AUTHORS NOTE-Sorry, it has been so long since I posted something thank you for bearing with me. This one is just a little short one shot I wanted to do before I work on another episode, of which I think there will only be a couple more before I wrap things up and may move to just short stories. Not sure yet, thanks for bearing with me! I had another story I was going to post but I accidentally deleted it grrr….its been hard working when its been so hot out lol which is a good segue to this story! Please read and review and thanks again!

Summer had hit full force and though she could certainly feel the heat, no longer was her physiology bothered by it. She sighed as she laid back in the hammock and read listed her bikini top and sunglasses, feeling confident that this year may be her best tan yet. She wasn't burning and was instead slowly browning a little at a time. She still sweated but only ever so slightly, one of the perks of being a vampire-faerie, she supposed. And as she lay back with her smut romance novel, she had to laugh to herself that perhaps her life wasn't so far off in terms of the drama in the pages of these Harlequin novels. Albeit, she knew her story was far bloodier and more violent, supernaturally charged, that was for certain. But her face fell slightly as she thought about the past year, the losses she had had on her life. The bloodshed. Nothing could or would ever replace her daughter, though she took comfort that Aurora had died fighting, as bravely and as valiantly as she could. That her son in law Blaze had been at her side to the end as loyal to Aurora as Eric was to her. And she supposed she took comfort that most of her loved ones were still around, though make no mistake, the holes in their family were noticeable. Sookie thought about Hadley, who it had been decided that she would keep Faery on the straight an narrow, along with her son Hunter. Hadley no longer wanted any part of this realm, feeling safer in the other realm and thought it had been decided that there would no longer be a single ruler but a council, it was soon realized that things had ran better with a monarch working with a council. And so it was that Hadley was running the show, thriving and keeping things in the family. Niall, Sookie mused, would have been proud to see her thriving, to say nothing of the faerie powers finally awakening fully within the once timid, scared Hadley. Taking her under her wing, Sookie had managed to teach her cousin well and now, well, Faerie was in good hands.

Meanwhile, here at home, she was loving life as best she could, vowing to never again take anything or anyone for granted. It was always a marvel, a miracle to her how people could change. Example one, her Viking. As deadly and dangerous as he could be if one pissed him off or got on his bad side, she knew the good heart he had, that he would gladly die to protect those he cared for. Even so, she hadn't expected him to remember a certain day a few weeks back. That he had showed up at work dressed to kill in a expensive suit was one thing but to literally fly her off to a secluded bungalow was another thing. Most surprising though, she reminisced was that he had, in fact, remembered their anniversary. And had convinced the crew at Bellefleurs to act shocked as she was carried away from her duties, well, she thought , looking back, it had a amusing quality to his plans. After spending three days in paradise and receiving a sapphire necklace that could feed a small country, Sookie had been more touched by the fact that, unlike most men, he had remembered the day. Then again, he was as unlike most men as one could get, she supposed. And speaking of the devil, the tall blonde vampire came up from the sloping path that led to the second, more vampire friendly house in their property. The rustic cabin was more fortified than it appeared from the outside and though the sun was out, thanks to some of her magic within him, he could withstand a few hours of the sun without going all crispy on her.

She had started nodding off, drifting away in thoughts of the past and present and so was startled when she felt hands at her hips that instantly woke her from whatever partial sleep state she had fallen into and she giggled as he wiggled his fingers against her hops, tickling her, looking at her with a wicked smirk that could only mean trouble for her. The good kind. There was a second hammock readily available but as both were large enough for two people, Eric made himself at home sliding next to her on hers, clad only in flip-flops and simple navy blue swim trunks, a lovely sight to awaken to, to be sure. Learning how to relax and be lazy was also something she had noticed him learning to do, as much of a workaholic and serious as he could be, she liked the casual side too.

"I didn't even say you could sit there….lay there….." she said kiddingly as she craned her head to the left where he had rested beside her, sunglasses resting on his face. He turned to look at her, that grin on his face.

"I don't think in could ever begin thanking you enough for this gift. I do enjoy the sun…." he said wistfully, thinking back on how she had given him not only the sun and so much more. "I couldn't begin repaying you for- : he was stopped by a finger to his lips as she looked at his face intently.

"No payment necessary…..all I need, want is you." she said as she let the sun and his appearance heat her up. "I actually…..I wish I could do more for you actually…. " she trailed off. " It sounds stupid but….sometimes I feel powerless…..I can't bring back our loved ones. I would give up all the power I have, give everything to give you what you deserve….."

"I didn't come out here to make you upset…." he smirked at her, running a hand through his hair and leaning back to look at the perfect sky above, savoring the scents and sounds of the world around them. "I know you would do that if you could but you can't do everything…..even I….can't do everything and I am quite talented." Eric said with a look at her that practically teased her to slap that ego down a notch. And she couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"I know we are lucky to be here, together after everything but….."she sighed. "Sometimes its hard to enjoy myself knowing that which we've lost. But you have said it before, we are fortunately to have what we do have and that is what I am focusing on…after I get myself a treat." she trotted off and went into the cozy yellow house that she loved, was a part of her and emerged with a blue popsicle, which she licked nonchalantly and yet as she approached the hammock where he was watching her, she grinned and started licking it in a manner that was quite…suggestive.

"You melt me. To be that popsicle." he said with feigned regret. And though she tried to settle back onto the hammock as lady like as possible, she tripped and fell, wedging the blue popsicle between her chest and his own. As she lay atop him, she looked mortified, her attempt at being sexy having fallen flat and she watched his face turn to amusement as he looked at the cool blue mess that had so rapidly melted upon him and as she gaped at the mess, she started joining in him in laughter. "I cam turn lemons into lemonade." she said with a mischievous look and in short order, she licked every trace of blue off of his chest, though it remained sticky. "I guess maybe a dip in the new pool would be in order…." she said, nodding her head towards the secluded grotto put in just the past month where there rested a cozy lagoon style pool styled like the natural hot springs back in Sweden, near his ancestral home. But this being Bon Temps, it wasn't exactly feasible to add the beautiful ice formations around it and so it was more woodsy themed instead. "Wow…."I wasn't expecting that. Always full of surprises." he said. "But I would think you were feeling a little…blue?" she gaped at him that eh had made such a lame joke but picked her now slightly blue lips with a very blue tongue.

"What do you think? Do you think this color suits me?" she asked as she licked her blue lips with her blue tongue, ignoring the layer of sticky blue that was lingering on herself and him. "Oooh…we smell like blueberry….."

"If only I could lick that juice off of you but unfortunately, I learned the hard way after I was turned that even a lick of anything other than blood….well, its not pretty. I will just leave you with one word and you can use your imagination. Projectile."

Sookie rolled her eyes as a unpleasant image fluttered into her brain and she shook her head. "Well, then maybe you can just help me to the pool and we can get cleaned off that way." she hopped up from her position, straddling him, only to keep over thanks to the motion of the hammock. She quickly recovered, bouncing back onto her feet.

"Wow, you really know how to seduce a guy." he said as she blushed slightly, though she laughed at her own moment of clumsiness.

"I may have all kinds of supernatural talents but clearly, those can only help me so much…..so….race you to the-" she went to take off but found herself swept up in a pair of muscular arms that were all too familiar and before she could protest, there they were in the water, he taking the liberty to leap into the water, Sookie in tow. Submerged under water for a few moments, they popped back up under the water, Sookie realizing that more than a dunk had happened and she was reminded how fast he could work, as she saw her two piece bikini thrown onto one of the chaise lounge seats at the side of the pool and as she looked down at her skin, she looked up in time to see him waggling his swim trunks in his right hand and she gaped at his brazenness but that look melted into one of amusement. "Some things don't change, do they? Always looking for an excuse to be in the buff."

"Well….look at me." he replied with a shrug, that swagger she had once detested and been annoyed by now endearing, now that she knew the man behind the bravado. He dove under the water and in seconds, she felt herself melting like the popsicle long gone as he teased her every which way, every where. And it was then she decided to return the favor. A hour later, the sun was starting to set and both were poolside, clothes once again and looking at the stars and moon beginning to appear. "That was quite invigorating….I think it was good that you agreed to have this installed, you know how I love the water." he said as he stroked her hair she cuddled on his lap.

"I know full well….." she said dreamily. "I'm just glad we don't have neighbors that could hear anything." she grinned. "It was perfect timing, the sun is going down so no fear of a good burn."

"Disappointing to a degree though, I would have enjoyed getting some of that healing blood of yours….and I was starting to get hungry." he said giving her a powerful, puppy eyed look. "I was hoping for dessert."

She got up and took him by the hand. "Who said you can't have dessert?" she moved her hair away from her neck and coaxed him to follow her back into the house. "Come on, lets go." she taunted and bounded off, vanishing in a flash of light, reappearing in the window in the second story of the yellow farmhouse. "Come on, before you get relegated to your cabin of the cubby."

Not needing to be told twice, a very eager Viking raced towards the house, hearing her laughing in the near distance and it certainly had been a summer day to remember. And it was only the beginning of a long, hot summer.

THE END