By the time you pulled into the parking lot at Fangtasia, the lack of sleep was catching up with you. A glance at the time showed you still had almost two hours until sundown. Hopping out of your truck, you made a beeline for the door. You tried the handle just for the hell of it and found it unlocked. You let yourself in and frowned at the blonde that appeared from a back room.

"Who are you? You can't just come in here." The shrill edge to her voice made you wince.

Lovely. "Actually, I can because you left the door unlocked. Stupid."

Her wide eyes stayed glued to you as she hustled past you to flip the lock on the door. "You need to leave."

"Not here to cause any trouble. I just need somewhere to crash until Eric shows up. The couch I saw the other night should do nicely." You stepped toward the room you'd spoken to Pam in. It had all appearances of being Eric's office which meant the sofa would be long and comfortable.

The woman stepped in front of you and gestured toward the door. "Get out or I'm calling the cops."

You laughed. "Eric would skin you if you called the cops to come to his club."

She huffed and stomped a foot. "Fine then. I'll call the vampire cops."

You blinked at her. "Jesus, lady. How many times have you been glamoured exactly?"

"What?"

You gripped her arms and moved her to the side. "I am going to go sleep in Eric's office. When he gets here you can tell him I overpowered you. Keep it down until then, would you? I'm exhausted."

***

You heard Eric before you saw him. You'd been dozing on and off with an arm draped across your eyes.

"There's some girl in your office. She wouldn't leave," the blonde you'd encountered earlier said loudly, probably the moment he walked in the door.

"And why did you not make her leave?" Eric sounded bored and you had the feeling he'd had similar conversations with the woman before.

"She overpowered me."

Footsteps approached the door and you stayed just as you were. Maybe everyone would leave you be and you could get a little more sleep. Unlikely but possible.

The door opened and you felt Eric's gaze run over you like a physical thing. "I'll take care of it, Ginger. Just make sure we're ready to open."

He stepped in and shut the door being surprisingly quiet. Especially since he could tell you were awake by your breathing and heartrate. There was no way you were getting more sleep with him in the room. Not until you were certain he wouldn't use the opportunity for retaliation at any rate. "You know, if you glamour that girl any more she's going to start drooling." You stayed as you were, unwilling to move just yet.

Eric huffed a laugh. "She's a very loyal employee."

"Mmhmm. Whatever you say, Eric."

There was a beat of silence. "I didn't expect you to be here."

"You told me to be." Anyone else you would have ignored and forgotten about considering everything that happened, but not Eric.

"That was before I received your phone call last night. And since when do you do as I ask?" There was a teasing tone in his voice and your heart beat faster.

This was your Eric. The Eric that you'd fallen in love with and that had fallen in love with you. "Why aren't you being an asshole?" Your voice sounded more timid than you would have liked but there was nothing to be done for it now.

"I spoke with Godric."

You lifted your arm to glance at him then put it back. Too much light. "I take it he confirmed what I told you."

"Of course. I am still bothered you kept the truth from me, but I am willing to set that aside."

You took that as your cue to sit up. If you were going to have this conversation with Eric, you wanted to do it while you looked him in the eye. You raked your hands through your hair though you doubted that you had mussed it much during your short nap. "How generous of you to be willing to set aside the fact I didn't do anything wrong in the first place. Why are you always so..." You gestured at him. "You?" You supposed there were better ways to interact with the vampire but he always seemed to say exactly the wrong thing where you were concerned. If you weren't so certain it frustrated him just as much as it did you, you would accuse him of doing it on purpose.

Instead of responding to your question, he went very still and his features grew tight. He was furious and you had no idea what you had done to warrant that look. Surely your smart mouth hadn't irritated him that much. He reached out and grasped your chin to turn your head to the side. He traced his fingers over the left side of your face, his touch surprisingly gentle. "What happened?"

You frowned. "What?"

"You're bruised. When I spoke with you last night you told me that you were fine. So, when did this happen and who did it?"

You jerked your hand up and covered your cheek where Jason had hit you. You'd grown accustomed to the dull throb and had mostly forgotten about it. Damn it. At least it wasn't you Eric was angry with for a change. "It's not a big deal. Emotions were running high and things got a little out of control is all. I handled it."

"All of that is very interesting but not what I asked. Who. Did. It?" His voice was no louder but his tone was sharper. He moved to sit beside you on the couch so he no longer towered over you.

You sighed as you turned to face him fully. "And what are you going to do if I tell you, Northman?"

"I simply wish to have a discussion with him about touching that which doesn't belong to him," he said as if he was always perfectly reasonable and level headed and you shouldn't have presumed he would be otherwise.

"Pretty sure he got the message when I bounced him off the side of his truck."

The corner of his lips kicked up. "You always were rather capable. It was one of the many things I always admired about you." He shifted his body to sit properly and draped his arms along the back of the couch. "So, what happened last night?"

You sighed and slumped in your seat suddenly feeling exhausted. "Sookie's grandmother was murdered. It looks like it was the same person killing everyone else in town, which is good I guess because Bon Temps is too small to support two serial killers." You ran a hand down your face. "It was brutal, Eric. She was a good soul. She deserved better."

He hummed and you weren't certain if it was just an acknowledgement or if it was an attempt at comfort. "What do you know about this killer?"

You shrugged. "Not much. He seems to be targeting fang bangers. Local cops want to blame Bill just because he's a vampire. So they're about as competent as you'd imagine."

"What about the person that hit you? They obviously have control issues."

You closed your eyes and shook your head. "I'm not going to slip up and accidentally say his name, Eric. Nice try though."

He lifted a brow and gave a small tilt to his head as if to say he tried. Before he could say anything, the door opened drawing your attention. Pam stepped inside and gave a slow, sultry smile when she caught sight of you. "Well, hello there."

Eric sighed. "Pam. What do you need?"

"Longshadow says there's an issue with the liquor distributor. You need to deal with it."

"And you cannot?"

She shrugged one shoulder.

"Very well," Eric said as he stood. "Y/N, I will return shortly."

You got to your feet as well. "Actually, do you have somewhere I can change? My clothes are in the truck." You'd neglected to bring them inside mainly because you weren't certain you'd be sticking around. But you weren't about to pass up the opportunity to spend time with this Eric. You'd missed him.

He grinned. "It would be my pleasure to have you naked in my office. Feel free to change here."

Pam rolled her eyes. "There's a room down the hall for the dancers. Even has a shower if you're so inclined."

"Thanks, Pam." You patted Eric's shoulder as you passed by him. "Nice try, Northman."

***

By the time you had a conversation with Pam, took a shower, and got yourself ready, Eric was already holding court. You ran your hands over the length of your favorite little black dress making sure everything was in place before stepping out of the office. Your gaze immediately found Eric on his makeshift throne. His attention was on the man beside him as they had a quiet conversation and you took the opportunity to run your eyes over him.

He'd slipped a jacket over his black tank which made him look more professional. Regardless of what he was wearing, he looked every inch the Viking king he should have been. As if he felt your eyes on him, his head turned and his eyes locked on yours. He silenced the man beside him with a wave of his hand and leaned toward you. He didn't even attempt to hide his blatant admiration and as his smile widened, you saw a hint of fang in it.

He beckoned you forward and you wove through the crowd until you stood in front of him. "You summoned me?"

His tongue darted out to lick his lips then ran over his teeth as his gaze flicked over you once more. "You look delicious."

You shook your head though you couldn't help a little smile. That always was his favorite compliment. "Thank you."

He leaned back in his seat. "Join us, Y/N. Stewart here was just telling me about all my failures as a sheriff."

You stepped up on the stage as the other man protested Eric's words. Before you could take the chair to his other side, Eric softly grasped your wrist and tugged you down onto his lap. You immediately moved to stand and his hand settled on your waist, holding you in place. He traced his nose along the column of your throat as he moved his mouth to your ear. "Stay." His lips brushed your skin as he spoke and a shiver ran through you at the intimacy.

It had been a long time since you'd found yourself in this position and as much as you wished to simply enjoy it, there was too much that needed to be said between the two of you. Before you could move, Eric spoke again. "Please."

You relaxed against him and supposed that answer enough. You turned your attention to the other man who was watching the two of you with far too much interest. "Now, what was it you were saying, Stewart was it?"

Eric tightened his hold slightly before turning his attention to the other man as well. "Yes, Stewart. Continue."

"Well, as I was saying, there are matters that really should be addressed. The Authority does not take kindly to lax enforcement in their regions. I'm afraid they will be most disappointed when I file my report." You tilted your head and looked the man over. He wore a cheap suit and straightened his tie nervously as he avoided meeting either of your gazes. "Of course, I could be persuaded to ignore some of the more grievous failings."

"What do you think, Y/N?" Eric asked you. "Should we give Stewart here what he deserves for such an offer?"

You rested your head against his shoulder. "Oh, certainly. You know it's funny that I was just speaking to my father about this area and he happened to mention that the sheriff runs a tight ship. One of the few areas he didn't have to worry about I believe he said. The irony, huh?"

Eric grinned. "Indeed." He looked at Pam and nodded his head once. A moment later two large vampires were on stage grabbing the man.

"Wait!" he protested. "I thought we'd reached an understanding."

"We have." Eric waved his hand and the protesting man was led away by the two thugs that were doing a remarkable job of appearing they were just taking him for a walk.

Eric's fingers pressed into your hip and you lifted your head back to look at him. "We need to have a conversation about this." You gestured between the two of you.

He hummed in agreement as he pushed your head back to rest on his shoulder. Later. You could talk about it later.