He virtually flew out of the Corvette, landing at my side. "I knew this car was fit for the junkyard, but I did not think it would meet its maker tonight. What did you do to it?"
I grunted. "I'd like to know what some others did to it--I blew a tire and I don't have my spare." Shielding my eyes from the headlights left blazing on the Corvette, I led him to the side. "I was just calling Fangtasia, but Pam said you'd left. Were you following me?"
"Mmm." Eric seemed not to hear my question. Instead, he peered at my sorry tire, as if there were any question in the world of its problem. He even tapped it with his boot's tip in the universal male manner of testing a tire. "You've done quite a number on this, Sookie."
Hello, Mr. Obvious. I wanted to be frustrated and snap at him, but he honestly was trying to help. "Yeah, so I gathered. I don't have my spare, or I'd swap it out. I don't suppose I could borrow yours?"
He put his hands on his knees and bent over to look at the tire more closely. I bit my tongue when I realized his world-class rear was facing me, and made myself stare up at the moon like a good Christian woman should. And not that moon.
"I don't think so." He looked around his shoulder at me, then straightened. "I'd give you my spare, but it wouldn't fit. I'm afraid we're going to have to do something else. Do you have everything you need out of the car?"
"I'm not abandoning my car!" It's not like cars fall out of the sky. Well, they might in my world, but with my luck, they'd land right on me.
He shook his head. "Did I say you were? Trust me. Get whatever you need out of the car."
Well, there wasn't much to be done but follow his advice at this point, so I dug about in the car for the few personal items I kept in there. Goodness knows, with Jason prone to "borrow" the car for his latest fling, I didn't want to keep anything too important in there. "Okay, I'm done."
"Keys." Eric, who had been hovering behind me and fiddling with his cell phone, took them and plopped down by the tire. He slid half-way under the car and out before I could blink an eye. "Pam will oversee the retrieval of your car. I have hidden the keys for her." He grinned at me from beside the tire, quite pleased with himself.
"And made a mess of yourself." Fall foliage, and likely gravel as well, as all over Eric's shirt. This was an unfortunate statement on my part, as Eric's reaction was quite typical. He simply pulled the shirt over his head and shook out his hair; his eyes settled on me again and his mouth turned now into a lazy smirk.
"Enjoying the view? Want this one for the calendar?" His hands drifted down and made as if to unbutton the top of his jeans, but I spun away.
"Oh, come on, Mr. Ego. What now?"
The danger of knowing vampires is that they can move really, really fast. Which means certain Scandinavian Lotharios could move on me in a heartbeat. Before I could object, Eric was at my side, turning me towards him and propelling me backwards. In another second, I was gently deposited on the hood of the Corvette. It was warm, but since a cool vampire was right over me, I barely noticed. Indeed, I was too busy noticing how my legs lifted automatically to clamp down on Eric's waist as he leaned into me.
"You have missed me already, lover." He smiled. "And here I thought I'd meet with the same lovely shrew I just saw at the bar."
"Quit while you're ahead. I'm still mad at you." Yes, my hands were in his hair. So? It was…expedient. "Why were you following me?"
He was nuzzling by my jaw; sparks flew up where his beard brushed my skin, like one thousand miniature kisses. "Perhaps I wanted to…make up. Or…" He turned his head into my ear. "Perhaps I am told I am a sex god? Was I really that good, Sookie?"
"You were listening!"
"Not intentionally. You were…rather loud…at that point." He lifted his head to look down at my mortified face. "I love it when you're loud. It brings back many wonderful memories."
"Stop it!" I swatted his magnificent behind.
He squirmed happily. "Oh, do that again. You're into that?"
I couldn't help but laugh as I pushed against his broad shoulders. He didn't budge. "No, thank you--I'm just reminding you of your manners."
"Remind me again, then," he purred next to my ear; my hands rubbed the slopes of his shoulder blades. "I wanted to talk to you, but this is just as well."
"Don't you think--oh!--we should--um--get off the car?" It was hard talking while a Viking's hands were all over you. Eric, for the record, does not just cop a feel--there's nothing PG 13 in the way he approaches a woman. For which this woman, I admit, is terribly grateful.
He moved abruptly to slide a leg between mine; his knee wasn't just holding my boneless body on the car. He didn't need to breathe, but his chest was pumping almost as much as mine was. "Ground or backseat? The car's a bit small for a man like me." His mouth turned and caught mine; I arched up against him and moaned helplessly. Oh, I remembered, all right. That kind of size doesn't fit in a backseat.
Distantly, I heard a rumble. A car? Somehow--from Eric's enthusiasm--I didn't think he was beyond a little exhibitionism; okay, a lot of exhibitionism. And maybe any lucky woman on the road wouldn't mind getting an eyeful of Viking, but I wasn't quite on the same level. "Eric!" He rumbled with pleasure. "No, Eric, I mean, don't you think--Pam's coming--does she really need to see--" I heard him mutter something which might have been, "Wouldn't be the first time," but I'm not sure.
I pushed regretfully against his chest again. "Really, please?"
"I'll take that as a rain check," he sighed and lifted off of me. "But you'd better be good next time. I'll be." He winked outrageously. Someone was in a good mood. And from the looks of things, happy. Very, very happy.
I jerked my eyes upward, past his taunting lips and up to those dancing blues. "You're so much trouble." Okay, looking at those eyes as they said that was a problem, too. I looked over at the dark woods, shivering slightly, remembering another night, with a maenad wandering about.
"Um, I appreciate you coming out here, but I think we should move on--how long before Pam comes for the car?"
"Soon, but we don't need to wait for her." He was at the side of the Corvette, opening the door--his own, of course. Eric's not without his touches of chivalry, but he's used to being the Big Kahuna, after all. More slowly, I walked to my side of the car. "She'll come fetch your car and I'll drive you home." He shot me a look to stress this was not subject for discussion. At least it wouldn't be that much of a hog of his time--Eric drove like a bat out of hell (a comparison he appreciated greatly), and he could easily halve my road time. Of course, my body could be easily halved around a tree, and his couldn't. "It'll be at your home in the morning." His eyebrow slid upward teasingly, promisingly. "I could be, too."