Authors note: Thanks for the reviews and bookmarks I am grateful for them.

This is not a one-shot – I wrote the original (when Eric and Rebecca first met) for the HSH contest but can't post it until the New Year so that's why this has come first.

This chapter contains some lemony goodness.

Eric and Pam are the creations of Charlaine Harris. Everyone else is mine lol. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely intentional *giggle*

I waited in the arrivals lounge at the airport for Eric and Pam to arrive. It was nearly 8pm and their flight had been delayed because of the snow so I knew they'd both be wide awake by the time they landed. I watched the small Anubis plane hit the runway and gasped as it fishtailed wildly on the ice but the pilot managed to straighten it up and they stopped before they ran out of tarmac.

By the time it had taxied to the gate my heart had just about stopped thudding wildly in my chest and I felt like I'd run a marathon. Next winter they wouldn't be visiting in the snow. This was crazy. I subconsciously straightened my coat and took myself for a walk around the baggage belt to try and calm my nerves. This was only the third time Eric had been to visit and I still wasn't really sure what to expect. By the time I had done my third circuit around the tiny lounge he had come through immigration and suddenly there he was, larger than life and so stunningly masculine he took my breath away. Striding towards me his face lit up and before I knew what I was doing I had hurled myself into his arms and he was swinging me round while we both laughed breathlessly, raining kisses all over each others faces and oblivious to the world around us.

Or at least we were until Pam cleared her throat. "I'm thinking of handing out score cards." She said acidly and I froze, suddenly realising that people were staring at the giant blond with the jungle monkey hanging off him.

"I'd give her a ten." A nearby passenger waiting for the Bristol flight remarked and I flushed crimson, hiding my face in Eric's jacket.

"Please put me down." I mumbled, my face burning, but Eric had my legs around his waist and they weren't going anywhere while he was in charge. "Seriously, put me down." Just then the baggage belt started up and he had to release me. I slid down his front realising two things. One, I had totally forgotten how tall he was and two, he was evidently very happy to see me.

"Where are the porters?" Pam asked, looking around and I chuckled.

"There aren't any porters." I explained. "This is a tiny airport."

"So who carries the luggage?" She seemed genuinely confused and I started laughing.

"Man up Pam, you're in Scotland now." I caught the handles of the bags as they went past and we hauled them all out to, what even I had to admit, was my totally badass car. Eric was beside himself, not knowing whether to be pleased that I was using his gift or furious that I had made him pay so dearly for being so heavy-handed about it.

I was about to climb into the driver's seat when Pam stopped dead and gaped at my feet. "What are those?" She demanded and I looked down.

"Um...snow boots?" I blinked. "Dude, what planet did you land from that you've never seen snow boots?"

She ignored the question. "I must have some. They are so quaint. Like Eskimo boots."

"I know just the shop." I grinned and got into the car, waiting for everyone to close doors and buckle seatbelts. Eric had grumbled when I'd insisted on it at first but once he realised how stubborn I could be he'd actually given in and Pam followed his lead. I started the engine, thinking all over again that the dashboard looked like it belonged in a space ship. All those buttons...I wished I knew what any of them did.

"So the car is good on the ice?" Eric asked smugly and I nodded, happy to let him be full of himself for a while. We all knew I'd cut him down to size sooner or later, he just didn't want to admit it.

"It was a bit hairy coming down the braes but it'll be worse on the way back." I admitted. "The temperature is dropping to double figures below freezing once night falls so the roads are like ice rinks."

"What are the braes?" Pam asked from the back and I tried to explain that it was a name for a steep hill but I don't think I did it very well because she asked why they didn't just call them hills. It was complicated.

The airport was about ten minutes out of the city and by the time we had navigated our way back to the A9 and then off it again into town the vampires were starting to loosen up a little after their long flight.

"You drive this route like you have done it often." Eric commented as we passed Raigmore Hospital and headed further into the residential areas.

I smiled at him, a little sadly. "I used to come down a lot on courses when I was still working for the Police." I explained. "This is where our area HQ is. In fact the B&B we're staying at is one I've stayed at many times before. That's why they didn't mind my unusual requests. They're quite excited at having their first vampire guests."

"Is it really true that there are no vampires here?" Pam asked as I turned right onto Annfield Road and I shrugged.

"There are some – Eric said he had to ask permission to visit so I guess it's someone's territory, right?" Eric nodded along with me but didn't comment so I continued. "It's because we're so far north. At the height of summer we only get an hour of darkness. You wouldn't be able to function with only an hour of waking every day." I didn't have to turn round to know that Pam was shuddering and I smiled as I turned right at the traffic lights before pulling into the driveway of the B&B. I carefully manoeuvred the car around so it was facing back towards the road and then hustled them inside with the luggage. It was bitterly cold out and they might not feel it but my ears were starting to hurt and I wished I'd worn my hat to the airport.

"Rebecca! You made it back from the airport okay?" Michelle came out of their flat and grinned broadly at me.

"Hi Michelle." I smiled back at her. She was a lovely woman. "Yeah, the roads aren't too bad out that way but I had to go. These Americans...so inconvenient..." I winked to let her know I was kidding but Pam wasn't impressed.

"I'm English!" She declared proudly and then wilted. "Or at least I was. And Eric's no more American than I am."

Eric flashed a dazzling smile at us. "That's true." He purred. "I'm all Viking." Michelle giggled but I squashed the lust that flared through me and slowly looked him up and down.

"And apparently all poser too." I pointed out. "Get over yourself and carry the bags upstairs. We're in Room 2."

Pam sniggered and Michelle handed her a key. "You'll be next door in room three." She gestured towards the staircase. "Follow me."

We let Michelle settle Pam in while I let Eric into our room. He looked around while I started unpacking his clothes into the cupboard and grimaced. "This is...snug." He said sarcastically and I shrugged.

"It's cosy. I like it. And besides, you haven't seen the bathroom yet." I tried to keep the amusement out of my voice but Eric clearly picked up on it. Wordlessly he brushed past me and opened the door to the bathroom, sticking his head in.

"Oh. Oh yes." Suddenly he was all smiles and fang. "Now this is more like it." He curled his large hand around my arm and pulled me to him. "Let's get naked. I have ideas about that shower."

"Already? Wow, and there was me thinking you were just another dumb blond..."

"Do not tease me lover." He growled, his fangs running out slightly. "I have done nothing but think of you since my last visit in September. It has driven me..." he licked his lips and I shivered with anticipation "...quite wild."

Good lord, I was getting all hot and bothered under my cosy cable-knit jumper. Then I glanced at the vanity shelf by the mirror and I just couldn't help it. "Well fine" I grumbled "but I'm wearing the shower cap. I just washed my hair this afternoon. It'll go fluffy."

"The shower cap?" Eric actually gaped at me and I practically killed myself trying not to laugh.

"Well, I know it's not sexy and all but-"

"Get naked NOW woman!" He roared and I just collapsed against him in a fit of giggles, letting him take my bodyweight as I clutched at my sides and laughed until I cried at the thought of getting busy with him while wearing nothing but the shower cap. Finally he sighed. "Must I do everything myself?" He grumbled and propped me up against the glass doors of the huge double walk-in shower so that he could start pulling my top off.

I patiently let him manhandle me about the bathroom until I was down to my underwear and by that time I had calmed down enough to respond to his kisses. Sensing the mood had changed, he pulled his T-shirt off and held me against his naked chest, curling his hands gently into my hair. "I really did miss you." He confessed gently, kissing the top of my head. "You drive me nuts and yet..." he still wasn't used to expressing himself and struggled to find the words. "...I go home and laugh about it, you know? I'd have killed anyone else for insulting me the way you do and yet somehow you make it endearing."

I smiled just as softly as I looked up at him. "You're just a sucker for punishment. But I missed you too." I leaned slightly back and he bent down to kiss me as I began to unbuckle his jeans, sliding my hands inside them to cup the smooth, muscled planes of his butt. It always amused me that Eric went commando. I wondered sometimes if he'd ever caught his dick in the zip. If he had he'd surely never admit to it but I filed the question away in my head for springing on him at a future date. Then I wondered why I was thinking about embarrassing accidents when I had my hands full of naked Viking flesh. Foolish woman.

We finally made it into the shower and Eric sat me on the small alcoved ledge in the wall while he waited for the water to warm up. It was only five inches wide and I had to brace my arms against the sides of the alcove to keep from sliding off. When the water was warm he reached up to replace the shower head in the cradle, giving me a fine view of the line of his body, and if I hadn't been so sure I'd fall off I would have applauded. I was quite certain people would buy tickets to see what I had an eyeful of right then. Heat flared low in my core as he turned and slowly walked towards me, steam and spray rising up about him and giving him a halo that shone in the overhead lights. He was so beautiful I caught my breath all over again.

"I have dreamed often of that look." He murmured, laying his hands on my hips. "It makes me feel like I have a soul for you to gaze into."

Wow. I mean really...wow. For an emotionally challenged vampire he certainly had a way with words. I couldn't think of a response that didn't involve a theological discussion on the philosophy of the animated corpse so I just stayed quiet and let him kiss me, which he did thoroughly and with great aplomb. When I came up for air I was a quivering mass of nerve endings that wanted desperately to flame out in a blaze of glory but he clearly had no intention of rushing, taking his time in selecting a bottle of shower gel and carefully starting to smooth it over me from my shoulders down.

I moaned softly as firm hands massaged my breasts, experienced fingers circling my nipples until they ached with need. "Please Eric." I gasped. "It's been months."

"So a few more minutes shouldn't hurt." He was amused but said it softly and my arms trembled with my conflicting desires to throw myself at him or endure this exquisite agony. I watched him wide-eyed as he rested my left ankle on his shoulder and soaped it up, starting at my feet and working towards my thigh. I closed my eyes in feverish anticipation as he stroked close to my womanhood but he didn't touch it, instead raising my right ankle and balancing it on his other shoulder while skilled hands caressed and danced across my calves. Nearly howling with frustration and want I actually considered just letting go of the walls. Surely he'd catch me before I fell and then I could somehow get him to fill the part of me that needed him inside me more than I needed to breathe.

When he was done with the soap he moved forward until my knees were resting on his shoulders and then he lowered himself to his knees. The abrupt change of angle nearly made me slide right off the ledge but he pinned me in place with strong hands on my hips and before I could gather myself his sinfully practised tongue was sliding across my opening in long, sure strokes.

"Oh!" I gasped, arching my back and forgetting to hold on again but he pinned me firmly in place as I struggled to move against him. "Eric please!" I could feel him chuckling as his tongue flickered over and over my nub and when I was right at the edge and thought I was either going to cry or go crazy, he finally lifted his face and smiled at me, rising to his feet and scooping me to him in one graceful move.

He held me so that my face was on a level with his and looked me in the eye. I could feel the long length of him pressing gently against my opening and I whimpered, trying to push downwards but he held me firmly.

"Rebecca I have every intention of fucking you as hard and as thoroughly as you deserve but I have one condition." He said mildly and I struggled to focus on him through the haze of my lust.

"What? What condition?" I wasn't really listening, I was too far gone, too liquid with desire.

"I have a gift for you and you will accept it graciously when I am done." He sounded stern.

"Yes yes." I squirmed in his arms but he tightened his grip until I looked at him again.

"Was that a promise?" He asked and I growled.

"For fucks sake Eric! Yes that was a promise! Now! Please!"

"Good." His fangs were fully extended as he slowly let me drop onto him, inch by glorious inch, and I was writhing in his arms as my body welcomed him home. It felt so good. He braced me against the wall and did exactly as he intended while the water cascaded down around us drowning out everything except this moment, right here.

Afterwards I was sat on the bed in my towel watching while Eric rummaged around in his bag, as gloriously naked as ever. I thought he was looking for clothes but when he reappeared with a large jewellery box my hasty promise made in the heat of the moment sat heavy on my chest and I looked at him apprehensively.

"Don't look at me like that lover." Smug bastard. "You promised you would be gracious about this."

Trying not to sigh I accepted the box and hesitantly opened it. Inside was the most incredible necklace I had ever seen – a string of large white emerald cut stones. It was just stunning.

"They're white sapphires." He offered quietly, sounding as though he was trying to gauge my reaction. "I thought you would understand-"

"That some things have a greater value than can be measured by money." I finished for him. He knew I adored rare gemstones and white sapphires are some of the rarest stones in the world. I started to smile at him and then a sneaking suspicion crept into my mind. Blinking, I looked back at the box and started counting.

Then I just about died laughing – there were exactly 36 stones in the necklace.