Definition:
Credenza - A piece of office furniture having a long flat top; a buffet, sideboard, or bookcase, especially one without legs.

PART THREE
Magic at Merlotte's

After their morning marathon of lovemaking, Preston stood leaning against the doorjamb into his bathroom. He more than liked how his home looked with Sookie in it. It was a sight he wanted to see every morning. His eyes were fixed on her as she went through her morning ritual. There were no words but one that could describe the very strong and persistent emotions Preston has felt when he not only thought of Sookie, but when he was near her.

Love.

Admiring her silently, he could feel the power of what he felt for her changing him.

Sookie was aware of Preston watching her. She couldn't help but grin. He was so cute watching her attentively as she delicately applied her mascara and lip gloss, although his attention made her feel like she was performing brain surgery.

In the mirror Sookie watched as he stepped behind her.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered in her ear, trailing kisses up the curve of her neck.

"You shouldn't do that," her voice was low and raspy. Preston flicked his tongue in her ear. He learned quickly that she particularly enjoyed that.

"You smell so good," he nibbled and licked. Sookie quickly found herself loosing her resolve to be on time to work. Carefully, Preston glided his hand under the lapel of her neckline, easing his way in and under her lace bra and caressing the delicate flesh beneath his hands.

A chiming melody echoed through the loft and into the bathroom as Sookie's cell phone started ringing.

"I have to get that," she breathed.

"No, you don't," he replied, rolling her nipple between his thumb and finger. With a moan, she melted into his chest, her head slowly swaying.

The chiming continued insistently. Whoever it was, they were persistent.

"I really need to get it." Taking advantage of the small clarity the chiming of her cell phone offered her, she quickly turned away from her temptation. "Don't move," she smiled rushing past him, but she wasn't quick enough. Preston caught her hand. "Really, I need to get it," she giggled, tucking at her hand to get away, "It might be important."

"They can leave a message." He drew her toward him and kissed her.

"Preston," she whispered. His fingers glided up and down her neck as his tongue glided erotically over every surface of her mouth. She was jell-o in his hands. "That's not fair," she drew back to catch her breath; her lids heavy with longing.

Her cell phone began to chime again. Its piercing tone cleared her mind.

"I really need to get that," she implored him. Her eyes betrayed that she would surrender with only one more kiss.

"Fine," Preston pouted. Whoever the caller was, they were persistent, which Preston was sure meant it was probably important. Sookie giggled as she tried to pull away. Preston released her chuckling as she ran to answer her cell phone.

The moment she answered it, she regretted not listening to Preston when he told her to ignore it. But it was a good thing that she hadn't. There was a delivery for the bar and no one to receive it. That meant she had to leave almost immediately.

"I gotta go," she told Preston, explaining about the delivery.

"Ok," he sighed, "You want to go now?"

"I need just a few minutes."

"I'll be down stairs." It was hard for Preston to be next to her and not touch her. And if he touched her again, it wouldn't be enough. So he turned and disappeared down the steps.

True to her words, a few minutes later Sookie made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Ready?" asked Preston, sitting his coffee mug down on the counter.

"Yeah," she sighed, "As ready as I'll ever be." She placed her empty coffee mug into the sink. As much as she would have enjoyed continuing their foreplay upstairs, she really needed to get to work.

"Where should I pick you up?" he asked. Sookie took the few steps that lay between them and buried her face into his chest.

"I'd like to get some clean clothes," she said, "Pick me up from home?"

"Ok," he said, "To Bon Temps then?" Sookie nodded her head and closed her eyes as Preston wrapped his arms around her. Gently, he squeezed her and kissed her on the head. She inhaled softly, snuggling closer into his embrace.

A few short moments later she felt herself enveloped in a golden white light accompanied by complete stillness. All she could hear was the rhythmic beating of Preston's heart. She wondered what it was like for him zapping places.

About the time that Sookie couldn't resist opening her eyes, through her closed lids she saw the light disappear. Sookie slowly opened her eyelids, taking a few seconds to get her bearings. She glanced around them. They were standing in her backyard.

"We're here," he said looking down at Sookie as she turned her head up to look at him.

"I'll see you later," she smiled, reaching up on her toes, her hands on his shoulders, and kissed him. Reluctantly, Preston let her go and watched as she made her way to her car. Once she was safely inside, and pulling away down her gravel driveway, Preston left for Baton Rouge.

Sookie hurried as quickly as she could to get to the bar. When she arrived the delivery man was waiting for her. He was real nice about the mix-up and even helped Sookie by bringing in the cases.

The moment she stepped into Merlotte's though, she was quickly immersed in the chaos of running the bar.

"It figured," she thought quietly as she stacked the shelves in the storage room. Just as her life had come together, Sam's life had fallen apart. When he'd call later to check up on the bar, she could already tell that she would have to make a great effort to assure him everything was going good. She only hoped Sam would be home soon. So far the anxiety of running the bar, dealing with vendors, scheduling shifts for the next two days, and receiving and ordering supplies, was overwhelming. And that was just barely half a day.

The bar wasn't even open yet for lunch and Sookie was already exhausted.

She began to consider Preston's offer to help and she wondered if there was a bit of magic he could conjure up to make sure business ran smoothly. She knew it was possible, because Claude used his magic, much to Claudine's mortification, to boost Hooligan's liquor sells.

"Sookie," she heard Holly's voice. Glancing up between the shelves, Sookie saw her at the doorway that led into the storage room.

"Yeah?" Holly's eyes darted over to where Sookie's voice originated from, and smiled when she saw her head appear between the two shelves.

"There's some guy here," she explained. "He says its urgent business for you."

"Alright," Sookie sighed. "I'll be right there." Holly smiled and turned on her heels and disappeared down the hall. When Sookie made her way to the front, she saw Bobby, Eric's day man, waiting for her. His appearance immediately put her on guard as her thoughts raced to Pam's visit several days ago.

"Miss Stackhouse," he started up immediately seeing Sookie's irritation. "My master requests your attendance at a sit-down with the new king's lieutenant this evening."

"Tonight?"

"Yes, at seven. Victor Madden will be there."

"I already have plans," said Sookie, "plans to have amazing mind blowing sex with my boyfriend again." Sookie wasn't aware of the special connection her spark allowed her to have with Preston. She was only keenly aware of how she felt whenever he touched her. It was unlike anything she'd ever felt before, and she assumed correctly that it was indeed a fairy thing. She felt his touch over every inch of her skin and there were times when he touched her that she thought she could feel him inside of her.

"My Master said to relate to you that your attendance is imperative," said Bobby. Sookie gave him a doubtful glare. She had misgivings over the imperativeness. Her attendance hadn't been needed in two months. Then Sam had gone and stuck his noise in her business, Pam had shown up questioning her about her love life, and now Bobby had shown up saying it's "imperative" that she appear at Fangtasia. It all seemed too coincidental to Sookie to believe how "imperative" her appearance was. "Truly," she silently scoffed. What was so urgent that she had to drop what she was doing and run to Shreveport? If it was a job, Eric could relay it to her over the phone.

"Fine," said Sookie. "It's such short notice. I can't adjust my schedule at the last minute."

Bobby cleared his throat and something between shock, offense, and panic threatened his businessman veneer. Sookie had put up her guard to block out unwanted thoughts the second she saw Bobby. So she wasn't exactly sure what caused his expression except to conclude it was his general dislike of her. Bobby reached into his bag. "He requested that you bring this and present it to him in front of Victor." Sookie took the velvet wrapped box.

"Are you able to deliver Eric my message?" Sookie asked not the bit interested in the contents of the box.

"Miss Stackhouse?" he cleared his throat, "I was told to deliver you my Master's message and to express to you the urgency of the matter."

"Fine," snapped Sookie. "Message delivered. Please let Eric know," Sookie's demeanor took on an exaggerated formality, "that Miss Stackhouse, because of a prior engagement, will be unable to accept his kind invitation for a sit-down." She turned on her heels and disappeared into the hallway. As she passed the office she plopped the box on Sam's desk.

Back in the storage room she pulled her cell phone from her pants pocket and dialed Preston's number.

"I miss you too," he answered his phone. Sookie grinned from ear to ear, and instantly she felt all the tension of the morning evaporate. She was radiant with the glow of new love.

"I miss you too," she beamed. "Remember when you asked if I needed help with the bar?"

"Yes, what can I do?"

"Well," Sookie cleared her throat. Hesitantly, she continued, "Is it possible to use some magic to help out?"

"Sure," he said without batting an eye. "I'll be right over. I'd like one of those Lafayette burgers."

"Ok," giggled Sookie. "I'll have D'Eriq start on that."

"See you in a few minutes." Preston closed his cell phone and went about cleaning up.

Moments later he was teleporting to Merlotte's. Even though it had been four hours since he last saw her, he couldn't help vibrate with anticipation at seeing her. It took him only seconds to arrive, and even that was too long. He stepped out of the portal and into the woods surrounding Merlotte's.

Confidently he walked to the front of the bar. Standing a few feet from the front entrance, Preston felt the familiar tingling sensation in his hands as he conjured up a spell. It took only a few seconds to secure the spell into place. The scent of his magic lingered around Merlotte's.

All fairies, be them pureblood or changeling, left behind a sort of fingerprint when working with magic. So Preston immediately turned his attention to concealing any traces of his 'magical' fingerprints. A few seconds later, the scent of wild mushrooms and oak disappeared, and in its place was a combination of burned hair and fabric softener. Preston stood back; hands tucked in his pockets, and studied his handiwork.

"It'll do," he told himself proudly. Satisfied, he stepped into Merlotte's, his eyes immediately scanning the bar for signs of Sookie. A smile spread across his face. It took only a moment before he spotted her at the far end delivering plates to a table. She had worn her hair down, the top and sides were pulled away from her face and clipped in the back. His eyes followed the creamy texture of her cheek down to her jaw and to the soft mounds forming her lips.

She was about to turn around, but another table signaled to her. She turned the opposite direction and walked over to the man and woman. Preston was mesmerized by Sookie's elegant movements. His eyes darted around and he couldn't understand how no one even noticed how breathtaking she was?

"We're ready to go now," said the woman. Her husband handed Sookie a large bill.

"Sure thing," smiled Sookie. "How was everything?" she asked and the middle aged couple, who were just passing along from Monroe to Shreveport to visit family, assured her that the meal was good. "I'll get you your change." Sookie turned, glancing up toward the door. She had heard the bell ring when the front door opened.

Her face instantly glowed with recognition and happiness. She felt small quivers of ecstasy ripple from her core; her body recognized him. His warm soulful eyes, softened. Sookie's heart radiated with warmth. She gestured with her finger for him to take a booth. Preston nodded and took a seat in the direction she had pointed in. Content to sit and watch her, he waited.

A liquid heat pulsed through her veins. It had been almost three months since she had last had sex, but Preston did a magnificent job at making up for the lost time. Her body was sore in all the right places. A delicious sensation warmed her as she felt his eyes tracing every curve of her body.

Sookie picked up change from the cash register and dropped it off to the couple from Monroe. The entire way she stole a few glances at Preston. His eyes met hers a few times and she felt herself blush. Before heading to the pick-up window where her and Preston's order was waiting, she stopped for several seconds to talk with Holly. She agreed to cover the two tables in her section so Sookie could take a break. Sookie walked over toward Preston and delivered his burger and coke.

"Thank you," he smiled sliding over to make room for Sookie. She suddenly felt a pinch at the back of her throat. None of her previous beaus had ever done that for her– slide over so she could sit next to them instead of across from them. With a smile she scooted next to Preston. "I'm glad you called," he said leaning over and kissing her.

"Me too," she sighed. She felt herself relax from head to toe now that Preston was near her. She turned and stirred her chicken salad in front of her. Once the lunch hour peak would hit, she wouldn't get a chance to eat anything until at least three, so she decided to join Preston with an early lunch.

"It's done," announced Preston proudly.

"No kidding. What's done?" she asked pressing her shoulder against his, unconsciously wanting and needing to touch him.

"The spell," he said. "Everyone who crosses those doors will be irritatingly happy and generous." Preston winked.

"Thank you," Sookie beamed.

They ate and savored their meal together spending most of their time quietly eating, their bodies maintaining some contact, whether at the shoulders, hips, legs, or feet. For a split second, Sookie had wished she had been wearing flip flops. She craved the warmth of his skin.

"What have you been up to all morning?" she asked between bites.

"I've been rubbing out a finish on a credenza."

Most purebloods preferred Faery to the Realm of Men. Many fae were either too shy or afraid of iron and of the past, when humans clashed with the fae, to venture onto this side of the gates that linked both worlds. But others, like Preston, preferred this side of the gate. He enjoyed the purpose and activity that daily living in this realm required, not to mention the conveniences like computers and cell phones.

"I have to deliver the credenza to a client's home the day after tomorrow," he shared.

"You still haven't shown me any of your work," she pointed out.

"After you get off," Preston dropped his hand under the table and took Sookie's hand. "I'll show you," he said. He gave her an affectionate squeezed. A gentle breath slipped between her lips.

"I'd like that."

"How has your day been?" Preston asked before taking his last bite of his burger and fries.

"Well," Sookie paused to take a drink of her soda. "The delivery went well. I put away most of it, a customer came in upset because I guess her card was charged twice a few days ago, another customer called to see if a cell phone was turned in, and I guess I'm being summoned for a sit down with the Area Five Sherriff and the King of Nevada's lieutenant."

"What?" Preston asked a bit enthusiastically, earning stares from everyone in the bar. With only a handful of people in Merlotte's, Preston's voice had carried loud and clear. Even D'Eriq popped his head out of the pick-up window.

Sookie had hoped to avoid the subject all together, but since she'd conveniently forgotten to mention the Pam thing, she had figured she should mention the 'summoning' thing. She just wasn't quite expecting Preston's enthusiasm. Yet again, perhaps she had been and that was why she had let the subject of Pam slip her mind.

"Are you done with lunch?" she asked, her eyes darting to his plate.

"Yes, but—"

"We'll talk about it in the office." Sookie wasn't comfortable having this conversation in front of her co-workers. Airing a couple's dirty laundry in public was on Sookie's list of social faux pas.

"Fine." Preston slid out of the booth following Sookie toward the hallway that would lead to Sam's office.

Sookie gave Holly a reassuring smile and a look that successfully conveyed to Holly that she was going to be doing some 'boyfriend management'. Holly winked at Sookie. They had just opened up for lunch. So with the exception of the employees, Preston, and their first three tables it was slow, and the volume was nothing that Holly couldn't handle for a while.

Sookie made a beeline down the hall and into Sam's office, with Preston at her heels.

"Why are you being summoned?" Preston asked the second Sookie went to shut the office door. His tone was quick and short. "Does Niall know?"

Preston disliked that Sookie had kept company with vampires. Though she had shared with him that her past lovers included two vampires, it was something that was in the past tense. Thus for Preston they held no threat. But that all changed the second she said she had been summoned.

Instantaneously, his mind became his prime enemy. Scenes, all imagined, of Sookie in the throes of passion with her old vampire lover flooded his mind. So it was clear that Sookie being summoned wasn't exactly the issue, but more with the fact that it was one of Sookie's old lovers who was doing the summoning that didn't sit well with Preston. If it was truly a request for her assistance that was one thing, but if Eric intended on a rendezvous, then that was a completely different story.

Like his male counterparts in the animal kingdom, Preston's primal male need to protect his territory surfaced. Fairies in particular were protective of their females. Fairy history had had a few wars in it that were started over challenges to their proprietary rights to certain females. Unconsciously the edges of his teeth sharpened, his human disguise was fading, and his body released a territorial pheromone.

Sookie was his female. ~

A/N: Sorry for the delay. "Magic at Merlotte's" is setting up for things to come in Part Three. As you may have noticed, I've changed the rating to this story. This decision was based on the adult content that Part Three will be featuring. I've been working intensively on edits to the next chapter, so this is the reason for the delay. I had hoped to bring you at least two chapters, but it wasn't possible. But I feel you'll appreciate the rewrites to the next chapter.