Everyone and everything familiar belongs to Janet. Any mistakes are mine. Warnings for a teeny bit of smut.
"Yo, Babe," I said into the phone.
"Are you drunk?" Was the immediate reply.
"Maybe just a little, but guys can be babes, too, you know. And you are definitely a major babe."
"And you are definitely drunk, Steph."
"So I am. Want to come over and nurse me back to sobriety?"
"Are you going to pass out on me again if I do?" He asked.
"If I say it's possible, will that stop you from coming?"
"No."
I smiled to myself. He really will take me any way I come to him.
"See you in ten," I told him.
"I'm already on the road," he informed me, right before hanging up.
That means Ranger could be in my lot in as little as five minutes. Shit. I waved a white flag and he's taking me up on my surrender. Is that the outcome I'd wanted? Yes. Is that the tequila talking? Probably. Do I care what gets Ranger here as long as he's coming? Noooooo.
I refluffed my hair, applied another coat of both mascara and lipstick, and put the FMPs back on that I'd kicked off my feet as soon as I got home. I want to look good for Ranger for once, since I'm usually bleeding profusely or sleeping soundly when he pays me a late night visit.
I hadn't been sure going out with Lula and Connie earlier tonight was the best idea, but it's turning out to be the best decision I've made in a while. I smoothed out the non-existent wrinkles in my little midnight blue sheath dress I hadn't changed out of yet. I didn't really want guys hitting on me all night, so my dress doesn't show a lot of skin, aside from my shoulders a little bit of leg, but it clings to every curve I have.
I'm feeling pretty good about - and with - myself at the moment, which is the perfect time for Batman to put in an appearance. I think he purposely made me wait a few extra minutes so I'd be even hotter for him when he did arrive.
If that was his plan ... it worked. I'd been staring at my door, willing it to open ... and then it did. Ranger stepped through it wearing corporate wear consisting of black dress pants and a charcoal gray button down shirt. I could feel my mouth start to water and it had nothing to do with the pint of Coffee Toffee ice cream in the freezer or my mother's frosted brownies currently sitting on my counter.
He locked the door behind him and then we just stood there looking at each other, desire and longing ping-ponging between us. A few beats later, we snapped out of the lust trance at the same time. I don't know if he reached for me or if I went to him first, but it really didn't matter because I'm right where I want to be ... in his arms with his mouth fused to mine.
We were slowly moving towards the bedroom as we kissed, but we only made it to the hall before there was a loud knock on my door, followed soon after by a key being slid into the lock. Ranger went still, our orgasm-inducing kiss ending abruptly.
"Did you also invite Morelli over?" He quietly asked.
All the hairs on my body suddenly stood up. I know that tone. Ranger's pissed.
"No. I swear. You've been my one phone call for everything. The last time I spoke to Joe was for thirty seconds at the station two weeks ago."
"Then why is he here?" He asked, as my front door opened and caught on the chain.
Only Ranger can get in with the chain still securing the door. I made a mental note to get a second one, along with my friggin' key back. I figured it was no big deal if Joe kept it. He and I have remained friendly, and given the number of times I've been held captive in - or kidnapped from - my apartment, I thought it wouldn't hurt for someone close by to be able to get into my place if there's a desperate need to. It didn't occur to me that he'd use it for another reason, or that I'd be in the middle of seducing Ranger when he did.
"Cupcake?!" Morelli called through the opening.
Ranger released me from the full body hold he'd had me in, but kept an arm around my waist.
"Let him in. I want it made clear that he isn't welcome in your apartment anymore."
"Ummm ..."
"I won't kill him," he promised me, skimming the backs of his fingers along my cheek.
How he can be that gentle with me when he's clearly mad as hell, I'll never know. I pressed a quick kiss to his slightly stubbly jaw before I went to undo the door chain against my better judgment.
Morelli had a smile on his face until he caught sight of Ranger coming up behind me.
"I should've known," Joe said, disgust heavy in his voice. "One of your goons told you where she was tonight, and you must have hauled ass getting here, hoping to use her low alcohol tolerance to your advantage."
Ranger gave him the barest hint of a smile. Uh-oh.
"She called specifically to invite me over," he told Joe. "If anyone showed up here tonight hoping to take advantage of her, it's you."
My brain isn't exactly firing on all cylinders, and my forehead wrinkled as I tried to process Ranger's accusation. My eyes widened when it finally sank in.
"Is that true, Joe? You were hoping I'd sleep with you if I was drunk and you were conveniently located ... like inside my apartment?"
He winced. And that slight movement let me know that he'd been counting on exactly that.
"Since we haven't been together in months, you thought I'd be so hard up for someone that I'd jump you because you're standing in front of me?"
My voice got louder and higher in pitch than it should have. That's totally the tequila's fault ... and also Morelli's since he's back to trying to mess up my life again.
"Cupcake ..."
"Out," I said, barely able to unclench my jaw enough to speak. "Get out."
"Steph, this isn't what it looks like," he told me.
"Oh really? You weren't assuming that I'd want your 'boys' to pay me a visit because you heard that I'd gone out for drinks with Lula and Connie?"
"You say that like it hasn't happened in the past."
"Exactly ... the past. Me calling you for anything other than to report a crime is 'in the past'. Now give me my key and leave."
"Cupcake, I didn't mean ..."
"To imply that I'm a slut?" I finished for him. "To use my apartment key for something other than an emergency? You didn't mean to mess up my plans?"
"I'm not apologizing for that last one. Manoso's going to fuck you ... then fuck you up. I know a hell of a lot more about him than you do."
"And I'm very familiar with a side of him that you aren't fortunate enough to see, so I say we're even. Now put my key on the counter on your way out or I'll gladly let Ranger do what he's been wanting to do for a long time."
"You're going to let him do that as soon as I leave," Joe said.
That inappropriate comment was obviously meant to provoke one of us, but I saw the hurt behind it in his eyes. He really doesn't want me to be with anyone other than him. And he's being a jerk right now to cover up the fact that he's jealous of Ranger ... again. Unfortunately, Ranger isn't real interested in the reason behind the taunt, and he took a threatening step towards Joe before I jumped to attention and put myself squarely between the two men. How does that saying go ... the more things change, the more they stay the same?
"Ranger, don't," I told him, putting a hand on his chest to prevent any forward motion. "He's leaving. Right, Joe?"
"Yes."
He took my key off his ring and slammed it down on the kitchen counter near Rex's cage. My furry roommate didn't appreciate that, and he purposely stopped running on his wheel to glare over at Joe, too. Great. Now I have two angry males to calm down. Luckily, the third one did leave on his own without any bloodshed to prompt it.
I flipped my locks again, wondering if I should've just kept my door open in case Ranger also wants to leave, since the sexy mood has been thoroughly broken. I've created problems between them in the past, and this altercation most likely stirred them back up again. I turned to face him, but kept my back plastered to the door, making it more difficult for him to get at it.
"I'll understand if you want to go back to Rangeman and forget this night ever happened," I said to him.
His boots ate up the distance between us, and he put his palms flat against the door beside each of my bare shoulders. I swear there's sparks shooting between us where our skin is touching. His skin is smokin' hot, while mine is now covered in goosebumps. His elbows bent and he leaned fractionally closer.
"Do you want me to go?" He asked.
"No."
"Are you upset that Morelli is gone?"
"No, again."
"Would you have called me even if you hadn't been drinking?"
"Yes. It may have taken me another day or two to work up the nerve, but I would've called or just shown up on your doorstep."
He didn't ask anymore questions. Apparently my answer cleared us for take off. I stopped caring about anything except the feel of his tongue slipping past my lips. I revised that statement when his hands left the door and started caressing me instead. My dress was being pushed up my legs with one hand, while a spaghetti strap was simultaneously lowered off my shoulder. He deepened the kiss before letting my mouth go to press his lips to my shoulder as he slid down the hidden zipper along the side of my dress.
I had just enough brain cells still working to remember one little thing. "My neighbors ..." I whispered.
He understood. We can't do anything this close to the hallway or my neighbors will be sitting outside my apartment in lawn chairs, issuing play-by-plays or worse ... reenacting whatever they hear through the door.
He grabbed my thighs in his hands and carried me to the couch. Guess we won't be making it to the bedroom the first time. I shivered at the thought of there being an immediate next time. I was gently laid out on my hideous couch - which doesn't seem so bad at the moment - while Ranger loomed over me.
I snagged his hand and tugged, and he came willingly down on top of me. I tunneled my fingers through his dark hair and kissed him the way he had kissed me earlier. He's obviously a better multitasker than I am, because he managed to get my shoes and underwear off during the kiss while I was still struggling with the buttons on his shirt. He solved that by separating our lips and pulling his shirt over his head, bypassing the buttons altogether. Why didn't I think of that?
I went to work on his belt buckle which hampered his removal of my dress. But with a little help from each other, the rest of our clothes landed on or beside my coffee table. A large hand slid between my legs and Ranger's mouth descended on my breast. I had to sink my teeth into my lower lip in order to keep my appreciation internal, then I did a little touching of my own.
When Ranger left my nipples alone to replace his hand with his mouth, then his mouth with the part of him that had become an instant favorite, I was sure I had nothing left to feel. I'd gone through every emotion already ... ecstasy, happiness, love, and satisfaction, but he still had way more for me to experience. And experience I did. When he caught up to my orgasm count, he collapsed on me briefly before pushing himself up on his hands to look down at my damp face.
"I'm glad you called," he told me.
"Me, too."
Both of us understood that having sex is only one of the things we've agreed to tonight.