======================================Chapter Three============================================

I scrambled out of my bed and hit the floor on the opposite side of my bed. I was frozen stiff! Then I felt an unexpected wash of calm slide over me. It was warm and comforting and seemed to wrap me up tightly. Oh my God, It's... him.

It's ERIC!

I jumped up from my hiding place and glared back at the window. Yep, it was him alright. Standing there in the dark with that mind numbing, spine tingling smirk on his face. I stomped over to the window and jerked my curtains shut and hopped back in bed. I looked over at my digital clock and saw that is was 4:30 am.

I heard the slightest little tapping on my window. I didn't even move when I said, "It's late Eric, what do you want?" I knew he would be able to hear me.

Through the window, barely audible (to me) I heard, "We need to talk".

I was tired and in no mood for him after he scared the life out of me at 4:30 in the morning.

He said, "I'll meet you around back."

"Oh no you don't buddy, I rescind your invitation." With that he was back at the window and I could feel a little confusion coming form him. I walked over to the window, pulled back the curtain and opened the window. "Look, Eric, it's late, I'm tired and what makes you think you can just show up like this in the middle of the night and scare the crap out of me. Then you think I'll just let you in for a talk? I don't think so. I'll give you five minutes at this window and I'm going back to bed. Take it or leave it!"

He was drinking me in with those beautiful blue eyes that I absolutely loved. I could see a slight wrinkle in his nose and then he asked, "Where have you been tonight? You smell of Shifter and Weres. And when did you come in contact with a horse"

Horse? What the hell is he talking about... not the point really. "None of your business, detective."

"On the contrary, Lover I find it is my business if you are going to come so close to my bar and send such strong desires through our bond. Did you think I would not know?"

"Look, it's not my fault we share this... um bond, but what I do with my free time is truly not your business. I haven't even heard a word from you in weeks." There I said it.

"Well if you will recall, Pam inquired tonight about your plans so I am sorry if I fell at the end of your long line of suitors." He said rather mockingly. Was he making fun of me?

"For your information Mr. Northman, I went to a Chamber of Commerce function with Trey Dawson as a favor to Amelia. She fell and couldn't go herself. And you can drop the high and mighty routine too, if you wanted to "inquire" about my plans you could have called yourself instead of having one of your flunkies do it for you!" I snapped.

He found this amusing as apparent by the ear to ear grin on his face. "Oh yes, I think Pam told me that the witch... what did she say? Broke her ass?" I couldn't help but grin at that. "How does one break their ass?"

I giggled out loud and then proceded to tell him about the hair line fracture. The conversation was definitely lighter. I rested my elbow on the window sill with my head in my palm. I let out a big yawn and felt my eyes water a bit. Goodness I was sleepy.

"I can see you are tired, Lover. I'll let you get back to sleep." I heard him say, my eyes had involuntarily shut while yawning. When I opened my eyes he was gone.

"Hmph, damn vampires." Was all I could manage as I shut and locked my window and crawled back into bed. I wonder why Pam called earlier? He didn't exactly tell me, but I didn't ask either. Oh well... to tired to think... must get back to... I was out like a light.

I slept in pretty late Thursday morning and when I got up, I had just enough time to shower, grab a quick bite to eat and head off to Merlotte's to work the lunch shift.

I went through the motions of refilling drinks and delivering food. Arlene was is her now normal snippy mood. Throwing me a dirty look whenever she thought I wasn't looking. Whatever.

I didn't even realize when he came in. I turned from the bar to go take a tray of drinks over to a group of women and saw Luke sitting in my section with one of his band mates. I glanced over at Sam who was clearly testing the air. He could smell the Shifter. He apparently approved because he smiled and flicked his head in their direction, signaling me to go take their order.

"Hey Luke! How are you?" I said as I approached, pen and order pad in hand.

"I'm great Sookie, and you?" He said cheerfully.

"I'm just peachy."

His friend had a little smirk on his face. "Oh sorry," Luke said, "Sookie, this is my good friend Matt. He plays drums in the band. Matt this is Sookie".

"Hey there Matt." I said as I stuck out my hand to him. "It's nice to meet you."

"Pleasure's all mine." He said with a sweet southern drawl.

With a huge smile on my face I went to the kitchen with their order for two cheeseburger baskets and a beer a piece. I went around and checked on the rest of my tables, checking back with Luke and Matt often. They finished their food and had one more beer before they got up to leave. I saw Matt walk out the front door, but Luke was heading my way.

"Hey Sookie, I was wondering if you wanted to maybe have lunch with me tomorrow, of course that is if you're free." He spit out rather quickly. Well this was unexpected. Lunch would be great, should I say yes? Why shouldn't I? It's not like I'm dating anyone.

"I'd love to, Luke. I'm not scheduled to work until the dinner shift tomorrow night so that would work out fine."

"Awesome, can I pick you up around Noon then? He said excitedly.

"Sure, let me just go grab something to write on and I'll give you my address and some directions."

When I got home that evening Amelia could definitely see my enhanced mood.

"What gives, Sook? Sam passing out happy pills at the bar?"

"Nope. I have a date." I said as I pranced back to my room leaving her in the living room with her mouth hanging open. Bonus.

The Fear was even more intense tonight. His face as I came around the corner in my car even more extreme. Was it relief, worry, wonder? All I could feel was the fear. Again I was the rescuer and again I woke up breathing heavy and flushed.

Friday morning was bright and sunny. It was supposed to be in the upper 60's so that was good. I wondered what to wear for my lunch date. Well it's just lunch so I'm sure jeans would be fine. I showered and threw on my most comfy form fitting jeans paired with a couple layered tees and started to pull my hair up out of shear instinct. You know, I felt like having it down today. Some mascara and lip gloss and I was finished.

Amelia was on her perch in the living room as I walked in. "So, where's he taking you for lunch." She asked.

"You know, I have no idea." I really didn't, we hadn't even talked about it.

I heard the gravel crunch as Luke pulled down my driveway. I glanced out the window as he made his way up to the house. I quickly introduced Luke and Amelia and out the door we went.

He opened the door of his impressingly clean Chevy Tahoe. It was white with tan leather interior. It wasn't new but it was very nice. We exchanged pleasantries for a few miles and then I realized that I still had no idea where we were going.

"So, Luke where are we going for lunch?"

"Actually, I thought we could have a picnic. Is that alright?" He said with a sideways glance.

Wow, I hadn't been on a picnic in a long time. What a nice idea. "Sure, that sounds great."

After driving for about 30 minutes, and making more turns than I could remember, we pulled into the most peaceful looking meadow, complete with fruit trees and a pond. We got out and he went around to the back of his truck and pulled out a blue plaid blanket and an old fashioned picnic basket. This guy was just full of surprises.

Luke spread the blanket out under an apple tree that was closest to the pond. There were still a few apples left even though it was past its fall prime. He opened the picnic basket to reveal an assortment of sandwiches and fruit. There was even a small cooler with what looked to me like homemade potato salad. Mmmmm, my mouth was watering.

"Goodness Luke, this looks wonderful!"

"Well, my Mama always said that anything worth doing was worth doing well."

"I absolutely agree".

This was turning out to be a wonderful day. After we finished eating we talked about his band and a little about my job at Merlottes. After a brief silence, Luke stood up and told me he had one more surprise. He had a weird little smirk on his face when he asked how my balance was?

"Huh? Well, I mean it's okay I guess, why." If I sounded confused, it was because I was.

"Just remember," he said. "Grip with your thighs and don't be afraid to get a good grip with your hands." With that he took off back to his truck, which was pulled up to a big patch of overgrown blackberry bushes.

"What are you talking about!" I yelled after him. No reply. What the heck was he talking about. If he thinks for one second I'll be gripping any parts of him with my thighs he was so wrong.

The second I finished that thought I saw coming towards me from behind his truck and the blackberry bushes was the biggest and prettiest horse I had ever seen! His body was exactly the same dark brown as Luke's hair. There was a lighter brown color around the muzzle and my god he still had those bright green eyes! The stallion was breath taking. He trotted right to me with a magnificent presence. I reached out to rub his nose and he dipped his head to accommodate.

"Luke! You are gorgeous!" With that the stallion neighed loudly and shook his head up and down causing his beautiful mane to bounce in the sun.

As I was still admiring my new friend, he turned his side to me and dropped down on one of his front knees. I've only seen this done at the circus and the horses were always my favorite act! I looked at Luke questioningly and he made a gesture with with head that could only mean, Get on.

"Oh no, I couldn't Luke. I've never rode a horse before, well except for a few pony rides when I was little but this is way different and where would I hold on and...." he gave an abrupt snort effectively cutting me off.

Okay, Sookie, you can do this. Luke said to grip with my thighs and not to be afraid to get a good a grip with my hand. So that's what he meant. "Okay, but go slow."

I swung one leg over his back and hopped up at the same time he was bringing himself up to his full height. I quickly tightened my thighs and grabbed a hold of his gorgeous mane. "Is this okay." I asked.

He just snorted, which sounded kind of like a laugh. We trotted across the meadow and I must say, I was having the time of my life. This was fun. For the first time in a while I was having actual innocent fun.

I could feel Luke start to speed up a little bit and as we came through a little cluster of trees that opened up into a huge rolling field, he took off! Before I knew it, we were soaring across the grass at a fast, even pace. I could feel my hair billowing out behind me. My eyes were watering slightly from the wind hitting my face. If I didn't know any better I though we might just take off right into the air. It was exhilarating! I was squealing with excitement and loving every minute of it.

After making a few more rounds over the rolling hills, we arrived back at our picnic spot. I slide off the Stallion panting like an olympic sprinter. Why was I so tired, I wasn't the one running. I looked at Luke who didn't look winded at all. I wrapped my arms around his massive neck and he tilted his head down to nuzzle into my shoulder. He's amazing, this horse is amazing. I reached up towards the apple tree over head and grabbed the prettiest one I could reach. I held it out in my hand and the huge animal picked it up with his lips and began to devour the fruit. I couldn't help but chuckle. He dipped his head as if to thank me and trotted off in the direction from which he had come earlier. I turned to face the pond to give him some privacy while he dressed since I knew he would be stark naked. As he strode toward me in a graceful gate I had not noticed before, he asked "So, what did you think?"

"Oh my goodness Luke, it was incredible!" I threw my arms around him and he swung me around like kid on a carnival ride. "Thank you so much!"

"Well, I'm glad you had fun. I don't let people ride very often, as you can imagine, most have no idea I can change. It's nice to let my guard down every once in a while."

"So, do you have a heard or something?" I asked innocently.

"Oh yes, not around here though. My heard is out west where we have room to run. For now, I'm just traveling with my band. We have an album that's getting ready to come out and I'm hoping a major label picks us up. We're actually leaving for Los Angeles in a week to play at a music festival. We're pretty excited."

"That's awesome! I hope it all works out for you guys." Darn, guess he won't be around this area much at all. Oh well, perk up Sookie just have fun while you can.

It was almost 3:00 so we decided to head back home. I needed to get ready for my shift at Merlotte's. It was a pleasant ride home and when we got there, Luke did the gentlemanly thing and walked me to my door. I gave him a great big hug and thanked him again for the exciting afternoon. He told me how much he enjoyed my company and gave me a warm kiss on the cheek. With that I turned to go inside.

"Can I call you?" He said from the bottom step.

"Anytime, Luke." I said with a smile and recited my telephone number for him. He entered it into his cell phone and hopped in his truck and left.

What a great day.

I walked in my house to find Amelia giving me her biggest goofiest smile. "So, how was the date?" She asked.

I gave her the play by play and she just stared at me with the look of a child who was being read their favorite bedtime story. When I had finished all she could say was, "Wow, just wow."

"I know, right? It was so much fun!"

"Last time I rode a horse I ended up pretty much like I am know. I could hardly sit down. Of course it wasn't a shifter and all that animal wanted to do was scrape me off on the closest tree." She laughed.

"Oh" She said, "before I forget, something came for you today, go look in the kitchen."

As I walked around the corner, I saw the most exquisite vase of white Calla Lilies. They literally took my breath away. There was a little white envelope stuck to a plastic holder and inside was a plain thick square a paper that read:

I'm sorry if my last visit startled you, Lover. I intend our next meeting to

be much more... pleasurable.

Until next time..

~E

TBC