| THIRTY-SIX |
IN THE HEAT OF JULY

       Months passed.

       Bill left her alone and did not come near her again. Eric did not go after Bill which surprised Bill with his calmness; although, something Eira didn't know about, is that Eric did punch Bill hard when he wasn't expecting it. Bill could do nothing but accept it because he had been in the wrong and Eric wasn't trying to kill him (not that he knew of anyways).

            Also, Eric had been right. She couldn't walk for days and she was mad at him. But then he kissed her and her anger melted away. After that night, though, Eric had been in an even brighter mood around her which made it hard not to be completely and utterly happy with him.

          But Eira didn't quite understand his mood. What she did not know was that Eric was under the assumption that she heard him tell her that he was in love with her that night but she, in fact, did not hear him. Eira never asked about it, though; she had no reason to. Why would she ruin a good thing? Plus, she assumed that Eric was just mirroring her own happiness.

         So things were quite well between her and Eric. In fact, their relationship seemed to only grow stronger as time went on.

          They went on many more dates. Well, it was more like she decided she was going to eat at some place and she dragged him along with her. She had even dragged him to the store with her once. No one even gave Eric a second glance because they didn't expect a vampire to be out in broad daylight.

         Eira had requested Eric go and get an item in another aisle. But he was taking an awfully long time. How long could it take to get peanut butter? Was he trying to decide which one she liked best? Her thoughts were cut short as he came back with a smirk. He came back with said item and he was holding something behind his back.

          "What took you so long?"

      "I got what you requested and...these," he placed the peanut butter in the cart before he unveiled what he was hiding: flowers. "You said you liked flowers. So I bought them for you."

         She smiled with a small blush as she took them. They were an assortment of roses and daisies. She inhaled their scent as she looked at him with adoration, "Thank you."

           She had actually brought Eric to grocery store multiple times after that. He always bought her flowers each time. But after that little trip, he would have flowers delivered to her all the time now.

          They'd become almost domestic. They would even often lounge at her house on the couch watching movies or tv shows.

           They laid on the couch together. She laid on top of him with her head resting on his chest. She periodically grabbed popcorn from the bowl on the coffee table.

              "Cinema has really gotten so dumb," Eric commented. "It's so obvious..."

              She immediately covered his mouth with her hand, "Eric Northman, you better not ruin another movie for me."

         A smirk had grown on his face at the use of his full name before he grabbed her hand to pull it away but not before laying a kiss on it. She had blushed which only made his smirk widen, "You're very sexy when you're demanding."

          "Shut up," she smiled as she hid her flaming cheeks against his chest as she rested her head back down.

           Eric was always like that. He was very critical of whatever they watched and he often guessed the ending before it happened. He was terrible to watch anything with but she couldn't resist being wrapped in his arms.

          Everything was perfect between them. The only thing that wasn't perfect was that Bill still had a vendetta. No, Bill never contacted her again but now he often used Eric as his enforcer of sorts.

          If there was some kind of infighting between vampires across the state, Eric was sent to stop it. If some vampires weren't keeping a low profile, Eric was sent to remind them to stay in their place. Bill even sent Eric to deal with witches that had popped up periodically in Louisiana. Eira couldn't stop it because there was only so much she could push her threat with Bill.

           Eira was always worried about Eric. She worried that somehow he'd a find a vampire older than him or he'd find a witch who practiced necromancy. But nothing ever happened.

             Eric was away once for about a week. He had been sent to find and kill some vampires that had attacked humans. He had been sent to do it discretely.

        While he was away, Eira wanted to have a gift ready for him when he got home. A surprise of sorts. She had gone to Pam and consulted her about it. Eira could barely believe that she had done it but she had always wanted to try it.

       Eira had gotten a call from Eric saying his job was finished and that he was coming home. She quickly asked him if he was alright.

         "Are you okay?" that was the first thing she blurted out as soon as she answered the phone.

         "I'm fine," she could tell he was smirking in amusement before he sighed. "I miss you."

        "Well, don't keep yourself missing me for too long," she smiled a bit.

          "It's already been too long but I'm coming back now..."

         Once they finished their phone call, she quickly got dressed in her surprise. It was baby pink silk lingerie that had a big bow over her breasts like she was a present he could unwrap. She wore a thong and two garters.

         Then she tried to lounge on her bed in the most sexy position. But what looked sexy? She kept changing positions thinking each one looked more and more pathetic.

         She grumbled as she laid on her stomach and put her face in her hands, "This is so stupid. Why did I let Pam talk me into this?"

        She heard a voice hum, "I don't know but remind me to thank her."

          She immediately looked up to find Eric ravaging her with his eyes as she exclaimed, "You're not supposed to see me like this."

          "Oh," he said in amusement. "So someone else was?"

         "I-No...I'm yours," she defended which made him smirk and she realized he had wanted her to say that before she huffed at him. "Eric."

          "Come here," he commanded. "I want to see you."

              She looked at him before she slowly got off the bed to stand in front of him. She let his eyes rake over her as she explained, "I wanted to surprise you with like...a reward."

           "I feel very rewarded," he still had that smirk.

              She crossed over to him and looped her arms around his neck as she said nervously, "So you like it?"

          He hunched down to lean his forehead against hers. He stared at her intensely with a small frown that she could even be nervous.

          "Eira, you're beautiful," he declared. "Yes, I like it."

         She smiled a bit, "Good. I've never done this before. You were supposed to find me in some like sexy pose."

         Eric couldn't help but chuckle, "You had too much time to think about this."

        "Well, yes," she pouted. "I wanted it to be perfect. I was supposed to be in some pose you liked best..."

        "This one," he said. "As close to me as possible."

         She smiled softly before Eric kissed her ever so delicately. Their kiss was soft and sweet and she was left breathless.

         "And my reward is always merely coming home to you," he admitted before he smirked as he picked her up bridal style. "But I quite like this better."

             She giggled as he carried her to the bed. And she let him have his reward.

          Months had passed since then. It was July and it was hot.

       Eric was quite bewildered about it. He would find Eira panting for breath when only ever the touch of his hands had done that. He was almost mad at the heat for stealing her breath away; it was supposed to be only something he could do.

          Eira wore tank tops and shorts now and she was still so hot. Part of the reason was that the AC had broke and it would be a week until it was fixed. She always as close to Eric as she could be hoping his cold skin would cool her down.

         "It's still so hot," she panted as she pulled away from Eric once she hugged him as he arrived. "I need to take another shower."

         Then she smiled at him seductively, "You want to try shower sex?"

        They hadn't actually ever had shower sex. Usually, they just never made it there. The shower had always been where they washed away their dirty deeds. She was quite enthusiastic to try it and get away from the heat.

         The heat had diminished her enthusiasm for everything but not for him. She was always smiling when she saw him or just merely with him.

         "Yes. Now. Immediately," he nodded quickly as his eyes lit up with desire and she giggled a bit at his desperation. She kissed him shortly before grabbing his hand and pulling him with her upstairs.

          When they reached her bathroom, they kissed hungrily. Eric peeled her clothes off that stuck to her skin from sweat and she clawed at his. Eventually, they were bare and they stepped into the shower where she turned the water on and kept it on cold.

            Eric turned her around before he bent her over against the shower wall with her hands pressed against it. He spread her legs before he rubbed his erection against her, teasing her as the cold water fell down between their bodies.

            "Eric," she pleaded.

            And he slid the tip of his cock into her cunt before sliding all the way inside her, filling her slowly inch by inch until he hit her core. She let out a low moan before he started to thrust repeatedly.

            Her heart raced as he pumped his cock in and out. A heat started to build that the cold water nor any cold could stifle.

           "Eric...it's-it's hot...too hot," she pleaded. "I need...I need you to finish."

            Eric tightened his hold on her hips as his pace stilled. Then he rammed into her so hard she saw stars and she moaned loudly as she felt like she was going to be split in two. Quickly, he did it again and she was so close. He repeated his actions a third time, hitting her core so hard, and she came at the same time he did.

           Once she came down from her high, she turned to him on shaky legs with a dazed smile, "I like shower sex."

           He smirked in amusement, "What you like is it rough."

           She blinked at him, "I do?"

         Eira didn't really recognize when he was being rough because nothing ever felt too rough. That and she liked sex with him no matter he did.

          He nodded before she asked him curiously as she stepped under the water completely, "How rough are you being?"

          "As rough as humanly possible without damaging you," he informed her and her lips parted in surprise.

          He quickly kissed her parted lips and she was lost from the mere touch of them. They had a brief make-out session as the water poured down over them before she had to break it off and actually shower because just kissing him made her blood burn hot.

____

It was a couple of days later that it was Fourth of July. At night, they laid on a blanket out in her backyard as they watched the fireworks burn brighter than the stars in the sky. Well, she watched the fireworks. She was unaware that Eric was only staring at her.

She was cuddled up next to him trying to absorb as much cold as possible from him. But she wasn't focusing that much on the heat that night as she marveled up at the sky while Eric combed his fingers through her hair.

She loved all the shapes that blazed in the dark. One was a star, one was a smiley face, and one was even a red heart. It made her heart race as she saw it as she thought of Eric and how much she loved him.

She smiled as she lifted her head up. Eric was a bit mesmerized as she stared down at him with the glow of the fireworks going off in the sky behind her and all those colors that painted her form.

Then she leaned down and kissed him until she needed air. He teased with a little smirk as she caught her breath, "I thought kissing me made you too hot."

"It does," she agreed. "But I don't care. I want you."

He immediately understood what she wanted. He placed his lips back on hers before picking her up to carry her back inside. Her bedroom was dark but they didn't bother to turn on the lights as the exploding fireworks occasionally gave them light. She tilted her neck, offering her blood, and he sunk his fangs into her skin. He never drank much and he only ever drank from her once a month now.

But tonight he drank. Tonight, they made love in the dark and she became sticky with sweat and blood. There were exploding shapes outside but the only shapes she cared about were the ones that she and Eric made in the dark.

AN: season 4 starts in the next chapter. I'm so excited for amnesia Eric