He walked behind her silently as she huffed to her car. He could feel that this was not the time nor the place to ask her what had just happened. He suddenly appeared in front of her as she reached for the car door. "Let me get that for you, lover", He was not being slick in his act, he was being chivalrous. She narrowed her eyes at him and accepted the gesture.

"Thanks, we'll talk about all of this as soon as we get to my house. I'll see you in a couple of minutes." She reached up on her tip toes and kissed him gently on the lips, letting her kiss linger for just a moment. She couldn't help herself, it just felt so...right. She pulled away and gave him a look that let him know he had best not try and persuade her to stay in that parking lot any longer than she needed to.

"Very well, I will be right behind you." He knew she was very upset with what had happened.

She got into her car and began to drive away, he stayed for just a moment taking in his surroundings, inhaling the air to see if there was a scent of anything alarming. He was secretly hoping that the men he had just knocked out had come to and would come stumbling out into the parking lot. He could kill them, call it self defense, and Glamour anyone that may have been witness to the act. None of this happened. He stalked over to his car and quickly found himself looking at her taillights.

She got out of her car and waited for him to do the same. "How the hell does he fit in that ridiculous car" She thought to herself. He looked like he would need to fold himself in half to fit his entire body in the driver's seat. But, he made everything look good so what did it matter, really.

"Did you ever think about getting a more...roomy car" She asked cautiously.

"Why, this car suits me? I like the way it sounds, it feels good in my hands, much like something else I have grown quite fond of." He tilted his head and licked his lips, looking at her with lust in his eyes.

"Hold it right there, back the train up buddy. Don't go getting any ideas in your head just yet. We have some stuff we need to go over before any of that." It took all she had to back her train up.

She motioned with her head for him to follow her inside. This time he walked ahead of her, taking the keys from her hands so he could enter the house first. She let him, she was still a little rattled from her run in with Arlene. He slipped her jacket from her shoulders, making sure to sweep his finger tips across her neckline as he did so. She shivered at his touch, and stepped away from him.

"Ah, I see that you got my gift. They are not near as beautiful as you." He gazed at the flowers that were sitting dead center on the table.

"Yes, and thank you. I have never seen such a gorgeous color. You really shouldn't have. You don't need to be buying me anything." She looked at him with a reprimanding look.

"I don't need to do anything lover. It is what I want to do. Actually, I need to do this." Before she could move a step he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her towards him and kissed her like he had never kissed her before. Pure lust ran from her lips down to her toes and she threw her arms around his neck out of pure passion. He tugged the elastic out of her hair that had been holding the pony tail still for the past 8 hours. "I have missed you" he whispered in her ear.

"Eric...Eric" She was getting very....ready. Suddenly she looked at the flowers on the table and snapped his name a little more, hastily. "Eric, when did you order those flowers?" The tone in her voice was not the tone of a woman that was about to strip her clothes off in the kitchen and make love on the table because she couldn't wait to make it to her bed.

He stopped his rubbing of her body and looked down at her. "I'm sorry, could you repeat the question, my mind was...elsewhere." He grinned at her with his fangs.

"Eric, I'm serious. When did you order those flowers?" Her eyes were tense

"Is this such an important issue that we should stop what we are doing in order to address it?" He went to rub his finger across her breast and she slapped it away. She walked into living room.

He could feel that she was tense and uneasy through the bond. He looked at her with gentle eyes.

"I ordered them this morning" He was speaking very slowly.

"How could you have possibly ordered them this morning? You must have left here before dawn. There are no 24 hour florists in this neck of the woods. Did you order them before hand? Did you know you were going to seduce me and I was going to jump into bed with you? The card was in your handwriting." She regretted her words, but it was too late.

"Sookie, I have learned the hard way not to assume anything when it comes to you. I had no anticipation of making love to you last night, but to be honest, it was all I could think about. If you must know all of my secrets I will tell you." He looked at her with a disappointed glare. "As I drove home from here I called my accountant's cell phone. I left a message advising him to call every florist in the area until he could find what I was looking for. I wrote the message on a plain note card, not on the florist provided card stock. The note card was one I took from your room. I dropped it off at Pam's house as I drove into Shreveport, the sun was not quite up yet and I advised her to make sure it got dropped off to the accountant for delivery with the flowers. I did not pre-order anything in hopes of a reconciliation." He looked away from her

She could feel his sadness and she was so upset that she would have allowed herself to think such things. She sulked silently for what felt like forever. "I'm sorry, I'm not used to this type of thing...you know, us." She pulled on his arm in order for him to look at her. "I will never think such things again, promise." She wrapped her arms around him and he reluctantly did the same.

"I suppose I will be able to think of ways for you to make up your lack of better judgment" He smirked at her and laid a very cool, wet kiss on her cheek. "Why don't you start by telling me what went on at that bar tonight" He pulled her onto him and threw them back on the couch.

"Well, it really started out as nothing." He could feel her relax into his body, they just seemed to fit perfectly together. But, he could also feel her anger and frustration start to build as she began speaking of her night at work. "I brought the flower to work with me, just like the card said, even though I don't like being told what to do." She smiled up at him. "The night was pretty quiet, Arlene was being her usual charming self, there were six or so Fellowship people there in her section. They were being pretty tame... for jerks." He could feel that whatever had happened had truly hurt her, he rubbed her back to try and relax away some of her tension. "And then Arlene started in on me. She grabbed my flower and was waving it around. Now, I don't care who knows what, but she was doing it on purpose, so all of those Fellowship guys would hear me say that it was a gift from you. As soon as I said the words, that it was a gift from you, she dropped it on the ground and stomped on it. That's when Sam came running and pulled me into his office." She was very tense.

"The shifter grabbed you?" He did not sound pleased

"No, not literally. He told me I needed to cool down before something really bad happened. She just made me so mad. I could have bitch slapped her right there in front of everyone." Eric laughed at her words.

"Sookie, I know it was rude and I would like nothing more than to make her pay for her insult, but the altercation I walked in on was over her crushing a flower?" He was confused because he could feel then and he could feel now that there was something more.

"Well, I guess there's more...I was talking to Amelia about stuff missing from the house?" She looked at him with quizzical eyes hoping he would get what she was saying. She didn't really want to elaborate after her mistake with the flowers.

"Did she unlawfully break into your house? Did that red headed whore steal from you?" He was angry. Shit, she was going to have to elaborate after all.

"No, no, nothing like that. Your note, or should I say notes. You took a memento, a reminder of our night together. I'm sorry Eric, I just have no idea what that is. I was asking Amelia if she noticed anything missing and Arlene was eavesdropping on our conversation. She yelled to her boyfriend that you were a thief and had stolen from me. I couldn't stand her talking that way. I decided I wasn't going to hear any of it and shut her mouth for her." She was shaking again with the adrenaline that had propelled her into action in the first place. He felt how angry she was and how hurt she was.

"OK, so if I understand this correctly, she was accusing me of stealing from you and you attacked her? That is the reason the whore's boyfriend had his hands on you ready to harm you? Sookie, you were defending my honor?" He actually made a sound like a giggle, if a 1000 year old vampire can giggle that is.

"Well..I suppose so." She looked at him in amazement.

"I do not think that I have ever had a woman defend my honor. Lover, I have been called many things in my existence, many of these far worse than a thief, but you...you still manage to thrill me." He reached down and kissed her a thankful and gracious kiss. He felt her body fill with joy. "Now, these men that dared put a hand on you. They will be very sorry, they will be dealt with, in time. I will not have anyone laying a finger on you. If I hadn't got there when I did I am sure you would be bruised and sore. I am sure the shifter would have done some damage, but not nearly quick enough." He looked at her with glowing eyes.

"Eric, I could have taught those guys a lesson or two myself. I have been known to fight back, remember?" She questioned his vampire memory.

"Oh, lover, I remember everything." The way he said everything made her hot, and he felt it.

"Then why don't you remember to tell me what you took as a memento?" She asked with a sly smile.

"Why don't you try to guess and I tell you if you are right or wrong" He grinned in anticipation of a game.

"Oh hell, why not. Did you take....a towel from the bathroom?" She was hoping she was right.

"Sorry wrong answer, lose a piece of clothing." He started to help her with her shirt.

"Hold up, there was no talk about taking off my clothes." She held her hand up, but not very forcefully.

"Well, the rules have changed. If you guess wrong you lose something. If you guess right I will take everything off. It is a win win situation lover." He smirked at her in his Eric way. She agreed and took off her shoes.

"Did you take...a note card from my bedroom" She smiled a toothy grin

"Well, nicely played lover. I have already told you that I took that from your house. On a technicality I will remove something, but not all, that was not what I took as a memento." He kissed her quickly and removed his shirt, no modesty, ever. They could feel how comfortable they were with each other, it was peaceful, it was uncomplicated.

She thought about the entire evening and what Eric could possibly have taken. She tried to think like him, if she were Eric, what would she take as a souvenir. It hit her, "I've got it, Eric I know exactly what you would have taken. Be prepared to get naked buddy cause I'm about to win. The one thing that you would have kept as a reminder of me is simple, you took the panties that you so carelessly ripped off me. You took the panties, didn't you?" She was so excited that she remembered that he had ripped those off her. It was so easy, he could have just put them in his pocket as he left this morning. She looked at him all proud and happy. He felt her pleasure at thinking she had won.

He stood up slowly and started to undress. "Lover, you know me far better than I thought. You have won, I took the panties as a keepsake. I figured you would not mind as they were ruined after last night anyway. Do you forgive me?" He looked at her affectionately as he undressed. She was so proud and beaming with excitement at her victory. The truth was he did take a piece of the panties that he had ripped from her body, but that was not what he took as the memento. There was something far more special to him the he took. But for right now, the look on her face was what mattered. When he was done taking off his clothes she just looked at him. He was so magnificent, not a bashful bone in his beautiful body. She stood up and wrapped her arms around him. He bent down to hold her and she ran her fingers through his thick, golden mane. He looked directly in her eyes and said, "You are beautiful when you win." She held his gaze, felt his love, felt his safety.

"Eric", she whispered to him, she almost lost her breath, but pushed ahead, "I love you, too."