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Chapter twenty
Piper finished washing the dishes and sat down at the kitchen table, staring out of the French doors at the grounds beyond. It had been five weeks now since the day Mark had made her beg, and since then he had been strangely attentive. Not nice. She didn't think Mark would know how to be nice if his life depended on it, but he was at least treating her like a human being now. He had teased her again, but he had also made really sweet love to her, and it had been fantastic. Piper had even found herself touching him; something she had sworn to herself she wouldn't do again. Just last night she had actually initiated their lovemaking for the first time, taking Mark by surprise. Not that he'd minded too much. He always found it amusing when she tried to tease him, because in the end he always had the upper hand, and he knew it. But still she tried. Now she had decided that possibly the best time to tease him with accidental touches, was when they were out in public. There, he couldn't retaliate, and she could drive him crazy. She always paid for it, but it was fun while it lasted.
If Piper was honest with herself she had to admit that she loved his body. It was just so...big. She loved looking at him, studying the mass of tattoos that covered his arms and torso, touching the large pads of muscle on his chest, stroking his surprisingly soft skin. She was even learning to behave in the way that pleased him. Except for her mouth, she thought, sighing as she shifted on the chair and felt the soreness of her backside again. It reminded her of early that same morning, when he had pissed her off enough that she had yelled a few obscenities at him. Unlike some of the other times when he had punished her, there had been no warning this time and she had been grabbed and thrown down across his knee in this very chair. She was only glad they didn't have company as she was quite sure he would still have done it despite having an audience.
Five weeks, she mused, and not one of them had passed by when she hadn't found herself over his lap on the receiving end of some hard slaps. One of the times she'd even hit him back, giving him a sharp slap to his cheek that had driven him into a fury. She'd received two paddling's for that one. Strangely enough, it didn't bother her like it had done at first. She supposed she must have become used to it, although her body certainly hadn't. Every time hurt as much as the first time, and if she got him really mad he used more force. Never once had he bruised her though, and she realized he must use a lot of restraint. God knew she could drive him crazy when she wanted to, and now she knew exactly which buttons to press. Luckily for her she only used that knowledge when he made her angry...and then she usually lived to regret it. She wondered if she'd ever learn to control her big mouth.
But still, she thought, her face softening as she thought about him, he had been oddly kind to her; despite the occasional punishment. He had even allowed her to telephone her sister. Paige had been surprisingly calm and didn't sound as though being kidnapped had bothered her at all. Piper couldn't imagine that she felt too calm about it, but she didn't say anything to betray fear or anger - she didn't even ask Piper to intervene on her behalf. Apparently Glenn was treating her well. When Piper asked about their father and where he thought Paige was, her sister said she had telephoned him and he thought she was staying with friends. The phone call had put her mind to rest, if only a little. Paige appeared to be safe, but Piper wouldn't be truly happy until she'd seen that with her own eyes.
Last week she and Mark had visited her father and it had been very enjoyable. Both men seemed to get on well, and Piper had found herself really relaxing against Mark as he put his arm around her. For a few minutes she had imagined that they really loved each other, and it had filled her with warmth. Something was definitely different. It was almost like he was trying to make her life easier, but surely....no, no. After all the trouble he had gone through to force her into the marriage in the first place, it was highly doubtful that he would start trying to change things now. Still, sometimes the feeling remained. And when he went back to work, she found herself looking forward to him arriving home again.
She had also noticed another difference in him lately. He didn't seem so content that she was behaving herself. In fact, now she thought about it, he was positively morose when she did as she was told. He had a certain twinkle in his eye when he managed to goad her into shouting at him.
She found herself smiling and stood up, feeling restless. What was the matter with her? Surely she didn't actually like living here now? Her eyes roamed the large kitchen and she walked out into the hallway, looking around at the large house she now considered home. For the first time she realized that was what it had become, no matter how she had first come to be there. The only places she hadn't gone were the basement and Mark's study, and only because he had told her she couldn't. He kept both doors locked and no matter how many times she had asked him, he always said no. He always looked amused when she mentioned the rooms, and he knew it was driving her mad that she couldn't see what was behind the locked doors.
She went towards the study and put her hand on the doorknob, turning it slowly to see if the door was locked. It had become a ritual everyday that she would try the handles, just in case he'd forgotten. So far he hadn't, but....she turned the handle and then gasped as the lock sprung open. It was quite a shock, because she hadn't considered it would truly open...but she didn't wait around or debate the fact for too long. Pushing the door open, she felt like a thief as she snuck into the room, her mind reeling as she tried to think of what he could possibly have hidden inside.
She frowned when she found a very normal looking study. The walls were covered with shelves, most containing books and a few containing a large collection of videos. There was a TV and a VCR in one corner with a large easy chair in front of them. Obviously he was used to sitting in here watching something. There was a huge antique desk taking up a large amount of room, and on it was all sorts of paperwork. She had a quick flick through it all and found nothing particularly interesting. But there must be something he was hiding. Why else would he lock the door?
She moved around the desk and sat in the big leather chair, enjoying the luxurious feel of it before she started opening drawers to see what she could find. Nothing was what she came up with, and she frowned again, her eyes looking at the shelves. Maybe it was the videos? But why would he hide video tapes, unless....unless they were pornographic!
She rushed over to the shelves and pulled out a couple of tapes, reading the side of one and frowning again. 'SD'. What the hell did 'SD' mean? she wondered. She looked at a few more. 'SD' came up again and again, and then she found some labelled 'RAW' and grimaced. Raw sounded kind of rude, she thought, slipping the tape out of its case and putting it into the VCR. Switching everything on and pressing play, she settled back in the chair to find out what it was that he apparently found so interesting.
Her eyes widened with confusion when what was obviously a wrestling show came on. He watched wrestling? she thought, looking at two men start throwing each other around. She had never taken much notice of it herself. Still, there had to be something.....she grabbed the remote control and fast forwarded the tape, playing it again and seeing two bigger men fighting now. She had to admit it was quite entertaining, and she smiled as one of the men got hold of a microphone, shouting into it aggressively. She wondered if they all went to a school that taught them how to speak really deeply, and she laughed. All of a sudden the lights went out in the arena and a bell tolled. Now what? she wondered, wishing she had some popcorn or something. It felt like being at the cinema. Her eyes narrowed as the camera zoomed in on a tall figure wearing a dark cloak, his hair long and black and his head bowed just slightly. He was obviously supposed to be evil or something, judging by the way the wrestler in the ring became scared. It panned back to the darker man and zoomed in on his face, and Piper froze. It looked like Mark...but it couldn't be...he would have told her...A frown marred her brow as she continued to watch. No, there was no doubt about it. Okay, his hair was long and dark, but it was definitely him. She found herself watching the whole match with wide eyes, taking in every one of his moves and then sitting back breathless when it was over. Well, that certainly explained his size, she thought. Why hadn't he ever told her? Was he ashamed of that part of his life? She frowned and jumped up, sorting through the tapes and putting another one in the VCR to watch.
Several hours later she gave a heavy sigh and switched the TV off. He was amazing...the things he had done, and the persona he had put over to the crowd. She shivered. There was no doubt about it, she had liked what she had seen. Her eyes narrowed as she thought about him having all these tapes hidden behind a locked door, and she began to wonder what it was he had hidden in the basement. Curiosity got the better of her and she started looking through the desk drawers again, grinning triumphantly when she found a small bunch of keys right in the bottom one. A quick glance at her watch told her that she had a good hour and a half to two hours until he came home, and she ran out into the hall so she could try the keys. After several fumbled attempts, she finally found the right one and the lock clicked open. Her eyes widened and she bit her lip as she touched the doorknob, wondering if she should really go in. But he wouldn't know, and she had to find out what else he was hiding.
Taking a deep breath she opened the door and looked down the dark staircase that led into pitch blackness. Fumbling for a switch inside the door, she located one and flooded the area with light. Okay, the stairs didn't look any more inviting, but she couldn't resist going down them. They curved sharply at the bottom and then she found another switch on the wall, flicking it and then widening her eyes as she took in what had been a mystery to her only minutes before.
A gym. That was what he was hiding? she thought, frowning. Okay, it was a very large gym and, amazingly, there was a wrestling ring at one end of it. But surely he didn't need to hide it? Unless he really was ashamed of his past life, and he didn't want her to know anything about it. She shrugged and wandered over to some of the equipment, touching a few things and wondering what they were for. But all the time her eyes kept flicking to the massive ring, and she eventually walked over to it, climbing the small steps at the side. Gazing uncertainly at the floor of the ring, she kicked off her shoes to make sure she didn't cause any damage. Mind you, she thought, those women she had seen on the tapes often wore spiked shoes into the ring and hers were nowhere near as high or narrow-heeled.
Giving a mental shrug, Piper stepped through the ropes and walked barefoot across the ring, her eyes huge. He had a wrestling ring right here in the basement, she thought, still stunned. Sure she had watched his tapes, but she hadn't expected to find anything like this. The basement was enormous, as befitted a house of this size, and it was fully kitted out with all that gym equipment and this....she wondered what he did in it. Did he have other wrestlers come to the house and wrestle with them? And what would be the point? He didn't wrestle anymore, did he? She bounced slightly on the floor of the ring and couldn't help smiling at how springy it was, almost like being on a trampoline only much harder. No wonder he had been able to have his body thrown over someone else's head, all it took was a little bounce on this and it would give you the momentum you needed to go quite high....if you were athletic.
The sound of a throat being cleared made her spin around and her mouth fell open when she saw Mark leaning against the wall, his arms folded over his chest. "I thought I told you to stay out of the basement?" he asked her in a deadly tone.
Piper swallowed hard and clasped her hands in front of her, trying to think of a plausible excuse for being down here when he had strictly forbidden it. Then anger started surging through her. She was his wife now, what the hell gave him the right to ban her from any area of her own home? "I don't have to do as you tell me!" she said angrily, her eyes shooting sparks of fire at him.
"Is that right? So you don't have to listen to me when I tell you not to go in my office, for instance?" he said, pulling away from the door and strolling casually towards her. "Or when I forbid you from entering any room, or touching things that don't concern you? I should have known you'd be far too nosy to stay away."
"I am not nosy! I just....the tapes were right there and there was nothing on television..." she began, trailing off as he climbed the steps up to the ring and stood holding the top rope as he stared her down.
"You were nosy," he said again, frowning. "And you didn't even have the courtesy to put the tapes back again after you'd watched them. Well, did you see what you wanted to see? Hmm?" he asked her, stepping right over the top rope and lifting his chin, his eyes narrowing. "Did you maybe want a live performance? Because if that's the case, honey, then I'm only too happy to oblige. Just one thing, I'll need an opponent, and it looks like you're it, seeing as how you're now in my yard."
Piper stared at him with huge eyes as he stalked towards her and she backed herself into the ropes. "I don't....I d-don't want to....M-Mark..." she stammered as he got close enough to stare down at her.
"If you didn't want it, you shouldn't have come in here, should you?" he asked in a quiet voice, seconds before his brows drew down in a fierce frown and his hand lifted to encircle her throat, making her almost pass out with very real fear. "What's the matter baby? Scared? Don't you recognize this move from my wrestling days? After all, you did just watch it, didn't you?"
Piper raised her hands and grasped his wrist, trying to pull his hand away from her throat. In all honesty it didn't hurt and it wasn't constricting her breathing, but he was so incredibly scary like this.....he wasn't the same man she had come to know and loathe at all. This was someone she couldn't possibly fight and it made her knees turn to jelly. "P-please Mark...I d-don't..." she stammered again, feeling weak tears fill her eyes when he just stared stonily at her. She closed her eyes as if that would make him go away and she felt her body quake slightly, hoping he wouldn't notice.
Mark watched her expressions and instantly felt like a heel when she closed her eyes and started shaking. He moved his hand slightly and ran it down her neck, stroking slowly across her shoulders and round to the back of her head, pulling her against his chest. "Dammit Piper, how is it you manage to do this to me without even trying? I'm not going to hurt you, baby, calm down for me."
Piper slowly relaxed against him as his other arm came up to wrap around her shoulders. It was odd that someone who could scare her so easily could also make her feel so at ease only seconds later. She took a shaky breath and glanced up at him. "Why didn't you tell me about this? Why did you keep it all hidden?"
Mark narrowed his eyes and sighed. "It's part of my past, now. And I didn't think you'd be all that interested, to be honest," he said, raising one eyebrow. "Are you saying you want to know more about me?"
She didn't want to admit that she did, but she couldn't help herself. "I guess I am."
"You guess?" he murmured, a slight smile tilting his lips. "Did you enjoy watching the tapes?"
"They were...interesting," she said, frowning as she tried to explain how they'd made her feel. "You were really good."
Mark felt a warmth trickle through him at her words and his smiled widened. "You liked me as The Undertaker?"
"Well, 'liked' may be too strong a word," she grumbled, hating that she had complimented him in any way.
Mark chuckled. "It's too late to take it back now, darlin', it's already out there," he said, curling a long finger under her chin and tilting her head up so he could look into her eyes. "I came home early to take you out to dinner, but maybe you'd prefer to stay in and find out a little more about my wrestling days, hmm?"
Piper stared up at him, amazed even now at the change a smile made to his face. "I'd like that."
Mark nodded. "Good. It's a start," he murmured, studying her face and then bending to drop a soft kiss on her parted lips. He had been feeling closer to her lately and he found himself enjoying her company - when she wasn't being too disagreeable. In all honesty he couldn't blame her for how she felt; he hadn't started the relationship off too well. His life had changed in the last few weeks and he had to admit that it was for the better. Now all he had to do was try and be the sort of man Piper would really want for a husband. Maybe then they could give the marriage a real chance.