Thank you all for the nice reviews; hope you enjoy this chapter as well! =)
Oh as for the attacker, after thinking it a lot I made my mind…
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He had been so close…
So close that he could still feel her perfume dancing around him, the alluring scent transporting him back to a place where there was no pain… where his body was whole again and not a big pile of nothing laying on the hard floor of some hotel room, victim of a brutal beating by a jealous lover and his lackeys.
They had done a number on him, he didn't need to take a look at his face to know the damage they had done… he could feel it in his flesh, in his bones and even in his very soul.
They had had punched him, kicked him, chocked him… they had done every imaginable thing to his body, they had tried to break his spirit… but that didn't matter because he almost had her and that was the only recurring thought in his mind. He might be a broken man, but he almost had her.
So it was true that every inch of his body was aching, throbbing in protest at the brutal handling of those three tools; it was true that he could barely move a muscle or open his eyes, but the pain and discomfort was secondary, not important at the moment. He could make it all fade away if he concentrated hard enough… if he channelized his mind back to the moment where he almost had her.
Almost…
But she slipped away from his grasp; he couldn't keep her and now his moment was gone.
Oh but the moment that he had was enough to entertain his mind in this agonizing time; his moment was brief but he made the most out of it.
She had finally been in his arms, like he had always dreamed. Her delicate frame so close to him that he could still feel the phantom of her with him, her body mending perfectly with his as far as clothes would allow.
Then there was the memory of her mouth, the lingering feeling of her lips on his… just the thought of the sweet taste of her was enough to make him drunk with memories.
If only he could have her now… if he could touch her skin once more, or feel her soft platinum hair between his fingers… if only she wouldn't have gotten away.
But she did get away, and that she wasn't with him at the moment was his fault. He had been so wrapped up in her, in the way her body wriggled against him, in the way her skin felt underneath the soft fabric of her panties that when her knee connected to his groin he had no choice but to let her go.
She took him by surprise and the stab of pain that she inflicted on him didn't help matters… he lost control for a minute and that had been the downfall of him.
When he got hold of himself once again he tried to fix his mistake and grabbed her once more, it was too late, because even when he didn't realize it at the time the elevator was once again moving.
But at the time he didn't know that, what he knew was that she had kicked him to get away… that even when he was trying his best to be gentle she was refusing him! That angered him, it shamed him now but his anger had led him to hit her pretty face.
But that moment of blind rage was short lived, as soon as he did that terrible thing he had regretted it… he tried to apologize but she sprung forward and started to hit him. He had to control her so he slammed her against the door, claiming her lips forcefully as she tried to get away once more.
This time he immobilized her, not wanting to give her room to repeat her little act. But then, when his hands found their way underneath her dress and he was once again in control of the situation the elevator jerked and the doors began to open…
"Get up fuckface!"
He felt another one of those excruciating kicks at his ribs; he was pretty much sure there was something broken there, the pain was so intense that he was hardly breathing.
"Didn't you hear me?"
A pair of hands picked him up and he tried to open his eyes… in was in vain, only his left eye responded to him.
It was T.J., that fucking asshole was the one that started it all… he had given him the first punch and soon after he was followed by Dolph and then by the scum of Phil.
Phil, even the thought of him made his blood boil with anger. He still couldn't believe that a woman like Maryse was with him.
She was a Goddess and he nothing more than a tool… she deserved much better than that, someone who treated her like a queen. If he could only see her once more and make amends with her… he hadn't meant to hit her.
"Do you know what they do to men like you in prison?" T.J. asked but he didn't respond, he was trying to escape reality and go back to the memory of her.
"He will find out soon; the police is on its way and when they arrive they will take you with them and put your sorry ass behind bars"
He tried to laugh at Dolph's words, but the simple attempt hurt him to no end, so he just limited to speak. "What do you think the police is going to say when I tell them what you three did to me…"
Another punch to the gut and he was doubling over in pain, the wind knocked out of him.
"You got nothing Striker, you are lucky Phil didn't kill you, and after the police hear Maryse's testimony you can kiss your freedom goodbye"
He snarled. "My name is not Striker…"
"Who cares what your name is? You are a nobody, Striker" Dolph said and then he was dropped back to the floor. He went down with a thud, his legs unable to support him and as he hit the floor he closed his good eye again.
He wasn't going to listen to those pricks, he was somebody, he was a wrestler, an announcer… he was Matt Kaye and he wasn't going to jail because he had done nothing.
But if he was someone how come that she didn't know his name? When she was on Smackdown they use to see each other all the time… at least he saw her all the time… so close and yet so far.
But tonight he had been close in all senses… he couldn't wait until he saw her again, until she would be in his arms again.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Phil couldn't help but to feel a sense of awkwardness take over him as he put his clothes back on; he tried to push the feeling away only for it to come back with a vengeance, growing stronger, gnawing deeper.
The Chicago native wasn't used to let his actions be guided by wild impulses, but ever since he walked out of his hotel room earlier that night that's exactly what he had been doing.
He had just allowed the events of the night to lead his way and then he followed without protest, without thinking. And now that raw feelings dwindled down and passions where satisfied he wondered if he had done the right thing.
Sure, at the time it seemed like the right thing to do, it felt right; but once again he wasn't thinking clearly at the moment…
But how could he say no to her? How could he deny her anything when he had been the one who put her in that situation? Looking back at that point, she could have asked him anything and he would have no choice but to comply.
What he did he did for her so he couldn't regret what happened… not if he had taken some of her worries away, not if he had erased memories that had no right to torment her.
So there was that, but he had to admit that his reasons had not been entirely altruistic; sure, if he could help take some of her pain and bad memories out of her mind he would do it without hesitating… but there was also a part of him that succumbed to temptation by pure desire.
Maryse was a beautiful woman and he'd be lying if he said he hadn't wanted her or that he hadn't taken pleasure in what just happened… but what made the situation awkward were the circumstances.
After all she has been assaulted not so long ago, she was still vulnerable and shaken up by the whole thing… and as he put his shirt back on he wondered if he hadn't acted wrong, if he hadn't taken advantage of her…
He heard a knock at the door but instead of moving his gaze toward it he looked at the shower. Maryse had gotten in there a few minutes ago and still hadn't go out, but because whoever was at the other side of the door was still knocking he walked in that direction and opened it just enough to see who it was.
It was Natalya. "Phil, please don't tell me she's in the shower again. It took me an eternity to get her out of there"
Phil ran his fingers through his black hair. "I'll take care of that" He responded with a sigh, wondering once again if he had done the right thing… somehow he was thinking no.
But if it was his mistake he was going to deal with it.
She gave him a sympathetic smile. "Just be patient, she's not taking this very well… and you know how she is, she'll try to deny it bothers her but it does" The two of them remained silent for a few seconds until Nattie reacted. "Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that the police is on its away and they'll want to talk to her… just so you know"
He nodded, biting at his lower lip. "Yeah… I'll tell her that" After all was said and done the blonde Canadian walked away and Phil closed the door.
He took in a deep breath and walked to the shower, pulling the curtain open once he got there.
Maryse was just standing there, allowing the spray of water hit her body and wash away any trace of him; when she felt him standing there she turned around to look at him, her eyes immediately finding his.
Not long after their moment together had reached to its maximums, they had remained as one for a long time, just waiting for their breathing to go back to normal before either of them moved.
The first one was Maryse, she broke the silence to announce that she was going to take a quick shower and he had just nodded, getting up and cleansing himself as best as he could before starting to get dressed.
Now they were face to face again, the barrier of friendship that had kept her out of reach broken in the most inappropriate moment…
He didn't know what to say, so he just turned off the water and took a towel to wrap Maryse in it; she just allowed it to happen and he found some kind of relieve in the fact that she wasn't pushing him away.
Nonetheless, he tried not to make much contact with her… in any other occasion he would have expected what just happened between them to grant him a license to touch and look at will, but their situation was one of a kind and he still didn't know what to make of it, so he fixed his gaze on her face and his hands just barely touched her on top of the towel.
It felt safer that way.
But apparently she wasn't thinking like him, because once the towel was around her she moved forward and rested her head on his chest.
As her body leaned against his, one of his hands went automatically to her hair and the other one to her back, just a soft touch to keep her close as his face rested at the side of her head.
At that moment everything seemed so right, like there was nothing to worry about in this world but the feel of her in his arms… but reality had a way to cheapen things and the moment had to be broken. They couldn't stay like that forever, not when they needed to put the excuse of a man that had assaulted her behind bars, right where he belonged.
So he sighed, not wanting to ruin the moment but knowing it had to end. "Nattie called the police and they'll want to hear your statement"
Her arms slid around him, bringing him closer to her. "I don't want to talk to them" She whispered.
He moved the hand on her hair to her face and lifted her chin to him.
"Maryse, you know they need your statement to prosecute him, they will let him go if you don't denounce him"
She shrugged, her lips pouting slightly. "Nothing happened… I just don't see why I need to talk to the police"
"Nothing happened? They man drugged you a few weeks ago and put you in a hospital, he assaulted you tonight and if he walks away from this he will keep trying until he gets what he wants"
His tone was dead serious, he couldn't believe she was willing to let him walk away unpunished… by the law that was, because if she didn't denounce him he was going to walk back to where he was and make sure he wouldn't molest anyone else.
"You have to do this Maryse… I mean look at what he did to you, and don't you even try to deny it" His hand moved to her cheek, his eyes delving deep into her cloudy ones.
He knew her and he knew that she was going to deny that the matter bothered her, just like Nattie told him; but he had seen her, he had held her in his arms as she cried and that was something he wasn't going to forget… even if she did.
"I don't want to Phil… why don't we get out of here, just you and me, far from all this…"
He silenced her with a finger, shaking his head as an answer. "No, Maryse" He snorted. "This is something you have to do and I'm not letting you walk out of it"
The blonde lowered her head and he was almost sure that this time she was going to push him away, just like she did back in his room… right before everything went to hell.
She didn't, instead she waited a moment before looking up to him again, her eyes were still clouded and full of turmoil, but before he could say anything her lips were on him and whatever he was going to say was forgotten.
It was a tender kiss that he responded in kind, wrapping his arms around her as a way to secure her to him. The act was unnecessary because she showed no intention of pulling away, but it served as a way to bring them closer.
They kissed for a while, getting lost in each other until the door opened and they both heard Nattie mumbling an apology. She announced that the police was already there and as was expected they wanted to talk to Maryse, then she closed the door and left them to their own.
Phil raised an eyebrow, the last thing he had wanted was Nattie walking on them while they kissed, but it could have been a lot worse… besides that was unimportant, they had all been thinking there was more to them that a simple friendship so what did it matter now…
"I'll tell you what, I will call Nattie in so you can dress, then you go can out and talk to the police"
She quirked her lips, lifting an eyebrow in pure Maryse fashion. He could see that she was a bit annoyed by the fact that she had to talk to the police. "I can get dressed by myself"
"Fine then…" He took a step back, taking a good look at her before turning back and exiting the room, as he did so she didn't utter a word.
Once outside he talked to Nattie, she informed him of a few things and then he asked her to get in the bathroom with Maryse, just to make sure she wouldn't elude the situation.
The twins were also there, so he asked them to stay with Maryse during the interrogation. He knew the kind of questions she was going to be asked and he didn't want to hear her answers… so instead he walked out of the room and back to where Dolph and T.J. were.
By Nattie he had found out that there were a couple of officers down there and he was very interested to see what was going to happen to him.
The scene was pretty much like he remembered; only that Dolph and T.J. were talking to the police while Striker remained on the floor.
He walked just in time to join the interrogation. "You must be Phil" The officer asked once he approached. "I was just asking to your friends what happened to that man over there"
Phil shrugged, not wasting a glance on him. "Most have fallen"
"Right… look, I need a clear statement here; there is a claim of assault, but when we get here what I see is the assailant beaten up, care to explain that?"
Phil crossed his arms up to his chest. "Look, officer…"
"Phil…" Dolph said placing a hand to his shoulder; the tattooed man took that as his cue to shut his mouth. "Officer, that man over there is a molester, he assaulted a friend of ours and it was not the first time he tried such a thing, so instead of trying to figure out what happened to him you should be putting him behind bars"
The other officer, the one that had been standing aside during the whole conversation stepped in. "We will, once we get the statement we will prosecute him accordingly"
"Well you should" T.J. said, crossing his arms over his chest just as Phil had done a few moments ago.
The officer nodded. "As for the assailant, he fell down the stairs trying to escape… write that" He told his companion and the other officer did as he was told. "Now go check how the victim's interrogation is doing"
After the first officer walked out, Phil fixed his gaze on the remaining one but kept quiet. Later on, as it turned out the man was a wrestling fan and he promised to keep discretion on what really happened there, and once Maryse statement was taken Striker was taken out of the room and to the police station.
They were all told that they would be called as a followed up, as for Maryse she would have to go to the police station when they called her, probably during the week.
But at least the night seemed to be closing in and everything seemed to be falling in place, now that the police officers were gone Phil went to his room and put on his shoes, he had been walking the entire hotel barefoot and he felt kind of weird doing it.
Once he was ready to go, he walked up the stairs and to Maryse's room, when he got there and the door was opened to him he saw the twins and Dolph, but he didn't saw Maryse.
He assumed that she was probably back in the bathroom and he wondered if he would have too much trouble getting her out of there and to his room, or maybe out of that damn hotel, she had wanted to get out and now that the police was gone he could take her wherever she pleased.
As he stood in the doorway they all looked at him funny, one of the twins frowning. "What are you doing here? We thought…" She stopped talking and looked at her sister. "Wait a minute, where's Maryse?"
Phil blinked a few times. "What do you mean where is she, I left her here"
"Yes but she said the two of you were leaving together…"
It took a full minute for Phil to register and understand what the woman was saying. When it downed on him he turned around and walked down to the lobby. He asked the woman at front desk and just as he thought Maryse had taken a taxi a few minutes ago… he woman didn't knew where she was going.
Phil walked outside, the dim hope he had on seeing her there extinguished. There was no one there… just him. Maryse had walked out on him, on them all and he had no idea where to find her.
TBC