A/N: Thanks everyone. Sorry I've been slacking on my review responses, I really appreciate your support! This chapter is a final breather for Eric and Sookie before things pick up again.

Let me issue a warning to remind you that this story has more violence in it. If you've made it this far, you should do just fine with what I have planned for the rest of the story. Believe it or not, after this chapter, we're on the homestretch.

Chapter 49 Mexican Hat

EPOV

Three months later

A quick glance at Pam was all it took to let her know that I had finished dealing with this squabbling and disastrous duo Micah had sent down to me from Area Two when his best attempts at mediation had failed. He was getting better at his duties as sheriff but once in a while, I still received some of his tougher cases.

This wasn't his fault, these two were impossible and if I had been stupid enough to give them the gift of immortality, I would have taken it away as soon as they opened their annoying mouths the first time. Really, who in their right mind thought that squabbling siblings would get better once they were vampires? The fact that they were once upon a time pro wrestling 'stars,' whatever the fuck that meant, just made their existence more annoying to me. All I knew was that they made the Berts look like geniuses.

Pam escorted them out under the pretense of going to the Club for a drink when she was really taking them to my holding cell until their maker could arrive to defend herself for her and their actions. I held her directly responsible for the destruction the siblings had wrought on the L'auberge Casino Resort during their most recent fight and for wasting my valuable time.

I would rather have sent them to the dungeons for a crash course in self-control, but I'd leave that up to their maker. One thing I was sure of was that they would not leave here without punishment, even if I had to teach her how to control her children myself. I'd also have Pam check to see who her sheriff had been when she made these clowns. If it was one of mine, I'd be having a few words with him or her no doubt.

I sighed unnecessarily and looked at the clock. One more meeting until I had a substantial break and I could spend some time with my wife. Simply the thought of her made the night easier to tolerate. She'd integrated herself into my retinue so well in the past three months that an outsider might think she'd been here all along. She was finding her balance here with her need to be with others while embracing her status as an incredibly powerful supernatural being.

In those three months, my contingent had been attacked in some way five separate times, three of which both Sookie and I had been present for. One of the times, we'd simply teleported away, but the other two we'd had to fight our way out.

She made friends and admirers among my vampires those nights when she joined us in defending not only our close circle but anyone with us by using her unique skills of teleportation, shape shifting, glamouring from a distance and her proficiency with weapons, especially throwing stars. I had no doubt as to where she learned that skill having witnessed the Britlingens behead the young vampire in Rhodes, but still, it was really fun to watch.

Each time she defended herself; she suffered less and less with her regrets and the grief that is so natural for most humans to feel when they kill any living being. My love was coming out of her shell and I had a front row view to her transformation.

I laughed to myself as I remembered the first time she gave a command that vampires followed.

'Get out,' she'd hissed, her eyes flashing with anger and lust as she kicked the group of guards from the training room moments after teleporting me there.

Sookie had shown her true colors after repeatedly ensuring me that she could handle watching me drink from a human down at the Club. Her violent outburst and the accompanying small fire that occurred as a result ensured that she would be the only living being I would drink from unless it was a dire situation.

It was a glorious thing to watch her loose control from pure jealousy before I had even pierced the male donor's neck. I have replayed that image in my mind time and again over the last few months. I even had the six-foot area of destroyed flooring removed from the Club, covered with Plexiglas and installed under my desk so I could see it whenever I needed to be reminded of just how possessive my wife was of me.

In her jealous rage, she'd taken me to the training room with the intent of baiting me to into biting her deep enough that I could get a quick and easy meal without having to draw the blood out. It was fun letting her try to work me up but it's not even remotely possible for me to cause her pain to satisfy myself and a bite that deep would indeed be painful.

I understood that she was upset that my resistance to silver and sunlight was fading with every day that I didn't take enough of her blood, but nothing was worth hurting her every time we made love.

In the end, I'd agreed to bite a little deeper so long as it didn't cause her any pain and I also agreed to feed from her more frequently. The fact that she healed so quickly from the bite and the blood loss made that an easy answer and since we both loved the feeling of my fangs sliding through her skin, it was a good one. But what drove me completely insane was when she took matters into her own hands by using a transformed claw or, fuck I was already hard at the thought, her fangs to tear into her own skin in moments of pure ecstasy.

The fact that I could make this woman whose nature was to be perky and sweet most of the time to such depths of passion made me want to fuck her in front of every monarch in America to show them how much better I was than them in every way possible. Of course I would never do that even if Sookie wanted it since it would paint an even bigger target on our backs than we already had, but the thought crossed my mind more and more these days. There's nothing wrong with fantasizing once in a while.

All this thinking about fucking her wasn't making it any easier to wait to see her in an hour. Her emotions were running at a higher level than I was accustomed to and so I'd been feeling her all night. She was anticipating something she was looking forward to, but right now it was irritation that was dominating her mood.

I pulled out my phone, glanced at her schedule and groaned. Of course she was with Robert. That explained her irritation. Robert was one of the oldest vampires I had in my retinue who wasn't a sheriff. He'd been instrumental in planning the great revelation and I'd brought him in to smooth things over with the human government since I absolutely abhorred anything to do with human politics. I'd rather deal with ten screeching female Weres than have one conversation with the Governor.

I hadn't been able to completely avoid interacting with human heads of state over the years, but Robert offered me a wide berth and handled everything but the simple meet and greet they all invariably requested.

Sookie generally handled relations with figure heads better than I did, but she had a passionate dislike for the current governor. Honestly, he was better than some from the past, but she'd never had to deal with human politicians before. In Hana, everyone in politics was a neighbor and was held personally accountable for every decision they made so they generally did what the people wanted. Here, things weren't so black and white.

A text came through on my phone informing me that my next appointment had just cleared outside security and was on her way into the building. I had a few minutes, so I tapped into the security camera we all had in our offices to hear what was going on next door. It took me less than one second to realize that Sookie was on a roll. Her vehement words came though loud and clear on my phone.

"-mind involving him one bit if he'd put any effort into raising money or if he'd done one single thing to help further the mission of the foundation, but he's been totally useless despite our many efforts to engage him."

Robert kept a calm and level voice. "He feels that he offered his support during his most recent public statement in which he said that he supported equality for all."

Sookie rolled her eyes dramatically and waved her hands in the air with exasperation. I loved watching her; she was so dynamic, especially when face to face with an older vampire like Robert. "Gimmie a break, Robert. Of course he said that. He. Had. To. It's the law now."

"He feels it is enough."

"How about the tiny problem that he indirectly empathized with the Fellowship during his election bid? How do you feel about that, Robert?"

"How I feel about it is of no consequence. I am only telling you what he believes he is entitled to."

Sookie sighed and swept an errant hair back from her face. "What exactly does he want?"

Robert pushed a piece of paper across the table to her and I was pleased to see that he made sure to keep his fingers away from Sookie's.

"He wants three different publicity opportunities with Ça Suffit, two of them with either you or Eric in attendance."

"Ha! Right. Well you can tell him that he's going to have to actually encourage people to stop the violence of humans on vampires and the two-natured if he wants that much face time. That's what the foundation is all about after all. Ça Suffit doesn't exist for his publicity stunts."

Robert simply looked at Sookie and she audibly groaned.

"I don't know how you put up with his crap night after night," she said, giving Robert a small smile.

"It is my duty to my king," he answered, but I knew he liked it. I'd taken personal preference into account when I assigned jobs. Unhappy vampires were dangerous vampires.

"You can offer him one publicity opportunity for free, but any more will have to come with public statements supporting either the foundation or anti-violence against supes."

"And who shall I tell him will be present?"

"I'll go on the 14th, I was going to be there anyway."

Robert nodded and I heard Sookie mumble something about "more faces than a town hall clock," when the light above my door illuminated, informing me that I had two minutes until I had to shut off my entertainment for this part of the evening.

Sookie usually kept her cool when in meetings, but she was passionate about Ça Suffit. She'd really found her niche here once she sunk her teeth into the foundation Sam Merlotte and his wife had started with the money Sookie left for him in her will. Ça Suffit, or That's Enough, had grown over the years, more than I originally thought possible.

Honestly, I figured that given the foundation's underlying mission, they would have been bombed out sooner than later, but that hadn't happened yet. And now they had Sookie on their side from the moment she eagerly accepted the post of President of Philanthropy and as liaison between myself and Ça Suffit. The foundation needed all the hands they could get, especially ones so devoted as Sookie since it had become a very successful venture in smoothing out relations between Louisiana's college-bound supes and the human population.

Ça Suffit offered financial aid to high school graduates, deliberately seeking out the kids whose parents who were part of the Fellowship or who had caused problems for Louisiana's supernatural community in the past. It's in my nature to say 'fuck them' or solve the problem through force but the Merlotte's had another plan.

Sam and Jocelin's goal was to break down the barrier of learned fear and hate by having the kids pay back the foundation with summer internships and at least a year of work devoted to Ça Suffit after graduation. Sam's idea of 'kill them with kindness', and Jocelin's strategy of putting opposites together to work toward a common goal had been very successful over time. In fact, it was so successful that I had employed some of the same strategies in this very building. Of course neither of us initially advertised our ultimate goal so as not to scare off the Fellowship families, highlighting the general anti-violence component of our mission instead. Right now, the first two floors of this building housed individuals who originally supported Fellowship views, but according to Sookie, those opinions were changing as they were exposed with the carefully orchestrated 'softer side' of the supernatural world. Let's just hope they never looked behind the pretty veneer that was being painted for them. No human needed to know what went on behind our closed doors just like we didn't need to know what went on behind theirs.

I'd also turned over Victor's old Vampire's Kiss to the Merlottes and allowed them to run it as a major fundraising source for the foundation. In return, they expanded the potential recipients of the financial aid to include young vampires and their human family members who needed money attend college. Educated people were much less likely to believe the rhetoric the Fellowship was trying to sell, so it was a win-win situation for my kingdom.

This type of work was right up Sookie's alley, but it put her in a more public role than I had wanted for her. We hadn't been able to avoid publicity totally, I was too popular with the humans and I had to let my face be seen a few times a year or people started to talk. The announcement at the Halloween gala of our marriage and the fact that the most eligible bachelor vampire in New Orleans was now off the market was apparently big news.

We'd agreed to a few private photo shoots with magazines and did some short interviews, always with the point being to push our agenda, but Sookie was still in the public eye now due to the work she did with the foundation.

Even though we'd had fewer attempts on my life since she returned, this was mostly due to the fact that we teleported most places. Our team was still being targeted every now and then when we went to public events (always in a warded building) and I disliked her being in the line of fire even though she'd proven herself time and again.

Just before I cut transmission of the video, Sookie leaned forward across the table toward Robert. Both of her hands were on flat on the surface and she seemed to be reaching out to him. I straightened in my seat and noticed that her guard, Ming, was on alert too.

"Robert…how's Yancy?" she asked, looking as though Yancy's weakened state was somehow her fault. I sat back, relaxing in my chair once again. Yancy was at home recovering from his three months inside a silver coffin for his attempted attack on Sookie. I'd let him and his tattered and bloodied clothes attest to Sookie's ability to defend herself and then I made it very clear what I would do to anyone who threatened my wife. It was for her benefit only that I didn't give him his final death. She would have blamed herself and really, it was unnecessary, he'd already learned his lesson.

Robert paused for a few moments, carefully formulating a response.

"He remains grateful for your careful handling of the situation. His maker is giving him blood. He will recover and return to the king's service quickly."

I laughed under my breath. This is why Robert was my top choice for dealing with human leaders, he knew how to carefully craft his words and since Yancy was his nest mate and protégé he had to be very careful.

I'd actually made an extra effort with Yancy and had contacted his maker myself, informing him of the exact time that his child would be released so he could give him blood right away. I'd also allowed them to stay on the premises for the first three nights after he was freed. This would ensure that Yancy's suffering was minimal since the worst part of being weakened by silver and starvation was the initial recovery period. When I explained this to Sookie, she said it sounded similar to how it didn't hurt much to cut blood off from a finger for a while with a tight rubber band but taking it off and allowing the blood back in was extremely painful. I never did that as a human, but I can tell you that the reintroduction of blood to a shriveled body hurts like hell and only a maker's blood eases that pain.

In her office, Sookie nodded and she and Robert stood up. That was my cue to disconnect from the video stream. My door clicked, announcing the arrival of my next appointment and I sensed Sookie and her guards moving down the hallway away from our offices just as my next appointment entered.

-o-

Fifty minutes later, I was on my way through the tunnels to our quarters. Sookie was there and her emotions had continued to escalate ever since she left her office. She wasn't horny as she often was but her emotional palate was ripe with anticipation and excitement. My curiosity grew by the second especially when she sensed that I was on my way and pushed her emotions at me through the bond. She was calling me to her.

Four seconds later, I slipped through the still opening door of my personal office and found her in the sitting room. I stopped inches from her and the speed of my arrival caused her long flowing locks to flutter.

She was dressed in a simple black long sleeved top, a knee length multi-hued skirt and a pair of flats I knew had good treads on the bottom. She looked delicious and fresh and the angle I had from above her gave me a mouthwatering view of her ample chest. My hands were on her without any conscious thought. She was mine for the next hour and I planned to make the most of it. I ran my fingers across her upturned cheeks, her arched neck and back. My face was buried in her sweet-smelling hair at the curve of her neck and I wrapped my hands under her butt to lift her up to my height when my hands encountered something that made me come to an immediate stop.

Sookie was wearing weapons under her clothing. She had two daggers on her right thigh, one on her left and under her shirt, she had a holster that held her cell phone and a squirt gun that I was sure was filled with lemon juice. My curiosity morphed quickly to suspicion and concern. Sookie only wore these particular weapons when going to an unwarded or potentially dangerous location.

"Please don't ask." she said quickly, sensing my disquiet. "I want to surprise you."

She wanted to surprise me? That meant that wherever she was planning on going, she was taking me with her. Some of my tension dissipated.

"The rest of your night is free. I had Pam cancel your appointments. Spend it with me?" she asked, holding out her hand for me.

I backed up a few steps, smiling wickedly. It was a rare thing that I was completely surprised by something and although I usually avoided being out of control, I knew we were a force to be reckoned with when we were together.

As quickly as I could, I armed myself and returned to her side. She held out her hand once again to me, a gesture that told me volumes about her plans and before I took her hand in mine, I strapped extra daggers onto each of my calves.

She was taking us far away from here and our destination wasn't Hana. I knew this because in the last few months we'd learned that so long as I had a steady infusion of her blood, she no longer needed to touch me to teleport together close by. Our blood tie was enough to keep us together if she wanted it. In fact, we could be as far apart as twenty feet, which had already helped in emergency situations. To go such a distance as Hana however, we still needed to touch, and her action told me that we were going somewhere relatively far away but her iron weapons assured me that our destination was not Hana.

We arrived a split-second after our skin touched, in a dark hallway that didn't give me any clues as to our whereabouts. We could be anywhere. She smiled next to me, clearly enjoying keeping me in the dark. I let go of her hand and surveyed our environment. The small hallway had two closed doors, one to our left and one directly in front of us. I couldn't hear anyone else in the house or any neighbors or traffic nearby, but I did smell three familiar scents lingering from last night or the night before.

"Will and James have been here recently," I said quietly, pleased that she had involved them in this plan of hers. But the fact that she'd felt it risky enough to get their approval meant that this was going to be even more interesting than I had originally thought.

"What do you have up your sleeve, Wife?" I asked, humor and curiosity lightening my voice. Sookie blushed. She loved the endearment, 'Wife', but only when I used it when we were both in a very good mood. She told me that each time I said it, she felt as though we had been pulled back in time, saying that it had an archaic sound to it coming from me.

She laughed lightly and gave my hand a tug, "One more door, then you'll see some of it. Go ahead, open it," she said with her eyes twinkling with mirth.

I couldn't help but grin widely and my fangs ran out a little in anticipation or even begin to fathom what was behind the door that had Sookie so excited. I turned the knob and the door opened into a well-lit garage.

As Pam was fond of saying—No. Fucking. Way.

I ran toward the beautiful sight and just barely processed the feeling of Sookie's hand slipping from mine as I moved.

Where in the…? How had she…? When did she find the time?

Thoughts left my mind as I allowed my fingers to slowly move along the sleek curves of the shiny 1970 marlboro maroon Stingray Corvette.

I remembered clearly how excited I'd been to get this car in the 1970s when the fender flares and egg-crate grills with matching front fender side vents were new additions to the line. I'd loved that they'd made the previously round dual exhaust outlets larger and rectangular in shape and had luxuriated in the redesigned seats and deluxe interior of combined wood-grain accents and leather seat surfaces. Gone from Corvettes now were the chrome bumpers at both front and rear, the vacuum actuated pop-up windshield wiper door, as well as the removable rear window common to all 1968-72 coupes.

The paint job on this restored beauty was flawless, not a ding on the perfect curves, the refurbished leather was firm yet soft as it should have been and the top was down, allowing the overhead light to illuminate every perfect detail of the dashboard. It was as though I'd just stepped back in time fifty years.

Most things I was happy to see fade into history, but this car had been a true gem and although I believed that Corvettes were the most attractive and worthy cars on the road today, the 1970 stingray had been my favorite by far. That was if you weren't counting the 1957 Corvette SS, but since that was only a concept car that I snuck onto the racetrack to drive before its one and only race, you really couldn't count it.

I still felt partially responsible for its failure in the 12 Hours of Sebring race where it dropped out after 23 laps due to suspension failure. The night before the race, I had taken it on a 40-lap joyride, reaching speeds of 120 miles per hour on curves—a rare feat in those days. I've always wondered if I was the reason the car model was put into an early retirement.

Tucking that depressing thought away, I opened the hood and realized that I had been wrong about this car. This stingray was even better than the original. Sookie had replaced the guts with the best that modern technology had to offer.

When I finished exploring every inch of the vehicle, I returned to my wife with my fangs fully extended. I grinned down at her completely turned on, but for once, I didn't touch her. My fingers were itching for another love of mine right now. Sookie noticed and smiled, bouncing up and down on her toes, absolutely tickled that her gift had been so well received.

"Where are we, Sookie?"

"Utah."

Fuck me. Elijah, Utah's King and I had worked together occasionally, but he wouldn't be happy to learn that I was here without notice. If possible, my smile grew even wider.

"And the chest in the trunk?"

"More weapons, some blood and blankets-just in case."

I licked my lips and my fingers twitched again with impatience. I had to get behind the wheel of that beauty as soon as possible. I hadn't driven a Corvette in over sixteen years and I needed the feel of the power and the freedom it offered. It was the next best thing to flying, but the tie I had to the machinery and the pavement gave me that tiny bit of vulnerability I didn't feel when in the air under my own power. It was akin to dressing up for Halloween in that I could go no faster than a human in this guise; I was limited by what the machine could offer me.

Finally I swept Sookie up into my arms, but not to enjoy the wonderland of her body. My goal was to get us into the car as quickly as possible. I carefully lowered her into the leather passenger seat as I slid into the driver's seat. At the same time, I grabbed the keys from the dash and with a twist of my wrist; the car came to life with the trademark Corvette roar. The satisfying sound was made even louder by the tight confines of the tiny garage and my own accompanying laughter.

Sookie silently pointed to the top left side of her foot well and I activated the garage door opener with a press of my finger. I was too close to deny myself the chance to thank her in this small way for giving me this car and unbelievable opportunity. My hand lingered on her leg, journeying up until I found what I was looking for. Sookie closed her eyes and her mouth opened as she sat back in the seat and absorbed the sweet sensation of my fingers pleasuring her.

I just gave her a teaser before I took my hand away to caress another woman—a woman my wife had given to me with the expectation that I would drive her hard and long. Before Sookie could open her eyes or voice a complaint, the car roared even louder as I put it in drive and careened down the long, winding driveway of the secluded home.

Sookie gave me directions, and with two turns we were on a smooth highway heading south. Over the next few minutes, Sookie explained what had led to us speeding down this empty highway in the wee hours of the morning with the wind whipping our hair and pounding our eardrums.

The house, which she had purchased a few months ago, was simply a means to attaining a garage in this isolated part of Utah for a very specific reason. It was nestled at the intersection of SR-95 and SR-261. SR-261, the road we were on at the moment, led south toward a tiny town called Mexican Hat, named so for the rock outcropping on the northeastern edge of town.

The car enthusiasts she'd spoken with had told her that this stretch of newly paved highway had little traffic and offered unbelievable driving that included a four-mile, almost vertical descent and a grouping of 180-degree turns. My smile turned almost feral at the thought of what was to come on the road and my foot inched down that tiny bit more until the pedal was flat on the floor. I was satisfied to see Sookie's fingers reflexively tighten on the door handle even though her satisfied smile never faded and her eyes never moved from my face.

I was ecstatic to find that the enthusiasts had been right. It was an amazing drive that had Sookie grabbing onto the door handle many more times as she slid around on the smooth seat. She used two hands to hold on when I sped down the vertical descent, yelling out a battle cry as the needle of the speedometer hit 160 on the original gauge and vibrated violently.

Peeking a glance at her, I pulled the car into a tight U-turn, eliciting a high-pitched scream from my nervous wife. The tires squealed and the engine roared as I pushed the car back up the incline and through the hairpin turns, leaning forward in my seat and gripping the steering wheel with both hands.

When we made it down the incline the second time, I followed the road the rest of the way south to the tiny sleeping town of Mexican Hat. I slowed and pulled into an unused driveway just past Valle's Trading Post and put the car into park. The sudden absence of movement and noise made every sensation that much more intense and I was so filled with lust, I was vibrating internally as violently as the needle on the speedometer.

With smooth movements, I unfastened Sookie's seat belt and slid into the seat behind her, turning her so that she was facing me with her bent knees straddling my thighs. It was a tight fit, but we managed.

Her face was flushed from the wind and the excitement and her breath hitched as I ran my long fingers into her hair, working out a few of the knots that were twisted through it. Her hands mirrored my action and her soft lips kissed my cheekbones and brow.

"Thank you, Love." I whispered into the now deafening silence.

"You're welcome. I know you've missed it."

"I have."

My hands left her hair and began to work on the button at the top of her pants. She moaned and wiggled away as much as she could in the tight confines of the car and my arms.

"Baby, no," she crooned tenderly, "we don't have enough time before sunrise. We'll go to Hana once we get the car back to the garage."

I spread my legs a little, effectively trapping her thighs between my legs and the car. There was no way I was not going to have her here and now.

"We have time," I purred into her ear, nibbling and licking in ways I knew she couldn't resist. "I will drive back faster."

"As if that's possible," she giggled breathlessly as her body relaxed and her heart rate increased to the pace I associated with our lovemaking. I knew I had her and my body responded with every inch of my skin singing in anticipation of her touch and taste.

With her last bit of restraint, she cast out a mental net to make sure we were alone. The act was accompanied by a slight tilt of her head and tension in her brow since she was reaching farther away than usual. Everyone must have been asleep or tucked quietly away in the trailer park we'd passed right off the highway for with a contented sigh, she relented and melted under the encouragement of my hungry hands and mouth.

Knowing that time was short, she magicked all her clothes off but left her weapons on, knowing how much I loved the sight of the black leather straps against her skin. This left her mostly bare against my clothed body and I growled in appreciation when the cool night air mixed with the moisture from my mouth, making her nipples pucker and harden. I worked her nipples with the perfect amount of pressure-just enough to keep her gasping with pleasure-filled tension and then I slid my hand down over her belly and did the same further south. She was so warm and wet for me and our position held her legs wide open, giving me ample room to explore. Sookie freed me from my pants and made quick work of driving me mad with her warm palm and deft fingers.

She was trembling with need when I finally stripped off my shirt and slipped down my pants, freeing one leg fully. Sookie pushed away from me and when I saw her intent, I had never been so grateful that the Corvette had large foot wells since it gave her enough room to wiggle herself down between my legs. She smiled up at me, ran her thumb over the head of my penis and then took me into her hot mouth.

Reflexively, I wrapped my legs around her, pulling her as close as I could get her and worked my hips in rhythm with her efforts. Her left hand abandoned me and the next thing I knew, the seat was reclining back the tiny bit the interior of the car allowed, giving her a chance to get even closer to me. I moaned a wordless oath as I slipped further down her hot throat and without thought, I grabbed her hair tightly when she swallowed and then sucked me even tighter between her lips and cheeks. Before I came, I let go of her and fisted my hands, afraid to hurt her if I maintained my a grasp on her.

My body surged with pleasure such as only she could give to me. This woman. This woman. I loved her utterly. That fact still amazed me even though she has been with me every night for four months now, but after a millennia of denying any emotions or only loving my children Pam and Emelina, the reality of the change of tides of my fortune was still astounding to me.

She continued to suck me until I was fully relaxed and then with a playful sparkle to her eyes and an audible pop, she released me from her mouth. The chill of the night seeped in, making me feel bereft so I gathered her in my arms and took flight, landing at the front of the car and placing her on the hood so she was spread open for me like a banquet.

I lowered myself to my knees, ignoring the bite of the gravel under me, brought her hips to my mouth and licked her from back to front, lingering to tease her clitoris a few times with my tongue and blunt teeth. She writhed and moaned, and then gasped a voiceless complaint when I stopped to laughingly hiss, "Stay still or you'll scratch my new car." I could hear grains of sand and dirt being ground into the paint with each of her motions and knew she would be upset if she scratched it. I would just get it repainted, but she had gone to too much trouble for me to treat it carelessly.

Thankfully, she laughed out and then grasped my hair roughly to find some point of stability.

"Better?" she asked wickedly, "I don't want to damage your new toy."

Her new position ensured that she was looking directly at me, giving me an intimate glimpse into everything she was feeling, so it was definitely better. I growled and freed one hand to add to the ministrations of my mouth and before long, I was holding her twitching hips as she came, her muscles squeezing my fingers tightly inside her.

I didn't wait for her to relax, I couldn't. I needed her too much. Instead, I wrapped one of her legs over my elbow and the other around my hip and then placed my left hand on the hood and curled the other under her shoulders, raising her so that her weight was off the car. When we were stable, I began to pound into her, using my height as compared to hers to great advantage. She kept her firm grip on my hair and neck even though she was safe in my arms and the pain in my scalp combined with pleasure, making the experience even more intense.

When we were both close to climaxing, she pulled herself upright and bit her tongue, allowing her blood to pool in her mouth as the wound healed. I nearly lost it then, imagining her delicious blood released from her veins and waiting for me. Thankfully, she pulled my head to her and kissed me deeply. I came violently as her blood trickled between her lips and into my mouth. I sucked and licked around the contours of her mouth, seeking out every drop. Her blood was still warm-almost as warm as it would be coming directly from her veins but this way we didn't have the risk of hurting her.

I moved my thumb to her clitoris and stroked her a few times and she came, muffling her screams in my neck and then I lowered us gently onto the roof of the car and we remained there for a few minutes undoubtedly looking like an obscene hood ornament.

Just over twenty minutes later, I pulled the car into the garage of our little getaway house and Sookie closed the garage door behind us. Once again she took my hand in hers.

"To Hana?" I asked, but she shook her head looking very satisfied with how the night had gone so far.

"Eventually, but first we need to make a quick stop back at the headquarters for a change of clothes."

I raised an eyebrow at her, anticipation building within me again. "More surprises?"

"Just a little one."

I grinned widely, and laced her slim fingers between mine as she took us back to the sitting room. When we arrived, I turned to her and noticed that through the flush from the wind and cool night air, a new pink tint was appearing on her cheeks.

"You're blushing Sookie." I said, running my fingertips over her cheeks. "What's going on?"

She put her hand over mine, but didn't answer my question. "Go into my room and pick out an outfit."

"You have my clothes in your closet?" I was confused now.

"No, you're picking an outfit for me to wear. Don't bring it out, just think about it," she said, and her cheeks flushed even more. I couldn't understand why she was feeling so shy about this, it's not like I hadn't seen her dressed in just about everything and nothing. Minutes ago, I'd had every part of me that I could manage buried deep within her. There was no reason for her to be shy…and then I caught onto what she was saying.

Within two seconds, my eyes flared dangerously, my fangs ran out and I was hard again. I growled at her hungrily and immediately went into the room, closing the door firmly behind me.

The room was peppered with outfits, all fitting different themes. Three would fit into the category of 'naughty girl,' two were sporty, two dressy and luxurious and two were girl next door. It was one from the last group that caught my eye and I snatched it up immediately, sniffing it and running my fingers over the bodice. I caught Miriam's scent on it and silently thanked her for helping Sookie.

On the other side of the room, Sookie had laid out a plethora of matching lingerie sets, complete with a variety of stockings, garters, crotchless panties, bras, corsets and body stockings. I gaped at all the options, imagining her in each and every one of them, knowing I'd get her into each one before long. It's not that Sookie didn't wear nice lingerie, she always had matching bra and underwear sets, it's just that I rarely took the time to look at them before I ripped them off and I certainly didn't need to see her in them to get me in the mood. In fact, the more I could see, smell and feel of her skin the better. I ran my fingers over the fragile materials and made my choice.

The process had only taken me about two minutes, but it was clear from Sookie's emotions that this was at least ninety seconds longer than she could stand.

I pulled the door open and positioned myself so I would fill the doorway. She bit her lip when I stared at her with my eyes hungry and my mind full of the items I'd selected for her. She closed the distance, pulled me into her arms and the next moment we were in Hana and she was wearing her new clothes.

Holy fuck did I love this dress. I leaned back from her so I could gaze upon her fully and then lowered my head to her breasts, which were lovingly supported inside the tight white sundress with tiny red flowers all over.

It was even better since I knew that under the dress, she wore small white lace panties and nothing else and I knew that the lace was thin enough that I would be able to experience her in every way through the material if I decided to leave it on for any amount of time.

I ran my hands up her thighs and under the dress until they were resting on her bottom. She had removed her weapons for this part of our evening. We were very safe here in Hana and if there ever were a problem, we had weapons buried all over the property.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked, making sure that the tone of my voice conveyed that I had no complaints, but was simply curious as to her intent.

"You always seem to know exactly what I want. I want this to be about you—about what you want tonight. I'm worried we haven't done enough to meet your needs since you don't get the thrill of drinking my blood anymore." I frowned and squeezed her round butt cheeks a little but she continued. "I guess I'm also curious if there are other things you want to do that we haven't done yet simply because we haven't talked about it."

I hummed and allowed my lips to ghost over the exposed tops of her breasts to hide my smile. I'd lost count of the reasons I loved her, but first I needed to make sure she was being completely honest with me.

"There are infinite possibilities, Sookie." I said, making sure she felt my breath on her sensitive skin. "Are you bored?"

"No. Just curious." The bond and the tone of her voice told me that was the truth.

I hummed again and brought my lips back up to her jaw and then I gently pushed her back half a step. She glanced up at me in confusion and I heard her heart skip a beat when she saw the look in my eyes.

She wanted this to be all about me? She wanted to try something new? She thought I was missing thrills? I knew exactly how to satisfy all those concerns and both of us at the same time. Mirrored in her eyes, I saw my hunger and primal need staring back at me from wide black irises ringed with blue. My fangs were long and aching with the need to bite. Instinctively, she withdrew a little more from me, but only minutely so. She knew she was safe with me.

"Run." I said and my voice was rough and low.

"What?" she asked, dropping her shields and searching for the danger around us.

I cupped my hand firmly around her throat and brought her attention back to me.

"Run." I said again and my lips turned up slightly at the edges while my eyes flashed with excitement. My body was coming to life with the anticipation of the hunt. Perhaps she was right and I did need this.

A shudder ran through her body when she realized what I wanted.

"Give me a head start?" she asked and I could already see her plotting her escape.

"Five seconds and no teleporting." I closed my eyes, still smiling and as I heard her turn, I removed the weapon holsters from my body and dropped them to the ground at my feet.

At the end of the fifth second, I opened my eyes to see her leaping into the sky and shifting into a falcon. I laughed out loud and began the chase.