Blood on Blood

Set after Dead as a Doornail but before Definitely Dead-Eric now knows he and Sookie were lovers but doesn't remember it. Sookie has moved back into her house. Quinn has not come to see her yet, and in this version probably won't. Rated M for lemons later. Still in progress – but I had to post, it has been too long since my last story.

I don't own the characters or the world, I just think about them a lot.

Chapter 1 – A Surprise Guest

Sookie drove up her driveway around to the back door. She turned off the car and let her arms fall limply into her lap. She had never felt so tired. She had been up and out of the house early to run some long postponed errands and then she worked an extra half-shift on top of her full shift, because Arlene's daughter was sick and Sam had asked with puppy-dog eyes. Not his literal puppy-dog eyes, he didn't shift or anything, but she gave in. Grabbing her purse, she opened the car door and turned in her seat, gingerly lowering her feet to the ground. As she put weight on them she winced and berated herself for about the hundredth time that night. "What was I thinking wearing heels to work?" she mumbled to herself, but she knew why. To make her legs and butt look great which translated into bigger tips. Since she had spent almost all she had made hiding Eric to make up the difference between what the insurance paid out for the fire and what the new kitchen cost her, she felt the need to bolster her savings. But as she stood and her eyes watered at the pain she decided it wasn't worth it.

As she turned and shut the car door, she realized her kitchen light was on. She didn't usually leave it on, but her head had been so full of to-do lists this morning that she wasn't surprised. Thinking of her to-do lists made her look sullenly at the bags in the backseat. She really should bring them in but she just couldn't find the energy to do it tonight. Turning she walked, more like hobbled, to the steps leading up to her enclosed porch and opened the outer door. As soon as she entered it she kicked off the offending shoes, sighing as her feet touched the cool wood. She stood there for a moment feeling the bones shift back into place and wondered if this was what shifting felt like.

She took a tentative step and, while it felt like someone had beaten the soles of her feet, it was much better now that the shoes were off. Getting to her back door she turned the key and opened it, then shrieked, jumping backwards. Which was a mistake on her sore feet and she yelped in a mixture of pain and shock.

The source of that shock, Eric, jumped up from where he had been seated at her table and was lifting her before she could blink. "Sookie are you hurt? What happened to your feet?" He was lowering her onto one of the kitchen chairs.

"What happened?" She shouted back, "I was just frightened half to death! What were you thinking? How did you get in, and why?"

"Your bedroom window was open. I didn't mean to frighten you. I assumed you would scan your house before you enter it, especially after that Pelt woman ambushed you. You really need to develop a better sense of self-preservation." He shook his head disapprovingly.

"I wouldn't have known it was you. I would have known there was a vampire in my house, but not which vampire." Her dander was up. "Don't even try to make it my fault that you scared me." She went to stand, but it was a mistake and with a wince and sharp intake of breath fell back into the chair.

Eric crouched and grabbed one of her ankles pulling up her foot and cradling it in his other hand. The coolness of his touch soothed her foot instantly at the same time her body began to respond in other ways. She tried to pull her foot back but he held it firm.

"What happened to your feet?" He began running his fingers across it gently, checking for injuries and she squirmed in the chair.

"Oh, I was stupid and wore high-heels to work." Fighting back a giggle as his touch tickled. "Eric, let go." She demanded wearily. He shifted his grip instead of letting go and pressed his thumbs into her sole and she melted, it felt so good, yet hurting at the same time. His cool fingers expertly kneaded and rubbed her foot, further shifting the misplaced bones and easing the pain in the muscles. She could not suppress the moan of relief.

"Are you sure you want me to let go?" he teased, watching the pleasure of her face.

She just shook her head, closed her eyes and leaned back in the chair. Part of her mind was telling her that this wasn't a good idea, that it could easily get out of hand, but her flesh was weak. When he gently set the foot he had been working on down, she actually lifted her other foot for him, before she realized what she was doing. Stealing a glance at him she saw his self-satisfied smirk as he concentrated on this foot. She closed her eyes again, losing herself in the sensation.

She hadn't realized she had dozed off until she felt Eric kissing his way up her inner thigh. At first, dreamily forgetting when she was she murmured "Mmm, Eric." then she jerked back in her chair. "Eric!" she chastised him.

He grinned up at her and fang was showing. "According to you, we have done this before. I'm finding it incredibly unfair that you get to remember and I don't." One hand was still on her leg, stroking the back of her knee and sending waves of heat straight to her core. She moved her leg out of his grasp and he let it go. Shrugging, then rising to his feet in a lithe movement, he added, "One day I will remember."

"I know." She replied in a small voice. She rubbed her hands across her face to wipe away the sleep and hide her embarrassment. "Eric, why are you here? I'm sure you didn't just happen by to give me a foot massage." She uncovered her face to look at him in the chair opposite her and that is when she saw the food in front of her. There was bread and cheese and fruit along with an open bottle of wine. She realized her mouth was hanging open and closed it before asking "What's all this?"

He shrugged, "A peace offering. To apologize for Charles and..." he shifted slightly. "...to ask you a favor." He gestured at the food, "Please, eat, you must be hungry."

Reaching for a slice of apple, she paused remembering her manners. "Thank you, can I get you a True Blood?" Trying to remember if she had any to offer.

"I'll get it, you eat." He stood and went to her new refrigerator and rummaged around. She caught herself staring at his butt as he bent over and quickly shifted her eyes back to the food and began nibbling.

When he continued searching she asked apologetically, "Am I out?"

He straightened and nodded. She felt Gran's disapproval weighing down on her. "I'm sorry, I haven't had any vampires over since I moved back in. I wish I had something to offer you." He gave her a mischievous look and let his fangs run out. She just rolled her eyes and picked up a piece of cheese. "My hospitality only goes so far."

He sheathed his fangs and retook the seat across from her.

"What's the favor? I mean it must be pretty big to warrant a picnic. Usually you just tell me to do something and expect me to do it."

"Correction, in the past I demanded of Bill that you perform a task for me, however since you are no longer Bill's..." there was a question in his tone and she nodded and looked down, "...then I have to ask you directly."

"So you are softening me up with a late night snack?"

"Since you appear to be immune to my charms when I am in my right mind I could not seduce you into it. Could I?" He looked hopeful.

"No." she said indignantly, but she knew he probably could, since just sitting this close to him made her want to jump him. But she didn't want him to know that. "But you could have just held me to my promise."

"Ah, that was my ace in the hole." He grinned at her. "If my charm and the food failed, and when you inevitably argued and dug your heels in when I tried to demand it, I was going to pull that out. But I didn't want to if I didn't have to. As you said then it is better if you are willing."

"You still haven't told me what the favor is. How am I supposed to argue and dig my heels in, if I don't even know what I am arguing about?"

"Since when has that stopped you?" He winked and she smiled. She was eating a piece of bread and feeling happy. She and Eric seemed to have slid back into the odd rapport they had before his amnesia. A bit of humorous baiting mixed with Eric's obvious seduction attempts.

"Come on, out with it."

Eric's demeanor changed and he leaned forward. "Thalia's missing." He stated plainly.

"Missing? Are you sure she just didn't leave? She never seemed to be happy here." Although Sookie couldn't really picture Thalia happy at all. But there was no sense going looking for a vampire who did not want to be found.

"That's what I thought at first, but we caught someone with 'V' at the bar and it was her blood. We then went to her home and all her things were there and the doors were unlocked."

"Did the person at the bar say where they got the 'V'?" Sookie was sure they had tried to glamor the info out of him, but since Eric didn't volunteer she decided to ask.

"Apparently, 'Some dude in the bar' was selling it." Eric actually made finger quotes and it looked odd coming from him. "He went on to describe what could be anyone of half our clientele since they are lacking in originality."

"So you want me to see if I can get a picture of the dealer from this guy?"

"That, or hang around the bar and see if you can find out who it is." He reached out and covered her hand. "I know that Thalia is not your favorite vampire but this must be stopped."

"Eric, it doesn't matter if I like Thalia or not, and I don't dislike her." He raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Okay, she really scares me. But I agree it has to be stopped." She glanced at her calendar on the wall. "I'll have to arrange to get a few nights off from Sam." She looked glum.

"Will the shifter give you a hard time over this? I will talk to him, he owes me a favor."

"Can you please just call him Sam? He doesn't call you 'the vampire." Pompous-ass vampires she thought. "And no he won't give me a hassle, it's just..." She let it trail off. She really couldn't afford to miss many days of work, but you don't charge for doing a favor.

Eric seemed to pick up her train of thought. "I thought you could pose as a waitress, that will get you out mingling with the crowd, so I would pay you for that and I daresay the tips will be better."

"That's a good idea except I really don't look like your other waitresses." Sookie pictured the thin, pale goths who tended to work there, nor did she have the right clothes.

"Not a problem. Pam has volunteered to take care of that. In fact, she seems to be looking forward to it. I think she spent the entire evening shopping. I haven't seen her this excited in years." Mischief twinkled in his eyes.

"Wait, she's already been shopping? What if I had said no?" She was a little indignant that her cooperation had been taken for granted.

"I posed that question to Pam, but she seemed to be certain that I would be able to use my charms to convince you." He flashed her his most seductive smile, but then looked somewhat furtive. "Plus I had my ace."

Sookie was somewhat appeased, and she realized she probably wouldn't have said no anyway.

"Well, I'm glad you used your charm. Should I be at Fangtasia at dark?" and then she thought of the long drive that would be. "Do you think I'll need to stay until closing?"

"Probably, or at least pretty close to it, we tend to be busy until we kick the customers out." He saw her worried look and added. "You should stay in town, it will be easier on you."

She shook her head quickly, her heart began pounding. Did he mean for her to stay with him? She knew that if she and Eric stayed in the same house together she would eventually succumb to his charms again. "I couldn't impose like that." She felt her face stretch into her nervous smile.

His eyes grew wide and he was kneeling in front of her again, he looked like he was going to clutch her knees but pulled his hands back, a haunted look in his eyes. "Sookie, tell me the truth, when I was staying here, did I..." He looked as though he had something incredibly foul-tasting in his mouth. "...did I force myself upon you?"

Her jaw dropped and she stared at him aghast. Had her refusal to talk about it make him worry that he had done such a thing. He was looking at her, pleading with his eyes that she would tell him it wasn't true. "Oh Eric, no, you didn't force me." She could feel tears forming in her eyes as she saw the relief wash over his face. She raised a hand to his cheek. "I wanted it, I wanted you."

He gently took her hand and brought it to his lips, tenderly kissing her palm. "Thank you, that has been preying on me, what I might have done. How I might have hurt you. Since then you have been so distant, reluctant to be alone with me that it seemed too likely. And just now, your fear at the thought of staying in Shreveport made me believe it was true."

"I'm sorry, I never dreamed that was what you were thinking. If I had I would have told you right away."

"Did I not satisfy you? Is that why you no longer want me?" He moved his hand to the side of her face, keeping her from turning her head, his thumb gently stroked her cheek. She kept herself from leaning into it through sheer force of will. She shifted slightly, obviously her secrets had been plaguing him in ways she never intended, she had never meant for them to eat away at him so viciously. "Oh no, you satisfied me all right, there were some mornings I could barely walk I was so satisfied."

"Then why aren't we lovers still?" he persisted, he just wasn't going to let it drop. "You aren't involved with anyone else now are you?" She really did not want to have this conversation, her own feelings were so conflicted she didn't think she could explain.

"No, I'm not, but it's more complicated than that. You're more complicated."

"How?" His hand shifted a little further back, just behind her ear, his thumb still tracing a light path across her skin. She knew she should try to pull away but her body craved any contact with his.

"You're Sheriff of Area Five, you run multiple businesses, you enforce vampire law, you have a thousand plus year history I know next to nothing about, you think of most humans as vermin, you have – I don't know how many vampires at your beck and call and a bar full of women and men throwing themselves at you every night." She took a deep breath, since all of that had tumbled out in one. "I have no idea where in all of that I would be."

He opened his mouth to say something and she covered it with her hand. "No, let me finish." She took another deep breath to collect her thoughts before continuing. "When you were here, you were 'My Eric'..." she didn't use finger quotes but there was an emphasis on those last 2 words. "We were almost equals. Sure, you could still kill me quicker than I could blink if you wanted, but you needed me. Not just for sex, but companionship. We protected each other. We were both lost when it came to vampire politics and we could just be with each other. It was simple but wonderful, and I knew where I stood, I was at the top, maybe second only to you getting your memory back." She met his eyes, hers seeking understanding.

His were thoughtful, releasing the side of her head he gently took her hand and held it loosely. "What," he began slowly, "would you have done, if when my memory came back I didn't forget my time here?"

She dropped her eyes, unable to meet his, and shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "I don't know. I worried about that the whole time because that was what I assumed would happen. And then, after I killed Debbie, I was afraid because you were the only one who knew about it and it gave you such power over me." She looked at him and her eyes were filled with tears. "But a part of me was so hurt that you couldn't remember how close we were." Her voice cracked and she looked up at the ceiling to fight back the tears. But one rebellious tear rolled down her cheek followed by another on the other side. She went to wipe them away but Eric stayed her hand as he rose up on his knees, leaned in and kissed them away, his lips parted letting his tongue flick to her cheek. Catching both tears, he shifted to her mouth in a kiss that was gentle and tender, undemanding. He pulled back, waiting to see if she would push him away, and a part of her wished she could, but that was not the part of her controlling her body.

She closed the distance, kissing him deeper, her tongue exploring to find his. Her knees parted so he could lean in closer to her. Her body responding like the intervening months never happened. Her hands reached around him and they remembered all the contours of his back. She pulled him in, holding onto him as if he were the only thing real in the world. One of his hands buried itself in the hair at the back of her head while the other began stroking her back, sending tingles up her spine. As she pulled back to breathe Eric's lips left her mouth and kissed a path back to her ear, which he nuzzled and nipped causing her breath to come in short gasps.

But inside she was struggling to control her body. Her body craved him and didn't care about anything but the now and the pleasure that was building. But she did care, she didn't want to be a conquest of Eric's. A trophy to hold over Bill or just one in a long line of disposable lovers. She needed to be special to someone. She wanted to be in a relationship that meant something. She wanted to love and be loved back.

She hadn't noticed that her gasps had become sobs, but Eric did. "Sookie, what's the matter?" He pulled back from her in shock. He held her face between her hands, searching it for the reason behind her tears. His confusion and concern only proved to strengthen her sobs. He released her as if she had scalded him, rising to his feet he slowly backed away. "I thought you wanted...when you responded I thought you did so willingly. That is the only way I want you, willing. You must know that." There was hurt in his eyes, he needed confirmation that she believed him.

Still fighting the sobs she nodded, unable to speak. She was confusing him and he was always so sure of everything that he was at a loss what to do. God, she thought, I am just making a mess out of everything. Which just made her cry more.

He took a half step toward her then stopped. He put his hands in his pockets, possibly to look less threatening, maybe to keep from touching her. "Do you want me to leave?" He asked softly.

She thought about that for only a second, she was terribly embarrassed at her outburst but she didn't want to chase him away. He deserved an explanation. She shook her head and stood, bracing for the pain in her feet and surprised it was all but gone. She forced herself to form words. "I'm going to go clean up." She took a long stuttering gasp. "Please wait in the living room. I'll be out soon."

She headed for her bathroom and splashed water on her face. Looking in the mirror she winced, she looked awful, her eyes all puffy, her cheeks splotchy. She heard her gran lecturing her again on how she was a Stackhouse woman and Stackhouse women were stronger than that. She took a deep breath to steady herself and left the bathroom. She entered the living room to find Eric pacing on the far side.

"Eric, please sit."

"Sookie, you must believe me..." He began but she held up a hand and gestured for him to sit on the sofa. He looked exasperated but sat on the edge, though he looked like he would leap up at any second.

She rounded the recliner and also sat on the edge. "Eric, I owe you an explanation and I need to get it out, so please don't interrupt." She took a deep breath. "It's not a fear of you that scared me at the thought of staying in Shreveport. I'm afraid of me." She glanced at him and saw the confusion on his face, it looked so unnatural there that she quickly looked back at her hands. "I, my body, want you so badly. Being this close to you," her hands indicated the distance between them, "it takes all of my self-control to not touch you, not throw myself at you." Looking at him again, she saw that he liked this news, his arrogant expression was coming back.

"I don't see a problem with that." He smiled at her and she had to fight to keep from closing the distance.

"No, I know you don't, but I do. Eric, what am I in your life? I need to know where I stand, what this means or I will end up hating myself and maybe you." She took another deep breath. "I know this probably makes no sense to you but Bill was my first and the only other lover I have ever had was you. I thought I knew where I stood with Bill but I was wrong and the pain almost killed me. I knew where I stood with you while you were here, but that's changed. I don't jump from bed to bed. I need to feel something for the man I am with and believe he feels something for me." She finally met his eyes and held them. "Does that make any sense to you?"

He nodded, "It does, I think, you are trying to protect your heart, which is very delicate." He smiled tenderly at her and she melted a little more. "But I don't have an answer for you. I don't know where you fit in my life, though I feel an emptiness when you are not there. I do feel something for you and it surprised even me when I realized it was more than just lust. But it has been a very long time since I even contemplated other feelings for a human that I am not sure what they are."

She nodded, swallowing hard and lowering her eyes to her hands again. "I understand that, I would have been suspicious if you had suddenly professed your undying love for me." She tried not to sound hurt that he didn't. "I'll still help you find Thalia." she added with a weak smile.

"Thank you. I'll make things easy for you, I will arrange it so we are not alone together. Pam will take you wherever you need to go at night. We have an apartment we keep for out of town visitors, it is empty now and at your disposal."

"That sounds nice." The awkwardness had sprung up between them again and she knew it was her fault. "Eric..." she began, but she did not know what to say.

"As for myself, I will be on my best behavior. I will not try to seduce you until I have an answer for you. I want your heart to be as willing as your body." He inclined his head to her in a slight bow and she smiled in appreciation. But when his face came up there was unmistakeable hunger and passion in it and it lit a fire deep within her. "Do not think that I no longer burn for you." He stood and reached into his pocket, pulling out keys and a piece of paper. "Here are the apartment keys and directions. Be there at sunset and Pam will meet you." He put them on the low coffee table, so their hands would not accidentally touch.

"Thank you for understanding Eric." Sookie stood to see him out, but he was already gone.