Chapter 7

Juliana sat on the bed, going through her clothes, when she heard a knock on the door. "Go away, asshole!" She called furiously, not believing what John had said when he KNEW how terrified she was of spiders. Juliana shuddered as she folded another shirt, her back to the door, and growled when it creaked opened. "John, you have TWO seconds to get out before I toss you out the window!" She threatened perilously, not turning around.

"Well Jules, you can try, but I'm a pretty hard man to lift off the ground." Undertaker remarked, sounding amused. He leaned in her doorway, folding his arms across his bare muscular chest and watched her. "You alright? The spider is dead."

Juliana whipped around and had to catch her breath at the sight of Undertaker standing there bare from the waist up. The sun shining through the window bathed Undertaker in a warm glow against his pale skin. His smooth chest glistened slightly from a thin sheen of perspiration coating it, Juliana's body temperature rising a few degrees. Undertaker was a very handsome man, standing seven feet tall and had a muscular build that made him intimidating. What captivated Juliana most were his eyes. They were the clearest shade of green, reminding her of emerald gems and he had the most beautiful long ebony hair, which was always pulled back in either a braid or low tail.

"Sorry, I thought you were…" Juliana didn't have to say it and sighed, lowering her eyes to the floor, trembling all over from both fear of what happened and hidden desire for the man standing in her room. "He knows I hate those damn things and always makes fun of me for it."

Her voice filled with hurt and disdain before turning back around to fold her clothes again. She couldn't look at Undertaker anymore for fear her body would go up in flames due to the heat. Undertaker smirked wickedly, eyes flashing malevolently as he replayed what he did to John in his mind, pleased with himself. If he felt the increasing heat between them, Undertaker didn't show it and continued watching her fold the clothes.

"I'm fairly certain John feels really bad about it, Jules. I don't think he'll be teasing you anytime soon." He said nonchalantly, positive John wouldn't after his impromptu snack.

Arching a black eyebrow, Undertaker walked over to the dresser and opened the drawers one at a time, wiggling the handles to make sure they wouldn't fall apart on her. It'd been quite a while, five years or so, since he'd been back here. The place was a safe house, nothing more, and definitely not his style. Though, something told him it wouldn't be a bad idea to start investing some money into the place or else it would crumble before long, not wanting that to happen.

"I hope so." She muttered under her breath, snorting.

Jumping when Undertaker started opening the dresser drawers, Juliana didn't expect him to walk into her room and slowly turned around to face him. Realizing she held a pair of panties, Juliana immediately tossed them toward her suitcase, chewing her bottom lip, knowing he'd caught her. Red-handed. Hopefully Undertaker wouldn't point it out and just leave her alone, already feeling her cheeks flaming.

"Thanks for…for killing that…thing." She breathed out in a stammering voice, heart beating so fast, it was sure to fly out of her chest.

Undertaker nodded, another slow smile spreading across his sensual lips. "Not a problem, it was a pleasure."

He truly meant that. Slowly walking around her to the bed, Undertaker reached down to pick the panties up off the blanket, her aim a little off. Undertaker just held them out to her, dangling them from his fingertips out of reach. Juliana felt her entire face grow four shades of crimson as she looked away from him, trying to snatch them out of his grasp, and glared when he moved pulled them away.

"That's not funny, Taker." Juliana stated, going to reach for them again, and growled when he pulled them back again. "Give them back!" She slid off the bed and started following him around the room. "I said give them back, they're mine!"

"Well they sure as hell aren't mine." Undertaker chuckled, backing against a wall.

He held them over her head, snorting when she tried to jump and grab them, her body brushing against his. His breath caught in his throat and Undertaker instinctively wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her against him, lowering his mouth so it just hovered over hers. Juliana stared back into his eyes and felt her mouth go dry. She snaked her pink tongue out, licking them and, just before Undertaker could kiss her, Juliana reached up and snatched her panties from his grasp.

"Got'em." She whispered, heart thrashing wrathfully and could feel her entire body light on fire just being in his arms. No matter how much Juliana wanted to pull away, she couldn't.

"That's alright, I got you." Undertaker whispered back, capturing her lips with his.

He smirked when she melted against him, reaching down to take the panties from her hand, and stuffed them in his back pocket. He captured her hands when Juliana went to snatch them back and pulled her arms up to wrap around his neck, moving his arms around her, his hands sliding to her backside.

Her heart nearly leapt in her throat when he kissed her. She groaned when he snatched her panties from her, but couldn't pull away from him. A soft moan escaped her as she ran her hands from his neck down his arms, feeling the muscles twitching beneath her touch, and tried reaching for them again. She groaned when he caught her hands again, feeling her head whirling rapidly, and had to blink several times.

"Give them back to me." She ordered breathlessly, her hands now pressed against his chest, trying to steady herself.

"Why?" Undertaker murmured, kissing up and down her throat gently.

Finally, he pulled away from her, staring down at her flushed face and swollen lips. His eyes were now a forest green shade, darkened over with passion and barely confined desire. Undertaker gently ran his thumb over her lower lip, trying not to smile when all she did was just stare up at him. Juliana tasted far better than he could've imagined, her lips a sweet honeysuckle that mixed with the gloss she wore.

"Because they're mine." She replied, her long black hair flowing down her back, and felt the passion haze slowly clear.

Stumbling away from him, Juliana touched her swollen lips, not believing what just happened. The first time he'd kissed her was to shut her up, but this time, Undertaker did it just to spite her. Her midnight blue eyes narrowed back at him as she walked over, snatching back her panties that he dragged out of his back pocket, and turned around, tossing them in her suitcase, slamming it shut. Undertaker shook his head, knowing she would have an attitude and shrugged. He wasn't here to deal with her temper tantrums. He was here to make sure her pretty little ass stayed alive.

"Enjoy the rest of your afternoon." He murmured, walking out of the room and headed downstairs, smirking when he saw John lying on the couch.

"Never again." Juliana vowed softly, shaking her head, and blinked back the tears in her eyes.

Juliana shut the door and locked it, not wanting anymore spur-of-the-moment visits from him. How could she kiss him like that?! She didn't even know him! Juliana went back to putting her clothes in the dresser drawers, her mind leaving Undertaker for the time being. It suddenly turned to the man her father tried forcing her to marry. The man who wanted her dead. Kenneth. She felt her entire body tremble as she rubbed her arms with her hands, trying to rid the chills that flowed throughout her body, and stood in front of the vanity mirror attached to the dresser. Her pale complexion stared her in the face as the tears ran down her cheeks and Juliana knew she'd have to comply with whatever Undertaker wanted to do about this situation. As for him kissing her, that would never happen again.

"Looking a little green there, boy." Undertaker commented lightly with a smirk.

John managed to put up a shaky middle finger, still traumatized and swallowed hard. An hour later, John recovered sufficiently enough to be hungry, having finally managed to bury his spider snack deep in the recesses of his mind. That little episode would be saved for about ten years down the road when he needed therapy.

"What's for dinner?" He asked Undertaker, walking into the kitchen to find the big man standing at the sink.

"Food." Undertaker grunted, peeling potatoes with a vengeance like the spuds had personally wronged him.

"What kind?" John pressed.

"The kind you eat, now grab a knife."

Juliana finished unpacking her things, making sure everything was the way she liked it and clean. She'd been so used to keeping her own room cleaned that it was a habit. She then started cleaning the room, having found a bottle of cleaner underneath the bathroom sink with a rag, and started dusting everything. The warm breeze blew through the window as she walked over, staring out of it and sighed. She'd changed into a pair of black cotton shorts with a white tank top, too hot for anything else and barefoot. Juliana loved the feeling of the soft carpeting beneath her feet and enjoyed squishing her toes in it.

"Hey Jules, open up. It's time to eat." John knocked lightly on her door. "I'm sorry for what I did, I know I was a jackass. You can punch me if you want." He stared at the closed door. "Come on, I made fried potatoes, steaks, some kinda salad thingy." He coughed, glancing back at the stairwell incase Rent-A-Cop lurked. "Well…I had some help, but it's edible!"

Sighing resignedly upon hearing John's voice, Juliana turned around and stared at the door. After contemplating it for a few minutes, she finally walked over and unlocked the door, leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed in front of her chest. Juliana didn't say a word to him, hurt shining in her midnight blue eyes, and allowed him to pull her into his arms.

"You're forgiven, jackass." She murmured, smiling when he tightened his grip on her, and rubbed his back before pulling away. "Now I KNOW you don't know a damn thing about cooking, so I'm venturing to guess Rent-A-Cop did it." It wasn't a question.

John cleared his throat. "Well, I DID help!" He protested, holding up two bandaged fingers. "I peeled potatoes…" John ignored the exasperated look she shot him. "Is it my fault my area of expertise is in the prepackaged foods? Come on, admit it, I can microwave a mean pizza."

Undertaker busied setting the food out on the table, it being too small for three people. He shook his head at the blood stains on the counter. "Damn kid…" He muttered, washing it off, hardly believing the boy didn't even know how to cook something as simple as a steak.

Laughing softly, Juliana bounded down the stairs with John hot on her heels, after calling him Edward Scissorhands. "I didn't mean it!" She squealed, running down the hallway, hair flying behind her and ran over to the other side of the table. "You deserved being called that after what you pulled today, Jonathan!" She stated with a smirk, crossing her arms in front of her chest and eyed him shrewdly. "Bring it and watch what happens to the rest of those precious fingers of yours." The threat sounded almost tantalizing and sickly sweet.

John groaned, looking alarmed when Undertaker drove a knife in the middle of the table. "Encourage her why don't you?" He muttered, mildly agitated.

Undertaker arched an eyebrow, looking alarmingly innocent. "You got an overactive imagination, kid." He said calmly before fixing his own plate, shooting Juliana a curious look. His eyes raked over her tank top and shorts she'd changed into, smirking slightly.

"Okay…what was that about?" John demanded in a whisper when Undertaker had left the kitchen to make himself comfortable on the couch. "Rent-A-Cop is very creepy."

Shivering, John suddenly tasted spider, and put back the second spoonful of potatoes he nearly put on his plate. Sighing heavily, Juliana made a small plate, not really that hungry anymore. She started eating and then shoved the plate away before standing up, already feeling her stomach churning.

"I can't eat." Juliana whispered, feeling her stomach clench violently, and held her hand up when John stood. "Don't start with me. Just eat your food."

She buried her face in her hands and closed her eyes, wishing this nightmare would go away. Wishing she could erase the feeling of Undertaker's lips off of hers. There was NO way she could tell John what happened because he would end up putting his foot in his mouth and doing something stupid. John set his own half-finished plate of food aside to walk around the table and put his arms around her.

"It'll be okay, Jules." John whispered, rubbing her back soothingly. "Nothing is going to happen to you. I won't let it and you know Undertaker has your back, even if it's because he wants to kill Anderson for uh…damaging his vest. He's the best there is, hasn't ever failed. Come on; let that bit of info calm you down." He kissed the top of her head, wishing there was something he could say or do to ease her fears.

"It's easier said than done, bro." Juliana quietly whispered, but didn't push away his comfort. She needed it now more than ever, especially now that Kenneth knew she was with Undertaker somewhere. "I know there's nothing I can do about it and I know I shouldn't worry, but this is my life at stake and yours. Kenneth wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet or knife through your heart after helping me for so long, John." She pointed out, raking her hands through her hair, and stood up from the table. "Eat. I'm going outside for some air."

Standing, Juliana walked away from the table and slid open the door that lead to the backyard, closing it behind her, tears to spilling down her face. She hated crying in front of people. It made her show weakness when she did it in her mind.

Undertaker walked into the kitchen, arching an eyebrow when he seen John picking at his plate. "Where is she?" He demanded, not having seen her go upstairs.

"Outside. She needed some time alone." John replied, standing up to grab him by the arm when he headed for the back door. "Didn't you hear me? She needs to be ALONE."

"Maybe you're not aware of the fact that Anderson, and probably someone else, wants her dead." Undertaker said calmly, grabbing John's hand and twisting.

"Good point." John gasped. "Maybe you should go check on her."

As Juliana stood outside, the only thing she could think about was how complicated her life became once she turned eighteen. Truth be told, Juliana didn't care about her father's fortune or her family's for that matter. It was always the furthest from her mind. Juliana used to be like she acted around her father in reality. She used to be weak, timid and shy, but that all changed one night at a party John took her to their senior year in high school. A guy tried taking advantage of her and Juliana snapped, breaking the man's back with a lead pipe, and ran from the scene. John started showing her the ways of life and how to survive after that. The ways her father hadn't shown her, and now here she was. As tough as Juliana claimed to be, that didn't stop her from being scared, wondering if Kenneth would find her and have what he wanted in the end. Undertaker might've been the best, but Kenneth was smart and had the money to back up his resources.

They were unlimited.