Baile Siochanta (Southern Vampire Mysteries)

Chapter 39 - Hand Over Heart

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One night turned into two. Sookie found herself so hungry for Eric that when he was close, she walked out the front door and stood in the driveway, her desire causing her to literally bounce on the balls of her feet as she watched for the lights of his car. It was hurried and joyful. It made true every bit about the heart growing fonder. "How will we manage this?" she whispered. They hadn't made it past the front hall. He'd slammed the door, but it was nearing winter and her skin prickled with goose bumps.

"As with all things," and he'd stood, slipping from her, and then lifting her to him, "one night at a time."

She awoke before him and spent an hour lying there, stroking him, memorizing the lines of his face with her fingers. She felt the flutter and then the rush of his rising, and she'd met him, fingers interlaced, sharing breath. "I wish you could stay," she'd said out loud.

"We had this time," he replied, being sensible.

He told her of his work in Northern Ireland, interviewing those who had worked for the former Sheriff of that territory. "Some are human, some are vampire," he said. "Most are anxious to keep their positions, but they need to be loyal to me." The way Eric described it, it was painstaking, sorting those he would keep from the examples he would set by casting them aside.

"Still," he sighed, pulling on his shoes, "It is an investment that will reap dividends. If I have eyes and ears I can trust, it is less that I have to do myself."

"Text me when you get there," Sookie smiled. 'Three nights, maybe four,' he'd told her, and it was hard to keep her smile in place.

There was no question of Eric's feeding from others. He promised he wouldn't fuck them and that was enough. Sookie waved as he drove away. As she walked in through the garage, she realized the house felt empty. 'You need to get busy!' she scolded herself, but the thought of not seeing Eric again for so long preyed on her.

Sookie ate, and then, starting in the utility room, she cleaned. She hated it. Dusting and vacuuming were the jobs she loathed as a child. She remembered her mother telling her that it didn't matter if you were poor as long as you were clean, and it prompted Sookie to check the calendar. Thanksgiving was only a few weeks away. In another month, it would be a year since she'd become an orphan and her adventure here began. Sookie thought of how she'd grown up with her Father away, sometimes weeks at a time, finding new jobs. 'Places we could hide,' she realized. "How did you do it?" she asked aloud, and she marveled at her Mother's strength.

"You loved Daddy every bit as much as I love Eric," she said to her Mother's photo in the kitchen. "You survived," and the memory straightened Sookie's backbone.

There was no telling how long this would go on. Eric was non-committal. Sookie accused him of being evasive, but she backed off when he told her he just didn't know. "Sophie-Ann is angry with me," he shrugged. "She's been angry before. We are vampire. Time flows differently for us. It may take a while."

He did become evasive when Sookie pressed him on how he'd resolved things in past, so Sookie let it drop. She didn't need to ask. She knew, and she knew she wouldn't be okay with using those same methods to resolve things this time. "It's okay," she'd smiled. "Something will come up. Things will get better." Staring at her Mother's picture, thinking of all those years her parents endured long separations, she wondered if she was the one who was lying.