Chapter 22

"She has a hard time gettin' past the fact that we're not overly upset, doesn't she?"

"Well, look where she comes from, Steve…"

"Yeah, no shit." Amy snorted, drumming her fingers on the tabletop. "Look, don't be in such a hurry to throw your life away. We don't like head-on confrontations, so chances are-"

"We're going to sneak in." Taker cut her off abruptly.

"Okay, how?"

"Abbie is going to describe the layout of the castle, and I will go, to provide some… cover."

"But that leaves Wonderful without guaranteed protection, Taker." Steve pointed out.

"Then we probably shouldn't lose this fight. First target will have to be the sorcerer, I want him out alive, if possible." Taker wasn't going up against his own father for one, and two, he wasn't a natural magic user, so… he liked living.

"That won't work, Undertaker."

"I'm in agreement with her, for once."

"She's right…" Susan had to stop herself from calling him Uncle Mark in the presence of everyone since they didn't know his true identity. He'd made that crystal clear to her and she promised not to blurt his secret or their connection. "The castle is enormous with a lot of hidden passageways. Papa sent me through one of them, but that's one of many."

"Thank you, Susan." Abigail smiled at her, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "It's best to wait and let them come here. That way, Wonderful will still be protected by your magic. Now, if you wanted to do a rescue mission, secretively, to get Malcolm out of there…"

"Malcolm?"

"The sorcerer Taker referred to. He's the one who's been concocting the serum for Bray. If it's stopped and brought here, without Bray and the DOV knowing, that would be a HUGE disadvantage for the DOV."

"Makes sense, but…I'm sensin' this isn't gonna be as easy as it sounds…"

"I can't simply explain to you the passageways. I have to BE there in order to direct you on where to go. Is there some kind of…invisibility spell or something we could use?"

"The invisibility cloak…but it is said to be hidden in a cave far east of here…and it's full of monsters."

"If we can't do a spell to make us invisible long enough to get in and get out with Malcolm, we may have to consider going that route. But, it's up to Undertaker. However, I cannot possibly give you the layout of the castle, it's too massive."

"If we don't go there, then eventually, he's going to come here because he's got it in his head that there is only one… woman," 'Taker's eyes narrowed because that was not the word that came to mind. "For him and apparently she is his Queen." Bray Wyatt sounded stupid; zealots usually were. Obviously, he was stupid and had built himself a ridiculous religion that enslaved women. "And Wyatt has tried to breach our walls several times, which is why Abigail is now here. Unless he is dumb enough to come up and be shot from our towers, we'll be at a stalemate."

"It's not like we can't go out and… oh." Steve shut the hell up at the dark look he had received. "You can't go because, if you go, all these people die."

"And we apparently can't try gettin' in THERE undetected."

That would have worked better, as nobody outside of Wonderful knew what he looked like. Here in Wonderful, Taker had to hide while that idiot camped outside his walls, knowing if he died, they died immediately after. If he went out in disguise, Wyatt would never know.

"Everyone is dismissed." He was too tired for this tonight. "We'll discuss it further tomorrow."

Nobody argued with him and filed out, Abigail behind everyone else heading for the exit. She was stopped by a hand on her shoulder and looked up at Undertaker, wondering what he wanted, figuring he just wanted to speak with her alone. Stephanie gestured Susan to come with her, having set up a nice bed in the common house for her that was right next to Abigail.

"What is it?" She asked softly, figuring he'd want to be alone after everything that happened tonight and furrowed her brows together.

If Taker was trying to convince her to give him a complete layout of the castle, he was out of luck since Bray didn't allow her to go many places within it. The only passageway she knew of was Malcolm's and, even then, that had been discovered accidentally one day. All he needed was a way in, information that she DID know. But, it was what it was, and Abigail had made it clear she didn't know anything useful, at least nothing he immediately considered advantageous.

"I want to talk to you about Susan." He said quietly, not about to talk strategy with her, again. "Her mother, Lily, and her… papa, the sorcerer Malcolm. Lily is my sister and Malcolm is my father." Taker let that sink in, letting go of her to walk over to pour himself a drink. Tonight definitely was a drinking night, a drinking and passing out night.

It took SEVERAL minutes for that information to sink into her brain, due to the shock and Abigail could only gape at him, suddenly understanding why Susan and Taker had been close so quickly. They were FAMILY! Swallowing incredibly hard, when Taker walked back over to hand her a tumbler of whiskey, she took it and downed the whole thing, the burning sensation jolting her out of her shock.

"Okay…" Did Malcolm know the Undertaker was his SON? No, he couldn't or else he would've told Susan to go straight to him instead of Abigail. "Susan is your…niece then, right?" She spoke somewhat cautiously, watching him nod as he downed his own tumbler and felt as if her brain just imploded. "I-I had no idea, Taker…"

"Why would or should you?" He asked, sending her a confused look before leading the way down to his main rooms, where more whiskey awaited, and comfortable furniture.

Taker hadn't known Malcolm was still alive, much less Lily, or any children. He imagined it was the same for Malcolm, assuming his sons were dead. Filling his tumbler again, from his private stash not meant for war councils and the like, Taker dropped down on the edge of his bed, the lighting automatically adjusting to his presence.

"Help yourself if you want another drink."

That was a good point, but she'd said it in case he thought she knew that information already. She was from the enemy camp, after all. The second thing she noticed was how HUGE that bed was. Abigail wasn't a big drinker, but tonight she felt the need to get a refill, pouring a healthy dose of whiskey in her tumbler. Then, she walked over to stare out the window down at Wonderful, everyone nestling in for the night as the lights began turning off one by one. She took a sip from the tumbler, feeling the warmth from the alcohol flowing through her veins and finally looked over at Taker, her heart breaking for him. Walking over, she stood in front of him and slid her fingers through his hair, trying to comfort him the best way she could.

Like a giant panther, his head tipped into her palm, feeling her caressing his hair and his scalp, wondering how she'd feel if he purred. That brought a faint smile to his lips and he drained his tumbler, setting it aside on the floor as the bed was fairly low to the ground and looped an arm around Abigail's waist. Drawing her down onto the bed, he lay back, pulling her so she lay sprawled on top of him.

"It has been a long day, darlin'." He rumbled, placing her hands back to his head.

"It has." Abigail agreed softly, noticing quickly he enjoyed having her fingers sift through his hair.

He had beautiful tresses, a deep dark auburn that looked black when it was wet. It was obvious Taker didn't want to talk about anything, which was fine with her because Abigail was drained emotionally and mentally. Tenderly, she began kissing along the faint scar that ran down the side of his face, once again letting him know they didn't bother her. Taker tensed for a minute and she continued, knowing stopping would've alarmed him or at least ruined the moment. All the while, she kept caressing his hair and rested her free hand against his chest over his heart.

Letting her kiss and caress him, Taker admitted to himself it felt nice to be coddled for a change. He was the leader; he was usually perceived as some magical, mythical force that was unstoppable, no limits. Didn't he wish! After a while, he had relaxed completely, and Abigail had never stopped her ministrations. Rolling them both so her back was against the mattress and he was hovering over her, he studied her face. She was a bit rosy in the cheeks and that made Taker smile slightly, bending down to brush his nose along her jawline, his lips ghosting hers.

Instinctively, her lips caught his in a deeper kiss, her hand resting on the side of his face and felt his body press her further into the mattress. She moaned softly and groaned when he pulled back, hearing his deep chuckle against her throat. This man was evil and had her at his mercy. If he wanted to, he could snap her like a twig and send her back to Bray broken, possibly dead. That wasn't the type of man he was, though. Taker wanted to protect everyone, including her, and that alone made her want to be with him. She writhed beneath him since her neck was one of the most sensitive areas of her body and felt his hand slip under her tank top to caress the flesh of her stomach, the heat pulsating through her further.

As much as she wanted to use herself as an honorable distraction for the cause or whatever it was she thought, and he was attributing that to her Catholic upbringing and the whole self-flagellation thing, the punishing self-thing, he wasn't that kind of man. He was, however, the kind of man who was very aware of the desirable woman beneath him, her curves beneath his palms as he ran calloused hands up further along her ribs, eventually testing the waters by cupping her breasts. Taker could feel her hardened nipples and her body arching into his touch.

"Mmm let me up for a minute…" Abigail requested breathlessly, smiling when he obliged and took her tank top off, leaving her bra on.

He could take it off of her if he wanted to, but at least she wasn't burning up anymore. Her hand slid up the front of his top, pulling on it and could see the desire swirling through his now dark forest green orbs. "Too many clothes on, and I want to feel your skin against mine."

She pushed it up over his head, dropping the material to the floor and tested the waters by pressing her chest against his, her bra suddenly a nuisance. A few seconds later, it was unsnapped and off her, their bare chests now touching as his mouth caught hers again, making her head spin. Virgin, he had to remind himself, a bit amused when she had removed her top, knowing she felt overheated… she'd shed more clothes and discover that burning wasn't something she would relieve by stripping. Taker had the cure for her fever-like state, though… he felt the same. Sitting upright, Taker pulled Abigail with him, so her legs were wrapped around his waist, heels on the bed. Holding her upper body weight with his hands, he tipped her back, bending down until his mustache and goatee tickled along her collarbone, kissing and licking his way down the valley of her breasts.

"Mmm, that feels good…" Abigail voiced how she felt, her hands gripping his broad shoulders and trusted him not to drop her.

That would've been awkward as hell. She gasped when he took one of her erect nipples in his mouth, swirling it around his tongue and used teeth slightly to add a different sensation. Abigail hissed out softly, burying her fingers in his hair and her nails dug a little into his shoulder with her free hand, lulling her head back further. Then, he moved to the other breast, giving her other nipple the same treatment and whimpered, the fire inside of her now a full-blown inferno. Her panties were soaked, and Abigail was pretty sure she would be leaking through the jeans she had on from how wet she was.

Abigail was radiating heat and he felt like he was leaching it from her, his lips burning a trail across her skin. Snaking an arm around her, in order to a free a hand, Taker delved it between them. Pulling his head up, Taker studied her face, green eyes searching hers as he began caressing her through the denim, watching for a sign she wasn't compliant with this. He wasn't the DOV or Bray Wyatt; she would be completely willing, or this wouldn't happen, period. It felt good, there was no doubt about it, but the denim was too thick to really feel and experience the warmth of his hand against her nethers.

"Off…off, t-they need to come off…" She stammered out in a groan, pushing her jean covered sex against his hand to further stimulate her.

Abigail was burning up, her face contorted in a mixture of frustration and ecstasy. Taker pushed her back to where she landed on her feet and, with his mouth, unsnapped her jeans, his hands caressing her backside before delving them beneath the thick material to feel the thin material of her panties. She could only watch him mesmerized, not realizing her eyes had blackened and slowly felt him start pushing the jeans down her legs until she had to kick her shoes off before stepping out of them. Then, his finger went right back to stroking her and this time, Abigail shuddered, her hands tightening on his shoulders to keep from falling over.

Her panties were drenched. He could feel it, see it and smell it; the woman was beyond aroused. It was heady, and Taker pushed her back onto the bed, kneeling on the floor before her. He locked eyes with her for a moment, slowly lowering his head between her spread thighs, his hands moving to her inner thighs, gently spreading them apart further. They didn't even have to go all the way tonight, but he was definitely sampling her. Not having a clue what was happening because she'd never gone this far with Bray, her eyes grew wide in wonder. Her panties were gone a minute later, and Taker had gone back to caressing and kissing her inner thighs, making her tremble. They were trembling on their own and she had no control over it, her heart pounding a furious tattoo in her chest.

"W-What are you…ohhhhh…" Abigail felt his hot breath puff against her dripping sex before his tongue slid up the length of her, her fingers instantly burying in his hair. "O-Oh god…" Never in her life had she been touched down there, so this was an entirely new experience for her.

Whatever exploration she and that punk leader of the DOV had done over the years, apparently it had all been very chaste. Twenty-six and a virgin, who had hardly any idea of the pleasures to be had when it came to sex, and not even just that one act. There was so much more to it than what she had seen in the DOV at the hands of those rapists. She tasted as delicious as her scent had promised him she would, and Taker found himself forgetting to check in with her, more intent on devouring.

Breathless. That was the only word to describe how she felt at the moment with his head buried between her thighs. Never did Abigail think she'd enjoy a man's tongue and lips on her lower region. On her neck, sure, but being pleasured orally was…an experience she would never, ever forget.

"O-Oh fuck! Taker, Taker please…" She squirmed, trying to increase the pressure on her clit and his huge, tattooed sleeved arm held her down, preventing her from grinding her sex into his mouth harder. "B-Burning…I'm – I'm…oh god, w-what's happening…" A hot sensation developed in her stomach, a tightening, a tingling pressure…it felt like coil threatening to spring free, or maybe a volcano on the verge of eruption. "P-Please…"

He knew exactly what was happening to her and was encouraging it, sliding one large finger between her slick folds. He felt Abigail tensing at was undoubtedly a very new sensation, but her body knew what it was doing. This was something just built in the DNA, something primal, basic, and when done out of fun, or love, or anything except anger and rage, it was a beautiful, pleasurable experience.

"Let go, darlin'…"

Breathing erratically, his finger inside of her, combined with his tongue, sent her into sensation overload. When that finger began pumping in and out of her slowly, methodically, the pain was minimal and, luckily, the pleasure overtook it, the combination making her head spin. Abigail had to lay back on the bed, gripping her hair in her fingers, and soon, the wave of warmth washed over her, feeling fluid leave her body. It was her climax, her very first orgasm and it reminded her of a shattering mirror. She had literally shattered to pieces, crying out his name in her release and tried catching her breath while he feasted on her essence.