Chapter 11: You, and I

A/N: I find your varying reactions to Sookie's plans so interesting. There are two very opposite ends of the spectrum, those who think she's being childish, and those who agree entirely with her running away. Thanks for sharing your opinions! Well, as she said in her dream with Eric in True Blood, with a southern accent so thick it drips with molasses - She wants it all. Heh heh.

Sookie awoke to the steady roar of crashing waves, beach stones digging into her back. Heavy lidded eyes opened slowly to take in the landscape around her. The telepath noticed that her feet were bare and covered in sand, and she wore a rough linen dress that scratched against her skin.

She stood and looked around, sunlight warming her skin. A figure moved towards her from the distance, a dog trotting at his heels. As he neared closer she recognized those shoulders, that long legged gait.

"Eric!" she called out, and sprinted along the hard sand close to the surf. Soon she was upon him, crashing into his powerful arms, and with a laugh he scooped her up, swung her small form in circles. The dog barked excitedly, running in circles around them.

"Sookie," he answered, cupping her face in those great hands. They were rougher than she remembered, and as she looked up into his face she realized he was flushed, tan even, and his breath was warm, his lips scalding upon hers. "Mmm. My lover. Let's go for a swim."

He pulled his shirt off, revealing a tan expanse of muscled torso, and went to divest Sookie of her own garment. "Eric, but what of the others?" Sookie asked, pausing his hands' encroachment upon her person.

"What others?" he asked with a teasing smile, planting a wet kiss upon her pulse that sent her knees to buckle. "Ulf?" He referred to the dog. "There are no others, Sookie. Here, there is only you and I."

Convinced by his words, or perhaps his clever hands making their way beneath her skirts, kneading into her flesh, Sookie allowed Eric to divest her of her dress, drawing it up above her head with a flourish. He gave her no chance to feel self-conscious, his mouth descending upon hers in a slow kiss that consumed her to the core.

It was as they bobbed in the surf, Sookie's body wrapped around the anchor of Eric's torso, that he pulled her closer still. She curled into him, her head resting in the bend of his strong neck, and they rocked to the rhythm of the waves, in tune with the ocean and the beating of their own hearts.

"Sookie," Eric's breath ghosted against her ear. "I could love you like this forever, steady as the ocean's waves, if you would let me."

Lazily she smiled, lifting her head to brush lips against his. The water was cool, but his body warmed her skin. He attempted to open his mouth once more, but Sookie silenced him with fingers upon his sculpted lips. "Shh. Here, I will let you do anything you want."

And so he did, carrying her to lay in the surf, where he plied her with melting kisses, licked the salt from her skin. His fingers found the secret pearl between her legs, and its eager juices pooling. She gasped as he slipped inside her, he could wait no longer, and he filled her in ways no other could, his weight pushing her down against the sand. "How could you leave me?" he groaned, thrusting inside her maddening warmth, tearing a guttural moan from so deep inside her.

"Because," she answered, distracted by kisses growing in urgency. "You--" He pushed her hands above her head, holding her in exactly the way he wanted, exactly the way he knew would send her reeling. Colors began to dance before her eyes, as she attempted again, "Because you wanted to own me."

With a growl Eric rolled his hips against hers, catching her gaze with his. He sent her over the edge with the intensity of eye contact and his next thrust. Locked against her writhing body beneath him, he soon followed her to the shining abyss, and collapsed against her supple curves.

"You don't understand, lover," he finally spoke once more, lifting minutely on an elbow to look into her eyes. His fingers traced the contours of her face, the line of her nose, and the plump of her lower lip. She felt weightless, sprawled on the sand in a surreal scene of perfect calm. "I want you to own me too."

For a moment all she could hear was the crash of the waves around them, caught in the pure blue of Eric's irises, staring earnestly into hers. His lips split into a smile, devoid of fangs, and he pulled her to rest upon his shoulder, surf spilling about their bodies warmed by the sun. "You, little Valkyrie," he sighed as her fingers traced his chest. "You could be the death of me."

IIII

Sookie awoke with a gasp and a sense of forboding, bolting up in bed and clutching her Mjölnir, cheeks wet with tears. Her gaze tossed about the room, frantic for some affirmation of reality. There was no beach, no waves crashing, no Eric as a human man playing her body like his favorite instrument. She was in her new apartment. Snow fell outside the window, plump fluffy flakes that glowed against the night sky. Settling back down into the pillow, Sookie wondered at herself for the umpteenth occasion: what have I done?

A/N: You can thank Iron and Wine's song The Sea and the Rhythm for this chapter--I think I was channelling...