My muse came back! Yay! Don't know where it went for the last two updates…
I hope while you read this you come out with a slightly different perspective, but if not, just remember that by the end of the update, MickCora will be no more! I was going to break this into two updates, but I promised Chapter 11 would be THE update so enjoy the longish chapter!
Chapter 11
Coralline sat in one of the large easy chairs watching Mick as he worked. He was sitting on the large couch across the room; papers and files covered the piece of furniture on either side of him, as well as the coffee table. It had been almost a month to the day that she had 'won him back'. But now she didn't feel much like a winner. She felt instead like a thief – robbing him, and Beth, of the one thing Coraline herself so craved – to be loved.
When she saw Mick at that party all those years ago, he sparked something in her that she had long forgotten about, if she had ever known it – some spark of humanity that she thought lost over 250 years prior. Mick worshipped her, made her feel so much better then she really was. Made her feel almost human. But 250 years of being a vampire – and a vampire in her family – messed with you. She wanted Mick with her for eternity. To be able to feel the way he made her feel until the world itself finally died and all that was left was the two of them. It never occurred to her that Mick wouldn't want the same thing; that he would see her gift, her commitment to him, as a curse. That should have been her first clue that his feelings for her weren't as deep as her own. Even if the thought of being a 'monster' repelled him, she had hoped that his love for her would have been enough to break through that and let him see that together they could get through her mistake – her betrayal. Move on and get on with the rest of eternity together. Their marriage lasted four years. Four years during which she taught him everything he needed to know about being a vampire and she introduced him to Josef. Then he left her alone.
Coraline had no come to realize that even as a human Mick had never been in love with her – simply fascinated, infatuated, in lust. With her then becoming his sire, those feelings were still there, but magnified with their new bond, augmented with the predator's instincts. Those were the things that drove them back together time and again. She welcomed him back eagerly each time, he more reluctantly, and each time she hoped she would never again be without him – that this time he would stay and they would have their eternity. Because when she was with him she was complete. She wasn't he monster he claimed their kind were – how could she be if someone like Mick could lover her? She tried everything in her power to convince him – or make him – stay with her, but it never worked. Every time he left, her world crumbled and she waited, hoping he would return to her for good.
Finally, she decided to give him what he obviously wanted – a normal life. She could give that to him – a child and the woman that she was still convinced he loved through all his self-hatred. She hoped that being a father would show him what a good man he still was. What she saw in him. That he could finally accept himself – what he was, what she was – and be able to find his way back to her. And perhaps it had worked, at least part of it.
After the fire, she had gone back to Europe to recover and track down her one remaining hope to reclaim her love – the one thing she had taken from him. She found the cure, found a plan and found Mick, right where she'd lost him 22 years before. In Los Angeles. With Beth. And she found something else. Something she would later realize she had never had. She found his love. There plain as day on his face, for the entire world to see. She was overjoyed that he finally seemed carefree and happy. 22 years of separation had made him into the man she had always known he could be, and finally he could love her.
The final part of her plan to win 'back' Mick's love was much like the one before it. A simple choice – choose Beth and stay a vampire; or Coraline and the cure. When a week passed and Mick hadn't even mentioned the cure, she was overjoyed – he hadn't made his decision because of the cure, he made it because he really did love her! It wasn't until a few days ago that doubt started to chip away at that.
That was when she had overheard Mick on the phone with Josef. He hadn't chosen the cure or Coraline. He'd still chosen Beth. He'd said to Josef that he feared she would continue to harass Beth if he'd done anything different. Suddenly everything started to make sense. That look she had seen on his face when she returned had been suspiciously absent since they'd been back together. She realized now that she'd only seen glimpses of it, behind a carefully constructed mask, on those few occasions they had run into Beth. Now, as she sat in that chair, the full realization finally broke through to her. Beth was the one Mick loved. The one – the only one – who could make him happy with himself and with his life. Coraline had been blinded her own love for him to see. Suddenly, she felt his thumb on her cheek, wiping away a tear she hadn't even realized she'd shed. When was the last time she had really cried? She could remember.
"Mick – " her voice was thick with emotion.
"Coraline, what's wrong?" She looked up into his eyes as he pulled his hand away and found them clouded with concern. She answered by pulling him in for a slow, kiss. He didn't respond at first – obviously still confused by her very un-Coraline like behaviour. When she deepened the kiss, however, he finally took action, pulling her out of the chair and walking her quickly but carefully to the wall. Any other day and she would have laughed at the thought of how much furniture they'd had to replace over the course of the month. But right now, she was lost in the feel of his lips on hers, the way he could make her feel with just a look and she closed her eyes. When he took her arms in an iron grip and attacked her mouth, something deep within her made her utter 'no'. She opened her eyes and he was staring at her, looking about as surprised as she felt. But in that instant she knew it was right. She knew what she wanted. She just hoped he would give it to her. She threw her arms around him and buried her face in the crook of his neck.
"Mick, I know you don't love me." He stiffened in her arms, as if caught in a lie and worried about the consequences. "But…just this once, could you pretend? Close your eyes and pretend you're with her. Show me what it would be like to be loved by you." He stood back from her enough to look into her glistening eyes. Searching for the lies, the con. But for the first time in her life, she was being completely honest. No lies, or false airs – an open book. Letting him read everything that she was – her love for him, fear, resignation.
"Please Mick."
"Coraline, I – " She looked away. Of course Mick wouldn't do what she'd asked. It wasn't in him to do that – to bring Beth into this 'relationship'. And why would he want to, anyway? She started to pull away, then felt his hand on her cheek, turning her back to him.
She saw in his eyes understanding, sadness, guilt and she started to shake her head – to say 'no, please don't feel guilt over this, too' but before she could do either, his lips found hers in a slow, sensuous kiss. He scooped her up into his arms and walked her slowly to the seldom-used bedroom; not breaking the lazy kiss until he had planted her feet firmly back on the floor by the bed. He slowly stripped her of her clothes and laid her on the bed, then quickly got rid of his own clothes before lying at her side.
Even with her vamp senses, Coraline's whole world narrowed to focus solely on Mick's roaming hands and the feel of his lips on her skin as he worshipped her body. She bit her lip to keep from crying out at the pleasure he gave her, lest she break the spell and ruin the fantasy that allowed him to treat her like this – like the most previous thing in the world. As he entered her, he kissed her throat and then she felt his breath against her ear as he breathed her name. Her OWN name!
"Coraline…Coraline, don't hold back." That released the floodgates within her and she was chanting his name and tightening around him. He moved slowly within her and his mouth was busy as he kissed her and whispered her name. When both finally found their release Mick settled by her side, gathering her into his arms. As she drifted to sleep, Coraline felt more peaceful than she ever had. He had done so much more than she had requested of him. He'd shown her not how it felt to be loved by him but, if even for a short while, how if felt to have Mick St. John love HER.
XXX
She felt him standing in the doorway, watching her as she looked out into the nighttime landscape. Neither said a word as he moved further into the room, finally coming to stand behind her.
"Coraline, what's going on?" She turned to face him.
"Mick, thank you for that. You can't know what it means that you did that for me. And I'm sorry…for everything."
"Sorry? Don't be sorry. I'm not. Not anymore." She looked at him quizzically. "I may not be entirely comfortable yet with being a vampire, but if you hadn't turned me, I never would have found Beth. And you were instrumental in that, as well, even if the method wasn't the best. So for all that, I thank you. That's what that was. Me giving you something you wanted, needed; just as you did for me."
"Well I will claim responsibility for the turning, but even if I hadn't taken her all those years ago, you would have found your way to each other. You were meant to be together. I see that now. I love you, even if you don't believe it, and I want you to be happy. She makes you happy." He looked mightily confused, and happy, and very wary. He started to say something, but she silenced him with a finger to his lips. "I promise I'm not scheming or lying or anything. I just finally see the truth. It just took me this long to figure it out." She kissed his check and slowly left the room.
XXX
Three days later Coraline was back in the same spot. She'd left Mick standing there and headed to her freezer. When she'd risen the next night, there was no trace of him to be found in the house, save his scent. In the month he'd been there, it had once again found its way into every inch of the place. It surrounded her like a blanket. She wanted to run after him, but she'd promised; and she would keep this one.
Then a new scent floated to her. Old and familiar. She turned to see who it was, but the new arrival stayed hidden in the shadows. In the few seconds it took for recognition to set in he was suddenly in front of her, something glinting in his gloved hand.
"Josef!"
"Hello, Coraline." Before she could even blink, she felt the most excruciating pain in her chest. She collapsed as the silver stake sent shots of white-hot agony through her body. She couldn't remember ever feeling anything like it. Through the haze of pain, his voice finally reached her.
"Look alive, Coraline." He snapped his fingers a couple of times in front of her face. "I've got something to say that I think you'll want to hear." He waited until she was able to focus her eyes on him through the pain.
"Mick tells me you've come to your senses." He paced in front of her now as he spoke. "Although he didn't use those words of course. Something about love and happiness…whatever. Really, it made me want to gag. But – " he stopped and crouched down in front her, grabbing the stake to torture her with it – slowly pushing it in further, or moving it around in the wound. She let out a whimper.
"You better have meant whatever you said to him. In fact, I think you need to leave town. If I see you anywhere near this part of the world; if you try and contact Mick or Beth; if anyone even looks at them funny and I think you're behind it…this – " one last push on the silver stake and he was standing up again. "will seem like a walk in the park. Do I make myself clear?" She nodded weakly.
"Excellent! It was a pleasure seeing you again, Coraline. Let's not do it again." Josef kicked the previously unnoticed bag by his feet over to where she lay, still staked, and several bags of blood spilled out on the floor. Then he spun on his heel and stalked out of the house.
