Title: Safe House

Author: Janine

Fandom: True Blood

Pairing: Pam/Tara, canon relationship

Rating: NC-17

Words: 6,333

Summary: Tara and Pam finally get the opportunity to spend some time alone together when the gang holes up at a safe house after breaking out of the Authority headquarters.

Note: This story takes place directly after the events of my story "Lean on Me".

xxx

Tara glanced up from watching her fingers idly toying with Pam's and angled her head to the side so that she could see out of the window of the transport van. She didn't recognize where they were, but it sure as hell wasn't Fangtasia, which is where she had assumed they were going. All she could see outside of the window were trees, and unconsciously Tara's body tensed. She didn't like not knowing where they were. She didn't like not knowing what was happening.

"Hey," Pam said softly as she reached up to touch Tara's face, stroking her cheek lightly. "Everything's fine," she breathed out, offering Tara a reassuring smile when Tara turned away from the window to look at her. "We're at the safe house," Pam explained as she reluctantly left the circle of Tara's arms to sit up properly in her seat.

"Safe house," Tara murmured, glancing back out of the window and frowning. She didn't see anything that looked like a safe house. "I don't see anything that looks like no safe house," she muttered, turning to look at Pam again.

Pam smiled at her and then looked down and began to smooth imaginary wrinkles out of her clothes.

"It's about a couple miles north of here," Pam explained as she tugged at her corset, shifting it back into place. "But the road ends here so we're on foot the rest of the way," she continued, running her hands over her sides one last time, checking that everything was perfectly aligned once again. "Once we get off the van we should be there in a couple of minutes."

Tara looked past Pam to where Jason was standing checking his weapons and packing them away into a duffle bag, and then she turned her head towards Sookie who was stretching out the kinks the long van ride had formed in her back.

"What about Jason and Sookie?" Tara asked.

She wasn't a geographer but she knew enough about the laws of time and space to know that the estimated time of arrival Pam had just given was dependant on vampire speed.

"It'll take them longer," Pam drawled, smirking as she stood and then offered her hand to Tara.

Tara looked at Pam's outstretched hand and then looked away from it, tilting her head up so that she could see Pam's face.

"What?" Pam asked, arching her eyebrow at Tara when her progeny continued to look completely unimpressed with her.

"We can't leave them to wander around the woods," Tara said, and Pam sighed and drew her hand back so that she could place it on her hip.

"And why not?" Pam asked, cocking her hip to the side. "They've got legs haven't they?" she continued archly. "How much trouble could they possibly get up to out here? I mean it's not like we're asking them to go to Walmart on Black Friday."

"They came with us to the Authority," Tara said ignoring Pam's sarcasm. "They helped rescue you," Tara continued, looking even more unimpressed with Pam than she had a minute before, and that was impressive considering how terribly unimpressed she had looked to begin with.

"Sookie went for Bill and the dumber one went to kill things. You'll excuse me if I'm not willing to hand out any Purple Hearts just yet," Pam drawled.

Tara huffed irritably and stood up.

"Will I?" she asked disdainfully, and then without another word she brushed past Pam and started down the aisle toward the front of the van.

Pam blinked in surprise and then shifted her weight onto her right foot and crossed her arms peevishly, watching as Tara stalked off of the van. Her pale eyes held on the spot where Tara had disappeared from view for a moment and then she looked away, sighing a second later when her eyes met Eric's.

"What did you do?" Eric asked in Swedish.

A look of great offense took up residence on Pam's face and she glared at Eric for a few seconds before she uncrossed her arms and stalked off of the bus after Tara – pointedly refusing to look at her maker as she brushed by him on her way out.

Eric simply smirked at Pam's back as walked off the van. Sometimes she just made it too easy.

xxx

Nora and Eric were the last off of the van, and the moment Nora stepped out into the night air, there was a blur and she was gone.

Jessica blinked in surprise and stared off in the direction Nora had disappeared in looking confused.

"We're … we're not just gonna leave Jason and Sookie to walk alone are we?" she asked looking between the three vampires that remained in the clearing.

"I'd be more than happy to give Sookie a lift," Eric said, tipping his head towards Sookie in a gentlemanly fashion.

"I'd rather walk," Sookie said eying him distastefully for a moment before looking away. "How far away is this place anyway?" she asked, looking into the woods the way Nora had gone.

"A couple of miles," Eric replied. "You sure you don't want a lift? I provide a very smooth ride."

Sookie looked over at him and made a face.

"It's hardly the first time I've been alone in the woods at night," she said, and off to the side Pam made a derisive sound in her throat and rolled her eyes.

"Me too," Jason piped up, flinging his duffle bag over his shoulder before he cocked one of his guns. "Been in the woods plenty at night and seeing as I'm one of the only people around here still breathin', I reckon we'll be just fine," he said holding his free hand out to Sookie. "Come on, Sook. I got ya."

"I'm walking too," Tara said decisively, keeping her eyes trained in Sookie's direction even though she could feel Pam's eyes on her, and it called to her, making her want to turn around and face the blonde. "Been cooped up for a while," she continued, "Wouldn't mind a chance to stretch my legs. Ya'll mind some company?" Tara asked looking over at Sookie.

"Not at all," Sookie said smiling tentatively.

She would have thought that Tara would have taken the first opportunity to get away from her and she was pleased to find out that she was wrong. She knew that things still weren't great between herself and Tara, but she hoped that things would get better. This gave her hope that things would get better.

"Actually," Jason started, but Sookie reached out and whacked him in the arm.

"We'd be delighted," Sookie said, shooting Jason a sharp look before she smiled back over at Tara.

"Can I walk too?" Jessica asked hesitantly, careful to keep her eyes focused on Sookie.

Being around Jason broke her heart, but she wasn't thrilled with the idea of being alone with Eric, Nora and Pam at the safe house for an hour until the others showed up. Tara and Sookie were the only ones who talked to her voluntarily and she preferred to stick with them, even if it meant being around Jason and his cold shoulder.

"Of course," Sookie said gently, and she held out her hand to Jessica, encouraging her to come over to her.

As Jessica and Tara walked over to where Sookie and Jason were standing, Eric moved over to stand beside Pam and then bent down slightly to whisper in her ear.

"Are you walking too?" he inquired, and there was a hint of playfulness in his voice that made Pam straighten her back and cross her arms defensively.

"I don't think so," she muttered derisively.

"You will if you want to touch her boobs tonight," Eric murmured into a Pam's ear, and when she turned to look at him, she saw that he was smiling, and her eyes narrowed. "You do want to touch them don't you? You were wearing her lips on your face for hours."

"Screw you," Pam muttered, glowering at him for a moment before she cut her eyes away.

"I fear I'd be a pale imitation of what your heart truly desires," Eric whispered and Pam sighed deeply. "Don't be so stubborn Pamela," he told her a second later, his voice serious now. "Walk. She'll be appreciative … and the bed in your room is large enough to explore every manifestation that appreciativeness could take."

Pam bit down on her bottom lip and turned to look at Tara contemplatively. The truth was that it was bugging the hell out of her that Tara was mad at her. She was the maker, Tara was her progeny, Tara should have been the one worrying about Pam being mad at her, but Tara never did anything the way she was supposed to. It frustrated Pam beyond belief … and made her want to smile.

"I have known you for many years, and I have known you to be many things, but a fool has never been one of them," Eric said, following Pam's gaze over to Tara. "She is fierce and loyal and she cares for you deeply. I've always trusted your council. Be wise and judicious now," Eric finished softly, holding Pam's eyes meaningfully for a moment before he too zoomed off into the trees.

Pam stared at the spot where she had lost sight of him for a few seconds, already missing his calming presence, and then she turned towards where the other were gathered and walked over to them.

"Well," Pam drawled when she reached them. "What are ya'll waiting for? A written invitation? It's that way," she said pointing. "Get movin'."

Jason took the lead, followed by Sookie and then Jessica.

"Did Eric tell you to stay?" Tara asked, hanging back so that she and Pam had some privacy.

"I decided to stay," Pam replied firmly, holding Tara's eyes.

"Why?" Tara asked, watching Pam keenly.

Pam sighed despondently. There were a dozen jokes and inappropriate comments she could have made in response to that question, but she knew that using one of them would only make Tara even more pissed off, and knowing that she couldn't find the desire to actually do it – even though it would have been hilarious.

"Because you're walking," Pam breathed out, feeling like a failure for having to resort to using the truth. "I'm not leaving you out here with nothing but Jessica, Sookie, and her box-dropping brother as protection."

"I can take care of myself," Tara replied, even though her heart warmed a little upon hearing Pam's response.

"I don't want you to have to," Pam said softly, reaching out to brush Tara's fingers with her own. "I told you before. It's you and me," she breathed out, and when her fingers brushed against Tara's again, Tara grasped them and just held them for a moment before she slipped her fingers between Pam's, linking their fingers.

"This isn't exactly a life or death situation," Tara murmured, looking up at Pam.

"Non-life and death situations are usually when it's hardest to keep your word," Pam replied, keeping her eyes focused on Tara. "I want to walk with you," she said earnestly.

"Okay," Tara said simply, but as she spoke a sweet and telling smile touched her lips, and Pam smiled back at her before she used their joined hands to begin leading Tara toward the safe house.

xxx

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Jason exclaimed when they reached a decrepit old house in the woods. "We'd be better off sleeping in a cave!" he said waving his gun at the sad looking structure. "That house ain't safe! The roof's all caved in and shit. Ya'll are gonna fry in there come sunrise," he declared looking at Pam, Tara and then Jessica.

"It amazes me you survived to adulthood," Pam said dryly, staring at Jason hard for a moment before she shook her head. "The safe house is under that piece of shit hillbilly mansion."

"Under," Jason breathed out thoughtfully. "Well that makes sense," he declared nodding. "Ya'll got electricity down there?"

"No," Pam said dryly turning to look at him. "It's like a vampire burrow," she continued smiling. "We use our hands to carve out little tunnels that we sleep in during day and then we crawl out at night like giant, fabulously dressed badgers."

"And after five consecutive hours in your presence, I've finally reached my sarcasm saturation limit," Sookie declared, looking over at Pam before she clapped her hands together and turned toward the house. "They have electricity Jason," she said turning towards her brother. "I've seen their underground lairs before. They probably have ESPN."

"I ain't watching no fanger TV, Sook," Jason said shaking his head.

"You do realize that we don't actually … you know what? Nevermind," Pam said flinging her hands up in the air hopelessly. "You coming?" she asked turning to face Tara.

"Yeah," Tara murmured, coming up behind Pam and placing her hand on the small of Pam's back.

She'd had about enough of Jason and his vampire hate boner for one night as well.

"Come on," she said softly to Pam, and then together they began to walk towards the house.

xxx

Pam breezed into the bedroom when the doors slid open and immediately headed towards the other side of the room, but Tara entered more slowly, looking around as she walked, trying to take in everything around her.

The room seemed very Victorian to Tara from what she knew of the era from Hollywood adaptations of Jane Austen novels. The decoration and colour scheme gave the room a luxurious and romantic feeling. It had a rich colour palette of teal, jade, purple and red, and the abundance of fabrics in the room had the effect of making the space feel warm and inviting where the rest of the underground building had a cold, clinical feel to it.

There were dark wood upholstered chairs set around a table, a lavish Persian rug covered a portion of the floor, and there was a lovely mahogany framed settee in front of the faux fireplace, but the dominant piece of furniture was the large, opulent four-poster carved wood bed.

The room was, in a word, magnificent.

"Do you spend much time here?" Tara asked, her brows creasing together a bit in confusion as she continued to scan the room.

It seemed like an elaborate and expensive set up for a safe house, especially since as far as Tara had been able to determine, Pam's room at Fangtasia was her pink coffin in the basement.

"No," Pam replied, the corner of her lip curving up slightly as she turned to look at Tara. "Vampires accumulate a lot of belongings over the years," she said as she removed her earrings. "Most of it goes … with time, but some things are too lovely to part with," she continued, smiling at Tara before she sat down on one of those lovely chairs and began to unzip her boots. "A lot of what's in here was in storage for decades, but once we set up the safe house it seemed like a much better place to store things."

As Pam worked on tugging off her other boot, Tara sat gingerly on the foot of the bed and looked down, idly running her fingers over a beautifully embroidered throw that was resting there.

"I owned that when I was human," Pam said, taking note of Tara's interest in the fabric.

It was one of the few possessions she had retained from her old life.

"It's beautiful," Tara breathed out, running her thumb over the fabric as she held it between her fingers.

"It's not the only thing," Pam responded and when Tara looked over at her and saw the gentle, yet unmistakably desirous look in her eyes, she forgot all about the throw and it slipped from her fingers and fell back onto the bed.

Pam stood and walked over to the bed, then held out her hand to Tara who grasped it and allowed Pam to help her to her feet. With Pam no longer in her heeled boots and Tara still in hers, they were the same height and Tara smiled as she looked straight into Pam's eyes.

Pam reached out and touched her fingers to Tara's cheek. Tara's eyes closed and a content sigh fell from her lips as she tilted her head into Pam's hand. She remained still for a moment, enjoying the feel of Pam's thumb brushing against her skin, but soon the gentle touch wasn't enough and Tara opened her eyes and reached out, placing hand on Pam's hip so that she could tug the blonde towards her.

Then she leaned in and captured Pam's lips.

Alone now and sure of Pam's desire for her, Tara let her hands begin to trail over Pam's body as they kissed, running them over her shapely hips, before sliding them behind so that she could grasp the firm, round globes of Pam's ass.

Pam moaned into Tara's mouth when Tara squeezed the flesh in her hands, and the sound cut straight through Tara, settling between her legs and making her throb.

She manhandled Pam's ass again, kneading the flesh and Pam groaned, making the sparks of desire inside of Tara flame.

Tara flexed her arms, and without even really being conscious of what she was doing, she lifted Pam into the air and automatically Pam's legs wrapped around her waist. With Pam held aloft in her arms, Tara's face was level with Pam's chest and her dark eyes feasted on the sight of Pam's creamy breasts for a moment before Tara dipped her head forward and buried her face in Pam's tits, moaning happily as she did.

Pam released a puff of gentle laughter as Tara nuzzled her bosom and then let her fingers play in Tara's dark hair, removing the tie that had been keeping it in a ponytail so that she could run her fingers through the inky tresses.

"I want you," Tara said roughly a minute later, lifting her face from Pam's breasts to speak.

"I could tell," Pam drawled smiling down at Tara gently. "Take me," she breathed out a moment later and Tara's fangs popped into sight.

Within a matter of seconds Tara had moved them over to the bed and stripped both herself and Pam down to nothing. With the barrier of clothes removed, cool flesh was finally able to press against cool flesh, and Tara sighed softly, content now that she was touching Pam's nude body. Pam had had the opportunity seen her stripped down to nearly nothing when she was working the pole at Fangtasia, but Pam's body was a beautiful and mysterious land that Tara couldn't wait to explore.

Straddling Pam's waist, Tara reached out and fanned her hands over Pam's abdomen, luxuriating in the feel of her skin, in the softness of it, and the fact that she was finally seeing it, finally touching. She traced her fingers slowly up Pam's sides, enjoying the small shivers that rolled through Pam's body, and then she reached the glorious breasts she had buried her face in earlier and took them in her hands.

Pam breathed in sharply at the contact and her eyelashes fluttered as pleasure coursed through her.

"Kiss me," she breathed out and Tara immediately leaned down, more than happy to concede to Pam's request.

Pam's eyes closed when Tara's tongue slipped into her mouth, and she moaned softly as Tara's hand continued to play with her tits, squeezing and kneading the pale flesh, her thumbs fanning out and brushing over stiff pink nipples, occasionally switching to pinching and tugging at them before reverting back to a more soothing touch.

Pam's hips started to shift, wiggling on the mattress and occasionally bucking up, seeking touch to relieve the incredible pressure building between her legs.

Tara's kisses were so sweet, so passionate yet tender, and her hands felt heavenly, but Pam needed more. It had been too long since she'd been like this with someone, and she wanted Tara too badly to go slowly. They could take their time and explore later, but presently she needed Tara between her legs.

"Tara," Pam gasped, wrenching her lips away from the other woman's. "Tara," she repeated breathily, and as she spoke her hips bucked, conveying her need.

Keeping her eyes trained on Pam's, Tara slid her right hand from Pam's breast and trailed it down her body until she was able to stroke her fingers between Pam's legs.

"Oh fuck," Tara moaned, eyelashes fluttering as a sharp spike of arousal pounded through her upon feeling Pam's sex for the first time and finding it wet, so very wet and swollen for her. "Jesus," Tara choked out, and then she was leaning down again, kissing Pam hard as her fingers slipped inside of the blonde and began to pump.

Pam touched what she could reach of Tara as they kissed and Tara's fingers moved inside of her. She ran her hands over Tara's arms and thighs and back, needing to touch Tara, needing to be in as much contact as possible with her even though Tara was already inside of her, and oh god did Tara feel good inside of her.

"Don't stop!" Pam gasped when Tara's fingers slid completely out of her.

"Nothing's going to stop me," Tara husked in response, and then damp fingers were running over Pam's hips and Tara was straddling Pam's leg, pressing her powerful thigh against Pam's sex as she aligned herself against Pam to provide friction to satisfy her own needs.

They both groaned when Tara thrust her hips experimentally, checking her positioning and maneuverability, and Tara knew that she had aligned them well.

Bracing her hands on the mattress, Tara then leaned down and brought their lips together, kissing Pam ardently as she began to roll her hips.

Pam's hand slid up Tara's stomach to cup her breasts as they kissed and Tara rocked against her, and Pam squeezed her breasts and teased her dark nipples making Tara groan into her mouth.

"Come on," Pam breathed out minutes later, desperate now as her hands slid down Tara's sides and then slipped behind to grope at her ass. "Faster," she panted, smacking Tara's ass.

Tara moaned deeply and bit at Pam's lip in response to her words and then she quickened her movements, thrusting against Pam with more force and speed.

Pam's nails racked down her back and Tara gasped. Her eyes squeezed shut in pleasure and she fucked even faster, moving with a speed and force that would have been impossible for a human.

"Oh god," Tara moaned. Her eyes opened and she found herself staring down into Pam's smoky eyes. "Oh god," she gasped again, turned on beyond belief that Pam watching her as she careened toward orgasm. "I …" Tara managed to choke out, and then her eyes squeezed shut again and she began to buck against Pam erratically as orgasm crashed over her.

Pam was close when Tara began to come, and as Tara convulsed against her, Pam took hold of Tara's hips and rolled them over, taking over where Tara had left off, grinding against her until Tara was convulsing in a second orgasm and was crying out as her own orgasm hit.

Bright light exploded behind Pam's eyes as pleasure washed over her and she hugged Tara to her, burying her face in the sweet nook between Tara's neck and shoulder, keeping Tara pressed against her as she rode out her orgasm.

xxx

"Is it always like this?" Tara asked softly as she trailed her finger lazily over Pam's delicately muscled abdomen.

"What? Sex with a vampire? Or sex with me?" Pam asked smirking.

"Both, I guess," Tara murmured, pressing her lips above Pam's heart.

"We don't need to breath and we don't tire," Pam said softly, smiling as Tara began to press soft, butterfly kisses against her skin. "So in that way, yes, with a vampire it can always be endlessly vigorous," she breathed out thoughtfully, finding Tara's fingers where they were playing against her ribcage and slipping their fingers together. "It's …" Pam began, but she hesitated before continuing and her body tensed slightly.

"What is it?" Tara asked gently, her concern clear in her voice as she lifted her head to look at Pam.

"Nothing," Pam breathed out, "It's nothing," she said, but there was a faraway look in her eyes and her brows were crinkled slightly, making it clear to Tara that there was most definitely something on Pam's mind.

"It's not nothing," Tara said softly, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," she continued gently, "but I want you to know that you can," she breathed out before pressing her lips to Pam's shoulder again. "I want to listen."

Pam was silent in the wake of Tara's words, so Tara lay her head down on Pam's chest and just lay with her, giving Pam time to think and process whatever it was she was struggling with.

Pam stared up at the ceiling pensively as she ran her fingers idly up and down Tara's back. Tara's question was making her think about things, was making her think about her feelings and that always made Pam uneasy. Feelings reminded her of being human, thinking about her human life made her feel weak, and if there was one thing Pam hated more than children, it was feeling weak.

However, as she lay there, brushing her fingers over Tara's skin because touching Tara made her feel calm and contented; Pam realized that this thing with Tara was affecting her differently. When she looked at Tara and felt a pang in her chest, it didn't make her feel weak, it made her feel strong. As fucked up as everything that had happened at the Authority was, when she had looked to the side and seen Tara beside her, it had roused her and made her feel like she could kill any motherfucking thing that dared show its face. She worried about Tara, she fretted over her, but it wasn't a paralyzing sort of fear, it was galvanizing.

The feelings Tara inspired in her reminded her of being human, as all intense feelings did, but it reminded Pam of the best parts of being human. It reminded her of sitting around a fire with her girlfriends, drinking and laughing, planning what they would do and where they would go when a handsome millionaire spotted them and swept them away to a life of idle luxury. Tara reminded Pam of hope and possibility and the belief she had once had in the goodness of others.

Tara made her feel warm and cared for, and Pam wanted it. Even if it was a sort of weakness, Pam wanted it.

"It's not usually so intense," Pam said finally, breaking the silence that had fallen over the room. "Not for me," she continued softly, remembering encounters she had had over the decades since she'd been turned.

Sex as a vampire had always been pleasurable, but she had never clutched at her lovers as she came, needing to feel them against every inch of her. She had never found herself blinking back tears or laying soft kisses over every blessed inch of her lover's skin that she could reach like she had with Tara over the past few hours. The only sex she'd had as a vampire that she could have described as making love was with Eric, but that too had been different from what she'd just experienced with Tara. She and Eric had been passionate lovers, fucking in carriages and alleyways and bathrooms at the opera, but Eric had never looked into her eyes like she was his entire world. He loved her, Pam knew that, but he had never needed her in the same way she had needed him.

Tara was different. Tara burned with need for her. Tara fucked like her life depended on making Pam come, and when she did, Tara held her like she was the most precious thing in the world; like she was something to be cherished.

Being intimate with Tara was something new for Pam, it was something exhilarating and terrifying in its intensity, but Pam wanted it with every fibre of her being. She hadn't known she wanted it before, but now that she had tasted it, now that she had Tara in her arms, it was everything.

"That intensity," Pam continued softly. "That was you," she said, her voice barely louder than a whisper. "That was you and me. That was us," she whispered, and before she could so much as blink, Tara's lips were pressing against hers again, kissing her with that deep, smouldering need that made Pam feel like she was coming undone.

"I need to have you again," Tara rasped when she pulled back from Pam's lips, sounding a bit surprised that after hours of constant love-making she could still need Pam so much.

"I think that maybe you need me to have you," Pam husked flipping them over so that she was lording over Tara.

Tara breathed in deeply and licked her lips, clearly liking that idea, and Pam smiled at her and then dipped her head down to kiss Tara slowly and deeply until the younger woman was helplessly arching up into Pam's body and moaning into her mouth.

Pam pulled away then and shifted down. She kissed her way down Tara's chest, pausing at her breasts to take a dark nipple into her mouth and then treated the other one to the same kindness before she continued kissing her way down Tara's body until she was between Tara's legs. Using her hands she then forced Tara's powerfully muscled thighs further apart. Pam pressed her lips to the smooth skin on the inside of Tara's thigh, drawing a soft sigh from Tara, and then Pam tilted her head up and they both moaned as she finally took Tara into her mouth.

xxx

"Did you get any sleep?" Eric asked, without looking away from the wall of monitors he had been staring at when Pam walked into the study where the rest of the safe houses occupants had already gathered.

"Not much," Pam replied smugly, and still looking at the monitors, Eric smirked.

"Oh my god," Jessica whispered excitedly, smiling widely as Tara took a seat beside her. "Did you and Pam…" she began, leaning over to whisper in Tara's ear.

"Of course," Tara muttered irritably, glaring at her. "What did you think we were gonna to do? Braid each other's hair and listen to One Direction?" she asked peevishly, but her lips had curved up unconsciously as she spoke, the mere thought about Pam making her smile, and Jessica's smile widened in understanding.

"Was it good?" Jessica whispered. "It was good wasn't it? Look at you smiling," she said gleefully as Tara's face continued to betray her. "I bet it was good …"

"It was. She'll never be the same again," Pam drawled looking down at Jessica from her standing position and Jessica looked up at her in surprise which made Pam roll her eyes. "You do know that we can hear you, right? We are vampires," Pam said, and Jessica blinked up at her as if the thought of being overheard hadn't occurred to her because she was whispering.

"Oh, I …" Jessica began nervously, and if she had still been human she would have started to blush. "Congratulations?" she offered hopefully.

"Move," was all Pam said in response as she cocked her thumb to the side, and immediately Jessica scrambled up and moved over to a spare seat by the desk so that Pam could take a seat next to Tara who looked proceeded to look over at her and smile with shy delight.

"So cute," Eric cooed and Pam turned to narrow her eyes at him. "However," Eric continued, ignoring his progeny's glowering, "I suggest that we now turn our attention to the rather troubling uh, Billith situation. Nora?" he said, turning to look at his sister. "There's a PowerPoint presentation," he added a moment later, addressing the rest of the room.

"Of course there is," Sookie sighed shifting in her chair to get comfortable since it seemed like they would be there for a while.

"Feel free to wander out into the world ignorant, vulnerable and full of intoxicating fairy blood. I'm sure once Bill sniffs you out he'll be more than willing to listen to reason," Eric replied without looking over at her and Pam chuckled softly but then stopped when Tara glared at her.

"Alright," Nora began, drawing everyone's attention over to her. "The first thing that needs to be said is that what you are about to presented with is mostly speculation. The vampire bible gives us information on Lilith's power, but as no one has consumed a large quantity of her blood before Chancellor Compton, we can only hypothesize what effect it will have on him based on historical accounts of Lilith's abilities. To begin with …"

As Nora lectured, occasionally changing slides to provide them with definitions and visuals, Tara's hand crept to the side until her fingers were brushing against Pam's, and though her attention didn't waver from the wall of monitors, Pam grasped Tara's hand and held it.

"This is bad, isn't it?" Tara whispered as Nora's presentation went on.

Tara had seen a copy of the vampire bible before. That dipshit Elijah had brought one with him to Fangtasia and left it for her and Pam to 'educate themselves'. Pam had chucked it into the garbage can the moment his back was turned, but Tara had seen it long enough to know that the thing was huge. Nora was being forced to condense a lot of information, and it made it hard to follow her when she made intuitive leaps assuming that her audience had basic knowledge of the text. Still, Tara was following enough to know that Lilith had been fucking terrifying and that if Bill retained even a portion of her purported power he'd make Russell Edgington seem like a harmless little girl.

"It's not good," Pam whispered back, her lips forming a thin line as she stared forward.

Tara tensed upon hearing her words, and feeling it, Pam squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"You and me," Pam whispered, brushing her thumb over the back of Tara's hand. "I promise you, it's gonna take a lot more than an over-zealous, power hungry, self-important little prick like Bill Compton to tear you away from me. I don't care what kind of fucked up shit he's on. I will eat his face off before I let him touch you."

Tara looked up from their joined hands to meet Pam's eyes and smiled.

"Eat his face off," Tara whispered, still smiling.

"Eat his face off, rip his dick off, fuck him roughly with a chainsaw. I don't care as long as it hurts. A lot," Pam whispered fiercely.

"Why does it make me want to kiss you when you say things like that?" Tara asked sounding a bit bewildered but looking at Pam like the moon rose and set with her nonetheless.

"Because I'm a hot piece of ass and you like my dirty mouth," Pam purred and it took all of Tara's concentration to stop herself from popping fang as Pam's words and tone hit her between the legs and made her wish they were back in Pam's bedroom.

Pam's eyes twinkled knowingly, understanding exactly what effect she was having on Tara, and Tara narrowed her eyes at her, which just made the blonde smile.

"You know I'd kill for you too," Tara breathed out a moment later when Pam's expression softened.

"I know," Pam said with certainty. "You have. So brave," she whispered tenderly, smiling at Tara fondly, "So stupid, but so brave."

"You need a little stupid but brave in your life," Tara shot back, glaring at Pam though she wasn't really offended by Pam's words.

Killing Elijah had been hasty and it had gotten them into trouble just like Pam had predicted it would, but Tara's heart had been in the right place when she'd done it. She'd done it to protect Pam and their home. Pam knew that, and stupid as it may have been, she knew that in a way Pam had been touched by it.

"I don't disagree," Pam replied as she played lightly with Tara's fingers.

Tara lips curved up slightly and she shook her head.

"You sure know how to sweet-talk a girl," Tara whispered, knowing that in Pam language what the blonde had just said was practically romantic.

"If my words are so disappointing, I'm sure you can find another use for my mouth," Pam drawled softly. "Oh, wait," she exclaimed as if just remembering something, and Tara couldn't help but smile.

"I knew there was a reason to keep you around," Tara murmured, biting down on her bottom lip as she remembered the wonders Pam had performed with her mouth in the early hours of the morning.

"I also open jars," Pam said and Tara smiled. "Have I successfully distracted you from your terror?" Pam asked a moment later.

"You had until you asked that question," Tara replied, but her voice and posture were relaxed, and it was clear to Pam that she had actually managed to soothe Tara's worries, at least for the moment, at least until Bill started ripping out spines and making necklaces out of baby ears.

"You and me," Pam said, squeezing Tara's hand as she repeated her earlier words.

"You and me," Tara breathed out looking into Pam's eyes, and despite the fact that nothing about the fucked up situation they found themselves in had changed, with Pam beside her Tara couldn't help but feel as if everything actually would be okay.

The End