Chapter 15
Taker was right.
Why WAS she telling him her personal information?!
"I…" There was no answer, rhyme or reason for telling him she was a virgin. At all. Abigail blamed him because he made her flustered and she wasn't able to think straight around him. "I don't know." She finally muttered, feeling mortified and rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. Yes, this was very awkward and humiliating and the fact he was grinning at her like a fool just made things worse. "Okay new subject, anything…and to answer your question earlier, yes, I found 5 books I've been wanting to read from my favorite authors. Did you wanna look for something else?"
He actually came here on a mission. Not only had she expressed a love of books, so he had wanted to surprise her, but Taker had combined that with them actually needing some books. "Solar power for the boys, motorcycles for me, probably grab something else, if anything catches my eye… and I want to check out the kid's section." At Abbie's confused look, he smiled slightly. "The kids, darlin'. I don't know how things are done in Salny, but… we know what happens to those poor kids in the DOV, their turned into… into freaks. We're trying to raise these ones with… some education." A bit of happiness too, he supposed. "Want me to see about finding you a book on sex?" His grin had turned decidedly wicked and he was rewarded with roses in her cheeks.
"No – no – no, that's quite alright. I'm good, I know the…mechanics of it with the penis in the…you know what? I'm just gonna shut up now, okay? Okay!" Abigail rambled when she was nervous, which didn't happen often in the DOV because she'd learned to channel that nervousness due to Bray's bipolar tendencies. Kids section…kids section…Abigail found it in no time and began sifting through the books, holding out one to Mark with a serene smile. It was on potty training. "That will definitely come in handy."
"Put it back." He rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "They have that down; you know how many kids we've had over the years?" Hell, quite a bit. Not as much as the DOV, but they weren't doing whatever the hell it was the DOV was to mutate those poor bastards. "Learning books, darlin', like math shit, that would be those write in books, you know? Where the kids could work out problems and shit here, but I took them all years ago and they ran out."
Potty training had never been an issue. However, panicky women, who had no idea what was going on with their bodies, was a problem. They didn't have a woman doctor on staff, just people who had learned medical knowledge over time. Doing as she was told, Abigail began looking through the books again and didn't pick one out for fear of being rejected again. Hell, it was a potty-training book for kids. She figured the kids would want to know WHY they had to go potty on a toilet as opposed to in a diaper, but that was just her. It would definitely be beneficial for Stephanie and a few of the other women who had toddlers around the age of 2. Taker knew best though, he was the boss, so she had to do as instructed. They found a small section with math learning books, some of the pages written on, but for the most part they were clean. There was also one for spelling, which was a huge plus, so they grabbed all of them to put in each of their satchels.
At least the awkwardness was over with between them, for now. Abigail still couldn't believe she had told him about being a virgin. What the hell was she thinking?! This man didn't want her sexually! Hell, she would probably be a virgin until the day she died because, once Bray came for her, she planned on killing herself before letting him get his hands on her again…if Undertaker refused to help liberate her and the victims of DOV.
Abigail seemed miffed about his rejection of the potty training book and he hadn't honestly known what to tell her. They had been doing this for over a decade, potty training came as easily as teaching kids to eat. It was natural. Taker didn't want to waste space on something that was just so easily picked up. Once they found learning books, she seemed to relax more, which was good. He had to wonder about her though. She was so damn weird. Sheltered. Awkward. It was hilarious and endearing, in a way he probably shouldn't be thinking.
"Here, catch."
Tossing her a book, Taker smirked when Abigail took in the cover and watched as she read the title before opening it and promptly dropped it. Kama Sutra. Abigail turned five shades of red, kicking the ridiculous book to the side and shook her head at a grinning Undertaker. He had that damn grin on his face again! This man infuriated her and lit her on fire like no other! It was a very weird combination, and she didn't know how to feel about it.
"I'm not reading about sex. It's not necessary. But now I know where YOUR mind is at." Right in the gutter, typical male.
Snorting when he laughed at her, Abigail continued looking through the books, not really finding anything else teaching wise. There were books that were fun, but she didn't think Taker would bring those back, so she left them alone. She was wrong; Taker walked over to a beet red Abbie and eyed the stack she had set aside, cocking an eyebrow.
"What're these?" He asked, hearing her muttering something about recreational reading and shrugged. "If you want." Taker had turned her down on the other book, then harassed her a bit, so he owed her. "Anything else you want to look at, darlin'? The town itself was picked clean years ago; not that there was much to begin with."
"No, I'm good and, like you said, we only need to bring back what can be useful. You're right."
The kids would survive without fun books, especially since libraries were no more besides this one, apparently. Maybe next time Abigail came here, if there was one, she would grab them if they were still here. This place was completely abandoned, so she doubted anyone would come here to ransack a bunch of kid-friendly books.
"Did you wanna go somewhere else besides here or head back to Wonderful?"
"We can head back. Coming here for the solar books was pretty much the point; everything else was just a bonus." When Abigail turned, he swiped all the books she had set out in his satchel, not bothering to acknowledge that stupid potty training book he had also tossed in when she wasn't looking. "I don't like being away for too long, they might miss me." Not necessarily the truth but… close enough he supposed. "You want to take the long way or short way back, darlin'?"
Now that her cheeks weren't burning anymore, Abigail felt more at ease and smiled softly, stopping to wait for him to join her before they began walking together. "I don't mind the long way." She felt him grab her hand again and looked up at him, once again feeling the butterflies erupting in her stomach. Whenever they were alone, which hadn't happened often, except the past 2 days lately, they always formed, and Abigail could feel the heat engulf her all over again. "Thank you for bringing me with you today. This was a really nice surprise, and I'll never forget it, Taker. And if you come back here in the future, I want to come with you again."
"I only come a couple times a year, darlin', but you're more than welcome to join when I do."
He never came during the winter; they all preferred to stay behind the walls then. Traveling in snow with motorcycles wasn't exactly the brightest thing to do. Leading the way out, Taker guided her under the broken columns until they were outside, blinking. When they had come in, it had been bright and sunny. It was looking a little overcast now.
"Shit."
"What's wrong?"
Abigail looked up at the sky, frowning as well. The sun was gone, and the clouds were moving in awfully fast. She jumped when a streak of lightning lit up the sky, followed by a rumble of thunder that shook the foundation of the town they stood in. A few seconds later, rain began pouring in gallons from the sky and Taker quickly scooped Abigail up to rush back into the library. It didn't matter, in that short time frame, her top had been soaked along with the top of her jeans, the material clinging to her body and curves. Her braided hair was also soaked…and she was being held against an equally soaked Taker, though her body had shielded some of him from getting the brunt of the rain.
"Maybe it'll be a quick system and we can leave afterwards?"
"Probably," He agreed, though his tone was doubtful. It was summer, and usually pretty dry. When they got storms, those damn things lasted ages it seemed. Taker groaned, running a hand through his wet hair after he had set her down. "Fuck all…" He snorted when thunder boomed, sparing her a glance. "Get out of those clothes, you'll catch sick." He stepped away from Abigail to start shedding his own as well, eyeing the material around them. Metal trashcan, desk… he could make them a contained fire to dry things quicker.
"Wait, what? Come again?" Taker wanted her to shed her clothes in front of him?! Abigail didn't know what to think or say, just standing there with her arms wrapped around herself while Taker had no problem shedding his clothes in front of her. "O-Oh god…"
She immediately turned her back to him because the man had NOTHING on under those jeans. The front of them had gotten wet along with the bottoms, so he felt the need to get them dry by taking them off. How the HELL was she supposed to look at him for the duration of the time they were here without turning into a tomato?! Another crack resonated outside, echoing through the library and Abigail suddenly felt warmth against her wet back. Taker was standing right behind her and she absolutely refused to turn around to face him, feeling her cheeks burning again. She was terrified, hadn't she ever seen a man naked before? Besides Steve, though Taker supposed that didn't count. It was just a matter of being practical. He wasn't about to get sick because of false modesty and he didn't see any reason for her to do so either.
"Here." He thought about it and then grinned. "Okay darlin', I'm decent." When she shook her head, he walked around to stand in front of her. He was fully dressed, and he watched as she looked at his clothes on the ground and then at him. "Uh… don't… touch me." He informed her when it looked like she might try. "Illusion, Abbie, I'll feel a lot different than I look." For example, she'd feel his naked junk.
Could magic really do that? Then why couldn't he dry them with it? Maybe it was a different kind of magic to where he could only do disguises and illusions. She didn't know, and it was confusing as hell.
"Sorry, I've never…I've never seen a man naked before."
Sure, the shock of him coming out as a naked Steve had been hilarious, but Abigail had keeled over to where the fire had blocked him. She'd only looked for a couple seconds…and a lot of other people were around. It was just the two of them, alone, in an abandoned old library with a storm raging outside.
"I don't think…this is a good idea…" A second later, her tank top was pulled up and over her head, leaving her clad in a simple black bra. "W-What are you doing?" Abigail stammered, watching him lower to one knee and felt the button to her jeans unsnap, his fingers hooking in the waistband to push them down her legs, stepping out of them. "I'm NOT taking these off." She referred to her bra and panties; those were NOT an option.
Rolling his eyes, Taker simply nodded, draping her clothes out over an empty shelf before doing the same with his clothes. While she shivered in her bra and panties, and he was trying not to look – really, he was – he began breaking down the desk. Time hadn't been kind to it, so… it was fairly easy. He dragged the metal trashcan into the center of the room, away from the books and began tossing the wood into it.
"Bring me my satchel, darlin'."
Move, she had to move and stop standing around or else she would end up freezing, even though it was summertime. The rain had been chilly and chilled her to the bone. If Taker wanted to build a fire, she was all for it and brought him his satchel before helping him break the smaller parts of the desk down. Blood pumping, she had to keep moving and took one of the longer wooden pieces that resembled a pole, setting it aside. Once all the pieces were in the trashcan, she let Taker handle the fire part and took the pole before standing in the hallway, beginning to swing it around like Lita taught her.
Training would keep her mind focused and body warm, so she didn't freeze. It was also a great time to work on her footing. She'd shucked her shoes off when he removed her jeans along with her socks, so she was barefoot in just her undergarments. Luckily, they weren't a see-through color or Taker would've gotten an eyeful of bra-covered nipples since they were currently erect.
He carried matches everywhere, and luckily, they weren't wet or else they would have had to rely on the old school methods. Or, Taker could have probably used magic, but he was pretty sure he had abused it enough today. Once the fire was going, he turned to watch Abigail, dropping down onto the old marble floor and winced. His ass was bare… and the floor was cold. His balls were probably tucked safely up in his body, where it was warm.
"Mind the puddle, darlin'." He could just imagine that, her slipping and going splat. When she turned, his eyes narrowed in on her breasts. That bra might not have been see-through, but it was definitely clinging to her ample curves.
"Thanks…" Abigail smiled at him, not noticing the issues Taker was having and could tell he was cold, so she walked over to him, after finding another pole that was almost as long as hers. "You said you'd help me with my footwork and this is the best way to keep warm, by moving. So, come on, train with me, please?"
She extended the pole to him, not seeing where hers was until she wound up tripping over it accidently and landed right in his lap. His NAKED lap, straddling him, and her chest was pressed against his. The clothing really was JUST an illusion, he hadn't been lying about that.
"Shit, sorry, damn pole!"
"That's not a pole, darlin'." He rumbled, in a bit of shock.
