Authors Note – There is a bit of smut in this, but I have marked the beginning and end of it for those who might want to skip it. This was my first attempt at smut or a Janet Evanovich/Stephanie Plum story. You have been warned.
No way! There is NO WAY in hell am I doing THAT I though to my self as the ticket agent continued talking.
"Sir, I am sorry to have to repeat this, but all the flights back to Trenton, New Jersey or anywhere remotely close to that are booked solid. However, I can get you on the first available flight we have open a week on December 28th."
Fat lot of good that will do me by then it will be too late.
I have to get back to my babe for the holidays. I have a special gift for her that I hope will make the long absence worth it. After ten long months away from Steph I can hardly wait to get back.
For the past eight months I had been on a mission only to have to stay in Washington DC and finish the paperwork and deal with bureaucratic pencil pushers. I just can't believe that I might not make it back to the reason for it all. I had just gotten clearance today and immediately ran to the airport the moment I was free to do so. I have to have a flight back tonight. I didn't even take the time to change out of my dress uniform I had to wear. I just grabbed my bag that I had kept packed up and ran out the door to the closest cab.
That won't work, I don't care what it costs I have to have a seat on that plane.
I made a promise months ago to be back to celebrate Christmas with Steph and I can't miss it.
"I don't care what it costs, but I have to be on that plane."
I have to be on that flight that leaves in an hour. I have been trying unsuccessfully to find a flight out and this was the last one scheduled to leave anywhere close to Trenton for a while. I had tried all the airports and contacts I had and it all came down to this flight.
I have been gone overseas for the past few months and nothing will stop me from spending my first real holiday with Steph. I had been slowly getting closer to her during the few months after their break up. I had been slowly integrating her into my life hoping that in doing so our chance of a Someday would have better odds. I hoped that by showing her a little more of my life she would be more willing to wait for me to come back.
"Sir, I already heard that, but there is nothing I can do for you.
The flight is booked and I don't think anybody would be willing to give up their ticket this late." The man behind the desk said calmly trying to calm him down.
She had finally called it quits with Morelli. I don't mean their usual breakup routine, but a lasting one. He had finally done something that she couldn't forgive. This time their breakup would stick for longer than a few weeks. The night before I left I made sure that I spent all the time I had with Steph after tying up a few loose ends with the business. The night I left I made a promise to my babe and asked for a promise in return. I promised to do my best to be home and celebrate the holidays with her. I told her I had something special planned. I asked her to promise me to wait for my return. I knew at the time it was a selfish thing to do, but I wasn't going to take the chance of her finding somebody new while I was so close to realizing the someday I have been dreaming of.
Now this has to happen.
The longer I am away from her the bigger the chance that I could loose my chance with her. When I got the word I would have a mission I was told it shouldn't take that long a few months at most. When I made that promise I had every intention of keeping my word to her. That turned out to be wishful thinking. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong while I was out there.
I had accepted the job with the understanding that this job was going to be one of my last. It meant leaving my Babe, but I was doing it with the thought of someday in mind. My life wouldn't be perfect for a relation ship, but without the missions requiring me to leave for long stretches of time without communication it would help fix that.
This can't be happening. I can't break this promise to her. I know she won't hold it against me if I am a few days late, but I will hate myself for ever breaking a promise to her. That is what I love most about her. All she cares about is that I come back safe, heck as long as I come back she would be happy. That night when I made that promise to her she told me that I shouldn't rush or take unnecessary chances. She told me as long as I come back to her even if it is late she will be waiting for me.
Out of everything in my life that I have done that is the one thing I am proudest of. I have never broken a promise to Stephanie and I don't plan to start now.
I have never lied to her and I don't intend to start with this. I had made her a promise to be back for Christmas to celebrate it with her and she had promised to wait for me. I wasn't planning for it to take this long, but Murphy's Law strikes again where anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
I would need a miracle at this point.
"Here take this" Somebody said as they pushed something into my hands.
I must be distracted I didn't see him come up to me. It was a man about my age and looked like he could have been an in the military. He was around my height with sandy blond hair, brown eyes, and as if he was in need of a shave.
"I think I can help you out. I have a ticket for the flight that leaves soon.
I want you to have it. I don't need it. You seem like you really could use this more than I do at the moment."
The whole time the man was saying this I was trying to make sense of what was going on. I was stunned that this could happen. Shoot I had better say something before he walks away.
"Thank you, it means a lot to me to get back in time for Christmas. How much do you want for the ticket?"
The man is looking me straight in the eyes and just says "Nothing. Take it and make sure that your Babe is happy."
Wait, did he just say my Babe.
Shoot this can't be good "How do you know that name?" I said while giving him my best look that Steph calls my "death glare".
He just smiles at me turns to leave only to take the time to say:
"Tell your Babe that Diesel says hi and is repaying a favor she should know what it means."
"Diesel… " I say as I look down at the ticket "Who is Diesel" only to stop in the middle of the name since when I looked up he was gone as if he was never there.
"NOW BOARDING FLIGHT 315 to Trenton, New Jersey. Will all passengers for flight 315 to Trenton New Jersey board the plane."
I hear the announcement over the intercom and start to sprint towards the gate and am able to bypass security due to my special permits. There were some perks to working for the military.
As strange as that interaction was I'm no fool and I won't miss this flight.
I guess I will just have to ask Steph if the name Diesel makes any sense to her when I see her in a few hours. I can't wait to wake her up and surprise her.
I arrived at the airport early in the morning. The flight, even though it wasn't long, left late in the night. At least I don't need to call anybody for a ride.
I had Tank leave a vehicle at the airport for me to use when I came back. I had been anticipating the moment I could leave DC and come back to Trenton
and preparing everything that I could ahead of time. Now that I'm back I have only one place I need to be.
The moment I reached the car I took off at full speed nothing and I mean nothing is going to stop me now that I know what I want. The moment I reached the lot of her apartment complex I made sure I had my gift I had promised her and ran all the way to her door.
Standing in front of her door as I'm about to pick her locks I take a moment to remember the very first time I did this. It was after the call not long after we met. I thought it was a plot to get me over to her place. I have had many women in my life try to trap me. How serious was I supposed to take a call where she was asking for my help in getting her uncuffed from her shower rod? To think that call looks mundane to me now after all the times she has called for help and spoken with me. I have to grin as I thank god that she called me since that was the night I got my first view of Stephanie Plum au natural.
And what a beautiful sight it was.
After I picked her lock I make my way to her bedroom listening to Rex as he runs in his wheel. It is as if nothing has changed in these past months.
As I open the door I got my first glimpse of her in a little over ten months.
It feels like forever since I last held her, touched her, saw her. It was too much and I just stood there a moment and took a moment to drink it all in.
This was my home.
This was where MY BABE was and that was all I needed to be home.
I worked my way over to her to see her sprawled out all over the bed.
Her wild curls are spread out all around her head; one arm is on her stomach while the other is reaching out to the other side of the bed. Her legs are spread out all over the bed and I have never seen a more beautiful sight in my life.
I can feel all the tension ease out of me as I just stand here watching her sleep.
After watching her for a while I can't stand here anymore and not touch her.
I make my way to the bed and gently sit down and as I do so she starts to move and mumble something in her sleep.
I reach out with my hand and gently move a tendril of one of her curls away from her face. Then I slowly move my hand to cup her cheek as she starts to nuzzle my hand with her cheek. I work my way down to her neck as her awareness starts to pick up only to run my hand down to place it over her heart.
My other hand gently clasps the hand on her stomach and entwines her fingers with mine. It has always amazed me how somebody so vibrant in life can be so small when she sleeps.
By now she is starting to wake up and realize that there is somebody else in the bedroom with her. I just sit there and watch her waiting for her to open the most beautiful set of eyes that I have ever had the privilege to see.
I listen as her breathing starts to change and her heart beat speeds up under my hand. Then she moans my name as she starts to open her eyes and I can't wait any longer. I bend down and kiss her gently.
Hearing my name on her lips did me after having to go such a long time without her has driven me crazy. As I pull away she slowly lifts her eyelids as if she is savoring a dream that she doesn't want to end. The moment she realized I was here with her though her eyes shot open and she just looks at me for a moment as if in shock. I can't resist "Merry Christmas Babe."
That was all it took for her to jump from her spot and land on me. I should have known she always gets her man. She just looks down at me with a look of wonder in her eyes "Ranger" she whispers and then she is kissing me with everything she has. It took me a moment to respond. This is the first time she has ever initiated a kiss before. The moment the surprise ended I flip us over and kiss her with everything I have been bottling up over the years. I force myself to pull away and I look down at her as her eyes start to clear. I can't get enough of looking in her eyes and seeing all the love she has for me looking up at me.
"Babe" I whisper as she looks up at me. "I missed you" I whisper to her as I look into her eyes and watch as they go warm and she looks like she wants to cry.
She just smiles and looks up at me and says "I missed you too, Ranger".
It takes everything I have in me not to kiss her again. Looking down at her I tell her something I have wanted to say to her for a while now "Not Ranger, today, or tomorrow, Now and forever when we are alone its Carlos JUST Carlos here with you"
Looking up at me she doses something that makes me almost loose all my control she whispers "Carlos".
"Babe" I say as I lean down and kiss her again. This time there is no stopping.
Nothing will stop this from happening. I am starved for her as I hungrily kiss her as if trying to drink her down. I listen to her moan beneath me as I work my way down her neck leaving marks of my ownership of her as I work my way down.
Starts Here---
The clothes start to fly before too long and now we are both naked with nothing to come between us. I work my way down her neck to the most perfect pair of breast I have ever seen. They fit perfectly in my hand as I switch between using my hands and my mouth to taste her and tease her. I can't get enough her touch or her taste. I want to be able to know what every bit of her feels like, tastes like before the end of this.
It has been too long since that one amazing night and my memory needs refreshed. This time I am taking no chances of ever forgetting what a single part of her tastes like.
I trail kisses and licks along her stomach to stop and take a moment to taste her and play with her. I tease her and torment her by avoiding the areas where both she and I want to be. I continue on my tour of Stephanie and bypass the place I most want to be, but not before leaving a kiss to mark my spot as a promise of my return.
I spend my time working my way up her thighs until she is begging me and making those sweet sounds. When I finally give into both our desires she explodes. I work my way up to her and lay a gentle kiss on her forehead, the tip of her nose and finally her mouth while she gets her breath back.
I line myself up with her and stare into her eyes telling her the one thing I have wanted to tell her since forever ago "I love you" as I slowly work my way into her and her eyes darken to deep pools of sapphire. When I am in all the way I take a moment to look down at her.
She gasps and holds onto my back leaving her mark as she moans out the words that I have waited forever to hear "I love you too Carlos" that is what makes me loose all control and I growl out "mine" before I pull out and continue on.
By the end when we both came we were both exhausted. I was barely able to roll us over so she was on top of me before I fell asleep holding her.
Ends Here---
A few hours later I awoke to a scene that I have been dreaming of for the past few months heck the last few years. I was holding Steph in my arms. This was heaven on earth. For the next hour or so I just held her in my arms and let myself indulge in running my hand through her curls and she started to wake up. I laid a gentle kiss on the top of her head and she looked up at me and smiled. I reluctantly left the bed and found the package I had brought with me earlier. I walked back to the bed and handed her the package
"Merry Christmas Babe"
She took the package and like a kid on Christmas day she ripped the wrapping off. I had bought this for her a year ago hoping the day could come when I could give it to her.
She pulled out a small wooden box and looked up at me. "Babe" was all I could say. I was nervous about how she would take this and cold barely get that out.
She opened the box and pulled out a set of keys, an envelope and a small black box. She looked up at me again "Open the envelope first" was all I could tell her.
She opened the envelope and I know word for word what she was reading.
I watched as tears came to her eyes "Now open the box".
Inside was a platinum ring with a large diamond in the center and two small blue diamonds the color of her eyes on either side of the larger one. I had found it a year ago about the time she and Morelli broke up for the last time. I saw it as a sign that it was meant to go on her finger. There was also a small note that just said Babe?.
She looked back up at me with tears flowing down her face as I got off of the mattress and kneeled down on one knee on off to the side and looked her in the eyes "That was my last mission. I don't think I could survive being without you for that long ever again. That paper says I am officially free of my contract as of yesterday. Someday is today. Babe will you be mine?"
She launched herself at me and kissed me as I slid the ring onto her finger. I pulled away long enough to bring her hand up to my lips and kiss the finger now gracing my ring.
It wasn't till much late in the night that I could finally remember to ask her
"Babe who is Diesel?"
I hope you enjoyed it. This is my first fanfiction I have ever written for the Janet Evanovich/ Stephanie Plum series and my first time writing smut of any kind
(I felt inspired to do so after reading about Smutcember). I got the idea from a challenge board for the Perfectly Plum Group.
I don't claim any rights to any of the characters yada, yada, yada insert the standard quote stating I am not making a profit.) – Firefly15309