Chapter 12

This definitely wasn't amusing, especially after watching that segment she'd done with this man earlier, Harley swallowing her piece of ice. "No, the damn room has no ice, so I don't wanna run out." Harley had a mini fridge and freezer in her room, so she could keep it chilled, having a feeling she would need a lot by the end of the night. "You need to start wearing bells or something, Taker. I didn't even hear you walk up." Then again, she'd been in her own thoughts, immediately pushing those aside.

"Somehow, that's not surprising." He chuckled darkly, his eyes giving her a once over, not able to resist. "All the paint wash off then?" Taker asked casually, knowing if he licked his lips, she would probably flush a deep crimson delicious red. Hell, the way she was going, Harley was going to wind up discovering a new shade of red. He smirked, plucking a piece of ice from her bucket and fingered it absentmindedly. "Why so much ice?"

Harley was already turning red, trying to control herself until she got back to her room, but Taker had an uncanny way of embarrassing her whenever they were together. Hell, even tonight he'd used his tongue instead of the paintbrush on impulse, though she wasn't going to question his genius. Taker knew what he was doing and knew how to effectively reach the audience in any storyline he was in.

"I just grabbed the first thing I saw in my room to come get some. I didn't even realize I filled the whole damn thing until I plowed into you. Sorry about that, Taker." If he didn't stop staring at her with those dark green eyes, Harley was sure she'd burst into flames right in front of him.

Looking down at the bucket and then slowly back up into her slowly but surely reddening face, Taker could already feel the desire coursing through every part of his body. "Mind a bit preoccupied?" He took her place in front of the ice machine, scooping ice into his own smaller bucket. "You did very well tonight, Harley. Considering you really had no idea what to expect out there." Most definitely not his tongue, Taker owed her an acknowledgement of some kind because he had handled it perfectly.

"Oh...Thanks Taker." She grinned, glad he approved of how she handled herself in front of thousands and millions around the world with his tongue...Harley immediately shoved those thoughts in the back of her mind, holding her nearly empty bucket of ice, patiently waiting for him to finish. "That means a lot coming from you."

"Does it? Why?" He leaned against the ice machine, reaching out to take her bucket from her, beginning to refill it. Since she'd emptied it because he needed to wear some bells, smirking. Of course, ice was surrounding them on the carpeted hotel floor, slowly melting beneath their feet. To him, it felt incredibly good because he was boiling.

Harley arched an eyebrow, wondering if he was serious, folding her arms in front of her chest while he filled her bucket with ice again. "Because of who you are. You're the locker room leader, everyone comes to you for advice because you're perfection when you step in the ring or anything you do out there. That and this is your storyline basically so I wanted to make sure I made you, Paul and everyone involved look good out there. You've been helping me and it makes me feel good to know that I'm doing my job correctly." Her voice was low and soft, not haunting like it had been in the segment earlier, slowly reaching out to take her bucket away from him as their fingers brushed together.

Anyone else saying that would have sounded either like a world class kiss ass or a little overzealous. There was a good chance she was both, but his judgment could have been clouded by desire that began surfacing and overtaking him. When their fingers brushed together, the electricity that coursed through him –he knew it went through her as well- was all it took. He grabbed Harley by the shoulders and pulled her against him, bending down to brush his lips against hers, having wanting to do that in the segment.

Harley was in absolute shock when Taker's lips brushed against hers, the bucket of ice dropping at her feet, desire coursing through every inch of her body. They were so soft and warm...Harley felt as though she could barely breathe, especially when Taker growled and shoved her against the pop machine, cupping her face with his strong hands. The kiss instantly deepened and Harley began feeling the passion haze cloud her mind.

That was until Kevin flashed in her mind, immediately pressing her hands against Taker's chest, shoving him back as far as she could. Her grey eyes were wide, chest rising and falling rapidly, lips swollen and her heart felt like it would give out on her with how fast it was pounding. She couldn't even say anything, her vocal cords weren't working and Harley tried clearing her mind so she could think rationally.

His own green eyes were dark with passion, his sensual mouth curving down into a frown as he stared at her, tilting his head to the side as he studied her. She hadn't been able to really shove him away, just broke the kiss, but his hands dropped to his sides and he took a step back. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights, but Harley had also enjoyed that kiss just as much as he did. Something had spooked her though. Grunting, he swooped and picked up his bucket, refilling it without looking at her, giving her a moment to either recover from the shock or run.

Not wasting a second, Harley bolted down the hallway of the hotel, completely forgetting about ice and slammed the door shut behind her. She pressed her back against it, covering her mouth with her hand, wondering if she was dreaming. Harley tried pinching herself and blinked, huge tears sliding down her cheeks, immediately wiping them away. She had NO idea why Taker just kissed her or why she even enjoyed it.

Was she out of her mind?

"I can't go through it again." She whispered, trying to shove Kevin in the back of her mind, but it wasn't happening. Harley just walked over and stared out the window, after shutting the lights off, her lips burning from Taker's kiss.

Absolutely no surprise gauged his reaction, though Taker was mildly surprised by his desire to chase her pert ass down and either kiss her until she fainted or demand an explanation. He did neither, congratulating himself on remarkable self-restraint. Instead, he took his bucket and went back to his hotel room, needing that stiff drink, cold shower and serious masturbation session. Or at least that's what he kept telling himself, groaning.

~!~

"You'll do commentary."

"Pardon?" Taker arched an eyebrow at Vince, having only been half listening, his mind elsewhere.

"After Harley goes out, I want you to go join JR and King on commentary. This is technically Harley's first match as part of the Unholy Alliance. This will give it a little spice, having the Undertaker out there, watching his new acquisition." Vince explained, arching his own eyebrow. Usually, he didn't have to repeat or explain himself to Mark.

~!~

A week had passed since that night and it was Raw again, Harley staring in the mirror, having barely gotten any sleep. She'd barely said three words to Taker throughout the week, just nodding to acknowledge she listened at their meetings prior to going out to perform in front of the fans. Tonight she was being put the test against Jackie, who was looking forward to seeing if her training had paid off.

Harley's wrestling outfit had been completely changed, wearing a pure white one piece suit that had a halter neckline and shimmered. That was her gimmick now, wearing all white, her eyes smoky with clear gloss on her lips, white wrestling boots on her feet. Harley hated the color white, but it definitely gave her character an edge like none other. Harley jumped from side to side, getting her muscles warmed up, getting her head in the game.

"Hey big guy." Harley greeted with a smile when Paul walked in, holding a plate of food, giggling as she shook her head. "Do you ever not eat?"

"On occasion." Paul smirked, staring at Harley's wrestling attire, admitting only to himself that she looked like an angel. "Want some?"

"Nope, I have a match..."

She nodded when a knock sounded at the door, letting her know it was time, knowing Taker and Paul didn't have a match that night. They were going to watch Harley and see if she really did have what it took to ride with the Unholy Alliance. Harley cracked her neck as she walked down to the gorilla position, nodding once at Jackie, both of them shaking hands just as the music sounded. Harley walked out first slowly, her eyes staring straight ahead, almost as if in that trance with her long black hair hanging down her back in waves. She stepped into the ring as the lights came back on, Jackie making her entrance.

Within moments, the match was underway.

Without their music being cued for once, Taker, Bill and Paul headed out to the ring, walking slowly, taking their time, knowing the match wasn't going to end straightaway like some of the other women matches did. What the hell was he supposed to say? Taker mused as he glowered down at King, raising his hand as if he would backhand the other man, snorting when he quickly moved his chair to the side a bit before setting down, reaching for the headset. It would be his damn luck he said something that had been circling his head all week, the main thought being he'd love to take Harley back to his hotel room and show her other uses for ice.

Harley noticed Taker and Paul walking down the ramp way, while having Jackie in a headlock, and felt herself thrown against the ropes before Jackie delivered a power slam. Harley could feel her back light on fire instantly, though she was used to it. Feeling Jackie pin her, Harley's arm shot up just before the three count.

"Well uh...this is interesting, gentlemen. What are you doing out here?" King asked, refusing to say anything about puppies while these men were out here.

"Anything we damn well please, King. Don't worry about it." Paul growled, his eyes fixated on the ring, along with Taker.

JR cleared his throat awkwardly. "Back in the ring, Jacqueline telegraphed it, a DDT from Harley…"

"Ross, shut your mouth before I shut it for you." Taker growled, adjusting his headset over his head until it was comfortable, shooting the commentator a dark and dangerous look, before turning his attention back to the ring. "She looks like an angel, but the truth is, Harley is a predator, a perfect predator."

"She looks like a woman."

"And you look like a fat old carcass."

Harley's grey eyes flashed as the camera zoomed in on her face, licking her lips, standing up as she started delivering devastating kicks to Jackie's midsection. The shots echoing throughout the arena. Harley put Jackie's arm around her neck, lifting her up on the top turnbuckle, smirking wickedly as she climbed up on the second ring rope.

"What the hell is Harley doing, JR?!" King blinked, going absolutely nuts when Harley delivered a superplex from the top rope, having climbed the third one with Jackie. "AHHHH!"

Paul couldn't believe Harley did that, worried about her, though he didn't break character as he simply chuckled evilly. "That's our angelic warrior." He watched Taker nod once, the camera zooming in on the Phenom's face temporarily, before going back to the ring.

Taker wasn't worried about her in the slightest. He had faith in her abilities, considering how anal Harley was about learning all she possibly could and perfecting what could be perfected. Hell, the woman went out of her way to do better on moves she already DID do perfectly. If anything, watching her perform was simply fueling the fire that currently engulfed his body.

"And puppies get the win!" King squealed excitedly.

Taker promptly grabbed King by the back of his neck and slammed him face first onto the announcer's table.

Harley slowly made it to her feet, stumbling a little as Taker and Paul stepped into the ring, breathing heavily, caked in sweat. This was the match where she had to prove her worth to the Unholy Alliance and she delivered. She took Taker's hand when he offered it, kissing it as the lights went out. When they came back on, they were gone with the audience going crazy with boos since they were the heels.

"Harley, are you alright?" Paul immediately asked, sighing when she nodded at him. "You need to go the trainer."

"I'm fine, stop worrying. I just need a shower." Her back was killing her, though her and Jackie had practice performing that move repeatedly throughout her training sessions, so it didn't hurt as much as Harley thought.

"You sure?" Paul persisted anxiously, staring down at her, not surprised when she placed a hand on the small of her back. "You did that move from the top rope. Why don't you just have Larry look at it? It wouldn't be hard to have pulled a muscle or something." He suggested worriedly, still not believing she did that.

Taker was considering doing the same thing to Paul he had just done to King if the man didn't shut up. "If she says she's fine, she's fine. Nothing some ice and a hot shower won't take care of, Show."

"Exactly, Jackie and I practiced that move so many times, I'm used to it. It hurts, but I'll live. I'm not a porcelain doll so please don't treat me like one." Harley placed her hand against Paul's chest temporarily, knowing he was really worried about her, smiling when Jackie came up as they clasped hands before bumping each other's shoulders.

"That was definitely your best match yet, your back holding up?"

"Definitely, didn't hurt you too bad out there did I?" Both girls laughed as Jackie clapped her on the back, walking away. Harley walked away with Taker and Paul toward the Unholy Alliance locker room, not able to wait to get a shower in.

"Ice your back before you shower." Taker advised as they walked, forcing Paul to walk behind them just so he would shut the hell up. "And then wait about twenty minutes before the hot shower." Ice to numb, heat to relax, just not one after the other or she'd wind up with stiff muscles. "A massage wouldn't be a bad idea either." He added, his voice dropping to a seductive pitch, knowing only Harley could hear him.

Harley swallowed hard when he suggested a massage, noticing the underlining of it, and nodded. "Do we have ice in the dressing room?" When Taker nodded, those darkened green eyes staring down at her, Harley was suddenly thankful that she'd have ice on her back in a matter of seconds because her body temperature had increased.