Chapter 25

"Where the hell is she?!"

Taker had put the call on speaker, letting Lavani hear just how pissed off Layfield was, mentally rolling his eyes. Pissed off, yet, had the man done anything to try to save her? No, he hadn't. Taker tried not sounding amused, raising an eyebrow when Lavani did the cut throat motion to him, smirking.

"She's a bit...busy, at the moment." He said in a deep, dark baritone.

"If you've harmed one hair on her-"

"What happens if I've harmed every hair, hmm?"

"You son of a bitch!"

John was not starting this negotiation thing off on the right foot.

Lavani didn't move from the counter and couldn't help finding all of this amusing, especially the anger in John's voice. The amusement glimmered in her toffee eyes. Did the man honestly think he had a chance with her? Poor fool, karma was about to bite John right on his ass and this was just step one of it happening. When Taker held out the phone to her, Lavani knew this was her moment and smirked at Taker, crooking her finger at him.

"John! J-John, help me please!" Undoing the belt on his jeans, Lavani yanked it through the hoops smoothly before folding it once, snapping it together. "STOP IT! PLEASE STOP IT!" She then whacked the counter as hard as she could with the belt, the smacks echoing into the phone clearly. "JOHN!"

Oh this was too much fun, Lavani was going to thoroughly enjoy screwing with her 'boss' for the duration of this kidnapping. On the other end of the line, Bradshaw was suddenly having a flashback to the Ministry days. He could quite clearly remember Taker lashing the hell out of Jason's back with a whip, on camera live, that had been just how little disregard he had for other people. Given his and Lavani's complicated history and the fact that she had finally emerged with his enemy, she was in trouble.

"What do you want?!"

"I've got what I want. It's bleeding right before my eyes." Taker watched in amusement as she snapped the belt again, letting out another piercing scream. She had his vote for best actress.

"Anything, you can have anything!" John shouted in a panic.

"Anything?"

Lavani stopped in midair, ready to hit the belt against the counter again, when Taker held his hand up. The negotiations were underway officially. When John began stuttering, Lavani decided to pressure him a little bit, eyes narrowing. One way or another, she was going to make him agree to anything Taker wanted, come hell or high water.

"John, please..." Lavani gasped out, sounding out of breath and in excruciating pain. "H-He's g-going to hit me again...if you don't...no...NO!"

When John bellowed out over the phone, Lavani brushed her lips against Taker's before jumping off the counter, knowing they had bent John to anything they wanted. What they wanted was the title and Lavani's contract. Taker made himself sound just a hint out of breath, as if he had put all his considerable strength in 'beating' Lavani, letting Layfield's imagination run wild with the minute details of that. When Layfield repeated anything, Taker curled his upper lip, turning to lean back against the counter and took the cell off speaker.

It was time to get what they wanted.

At this point, John was willing to give up anything, though he hesitated when Taker said Lavani's contract. That was a bit counterproductive to him trying to get her back and away from 'Taker. Now the idiot sprouted a brain stem, Taker pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on already.

"Let me put it this way, Bradshaw, if you don't put it on the line, then any chance of getting her back is gone. This is your one and only opportunity."

John hesitated again, knowing Taker wasn't about to give him a second alternative. "Fine, damn it."

"Your title will also be on the line."

"What?!"

Lavani had to leave the kitchen in order to stifle giggles, having heard John even off of speaker phone and knew he wasn't happy with those stipulations. She didn't care, it was time for that strap to be around Taker's waist anyway. Grabbing her bag, Lavani headed down the hallway toward the bathroom to change into something more comfortable.

Trusting Taker wholeheartedly without having to be in the room to overhear the entire conversation, Lavani left him with the negotiating. Even if Taker did betray her, Lavani would deserve it and decided to enjoy the time she had with him now. Hoping they could go back to the way things were before Tracy entered their lives and screwed everything up, Lavani gritted her teeth, wanting to kill her.

"Stupid bitch." She muttered, knowing she was probably hopping on John's dick and snorted in disgust.

Even after John swore up and down to both his stipulations, Taker had feigned hesitance, finally saying draw everything up and gave the cretin an address he could mail everything too. Lavani's Mississippi address, which Layfield would eventually catch when he wasn't so desperate and not thinking irrationally.

Mary would receive the paperwork since she was the one who kept watch of Lavani's home and all that. He would have Lavani give Mary a forwarding address, it sounded so simple. All this backtracking and circles would have been annoying if Taker wasn't enjoying this game so much with Layfield.

Stepping out, Lavani decided to tease Taker a little, wearing the 'Embrace the Darkness' t-shirt he'd given her to wear the night he abducted her from the Faction. She remembered that night well and decided to wear just panties underneath, no bra, since the shirt swam on her and went to her knees. She padded back into the kitchen and saw Taker was off the phone, not bothering to ask him if everything was settled.

He would handle the business while she relaxed, it was definitely not something Lavani was used to. Opening the fridge, Lavani took out the milk and butter before pulling out two boxes of Velveeta macaroni & cheese to go with the pork chops, something quick and easy. Arching an eyebrow, Taker watched as she started dinner, taking in what she wore.

More importantly, what she wasn't wearing...no pants and no bra...Taker could definitely tell she was not wearing a bra. Teasing wench...Stifling back a growl, he got in the fridge and retrieved himself a beer, setting down at the table to watch her. After a few drinks, he removed his shirt, which wasn't anything unusual since he didn't like anything constraining his chest or neck.

That's why his preference usually was open vests or button up shirts, they weren't constricting. When Lavani walked by him, he lifted the shirt, his curiosity getting the better of him and sighed with relief. She was wearing panties, so she wasn't a total tease then.

"Mmm." Taker rumbled, lightly slapping her ass before letting her continue cooking.

Lavani squealed out softly when he did that and smacked his arm lightly, only for him to pull her so she straddled his lap. Wrapping one arm around her waist, their foreheads pressed together. He still made her breathless and Lavani was thankful the water wasn't boiling yet and the pork chops were already in the oven.

She had a few minutes to play, running her hands up and down his chest before beginning to massage his tense shoulders, their eyes locking. She gestured to the t-shirt she wore, thoroughly enjoying touching his bare flesh. Lavani knew she would need a fresh change of panties before the night was out.

"I was wondering if you'd remember this."

"I remember when I gave it to you." Taker murmured, relaxing under her touch and rested his hands on her hips, kneading slow circles with his thumbs.

Also, a bit cunningly, Taker pushed the material up higher and higher, smirking when she finally looked down to find he had gotten it up around her waist. That was quite a bit of material. He slid his hands under the shirt and up over her flat stomach until he was cupping her breasts in his palms, leaning forward to kiss her. When he felt her melting into him, Taker withdrew his hands and glanced at the stove, arching an eyebrow.

"Shouldn't you be cooking, woman?" She wasn't the only one who could tease.

"You're a putz." Lavani growled, smacking him on the chest and slid off his lap teasingly, pulling the t-shirt down to go back to cooking.

He would be lucky if she let him get underneath her panties tonight after that stunt. Stirring the noodles into the boiling water, Lavani checked the pork chops before pulling out a bottle of wine she found in the fridge. Sangria. This man had one hell of a memory and it made Lavani love him even more, even though he could be a teasing jerk at times.

Smirking, Taker finished his beer, discarding the can with a well aimed throw before getting up to get another, knowing a few weren't going to have any effect on him. He was a large guy, it took quite a bit to get him drunk and beer was not usually the best way to go about that. He halted behind Lavani and slid the can up under her shirt, feeling her moving away from him, even though he hadn't touched it against her bare skin yet.

"What was that darlin'?" Taker murmured, bending down to kiss the side of her throat. "A putz?"

"If you don't want a burnt dinner, I suggest you remove that can from my back immediately." It was a half-assed threat, but the best Lavani could come up with at the time. "And yes, you're a putz for teasing me like that." Reaching up, Lavani tried reaching a wine class out of the cabinet, sighing when Taker did it for her, dangling it in her face. "Thanks." She muttered, setting it down and cracked open the bottle of wine, pouring herself a healthy dose, still not turning to face him.

Considering she had been teasing him since getting here, Taker considered this some payback. However, he was hungry for actual food so he retreated. There were two filled ice trays in the freezer, he would get her later and show her just how pleasurable a little cold could be.

Backing off, Taker let Lavani have her wine and began setting the table, suddenly hesitating. This was...domesticated and her comment about getting married came flooding back to him in a rush, causing Taker to lose himself in thought. Thinking about the same thing, Lavani wondered what it would be like to marry Taker -Mark- and be his wife. Downing half the wine, Lavani went back to fixing the macaroni & cheese, draining the noodles since they were done just as the oven went off.

She slowly sipped her wine while fingering her necklace, hating that she told him what she was thinking. What if it scared him off? Granted, Taker didn't scare easily, but that didn't mean he wouldn't leave her.

'Damn it, I screwed up AGAIN.' She thought miserably.

"When we get married, I want a bigger kitchen." He announced out of the blue, whirling around when he heard Lavani cursing and stepped forward, frowning at the sight of the macaroni noodles all over the bottom of the sink. "I thought we already had the shock out of the way?" Taker leaned against the counter, turning on the cold water in the other basin and pulled her hand beneath it, spotting a burn on the side of her hand. "Sorry, Vani, didn't mean to startle you."

"You haven't even proposed to me and you're already talking about getting married. Forgive me if it shocks me every time you bring it up." Lavani stated, hissing out when the cold water came in contact with the small burn and used her free hand to spoon the noodles back into the strainer. "A bigger kitchen would be nice." She added softly, slowly pulling her hand from the water and poured the strained noodles back in the pot before walking over to set it on the stove again.

"Hey now darlin', you're the one who brought up the marriage bit." Taker reminded her.

Moving out of her way so she didn't drop anything else or throw something at him, Taker knew he'd thrown Lavani for a loop and didn't mean to. Taker's eyes narrowed as he considered the marriage thing. He wondered if she would honestly expect him to get down on one knee and do the whole romantic proposal gesture.

"You're going to marry me, Lavani." He announced finally, making it known he wasn't asking.

She stopped stirring the cheese into the pot and stood there, finally stopping before slowly turning to face him. The look in his eyes told her all she needed to know and more. She had no choice in the matter, marriage was his way of locking her down beside him for the rest of their lives so she couldn't escape him again.

"Is that your subtle way of proposing to me then?" Lavani retorted, folding her arms in front of her chest and tilted her head slightly, regarding him for a few seconds. "Well?"

Dear god in heaven the woman was going to make him propose properly!

Growling in exasperation, Taker reached out to grab her by the upper arms, pulling her against him. "If that's how you wish to look at it, then yes." He said gruffly, staring down at her. "You won't get a one knee proposal from me, Lavani. Nor will you get a I can't live without you speech. You already know I refuse to live without you."

She wasn't running from him again, Taker wouldn't allow it and he also knew she was it for him. Lavani had ruined him for other women completely. Taker knew he had ruined her for other men, he rather liked that. The fact neither of them hadn't had sex with anybody else in the two years they were apart just proved to him further that they truly belonged together.

"I didn't expect you to get on one knee. We've never done anything in the traditional sense. I just didn't...I had to know if this was it. Me standing here in the t-shirt you gave me two years ago, cooking a half-assed dinner after being 'kidnapped'." She did the quotes with her fingers, staring deep into his eyes. "You already know what my answer is, Mark. I just wanted to know if we were engaged and didn't want to push you into something you might not be ready for."

Lavani was both worried about the timing and making him feel coerced as well as location. He supposed he could have been a bit better on the timing. No woman was keen on being told she was getting married rather she liked it or not. Alright, so he had a jackass moment, but Lavani knew he was a very volatile man.

"Since when do I allow myself to be pushed into anything?" Taker snorted, bending down until his forehead was gently pressed against hers. "I want you, Lavani, in all ways. When everything is settled and we're both ready..." He'd be sliding a ring on her finger, looking down at her hand and immediately began mentally designing her ring.

Taker had a secret hobby...he enjoyed designing jewelry.

"Just call it we're engaged and be done with it." Lavani stated almost exasperatedly, fingering his goatee and kissed him softly before lightly smacking his cheek a few times. "Now stop distracting me so we can eat before I starve to death."

When he chuckled and smacked her ass, Lavani shook her head and turned around to continue stirring the macaroni & cheese before taking the breaded pork chops out. Shake-N-Bake was definitely her friend tonight. She set the table, piling the plates with food and both of them took their seats at the table to eat.