Chapter 13

Arriving at the ranch, Jasina stalked inside and was glad Mark wasn't home because she was raiding his little bar, desperately needing a drink. She went upstairs to change into a bathing suit and headed down to the newly installed hot tub Mark purchased. She poured herself a glass of wine and took the bottle with her, deciding against hard liquor, and started it up before sinking into the hot water. She kept her hair clipped up because there was a lot more chlorine in it than the pool, the bubbles instantly relaxing her. If Trish knew what was good for her, she wouldn't mention Mark or Randy to Jasina for a very long time.

Even over the roaring jets of the hot tub, Jasina could HEAR Mark cussing up a storm and blinked, wondering what the hell happened to get him in that kind of mood. She was on her second glass of wine and didn't move an inch, too busy enjoying the jets plummeting against her back to care what Mark's deal was. It had to do with Steve, that bald man always got underneath Mark's skin in some way.

Mark had no idea if Jasina was home at this exact point in time, he didn't care. He hurt all over and as soon as the door was shut behind him, he stripped down to nothing except the outfit he wore the day he was born: His birthday suit. He was covered in bruises, but it was his dick he was worried about, letting out a sigh of relief when he seen it wasn't all...weird looking, just feeling a bit tender. Groaning and trying to rub some of the aches out of his shoulders, Mark headed straight for the patio, stepping outside with everyone intention of soaking in the hot tub.

Jasina didn't notice Mark come out because her eyes were closed, the wine doing exactly what she wanted it to do, completely relaxing her along with the hot jets. All the stress was gone for the moment and Jasina knew she could fall asleep in the hot tub if she wasn't careful. Her eyes suddenly snapped open when she felt new ripples in the water and lifted her head from leaning back against the ledge, feeling her jaw drop at the sight of a rather large dick in her vision.

"Mark, what the hell?!" She yelled, covering her eyes instantly and finished off the rest of her second glass, turning her back to him. "Lord have mercy, didn't you see me in here?!"

"Nope." Mark grunted, not feeling apologetic in the slightest, not after the afternoon he had had. "I know you and I ain't exactly on the most comfortable of terms right now, darlin', but I'm comin' in there. Don't be lookin' anymore either."

Easing himself into the hot water, across from her, Mark folded his hands over his junk, tipping his head back onto the ledge and closed his eyes. He would never admit it, but Steve could throw one hell of a punch. He smirked slightly, at least he got to soak in a Jacuzzi. Steve was probably getting another ass kicking, this one courtesy of his soon-to-be wife.

Jasina's eyes narrowed to slits at her ex-husband, not appreciating the cockiness of his tone. "Trust me, I have no interest in looking." She shot back swiftly and moved in the hot tub to where her vision wasn't on him, sipping her third glass of wine while staring up at the glistening stars. She would much rather look at them than his wrinkly dick, that was for damn sure, and leaned her head back once more to resume the relaxation Mark rudely interrupted.

"Good." Mark grunted, unable to play nice and she would have to settle with his attitude of leaving her alone if she let him lick his wounds in peace.

Apparently Arielle hadn't forwarded that video to her mother. Mark silently sent a prayer of thank you up above because he was pretty sure she would have at the very least given him some sort of messed up look. Not to mention, she hadn't even noticed he was looking a bit...beaten up and vowed to kill Steve, if Trish hadn't already.

"How's the house huntin' coming along?" He asked after a long silence, just to break it.

"It's coming, I'm hoping to get a few calls back by the end of the week."

He wanted her out badly and Jasina contemplated just getting a hotel room and lying about getting a place of her own...just so she wouldn't have to be asked anymore. There was no reason for Jasina to look at him because that just caused trouble and that's the last thing she needed right now. After her third glass of wine, Jasina decided to call it a night and stood up in the hot tub, beginning to move toward the stairs, letting out a loud yawn.

She could get some more hunting accomplished before bed with her bottle of wine in her room. Mark groaned when she tripped over his bruised -Steve was a shin kicking son of a bitch- legs, reaching out to catch her before she toppled and cracked her head. Instinctively pulling Jasina back against him, Mark reached out to steady the bottle of wine before it spilled in with the water.

"You alright darlin'?" He asked gently, shifting her so she was pressing against a bruise on his chest.

Jasina noticed how Mark winced and pulled back, seeing the bruise on his chest for the first time. It was the size of a baseball! "What happened to you?" She ignored him asking how she was, looking up at his face and saw his split lip, eyes widening. "Mark, did you get into a fight with someone?" When he didn't answer her, she purposely poked his chest on the baseball sized bruise, raising a sharp eyebrow. "Ready to talk now?" She kept prodding it until he finally growled, stopping her by wrapping his hand around her tiny wrist. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Good goddamn woman, that hurts..." Mark growled, refusing to let go of her wrist because she would probably wind up poking him all over again and that area was now throbbing. "If you must know, Steve and I got...into a bit of a scrap. Nothin' serious." Though he really, really hoped she never seen the video Arie had decided to make, not even wanting to know what her reaction to it would be. "He looks worse."

"Why in the world would you get into a scrap with your best friend?" Jasina demanded, eyes narrowing as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, prodding his chest again as soon as he released her wrist. "He is getting married in just a few short weeks and you decide to rough him up?! What the hell is wrong with you, Calaway? You need to remove the stick from your ass pronto and apologize to Steve!" She shoved right on his chest for good measure to push away, shaking her head in disgust. "You are his Best Man and you get into a fight with him, I don't understand you anymore." She climbed out of the hot tub and snatched the bottle of wine from him, scowling.

"What the fuck, Jasina? He picked the fuckin' fight with me!" Mark roared after her, rubbing his chest. "Why don't you go shove a goddamn stick up in yerself since apparently it's that goddamn time of the month!"

That was about as close to calling her an outright bitch as he was getting, groaning and sank beneath the water. Why the HELL was he getting beaten up tonight? Kneed in the balls, punched to hell, and now slapped around by his ex-wife. He felt like...Steve, a bitch.

Oh it was war now.

Jasina could not believe he said that to her and stalked right back over, standing on the second step of the hot tub, but didn't get in. "You need to cool down, Calaway." She proceeded to pour the entire bottle of wine, what was left of it, right over his head and tossed it in the nearby trashcan, smiling sweetly. "Have a nice night, dickhead."

Slamming the screen door shut behind her, Jasina stalked up to her room, pissed beyond belief and could swear smoke was coming out of her ears. Shove a stick up herself? Jasina wasn't on her period and, even if she was, it was none of his damn business!

"Stupid prick!"

"Thanks for the drink, SWEETHEART!" Mark shouted after her, dunking right back under the water to rinse the wine out of his hair.

Steve was dead wrong.

How in the hell he could ever love THAT harpy? How could he love a woman who just assumed she knew something and jumped in on the nagging and being a bitch? Steve was wrong and Mark should've messed him up worse than what he did.

"Fuck him..." Mark snorted when he surfaced, groaning as he rubbed his chest again. "Damn it... I hate it when that bald prick is right..."

Jasina took a shower to try calming down a little and then started laughing at what she did to Mark with the wine, not able to help finding it amusing. She changed into a simple white nightgown and checked her phone for messages. Blinking when something began uploading, Jasina thought it was a picture from Trish regarding the wedding.

"What...the...HELL?"

Her eyes flew open as she watched the video of Mark and Steve rolling back and forth in the garage, punching, kicking, biting...They were fighting like a bunch of women! Jasina could not stop laughing even if her life depended on it, especially when she heard Arielle's voice in the background. She couldn't really hear what they were saying, something about balls and biting...because Arielle was moving around trying to get the right frame.

Mark stormed into the house after officially turning into a prune, not really caring about being naked, wet, and wrinkled because he didn't ache quite as much. Huffing, he snatched his phone up when it rang, arching an eyebrow when he heard laughter coming from upstairs. The harpy must have found someone else in pain to make miserable and have a laugh at.

"What?"

"Got to tell you Mark, I don't know if I can have you as my father-in-law, you fight like a girl."

"Love you daddy!"

He snapped the phone shut, growling.

When Jasina finally calmed down -she had to shut her phone in order to stop watching the video, wondering if Trish saw it-, she headed out of her room just as Mark was coming up, covering her mouth with her hand. Her quiet giggling quickly turned into full blown laughter and Jasina couldn't even look at him without busting a gut, stumbling down the stairs as tears streamed down her face. She was definitely saving that video because if Trish hadn't seen it yet, she was going to tomorrow at work.

Well, that answered his question about if she had seen it, she had, and now he had three people laughing at him. One his daughter, one his soon-to-be dead future son-in-law and his ex-wife. He hoped Steve was fucking MISERABLE.

"Laugh it up, giggles." He called down the stairs, a case of beer in one hand and a cigar in the other.

Needing time alone to lick his wounds and heal his ego, Mark decided beer and cigar was the ticket. Mark hated his best-friend, simply hated him. First because the bald prick was right. Second because the bald prick hadn't shut up, therefore causing Mark to lose his temper.

Jasina had made two sandwiches and grabbed another bottle of wine, also making Mark two sandwiches because she honestly felt bad for yelling at him. That video showed clearly that Steve had pushed him over the edge somehow. Steve was good at pushing Mark's buttons better than anyone, including her. Jasina tried not to laugh as she headed up the stairs, stopping outside his bedroom door.

"Giggles is here with a peace offering." She called through it, smirking when he growled 'go away' and rolled her eyes, pushing it open, effectively ignoring his request. "Now honestly, when have I ever went away, Mark?" She retorted, kicking the door shut and walked over with the two sandwiches, holding her own in the other hand along with the wine under her arm. "Come on, peace offering. I'm sorry for what I said in the hot tub. I saw the video and..." Jasina had to stop talking for a second before she started laughing again. "Do...you...need...anything?" She slowly asked through giggling, covering her mouth when her hand when he snatched the sandwiches.

"Thank you, now feel free to leave." Mark GROWLED at her louder, not about to tolerate her standing there and laughing at him.

He had a feeling he was going to get reamed out by Trish, laughed at by Gary and Arielle, and probably heckled even more by Steve. He deserved a LITTLE bit of peace and he couldn't get it in his house. His bedroom should be a goddamn sanctuary! When she kept on trying to stifle her giggles, he let out a few choice curse words, pulling on a pair of cut off sweat pants.

"Jas...Darlin'...I'm going to tickle you behind yer knees until you piss yourself." He cautioned, not even threatening anymore, green eyes glinting wickedly.

"Oh no you're not!" Jasina squealed and didn't move fast enough because Mark grabbed her around the waist, dropping her back on the bed and began doing exactly what he threatened. "Mark stop!" She shrieked out in laughter, rolling on the bed and felt his arm wrap tightly around her waist so she couldn't escape, squirming, doing everything she could to get away. "If it wasn't you, you'd be laughing your ass off too, you big mongrel! If you don't stop tickling me, I will piss in YOUR bed, Calaway!"

"Piss in my bed and I'll just sleep in yours, darlin'." He threatened, though he did slow down on the tickling, just in case.

Not completely stop, but he did let her draw a few breaths. When she said she was about to piss, he changed his mind and stopped, knowing that while he would never let her live it down if she DID, she'd probably never forgive him for making her do it. Nothing like being pass the age of thirty and wetting a bed. Smirking, Mark let her roll onto her back and stared down at her.

"Truce?"

Jasina watched his hand extend and nodded, slipping hers into his with a smile, still giggling a little from being tickled. "Truce. And you fight like a girl!"

She jumped over him out of the bed and ran into the bathroom to empty her bladder, managing to slam the door shut. If Mark wanted to tickle her while she pissed, that was on him, but Jasina could only withstand the tickling for so long before needing to empty her bladder. As soon as she flushed and washed her hands, Jasina walked out only to be tossed back on the bed and Mark began assaulting her all over again with the tickling.

"I lied about the truce." Mark informed her, smirking wickedly.

Payback was a bitch, and she was a lovely shade of red from laughing so hard. Once again, he would tickle her mercilessly, stop to let her breathe, and start all over again. When her hand found his chest, he retreated with a groan.

"That's just playin' dirty, Jas!" He groaned, kneeling on the bed and staring at her out of narrowed emerald green eyes. "You. Play. Dirty."

"It's the best way to play." Jasina shot back with a smirk, backing up on the bed a little and hadn't realized her white nightgown rode up during his tickle fest. She got on her knees and sat in front of him, holding her finger up threateningly, knowing that definitely had to hurt. It was a nasty shade of purple and blue mixed, Jasina had always hated seeing Mark in any kind of pain. "Come on, lay back and I'll play nice for a change."

He arched an eyebrow at her, wondering where the hell that had come from, other than left field. Lay back and she'd play nice? Either it was a trap or a very weird come-on. When her hand approached her chest however, Mark dropped down onto his pillows, half-propped and stared at Jasina through half-opened eyes, nothing but slivers of emerald green showing as he took her in. Her nightgown was riding up and this felt like the other night, only this time, he wasn't about to scare her off with a kiss.

The only way she would be scared because of him was if she decided to smack him again. Jasina smiled and reached over him to the nightstand, pulling out the jar of salve Mark always kept, because he got frequent bruises while working on his bikes. She opened it up, the smell of sandalwood and oak trees permeating the air, making her sigh. She took a dollop of it in her fingers and scooted over closer to him, beginning to spread the salve on his chest over the bruised area.

"I am sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to accuse you of anything, but I also know your temper and Steve very RARELY starts scuffles." Unless it had to do with having his beer stolen, then all bets were off. "And I'm also sorry about the wine." She quickly added, not meeting his eyes as she started rubbing the salve into his chest, giving him a deep tissue massage because it would help with the blood flow.

"You don't know Steve that well, darlin'. He thinks provokin' me is the most fun on God's green earth, next to fuckin' his wife that is." Mark watched as she massaged the salve in, letting out a soft groan of both pain and pleasure. The fact that she was rubbing him was definitely a perk. "Don't worry about the wine, it washed right out." He added as an afterthought. The deep tissue massage hurt, but it would also feel better once she was done with it. Then there was the other, more pleasurable, feeling he was currently experiencing from her small soft skilled hands.

"What was he provoking you about?" Jasina couldn't help asking. "All I got out of the video was something about balls and biting."

Jasina bit her bottom lip so she wouldn't start laughing again, the amusement shining in her teal eyes as she kept massaging his chest, enjoying herself a little too much, honestly not meaning to do it as long as she was. She remembered doing this whenever he'd come home from the shop, the salve still the same scent, reminding her of the good days they had together. There was a lot of them, along with incredible sex...and suddenly Jasina could feel her libido come alive, slowly gliding her hands back and forth while pressing her fingers into his chest, the swelling already fading.

Mark considered that, almost tempted to tell her the honest truth, but...he wasn't quite that distracted yet. He tipped his head back against the pillows, letting his eyes drift shut and enjoyed the feeling of her now just...stroking his chest. It was almost like old times and, like old times, he could feel himself rising to the occasion, groaning softly.

"Jas..."

She immediately stopped when he groaned, holding her hands up. "What? What did I do? Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" She couldn't stop the questions from leaving her mouth, firing one after the other, teal eyes wide. "Oh god, sorry I didn't mean to press hard. I know it hurts, it looks really painful. You need some pain reliever to make the inflammation go away too."

Now she was rambling and went to say something else when Mark pressed a finger against her lips, silencing her. There wasn't any pain reliever in the world that was going to make this inflammation go away. Mark knew exactly what was going to make this go away: His hand in the shower just as soon as he got her out of his room before he did something stupid. Like flip her onto the bed and screw her right through the mattress.

"You're not hurtin' me...my chest..." He murmured, unable to keep his voice from dropping to a low, husky baritone, his eyes clouded over with pure lust.

When she moved, he automatically reached out to steady her so she didn't topple off the edge of the bed, letting out a hiss from his clenched teeth as she brushed against him. Jasina felt it. There was no way not to feel what she'd done to Mark. She kept her eyes away from his face, moving to where she was on her feet in front of him.

"I umm...I should go..." That was really stupid to say, but Jasina honestly didn't know what the RIGHT thing to say was.

"Yeah..." He whispered, not really meaning it, and didn't let go of her.

He was having a problem downstairs that she apparently caused while trying to help him and he would have to deal with it on his own instead of the old-fashioned way. Even though he knew he should, Mark was unable to force his hands to break their grip. Mark didn't want her to go to her bedroom, he wanted her to stay right here with him, where she belonged. Not in a room across the hallway, this could have been miles away as far as he was concerned.

"Jasina, I don't want you to go, darlin." He admitted, knowing that wouldn't help his cause, but...Steve had been right and what else did Mark have left to lose?

"I can't stay." She whispered, tears stinging her eyes and extracted herself from his arms, backing away slowly. "I'm sorry, good night Mark."

Jasina walked out of the room and shut the door behind her, tears instantly sliding down her cheeks, feeling her stomach tightening. Every part of her was screaming to go back inside, to be back in his arms, but her mind kept reminding her of what happened between them the last time they tried being together. Sex was nothing but full of complications, but damned if Jasina didn't crave and want it...almost needing it. She made it back to her own room and collapsed on the bed, crying herself to sleep.

Groaning, Mark laid out on the bed and then rolled onto his stomach, not caring if he was smothering the problem in his shorts. While the idea of hitting the bathroom was tempting, it was also...awkward. Considering she was right across the hallway, if Jasina heard the water, she would probably know what he was doing in there.

"Goddamn it..." He cursed into the mattress.