10.
The dream was, for a change, pleasant. Warm sun was caressing my body and I was lying in a field of the softest grass. I was slowly waking up and the dream lingered in my mind as I rolled over on my side and in to a pair of warm, soft arms. Nothing felt out of the ordinary. I snuggled closer as the arms gently embraced me drowsily and I felt the naked, warm body hug closer to mine under the covers. I felt warm and safe and loved. But I was quickly torn out of that dream-laced state when there was a loud knock on the door. I gasp and sat up. The shock of the noise made my heart race and I clutched the covers. I looked down and met William's eyes. He hadn't missed the embrace, even half asleep. My face flushed furiously.
"Who the hell is that." I mumbled as the knock got louder. William glanced at the watch on my nightstand.
"Ah shit. That would be a friend of mine from Jackson. I texted him after you fell asleep, asking him if he could come fix the window. He's in construction, so I knew he could get the material on short notice. I overslept." William looked at me apologetically.
"I hope it's okay." He said with a trying smile.
"Of course it's okay!" I said happily. "Thank you for taking care of that, I really appreciate it." I said, smiling down at him. He sat up and gently touched my bare back. His touch was so warm, compared to Franklin's. Or Eric's for that matter.
"I'll go let him in. You get dressed." He said softly and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before climbing out of bed. I tried not to look at his naked back as he got in to a pair of slacks and a t-shirt, but it was kinda hard. The perfect V-shape of his back, his toned back-muscles, his…I coiled involuntarily, the heat spreading to other parts of my body. I watched him leave the room before I allowed myself to breathe. I heard muffled voices in the hallway and I slowly stood up, feeling my strength had returned, thank God. I pulled out clean (and intact) panties from my dresser, a new bra and, feeling the heat from the sun outside my window, I pulled on my brown shorts, reaching just below my butt and a red "wife-beater"-shirt. The irony in the name of the shirt made me grin morbidly. I slapped on some powder and mascara on my face and fluffed my hair with my fingers. I heard a hammer hitting wood in my living room and I slipped my feet in to a pair of flip-flops to avoid stepping on missed glass. I opened the door and stepped outside, seeing a man leaned over a wooden plate, just as tall as William and just as strong looking, with dark brown hair reaching down to his jaw and well groomed facial hair. He yanked his head back and took two shocked step backwards. He waved his hand in front of him while staring at me with a twisted grimace of his face.
"Holy mother fucker, where have you been?" He exclaimed, wrinkling his nose. I felt utterly destroyed. I glared at William, who was trying to hide a smile.
"A wolf. You had to call a wolf." I grumbled, crossing my arms angrily. William chuckled.
"Sorry. I should've warned you." He looked at the shock expression on his friends face. "Both of you." He shook his head, rubbing his eyes, chuckling.
"Alcide, meet Luca St. Michael. Luca, Alcide Herveaux." I looked at Alcide with a displeased look on my face.
"Nice to meet you." I managed to squeeze out of me. The man was after all covering up my broken window. Alcide reached out his hand, of old, polite habit I guessed.
"Yeah, that's not a good idea." I said with a sigh, shaking my head. Alcide's face was one big question-mark as he looked at William.
"She's the fourth Lianaed." William said matter-of-factly and Alcide raised an eyebrow. He looked just as clueless.
"You know! Lianaed, the werewolf-repellent? The one with skin of acid? Lethal to wolves?" William explained. Alcide's face went from clueless to apprehensive as he turned and looked at me. I gave him a smile. A cold bitch-smile.
"Ooooh. That explains the…uhm…smell." He mumbled.
"So why…are you here, William?" Alcide's voice got hard. He nodded in my direction, staring at his friend.
"Is she a Debbie Pelt kind of bitch or is she actually someone who's gonna be able to get you out of the blood-stained claws of Manny?"
"Okay, one: who is Debbie Pelt and two: who are you calling a bitch?" I took a step closer in pure anger and watched him flinch.
"Whoa! Easy!" William dove forward, putting a hand on my shoulder.
"Pelt is Alcide's ex-fiancée and someone who's got the typical mind-set of Erik Manny. In other words; a bitch. And no, Alcide, she's by far anything like Pelt. I'm no longer a member of Manny's pack."
"Does Manny know that? 'Cause he's been calling me, leaving me messages about not being able to find you." Alcide said.
"Nope. Manny won't know either. I'm helping Luca here with a…mission, sort of speak." William said and looked at me. His green eyes glittered and I couldn't help but smile.
"Huh. You…remind me of someone." Alcide said and narrowed his eyes, searching his memory.
"You know anyone in Bon Temps?" I asked, guessing that if Sookie was a known name in Eric's circle, then I wouldn't be surprised if she was well known other places as well.
"Yeah, Sookie Stackhouse. You know her?"
"Relative." I said, pointing to myself.
"Ah. Guess that explains the unusual powers then. Runs in the family?"
"So far I only know of myself and Sookie. But who knows what's in our genes." I said with a grin.
"Give Sookie my love when you see her then." Alcide said politely with a smile that told me that he liked Sookie a bit more than just a friend. He actually looked a bit insulted that she hadn't been in touch with him.
"Oh I haven't seen Sookie in years. And I don't think engaging her in my life will bring me any less trouble than I'm already in." I said and rolled my eyes. I knew more than enough about her relationship with Eric, telling me she had probably been through a hailstorm or two, herself.
"Thank you, Alcide, for helping me with the window." I said when the silence was getting embarrassing.
"Oh! No problem." Alcide said with a smile and went back to work. I headed towards the kitchen, making sure to take the path furthest from Alcide so he wouldn't be too bothered with my smell. I could be heavily insulted, but it wasn't his fault, after all. I started cutting up some bread, feeling hunger ripping through me. I couldn't remember the last time I ate.
William came up behind me and without touching me I could feel him smelling my hair and I shivered delightfully.
"Thanks for staying." I whispered, eyes closed and smiling. William turned me gently and I looked up at him. His smile was soft and I caught myself wishing he would kiss me with those soft looking lips!
"Thanks for not kicking me out." He murmured, his eyes caressing my lips.
"And thanks for getting my window fixed." My voice quivered lightly as his hands gently stroke my waist and around to my back.
"I need to get going soon. Erik is gonna start freakin' out if I don't show up soon." William whispered and all I could do was nod.
"Okay! I'm done!" Alcide's voice snapped us back to reality and William pulled away, clearing his throat and pulling his fingers through his hair. Alcide looked up just then and looked from me to William with a wondering look on his face.
"Uh. Well. I'm gonna order a new window for you, Luca and I'll be back to install it when it arrives. Sounds good?" He said, gathering up his tools.
"Absolutely, thank you again Alcide." I said with a smile. My instinct told me to shake his hand, but I had no desire to hurt him.
"Again, no problem." Alcide gave me a big smile and headed out to the hallway.
"I'll…call you later." William's deep voice felt like velvet and I blushed lightly, giving him a smile. His hand stroke over mine before he turned and left. I wasn't able to move before I heard the door close behind them. I supported myself against the counter, letting out one long, shivering breath.
I made my breakfast, well, now it was way past lunch, and sunk happily down on my couch. Right now I wasn't going to let anything or anyone in. I turned on my TV and basically shut off my brain.
When the doorbell rang a few hours later I was perfectly happy with not getting up. But when the ringing changed in to knocking and I heard a familiar voice outside the door I got up, shuffling my bare feet to the door.
"Hey Luca! Are you okay?" Annie was standing at my doorstep with a six-pack and a pizza.
"Annie? Hey, yeah everything is okay. What…are you doing here?" I asked baffled.
"Well, this guy dropped by the bar earlier to talk to Billy and I was there doing some cleaning and I heard him say you had to call in a sick day and I just wanted to drop by and see if I could make you feel better." She said grinning, holding up the beer.
"Oh wow. That's so sweet of you Annie. Come in!" I said with a smile, letting her inside.
"Whoa! What happened here?" Annie gawked at the big wooden plate where my window once was.
"That…would be the reason for my sick day. Thugs. Trying to break in last night. I'm fine though, nothing is missing and they got caught." I don't think I'd made up a lie that fast before.
"Oh my heavens, that's horrible! Are you sure you're okay sweetie?" Annie's motherly face made me smile widely.
"I'm sure Annie. Do come in! That pizza smells good but those beers look even better!" I said and we giggled as we made ourselves comfortable on my couch.
I couldn't remember the last time I had this much relaxed fun. Annie was quickly growing on me and even though she was older than me she was super-fun! We ate, drank and watched a whole bunch of old reruns of "Scare Tactics" on TV. Day turned to night and with it came an eerie feeling.
"I'll go see who it is and chase them away!" Annie jumped up with a grin and hurried out to the door as the doorbell rang. I chuckled and emptied my beer.
"Uhm, Luca?" Annie said, looking through the peephole in the door. I looked at her.
"Yeah?"
"You have a visitor." Annie turned towards me, her smile gone.
"A vampire visitor."
I felt my heart drop to the floor and my hands shook as I slowly got up.
Who's at Luca's doorstep...?