triggered it? He came around the desk, still trying to smother his chuckles. I stood because he was standing, but I was fuming. He grasped my shoulders. “I’m sorry, Sookie,” he repeated. “I’ve never seen one, but I’ve heard they’re nasty. Why does this concern you? The maenad, that is.”
“Because she’s not happy, as you would know if you could see the scars on my back,” I snapped, and his face changed then, by golly.
“You were hurt? How did this happen?”
So I told him, trying to leave some of the drama out of it, and toning down the healing process employed by the vampires of Shreveport. He still wanted to see the scars. I turned around, and he pulled up my tee shirt, not past bra strap level. He didn’t make a sound, but I felt a touch on my back, and after a second I realized Sam had kissed my skin. I shivered. He pulled the tee shirt over my scars and turned me around.
“I’m very sorry,” he said, with complete sincerity. He wasn’t laughing now, wasn’t even close to it. He was awful close to me. I could practically feel the heat radiating from his skin, electricity crackling through the small fine hairs on his arms.
I took a deep breath. “I’m worried she’ll turn her attention to you,” I explained. “What do maenads want as tribute, Sam?”
“My mother used to tell my father that they love a proud man,” he said, and for a moment I thought he was still teasing me. But I looked at his face, and he was not. “Maenads love nothing more than to tear a proud man down to size. Literally.”
“Yuck,” I said. “Anything else satisfy them?”
“Large game. Bears, tigers, so on.”
“Hard to find a tiger in Louisiana. Maybe you could find a bear, but how’d you get it to the maenad’s territory?” I pondered this for a while, but didn’t come to any answer. “I assume she’d want it alive,” I said, a question in my voice.
Sam, who seemed to have been watching me instead of thinking over the problem, nodded, and then he leaned forward and kissed me.
I should have seen it coming.
He was so warm after Bill, whose body never got up to warm. Tepid, maybe. Sam’s lips actually felt hot, and his tongue, too. The kiss was deep, intense, unexpected; like the excitement you feel when someone gives you a present you didn’t know you wanted. His arms were around me, mine were around him, and we were giving it everything we had, until I came back to earth.
I pulled away a little, and he slowly raised his head from mine.
“I do need to get out of town for a little while,” I said.
“Sorry, Sookie, but I’ve been wanting to do that for years.”
There were a lot of ways I could go from that statement, but I ratcheted up my determination and took the high road. “Sam, you know I am . . .”
“In love with Bill,” he finished my sentence.
I wasn’t completely sure I was in love with Bill, but I loved him, and I had committed myself to him. So to simplify the matter, I nodded in agreement.
I couldn’t read Sam’s thoughts clearly, because he was a supernatural being. But I would have been a dunce, a telepathic null, not to feel the waves of frustration and longing that rolled off of him.
“The point I was trying to make,” I said, after a minute, during which time we disentangled and stepped away from each other, “is that if this maenad takes a special interest in bars, this is a bar run by someone whois not exactly run-of-the-mill human, like Eric’s bar in Shreveport. So you better watch out.”
Sam seemed to take heart that I was warning him, seemed to get some hope from it. “Thanks for telling me, Sookie. The next time I change, I’ll be careful in the woods.”
I hadn’t even thought of Sam encountering the maenad in his shapeshifting adventures, and I had to sit down abruptly as I pictured that.
“Oh, no,” I told him emphatically. “Don’t change at all.”
“It’s full moon in four days,” Sam said, after a glance at the calendar.
“Because she’s not happy, as you would know if you could see the scars on my back,” I snapped, and his face changed then, by golly.
“You were hurt? How did this happen?”
So I told him, trying to leave some of the drama out of it, and toning down the healing process employed by the vampires of Shreveport. He still wanted to see the scars. I turned around, and he pulled up my tee shirt, not past bra strap level. He didn’t make a sound, but I felt a touch on my back, and after a second I realized Sam had kissed my skin. I shivered. He pulled the tee shirt over my scars and turned me around.
“I’m very sorry,” he said, with complete sincerity. He wasn’t laughing now, wasn’t even close to it. He was awful close to me. I could practically feel the heat radiating from his skin, electricity crackling through the small fine hairs on his arms.
I took a deep breath. “I’m worried she’ll turn her attention to you,” I explained. “What do maenads want as tribute, Sam?”
“My mother used to tell my father that they love a proud man,” he said, and for a moment I thought he was still teasing me. But I looked at his face, and he was not. “Maenads love nothing more than to tear a proud man down to size. Literally.”
“Yuck,” I said. “Anything else satisfy them?”
“Large game. Bears, tigers, so on.”
“Hard to find a tiger in Louisiana. Maybe you could find a bear, but how’d you get it to the maenad’s territory?” I pondered this for a while, but didn’t come to any answer. “I assume she’d want it alive,” I said, a question in my voice.
Sam, who seemed to have been watching me instead of thinking over the problem, nodded, and then he leaned forward and kissed me.
I should have seen it coming.
He was so warm after Bill, whose body never got up to warm. Tepid, maybe. Sam’s lips actually felt hot, and his tongue, too. The kiss was deep, intense, unexpected; like the excitement you feel when someone gives you a present you didn’t know you wanted. His arms were around me, mine were around him, and we were giving it everything we had, until I came back to earth.
I pulled away a little, and he slowly raised his head from mine.
“I do need to get out of town for a little while,” I said.
“Sorry, Sookie, but I’ve been wanting to do that for years.”
There were a lot of ways I could go from that statement, but I ratcheted up my determination and took the high road. “Sam, you know I am . . .”
“In love with Bill,” he finished my sentence.
I wasn’t completely sure I was in love with Bill, but I loved him, and I had committed myself to him. So to simplify the matter, I nodded in agreement.
I couldn’t read Sam’s thoughts clearly, because he was a supernatural being. But I would have been a dunce, a telepathic null, not to feel the waves of frustration and longing that rolled off of him.
“The point I was trying to make,” I said, after a minute, during which time we disentangled and stepped away from each other, “is that if this maenad takes a special interest in bars, this is a bar run by someone whois not exactly run-of-the-mill human, like Eric’s bar in Shreveport. So you better watch out.”
Sam seemed to take heart that I was warning him, seemed to get some hope from it. “Thanks for telling me, Sookie. The next time I change, I’ll be careful in the woods.”
I hadn’t even thought of Sam encountering the maenad in his shapeshifting adventures, and I had to sit down abruptly as I pictured that.
“Oh, no,” I told him emphatically. “Don’t change at all.”
“It’s full moon in four days,” Sam said, after a glance at the calendar.
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