CHAPTER 55

Just a relaxing night between Eric and Sookie. No work, no training. Short and sweet.


SPOV

"Higher, higher." I whispered through closed eyes to my vampire, "Right there. Perfect."

"This would be easier if all of your muscles were not so tight." Eric chastised me, but continued to rub my shoulders with the ideal amount of pressure to make the tightness go away.

"Well, they were fine this afternoon, but someone decided to eat me on a concrete table. A terrible surface for sore muscles." I scolded him for taking my blood and my body on the dinner table. I was not as irritated as my tone conveyed, but I'm sure he could tell that in the bond.

Even with our antics on the table, the initial reason behind the sore muscles was the hours of sparring I did with Pam. It wasn't until past midnight that Eric had returned from his little trip; which I later found out wasn't so little. He had flown all the way to his plantation in Barbados to bring something back for me, an iron dagger. So after the swords I switched to my new weapon leading me to discover muscles I never knew I had. They screamed at me that night and into the next day. A day that consisted of me staying in the house and painting, until the late afternoon when I crawled back into bed to be there when my vampire woke for the night.

When he did wake, I was greeted by a very hungry and very horny vampire that took me brusquely out of the bed to the dinner table to have his fill of me. Now I found myself in a bathtub with him for a night-off of just rest and relaxation.

"You eat at the dinner table, I eat on the dinner table." Eric said and licked my ear.

I giggled and slid out of his grasp to go to the other side of the tub bringing a trail of scented bubbles along with me. Along with the dagger, Eric had brought back scented oils from his quick jaunt to the Caribbean. Before we came into the tub I had selected one of the clear vials and Eric poured its contents into the tub. The whole bathroom smelled of a rich vanilla and it was a wonderfully sweet scent. I closed my eyes and let the scented warm water calm my muscles.

"I like this scent." I said, inhaling deeply.

"You smell better." He said and floated through the water over to me; his hands inspecting my body below the surface.

"Pam said I smell like honey." I said in a gasp as he ghosted his hand over my nipple.

"Better than honey, you smell like sunlight." He said and disappeared under the water.

The bubbles obscured his form and the water went surprisingly still. I was about to reach out for him, when my thigh burned as he bit me. I held onto the edge of the tub with my arms as he took and gave pleasure with his mouth and fingers. The water turned pink with my blood and with every movement of his hands or his mouth, I gasped in surprise; still not able to see him underwater. He surprised me once more, when he suddenly surfaced to watch me as I came from his skilled fingers. My arms went automatically around his neck and I trembled in his embrace. He stood from the tub and I held onto him tightly still shaky from my orgasm.

"Vin." I said and he dipped me down to grab my glass from the small shelf above the tub spigot. [Wine.]

I sipped my wine as he carried me in the direction of the shower. He took the glass from me and bent us over to place it on the ground. I watched as he twisted the shower knob to turn on the rain showerhead above us. The warm water came down on our heads in a soft rainfall and Eric brought his hand up to my face to push back my wet hair at my temple that was obscuring my face. His lips then came crashing down on to mine and my body relaxed into his arms.

EPOV

I held Sookie to me underneath the spray of the water and kissed her deeply as we cleansed our bodies. I moved us to the solid stonewall and adjusted her body so I could enter her already slick entrance. I thrust urgently into my fairy as the water danced at our feet. The bond swirled with her lust, but it was her love that spurned me on to give her more pleasure. I loved making love to her here in this house for she never cared if anyone heard her scream out. She did so now, every time I entered her and it made me crazy with want. Want to have more of her, want to keep her with me, want to save her from her enemies, and want for her to love me, only me. I called out her name and she responded with my own as I came inside of her. I released her from my hold and she slid down the now wet stone and I turned her around. I stroked myself with my seed and reentered her from behind, pressing her body into the wall. I brought her release for the third time this night and she screamed for me in a language I didn't know.

SPOV

I called out in the language of my kin as Eric continued to thrust into me, past the point of my completion and my body sensitive to his touch shivered with every stroke. My senses were in overload; I inhaled the scent of our lovemaking, the vanilla, the sound and feel of the shower, the pounding in my chest of my heart beating furiously, and the look of love Eric was giving me. The only sense I didn't attend to was my sixth sense, my telepathy. It was wonderfully silent and it was beautiful.

I took my unsteady body back under the shower and we showered without falling back into lust. The shower did wonders to my sore muscles as it pulsed in waves onto my skin. Our activities didn't help my body, but they did ease my mind.

We toweled each other off and walked back to our bedroom to change, I didn't know where the night would take me, because Eric told me he would take care of everything. So, I stood in front of our closet and debated on what to wear. I looked over at Eric who had put on his usual jeans and a white t-shirt printed with overlapped wings on it. As soon as I saw the shirt, I knew what I should wear. I took down a black sleeveless silk top from its hanger and a clothed Eric looked at my selection.

"That is very appropriate for what we are going to do now, my Valkyrie." He said and took the top from me. "Arms up."

I lifted up my arms and he floated my own wing-printed top over my head. I giggled at feeling like a child having her parents dress me, but to Eric in a way I was. He had centuries on me in age, but we connected in a way where the years past didn't matter. I went on my tippy toes and gave him a soft kiss in thanks. He left the bedroom and I continued my search for clothes. I found a pair of comfortable jeans to go with my top and a white cardigan to wear above my shirt. It was December and I, unlike Eric, could succumb to the cold. Once I was fully dressed, I went to find him. I left the house to find him sitting on the wooded deck outside staring up into the night sky.

I sat next to him and asked, "So, what's next on your plan for our night-off?"

"Are you hungry?" He asked in response to my question, still gazing off into the night.

"No, not yet. It's still early." I said.

"Good because it's a beautiful, clear night to fly." He answered and stood from the deck and floated over the drop-off.

"Fly where?" I asked as I stood as well.

"Tonight we have no destination. I just wanted to share the sky with you. Will you fly with me Ms. Stackhouse?" He hovered closer to where I was and offered his hand to me.

"I'd thought you'd never ask Mr. Northman?" I said and took his hand.

As soon as our hands touched, Eric lifted me into the air and I squealed with delight at the wind rushing past me. He took us high in the air and held me to him at his front. He turned us in the direction of the moon. Gazing at it now from this vantage point made it felt so much bigger and vast.

"It's beautiful." I said and turned my eyes away from this celestial being to the supernatural one holding me in his arms.

"There's more to the sky than the moon, my Princess." He said.

He shifted me onto his back and we flew deeper into the woods, further away from the lights of the city. My hair whipped in the wind and I nestled my head into his neck, holding tightly onto him. He stopped abruptly and squeezed my behind to get my attention.

"Sookie, grab onto the tree." He said.

I looked up and saw I was right next to one, a rather large one. I took a careful step and held onto the tree. Eric moved alongside of me and pulled me onto his lap. This tree was taller than the others around it and it provided an unobstructed view of the sky.

Eric pointed to an area above us, "See the cluster of stars over there." I nodded. "Those stars were important to my people. You were never lost as long as you trusted the stars in the sky. Even on long voyages when there was no land in sight, the stars would point the way. You would keep a constant watch on the sky and target a certain star in relation to your ship then chart that over time to determine your heading, this technique was called dead reckoning."

"How did you remember which one was which?" I asked urging him to speak more about his human life.

"Through practice and songs. We would sing about certain stars and make our own star maps to memorize and study."

"Like the symbol on my keychain for the firehouse." I said remembering the odd symbol on the keychain Eric had given me. I took the keychain from my pocket and palmed it in my hand.

He took it from my open hand and held it to my chest, "You're right. That is a vegvisir or sign-post. It was said that if this sign is carried, one will never lose one's way in storms or bad weather, even when the way is not known."

"I felt lost after Rene." I said in a nervous voice.

"I know. I'm sorry for not realizing how much it would affect you. I apologize for that." He said and held me tighter to him.

"I accept your apology, but at the same time I wanted to thank you for realizing I needed the space to work through it on my own. I hope you weren't too worried about me at night." I said and turned my head to face him.

"You're welcome and you're cousin notified me of your sickness, I just neglected to tell Pam. He watched you at the firehouse until she arrived. And yes, it is hard for me to feel you in any type of pain or discomfort, but I cannot fight a battle for you that you might eventually face alone. You must be strong for yourself and be at peace with your actions. But know that I love you no matter the choice you make." He said and I felt my heart ache as I realized the depth of love he had for me.

"Pam helped me realize that it all comes down to my choice and I choose to live, no matter how that may be." I said and Eric laughed. I looked at him curiously for I thought we were being serious. "What's so funny?"

"When I came into the gym and saw you two fighting, Pam hit you on the head with the hilt of her sword to get you to stop and notice me. She told me later that she was just trying to knock some sense into you. You both are so stubborn sometimes." He said and smiled.

I narrowed my eyes at him and launched my head at his, "Who's hard headed now?"

He looked stunned and rubbed his forehead. Then he smiled and said, "I wouldn't have you any other way, Lover. Now it's time to get your dinner. Fly for me."

He threw me into the air and I fell down toward the forest floor, I started screaming and he plucked me from the air. "I've got you."

"No you don't." I said and teleported above him.

He twisted his body upward and caught me and we continued to play this game as we moved deeper and deeper into the forest, our shared laughter ringing through the trees. We came to a stand-still and Eric hastened me to be silent. He left me in a tree and I watched him move toward an area thick with underbrush. Then I heard the strangled wail of an animal and Eric came barreling through the brush with a wild boar, gripping it at its tusks.

"Do you like boar?" He said as he held the lifeless animal up to me from forest floor. I laughed at my Viking and nodded my acceptance of the meal he had brought me.

We went back to the house and I left Eric to deal with the meat for the night. He looked exceedingly happy at having the opportunity to skin and to prepare my meal; something he probably had not done in a millennium. He retrieved my dagger, putting it between his teeth and slapped my butt as he made his way back outside to deal with the boar. I walked into the kitchen to decide what to make to accompany the boar. I decided to make boiled potatoes with dill and a berry sauce. This would have been perfect with lingonberries, but I only had frozen cranberries. I was about to take the cranberries out of the freezer when I realized I could try to call them to me. I held my hands together like a bowl in front of me and focused on the berries I wanted. My hands began to glow and I closed my eyes to shield them from the light. When I opened them, the lingonberries were overflowing from my hand. I smiled broadly and giggled to myself. An hour later I was done cooking, so I took my plate with both of my offerings outside to find Eric.

I smelled smoke and the cooking of meat, but I couldn't see where it was coming from. "Eric?"

"Up here." He said and I looked above me to see two pools of blue peering down from the roof.

I popped up to the roof to find Eric tending to the boar roasting on a spit above an open flame. The scene before me, made me feel like I had been transported back in time. He sat down and I sat next to him with my meager amount of food compared the bounty of meat before me.

Eric sniffed at my plate and said, "Is that lingonsylt?" [lingonberry jam]

"Yes." I said.

"I feel like I'm home." Eric said and wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

"You are home." I said and he kissed me.

The rest of the night we talked about everything and nothing while I ate my feast from the forest; giving us the chance to reconnect and to remember the love I would be fighting for in spite of the turbulent world around me.

Tonight he had called me his Valkyrie, the chooser of the slain. I would be his Valkyrie as I would choose who wins and dies in my battle to live. I would not fail in my objective, so I could live to love this man, this vampire for as long as the gods allowed me to.


A table, a tub, a shower, clothes and a wild boar: wwwDOTslickpicDOTcom/u/Alskl1ng/DayWOman/photo/?ref#1433158

Bathroom Layout: wwwDOTslickpicDOTcom/u/Alskl1ng/DayWOman/photo?&ref#945841

Disclaimer: I do not own SVM or its characters; I do not make any money from writing this.