A/N: I want to thank everyone who faved and reviewed my very first chapter to my very first fan fiction. I opened my inbox to 30+ alerts/favs/reviews and was stunned at the reaction to one chapter. Thank you all and I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much.

Chapter 4 will bring us an Eric POV, so stay tuned…

Eric's calling me. How could I have missed sunset? Glancing at my watch, still on Louisiana time, I realized it wasn't sunset there yet. There was still another good fifteen or twenty minutes of light left. Right, Eric's always been an early riser.

"Ha," I practically snorted at the double entendre.

Bracing myself, I know I shouldn't answer it. But I can't help staring at it while it moves in my hand telling me I should answer the phone when someone calls. I want to answer it. I close my eyes, feeling him through our bond as I do so. His mind is fully alert now and not the gentle hum I get from him when he's in his daytime sleep. And I can feel his state of mind. He's…worried.

Well, crap.

If I could feel his emotions at this distance, he most definitely should be able to feel mine. Even though my nerves are practically shot right now, he should at least know I'm not in any danger.

I know he can track me through our bond but I had no idea how far the connection stretched over distance. I needed him to know I was safe but not be able to find me at the same time. If I answer, I know he would be able to figure out I at least stopped in California. But even if he did know, could he just up at leave Shreveport with all his Sheriff duties to worry about? I know he can't tell Felipe that I'd just up and left. It would undermine his ability as Sheriff to not be in control of "his human." Also, Felipe would probably send out about a million people find me and then I'd really have a problem.

Plus, there's still Victor to worry about. If he knew I was gone, he might use that as ammunition against Eric too, since I'm technically an "asset" to the kingdom. Fucking vampires.

My phone stopped vibrating. Glancing down, I realized I was gripping it so tightly, my knuckles were white. It beeped to tell me I had a new message. Then it started ringing again.

"Shit." Maybe I should just answer it. Oh… a text might work. Would a text work the same way as phone call does? Ugg… I have no fucking idea.

I cave.

Please don't worry. I'm going somewhere safe. Can't tell you where. Go to my house in Bon Temps. Turning off my phone now. I love you.

I hope that's enough. I notice a missed call from Claude before switching off my phone. He's probably read my letter. Nothing to do about that now.

I can feel Eric in the back of my mind. "Pissed," would be an understatement.

xxxxxx

I couldn't sleep on the plane. I'm in one of those seats that recline fully back into a little bed. It's amazingly comfortable for an airplane seat, with a down pillow and big fluffy blanket. And all I can do is stare at the partition separating me from the other passengers and feel the tendrils of the bond between Eric and myself being stretched to the snapping point in my mind. It felt like a lifeline being cut; one of those thick braided ropes you would find on a construction site or on a ship. When it snaps the edges become all frayed and unbraided. I thought I might just have an aneurysm. For the last three hours my head has done nothing but throb in pain. Finally, it just went numb from it all. I think my mind went into shock just to protect itself from feeling it anymore and numbed everything out. Eventually, everything just faded out.

"Can I take it off yet?"

"Not yet, lover," he whispered in my ear, as I gasped, sending shivers out from my center, up my spine and down to my toes.

"Eyes on the rode buddy. It better not be anything crazy, Eric. You've done too much already."

"Sookie," he warned, "trust me."

"But you won't even tell me where we're going!" I was grasping at straws and completely exasperated.

"Honestly, I can't believe you haven't figured it out yet. You did…consent …to update," he sighed. As if those were not good enough words to describe what he'd done.

"My house?" We're going to Bon Temps? He'd finished with my house? "I only 'consented' under duress. You were practically tormenting me with your tongue. I would have consented to anything," I said, glaring at him, not that he could see it. I swear I heard him smiling. Smug bastard.

"If we're going to Bon Temps, I don't get why I need a blindfold on," I stated, moving to take it off.

Before my brain registered what was going on, both my wrists were encircled in one of his enormous hands. "Sookie. I want you to be surprised. Don't touch it," he growled.

"You can't drive with just one hand the rest of the way," I stated, grinning. "How will you shift?"

"Lover, you of all people, shouldn't be surprised at all the things I can do with just one hand." Had anyone else said that, I would have rolled my eyes and ignored it but just the way he said it, half way between being full of arrogance and lust, made me tingle everywhere. And of course, he knew it. "As you can clearly see…or feel, for yourself."

Goddamnit. I leaned my head back in defeat. "Fine," I huffed. "You win. You can let go now. I won't take it off."

"Excellent. Either way, however, we will be there in a few minutes."

He guided me out of the car, holding on to my upper arm so I wouldn't trip. If he parked in the back like I suspected when I heard the gravel, I would bet money that we were walking to the front of the house.

He stopped and turned me. Encircling my waist from behind me, he leaned down to kiss that sweet spot just under my earlobe. Softly, he trailed chaste kisses up and down my neck and shoulders on both sides, his tongue darting out at unpredictable intervals to play with my earlobes when he reached them. I groaned, unable to stymie the reactions he brought out in me. I could feel his fanged smile at the point my neck and shoulders meet.

"Are you ready," he whispered.

It took me a minute to realize he was back to talking about the house. I shifted my focus back to why we were here. "Are you kidding? I've been ready to see what you've been up to out here for the past two weeks!"

"Maybe I shouldn't have had the contractors work so quickly to finish…"

"Eric!" I turned, aiming to playfully slap him on the arm. I missed completely, got nothing but air and nearly trip as I loose my balance.

Eric roared with laughter as he caught me and spun me around, ripping off the blindfold in the process.

I gasped. "It's beautiful." The words barely registered as leaving my lips. If my mouth gaped any more, a train could pass through it. Flies had found a new home.

It was like the fire never happened. The porch was in one piece again. There was a new porch swing and two new, resin wicker chairs on the other side of the door. The whole exterior was painted white with a navy finish painted onto the exterior surrounding all the windows. There were new double hung windows, bigger than the old ones, with custom grill patterns, giving the edges of the windows a near stained glass effect, without the stained glass.

"I know you were adamant about keeping a tin roof, that hasn't changed," he paused, "although it has been reinforced and replaced with a higher quality tin. Both your front and kitchen doors have reinforced steel centers with wood overlays. The wood surrounding the frames has also been reinforced. There are peepholes in both doors and two deadbolts on each. The windows have been laminated to prevent further break-ins. Someone could throw a cinderblock at these windows and they won't break."

"Eric, it's too much," I protested. I couldn't even imagine the fortune he'd spent to do all this. I know the insurance would have covered all the basic repairs. That's what I had paid the contractors to do. It covered the cost of replacing the furniture and building the porch back up but - the way it had been painted, the extra reinforcements - that was all Eric.

"No, Sookie. You are my wife. You will have the necessary safeguards in place," he said turning me around to face him. "Consider the fact that I will also be protecting myself when I stay here. We were both lucky that your cousin was in the house that morning. Otherwise, I would have met my final death and you would have been taken."

It's true. I didn't want anything other projectiles flying through my windows. And Lord knows my door has been replaced enough times. Son of a bitch. I didn't want to risk either of us again like that.

I looked up into Eric's eyes, nodding my acquiescence. He smiled and pulled me close to him.

"Good. Now, all the rooms have been charmed to contain a fire should one erupt. The spell will contain the fire within the room so it shouldn't spread and you would have enough time to either put the fire out or safely exit. The door to your bedroom has a few additional features for my safety. It has been reinforced similarly to your front doors and is fire retardant. There is also a hidden keypad if I rest with you during the day."

I raised my eyebrows into his chest. "That's completely insane."

He continued as if he hadn't heard me. "The windows is your room and the guest bedroom have also been installed with sliding blackout shutters that will roll down from inside the wall, over the window."

I just looked at him, quirking an eyebrow. "Anything else?"

A smirk crawled slowly across his face. "Oh, yes. But the rest, you will have to see from inside the house." He made no actual move toward the house but continued to look into my eyes and hold my waist to him.

I cracked a smile. "Okay," and made a bee-line for the house. He let me get my hand on the screen door before he pulled me so that my back was to his chest again and covered my eyes with his hands. "This again," I huff, attempting to pull his hand away with no luck.

"Wait," he whispered into my neck. He moved his hand from my waist and I heard him as he unlocked the door. Interlocking his long fingers with mine and placing his other hand at the small of my back, we moved forward into the house together.

"Now you can see," he murmured, and lifted his hand.

"OH MY GOD," I screamed. Victor Madden was standing in my living room. I spun around. Eric was gone. "Eric?"

"He's not here," Victory growled, practically in my ear.

I spun back to face Victor. He was still in the same spot. My heart was pounding in my ears and I was rooted to the spot. I wanted to move. I wanted to run. I wanted to scream. I wanted to defend myself. I wanted Victor Madden wrapped in silver and me with a stake in my hand. But I couldn't move. I couldn't scream. I couldn't so much as make a sound.

Move. Move. Move, I thought. Why can't I move?

He moved closer to me, slowly. Each arrogant move he made in languid strides until his face was inches from mine.

I still couldn't move. I couldn't even whisper a cry.

"Did you really think this would stop me? You think your Viking can protect you? You think I don't know every move he makes?" He gripped the hair at the base of my neck and pulled my face to within an inch of his. "No one here can protect you."

To prove his point, he pulled the hair he was holding sharply to the side, exposing my neck. I heard the loud click of his fangs in the empty room. I thought I would pee my pants, my heart was pounding so fast.

My eyes flew open to the grey color of the partition around my seat. My heart was pounding in my chest and I couldn't move a muscle. It took my brain a full minute to realize I was awake and another to realize my muscles were still paralyzed from my dream state. Slowly, my muscles relaxed themselves and I sat up. My shirt color was covered in sweat and I was shaking.

"Excuse me, ma'am," the flight attendant said, from the other side of my partition.

"Yes?" I could hear my voice crack slightly.

"We will be landing in Sydney approximately thirty minutes, so I have to ask you to please move your seat into its upright position and stow away and items you may have taken out."

A/N: So, who was expecting Sydney?

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