Perfect Valentine Chapter 9
SPOV
Oh, great! It's not bad enough that I was on the edge of freaking out about the re-emergence of Stalker Bill. Now Eric's gone psycho killer on me, stomping around the backyard like a caged lion. I know he's just feeling protective of me, but this flash of temper scared me. I didn't know he had it in him. I occupied myself briefly by cleaning up the kitchen. When I heard the patio door open, I turned to look at Eric.
"Sookie, I'm sorry. I just lost it thinking about that fucking bastard bothering you again," he apologized. "I hope I didn't scare you too much." He came to the kitchen and pulled me into his arms as he spoke, "But, I swear, if I have a thing to do with it, he will not hurt you in any way."
"Shh, It's okay, Eric," I soothed, "I have to admit your temper frightened me. It was the first time I'd seen that side of you, but I know why you're mad, and I appreciate your wanting to protect me."
He hugged me even tighter, which I didn't think was possible, "Hope you never see that again. I'm not quick to anger, but when I do…"
"Let's do something to get your mind off of it. Want to watch a movie, or some tv?" I asked pulling away from him and trying to coax him toward the couch.
"Yeah, tv, I guess. I can't think of a movie that would distract me enough. Find some mindless drivel for us to stare at," he smirked at me, now following willingly.
We watched a couple of hours of who-knows-what before deciding to go to bed early. Even though tomorrow was Saturday and we could sleep in, we had plans to move the rest of Eric's stuff. It would be best to get an early start.
I could tell Eric was still restless. He checked the door locks more than once. We lay in bed reading, but I didn't notice him turning any pages. After awhile, I knew there was only one way to calm him enough to sleep. I closed my book, turned out the lamp on my side of the bed, and moved close to him, "Relax, Eric, I'm sure Bill won't be bothering me anymore after Jason hit him last night. Besides, he probably was just trying to get a rise out of somebody, so now that he has, he'll stop." I was rubbing his chest as I spoke close to his face, "Put down the book, let me help you forget about it."
Without a word, he closed the book, turned out his lamp, and pulled me into his arms. We made love slowly, gently, until we were both sated, and ready to snuggle together throughout the night. Or so I thought. I felt the bed shift at least three times during the night when Eric rose to walk around the house. I imagined him peering through the windows, looking for the offending white pickup. I never heard raised voices or a shotgun blast, so I could only assume the coast was clear. Finally, Eric must have agreed, because he pulled me close once more, and this time slept until well into the morning.
Knowing he'd gotten little rest, I slipped out of bed, covered him again snugly, and went to the kitchen to start the coffee. When it was ready, I poured myself a mug and went back to the bedroom to watch Eric as he slept. I thought I knew him well a week ago, when he'd proposed, but today I knew so much more about him. He was generous, well I knew that, but I mean, much more generous than I'd known. Not just with money either, with his time also. He cared deeply about a lot of people, some he hardly knew. And he had a temper, one that was hard for him to rein in once it was unleashed. I hoped it were never directed toward me. After thinking for awhile, I realized that the temper was the first flaw had found in Eric's character. Well, at least it was reassuring to know he wasn't perfect. I sure wasn't. Even now, I struggle with self-esteem. I tend to fidget when nervous. I am often too naïve. Some people say I have a stubborn streak.
As my mug became empty, I stood up to get a refill. Just at that moment, Eric began to stir. Without opening his eyes, he reached toward my side of the bed. Not finding me, he forced his eyelids to move enough to look around. "Where you going?" he asked drowsily.
"For more coffee, sleepy head, my second cup. Are you ready for some?" I laughed teasingly.
"Uhn, uh," he answered, holding his arms out for me to rejoin him in the bed.
I set down my mug, and climbed under the covers into his arms. He began kissing and caressing me as soon as I was near enough to reach. Of course, I was all too glad to return the favor. Soon he had pulled me onto his outstretched body. I applied wet kisses to his chest and stomach, then at his urging lifted myself to place his eager erection between my equally ready folds. With decidedly more urgency than we displayed the night before, we brought each other to welcome release. After lying securely in his arms for long minutes, I rolled off him, and asked again, "Coffee?"
EPOV
I could hear Sookie in the kitchen, refilling her mug, and getting down one for me. My skin still felt her warmth and I missed her slight weight on my body. Just thinking about it made me twitch with renewed desire. I pushed myself up to sit against the headboard. I needed to wake up. I hadn't slept at all until after two. I must have checked three times for any sign of that asshole's pickup. I swear if I'd seen him parked out front, I'd have found that shotgun I knew Sookie had around here somewhere. Jason showed real restraint, in my opinion, only punching him.
When Sookie returned, I gestured for her to join me again in bed. We reclined against the headboard side by side, drinking the hot coffee. Finally, I knew we had to get the show on the road. We needed to move the rest of my belongings from the apartment today. "Why don't we get dressed and go out to breakfast before we go over to the apartment?" I suggested. "That way you don't have a lot of cleaning up to do here."
"Suits me," Sookie said, giving me a peck on the cheek before climbing out of bed. "I'm going to catch a quick shower, unless you'd like to join me." She waggled her eyebrows at me.
"You're killing me, woman!" I teased, "besides, we are late enough getting started. I want to get it all moved today. I'll get Alc to bring his truck one day this week and move the furniture to storage."
"Okay," she pouted, and flounced out of the room.
Less than an hour later, we walked out the door. We were both dressed to work. We wore jeans and sweatshirts. Sookie's hair was in the ponytail I love so much. It felt good to have something to do together.
We took separate cars, hoping to be able to get everything left in the two and make only one trip. Then we'd have the rest of the day to unpack and organize. After breakfast, we drove over to the apartment building, and went to work. Among the things I still had to pack was the lavender baby doll I'd bought for Sookie last week. I'd decided to give her the satin slip instead on Valentine's Day, but I liked the other so much, I bought it too, to give to her later. I didn't want her to see it, so I sent her to the kitchen to pack the few utensils I had, including my fancy grind and brew coffee maker, while I went to my bedroom.
When everything was organized into boxes and suitcases, we loaded the cars. Wanting to take one last look around, I sent Sookie on her way, "Go ahead to the house. You don't have to unload, just wait for me. I'll be right behind you."
"Okay, but I can get started with the unloading. See you soon," she said, standing on tiptoe to kiss my lips lightly.
I watched her drive away before heading back up the steps to my now almost empty apartment.
SPOV
Eric just wanted to take one last look around the apartment. I could understand that. He didn't want to leave anything behind. I had to admit it had kind of been fun packing up his things, piling them in our cars, knowing that they'd be unloaded at my house, our house. I felt almost giddy at the thought of Eric being fully moved in. The concerns of last night seemed far away.
When I got to the house, I pulled my car all the way to the end of the long driveway. I grabbed as many of the boxes as I could balance, and carried them through the back door. Not wanting to put the boxes down, I just kicked the door closed behind me. As I carried them to the kitchen, I decided to go ahead and start unpacking these things and putting them away, rather than go back for more right now. Eric's coffee maker was in one of these boxes, and I thought it might be nice to make us a nice pot of freshly ground coffee for the afternoon. As I worked, I heard the back door creak open. "Wow, you're fast," I shouted, not looking around, "I didn't expect you to come so soon!"
"Huh, I thought I'd heard that complaint for the last time about ten months ago!"
My heart was somewhere down around my ankles. I froze and turned around slowly to face Bill. I know my face was as white as the mixing bowl I held in my hand. "What the…?" That's all I could get out of my mouth before Bill was in front of me, grabbing my arms roughly with his hands. The mixing bowl fell to the floor, shattering on contact.
"Aren't you glad to see me, Sookie? Didn't Jason tell you I'm still in love with you?" Bill said through gritted teeth. His nose was swollen, and both eyes sported dark rings. Jason got in a pretty good lick!
"No, I'm not glad to see you. You need to get the fuck out of my house right now!" I screamed at him. He moved his face closer to mine, puckering for a kiss. I tried in vain to wiggle out of his hold. Suddenly, he was almost flying backward away from me, pulling my arms savagely before letting go. When I looked up I saw that Eric had come in the back door, and had grabbed Bill by the back of the shirt, pulling him from me.
"What part of 'get the fuck out' did you not understand, asshole?" Eric boomed, standing over Bill menacingly, but not touching him, except for holding onto the collar of his shirt. "When a lady asks you to leave her house, you leave, understand?" He let go of the collar and gave Bill a slight shove, making sure his huge foot was placed perfectly for Bill to trip and go sprawling onto the kitchen floor, landing face down in the shards of the ill-fated mixing bowl.
"This is assault!" Bill sputtered, trying to pick white splinters out of his face, "I'll file charges against you!"
"No, I didn't lay a hand on you," Eric explained, "you, on the other hand, are trespassing, not to mention the fact that Sookie will have bruises on her arms where you put your fucking hands on her. Oh, and it seems you owe me a mixing bowl, too, so add destruction of property to the list. Sookie, get your phone, call 911, Mr. Compton would like to speak to an officer."
"No!" he cried as he pushed himself up from the floor, "just forget it. You want her, you can have her! She's not worth this much fucking trouble, anyway."
Eric held up a hand, signaling Bill to stop, "Wait, you will apologize to Sookie before you leave. You have terrorized her, assaulted her, and now insulted her. And make it believable."
"Soorry," Bill drew the word out and wagged his head like a petulant teenager. Eric placed his fisted hands on his hips and took a step closer. "I mean, I'm sorry, Sookie. I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted you to know how I felt." He looked up at Eric, "Satisfied?"
"Ask her if she is," Eric indicated me. Bill turned to look sheepishly in my direction.
"Just get out," I said, "I don't want to see you again, ever. EVER."
"No problem, bitch," he muttered as he headed for the door. Eric launched his massive frame to block his way. I could see his veins popping from where I stood, his fists were still balled, his eyes blazed.
"Eric, no!" I screamed, "let him go. Just get him out of my sight!" Eric turned his back to Bill, letting him pass. I could feel the waves of anger coming from him. I didn't know whether or not to approach him. If he pulled away from me now, it would be devastating, but his heaving chest, and reddened face told me he had yet to control his rage. I stood still, and quiet, while tears streamed down my cheeks. When I could stand it no longer, I sank to the floor crying, "Eric, say something. Don't scare me like this."
Instantly he was at my side, lifting from the glass-strewn floor, and holding me to him tightly, "Sookie, Sookie, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you even more. He just makes me so fucking mad. How bad did he hurt you?"
"I'll be sore, and bruised, but if he's gone for good, it's worth it. It's my fault he came in. I left the back door unlocked. I thought it was you coming in," I choked out the last few words, as my tears began to fall again.
"Let's get you cleaned up," Eric soothed, as he carried me to the bathroom. Placing me on the side of the tub, he turned on the water, checking the temperature, and pouring in bath oil. "Here you go, Sookie, let's get you out of those clothes and into the nice, hot water. A soak will do you good."
EPOV
I helped Sookie undress, and held her waist as she climbed into the tub. That bastard had a death grip on her arms when I came through the door. She'd be sore, I knew. She was also upset, who wouldn't be? I put in some lavender bath oil to help calm her nerves. While she soaked, I went to the kitchen to clean up the mess made when she dropped the bowl. There were tiny white shards everywhere. Some were bloody, where they'd pierced the intruder's face and hands when he fell. Heh, poetic justice, I say.
And Sookie wants to take the blame for leaving the back door unlocked. I couldn't help feeling guilty for sending her home ahead of me. If I'd been with her, he wouldn't have dared to come in. Of course, the blame lay squarely on Bill Compton, Asshole Extradinaire. How dare he come into the house and put his hands on Sookie? Fuck! I had to stop thinking about it, or I was going to get mad all over again. It had taken every ounce of restraint I had not to kill the bastard and hide his body somewhere. I'd better go check on Sookie. Maybe I need to breathe in some of that lavender myself.
I decided to heat some water for tea before going to the bathroom. When the teapot whistled, I poured the water over a bag of herbal tea I found in the pantry, and carried the cup to Sookie. She accepted it gladly. As she enjoyed the tea, I used a soft sponge to squeeze warm, fragrant water over her back. I had pinned her ponytail up to keep her hair dry, and I ran the sponge slowly over her exposed neck. She relaxed against my arm, "Umm, Eric, thank you for saving me from Bill, again. You're my hero, you know?"
"Again? This is the first time I ever saw the guy. And I'm hardly a hero. If I hadn't sent you home alone, this wouldn't have happened," I answered quietly.
"You saved me the first time that night we met at the White Horse. I was ninety-nine per cent sure that I wanted to leave Bill before that night. You upped it to about one hundred fifty per cent. And it's not your fault. In a way, I'm glad it's done. I don't think he'll be back now. You scared him pretty good. He may have shit his pants." She giggled at that last thought, and I gave her a kiss on the forehead.
"You ready to get out now?" I asked, taking her teacup. She nodded, so I again placed my hands on her waist, knowing her arms would already be getting tender, and helped her climb into the towel I had slung across my shoulder. I dried her carefully, wrapped her up, and asked, "What now? You want to lie down? Get dressed?"
"Get dressed," she answered, "we've got work to do."
"Let me handle the unloading then. If you feel up to it, you can unpack and put things away." I pulled some comfortable clothes out for her to put on, and helped dress her, though for my part, she could have done without!
SPOV
While I soaked in the fragrant bath Eric had drawn for me, I thought about how lucky I was that he'd shown up. The mood Bill was in, he may have hurt me worse if Eric hadn't stopped him. I'd seen Bill royally pissed many times, and he rarely treated me with proper respect, but I'd never feared for my person before. I couldn't help but be impressed at how well Eric handled it. He drove his point home without crossing over into the area of assault, unlike Bill. I know it took a lot of self-control, but he was able to avoid roughing Bill up as much as he wanted to.
When he came back in, he squeezed warm, aromatic water over my back, gave me a cup of tea, and generally treated me like a queen. I loved the pampering, but felt silly that he was making such a big deal. Finally he brought me comfortable clothes to put on so we could get back to the unloading and unpacking.
Because my arms were starting to feel sore, I handled the putting away of lighter things, like clothes and toiletries. Eric handled the rest of the kitchen stuff. He could reach those upper shelves more easily than I could, anyway. When I came into the kitchen after finishing the boxes he'd brought me, I found him busily readying steaks for the grill.
"I thought I'd go ahead and fix these for us to eat. Want me to grill some veggies too?" he asked when he noticed my look of surprise.
"Sounds perfect! I'll get them ready while you finish up those steaks," I said, as I walked behind him into the kitchen. I gave his arm a pat as I walked by. I just wanted him to know how much I appreciated him. He had already taken excellent care of me and wasn't ready to stop, apparently. If he wanted to cook, I'd certainly let him. I like to cook, but it does get tiring when you have to do it all the time.
When the food was ready, he brought it in to the table I'd set, opened the bottle of wine he'd bought at the store, and held my chair for me. I couldn't help giggling. This man, who some would call a "man's man," who'd been raised with money, with housekeepers and cooks to tend to his every need, was becoming domesticated in front of my eyes!
The food was delicious and I complimented the chef. He looked at me with his eyebrow cocked and teased, "You sound surprised. You didn't think I could handle this?"
"I had my doubts. It just doesn't seem like the kind of thing you'd do. No offense."
"Oh, none taken. I never had to do the cooking, but sometimes I just wanted to be a little more like other guys. Especially after I started hanging around with Alcide and Quinn. Alcide fancies himself a grill master, and he is pretty good, so I got a lot of tips from him," he explained while finishing his meal.
When we were both full, he took the plates to the kitchen, came back in, picked up the bottle of wine, and asked me to come to the couch, "I want to talk to you about next weekend. I've made some plans."
"What kind of plans? Are we doing something special? Where are we going?" I asked as I followed behind him.
"Settle down, Sookie," he chuckled, "sit on the couch and I'll tell you all about it."
I did as I was told, but my curiosity would have gotten the better of me if he hadn't been prompt with the explanation. He poured us each another glass of wine and began, "Next Friday, we're going down to my parents' country house. They'll join us Saturday. I thought it would be an excellent opportunity for them to get to know you better. And, we'll tell them about the engagement. What do you think?"
Well, I couldn't exactly tell him I was scared to death for his parents to get to know me better, or that I was worried they'd disapprove of the impending marriage, so I buried my face into his shoulder, hiding my face from his all-too-perceptive eyes, and said, "Sounds great!"