Author: Mooncat

Title: Charming The Wizard

Summary: It's hot in Trenton, especially in a building with no air condition - like RangeMan. Steph takes action. Babe.

Warnings: Sweet torture… and definitely some action there in the end.

Disclaimer: The characters belong to JE.

Copyright: Sarah Diaz 2005

Charming The Wizard

I

The RangeMan building was the top of the cream. You couldn't get better equipment, there was no safer place for your body and vehicles and the atmosphere was friendly and loaded with testosterone. Not so much of a problem for me when the testosterones came from such yummie men. In my eyes, the first quality Rangemen had to have to be able to take on this job was that they were downright sexy and had such good looks that they looked as if they just got out of the cover of GQ. I doubt though that Ranger would agree with me. He probably would say that it was the training and experience that counted the most. And their - ah special talents, if you get my drift.

But there was one exception where the RangeMan building totally sucked and I had only just come to learn of this one big disadvantage in the past few weeks.

No air conditioning.

And when Trenton just got hit with the biggest heat wave it ever had seen – well, believe me, it was not funny. Especially in a room full of sweaty, big, strong males. Usually surely a favorite of mine – but even my nose sometimes won over my Hungarian/Italian hormones. Though I wouldn't have believed it before this heat wave.

Now, I never was one to leave a complaint be unsaid and I reasonably voiced my complaints the first day the thermometer climbed over 90 degree. This said I dialed Ranger while he was in some business meeting about his sold out of one of his four RangeMan offices.

The boss shortly told me to just deal with it and hung up again.

Of course I repeated my complaint the very next day again.

Same answer.

Next, I delivered my complaints in person – covered in sweet and I fear not smelling too good after a whole long day in the incubator the 6th floor had turned into.

Ranger wasn't impressed and told me I was free to take as many cold showers up in his apartment as I wished.

Not that that wasn't tempting, but somehow I doubted my inbox would delete itself while I stayed in the shower all day. I had come to really like my job as a researcher for Ranger and intended to keep it. Besides: I was on a mission now. I saw it as my good deed for all the poor sweating employees at RangeMan.

After three more insistent days on my part Ranger was finally enough annoyed with my repeated and getting more and more urgent complaints that he informed me that he had had the air conditioning disabled after the first two years because the men started to get lazy and preferred to stay inside in the cool rooms rather than be out in the scorching heat. Now that it was even worse inside than outside, he never had that problem again.

I digested that and found it highly unfair that I had to suffer for the sins of the other employees. So I came up with a plan to convince Ranger to get the air conditioning reinstalled.

If you know Ranger then you'll know that this was really some mission I had put on my humble shoulders. Ranger never was forced by anyone to do something he didn't want to. Usually he was the one who 'convinced' others to do something they didn't want. He was ex special forces and just the shit, a walking weapon. He was the Wizard of Oz.

But there was another reason why I was determined to do this: I had gotten an idea about how I could convince Ranger about the air conditioning – and it would just suit my other mission in life so very well as well: Get Ranger. Ranger wasn't just the most dangerous guy around Trenton (probably the whole world if you ask me), but also the most sexiest man alive. And I happened to be a free, sex deprived single with constant dreams about my night with a certain Cuban sex good a long time ago. Plus, in the six months I was working for RangeMan now I had a few epiphanies: First, I loved Joe, but we just wouldn't ever work out and end up hating each other. And I loved him too much to want to risk that. Thankfully he had come to the same decision. So now we were friends – very good friends. Second, and that really had shook me: I was in love with Ranger. And third: If I ever wanted a chance with the one my heart had chosen for me I needed to seriously work him toward accepting me into his most private life.

Unfortunately, Ranger believed firmly that his life didn't lend itself to a relationship. That he was no family material. Well, perhaps that was even true, I mean, he did have a very dangerous life and I'd rather not think about just how many enemies this man had - but I wasn't out for a ring or kids (just please don't tell that my mom. She'd have a heart attack for sure!). I just wanted to be with him and see where crazy fate took us to. Problem is: just how do you charm the wizard?

I was quiet for a few days after Ranger's explanation, working out the details of my plan while I let him believe that I had finally accepted my unavoidable fate of sweating to a pool in my cubicle. Otherwise also known as the calm before the storm. I stopped eating sugar and got in contact with RangeMan's designer with the help of Ella. Yep, a whole designer, just for us. Though it buggers me for what, I mean, how many different black work clothes can you need? But it was part of the job description to wear the business clothes to work and I wouldn't want to go against the RangeMan policy, would I?

My special ordered outfit came yesterday and it was sitting in the bag under my desk now. At the moment, Ranger was out on a bust, but we just got the call that they were heading back. I smiled.

Time to put the plan into action.

I took my bag and headed up to the 7th floor to take one of those showers Ranger had offered me – a very welcome cold refreshment, believe me. Perfect timing wanted it that today was the hottest day ever registered in Trenton and the air was sizzling with heat. It would be such a relief to get out of the sticky clothes and into my new outfit.

Though outfit was perhaps a bit of an exaggeration…

I felt the eyes honing in on me the moment I stepped out of the elevator onto the deck and I self-consciously shook my hair out of my face with one movement of the head. It was perhaps a part of my imagination but I was almost certain I heard a few groans. I did what every girl that knew exactly what she was doing to the men around her did: I walked over to my cubicle, letting my hips sway in a decent rhythm, and pretended I was totally unaware of the burning gazes that followed me, mesmerized.

Once in my cubicle I smiled a little smile while I checked with my inbox. Three new requests from, surprise, surprise, Rodriguez. I've never met the guy so far, but I sure learned to hate him. He gave me entirely too much work – and the researches for him were always so boring. Nothing compared to the requests I got from the boss himself – or any other of his core team.

For about ten minutes I dutifully fulfilled my job before I went to the next step of my plan: Make sure the men haven't forgotten my presence. So I let out a deep, throaty sigh I was sure was heard even at the cubicle farest away from mine and pushed pack from my desk to stand up. Again I was met by everyone's heavy gaze on me, but I pretended once more to not notice it and minced along on my seven inch high heels over to the refrigerator. When the cool air washed over me I let out an appreciative groan, then bent down to put my head into the cool relief. Of course I was careful to only bent down so far that the men in the room didn't get too good a look… just enough that every hot blooded hetero man in the room should have felt very uncomfortable suddenly, sitting on their chairs in tight pants. Finally, when I thought they had enjoyed the view long enough, I straightened up again, a limo in hand, and retreated, hips swaying, back to my cubicle and my researches.

This time I was positive I had heard several groans.

For an hour I had mercy on the men in the room and stayed where I was. But the boss hadn't come down yet, though I knew he was in by now, so I decided it was time for the next little torturous show. I left my cubicle, the empty limo bottle slightly swinging with my steps until I discarded it into the PET ton, moving again to the refrigerator. This time I wouldn't bend, but just grabbed a bottle of water with a tormented sigh, then walked back with my booty. But about seven minutes later, I swayed back to the refrigerator, opening the freezer and grabbing myself a box of ice cubes and then a little bowl from one of the shelves. Under the watchful eyes of the Rangemen I pressed out an entire box of ice cubicles, refilled it with water and put it back into the freezer and back to my work it was.

I put some of the cubes into a glass of water and sipped it with a sigh of relief. Something heavy dropped to the floor in the next cubicle and I smiled.

Five minutes later I let out another tormented groan and leaned down in my chair, pushing it inconspicuously just so far away with my feet that I knew the men in the room had a good look on my upper half body – just to the top of my cleavage to be exactly. I eyed the bowl of ice cubes innocently then finally reached over to take two into my hand and leant back in my chair, letting my head fall back, my hair cascading down in wild curls. When the ice connected with my hot skin on my forefront I shuddered in pleasure. Slowly, I moved my hand holding the ice down my left cheek to my throat, resting it there for a moment, then moved it even more slowly down my naked shoulder and arm and up again. I moaned in ecstasy when the ice skimmered along the hem of my black top.

"Oops!" I giggled when I 'accidentally' let one of the cubes fall down the slit of the deeply low cut top and gasped a little before I let it turn into a snug sigh and my eyes flattered close. With torturous slowness I finished the way of the second cube down and up my other arm, further up the throat and, with a little detour to my neck, it finally was melted completely down, having left a wet trail all over my upper body.

But I wasn't finished yet wit the ice cubes. I grabbed another one and leisurely started to suck it loudly, mixing it with a delightful shudder or a moan that was just this bit short of being orgasmic. Only when the cube was too melted down to be of any use anymore I swallowed it and finished the show by sitting up straight again with a contented sigh, concentrating back on my work.

Several chairs were pushed back with curses and more than half of the men in the room left either for the bathroom or the stairs – probably to go take a nice long cold shower.

Smiling the most satisfied and sly grin I could muster I looked up at the camera nearest to my cubicle and raised my eyebrows in a triumphant question.

If I wasn't very wrong I bet the boss would come down any minute now to take matters in his own hand – and to prevent me from doing further damage to the work moral of his precious men.

Good.

I was waiting for him.

TBC!

(Author's Note: Well, well, well, I'm asking myself just what Ranger thinks about his Babe's - heat problem. Stay tuned to find out!)