“Sorry. You know I'm winging all of this, but even if I'd been through a dozen prior relationships... I don't know if any of them would've prepared me for being with you." "They wouldn't," he said with complete assuredness.”

“Then my father's features hardened. "You can't expect my blessings on this disastrous mistake."The words were directed at me, but Vlad responded."I wouldn't insult you by asking. We both know you disapprove and we both know I don't care. Leila's opinion is the only one that matters, and she said yes.”

“You know what your problem is, Justina? You're in desperate need of a good shag. "Not that I'm offering you one myself, mind. My days as a whore ended back in the seventeen hundreds." The gin was abruptly sucked back into my lungs as I gasped. He did not just tell my mother about his former profession; sweet Jesus, let me have heard incorrectly!I hadn't, and Bones went right on. "... But I have a friend who owes me a favor and he could be persuaded to... Kitten, are you all right?" I'd stopped breathing as soon as he casually admitted to his prior occupation. Add that to the liquid stuck in my lungs, and no, I wasn't all right.”

“Don't you even think of holding back, or I'll...I'll tell Spade you let me get away from you," she improvised."And that I got mugged," she added for good measure.Cries of "Mon Dieu!" and "That's not fair!" echoed immediately from the two vampires."I'm a crazy human female, you know I'll do it," Denise warned them”

“How could you be nervous about asking me to marry you, Bones? I'd die for you. Why wouldn't I want to live for you as well?”

“See, Don, I have this question, and I hope you’ll be honest with me.”He pulled at the end of his eyebrow. “I think you know you can count on my honesty.”“Can I?” I asked with an edge. “All right, then tell me: How long have you been fucking me?”That caused him to stop tugging his brow. “I don’t know what you’re saying—”“Because if I was going to fuck you,” I interrupted, “I’d get a bottle of gin, some Frank Sinatra music…and a crash cart for the heart attack you’d have. But you, Don, you’ve been fucking me for years now, and I haven’t gotten any liquor, music, flowers,candy, or anything!”

“Nathanial can show me how to better control the change, but even so, you never have to worry about me turning into a cat again. Didn't you know, I'm allergic to cats.”