May 31, 2008
After scaring Mick to death when I fainted yesterday I feel pretty foolish. The worst part of it is that now he’s convinced it was because he bit me. Forget the fact that I hadn’t slept or eaten in 24 hours – no, it was definitely the huge amount of blood he consumed! We both know that it wasn’t more than a few swallows but that’s his story and he’s sticking to it. The problem is, I don’t know if that is really what the problem is or if it’s something else.
He’s trying to communicate better with me and I’m trying to do the same thing with him. It’s hard though, we’re both so used to keeping our own counsel about things, in a relationship situation that it that it makes it so much harder for us. Josh and I, well, we did talk early on but after awhile he became so caught up in his job and I had the same problem, plus my growing feelings for Mick and we just gradually stopped talking about anything personal between us. I’m afraid that I’m just used to that and now it’s really hard to put that in the past and just open up with him.
Still, I’m happier than I ever have been. For the first time ever I feel as if I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be, with who I’m supposed to be with. Something has shifted in my life, definitely for the better and I actually see a future with him. I’ve never experienced that with a man before, not really. I had the typical teenage fantasies of course, but this is different.
That realization of course brings up the whole turning subject, which we haven’t talked about. I know that someday I’ll want to be turned because I am supposed to be with him forever. I’ve only realized that as I spent the time with him and saw what the future will be for us. Of course, there wouldn’t really be one, or much of one if I wasn’t turned. Would he actually turn me? I’m not sure, I’m almost positive he turned Logan and when I asked him the other night if he had ever turned anyone he didn’t have a chance to answer, but I saw the look of relief on his face when Jackson walked into the room.
He hates being a vampire; I seriously get it. He didn’t have a choice in the matter, but I do. You sacrifice a lot when you are turned, I know, but it seems to me that you gain a lot as well. What woman wouldn’t love never having to worry about wrinkles or periods? Get real – if they offered vampirism for sale there’d be a line that stretched from San Francisco to San Diego.
Now, the only problem is how do I convince my reluctant vampire when the time is right?
Later…
OOOOOOOOOOOO
Almost before she hit the floor Mick had scooped her up and laid her gently on the bed. He caressed her cheek and called her name softly, but she didn’t respond. He ran to the bathroom and grabbed a washcloth and ran it under cold water and wrung it out and then took it back to the bedroom and wiped it across her flushed face that had a fine sheen of sweat on it. Her heart was beating normally and he was thankful for that.
Beth moaned softly and opened her eyes to find Mick bent over her on the bed, a worried frown creasing his forehead. She tried to smile at him but it was weak at best she knew. Her own fault she admitted, she should have grabbed something to eat last night.
“Beth, sweetheart are you okay?”
She started to rise so she could rest on her elbows but her head immediately started swimming again and she lay back down and took a deep breath. “Yeah, I’ll be okay. I just need to eat Mick.”
He frowned again and asked, “When did you eat last?”
“Um, yesterday at breakfast I think,” she said, trying to remember. She had had some coffee and maybe a few bites of a bagel. Yes, that was it, the last time she had eaten. “I had some coffee and a bagel for breakfast yesterday.”
“What the hell Beth? You have to stop and eat; I don’t care how busy you are.”
“I started to eat some ice cream last night, but then I gave some to Travis and then you came over and I just forgot Mick. It’s not a big deal,” she finished with a shrug.
“Yeah, you know what? It is a big deal Beth. You passed out and scared me to death! I shouldn’t have bitten you because that just made it worse and for all I know it probably was the cause of it.” He got up from where he had been sitting on the side of the bed and headed out of the door.
Beth sat up in bed this time ignoring the woozy feeling she had and called out, “Where are you going Mick?” He must be really mad if he was leaving her she knew.
“I’m running down to the deli around the corner to get you something to eat. I don’t have anything in the house for you, but that will be fixed later today.” He pointed to her and ordered, “Lay back on that bed and DO NOT get up until I come back!”
She looked up at him, startled by his sharp words and for just a moment he thought he saw her lower lip tremble before she bit down on it. He felt terrible and went back to her and pulled her to him tightly, ashamed of the way he had hurt her. “I’m sorry baby, I’m just really worried. I won’t be long, okay?”
She nodded and as he stared at her beautiful crystal blue eyes his heart melted a little bit more. He tilted her face up to his, his thumbs gently stroking her soft skin and he kissed her before murmuring “I love you.”
“I love you too Mick,” she said as she watched him leave the room. She lay back on the bed and looked around the room, almost as if noticing it for the first time. It was beautiful and she knew that all this hadn’t been here before when she had looked around, the night that she and Audrey stayed here. Which reminded her, she needed to tell Mick that Audrey had called her because she was certainly going to have to tell her something. That thought kept her occupied until Mick came back with her breakfast.
OOOOOOOOOOOO
Even though he’s only had two hours of sleep after investigating the disappearance of Emma and also her husband Jackson he went into the office. He had a report to write and he also knew that the DA was going to be gunning for him and answers today. It wasn’t going to be the best of days, to be sure.
As Ben settled into his office that morning his phone rang and he picked it up answering ‘Ben Talbot’.
“Recognize any of those names on the list?”
“Who the hell is this? We’re going to trace this call you know,” Ben said, anger rippling through him.
“Not likely. You need to check out those names, some of what you discover might be very interesting to you Mr. Talbot!”
Ben listened as the line went dead and knew that they would have no way of tracing the call. He unlocked his desk drawer and pulled out the folder that contained the list again. He did recognize some of the names, but lots of them were historical figures or fictional names. Still at the bottom of the list were a couple that were really puzzling, Josef Kostan and Mick St. John.
Just what did those two have to do with all this?
His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his door and he saw Luca standing there with an angry looking Carl behind him. Damn, what now he wondered. He motioned them in and Luca strode into the room and sat down across from Ben, looking smug.
“What?” Ben demanded. He really wasn’t in the mood for this, whatever ‘this’ was.
“I just wanted you to know that Angel Navarro agreed to look at a line up. We’re going to set it up for the day after tomorrow.” Luca crossed his leg, resting his ankle on his knee and leaned back in the chair looking pleased.
“I thought I told you to drop it? She’s crazy and wouldn’t be credible. I don’t care if she picked Santa Claus out of a line up, I’m not pursuing this any further Fiorentino, it’s a waste of taxpayer money and resources.”
“Well, see Ben, the chief has approved it and the DA, so I guess we will be going forward with it.”
Ben glanced at Carl who was scowling at Luca from the back of the room where he was standing, back to the wall. “Just what evidence are they going on to call for a line up?”
“Right now it’s just an investigation Ben, that’s all we need and you know it. It’s not like it’s an indictment or anything. A person could sure be curious as to why you, who has proven to be a first rate prosecutor and a hound dog for justice is reluctant to pursue this case.” Luca stood up and turned to Carl saying, “Ready to get out of here?”
Carl nodded and pushed off the wall and cast a long glance over his shoulder at where Ben sat behind the desk. His face was angry looking, but behind that anger was something that definitely looked a bit like fear.
OOOOOOOOOOOO
After she ate Mick drove Beth back to her apartment and waited while she stopped in the foyer to open her mailbox and gather her mail.
“Oh, it’s here!” she exclaimed, her voice full of happiness. She ran lightly up the stairs to her floor and unlocked it so they could go in. After laying the other mail on the counter she tore up a small manila envelope and took out a letter and a small plastic case. She opened it up and laughed, “Look Mick!”
She held a small disc in her hand, grinning from ear to ear. He picked it up and read it, smiling to himself.
‘Travis Turner. If I’m lost please return me to…’ with Beth’s name and address.
“Look, it has a little heart on it so he’ll always know I love him!”
Her excitement tickled him and Mick leaned down and placed a kiss on the tip of her nose. “It’s great Beth. So, where is he? I don’t hear him growling at me as usual.”
Beth frowned and looked around the room before calling out, “Travis? Where are you? Are you hungry?” She walked into the kitchen and pulled the bag of cat food out and rattled it, a sure way to get him to come out.
Mick looked around the room and spotted an empty carton of Ben and Jerry’s Cookie Dough ice cream lying half under the couch. It had a few stray cat hairs stuck to the inside of it and Mick hoped that Travis hadn’t OD’d on the stuff. “Uh, Beth? I don’t think he went hungry last night,” showing her the empty carton.
“Oh no! Travis,” she called again and he finally poked his head out of the bedroom. When he saw Mick standing there he ran right back in to the bedroom.
Mick and Beth followed him and laughed when they saw him; his entire head was covered in vanilla ice cream with bits of chocolate cookie dough sticking here and there. His whiskers were so heavily coated they were twice their usual size.
Beth immediately went to him and picked him up, hugging him. She tried to scratch his head but it was stiff and sticky from the ice cream. “Poor little guy! I’m such a bad mommy! Travis, you know I’m going to have to wash the goop off?”
Mick listened and smiled; she talked to him as if he could understand every word she said. He looked happy though so maybe he could.
Beth carried him to the kitchen and sat him on the counter and said to Mick, “Will you get a washcloth out of the bathroom and wet it with warm water please?”
At his nod she continued to stroke Travis’ back and talk soothingly to him. Mick listened from the bathroom.
“Travis, mommy got you a new tag to wear on your collar so if you ever get lost everyone will know who loves and misses you!” She spoke in a soft, sing-songy voice to him and Mick was surprised when he heard Travis respond with a purr.
Mick walked back into the kitchen holding the wet cloth and handed it to Beth, who took it thankfully. “Now Travis, mommy is just going to clean you up a bit, okay? You’ll feel better when you aren’t so sticky,” she told him. He looked at her with love and was fine until the wet cloth touched his fur; Travis then became a cat in motion, leaping from the counter and running wild through the apartment.
“Shit!” Mick exclaimed as Travis literally changed course mid-leap to avoid him. Mick jumped back and watched as the cat ran under the couch, growling his displeasure.
Beth got down on her knees and tried futilely to coax him out but he wouldn’t come. “C’mon Travis, it’ll be over soon, I promise!”
Her only reply was a “meooorrrrrwwww” that definitely sounded like “NO”. More like “Hell NO” Mick thought with amusement. He circled around to the back side of the couch and told Beth, “Reach under there for him and when he runs out the back way I’ll catch him.”
“Do you think you’re fast enough?” she asked then blushed as she realized how stupid that sounded. “Okay, here goes.” She looked under the couch and saw him sitting there, ears laid back and not happy at all. She reached under to try and grab him and he did exactly what Mick thought he would do which was to escape out the back. Unfortunately the escape lead straight into Mick’s arms.
Mick held him close to his body, trying to keep the claws for scratching him and tried talking soothingly to him as he had seen Beth do. “C’mon Travis, it won’t be so bad and it’ll be over soon,” he promised. His answer was another growl.
Beth waited at the counter, armed and ready with the wash cloth. She watched as Mick held Travis at arm’s length and stared at him quietly for a moment. Travis seemed hypnotized by it and Mick continued to talk quietly to him. “That’s it Travis, it’s not so bad now is it? You’re going to be a good boy so Beth can clean you up now aren’t you?”
Travis lay down on the counter and let Beth wipe his head; it wasn’t easy to get some of the bits of cookie off of his whiskers in particular as they seemed cemented on. Through it all Travis lay still; Mick continued to pet his back and talk softly to him until Beth had 99% of it off of him. Mick picked Travis up while Beth rinsed the wash cloth and he scratched Travis’ cheeks, smiling when Travis began to purr.
You and I have a lot in common Travis he thought.
OOOOOOOOOOOO
Mick decided to run some errands, among them go to the grocery store for food and they decided he would stop back by later and pick Beth up to go back to his place. She was thrilled and excited and very tired, but was still functioning on the high emotions that filled her up. Mick’s love was an amazing thing and she wanted to spend much more time with him. She was unsure of what to do about Travis though, she didn’t want to leave him by himself but she didn’t know how Mick would feel about Travis and all his accoutrements staying at his place some of the time. By the time that Mick had left Travis had decided that he loved him and Beth couldn’t help but wonder what that was about.
After she got some things together for her to bring for a day or two she curled up on the bed with Travis tucked securely into the bended crook of her arm. She stroked his soft kitty fur and listened to him purr and remembered the similar sound that Mick had made earlier in the morning. It really did sound like a purr and it had thrilled her for some reason; maybe because she knew that it was a happy, satisfied sound. Her mind drifted to making love with him and she felt at peace, in a way she hadn’t felt in years.
How do you just know when something is right; when you are doing the thing that you know you are meant to do she wondered. This was her destiny but what made her know it exactly? She was positive that Mick was her destiny; every breath she took when he was around felt as if she was breathing him in, entwining him in her heart and soul. It was comforting and safe in his arms and it set her on fire too. She had never experienced love like that before. Every inch of her skin burned for him, ached for him and her heart and head were awash in the passion that was Mick.
She drifted to sleep, thinking of her sexy vampire and didn’t wake up for two hours when her phone rang. She decided she had better answer it because it could be Mick so she grabbed it off the night table and mumbled hello into it.
“Beth?” the voice said, a bit unsure. “Bethy?”
Beth sat up on the bed, knowing immediately who the caller was. “Robbi? Where are you?” she asked, excitement bubbling in her voice.
“Hey Bethy, we’re back in Honolulu! But we are heading back to Long Beach next week and we’re coming up to see you guys. How about a nice long girl’s weekend in two weeks?”
“YES!” Beth screamed into the phone. “Absolutely. I’ll call Lani and I’ll bet we can stay at the beach house. We haven’t all been together in so many years Robbi. I can’t wait.”
“Me either. I love what I do in my life Beth but I miss you guys so much. You think it will be okay with Lani?”
“I know she’ll love it. How about I send you an email when we get it all set up?”
“That sounds wonderful. Kevin and Brianna will be staying with his brother in San Diego so it’s just us girls!”
They chatted for a few more minutes and as Beth hung up she heard someone at her front door. Figuring that it was Mick she ran to it and threw it open, laughing because she was so happy.
The smile quickly faded from her face as she saw who her visitors were. She knew this couldn’t be good.
To be continued…
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