A/N: We are back, both watching the new season of True Blood and working on the story…. While Episode 1 of Season 2 left me cool, Episode 2 on TB left me crying out for more, more, more. Love the shorter do on AS. 'Is there blood in my hair, Pam's gonna kill me…' 'Poorly played Bill.' and 'Interesting…(looks up and to the left) I shall take that under advisement.': just a few of the wonderful quips from our beloved Eric. And now, a brief summary for those who haven't read the story for several weeks while I took my hiatus to move and unpack. Well, we are moved, and mostly unpacked. Thanks for all the nice messages and support, and patiently waiting for the return of our wayward characters. After leaving Eric's homeland in Denmark, the county of Finnmark, Sookie and Eric come to England where Eric takes her to the lost island of Avalon. Sookie meets the matriarch of her line in Morgaine le Fay, and learns the story of her heritage and birth. Eric and Sookie become aware of how Morgaine's ancient prophecy predicted their bonding and that it would undoubtedly be significant. Now that Eric and Sookie are joined, they will learn of a new prophecy telling them of their own future together. This chapter is another 'M' rated chapter, mostly for an unapologetic PWP transition, with minor plot development near the end. I thought we should restart our journey towards destiny with a bang, so to speak. Still not changing the rating however, although I will take it 'under advisement.' [smile] And here we go…

Paradise Within…Happier Far

Chapter 20

She got eyes that cut you like a knife
and lips that taste like sweet red wine
and her pretty legs go to heaven every time.
She got a gentle way that puts me at ease
when she walks in the room I can hardly breathe
got a devestating smile, knock a grown man to his knees.

She got whatever it is
it blows me away
she's everything I wanna say to a woman but I couldn't find the words to say.
She got whatever it is
I don't know what to do
cuz everytime I try to tell her how I feel it comes out I love you.
You got whatever it is

You know I never been the type that would ever wanna stay
Bring 'em home at night then they're gone the next day
but that all changed when she walked into my life
and people ask me what it is tell them I don't know
just something 'bout the woman make my heart go haywire
she's gonna be my wife.

Cuz when she loves me
girl that's how I feel
cuz when she loves me
I'm on top of the world
cuz when she loves me
I can live forever
cuz when she loves me
I am untouchable.

Whatever It Is, Zac Brown Band

Kindreth led Eric and Sookie to the small-looking guest house at the edge of the woods, set against a small mountain. Kindreth opened the door and allowed Sookie in, suggesting that she would find everything she needed for their stay including, clothing, food, and bath items. He hoped she and Eric would find everything satisfactory.

Sookie turned back to look at him, one eyebrow raised in humor, "Kindreth, this is the mythical Avalon. How could everything not be satisfactory?"

Kindreth laughed loudly at that and smiled indulgently at Sookie. "Welcome home, little one. If I may, can I borrow Eric for a short time?"

Sookie looked from Kindreth to Eric and back to Kindreth, shrugging her shoulders. She then smiled softly at Eric as she said, "I shall indulge in a shower I believe. You gentlemen take your time." Eric let out a soft groan, and both Kindreth and Sookie knew he would not be taking his time to return to her.

Kindreth laughed again. "That is hardly playing fair, my lovely Sookie." He took Eric's arm and led him a short distance from the guest house as Sookie entered and turned back to them.

"Let's just call it incentive for us all to call it a night earlier rather than later, Kindreth," she shot Eric a look through half-drawn eyes, and smiled crookedly at him then turned her back on them both and closed the door to the house.

Sookie looked around the simple guest house, enjoying her momentary solace. As much as she adored Eric around her, and awake, her time alone had become a premium. The guest house was obviously built into a stone shiny black surface and the rooms were all carved intricately from the unknown stone. If she was to guess it was black slate of some sort, but wasn't sure if that beautiful black stone existed in these parts. Of course, Avalon was hardly 'these parts' so she imagined anything was possible. She could hear running water from someplace close by. She wandered through the rooms, many more than she could have thought possible given her initial impression of the guest house: the sitting room with its many tapestries and ancient fittings, the kitchen or what she would call a kitchen these days with some sort of running water fixture and a door leading into a very chilled part of the mountain side where she found some cold water, juice, and fruit where she helped herself. She smiled…only in Avalon would there be a natural refrigerator built into a mountain. She walked through the home, the floor of cool quarried marble broken only by richly colored woven rugs on her bare feet, her long white dress trailing behind her, sucking on a pomegranate as she went. She found the small bedroom, filled with the huge bed made from weeping willow vines and down filled hand-woven overstuffed mattress and white linen bedding and then the bathing room. The bathroom was indeed a bathing room, as it was built far into the mountain with a waterfall filling a small pool. There was an old reflecting glass built alongside one wall, and a 'closet' full of clothes for her and Eric on one wall. But her eye was constantly drawn back to the cascading waterfall and pool at its base. Plants of all kinds and varieties thrived under the natural light and the humidity provided from the crystal clear waterfall. The perfume that filled the air was from the night-blooming jasmine that crept along the walls of the waterfall and the bathroom. It was breathtaking.

Sookie stooped over and ran her hand under the water, expecting a cool rush, but instead finding the water pleasantly warm. Not hot, but warm and inviting. She undid the dragon clasps that held her white robe on and let it drop to the floor. Sookie stepped onto the rock ledge, sure footed, and into the pouring water of the cascade, letting the pure water of Avalon soak away the stresses and dirt of the day. Had it only been a day? She had already lost track. Sookie guessed it was easy to lose track here in Avalon where the sky never grew light and it never grew dark, where the mists came and went without a care to time or space. She thought that she and Eric had only been there a day, but she had no way of knowing, not really.

Sookie picked up some of the homemade elixirs on the carved-out space within the walls of the waterfall and smelled them. They all smelled of jasmine, gardenia, honeysuckle, and others. She guessed they were soap or shampoo or perhaps something that would serve as both. She chose a bit of the jasmine and the gardenia scented elixirs and washed her hair, filling the entire guest house with the aroma. Then she felt something that seemed creamier and lathered it on her hair, hoping it was conditioner, and applied the soap to the rest of her body. The soap gave her a tingling, almost erotic sensation as she smoothed it over her tanned skin. Enjoying the sensation, she took her time rubbing her body with the wonderful smelling concoction that Morgaine had provided her.

Eric had reentered the 'small' guesthouse and followed Sookie's scent to the waterfall. He watched silently as she stood beneath the falling water, her eyes closed and her face slightly tipped up, allowing the water to wash her from head to toe, scenting the water pool below. She apparently hadn't noticed him yet. She looked like a goddess, her silken hair falling straight down her back, her tan skin beckoning to him, her nipples pert and hard and her curves inviting his touch. Eric smiled and with vampiric speed removed his clothing and joined her under the cascading water.

Sookie smiled as he touched her, unafraid, knowing who stood next to her without opening her eyes.

"Sookie…" Eric's deep whisper held a thrall of seduction within it, and even though he knew it didn't work on Sookie, he still loved the way it played across her skin.

Sookie giggled slightly and then slowly turned to face him completely, keeping her eyes shut, but her hands and mouth moving along his skin. She wanted to imprint the feel of his amazing body on her mind using touch alone instead of her eyes. She could drink him in with her eyes, but she had never tried inhaling him through her touch.

"God, I have missed you. You smell divine." Eric breathed into her ear.

Sookie responded by kissing him deeply on the lips and then moving her open mouth and tongue over the forever present stubble of beard on his chin, her mouth traveling slowly to his cheeks and up to his eyes.

Eric's slight groan could be heard over the cascading water as Sookie made her way around his body. She kissed her way down each arm, taking each finger slowly into her mouth and sucking, noting how long and thin each of his magical fingers were. She licked and sucked on his prominent Adam's apple, feeling the vibration of pleasure in his throat. Sookie bent her head over his almost bare chest and took each nipple into her mouth and silently sucked hard, feeling Eric's body jerk at the sensation. Still moving painfully slow, she slid down onto her knees, water still gently falling around her as she tongued each line of his defined abdominal muscles. Eric pushed her gently back from the water so it wasn't falling so completely on her and she could breathe. Sookie never missed a beat while her knees responded to his gentle nudge.

Her open mouth and tongue continued downward to his hardened member, twitching its pleasure against her chin before she reached it. Still with her eyes closed and just enjoying the sensation of his body's response to her, she licked the pre-cum off the swollen tip. The salty taste was in strong contrast to the sweet pomegranate and pure water that her mouth had tasted before. She ran her tongue along the now prominent vein, pressing hard against it, feeling Eric's knees buckle slightly and then correcting themselves, bracing for what he knew was coming next.

Eric watched Sookie's mouth and tongue caress his body completely while keeping her eyes shut the entire time. Something about her blind journey made his heart soar with pleasure and made his body respond almost painfully. Her complete and total devotion to him was evident on her angelic face, practically glowing under the natural light. He thought that here, in Avalon where magic and mystery abound, that the magic and mystery that was love, that was his Sookie, made everything in his life, and his death perfect. There would never be another moment like this one and he watched her carefully, taking in every movement, every tongue flick, and every breath so he could replay it in his head forever.

Sookie took his throbbing member into her mouth completely, gliding her mouth down his shaft all the way to its base, resting there, letting him feel the hotness of her mouth against the coolness of his skin. Then she pulled slowly up, sucking as she did, eventually reaching his tip, licking her tongue around the mushroom shape like she would lick an ice cream cone and then quickly drawing him back into her mouth and driving her mouth back down his shaft. Spurred on by his soft moaning and thrusting she sped up her movements and increased the amount of suction she applied. God, she loved the power she had over him in this moment. She could feel his cock twitching in her mouth, knowing his explosion was imminent when she felt his large hands on either side of her head pulling her up and away.

She opened her eyes for the first time as he gently pulled her to standing. Eric silently lifted her bottom and held her against him as she wrapped her legs around his waist. He carried her the few inches to a slight overhang in the slate resting her on the flattened space. Even through the night blooming jasmine that filled the air he could smell her readiness and slowly entered her, his eyes never leaving hers, watching as her pupils contracted and expanded in her excitement. He continued his slow and silent intrusion of her body, feeling her channel spasm around him slightly. She was as ready as he was, so close to his own orgasm, but he was determined to bring her to her own so they could spill into oblivion first. Eric smiled slightly as Sookie tried to speed things up by shifting her hips to impale herself on him trying to force a harder and faster pace, but he held the rhythm at a very slow and arousing tempo. He felt her groan as he kissed her throat open mouthed and fangs extended. He just gently grazed her neck with his fangs, drawing just a trickle of blood. Once again she tried to drive herself onto him and he held her back. He kept this up until her whimpering and pleading made it impossible for him to hold either of them back any longer. He lifted her from her small perch, his large hands gripping her ass tightly. He inserted a finger and then two inside her back channel, pushing his fingers against the thin wall that separated his fingers from his dick. He thrust his fingers into her in time with the larger penetration of his cock causing a loud gasp from Sookie in response. He invaded her body in every orifice, his tongue diving into her open mouth, his fingers and cock diving hard into the rest of her. He thrust hard, painfully hard into her, feeling her body shatter into orgasms over and over again until she broke their kiss with a scream as her body climaxed and her vision darkened. He came immediately afterwards pounding into her until completely emptying his seed deep in the recesses of her body.

They stood there unmoving, unwilling to break the moment by either separating their bodies or breaking the silence. Eric carefully moved them back under the spilling water, letting it pour over their heated bodies, offering a cooling sensation to their overheated bodies. Leaving his softened member inside of her body, he used a free hand to rinse them both clean again, and carried her carefully to the bed, kissing her deeply and lazily. Sookie had barely caught her breath again before he was hard inside her and taking her body by storm. Surprising herself, her body responded enthusiastically to his ministrations as she moaned with pleasure as he assaulted her breasts, her neck, her mouth. She was already peaking as he started driving into her, taking no prisoners, leaving nothing behind. He pulled each leg over his shoulders, driving himself deeper into her, bouncing against her cervix with every stroke. Her breath was coming in strangled gasps by this time, her nails drawing blood against his back. He hadn't taken blood during their previous passion, but he did this time, biting her neck, causing her to scream again in pleasure as his bite and his pounding brought a lava flow of orgasms pouring through her body, one after another. Her vision dimmed again as he once again poured into her channel, while her body responded by milking him over and over until he was empty. Eric collapsed on top of Sookie, sliding off slightly so as to not crush her. Her breath was ragged and shallow as she came down off of her high. He licked the salty trickles of sweat off of her neck and closed the wound gently.

Sookie's head turned to face Eric, his head propped up on his elbow, his eyes watching hers. Her eyes filled with tears and they trickled down her cheek, dropping onto the white pillows.

Eric looked at her face and her tears in alarm, "Vad är det min vän? Varför är du som gråter?" (What is it my lover? Why are you crying?).

Sookie reached over and gently touched his swollen lips with her thumb, rubbing it lightly across the tender skin. "As perfect as you are Eric, as perfect as our lovemaking is always, this time," she stuffed a sob before continuing, "this time was something completely magical, enchanted, something beyond perfect. Jag älskar dig mer, än någon har älskat någonsin någon för." (I love you more than anyone has ever loved anyone before.) They had become accustomed to her ability to speak and understand other languages without any knowledge of how she was able to. Another sob escaped her lips as he moved forward to capture it in his mouth. He licked her salty tears away, kissing her tear-filled eyes, clearing them of her tears.

"You, Sookie Stackhouse, are what makes everything magical, enchanted, and beyond perfect. Not just our lovemaking, but my life, my existence is magical, enchanted and beyond perfect just because you are in it. I will remember tonight for the rest of my immortal existence. Jag älskar dig." (I love you.) Eric whispered as they both fell asleep in the silence of the beauty of Avalon.

Sookie found herself dreaming of a dark warrior prince fighting against a blonde warrior prince, crying out in her sleep as she watched them fight against each other in such unfounded hatred that even through her sleep she could feel their emotions. The hatred was tinged with regret that one or the other would die, an honorable death, but still a waste of such a fighter, such a man. The pain they both felt through her dream brought her awake, a scream swallowed in her throat, as the blonde warrior slid his sword into the dark haired warrior in the final death blow. She sat straight up in bed, sweating and breathing fast, the images still burned into her eyes. She looked over at Eric, who still lay sleeping the sleep of a normal man, not the dead sleep of a vampire, seeming undisturbed by her violent bête noir. She watched Eric in all his Viking beauty lying quiet and undisturbed beside her.

Sookie slid carefully from under the covers and dressed silently in an almost sheer white loosely woven nightgown. She heard something, or someone that needed her, needed her desperately, but wasn't sure where or what it was. She just felt compelled to find it and help if she could. She pulled on her fur-lined cape and Avalon sandals and left her and Eric's bed to find whatever creature out there was calling for her, and only her. Morgaine had assured her she would be safe. She took a deep breath as she left the house following the sounds in her head. She hoped and prayed that Morgaine was right.