He felt horrible.  He couldn't understand how Amy could turn him away like that, how she could be so cold after the beautiful night they'd spent together.  It tore him up inside.  He felt as if Amy had reached inside his chest and tore his heart out.  How could she do that to me? he wondered.  He had fallen in love with her, but she apparently didn't care.

All of a sudden, there was knocking at the door.  Adam looked up, annoyed that someone had the nerve to interrupt him while he was wallowing in his misery.  He tried to ignore the person at his door, but the knocking sounded again.

"Go away," he called.

The person refused to be ignored and knocked a third time.  The knocking was almost hesitant, yet sounded frantic at the same time.  Adam finally rose from the bed and marched over to the door, prepared to tell off the annoying would-be intruder.  He yanked the door open and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the person standing there.

He softened slightly, his eyes scanning Amy up and down slowly, longingly, until they stopped at her eyes.  After a moment, he attempted to harden his heart against her.  "What do you want?"

Amy flinched ever so slightly at the shortness in his voice.  This was the last thing she wanted.  "Adam, please..."

He stared down at her angrily.  "I said, what do you want?"

"Please, Adam!" she begged.  "I don't want things to be like this between us.  I'm sorry I hurt you, but...I want us to continue being friends."

Adam laughed sardonically.  "Oh, really?  And how do you figure that, after you ripped my heart out and stomped it flat?  Great idea, Amy - let's continue being friends!"

"Adam-"

"You're really something," Adam said bitterly, looking her straight in the eye.  "I really thought there was something between us.  I thought last night was so special - the beginning of something wonderful, but you had to-"

His words were cut off as Amy, who could take no more, moved closer, stood on her tiptoes and reached up to grab hold of his blond head.  Adam was shocked as she pulled him to her and kissed him firmly, passionately.

Despite himself, Adam found himself kissing her back, his arms encircling her waist and pulling her into the room with him.  He blindly reached out with one hand to shut the door while he continued to kiss her.

Amy clung to him and pressed her lips more firmly against his, their teeth bumping briefly.  She kept her fingers twined in his long blond hair until he lifted her up and burrowed his face into her breasts.  Amy threw her head back and sighed audibly as Adam carried her a few feet, then lay her on her back on the small table in one corner of the room.

Adam pressed tightly against her, his erection throbbing.  He gasped as he removed her clothing, nearly tearing her shirt in the process.  Amy ran her hands under his T-shirt and over his muscular chest and stomach before lifting the shirt and tossing it to the floor.  Afterward, she turned her attention to his jeans, and Adam sighed nearly with relief when she undid them, his erection no longer pressing painfully against the zipper.  He stepped out of his briefs and pushed her legs apart, slipping quickly and easily into her.

Amy gasped as Adam rapidly pushed in and out of her.  She put her arms around him and held tightly to him, moaning softly.  Adam moved his face closer to hers and kissed her deeply, and she kissed him back.

"Adam...Oh, God," she moaned moments later as she climaxed.  She lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist.  Adam groaned as he felt his own orgasm approaching, and he lowered his head to her as he came, biting her gently on the shoulder.

Afterward, Adam lifted his head and gazed down into her eyes.  Her hair was mussed, but she looked beautiful as she gave him a sweet, gentle smile.  He smiled down at her, his eyes shining with love, and leaned down to kiss her.  She kissed him back eagerly, gently stroking his hair.

Adam's lips were by her ear.  "I love you..."

Amy gazed up at Adam tenderly.  She bit her lip, her heart thudding in her chest.  She didn't utter a reply, for although she loved him, too, she wasn't ready to say the words.  When he just gazed at her almost expectantly, she put her arms around his neck and held him tightly against her.

Adam sighed as Amy held him close.  He felt a little sad that she hadn't said "I love you" back, but for now, he decided the words were not mandatory.  The look in her eyes, the way she'd called out his name and the way she touched him spoke volumes.

Adam finally rose, pulling Amy up gently with him.  Although the sex they'd just had had been incredible, he felt a little bad for taking her on top of that table.  The bed would have been much more romantic, not to mention comfortable.  He led her to it now.

They lay together under the thin blanket and sheet wordlessly.  Amy appeared to be thinking deeply about things, and Adam watched her face.  Her hazel eyes shifted and met his gaze.  Adam reached out and held her face with one hand, then kissed her tenderly on the lips.  She instantly kissed him back.

When their lips parted, Adam moved the blanket slightly from her body.  He glanced down and gently stroked the bunched scar on her left hip.

"How did this happen, Ames?" he asked softly.  He raised his emerald eyes to her hazel ones and saw fear flicker momentarily through them.

She opened her mouth to speak but hesitated.  Adam regretted questioning her because the subject made her so obviously uneasy, and that was the last thing he wanted to make her feel.  But before he could say she didn't have to tell him, Amy spoke.

"It's...it's a knife wound," she admitted slowly.

Adam gazed deeply into her eyes, initially not comprehending what she'd just said, then her words sank in and he realized he had not misheard her.

"Knife wound...?  My God, Ames, how-"

"It happened about five years ago," Amy blurted, cutting off his question.  "He finally reached beyond his boiling point..."

Adam listened in shocked horror as she recounted the story of her relationship with Gary, whom she'd dated for two years.  He felt a mixture of fear, hatred, sadness, fury and even slight nausea as she told him about the verbal and physical abuse, the mental manipulation, sexual abuse - how this person had violated Amy numerous times - how he'd had absolute control over her to the point that she'd even been afraid to call or visit her own mother - how he'd coerced her to have sex with him against her will - how, at the end, when she'd delved up enough courage to stand up to him and declare she was leaving, he'd attacked her with a knife and had stabbed her in the hip after a struggle as she'd tried to run.

Tears were streaming down Amy's face as she recalled her own private nightmare.  "Gary swore he would kill me," she sobbed.  "And he tried when he wielded that knife."

Adam winced and squeezed her hand.  "That's it, isn't it?" he asked gently.  "That's why in the three years I've known you, you've never had a boyfriend.  That's why you're so afraid of getting close to me...That's why you told me it wouldn't work out between us."

Amy's tearful eyes met his, and she nodded her head.  She began to hiccup softly.

"Oh, Ames," Adam said as tears began to form in his own eyes.  He moved his face close to hers and nuzzled her with the tip of his nose.  "I would and will never - ever hurt you..."  He placed one hand on her cheek and caressed it lovingly.  "...Never."

Amy stared wonderingly into Adam's beautiful face, knowing with every fiber of her being that he was being honest.  She knew he would never hurt her the way Gary had.  After a moment, she spoke again.

"Adam...you're crying, too."

Adam laughed softly and nodded.  He pulled her gently into his embrace and covered her with kisses.

Amy held tightly to him and closed her eyes.  She wondered how she had been so fortunate as to have Adam Copeland in love with her.  He was deeply embedded in her heart, and she never wanted to let him go.

She lifted her head to his and kissed him eagerly, passionately.  He kissed her back ardently, moving his lips from hers to her jawline to her neck and back to her lips.  He shifted his attention to her left ear, where he gently nibbled her lobe.

As he lay over her and they kissed deeply again, Adam felt himself harden again.  He moaned as Amy moved her hand to his throbbing erection.

"Make love to me again, Adam," she whispered, her eyes meeting his.

Adam smiled and kissed her again, then lovingly kissed the scar on her hip.  She didn't stiffen when he touched her there, as she had before.

He lifted her lower torso up from her hips and slid between her parted legs, sliding easily into her.  She was still very wet.  He thrust gently at first but increased his pace when Amy told him to go faster.

"Adam!  Ohhhhhh...Adam!" Amy cried, her eyes squeezed shut, arms above her head.  She gripped one of the pillows tightly as she came.

"Oh, God...Ames!"  Adam came immediately after she did.  He gazed down into her eyes, which she had opened again.  The eye contact between them intensified the experience for him.  After he withdrew, he clung to her and collapsed beside her, still breathing heavily.  He buried his face in her hair, gently tracing her tattoo with his fingertips.

Amy gazed up into his brilliant eyes and managed a small smile.  I love you, she thought, but the words didn't escape her lips.  She lifted one hand and ran it through Adam's soft blond hair.

Adam smiled at her happily, then kissed her again.  He reached over to the table beside the two beds and grabbed his watch, glancing at the time.  He was surprised to note that just over three hours had passed since Amy had come to his room.

Adam got up from the bed, and Amy watched as he walked over to the other table across the room and retrieved his cell phone.  She marveled at how beautiful his body was. He was gorgeous fully clothed, but even more so in the nude, his abs and pecs perfected sculpted.

Adam pushed a button on his cell phone and held it against his ear.  "Hey, Jay," he said after a moment.  "Yeah, I'm in the room...Amy's here.  Yeah...can you please stay with Chris again tonight?  Okay, cool...thanks."  He removed the phone from his ear and pressed the button to end the call, then put the cell back on the table.

Adam came back over to the bed and lay down on his stomach beside Amy.  He gazed up at her and said, "We've got the room to ourselves all night."  His face broke into a broad grin.

Amy smiled at him.  "That's good," she said softly.  I love you...She wanted so badly to say the words to him, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it - not just yet.  Her heart filling with overwhelming emotion, she rolled over, close to Adam and pulled him down to her.  He kissed her passionately, and she kissed him back as she clung to him.