This scene takes place in Season 3, Episode 10 "I Smell a Rat". Disclaimer: I own nothing. Also, I'm thinking of doing a follow-up to it, so review if you like and let me know if you're interested!

Recognition

Sookie paced the small expanse of Eric's office with increasing frustration. He'd been gone too long, and he and Pam had stopped talking long ago. If he had information for her, she would stay. Otherwise, she had a mind to leave. Her self-preservation instincts were kicking in, knowing if she stayed a second longer than she had to, she'd do something she'd regret.

But that kiss…

"No," she said aloud, trying to convince her mind to stay away from the topic. It replayed in her head despite her objection. For those few moments she'd tried to resist, she could feel his desperation; the strength in his arms, the will for her to give in. And when she had…a shiver went down her spine to remember it. She shook her head, failing to clear the emotions. She rolled her eyes and glanced to the clock, groaning in recognition. It was getting close to sunset. She should be getting back.

Eric sat at the bar staring into space, unable to think clearly. Pam was right, he had no doubts in that respect. He could use Sookie and save himself, or die to protect her. There was no in-between. He knew what he must do. If it were anyone else, he would have done it by now.

But it's her…

He raked a hand through his hair as their kiss played in his head. She was right, more than she could ever guess; she was incredibly intoxicating and irresistible, so much so that he was willing to die for her good opinion. She made him feel disturbingly human, and it gave him more joy that it should. She was a force of nature that not even 1,000 years of life had prepared him to deal with. He had no idea what to do with her.

He exhaled in frustration, knowing he should return, but nothing of his course of action. With Sookie, even his best plans were null and void; she had a knack for screwing it all up anyway.

Sookie's pacing stopped when Eric abruptly opened the door, letting it shutter closed behind him. She tried to meet his eyes, but he seemed to be purposely avoiding her gaze. His back was to her, keeping her at a distance. "Where the hell have you been?" she asked poignantly.

Eric steeled himself, ready to do what he must to save himself, to play the villain with her again. "I had to think."

"About what, exactly?"

Eric pinned her with his well-practiced sardonic glare. "You heard Pam. Vampire affairs."

"She said it was an emergency. Is it Bill?"

The mention of Bill affected him stronger than he anticipated. He could still taste her lips on his tongue; to have them forming Bill's name was an insult he would not tolerate. Eric moved quickly, as only his kind could, and before Sookie had a chance to breathe she found herself pinned between the wall and Eric's hard body, his face a breath from hers. She held her tongue, rightly afraid to speak.

"Just once I'd like to talk to you without Bill being on your mind."

She struggled against his grip to know avail. "I can't help it, and you're not being fair!"

"I'm not being fair?" Eric closed his eyes, inhaling deeply in an attempt to slow his temper. "I tell you time and time again that there are larger things at play than Bill Compton, and yet you always assume it's about him."

"It usually is."

"No, it's usually about you, you just never see it."

"What is about me?"

"Everything is about you! And I have to make the choice without…" he trailed off, turning his head away and giving her a bit more space. His grip on her wrists slackened as he turned away, but the slightest brush of her fingers stilled him. Timidly, she caught his chin with her hand and turned him back, forcing their eyes to meet. He had a face of genuine surprise that she was dealing so softly with him. Her voice was lower than usual when she spoke. "Without what?"

He was hesitant, but complied. "Without thanks or recognition…from you."

For a moment, Sookie was on the rooftop again, watching Eric suffer as Godric choose death over him. Her heart crushed with emotion as she brushed a lock of hair behind his ear, needing to know what he was keeping back. "What choice are you making for me?"

He truly wanted to answer. He wanted to tell her everything if only her warm brown eyes would keep looking on him kindly, like she actually cared. But the voice stuck in his throat, and the silence persisted. Her eyebrows knit together in confusion as she gently prompted him, "Eric?"

His name on her lips was his undoing. He clasped the back of her head and drew her to him in a searing kiss, leaving no room for opposition. Her token resistance was shorter this time; Eric breathed a sigh of relief into the kiss, framing her face with his hands as he drank deeply of her mouth. A moan escaped her unwilling throat, and Eric felt it to his core. He moved to the curve of her neck, pinning her against the wall as she spoke.

"Eric, you didn't answer me. What choice?"

He didn't seem to hear her. "Bill makes all the wrong choices and he gets you. But if I make the right one, I lose…" he whispered the rest into the skin at her neck, making it inaudible. She tried to pull his head up to hers to stop him, but he captured her lips again, his tongue making sweet tasting sweeps of her mouth that electrified her skin. Sookie broke the kiss, holding her forehead against his. "Stop."

That gave him pause, their mingled breath heating the air between them. Sookie tried a different approach, attempting to take the focus off the thrill his kisses gave her. "Eric, you won't tell me what's going on except that your life is in danger. And I get that you want me, I do, but you have to remember, I'm still Bill's—"

"Are you really?" His voice had an edge she was unaccustomed to.

"Yes, I am." She faltered at the end, and she knew he'd caught it.

Eric was surprised at how much that falter meant to him. It curled the corner of his mouth in slight satisfaction. "So there's a small part that isn't. That is some recompense."

"I never said—"

"Would you go so far to say that it is mine?"

The emphasis on "mine" left no room for debate. And the longer she looked at him, the more she saw the question in his eyes, the word he couldn't say: Please. And she couldn't deny him, not with whatever they were facing just ahead, not with the dreams that felt less like the blood and more like reality each and every time. "It's a small part," she conceded.

Her admission taunted his senses, making him dare more, demand more. "But it's there. Say it."

"Say what—?"

"Say that you are mine."

The desire in his eyes was so earnest, she could do nothing but give in. To him, to herself, to the moment, all of it. He could taste the tension between them as she rose to tiptoe, making their eyes level. "I'm yours."

There was no resistance this time. He slanted his mouth over hers and she met all of his intensity. Finally, Eric thought, and she responded as if she'd heard him. Their tongues battled for dominance; he caught her lower lip between his teeth as he moved down her neck, relishing in the heaving breaths escaping it. He could hear her heartbeat speeding deep in his eardrums, pulsing in time with his quickly growing erection. Their lips met again as he slid his hands around her waist, underneath the hem of her t-shirt, relishing in her warmth on his palms. She hooked her arms around his neck and jumped, latching her legs tightly around his hips. He broke the kiss to smirk at her. "You still surprise me, Sookie Stackhouse."

"Don't stop, I'll talk myself out of it."

She covered his lips with hers, hoping he'd get the hint; Eric knew better than to look for admissions of affection and chose to make the most of her lapse in judgment. She would see. He would make her see what she did to him.

Eric shoved away from the wall and walked them over to the desk, clearing it with an arm as Sookie pulled off her shirt. He laid her down and rid himself of his own while she fumbled with his belt; he groaned as she brushed his cock, her warmth penetrating his jeans, hardening him to an uncomfortable level. When she loosed the button of his fly, he arched an eyebrow. "Forward. I like that."

"I know what I want."

He rid her of her shorts as he spoke, "What is it that you want?"

The look in her eyes was so honest it touched his long-dead heart. "I want to stop being tempted by dreams. I want to know what I'm missing."

Her words resonated deep within him. "I know exactly what you mean."

"You've dreamt about me?"

Eric looked away and slid his jeans down his legs rather than answer, stepping out of all his remaining clothes. He'd already said too much. He climbed over her and made quick work of her bra, tossing it aside. He filled his hands with her breasts; her nipples hardened against his palms, causing her to sigh. She spread her legs as he lowered his head to her breast, sucking her nipple deep into his mouth, causing her to cry out. Her fingers tangled in his hair and held him to her chest, encouraging the sweet torture as he moved to the other. Her hips rocked against his, and she knew he could feel how wet she was, even through her panties.

Eric trailed his way up her neck to steal another kiss while he slid the last of her clothing off her legs. He covered her mouth with his as he circled her clit, earning him many moans he swallowed whole. Her back arched and she held him closer, her tongue exploring his mouth as he pressed a finger into her warmth. Her thighs held his hips tight as she moved in rhythm with his hand, amazed at how quickly she was spiraling towards completion.

The connection of their mouths muffled his groan as he pushed another finger into her tight entrance; his thumb rubbed her clit in time with her gasping breaths until she finally had to break away for air. His mouth found purchase in the curve of her neck and he relished in the scent of her, knowing she was close. Once, twice more he thrust his fingers into her and she exploded, holding his body to hers as she rode out waves of pleasure.

Eric didn't give her time to recover. His forehead rested on hers as he stared down into her eyes. She felt him hard between her legs as she struggled to regain her breath. "Do not deny me this," he whispered hoarsely, and she could feel the frayed ends of his control starting to snap.

"I tried. And I can't," she admitted honestly.

He bared his fangs with pride, wanting her to understand. "Do not deny me any of it."

She remembered her dream and satisfied her curiosity, running her fingers down the length of his fangs. He was so much different than Bill. Bill was always embarrassed when his fangs extracted themselves; Eric did it willfully, freely embracing what he was. He was not ashamed of his cravings, and it thrilled Sookie in a way she did not expect. She had been pretending all her life to be something she wasn't. To be with someone who did not even try was refreshing.

His ice blue eyes smoldered with desire that heated her to the core. Her hand curled around the side of his face; Eric closed his eyes at the intimate gesture, willing himself to feel every place their bodies touched through the haze of lust. When he opened his eyes again she was nodding, then came her whispered permission, "Yes."

He positioned himself at her entrance and spread her legs wide, sliding an arm under her back to prop her up. She leaned on her elbows, keeping his gaze as he slid smoothly into her. She was not prepared for the size of him; her eyes fluttered closed and an arm gave out. She would have fallen backward if not for Eric's quick reflexes. He caught her in his arms, pressing himself deeper into her. She moaned and slid her hands up his taut back, rocking her hips slightly to earn a hiss of satisfaction from Eric. He began to move, deep even-paced thrusts that had her body humming. She never expected to feel this way, not with Eric. She'd allowed it out of curiosity, and now she was mewling in his arms, afraid that if he stopped she would actually die.

Eric felt her emotions through their blood bond so acutely that it sped up his pace, causing him to grip her hips hard enough to bruise. He knew it was almost sundown and that Bill would no doubt be looking to fight because of this. He knew that Pam was barely keeping herself from kicking down the door. The world would intrude on them soon enough, too soon, but until then he was going to take every ounce of pleasure he could from the woman who knew him both not at all and far too well. He caught her lips in a leisurely kiss as he thrust faster and faster, feeling her inner walls clench and spasm around his length.

Sookie suddenly broke the kiss and took Eric's face between her palms. Her voice was full of passionate desperation. "Do it. Please Eric, I want you to…"

She offered him her neck, and it was all he could take. He laid her down on the desk and moved her hair aside. He gently kissed the area and felt her pulse leap beneath his lips, then he sunk his fangs deep into her neck, letting her blood flow freely.

The bite had the desired effect, and Sookie shattered around him, gripping his body hard. One hand was tangled in his hair as he thrust and drank, the combination of the pleasures too much to bear. He spilled himself inside her, but he was unable to stop himself from drinking. He savored every drop that touched his tongue; she tasted like sweetened sunlight, a joy he'd lost so long ago. She pressed his head closer as he sucked. Eric's hand ghosted over her body in a feather-light caress, causing her oversensitive skin to jump at the slight contact wherever he touched. His head was filled with her hazy scent, the tang of her completion evident in her sweet blood. It brought him back to his senses and made him lick the wound closed, then the area around it until her neck was clean. Eric made a satisfied sound deep in his throat that reverberated through Sookie's chest. "What?" she inquired.

"If I could only explain what it is like to taste you…" he trailed off, but she asked no more explanation.

They lay like that for a moment, her arms and legs curled around him, his head buried in her neck. Neither wanted to move, but the impatient knock at the door made it necessary. Sookie struggled to sit up, but Eric held her down, pinning her with such a stare she could do nothing but stay still. He spoke loud enough for the intruder to hear. "What?"

It was Pam. "I need to speak with you. Now."

Eric breathed deeply before he answered. "One moment."

He listened for her footsteps to fade then turned back to Sookie. He pulled himself out of her warmth, relishing in her sigh at the loss of his size. They dressed in silence, neither meeting the other's eyes. Sookie finished first and sat on the edge of the desk, head in her hands. Her thoughts rang out in Eric's mind; in an instant he was standing in front of her, hand crooked under her chin forcing her to look at him.

His voice was honest, yet severe. "This is not to be spoken of. This is not to be regretted or forgotten. If somehow I do not meet the true death, we will talk about this. At length."

Sookie could only nod, her warm brown eyes turning colder as he watched. Her voice was unsteady. "I don't know what happened here, Eric, but I don't want you to die."

He smirked. "That is enough for now." He kissed her softly once before he pulled back and whispered, "Above all else, do not forget. I did not lie to you in this. Do you understand?"

"Yes. No. Kind of."

"Good enough."

Eric crossed to the door and flung it open, then returned to haul Sookie onto his shoulders. She was rightfully confused. "Eric, what the hell are you—"

"What do you think?"

Realization dawned quickly on Sookie as she let out a stream of curses, grabbing at anything she could reach, nearly tearing down a shelf in his office. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"No."

They continued down the stairs in the same manner, but Eric was unmoved. Sookie was screaming furiously. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted you!"

"You were right."

He plopped her unceremoniously on the ground and latched a chain around her neck. She looked into the eyes that had held such warmth but moments ago and wondered how she could have been so stupid. He'd played her. And worse than that, she'd let him drink her blood. Welcomed him, even. As he walked back upstairs, she yelled in vain. "Eric!"

He didn't even turn around. Tears started to fill her eyes as she sank down on her knees. That fucking bastard. He made her think he really cared so she would have sex with him and let him drink her blood. That was all he'd ever wanted from her. Why did she think he'd changed?

Eric felt her rejection keenly through their connection, taking the blow with a sigh.

Just keep on believing that, Sookie, and maybe somehow we'll both get out of this alive.