Note: This is a fanfiction based off of a series of books that I am starting up and are available on Kindle under my author name, Janessa Anderson. The name of the male lead character has been changed to follow the storyline. I don't own or have anything to do with the WWE, its partners, or The Undertaker

Chapter Forty-Seven

With the speed of a cheetah chasing down its prey, Mark wasted little time on closing the distance between Johnathon, his target, and driving one of his strong, broad shoulders deep into his abdomen. He sent them both falling down to the ground again, but much harder than they had previously. Mark sat himself up to straddle over his prey's weak body, and grabbed the back of his head to where his eyes would meet his and see the unadulterated hatred that was burning there.

"You crossed the line when you placed your hand on Emily." Mark growled to him, letting each and every word roll off of his tongue in a growl. "Now…You will pay the price for that decision."

He balled up his other fist, lifted it up from his side and delivered a hard blow to a side of Johnathon's temples as hard as he could manage. His eyes watched his face cringe in pain but not as badly as Emily had when she took the tip of the blade in her back to keep him safe.

He deserves more, Mark…This little punk is nowhere near suffering the amount of pain that your lady is under right now.

With his conscience's words encouraging him to continue with what he was doing at the moment, Mark started to increase the number of blows to his target's head and the amount of strength he was using in his hand to cause as much pain as he could deliver.

Johnathon deserved what he was getting. He had caused Emily nothing but grief and trouble. Last month, he had arrived into town, stalked her outside of the dress shop, crashed Belle's party, and even placed his hands on her grandmother, his boss. Now, he was thinking that he could threaten him with a gun, stab Emily with his knife, and be able to walk away with little trouble.

Not on his watch.

Mark wasn't about to let this little prick get off so easy. He planned to make him pay and pay in his own blood. He wouldn't stop until Johnathon was bleeding and suffering from his own pain like Emily had been.

It suddenly hit him: Emily. He had left her on the ground nearby moments before his shoulder took both Johnathon and him down to the ground and he had started to punch him over and over in the face.

Turning his attention away from the man that was sprawled out onto the mud floor beneath him, he focused on the weak and pain stricken form of his woman nearby with her eyes looking at him, pleading for him.

"Emily…"

He moved to his feet, hurried away from where Johnathon's body lied with blood trickling down from his forehead, and headed full force over to where his country princess was in need of him.

Emily's weak gaze focused in on Mark's quickly approaching body from where she remained on the ground with her hands nestled at her sides. Her blood had slowed down its speed on its way out of the wound on her back but her complexion had grown a little paler due to the amount she had already lost.

"Mark…"

Her voice slipped out of her mouth at a tone that wasn't above a whisper. She tried to speak louder than what her voice had come out sounding.

"Mark…"

She found her words falling silent from the warm sensation of her lover's strong arms moving underneath her body, scooping her curvaceous body within them, and cradling her to his muscular chest. Her eyes moved to the strong, concerned features on his face while she made another effort to speak up once more.

"Mark…I am okay…"

"No, you are not okay." Mark replied back to her with a firm yet saddened sound in his voice. "You are far from being okay at the moment…but I am going to help you start getting better."

"What about…about…"

"Don't worry about your ex right now, Emily. All you need to focus on at the moment is taking it easy, and letting me care for you."

Even though she knew that her body needed to rest and let Mark mend her wound she had suffered by her ex-boyfriend's hand, Emily didn't like the idea of being unable to do anything to help him or even help herself. She wasn't the lazy type of woman. There wasn't one thing about her that was 'lazy' or let on the impression that she was the type to slack off a lot.

With her body nestled in his strong arms, she managed to catch a glimpse of the front door to Mark's home opening up before her gaze moved towards the direction of his face.

There wasn't a single sign of weakness or a tear coming to Mark's strong face. All that resonated upon his expression was an unspoken determination to get her somewhere safe in order to tend to the knife wound in the middle of her back.

If there is any doubt about his true feelings left in your mind, Emily, your need to erase that away, completely.

Her conscience was correct. The seriousness that poured off of his face was all that was needed to tell her how much her cowboy was deeply affected by her sacrificing her body to keep him safe from her ex-boyfriend, and the intense amount of desire he possessed inside of him to return the act of kindness back to her.