I own none of the WWE superstars (but I'd love to own Mark for a night).

The First Real Date

Later that evening, Mark and I were sitting in the den watching a movie. I don't remember the name of the movie because, to be completely honest, I didn't watch it. I saw the movie, yes, but I didn't process anything that happened. I was too distracted by thoughts of Mark having to leave the next day. I was also quite distracted by Mark. He was sitting on the couch, leaning back, legs open wide. I was sitting next to him, leaning against his solid body, warm and comfortable as one of his heavily-muscled arms rested wrapped around my shoulders. He felt warm, and I wanted to just soak up all his warmth...

As much as I didn't want to move, I knew he needed to get dinner started. I was already pushing it, attempting to start dinner at this time. "Mark," I said softly, putting one hand on his thigh. His thighs were muscular and powerful, just like everything else on him.

"Yeah, baby?" he answered, pulling me a little closer before dropping a kiss on my forehead. His lips were soft, their touch gentle against my skin. Just that slight touch of this lips against my skin had me shivering, and I wondered why my body was so responsive to his touch...

"I need to go start dinner," I informed him as he reached over and grabbed the hand I had placed on his thigh. He just held it for a minute, doing nothing at all. I looked up into his eyes, and it looked like he was miles away, lost in thought in another universe.

"No," he said finally, surprising me with his sudden outburst.

"No what?" I asked, confused. I hadn't asked him any questions. Rather, I had simply stated that I needed to go start dinner. Was he telling me not to?

"You don't need to go start dinner," he said, getting to his feet. "I don't want you working tonight." He paused for a minute, like he was thinking about whether or not he should say something that he was thinking. I guess he decided to say it, though, because then he went on. "I think we should go out for dinner tonight."

"Go out?" I repeated, feeling a little disappointed as I stood up as well. "But I wanted to be alone with you tonight. I don't mind working tonight. It would be my pleasure to cook dinner for you."

"But you're going to need your energy tonight," he said, lowering his voice as he cupped my cheek in one of his big, rough hands. "Remember, I'm leaving tomorrow, and I don't know when I'll see you again." I looked away and sniffled a little. Before I started crying, though, he tilted my chin up so I could look into his eyes. "Don't start crying, Jade. Tonight.. Tonight will be perfect for us."

"And tomorrow?" I asked, trying to swallow the huge lump in my throat.

"Tomorrow will be a sad day for us," he said honestly, leaning down until our lips were just inches away. "But we'll make it through the storm... We'll end up happy someday..." He closed the distance between us, pressing his lips against mine and giving me a soft kiss. When he pulled back, he looked at me. "So what do you say? Will you go out to dinner with me?"

I smiled, in spite of the sadness that I knew the next day would bring. "Are you asking me on a date?" I asked, wrapping my arms around his midsection and peering up at him.

"Yes," he said, putting his arms around me. "So are you going to go on this date with me, or will you stand me up?"

"You're already standing up," I joked. "But yes, I'll go with you..."

"Thanks," he said shortly, letting me go. "I'm going to go upstairs and get all hot and sexy for you...and I can only hope that you're going to do the same for me."

"Of course I will," I said, starting to walk out of the den. "I'll go take a nice shower, do my hair all pretty, put on a sexy dress that'll take your breath away..."

"Good," he said, walking up behind me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me back against him. Leaning down until his lips were right at my ear, he whispered, "Get sexy for me. Do your hair and put on a sexy dress for me... By the end of the night, I'll take that dress off and then I'll take your breath away..."

I could feel my body responding to his whispered promises, and I just wanted to turn around in his arms and let him take me right then and there. "Mark, you better stop talking like that," I warned him.

"Why? Is it turning you on, sweetheart?" he growled in my ear. "Am I making you wet?"

"Maybe," I confessed, closing my eyes as I leaned against him.

"Good," he replied, one hand splayed across my stomach. He kissed me on the neck, then let me go. "We're going to take care of that tonight, baby, I promise."

"You better keep your promise," I said, opening my eyes.

"Oh, I'll keep it," he vowed. "I'll keep it all night long if that's what you want."

I gave him a knowing look, then grabbed his hand. "Come on, let's go get ready..."

We walked out of the den and up the stairs together, in total silence. I didn't know why we were so quiet, but we were. When we got upstairs and walked to the end of the hall, we stopped and looked at each other.

"Ok, beautiful, go get even more beautiful for me," he said, kissing me lightly on the nose. "We're going to have our first real date tonight."

"Will it be our last?" I asked seriously, my hands on his forearms as I looked up into his eyes. "I mean, after tomorrow-"

"Shhh, don't think about tomorrow," he said softly. "Just live for tonight, and don't worry about what tomorrow will bring," With that, he pulled away, and we went into separate rooms. He went into the guest bedroom and I went into the master bedroom.

When I got into the master bedroom, I leaned against the door for a minute and closed my eyes. A minute later, I stood up straight and went over to the closet to decide what to wear. I knew it had to be something sexy, because I'd promised Mark that I would dress sexy for him. I didn't know if I should wear a short dress or a long one...

About an hour later, I was standing in front of the mirror putting the finishing touches on my makeup when there was a knock on the bedroom door. I knew it had to be Mark, and I smiled as I looked at my reflection. I looked pretty good, in my opinion. My hair fell in soft curls, my makeup was lightly applied, and my high heels made me a few inches taller. As for the actual dress, I had chosen a black one that fit snugly to me. It was quite similar to the one I'd chosen on that first date, the date with Glen and Paula. This one, however, had been picked out by Stephanie a few months back when we had gone shopping together. Stephanie has good taste, I thought as I looked at my reflection in the mirror again... Mark knocked on the door again. "Coming," I called, walking over to the door.

When I opened the door, I nearly fainted when I saw Mark. "Wow," I said, giving him the once-over. "You look amazing, Mark."

"Look who's talking," he said, checking me out. "You sure kept your word about putting on a sexy dress that would take my breath away."

"Now all you have to do is keep your promise," I said, grabbing my purse.

About ten minutes later, we were in Glen's Durango. Mark was in the driver's seat, and I think he was finding it challenging to keep his eyes on the road. He stopped at a red light and looked over at me. Of course, I had been looking at him the entire time, but when his eyes met mine, I wanted to melt.

"I'm going to take so much pleasure in pleasuring you," he whispered. "You just wait until this night is over..."

"You know, I neglected to tell you something," I said in a solemn voice, suddenly in the mood to play a little joke on him.

"What? Is something wrong?" he asked, starting to drive again when the light turned green.

"This is our first real date, right?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied, stealing a glance at me. "Why?"

"I don't have sex on the first date," I said bluntly, trying to sound serious. It was the truth, for the most part. Mark was a different story, though, because we'd already being doing it...a lot.

"That's good," he said, reacting in a totally different way than I had expected him to. "I didn't plan on having sex with you, darlin."

"Aw, really?" I asked, disappointed. Hadn't he said that he planned on taking my breath away? Had he changed his mind?

"Really," he said, stopping at another red light. He looked at me with a serious expression on his face. His eyes were so intense and his gaze was so heated that I knew he was undressing me with his eyes. "I'm not going to have sex with you. I'm going to make love to you..."

My breath caught in my chest as I looked into his eyes, which were now a dark and smoky green. So the joke was on me...but he wasn't kidding.

"What's wrong? Did I make you lose your breath already?" he teased.

"Just about," I answered, and then I looked away from him, because it felt like if I didn't look away, I would spontaneously combust...

We ended up going to the same restaurant we'd gone to on our "nightmare double date from hell" with Glen and Paula, Mystical Oasis. It was kind of ironic, really, how we were back at the same place again, but this time we were really with each other...in all ways that counted.

Dinner passed by much quicker than I expected it to. In a way, I wanted to prolong dinner, because the longer dinner lasted, the farther away the next day seemed to be. Like, maybe if dinner lasted forever then tomorrow would never come...

He stood up and held out his hand. "Dance with me?" he asked as some slow music came on.

I placed my hand in his and stood up. "Of course," I answered. I allowed him to lead me out onto the dance floor. He pulled me against him and I wrapped my arms around him, resting my head against his chest. "This has been one of the best dates I've ever been on," I said quietly.

"One of the best?" he asked, pulling me closer. "Or the best?"

"The best," I murmured. "The absolute best."

We must've stayed there on the dance floor in each other's arms for quite some time, because when we finally pulled away from each other, the restaurant was practically empty. We had a small audience, however. A young man and woman stood nearby watching us. They couldn't have been more than 19 or 20 years old, and the girl was showing...pregnant.

"We didn't mean to stare," the girl said, smiling at us as she held her hand out to me. "I'm Lisa, and this is my husband Dave. We're newlyweds, and we're expecting our first baby, and we just couldn't help watching the two of you dancing."

"Really? Why?" I asked, shaking her hand, then his.

"You two just seem so in tune with each other, so in love," the guy, Dave, said. "Seems like you two are very happy with each other. How long have you been married?"

I looked at Mark, then swallowed hard. "Well actually..."

"Actually, we've been married for nearly six years now," Mark said, smiling. He looked at me and winked slightly, silently asking me to go along with whatever his plan was. "Yep, it's been nearly six years, and we're very much in love... Sometimes I think she can't possibly know how much I love her..." His voice trailed off as he stared at me, and I wondered if he was joking or if he was serious.

"Wow. That's deep," Lisa said. "How sweet."

"Yes, sweet," I repeated, looking back at Mark. "If you'll excuse us, we must get going...but congratulations on being newlyweds and on expecting a child."

"Thanks," they both said.

We all said our goodbyes, and then Mark and I left together. We walked out to the car in silence, and neither of us spoke. When we were on the road, the tension just built and built, and then finally I spoke.

"Why did you lie to them?" I asked softly.

"It was better than telling them the truth," he replied with a shrug.

"You shouldn't have told them that, though," I said, frowning a little. "It was misleading."

"What was I supposed to tell them, huh? The truth?" he snapped. He went on in a mocking voice. "Uh, we're not married, or at least, I'm not. She's married to my former best friend, who is laying up in a hospital bed right now because he fell off a fucking cliff. Anyway, me and her, we're pretending to be a real couple, but we never will be because she'll never leave her husband, not in a million years, even though he tried to fucking kill her." He looked at me, anger flashing in his eyes. "Is that what you wanted me to tell them?"

"No, Mark," I whispered as I felt the tears coming. I looked out the window, and we both lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. He drove straight back to the house, keeping his eyes trained on the road, and pulled into the garage. Once there, we sat in that same silence, not saying anything to each other. I reached for the door handle, and he leaned over and placed his hand on mine. I turned to look at him.

"If it makes you feel any better, I didn't lie about everything," he said quietly. "I do...love you."

"Oh," I said, because that was all I could think of to say to him. He hadn't told me that since he was in the hospital, back when he'd lost his memory, and I hadn't said it to him since then, either. I guess I had already known that he felt that way, because I felt that way, too. To say it, though... I just couldn't.

"Aren't you going to say it back?" he asked, staring intently at me.

I stared back. "I can't say it right now," I whispered. "I just can't."

He touched my face softly, then leaned over and kissed me. I closed my eyes and gave in completely to his kiss. When he pulled back, my eyes were still closed, and he brushed his lips over mine again. "But you do love me, don't you?" he asked.

"I do," I admitted. "So much."

"I know," he said, touching my face again. "But by the end of the night, I need to hear you say it to me."

I opened my eyes and looked at him. The look on his face was heartbreaking, to say the least. I pulled away from him and got out of the car. He called my name, but I ignored him and hurried into the house. I went upstairs to the master bedroom and just sat there in the darkness, doing nothing...

I was still sitting there thirty minutes later when he came into the room and stood in front of me.

"Jade, honey, why'd you run from me?" he asked, kneeling in front of me in the dark. He placed his hands on my knees, waiting for an answer, an answer I didn't have for him. After realizing that I wasn't going to say anything, he spoke again. "I think you were just running from what you feel for me... But you don't have to run from it. It's always going to be there." He stood up and pulled me up, too. "Come with me," he said, taking my hand in his. "I want to show you something..."

I sighed and nodded. "Ok."

He led me out of the master bedroom, and we stopped in front of the door to the guest bedroom where he had been sleeping. "Close your eyes," he ordered, so I closed my eyes and waited. He opened the door to the room and led me inside, and then he shut the door back. "Open your eyes..."

I opened my eyes and looked around. "Candles," I said softly, looking around. They were everywhere, flickering, making shadows dance on the walls. I turned around to look at him. "Why are there candles everywhere?"

"It's our last night together for a while, as painful as that is for me to say," he said, putting his arms around me. He leaned down until our lips were close, so close that I could feel his breath on my lips. "And I do recall making a promise to you earlier today... I'm going to take your breath away..." He closed the short distance between us and kissed me softly. I kissed him back wholeheartedly, and before I knew it, our clothes were no longer on us, and he was leaning over me in the bed. It had all happened so fast... I looked away for a minute, but he gently turned my face back in his direction. "Look into my eyes, Jade," he whispered as he hovered over me in the candlelit room. "I want you to look into my eyes."

I looked up into his eyes. They were smoldering, smoky and heated with desire. I wondered if that same passion was reflected in my eyes and immediately knew that it had to be, just because of the way I was feeling. His lips quivered slightly as he leaned down to kiss me. He pressed his lips softly against mine, then ran his tongue slowly across my bottom lip. I opened my mouth and his tongue swept inside before I knew what was happening.

"Mark," I moaned, gripping his powerful arms as he trailed kisses down to my neck. "I need you..."

"I need you, too," he whispered, hands running wild. "Tell me you want me..."

"I want you," I whispered back, staring into his eyes. "I want you more than I've ever wanted anything in my life."

He returned my gaze. "I'm yours..."

After that, he proceeded to keep the promise he made. He made love to me with such an intense passion that it literally stole my breath away...

When it was all over, he looked into my eyes, still on top of me as he panted lightly. "I love you, Jade," he whispered sincerely. "God, I love you so much."

Tears came quite suddenly to my eyes when he uttered those words. "I love you, too, Mark," I whispered back hoarsely, and then the tears just started coming out.

"Don't cry," he said in a soothing voice. He leaned down and kissed me again. "Am I making you cry? I don't want to make you cry..."

"You're leaving me," I said in a small voice. "I don't want you to leave."

"Vince wants me back on the road, and I'm under a contract," he said, closing his eyes and leaning his forehead against mine. "It has to be done. You know I don't want to go, though."

"Hold me," I whispered pitifully, and he complied, putting his arms around me and pulling me close. He ran his fingers through my hair slowly, then started to caress my face.

"I would hold you forever if I could," he whispered, lying down next to me with his arms still around me.

"Forever never sounded so good," I whispered back.

"I agree," he said with a sigh, and then he held me close against him as we both drifted off to sleep...

A/N: This chapter seemed soooo LONG when I wrote it. I hope it wasn't too boring for you guys! The end is getting closer and closer...