AN: I must acknowledge that CH created these characters and owns the rights to them.

This chapter and the next are just 'sparkle clean'. See AN below to learn the particulars.

Thank you again for your feedback. Words are inadequate to express my feelings on this aspect of FF. I'm simply amazed.

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Woodside c. 1979 Part III

P1

Eric broke the silence. He pulled Sookie close against his chest, turning to look at Joran. "Sookie and I have unfinished business. Wait in the kitchen for me, bro'."

Clearly expecting Joran to follow his order without question, he turned to Sookie. Eric pushed back a bit to study her, cupping her face in his palms. "After all this time, I still want to be with you. But I've screwed it up so badly. You and I haven't begun to talk through what I need to tell you. You have your note to explain to me as well. But, now is not the time to discuss any of this. I've got to sort out Joran first."

"What will Joran say to Sven? Is he your cousin? How could we not have heard him come in on a bike?' The last question wasn't strictly pertinent.

"Get dressed. When Sven gets here. I should be gone, along with Joran. I won't speak with Sven today. Tell him what you must. Just tell me, how long have you been with him?"

"Eight months."

"When were you married? He did not tell any of us, especially me, that he had found you again. Did you know of his deception?"

"Why would it be deceptive to not tell you, Eric? I guess I'm more surprised than really hurt. What possible reaction could you have, anyways? You have been married to Selah for years"

"Get dressed. He will be here soon. You can tell him whatever version of events you wish."

Eric stood up, pulling his gym shorts up over his hips, a clear punctuation demarking the end of their brief interlude of intimacy. As she watched him move away, she thought sadly they might never feel so free around one another again.

Sookie fumbled with retrieving her too short gown, dropping it over her shoulders, then made to rearrange the pillows on the corduroy couch. Indistinct snatches of male voices drifted into the den. She could not make out the words, but the meaning was unmistakable.

She strained to listen a little more closely. It sounded as if Eric was having trouble convincing Joran to take off. She couldn't guess at his reasons for wishing to stay. Did he intend to spill all he'd seen to Sven?

Since she was not eager to face either Joran or Eric now, she dawdled a bit in the den, looking over the familiar items Sven had collected in his travels and now displayed in his private space. Handling them and recalling the stories he had shared with her forced her to reflect more carefully on her actions. She was shame-faced to think how easily she had betrayed one brother for the other. More upsetting to her was the knowledge that Sven had never betrayed her or abandoned her as Eric had that night so many years ago.

Yes, she could admit she was very attracted to Eric, even after so damn many years. She could even admit she didn't care that he was married and was clearly ready to cheat on his wife. Look at her own actions!

Snapping back to attention, she noticed that the voices had quieted. There were no longer any sounds coming from the kitchen. Perhaps it was safe to leave the den?

Sookie walked bravely down the hall into the kitchen, scene of so many recent dramas. Would she ever look at this room in the same way again, she wondered? They might have to move.

It was empty. Drifting to the front of the house, she saw the courtyard also was empty. Joran must have taken his bike and left. What was his relationship to Eric and Sven? Where was Eric?

Since she would have to wait for answers to both questions, she resolved to take a shower while she waited for Sven to return. It was easier to have a mundane task to perform than think about him just now. She started clearing away the forgotten food and stacking the plates and utensils in the dishwasher, washing down the counters and rinsing the skillet. She munched on a cold piece of toast and wondered how long it would take Sven to make the drive from the City if he was doing ninety down 280.

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P2

Eric was out in the garage, silently cursing the gods of Harley for the unreliable equipment they sold to 'tosks' like him. The bike refused to turn over. He was stuck without means of escape. If only he could fly he'd be long gone by now. He briefly fantasized about gliding over the tops of the hills, then moved on to picturing an aerial view of the glaciers he had spent years cataloging and now had memorized from a foot path perspective. Travel by plane over the ice fields wasn't common for the teams performing the research, even in the summer. The information they needed was best collected by long stretches of foot travel hauling heavy gear. Eric always thought it was the best part of the work.

The sounds of the garage door opening served to jerk him back to present circumstances. Trust his fussy brother to take time to garage his precious Porsche even in the midst of a meltdown recovery attempt with his wife. Saying the words to himself, Eric again experienced the dissonance of Sookie as Sven's spouse. How much time in the intervening years had he spent fantasizing about seeing her again? How foolish he had been to be certain she had never married. Why would such a beautiful woman have waited for him to be free of his marriage? He snorted. She was not even aware he was married. Or, just what had Sven told her? He realized there was no logic to his thoughts.

The Porsche sat in the garage for a full minute, engine running. Sven must have seen him standing by the bike. When Sven eventually killed the motor, Eric unconsciously straightened for what was to come. He stood, facing the car, and waited for Sven to emerge.

The door swung open and Sven pulled his long frame from the body of the car. It was immediately apparent to Eric that Sven was not feeling his usual arrogant self. In fact, his face might have reflected some recent emotional turmoil if Eric wasn't certain that Sven did not ever lose his poker face except perhaps in private. What he remembered from his own recent emotional confrontation with Sven a few hours ago in the kitchen was indistinct, fuzzed by his feelings of outrage at Sven's unexpected pronouncement of Sookie as his.

If Sven was hurting and was going to share it with him, it would be a first. Eric was flooded with feelings of guilt for what he and Sookie had almost done in the den. He knew he had precipitated the events by manipulating her with his need. Neither Sven nor Sookie deserved that sort of betrayal from him.

He spoke first. "Sven, brother, this is an unfortunate beginning to Sookie's introduction to our family. I was taken aback at seeing her again. Why did you keep this from me?"

Sven remained standing, looking at the opening through which he had driven the car, eyes averted from Eric. He did not speak, merely nodding his acceptance of Eric's offering.

Eric tried again. "How long have you been married? How did you meet her? I think you did not tell me about her because you suspected I still felt for her, after all these years. Did she ever mention me to you?"

At that last remark, Sven lashed out. "What are you still doing here? Haven't you caused enough pain for us today? I would prefer you leave; go back to Hohn, why don't you?" He leaned against the side of the car, as if needing some support.

"These have been the happiest three weeks of my life, since I married Sookie. And today, this morning, you seemed intent on wrecking it for me. I've had only a very brief time to reflect on your actions. You have a sour marriage and a lousy, unfeeling companion in Selah. You are stuck in the middle of nowhere doing mindless, boring tasks for a reward that won't materialize for years, if at all. You were basically maneuvered into marriage by Ander for the social connection to her prominent West Coast family. As if we weren't dynasty enough. Now, you are childless and likely to remain so. I plan to have my children with Sookie. I also intend to keep my wife very satisfied in the normal way of bringing children into this existence. Therefore, I suggest you stay away from us for the near future."

With that, Sven finally turned to face Eric, a defiant look on his face. He was met by Eric's own look, a blue flame of defiance in his eyes.

"I won't deny that you were in the line of fire this morning. I have decided that I need to see a lawyer. I am going to end it with Selah." Sven doubted Eric would go through with it without his help. He didn't express his opinion, though.

"So, tell me why you married Sookie? Do you love her, or was it just a spur-of-the-moment reaction when you realized I was going to be back in town?"

Sven's expression changed from one of defiance to disbelief. "You are married; your wife may be a faithless whore, but she's yours. You could have divorced her anytime before now. I suspected she had ensnared you with the sex games of which she was very fond when I was with her. Is that it, Eric? Was the sex so mind-boggling with her you could not leave her? The only other explanation isn't very flattering for you, is it?"

"Did you marry her on an impulse, Sven? This is what I hope. She isn't the sort of woman you'd pick out of a crowd, except only superficially. She doesn't have the social connections you seek, or the money, or the breeding. She was perfect for me. Doesn't it seem a little pathological that we now both have fucked the same women, first losing the ones we loved then taking one from each other?" Eric was yelling now, his voice echoing in the cavernous area of the garage.

Sven's voice was sure and confident. "You have Selah. Now I have Sookie. Fair's fair, little brother. Now take one of my other cars if your bike isn't working and get out of here. I have my wife, your Sookie, to fuck this day."

P3

Hearing Sven's Porsche roar up the drive, Sookie forgot the idea of showering. She finally saw her cover-up on the counter where Sven had dropped it what now seemed like years ago. She clutched it to her as she made her way to the front of the house in time to see him pull into the garage, leaving the engine running. She hesitated. Maybe he needed a few minutes before coming into the house. She'd give him time if he needed it. Thank goodness Eric and Joran were gone. Thank god he had come back. Sooner would have been better, but she found she was eager to see him, touch him, kiss him and comfort him if that was what he wanted. She would never punish him for decisions he made when she wasn't in the picture. She had always abhorred any behavior that even hinted at prejudice or a lack of tolerance; it was the least she could do accept him as he was, for she knew she loved him.

She waited, but he did not emerge from the garage. Well, Sookie Stackhouse was no coward. She slipped on the cover-up, tied it at the waist, and headed into the courtyard to walk into the garage. She'd let him know it was alright between them. They could overcome this; get on with their lives. They could deal with what Joran had seen; maybe he would keep quiet about it. If she could just speak with him privately, she'd know if Eric had been successful in convincing him it had been a mistake. It would only compound the mistake for Joran to hurt Sven by revealing it to him. She wondered when she could track down Sven's parents and somehow find out how to contact Joran. This could be complicated.

For a brief moment, she felt a sense of despair at what she needed to do to cover up her actions, then halted in confusion outside the garage where she could still see Sven standing. Didn't he see her? Peering into the darkened structure, she saw him lean against the car and turn to face into the side area where the bikes were stored. Eric must be in the garage. She'd wait for a bit after all.

Thinking about what they were probably discussing, she paused as well. How much damage might she and Sven have to acknowledge if Eric told all before she could sort if out with Sven? Would they be able to overcome it under those circumstances? She didn't care about him having an affair with a man, Max, whoever he was. The idea of her beautiful husband with another man was an interesting visual. She'd think about it later. She herself wasn't attracted to women, but living in the Bay Area, she had met and befriended many fellow students at Stanford who were in long-term same-sex relationships. She was confident she and Sven had a strong physical connection. So he had failed to mention previous sex partners; she knew she hadn't told him everything either. He was hers, to keep or to lose. Nothing new about that.

Thinking she might be able to prevent them from killing each other, she started forward again. It was untenable for them to fight; she'd get this stopped and then they could work on sorting out the mess.

Before she could enter the garage, barely noticing the last icy words from Sven about '…my wife, your Sookie, to fuck this day', her head whipped around as another foreign car came racing up the drive. Open-mouthed, she saw a slight, dark-haired woman throw herself from the vehicle and move quickly to stand in front of her. Her eyes were blazing as she stared back at Sookie. Her hair was cut short, butch style; it served to emphasize that she was almost a living embodiment of the cartoon characterization of a voluptuous female shape. She was very beautiful, more so because of the sparkle of energy she threw off. She was dressed simply in dark tight clothing, a zippered windbreaker and shorts with red sandals. This visitor was a little shorter than Sookie, but the heels on her cherry red sandals brought her eye-to-eye with Sookie who was barefoot, in spite of the chilliness of Northern California temperatures in January.

"Are you the girlfriend he took to the Caribbean instead of spending it with family? You don't look enticing enough to make him forget about Max." Selah's first words were not promising for a good sister-in-law relationship, not that Sookie had held any illusions. Both having slept with the same brothers would have made it awkward anyway, she knew. She noted that Selah had left the door open and Stevie Nick's could be heard singing "Landslide" on the car stereo, unnaturally loud in the quiet that had fallen after Selah's question. Take this love, take it down. If you climb a mountain, and you turn around, if you see my reflection in the snow-covered hills, well, the landslide will bring you down."

Sookie saw that both Eric and Sven had come to the door of the garage and were staring at the two of them. Perhaps they were waiting for a female version of their own fireworks? She was not that kind of girl; she had been taught manners by her Gran and now she would show them off to good advantage.

"Welcome, you must be Selah, Eric's wife. I am Sookie. Sven and I were married a few weeks ago. I'm sorry about missing the family time in Napa. We were on our honeymoon in Barbados."

Sookie was only mildly surprised by the look of shock that passed over Selah's features. It was ungracious, but she also experienced a small spurt of pleasure that the shock was followed by what she would have sworn was a brief flash of jealousy. 'Take that, you bitch,' she thought.

The tape of Fleetwood Mack had ended; after what seemed an interminable interlude of silence from all four, Sven finally spoke. He made to move to Sookie's side, saying "Now that you and Eric have met my new wife, perhaps the two of you can leave us and return to your house in Santa Cruz. Or, go anywhere really, I don't give a damn. We are going inside. Sometime later I expect to look out my window at my courtyard to see that you both are gone." He did not turn around, but said "Eric, your wife is here for you. You now have a means of exiting my grounds. See ya!" Placing his arm firmly around Sookie's waist, he began walking her toward their front door and did not loosen his grip until he had the door closed and locked behind them.

"I don't want to talk about anything yet. Save it all for tomorrow. I've missed you and now I am here", he said. Then, not hesitating, he then pulled her into his arms and kissed her firmly, his hands clasped possessively around her checks, his fingers digging into her flesh. She had been wanting his touch, and responded warmly to his obvious desire, rubbing her stomach against his growing evidence of it. Sex would not solve anything, but it was at present a very acceptable distraction. She was relieved they could save the talking for later, after they were able to reestablish their physical connection. Right now, Sookie wasn't thinking that clearly about anything. It was easier not to focus on the difficulties and let herself sink into the physicality of their need. Would fighting always lead to sex? In a small corner of her mind, she acknowledged that maybe he was a little immature for always turning to sex instead of talking it out with her. For now she didn't care. She just hoped Joran would keep his mouth shut until she had time to decide how to explain it all to Sven. Perhaps it could just be forgotten? She wished.

Sven didn't seem too focused on an explanation just now anyway. If he had any regrets about the events of this morning, or his arguments with Eric, he was blocking it out. Sookie could tell by his breathing that he was deeply into the moment. She made to move to the hallway leading to the bathroom and he growled "No". Stepping back only long enough to grasp the top of the cover-up, he tore it and the filmy gown into two pieces to drop onto the floor, displaying strength she didn't know he possessed. He seemed in the grip of his desire; his face awash with the look she knew meant he was not holding anything back. He rarely showed that face to her, but when she saw it, it was always followed by him exploring as much into the dominance realm as she would let him. As if in confirmation, he dropped to his knees and pushed his nose and tongue between her thighs, clearly smelling her scent and tasting her with his eager mouth. He rose almost immediately to look into her eyes, his eyes wide with anger. "I hope that is for me. I would expect that one day after our honeymoon ended you would not have been here engaged in anything with my brother, Sookie. Your scent is very strong and I know it well. Tell me, what happened after I left you two alone and you would not answer our phone?"

She remained standing, but her legs felt a little funny. She hadn't thought about cleaning-up after Eric. She was too ashamed to respond to him.

"I will ask you again. Did Eric take … advantage of you?" His tone was menacing. Was he mocking her, or was he serious?

When she still did not respond, he said: "Should I take that as a 'yes'?"

Surprised, but now convinced that he must be teasing her, Sookie would not react. She would not give him the satisfaction of believing that he might be intimidating her. "Or course not." She did not like lying, but the consequences of confessing to the brief resurgence of her feelings for Eric would be terrifying. She flinched, imagining what Sven's response would be to a blow-by-blow of what had transpired in their den. However, a tendril of conscience was growing inside her; he would need to know the truth, perhaps soon.

"Shower time, then."

He scooped her into his arms and made his way to the bathroom now. He reached their shower and still holding her, stepped into the enclosure, and gripped her tightly with one arm while turning the shower on cold. The frigid water blasted over her naked body. It was so unexpected and unlike him, she screamed involuntarily. She struggled to escape, while he bent his head to whisper in her ear, "I'm spreading your thighs so you can wash him out of your center, my wife, should that be necessary."

The water was very unpleasant, and she was taking the brunt of it, especially as Sven was still fully clothed. Struggling didn't seem to help; it was clear she couldn't move him away. She knew better than to hit him; he had already chastised her very early in their relationship for pretend-slapping him over some remarks about a waiter who had annoyed him.

When she stopped struggling and started whimpering, he gave in and turned the water to warm, setting her down on her feet beside him. "I'd like to wash your hair now", he whispered into her ear and pushing her to face into the terrazzo tiles so her backside was exposed to him. It seemed likely that he would be doing more than washing her hair; perhaps she deserved some punishment she sadly admitted to herself.

But Sookie was not a woman to be pushed or intimidated. She had not risen to her ranking in her class, nor made the grade to be accepted into an institution such as Stanford by being a wallflower. She turned as he struggled out of his wet shorts, sinking down to follow the material down his hips and over his thighs, taking his sac into her mouth and gently sucking first one and then the other ball while letting her lips play over the crinkled skin. Pressing her breasts against his thighs, she began stroking his member with both hands as he tried half-heartedly to stop her. She moved her face around to the front of his stomach where he was exceptionally sensitive, and began running her tongue and lips in the area just above his dick. Shaved smooth, it was a very pleasant sensation on her skin and lips, and he gave the moan that told her he was feeling the sensation deep in his balls. He began rocking back and forth, his hands sliding into her wet hair. She stopped long enough to suggest he begin washing her hair, and he took the bottle of Herbal Essence she favored from the wall shelf and did as she asked. She held out one hand for a drop of the thick shampoo, and using it to lubricate her index finger, began massaging his tight entrance before sinking first one finger and then a second into him. She didn't need to stop her licking and sucking to see his face. The grinding of his hips against her face was all the acknowledgment she needed.

It was all good.

P4

The phone rang incessantly during the day, but neither she nor Sven could be enticed into answering it, both concluding it was Sven's family. They could wait one day; it would be soon enough to check the answering machine in the morning; it would also be soon enough to discuss some of their past and why he had kept their relationship and now marriage a secret. She'd been so happy about everything, and eager to close out school and pack for the trip, she'd not given any thought to the lack of introductions to his family via phone or visit. Maybe she'd been remiss in letting him get away with so much. Well, tomorrow they'd start being a lot more honest with one another. She had secrets to share as well.

Later in bed that evening, quiet and pleasantly aching from the intense physical releases the two of them had enjoyed many times that day, she had a stray thought. 'What note?'

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AN: Mariaterese has gently initiated me into the scary realms of the beta reader-verse. I am overwhelmingly grateful for her judicious editing and humorous exchanges. All errors are mine, of course.

…And now, as we float, vampire-like, above a room sporting that proverbial glass ceiling, the scene below us is revealed in beautiful Technicolor. MT sits with her back snug to one wall. Forming a half circle around her, two deep in most places, the gremlins wait, their furry bodies running the color spectrum from midnight black to burgundy, to red, pink, even yellow. She is unperturbed by the events transpiring, but the small figures appear to have crept closer over the last few minutes we have kept watch. She is elegantly dressed in a midnight blue leather cat-suit; the dark green bull-whip fastened at her side Indiana Jones style. She takes a deep breath, stands, and reaching behind her grasps a slim handle we had not seen. The door whips open and she steps outside, closing it firmly behind her. And, justlikethat, POOF! the gremlins are gone. LY.