A/N: This qualifies as an M rated chapter. Again, I am not changing the rating of the entire story for a few paragraphs that might be rated otherwise. Good grief, if slash of any kind can be rated 'T', a few paragraphs of obscure sex should not require an entire rating change. If you don't want to read it, which I don't think is true of any of my regular readers, skip it. If anything, the sex is probably not explicit enough for them, but I am trying to maintain a 'T' rating on this story. This chapter is long enough that you won't really miss anything if you do skip a few paragraphs.

Paradise Within…Happier Far

Chapter 14

Say goodbye to old man winter
Say hello to sweet springtime
Cause I'm comin' out of hiding I'm gonna get it right this time

After so long being frozen it took awhile to thaw me out
I spent too long not knowing what love's supposed to be about
Now I'm finding out

It's a lot like coming home from a long time walking out in the snow
Then I looked at you and knew I never knew nothin' and it broke this heart of stone
It's a lot like comin' home

Like a boat out on the harbor that's been battered by the sea
I've been through some stormy weather but you shine a light for me
Girl you set me free

Girl I looked at you and knew I never knew nothin' and it broke this heart of stone
It's a lot like comin' home

Comin' home
Feels like I'm comin' home

Coming Home, Tim McGraw

Sookie slept for a while beside Eric while he slept his sleep of death. She was surprised how it never bothered her anymore. Sometimes she would just sit and watch him, his porcelain skin, his blond mane surrounding his strong face, his forever soft lips, his marbled chest that never moved with breath. She could watch this still Eric forever. Well, maybe not forever. The awake Eric was so much more fun. THAT she would never give up.

Finally she rose, replacing the white silk shirt she had stolen from his closet and went in search for food and some water, and hopefully some clothes. If he could remember her shampoo, he would have remembered clothing surely. She picked up a bowl of fruit and some water and looked around the plane. There were really only two doors, plus the door to the half-bath. She sighed and returned to the bedroom she had initially taken earlier during her temper tantrum. She opened the door to the enormous closet and gasped. Clearly Pam had been working double-time. The closet was full of expensive outfits clearly chosen for her alone. Pam had told Sookie once that with her coloring strong royal colors or light pastels in pink or blue looked best on her. There were dresses and pantsuits in exactly those colors.

On a shelf, there was a large box with several small drawers. She opened these cautiously, her eyes growing huge at the wealth of jewelry that was enclosed, necklaces of every type, rings, bracelets, the whole gamut of possible combinations, no doubt chosen to go with the clothing. Embarrassed she also noted inside some larger drawers in the closet were brand-new lingerie: nightgowns, thongs, panties, bras, and some 'special' things for Eric. There was a cute note from Pam saying that everything there had already been washed so she had no need to concern herself with who had touched it before. Towards the back of the closet were four large white full length bags with zippers. She quickly unzipped the bags part way to just peek. One bag had several evening gowns that she might need, according to Pam who of course had no idea where they were going. The second and third bags had notes from Eric. No one but he would have bought these for her. The second bag held a full length white mink coat with silk lining, and the third bag held another white mink coat with a hood and several different colored matching cloaks that covered the coat. While Sookie had never been politically opinionated on the idea of wearing real fur, it wasn't like it was really an issue in Louisiana, although she did find it somewhat distasteful if she really thought about it, but given where she guessed they were going, she would definitely need them. So she told herself, need outweighed her niggling distaste. They were so beautiful it wasn't very hard to ignore her conscience. The fourth bag held another surprise, not terribly welcome. It was an entire riding outfit, including boots and everything else she would need to ride a horse. Eek! She had never ridden a horse, ever. And this outfit seemed to be for a professional horsewoman. Wow, something Eric and she would have to talk about. Horses!

The pilot had already told her they were within a two hour window of landing, so she decided to get dressed. She showered and dried her hair into curls. She looked through the many, many clothes and since she would be meeting everyone for the first time, she chose a bright royal blue dress with gold buttons. The dress buttoned up the front from top to bottom and then had placket pockets on the chest with gold buttons as well. The belt was wide and the color of the dress but had a gold belt buckle. She chose the matching lingerie that Pam had chosen, and nude colored thigh highs. There were matching shoes with small gold buckles which weren't too high. She was glad since she wasn't sure what she might be walking on. Once she had on the whole outfit she looked in the full length mirror. Pam was right, she did look stunning in that color of blue. She was working on her makeup when she heard the door open and Eric came in.

His jeans were worn, loose, and slept in, the top button undone displaying his fabulous abs and the length of hair that traveled downward. He wore no shirt and only his bronze Thor's hammer and an ancient bronze cross on leather tethers. His hair was wild and full and Sookie thought she might fall over right there in the bathroom. From where he stood in the doorway, Eric leered at her, that particular predatory gleam in his eye.

"You look mighty fine, Miss Stackhouse." His voice was deep and he had affected a Southern accent.

Sookie watched him from the mirror. There wasn't much room for maneuvering, so she knew if he wanted her, her he would have. And judging from the front of his jeans, he wanted her very much.

"Why thank you very much, Mr. Northman. The clothing and coats you so thoughtfully provided are beautiful. Any woman would look 'fine' wearing them."

Eric moved behind Sookie, pressing his body into her back, his 'little Jarl' as she had started to think of it was in full vigor. Eric felt really good as he started to nuzzle her neck and press hard against her.

Sookie moaned and then remembered herself. "Eric, no! We can't do this. We land in just a few minutes, you still have to be able to get dressed, and this dress, you cannot simply rip off the dress and have gold buttons fly everywhere. I am dressed. You my love, are too late."

"Nonsense, lover. I am never too late. The whole point of having one's own plane is that I can stay in the air as long as I desire. And as I desire you, now, in the air we shall stay." Eric had hooked his hands onto the skirt of her dress and was slowly lifting it between them, his hands lightly running up her silk thigh highs and finding the tiny scrap of material that simply marked, but did not hide or protect, the place he most sought. His sensitive fingers could feel Sookie's heat and as he brushed her damp thong aside, he could feel her wetness on her curls. She was ready for him again and he hadn't even done anything. She was perfect. Eric had her pressed against the marble vanity where she could not move but could only watch in the mirror as Eric took her. His hands caressed her perfect ass, her wet core, while she came in small orgasms watching herself in the mirror. Finally, he could stand no more and pushed into her waiting wetness making her gasp at the sudden entrance. She intuitively pushed back onto him while he plowed into her repeatedly, culminating in his spilt seed inside her while he bit down on the back of her shoulder. They both stood there breathing hard, watching themselves in the mirror. Sookie's face was flushed with passion as was Eric's with her fresh blood.

He stood there watching her in the mirror, taking in the dress, the three-strand gold rope necklace she had chosen, the huge sapphire earrings, her breasts pushed up from his earlier caresses. They both felt him grow within her again.

"Eric! Not again. We'll never be ready on time."

Eric laughed, and reached up with one hand to the intercom while his other arm and hand carefully lifted Sookie around to face him and still 'not lose his place' so to speak. He spoke into the intercom to the pilots, "How long before wheels down, Samuel?"

"About 30 minutes, sir."

"Make that an hour. We are running a bit behind."

"Yes, sir." The pilot acknowledged, while both pilots laughed when the intercom went off. "A bit behind I bet."

Eric looked into Sookie's eyes, "See lover, now I can take my time."

She smiled at him as her fingers started to unbutton her dress until she stood there with her dress still on but completely unbuttoned, her royal blue lingerie, and silk thigh-highs. His eyes looked at her admiringly, his hands moving slowly over her body, picking up speed as his arousal grew inside of her. Soon, Sookie took her sharpened nail and cut across Eric's breast leaning her head towards his sweet port wine and chocolate blood. He cried out as her mouth started to pull from his chest, and he pounded harder into her, moving his mouth and extended fangs to her breast. As he came again inside her, he bit into her breast sucking more of her sweet blood as her channel gripped and clawed at him in her orgasm.

When he released her finally, he took a washcloth and gently cleaned up the areas he had bitten to remove any of the stickiness of the left over blood, he cleaned the cut she had left on his breast and then while she stood there dazed, he reached between her legs and gently wiped her clean of both their fluids so her dress didn't stain. Sookie watched every move he made but did not move. She allowed Eric to care for her as he so wanted to, and watched his loving hands caress her body until she felt clean again. When he was finished she reached up to his neck and pulled him to her kissing him thoroughly. "You are the kindest, gentlest, most careful lover in the world. I love you Eric of Northman."

Eric smiled at her, kissing her back. "And you make me so, Sookie of Bon Temps. Now, I fear I must shower even though I want you again. I fear I could keep taking you over and over until we run out of fuel and crash."

"Well, let's not do that. You might survive, but I surely would not. I will be ready when you are, lover."

Twenty minutes later, Sookie was joined by Eric in the main part of the plane. She looked perfect, as she had before he had molested her twice a few minutes ago. He looked beautiful in his perfectly tailored black suit and silk black shirt. His long blonde hair was tied back in a tight leather thong. They buckled up and kissed, as their pilots gave them the head's up they were finally coming home.

The couple deplaned to meet a moderately large group of people. Everyone knew Eric and bowed or curtsied as he met each one of them by name, introducing Sookie as he went. Before they left the plane, he got the full length mink coat out of the closet and helped her on with it. She would need it as they met people and prepared to head towards the castle. There were probably 7 shiny black large elegant hum-vees sitting on the tarmac, all with the family crest on the side.

Sookie's breath was taken away as she viewed the landscape she could see. It was very cold, but trees and greenery grew everywhere. She could not see the castle from here. Eric had warned her it would be about an hour long drive to the castle proper, but all the land she could see, that she would see was the family seat. It covered basically all of Finnmark which to some was truly the end of the world. The population was low, which suited the family's purposes just fine. However, the family did have a permanent seat on Parliament ever since Parliament had been created. The main businesses in the county included fishing, aquaculture, the raising of reindeer, mining of minerals, gas and petroleum, R&D, and tourism. All of these industries made the Ragner family very, very wealthy, which they spread to the population of Finnmark generously. This generosity had made the family revered for centuries. For two months out of the year, the sun was always down, with little light coming from the horizon. The two weeks Eric came to visit fell within those two months.

During the weeks that the Parliamentary family was in residence and the two weeks Eric was visiting, the castle was closed to visitors. The rest of the time it was a popular tourist destination because it was one of the few castles, within all of Europe that had been maintained to today's standards but still kept its original structure. The nearest town also was caught in time so to speak, and the tourists loved seeing the buildings as they were centuries ago, with people dressed in period clothing as well. Ancient arts and crafts were made, and in certain parts of Finnmark one could even see Viking long ships made in the Ancient ways.

Eric had explained that part of his visit was to reconnect to his homeland. But part of it was business. From the time he was turned there were always at least two sons born to the family dynasty. One son, not necessarily the oldest but the best suited, would be prepared for the politics of Parliament. The other son, or sons, would be prepared to run the many and varied interests of the family domain. Part of the time he spent there would be spent with his progeny to discuss strategy and business dealings, always growing the family fortunes, as well as filling the county coffers.

After meeting the entire staff present, which she was warned was not all, Eric hustled Sookie into the waiting hum-vee limousine that would make the trek to the castle. Their baggage and his coffin would follow in the other hum-vees. She watched out the window as some of the most beautiful landscape she had ever seen passed by. Eric assured her they would visit it all either by reindeer-pulled sleighs, horse, or car. He would not allow her to miss any of the beauty of the fjords, the mountains, or the quaint towns. Sookie felt through the bond, as well as watching his face and body as Eric explained all this to her that he was more relaxed, happier, and more content than she had seen him, except after some of their more passionate lovemaking. He was home, he had brought his lifemate with him where he had always come alone on all those trips through all those centuries of two week visits, and he was perhaps happier than he could remember ever being.

A/N: If you want to see pictures of Finnmark or learn more about it, along with its various other major townships (?) you can look at them on the web. Since does not allow the posting of a web address, I've tried to get around that. I'm sure you can figure it out. I fear I will never be able to describe the beauty of this place adequately.

Worldisround__com__articles__176301__index or

reuber-norwegen_de__Finnmark__FramesFinnmarkPhotos or

mstu_edu_ru__education__programs__files__management_of_local_and_regional_development_ea__pdf