering.

“Potentially.” He said, lowly. Sookie let out an offended scoff at his answer.

“Potentially?” She asked with anger, lacing her voice. That wasn’t a good enough answer for her. If someone had all of her, she wanted all of them too. Sookie slid off the desk, poking him in the chest and making him back up.
“There’s no way you can call me yours and it wouldn’t be reciprocated! I am not property to be coveted!” Her voice was raising at him again. He felt himself getting defensive.

“There are customs in the vampire world you do not understand.” He hissed back at her.

“Well I understand enough about this blood bond shit to know it’s all about your ego.” She snapped back quickly. Her brows were furrowed and her eyes were squinted pointedly at him. He didn’t know what to say. When she put it as bluntly as she had, it really wasn’t that beneficial to her. Vampires were possessive by nature, however. He couldn’t help his urges to claim her. As new as it was to her, it was new to him as well.

Eric held an unreadable expression on his face. Sookie decided it was time for her to take her leave and stepped around him to head for the door. He caught her wrist and his icy stare bored into hers.
“Just…think about it. I would hate for you to get hurt while working here.” He conceded. He let go of her wrist and stood frozen in the middle of the room with his back to her as she left. Just as she opened the door, Pam had her hand raised to knock. Sookie gave her a shy smile and headed towards the club floor.

“Trouble in Paradise?” Pam asked, taunting her maker. Right now was not the time for her sarcasm.

“Something like that.” He said curtly. He would not be going into details though he was sure she had been listening in. He turned to face Pam as she had an eyebrow raised and a hand on her popped hip.

“Whatever you say. She’s going on first again. They’re going to eat her up.” Pam drawled slowly before she shut the door and strutted down the hallway to the club.

Eric clenched his jaw and stormed over to the mini fridge in the corner of his office. He removed a synthetic blood and put it in the microwave. He would need to feed as soon as possible. Pulling out his phone he sent a text to his dayman to drop some donor blood bags off at his home the next day. His pent up desire along with the need to defend his vampire nature had made him very tense.

Eric grabbed the bottle out of the microwave and drank it quickly before heading to his favorite booth in the club. Sookie was ascending the stairs just as he sat down. He bared his fangs in protest at a dancer that tried to climb into the booth after him. He was too fixated on the stubborn fairy who wouldn’t bend to his will.

And why wouldn’t she? There were so many others that would do anything to be claimed by him. He was old, powerful, wealthy, handsome, well traveled, and great in bed. But she didn’t know that. In fact, she didn’t know anything about him other than how he made her feel. Maybe that was the crux of the problem. She didn’t want to be property. She didn’t want to be an accessory or pet to be flaunted as a status symbol for being rare. She didn’t want to be engaged in something emotionally one sided.

Sookie was beyond annoyed when she stormed out of his office. At him for being unwilling to give himself to her the same way she was expected to do, at the fact she had stupid fairy blood that made her so attractive to vampires, at vampire law for being so beyond outdated, and at herself for feeling inexplicably drawn to him regardless of it all.

She needed to take a step back. The lines were becoming too blurry. He was sending her expensive gifts and touching her in ways she had never experienced before. He did what he could to rub his scent on her as a warning to other vampires even though part of her job was to feign affection. This was only her second night on the job and it was already so complicated. Sookie kept her mental guards up tight as to not further become agitated if any dancer’s were thinking about how much time she got alone with Eric. She put on her best fake smile and swayed her hips in a sultry rhythm walking around the club, surveying the scene. She caught the eye of many, a few she could see with their fangs dropped.

She was going to really lean into the role of temptress tonight. She decided she wasn’t going to constantly look over her shoulder for Eric’s gaze. She knew he would already be watching. But she wanted to know if ignoring his stare would spurn him. She was willing to test the theory.

The club had barely opened and was already packed. From what Sookie could see, there were patrons waiting to get in. She swallowed the lump in her throat and mentally prepped herself. Money was her motivation. The more she made, the faster she could put it all behind her. She was going to give it her all on stage.

Tara was behind the bar making cocktails and giving out Tru Blood’s at vampire speed. She felt Sookie’s glance and briefly looked up to give her a smile and mouthed that she looked hot. It gave Sookie some comfort. Pam beckoned Sookie over to the edge of the stage.

“Your first song?” She asked wryly. Pam wouldn’t admit it but she was curious to see what the blonde had picked to go with her school girl outfit.

“Baby One More Time by Britney Spears.” She said shyly under Pam’s intense gaze. Sookie remembered the video to be a similar theme. She herself, was a Louisiana girl just like Britney. A slow smile creeped upon her lips.

“I couldn’t have picked a better track myself.” She smirked and pointed to the steps for Sookie to take to the stage. She didn’t dare look over in the direction of Eric’s booth, but she could feel his glacial stare from across the room.

Once Sookie was on stage standing in front of the pole, she could see many vampires use their speed to secure the chairs around the catwalk. Some were new, and some were present the previous night. Ah, so she had a few repeat customers. The lust in the air was palpable. The lights dimmed and Pam cut the music to speak into the microphone.

“Good Evening, welcome to Fangtasia. Some of you may know of our newest dancer. If you weren’t here last night to see her, you’re in for a real treat.” Pam paused and the crowd cheered. She could already hear the whistles.
“I’d like to welcome to the stage, Pixie.” And with that the room erupted in loud cheering. The spotlight came on to highlight Sookie on stage. She had her back turned to the audience.

The iconic beat started and Sookie started to sway her hips seductively.

Oh baby, baby
Oh baby, baby

She widened her stance and bent forward giving the audience a full view of what her skirt failed to cover, shaking her hips to wiggle her cheeks and thighs as she did so. She could hear the cheers.

Oh baby, baby
How was I supposed to know
That something wasn’t right here
Oh baby, baby
I shouldn’t have let you go
And now you’re out of sight, yeah

Sookie stood up and grabbed the pole, pulling herself up and twirling around until she landed to face the crowd. While swaying her hips, she ran her hands up her body- making sure to push her breasts together. Biting her lip, she dropped it low against the pole with her thighs spread. She fell to her knees, bucking her hips and running her hands over her upper body before beginning to crawl down the catwalk.

Show me how you want it to be
Tell me, baby
‘Cause I need to know now, oh because

Many of the vampires were holding out bills excited with the chance to stuff them in her bra or waist of her thong. She kept the money in the forefront of her mind. Once she was surrounded by the vamps, she rolled onto her back. Her knees were spread and she was thrusting her hips up and tugging the shirt down to expose more of the red bra and cleavage. She felt cool hands stuffing the money anywhere they could and taking liberty to caress her thighs, hips, and cleavage as they did so.

Eric was sitting white knuckled in the booth. It was taking all of his restraint not to fuck her right on stage. She hadn’t looked over at him once since he sat in his booth. He knew she was doing it on purpose. His cock was almost painfully hard in his jeans as he watched her throw her hips up and caress her breasts. He was imagining fucking her from behind possessively, her braids wrapped around his hand pulling her head back, his fangs sunken into her neck. He let his fangs fall at the thought.

My loneliness
Is killing me and I
I must confess I still believe, still believe
When I’m not with you I lose my mind
Give me a sign
Hit me, baby, one more time

At the last sentence of the chorus Sookie sprang to her hands and knees and slapped her own ass. The cheers and whistles were impeccably loud as she felt money being thrown at her.

Oh, baby, baby
The reason I breathe is you
Boy, you got me blinded
Oh, pretty baby
There’s nothing that I wouldn’t do
It’s not the way I planned it

Sookie untied the top leaving her in just the bra, skirt, and stockings. Once on her knees, she whipped it around her head and tossed it behind her. She welcomed the money being stuffed into her now exposed chest. She fell delicately into the splits and bounced before maneuvering to be face down ass up. She threw her ass back in a twerking motion eliciting more cheers and felt money being tucked into her thong. She stood up again, swaying her hips in the faces of the vamps. Many had their fangs down.

Show me how you want it to be
Tell me, baby
‘Cause I need to know now, oh, because

My loneliness
Is killing me and I
I must confess I still believe, still believe

Sookie picked an exceptionally eager vamp sitting front and center to tease. She stood, slowly swaying her hips and teasing the top of her stocking. She pulled it down slightly and he tucked money into the waist of her thong before leaning down to smell her femoral artery. Before the vampire could strike, she snapped the stocking back in place and pushed him back with the tip of her heel

When I’m not with you, I lose my mind
Give me a sign
Hit me, baby, one more time

She slapped her ass even harder as she strutted back to the pole. The catwalk was covered in bills. The song soon ended along with her dance and Sookie was out of breath as many of the vampires cheered her stage name loudly. She felt exhilarated. Pam had made an announcement for the next dancer before the lights came back on with some music. She gathered up all the cash for Sookie with vampire speed while Sookie was tying her top.

She could still feel Eric’s gaze but chose to continue ignoring it. She was smoothing out her skirt and stockings when Pam spoke.

“Hold onto that one.” She said with a hungry glint in her eyes. Sookie was confused until it registered, she was talking about the costume. She took the money from Pam’s extended hand.

Pam could sense her maker’s stare at them on stage. She could also see Sookie doing all she could to avoid looking over at him. She found it interesting. Perhaps Tara would find out why and fill her in.

Sookie walked with her head held high back into the dressing room. She still didn’t look at Eric. Though perturbed, he knew she couldn’t ignore him forever. She stuffed all the cash into her duffel in her locker and let out a deep breath. She was so caught up in her head mulling over all that happened with Eric. And he still didn’t know she was a telepath. She was sure he would become even more insistent she ‘needed his protection’ if she revealed that secret. She was going to hold that card close to her chest as long as she could. Unfortunately, she didn’t know how soon it was to actually be revealed.

The night went on in a blur. Sookie had patrons fighting for her attention left and right- men and women vamps alike. She revelled in her natural ability to play a ditzy blonde tease. Eric’s facial expressions remained controlled and almost bored while he was in the public eye. And though Sookie didn’t dare look at him, she could feel his hard gaze on her every move.

Sookie had finished her stage dances and was spending the remainder of the time sitting at a table surrounded by vamps that were enamored by her sweet southern charms. They always commented on her scent and she always said it was her cheap perfume. Like Claudio, they offered her whatever she desired from the bar.

She lavished in being paid for attention and having the highest bidder of the group win a private dance. Every time she disappeared behind the curtain, Eric absconded into his office to watch the camera. He was waiting for someone to try something. He knew his scent was all over her and other vampires were aware of his watchful eye. But they could smell they weren’t bonded. At face value she might have just appeared to be the Sheriff's favorite snack.

She had a decent buzz from her third gin and tonic of the night as she walked arm in arm with another vampire into the private dance area. Sookie, well, Pixie had learned his name was Felix. Felix stood roughly about six foot, and had curly mousy brown hair. His complexion was olive toned and his eyes were a striking hazel that looked almost gold. He had high cheekbones and full lips. Felix looked to be roughly twenty-five when he had been turned. But his eyes showed that he was much older. Sookie thought he was actually quite attractive.

Eric took his cue to go back to his office. Jealousy bit at the pit of his stomach. Though he had to admit he liked her strong will. He sat glued to the computer watching the camera in Sookie’s private dance room. Unbridled rage boiled inside him when he saw the vamp reach to touch her. Sookie however handled it with grace by stepping back and waving her finger at him haughtily. He saw the vampire grin and lean back with his hands behind his head. Sookie continued her dance.

Sookie was quite exhausted by the time her dance with Felix ended. He had paid for a whole hour and she had to rebuff several of his advances. She sent him on his way but decided to hang back in the area to rest her feet for a moment. She felt like she had done enough for that evening and decided that was the last one of the night. Sookie rolled her neck and shoulders and stretched her arms over her head. Keeping her shields up was harder to do the more alcohol she drank. She decided to count the money that she had stuffed in her bra from the customers on the floor and felt it was late enough she could give her mental guards a rest.

She felt the tension in her temple subside at releasing it. Eric sat just watching her in the private room. He contemplated going to her. He didn’t particularly enjoy the fairy ignoring him. Nobody ignored Eric Northman. But he noticed when she froze suddenly and looked up at the camera in a panic. She quickly left the private room disappearing behind the curtain out of view of the camera. Well that was fucking weird. Eric didn’t hesitate to grab the stake in his desk drawer and put it in his pocket before walking out into the club to meet her. He didn’t like the look on her face as she stared into the camera. He scanned the club only to find she wasn’t there.

Sookie was counting her money when she was suddenly hit with thoughts of another dancer. She hadn’t even known anyone else was back there. She wasn’t picking up any coherent thoughts though. Mostly images of the room around her. The images would fade in and out focus. On the verge of blacking out maybe? She stopped what she was doing and a chill ran up her spine. She could sense the woman was in a panic. She looked at the camera wearily hoping maybe Eric would notice the gesture. In an instant she got another image of a redheaded vampire with his fangs elongated and his face covered in blood along with the word ‘dying’.

Sookie sprang up and immediately started searching the private dance rooms. She pulled back the curtain of a room three down from her and was shocked at the scene before her.

The petite woman who had spoken to her earlier in the dressing room was lying on the floor with her eyes rolling back into her head. Crouched directly over her, was the redheaded vampire she had seen in her thoughts. Sookie foolishly decided to yank open the curtain.

“Get off of her!” She yelled. The vampire stopped and sniffed the air. Slowly he stood and turned around. He had blood all over his face and shirt, his blue eyes were wild with bloodlust.

Sookie felt the air immediately knocked out of her lungs as the vampire lunged and pinned her against the wall by her throat, crushing her windpipe. She could feel deep bruises forming immediately. She squirmed beneath him as the vampire sniffed her carotid artery. His hand clamped her mouth shut as she began to scream and thrash.

“Keep struggling. I like when my meals put up a fight.” The vampire chuckled. Sookie tried blinking back the tears forming in her eyes and streaking down her cheeks. She kept struggling and the vampire tightened his grip so she could barely get any oxygen. She squeezed her eyes shut waiting for the pierce of his fangs that never came. A sudden breeze flew past her as she fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

Sookie opened her eyes to see Eric had the rogue vampire effortlessly pinned to the ground.

“You dare touch what is mine!?” He roared almost loud enough to make the walls shake. Sookie could feel nothing but raw power rolling off of Eric. She was shaking with tears streaming down her cheeks. She curled her knees up to her chest, petrified. Her throat was raw as the bruises set in.

“But Sheriff, she is not your bonded!” The other vampire protested. That was the worst possible thing he could have said in response. A menacing growl erupted from Eric’s chest as he slammed the vampire further into the concrete of the floor.

“You know the rules. You were caught in my area, feeding on my staff, in my establishment, publically. You intended to feed on what belongs to another.” Eric’s voice was dripping venom.
“As Sheriff of Area Five, I sentence you to true death” Before the vampire could process the verdict, Eric plunged the wooden stake into his chest. The rogue combusted almost instantly turning into nothing more than a puddle of bloody sludge.
“Fucking baby vamps.” Eric spat before dropping the stake. Just then Pam rushed into the back area.

“I felt your call. What the fuck happened in here?” Pam took in the scene before her. Her maker was covered in vampire remains, a stake was in a puddle on the floor, a barely breathing dancer was collapsed in a private room, and Sookie was curled into a ball in tears.
“Well shit, looks like you had all the fun without me.” Pam remarked in her typical sarcastic tone.

“Now is not the time for jokes, Pamela,” Eric growled in response, “I found the fledgling after he had fed on Destiny and was about to drink from Sookie. I was within my right to issue the true death.” His voice was gruff as he ran his hand through his hair.
“And what about the baby’s maker? And if the Magister gets wind of this?” Pam questioned wearily.
She didn’t want Eric to be punished over a human who just smelled a little better than most.
“I’ll send Samantha restitution. As for the Magister, if I get contacted I will say he was feeding publicly with intention to feed on my human.”
Eric hadn’t ever claimed a human, it was bizarre to hear him speak like that. Pam was shocked. Eric was also waiting to tell her about Sookie’s Fae heritage.
“But you aren’t bonded?!” Pam questioned. Eric shot his hand up to silence her.
“That’s none of your concern. Just clean this up. Drop the dancer at the nearest hospital and heal the wounds on her neck. Glamour her to make her forget the attack and that she was here when it happened.” Eric left no room for arguments. Pam nodded and picked up the dancer before running at vampire speed to the hospital.

Sookie could hardly breathe. She felt as though the room was spinning as her heart began to beat rapidly and her throat was closing up. She could feel a panic attack coming on. Eric was by her side in an instant, putting her face in his hands. His electric blue eyes scanned over her appearance.
Eric’s eyes narrowed at the bruises on her delicate neck. Sookie hissed in pain as he brushed a finger lightly against her throat that was darkening by the second. She flinched as he released his fangs.
Without a second thought, he tore into his own wrist and lifted it to her mouth. She shied away in protest.
“Drink. It will heal you.” Eric said firmly. Sookie shook her head again as he urged his bloody wrist towards her. She didn’t want to be under his thumb.
He was growing impatient as his wound began to close. He bit into his wrist again.
“He won’t be the last one to try that. They can smell you are unclaimed. Without it, I may not be able to get to you in time.” He lifted his bloody wrist to her again. Sookie finally met his eyes and they softened. She could see he was being what she thought to be sincere. She swallowed and winced at the tight ache of her throat from being crushed.

Slowly, she reached for his wrist. She hesitated before letting a few drops hit her tongue. Before she realized, she was latched on. It was as if she couldn’t get enough. It was sweet and rich with a hint of spice. Eric let out a satisfied moan as she suckled.He could feel his blood taking root inside her body. He could feel her apprehension, her gratitude, and her lust. Sookie let out her own moan just before he pulled his wrist away. She licked her lips as a light blush spread across her cheeks.

“Thank you for saving me.” She said looking down. Eric slowly tipped her chin so she met his eyes again. Sookie was overcome with lust gazing into their depth.
“I would stake him again if I could.” Eric said earnestly. He gently stroked the healed skin of her neck. It was as if nothing had happened to her. Seeing Sookie battered and bruised made him irate. He could feel her lust, most likely from having just drank a considerable amount of his blood. He had to push away his own desire briefly. He had a burning question in his mind.

“How did you know she was being fed on?” Eric analyzed her facial features as he immediately felt her nervousness.
Sookie didn’t feel like she could bullshit her way out of this. He could feel her emotions now. She was going to tell him at some point, she guessed right now was as good as any seeing as they were now ‘bonded’.

“I read her thoughts,” Sookie said while biting her lip. Eric’s eye contact was unwavering as he raised an eyebrow.
“I’m a telepath.”