Thanks to everyone who is reading, and thanks to the fabulous Charlaine Harris. We wouldn't be enjoying these fantastic characters without her! And of course, thanks to Cageyspice for editing!
"Soon" meant something different to a vampire than to a regular person—or a telepath. Though a check for my agreed-upon fee, plus a ten percent bonus, and a beautiful new cranberry coat were delivered the next day, I hadn't seen Eric since the night I'd wrapped up his case. Since we'd kissed with such passion that I still felt dizzy thinking about it.
That had been three weeks ago.
I'd had plenty to keep me busy. New cases. A leaky pipe under my sink. Life.
But tonight, I wasn't letting myself worry about anything, including vampires—especially one particular vampire. Tonight was a night for celebration. Jason had decided to move home. An old friend of our dad's had offered him a job on the road crew. The New Deal had finally made it to Bon Temps. And home, after all, is the place where they have to take you back.
To see Jason off, I was throwing a party in my office. Lafayette had made more than enough food, Amelia had brought the booze, and my brother had brought a handful of questionable characters who were at least loyal enough to call him a friend after his recent stint in jail. Everyone was having a good time; I could tell from the thoughts dancing around me as people swayed to the record player Laf had brought up. I couldn't help but smile at the swirl of happiness in the minds of those around me. New Orleans was a dark city that was often full of dark thoughts, but tonight, in my little corner, it was a kaleidoscope of bright daffodil yellows and strawberry pinks and mint greens—until I landed in a great void.
There was a vampire in my bedroom.
"Aren't you having a good time, Sookie?" Amelia asked as she refilled her glass of whiskey.
"Of course I am," I said, giving her my best, broadest smile—the one I was sure made me look a little crazy.
"Good. Because I'm really glad you had this party."
"Yeah? Any reason in particular?" Even if I weren't a mind reader I'd have known why my friend was enjoying the shindig. He was a stocky mechanic who had dimples when he smiled whose name was Trey.
"He looks like he'd be wild in bed but still treat me like a lady," Amelia said with a sly wink. She tipped her glass to me before sashaying over to his side. I kept my place near the refreshment table and watched them flirt. It was nice to see my friend enjoying the prospect of a new romance.
"Sookie, you're the only one I know who could manage to be a wallflower at her own party," Lafayette said as he came up beside me.
I wanted to argue, but I was leaning up against the wall. "It's not my party, it's Jason's."
"You're the one who deserves a celebration. I may not know the particulars, but somethin' tells me that you played a part in gettin' Jason there off that hook. And there are lots of fine young men here you could be batting dem long lashes at."
"You've been chatting them all up. Surely you're not suggesting I try to compete with you?"
A smug smile curled the corner of his mouth. "Well, Amelia tells me you have another man in mind, anyway. That tall, blond mystery client of yours from a few weeks back."
"Amelia better check her sources, because I haven't seen him since we settled his business." Lafayette emitted a skeptical grunt before going downstairs and across the alley to refill our dwindling supply of ice. I hoped Sam wouldn't mind.
The vampire in my bedroom didn't move as the party wound down or emerge after I said goodbye to my guests, but I could still feel that cold hole every time I did one of my regular sweeps. I tidied up the office and checked the lock and had then exhausted all means of delaying this meeting, so I reluctantly entered my small back room.
Eric Northman was stretched out on one side of my bed like a cat, his long golden hair fanned out over my favorite pillow. He'd neatly lined up his shoes under the window and laid his jacket over the arm of my rocking chair.
I didn't say anything; I didn't know what to say to him, though I'd rehearsed the conversation several times in my head over the last several weeks. In my plans I'd been so smooth, so cool. I'd been charming and aloof and not revealed anything of my intentions or desires.
Now, I felt lost and unsure. He didn't say anything either, so I started my normal bedtime routine. I removed my earrings and laid them in my jewelry box. I pulled the pins out of my hair and let it fall down my back, shaking out the waves. I took off my shoes and set them in my closet. Though I very much wanted to take off my bra since the underwire had been poking me for the last hour, I stopped there. I couldn't very well slip into my pajamas and go to sleep without dealing with the vampire currently occupying my bed. Instead I lay next to him on top of Gran's double wedding ring quilt that had won a first prize at the county fair the summer I'd turned twelve.
After a long time of just looking at his enigmatically expressionless face I said, "when we're lying in bed, you don't seem so tall."
If I didn't quite pull off that nonchalant femme fatale attitude I'd been going for, at least I'd surprised him. He laughed, genuinely, as if I'd caught him off guard. Unless of course that was all an act. I had no idea of Eric's true intentions, unlike everyone else I met.
"I assure you, I retain my size whether I am horizontal or vertical," he replied with a suggestive smile. "But you are welcome to explore a variety of perspectives, if you like." He gestured up and down the long length of his body and flashed another mischievous grin. His untoward comments didn't make me feel uncomfortable. Something about his laugh had put me at ease. And it was something more than the peace I felt in the presence of someone whose thoughts weren't blaring at me, though that was certainly a perk.
"Another time, perhaps," I said, though if he'd tried to kiss me at that moment, I wouldn't have resisted.
But he didn't, and instead changed the subject. "You were having a party."
"My brother's going home. Just a few of his friends came over to say goodbye."
Eric nodded, then adjusted himself in bed, turning to face me and propping his head up with his hand. I mirrored his position but was careful to maintain plenty of distance between us—enough room for me to trace a full ring on Gran's quilt. I completed the circuit seven times before Eric broke the silence.
"You didn't rescind my invitation."
I felt my cheeks flush. "I didn't think of it."
Which was, of course, a lie that Eric contested. "You didn't think of me once, not in the last three weeks?" He gave me a wicked smirk.
"Did you think of me?"
His face turned serious and he looked me dead in the eye. "Often. Perhaps more often than I like."
I turned away and leaned my head back on my pillow to stare at the ceiling, searching for patterns in the white bumps of plaster. Several minutes passed while I found the form of a dancing bear and a pirate ship sailing towards the window. Neither seemed more ridiculous than the conversation I was having with the vampire in my bed.
"Why did you come tonight?" I asked, omitting the after-three-weeks part I was thinking.
"I need you to come with me tomorrow night." Not exactly a request, but not exactly a command. Also not very damn specific.
"If you had a job for me, why didn't you make an appointment or see me in my office? Clients don't usually make themselves comfortable in my bed."
"It's not a job. It's … personal."
His vague words irritated me. It was late and I wasn't one for circumspection. "Speak plainly, Eric. Are you asking me on a date?"
His eyes sparkled with amusement and I felt my heart jump to my throat in anticipation of his response. "No. There is someone you need to meet."
"So you're trying to set me up with someone else?" I teased, trying to make light of my question and disguise my disappointment in his response.
"No." Eric's answer came quickly, resolutely, and echoed in the space between us for a moment before he continued. "You've asked me more than once what brought me to your door that night."
I nodded, afraid my voice would betray me if I tried to speak. Though I'd often thought about that kiss, I'd spent just as much time worrying about whoever Eric had killed in the alley and whoever had caused that car crash, and especially what had prompted him to seek me out.
"The gentleman who first brought you to my attention would like to meet you. He has asked me to make the introduction."
"But..." I wasn't even sure of what I had been about to say, only that any thought had immediately been zapped out of my mind when I accidentally brushed Eric's hand and a shock of static electricity passed between us. Though I wasn't the most educated girl, I did know what created the spark. Perhaps Eric and I were more alike than I thought.
When I looked into Eric's eyes, I realized he felt this too, whatever it was.
"This is dangerous," he said, and I didn't think he was talking about runaway electrons.
"I know," I said as I brushed my fingertips over his lips, very aware that two sharp fangs lay beneath the soft, pink skin. "You're a vampire." And I knew better than most the risk of being involved with a vampire; I'd done it before, with Bill, and it hadn't ended well. I let my hand fall back onto the quilt.
He narrowed his eyes. That wasn't what he had meant. Suddenly it occurred to me that he didn't just think this was dangerous for me—he thought it was to him, too. He laid his hand flat over my heart so the tip of his longest finger rested in the hollow below my throat. "And you are mortal," he said, with what sounded like regret.
Later, when I reflected back on that moment, I wondered why I hadn't been more surprised that he hadn't said "human".
His hand slid up my neck and cupped my cheek. I felt my breath catch and I tilted my head towards him, leaning into his touch, then jumped so suddenly I bumped my forehead painfully against his when a loud bang at my front door startled me.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" I said, rubbing Eric's forehead though I was sure I was the one developing a knot. "I've got to see who that is," I said and scrambled out of bed, hoping Eric didn't follow.
I had never been less excited to see Amelia since we first met.
"What in heaven's name do you want?" I demanded as I opened the door and tried to catch my breath.
"Oh good, you're not in bed yet. When I had to pound on the door so hard I thought I'd break the glass I figured you might have already been asleep," Amelia said as she brushed past me into the office. "I got home and realized I'd left my scarf."
"So you came all the way back here to get it in the middle of the night?" I wasn't sure exactly what Amelia had interrupted, and maybe I should have been thanking her for providing a distraction, but all I felt was intense irritation that she'd returned.
"Well, it isn't so much mine, as a friends, and I didn't so much—"
"Never mind. I don't need the whole story. But I'm not sure it's here. I didn't come across it while I was cleaning."
"I think I left it in your bathroom when I was freshening up," Amelia replied, oblivious to my irritation and impatience.
"I'll check!" I said more shrilly than I had intended. The last thing I needed was Amelia popping into my bedroom and finding Eric.
"Don't be silly, Sookie. Unless you're hiding something..." I felt a chill run up my spine when I realized Amelia was sporting that grin that meant she was up to no good. Luckily I saw her intentions in her thoughts before she made her move, and headed her off before she dashed into my bedroom, the only way of getting to the washroom.
"Sookie, what—or should I say who—do you have in there? It's that client you had a few weeks back. Tall, blond, pale as the moon, you said? I knew you liked him."
"I'm entitled to my privacy."
Amelia snorted. "Seems pretty hypocritical of you to say so, considering."
She had me at that. "Just let me get the scarf."
Though she sighed dramatically as if I were asking for her firstborn, she relented. "All right."
Turned out my worry had been in vain. When I ducked back in to retrieve Amelia's lost accessory there was no trace of Eric. He'd even straightened the quilt and fluffed the pillow so not even a very observant detective such as myself would have been alerted to the fact that there had been two bodies lying on the bed moments ago. No evidence of what might have been about to happen remained.
I tried to swallow my disappointment as I searched out Amelia's scarf and returned to the front office.
"Here," I said as I handed her the colorful length of silk. "I didn't mean to make a fuss. I was just tired out from the party and enjoying some quiet time alone."
Amelia smiled. "I'm used to your strange behavior by now, Sookie. I'll see you soon." I showed her out the door with a quick hug and locked the door again.
When I walked back into my room, a cold wind hit me. I realized my window was still open and went to shut it, but, out of curiosity—and maybe hope—pulled on my new cranberry coat instead and climbed out onto the fire escape. Eric was standing on the edge of the roof with his back to me, staring out at the view of the city.
"You're still here," I said.
He turned to face me. "For a moment. I needed to confirm our appointment for tomorrow. But I have interrupted your quiet time for too long," Eric said, his smile proof that he'd been eavesdropping on my conversation with Amelia. "Unless you do not wish to be alone?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow at me.
"There are different ways of being alone." What I didn't say was what I really thought, which was that it's really a matter of finding the right person to be alone with. I shoved my hands in my pockets, hiding my fingers from the cold.
Eric took a step toward me. I was relieved when he was close enough to block the wind, which was forceful enough to chill me to the bone on this dark winter night. His hand reached out to rest on my shoulder. "You got your new coat, then. It fits well and the color suits you."
"Yes, thank you. And for the bonus, too. I would have written you a note, but I didn't know where to send it. You were quite generous." I didn't tell him that I'd tracked down Ginger and given the extra funds to her to help her get by until she found another job. She needed the money a lot more than I did.
"Tomorrow night. Midnight. You will come with me," he said as his other hand slipped around my waist to rest on my back. I wanted to step against him, to return the embrace, but my hands were buried in my pockets and a moment's hesitation was enough to make the gesture seem awkward. Instead I nodded. Tomorrow night.
When he leaned down, his lips brushed the tender spot on my head where I'd knocked it against his rather than meeting my mouth.
"Until then, be safe, Sookie Stackhouse," he said.
Before I could say goodnight in return he'd stepped up onto the edge of the roof again, then dropped off and landed as surefooted as a cat in the alley, two stories below.
