A/N: I am crazy sorry that this took so long. I could make a bunch of excuses ('cause I have a few) but I won't bore ya'll with them. Again this chapter is really just setting the setting...so lots of description but after this I probably won't be too obsessed with small details that don't have to do with the plot. I felt really bad so I made this chapter extra long with some extra ESN. I promise after this chapter I'll get a Beta.

Chapter Four

I awoke from my dreamy state at about half past ten in the morning. I was a little bit disoriented at first due to the darkness of the room and a big cool weight draped over me but I quickly gained my bearings. I turned over off my back to face Eric. He was lying on his stomach with one arm wrapped around me tucked beneath my chest, and one long leg tangled between my own. His head was slightly turned towards me. I smiled at the sight of his thoroughly disheveled hair, like a lions main. I brushed a few tendrils out of his face and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. Oh, and we were still naked as the day is long.

This was a special moment for me and I decided to revel in it for a while. With Bill, I had never been able to sleep with him during the day since he slept in one of his many bolt-holes or in the ground. It was one of the many downsides to dating a vampire. Since Eric apparently slept in a bed...no problems.

I probably could have stayed in that bed until night fall, but nature called. The clock on my side of the bed was the only illumination in the room. It was throwing just enough light for me to be able to make out a lamp on the bedside table. I switched it on and began my exploration of this strange place.

The first thing I did was find the bathroom. I prayed that there was a toilet in there. After all, this house was designed for a vampire. Thankfully there was one, but no toilet paper so I used Kleenex instead. I took care of my human needs and was pleasantly surprised that I wasn't sore in my most intimate parts. Eric must have healed me while I slept.

The urgency of the moment was gone and I could now enjoy my surroundings, which were probably the size of my bedroom. Like the rest of his house, the bathroom had an earthy, organic quality to it. The floor was a beige ceramic tile, too cold for my feet, and the walls were made of that stylish imperfect concrete that I've seen in home decor magazines. There was a pool of a tub smack in the middle of the room, circular in shape. Around it was a ledge (inlaid with the same ceramic tile as the floor) that was about a foot on all sides. There were honest to goodness steps leading up to the top of the tub, three of them to be exact. There was also a mammoth of a shower. I had to get my libido under control from just looking at it. It was...sinful, to say the least. Like I've said, vampires; not so modest. The shower, which took up an entire wall, was surrounded by the imperfect concrete on three sides, but the front of the shower, which many people would say is the most important part (other than the shower head), was simply a pane of transparent glass that was slightly shorter than the shower itself on one ends. There were several shower heads, some smaller, coming from lower on the walls, some bigger coming from the ceiling, others looked like your typical shower heads. As if the shower weren't Eric enough, there were two wide full length mirrors placed so they met at a right angle in the far corner of the shower. Now that is kinky.

I craved a shower more than anything remembering that I hadn't cleaned up after last night's activities. Eric and I would just have to wait a little longer to relive that memory because right now, I needed to relive that clean feeling.

After my shower—I avoided the end with mirrors—I wrapped myself up in a Viking size towel that I found neatly folded over a towel rack. I washed up a bit, even locating a toothbrush still in its packaging and a tube of toothpaste.

Once I was finished in the washroom, which might as well be called a spa or heaven, I explored Eric's enormous bedroom. Flipping on a light, It was obvious that the bedroom had been recently redone (meaning within the last ten years). Whereas the rest of the house was considered modern and minimalist for the time it was made, the bedroom was exceptionally modern by today's standards. It also reflected more of the Eric that I knew. All the furniture and minimal decor contained clean crisp lines. Three walls were painted jet black while a large black closet with red glass doors was installed to cover most of the one white wall. His bed was one of those boxy California king sized ones that lie close to the floor. The boxy part was wood painted black while the sheets and comforter were crimson red with a ton of red and black pillows. There was a chandelier hanging above the bed...a gosh darn chandelier! From what I'd seen of the house, this was the only room to have a carpet (it was white and I feared for its safety). His desk, bedside tables and another slim cabinet were all black with chrome knobs and matched each other perfectly. There was a leather love seat and one seater arranged away from the walls in one corner of the room around a fireplace. Mounted on the wall across from the bed was a (I guessed) 52" flat screen television and plenty more stereo equipment and speakers to go with it.

There was something missing. After about a minute of pondering and studying the details of the room I figured it out. No windows.

In that minute I found a note from Eric attached to the back of the bedroom door.

My Starry Eyed Lover,

Make yourself at home. If you need clothing, please take whatever you would like from my wardrobe. Pam keeps some clothing here as well. If you would like to borrow from her selection I have left a few items on my desk, Pam will not mind. There is plenty of food for you in the kitchen. Since we do not know who or of what nature the attacker was, I ask (read: command) that you stay within the confines of my property. Feel free to explore. I think that you will enjoy the many surprises you find.

-E

I would love to wear Eric's clothing, but opted for Pam's instead. My reasoning was a) I didn't want to go snooping in his closet and b) I knew if I did wear his clothes I would just be distracted by his scent all day. He always smelled amazing—like wood, earth and expensive cologne--and it was enough to bring my sex drive up to fourth gear.

I had a really horrible feeling that the type of clothing Pam would leave here would be her Fangtasia garb. And of course she wouldn't mind if I wore her stuff, Pam loves the way I smell, hell all Supes do apparently, with the feyness and all. Ugh, it just makes me want to gag.

I walked over to Eric's desk and sorted through the clothing. I was pleasantly surprised. It was all stuff that I would definitely wear (with one notable exception of a transparent red teddy which I did not want to know why Pam kept at Eric's house). I picked out a cute baby blue velour tracksuit, noticing the label said Juicy Couture. Tara sold some of that brand at her store, Tara's Togs, and I could never afford even half of a set so I was taking the opportunity now.

Eric had also left me some underwear. All thongs, such a shocker, I thought, rolling my eyes. I was just glad that vampires didn't sweat, have "human needs" or transmit diseases so it wasn't as disgusting borrowing underthings from them. It's not like I hadn't borrowed Pam's underwear before. Thank you Maenad.

I didn't have a bra, but it really didn't matter. As things were, I wasn't going out any time soon. To give myself a little more restraint I picked out a tight white tank top to wear underneath the tracksuit.

Luckily, I had nowhere else to be today. I had anticipated Amelia's desire to "have some fun", and decided to book today off from Merlotte's in order to take care of her if needed. Even if I had to leave, I couldn't because a) I left my car back at Fangtasia and b) Eric never showed me how to disarm the security system for the entire house. I reminded myself to call home to see if Amelia made it back and if not then I wanted to check in with Octavia to let her know the situation. I didn't think she was in danger, but I didn't want her to be worried that neither Amelia nor I made it back home last evening.

I decided that I was absolutely famished so I headed down (or should I say up) to the kitchen. When I opened the bedroom door I was presented with a dimly lit stairwell. I closed his door behind me and walked the few steps up to the next door. I had no idea where it was going to lead, but I hoped that it was a room that I would recognize from last night. No such luck. The door spilled out into another sizable bathroom. When I shut it behind me I noticed that it looked like a full length mirror. How clever. The one bad thing was that once the door was shut, there was no noticeable door knob and I wouldn't be able to get back into the room until Eric showed me how. The bathroom led to a bedroom. This one was much more to my taste, windows and all. I looked out one of the windows to see that I was on the first floor. This meant that Eric's room was below ground which I thought was impossible in Louisiana because of the watertable. Of course, after exiting the bedroom I found myself in a two way corridor. I did Eni Meeni Mini Mo in my head to decide which way to go. After about eight minutes and a few wrong turns I found the kitchen.

Sure enough, there were all sorts of delicious items. I deduced that having food present in his house was not on my account. He had told me last night that he had human staff who didn't know a vampire lived here. It would look mighty suspicious if the kitchen always lacked food. But wouldn't the lack of any daytime residents do that anyways?

Although the presence of food wasn't on my account, the type of food that was present sure was. I looked through the pantry and refrigerator and found a lot of foods that I remembered having around last New Year. Eric's powers of observation will never cease to amaze me. He probably only glanced at my food once or twice while reaching for a bottle of TrueBlood while he stayed with me

I brewed some coffee -- my favorite blend -- and then fixed myself up some of my famous homemade pancakes. He even had real maple syrup, a luxury that I never had in the house.

I nearly spit out my coffee when I noticed the same of word of the day calendar I had at home, sitting on the counter beside the refrigerator.

After I finished my delicious breakfast and cleaned up the kitchen until it was as spotless as before, including the dish that Eric had thrown in the sink the night before (he had a dishwasher so no real effort was exerted on my end anyways), I called Octavia in Bon Temps. She would probably wonder why both Amelia and I hadn't come home last night (unless Amelia had already gotten herself back to Bon Temps, which was another reason why I was calling).

It rang five times before someone picked up. "Hello."

"Good morning Octavia."

"Oh Sookie, good to hear from you." She sounded relieved.

"Sorry I didn't call last night." I wanted to give her an explanation but I didn't know how much I could give away.

"That's alright. I'm not your mother and you're a grown woman. I was just a little worried about you after Amelia called me this morning." I was glad that Amelia had called, that mean she survived her little slumber party with Pam.

"Thank you for your concern. I'm fine. What did Amelia say?"

"That you were shot at during your outing to the vampire bar. You sound very calm about it." Well, who wouldn't be calm after a night under Eric?

"It's really no big deal." That wasn't true. It was probably a huge deal. But I was trying to downplay the shooting as a random event to ease Octavia's nerves some.

Octavia let out a humph and it was time for me to get off the phone. I told her that I would be home by tonight at the latest, said my goodbyes and hung up.

Next on my list of people to call: Amelia.

"Afternoon Stackhouse. How was tall, blond and dead?" She sounded perkier than ever. I looked at the clock on the microwave and it was in fact the afternoon.

"Speaking of blond and dead – you're okay right?" I didn't know how much confidence I should have in Pam's self control.

"Better than ever." I really hoped that didn't mean what I think it meant and I couldn't think of anything to say. Amelia, sensing my discomfort, jumped back in. She laughed. "Oh, Sookie. You have a really dirty mind, you know that? Pam was a perfect lady. She didn't lay a fang on me. She just happened to have the flowers necessary to make my hangover remedy and it worked like an absolute charm."

I let out a little sigh of relief (not into the phone of course).

"You're still at Pam's?" I heard some faint music in the background.

"No. Pam said I could take her car to get myself back to Bon Temps and Eric or one of the other vamps would pick her up when she had to get to the bar tonight."

"Okay, just be safe. If that car gets damaged Pam will drink you dry."

"Yeah, I know."

"So how much trouble did you two get into last night?"

"Believe it or not, it was just like the sleepovers I used to have when I was little. We talked. We laughed. We watched movies. I pulled an all nighter, so did Pam, but for different reasons. We had lots of fun." Pam and Amelia shared a lot in common. They both liked women (sometimes), they both had money, and they both were used to "finer things." I couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Not because I wanted sole rights to either Pam or Ameila. I felt jealous because when I was little it was nearly impossible for me to have sleepovers, what with my "gift" and all. Kids were a bit afraid of me and I had nearly no control over my hearing. I quickly shook myself out of yet another pity party. I had no right to feel this way. I had just had the most earth-shattering experience with a thousand year old Viking vampire. Experiences like those did not happen every day, er night.

"I'm glad to hear that." I said sincerely.

"When do you plan on coming home?"

"No later than tonight. I have to wait till Eric wakes up so he can drive me to Fangtasia so I can get my car."

"I can turn back to Shreveport and come get you right now and bring you to your car if you'd like." It was a really good offer. I seriously considered it for a moment. Then remembered the attempt on my life and ditching Eric was not an option. I might be stubborn, but I'm not stupid. Also, the alarm was still on.

"Thanks for the offer but I think it's best that I stay here. I'll see you later though. Take care."

"You too hun."

We said our goodbyes and hung up.

I knew exactly what I was going to do with the rest of my day. Eric told me to explore, so explore I did.

What I found was no less than impressive. He had a large indoor pool and hot tub. Both were of the same style as the rest of the house. I stumbled upon a passage way and found myself in the pool house, otherwise known as Eric's game room, complete with a pool table, Foosball table, almost all video game consoles that exist, a fully stocked wet bar (which was curious, just like his toilet) and more. There was still more exploring to do before I enjoyed the fruits of this room.

The next significant find I made was his study. The walls were lined with bookcases and each one was full of a range of books. Some looked ancient and some were hilariously modern (I found a copy of Twilight and made a mental note to tease him about that later). Looking at the large desk in the study I noticed some odd leather bound books. One title read "Locus Magick." Another book was all about spells on memory loss. It looked like Eric had been doing his research. As far as I knew—which wasn't much – he still had no clue why he ended up running, of all places, down a road near my house half naked. I imagine that it still irked him considering what Pam had told me not long ago about Eric remembering every second of his long existence save those few nights (which he now could recall with pristine detail).

After going through almost every room in his house I went back to the indoor pool wanting to take a little dip. I took off my tracksuit, leaving me in only a little thong and my tight white tank top. Subconsciously (or consciously) I may have been hoping Eric would come out and find me like this. After all, it was getting dark out. On the other hand, my sense of modesty may have been taking on the same form as my vampire's. Whatever it was, it didn't really matter since I didn't expect anyone else (other than Eric) to see me.

While I was in the middle of doing a lap I felt a wave of calm wash over me and I knew that Eric was awake. Then there was a rush of excitement that sent butterflies about in my stomach. Was it mine? Was I just really excited to see him?

I continued with my laps but when I hit the wall something cool grabbed my hand and I shrieked. It was a good thing I was in the shallow end because if not, I may have drowned. I heard a familiar chuckle above me. Looking up I saw Eric standing there staring down at me with shear amusement slapped across his face. He crouched down on the edge of the pool and instead of scolding him for scaring the bejesus out of me, I grabbed onto his hand as hard I could and with the rest of my strength pulled him into the water. I'm sort of thinking that he let me do this because there's no way I would be able to normally, even with vampire blood in my system.

"Oh lover, I will punish you for this." He said in a serious tone when he finally surfaced, but there was nothing coming through the bond to back his threat up.

"You could try." I said condescendingly but it didn't have quite the impact I intended because my eyes were roaming over every inch of his perfect god-like body that I could see above the water. Oh, the water. It was doing wonderful things to his chest. Little droplets were dripping from the wet tendrils of his blond hair rolling down his pecs towards his nipples then lower through the crevasses of his abs then even lower to -- well you get the picture. My mouth may have been open and I may have been drooling a little. My nipples were hard as diamonds and straining against the fabric of my white tank top which was now see-through thanks to the water.

He gave me a little smirk then began to trace the same path with the tips of his fingers that he had seen my eyes following seconds ago. I briefly noticed that he had put on black silk sleeping pants as he ran his fingers just underneath the waist band then dipped his hand in the front caressing his length and letting out a little moan.

We were only standing about a foot away from each other and I wanted to close the distance so I jumped him. Before I knew it I was landing face first into the water. When I recovered spurting water out of my mouth, I spun around and saw Eric standing about a foot off from the mark I intended to hit. Stupid vampire speed, I cursed in my head.

He let out another chuckle and said "Be patient Dear One."

Be patient? Be patient! I'll teach him something about patience. Two can play at this game.

We were both pretty close to the wall of the pool so I backed up towards it and hopped up onto the ledge. Eric was eyeing me like a cat does a mouse it's about to pounce on. Sitting there, I ran my fingers lightly over the side of my neck, down to my collar bone then I stroked my breasts pinching a nipple between my fingers through the wet fabric. Eric let out a groan. My other hand roamed over my stomach. As I spread my legs apart I never broke eye contact with him. I began caressing my inner thigh, letting my fingers graze upwards. I was burning for him and the only thing stopping the flames from consuming me was the ice blue of Eric's eyes and the cool water surrounding my calves.

I had begun quietly panting and throbbing, but Eric didn't move. There was one thing I knew that he wouldn't be able to resist.

I pushed my thong aside and glided one finger inside me, moaning Eric's name. His eyes widened and he tensed up. I began picking up my pace finding a nice rhythm and not before long I was seeing silver sparks.

All of a sudden I was being pulled forward and my legs automatically wrapped around Eric's waist. He was grinding into me and punishing my lips with a fevered kiss.

"You are going to beg for your release." He growled as he pulled away and jumped catlike straight up onto the deck, pulling me with him.

"No Eric." I breathed into his mouth as I grazed my hand over his impressive erection. "You're the one who's going to be doing the begging."

Wave after wave of lust pounded me through our bond and I was almost certain that Eric was going to take me right then and there on the cold, hard surface of the pool deck.

To my utter amazement he didn't.

He grabbed both my butt cheeks in his hands and lifted me up so I was straddling his waist with my legs wrapped around his back. Our wet bodies were pressed against each other and I let out an involuntary shiver at the coolness radiating off of us.

I pinched one of his perfect butt cheeks while sucking on his lower lip. "If you keep this up," he said, "I'm going to have to borrow Pam's whip." I didn't want to think about that too much, but oddly enough it excited me. He was motivating me to see how much he would let me get away with.

I didn't know where we were going since I was too busy kissing and nipping Eric's neck, but he took his torturous sweet time walking us there.

Eric finally set me down and I realized that we were in his giant bathroom. With lightning speed he turned on the shower and dragged me in behind him. The warm water felt amazing on my cool skin.

We began another round of tonsil hockey as we clawed at each other's bodies. Eric rolled my tank top over my head and tossed it aside. He put one strong arm around my back and pressed me against his mouth as he began lavishing my breasts with attention. He used his free hand to shimmy out of his soaking wet pants freeing his cool length.

Eric backed me up into the shower wall then turned me around so I was facing one of the full length mirrors. Oh hell, I thought, what have I gotten myself into?

I pressed both my palms to the mirror as he undulated -- hey, that was the word of the day today -- his hips against my back so that I could feel the tip of his erection above my thong. He lifted the hair away from my neck then ran his tongue behind my ear. My knees instantly buckled and if it weren't for Eric's body grinding me into the wall, I would have fallen to the floor.

One of Eric's hands snaked around to my abdomen then lower to my mound. Just like I had done before, he pushed my thong aside and plunged two fingers into my depths. I closed my eyes and screamed out in pleasure, pressing my backside harder against his throbbing erection.

"Look at me Sookie. Never take your eyes off me."

My eyes flung open and I watched him quickly sink down to his knees behind me and rip off my thong, never removing his fingers from my wetness. He encouraged me to backup a little still leaning with my palms flat on the mirror.

He spread my legs apart and without further warning placed one long lick up my folds with his cool tongue. I arched my back and bit my bottom lip trying to hold in the cry that wanted to escape. After all, I needed him to beg, not the other way around.

The hot water mixed with the feel of his cool tongue was driving me out of my mind. He circled my nub with his tongue then licked the underside of my hole, fingers still working their magic. I was so ready for him to enter me and I had to hold myself from screaming said desire more than once. As he let his tongue sink into my depths and let his fingers circle my clit I couldn't hold it in any more. I came panting and screaming his name.

Eric didn't let up on his assault of my lower body as I imagined he would. He spread my legs even further apart and picked up the pace with his longue letting it slither in and out of my entrance at a delirious pace.

"Eric..." I moaned.

"Is something wrong my lover?" He asked coyly as he stroked my clit with his fingers. I let out a sharp moan.

"Uhhh." I was aching for him to fuck me, but too proud to admit it.

"If you don't tell me what you want me to do to you, then I can't help."

"Eric!"

"Beg for it, Sookie. Beg me to fuck you."

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I could make Eric just as delirious as I was.

As reluctant as I was to turn away from his attentions I wiggled out of his iron grip. I felt some amusement coming through the bond as he rose to his full magnificent height.

It's my turn baby, I thought as I sank down on my knees in front of him.

Luckily his large body was blocking any water from making its way into my face.

He gazed into my eyes intently. "Watch me." I said as I pointed, indicating the mirror to my side.

I took him into my mouth. Eric let out a deep guttural moan and threw his head back. "If you're not gonna watch, maybe I should just stop." I said. Eric's eyes snapped down to meet mine. I gave him an innocent smile and said, "Thought so," continuing my oral escapade.

Though I was no expert on the subject, I seemed to be doing an adequate job. I licked, sucked and stroked his erection, feeling him pulsate in my mouth and bringing him to the edge of a very dangerous cliff.

"Sookie..." He growled from deep in his throat, clenching both his fists into a ball.

"Hmmm?" Was all I could manage with my lips still wrapped around his cock. I ran my nails over his balls and felt him throb under my touch, a warm liquid trickling down the back of my throat.

"We are apparently matched in our stubbornness." He said as lifted me off my knees and turned me back around to face the mirror so fast that I became dizzy.

Without anymore preamble he grabbed my hips and plunged every considerable inch into me and we both screamed. I began to see the bright lights again and it was amazingly comforting to have them surrounding us around.

There was nothing the least bit gentle about Eric's plundering and I was glad for it. I needed to be fucked at this moment, not made love to. I wasn't sure where this little sex kitten persona was coming from but I did know that my body longed to be one with his and who was I to deny it of that.

I moved in counter rhythms to his thrusts, meeting every single one. With the water trickling down on our sensitive parts, it didn't take long to climax.

"Watch us." He said, as I locked eyes with him in the mirror.

Watching him, watching me...full circle, I was even more turned on. My abdominal muscles tightened around his shaft and I knew that I had seconds.

"Bite me." I screamed.

He bit my shoulder and I came instantly chanting his name. I felt his entire body tense behind me, then relax as he came continuing with slower strokes until he had completely released inside me. Slouching forward on top of my body he lovingly caressed my breasts as he licked the tiny wound.

"Mmmm," was all I could say.

"Mmmm is right." He said back as he stepped away to turn off the shower. My knees failed me and I instantly began my decent to the floor. Luckily, Eric's got that vamp speed and he caught me and whisked me up into his arms before I could smack my jaw on the shower floor. He gave me a kiss that made my heart ache and in that instant I knew I never wanted to be away from him for long periods of time. I felt safe here, with my arms wrapped around him and his around me.

He set me on the ledge of the tub and dried me off with a giant fluffy towel, then proceeded to do the same to himself.

Eric carried me back into the room and set me under the covers of his bed. Just as he was about to get in with me I heard a buzzing noise, the same one as last night. Eric lifted his phone from the bedside table and growled. It wasn't the good kind either.

"Excuse me." He said lifting one finger in the "one second" gesture. I just nodded my head, it's not like he needs my permission to answer his phone.

"Speak." He barked into the receiver.

His face lost some of its tension as he listened to the caller -- I'm assuming Pam.

"We'll be there," was the last thing he said before he hung up. (What, no goodbye?)

He looked up at me and I could almost see disappointment in his eyes.

"Get dressed, we're needed at Fangtasia."

TBC

A/N: Locus is Latin for location: I only know that because I'm taking genetics, but I guess it's probably common knowledge. Well if you didn't know, now you do.