Chapter 6 – Cause and Effect

EPOV

As I slowly came to, my first thought was how rested I felt. But that didn’t stay at the forefront for very long thanks to a couple of other things I was feeling. Namely the unmistakable feel of a bare breast cupped in my hand and the pulsing of my already wide awake cock against what was pressed in front of me. My mind went blank for a moment over the sheer fact I didn’t sleep with anyone.

I’d had sex with plenty, but sleep never entered the equation.

Just like they never entered my room.

But it was more so her scent than the mass of blond hair my slowly opened eyes could see that told me who was in my bed. And since I had a handful of one of her better assets and my dick trying to make himself at home in one of her other ones, I wasn’t sure what I should do.

I knew what I wanted to do, but that was likely at the opposite end of the spectrum of what I should do.

Figuring I should at least start out by seeing if she was awake, I softly whispered, “Sookie?”

She shifted ever so slightly, signaling she was awake, and whispered back, “Justin?”

“Justin?” I snarled, unintentionally squeezing what was in my hand, causing her to gasp and – I assumed – unintentionally arch her back so her ass was thisclose to becoming my cock’s new favorite private getaway.

“Mmhmm,” she half-sighed/half-moaned. Hearing and feeling her reaction, my anger at her calling me another name was quickly channeling itself into other avenues. Ones that all ended with me in her channel.

My fingertip took it upon itself to trace over her pert nipple before she placed her hand over my own to hold it still as she said, “Feels like you’re either trying to bring sexy back or you’re attempting to put your dick in my box. To quote my douchebag boss, take your pick, Timberlake.”

“Thicke,” I murmured, burrowing my face further into her neck and intentionally moving my hips against her own, so she could feel just how thick she made me, but feeling more in sync with Robin Thicke at the moment.

The lines were as blurred as they ever were.

“Oh,” she snickered. “Are we playing name that adjective? Because I’d go with bigheaded. In more ways than one, so I should get double the points.”

She didn’t do anything to stop me, but she didn’t do anything to lead me to believe her vision was just as blurry as my own at the moment. If she had been anyone else, I wouldn’t have hesitated to keep going because why else would they be in bed with me?

But if she had been anyone else, she wouldn’t have been in my bed with me.

“What are we doing?” I finally asked when I couldn’t figure out what to do.

Well, I knew what to do, but I didn’t want last night to be a onetime thing and I didn’t know where to go from here. I wanted something more with Sookie, but I didn’t know if she was on the same page yet. I didn’t want to have to bully her into sharing my bed with me, but I knew the more time she spent with me in such an intimate setting – even if we only slept – it could only work in my favor.

Instead of falling victim to my poorly worded, ‘Where is this headed?’ relationship question, she chose the oblivious route by responding, “I’m trying not to pee on your bed, but I fell asleep in a snuggie and woke up booby trapped. I’ve been held at dick point for the better part of the night and I’m afraid to make any sudden moves in case it goes off. I’d ask you to call 911 for me, but I’m afraid they’ll just think my pseudo-celeb boss is a victim of swatting. How about you?”

She’d always had an innate ability to put me at ease and I couldn’t help but laugh at the description of her harrowing night, so I reluctantly released her from her booby trap – kudos to my hand for sneaking up her shirt in the middle of the night though – but I still kept her at dick point hoping she would set it off.

It wouldn’t take much.

Moving my hand down further so I could wrap it around her waist and squeeze, I decided to just let it be for now and chuckled, “Someone must have been awake for a while.”

She gripped my arm in both of her hands, trying and failing to remove it, as she giggled, “Someone must be hoping for a golden shower. Quit squeezing ‘cause you’re probably not gonna like what comes out of me.”

On the contrary, I seemed to like everything that came out of her. A lot.

And I wanted to cum in her. A lot.

But since she was so at ease – in my bed and with me – I didn’t want to give her any reason to not want to come back, so I didn’t push the issue – for now – and merely teased, “Why? Do you have to fart?”

“Why?” she laughed, ignoring my question and turning around to face me to ask another one. “Do you enjoy getting baked in a Dutch oven?”

Fucking hell…

I’d always thought Sookie was beautiful, but seeing her there in my bed – waking up next to her – wrapped around her, I just…

There were no words.

Well, there were, but apparently we were both taking the oblivious route for now.

And reminding me of her sometimes telepathy, she tapped her finger on the tip of my nose and said, “Hold that thought,” before she disentangled herself from me and the sheets and took off for the bathroom. A few minutes later I heard the toilet flush and then the sound of water running in the sink, when she finally opened the door so I could see her with my toothbrush sticking out of her mouth.

“Hope you don’t mind,” she grinned, with a trail of toothpaste slowly working its way down from the corner of her mouth. “My boss is a real hard ass and wouldn’t let me get my own toothbrush last night.”

Her boss was hard alright. Painfully so.

“Sounds like a douchebag,” I smiled back at her, feeling happier than I’d thought possible over the domesticity of it all.

“So you’ve met,” she grinned with wide-eyed acknowledgement and turned to walk back into the bathroom. Even the sound of her spitting and gurgling was cute.

I was so fucked.

It didn’t take a genius to know it.

She walked back into the room and ripped the sheet off of me before taking ahold of my hand and pulling, saying, “Come on. Breakfast time.”

I might have put up more of a resistance – if only to reassure myself she didn’t have my balls on a leash – but considering she hadn’t bothered changing out of just my t-shirt, I didn’t see the need to deny myself the view.

And what a view it was.

Sookie was much shorter than my six foot four frame, so my shirt covered more of her than some dresses I’d seen her wear. But knowing it was my shirt draped on her braless body made it seem sexier than if she’d been buck naked.

Well, maybe not. But still, it was sexy.

I stepped into one of the downstairs bathrooms, now that I’d managed to will my hard on away enough to take a leak myself, and seeing her overnight bag lying by the front door, I figured turnabout was fair play.

What I hadn’t figured on was finding her lacy underthings when I’d gone in search of her toothbrush.

And back to having a raging hard on.

My teeth had probably never been so clean and I likely scrubbed most of my enamel away, while waiting for my erection to go away. Normally I wouldn’t have had such an obvious reaction because normally we weren’t wandering around together in nothing but boxers and t-shirts.

But I could definitely get used to this new normal.

I eventually found her in the kitchen where she was already cooking up a storm, so I asked the obvious.

“Where did all of this food come from?”

“Douchebag,” she muttered loud enough for me to hear, while flipping over a pancake as she said it. “Your house is always fully stocked with food. Something you would know if you bothered looking for something to eat.”

She was back to using her mom tone of voice, something I was quite used to by now, but seeing the worry in her eyes – knowing it was me she was worried about – made me bite back my locked and loaded snarky reply.

So I went with a simple, “Thanks,” when she handed me a plate loaded with pancakes and bacon.

And her simple smile back at me merely confirmed I was definitely fucked.

The moan left my throat as soon as the first bite hit my tongue. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until I was already halfway through the plate, but as soon as I could force myself to take a breather, I asked, “So what do you have going on today?”

Sookie was very detail oriented. It was something we had in common and she always kept her calendar up to date, so I could always pull it up and see where she would be at any given moment. But I hadn’t been paying much attention to it lately, so I had no idea if she had somewhere she needed to be soon.

And glancing at the clock for the first time that morning, I was surprised to see it was nearly noon. No wonder I’d felt so well rested. The last time I’d slept for that long, I had to have been a child, but I was anxious to get back down to the lab. Silver allergies were rare, but they didn’t cause the kind of reaction we’d witnessed the night before.

And just as my mind started going over all of the possibilities of where my research could take me with the newfound knowledge, Sookie brought me back from it all when she leaned over and whispered conspiratorially, “Well, don’t tell my douchebag boss, but I’m playing hooky today.”

“You are?” I asked, with my mind now wiped clean of the experiments I was planning, replaced by my wonder over what she planned on doing. I didn’t care that she wanted to take the day off. It was something Sookie rarely – if ever – did. I was more interested in if she had plans to spend the day with someone.

Someone who wasn’t me.

Someone possibly named Justin.

Someone probably not Timberlake.

“I am,” she nodded. But I wasn’t sure if she was possibly confirming a rendezvous with someone who possibly was or wasn’t Justin Timberlake until she added, “But if the douchebag is paying attention, he might catch me at it because I plan on spending the day at his house outside by the pool.”

Oh he was paying attention alright.

Every part of him.

“Did you bring a swimsuit?” I asked in a hoarse voice, hoping and praying like hell that she hadn’t.

Skinny dipping the day away suddenly sounded like a great idea.

“I guess you’ll just have to pay attention to see,” she smiled and winked at me, adding, “Douchebag.”

Seriously. Fucked.

That was me.

Even if I hadn’t been submersed in Operation Werewolf for the last month, I’d already decided it was in my best interests to give up my womanizing ways if I ever wanted Sookie to give me a shot. Trying to hide it from her wasn’t an option either. It would’ve amounted to lying and I wanted her to choose me without anything that would influence her to believe I’d been something I wasn’t. As it stood now, she knew me better than anyone, so if she chose to be with me there wouldn’t be any surprises for her.

Well, maybe the intensity of my sexual drive when I – hopefully – had free reign to fuck her senseless whenever I wanted to might be one.

Surprise!

Nothing more was said, so once we were done eating, Sookie loaded the dishwasher and then added an extra sway to her hips as she left the kitchen. Scientifically proving she indeed held the lead on the invisible leash attached to my balls, I followed along behind her and was gifted with the view of her bending – at the waist – to pick up her overnight bag.

Pink lace had never looked so inviting before.

It made me wonder what other shades of pink could be found on her body, but she left me wondering when she wandered into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. Only so I could stand there gobsmacked when she opened the door a few minutes later and revealed a few scant inches of fabric could simultaneously cover up the parts of her I was desperate to see and drive me insane.

She barely glanced my way as she sauntered towards the patio, merely calling out over her shoulder, “Coming?”

Not yet.

But soon. Very soon.

It took me a moment to register her disappearance through the door. Probably because my mind was busy, replaying her departure over and over.

Sookie had an ass on her that should be illegal.

And I wanted to do very naughty – and possibly illegal – things to it, but it took Godric speaking up for me to shake the shake of her ass from my brain when he said, “I believe Miss Stackhouse would like some company by the pool. I would go, but I’m afraid the 3D body in the likeness of Eric Dane I’m printing out for me to utilize isn’t coming fast enough.”

“Asshole,” I muttered and went to change into a pair of swim trunks.

“Yes,” he replied. “That is on the schematics as well.”

I couldn’t get outside and away from the theme song to Grey’s Anatomy fast enough, but then everything melted away from my mind once I got there. Because there was Sookie, lying on an inflatable raft in the middle of the pool, needing only a few scant inches of fabric to keep my attention.

“Took you long enough,” she smiled.

Oh, I’d show her long enough.

In fact, she could probably see it growing long right now. But if she did, she pretended not to, so I dove into the water and swam up alongside her, still wondering the same thing as that morning.

“What are we doing?” I asked as soon as the thought entered my mind. I wanted to know and yet I didn’t.

It was confusing to say the least.

“If you have to ask, then it’s really been too long.” Brushing the wet hair away from my eyes, she cupped my cheek in her hand and smiled replying, “We’re relaxing.”

Huh. Good enough.

And as though she had magical powers that made it so just because she’d said it, I felt myself relax. Truly relax for the first time in I didn’t know how long. We spent the entire day just laying around, talking about whatever came to mind and nothing at all. We napped together on one of the oversized chaise lounges and Sookie made us a late lunch/early dinner that we shared picnic style on the lawn.

When the sun went down, I got a sudden bad feeling that our day would come to an end with the end of daylight, but because she knew me better than I gave her credit for, Sookie just smiled at me and asked what kind of movie I was in the mood for.

So we moved into my media room, snuggling together on the couch and watched Weird Science, with her laughing out loud over my confession that Godric was nearly modeled to be like Kelly LeBrock’s character, Lisa.

She was more surprised I hadn’t gone through with it than the fact I’d considered it at all.

Sookie decided she was in an 80’s mood, so when the movie ended, she pulled up Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and started it, but I’d stopped paying attention by then.

To anything but her, that is.

I had a plethora of things I wanted – needed – to take care of downstairs in my lab, but the truth was, I’d barely given them a second thought all day long. She’d sufficiently distracted me from everything but her and in the process gave me a much needed break from myself. Something I suspected had been her plan all along.

Sookie was always prepared, but I doubted that extended to having a skimpy bikini handy for the possibility of an impromptu game of Marco Polo.

Everything about our day had been perfect. Everything about her was perfect and I wanted so much to kiss her – to tell her – how I felt.

How she made me feel.

But she also made me feel crazy insecure, so I kept my thoughts to myself. I didn’t want to be the one to possibly ruin what had been a great day by pushing something on her that she wasn’t ready to acknowledge. I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to acknowledge it yet because it would definitely change the dynamic of our relationship – good or bad – so when the movie ended, I thought I would test the waters by saying, “I should probably go downstairs and get back to work.”

Her eyes narrowed back at me – not angrily, just contemplatively – so I thought my comment meant the credits were officially rolling on Eric Northman’s Day Off, when she stood up and said, “You’re probably right.” But then she surprised me yet again when, after I stood up, she grabbed onto the hem of my t-shirt and tugged, saying, “Gimme. I’m tired, so I think I’m gonna hit the hay.”

I was afraid to ask. It was late, so I wasn’t surprised she planned on spending the night again, but I was afraid to find out she planned on staying in what had become her room. Besides my bedroom, it was the only other room in the house I never entertained anyone because it would’ve felt disrespectful to her.

But I was inquisitive by nature. Cause and effect were my bread and butter, so I pulled off my t-shirt and handed it to her without a word, waiting to see what she would do.

And I wasn’t disappointed.

She pulled off her own t-shirt, leaving her in her bikini top and shorts, and pulled my shirt on. I watched completely mesmerized as she ignored my obvious gawking, while she reached underneath it to pull the strings loose. The top came free as she pulled it out from under the hem and it was quickly followed by her shorts.

And her bikini bottoms were glaring at me like a flashing neon sign from the middle of them.

Sookie was naked except for my shirt.

She gathered her things and smiled at me saying, “Goodnight,” and traipsed down the hall.

Into my bedroom.

The results were conclusive.

She had my balls on a leash because she’d barely disappeared from my sight when I was already following after her. She’d left the bathroom door open, so I could hear her brushing her teeth – I knew with my toothbrush since I’d left hers in the other bathroom – and while she did that, I changed out of my swim trunks and into another pair of boxers.

By the time she came out, I was already in the bed, hoping my appearance would lead her to believe I was relaxed, but the truth was I felt like a tightly wound string. I told myself I wasn’t going to say it. I wasn’t going to ask her to join me in my bed again and just hoped she would take the initiative.

And my hopes were realized when she crawled in beside me, not waiting for me to reach for her and taking it upon herself to slide up alongside of me. Throwing one of her legs over my own, her arm followed suit across my chest, with my arm automatically wrapping around her body to keep her there. She rested her head on my shoulder and gave me a slight squeeze, thankfully ignoring the fact I’d said I was going to do some work, and only repeated, “Goodnight Eric.”

Yeah, I thought, as I returned her gentle squeeze and let my eyes close shut.

It had definitely been a good night.