The Guily Ones

Ashley, Home Alone

For a second, Eric stared at me with an intensity that only he could muster, his eyes as piercing and cold as ice. If anyone knew how to drill into someone's soul with just a look, it was Eric Northman.

In that moment, my legs turned to jelly, my heart raced, my hands grew clammy, and I could almost feel my brain screaming in alarm, triggering the fight or flight response.

Then, with what he did next, I instinctively took a startled step back.

Eric laughed.

The shock must have been evident on my face because his laughter grew louder, his booming voice echoing in the room. It got to the point where Eric actually clutched his stomach—a very human gesture, completely unnecessary for someone who didn't even need to breathe.

I had never heard him laugh like that before. Heck, I'd never heard anyone laugh like that before. I hadn't even realized it was possible to laugh that hard. It took an astonishingly long time for him to calm down while I stared at him, dumbfounded, mesmerized by how laughing transformed his face into something almost godlike. Apparently my awestruck face amused him further as his laughter continued.

Did he just wipe a blood tear from the corner of his eye?

"My God, Ash, I'm keeping you," he chuckled, turning back to pour himself another drink from his plastic bag.

I had no idea how to respond. Oh great, Eric wanted to keep me? Glad to know my sincere question was so amusing to him. Was I going to get an actual answer though?

Eric was still shaking his head in disbelief. "A thousand years of murder and mayhem, wars and massacres, and she asks me, a vampire whose sustenance is literally human blood, if I'm dangerous." He chuckled again, and his words sent a shiver down my spine. "Remind me to show you the trick where you can rip out someone's heart and hold it just right so you can use the artery as a straw."

I must have looked as horrified as I felt because Eric nodded, satisfied. "It's really a very entertaining trick," he added, trying to persuade me further, before mumbling more to himself "Haven't done that in a while..."

Note to self: Eric is a dangerous psychopath. Don't be fooled. Got it. 

His words were yet another clear reminder that my plan to kill him couldn't be considered murder. Or at least, shouldn't be. Serial killers got the lethal injection, right? Wasn't this the same? Still, I couldn't help but recoil at the thought of threatening him with an ice pick, let alone an actual stake. Because I liked him.

His brutal, arrogant, overbearing, pragmatic, and honest nature. I liked that. Liked him it seemed. Because with him, I knew exactly where I stood. Of course, it could be the blood he'd given me that made it impossible for me to turn against him. Was that a thing? Maybe it was the absurd attraction that, even in a moment like this, kept pulling me back to him, making me notice how his body moved rhythmically with his laughter. How all his movements were as fluid and graceful as those of a predator—a frighteningly accurate description of him.

It wasn't just that I was unable to attack Eric anymore; it was worse. I wanted... no I actually needed him near me. My nerves tingled, my heart beat faster and harder, and for the first time in a long while, my chest didn't feel so tight and constricted. I could breathe freely. But realizing this in the middle of his confession about his murderous tendencies made me panic.

I cleared my throat, finding it closed up, and watched as Eric placed his glass in the sink before turning back, his phone in hand, glancing at it along with a set of keys.

"Alright, now that that's settled, I have to go. The alarm is on, so stay in the house," his gaze grew intense, and I swallowed hard. The last time he looked at me like that, I ended up in another state, trying to find my way home in just my underwear while still fighting off reoccurring burst of lust that had my knees shaking and my thighs clenching. He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "It's for her safety."