Chapter 14

Consequences

Intro Song: Bed of Lies, Matchbox 20

Author's note: Some readers might think 'why should these 2 ever fight'? I really want to write Mick & Beth as a realistic couple though – which means everything between them is not always going to be rainbows and lollipops. Their world is full of danger and the potential for missteps and misunderstandings – and no one is perfect, not even these two…

"Mick!" Beth almost screamed in surprise as she came face-to-face with the angry vampire. "I didn't see you there!" The look on his face unnerved her. "So…how did your meeting go?" she asked uneasily, refusing to meet his eyes.

"What meeting would you be referring to, Beth?" His voice was even and controlled, but his eyes flashed sparks at her.

Crap! Now that she'd said it, was she even supposed to know about the meeting with Ben and Carl? I don't think so, Beth…you're in trouble now. Everything about him radiated anger - held in check, but aimed at her. Still, she hoped that she could deflect it somehow. "I– I don't think you told me. I just assumed you had client meetings." Stay calm.

He snorted in disgust. "Deviousness doesn't become you - and you aren't that good at it. I hope that's because you don't get much practice at it. But since you asked, I had a meeting with Talbot and Carl and it went fine. But then, you knew about it, didn't you? My meeting with Josef however... that was a little different."

Beth's already pale skin turned alabaster, except for her cheeks which were now alarmingly red. "Josef?! What... what's going on with him now?"

He leaned up against the wall, crossing his long legs at the ankle while he watched her struggle with herself, the rapid thud of her heart pounding steadily in his ears.

"Why don't you tell me? After all, you went to see him today too."

Beth opened her mouth to protest. Try as she might, words would not form.

He leaned forward. "What's that, Beth? Can't hear you."

"Look, Mick," she began, "I... I just wanted his advice... I needed to... to talk." Her excuse sounded weak, even to her own ears.

"You needed to talk," he repeated icily. "It appears to me more like you needed to conspire."

"What did you say?!" Now she was starting to get angry.

"Conspire, Beth. You know the meaning of that word so why don't you tell me if it's appropriate. Sure feels like it to me because I walked into a hornet's nest at Josef's today – one that you stirred up!"

"What are you talking about?!" she demanded. "What 'ambush'?!"

"Do not make this worse by pretending that you don't know what I'm talking about! It's about my going to San Diego to work a case with Carl and you know it! "

Her purse dropped to the floor. OK, if it's a fight he wants… She jabbed her fists on her hips in indignation. "So it's an ambush now when someone disagrees with you? Tries to talk some sense into you?!"

"No, it's an ambush when the person who is supposed to be on my side goes behind my back to my friend instead of coming to me. Sound familiar?" Mick could feel his temper rising and fought to control it, but every time he thought of the scene at Josef's that afternoon, he got mad all over again.

Beth was not backing down. "I went to your friend because you actually seem to listen to him, unlike me, whom you completely dismiss!"

"I don't dismiss you. But you have to accept that we may not always agree. You didn't even give me a chance though. You got hold of information and you went right to Josef with it. Not to me." He edged away from the wall, holding himself under control, his arms still tightly folded across his chest.

The criticism stung. Because he's right… But she couldn't tell him that she had to go to Kostan because the Dean Foster photos resurfaced so… "Look, I went to Josef because somehow he seems able to get through all those layers of fat between your ears and actually make you listen! Me, you treat like a child."

" Just because I knew you as a child doesn't mean I think of you as one! Mature adults work out their differences together. I don't want Josef in the middle of our lives any more than he already is. Period. End of story."" He finally unfolded his arms, waving them to emphasize his point.

"What?!" She closed in on him, her index finger right in front of his face. "End of story?! I'm sorry, but I thought this was an equal relationship. That means that you need to hear me out at least! I don't try to tell you what to do, you know that. But I'm not a limp noodle either. You dismiss my concerns as if they were nothing because you don't agree. That's not OK!" She punctuated the last sentence with a stab at his chest.

Mick couldn't help it. He reached out and grabbed the offending finger, refusing to let go when she tugged on it.

"Dammit, Beth, of course I listen to what you have to say – now more than ever! But, that doesn't mean I'm going to always do what you say or what you want! I get why you are concerned, but I'm not going to stay here and hide under the bed just to be safe!" He could hear his voice getting louder the more he talked, but he felt helpless to control it. Damn, she was making him mad!

His touch tempered her anger, but did nothing for her anxiety. She took a deep breath to calm herself and tried again. Somehow she had to get through to him… "I know who I'm with, Mick. I know you're never going to play it safe, or hide. And we are both independent – and stubborn. But dammit, you do have to use common sense. You're going to a desert, at Talbot's urging. When none of us trust him. With Carl in tow. It makes no sense! Hell, why don't you just make this quick and go to a tanning salon?! Then I won't have to wonder what's happening to you!" She set her jaw. If it was a fight he wanted, she was not going to disappoint. Or back down.

She's just worried about me, she doesn't mean to interfere. Mick kept telling himself that, over and over while he tried to keep himself under control. It wasn't working. "Beth, for the last time, I'm not doing this stupidly or randomly. I need to go - it's my job, like it or not. You don't know everything about it…" I'm going so you don't have to. Not for the world would he let her know that, though.

She shook her head vehemently. "I know more than you think! And it's not your job... Josef didn't tell me–" She halted mid-sentence, realizing that those words were a mistake as soon as they fell out of her mouth.

"Oh! So, now it's all coming back to you, huh?" He towered over her as he stepped forward and glared down into her face. "Care to share the conversation, Beth? Just in case I didn't get all the facts straight from Josef when he reamed me out…?"

Beth didn't know whether to laugh or cry, though she did add 'staking Josef' to the top of her mental to-do list.

Mick took advantage of the silence to push harder. "Come on, I'm anxious to hear it."

She silently counted to ten, keeping in mind that she was standing on shaky ground when it came to her having asked Josef to interfere on this issue. "I did go to talk to Josef because of what I found out about the San Diego case today," she admitted. "I'm not proud of it, but I felt like I had no other option. I mean, ash, Mick? Decapitations?! The HEM Brotherhood?! You remember them, don't you - the ones who murdered Josh?! I was scared out of my mind! And it was clear that you were considering getting involved since you hadn't even told me all this. So... I went to talk to Josef because I didn't know what else to do!"

"You come to me, Beth!" This time, Mick stabbed his own finger toward his chest for emphasis. "That's what you do. That's what couples do - they talk to one another. And, yes, I know about all that. That's exactly why I have to go! I need to find out if this involves vampires. It's my job," he repeated. He suddenly realized he was still grasping her forefinger and released it reluctantly.

"That's not what Josef seems to think. He was pretty shocked that you were thinking about going. He said you knew it wasn't in your jurisdiction and it would be dangerous, especially since it involves cops. He said he'd talk to you. There have to be other ways to handle this so that you don't have to be involved for once. It seems like it's always you involved in these dangerous cases, Mick! Why does it always have to be you?"

"Josef and I did talk about this when I went there - after he jumped me about the whole thing and after he confessed that you had been there, bending his ear." He softened his tone, pleading with her now. "Beth, listen. It is my job, and like it or not, I need to do it. I'm tasked with keeping the vampire community safe here. That's part of the deal. That means I have to go to find out what's happening down there, especially after what happened in New York. Josef knows that - regardless of what he said to you."

Seeing her expression change, the vampire continued. "But, you need to understand something - you can not go running to Josef anytime you disagree with me. Not about this - and not about anything else. This is our relationship and it's not a three-way! Besides, those never work out," he added, in a lame attempt at a joke.

Those comments raised her ire. Bad enough that she was in a relationship where she couldn't even talk to her dearest friends openly about him. If her acquaintances in the vampire community were off limits too, who could she talk to? "I did not go running to Josef. I do not always talk to him. And you do not get to tell me whom I can and cannot talk to!" The finger was back, almost touching his nose. "I did what I did to try to protect you!"

He grabbed the offensive digit again. "Beth, I swear to god, keep that fucking finger out of my face! And, yes, I do get to say who you can and cannot talk to - when it has to do with my job and vampire business, I do!" He added, hoping to placate her, "When it comes to your personal business, I wouldn't presume to tell you what to do. You know that."

"Oh, don't like that finger do you?" she retorted, ignoring his attempt at reasonableness. She used her free hand to extend her middle digit. "This better?!"

Mick fought to maintain his composure as he took in the image of what looked like an angry Kewpie doll flipping him off, her cheeks pink with outrage. Unfortunately, he lost that battle, laughing out loud, despite his anger. He couldn't help it, even though he knew he would pay dearly for it. "Um, no." He loosened his hold again on her finger and tried to lighten the mood. "Here you go, I actually prefer this one."

His laughter only angered her further. "You think this is funny?! You are an asshole!" she gritted through her teeth, her blue eyes shooting sparks of anger. That wasn't actually true but she was outraged that he didn't seem to understand how worried she was for him.

This latest barrage took all his good intentions for maintaining calm and effectively threw them out the window.

"ME?! I'M the fucking asshole?! ME?! WHO went behind my back to Josef because she didn't like the way I was running my life?!" He was shouting now, leaning closer to her face as he countered her accusations with his own.

"You still don't get it do you?! I'm trying to make sure you have a life! I don't want you to end up like Josh! I won't lose you too, Mick. Not without a fight." The fury and frustration in her voice surprised even her.

Mick rocked back on his heels, all anger gone. So that was what this was really all about. You are a royal jerk. She had to watch Josh die, remember? He took a deep breath and started over.

"Beth, I'm so sorry. I get it now, I do." His voice was tender. Grabbing her shoulders, he forced her to stop when she made a move to turn away. "I love you, you know that. And I'm so sorry that I didn't think enough about how this would land with you after– after Josh. I respect your opinions, always have. And, despite what you might think, I do listen to them. I don't want to turn this into the fight of the century here but I am not always going to be able to play it safe. I don't have that luxury and you need to understand that. " He added sorrowfully, "I'm sorry as hell about Josh. But I'm not him, Beth. HEM doesn't pose the same threat to me." He was sorely tempted to tell her that he'd taken care of Tajeda, but he wasn't proud of how savagely he'd disposed of the creep.

Her silence, so unlike her, made him uneasy. Their life together was bound to be full of complications like this. They had to find a way to deal with the differences between a vampire's world and a human's, or it would tear them apart. "Look at me." He put his finger under her chin, forcing her gaze up to meet his. "If I feel like I have to do this…if I went...would you stop loving me?" His eyes searched hers, demanding an answer.

Beth exhaled shakily, conceding defeat. Her answer was written in her face. "Damn you," she said in a tone that really meant 'I love you'.

If he had learned nothing else in his 85 years on the planet, Mick St. John had learned when to shut up in an argument with a woman. He bent down and kissed her hungrily, holding onto her so she couldn't retreat.

Breaking away, she swore again, "Damn you, Mick St. John. You damn stubborn Irishman!"

"Hey, watch your language! You'll have to go to confession!" He knew she was still angry - truth be told, so was he, but he didn't want to fight. Not with her. She was his lifeline. He wrapped his arms around her. "Beth, I hate fighting with you. But, you have to stop meddling in my business. I don't know how else to say it."

Beth took umbrage at that. "I'm not meddling, I just care about you!" On that she would not back down.

"No, it isn't meddling for you to care; I love that you care." He paused and lowered his head to nuzzle her neck for a moment, breathing in her scent before continuing. "Worrying about me going is caring. But going to Josef to coerce him to try to talk me out of going is meddling. You have to promise me that you won't go to him behind my back again." He pulled away from her slightly so that he could look into her eyes. "Promise me, Beth. It's important. I need to know I can trust you."

Tense moments of silence covered the room like a pall. The hairs on the back of Beth's neck were literally standing on end as she thought about the dangers that Mick could be facing. But angry and apprehensive as she was, Beth recognized the truth in his words. Finally, she sighed heavily and nodded. "You're right, I was meddling – and I promise I won't do that again. Of course, you can trust me." Can he, Beth? What will happen if he ever finds out what you and Josef did to Dean Foster? She didn't want to think about that.

"Thank you," Mick said simply. There was no gloating in his tone. Beth was an insanely curious person, and could be stubborn as hell, but he understood that what was driving her here was concern for his well-being. He looked down at her with a sly grin. "So, is this when we get to have hot make-up sex?"

Beth played along. "Gee, I don't know…I mean, have we really stopped fighting…?"

"Why don't we find out?" he leered, grabbing her and throwing her over his shoulder. Before she could draw a breath, he was bounding up the stairs, two and three at a time.

"Mick! Put me down! Stop! Heel!" Beth was laughing so hard by the time she got the last word out, she couldn't catch her breath.

Ignoring her cries, he pushed open the door to the bedroom and slid her off his shoulder. Breathing heavily, the two stared at each other for a long moment, then Mick grabbed her and pressed his lips against hers, losing himself in the feel of her mouth under his. She responded by grasping double handfuls of his hair to hold his face close, her kiss becoming as insistent and urgent as his.

The vampire finally broke away despite Beth's groan of protest. He looked long and hard into her eyes and, finding what he sought there, suddenly picked her up and tossed her through the air to land on the silken bedspread.

Beth had only enough time to draw a startled breath before he was demonstrating the "sexy vampire jumping thing" she loved, flying through the air to land next to her on the king-size bed. He started unbuttoning her shirt, but first one, then another button popped off under his insistent pressure until he finally pulled it off her and flung it in a corner.

"Hey! I like that shirt!"

Mick was on her before she could issue more than a token protest at this violation of her clothing, covering her mouth with his. Pressing her down onto the bed with the force of his kiss, sweeping her up in his passion until she surrendered to it, and tried to pull him down on top of her. He resisted, instead reaching down to work her skirt down over her hips, making a show of removing it without inflicting damage to the item. "Was that better?" he asked with a wicked grin. "Don't want to ruin all of your clothes…" With a flip of his arm, the skirt followed the shirt into the corner, and he gazed down at her, clad only in her underwear. He frowned suddenly, sitting back on his heels and shaking his head.

"What's the matter?" Beth propped herself up on her elbows. Dammit! Now what?

He considered her for a moment, his head cocked to one side. Then he pronounced, "Still too many clothes!" His hand darted forward, flipping her bra off so suddenly that she could barely follow his motions. "There! Much better!"

"I don't know about that!" One of her prized Stella McCartney pieces was now in a ball next to her ruined shirt. "That bra had better still be in one piece!"

"Well, if it's not, maybe you could take it back and tell them it was defective." He kept a straight face with difficulty as he looked at her lying beneath him.

"Maybe you're defective!" she countered archly, continuing the game. "What's the matter, stud? It's taking you a long time to get down to it..."

"Maybe you need to learn patience, my dear." Mick dropped down beside her, stopping to kiss her along the line of her underwear. You can do this without vamping, he told himself over and over again. The scent and feel of her against his face was making that control a challenge, despite his words. He ran one fingertip down the inside of her thigh, enjoying the sound of her heavy breathing.

"And maybe you're still wearing too many clothes." The smile tugged at his lips as his fingers tugged at her panties. The silken underwear didn't make it to the corner where the rest of Beth's clothes lay. Instead, it fluttered to the ground at the foot of the bed like an abandoned flag. "There. Much better."

Now it was a decidedly uneven contest, her naked body pressing against his fully-clothed one. She couldn't help herself; she ground her pelvis against his erection through his clothes. Pushing her hands underneath his cashmere sweater to dance her fingers down his spine and across the taut muscles of his back, she drew him even closer, completely unaware that she was moaning. Her lips felt bruised from the pressure of his insistent mouth and she loved the feeling, propping herself up on her elbows to chase his mouth with hers when he made to pull back. He pushed her back down, his hands on her shoulders before allowing them to slide down over her breasts. "Damn you, Mick," she whispered again, and there was no mistaking the love - and lust - in her voice.

He responded by peeling off his sweater before lowering himself down on the bed next to her.

"Get your pants off," she choked out, forcing her hands down between them to grab at his belt.

"Uh-uh," Mick breathed into her ear. "Not until you answer me."

"Answer you?" She was bewildered for a moment. Then she remembered his question. She propped herself up on her elbows again so that she could look into his eyes and emphasize her words. "I'm still mad at you – and worried about you – but there is nothing you could do that would make me stop loving you. Nothing. I could never stop loving you." She was adamant.

"Well, that's saying something coming from the woman who said she'd stopped using the word 'never'." Mick teased. He wanted to believe her – with all his heart and soul, he wanted to believe her. He knew that Beth meant her words, but his many years had taught him that such certainties could be difficult, if not impossible, to honor. "I hope I can make it easy for you to keep that promise," he said quietly, his mood turning serious.

"Just don't get yourself killed. Now get those pants off." Her voice was husky.

Mick took that as a signal that their fight was truly over, intense as it had been. He jumped up, stripping quickly, then eased himself down on top of her. He touched her face tenderly with his fingertips, then began again to kiss her, first lightly, barely touching his lips to hers, then more insistently, pressing her into the soft mattress. Running his mouth and tongue down her neck, he found himself in the throes of an internal fight instead of one with Beth. The odd, slightly itchy, sensation that accompanied his fangs descending swept over him. It was a feeling he'd never really gotten used to. He grazed her pale, delicate skin with them, torturing himself.

Beth realized what was happening and pushed herself against him, turning her head to offer her throat.

Mick groaned, remembering the deliciousness of her blood when he had fed on her, the feel of it coursing through his veins. Almost frantically, he jerked back, the sudden movement catching the tip of one of his fangs on the soft skin of her neck. He stared at the drop of blood that appeared, nostrils flaring, smelling it, wanting it...

"Go ahead, Mick." she whispered, making no attempt to wipe the blood from her throat. The invitation was clear.

"No Beth, I can't!" He sat up, almost lunging away from her. "Not now. I- I'm just not ready." He sat back, looking for all the world like a little boy who'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "I'm sorry, I just can't." He looked down at her, his eyes pleading for her understanding.

Beth sat up and moved closer to him, her face so near his that their lips almost touched. "It's ok to need this," she whispered.

"No," he corrected. "I don't need it... I want it - and that's a big difference, Beth. That's what makes it dangerous. It's very different than the desert – or even when we were in the car after the Monaghan break-in. I'm not sure I can control that want yet – and, until I am sure, I'm not going to do it. "

She knew that tone well. There would be no more discussion of that particular point of contention, at least not today.

He reached out to touch her cheek, his hand traveling down to rest above her left breast. "I know you have a big heart, Beth. I know you love me. Trust me when I say that what's best is to wait until I'm sure I'm ready." His eyes searched hers, looking for signs of understanding, or, failing that, at least acceptance.

Beth gave in. "Of course, Mick. You tell me when you're ready." She tried to suppress her frustration. It wasn't even so much that she lusted after the sensation of his feeding, enticing as that was. It was the distance between them that his reluctance created. Once again, he had retreated back into himself. She fretted that she would never really know him. But, ultimately, she knew he was doing what he thought was right. She had no choice – she had to respect and accept his judgment, or that, too, would come between them.

He leaned in and kissed her gently on the forehead. "I'm trying, I really am, Beth - just like you are."

"I'm sorry for upsetting you, Mick - that's the last thing I want to do. I do want to understand you though – and I want you to understand that I'm not afraid of being with a vampire and there's nothing about you that makes me fearful or that I find offensive."

He knew this issue was far from settled; rather, once again, it was to be set aside, high on a shelf, like poison kept out of the reach of children. It would be left there, in plain sight, waiting to be dealt with. "You didn't upset me. I just...I want..." He stopped for a long moment, casting about for the right words. "I want things to be right for us. I'm so much in love with you that it scares me. I want us to getthis right."

"I feel the same way." Her voice was soft. "We'll take things as slowly as you need to. I guess we'll just have to settle for plain old fantastic sex." She sighed theatrically, rolling her eyes in mock dismay. "And I'll just have to take orgasms any way I can get them."

Mick quirked an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Maybe we'll have that make-up sex instead, then. I hear it's pretty great…" With a growl, he grabbed her by the shoulders, pushing her back down on the bed and pressing against her again.

"If you insist!" Her smile left little room for doubt; vampire at play was a nice compromise.

I love you," Mick breathed as he adjusted himself to her, supporting his weight on his arms so he could watch her face.

Beth forced down her dread over what was ahead, and willed herself to just be with him.

End song: Borrowed Time, A Fine Frenzy