Chapter 39

Of course he was, an arrogant smirk slid across his face. "Not surprising, darlin'." He drawled, a hint of evil in the low, southern tinged tone he used. "I'm the only man who knows, and enjoys, just how crazy and evil you truly are." Not to mention appreciated, oh yes… Custom made just for him. When she went to swat him, he caught her hand, pressing a kiss to the center of her palm. "I only speak the truth."

"I'm not THAT crazy." Tahlia mumbled good-naturedly, purring at the way he kissed her hand, each knuckle, barely brushing his sinful mouth against her skin. "Okay, well you're really going to think I'm crazy when I tell you we ARE going through with that dark wedding. And we ARE going to make the Corporation wish they'd never laid eyes on us. And it's going to start with abducting Shane McMahon the same way I was. Only, we won't knock him senseless…right away." Giggling wickedly at his raised brow, Tahlia fingered his beard and twisted it around her finger delicately. "Sound too crazy to you or just crazy enough?"

"Too crazy? You?" He scoffed mockingly, shaking his head. "Never." Taker's face settled into a serious expression, knowing this dark wedding bit had been a major issue for her. She hadn't said so, but he had known because the way things had changed between them. "It isn't real, Tahlia. You do know this, yes? I would never let you marry someone else."

"I know. I wouldn't marry Shane McMahon, that's for damn sure. But I still want to make him THINK I'm going to and make it known it's for his money. When I 'marry' him and everything is finalized, then I will kill him to reap the benefits. Something along those lines. This is your brainchild, don't forget." Tahlia reminded him, suddenly wondering why he'd come up with this idea in the first place. "What made you decide to do this anyway? Why did you bring up marriage to me that night?"

He remembered that day pretty well. She was watching the video of Shane McMahon having a meltdown in Connecticut over the burning crosses in his yard. She had been watching them on repeat, it had been amusing. Taker had also been thinking about their relationship, teasing each other, having beer and popcorn. Taker didn't remember why exactly he had thought it, but he had thought Tahlia becoming his next wife wouldn't be such a bad thing. They were together all the time anyway. She was as devious as him. It would've been a match made in heaven, or hell, depending on the situation. It also made sense financially. If something happened to either of them, his legacy and wealth would be enough for the other -her assumedly- to be set for life.

"It was on my mind." He admitted, reluctantly.

"You can be so infuriating sometimes." Tahlia muttered, the smile never leaving her face while she continued stroking his hair. She loved the length and thickness it had. Why couldn't they say what was on their minds to each other? "So marriage was on your mind that night…not work." Now Tahlia felt like an idiot. "I thought you were all business as usual. I mean, you shocked me with what you said hence the whole popcorn falling out of mouth thing." She smacked him when he began laughing. "Not funny, Taker. I really thought you were thinking about screwing over the McMahons and wanted to use me to do it, not that I minded. It just…hurt I guess because I didn't think you thought of me that way. I still don't know what you're thinking or feeling…"

"Wait, use you?" Taker echoed, staring down at her, frowning. Admittedly, that had always been the game plan and he had maybe not always made it clear, but even she had to know that. "Yes, I wanted to use you." He said slowly, trying to make sure they didn't have another episode on their hands where words were misunderstood. "But not like that, Tahlia. I brought you into the Ministry for specific reasons, but you surpassed what I thought of you. I knew you were strong, a warrior and capable, but I hadn't realized how ruthless and intelligent you were, how… much you're like me. Plans changed." Maybe… he should tell her. "Tahlia, I'm not aiming for control of the WWF. This is all a game, or it was. I enjoyed tormenting them. It has become… personal." Because of her and she had ruined him.

"But I don't want you to change anything because of me. If you want the WWF, take it. If you want the world title, take it. Take what you feel that you've earned and deserve." She passionately kissed him, using her the strength in legs to flip him on his back to where she now hovered over him, straddling his waist. "I love you for YOU – the whole package. Your temper, darkness, wickedness, all of it." Maybe the word 'use' wasn't the right term for Tahlia to say. "You didn't use me to the point where I resented you for it. I hated being away from you and the Ministry, but I knew it was for a good cause. And you let me come back instead of sending me away, even after you found out what I did with the prince. And now you're using me to get back at those assholes. I'm more ready and determined to make them pay after the attack than I was before. I trust you, Taker. I've trusted you from the beginning and I'll do whatever you ask of me. Don't let me or anyone else change who you are or any of your plans."

"Let's make one thing clear, Tahlia," Because she thought he was using her just to get back at them. No, he had been playing a game. "I am getting back at them now, FOR you."

For all the wrongs they had been keen on committing against Tahlia simply because she dared to go toe to toe against a woman with no talent other than what lay between her legs. And then, gotten beaten down because of it. No, he refused to allow that injustice to slide. Now Taker planned on mentally destroying all of them. Physical wounds would heal, mental scarring was forever and it was the least they deserved after laying hands on her. The evil spark in his eyes sent her heart racing and zipped all the way down to her extremities, revving her body all over again.

"There he is." She whispered softly, pressing her chest against his and passionately kissed him, enjoying having control for the moment. Usually, Taker took the reigns in the bedroom, but every once in a while he let her do whatever she wanted. In his own twisted dark way, Taker was being romantic by getting revenge for what happened to his woman. "I understand, Taker…and we'll make them all pay."

If she would have voiced those thoughts about him being romantic in his own way via revenge, he would have probably agreed with the assessment. They were deranged, not the normal couple, at all, but it worked for them. He let Tahlia have her way with him, for a little bit, accepting her touches and kisses, keeping himself in check for her. When, however, she started teasing him and kept at it, he growled and flipped her onto her back, with just a hint of authority.

"Mine."

"Always." Tahlia gasped as he filled her completely for the umpteenth time that night, feeling his mouth seal to her neck while driving in and out of her receptive body.

"So, why don't we go do something today? It's so beautiful outside and I really need some fresh air." They'd been in the condo for the past 4 days, mostly having sex and talking. She was ready to lose her mind from cabin fever and her head didn't hurt at all. "Come on, we can go to the Empire State Building or just walk around downtown." Plopping down beside him on the couch, Tahlia nudged him playfully and kissed his cheek. "Please?"

Taker turned to stare out the large window, peering down into the city. He'd like to say 'what's the worst that can happen', but knew as soon as he did, it'd jinx them, they just had that kind of luck. "Sure." He agreed, practically feeling the shock and happiness radiating off of her.

He didn't turn around, giving her moment just in case she was jumping for joy or something. Taker had been enjoying the downtime, letting his weary body recover from the toll he put on it. Stretching his legs might be fun. He had been to New York plenty of times, just never bothered to get to know the areas he didn't need for work.

"You're going to do the tourist thing, for me?" He teased, finally turning to stare at her.

"Do I need to?" Tahlia countered cheekily, jumping out of the way in the nick of time before his hand could collide to her backside.

It was warm outside and spring, so she wore blue jean capris with a short-sleeved orange top. Her wardrobe still consisted of black and purple on the road, but on their off-time, Tahlia chose to wear what she wanted. She left her hair down, putting a matching orange headband in it and brushed the snarls out before walking back into the living room to wait for Taker to finish getting ready. This was just like a date…wasn't it? Were they going on a date? Tahlia looked down at herself, making sure she looked decent and chewed her bottom lip. This is what normal people did – and they weren't normal.

In the interest of attracting as little attention as possible, and being able to enjoy their outing without too many stares, Taker had trimmed his goatee and braided his hair back. He also wore a pair of black jeans, boots, and a form fitting t-shirt, a bandana wrapped around his head. He looped his sunglasses in the collar of his shirt, checked his wallet and chain were both where they needed to be and stepped out into the living room, taking in the orange.

"I like it." He said finally, nodding his probably unwarranted approval.

"You…trimmed…" Tahlia closed the distance between them and reached up to touch his now goatee, wondering why he would shave the beard off. He looked handsome, no matter what, but it was shocking to see the beard gone. "Come on, time to show you off, baby."

Beaming, Tahlia laced her fingers with his and guided him out of the condo, locking the door behind. The world of New York awaited them and Taker coming with her was the icing on the cake. She still had a small bandage over her staples, but her hair covered most of it, even with the headband.

"On our next days off, let's go back to the mansion. We can switch between coming here and going there, if you want. What do you think?"

"Works for me." He agreed, squeezing her hand gently.

As it turned out, he needn't have overly worried about attracting attention. Sure, some people stared, some recognized them, but for the most part New York was filled with all kinds of people. Extremely tall and skinny, some dressed flamboyantly, some like him and Tahlia, all kinds. They were actually… pretty conspicuous in the grand scheme of things. New York wasn't so bad.

"Where to first?"

"Well, there's Coney Island, downtown New York, tons of parks…let's go to the park and walk around the water." Tahlia was born and raised a New Yorker, which explained why she was so feisty and tough. "I prefer night to day, but days like this can't be ignored."

The cool wind blew over them as they continued to walk and found a beautiful nearby park. It was covered in flowers of all different colors, the smell intoxicating. Tahlia wasn't a huge nature buff, but on occasion she liked to stop and enjoy the outdoors. Out of the corner of her eye, during their nice quiet walk together, she noticed some paparazzi following them, keeping their distance for obvious reasons.

"We have company, I think."

What was interesting, and perhaps a little alarming, but not surprising was the fact that she preferred night time to day. Though he really hoped she wasn't tromping around New York City in the dead of night. Tough woman with a gun or not, the numbers game in this city would eventually catch up with her.

"If they get to close, we can scare them off." He only half joked.

Amber eyes twinkled up at him at that suggestion. "How would we do that in the daytime?" She asked curiously, looking up at him while they continued strolling through the beautiful park. The paparazzi kept following from a distance, snapping pictures of them and she could hear the camera click repeatedly. It was grating on her nerves. "Do it." At his raised brow, Tahlia stopped to look up at him and told him silently she wanted the intruders scared off.

"As my lady wishes…" He mockingly bowed before turning and strolling towards the Stalkerazzi.

"Hey Taker, you and the lady, you serious? Is it – what's he doing? Dude, what – PUT ME DOWN!"

All he had done was pick up the camera. It wasn't his problem that the camera was secured to the man's neck via safety straps, or that the man had come up with it. "Quiet, boy." He ordered darkly, purposefully deepening his voice to the Lord of Darkness baritone he used on television. Taker pressed the lid and began pulling out the film, exposing it to sunlight, effectively ruining it.

He had peed himself. "My camera!"

"You ask next time, boy." He tightened his grip, the other man now on tiptoes. "Understood?"

"Y-yes sir, yes!"

Tahlia stood there with slightly narrowed eyes and a wicked smile, chewing her thumbnail while watching her man, her master, in action. The man scampered off once Taker dropped him on his backside with his crushed camera. It didn't matter if the world knew they were together, but being stalked by people and having photos taken without consent was rude. The other paparazzi followed suit, deciding they didn't want their cameras shoved up their backsides or their expensive film ruined.

"Now THAT was beautifully done." Tahlia commented once Taker rejoined her and crooked her finger at him to where he lowered to her level. "Thank you." Then she kissed him fervently.

See, now only if those photograph hounds had respectfully asked for pictures, or at least been sneaky about it… they could have had some real photos for their dirty magazines. Taker lifted Tahlia up, her feet off the ground though he was supporting her in his embrace, unlike what he had done only moments ago as he kissed her. He could get used to this, being thanked for acts bordering on violence.

"You're very welcome."

It wasn't shocking having to deal with paparazzi in New York, but that didn't mean Tahlia and Taker would tolerate intrusion. Fans were one thing, most of them were respectful and asked for autographs politely. Then there were ring rats, who wanted in the wrestlers' beds. Finally, there were those who thought they knew all about the wrestling business when, in fact, they knew jack squat. Feeling her feet touch the ground again, they began walking further into the park and made small talk, each getting to know the other a little more.