Time for the fallout of the wedding-that-wasn't then and I think it's time for our favourite couple to reconnect (if you know what I mean). One more chapter after this one and then we're done…I mean until the next time of course!

xXBalorBabeXx, I'm loving teasing Seth in these stories but I feel like there has to be a vestige of the old Seth in there somewhere trying to break back out. Going to expand on that a bit in the next few stories too. But of course Dean would be there in the nick of time (just!)

Skovko, Seth is so conflicted and I love it because it means more to probe into at a later date. I have plans! Interesting Dean kind of has the same idea as you about it being safer for Lauren to marry him sooner rather than later. But he's forgetting it tends to be a bigger deal for a girl.

Debwood-1999, The thought of her married to Randy turns both Lauren and Dean's stomachs too so you're in good company with that one! Haha, well, I like your bluntness and I will say that you are 50% right. Besides, Lauren would hate being married in front of the whole world and especially by that pastor!

Mandy, Haha, that made me laugh! I should have inserted you in climbing over the barricade from the crowd to marry Seth yourself! But yeah, the boy is still in there and he's going to be struggling with his choices in the next couple of stories too. Sorry your cold is still lingering. Hate when they do that, just go already!

Wolfgirl2013, Yep, Seth still has some little pieces of the old him tucked away in there, even if he tries to pretend otherwise. We know better! Not even he wants to see Lauren married to horrible Randy. Ick. Hunter and Steph are free to meddle another day unfortunately (like always!)

LunaticxLass, Seth still cares but doesn't want to make it too obvious that he does, so he still saved Randy. I think our little turncoat might be in denial, still, means that hope is not all lost and he can maybe become the Seth we know and love again down the road…

ShieldGirlBecky, Haha, clearly you know me too well, but hey, I figure they need this chapter as much as anyone because certain activities are a great stress reliever! Agreed, if Seth cares for Lauren (grudgingly) then the same is true of his brothers too (deep down!)

Minnie1015, Yeah, Seth can pretend all he wants to, but when the chips are down he cannot ignore his old feelings. Still, gives me something to develop going forward into future stories I guess. Love me some good continuity after all!

Labinnacslove, Steph will never give up! Until she wins she will keep trying out crackpot schemes and snide little enterprises and dragging Hunter in with her. I mean, she is her father's daughter after all! Luckily Lauren has her boys for backup!

Penultimate chapter…


A Not Quite Wedding Night

Roman went to look for my clothes once we were backstage since I honestly had no clue as to where they had gone and since I also refused to step foot outside the building in a wedding dress with my hair in pretty wild disarray.

Dean grumbled the whole way back to their locker room,

"I mean seriously, what the fuck even was that? Because I know they've pulled some pretty wild shit before now but tryin' to force someone to – like – marry their worst enemy? That is some totally messed up bull crap right there. Did they just fuckin' get through watchin' Princes of Thieves last night or somethin'?"

I blinked at him a little and then smiled,

"Hey, I said that."

But largely because he was so busy muttering he managed to completely miss my little chime and so I then fell quiet and let him tow me along the hallway with one hand holding my plethora of white silken layers up while the one sat firmly and securely in his. Luckily because the wedding-that-wasn't had been the super big chaotic climax to the show, most of the roster had showered and headed back to their hotel rooms and so the levels of staring I attracted were happily few. Plus those people still milling around backstage seemed to know better than to tangle with Dean, who was ranting to himself like a recently released madman and so thankfully probing eyes were largely kept to themselves.

"I mean one minute I'm back here about to take a fuckin' shower an' the next thing I know fuckin' Matt comes flyin' in talkin' about weddin' dresses and ministers an' all that shit an' I take look up at the screen an' see you bein' hauled out there – ,"

Huh.

It seemed like Matty had saved things after all by raising the alarm and getting my fiancé at a run. Based on that I owed him a coffee, or a whole box of luxury chocolates or some flowers at least.

"I – I'm really sorry I scared you."

"They're fuckin' crazy – like – the whole McMahon family is totally certifiably insane. I mean they make my mom look like freakin' Mary Poppins an' I think we both know how fuckin' hard that is."

I sure did.

Dean was walking at the pace he usually adopted whenever he was on the edge or else massively pissed off and which was halfway between a stride and cheetah-on-the-hunt fast and which I was forced to sort of trot to in order to keep up with. Somewhere past catering a fold of my many underskirts fell from my fingers and I trod on the stupid thing and staggered inelegantly,

"Crap – ,"

It was entirely likely I would have fallen onto my face too had Dean not blinked himself rapidly from his ranting and then tensed his arm to hold me up.

"Whoa, you okay?"

"Uh huh, but this dress is too long."

He snorted,

"Princess that dress is a whole bunch 'a things and so the sooner we get it off you and pretend this never happened the better the both of us are gonna fuckin' feel."

By the time we reached the door to the locker room, he had run out of things to mumble about and I therefore assumed we would simply step inside and then try to find me something halfway acceptable to put on until Roman managed to sniff out my real clothes. But instead of leading me over the threshold, after banging the thick wooden doorway wide, Dean suddenly turned around with such sudden motion that I bumped off his ribcage in a sexy bounce that I didn't mind.

I blinked at him,

"Um, are we not going in after all?"

Dean scratched at the back his head a little awkwardly,

"Not like this."

"Not like – huh?"

"Princess, trust me, I'm doin' the right thing here."

I was still frowning at him when he suddenly bent low in front of me and wound an arm around my waist before using his other one to sweep my legs up off the concrete and then grunting a little as he hitched me towards him in the super traditional –

Ohhhh.

Bridal pose.

Dean was intentionally carrying me across the threshold like the pair of us had just gotten married for ourselves and even though that part of things had unfortunately not happened, the fact that he was pretending it had done was so sweet that I laughed, throwing my head back and then giggling like an idiot as he turned us sideways so as not to bang my legs and then walking us into the locker room easily trying to fight back a grin of his own. I dragged my fingernails lightly through the stubble slowly growing longer on the back of his neck and he leaned into the touch and even shut his eyes briefly with a happy little grumble as I whispered into his ear,

"You're the best not-quite-husband I've ever had, I hope you know that?"

"Right back atcha baby, 'cept change the husband part to wife."

"Haha."

Rolling my eyes I slapped him lightly on the shoulder and he lowered me gently back onto the floor, releasing the many layers of the poor misused wedding dress which then re-found its shape instantly half pooled on the floor. Dean was looking at me sort of appraisingly and I frowned and then offered him up a shy little grin, to which he blew out an actual wolf whistle that caught me by surprise,

"Damn Princess."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothin' it's just – it's just that dress looks fuckin' perfect – like – the lace an' the curves an' you lookin' all gorgeous an' I mean, it's honestly makin' me feel like we should do the whole big weddin' thing with the band an' the speeches an' you wearin' white an' shit."

"Really?"

He stepped towards me to put his hands across my hip bones and I instinctively moved in closer to be able to feel his touch, because after having been manhandled by my father and held back by Randy I needed some love and being between the palms of my hunky fiancé seemed to me like a pretty sweet balm. Dean still had traces of sweat from his match earlier clinging to his body and blending in with his aftershave notes so that the resulting combination was spicy and masculine and ever so slightly sticky and I liked it a lot. Leaning in he rested his forehead against me and I could feel his wettened bangs tickling lightly above my eyes and mingling in with the soft tips of my eyelashes like we were physically trying to meld into one.

Mmmm.

If only.

Dean however then went one better by lowering his head and sweeping his face beneath mine before butting his lips up in a sudden hot contact that seized my mouth and knocked my head back.

"Uh."

I physically gasped a little at the manoeuvre because the passion of it had come right out of the blue, but I took less than a second to respond to it keenly as I fell in against him and wrapped my arms around his neck, flattening my palms across his scalp and tangling his hair up while pushing him harder and longer into my lips. His tongue sliced into my mouth in hot flashes and then pressed up strongly and controllingly against my own, tangling them up and probing and searching like a red hot poker that belonged to me and no one else.

I moaned into his mouth and the vibration shivered through us and tweaked at the front of his too tight wrestling pants, whereupon he broke from my lips a little breathlessly but with the best kind of hazy looking excitement in his eyes.

He nipped at my neckline,

"Princess, m' gonna take the feelin' of their hands away. Is that what you want baby?"

"Uh – uh huh, please."

I could barely even speak the sudden rush was so powerful and as he licked along my jawbone my knees began to tremble and I whimpered as a familiar tingling struck up way down there. His protective hold around my lower back tightened instantly and he grumbled against my earlobe,

"I gotcha baby, you're okay."

"I was s-so scared."

"Never gonna let 'em getcha."

"I love you – I love so much."

"So you fuckin' should."

I laughed and then covered my face a little bashfully as he started to suck tiny hickeys across my neck, but I could tell he was beaming from the curve of his lip line and it lifted the last remaining threads of nervousness off.

"Dirty girl," Dean murmured against me, beginning to shuffle us backwards towards the door and then pillowing my body with his arms as we hit the framework before fumbling to shut us in as I tiptoed up to reclaim his lips.

"What if somebody comes in while we're smushing?"

He flicked the lock then lifted a brow up,

"First of all never use that word again, 'kay baby? An' second of all I'm pretty sure we got this place to ourselves now."

"Oh, okay."

Dean snorted back then pressed himself closer so that his torso was squashed right up against my breasts, which gave him better access to the tender parts of my collarbone as he parted his legs a little and moved his groin in as well. His hardening bulge knocked against my belly through the lacework and I flung my head backwards and gasped breathlessly,

"I – I need these off, I'm taking them off now."

I was talking about and also tugging at his jean fronts and clumsily unbuckling the much needed belt, that I then whipped across the locker room much like a lasso which sent it flying into the cabinets with a resounding crash.

Oops.

Dean snorted fondly against my jaw,

"Fuckin' disaster zone."

"Would you still want me if I was all boring and sane?"

"M' always gonna want you."

Ugh.

He was too cute.

Ducking away from his lips with a giggle, I lowered into a squat as I peeled his waistband down, teasing the material over his beautiful thigh muscles and then planting a kiss on the inside of his leg. His boxer briefs twitched in response to the touches and so I grinned like a devil then pressed on a few more, tracing my way upwards in light little grazes before paying him back by adding in a tiny hickey of my own.

"Revenge huh? Didn't think that was really your style baby."

"Just proving that I'm still the best at sucking in this relationship."

He coughed and then his big blue eyes went wide,

"What the fuck is that dress doin' to ya?"

I remained on my knees blinking up coyly,

"Hmm, let's see."

Running my fingers up his thighs until he grunted, I curled my grip around the rim of his briefs and then inched them down to join the denim pooled at his kneecaps bringing the previously hidden, hardened bulge fully into view.

Holy wow.

Dean let loose a throaty sounding mumble and then palmed my hair frantically in hot anticipation,

"Princess, fuck – ,"

Licking my hand I curled my fingers around him and began to massage them in a circle up and down. I pressed more kisses to the curve of his inner thigh too, fluttering my lips ever closer to his groin as he braced above me with a hand against the doorframe and merrily bit out happy curse after curse.

"Fuck, you lookin' so fuckin' pretty in white an' bein' so fuckin' good to me – so good."

Yep –

I was.

In response I continued to beautifully tease him by caressing his manhood until he was fully erect, then was about to swap hands as my fingers seized up on me when he hooked his forefinger beneath my chin,

"C' mere."

I rose up onto my feet unsteadily as I tried and failed not to step on the dress, but managed to stand pulling myself up his forearm until I finally ended up flushed but looking him in the face,

"Oh, hello, fancy meeting you here."

He launched in towards me and kissed me so fiercely that it literally ripped the breath out of my throat and I squeaked in surprise as his tongue ghosted my lip line like he was trying to figure out what my specific flavor was. His would have been spiced ginger for sure, although I honestly had no idea why that was and so instead I hummed happily into the contact and then reached a hand down to continue my careful strokes, even as stars began to light up my vision from lack of oxygen and as my lungs began to beautifully choke. Dean caught my fingers and then finally broke away from me with a mumble against my lips,

"Won't have anythin' left."

"Wow, I guess this dress really does work then?" I teased lightly, whispering the words as we stood pressed head to head and which painted the moment with such genuine intimacy that we could have been anywhere and not just a sweaty locker room.

Blue eyes sparkled,

"Woulda worked better if you weren't wearin' it an' were naked instead."

"Oh, that's a very good point."

Feeling like an idiot I began to try and shuck the thing off but again Dean stopped the movements with a touch of his hand and a grin like he found my lack of thought adorable rather than a frustrating or embarrassing thing,

"Easy Princess, I got this, so you just follow my lead here okay?"

Honestly had he asked me to leap from the Empire State Building and into a wet rag I would have happily given it a try and so therefore simply stood still feeling breathless and buzzy as he lowered himself so we were eyeline to eyeline and then bundled up the lace before reaching beneath.

Oh?

His warm fingers efficiently found out my underwear and then carefully and one-handedly began to pull the brim down.

Ohhhh.

He grinned as they slipped to the probably unclean floor tiles and then he leaned in to kiss the lacework covering my breasts, since that was where his beautiful shaggy head was, while his big loving hands were –

Um.

Definitely somewhere else.

Hooking up one of my legs beneath the kneecap he slung it to rest across his firm little butt and I rose high onto my tiptoes instinctively at the movement as he slid the copious folds of the wedding dress back, exposing me completely in a way that made me tremble but also come alive,

"You ready Princess?"

"Yes," I was so far and away ready I was a quivering wreck of a woman, "Yes please."

"We not role playin' this time?"

"No – no, just us."

He grinned back wolfishly like he was pleased by the answer then readjusted his hold and eased himself in, while I clamped my raised heel hard into his ass cheek and shuffled on my other toes and moaned into his touch. He waited a second for everything to settle and then slowly and carefully began an even thrust, building the pace up sweetly but hungrily until his forehead was in my neckline and I was gasping to his grunts.

"Oh god, oh god yes,"

I buried my nails into him talon-like, leaving red trails over the length of his back and then bit my lip hard since I could no longer kiss him but still needed frantically to do something with my mouth. Beneath me the thrusting and grunting continued and I responded to the rhythm by syncing to the moves until our bodies were working in beautiful conjunction and everything was getting hotter and more tingly feeling and just wow.

"Princess, you close? I'm gonna – I'm gonna – ,"

I answered him by erupting in a sudden burst of pleasure, which had built until I could barely stand the blissful agony anymore and so let out a series of guttural sort of yelping sounds which then tailed into whimpers and fed his own spasms as well.

"Fuck."

He continued to work his hips for a second longer like he had forgotten that there was anything else he had ever done and each move brushed beautifully against my throbbing sweet spot and made me hiss and keen until he finally stopped.

Wow.

Pulling back out he let the hold on my raised leg go and as it fell to the floor again limply I almost completely toppled over with it too, except his hands were straight on my hips like always, giving me support.

He kissed me fierce and hard,

"You're the best fuckin' thing about me, you know that? So if you wanna big white weddin' baby, then it's totally yours with all the bells an' whistles an' that shit."

"But what if I don't want one anymore? What if I want a beach somewhere like you suggested?"

"Bullshit."

"Why?"

Dean waved a hand in the air somewhere above us like he was ordering his reasonings into semblance or form but also threw in a patented shrug for good measure, as well as a tiny nose kiss which did things to my heart,

"Because you're way too apple pie and sweet for unconventional, so of course you want place settings an' confetti an' butterflies."

"Butterflies?"

He shrugged,

"I'm – like – ninety percent sure that's a thing."

I laughed in response and then shook my head a little but I was also beaming ear to ear like a lovesick kid, because he always managed to make me happy and thankful no matter what was happening and no matter where we were. But beneath it there was another weight pulling pretty heavily because over the course of the evening my position had changed and I no longer wanted the big wedding that he was describing since there were too many things and people who wouldn't be there and their absences would be glaring and impossible to bear. My mom most importantly, but Hunter too would be missing and who would walk me down the aisle if it wasn't for him?

Maybe therefore having an aisle wasn't important.

Maybe none of it was as long as I had Dean.

I bit my lip and tried to form that into a sentence as I absently stroked at the hair on his arm and traced little patterns across his skin like a doodle pad in the way I knew he liked and which also helped to calm me down.

"I – I think I'm over the whole big wedding extravaganza anyway – you know – given what happened tonight in the ring. It – it kind of feels like they've maybe ruined it a little and so I guess having those things isn't important anymore. I mean, not that I really even wanted them in the first place, mostly I think I thought I should have wanted them. Because us girls are supposed to want white dresses and first dances right? So what else is left if I didn't want that and honestly – ,"

"Princess."

I blinked,

"Oh, I'm rambling."

"Yeah but only completely, so – y' know – no sweat."

He grinned at me and the look was so loving and lopsided and cute that it made my knees weak and I leaned in and kissed him because next to stroking his arm hairs it was the next best way I knew how to instantly cool down. My lips still felt a little numb from all the action and were buzzing in the full-bodied post orgasm hum but I still felt myself sort of melting against him as we fell back into the framework in a happy little slump.

Breaking apart he pecked me a second time,

"We should just fuckin' do it one night – like – turn up at a tiny little chapel an' make it legal so they can't pull more shit like this an' drag you out there kickin' and screamin' like they have a damn right to be touchin' you at all."

His eyes flashed wildly and I gently thumbed along his cheekbone,

"I knew you would come,"

"I'm fuckin' serious here, the best way I can think of right now to protect you is to get this weddin' thing over an' done an' make sure that nobody in this place can change anythin'."

"So that's the only reason you want to marry me, huh?" I smiled to show that I was very lightly teasing and in response he bit a smirk back and then threw in a chirpy shrug because being all romantic and mushy wasn't his forte although he was by no means as horrible at that kind of thing as he thought.

"Why the hell else would I wanna get hitched to you other than to flip one off at the boss? Not to mention the crafty old bastard that owns the company since he's wrapped up in this shitstorm too."

I blinked,

"Vince is?"

He looked back like I was crazy,

"Lauren, who suggested this genius television spot to you huh? Because I mean sure, he promised that he wouldn't let you get hurt an' you're not exactly injured so in theory he kept his word. You're tellin' me he had no idea what would happen? He played you and me for one of his precious ratings hits which means he is definitely off the fuckin' guest list."

I gaped for a second and then coughed,

"Son of a bitch."

My baffled exclamation and the fire of its delivery made my fiancé laugh lightly at me and then also triggered something else deeper and more needy as his lips moved in again,

"Ready for round two?"

I would have said yes and meant it in a heartbeat had the door handle not suddenly started to move and produced both a yelp and a possible heart attack as somebody else tried to get into the room. Instantly the hot waves of pleasure that had been fuelling me turned into something more panicky and cold as I physically propelled Dean back like he was poison and then scrambled with the layers of my dress,

"Um, hold on."

Based on the fact that I was still pretty sex-buzzed and that the folds of the gown were ridiculously long, reclaiming my underwear seemed almost impossible and wasn't helped by my fiancé watching me struggling with a smile having pulled his own clothes back.

He was still topless though.

Mmmm.

"Dean," I hissed, "Help me."

"Alright, alright."

He wandered across and then dipped himself low before me while I tried to hold the massive skirts up before easing the black briefs back into place mercifully, but not before teasingly tapping my sweet spot which made me squeak and was still rumbling through me as he manoeuvred me from the threshold and then flung the door open with an innocent little smile.

Roman was standing looking in at us knowingly,

"Is it safe?"

Dean grinned at him,

"Why wouldn't it be uce?"

Luckily in his hand he was holding my belongings and I let out a sigh and reclaimed them at once, trying to ignore the flush burning my cheeks up and the fact the big man was pointedly not looking my way because obviously I was carrying my conquest like a medal and probably the mortifying embarrassment as well.

"Thank you, um, where – where were they?"

"Matt found them clearing up one of the locker rooms."

"Oh thank god."

"You okay baby girl?"

Dean had moved across to the other side to pull on his shirt and get ready to go, but he looked back at me like the question was an important one and it made me smile and suck a breath in,

"You know what big guy? I think I am."


One more chapter then and I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you do not want to miss it. I'll see you then...