EVEN VAMPIRES GET THE BLUES

"No, you can't talk to him again, you've talked to him three times already today. Someone finally tracked down his parents, so he's telling them everything that's been happening. Yes, you'll meet them. Yes, they're nice. Mom—" I sighed and prayed for patience. "No, I won't let his mother help me pick out a wedding dress, OK? I have to go. No, now is not a good time to look into ear reconstruction surgery—I'm happy with my ears! Paen likes them, too. No… no… it's not a matter of money, I just don't want them re-elfed! Look, I really, really have to… Mom… Mom, Paen is stark naked with an erection that could bring down buildings, and he's calling for me. Gotta run! Love to you and Dad. Again. Bye!"

I clicked off the phone to the sound of my mother sputtering indignantly, rubbing my ear in an attempt to get feeling back into it as I leaned against the wall and stretched. I knew my mother was going to be excited by the news that I was now immortal (something she had been fretting over ever since I had my ears bobbed), and madly in love with a man who was just as crazy about me, but she was ru

Still at it?

My toes curled at the warm, rich voice in my head. Yes. It feels good. I like doing it. I may do it every single day from here until the end of our time.

Paen sighed from where he leaned against the door. "How is your arm?"

I smiled at nothing and arched my back, relishing the absolute joy that sunlight on my skin brought, making me giddy from the power it fed me. I was clad in a rather risque eyelash lace chemise… and nothing else. "Perfect. You were right—the sunlight did a lot to hurry along the healing process."

"I thought it might. Was that your mother again?"

"Of course. We'll probably hear from her another good dozen times today before she works most of the excitement out of her system. I liked your parents."

"Good. They liked you, as well. My mother says you're not to pick out a wedding dress until they get back to Scotland. She's excited about having a daughter-in-law and doesn't want to let any of the wedding pla

I laughed. "That'll be a battle royal—my mom against yours. Oh well, we'll let them work it out. I don't really care so long as the end result is the same."

He raised an eyebrow. "Wild, unbridled wedding night sex?"

"No." I shook my head, to his surprise. "A passionate, romantic, wonderful begi

He smiled.

"Followed immediately by wild, unbridled wedding night sex."

"Sam? Are you decent?" Clare's voice drifted in through the closed door. Paen edged past the pool of sunlight on the floor, grabbed my robe from where it lay over the wooden rhino, tossing it to me before he opened the door.

I sat up on the window seat where I'd been soaking up the all-healing rays from the sun, and watched with curiosity as Clare forged a path into the room. "We brought you some flowers—merciful goddess, what happened here?"

Paen handed her the machete. "It appears her plants are happy again."

"Good god, it's like a jungle," Fi

Paen moved aside to hold back a rubber tree leaf.

Fi

I stretched in the sunlight, happiness welling out of me as I looked at Paen where he leaned against the wall, his arms crossed casually over his chest. Those lovely eyes of his were like sunlight on silver, shining back at me. "Yes, I'm all better now."

"Good. Is your mother happy about the wedding?"

"Very, although she is a bit a

"Well, she is an elf. You know how they are."

I sent Paen a mischievous grin. "Mom did say that she'd be perfectly happy organizing a double wedding, if you and Fi

"You never know," Fi

"I'm going to expect a lot more than a proposal in a car riding home from the scene of a demon attack," Clare informed him, then snatched one of the flowers from the vase and popped a petal in her mouth as she turned back to me. "Speaking of that, perhaps you can explain to me what exactly happened. Paen was too busy taking care of you after Pilar dumped you on the ground, and then Fi

"Pilar took Sam to the Akashic Plain," Paen answered, a small smile making the corners of his mouth turn up.

Have I told you today how much I love you?

Yes. Seven times, as a matter of fact.

Ah.

It's not nearly enough.

I gri

"But how did he do that?" Clare asked, absently plucking a carnation from the bouquet and peeling off a few petals, which she promptly ate. "I thought it was impossible to get to the Akashic Plain?"

"Linear thinking," I said cryptically, and sent Paen a mental image of me stroking every square inch of him.

He straightened up. All of him.

"What?"

"Pilar is a god. There are places where deities can break the rules. The Akashic Plain is one of them."

Paen sent me back images of myself covered in whipped cream, and him with a bowl of strawberries.

I shivered, but not from cold.

"Oh. So he took Sam to the Akashic Plain to get her soul back, and then plopped her back in our reality?"

"Yes." I dwelled lovingly over what it felt like taking Paen into my mouth, of the scent and taste of him, of the joy I received in giving him pleasure.

"And he wasn't angry about Paen cutting off his arm?"

"Not angry enough to wreak any vengeance, no," Paen answered. He thought about nibbling on my ears. My entire body tightened in response.

"What about the statue? If it was a demon lord's statue, why didn't Brother Jacob see that? And why was the monkey statue hidden inside the bird one?"

"The bird statue shielded the Jilin God, making it impossible for anyone to detect its dark origins." I remembered what it felt like when Paen thrust hard into my body, causing every single one of my muscles to tighten around him.

"The demon lord who held it hid the statue within another one for security. He changed the outer statue's shape every so often, in case Caspar was on to it." Paen dwelled lovingly on the thought of my nipples.

I sucked in a breath, my body tingling like mad from his mental images.

"All right, that I understand, but what about your father? How did he get the statue?"

"Er… Clare, my sweet, I think we should be going now," Fi

"But your father…" She popped another bit of carnation into her mouth.

I recalled what it felt like to ride him, our bodies moving together in a rhythm that swept us into ecstasy.

Paen lurched forward, stopping abruptly at the edge of the sunlight.

"I think they need some time to themselves right now," Fi