Chapter 43

Jetta's eyes slowly fluttered open the following morning and groaned, every part of her body aching. Her head was pounding from crying herself to sleep as she slid from the bed, the towel sliding from her body. She stumbled over to her bag and grabbed a pair of black pajama pants with a tank top out of it along with garments, her hair knotted.

She sighed, knowing the only way to alleviate that was another shower. Stepping under the sprays, everything that had happened the previous night ran through her mind and Jetta could only cry as she washed her hair and body, finally stepping out an hour later. She got dressed and laid right back down in bed, closing her eyes.

Mark let himself in sometime in the early afternoon, his eyes bloodshot, looking haggard. He hesitated when he seen Jetta laying in bed, looking like she was fresh from the shower, but asleep. Letting out an anguished moan, he dropped down beside the bed, laying his head against her hand.

Randy was going to die. And if Stephanie hadn't informed Mark that Randy was currently surrounded by police officers, he would have followed just to kill the bastard with his own two, bare hands. As it was, he could wait for Judgment Day, then it could be ruled an accident.

Her face was tear streaked, her hair strewn all around her haphazardly, and she was lying on her stomach. She jumped when she felt something on her hand, bolting up, and was stopped before staring into Mark's green eyes. She couldn't believe it. He was here?

Tears instantly slid down her cheeks as Jetta threw her arms around his neck, her entire body shaking from head to toe, racked with sobs. Her face buried in his neck, refusing to let him go, her tears coating his skin as she felt him lift her up to where he was sitting on the bed and she was on his lap, clinging to him for dear life. She didn't enjoy what Randy did to her! She wanted Mark and only Mark! The more she thought about it, the faster the tears fell.

Mark cradled her against him, rocking Jetta back and forth, murmuring soothing words under his breath, trying to calm her. Her tears broke his heart. She had been raped by a man she had defended, who had been her friend. Some fucking friend. Randy had played one hell of a game on all of them and the one person who had rushed to his defense had been the one to lose the most.

"I-I didn't want it, Mark." She sobbed, holding him even tighter, afraid of losing him. "You have to believe me! I didn't want it! I fought the whole damn time!" She pulled back to chance staring in his green eyes, cupping his face in her hands. "I love you. I want you. I didn't want him, I never did and I never fucking will!" Jetta was trembling so hard her teeth were chattering. "P-Please b-believe me..." She felt his finger rest against her lips, not able to pull away from his gaze, wanting to pull him against her again, but knew he had to say what was on his mind. She was hiccoughing from how much crying she'd done and swallowed hard.

Mark inhaled deeply. The angry part of him last night had been pissed beyond belief and ranted at her. Of course this had all been in his mind. Even AFTER Randy's shit she had STILL stuck up for him! She had remained friends! And look what that sick son of a bitch had done to her! That had been the irrational part of him talking and after awhile, he had acknowledged this hadn't been her fault. Randy had played her, preyed on her kindness, and then sexually assaulted her.

"Jetta, I know, darlin'." He said softly, staring down into her eyes, caressing her cheekbone with the pad of his thumb. "I believe you, honey." He kissed her forehead, her cheeks, then her lips.

The tears subsided as soon as Jetta heard those words come from his lips, kissing him back as she cupped the back of his neck with her hand, slowly pulling back as she pressed her forehead against his. "I love you." She whispered, sighing heavily, and slowly stood up from his lap as she went to get something to drink. Her mouth was incredibly dry and she was dehydrated. Though her anger suddenly got the better of her and she threw it against the wall, letting the glass shatter in a million pieces before hitting the counter with her fists. "I want you to end his career, Mark." Her voice suddenly was deadly, blue eyes flashing. "Randy said he wanted me to hate him, to not care what happens to him, and he's getting his damn wish. I don't care what you do to him, just make sure he's sent to the fucking hospital."

Mark's green eyes flashed pure acid at that, nodding stiffly. "Darlin', when I'm through with him, they'll be sending his ass to the morgue." He promised in a dark, evil tone of voice, his entire demeanor shifting. He didn't look haggard or tired at the moment; he looked feral and demonic. "Or what's LEFT of him anyway." It would be a closed casket funeral, that much was for sure.

That satisfied and scared her at the same time, but she knew Mark would never hurt her. Not in a million years. She sighed and cleaned up the mess before walking over to him, staring into his acid green eyes, no guilt inside of her for the beating Randy was going to be receiving. She didn't care, honestly. He had gotten what he wanted by sexually assaulting her, ripping her panties off, and demanding her to hate him. Well now she did.

'I hope you're fucking happy Randy.' She thought bitterly and walked around the bed to lay down, knowing Mark was too angry at the moment. She would just wait it out and closed her eyes, let out a heaving sigh.

"I'm going to go take a shower, darlin'." Mark said softly, knowing he smelled horrible. He was still in his tights, reeking of sweat. He leaned down to kiss her tenderly. "I love you, Jetta." He murmured before disappearing into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He was going to KILL that son of a bitch for this.

Jetta heard the shower running and wanted to go join him, wanted him to hold her in his arms, but she couldn't find the strength. Instead, she slid from the bed and wiped her stray tears away, walking onto the balcony and gripped the ledge tightly, to the point where her knuckles were turning white. This is what Randy wanted from her and he damn well got it. The fucking prick. How DARE he touch her the way he had! Not to mention Michelle was going to be all over it like white on rice. Jetta felt a headache coming on, knowing she'd have to kick the bitch's teeth down her throat to keep her mouth shut.

Mark at first kept the water on ice cold, letting it calm down his boiling blood before turning it to scalding, the searing pain between the two temperatures shocking him through. It leveled him out though. He had thought he was past his anger, having worked it out the previous night and most of this morning, but seeing Jetta had caused it to flare up again. Snarling, Mark ALMOST put his fist through the shower wall.

Jetta sighed as she walked back in through the balcony, seeing Mark was still in the shower, and shook her head sadly as she sank down on the bed, her head in her hands. She still couldn't believe what had happened, what Randy had done. It was surreal. She couldn't get his words out of her mind.

Hate me.

He wanted her to hate him so he would be out of her life because of how he felt about her. He wanted her, he made that ABUNDANTLY clear. Jetta was a one man woman though and, suddenly, she felt herself undressing as she walked into the bathroom. She needed to be with her man, to feel his arms around her, to feel loved and protected. She didn't want to feel Randy's hands on her, only Mark's and opened the door of the shower, causing him to whip around. Without a word, Jetta stepped in and brought his face down to hers, kissing him passionately.

To say Mark was shocked would have been an understatement, this wasn't something he had been expecting at all. He returned the kiss of course, the shock quickly turning into passion. Finally, he pulled away and stared down at her intently, wanting to make sure she wanted this because she wanted HIM, not because she felt like she had to prove it or anything.

"I love you and I've missed you so much." She whispered, reading his mind, and pressed her forehead against his while still holding onto his face.

Jetta needed to feel him against her and wrapped her arms around his neck, not caring if the water was cold. His body warmed her instantly as she buried her face in his neck and pulled back enough to press a kiss against his Jetta tattoo, still not believing he'd done that. There was no way Randy would traumatize her to the point where she couldn't be with Mark. It wasn't the first time a man had forced themselves on her and it probably wouldn't be the last, though with Mark around it wasn't likely to happen very often.

Mark reached forward to adjust the water, turning it from cold to warm, knowing she probably was freezing to death. "I love you, Jetta." He murmured, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her up, smiling when he felt her legs locking around his waist and pressed his forehead to hers. He slid one hand up her bare back to rest finally over her own tattoo.

After making love in the shower, Jetta finally stepped out with Mark, both of them wrapped in towels as Jetta lead him to the bed. She pulled him down and wrapped her arms around him from behind, kissing his neck and shoulders, sighing in contentment. Nothing would keep her away from him and she just proved that, a smile on her face. Though that wasn't the reason why she made love to Mark. She missed him. Over two weeks without him, it was torture. She inhaled his scent and sighed, closing her eyes and knew the pay-per-view was next Sunday, but she didn't want to think about that at the moment.

"What else did you do while I was gone?" She asked softly, getting her mind off of Randy and what was surely to come.

"Drank with Glen, worked, came back to whatever hotel I was staying at and tried to sleep." Mark said honestly, pulling her so she was laying sprawled on his chest. "Missing you like crazy. You've completely ruined me for any other woman and, I'm a little weirded out to admit, I like it that way."

She chuckled softly, resting her head against his chest and sighed in contentment, hearing his heartbeat. "I would say I'm sorry, but I'm not. I want you to be ruined for any other woman out there." She looked up at him into his eyes, running her fingertips over his neck, over the tattoo that professed his unconditional love for her, tears filling her eyes again. "You've ruined me too, Mark, and I love you for it." She pressed a soft kiss to the ink before nuzzling, just wanting him to hold her close.

A soft smile on his lips, Mark just cradled Jetta against him, finally removing the towels from both of them, needing to feel her bare skin against his, the contact soothing him in ways nothing else could. This was how he wanted to spend the rest of his life, just holding the woman he loved. They didn't need to talk, to have sex, to be content. When a person could have a perfect moment of silence, it was comfortable and they could feel the love that was perfection.

Jetta was so glad that Mark wasn't upset with her, that he believed her with what happened. Apparently, Michelle's words didn't bother him and that just proved how deep his love for her ran. He could've done the opposite and called her a slut, knowing her past reputation, but that's what it was.

The past.

She couldn't wait for this to be behind them, so they could move on and be happy. Michelle was going to be sticking around and so was Jetta, to make sure that Mark stayed where he belonged, with her. Before she knew it, Jetta was asleep on his chest, her chest rising and falling slowly, steadily, her breathing even and she looked completely content.