"Don't worry, Mom. He won't hurt me."

"Doubtful." She turned away and went back to her chair.

Annette rolled her eyes heavenward. Denise fluffed my dress one last time.

"Are you ready? Or are you going to make your mother's universe and let her drive the getaway car?" Denise gave me a gleeful smirk.

I smiled back and mentally thanked God for the night a vampire tried to make her a snack as I walked nearby. Without her, I would have been heavily dependent on Prozac the past several years.

"I'm ready."

Annette made a noise that might have been a sigh. "Come on, Justina, we have to take our seats now. Bother it, woman, I wasn't going to touch you. You don't have to shrink back from me every time, do you?"

My mother strode past her without a word, only allowing herself the pleasure of a filthy look as she headed for the sanctuary. At least that's where I thought she was going. She could have been trotting straight to the parking lot.

"You should have just let Crispin bite her into better disposition," Annette said, clearly aggravated. "Would have done her a world of good."

"Thanks for the suggestion, but we'll keep my mother's senses the way they are. Even if it makes me crazy."

Annette paused in the hallway. A small, self-deprecating laugh came out of her. "Well, Cat. You've certainly shown good form today. I would have rubbed Crispin's rejection of you in your face until you cried, but you've been quite gracious. Now, do hurry up. Don't keep the man we love waiting."

Denise watched her go and then tilted her head. "She's hell on heels, Cat, and a bitch besides, but sometimes I like her."

"I know." A reluctant trace of admiration colored my words. "Sometimes I do too."

"Cat." Don approached us, wearing a black tuxedo.

It was the first I'd ever seen him so dressed up. His gray gaze took in my strapless lace dress that fishtailed into a minor train behind me. The long skirt wasn't made of a single piece of fabric, but several different swaths that swayed as I walked. Only the multitude of layers provided modesty, because there was no lining underneath. The veil was a thin billow of gauze attached to my hair with a comb, trailing cathedral style down to the floor. My neck and arms were bare. Only a pair of gothic platinum-and-white-diamond earrings adorned me.

"You're stunning," he said.

I smiled at the compliment and accepted the arm he held out to me.

Denise gave my shoulders a parting squeeze and offered one last piece of advice. "Don't trip!"

"I'll do my best. At least I expect him at the altar this time."

Don didn't get the joke since he hadn't been at Denise's wedding. "What?"

"Nothing." I tightened my grip on his arm. "Thank you for doing this."

The lines in his face creased as he smiled. "Thank you for asking. Shall we go?"

I straightened my shoulders. "Yes."

The sun had just set and there was snow on the ground, making it a white Christmas after all. The church was small in size but big in privacy, so we'd erected a tent complete with portable hardwood flooring for the reception. The caterers specialized in preparing traditional and, um, exotic foods. God help my mother if she got the wrong plate, because nothing short of suicide would relieve her revulsion.

Instead of a normal wedding singer with a piano or even a small band, Bones had hired a full orchestra. Most of them were shivering outside, waiting for heaters to warm their separate tented area, but a pianist and a violinist were in the church. Small and intimate wedding, my ass.

Orchids, lilies, gardenias, hyacinths, tulips, amaryllis, poinsettias and other flowers I couldn't name covered the interior of the church. A rain forest would be less fragrant. The flowers had been dusted with a sparkling powder that reflected in the candlelight, and there were candles everywhere, replacing all but the most essential artificial light. Don and I came into view of the guests and the groom with our next steps as we entered the sanctuary.

Even the steady pressure of Don's arm on mine faded into insignificance next to the smile that lit Bones's face. True to his word, he wore white too. His suit was a combination of twenty-first century and eighteenth, with lace spilling out of his collar and cuffs. A silver-braided waistcoat added antique style to the more modern pants the jacket draped around. He looked dazzling. I had to resist the urge to pinch myself, because this man couldn't be mine.

Don formally relinquished my hand and Bones took it.

"I have never seen anything more exquisite in all my life," he whispered before kissing me until I was breathless.

"You're not supposed to kiss me now," I managed when finally he let me up for air.

"I don't care," he answered with such feeling that laughter rippled through the spectators. "Sod the proper order of events."

Spade's lips twitched as he leaned forward. "Crispin, all of us came to see a wedding. Perhaps you can abstain from the consummation until later?"

That definitely brought more amusement from the guests. His side, anyway. Few of my guests were that cheerful.

"Later. Right you are, Charles."

Bones pressed my hand to his lips before turning to the minister. I had only met him once before when we filled out the necessary paperwork. He was on loan from his home parish in Wisconsin.

"Welcome, family," the minister began, eschewing the usual "Dearly Beloved." "Tonight you bear witness to the reaffirmation of one marriage and the beginning of another. While the dissolution of their vampire union is impossible, custom demands that I ask the following: If anyone here can show just cause as to why these two should not be joined together in human matrimony, speak now. Else forevermore hold your peace."

My mother shot out of her chair like a rocket on full launch. I had just begun to mutter something completely inappropriate for church when Bones flicked his hand and Rodney appeared behind her. The ghoul clapped his hand over my mom's mouth before she could voice her lengthy, strenuous objections.

"Thanks ever so, mate," Bones said, saluting him. "Some people seem to need assistance holding their peace. Oh, I wouldn't bite him, Justina, he's a ghoul. Might make him want to return the favor. He'll let go if you sit quietly. Otherwise, you'll get a mouth full of flesh-eater palm for the rest of the ceremony."

Who knew if she recognized Rodney from seven years ago? After all, she wasn't exactly facing him at the moment.

I glared at her in silent warning. Whether it was that or the unappetizing taste of Rodney's hand, she nodded and Rodney released her. A loud sniff was the only noise she made when she sat back down.

Bones turned back to the minister. "It appears our objector has changed their opinion."

By the gleam in the man's eyes and his sudden need to cough in a manner sounding suspiciously like chuckles, I guessed they knew each other fairly well.

"Um, so it would appear. Let us resume."

The rest of the words were somewhat standard, but they skipped by my attention. I was mesmerized by the lights glowing off Bones's hair, his sculpted features, and those deep brown eyes staring into mine. My vision dropped to his lips when he sounded out a two-worded reply to the minister's question.

"I do."

"And do you, Catherine, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

Those lips opposite me curved into a smile.

"May we have the rings?"

Denise and Spade handed over the requested jewelry.

"Repeat after me, Crispin. With this ring, I thee wed."

He copied the words as the red diamond slid onto my finger, accompanied by its new companion of a thin platinum band. Tears sprang to my eyes. Thank God for waterproof mascara.

"Catherine, repeat after me. With this ring, I thee wed."

I breathed the words out and placed a matching platinum band on his finger. When I looked up, I saw his eyes were also tinged in pink.

"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride."

Bones wrapped his arms around me and slanted his mouth across mine. I pulled him closer, hearing the cheering applause from our guests. I was almost out of oxygen when he broke contact to smile down at me.

"I love you, Kitten. Or shall I call you Mrs. Russell?"

"Take your pick. I'll answer to both."

Bones kissed my hand, and then we proceeded back up the aisle together. Even the sound of my mother's heartbroken sobbing couldn't wipe the smile from my face.

We went straight to the entrance of the tent to greet our guests as they filed back from the church. Right away I knew that I'd never remember all the names and also, I'd need another coat of my guaranteed all-day lipstick. These vampires and ghouls were heavily into the custom of kissing the bride.

After the sixth consecutive polite "May I?" before another unknown pulseless man planted his lips on mine, Bones threw up his hands.

"For the sake of not standing here all night, you may all kiss the bride. Just be warned that if you see her at a club and she kisses you, it generally means she's about to kill you."

Laughter broke out at that, but Don must be having a fit. He would hate having his operations be the butt of the joke.

Ian was next in the receiving line. Bones had invited him out of respect for Ian being his sire. I had thought that Ian would refuse, but that showed how much I underestimated him. Ian had the same English accent Bones did, and his chestnut hair was offset by vivid turquoise eyes. He was pretty, all right. Pretty frigging dangerous.

"Crispin, so happy you included me on your memorable occasion. It's only fitting, isn't it, since I was at your binding. And Cat, how devastating you look. Am I excluded from kissing the lovely bride after our former misunderstanding?"

He considered kidnapping my ex-fiance and three of my friends to blackmail me into becoming his new toy a misunderstanding? I'd show him. "Not at all, Ian, step right up."

When Ian leaned in, I grabbed him and pressed my mouth against his, even running my tongue inside and biting his lip. With the same abruptness, I pulled away, and my smile widened.

"Say hi to my father for me, Ian, and you can thank him again for trying to kill me instead of giving you my location like he was supposed to. Just think, if Max would've told you where I was, you would have found me before Bones did. Who knows how things might have turned out? Great to see you, you look swell."

He also now looked pissed. "Quite," Ian said testily as he walked away.

Bones gave me a sideways grin at my vindictiveness. "You might not want to show such enthusiasm with your kisses, pet. They'll all be lining up for seconds."

Don was next, but he settled for a kiss on the cheek. Then came the other two dozen members of my team, Tate being the last of them.

"Cat." There was raw emotion in his eyes. "I've never seen you look lovelier."

"Thank you." My voice was quiet.

Tate sniffed. "Guess you feel I already cashed in my kiss ticket with her, hmmm, Crypt Keeper? Don't worry, I wasn't going to take advantage."

Bones narrowed his eyes. "By all means. Since this will be your only opportunity, you shouldn't waste it."

There they went again. I leaned forward, and Tate's lips caressed mine lingeringly. I pulled away first, and his eyes stayed closed for a fraction longer. Then they snapped back open.

"You lucky bastard," he growled and walked away.

Bones watched him go with something akin to pity. "Poor sod just torments himself."

Mencheres was next. "May I also kiss the renowned Red Reaper without my life being in danger?"

Oh, so he had a sense of humor. How valuable. I leaned in, and his lips brushed across mine for only an instant, yet it left them vibrating. His power was so palpable-now I knew how it must feel to kiss a power line.

Annette was the last in line, and I turned to her almost in relief. "Thank God. My mouth is nearly numb. What's that in your hands?"

She held out two glasses, one with whiskey and the other gin. "Thought you'd both appreciate a drink."

I thanked her and finished my gin a single gulp.

"Better?" she queried. At my nod, she smiled silkily. "And now it is my turn to kiss the bride."

With that, Annette laid her mouth on mine. I was so taken aback she had time to trace her tongue past my lips before I straightened, breaking the contact.

"Apologies if I offended you, Cat," she said while not sounding sorry in the least. "You know my inclinations run in both directions, and you really do look lovely." She turned to Bones. "You break my heart with how fair you are, Crispin. I shall always remember how you look tonight. I wish you joy, dear friend, from the bottom of my soul."

Pink glazed her vision as she stared at him. He took her hand and gently kissed it, and I was reminded that they'd been together for over two hundred years. I couldn't even imagine that length of time, but I was hoping I'd get the chance to find out.

"Go on and kiss her, Bones. Hell, she just French-kissed me, you might as well."

He arched a brow. I nodded again firmly.

Annette blinked at this and then turned toward him as he cupped her face in his hands. He kissed her with all the tenderness of remembrance, and she had colored tears trailing down her cheeks when he stopped.

"My dear Annette, you have brightened many days for me. I can only assure you that I am truly happy now. I wish the same for you."

She swiped at her eyes, regaining her composure. "We are not all as fortunate as you, Crispin. Now do come on, both of you. Your guests are waiting."

"We'll be in straightaway."

Annette went inside and Bones took me in his arms, brushing the stray hairs away from my temple. I smiled up at him.

"Hi, Mr. Russell."

He smiled back. "Hallo yourself, Mrs. Russell."

We held each other wordlessly after that. I could have stood there forever.