It had been a long, slow shift for crappy tips, snark from Arlene and a kid spilling his full glass of iced tea all over the floor twice.
I felt a sense of comfort when my little yellow Honda pulled up to the house. All I wanted was a hot cup of tea, a long shower and a good night's sleep.
I wasn't expecting to find Eric Northman in mid-air by the porch steps.
A flying vampire. Of course.
"Crap," I muttered as I got out of the car. A glance at my reflection in the mirror told me I didn't look my best. I procrastinated by shutting and locking the door for much longer than it would normally take.
"Good evening Miss Stackhouse." His greeting made me turn.
A few months had passed since our introduction - the single interaction we'd ever had - at Fangtasia, but he was instantly recognisable. Tall, blonde and insanely gorgeous, he wore a similarly dark outfit to the one he'd been wearing at the bar. Tonight's black jacket was leather and had an expensive buttery sheen in the moonlight. With less restraint, I could have stroked the damn Viking.
It was manners that kept me from blurting out: 'Why are you here?'
"Can I help you?" I said instead.
He smiled although the expression was cool. I couldn't read him and I realised he was the one man that I almost wished I could. Curiosity was overtaking my tiredness.
"I thought we might renew our acquaintance," he replied. His urbane voice, so at odds with the thick Southern accents I was used to, cut through the night despite its low, masculine pitch. A chill actually ran down my spine. Or a thrill.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
He smoothed back the hair from his eyes. I didn't usually find longhaired men attractive, but Eric Northman looked neither feminine nor unkempt.
I stared as his feet neatly hit the ground.
"It has come to my attention that you and Bill Compton are no more," he said. "Is this true?" He sounded so conversational, I didn't know how to take it.
"It's not really any of your business, Mr Northman."
I'd seen my reflection and wasn't kidding myself. I was unglamorous, sweaty and grease-stained from carrying all those Thursday night fry-ups. And yet he surveyed my Merlotte's t-shirt, shorts and tennis shoes with great interest.
"If you are no longer attached to him, it's of relevance to me."
"Why is that?" I questioned dubiously.
"As I am sheriff of the area Bill resides in. Amongst other things."
We had a mini stare-off of sorts. He didn't have mortal compulsions. I blinked and he won.
So I gave in.
"Bill and I stopped seeing each other awhile ago."
"Why?" he queried, still both unreadable and conversational.
I gestured helplessly. "No reason in particular. I guess we just weren't suited." It was true. Bill was a nice guy, a real gentleman amongst a lot of rednecks, but it had never been anything serious. I could've kept going on pleasant dates with him each weekend, but my feelings weren't progressing beyond casual attraction and fondness. It had been better to gently end things in the genuine hope we could remain friends.
"You mean you realised he wasn't the right one for you," he said. A small smirk. "I'm certain the break up was not mutual. If you care to know, Bill has been drowning his sorrows at Fangtasia."
I tilted my head at him. "Is this why you're here? To plead his case?"
"To plead for him?" Eric scorned arrogantly. "Absolutely not."
"Right." I walked past him, towards the house, tired again. He was the hottest guy I had ever met let alone the hottest vampire I imagined I'd ever meet. But I wasn't interested in chatting to him about my break up.
"Can I come in?" He used vampire speed to overtake me. "I'm your visitor. It would be the polite thing to invite me into your home."
"An unexpected visitor," I pointed out. "At 11 o'clock at night."
He continued to stand there, a small, enigmatic smile curling the corner of his mouth.
"Fine," I found myself saying. I unlocked the door and gestured for him to enter.
He didn't move.
"Say it," he said softly, a command wrapped in silk.
In my limited experience with vampires, I'd learned that I was unaffected by their attempts to glamour me. However I was drowning in Eric's darkened blue eyes, as enthralled by the moment - by him - to the point I wondered if he was almost an exception.
"Mr Northman," I breathed, "will you please come in?"
Internally, cautious Sookie chided me for being naïve, but reckless Sookie – the risk taking, optimistic part of me that shamelessly acknowledged my attraction to the Viking vampire sheriff – was cheering.
His smile widened. He stepped aside and held the door open for me. I had to duck under his arm to get inside, but he deliberately moved at the same time so our bodies brushed against each other. I looked up at him, startled by the contact. He smouldered. Literally smouldered despite his cold-bloodedness.
I hurried ahead.
As I made a pot of tea, I pretended not to be perturbed by this gorgeous, practically unknown vampire roaming about my kitchen. He moved with a careless swagger, surveying the collection of knickknacks scattered about the room.
"How very... quaint," he mused, seemingly to himself.
The kettle boiled. I filled the teapot and set it upon the table. I sat down, hoping he would follow my lead, yet he continued to stand. I didn't keep Tru Blood in the house since breaking up with Bill so I had nothing to offer him to drink. I wasn't going to offer myself. At least not yet, reckless Sookie chimed in.
"What are you doing here?" I finally asked. There had to be a point to this visit. I didn't think Eric Northman was the type to make friendly house calls for no reason.
His blue eyes attempted to beguile me once more and I resisted. I didn't fall victim to any glamour, but I couldn't disregard how much he intrigued me.
"I have heard that humans like to wait for a period before becoming involved with another. If my estimation is correct, you and Bill Compton have been separated for a month."
"So?"
"You have not exchanged blood." This was a statement, not a question.
I instinctively cringed. Despite my inner self's sass, blood drinking held no appeal to me. Bill had offered me his blood, but I'd declined each time. I hadn't even liked him drinking my blood (he'd really liked it), concluding that I just wasn't cut out to be a fangbanger.
Eric had been watching me closely as I tripped down Vampire Bill memory lane.
"I see," he said, even though I'd said nothing. "It is settled then. You shall now be mine."
At this, I jerked with shock.
"You're joking right? We're strangers, Eric. I've met you once!" I dropped the formal 'Mr Northman' in my haste to check him.
His expression remained self-satisfied. "And yet here we are, inside your little house. That you invited me, a supposed stranger, into."
"Because I'm polite!"
"Because you're interested."
I winced, unable to assume a poker face. I was interested, intrigued, whatever, but I hadn't expected this pace. My mind tried to rationalise the proposition.
"Is this some macho besting game you're playing with Bill? See who can get a taste of Sookie?"
I stilled as he finally chose to sit down, pulling his chair too close to mine. Even sitting his body was enormous and muscular, looming over me like a magnet when I probably should have been intimidated instead. My heart rate quickened. I wondered if he could sense it.
"If all I wanted was to taste your blood, then I could do it right now and there wouldn't be a thing you could do to stop me." His expression was knowing, under the table, cool fingers skimmed my knee.
"But instead, I am asking you to be mine."
When I shifted away from him, he smiled cockily, revealing perfect white fangs. I got the feeling that most girls would have instantaneously agreed to whatever he wanted. But as gorgeous as he was - and how much reckless Sookie was pointing this out - cautious Sookie still had a say. After dating and then breaking up with Bill, starting something with Eric would be out of the saucepan and into the blazing fire.
We went for round two of our mini stare-off.
He didn't seem troubled by my silence and couldn't understand my internal struggle. He rose to his feet.
"I'll leave you now, Sookie Stackhouse. Arrangements will be made for you and I to see each other soon."
I also rose.
"I'm not yours," I felt the need to clarify. "I did not say yes."
He shrugged unconcernedly. "You'll come around."
I trailed after him as he walked to the door and exited the house.
"Why me?" I ended up asking. I needed to know.
He paused. Turning to face me, his blue eyes swept my body. Again I got the sense that it wasn't purely lust, it was something else, something more primitive. He was the predator showing restraint and I was the prey holding him at bay. A timeless vampire and human dance.
"You're special," he replied.
Vampire speed made him disappear into the night.