SPOV
If someone gave me a million kroner for leaving the kitchen, I would have stayed. If there had been a fire, I would have stayed on the kitchen table. If World War III was to take place between my oven and my fridge, I would have stayed. I would have stayed for the simple reason that I had no muscles left to move my body.
Luckily I had a Viking who gently picked me up and carried me to the bedroom. He even took a washcloth and cleaned me up some, to make sure I wouldn`t wake up in the morning all icky.
“Toothbrush and water.” I whispered and he brought me my toothbrush with some toothpaste on. He had a glass of water in the other hand. Before I could get up, he had his hand behind my back and lifted me up.
When my teeth were rid of pizza and what-not, I handed him the toothbrush and he went to put it in the bathroom. I drank the water in one gulp. Then my soft pillow called for me. Before Erik was back, I was in deep sleep.
I vaguely remembered a body snuggling into mine and a hand sneaking its way up to look after my breast. With the knowledge that no one would steal my breast that night, I was sound asleep.
EPOV
She was mine. She was.
I smelled her hair and enjoyed lying close to her.
When I felt daylight creeping in on me, I got up, wrote Sookie a note and went underground.
SPOV
My first thought when I woke up, was to find the person who had knocked me down with a steamroller. The next was how on Earth I would make it to the bathroom, let alone out shopping. If I was going to stay in Sam`s house in Næstved, I would have to stock up on clothes, food and all those little things you need when you stay in a house for some time.
I still had a smile on my lips. I mean, who wouldn`t after that night?
Unfortunately my mind started spinning too. It kept asking me what I was doing, pointing out that there was no future with a vampire who would stay the same while I grew older and died, a vampire I could enjoy the company of almost all day in the dark winter, but who would have to be underground for maybe 20 hours a day in the summer. A vampire who had killed. A vampire on the run. A vampire.
When I sat up I saw a note lying on the bed next to me.
Looking forward to more dessert tonight, Lover
E
My heart jumped a little and gone were all my doubts. Tomorrow is another day, I figured.
I had more than enough to think about. First of all I would have to call Amalie to make sure my bar was being taken care of. It was a relief to talk to her. Amalie had already made plans when she figured I couldn`t stay at my farm. I sent her mental kisses for being so helpful. Now I could start the day properly.
A quick shower, some clean clothes and I was ready to go to the mall of Næstved Stor Center. My friend Sara had a clothes shop there and I knew I would find just what I needed. She had good taste, which in my definition was a taste that corresponded with my own, and she had reasonable prices.
She was very pleased to see me. When my friends look like I fell down from the moon, it`s a clear indication that I should have picked up the phone a long time ago. After Sam I must admit that I have depended on myself and not let very many people behind my armor.
Sara had been a close friend since childhood and it felt very good to see her again. It was a little like coming home.
She looked worried when I told her that I needed a new wardrobe because I had had to leave my house head over heels and she wasn`t too happy when I told her the reason. She seemed to blame Erik for everything and I could see why. Sara didn`t really trust vampires.
Like most Danes our age, she had also had a vampire boyfriend/ lover some years ago. It had not turned out well; as he was of the old school that considered humans something vampires could pass around. He had started off giving her expensive gifts, which she accepted, and he felt that gave him some ownership of her, as if you can buy people and do with them what you want.
I thought of Erik`s numerous declarations of ownership of me and felt uncomfortable for a minute. I would have to talk to him about that. Which would be just one of those conversations I hated and tried desperately to avoid.
Now Sara was happily married to Jens-Birger or J.B. as he preferred to be called. I could tell from her thoughts that she was happy. I didn`t usually read the minds of friends, but I just wanted to make sure everything was fine with my old friend.
Sara helped me find clothes and even gave me a discount because I did buy quite a few outfits. The discount was welcome even if I wasn`t in the same kind of money trouble as in my youth. Buying more than one item would have been unthinkable 10 – 15 years ago.
I also needed to buy some clothes for Erik. He had left his travel bag behind at my farm and buying him clothes would suit both the practical side of me, the vampire needed clean and untorn clothes, and the more romantic. I liked giving gifts to people I …. felt close to. I thought a little over why I couldn`t use the phrase `people I loved`, not even in my mind.
Erik seemed like a jeans-and-shirt kind of guy so I mainly got him some cool jeans and shirts in black and red. I couldn`t resist a baby-blue shirt, though. It looked just the same color as his eyes.
I also got him some underwear. As far as I had seen, he wasn`t one to make the underwear industry a prosperous one, but I figured he could have the choice. There is something about buying underwear to your lover.
My shopping cart was almost full and I still had to buy food so after a quick trip to the car to empty the cart, I went to Bilka – the huge grocery store at one end of the mall.
Bilka is huge. You can get everything there, which is why I have this love-hate relationship with the store. It`s great to have a zillion choices and to be able to get everything in one place, but you also buy way too much in a shop like that.
And so did i. When I was in line to pay, and the line was its usual long length, I looked at my watch. I had spent the whole day at the mall and Erik would be getting up soon if he wasn`t up already. For a short moment, I hoped he wasn`t worried because I wasn`t home when he woke up, but then I figured he would understand where I was. I did regret not leaving him a note, though.
Yet again I was pushing a full cart to my car. For a short moment I wondered if all the bags would even fit in my little Polo, but they did with some squeezing.
Just when I had put my key in the ignition, my phone rang. My purse was of course buried under two bags of clothes, but I managed to retrieve it and got the phone out – just as it had stopped ringing. I checked caller ID and saw the display say `Axel`. I almost called him back, but changed my mind. I wanted to get home first and call him from there. A minute later my phone made a sound to tell me that Axel had left a message.
I was exhausted from all the shopping, but as I drove, my smile went wider and wider. Soon I would be home to Erik and my imagination worked overtime thinking about how he and I would spend the night.