"Eric, there's a hot blonde in a cute blue sundress at the door looking for you. Says she won't leave until she talks to you. I told her it just wasn't possible as you were entertaining the clientele," Pam says with a fangy smile.

Sookie… How did she find me, I wonder? I glance around, looking to see where she is in the crowd.

"Did she tell you her name?"

Pam hesitates. Possibly, she has seen the infinitesimal movement of my lips as my thoughts flicker through our time together. She throws her hands on her hips and narrows her eyes as she addresses me.

"Sookie Stackhouse. The name's not familiar." Her eyes survey my countenance before she continues her diatribe. "She's quite the southern belle too, that one. Did I tell you she has her hair swept up in a ponytail with a blue bow? Dare I say it, but it's just too cute! What's she want with you? She's not your typical skanky fangbanger."

"Thank you, Pamela. I'll handle it from here."

"Eric…"

I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose to temper my mood. "I said, I will handle it from here." She nods and moves through the room with purpose, melting into the noisy throng.

I remain seated at my booth, biding my time. I will not hide from Sookie but I am not prepared to see her, here. I lift my nose to the ceiling and inhale deeply, trying to decipher her delicious scent amongst the fetid sweaty bodies and pungent perfumes which are usually suffocating to the keen senses of vampire. Why I bother to share air with these creatures is beyond me. I cut off the influx of oxygen I've begun ingesting as a miniscule trace of sweetness, which can only be Sookie, tickles my olfactory nerve. I hold it, savoring, renewing the taste of her—the rare delicacy I've missed, I've craved.

Mine…

It has only been a month since we last saw one another, but I feel as if it has been longer. The year I was "away" pales in comparison. To see her again would be…

I am so wrapped in my thoughts I do not hear her approach.

"Hello, Eric." She stands before me, arms folded across her chest.

"Sookie."

She is a vision. My eyes sweep over her figure quickly but I don't miss a thing about her appearance. The blue of her dress is the same color as her eyes—the enigmatic crystal blue I find myself lost in—and it's covered in delicately scattered pansies. She is indeed wearing her hair off her neck as Pam described. Not very smart of her in our present company, but all the more inviting to me. I can see the throbbing of her jugular just below the delicate tanned skin…

Mine.

"So, this is your place, huh? It's… interesting," she says, looking around with a flourish of her hand.

I am not one for reading human emotions well, but I can tell she's pissed.

"What are you doing here?" Not that I'm not pleased to see you…

"Lookin' for you, of course! Where have you been? Why haven't you got in contact with me? Here I been thinkin' you were lookin' for me but it SEEMS you're just doin' whatever the hell it is vampires do!" Her raised tone attracts a bit of unwanted attention and I discreetly squeeze her hand in warning. She takes a deep breath before continuing. "And I thought, well I wanted… to make sure you were… alright."

"You were worried about me?" The corner of my mouth twitches as I try to contain my blank expression. If anyone happens to see the joy she brings me from merely being in my vicinity—which reminds me. "Come."

I stand and hold my hand out to her. She looks surprised at my sudden movement, but puts her hand in mine after a meditative moment. The warmth from her touch burns into my palm and I relish the sensation. I scan the crowd for Pam and she catches my eye. She knows what to do in my absence and I move swiftly to the rear of the bar with Sookie in tow. The sooner I can get her alone, the better.

I open the door to my office and usher her inside. She pauses just inside the door and opens her mouth to say something. I push the door closed and press her into the raised faux wood panels, keeping her in place with the sheer force of my presence. I cannot resist the temptation set before me and run my nose up the side of her neck, barely grazing her skin. She stiffens under my ministrations but does not push me away. I inhale her precious bouquet and continue to nuzzle her neck. Feeling her tremble under my attentions, I pull back to see her face. Her lips part and I take that as an invitation for further exploration.

She gasps as my mouth descends upon hers and quivers under the delicate pressure of our merging. I tease her lips with my own, pulling back and lightly nipping at her puckered pout. My tongue darts out to taste her, eliciting erotic moans as she writhes against me. The vibration of her throat as she continues to purr awakens something in me. My hips thrust into her, making her cry out into my mouth as I deepen our kiss.

Her hands are in my hair, tugging, pulling and twisting as my arms close around her waist. It is as if we haven't been apart. For the moment, all else is forgotten. I have what I want. I brush back a few loose strands of her hair from her forehead, gently tucking them behind her ear. She meets my gaze as I study the contours of her face with the pads of my fingertips. She is still my Sookie. With a gentle jerk on my locks in her grip, she pulls my face to hers again and devours my lips. I can feel her hunger for me—the unbridled desire which lies just below the surface—mingling with a bit of apprehension.

Abruptly, she pulls away, sucking in a ragged breath and looks to the floor.

"What is it, lover?" I nuzzle the tender curve of her neck, drowning myself in her scent. The rush of blood beneath her flesh calls to me but I keep my fangs in check. I place a kiss atop her pulse point and she shivers.

Her voice is barely a whisper. "You don't have the right to call me that anymore." She sighs before continuing. "I missed you. Did you even miss me? Why didn't you come for me?" Her words break under the force of her emotion.

Anger… despair… sadness?

"Sookie…"

She smoothes down the skirt of her dress in what appears to be a nervous gesture. She shakes her head to halt my response. I am speechless.

"Whatever you were going to say, it isn't enough, Eric. You said you would come for me and you didn't. You lied. You said you would never lie to me."

The words of a prior conversation echo through my mind.

"I always speak the truth, Sookie. Of course, there is the occasion where I can be a bit of a wordsmith. I may not answer all of your questions when you want me to but I will always answer you truthfully."

She is no fool.

"Sookie… what is it that you want from me?"

"Just you. I know this isn't the island, I know that. You have responsibilities, and I get that too. But is there no room for me in your life now? Should I forget what we are… were—as it appears you have—when I'm not alone with you? I don't know if I can do that."

Her eyes gloss over as she fights to keep her tears at bay. Something else is bothering her.

"Do you need a job?"

"Yes. I do. Wow, you slick son of a gun," she mumbles.

I smile down at her and lean back to allow her some space. She slides down onto her bottom and I crouch down next to her, holding her hand, stroking the back of it soothingly with my thumb. She drops her head and appears to study the grains of carpet on the floor.

"I do need a job because I can't work in Bon Temps with all those voices intruding. Bad enough I have to deal with their pitying stares; to know what they think of me too is just more than I can bear." She laughs without humor. "That's what I miss about being with you—the silence. I noticed it again when I came here. There are a few stray thoughts but for the most part, if I focus on you, everything else falls away."

"Ah, it is the comfort of my silence you want."

"No, not just that. Do you think I'd use you that way?"

"Why not?"

She looks up at me, holding my gaze. "Because I'm not like that. I wouldn't—"

I snort. Little does she know, I would. And therein lies the difference.

"You know what I can do. You haven't taken advantage. You wouldn't…" she whispers.

I cock a brow. She scoots away from me, as much as she can with a door behind her, and puts her hand to her mouth.

"Please, tell me you wouldn't."

"You need a job, I need a telepath."

"Oh. Oh. I…"

The lingering silence becomes too much and I ask what I've wanted to know since her arrival.

"How did you find me?"

"What? Oh, a co-worker of mine. She's been here before. I mentioned your name and she said she knew where you 'hung out.' So I came with her. Are you upset that I came to you?"

"I have need of your services."

"That's not the answer I was looking for."

Her stare seems to go through me and the pressure from her look is unlike anything I've ever felt before. Right now, I wish I were the telepath. I want to know what she is thinking.

"I need your help, Sookie. I have questions."

"And you don't like not knowing things, right? I don't know, Eric. What will you do if I find out your accident wasn't an accident?"

"Justice will be served, of course."

"I won't do it if you plan to hurt anyone."

"Sookie…" I shake my head at her naiveté.

"Don't tell me: you're vampire. I know that but I don't read vampires. I read humans. So whatever I find out would be from humans. I can't in good conscience let you hurt or kill someone that may have had something to do with our island excursion."

"You are beyond infuriating!"

"You want to pay me to read minds to find out how you wound up on the island, right?"

"Right."

"Then you have to promise you won't kill them. You promise to turn them over to the police and I'll consider it."

"You'll consider it? There were humans on your yacht, yes?"

"Yeah, the captain and crew but I don't know if it'll help. Amelia already said she couldn't remember anything and she planned the trip."

That is interesting. I file that away for further thought.

"You said you'd never met a vampire before. How would you know for sure?"

"Uh, I wouldn't know. I guess I just thought… do you think a vampire could have been on Amelia's yacht?"

I do think that but don't say anything. I don't want to alarm her if I don't need to. I watch as a myriad of thoughts and emotions cross her face. They are much too swift for me to grasp at once. She looks up at me with a question in her eyes but doesn't speak. She's thinking. I give her space and get up to lean against the edge of my desk. I nod to the couch to offer her a seat. She moves slowly but sits eventually. I can't help but watch her as she works out whatever conclusion she has come to. My own thoughts are already configured and in place.

Once Pam told me about this Bill character and I realized he might be the same Bill Sookie mentioned, I began to put things together. My plane crash may have been an accident, but with no remaining parts of the plane in question, there is no way to find out what happened to it. Then, the apparent interest in replacing Pam as sheriff in my absence brought a few thoughts to mind. Among them, why would the Queen wait an entire year to do away with her? From the records she's kept, Pam has improved profits in the bar and incidents with newly made vampires have been kept to a minimum. She has been a most expedient interim sheriff as far as the running of my area is concerned.

But with Sookie's new revelation, it sounds like the humans on her friend's yacht were glamoured. By this Bill. Why is the question. And I'm sure I know who has the answer.

"Why are you being this way, Eric? You seem different."

"I am different." I'm being watched.

"Right. So you can be the vampire godfather again and I'm… what?"

The door to my office opens with barely a sound and Sookie's head whips to the left as Pam enters the room.

"A blood bag."

"Pamela!"

She shrugs carelessly. "She asked. And that is what she is."

"Don't you knock?" I ask through gritted teeth.

"No. I was hoping to catch you two in a compromising situation. Damn. Did I miss it? Stamina not up to par tonight, Eric?"

"Pam. Leave."

She narrows her eyes at Sookie before turning and leaving the room. Something must be up for her to interrupt me.

"So that's your child? She's… nice?"

"Among other things."

"Can I be honest here?" I nod. "I don't think I can do this. I can see you're needed here in whatever capacity you serve, but for you to switch back and forth like this…"

"There are six sides to a die, Sookie. They may be different but are all part of the same die."

"What's that supposed to mean? I don't need or want different. I'm different enough myself. I need normal."

"Normal?" I laugh.

"Well, normal for me. You know what? Forget I said anything." She sighs heavily and drops her head into her hands. "I just want some peace," she mutters.

"Peace is an illusion."

She lifts her head and turns to face me. "Not when I was with you."

"I need to know you're decision."

"Right. Well, thanks for not answering any of my questions. I should have known better than to come here, but I thought you'd want to see me."

As she rises from the couch, I move to her side, lifting her chin with my index finger.

"Why did you not wait for me?"

She rolls her eyes and storms toward the office door. "Pfft! Goodbye, Eric. Or whoever you are."

The door slams signaling her retreat from me and anything we may have had.