Hey guys! :D So yeah, I've definitely decided to go ahead with the sequel. I found my stride with writing it again (I did start three years ago, right off the back of the other, I just couldn't get it going at the time though) and began to enjoy it, so I intend as always to put in a lot of effort for your enjoyment! With this in mind, I don't think it's too much to ask that I get a review for each chapter posted, I'm not asking for essay length reviews if you haven't the time, but just a few words to let me know you've enjoyed it. For example, yesterday this chapter had 108 people read it, and only 3 reviewed it...come on! Feed your authors! We're like flowers, you know. We wilt without water, or in this case, encouragement and the simple courtesy to say, 'thank you, I'm enjoying this' if you are ;) Updates are likely to be twice/thrice weekly, and I shall post the second chapter later on this evening. Enjoy.

Disclaimer - Only the OC's and plot of this story itself are of my own creation, the rest I fully acknowledge to be the property and creations of Ms Charlaine Harris, and the writers for HBO, and which I claim no creative credit over. This story is my own mere representation of the stories and characters within the Southern Vampire Mysteries/True Blood.

/

/

/

Chapter One

Tyra's POV

"Wow, I thought Bon Temps could get hot. It certainly has nothing on the heat here," I tell Eric as I look out into the hazy night, little lights twinkling in the distance across the arid landscape.

"Well you're the one who wanted to visit this flea pit," he snorts in reply, not looking particularly impressed. I've been prepared for this.

"We're sitting on the balcony of one of the most beautiful five star hotels in all of Marrakech, and you're still condemning Morocco as a flea pit?" I ask him, half amused, half incredulous.

"Yes, and I have good reason to as well. In 1736 I got set on fire here by an irate Arab vampire for defiling his progeny. It doesn't bring back enjoyable memories," he replies blandly, staring off into the distance and frowning. Oh, Eric. Only you.

"Eric, its 2010 and you're sitting here with me in the Hotel Es Saadi, drinking a glass of Tyra blood over ice after having been given a blow job that lasted the best part of an hour earlier, and you're still complaining? Shut up," I laugh casually, reaching for his hand and squeezing for his fingers.

"Excuse me for being a grumpy old vampire. I just don't like it here that much. The hotel is pleasant enough, but it's an overly hot and dirty country." he says. I love that about him, how he can hate something, compliment it and then hate it all over again virtually in the same breath. It's amusing. Morocco isn't the main destination of our New Year vacation, oh no. We flew to Australia on January 29th of this year, and stayed for a month. I loved it, it was amazing. Among other activities, we navigated our way through the outback in a jeep in the middle of the night, seeing animals gathered in groups at rest as we drove for miles around. We couldn't venture in too far though because of the amount of time it would take to get back out again, and the likelihood of getting lost and having nothing to protect Eric from the daylight.

We then went to France and stayed at the beautiful apartment Eric owns there in Paris, and then onto Norway to visit Agnes and also Nina, who is getting bigger by the day in her pregnancy. I joked to her that she must have two in there, one baby hiding behind the other. She agreed that is what it felt like. It was nice to spend some time with her, and time with Agnes again. Then just a week ago we travelled back down through Europe and from there to here, Morocco. It's now April 1st. To say our vacation has been slightly extended is an understatement. Neither of us has been in a rush to come home though, especially since all of our affairs are in perfect order.

Pam is handling the club well, and not lonely either since Eric's usual female devotees have turned their attentions onto her in his absence. 'Thanks for the pussy posse', she told him after we'd been away for only a week. To relax for this long, it's been heaven. Especially after the year I've just had. We've just had, actually, since Eric went through it all too. I cannot be neglectful of that. He told me I deserved to have some time off from life and just enjoy myself for a while. Being a vampire he can do this easily, he literally has all the time in the world. It's through being around him and seeing this kind of attitude that has rubbed off on the way I look at my life a little. It shouldn't all be about work. Tyra needs to play as well.

My business is still continuing to boom though with the help of Cobie. He's really sunk his teeth into his new job, proving to me how worthy he is of my employment on a constant basis. So much so that just after we left he informed me he was so busy he'd had to take on another member of staff. At first I was a little angry, feeling it not his place to do so since the business belongs to me and not him. That was until he reassured me that he hadn't hired a complete unknown. Esmeralda Solis, the beautiful Latino lady who lives just fifteen minutes from my home with her vampire lover Stanley, is my new employee. He made an excellent choice since Esmeralda is hardworking, honest, and a very lovely person to boot.

"Are you ready for your dinner yet, my precious?" Eric asks me thoughtfully, pulling me from my thoughts of home. I've been on nocturnal time for as much as our long vacation as I can, except when Eric has insisted I sleep through the night in order to see some of the places we've been to in daylight hours. Well, except for here in Morocco. He isn't keen on letting me out of his sight here, since blonde haired and blue eyed women are somewhat popular with the Moroccan locals, because of course they don't see women who look like me very often.

"I think I'm still nicely full after lunch, thank you. Plus this heat doesn't particularly invoke my appetite, quite the reverse. I would however settle for this," I tell him as I get up and walk around the small table we're sat at, and then climb onto his lap and curl up.

"You're using me as a cooling system again, aren't you? I feel cheapened, to return affection when that was not your intention, little Miss Boden," he replies, laughing softly and kissing my forehead.

"Ahhh, you got me," I joke, looking up and smiling at him before kissing his cool lips.

"So, other than sit here and shamelessly use my deadness to cool yourself down, what else would you like to do with the night?" He asks.

"Spend a large percentage of it naked," I reply innocently. Yet I feel the effect of my words almost instantly as Eric's dick begins to swell from the confides of the white linen pants he has on. I really, really didn't mean that to be a sexual connotation. No, seriously.

"What?" he asks innocently, when I stare between him and his bulge.

"I didn't mean for sexual purposes," I reply, shaking my head lightly.

"Well with you one can never truly tell. Not even me, and I perhaps know you better than anyone," he replies, which is a fair assumption. Eric knows everything about me. I have no secrets from him, other than embarrassing ones of situations past that I don't particularly want to share. I once indulged him of a tale which left my face red with shame even to recite, let alone experience. It took him ten minutes to stop laughing. Believe me that is a long, long time for a vampire as stoic as my beloved to laugh for. Also no, I shall not reveal the story to you. I'm not reliving that embarrassment twice in the same twelve months.

"For example, I'd really love to go and jump in that pool naked for one thing," I tell Eric, looking at the blue water four floors below with longing. It really is sweltering tonight.

"You'd be arrested though." He points out. Ahh, very true, very true I would be arrested. I made sure I purchased a decent swimming costume for this specific reason, and believe me I've gotten a few funny looks just for wearing that. The hotel staff assured me my attire was 'perfectly acceptable, Mrs Northman' as they themselves word it. Okay, stop gasping for breath in shock over there. Eric and I are not married, but we're in a country where sharing the same room, and essentially the same bed with a person you are not married to is heavily frowned upon and against the regulations of many hotels. So for the purposes of this trip, we are husband and wife. I will confess, I think being called Mrs Northman is sitting a hell of a lot better with me than it should, especially since Eric and I have never discussed marriage in any kind of serious way. Hell, with our bond it's like we're married already.

Agnes made a joke about it to make Eric squirm on our recent visit. 'You should marry the girl, Eric. She's ever so lovely, and you do look so handsome in a nice suit' she teased him with. Eric just sat there looking tense, while I tried and failed not to laugh at the look on his face. 'I want to be a bridesmaid!' Agnes then told him, playfully demanding through gritted teeth before chuckling some more. To be honest, I don't think he ever would, and for one very specific reason. Her name is Ida, and I think he'll forever treasure the memory of his first, last and only wife by not making me his current one. I don't mind that at all, I respect her memory very, very much. For instance when we went home I visited a Pagan church (well, their version of a church, it's more like a little temple) and lit a candle for her. I'm not religious, and neither is or was Eric, but she was devout to her gods. So yes, this is probably why I shouldn't like hearing myself referred to as Eric's wife as much as I secretly do.

"So this nakedness you speak of. Is it likely to commence any time soon?" Eric asks me. I answer by smiling at him and then sliding off his lap to walk back inside our suite.

"I'm naked…now," I then call to him, after pausing to completely drop my long, peacock feather print dress. Literally a second after the word passes my lips, I feel him stop behind me and reach to stroke my arms and turn me to face him.

"Now you're just copying me," I tell him after rolling my eyes, seeing that the pants he was wearing have been shed en route.

"Yes, but whereas your intentions to get naked are not sexual, mine are." He replies, before picking me up and walking me backwards until my back presses to the wall. Having sex against said hotel room wall seems to be what I'll be doing with this portion of the night it seems. It is also what we do with the remainder of our stay in the country as well. There isn't an awful lot to do in Morocco at night time, since they've only very recently declared themselves a family friendly nation. In other, much more heavily populated areas of the globe there are an abundance of activities you can engage in throughout the night if you're dead. Some stores remain open, and because vampires for the main part have human companions restaurants, bars, and other places of social interest are accessible too throughout the night and early hours of the morning.

Anyway, back to Morocco. Other than stroll the night markets or go through walks across the arid desert landscape there hasn't been much to do at night time. Because of this we end up leaving after five days. Eric reached his limit pretty quickly with the place, so we decided to finally head home. It's good to be back too, not that I haven't enjoyed my vacation massively, but you see there's these special things you have to leave behind when you go away, these things that you come to miss. These things are your friends.

"I would say look what the cat dragged in, but since she's right here on my shoulder I kind of can't," my dear friend Lafayette greets me with when I arrive on his doorstep, the morning Eric and I arrive home. I left him in his travel casket at the club, with Deborah and me heaving the giant casket over to a quiet corner ready for him to wake at around 5pm when it will finally begin to get dark.

"It's so good to see you both," I reply, being welcomed into his arms with a kiss as I hug him with one arm, and my other hand fusses my beautiful cat, Poontang. I've missed them both so much.

"You too ice princess, you too! I'm gonna fix myself some eggs and biscuits, can I tempt you with a plate?" he asks me.

"Are you planning on frying up some bacon with that?" I ask him, greeting Poon when she dives off his shoulder and into my arms, purring with pleasure. Someone has missed mamma, that's for sure.

"I hadn't, but I can fry up a few rashers for my favourite Swede," he replies as I follow him through into the kitchen and head straight for his coffee machine. We have a deal whenever I come to eat. He cooks and I sort the beverages, whatever they may be dependent on time of day or night. Last time I was here for eats, I was the margarita mixer extraordinaire.

"Thank you." I tell him, while arranging my cat on my shoulder (she's definitely a shoulder cat) and going about preparing the coffee. I fill him in on my vacation, not sparing any detail. Well, except the details that allude to how much sex Eric and I enjoyed while we were away. He doesn't need to hear that, as he isn't keen on Eric. He likes the fact that my lover treats me like a queen, but he has his own issues with my boyfriend that prevents him from being anything but moderately warm when in his company. Eric is just the same with Lafayette, even though I know full well that because his association with me, Eric does keep a watchful eye over him. Not in a sinister way either, just because he knows he's someone very special to me. Him and his boyfriend, Jesus, they've both quickly become two of my closest friends.

"We have a little gift for you too, and you need to thank Eric more than you do me, since he's the one who smuggled this into the country in his casket," I then tell my friend, going to where I put my bag down in the lounge and returning with a sparkly bag of Moroccan kif that makes Lafayette's eyes light up like light houses.

"Oh mother Mary, she got me kif! Tyra, I love you!" he exclaims before planting a large kiss on my cheek and gratefully accepting the bag I hold out to him. What kif is essentially is the active ingredient in cannabis. If you smoke and you're near to your stash right now go and pull out a bud from your baggie and hold it up to the light. Do you see all those little sparkly crystals it's covered in? Those are THC, and those are what get you high. Kif is solely those crystals, and the bag I just gave to Lafayette contains enough to have put myself and Eric in jail for a maximum of fifteen years, had it been discovered. They do not check vampire coffins at customs though, so that is not the only thing we managed to sneak back that we shouldn't have. Eric is usually quite law abiding, this isn't the kind of thing he engages in all the time I must hasten to add. He took a hell of a lot of talking around too, but I managed it.

"You go roll yourself a smoke then, big poppa, give yourself a nice appetite for the food you're about to cook," I reply, turning to see he's already headed straight to his stash box in the lounge, laughing when I see he has his cigarette papers already there in his hand. Eager just isn't the word.

"I'll only do myself a little one, save you having to deal with a stoned Lafayette at ten in the a-m." He replies, while I go back into the kitchen to pour the coffees. After eating breakfast and engaging in chatter mostly about my vacation (but not in too much detail, as he's invited me for dinner on Friday night so I can regale Jesus about my travels too) I bid him goodbye and head back on over to my house across the way laden with my cat's bed and belongings. Since today is Sunday I have no Esmeralda or Cobie at my house working away, so it's just me and the cat. Or so I think…

"Hey! I saw your car in the drive and thought I'd stop in and catch up, if that's okay? Sweetie I was beginning to worry until I called Pam up and discovered you and Eric decided to extend your vacation," a bright and cheerful Sookie Stackhouse says to me after opening the door to her knock. I smile and let her in, not entirely happy to have my peace interrupted but happy to see the cause. I've grown a bit of a soft spot for Sookie, and I see her in a very different light to the one I formerly did having gotten to know her a little better. We get on well, which is surprising for two people so different, but it's happened.

"We did. We decided the initial month in Australia just wasn't long enough, considering all the trials and tribulations of last year we just wanted to relax for longer," I tell her, shutting the door and heading into the kitchen. I feel like I need another coffee already, to counteract the jetlag I'm likely to begin feeling over the next couple of hours.

"I can't say I blame either of you. Especially when I think of all that's been going on here," she says, adding 'tea please,' when I point at the kettle in question.

"Yeah, we heard. Yikes. You'd think things would be more settled down now, after the new formation of the AVL and also since they are handling things so well." I reply. I reference of course the shift in the way vampire politics are now run. The AVL has now had the corruption taken out of it, and just to be sure none of them are any the wiser over what I am too. The only confession Eric handed to the police last year about the AVL was what happened with their treatment of Russell, which in itself was enough to make them and their precious authority crumble. What he dished out to Nan Flanagan was personal punishment for her hand in what happened to me, and that was enough for us both. At the time Agnes said she thought it best that only the people who currently know what I am should know, and no more. Eric and I agreed, of course. My identity as Wolverina is still the closely guarded secret it always was.

I have to say the new vampires appointed to the AVL helm so far have done excellent work for mending the bridges between humans and vampires, the menace that was Russell Edgington still fresh in their minds. Because of this renewed alliance things have started to mend themselves, but not in the minds of some. The Fellowship of the Sun still likes to cause trouble. They thought the fall of the AVL would mean the fall of vampire rights as well. How wrong they were.

"I guess there's always going to be people out there who aren't tolerant. They're just the same as the KKK if you ask me. Violently and hatefully discriminative," Sookie replies.

"And they have the nerve to call themselves Christians as well. What they practice sure doesn't seem Christian to me," I mutter in reply while frowning. They (the FotS) had begun to picket Fangtasia a few days before Eric and I left. Not that it disturbed business though. Picketing is just the tip of the iceberg. If Eric hadn't scared them so terribly when they threw a petrol bomb at the front of the club (luckily it was poorly made, and able to be dampened with an extinguisher) they'd still be trying as best they could to vandalise the place. Pam told me she's had to get someone to paint the front over the graffiti six times now. That's not to say other vampires and their associates are not suffering, vampires who are not as menacing as Eric for one thing. Also, most do not have the financial back up to repaint over graffiti, or hire bodyguards to escort staff to and from their place of work like Eric has been able to. Well, for the three human employees at least. Ginger, Deborah and Mai Ling have all been subject to serious harassment, and followed home. Mai Ling was almost run off the road a few weeks ago apparently.

With all this happening, I almost feel guilty for my life being so picture perfect as it is. I deserve it though. I've worked hard all my life and because of it (and the luck of employing someone as industrious as Cobie) my business is now flourishing, so that is something to enjoy. Also, the last year of turmoil I went through with Eric (although he is of course forgiven) and everything else that tied in with that, I feel I should enjoy my peachy life for once. I voice this to Sookie, who more than agrees with me.

"You absolutely should not feel guilty, Tyra. No way, not after everything you've been through. Does it still feel strange, not having to look over your shoulder?" she asks me.

"Strange but good, knowing the only vampire that is about to pop up and scare me is Eric. He has a habit of doing that without meaning to," I reply, thinking of the many instances when he has, and half smiling to myself as I prepare our drinks.

"Speaking of Eric, how are things with you both?" she then asks friendlily.

"Things are going perfectly, thank you for asking. He makes me a very happy woman," I reply, this time my smile broadening more as I turn to hand Sookie her tea, and notice the smile she mirrors is very much genuine. She honestly is pleased for me. Even though I'm not the telepath here, I can tell loud and clear her true feelings are what's reflected in her smile.

"He's needed someone like you, I think. I don't want to stand here and second guess your boyfriend or anything, but I think on some level he was lonely before you came along," she tells me, while I nod.

"That's a fair assumption, Sook. He's never told me in as many words, but I do believe you're correct. I feel very special, knowing that I'm the only woman in all of his vampire eternity he's ever wanted to become this close to," I reply before blowing my coffee and taking a very careful sip.

"You're definitely one in a million. Pam told me as much, we actually had a little chat on the telephone. She told me she missed you, and for her to ever miss a human then that human must be one in a million, even though you're not totally human. I think so because I never thought I'd meet the human version of Eric. Well, you're a lot less intimidating and friendlier of course," she replies, tucking her hair behind her ear as she leans back against my sink. I laugh gently at her observance before answering.

"That's sweet of you to say so, sweet of my Pammie too. By the way, never call her Pammie to her face, or she'll remove yours as punishment," I reply, watching Sookie's eyes widen a little. "As for your comment about me being the human equivalent of Eric, I guess you're right. We are very similar." I then add

"By the way, did any of y'all tell Fabien where I live? He's been showing up. A lot," Sookie replies, her cheery expression being replaced for one that appears to be mildly disgruntled. How anyone could be disgruntled with a vampire as handsome as Fabien showing them interest is beyond me. He's very, very attractive, with his waist length black hair and chiselled features. He's from Mohawk descent, but you wouldn't really notice from a first glance. He's as white as a sheet in colour (and he would have been if he were still living). It's the hair and the almost black eyes that make you realise the heritage. I've seen him shirtless too, and there's a very nice body behind the usual open shirt and t shirt beneath, jeans and military boots combo. He looks like a grunge fan. As for his personality, he isn't as dark as some vampires, he is quite friendly. But he's naughty. Very naughty, so I can only imagine the things he's been saying to Sookie when turning up on her doorstep. This poor girl here has had enough stress from vampires to last her a lifetime, so I very much doubt she'll ever unthaw the freeze she's put on Fabien and his charms.

"Nope, he's probably tailed you going home though. I wouldn't put it past him. So, have you ever let him in on those nights he's visited?" I ask her.

"No, never" she begins, shaking her head strongly. "I've spoken to him on the porch, mainly to tell him to go away. He doesn't listen though." She then adds, words I have absolutely no trouble believing.

"Hell, he was only nineteen when he was made. He still has that stubborn, petulant youth thing going for him, even though he's close to five hundred and fifty years old. So what do you talk about, or is it that obvious I can guess?" I ask and tell her, watching her change her head movement this time to a gentle nod.

"Mostly it's been to listen to his vulgarity, which has made me head straight back indoors! Honestly Tyra, the things he comes out with! I'm not a prude, but oh Jesus, he's more filth than I've ever encountered!" she replies, her cheeks flushing pink as she remembers, obviously.

"I can believe he comes out with some filth, I know him quite well now. So what exactly did he say to you?" I ask, curious to know which words tinged Sookie's cheeks to that particular hue of pink as she remembered them.

"I, I don't even think I can say it out loud. I'd be too embarrassed!" she whispers, cringing a little.

"Come on, it's just me. Eric has probably whispered things a thousand times worse into my ear at some point or another," I reassure her. She looks tense, biting her bottom lip and holding her breath before letting it out in a long huff. She then smiles slightly.

"Okay. He told me, and these are his words not mine, that he wanted to tongue fuck me until I didn't know if I was about to reach orgasm or die. Bill certainly never said anything like that to me!" she exclaims, giggling while I just laugh. Oh yes, Eric has told me much, much worse. All of it excited me though.

"Sookie Stackhouse, you're giggling like a school girl! You liked it, what he said, didn't you?" I charge her with after composing myself.

"I did not!" She shouts, aghast.

"Oh come off it, you did. Who wouldn't? Fabien is a handsome vampire. Sounds tempting if you ask me," I reply, raising my eyebrows and taking a sip of my coffee, while Sookie giggles again in a shocked way. Her mouth then flies open in exclamation as she reaches out and smacks my arm lightly.

"You're so bad," she tells me.

"I'm not. I'm truthful. You should take him up on his offer; he's really not that bad once you get to know him. He's just saying things like that to shock you, and because where sex is concerned he's blunt as a spoon. Otherwise, he's very interesting. You could even call him nice I suppose, for a vampire that is. He's very funny too. He's one of the few who can make Eric laugh," I reply, watching her look like someone just dropped a smelly corpse at her feet, her nose crinkled up. "You need to get over Bill properly, and you know exactly what I mean by that." I then add with a wink.

"Perhaps you're right, but it won't be with Fabien. Oh no. I think I've had my lot with vampires," she replies, finishing her tea. "I do appreciate your efforts though, to find me a source of 'I'm getting over my ex sex'." she then adds, making me laugh. She leaves pretty soon after, heading off to church to help out at some parish fete, not before telling me she hopes to see me soon. I wave her goodbye and then head back inside to unpack, separating lights from darks before putting the first load into the washing machine. After that I fix myself a bowl of microwave rice and sit down to begin reading through three months-worth of mail. I told Cobie to open anything that looked legal or important and transcribe it through email to me while I was away, but nothing important ever ended up in the mailbox by the look of things. Most of it is junk mail, catalogues trying to attract my business because I brought an underwear set online three years ago (they keep you on their mailing lists forever , don't they?) and by the time I'm at the end I feel like not concentrating, so turn on the TV. I flick through to one of the very channels of interest to me, and settle into watching the documentary on wildlife in the Australian bush. How coincidental.

The runtime is an hour and a half, and when it finishes at just gone 3pm I feel the jetlag that I've been trying to ignore about to totally catch up with me. I didn't sleep on the plane when I probably should have, and the plumpness of the big cushion to my side looks so inviting to my wearing head right now. As soon as I rest it there, sleep commences in three…two…one…gone. I wake up six hours later, to a welcome presence in my armchair. Eric, sitting with Poon on his lap all curled up, reading one of my biographies. The one he chose was written about Napoleon.

"I thought I'd leave you to sleep. I took the liberty of picking you up something to eat, guessing you'd fallen asleep when you didn't answer your phone the three times I tried to call you. It's in the kitchen," he tells me, only looking away from the page he's reading for a flicker of a second before his eyes fall upon it again.

"I really appreciate that, thank you." I tell him, getting up and stretching with a yawn. I then walk over to him and kiss his forehead, him moving his head to kiss my cheek twice before I head to the kitchen to eat. He was good enough to pick me up some dinner on his way over the least I can do is eat it in here so he doesn't have to smell it any more strongly than he presently can. After ten minutes of eating my chicken, broccoli and noodles (I love how he remembers these things, when food has no relevance to him whatsoever) I look up to see I'm no longer alone.

"I apologise in advance, but I think you're going to lose me to this book for a few hours," Eric tells me, standing in the kitchen doorway with Poon balancing on his shoulder.

"You enjoy, I need a good soak in the bath anyway," I reply, reaching out and stroking his hard stomach. I finish eating while he wanders back to the lounge, and after I'm done and the plate I served my meal on is washed I head straight for the bathroom. It turns out that I don't lose Eric for very long though, since he enters the bathroom and sits on the floor leaning back against the bath after about twenty five minutes. He continues to read quietly, while I reach over the side of the bath and idly stroke his shoulder. Separate togetherness and blissful relaxation. Perfect. Our relationship really is floating on a peaceful sea, and so it deserves to after the year we've had. We need this tranquillity more than anyone. It's a shame that it doesn't last though, a shame that once again trouble will begin to stir the water beneath. Little is either of us to know at the moment that drastic change for the both of us, and for our relationship, is just around the corner.