Veiled Blood: Chapter Three

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Chapter Three

Sookie had been living for countless millennia. She had witnessed the horrors of war, death, famine, pestilence, and more. She had dined with Kings and Queens, and on Kings and Queens. She had seduced some of the most attractive and famous people in history. She had been an observer as well as a participant to the best and worse the world had to offer. She had seen and done it all… Or so she had thought. For all her years, for all she had seen and experienced, no one had ever been able to create butterflies in her stomach the way Eric did just by saying her name. Sookie had loved before, but she had never been in love until The Viking strolled into her life.

Sookie discounted the feelings her mortal self had for Bill; those weren’t real. He had drugged her with his blood. What she felt for him now wasn’t love, it wasn’t even hate. It was apathy. She had come to that realization earlier in the night while she was peeling off Bill’s skin with a silver scalpel dipped in salt. His screams of agony had done nothing for her, they hadn’t tugged at her heart, nor had they brought her any satisfaction. She was entirely over Bill. 

While she may have been over Bill, Sookie knew she would never be over Eric. If he walked away from her tomorrow, she would spend the rest of her existence loving him. She loved and hated the sentiment, yet, at the same time, wouldn’t change it for the world.

Pulling her legs off the edge, Sookie swung around, rose to her feet, and stared at Eric. As she gazed at him, Sookie noticed he looked lighter, like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He looked good, although in her eyes he always did. “Eric,” she replied her tone soft.

This was it, his chance to put everything in plain words. Eric prayed he didn’t fuck it all up; he couldn’t lose her, not now, not after everything they had been through, especially not because of his own foolish actions. Closing the gap between them, Eric grasped Sookie’s hands in his and pulled her away from the edge. He led her over to a small bench on the roof and gently seated her there while dropping to his knees before her. “I need to talk to you, and I need you to listen,” Eric said just letting the words fall freely from his lips. He wouldn’t rehearse what he was going to say, he had to speak from his heart.

Sookie nodded her head, letting Eric know she would listen to whatever he had to say. She was curious about what he wanted to discuss with her, and she knew if she waited she would know soon enough. The former, mortal Sookie would have interrupted him by now, arguing some pointless shit if for no other reason than she was too stubborn to remain silent. Sookie was so ashamed of some the ways in which she had behaved throughout the time she had been mortal. That Sookie didn’t understand the importance of listening to others. There was a reason people were given two ears, and it wasn’t for balance.

“When you told me of my place in your Bloodline I felt elated,” Eric began; preparing to reveal everything he thought and felt. “Knowing that I was connected to you just felt right. It was as if something slid into place and, all of a sudden, everything made sense,” Eric’s eyes never left Sookie’s as he spoke, letting her see the truth of his words. “Still, once the news settled in, misgiving began to creep into my mind. I never doubted I was a part of your Line,” he hastened to add when he saw Sookie arch a brow. He didn’t need her to speak to know what she was thinking. “I did begin to question my place within it. I couldn’t grasp why I was left in the dark when it came to my lineage. I began to doubt my merit, that perhaps I was never told because I wasn’t worthy of being a part of such a revered Bloodline…”

Sookie’s eyes rimmed red and she blinked back tears while she listened to Eric talk. She had no idea he had ever doubted his own worth in such a way. The very idea seemed preposterous to her, Eric should never doubt his worth! He possessed all that defined her Line. Loyalty, respect, strength, intelligence, he had them all in abundance.

“… I felt lied to and betrayed,” Eric continued. Lifting his hand, Eric brushed a tear off Sookie’s cheek. It didn’t matter if she was a mortal or an ancient vampire, Eric hated seeing her cry. “I was filled with anger, and I took that anger out on you, Roman, and even Nora. I was so angry with you because the person I am most angry with is not here. It is Godric with whom I am angry. It was him who kept me in the dark, and never told me about my place within the Bloodline.”

Sookie took a breath as she gazed at her Viking. She could practically see the anger and pain inside of him, and not for the first time she wondered why no one had told him of their connection. While her Bloodline didn’t trade on their name, and everyone connected to it had to earn their place in the Supernatural world, they all knew of their place within it. Once they had proved they were deserving of their station among the line, they were told of the connection. It could take upward of a hundred years to earn the knowledge, but once it was earned, it was never denied. So why had Eric not been told? He had earned his status among them a hundred times over, so why was he kept in the dark? Sookie didn’t have a solid answer.

“I can’t say for certain why Godric never told you,” Sookie replied. “The times I saw him, he always spoke of you fondly. He loved you and was so proud of you. He would tell me stories about you, and I was intrigued. Without ever having met you, I could tell you had a zest for life. I could feel your presence in the line, and more than once I thought about asking Godric to bring you to me, but I never did. I wish I could give you a real answer as to why I never did, but I can’t. I honestly don’t know why I never followed through on my desire to meet you,” Lifting her hand, she laid it gently against Eric’s cheek as she added, “Never for one minute think was it because I thought you were unworthy. With everything I believe in, I know you are worthy of your place in my Line, and it’s not because I love you, it’s because you have earned it. I felt it long before I even met you. You intrigued me long before we ever met…” A frown creased Sookie’s brow as a thought popped into her head.

“What is it, Lover?” Eric asked concerned.

“Of all the vampires in my Line, how was it the one I never met was the first one I met after I became mortal?” Sookie said curiously, putting her thoughts into words. “When did you become Sheriff of Area Five?”

“1986,” Eric replied, feeling a small stab of pain while remembering the way in which he had become the Sheriff in the first place. After meeting and falling in love with Sookie, Eric clearly knew that what he felt for Sylvie wasn’t real love. He had cared about the French woman, was definitely in lust with her, but he realized it wasn’t love. In spite of that, it didn’t mean he hadn’t felt guilty for how she had died. Her blood stained his hands just as much it remained on the hands of the Yakuza who murdered her.

“The year after I was reborn,” Sookie remarked softly. “I was born in Bon Temps, and a year later you arrived in Shreveport. I don’t believe that was a coincidence…” She trailed off as she thought it over. Eric coming to Louisiana just a year after she had been reborn couldn’t have been an accident. Sookie didn’t believe in fate, she refused to believe her life was preordained. Life was what you made it; still she couldn’t help but wonder if she wasn’t supposed to meet Eric until she became mortal.

“I don’t believe in fate,” she continued, voicing her thoughts. “I believe in the freedom of choice. I chose to become mortal because of a threat I could see on the horizon, and that threat remains very real, although it’s yet to fully reveal itself. Then again, I can’t seem to shake the feeling that the reason I never met you before I became mortal, or why you were never told of your place in our Line, is because we were meant to fall in love when neither of us were ourselves.”

Lifting her hand, she cupped Eric’s face and softly brushed her thumb over his cheek before leaning forward and pressing her lips to his in a gentle kiss. The love she felt for him was deeper than anything she had ever felt. She loved him with every fiber of her being. “I love you,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I think we both had to forget everything about ourselves so that love could blossom. I can’t help but feel if we had met before I became mortal the love we feel for one another wouldn’t have progressed the same way…”

“Are you saying you don’t think we would have been together if I had met you five hundred years ago?” Eric asked. He wasn’t sure if he should be insulted that she didn’t think their love for one another would not have been strong enough for them to remain together. “I love you. I love your heart, I love your strength, I love your compassion, I love you!”

“As I love you,” Sookie replied while she took his hands in hers. “You’re the only man I have ever loved… No, sorry, that’s not true,” she corrected, determined to be completely honest with him. “I love my children, and the other males of my Line, but you’re the only man I have ever been in love with. The love I feel for you is different than what I feel for everyone else. I have no doubt I would have fallen in love with you if we had met fifty, a hundred, or even five hundred years ago, but it would have been a different kind of love. I fell in love with Eric Northman, the high-handed, sometimes scary, pain in my ass, Sheriff of Area Five. I had no idea of my connection to you. I didn’t remember that you were my great-grandchild. I didn’t fall in love with you as the Child of Lilith and Head of the Vampire World. I fell in love with you as Sookie Stackhouse, the stubborn telepath. The love I feel for you has no restrictions…”

As he listened to her words, Eric started to understand what she meant when she said it would have been a different kind of love. He fell in love with a Sookie who was free of her obligations and history. She was never Eve to him, or the Child of Lilith. He hadn’t known Eve before he knew Sookie, so he wasn’t influenced by her power or history. As much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, he could say for certain he wouldn’t have been enchanted by the legend that was Eve had they met before she became mortal. If he had known her a hundred years ago, would he have reacted differently once she regained her true visage? Eric saw the way many of the other vampires behaved around her, they respected and were loyal to her, but the love they held for her bordered on reverence. Sookie was a legend in the vampire world and that often clouded the minds of the vampires who knew her, but not him, because…

I fell in love with the mortal Sookie. It’s not the Child of Lilith or vampire I love, but the woman. Eric felt a weight he didn’t even know he was carrying lift off his shoulders at the truth of his thoughts. He realized not meeting Sookie before she was mortal made it easier for him to fall in love with her. Sookie was right when she said they both had to forget all they were so their love could blossom.

Sookie smiled at Eric when she caught the look of understanding flash across his handsome features. Slipping off the bench, she dropped to her knees in front of her beloved Viking and pressed her lips to his in a soft, but passion-filled kiss. Sookie poured every ounce of love she felt for him into the kiss, reinforcing her words with actions.

Eric wrapped his arms around Sookie and pulled her onto his lap as he returned the kiss with the same intensity. Having Sookie in his arms felt right and he couldn’t believe he had been stupid enough to almost lose her. He didn’t care who she was as long as she was His.

Slipping a hand between them, Sookie deftly undid Eric’s jeans and reached into them. She wrapped her hand around his hard cock, pulling him free of the confines of his pants. Her lips never left his as she reached her other hand under her skirt, pulled her panties to the side, and sank down on him, taking his cock deeply into her body. A gasp of pleasure spilled from Sookie’s lips as she finally broke the kiss and rested her forehead against Eric’s.

No words could truly describe the pleasure Eric felt when he was buried deep inside Sookie. It went far beyond pleasure. “Jag älskar dig,” he whispered as he placed his hands on her hips and helped her move with him.

Their eyes never left the others’ while they moved as one, taking and giving pleasure as only they could. There were no hurried movements or loud moans and groans. The two of them made love slowly, reverently, baring their hearts to one another, and worshipping each other with their bodies.

The tension of the past several weeks was washed away in a sea of love and forgiveness as Eric and Sookie reconnected in the most primal of ways on the rooftop of the new Authority Headquarters. It was only the threat of the rising sun that forced the reunited couple to move. Eric carried Sookie through the compound to their room where they died for the day wrapped lovingly around one another.

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