Chapter 15

Chapter 15

“WHAT?” she screamed into the phone.

It only made me lower my voice even more, whispering, “It’s Dawn from Merlotte’s.” Wondering if Jason would’ve possibly gone home with her after having just slept with Maudette, I asked, “You don’t think he actually left with her last night do you?”

I didn’t want to come out and ask, ‘Your brother isn’t that much of a lothario, is he?’

“Of course he fucking left with her last night!” she yelled, rambling on with, “Why wouldn’t he? He’d just fucked Maudette Pickens who was then murdered the next night; a murder he’s the prime suspect of, so of course he fucking put his dick into somebody else two nights later!”

I really didn’t think she expected me to answer the one question posed in her tirade and she knew her brother better than I did, so I couldn’t stick up for him and remained silent instead. When she seemed to finally calm down, she asked, “Was she strangled?”

“It appears that way. There are ligature marks on her neck and petechial hemorrhaging in her eyes, but I won’t know for sure until I do the autopsy,” I answered. I was pretty certain that would be the cause of death, but I now felt a sense of urgency to get the autopsy done, since we had no way of knowing if Jason would be suspected in this murder as well, and no longer wanted to put it off until the next day.

Sookie must have had the same train of thought because she said, “I know you said you were going to wait to do the autopsy, but would you mind doing it right away? I’m sorry; I know we had other plans, but I just know my boneheaded brother will be brought into this and I’m worried about him.”

“Of course,” I replied immediately. “Do you want to meet me at the morgue or should I just call you when I’m through and know what the cause of death is?”

I felt like an insecure little asshole wondering when I’d get to see her again, but I knew her brother’s wellbeing was more important. I just wanted to know if I’d be able to see her again anytime soon because the truth was I already missed her and doubted my new Princess Leia fantasy would be coming true any time in the very near future.

Selfishly, my heart plummeted hearing her ask, “Will you call me and let me know? I want to run back to Bon Temps so I can beat Jason’s ass in person when he tells me he went home with her last night.”

“Of course,” I answered, trying to sound understanding, but Sookie must have heard my deflated tone because she said, “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize, Sookie. I know you’re just looking out for your brother and I’m not going anywhere,” I added truthfully because I wasn’t.

I’d wait forever if I had to.

Hopefully she heard the sincerity in my voice and with her promise of, “I’ll make it up to you,” before we ended the call, I actually felt a little better. I didn’t know why I felt so insecure when Sookie hadn’t done anything other than show me just how much she liked me, so I vowed I would stop acting like a pimply-faced little wallflower bitch standing all alone at the school dance from now on.

Once was enough.

I slowly walked back over towards the group of policemen and once they were done collecting their evidence, I put the body into a bag and loaded it into the van. I was just closing the doors when I felt a pair of arms snake around my waist and I turned around ready to push off whoever it was until I saw Sookie smiling up at me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, unable to not smile back at her. I could still see the faint waves in her hair from where she must have had the Princess Leia braids in before she took them out and it was a race between the lust and disappointment running through my veins to see who would come out on top.

“Are you kidding?” she asked while slipping her hands into my back pockets and giving me a gentle squeeze. “Did you really think I could drive by without stopping when your ass in these jeans were calling out to me?”

It was more likely it was the front side of my jeans she’d heard.

It was just another reminder that I shouldn’t feel so insecure about Sookie’s feelings for me and I was grateful for it, but thoughts of which part of my body were screaming for her weren’t helping any, so I pushed them away and asked, “Have you spoken to Jason yet?”

Herveaux had already left and there were only a couple of patrolmen still lingering nearby speaking to one another, so I felt safe enough in bringing it up. Sookie shook her head no, saying, “I tried calling, but he didn’t pick up. That doesn’t mean anything though because Jason rarely sees the a.m. on a Sunday.”

I couldn’t help staring back at her still in awe of just how beautiful she was and the fact that she seemed set on spending time with me still boggled my mind. “So you’re not worried then?” I asked once I realized neither one of us had said anything in a while since she seemed just as content to stare back at me with our arms still wrapped around each other.

“Not really,” she replied and then one of her hands slid up the front my shirt and grasped a fistful of fabric so she could pull me down for a kiss.

I was only too happy to oblige her and could’ve easily gotten lost in her if it hadn’t been for the obnoxious honking of the now passing patrol car with the driver yelling out, “Get a room Stackhouse!”

Sookie pulled away with a soft laugh, saying, “I’m sorry. I know you have work to do and I have to go kick my brother’s ass, but I can’t seem to help myself whenever I’m around you.”

“I know the feeling,” I smiled back at her and as I later watched her car pulling onto the interstate I knew without a doubt I was falling hard for Sookie Stackhouse.

The morgue was empty of the living since it was a Sunday and normally the autopsies for any dead bodies found over the weekend would be done the following week, but it wouldn’t be the first time I’d worked on the weekend since normally I wouldn’t have anything better to do. I wished I had a way of contacting Corbett so I could tell him the news, but since I didn’t, I just got to work instead.

The scratches on the front of her neck were clearly visible and, from their angle and location, I assumed they were from when she’d tried to grab onto whatever it was she’d been strangled with. Hopefully they’d be able to find the killer’s DNA on any skin samples they’d collected from underneath her fingernails and it would clear Jason, in this murder at least, but I didn’t have access to Maudette’s records to know if she’d had any similar marks. I continued my visual inspection of her body and then collected tissue and fluid samples from her lower cavities, which was standard on a homicide victim of this nature, but I didn’t see any tearing or bruising that would indicate she’d been raped. However when I checked the inside of her mouth I could see a puncture mark on the inside of her lower lip that was consistent with having had her mouth forcefully covered which likely meant she was somewhere where her screams could’ve been overheard. It only led me to have more questions, like if she had in fact left with Jason the night before or if her car had been found since it wasn’t on the side of the road where her body was left, but I had no way of getting any answers without at least speaking to Sookie.

Once the necessary pictures had been taken and the gathered evidence was set aside, I got to work on the actual autopsy. All through my examination I kept hoping she’d walk in like many other ghosts had done in the past, but I was just as alone at the end of it all as I had been when I started. Strangulation was the definite cause of death and while I’d expected it to be, I didn’t feel any better off knowing for sure. Two deaths that could possibly be linked to Jason seemed too coincidental and I felt like there was more I should be doing to help him out.

I’d called Sookie’s cell phone and left her a voicemail message telling her my official findings; the mechanism of death was strangulation; the manner of death was homicide; and I fought the urge to head to Bon Temps all the while forcing myself to drive home. Sookie hadn’t invited me to come along and I didn’t want to look like a stalker, but I thought I might be able to possibly locate Dawn’s ghost if she was still hanging around. If Corbett had still been hanging around my apartment hallway I would’ve had him do it, but Bon Temps was too small of a town for me to be there without being spotted. Sam would surely notice me if I’d tried to go back into Merlotte’s and it would be very awkward if Herveaux was there too.

I didn’t think it was possible to feel even more defeated until I’d walked into my apartment and went into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water when I spotted something shiny on my countertop.

It was a tinfoil bikini.

“Fuck!” I yelled out in frustration.

Frustrated there was nothing I could do to help Jason.

Frustrated that something inevitably got in the way every time Sookie and I were together.

Frustrated I wasn’t with Sookie at that very moment.

I didn’t hear back from her that day, so I sent her a text telling her I hoped she was doing okay before I went to bed that night. I was even more annoyed the following morning when I saw I’d missed a call from her while I’d been in the shower, but she’d at least left a message apologizing for missing my call the day before and that she would explain it all later because she was getting ready to go with Jason to get a lawyer which only made me more concerned.

I was dying to find out what was going on, but I was mostly dying to see Sookie again. Corbett hadn’t come around at all so I didn’t know if he even knew about the latest murder yet and when I hadn’t heard anything from Sookie by the time I climbed into bed that night, my self-doubts about us started creeping back in.

Wouldn’t she have called by now if she really missed me?

Couldn’t she at least have sent a text?

Was she out with someone else and that was why she hadn’t called?

Had she realized what a nutcase I was and that’s why I hadn’t heard from her?

The list just ran on and on with my mind running riot and I hadn’t even felt myself falling asleep until I was startled awake by the loud banging on my door. The LED on my alarm clock told me it was just after midnight and I stumbled down the hallway still half asleep, so I thought maybe I was still dreaming when I opened my door and saw Sookie standing there.

“Sookie?”

She wasn’t dressed as Princess Leia, so I doubted I was dreaming but it couldn’t hurt to make sure.

“I’m sorry,” she said looking up at me. “Is it too late?”

“Too late for what?” I asked still confused and only partially coherent.

“To see you. My cell battery died not long after I left you that message this morning and I don’t have my charger. I would’ve called from another phone, but I don’t have your number memorized yet,” she rambled out, speaking much too fast to someone who wasn’t quite awake yet. I blamed my sleepy state for my next words.

“So you’re not breaking up with me?”

“NO!” she exclaimed which worked wonders on my alertness. Before I could apologize for my verbal blunder, she smiled and said, “Wait. Are we in a relationship state where there’s the possibility to be broken up?”

I was right back to being the pimply-faced wallflower bitch I’d sworn I’d seen the last of and my eyes dropped to the floor as I shrugged and mumbled, “I don’t know. Are we? I don’t want to see anyone else except you.”

My eyes had yet to meet hers again and my stomach dropped hearing her say, “Well if that isn’t the lamest girlfriend proposal I’ve ever heard…”

It was the only ‘girlfriend proposal’ I’d ever sort of made and even I knew it was lame, so all I wanted to do was slink away and lick my wounds, but that was impossible because she literally jumped on me a second later, saying, “I accept!”

“Really?” I asked, but she probably couldn’t understand me with her tongue in my mouth. The fact that it was in there made my question redundant anyway, so I moved us back inside and kicked the door shut in case Corbett picked right fucking now to show up again.

Sookie continued her attack on my lips with her arms and legs wrapped around my body, but I still hesitated in carrying her to my bedroom in case that was too presumptuous. She was my first girlfriend, official or otherwise, and I didn’t want to mess things up thirty seconds into our relationship, so I continued to stand there kissing her back until she finally pulled away, saying, “Take me to bed.”

She didn’t have to tell me twice.

As soon as her back hit the mattress she released her hold on me and started pulling my shirt up over my head, so when she was done I thought I’d return the favor only instead giving into the overwhelming urge I had to rip her clothes off to be inside of her that much sooner, I slowed down. I wanted to savor every moment. We hadn’t known each other for very long, but I’d known early on there was something different about Sookie; that she was special and that was even truer now. I wanted to worship every part of her to show her how thankful I was that she chose me.

I knew I should’ve asked about Jason; I should’ve voiced my concern about everything I knew she was going through, but I felt selfish in that moment. I didn’t want the outside world to intrude on us again now that I finally had her all to myself and as my lips slowly traveled along her velvety skin, while my hands removed every article of clothing in their way, every other thought disappeared from my mind. My hands closed over her breasts, both of which filled them completely, with my lips and tongue working over each of her perfectly pink peaks as she arched her body into me and moaned out my name with her hands in my hair.

I could never have my fill of them, but there were other places on her body I wanted to explore so I moved further down and pulled her jeans from her legs before I slowly kissed my way back up her left leg, only to repeat the process on her right one, when I’d once again reached the top of her thighs. Ever since I’d met her I’d dreamed of having her in my bed exactly as she was now. I’d fantasized about it even more and while I had no complaints about our morning wakeup session a couple of days earlier, it was nothing compared to the new reality of it now that she’d agreed to be mine and when I leaned forward and heard her cry out my name with the first pass of my tongue, I finally felt like I was where I was meant to be.

Well, not necessarily between her legs, but definitely with her. However I’d stay in between her legs for as long as she’d let me.

I’d been so intent on making sure Sookie was satisfied the first time I’d done this, I hadn’t noticed just how much I enjoyed her taste. She was distinctively sweeter than I remembered anyone else being and I dove forward with relish wanting to lap up every drop I could find. I could tell by the cadence of my name leaving her lips that she was getting close, so I slid two fingers inside of her searching out the mythical G-spot. I twisted and turned them with every thrust of my hand, with my lips and tongue working her clit, but when my fingertips brushed over one spot in particular, Sookie’s cries told me I’d hit pay dirt. It only took one more stroke for her to cum all over my hand and she pulled at my hair trying to get me to slide up her body which I was only too happy to do. When we were once again face to face I did my best to memorize every pant of her chest and blink of her half-lidded lustful gaze, but feeling her pull my boxers down and wrap her hand around my dick broke my concentration and a low growl left my chest.

“Condom,” she whispered with a small smile; part-order; part-question.

I nodded and had no choice but to slide off of her so I could kick off my boxers and reached into the bedside table where the open box had been mocking me for days now, but I wasted no time in ripping open the foil package and rolling one on. Sookie, however, must have felt I was taking too long because I was still lying precariously on the edge of the bed when she was suddenly straddling my body and leaned down for a kiss that I quickly got lost in, but when I felt her hand guide my tip to her entrance, I held my breath as time suddenly stood still.

Seeing her naked body on top of me; watching her eyes widen as she slowly lowered herself down my shaft for the first time and hearing her moan out loud did nothing to drown out my own guttural moan and already threatened my control, but actually feeling her pulse throb tightly around me made me worried I wouldn’t be able to last longer than a few seconds. Instead of thinking about how tight she was; how the heat of her surrounding me was like a beautiful torture; I tried to replace those thoughts with anything else my mind could grab onto.

I needed a haircut.

I wondered if there was enough cream for our coffee in the morning.

Maybe she’d want to go with me one night to see The Phantom Menace in 3D.

Sookie had no body hair whatsoever.

Sookie’s golden skin was creamy in the moonlight shining through the window.

Sookie dressed as Princess Leia.

Nothing was working and watching her bounce on top of me while feeling her inner walls spasm around me, I felt my orgasm quickly building, but before I could warn her or try and stop it, I fell over the edge.

Of the bed.

I lay there on the floor next to the bed completely dumbfounded thinking this wasn’t quite what I meant when I’d realized I’d fallen hard for her and knew it was only a matter of moments before Sookie realized her mistake in choosing me to be her boyfriend and stormed out of my apartment and out of my life forever, but when my eyes finally met hers, she flashed me a sexy grin panting out, “Three second rule!” and pounced on me.

Our unintentional break was enough to help me partially regain my senses and I pulled the comforter from the bed to the floor and held onto her as I turned us both so she was underneath me on top of it. Her giggles changed into another breathy moan when I slid back inside of her and her legs locked around my hips as my lips locked around hers. Never had anything felt as right as it did in that moment and I knew there could never be anyone else for me. I was ruined the moment I saw her face for the very first time and I’d never been happier in my life because of it.

When she pulled away from our kiss crying out, “Fuck Eric, I’m so close,” I was glad for it because I knew I was too. I slipped one hand in between our two bodies and worked her clit as I continued to thrust into her which seemed to be the right move when seconds later her entire body seized underneath me. The force of her orgasm was so powerful I had no choice but to follow along behind her and our cries echoed around the room. She didn’t even seem to mind when I landed on top of her, not having the strength or inclination to pull away from her just yet. Instead her arms and legs wrapped around my body with her face nuzzling against my shoulder while we both caught our breath, but only a few minutes passed when I heard her say lightheartedly, “I was starting to think that was never going to happen.”

I pushed up onto my elbows and stared down at her, knowing now what it was I felt for her, but too afraid to say it just yet, so instead I offered another truth and said, “That was amazing.”

Everything about her was amazing and after we’d both had a chance to clean up and climb back into the bed, Sookie attached herself to my side, yawning and chuckling out, “You know, you would’ve been hard pressed to get rid of me before, but now you might need the combined help of the SWAT Team and the Navy Seals to get me to leave.”

“I’ll give you my spare key in the morning,” I yawned back at her. In terms of ‘fast’, our relationship seemed to be moving along at warp speed, but I certainly wasn’t going to fight it. I’d felt a connection to her from the moment I laid eyes on her and if she wanted me, I wasn’t about to push her away.

I felt her lips press lightly against my chest as she whispered, “Okay,” and while I was still curious about everything going on with Jason, I didn’t want to burst our little bubble just yet. I was lying in bed with my first ever girlfriend after having had the best sex of my life and I just wanted to enjoy being normal for a little while longer, so I decided it could wait until the morning. If something really bad was going on, I doubted Sookie’s first reaction when she saw me would be to jump on me like she did, but there was still something else inside of me that was screaming out to be heard and when I finally heard her breathing evening out in her sleep, I felt safe enough to voice it, albeit in a whisper.

“I love you.”