A/N: Well, here I am at the end of story #11! I can hardly believe it. I hope so much that you liked it. Oh, and this chapter has some more "M" worthy material, so be warned!

Chapter 9: Conclusion

MICK

On my return journey back up Beth's body, I stopped and kissed the inside of one warm thigh, feeling her tremble, hearing her breath and her heart speed up in unison. I smiled as she began to plead for what she wanted, but I teased her some more, moving up to her flat stomach, then back down to the other thigh.

"I swear to God Mick, I'm gonna faint if you don't quit torturing me."

I chuckled and slithered up her body to kiss her to silence, hearing myself groan as she raised her hips and employed her own sweet torment. Then, since I couldn't withstand much more of that, I moved back down and got to work, gratifying us both as her cries filled my bedroom. When she was suitably dazed, I joined slowly with her body, one hand at her breast, the other dropping between us to pleasure her again. As my own excitement mounted, I buried my fangs into her neck, feeling like I was falling off a huge precipice at the overwhelming assault on my senses—her blood in my mouth, my body quivering within hers, the sound of our mutual moans of satisfaction. I lay upon her, all of my extremities tingling. When she sensed I wasn't giving her all of my weight, she pulled me down roughly, holding me in a tight embrace.

"Stay with me," she whispered.

I licked gently at the wound on her neck. "I couldn't leave now if I wanted to," I sighed against her, and I gathered her closer, listening to her slowing pulse, her deep breathing as she drifted off to sleep.

When I could move again, I shifted my weight to the side, kissing her cheek when she mumbled sleepily in protest. Then I heard the ding of the elevator opening downstairs, down the hall from my apartment.

"Shhh…" I soothed. "Someone's coming to the door."

I replaced my body with the comforter, smiling as she snuggled down into the warmth I couldn't provide. I pulled on my jeans and t-shirt and quietly closed the door behind me. At the top of the stairs, I caught Josef's scent. With mixed emotions, I went to the door, noting his nervous posture on the security monitor. I sighed to myself and opened it.

"Josef," I said neutrally.

"Mick," he replied. He got a whiff of me, and no doubt sensed what Beth and I had been up to. "I'm interrupting. I'll come back later."

"No. Beth's sleeping. Come in." When he sat down, I noticed again how tense he was.

"Would you like a drink?"

"More than life itself," he said ironically. I hid my grin as I turned my back to fill two glasses with whiskey. My anger with him had faded, but I didn't want him to think he was off the hook with me.

I handed him his drink and sat on the couch across from him, noting with some relief that his face had recovered from the beating I'd given him. Don't get me wrong—it had felt good at the time, but in retrospect, inflicting pain on my best friend was not something I was proud of. I hated the awkwardness I felt now, and even Josef seemed uncomfortable with it, for once.

"I've been in New York."

"Beth said you were going out of town. Did you see Simone?"

"Yes. Among other people." He downed his drink suddenly and got to his feet, beginning his customary pacing when he was having a hard time with something. A minute of that, and his thoughts came out in a rush.

"I went to New York to fulfill your requirements. I hope to hell it meets with your approval, because it was the hardest damn thing I've ever done in my life."

Oh my God. Did he end things with Simone?

"What did you do, Josef?" I asked softly. He stopped his pacing and sat down again, searching for the words.

"I…I let Sarah go…" He squeezed his eyes shut, while I sat there, feeling his pain like a tangible thing.

"Josef…why?" He opened his eyes and looked into mine, and after half a century of knowing him, I could easily read every emotion he was going through.

"At first, it was for you, Mick. But if this doesn't count toward your test of my friendship, don't worry, it ended up not being for you after all. It was for her. It was for Simone and me. I was ready, and it was time. Past time."

I didn't know what to say. He wasn't exaggerating when he said it was the hardest thing he'd ever done. I believed that to my very core. Guilt overwhelmed me, and now I was the one who couldn't look at him.

"Josef…you didn't have to do that. I mean, it was just a kiss. I thought you would give up cigars, or the Ferrari, or freshies. But…Sarah? My God, man, she meant everything to you." I turned back to him, my throat tight. I reached for my drink.

"Now, Mick, you should have known there was no way in hell I'd give up the Ferarri." He was smiling at me.

"Is this a joke, Josef? Because there's nothing funny about this."

His face grew instantly serious. "No, buddy, it isn't. When I shot her body with potassium chloride, I wanted to die along with her. After that experience, there's really nothing you can do—nothing anyone could ever do—that would top the pain I felt in that moment. She's gone, Mick, and I should have faced that long ago, the first time I took her life. So don't go on some guilt trip now. It needed to be done. As usual, you just gave me the kick in the ass to do the right thing."

"I'm sorry." And I meant it. When I found out about Sarah last year, I wanted to tell him to let her go. But it wasn't my place to tell him to let his girlfriend die.

"Don't be. Just give me your verdict, and I'll let you get back to Goldilocks up there. So tell me, Mick, am I forgiven?"

He seemed so anxious for my approval, but what he'd done…well, it was certainly far beyond anything I had imagined he would do. Yet here I was, ashamed of my audacity to presume to judge him, after he did something I don't know that I could have done. I mean, what if it had been Beth?

"I'm not your judge, Josef," I said quietly. "I was pissed off, hurt, that you betrayed our friendship. I wanted you to suffer, it's true. But I never wanted you to hurt this way, to make a decision so difficult, to sacrifice someone you loved. If anything, I misjudged you. Your promise to me, that you'll never cross that line with Beth again—well, that's good enough for me, Josef."

He looked me straight in the eye. "You've got it." And we gave each other tentative smiles, the tension in the room dissipating. A companionable silence ensued as we basked in the relief that all could finally get back to normal, whatever that was. Then a thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Cigars, Mick? You thought I would just give up cigars for you? Am I really that shallow?"

One raised eyebrow was my only reply. He laughed, because in some ways, he could totally see my point.

"So, you said you saw Simone. Anything new on that front?"

"Yes. She came home with me. Or, back to her home, I should say. The engagement is still on, but we're taking it slow now, living apart until we set a date. And by the way, I saw my future monster-in-law as well. She mentioned you, by the way."

I cringed in commiseration. I ignored the uncomfortable reference to Elise Walker's flirtation with me. "Oh? How did the dragonlady take it when you absconded with her daughter again?"

"We had a heartless to heartless talk, she and I. I flashed her some fang and threatened her life. I don't think she's gonna be a problem anymore.

Was he crazy?

"You're shittin' me. That was pretty risky, don't you think?"

"There were no witnesses, and I think I scared the holy hell out of her. No one would believe her if she told anyone. For all her bitchy ways, she's still a pretty smart woman. She knows my word is good."

I shook my head. "The size of your cajones is a constant source of amazement to me, Josef."

He smirked and went for a refill. "You're not the first one to tell me that."

About this time, Beth came down the stairs, dressed in one of my button-up shirts and nothing else. It hung to her knees like a very sexy dress.

"Oh," she exclaimed self-consciously, spying Josef in the kitchen. "I didn't know Josef was here."

I was ashamed that my eyes flew immediately to Josef for his reaction to post-coital Beth, but he only looked upon the scene in amusement. She turned to go back upstairs.

"Hi, Beth. Don't mind me. I was about to head out and leave you two kids to…whatever."

She looked from Josef to me, wondering at the change in atmosphere. I nodded in reassurance. She smiled, genuinely happy that we'd resolved things. True to his word, Josef tossed down another quick shot and strolled past us back to the front door. I got up to see him out.

"Say, Buzzwire," Josef called over his shoulder. "You might want to give Simone a call. I'm sure she'd love to catch you up on all the latest gossip."

"Oh, okay. I'll do that. Bye Josef. I'm glad you're back." She gave him a warm smile.

"Me too, Blondie," he said, looking at us both with undisguised affection—of the purely brotherly kind.

"You know, Mick, I once said that no broad was worth breaking up our friendship. I guess I was wrong about that, wasn't I?" I looked back at Beth, who was rooting around in my kitchen cabinets for a midnight snack.

"Yes, you were."

"It's good to finally know where I am on your list of priorities," he said with a grin. He stuck out his hand so I could shake it, but I ignored it, and surprised him with a bear hug. He hesitated a fraction of a second before squeezing me back, then extricated himself in slight embarrassment.

He straightened his collar, trying and failing to look annoyed. "Watch the Armani, will ya?"

I laughed, otherwise I might just have pussied out and cried, because Josef Kostan was still my best friend. Also, I never would have heard the end of it.

"Poker night tomorrow, as usual?" He asked.

"Sure. But I warn you, I'm feeling pretty lucky these days."

"So am I, my friend. So am I." The door clicked shut behind him.

A few minutes later, Beth sat in my lap on the couch, munching on a bag of chocolate chip cookies.

"I wish milk didn't spoil so fast so you could keep some in your fridge. It would be nice to have a big glass to go with these." At least that's what I thought she said, what with her mouth full and all.

"You want me to run to the store for you, Princess?" I asked, only slightly sarcastic, brushing her dropped crumbs off my shirt.

"Don't be like that. I know you would if I asked you to. You'd do anything for me."

"Oh, really? Pretty confident, aren't you?"

She smiled, bits of chocolate sticking endearingly to her front teeth. I chuckled at how cute she was.

"Yep," she replied saucily. I couldn't really think of a good argument, because when you're happily whipped like I was…

I took the bag from her hand and set it on the coffee table, then reached for my glass of whiskey.

"Thanks…you know I can never stop with one." Her sweet tooth was notorious.

"Here, wash it down with this."

She made a face but accepted the drink. It didn't surprise me that whiskey and cookies didn't go together, and she stuck out her tongue at the bizarre combination of flavors. At least the chocolate was gone from her teeth, however. She gave me back the glass and I looked in it before I took a drink, then set it back down in disgust when I saw crumbs floating in it.

"I wish everyone could see just how unladylike you can be sometimes," I said, only half kidding.

Her eyes narrowed to smoldering slits. She maneuvered herself so that she was straddling me, her naked legs even more exposed as her borrowed shirt rode up to her thighs.

"Don't be a hypocrite, St. John. You like that I can be unladylike. As a matter of fact," she said, her teeth nibbling on my earlobe, "I think you like it very much." Her hand moved down to cup the front of my jeans before toying with the zipper. I certainly knew one part of me that liked it very much.

"Don't you want to hear what Josef told me?" I asked, gasping as her hand slipped inside my jeans.

"Later. Right now, I only want one thing from you," she said sexily, touching her nose to mine, her hand still busy a little farther south.

"What's that?" It was getting uh… harder and harder to uh…talk.

"Just a kiss…"

I complied wholeheartedly, then leaned back to look at her, dazed and wanting me. Her wandering hand had found its way beneath my shirt, and she moved toward my mouth again.

"Hey," I whispered, trying not to smile, "you only said you wanted one."

Her eyes sparkled with mischief. "I know, but you're like that bag of cookies, Mick. It starts with just one, then, before I know it, it's just one more, then another, and another…" She punctuated each phrase with a sweet, chocolate-whiskey-tainted kiss.

Taking her by surprise, I suddenly rose to my feet. She wrapped her legs around my waist and held on to my shoulders for dear life as I took the stairs four at a time, the sound of her squeals and laughter ringing in my ears. I got to the bedroom and threw her on the bed, pulling off my jeans and shirt in a vampire minute. I didn't give her time to think before I entered her body with a groan. She gasped in wonder, as I began to move. A half hour later, we lay there, sated and exhausted.

"See what a kiss can lead to," I murmured against her breasts, which, by the way, made excellent pillows.

"Beatings and lost friendships?" she suggested, playing with my hair.

I laughed, because now, thank God, I could.

THE END

A/N: Thanks to all who read and reviewed! I still have a few more stories left in me, if you are interested. I don't have everything worked out for my next one, but add me to your favorites, and you'll know as soon as I post it! (And yes, that was a blatant attempt for attention!)

P.S.: Happy 4th of July to all my American readers!