You Were So Sweet When You Didn't

Well In Two Months, It'd Be Sunbathing Time. That Made Me Smile. I Enjoyed Lying In The Sun In A Little Bikini, Timing Myself Carefully So I Didn't Burn. I Loved The Smell Of Coconut Oil. And I Don't Want To Hear Any Lectures About How Bad Tanning Is For You. That's My Vice. Everybody Gets One.

When You've Been Really Beaten, You Realize That You Are Just An Envelope Of Skin, An Easily Penetrated Envelope That Holds Together A Lot Of Fluids And Some Rigid Structures, Which In Their Turn Can Simply Be Broken And Invaded.

As I Watched Bill, Waiting With Apparent Calm For Death To Come To Him, I Had A Flash Of Him As I'd Known Him: The First Vampire I'd Ever Met, The First Man I'd Ever Gone To Bed With, The First Suitor I'd Ever Loved. Everything That Followed Had Tainted Those Memories, But For One Moment I Saw Him Clearly, And I Loved Him Again.

And By Golly, Love Sure Was A Battlefield. Benatar Was Right About That.

Bill Said, "she Is Mine." I Wondered If My Hands Would Move. They Would. I Raised Both Of Them, Making An Unmistakable One-fingered Gesture. Eric Laughed, And Bill Said "sookie!" In Shocked Admonishment. "i Think That Sookie Is Telling Us She Belongs To Herself," Eric Said Softly.