Hey guys,

how are you all doing? Good I hope. I'm doing well, though i do have freshers flu which is actually a standard cold, but otherwise i'm great. Started yoga class up again today which felt fantastic though I think i'll be feeling it tomorrow. My classes are fantastic and i'm really enjoying the course.

I want to say a really big thank-you to my betas campyrs, bloodsucker815 and trajedy99 who have done wonders. I really wouldn't be able to do this without them and i know i didn't give them much time again this week.

Well, on with the chapter, it's fairly long but i think you'll enjoy it :)

Oh, and Charlaine Harris owns the wonderful Southern Vampire Mysteries.

When I awoke the following morning I was pleased to find that my headache had disappeared entirely and, when I checked in the mirror, I could hardly see the mark where my cut had been. It definitely wouldn't scar. I could however, feel tension pooling in my mind as my head cleared of sleep. I had so many questions and so few answers. I still didn't know where I stood with Eric and I doubted I would be getting a straightforward answer out of him any time soon. It was strange, he seemed a very abrupt, straightforward man with anything except his feelings or anything remotely related to emotions. I had a feeling that was more vampire than the man himself though; they all seemed to have some form of emotional issue.

It wasn't my Eric issues I was considering though when Caleb sat down beside me at the little breakfast table I'd snagged in the surprisingly busy restaurant. Instead I'd been thinking about my safety and the fact that I just had to realise there was someone out there, vampire and human, that wanted me to work for them, or possibly something else. If I thought along the something else lines though, it wouldn't do well at all for my nerves so I just accepted I wouldn't be considering all of the possibilities. Caleb walking in at that point brought the realisation I was still feeling something off about him, even though he'd been nothing but nice to me overall and I hadn't heard anything malicious from him.

"Hey Caleb," I greeted him and nodded as he indicated the chair opposite me, silently assuring him he could take the seat.

"Good morning Miss Stackhouse, how are you feeling today?" His eyes roamed over my forehead, searching for any sign of the cut that I'd gotten when his vampires had started scuffling. He didn't find anything, I managed to get that much from his brain and after I'd battened down the hatches of my shields some more I felt it safe enough to answer him.

"I'm doing fine thanks, how about you?" The waiter arrived with my breakfast at that point, scrambled eggs and bacon with a gorgeously steaming mug of coffee, and Caleb ordered.

"I'm good as well. Do you fancy going exploring with me this morning?" It was scarcely still morning, half an hour later and I wouldn't have been able to order breakfast but I didn't think it would be polite to say anything, even though the chances of us making it out of the hotel before afternoon were scanty.

"That sounds interesting," I conceded as going out and exploring sounded like a wonderful idea, plus I wanted to see the sun. "Where are you thinking of going?" Caleb's meal arrived then; simple marmalade on toast.

"Westminster area, I want to see the houses of parliament, see how they compare to what we have."

I grinned at him and swallowed before I spoke up, "Okay, but only if we go to Westminster Abbey while we're in the area."

"That's fine." It was strange, I'd almost grown used to Caleb's odd aura for lack of a better word, but I wasn't getting anything from his mind that made me mistrust him. There was the usual tingling at the base of my neck that told me there was something off but that was all and I still couldn't put my finger on it.

So half an hour later after a truly delicious breakfast and gathering the things we needed from our respective rooms we wandered out of a side entrance that a member of staff kindly pointed out. We managed to avoid the Guardians who we could hear milling around on the street and heckling anybody that seemed to show any form of interest in the hotel. It was only then that I realised we'd have to travel on the tube to get there easily and it would be the first time I'd traversed the tube.

The journey wasn't anywhere as bad as I'd expected; it was warm, windy and crowded but I'd experienced worse and, as soon as I'd gotten myself seated down the time passed surprisingly quickly since there was so much to do. I people watched, though I kept my shields locked down as strongly as possible, I read the notices and made mental notes of all the things I wanted to see such as the musicals.

"So, you're really a telepath?" He asked while we were walking down the sidewalk, or rather the pavement, from the underground station to Westminster Abbey which was ideally situated just beside the houses of Parliament and therefore Big Ben. The London eye was just across the river, if I walked up to the bridge I could see that along with the aquarium. There was so much I wanted to see and I knew I wouldn't get a chance to see most of it. Caleb's question however I had expected, had been expecting since breakfast actually.

"Yes, I really am. Though don't get that confused with psychic, I can't read anything into the future," I giggled, trying to make light of the conversation, especially since we were surrounded by people although I could tell just by their general mental signatures that they weren't paying any attention to us.

"Okay then, how powerful are you?" The question was at least a little expected and I dropped my shields slightly to see his intentions. I came up against a wall though, no distinct thoughts formed themselves out of the jumble and I could only perceive a general wave of curiosity. It was that simple wave that made me give him an actual answer since he appeared to be free of malice. I still couldn't shuck the odd feelings though but I quelled my instincts because like I'd said just moments before; I wasn't psychic.

"I can only read humans properly and vampires I can't read at all." I hoped he would get what I'd inferred about shifters; we were in public and shifters hadn't come out of the closet yet.

"Can you read me?" He turned his head to look at me, making full eye contact which was only possible because we were waiting at a cross walk.

"Not clearly," I started out and I was hit by such a strong mental wave of relief that I clamped my shields down again. I expanded in hopes of easing the edge of worry that had quickly followed the relief. "I can only get impressions really, no actual words or picture thoughts." I grinned at him, my nervous high wattage smile. It last only a split second as I realised my plan had backfired; worry had taken over now with snippets of panic.

"Sorry, it's just a tad disconcerting," he replied and our conversation was broken at that point by the green man alerting us that we could cross safely.

"When I looked up I got my first glimpse of Westminster Abbey. The front rose up and up until I was craning my neck to see the top precipices properly and I found myself gasping in true awe. London was history, this proved it, older than what I'd seen and this was a true monument to religion. The architecture was astounding and the detail, I realised as I got closer, was just as impressive as the overall effect. The arches built into the masonry were truly beautiful and even had little carvings for decoration. Before I knew what I was doing, I'd brought my camera, which had been a Christmas present from my brother, up to my eye to capture the gorgeous building.

"Wow," I whispered, snapping another shot which was of the small recessed area to the side of the main doors.

"I know," Caleb replied from much closer than I'd anticipated. "Have you ever seen anything like this before?"

"Nope," I answered truthfully and popping the p to turn the word into two syllables. This put the little community church I frequented, though not as much anymore compared to a few years ago, to shame. "It makes me want to see St Paul's Cathedral even more."

"Come on then Sookie, we can go inside!" Caleb laughed after he'd studied my face for a second and then he was pulling me forward towards the main doors that were suspiciously shut. "Oh," he added when we got closer, having noticed the doors himself.

"Its shut," I whispered, feeling deflated when we'd moved forward a few more steps toward the doors, close enough to read the sign.

"It opens again in an hour; we can hang around if you want to see inside."

"Okay then, please, if you don't mind."

We were finally heading back, after much longer than a mere hour, to Westminster Abbey, also called the Collegiate Church of St Peter and after spotting a beautiful bride walking into the small chapel just to the side when my phone rang. A deep sense of foreboding washed over me; the only people with my number were the hotel and my vampire group. It couldn't be good if either one of them were calling me. The sensation was only heightened when I saw 'withheld number' flash across the screen.

"Hello?" I asked cautiously.

"Sookie Stackhouse?" As confirmations went it seemed a little stupid to be giving a full name; what were the chances of another Sookie picking up the phone even if they had dialled a wrong number.

"Yes, who is this?" Caleb gave me a questioning look at that and took a step towards me.

"Eric Northman." He didn't give me a chance to give him a friendlier greeting; instead he barrelled straight on with what he had to tell me. "The Queen requests your presence at a first dark meeting, you are to be at the hotel earlier and wear the clothes that she believes will be fitting. You are not to tell anyone else of your telepathy, it is too risky." I groaned internally, partly at his actual words and the emotionless way he was speaking to me.

"When she says early, what time does she mean?"

"Approximately 4 o clock."

"Shit," I said without thinking and my hand automatically covered my mouth. It was a reaction to his news, it just wasn't very lady like and I didn't particularly admire swearing. His reaction though was the first sign of his real personality shining through; he laughed, a deep rumbling chuckle.

"Why is it so bad Sookie?" His accent was more pronounced than I'd heard it before. When I remembered the time I understood that it was because he was so tired, even from someone as old as him being up this hour would be quite a strain.

"I'm at Westminster Abbey; I'll have to head straight back now because of the tube works and the unpredictable schedule." I didn't mention it was also because I didn't trust myself to not get lost. "I haven't actually been inside yet."

"You want to see the tourist spots?" Even over the phone his tone implied he was disbelieving.

"Yes, of course, I've never been to London before, hell I've never left the United States before. I doubt I'm ever going to come back, so yes, I want to see the sights."

"Okay." He paused for a second, an awkward silence that was only broken by my breathing. "I will see you at six o clock." Then a shrill, continuous beep sounded, indicating that he'd hung up. I don't think I'd ever get used to the telephone manners of vampires.

"What's that?" Caleb asked quietly.

"I have to get back, official duties." I replied and I took one last photograph of the Abbey before walking back towards the station, Caleb in tow; he'd decided to at least accompany me back although he hadn't yet decided whether he was going to stay in the hotel. So it was with a slightly depressed air around me that I started the return journey.

"Why did I ever get in with vampires?" I asked myself while looking in the mirror in the bedroom at the outfit I was wearing. The answer of course was because of their mental silence, their most desirable trait to me which was demonstrated momentarily when a tall figure loomed in my doorway. I'd never heard his physical approach and his mind had remained blank. I was however quite pleased to see him, more so than I probably should have been.

I took one more glance at my reflection; overall I supposed I looked quite smart and professional, however it really wasn't me that I was seeing. I was wearing a pants suit of a deep charcoal grey that appeared almost black depending on the lighting with a pale cream or white, I couldn't decide which, blouse underneath that was entirely too see through for the rest of the ensemble. Black kitten heel pumps finished off the outfit though I actually found them more difficult to walk in than higher heels so I really wasn't keen. I wanted to be back in my more usual jeans and comfortable jumper, I'd even settle for my usual Merlotte's uniform. Eric however, didn't appear to be having any of the doubts that I was if the rather toothy smile he was showing me was any indication.

"What?" I asked as I finally turned around, realising I was infusing too much of my internal frustration into my voice. I really was pleased to see Eric and none of this was his fault, if anything he was the good guy of the situation. However, I still wasn't entirely sure whether vampires actually could be good guys.

"I came to take you to the Queen's chambers; it seems you aren't in a good mood though. What's wrong?" I raised an eyebrow at him in speculation at his question. "I don't know why but I feel like I actually want to know the answer." It seemed like a fairly genuine answer, he did appear slightly startled at his own words though. Now just wasn't the time to get into it.

"Nothing, I'm fine." I attempted breezy; I don't think I made it.

"Okay, I'm picking up on bullshit here." I burst out laughing at that statement, there wasn't any helping it. At seeing his barely smiling face I quickly sobered up.

"I'm tired of doing this," I waved my arms around to indicate I meant the entire situation with nothing specifically.

"Surely there are some perks," he replied and took a few steps closer to me so he could discretely usher me toward the door.

"Well, I got to see London," I started out, purposefully ignoring the implication he'd given. I had to admit that meeting Eric had been a perk, even if it was just because of that kiss. "I just don't get to see as much of it as I wanted." I shook my head and locked the door behind us, after which we began walking in silence down the corridor towards the Queen's rooms.

I'm not going to bother going into detail about what the Queen said, it essentially boils down to; don't speak unless spoken to, indicate if someone is lying and remain silent about your telepathy even if asked. So less than half an hour later we entered one of the smaller conference room, one that hadn't even been deemed big enough to hold part of the ball from last night and we all took our seats around one half of a circular table. There was a three foot gap between our table and the other which was a direct mirror image. The other vampires had already taken their seats and I found that I didn't recognise a single one of them which I couldn't decide whether that was good or bad.

They didn't bother with any preamble which surprised me; vampires tended to like flourishes at events like these. I was seated at the end of the table, closest to the human with the other group who I would be able to read. At vampire only events I wouldn't be needed at all; they were still blank to me.

"Sophie Anne, we would like to petition you for use of your land in the north of the state. We have a ranch in southern Arkansas which we use for respite and holidays for all vampires in our group that have earned it. We need to expand and the best way forward is south. We will of course pay you." This really wasn't what I was expecting at all but I let the words skim over my head, barely taking in their meaning and instead I focused entirely on the only other human brain in the room. It sounded like it was screaming at me; the thoughts were so loud since they were amplified by the complete silence of the vampires that surrounded us.

It really is wonderful in Arkansas. His words here were interrupted by flashing images of the scenery and the house as he took a mental walk through of the estate they were talking about. It was the images that followed that made my cheeks tint crimson and I had to fight to keep my reaction down. There were things that some people just had to keep quiet and think to themselves, to be fair to the man who's head I was invading. So I clamped down on some of my shields, blocking out the visuals and I concentrated on his words instead. We need to get a bigger place, we can't all fit in and the plans that we have just won't be kept up. Man, I need to get back there. They say they'll station me there. I wonder if Craig will be there. And on and on his thoughts wandered, not taking any determined path, or so it seemed, giving snippets of information that didn't lead anywhere.

"Which parts of the state are you considering?" Eric's deep voice came out louder than the previous whispering as my group discussed the news.

"Claiborne. We wouldn't be encroaching on your land much, perhaps a hundred acres which would allow us to hunt animals in the area and build a few more huts and bolt holes."

"Who's leadership would you follow?" This question was asked by Sophie Anne, her high pitched voice rang out across the gap between the tables easily and it set off a little stir of murmuring amongst our fellows. It was so low I couldn't distinguish anything, couldn't even pick up which vampire was talking, what I could get though was the human version.

More like two hundred acres! He laughed internally at that and I got a brief flicker of a plan for some buildings which were low but large, taking advantage of the tree cover that would grow in that area so the vampires would have even more protection from deadly sunlight. Then I saw something I was really interested in, a huge map of the entire estate and how they wanted it to look after the new addition but it was gone before I could really see anything.

I blocked everything else in the room out, I know it probably wasn't the most sensible idea to do in a room full of vampires, but it was what I had to do to do my job. I stared down at what would appear to be the table top, instead I was focusing intently on the man, Dan, sat in front of me. I stared at his hands which were resting on top of his table, fingers interlaced. Eye contact really helped, but it wasn't entirely necessary and it gave me focus about his being, I could see him, mark exactly where he was. I shut most of my shields down, so that there was absolutely no background noise from any human passing the conference room doors, it was solely his head that existed, almost to the extent where I couldn't hear my own thoughts. Almost.

I grasped, it's the only way I can think to describe it, a thought that was coming out of his head, about something specific that went on while the estate was in the planning stages. I used that thought to climb into his head, deep inside to where he kept all his thoughts and I searched through the tangle of thoughts that never quite made it into an idea until I could pull him in a certain direction. I pulled us back to the plan for the estate, the one that had flickered through his mind, and made him focus simply by following his mind through the process of seeing it again. That's where I got my information from.

Huh. That chick is weird, human too. Doesn't look like a walking snack though unless they bite somewhere else. Oh, I want that room to be made. Perhaps we could invite these vampires to join us; perhaps she would join us in the sauna. Or maybe the swimming pool that's in the same building, which is built underneath all those human rooms. See! I told you it's more than a hundred square acres. We need the space though. Can't go around trapping Weres with not enough room, they need to be able to run. Attempt to run anyway. Damn, the vampires are always so horny after they hunt. Provides a good place to hide everything really. Their Weres, the drugs. Oh, I hope they give me some more after this. I need some more. Fuck, I need some blood, fresh from the source.

Without even realising what I was doing, I was too busy focusing on Dan's mind and figuring out as much as I could. I gently laid my left hand down on the vampire who was sat beside me. I squeezed his arm, the signal that something was wrong. I'm not entirely sure what response I was expecting but I didn't expect a jotter note pad to be slid along to me with a pen placed carefully on top.

What's up with that freak? An image of me popped up in his head and I saw myself as clearly as if I was looking in a mirror; neck craned downward with muscles standing out from strain and my eyes glazed over but continuing to stare down at his hands. Bet she's on V too, taking too much, or not enough! He laughed internally and I knew I'd lost the control I'd had over his mind. My head snapped up and I was sucked back into true reality with all the white noise that came with it; my shields had dropped as much as they possibly can when I was fully conscious and I could hear people walking past, the bored bar tender in the stock room that shared a wall with the conference room.

I concentrated on my breathing, returning it to a more normal rhythm; in through the nose, out through the mouth. I repeated the mantra over and over in my head, and I felt calm wash over me slowly and with it, my shields went back up, blocking off my mind from the rest of the world. I could feel several pairs of eyes on me and they weren't all coming from my group; it seemed the other vampires had noticed something was wrong with me.

I picked up the pen and scrawled out a brief over view of what I'd heard, not explaining how and passed it back. My eyes flickered closed for a few seconds until I was in complete control of my own mental shields again and when I opened them, no one was paying any attention to me. Well, one person was I discovered when I glanced around the room.

Eric's brilliantly intelligent blue eyes were gazing at me intently, a slight expression of intrigue was written across his face even though he'd maintained his body posture of seemingly looking forward. His long pale hair was pulled back in a twist at the base of his neck letting me see his handsome face in full, unobstructed profile.

"What's the real reason for you wanting to encroach on my land? I have reason to believe you have been lying," Sophie Anne asked the room at large, not speaking to any individual vampire and her voice wanted to make you believe that butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.

"We want to expand our estate and the best way is to the South. Our vampires on your land would of course abide by your rules." Sophie Anne didn't bother replying to him straight away, instead she flickered her gaze toward me, the movement breaking my eye contact with Eric instantly. I gave her a brief nod, the indication that I was completely sure that what I'd garnered was the truth. It was always difficult for me to believe that vampires tended to treat me like rubbish, with no respect at least in standard situations and then as soon as they were using my telepathy they trusted my every word.

Eric's gaze was trained forward when I was able to glance at him again and I could see the muscles of his neck standing out slightly in stress; he was tense for some reason.

"You are not permitted to build on my land, if you petition again the same answer will be given. If I hear of you petitioning any other state I will see to it that they know of your real plans. The blood we might have been able to overlook for a price, the Weres however already prove too much trouble for us. You will keep all associations with Weres silent from me, mine and off my land." As soon as the last syllable was out of her dainty little mouth Sophie Anne regally stood up and swept from the room, all the vampires essentially scrambling to follow in her wake.

I stood up; feeling drained both physically and mentally, so that I could follow the retreating vampires. I was the last in our group to exit the room but I was left on my own. There was a certain giant of a Viking standing, waiting for me, just out of sight from inside the conference room. He easily fell into pace beside me and he didn't say a word to me until we were out of earshot of the vampires we'd left behind.

"The Queen suspects something. Go to your room, dress in something warm, I will be waiting for you in the lobby in five minutes." He nodded his head at me telling me silently to just accept his statement and then he was gone, leaving me standing alone near the bank of elevators that could take me up to my room.

Four minutes later I was standing in the foyer of the hotel, searching the loitering people for a tall figure amongst them. I'd taken true heed of his word and had gone up to my room, foot tapping impatiently on the base of the elevator all the way up, and I'd quickly changed into some black jeans, boots and a dark blue jumper that was both form fitting and snugly. I'd grabbed my jacket on the way out of the door, almost forgetting it, and hoping it would be alright; it wasn't exactly formal. I finally spotted Eric, talking to the concierge who had his own little desk just in front of the massive reception desk. Even from across the room I could tell he was dressed more formally than me and I was hit by a wave of apprehension.

I made my legs walk across the marble floor toward him and I desperately tried to control my heart beat. I was still calming down fully from what had happened in the meeting, seeing things that I really didn't want to see was never pleasant and, it had horrible effects on me sometimes. It still unnerved me when I took control of someone's mind like that and I had to hope that nobody would pay too much attention to my methods.

"Sookie," Eric greeted me and I'd been so deep in thought I hadn't realised he'd started walking to meet me. "You look," he paused here to think of an appropriate word yet he settle for wiggling his eyebrows and giving me a toothy grin. "Come with me," he said quietly so no one idly listening around us could hear. His hand went to my lower back again and I could feel his cool flesh through the sweater; my jacket was still folded across my arm.

I studied him in my peripheral vision; his hair was now hanging freely and rippled down his shoulder with every step, he wore a simple black button down shirt open over a black vest and black jeans. From the way that other women were looking at him, I managed to get the impression from them even with my shields solidly up, that his butt looked mighty fine in them. He led me to a door that I hadn't noticed before near the bank of elevators which led to a dimly lit hallway with what appeared to be service closets leading off in every direction. There, at the end of the corridor, was a green neon sign exclaiming it to be an emergency exit, also marked for employees.

"Where are we going?" I asked quietly, the dim lighting and no other noise made it impossible for me to speak at a normal volume.

"You'll see when we get there," he replied back, whispering straight into my ear which sent a little shiver running down my spine.

Then we were outside, somewhere around the back of the building, with a rather strange bicycle waiting for us apparently. Eric nodded at the young man on the bicycle but didn't actually say a word to him; he appeared to already have his instructions. I was beginning to really worry about what we were going to be doing, I hadn't really given that much thought in the hotel, I'd been more concerned with where we were going and getting out of the building. Putting the Queen's questions off would only delay the inevitable but I was all for delaying, especially if it involved a certain pair of lips on my own.

Eric stood next to the buggy part, where there were cushioned seats with enough room for two, although with the size of the man who was joining me, it would be a very snug fit. Suddenly I wasn't as interested in where we going but rather how long it would take us to get there. My petite hand fit inside his larger one and with his other hand on my hip I was seated down before I'd really contemplated how I was going to manoeuvre. Ever the graceful immortal, Eric sat beside me; the length of his thigh was pressed along mine, though his knee stuck out a few more inches than mine. I could feel his cool presence beside me, his mental blackness, and it was so relaxing to be close to a mental null. My eyelids flickered closed and I sighed with relief; even the 'driver' in front wasn't invading my mind.

"What are you doing?" He whispered into my ear, the breath that he only used for speaking, ticked the sensitive skin and I felt Goosebumps rise across my neck. My eyes snapped open and I turned my head sharply toward him, yet he hadn't moved back and I came within an inch of his face. "Why did you close your eyes?" He asked again, leaning in even further so that his lips brushed my cheek as he spoke.

"I was relaxing," I replied quietly, feeling my heart thumping in my chest due to his close proximity and I couldn't tear my eyes away from his. "Vampires minds are amazingly quiet," I added on for further explanation.

His response was a light chuckle and then he pulled away, turning his head to face forward before pulling back at all. The effect was him tracing his lips gently over mine which just left me breathless with a deep desire to sigh out of frustration. He knew exactly what he was doing though; there was a smirk across his face which only grew bigger when he turned to look at me again.

"In the meeting, what were you doing?" He asked after giving me a second to try and compose myself. I hadn't achieved it, my eyes had continued to stare at his lips but his words brought me back down to Earth with a jolt.

"Reading his mind," I answered automatically. I kept my voice low although I didn't think the driver would be able to hear us even if he wanted to. I paid no attention to the sights we were passing or even in which direction we were travelling in; I could hear traffic and I could tell we stopped at what I assumed were traffic lights but I didn't look up.

"You did more than that Sookie, you were too concentrated. I know when you're listening to thoughts."

"How can you know that? You've never seen me working before."

"I'm a good observer and you're interesting to look at." It wasn't exactly a compliment, neither was it an insult, so I made the best of the situation and decided to take it that it meant something good. "When you're listening to someone else's thoughts you get this distant glaze over your eyes. This evening you were staring intently, not in that room with us at all. At one point you were visibly shaking with energy, with power. I could almost smell it."

"Shit," I implored with a lot of emotion packed into that one little word. All he did in response was raise his blond eyebrows up at me. "Could the others tell? Was it just you? What about Sophie Anne, you said she had questions." I was tired all over again and I sagged against Eric's shoulder which didn't move at all, instead it remained as immovable as stone under my weight.

"No, she's clueless. She believes as Queen nothing will stop her, it probably hasn't crossed her mind to question your power. She was oblivious to you in that room apart from when you gave the signal. I don't think anyone but that other human took any notice." I was safe, at least for now. "What were you doing?" He asked again, turning slightly in his seat so that he could look me square in the face and read my eyes.

"I don't think I can tell you," I replied quietly with my eyes downcast. His hand immediately shot up and cupped my chin gently, pulling my face up until I met his gaze.

"Why not?" His tone was infused with equal parts confusion and indignance.

"I'm scared," I replied honestly. "I can't tell you here anyway. No one knows, I'll tell you when I can." I promised, hoping it would be enough. He continued to stare at me for a few seconds before nodding his head slowly.

"Okay. I'll protect you, you have my word." I believed him, with every fibre of my being I believed that he would protect me as much as he was able to. He was the type of man that would never go back on his word, especially not to a woman. He wouldn't have any problem with just saying no if he had no intention of following through with something.

I was just beginning to relax again, all thoughts of Sophie Anne had slipped to the back of my mind when we pulled up and I took note of the large crowd of people milling around, seemingly without purpose. From the view I had I couldn't make out where we were, its seemed like a back street that was littered a little too much and was just a bit too dark for my liking. Where everyone was gathered appeared to be much brighter and it was when I really looked I discovered that the people were queuing up, in a way that only British people could; with complete passivity.

"Where are we?" I asked again. Eric didn't choose to answer me though, he slipped easily from the buggy and offered his hand out to help me down which I gratefully accepted. Once again his large hands gripped my waist and essentially picked me up, gently placing me on the ground beside him. Again he didn't say anything to the driver, just gave him a deep nod. "Thank-you!" I had the manners to shout out as he began to peddle away, standing up to get more force behind his movements.

"Welcome, to the Globe theatre, home of William Shakespeare," Eric declared dramatically with a flourish of his arm thrown in too. We stepped further down the street, where people were waiting together and I was led straight through a set of glass doors with a hologram of a thatched roof building on it. I hadn't actually seen the theatre before, but I'd heard about it; built in the same place and a replica of the original Globe. It was a theatre exposed to the elements, exactly like it had been in its hay day, with the stall 'seating' actually being standing room and the actors worked without stage lighting and with few props. The emphasis was on their own talent and from what I'd heard or read; they deserved the attention.

We walked straight up to the box office, Eric's hand never leaving my waist as he guided us side by side through the few people that were waiting inside. It appeared the queue stretched around the side of the building to some wrought iron gates which I could only assume were to get inside the theatre.

"Two tickets reserved under Northman," Eric stated clearly to the young girl seated behind the desk. She never stood a chance, I could feel her emotions flipping through her head, it didn't help that his word choice carried a certain amount of innuendo which would have been hilarious throughout the teenage population. Even flustered she worked quickly and handed over a pair of tickets.

"There you go sir, straight up the stairs here and follow the balcony around until you pass into the courtyard, you can go in by the doors directly opposite." I thanked her and we were off to find out seats.

I had never experienced anything quite like seeing a show at the Globe, and I doubted I ever would again. It was truly spectacular and A Midsummer Night's Dream was also my favourite play of Shakespeare's, not that I was familiar with all that many but the supernatural element with the fairies and the talking donkey was more than enough to win me over. We were sat in the first balcony, directly opposite the stage and off the ground enough to easily see above the heads of the people standing in the stalls. The cold air was biting as the time passed with inactivity and I found myself snuggling deeper down into my jacket. Eric's arm draped over my shoulder certainly helped but without his own body heat it did little but keep the breeze off my exposed neck. During the interval I even got a hot chocolate which I was still finishing off when the play started back up. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the way the actors captured the stage, making the character their own and I was truly sad when they took their final bow. Being here was like looking back in time and I didn't want to leave even though I knew I would have hated experiencing the real time now.

"That was amazing," I uttered for what wasn't the first time. Eric chuckled again, his deep laugh reverberating slightly around the small cabin of the taxi we were in, going to another unknown destination. When we'd gotten in Eric had handed the driver some bills, whispered quietly so that I couldn't hear and had promptly sat beside me. If I'd really wanted to know I could have listened in to his mind but with Eric being so secretive I knew he didn't want me to know just yet so I kept up being good.

"It really was very good, the actors are better now of course, though the improvement is great. The big difference? The smell." He told me as he lounged back against the seat, his long legs were stretched out in front of him so that his toes actually touched the back of the partition that separated us from the driver.

"You've been here before?" I asked, completely dumbfounded by the news although I probably shouldn't have been. "When?"

"About 1605, I don't remember the exact year," he shrugged as though it was no big deal. His eyes were sparkling with mischief and I knew he was enjoying this just a tad too much.

"Really?" I couldn't control my mouth and my hand shot up to cover it before I could let anything else stupid slip out.

"Yes." He grinned at me and I found it was contagious; I couldn't help but smile back at him. "Wait, it couldn't have been, earlier. He wasn't on the cast list in 1605, I saw Sejanus, His Fall. 1603!"

"Wait, you've not only been here before, but you've seen William Shakespeare act on that stage?" My voice had risen an octave in sheer astonishment.

"Yes, in our time, I was in London for around twenty years about the turn of the 17th Century, we were known to hang out."

"What?"

"I'm joking." He replied after a couple of seconds of just soaking up my reaction, then his chuckle was filling my ears and his grin was making me smile even wider though I wanted nothing more than to slap him that second for teasing me. At least he had a sense of humour, vampires weren't particularly renowned for them; I guess this was what he meant when he said he loved life.

"You're horribly mean!" I spat out, the grin on my face giving away that I didn't really have any spite behind my words at all. I huffed into the corner, my knees still touching his leg and we spent the rest of the journey in silence. I watched the buildings all lit up out of my window, imagining what it would have been like to experience London in Shakespeare's time. "Wait, how much of it were you joking about?"

"Only the knowing Shakespeare, I really was here in the early 1600s and I really did see him play here. It meant more to me as the years past though. I'm not denying he had talent." That statement just gave me even more to consider about the time period. "We're here." Eric's words, accompanied by a cool hand resting on my forearm cut through my mind and I was startled back into complete reality. We were pulled up near a pier where several large boats were tied up, some lit up with people milling about on their decks, others were in complete darkness.

"We're going on a boat?" I quickly shuffled out of the cab and immediately took a hold of the crook of his neck. It dawned on me then, I'm not sure why not at the theatre, that I was on an actual date with Eric. At first I thought it might have been to get us out from under the Queen's radar but I knew now that it really wasn't the main reason.

"Yes," was all he said and then I was being propelled down the large jetty to the boat at the end of the pier; the one that had glass sides and was ornately lit up like a sparkling Christmas tree even though Christmas had been and gone.

"Tickets sir?" A rather burly man with a gruff voice asked when we got near the steps that lead up onto the deck. The actual deck area was tiny, enough room for maybe thirty people to stand comfortable and much smaller than the covered up seating area that I could see now was arrange in small tables designed for couples and even a couple of small families out for a fun night. "Thank-you, enjoy the trip." I went first up the steps, glad that I'd worn my boots.

"What do you think?" Eric asked, coming to stand behind me. With him guiding me we went to stand at the side of the boat, looking out over the still water of the river Thames that was shimmering slightly in the moon light. There were no stars at all to be seen and I missed them, the background light from all the buildings and even the boats was much too bright from them to shine out.

"It's beautiful," I replied as I gazed at the skyline, seeing all the shadowed buildings with blazing lights in the windows. It's wasn't nature, it was purely man made but it was definitely a type of beauty and with the water in the foreground, you couldn't see the murky colour at night, I was being honest with my opinion.

His arms wrapped around my waist so that he could pull me back into his body and I felt the hard muscles, hard as rock, holding me up. I melted back against him and let the tranquillity wash over me, enjoying the peace.

"Why did you take me out tonight?" I whispered, not bothering to turn around to look at him.

"Well," he ducked his head, his mouth barely an inch away from my ear. "We needed to get out of the hotel, the Queen isn't happy with me." His mouth moved further south until he was hovering over the sensitive point just below my ear where my jaw turned into neck as well. "I wanted to keep you safe, she really isn't happy and I wanted to spend some time with you, alone." The last part he whispered into my neck, letting his lips brush against my skin with every word. My breath was catching in my throat and my heart was thumping loudly in my chest, I had no doubt he could hear it with how close he was pressed against me.

I turned around in his arms so that I could see his face clearly. "Why the theatre?" There were so many other theatres around here, the hotel was practically in the west end and the musicals there were world renowned in popular culture.

"I wanted to share something with you." He was stooped over slightly so that our eyes were more or less level which mean his lips were only a few inches away from mine; my gaze kept flickering south.

"Why the boat?" This had obviously been planned ahead of schedule, he already had the tickets and we'd somehow managed to get really good seats at the theatre.

"I got them from the concierge, they've reserved tickets for certain events all over the city while the summit meeting is happening. I simply paid the right price." He turned his head slightly, letting his breath tickle over my cheek just like he'd done earlier and I had to fight with myself not to just grab him. "The boat? Well, look over there." He nodded with his head, indicating further down the river."

I craned my neck to see where he'd been indicating and there, at least a mile down the river but still distinctive were the houses of parliament and Big Ben, lit up in a haunting light. The clock faces glowed while the top of the tower was in deep shadow as were the turrets on the main building. The lighting was from below, shining upward, giving extra definition to depth and angles but yet again, it was truly stunning. "We still can't go inside but, I thought looking at it again might make up a little for not really getting to explore. Further down you can see Westminster Abbey as well." I turned around to face him again, finding his handsome face even closer than before if that was at all possible. I could only think of one thing to say and it was what I'd been wanting for quite awhile now; I'd had enough teasing. I was taking control.

"Kiss me."

So what did you think? You know i love feedback almost as much as i love a certain Viking vampire. Special thanks to JoxX who sent me a review i couldn't reply to.

The title, Kiss Me You Animal comes from the My Chemical Romance song Na Na Na which is their new single, going to see them on the 23rd in london, can't wait!

Thanks for reading and i hope you have a wonderful evening.

*hugs*