This is the last chapter. Thank you all for reading the fic that ended up far longer than I ever intended, and I really do appreciate the wonderful feedback. - Laurelin

--

Mick closed the door and sat down on the bed, settling Beth down onto his legs then pulling her up so her back was against his chest. She rested back against him immediately and waited.

"Are you hungry, Beth?" Mick asked carefully. Since she was finally aware of what was going on, she might not love the idea of drinking blood when she wasn't hungry enough for the bloodlust to supersede any initial squeamishness.

"Maybe a little bit, but I know that I'm supposed to drink from you now. I want to do this right, Mick. I don't want to be afraid anymore."

"You never have to be afraid of me, Beth, never." He gave her a reassuring hug and kissed the side of her neck lightly, drawing a moan from her. "So you don't mind the biting then, do you?" Mick was fairly certain he already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear her say it so there would be no guilt on his part when the vampire in him came out to play. He didn't want to hold back with her and pretend to be human when he wasn't, and he had no more excuses. She was a vampire and he wasn't going to hurt her… well, not in any way that wouldn't quickly heal. He started to feel her stiffen but returned to kissing her neck, this time with more intensity and the barest scrape of his teeth against her skin. Her moan of pleasure made it clear that it was exciting to her as much as it was to Mick, and he knew he had his answer. "If I'd only known sooner," he said as he kissed her where his teeth had been.

Turning her around so that she was face to face with him, he stroked her cheek gently. "This is where our future begins, right here, right now. Anything we've done before this moment is the past, and speaking for myself only, is forgiven completely. This beginning starts fresh. So if you can forgive me for hating what I am so much, for using it as an excuse to keep you at arm's length… I just loved you so much and I thought you deserved better than me. But now, here we are, and I just want you to know how happy I am to be with you, that I could be the one to turn you, and that I love you, Beth."

"I love you too, Mick. And yes," she said as she kissed the side of his neck, mimicking his earlier actions, "I can forgive you for anything, but please, Mick. I'm tired of waiting for you to make love to me."

He enjoyed the feel of her lips for a moment longer before turning both of them over so that she was underneath him. He pressed his lips to hers, memorizing every last part of them before seeking entrance into her mouth, which she granted immediately. He ran his tongue over each of her two delicate but razor-sharp fangs, knowing that there was a fairly good chance she would bite down, but he wanted know every part of her intimately. And he wanted to show her that it didn't matter that she was a vampire, he loved all of her, vampire and human parts alike. She had shown him that loving her meant not hating what he was.

Beth's fingers tried to undo the buttons on his shirt but she was quickly frustrated and decided that instead of waiting for Mick to pull it off himself, she would remove it for him. The sound and feel of the fabric ripping against his chest made Mick growl low in his throat, for the vamp in him enjoyed that variety of sex. But he pushed it back down, determined that their first time together would be slower and more gently done. The last thing I want now is for her to get spooked again.

Beth's vampire did not agree with this plan in the least. She loved the feel of the material ripping so easily in her hands and the effect it was apparently having on Mick. Once the shreds of his shirt were off his shoulders, she moved on to trying to open the button on his pants, hoping for an even greater reaction from him.

"Slow down, Beth. We have time," he whispered, his breath caressing her ear while his fingertips brushed lightly up the side of her left breast.

"I don't want time. I want to feel you inside me, Mick." She enveloped one of his nipples in her mouth and sucked hard, then ran her new fangs up and down over the sensitive tips. He closed his eyes and let her do as she wanted for a moment because the feel her teeth all over his chest and down lower to just above his waistband was better than he could have imagined and he had denied himself such pleasures with a woman for decades. She only stopped because Mick's fingers in her hair gently pulled her back up so he could kiss her deeply and have his own turn. Beth's shirt was pulled out of her jeans quickly and he ran his hands up the bare skin of her sides and back as he pushed it up and off of her, to be discarded over the side of the bed immediately. Her bra soon followed and Mick gazed down on her with a look of complete wonderment. He'd seen her without her clothes twice now, but it was entirely different to see her laying there beneath him, arching up into his hands and begging with her body to be touched. He didn't make her wait.

The slightly calloused feel of his hands on the soft skin of her breasts drew a moan from her that was half pleasure and half encouragement for more. After small licks with his tongue everywhere but her nipples, he finally drew one into his mouth and added pressure as Beth held his head there with her hands. "More, harder," she begged him and he complied, taking each nipple in turn between his teeth and pulling on them until she moaned. He could smell how aroused she was and he knew it was entirely because of him, that she wanted him badly.

Mick eased her jeans and underwear off, wanting to feel the proof of her desire and he wasn't disappointed. She was slick with wetness and she smelled like heaven as he breathed in her scent. Beth was lightly biting along his lower jaw over to his ear and down the side of his neck, causing him to shudder in anticipation while making him harder than he thought possible. Suddenly unwilling to wait any longer, Beth half ripped, half pulled his pants over his hips and down, finally allowing her hands to grip him firmly for a second before sliding up and down. The combination of his years of pent-up desire for her and the feel of her soft hand against him was too much and he no longer cared about going slowly. He slid two fingers into her while his thumb made small circles over her clit until she growled low in her throat and arched her hips up into his hand. Mick slid her legs apart further with his knees and teased her entrance while he pulled her hands away and up to his lips to lay a small kiss across each knuckle.

"Please," she begged as she squirmed below him, desperately trying to coax him into her, but he enjoyed making her wait for a few more seconds before he finally sank all the way into her with one thrust. Mick stayed motionless, letting her adjust to his size before starting a rhythm of sliding almost all the way out, then back into her hard. Beth wrapped her legs around him and gasped each time he filled her, and Mick had never seen anything sexier in his life than the look on her face at that moment. She had totally given herself over to the pleasure while encouraging him to go faster, harder, anything to make her come. His fangs extended and his eyes paled; the vampire had come out to play.

He wrapped his arms around her back and up to her shoulders, pulling her down onto him with each thrust of his hips, as he whispered in her ear, "It's ok to bite and drink, Beth, whenever you want. Don't hold back," and he quickened his pace while lowering his head to her neck, feeling the blood just below the surface. Maybe because he already had her blood in his veins, he knew she was close and ground his hips against her with each deep push into her wetness as she moaned his name and pleaded for more.

Guiding her head towards his neck without letting up on his pace, he could feel her need increase when she sensed the blood beneath his skin. As she came she bit down hard and fast, pulling the blood out into her mouth forcefully, balancing him on the brink between pleasure and pain. The feel of her fangs, her bite, hearing his child swallowing his blood combined with the spasms of the muscles that enveloped his cock had him coming right after her. As he bit down into the soft skin of her throat, he could taste that their blood had combined in her veins much as their bodies had. The taste of her pleasure as she continued to come prolonged their shared ecstasy for so long that both collapsed exhausted into each other's arms when it was over.

Beth murmured sleepily to him, "I'm so tired now, Mick."

He smiled at her before picking her up in his arms, her eyes closed and her body relaxed. "Me, too. A few hours of sleep be good for both of us." He carried her over to the new freezer, lifted the lid, and stepped in, settling himself down on his back with Beth's head on his chest. She was completely motionless, no sign of breathing or heartbeat, something Mick decided would take a few days to get used to, but he wouldn't have traded the last hour with her for anything in the world. He finally had his Beth right where he wanted her, he thought as he closed his eyes and drifted off into a dreamless sleep. He didn't need to dream anymore, everything he ever wanted was right there in his arms.