Marten's POV:

I listen attentively to Sookie's beating heart and feel her breathing as she falls into a deep sleep. I stroke her hair away from her cheek and take in the aroma of her hair and skin. I had been with countless women and never in my long years had I found anyone so intoxicating as Sookie. I had wanted her the moment I saw her in Switzerland many moons ago. But alas, the Northman had claimed her first.

I flick my tongue against her bare skin and enjoy the taste of it. I couldn't wait till I could get more of her. My cock painfully ached as I look down at every inch of her sleeping form. To say that I was suffering from an extreme case of blue balls for the past six months would be an understatement. I had told Fadir many months ago of my plan to ask Sookie for her hand in marriage, not only to fulfill my promise to Eric, but also to fulfill my own desires for her.

He seemed to be disconcerted about my plan, but said he would support my decision, but only if I 'courted' Sookie before we married. He told me that she was not like the other women that I had been with and that she deserved to be treated in a respectable manner.

My mind wanders to my memories of Eric. I wondered what he would be thinking, watching us up in Valhalla. Was he in Valhalla? It was a significant part of his culture as well as mine. So I did believe that he was there sitting at a table with the great Vikings who had died before him. Did I feel like I was betraying him? No, absolutely not. He had basically told me that I had his permission to move in on her when he met his final death. Was Sookie feeling guilty? Yes and no. Her emotions perplexed me. Sometimes, it was difficult to decipher mine from hers. I had to learn techniques to push aside her emotions especially during business meetings and when I fed from blood donors. I think back to all the blood donors that I had fed from since proposing to Sookie. The majority of them were women and all were smokin' hot. It would've been oh so easy to just ease the tension in my nether regions with a few of them these past few months, but I remembered my promise to Sookie and my pledge to be monogamous with her. I was indeed many things, but I was definitely not a man with no honour.

I lay with her a little while longer before leaving the room to take care of some business in my office. After I answer some calls and emails, I take my shirt off and go into my music room and continue writing the song I was working on for Sookie. I stop strumming my guitar and think for a moment. Was this love? I didn't know. I only knew the love that I had for Fadir. I would do anything for him and I would die to protect him. Could I do the same for Sookie? I wasn't sure.

I sing the lyrics out loud and write them down on the music sheet.

"Are you writing a symphony?" a voice asks me from the door in Old Norse. I knew it was Fadir.

"No, just a song for Sookie," I reply, "Well, actually all the songs I've been writing have been about her."

He comes into the room and sits down in front of the piano, playing random notes on it.

"How was your trip?" I ask him.

"I did not go too far," he replies absentmindedly as he starts forming a melody.

He seemed to be preoccupied a lot lately. He only did this when he was hiding something from me. The only times that he did keep something from me was to protect me. My thoughts go back to Sookie and her feelings were almost similar. Like she was hiding something from me as well. It didn't have anything to do with Eric, but it was something else. I hoped that she would share it with me after we married and if she didn't, I was going to have to ask her what it was.

"Do you think I am doing the right thing? By marrying her?" I ask him. I had asked him this question many months ago as well. Though Sookie was absolutely breathtaking, it seemed that everywhere she went, there was a trail of carnage not far behind her.

He stops playing on the piano and looks up. "You are your own man, Marten. I have always been proud of you. The decisions that you have made during your lifetime have been wise and have brought you joy and riches. I do not doubt your decision to marry her."

I blink my eyes at him for a moment, before strumming my guitar again.

"She may stay the same. Her faery blood is strong," he comments. I look up at him in surprise.

"You can feel her too?" I ask.

"Yes," he says. "It seems that your bond with her flows through ours as well."

"That's good. I want to spend the rest of my undead life with her," I say to him.

"Though she may live a long life, she is not immortal. She will age like her faery kin," Fadir adds.

"If that's the case, then I will turn her," I tell him.

"Would you turn her even if she chooses not to?" he asks me.

I stop what I was doing and ponder that question.

"Yes," I say to him. "I do not want to be without her."

A week later we have our second engagement party at one of my clubs. This time it was a joyous occasion as it was friends and family who were only invited. We all dance joyfully to the music the DJ plays and the human guests consume an exorbitant amount of liquor and food. I even play one of the songs that I had written for Sookie. She watches me with great delight in her eyes.

I twirl Sookie around the dancefloor as she bumps into her brother, who was already very drunk and happy. She wearing a very tight and short red mini skirt dress that accentuated the curves of her voluptuous breasts and ass and red high heels.

"Jason!" she yells at him happily. He goes back to grinding against his wife to the fast disco tune.

Sookie puts her arms around my neck with a big smile on her face. I could tell she was feeling tipsy as the emotions were flowing through our bond and affecting me. I clutch her waist and look into her round blue eyes. I could get used to this. If this was love, I could get used to rising to these feelings every night for the rest of our life together.

The party continues on as the humans become even more louder and drunker. I watch Sookie as she dances happily with her best friend Tara and Pam to a Black-Eyed Peas song.

"So, you decided to come after all," I say to my father, who was standing about five feet behind me. I had felt his presence since he arrived ten minutes ago.

"They look like a happy group," he comments as he stands beside me.

I watch as Jason lifts Tara up in an attempt to perform a dance move. Sookie and her friends laugh loudly at his failed attempt.

"You should go and join your betrothed," he says to me.

I smile at him and head back down to the dance floor.

A few days later, were the bachelor and bachelorette parties. Tara was Sookie's maid of honour and I had given her an open account to have any type of party for them. They were currently at one of the city's premiere male-only stripper venues. I had made precise decisions with the manager to take care of Sookie and her friends. I had also told the manager that none of the men were to touch Sookie at any point during the evening. There was no way that any other man was going to lay their hands on my woman.

My best man was my Fadir. I had no idea what he had planned but I was hoping it would be enjoyable at least. He usually found joy in reading books or hunting animals. None of those activities had ever appealed to me.

"I had to do some research as to what a 'bachelor party' was," he comments as we all get into a limo. I had with me four of my closest sheriffs and lieutenants as well as Sookie's brother.

Where we were headed had surprised me. He had arranged for courtside tickets to a Knicks basketball game as well as a small private party in a nearby gaming bar.

After a pleasant evening, I head back to my apartment. I could feel Sookie coming home at around the same time. I wait on the sidewalk for her as the large white limo pulls up with her and her friends. Loud music is playing from it as she gets out.

"Oh come on, Sookie, don't you want to have more fun?!" her friend Dawn asks loudly.

"I think I had more than enough," she smiles as she looks at me with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Suit yourself," her friend says as the limo takes off again.

"You had enough of the bachelorette party?" I ask as I hold her.

She nods and leans up to kiss me. If I couldn't have sex with her yet, this was the second best thing that I enjoyed doing with her. Her lips tasted like strawberries and her breath was like warm fresh air. She liked twirling her fingers around my hair and I found that I quite enjoyed the closeness I had with her.

"Two more days till the big day," Sookie says as she gets ready for bed. She had her tiny shorts and camisole on. "You never told me where we were going for the honeymoon."

I smile mischievously at her. "It's a surprise. And trust me, you will enjoy yourself."

"Come lie down with me?" she asks as she lays down in the bed.

She didn't even need to ask. In vampire speed, I was spooning her. She squeals in surprise. "You're so crazy."

"Marten?" she says as she runs her hand down my forearm.

"Yes, my queen?" I answer.

She laughs lightly at the nickname. "I'm happy. You have made me so happy."

She squeezes my hand gently. I kiss her on her temple. "I love you," I whisper to her in my Fadir's old language that he spoke when he was a human.

I could feel her surprise and confusion after my declaration of love. Did she understand my words?

I hold her until she falls asleep and I go up to my office to work.

I couldn't wait till the wedding. I lose focus on my work as my mind drifts away to my dreams and fantasies of how my life with Sookie will be after we are married.

Sookie's POV:

Oh my god, he loved me, I think to myself as I run on the treadmill. It was the wedding rehearsal and dinner tonight. Tomorrow evening was the wedding ceremony at the Plaza. I had one last fitting for my wedding dress this afternoon.

I continue to run as I think about what Marten told me last night. He loved me. Well, I mean I knew that he felt an affection for me. I could feel it through our bond. We were going to complete the blood bond tomorrow night at the vampire ceremony of our wedding. It was to take place after the human ceremony.

He loved me, but how did I feel about him? I was fond of him. He made me laugh and he also made me feel very happy. I could see myself living the rest of my days with him. But I was also scared of the future. Though I knew that I could spend the rest of my life with him, did he feel the same way? Would he still love me when I was old and gray?

I stop my workout to check my phone. I had not heard from Claude since I had arrived to New York two weeks ago. Even before then, he seemed preoccupied with something. As I think about him, he suddenly pops out of nowhere.

"Jesus!" I scream out in surprise as I see him standing before me.

"Christ Sookie, you should shower. You smell like a chicken running away from the butcher," he comments.

"What? What does that even mean?" I huff.

"Nevermind, I think I should tell you something," he says.

"Oh really? What's that?" I ask as I wipe the sweat from my forehead.

"Eric might be alive still, well not alive, but dead alive," he says quickly.

I drop the towel immediately as I stare at him, frozen.

What did he mean?