Part One

Merlotte's

Jessica POV

"I smell sex and…candddy, yeah, who's that lounging in my chair?"

I can see why my Momma and Daddy wouldn't let Eden and me watch TV or listen to the top 40 stations everybody else my age does. It's all so…dirty. But I guess I can be dirty now. I'm a vampire.

Why am I staring at this menu? I don't even know why I came in here. No, that's a lie, I do. I smelled the place before I felt the warmth of the bright lights. Humans. Drunk, friendly humans, out of control, their guards down. Lots of them. And each one smells better than the last. I inhale deeply. Damn. There is nothing human to compare this to. Nothing that was ever this good. I've never had sex, but I can't imagine it's this good. But I want to. I want to know how good it is, and I want to know how good it is to drink human blood too. The idea of doing both at the same time pops into my head, and I'm instantly so turned on, I can barely think. I cross my legs tight. Warm, wet, gushing, sweet blood, with my victim deep inside me…mine, mine, mine….

A guy is coming over here. He's talking to me but I can't keep track of the words. So I just look up at him. He's really tall. I'm 5'10, and I can tell he towers over me. This is what I'm thinking instead of listening to him.

"If you're alone that is…." That's the end of whatever he just said.

"I'm alone", I choke out, and he sits down.

He's talking again and all I can see is his jugular jumping around as he speaks.

"I was sitting there askin myself – Hoyt, why can't you ever meet a nice girl – and then you…just walked right in."

"How do you know I'm a nice girl?" If he had any idea what I was just thinking about…what I was thinking about doing to him.

"Your smile. See…right there, aww, I could stare at that all day long."

"Day? Yeah right." This man belongs to the Iight of day, and I can smell the sun on his skin.

"Did I say something wrong?"

He really is handsome.

"No. 'Course not."

"Good, because I don't want to scare you off." He's afraid he's going to scare ME?

"Do you want some food? Are you hungry? You should try the chicken fried steak. It's like a steak and a chicken had a baby…a delicious, crispy baby…."

He thinks he's said the wrong thing because he blushes bright red, and his head droops.

No boys ever talked to me in school. Not that I could have done anything with them if they had. But this is a grown man. A grown man with eyes the color of the Gulf. I don't know what he does for a living, but his chest and arms are lightly carved. Not the way guys look who spend their lives in the gym, but natural looking tone developed the old fashioned way – by working hard all day.

I have to say something. And this is where he leaves.

"I'll just take a TruBlood. B positive."

He looks up slowly. "You're a vampire? For real?"

I don't even nod. It was fun while it lasted – a nice man talking to me.

"That is awessssome. One TruBlood comin'up."

He gets up to get my drink. I puff out a deep breath I didn't know I was holding. He likes me anyway? No, no, no, Jessica, don't hope. You know what happens when you hope.

But he's just standing by the bar, and he keeps looking back at me, smiling. This is a bad idea. I don't even know who I am right now, what I'm capable of. Bill tells me I'm a "loaded gun." I have to apologize to Sookie for getting her into so much trouble. Once I know she's okay. It's all my fault we were out there last night, all my fault she was scratched by that thing. If she dies because of me…I'll never forgive myself, and my maker won't either. He loves her so much.

I'm lost in thought when he comes back with a TruBlood for me and a bottle of beer for himself.

"One TruBlood, B positive", he says, setting it in front of me.

"Thank you."

"I hope I didn't scare you, just coming up to you like that…"

"No, not at all." The longer I stare at him, the dreamier he gets. And he doesn't mind that I'm a vampire. He didn't run for his life. Or a stake. Or a burning cross.

We finish our drinks, and sit in silence. Not that there isn't plenty to talk about, it's just…we're both as finely strung as a piano wire. Neither of us wants to be talking. We both just want to be in each other's arms.

"I hate to say goodnight", he says, flushing pink again.

"Me too."

"Really?" His eyes light up.

The feelings churning inside me have me pulled in a dozen different directions. I'm trapped between feeling lustful, protective, excited, and just plain hungry. The smell of his blood could send me into a frenzy.

"Want to come home with me for a while?" I ask. Just get him in your lair, the vampire in me snarls.

"To Vampire Bill's house?"

I nod. We stand up, he tosses money on the table, and waves to a couple of people on the way out.

I was right, he's a big guy, tall, solid.

"May I?" he asks, holding out an arm.

"Please." I feel giggly, the way girls described in high school. And my stomach is flip flopping.

He wraps that arm around me. He's warm and his plaid shirt is soft and smells like laundry detergent, sweat, and a scent all his own.

I feel safe. It's strange because, in reality, I could pick up a car and he can't. But…I feel girly around him, and lean into him.

"You're so pre…pretty", he says. He's shaking with nerves. He's the most adorable guy who ever lived.

He opens the passenger door of a big old truck, the kind a "guy-guy" drives, and I hop up onto the seat.

I have to act modest, like a good girl should, I know. But it takes all I have not to lunge at him. Not to try to put him at ease, rub his back, lean in, kiss him, kiss him so long and so hard, to straddle him, to feel his warm, sweet blood rush into my mouth. Mine, mine, mine.

"Ready?" he asks, smiling.

"Sure", I say. It's a good thing I can't blush.