Chapter 37

Taking her sword and launched it like a dart at a board, slicing right through his eye as blood poured. It wasn't red blood though, dark purple ooze and she ripped her sword out of it, knowing they had him weak. His health had depleted to half with that shot, now it was just a matter of using magic spells, which was Randy's specialty.

"NAIL HIM, RANDY!"

"Don't ever say that to me again, ever!" Randy growled, cigarette clenched between his lips as he began casting, eyes darting all over his screen. "Keep attacking, I'm keeping him from restoring energy and mana."

His character would die and that was alright with him. He knew him being with her meant her ID would trigger the special ending for them both. Whatever the special ending for normal players was, he was curious, but… he'd find it on YouTube later.

"Mad props for this…" He muttered, watching his character kick the bucket. "Dick bag!"

"And off goes the television." Cheryl shut it off, curious about the 'special ending' to the event her and Randy just won.

Her mage was gone and Undertaker's bar was blinking red. Emery knew one final hit was all it would take to bring him down and went in for the kill. She nailed demonic Undertaker in the chest with her sword and watched him fall back in slow motion before dissolving in a purple ooze.

"Holy fuck…that was intense…"

She didn't take her headset off yet, remembering there was more to this after the final boss was defeated. Taking a long swig of her bottled water, Emery watched the screen flash several times, as if it was glitching out and raised a slow brow, her eyes widening at what came on next. It was him, rendered in 3D and made to look like a World of Warcraft version of himself. This version was a lot smaller than the boss she had just faced, and less demonic, his eyes a vivid emerald green.

"Feel better, my Queen?" All the dialogue was pre-scripted, but the amusement in his tone had been picked up during the recording. "Slaying me had to of relieved some of your anger." He lowered himself to his knees, legs spread apart, his arms resting on his thighs as he stared at her through the screen. "I'm sorry Emery, for everything. I wish I could take back all those things I said and did, but I can't." Mark looked away for a moment before turning back towards her, his face beginning to be zoomed in on. "I did this all for you, my Queen, in the hopes that… you'll forgive me and come home." Home being his arms and they were opened wide now, as if to embrace her. "Come back to me, let's start over." Then, he smirked wickedly. "And congratulations on winning the Event." He winked at her before the credits rolled.

Tears slid down her cheeks the moment he came on the screen and Emery couldn't pull her eyes from the bonus content. Mark had…made this entire special event for her. Knowing her love for this game, he'd managed to put all of this together…for her. All to beg her to come back to him…home. How she longed for his arms. It killed her not to be with him, to walk away after the Last Man Standing match against Batista and start her life over, partially.

Taking her glasses off, Emery buried her face in her hands and cried harder than she ever had in her life, not knowing what to do. She loved him and felt complete when she was with him. Could they really make this work? The past would always come back to haunt them and that's what she was afraid of. It was the sole reason she left the WWE. Truthfully, Emery had said some rotten things to him as well and none of it could be taken back, but she'd already forgiven him…and apparently he forgave her.

So, did she follow her heart or her brain?

After the credits rolled, it returned to her character screen, displaying the loot she had acquired and experience gained. It flashed the words: The Undertaker's Heart: Auto-Equipped at her. Her character now wore an in-game pendant of his symbol in black over a purple heart. Stats were minimal, just a 10% bonus to life and defense.

IDK yet, she hasn't come out. Randy was out in the main room, texting Mark.

Well that couldn't be good. Maybe this had been a bad idea.

If only that pendant was real, she would wear it every day because her heart belonged to him as well. It always had. Emery wiped her tears away and slid her glasses back on her face, slowly sliding out of bed. Randy and Paul knew about this…Randy especially. Did Cheryl? Randy had been the one to point out the 'special event' advertised during one of their raids before Comic Con. Then the flyer…Mark had spent a lot of money to make this happen, that much was obvious. Emery couldn't get over he'd done it all for her. Opening the door, she stepped out as all eyes turned to face her and walked over to Randy, her face stoic. Then she hugged him tightly, fresh tears falling down her face.

"Thank you." She whispered, feeling his arms around her and slowly pulled back to cup his face in her hands. "Where is he?"

"Uh…" Randy's ears were turning bright red and he flushed further under all the eyes on him. "Well… hold on." He removed himself from her hold and picked up his phone, waiting a few seconds, then cleared his throat. "Answer the door, Emery."

Mark was behind said door, really hoping he wasn't about to get slapped in the face or something. He had gone to the extremes for this… maybe it was to grand a gesture? Hijacking her game…

Sky blues turned from Randy to the front door of their suite. He was here in Phoenix. One door separated them just like before in WWE…the door to her secret and lies. It felt like each step she took to get to the door took forever, every step a memory of them flashed through her mind. Their first official meeting, the sharpie incident and calling her DC – her calling him Neanderthal. Destroying her Kingdom Hearts t-shirt, destroying his prized motorcycle with Randy's help. His first visit to her house in Sedona, shocking her, the game they played together, the kiss that started the fire currently raging inside of her.

The fighting, the lovemaking, especially their first time…how he'd tortured her for hours before giving her what she ultimately craved. The hair pulling and spankings…the softer times where they'd lay in bed talking, completely naked and unashamed. Mark was the only man she had let herself go with…shown who she really was. Through all the pain and suffering they inflicted on each other, love remained somehow, someway. Each step mended a piece of her heart and when her hand landed on the handle, trembling, Emery closed her eyes, took a deep breath in and opened it.

"Oh… it's like watching a movie on Lifetime…" Cheryl whispered, dabbing at her eyes.

All three of them were watching Emery walk to that door, obviously dazed and, when Emery's shaking hand reached for the handle, they all held their collective breath.

Mark stood there once the door was opened, dressed in a simple pair of blue jeans and a black thermal shirt, his hair down, hands stuffed in his pockets.

Green met blue and he could see it all in her eyes, opening his arms to her.

Without a word or second thought, not a single hesitation, Emery wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. Instantaneously, the pieces of her shattered heart began piecing back together and her world felt complete being with him, in his arms. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but there was plenty of time for that later. Feeling him lift her to where her feet left the ground and her arms draped around his neck, Emery kissed him softly before resting her forehead against his.

"I love you, Mark." She'd never told him and the last confession didn't count because they'd torn each other apart.

This time, she wouldn't make that mistake again.

"I love you too, darlin," He whispered, brushing his nose along hers.

Cheryl was outright crying now.

Sighing, Randy got up to go close the door, flashing Mark a thumbs up over Emery's shoulder before shutting it.

Snorting, Mark just rolled his eyes, not pulling away from the woman he was holding. "Want to get out of here, darlin'?"

Nodding, Emery didn't care about anything else at the moment and knew her friends would take care of her belongings. She felt him walk down the hallway and moved her head to bury in his neck, his scent intoxicating her. Never again did she think or believe she would smell it. A few minutes later, she heard the door click shut followed by him sitting down, her legs now straddling him. Lifting her head to stare in his eyes again, Emery caressed the contours of his face with her fingertips, waiting for the dream to end. It was him, this was real and so was the incredible gift he gave her. Now Emery felt horrible about tearing the comic books up he'd had made for her during her week binge on alcohol and Twinkies.

"You said you wanted to start over…in the game." At his nod, she pulled back a little to rest her hands on his shoulders, caressing every part of his body she could. "What did you mean by that, exactly?"

His eyes crinkled with his smile as he recalled when she had done that. He had gone to visit her house in Sedona and she had sat down by him, held out her hand and introduced herself. Mark moved her off of him, setting her on the bed and kneeled down, extending his.

"I'm Mark." Fresh start, a do-over. "No more lies, no more violence from me, none of it. We start fresh, Emery. We already know the worst about each other, now let's get to know the best."

That memory was one of her favorites, one she'd thought about over the past 2 months being away from him. Now, he was doing it and it made her heart pound just a little faster. Emery would never lie to him again, refusing to lose him and slid her hand into his much larger one, smiling softly.

"It's nice to meet you, Mark. I'm Emery." She recalled what he'd said about her name being for a boy and she'd corrected him. "I swear to you; no more lies will come from me. Just the truth, but the violence part…" Her eyes grew a little darker, her hand slipping out of his to run up his chest. "There were some things you did I actually liked that were considered violent. And I want to explore more of that side of myself with you."

He rolled his eyes at her, grunting. "Darlin', I meant me laying hands on you." Honestly, Mark hadn't considered using a sleeper hold on her to be violent, but given her reaction to it… he knew she had, which made him reevaluate his opinion. "Like that hold. In the bedroom…" His voice dropped to a rough, dark growly rasp. "Your ass belongs to me."

She shivered at that tone, nodding and understood the meaning behind his words. The sleeper hold had scared the living hell out of her. Emery was surprised she didn't have a heart attack waking up after being put out like that. Complete trust and love shone in her eyes back at him, meaning what she said. She was no longer afraid of him and wanted him in every possible way she could think. Her eyes instantly went to his side, remembering the broken rib and pressed her fingers against where the injury had taken place. He didn't flinch or wince, so that told her it had healed. Just to make sure, she pressed a little harder a second time.

"Whatever you do to me, I trust you and I know you won't hurt me, not really."

"Okay woman, enough of that." He growled, grabbing her hand away from his ribs. "I'm cleared to go back to work next week, but shit is tender." Mark had resumed training, ahead of schedule. If she was thinking about getting laid, she'd be riding him and he grinned at the idea, hands moving to her hair. "I love you, Emery." Mark declared softly, drawing her towards him for a kiss.

She moaned softly, sliding her hands up to rest on his broad shoulders and slowly broke the kiss. "I was worried about you. And I love you too."

Emery would never be able to say it enough or hear it enough to where it drove her insane. It would be tough for them to make a relationship work with him on the road working all the time, but somehow they would figure it out. She didn't want to think about him leaving since it was a week away.

"No sex until you're completely healed." Pressing a finger against his lips before he could argue, Emery took his hands and guided him back to the bed, pushing him down gently. "Just lay with me and hold me tonight, please."

Having no intentions of arguing, these last few weeks had been hell. That modeling and voice gig for the World of Warcraft event, constantly on the phone with those people who did the coding and creating. Then being annoyed all the time by Randy and Paul… yes, he was tired and laying here with Emery in his arms was his idea of heaven.

"No arguments from me, darlin'." Mark yawned, pulling her down against him, instantly rolling so he could pull her into his body. "What'd you think of the event?"

"Exhilarating and hard. You did well with the creation. I loved it. By far, my favorite thing I've played in World of Warcraft." Emery could feel him sag against her and knew he was exhausted, feeling his mouth press a soft kiss to her neck and head. "Thank you…that topped the comic books." Comic books she had destroyed because of heartbreak, pain and anger, but Mark didn't need to know about that right now. "Get some sleep, Deadman."

Yawning herself, Emery had no more strength in her body and closed her eyes, instantly falling asleep. It was the first night's sleep she'd gotten without crying and it felt amazing. Mark watched her fall asleep and couldn't believe she actually forgave him, rubbing his nose against her hair breathing her in. Never again would he let her go, no matter what he had to do. He could hear her soft steady breathing and knew she'd fallen asleep, joining her moments later.