I didn't know why I was holding my breath as I waited for someone to answer the phone but I guessed it was because I had never called Eric at work before and I wasn't sure how he'd take it. He hadn't answered his mobile or his house phone and I really needed to speak to him so here I was, calling a Vampire bar. How curious the world has become.

"Fangtasia...the home of killer hickies." She sounded terribly bored and it didn't help my nervousness.

"Hi." I said I little awkwardly. "It's Rebecca from Scotland, I was wondering if I could speak to Eric?"

"The Rebecca from Scotland?" Suddenly she perked up and I winced. Clearly I was not a private matter. "I have been waiting so long to speak to you, especially now that I'm coming to visit!"

Suddenly it all made sense. "Pam?" I guessed and she chuckled.

"The one and only. It's about time I put a voice to the name. I shall take you to the master straight away." I could hear a faint baseline in the background and guessed she was walking through the bar. Finally the strains of music died away and then I heard Pam speaking. "Master, it is your betrothed on the phone."

Who? For a moment I was confused and then I realised she meant me. Betrothed? What was that about?

"Rebecca." It was just one word and long distance at that but it still made things tighten low in my body when it was growled by a gorgeous vampire. I stamped down my traitorous libido and tried to sound angry.

"What did she mean by betrothed?" I demanded and he sighed, clearly realising that this would be the way of it.

"You wear my ring do you not?" He asked and I took a moment to admire the sparkling sapphire adorning my finger before I ruthlessly squashed my love of all things sparkly.

"Eric, a prerequisite of being betrothed is that one party has to ask the other for their hand in marriage and the other has to agree." I pointed out. "Epic fail on all counts."

"What is it with you and your prerequisites?" He sounded amused and I knew why. The last conversation we'd had about prerequisites was me trying to explain that a basic prerequisite for the existence of a fangbanger was having some fang to bang.

"Why is it that when you lack a logical premise on which to base an argument you attack one of my character traits that would be a virtue when aimed at anyone other than you?" I countered and he chuckled deep in his throat.

"I love it when you get technical." He murmured. "But since this seems important I shall ask – Rebecca, most beautiful of heart, will you marry me?"

I didn't even blink. "No. Now that we've sorted out the issue of our not being betrothed can we please get to why I called?"

"You are such a delightfully obstinate woman!" He still sounded amused. I'm sure he actually loved it when I argued with him. I guess there weren't many people brave enough to cut him down to size.

"And you're an insufferably obstinate vampire." I shot back. "Once again with the character traits..." There was a sudden silence and then I heard a quiet thudding. "Eric?" I said in a small voice, wondering if I'd pushed him too far, and then Pam came on the line.

"What did you say to him?" She asked curiously. "He is trying to knock a hole through the wall with his head."

Oh. I winced. "I'm not sure." I admitted. "It was either the bit where I refused to marry him or the bit where I called him insufferably obstinate." There was a brief moment of silence and then Pam started giggling.

"Oh I like you!" She declared cheerfully. "You're not bad for a mouth breather!"

"Mouth breather?" The words just came out of my mouth like a freight train that couldn't be stopped. "What orifice do you breathe through?" This time Pam absolutely howled with laughter and it was Eric's turn to pick up the phone and ask what I had said. "I'm not saying." I told him stubbornly. "Look, long distance costs a fortune. I was just calling to tell you that you might need to change your flights."

And just like that he turned serious. "What has happened, dear one?" He asked and I sighed.

"We're expecting heavy snow at the end of this week." I explained. "The airport here is going to be closed and I know you can't come early so I was thinking that if you could change your flight destination I could maybe catch the train down to Inverness before the snow falls and meet you there, book a B&B. I bet it's a long time since Pam has been shopping in actual opening hours and it gets dark here around 4pm. I thought we could stay for a couple of days and I could finish my Christmas shopping and by that time they should have cleared the roads enough to reopen the A9. We'll get a hire car and come up. I'd take my own car down but it's only 2 wheel drive so not great for the ice."

I held my breath while I waited for his response. I had been so looking forward to his visit over Christmas that the thought we might have to cancel it because of the weather had made me vent several choice words at the forecast. I was dreading the news that he couldn't change his flight or some other problem but he didn't see it as an issue.

"I'll speak to the airline and I'm sure they will accommodate our needs." He said easily as though chartering a jet and changing the flight plans at the last minute was nothing. "It would take a lot more than the weather to keep me from you lover. Book the B&B and charge it to my account. If I find you have paid for it yourself I will be extremely displeased." I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, oh Master of the Universe." I responded sarcastically. "Let me know when you've changed your flight plans and I'll see what I can do about train tickets."

"I will." His voice softened. "I am looking forward to having you in my arms."

I actually jumped up and down, this sentiment made me feel so giddy. "You too." I tried not to sound too excited but hey, I'm a girl. I'm allowed to squeak occasionally.

"Be well, dear one." And then he hung up. My goodbye died on my lips and I sighed, setting the phone back in its cradle. Vampires...so lacking in social skills...

I should have expected that he would insist on having the last word. As it was I was totally unprepared for the extremely large, extremely shiny 4x4 that was dropped off outside my house the following afternoon.

"What the-?" I opened the door and the delivery driver instantly held up his hand to ward off my questions.

"I have instructions to read this to you before you say anything." He sounded almost apologetic as he unfolded the piece of paper. "Dear one, you will accept this gift. I am concerned for your safety in this inclement weather. The man reading this to you is under oath to faithfully count each and every swear word or curse you utter in his hearing and for each one I shall buy you something equally outrageous and expensive. Therefore, unless you wish to ruin me, I advise you to accept this gift graciously and in the manner it was meant." The delivery driver folded the piece of paper up again and looked at me expectantly.

I smiled sweetly at him and then screeched every swear word I could think of. The driver looked impressed. "Are you sure you didn't miss some?" He chuckled. "Like maybe in Spanish or something?"

I hid a smile. "Do you think it was too many?" I asked and he shook his head.

"Madam, if he can afford to buy you this car without blinking then I don't think your repertoire would ruin him. Even with the French ones."

"Good." We shared a grin and then I graciously accepted the keys.

I was woken at 2am by the house phone and I dragged it off the bedside table. "Hello?" I mumbled sleepily and spent ten minutes listening to Pam laughing uproariously while Eric, clearly stomping around his office, kept repeating "36? 36?" At increasingly loud volumes. Smiling, I eventually hung up and went back to sleep. Suck on that you infernal, controlling man.