A/N: I own nothing that you recognize from True Blood. I'm just playing in their world for fun.

This story takes place towards the end of season one/beginning of season two.

Chapter One

"But I really don't think this is a good idea, Shay."

Johana groaned her friends nickname and ran a hand through her red hair as her friend pulled her along towards the front door of Fangtasia. It was a Friday night, the music was loud and raucous behind the door, and a beautiful blonde woman watched them approach.

"Listen to me, Jo, all you do is sit around and write. I get it, it's your job, but you have got to start having some fun in your life! We are celebrating the publishing of your fifth book tonight and you're going to enjoy yourself if it kills you!" Alecia twirled in front of her, her bouncy blonde curls swirling around her head and a grin on her face.

Johana shook her head slightly but she couldn't suppress a smile herself. Alecia had a certain air about her, and her happiness was infectious. She had a way of making Johana happy even when she was in her darkest space, and it had been that way for the 27 years they'd known one another.

"It just might kill me. You know I don't like to be around crowds. It makes things… harder." Johana half-whispered, pulling Alecia to a stop and turning her around so they were face to face.

Alecia faltered slightly, but shook her head. "You're going to do fine. Look – we're holding hands and you don't want to kill me. You blocked me out, right?"

Jo could feel Alecia's thoughts on the edge of her consciousness, buzzing like an incessant gnat that wanted nothing more than to break through her barrier and invade her sacred space. She caught portions of thoughts – excitement at bringing her friend to this bar, arousal for the woman at the door, and something deeper… fuzzy and repressed… almost fleeting, as if Alecia didn't even know what she was thinking.

Jo rolled her eyes and glanced at the woman at the door, her green eyes locking with the dark blue of the woman. The woman was a vampire, Jo could tell simply by the way her thoughts were perfectly ordered and packed away. Even the youngest of vampires, the most wild and untrained, had a way about ordering their thoughts, with the hunger for blood the most dominant. It was something that was hardwired into them and it would always trump any other thought process they had. Vampires were hard to read but not impossible, particularly if she initiated physical contact.

"I know that you've fucked little miss hot pants over there and if I don't get in your way tonight, you plan to do it again."

Alecia had the decency to blush, but then she sighed exasperatedly. "But is that because you read my mind or because you've known me since we were in the womb?" Alecia returned to pulling Jo towards the door and as they got closer, she greeted the vampire woman.

"Pam. This is a friend of mine."

Is this the friend we've heard about?

The thought drifted towards Jo and she had to fight the urge to glare at her best friend. She had a big mouth when she was drunk and trying to get laid, but most people simply thought she was crazy when she said her best friend could read minds.

"ID, please, friend of Alecia."

Johana pulled her ID out of her back pocket and handed it to the woman, careful to avoid any physical contact. Pam examined the driver's license then handed it back to Jo.

"Welcome to Fangtasia. Enjoy your night."

Alecia giggled and grabbed Jo's arm again, dragging her towards the door and inside the bar. The music, atmosphere, and sheer number of thoughts hit Jo like a freight train. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and focused on building up the barrier around her mind as Alecia guided her through the bodies in the room. They came to a stop and Jo leaned against her friends back, curling her arm around Alecia's waist and opening her eyes as she regained control. They had stopped at the bar, and Alecia was ordering.

"Four shots of tequila, a Cosmo, and a Shirley Temple black, please!"

The bartender nodded at Alecia and set to making their order after she set her debit card down on the bar to open a tab. Alecia patted Jo's hand absentmindedly as she looked around the bar and slowly turned to look at the rest of the room. Jo glanced around, noticing most of the human men watching their intimate stance and she smirked. You weren't truly best friends if people didn't think you were a couple at least once a week. Alecia grounded Jo, though; she had been with Jo through every part of her exploration of her gifts and was as supportive as anyone could have hoped for.

"Ready." The bartender half growled behind them and they turned to see 4 shot glasses and their two drinks sitting on the bar.

Alecia grinned over at Jo. "Come on. 2 shots a piece and maybe you'll finally relax, yeah?"

Jo smiled back at her and they each reached for a shot glass. They clinked them together, knocked them against the bar, then downed them quickly in succession. They both laughed and coughed slightly, putting the shot glasses back on the bar and picking up their respective drinks – the Cosmo for Alecia and Shirley Temple for Jo.

"Come on, let's go dance!"

Jo knew that those words would be next out of Alecia's mouth, but she allowed herself to be drug out on to the dance floor by Alecia. She took a couple of sips of her drink and dropped it on a table they passed by. Jo was starting to feel the alcohol, and she started to relax since her mental barrier seemed to be holding fairly well. There were plenty of gnats buzzing around the exterior edges of her mind, the occasional fully formed thought slipping through, but she was handling it well. And she was damn proud of herself for doing so. She and Alecia danced for a while, enjoying themselves and blocking everything out around them. Alecia grabbed Jo's arm and spun her into her before twirling her back out, and that was when Jo locked eyes with the man sitting on the throne at the front of the room.

Silence.

That was what she heard, or rather, what she didn't hear. It was complete and utter silence. The buzzing, the gnats – they were gone. She couldn't hear anything. Jo dropped Alecia's hand and took a step towards the man – vampire? Jo imagined he was a vampire because of his pristine features and distinct sense of authority. He tilted his head to the side and lifted his hand, motioning with a twitch of his fingers that she should come closer.

"Jo."

She could hear Alecia behind her, but she didn't acknowledge the woman.

"Johana Elizabeth."

Jo swatted behind her, indicating that Alecia should hush, and she walked up to the vampire, stopping directly in front of him.

He was tall, even sitting down. At least 6'4", dressed in boots, dark pants, and a black jacket over his bare chest. His blonde hair was cut short and his grey eyes were scanning her as well. Eric took in her black and white vans, denim jeans, and black tank top, with her long red hair pulled in front of her right shoulder and reaching down towards the bottom of her breast. She was a small person in height, barely 5', but she was rather… plump. She had thick hips and a stomach, and her breasts were a nice size as well.

Johana was still amazed by the fact that as long as she focused on the vampire, she could hear nothing of anyone else's thoughts. And she couldn't hear his. She startled herself, and possibly him, though he didn't show it, by straddling him and placing her hands on either side of his face. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him lift his left hand and dismiss a couple of vampires that had stepped forward at her actions.

"Can I help you?" He asked calmly, staring into her eyes.

"I can't hear you. I can't hear anything." She replied, her eyes searching his face and pressing her hands harder against his cold flesh. "Why can't I hear you?"

"I take it you do not mean that you cannot hear my voice. Is it my mind you cannot hear?" He asked, leaning towards her and setting her off balance. His movement jarred Jo back into reality, and she jerked her hands off his face and backed away, making to climb off his lap, but he put one hand on her lower back and wrapped the other around her thigh. The pressure was gentle, but it stayed her movement. "I am Eric. And you must be Alecia's telepathic friend."

Jo instantly regretted letting go of Eric's face, or maybe she regretted touching him in the first place, either way, regret bloomed in her chest as she felt her mental wall crumble to nothing and the thoughts and emotions of every person in the room flood her head. She whimpered and put her hands to her head, biting her inner cheek to keep from screaming at the sheer overload. She hadn't been this vulnerable since she was a child and was just learning how to block others out; it was like touching Eric had erased every sense of control she had over her powers.

"What did you do to her?" The accusatory tone in Alecia's voice came from directly behind Jo, and she felt her friends hand glide through her hair.

"I did nothing. Your friend is the one who climbed into my lap and touched me, without permission." Eric growled back, and Jo could feel the vibrations of his voice.

"The wall. It's gone." Jo gritted out between clenched teeth, breathing hard as she tried start blocking everything out again. It wasn't working; the bricks on her mental wall kept disappearing every time she tried to add a second one. Through the cacophony of voices in her head, a thought of her own formed, and she decided to follow it through.

She grabbed the hand that was on her thigh, and the only voice inside her head was hers.

"Fuck." She panted the word out, then opened her eyes and looked at Eric. He was staring at her, intrigued, but at this point Jo just wanted to get back to the safety and quiet of her own home. "I have to get out of here."

"So let's go, Jojo." Alecia grabbed Jo's other hand and started to pull her off of Eric, but Jo jerked away from her touch as if she were burned and almost curled into Eric. Everything Alecia was feeling and thinking coursed into Jo like poison, jolting her.

"Don't touch me." Jo said, but it came out as more of a whimper. She didn't know how she was going to make it back to her apartment at this point. The moment she stopped the skin to skin contact with Eric, everything would just come rushing back. She wouldn't make it halfway across the room, let alone the 3 blocks to her apartment.

"Tell me how to help." Alecia's voice was desperate, and hurt, but she tried to hide it.

Jo didn't know what to do. She started to bite her lip, running scenarios through her head, but each one ended up with her curled in a ball in the middle of Fangtasia's floor.

"Perhaps I can assist." Eric's silky voice cut through her thoughts. "But I would require a favor in return, to be redeemed at a later date. And, of course, we do this on my terms."

"Are you fucking with me right now?" Jo scoffed, narrowing her eyes at him. "You're the goddamn reason I'm in this position. I've had control of this most of my life, and then you come along and blow it all to hell."

Eric was nose to nose with Jo before should blink, and when she tried to pull her hand away from his, he gripped it tightly. "You initiated the contact, little human. All of this, you did to yourself." He relaxed back into this throne, but kept his grip on her hand and lower back. "Now, as I said, I can provide assistance to you so that you can leave with as little mental anguish as possible. All I ask is for a favor in return."

Johana glanced over at Alecia and she didn't need to read her mind to know what Alecia was thinking – don't do it. "I can carry you out of here, Jojo." Alecia said desperately.

Jo snorted. "Alecia, you can't even lift my fat ass. And I don't relish the thought of you dragging me out of this bar and 3 blocks my apartment." Jo worried at her bottom lip again before turning her eyes to Eric. "Got any idea of what that favor might be?"

Eric smirked then half shrugged his shoulder. "In my line of work, it's never a bad idea to have a telepath owe you a favor."

Jo sighed, then nodded slightly. "Okay, I agree. Now can you get me out of here?"

In an instant, Jo was standing with Eric beside her, his hand now wrapped around her elbow. She was caught off guard by the action, but she recovered quickly enough. She looked over at Alecia and found Pam standing beside her friend.

"Pam, I shall return once I'm done escorting our new friend home. Keep Alecia occupied, will you?" Both Alecia and Jo started to protest, and Eric squeezed Jo's elbow. "My terms, yes? Your friend stays here, or goes to her own home."

Jo nodded, and forced a smile at Alecia. "Go home and snuggle the Captain, okay? I'll text you later." Jo referenced Alecia's cat to help her feel more at ease, but Alecia didn't look comforted. "I can handle myself."

Eric started walking before Alecia could respond, and Johana hurried to catch up before he began dragging her by her arm. They crossed the room and went out the front door, and Jo was practically jogging to keep up with Eric's long strides.

"Okay, I'm going to need for you to slow the fuck down. I have little legs." She panted slightly as she attempted to keep up. Eric glanced back at her with a look of contempt, but shortened his strides slightly so that she was walking almost beside him.

"Where do you live?"

"Apartments on Main. We take a left up here."

Eric nodded slightly and they continued in silence. Jo took the opportunity to go over the events of the night in her head, slightly enjoying the fact that she didn't have to have her guard up every time someone walked past them. It was refreshing to have blissful silence in her head. Then again, it was unnerving that she could not hear anything from Eric's mind – that had never happened before. She had never met someone who she couldn't hear their thoughts in some capacity. What unnerved her even more was the effect touching him had had on her mental barriers. That was dangerous, clearly. She had to have him escort her home so that she wasn't completely overwhelmed by the people she passed.

They stopped in front of the entrance to her apartment building, and Jo looked up at Eric.

"Thank you, I guess, for doing this. I honestly don't know what happened, or what it is about you that caused it." Jo stepped away from him and pulled her keys out of her pocket, scanning her fob on the security panel so that the door clicked and unlocked. She reached to open the door, but Eric had pulled it open before she could.

"After you." He said, nodding her inside.

Jo didn't move. "Uh, I think I'll be fine from here. If there's anyone in the halls, I should be able to handle it."

Eric stared at her. "That was not the deal."

Jo sighed, shrugged, and continued inside with Eric behind her. She went to the elevator and hit the call button. "I live on the eighth floor." She said as a way of explanation. The rode the elevator in silence, exited, and Jo walked to her apartment door. "This is it. Obligation fulfilled." She lifted her keys to the deadbolt and was going to unlock the door when the keys were snatched out of her hand.

She jerked her head to look at Eric, who had them in his left hand. "Before you enter, and effectively become unreachable, there are the terms of our agreement to discuss."

"Yeah, I owe you a favor. You know where I live now, so you can let me know when you need something." Jo snarked at him, giving him a glare. "Now give me my keys."

Eric smirked slightly, stepping forward and backing Jo in to the door. She craned her neck up to look at him, and he moved his hand from her elbow to her chin. "I do know where you live, but that doesn't give me much comfort knowing that you'll uphold your end of our agreement."

"I give you my word. What else do you want?"

His smirk turned into a cold grin. "I'm so glad you asked. Once you ingest my blood, I'll be able to find you. Anywhere. Those are my terms."

"You want me to drink your blood? Are you insane?" Jo scoffed and tried to wriggle free from him, but Eric gripped her chin so tight it started to hurt.

"You don't really have a choice, Johana."

It was the first time Jo had heard him say her name, and it sent a shiver down her spine. She watched him lift his other hand to his mouth, and his fangs extended. She gasped slightly and watched as he cut his thumb and blood sprouted from the tip. He put his thumb to her mouth and she stared at him.

"Quickly, Johana, before it heals. And before I lose my patience." He pressed his thumb to her lips and she parted them, though she wasn't entirely sure why she acquiesced. Reflex, maybe? "Suck." Jo would have rolled her eyes at the irony of a man putting something in her mouth and telling her to suck, but it didn't seem like the best time. She sucked at his thumb, feeling the liquid slide down her throat. She felt something wash over her. It was exhilarating; almost something she would compare to taking drugs.

Eric pulled his thumb out of her mouth, dragging it down her bottom lip and smirking. "Good girl."

Jo shivered, trying to get ahold of her senses. She had heard of people taking vampire blood because it had certain effects, but she wasn't expecting this. Never mind the fact that she'd just sucked the thumb of a giant, gorgeous vampire who she now owed a favor to.

"Can I have my keys now?" She asked, trying to calm her breathing and her heart rate.

"Of course." Eric pulled the key ring out of his pocked and handed them to her. She turned, unlocked the door, and stepped inside before turning back to tell him goodbye, but he was gone.

"I am so screwed." Jo sighed, closing the door and locking the deadbolt before resting her forehead on the door. "So fucking screwed."

Eric walked slowly back to Fangtasia, not feeling the need to use his inhuman speed at the moment. He was most definitely intrigued by the new telepath he'd just met, and greatly appreciative that her best friend had a big mouth and an attraction to Pam. It was easy to glamour the girl into bringing Johana to Fangtasia so that he could observe her; meeting her and discovering that she could in fact read the minds of vampires was an additional perk. And finding out that she could not read his thoughts was even more interesting, and that he apparently caused some sort of breakdown in her abilities. She was different from Sookie in many ways, from her telepathic abilities to her overall demeanor and appearance.

Still, though, he desired her. Rather, he desired to own her so that he could use her abilities for his gain continually, not just once in return for a favor. And she smelled delectable. The entire time she was in his lap at Fangtasia and while he had her against the door, he had wanted nothing more than to sink his fangs into her neck and drain every drop of blood out of her. She was practically intoxicating. He supposed it was a good thing that Johana was unable to read his mind, as she would likely have locked herself away in her apartment indefinitely if she had heard his thoughts.

Pam met him at the front door. "Well? Did she meet your expectations?"

"Yes, I think she would give Sookie a run for her money. If Alecia is to be believed, which I think she is, Johana's only gift isn't telepathy. And she has trained herself well, if you remove what happened here tonight from the equation." Eric walked to his office, Pam following and shutting the door as Eric settled in his chair behind the desk.

"Yes, what was that? Did you do something to her?"

"I did nothing. She simply initiated physical contact upon realizing she could not read my mind, and I apparently block out everything else as well. After stopping that contact, she was left weakened and vulnerable."

Pam nodded slightly. "And do you intend to make her yours?"

"I do. Now, whether she does so willingly will determine how it occurs. Humans are easy to manipulate and I would prefer to have her willing. If I used fear and intimidation to try and control her, I don't think I would get positive results."

"Well then, looks like you'll have to be your regular charming self."

"Hm, so it would seem."