Chapter Forty-Two

Hey y’all! So…last chapter. I can’t believe we’ve reached the end. It’s been a crazy ride and I hope you’ve enjoyed my Happy Ever After for our favorite Viking vampire and southern telepath. If you’d like to continue reading their story once I begin the next chapter of their adventures just click the follow button!

Mostly, thank you all for reading, when I started this I never thought I’d have such great and encouraging people reading my little story. You’ve all been amazing.

Warning: a little bit of lemon and one big huge cliffhanger that will be followed up in the next story, which I’ll get to as soon as I write my little time-travel romance with Sookie and The Doctor.

Once again, you all are beautiful and lovely and all things good.

Mad Lovely
Secret Nerd Princess

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Sookie

It was my first night in Paris. I sat on the balcony of Genevieve and Jean-Pierre’s suite that took up the entire top floor of a 19th century mansion sipping café au lait and watching the sun set behind the Eiffel Tower. Our honeymoon had been exquisite so far and Eric relished showing me places I’d only ever dreamed of going. I’d spent the day wandering around the city. I regretted that Eric couldn’t join me for the excursion, but I knew he wouldn’t want me to miss anything simply because he was dead to the world for the day. I was worried at first since rumor had it that the French hated Americans, but I’d happily discovered it wasn’t true. Though I didn’t speak much of the language, I knew how to say please and thank you as well as: May I have a coffee please? You know: the important things. My southern manners served me well and I discovered that as long as I was polite the people I encountered were more than happy to help me out.

I traipsed about Montmartre discovering little cafés and art galleries. Despite the December cold, I sat for an hour in a square in front of Sacré Coeur just listening to the street musicians and watching the artists. When I walked into the church I was overwhelmed by its beauty. A choir of nuns sang and their harmonies echoed throughout the sanctuary bringing tears to my eyes. A local Parisian witnessed my reaction to the breathtaking scene around me and let me know that if I went outside and took the stairs to the left of the church I could wander up to the dome that perched atop the amazing church. I did so and laughed as I ascended the tiny stairs that wound around the roof without even the benefit of a railing. In America this was a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Once I’d made it safely to the top, I glanced around and was overwhelmed by the city that lay spread out all around me. I was amazed that there were no skyscrapers and with nothing to block the view the Eiffel Tower that dominated the landscape. I’d have sworn I was in heaven and, though I’d never consider living anywhere other than Bon Temps, I could envision running away from everything to live here in obscurity and surrounded by the grandeur that was Paris. Eric and I would do nothing but live and love and dance in the streets. I purchased a croissant and a café au lait and rode the train back towards the 3rd arrondissement lost in my own reveries and thinking I must be the luckiest woman alive.

Now I was waiting for Eric to rise for the evening since he promised that he had a romantic evening planned for us, though he refused to reveal what that entailed. While I gazed around me I felt his cool hands slip over my shoulders. I reached up to stroke his smooth muscled arms and he bent down to kiss me.

“Good evening my love, how was your day?”

“Oh Eric, it was amazing. I can’t believe how incredible the city is. I went to Sacré Coeur and drank espresso and watched the painters in Monmartre. Do you think we could just run away from everything and live here forever?”

“If that is what you wish, I want nothing but to make you happy. Though I wonder if you would miss Jason and Tara and Pam? We could hide away from everything and everyone, but it would be hundreds of years before we could surface again since I’d be abandoning my kingdom. For you though, I would give it all up. Pam would understand.” I turned around to face him and realized that he was serious.

I sighed at the silly dream. “Stupid kingdom,” I joked. “No, no, I wouldn’t want that, no matter how glorious it would be.”

“But while we’re here, why don’t we look for a place of our own. That way we could visit whenever we wished it.”

“Oh no, that’s too much Eric, Paris will simply live on in the memories of my heart.”

“It is not too much lover. You forget I have had hundreds of years to amass a fortune and up until I met you I had no use for spending it. Now I want to spoil you and give you everything your heart desires. There is no reason for it to live only in your memories.” I opened my mouth to debate it further but he stopped the words with a searing kiss. “There is no need for you to argue since we both know you will lose.”

I laughed knowing that he was absolutely right, besides I’d save my words to fight the battles I could win. “Okay okay but I think you should definitely kiss me some more, we are in the city of lovers you know.”

He plucked the coffee from my hand, setting it to the side, swept me up into his arms, and within seconds deposited me on the king sized bed.

“What was that you were saying lover?” He kissed me on the tip of my nose. “Something about the city of lovers?” He kissed me on each cheek. “I’m not sure I know what that word means.” He kissed me on my forehead. “Though I would not mind if you were to teach me of this thing you call love.” His lips found mine and I spent the better part of the next hour “teaching” Eric about love. He wouldn’t let us get too carried away though since Paris was right outside our doorstep.

Tearing myself away from his body, I showered and slipped into a long light grey cashmere sweater dress, and high-heeled lace-up boots Pam had given me. Eric dressed in a deep grey suit which made me swoon and almost had me dragging him back down to the bed, but he reminded me that he had our evening planned out. I huffed, but agreed, casting sideways glances at his spectacular butt.

He grabbed my long woolen coat, holding it open for me to slip into. I slid my arms inside and shrugged it over my shoulders as Eric came around to button it. “You look magnificent tonight Mrs. Northman,” he said wrapping a soft scarf around my neck and untucking my hair from underneath.

“If you’d let me, I’d show you exactly how good I think you look tonight husband.” He held out his hand in response and we headed out into the dimly lit night.

We walked down the cobblestone streets and he told me stories of the times he had been there in the past. I don’t know why I’d never thought to ask him more about his history before. It was utterly fascinating. Hearing his stories about the French Revolution, the building of the Eiffel Tower, and the opening of the Moulin Rouge gave me another reason to be glad that we would be spending centuries together. I would be able to witness history instead of just reading about it in a book.

We wandered down this tiny side street to the most fantastic little bistro for dinner, Le P’tit Troquet, where I had the most incredible Crème Brule I’ve ever had the luxury of tasting. Our fingers twisted around each other as we spent hours discovering the little bits about each other that there had never been the opportunity to share. Back home there was always something to do, someone to save, somewhere else to be. It was nice just being us, Eric and Sookie, and we reveled in it. Afterwards we walked down the river where the lamplight reflected on the water and our footsteps echoed through the night. Eric wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close, kissing me as if we were a couple posing for a romantic postcard of young love, while the Eiffel Tower rose behind us.

“Eric, this has been the most perfect first night in Paris.”

He glanced down at his watch and his arms tightened around me. “It isn’t over yet my love. Close your eyes.”

The next thing I know we were soaring into the sky and his lips were exploring the contours of mine as if he hadn’t already committed each millimeter to memory. I felt the cold wind whoosh by me, but I couldn’t find it in me to care. I was warmed by his love. We spent minutes kissing and spinning in the air floating above the cobbled streets of Paris. I really was the luckiest woman alive.

He lips stopped their movement and he whispered, “Open your eyes Sookie.”

When I did I saw that the Eiffel Tower was sparkling and we were hovering parallel with it. I gasped at its beauty. Held securely in Eric’s arms I let the splendor envelop me. I could tell through the bond that he was happy simply for the pleasure that tingled through my body head to toe. I pulled my eyes away from the twinkling lights back to Eric’s face and found him simply gazing at me.

“Oh Eric, I don’t even know what to say. This is marvelous. Really. I couldn’t have even imagined anything as wonderful as this.”

“Would you like to go to the top?” He asked and I caught the sly look in his eye.

“Absolutely.” He flew us over to the tower and we landed on the very top of the antenna. If I hadn’t been in his arms I would have been terrified, but he gently turned me around so that I could see the entirety of the city laid out below us. I leaned back into him enjoying a sight no one else had ever seen. It was the most incredible experience of my life.

“Mrs. Northman, you are my heart’s desire. The one thing I have loved in my very long time on this earth. You have made me the happiest man alive and this is what I would give you if you wanted it: the world spread out at your feet. Anything you want, just ask and it will be yours.”

I carefully turned around to face him. “But I already have everything I could ever want Mr. Northman, I have you. I don’t need anything else.”

“If you ever change your mind, you need only ask.”

I felt something cold and wet glance across my cheek. I looked up into the sky that seemed so close I could almost touch it. “Oh my goodness. It’s snowing. I’m standing at the tippy top of the Eiffel Tower with the most amazing man in creation, and it’s snowing. If I didn’t know better I would think you had planned this as well.”

His eyes softened. “If I could make it snow for you I would, but I think this is our present from the universe. A blessing from fate.”

The two of us stood at the top of the world, gazing at each other while the snow swirled around us. After a while I started to shiver and Eric, noticing, kissed me quickly and we descended back to the street. We stopped by a café and he bought me a hot chocolate, which I sipped as we headed back home for the evening.

Once inside Eric moved to build a fire for me and I slipped off my shoes grabbing a blanket and some pillows to spread out on the floor. Eric grabbed a bottle of wine from the kitchen and poured me a glass. I sat between his long legs, leaning back against his chest, and let my fingers graze across his forearm. The firelight flickered, playing with the shadows that danced against his pale skin. His fingers swept my hair away and his lips trailed across the nape of my neck. I set my glass of wine aside and turned so that my lips could meet his, softly at first until the passion began to overtake us. One arm behind me he lowered me to the blanket, his body following.

His fingers traced down the length of me, toying with the bottom of my dress and edging it upwards. My skin burned with every inch they slid closer to the center of me. His hands lifted the dress over my head and his lips replaced his seeking fingers. I reached down to unbutton his shirt and I ran my palms over his shoulders feeling his taut muscles ripple in response. He stopped long enough to shrug it off and then lay his cheek against my chest.

“I love listening to your heart beat. It reminds me of how alive you are, how warm and vibrant.” He tilted his head, resting his chin and gazing up at me. “I love you Mrs. Northman. More than I could have ever thought possible. You are the only wife I have ever wanted.”

“And I love you my husband, with everything that I am.” I tugged him up so that his lips met mine and they parted. Our tongues twisted around each other, his gracious plenty rubbing against me as my hips moved needing more of him. I sat up slightly forcing him onto his back and hands found his belt, removing it and then his suit pants. I ran my hands up his calves and then along the inside of his thighs. He reached down, grabbing me and pulling me up so that my body lay down the length of his and with his vampire’s quickness he removed our underthings so that we were naked, bathed only in firelight.

I moved up so that he was ready to slip inside and I lowered my body feeling his hardness glide into me. We moved as one, our bodies used to the rhythm of the other. I felt the heat of the fire at my back and the coolness of Eric down the front of me, one contrasting the other as I lost myself in him. When his fangs slid into my, drawing my blood into him in time to our undulating bodies, I knew that he was all I would ever need, all I ever wanted. As long as he was by my side, I would be safe and happy.

Eric

Sookie and I spent the next week exploring Paris. I told her of my time there and the memories came back to me as if it were yesterday even though it had been over two hundred years since I had last walked its streets. I was glad that she had wanted to come here since I loved the thriving life of her streets. Paris was a rare city as Sookie was a rare woman and the two seemed to go hand in hand. We found a little pied-à-terre of our own and Sookie was so excited that we would have a place in this splendid city. It was in Monmartre, overlooking the square where Sookie had fallen in love with Paris, but it was small since she wouldn’t let me go, as she put it, highhanded overboard. I laughed knowing that she was probably right. I would buy my wife a palace and keep her there forever if she’d let me.

The night we prepared to leave she made me promise that we would come back in the springtime. She wanted to see Paris with the flowers blooming, a warm breeze playing across her skin. I readily agreed, realizing that there was nothing I could deny her. She sighed wistfully as we prepared to board the Chunnel to London and took my hand walking forward to head to the last destination on our honeymoon. We would spend Christmas in London. I had plans to show her the countryside. She didn’t know it, but I had made reservations at one of the castles for Christmas since it was our first together. We had agreed to give each other only one gift a piece, but I didn’t buy her the castle so I figured I had stuck to the letter of the rule, if not the spirit. Besides I would spoil my wife in any way I saw fit.

She nestled against me for the train ride, staring out the window and watching the landscape pass. I could feel her excitement as we headed underneath the English Channel; her wonder amazed me and made me look at the world through her eyes. It had been so long that I had taken everything for granted and I felt like I was discovering everything for the first time right along with her. When we surfaced again and pulled into the station, she walked out onto the London streets looking up and around her just like a tourist. It was adorable. Or maybe I was just completely and totally in love with her.

We spent our week traveling by Aston Marten. I hadn’t been able to resist despite the fact that Sookie made fun of me for it. Our Christmas was perfect and we basked in our shared love and devotion to one another. Her eyes widened when we pulled up to the castle and she told me, repeatedly, how much I was spoiling her. To which I pointed out that she was a Queen and a Princess and therefore entitled to being spoiled. Out of everything that I gave her for Christmas, her favorite gift was the bracelet that I had decorated with charms from every city we had visited. She had given me a framed photo of the two of us sitting on our thrones that Pam had taken. I treasured it more than anything else I owned since it was the only photo I had of the two of us. We’d made love until dawn, and let unconsciousness claim us, happy and sated.

The night after Christmas we woke tangled in each other and I noticed that I had a voicemail waiting. No one had bothered us the entire six weeks that we had spent in Europe, so I knew it must be important. Sookie snuggled into my side as I listened to the message and felt it when my body went completely still. She sat up and waited for me to hang up the phone, but I stayed motionless, saying nothing after I hung up, unable to comprehend what I had just been told.

“Eric, what is it?”

Sookie could feel the alarm through the bond and I knew that she was completely and totally worried about me, but I didn’t know how to say the words. Her hands lay smooth across my cheeks and she stared as if she could read the trouble that rocketed around in my brain. How had this happened? I couldn’t even comprehend.

“Eric, talk to me. What is happening? You’re freaking out and I can feel it, but I can’t read your mind. My God how I wish I could right now.”

She searched my eyes, running her hands up and down my arms trying to soothe the turmoil I felt. I was afraid to say the words feeling as if the saying of them would make it real. It was already real and yet I was having a hard time wrapping my head around what I’d just been told.

Sookie jumped out of bed and started throwing clothes into our suitcases, preparing to leave.

“I’ll call the airport and change our flight plans. I’ll have Pam meet us at the airport. Whatever it is we can deal with it.”

God I loved this woman. Despite the fact that she had no idea what had happened she was preparing us to depart since I was still unable to even leave the bed. I hadn’t moved an inch since hitting end on the call.

“Pam won’t be able to pick us up.”

She stopped and just stared at me. “What? Why? That’s just silly. Of course she will. You know she’d drop everything and is probably already scouring the internet to figure out which flight we’ll be on and when we’ll land.”

I needed to tell her, needed to say the words, needed to jump into action, but the world stilled and swallowed me. Damn it, I needed to pull it together. I took a completely unnecessary breath. “Pam has been taken.”

She froze her phone clutched in her hand. “No, it’s not possible.”

“It’s true. The call was from Thalia. She had been trying to get into contact with her and when she still hadn’t heard from her after a week she sent Palomino down to Fangtasia to see what was wrong. It was abandoned and the office had been trashed. She is nowhere to be found.” I still couldn’t move.

“We’ll find her. You’d know if she had died, right?” She flew around the room, continuing to gather everything together.

“Yes.”

“Good. I’ll call Jason and have him pick us up at the airport.”

That did it. If Sookie was calling Jason to pick us up, the shit had truly hit the fan and I really need to pull myself together. I jumped up, grabbing Sookie and clutching her body to mine, tangling my fingers in her hair and kissing her fiercely. I released her and dialed Anubis Air, changing our flight for the first one that would get us back to Louisiana as soon as possible. It would be day when we landed, but there was nothing I could do about that. We were in the car and headed to the airport within the hour. We would find Pam and bring her back home safe and sound, nothing and no one would stand in my way. I kept reminding myself that whoever had taken her would pay dearly and they would end their life in tiny bloody pieces strewn in my wake.

To be continued…