The Harder They Fall
Kitchycoo won me in the Support Stacie Auction
This story is based on an outline provided by her
and is the direct result of her generosity.
enjoy :)
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Chapter 1
Sookie sat at the small computer desk in her room and anxiously awaited the opening of the auction. She'd read about previous Support Stacie auctions and when she saw that her favorite author had signed up, she knew she'd have to participate this time.
She refreshed her computer screen. The bidding threads were still not opened. She looked again at the paper where she had figured her bidding budget. She could go to $302, and not a penny more.
Refresh again. There was a bid. The auction had started. Sookie scrolled down to find her favorite author's name, 'VampireMaiden' … no bids yet in her thread. Wow, she had not expected the urge to jump in with a bid to be so strong. But no, she'd read about some of the authors going for hundreds of dollars, so she'd wait. She'd hold off as long as she could.
She shut her computer down to keep it from tempting her and tried to focus on doing her homework. She almost got through it all before she was drawn back to the auction. There was a bid on VampireMaiden's thread. SugarSoSwede had bid $30. The race was on.
For the next two days, Sookie and SugarSoSwede went back and forth in five and ten dollar increments. Sookie saw her $302 budget come and go. As much fun as the auction had been until the end, it was so very disappointing to lose.
That was two years ago. As Sookie thought back on that auction she was filled with happiness because despite having never technically met, SugarSoSwede, now known to her as Pam Northman, was now her best friend. Hardly a day went by when they didn't talk on the internet and at least once a week Pam called and they chatted on the phone like any other teenage girls.
Graduation was over and tomorrow she'd be eighteen and on her way. This was going to be the adventure of a lifetime. She'd been working after school and weekends, plus full time all last summer. She'd diligently saved almost every penny and her parents had even kicked in a few hundred dollars when they finally got over their fear and agreed for her to go. Of course, she'd be legally an adult by the time her flight left, but she was glad they had finally given her their blessing just the same.
She checked her purse again before going to bed. There were her airline tickets. Shreveport to Atlanta to New York to London to Stockholm, tomorrow was gonna be a long day.
But a long day fitted perfectly with the vision in her head. She'd never been out of Louisiana and this time tomorrow she would be on the other side of the world and she would meet her dearest friend. For the next two weeks, she would make memories she would cherish for a lifetime.
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Stockholm was everything she'd dreamed it would be and more. So clean and beautiful, everywhere she turned looked like an illustration from a fairy tale. It was Wonderland and Oz and the realm of Disney princesses all rolled into one.
And the night clubs! Pam had taken her someplace different every night and each one was so different from the last. It hardly seemed possible for so many different places and things to be so happily situated on a few tiny connected islands.
Pam was so unlike anyone in Bon Temps. She was so spoiled and decadent, yet so friendly to Sookie. The few rich people Sookie had ever known had treated her like a social outcast. Sookie was so comfortable here, she didn't think a thing about getting up in the middle of the night to go in search of food when her tummy woke her up.
Sookie tiptoed down the stairs and into the large kitchen. Despite its size, because of how it was positioned, the room got very little natural light. The breakfast nook at the far end was lit by streams of starlight from the clear night sky, but this section of the room was almost frightening it was so dark. An awning prevented all but two tiny slivers of light from peeking in through the window over the sink, just enough to keep you from running into anything.
"Ouch!" Sookie stifled the cry as much as she could. She had run her hip straight into one end of the island in the center of the room. There'd be no getting around a big bruise. Good thing they weren't planning on going swimming while she was here.
She felt her way along the remaining distance to the fridge at the other end of the island and opened the door. Let there be light! She glanced around the kitchen until she saw the light switch across the room. She made a mental note of where it was, then quickly poked around in the fridge and found something to eat. Leftover pea soup should do the trick, quick and simple.
She grabbed the bowl, took a step back and gave the refrigerator door a nudge with her knee. She'd have to put this down on the island, then go over to turn on a light.
She turned and ran smack into -- something. It couldn't have been a wall it was too soft for that, it was –
"Madam Valjean, I presume?" came a beautiful baritone from very close by, in the dark.
Sookie let out a loud squeak and tripped backward. Two hands reached out and caught her, but not the soup she'd just taken from the fridge. It crashed to the floor splashing pea soup and broken glass who knew where.
The disembodied hands steadied her and led her hand to the edge of the island for support. "I'll get the light. Don't move, you don't want to cut your feet on the glass," the voice said.
A few seconds later and Eric was standing before her with an eyebrow raised and the sexiest smirk she'd ever seen. His white dress shirt was now covered with pea soup.
"You're Eric," she stammered breathlessly as he stripped off his stained shirt.
"Yes. So now I know one of us," he countered, wadding the shirt and tossing it onto the island counter. "And you are?"
"You called me Madam Valjean. Why?" she asked, unable to take her eyes off him or make her brain keep up with the conversation. His question was buried behind those six-pack abs, that perfect chest and an almost overwhelming desire to touch him. Unfortunately he moved out of her reach. He went to the sink and returned with two damp towels. He handed one to her. "For your legs." He said before answering her question.
He wiped at his pants as he said, "You were stealing food." He could see she was horrified by his remark and he moved quickly to soften his tone somewhat. "Or at least, that's what it looked like. The lights were off. I heard a noise. I came to investigate and I found a woman standing in the dark, raiding my refrigerator. What was I to think?"
Sookie's look of confusion was, in short order, replaced by offense. "I don't know what you were supposed to think, but not that I was stealing anything." At that very moment, her stomach gave a loud, rolling rumble. Sookie was mortified into silence.
Eric couldn't help but chuckle at the precise timing, if nothing else. "Jean Valjean stole when he was hungry," Eric pointed out with a laugh.
"Oh, you're horrible!" Sookie cried and bolted around the island.
Eric easily caught her with one hand and pulled her back around. "Hey, don't go to bed hungry, just because I was an ass." He gently lifted her up and sat her on the island as she fought back embarrassed tears. "Now don't you go running off. I'm going to get a broom. I'll be right back."
While he was gone, she worked on getting control of her breathing. She'd never seen a man that good looking outside of a magazine before. Sure Pam had shown her pictures, and in the photos he was awfully cute, but she hadn't been prepared for this. Her heart may have actually been beating faster when he got back with the broom than it had been when he'd left her sitting there, sitting there on the counter, where he'd lifted her, as if she was nothing more than a teddy bear. She held back the heavy sigh in her throat for fear he'd hear.
"So," he said as she watched him sweep up the mess on the floor. "Do you plan to tell me your name or do you prefer to remain Pam's current woman of mystery?"
"What? Oh, I'm Sookie Stackhouse and I'm not mysterious at all." Once she started, the words nervously spilled out of her. Her brain begged her mouth to stop, but the train had left the platform. "I'm from Louisiana, in the United States. I'm visiting Europe before I go to college. Well, I guess I'm going to college. I haven't really officially been accepted or even applied yet. I've been talking to Pam online for a long time and we thought it would be fun to meet while I was here. I got here last week and I haven't left."
"Usually Pam doesn't go for girls her own age. You must be special." He went to the sink, rewet a kitchen towel and knelt to wipe the floor where he had swept.
"Huh?" Sookie was clearly confused. "I'm not special. I'm –" Sookie's eyes grew wide as the meaning of what he said began to sink in. "Oh! Oh no, I'm not, I mean Pam and, well I –"
Eric began to laugh. What a lovely sound, Sookie thought.
He stood and put a hand on her knee. "It's OK. I get it. Pam doesn't have many female friends who are just friends."
Sookie could feel herself blushing hard. How unlucky could one girl be? She'd had physical contact with Adonis and what had she done? Well, so far, she'd stumbled into him, ruined his shirt, stared stupidly at him as HE cleaned up the mess and somewhere in the midst of all that, she'd managed to make him think she was a lesbian. Wonderful. Maybe she should kick him in the teeth or insult his mother to cement the image of her in his mind?
Before she could think of something sufficiently stupid to do, he lifted her down from the counter. "I think it's safe now," he said.
When her feet touched the floor, his hands lingered at her sides for a moment as he took in the sight of her. Who was this clumsy little fairy he'd found bobbling around his kitchen?
"Well, obviously you won't be having pea soup. Let me make you a cheese sandwich," he said.
As Eric turned and reached for some bread and cheese, Sookie grabbed his shirt off the counter and walked to the sink.
"So you're a laundress?" he kidded as she rinsed the stain from his shirt.
"Are you a sandwich maker?" she tossed back at him with a smile.
Beautiful, he thought. "Only when I find pretty girls starving in my kitchen."
"Well, I'm only a laundress when I dump food all over strange men in their own homes."
"Fair enough," he conceded.
"Where should I put this?" Sookie asked as she shook the shirt over the sink to get most of the water out of it.
"Leave it in the sink. I'll take it upstairs when I go."
Until she turned to speak, she hadn't realized he'd been staring. She averted her eyes and fidgeted as her mind searched wildly for something appropriate to say or do. He extended a hand and relieved her of that burden.
"Come sit down," he said, leading her to the breakfast nook. He sat the plate holding her sandwich on the table. "Or would you prefer to take your sandwich and eat in the privacy of your room. Based on your earlier comments, I assume Pam has installed you in your own room?"
Sookie giggled and picked up one half of the sandwich. "Yes. I'm alone in a room." She looked at the sandwich in her hand and grinned.
He leaned toward her and whispered, "I promise, I didn't poison it."
"You cut the crust," she said, with her smile broadening by the second. He was everything charming. Even with all of Pam's warnings about how he broke hearts to keep from being bored, she couldn't resist him. He could have asked her to run away with him to Siberia and she would have asked how long she had to pack.
"Shall I make another and leave it on?"
"No, thank you," she said. His hand brushed hers as he grasped the opposite side of the half sandwich she was holding, and a shiver ran up her spine at his touch.
"You're cold," he said and he got up and moved his chair closer to hers.
"No, I'm fine, really," she protested, but it was too late. His chair was next to hers, and he had draped his arm around her. He pulled her close and rubbed her arm as if trying to warm her.
The sexiest man she'd ever seen was sitting half naked next to her and warming her with his body. As if she wasn't on fire already. Her nerves were all dancing on end and threatening to explode. She took a small bite of her sandwich and swallowed hard. Then, so she wouldn't be called upon to speak, she took another bite.
"How is it?" he asked.
"Hmm?"
"The sandwich, do you like it?"
"Mmm," she replied with a shy smile.
"My sandwich making skills have left you speechless," he laughed. "High praise indeed."
Yeah right, she thought, it's the sandwich.
When the sandwich was almost gone she put the tiny remaining piece back on the plate and said, "I should try to get some sleep."
"Of course," he said. He jumped up, replaced his chair and held out a hand to her. "May I see you to your room?"
He walked with her to her door, but when she opened it, he held onto her hand. "Sookie, I know my sister. Even though you've been here a week, I'm sure she's only shown you nightspots. She lives like a vampire. Would you like to see Stockholm in the sunlight? It's quite beautiful."
"I'd love to see it," she said softly.
"Great, tomorrow afternoon, say around one, we could have lunch. If we keep you fed during the day, perhaps you won't need to go bumping around in the night."
"Sure," she answered and went inside her room and closed the door. She fell asleep and dreamed of Eric. Sweden was an extraordinary place.
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Sookie was captivating. Eric found everything about her delightful. As they walked the streets and pathways of Skansen, time and again she stopped to marvel over some common thing, with all the enthusiasm of a child on Christmas morning.
When they reached the man blowing glass, it was her undoing. She was mesmerized. She circled the man and bent low several times, wanting to watch from every conceivable angle. She couldn't take her eyes away as he blew into the long pipe, then teased the molten glass into different shapes.
Eric had never taken such pleasure in watching someone watch someone else. It was as if she was on stage, trying to discover a magician's secrets as he performed his tricks.
How was it this small American creature of only eighteen held his attention so easily? He, one of the best known libertines in Northern Europe was standing in an open air museum, smiling like a drunken fool and unable to think of anything more fascinating than watching a girl watch a man blow glass. It simply wasn't possible.
Don't be ridiculous, he thought. She's only a girl. A cute girl, yeah, but certainly not the cutest girl you've ever had your way with. You need a drink to clear your head.
"Sookie, I'm thirsty. Let's go have a drink."
She hadn't even heard him. The man was somehow persuading a glob of glass to transform into a rose, with layer after layer of delicate petals.
"Sookie!" he said a bit louder.
She raised her head. "Hmm?"
He couldn't help but smile at her, but he pushed his point anyway. "May we have a drink now?"
Sookie looked around as if she had suddenly awakened form a trance. She joined him and they continued walking. "Yes, of course. I'm sorry, I lost track of the time. How long was I standing there gawking at that poor man?" She giggled as she asked.
"No longer than any other five year old, I imagine."
Clearly he was teasing, but his tone had taken on a sharper edge than it had earlier in the day. She must have spent too long staring at the glass blower, she thought. She must have annoyed him.
Well, naturally she annoyed him. No doubt he'd seen that man or one like him, all his life. After all, this was his hometown. She'd have to remember not to dawdle no matter how interesting this place was.
Oh and everything about it was interesting. It was a living, breathing Swedish history lesson, played out in the lives of ordinary Swedes through time. Olden times come to life along lovely garden paths.
They stopped for wine at a small tavern. Eric drank a glass very quickly. He had said he was thirsty, Sookie reminded herself. He ordered himself a second and was visibly more relaxed about it.
As they finished their next round, he gave her a very sexy grin and asked, "Would you like to see the world's largest spindel? The aquarium is very close, we should be able to get there and have time to look around before they close."
Why would they have a spindle on display in an aquarium, she wondered. "Is the park closing soon?" she asked, the disappointment evident in her voice.
"Only the aquarium and monkey house. They close at four."
He handed some money to the woman at the bar, took Sookie's hand and almost pulled her from the place.
"They keep an exhibit of spindles with the fish and monkeys?" she asked as she tried to keep pace with him.
"Spindlar, ja," he laughed.
He had switched to Swedish. This couldn't be good. She had a sinking feeling the world's largest spindle they were going to see wasn't going to look anything at all like the one Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger on in the fairy tale.
"And you accused me of being a five year old," she said with more than a little fear causing her voice to tremble. She held tight to his arm as they walked through the aquarium's extensive spider exhibit.
"Would you like to hold one?"
"I think I'll pass."
"Not a spider wrangler?" he laughed.
"I'm trying to quit," she answered.
Now she was irritated. He didn't like that. Even if he wasn't going to allow himself to fall for her, it was imperative to his vanity that she fall for him.
They exited the building and Eric lifted her up onto the curb. "There, let me see you eye to eye." He was still a good four inches taller than her, but still. "You're having fun today, admit it."
"I confess that -"
His mouth fell on hers, stifling whatever words had been there.
Did she close her eyes? She couldn't tell, the sensations of his kiss were blinding. The softness of his lips, the taste of his tongue, the strength of his arms as he wrapped them around her and kept her upright.
She had forgotten to breathe. When his lips moved along her jaw to just beneath her ear she gasped for air and steadied herself by throwing her hands around his neck.
"What do you confess?" he murmured into her ear, then waited for an answer which didn't come.
"You're not speaking to me now?" he asked when several seconds had passed.
She didn't know what to say, but he was obviously waiting for her to say something. "No one's ever kissed me like that," she whispered and was immediately sorry. What a stupid thing to say, she thought and she could feel herself beginning to blush from the embarrassment.
They were the most enchanting words he'd ever heard. "I want to do so much more than kiss you," he said into her ear. "Say you'll come to the pool house tonight."
Her head was swimming. "But what would Pam think? I –"
"Shhh, promise me you'll think about it then."
"How could I think about anything else?" she said breathlessly.
He smiled and kissed her again, briefly this time.
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"Oh my god! Look at you! You're in love with him already!" Pam wailed.
"I am not!" Sookie protested with a giggle, but she wasn't sure if she was being truthful.
"I should have known better than to let you come here. I should have met you in London or sent you home or sold you into slavery, something, anything rather than let him get his hands on you."
"Oh, stop!" Sookie was fully laughing now. "You're being silly. He's not really had his hands on me. Well, not much anyway. I mean, he did kiss me outside the spider exhibit."
"The spider exhibit? He took you to the aquarium to see the spiders?"
"Yes."
"Of course he did. He probably felt the need to be around his own kind."
"Pam! That's a terrible thing to say about your own brother!"
"Is it? Maybe I should introduce you to some of the women he's spun tight little webs around and then left them wondering what to do next when some new tasty morsel caught his eye."
Sookie felt herself recoiling from her friend. "I don't think I'd like that," she said weakly.
"Oh, Sookie, I'm so sorry." Pam hugged her friend and held her close. "I just don't want to see you hurt, that's all."
"He only took me to a park, Pam, in broad daylight. He didn't ask me to run away with him."
"Thank goodness," Pam sighed. "I'd hate to think about him asking more than the park from you."
But he had asked for more than the park, and that was all Sookie could think about.