Rating: NC-17 (Rating is for all things that are naughty. Reader discretion is advised.)

Disclaimer: I just love 'em and leave 'em. No need to worry about that. Except for Ranger. I don't share.

A/N: Okay, so I'm halfway back. If you read my profile you know the story on WCA. I'm getting ready to start work on the chapter today. I just needed a little something to get me back into the groove of things.

Stayce, being the evil partner in crime that she is, inspired this so-called fic after a long discussion about being snowed in and sharing the love with everyone else. She wants a smut fic and begging is all fine and dandy, but I think I've made her wait long enough. What Stayce wants, Stayce gets. Far be it by me to deny her anything after that glorious birthday party she threw me.

There are spoilers through a little book called TS. And this is a babe fic… In case you didn't know that already.

Introduction

A ditty by Stayce:

Christie's smut is always the best.
It's much hotter than all the rest.
And with Steph fucking Ranger,
There's never a danger,
That her smutty smut isn't the smuttiest.

It was the day before Christmas and all through the apartment.
Not a creature was stirring, not even a Rex!

When it comes to the Christmas holiday I say bah-humbug.

I guess that wasn't all true. The jury was still out on my official opinion of Christmas. When I was a child I loved Christmas, but as I grew up the whole Christmas spirit wore off me and each year I got further and further away from enjoying it as much as the year before. Christmas made me a bitter woman. It was the thought of all those people crowded into one tight little space, everyone grabbing for the same thing. It was the bickering, the Christmas tunes blaring over the mall speakers, the children screaming, and the fake Santa Claus', the Christmas decorations- everything about Christmas irked me.

I woke up this morning like any other day, debating whether to throw the alarm out the window and risk freezing to death from the nice hole it would make or getting up out of bed and dancing to the bathroom, turning the shower on scalding hot. The shower always won out in the end. The daily rendezvous' with my shower massager were getting old though. There was only so much love a girl could get from one of those and it just wasn't doing it for me anymore.

There were two things on my mind lately and neither of them have anything remotely to do with work. Christmas was tomorrow and I haven't gotten any presents for my family. (Not that that was surprising or anything.) So I made my way through my morning routine like always, getting dressed, drinking a cup of coffee and feeding Rex before I walked out the door. All the while thinking about the other thing that had occupied my mind every constant waking moment, debating on when I was at Quakerbridge later on in the day if I should stop by Santa and tell him what was on my mind.

I went on about my business, motoring around the town in the mini, navigating the streets being coated with snow. First order of the day was to collect my regular FTA's and con them into going down to the PD, which wasn't too hard. Dougie and Mooner were busy smoking and watching the "I Love Lucy" marathon when I got there. We watched four episodes and then we all trotted off to the PD. I got them rebonded and dropped them off back at home, swung by the office to pick up Lula and away we went to Quakerbridge Mall. I maxed out my last available credit card getting all of my Christmas shopping done; and did a little shopping for myself as well, getting myself a new pair of pajamas with matching slippers at Victoria's Secret. All in days work, I thought, pleased with everything I had accomplished. It wasn't often I could think that to myself.

I didn't even stop to talk to Santa even though Lula tried to drag me in line to sit in his lap. Santa didn't look too pleased to have a 250lb voluptuous black woman, wearing sequined red spandex, sitting his lap whispering naughty things in his ear. In fact, the picture Lula had taken with him was comical. Lula was smiling from ear to ear and Santa was blank faced and pushing her off his lap.

When I finally got home, I gave a sigh of relief. All the chaos of driving around on the street after dark with it snowing so hard I couldn't see five feet in front of me was enough to waste the last of my nine lives. I dropped the grocery bag on the kitchen counter, dropped all the mall packages on the floor by the door, and put the essentials up. I was stocked up on worthless white bread and peanut butter for in case I was snowed in Christmas morning.

I made a bowl of popcorn and got an extra bowl out for Rex. I flopped down onto the couch and picked up the remote, flipping through my 436 worthless cable channels looking for something to watch. I flicked a glance out the window behind the TV. I watched as the snowflakes fell slowly from the sky, collecting on the window ledge. Frost was starting to decorate around the edges of my window, and I settled on a classic black and white movie. I had everything I allowed myself to want. I had a hamster in a popcorn bowl, rooting around the bowl looking for the prize popcorn kernel. I was warm and secure for once without the threat of a skip out looking for me, and all of my Christmas shopping was finished.

So why did I feel this nagging emptiness in my heart?

There had been some major changes in my life after Ranger had been shot. I realized that even after a while denial couldn't be your best friend. You have to own up to your true feelings no matter how much you know it will hurt and change your life forever. Nothing was the same. I couldn't make it go back to the way it was before. I tried at first to deny it. I told Joe that I loved him, but I think he realized that I loved him- I wasn't in love with him like I had been before. We tried to have a serious relationship and it didn't pan out. We were friends, the comfy-comfortable, I can sleep with you and not get embarrassed about it, and you know everything about me, sort of friends. Joe would always be a part of my life; but the part of my life that he had been a part of was no longer in my control. No matter how much I wanted my heart to love him and him alone, it just wasn't possible anymore. You can't tell the heart whom to love, and in this case; my heart loved someone who wasn't capable of returning the same kind of love back to me.

Ranger and I were like fire and ice. When I got inside his comfort zone, he backed away from me. He played with me until he realized he was in too much danger of losing himself and then he would remind me that his life wasn't equipped to handle emotion entanglements; and that he was emotionally attached to me, but we would never be together. He reminded me that he just wanted me, he would never be the base of my food pyramid, and he would never emotionally be all there for me. All of this reminding and my heart wouldn't stop loving him. No matter how pissed off and frustrated I got with him, no matter how many times I've tried to walk away from him, I couldn't do it. I hated his arrogant, overbearing ways and there were times I couldn't stand him, but I always stuck around. I was like a moth drawn to Ranger's flame.

I couldn't even remember a time when I didn't love him in some way. I loved him long before I slept with him. I've done a great amount of foolish things in my life, but this one took the cake. What I hated most was the fact that my heart thought he was my soul mate. That was both frightening and heartwrenching at the same time. Ranger scared me. He made feel things that I'd never felt before for another. I no longer knew myself because I couldn't control how I felt with him. I couldn't deny it and I hated that the most. No matter how hard my mind tried to convince my heart that Ranger wasn't the one, my heart only wanted him and it just wouldn't give up.

When I thought about Ranger, it was hard to breathe. I fidgeted on the couch and snuggled under the blanket a little bit further. I avoided him for the past few weeks, which wasn't hard considering he seemed to be avoiding me too. We had gotten a little too close for comfort and Ranger had decided to give us some space. It burned my cheeks to think about how close we had gotten before we were interrupted once again. It was always something. Our lives weren't our own to decide, and it was getting a little old.

I hadn't told him I was in love with him. At this point in my life, it didn't seem like it would matter much. Ranger had made his stand perfectly clear, and ever since he had walked into this apartment expecting to be gunned down, things were different between us. Those few days I had woke up in his arms had felt so right and yet so wrong, I didn't know what to make of it all. There were times I woke up in the middle of the night feeling his arms around me, and the quiet sound of his light snore to only find myself lying in the bed alone.

I had fallen in love with the wrong man.

I sighed. I had been mulling over this for months now and still hadn't come to a conclusion about what I was going to do with my life. My life needed change, but I wasn't sure what change I should make. I glanced down at Rex and his whiskers twitched.

"Whadya think, Rex?"

His little black eyes twinkled in the darkness of the room and he picked up another popcorn kernel and stuck it in his mouth. He went back to staring at me and I took that as my clue to get with the program and put him back in his cage so he could work off some of his popcorn binge eating.

I tossed back the blanket and flipped the TV off. Rex made a couple of squeaking noises as I picked the popcorn bowl off the coffee table and moved him into the kitchen. I scooped him up and placed him gently into the cage. He went straight to his soup can, wiggling his butt like the happy little camper he was.

In about an hour, Rex would be on his wheel doing his nightly run, I mused. At least one of us got plenty of exercise. I shuffled into the bedroom, shutting the door behind me. I glanced outside on last time. I couldn't help feeling like something was calling my attention, but I couldn't think of anything that would be that pressing to go look out the window. I shrugged it off and climbed into bed. Whatever it was, it could wait until the morning.

I came awake slowly, something pulling at me through the layers of sleep. My conscience realized I wasn't alone and I felt the air get stuck in my throat. I felt the bed dip with the weight of another person and my eyes slit open. I focused on the figure at the edge of my bed.

Ranger.

I relaxed a bit into my pillows and sighed a little with relief and a little misplaced nervousness, "Hey."

Ranger turned his head and the semi-moonlight streaming through the curtains danced across his face. His lips were slightly upturned and he slid his hand over my blanket-covered legs. His hand slid across my legs, curling the heat through my lower body. My nipples tightened in response and my breathing hitched. His thumb was rubbing slow circles on my upper thigh and each time his thumb touched the inside of my thigh, the pulsing increased between them.

"I didn't aim to wake you, babe."

I looked at the clock and glanced back at him, "You realize that you're sitting on my bed, Ranger, at two in the morning. Of course I'm going to wake up."

His hand skimmed the inner part of my thigh and stopped just short of the jackpot, before moving up my pelvic bone to my hip. Ranger propped himself over my legs, his face leaning more towards mine. His eyes were focused on my lips, and I instinctively parted my own. I wanted him to touch me. I wanted him lying beside me, naked, with his skin touching mine, his lips brushing over me as I cried out in ecstasy. My eyes dropped from watching him to his lips and I heard him smother a groan. It must be obvious what I'm thinking about, I mused.

"Babe."

"What are you doing, Ranger?" I whispered.

"I shouldn't be here." His eyes met mine, and I could see the doubt in his eyes. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

I slid my hand up his chest, reveling in the feel of him under my hand and grabbed a hold of his shirt, pulling him closer to me, "Liar."

Ranger moved to get up off the bed, and I tightened my hold on him. Now that I had him here, I didn't want to let him go. In the darkness of the night, I could allow myself that one weakness. There were so many things I couldn't deny myself anymore. For one night I wanted to allow myself this one dream- one more night with him without any guilt or regrets in the morning.

"No," I said shaking my head, "Stay with me, Ranger. If only for the night."

"Stephanie…" He said leaning forward brushing his lips on my forehead, "This is a mistake. I shouldn't have come here tonight."

I lifted a finger to his lips, "Enough."

I closed my eyes and tipped my head back. I opened my eyes to find his focused directly on me. His eyes were like black onyx, hot like coal. I slid my hand from his chest, and wound it around his neck. I parted my lips as I pulled his head down to mine, and kissed him with every once of my being. I wanted nothing to go unsaid between us. I wanted him to have no doubt of the way I felt about him.

As my lips touched his, I felt the fire consume me: the need to be with him, to be able to lose control without restraints. My tongue touched his lips lightly at first, licking them and then my teeth grazed his bottom lip brazenly. He made a strangled sound in the back of his throat, as if he had been trying to hold back and couldn't do it anymore, and pushed me back against the pillows. His knee was inbetween my legs, firmly planted against the part of me that wanted him the most. His tongue pushed past my lips, possessing me, moving slowly to a slow beat that I remember very vividly from the one night we had spent together so long ago. My body was burning from the memory of that night.

I threaded my fingers through his hair, and arched slightly against him. I was hot, burning up with the need to have him inside of me. I didn't want to wait, I'd had been waiting for so long that I didn't know how much longer I could wait and still be sane. My hands left his hair and pulled at his shirt, making him lean off me just enough to pull it off. I ran my hands down his back and pulled him back to me. He was ripping the buttons off my pajama top, and pushing the covers out of his way with his foot. His mouth left mine, and moved along my jawline to my neck, where he left a trail of hot open-mouthed kisses as he pushed open the material to the top. His teeth scraped along my collarbone and his tongue licked the spots in slow circles, as he slid a hand down my side, hooking his hand in my pajama bottoms, and cupping my hip. He pulled me firmly against him and I gasped, arching my body in response. His mouth slid from one side of my collarbone to the next side, slowly teasing my body until the pressure was unbearable and I was out of my mind begging him for anything and everything all at the same time.

He moved away from me long enough to slip his pants off and my pajama bottoms, before slipping between me again, his mouth moving up my body, skimming over my breasts, his tongue flicking over the nipples until they were painfully tight. His lips trailed over my skin, moving to the hollow spot, and further up until his lips were on my ear. He sucked my earlobe inbetween his teeth, and nibbled on it leisurely.

"Ranger…" I moaned. I was digging my fingernails into his back and grinding my hips against his, feeling the hardness underneath me and positioning myself over him. I could feel the tip of him nudging me, and his hand went to my hip steadying me from slipping him inside of me.

He laughed softly in my ear, and propped himself up on his elbow so that he could look at me. He threaded a hand through my hair and turned my head on the pillow so that we were eye to eye. He stared into my eyes for the longest time, before pulling my lips to his own and lifting his hips against me, so that he slipped inside of me, inch by inch, slowly and so erotically that I was crying out his name raggedly against his lips as he continued to kiss me. He slipped slowly back and forth, driving me out of my mind. I pulled my lips from his and cried out faster and harder, digging my fingernails into his shoulders, wrapping my legs around his hips. I arched against him, pulling him deeper, crying out until I felt the first shudder of an orgasm on the horizon for me. I sank my teeth into his shoulder, screaming his name, holding on for dear life and Ranger followed behind me, slowing his strokes, his mouth on the crook of my neck. His teeth grazed my dampened skin and I moved against his hips slightly, still fully embedded on him.

We laid there silently for the longest time, my head in the crook of his neck, his head on the pillow next to mine. I finally got enough strength to lift my head, I brought my eyes up to his, gazing into his fathomless black sated eyes. He kissed me softly on the lips and started to lean away from me, intent on getting up and out of the bed.

"Hey," I whispered, "Don't leave now."

Ranger gave me a long look, his eyes boring into mine, and I bit my lower lip. I reached out and interlaced our fingers together.

"Babe… Stephanie…"

"I'm in love with you." I blurted out and for a minute I couldn't believe it popped out of my mouth. The silence permeated the room and I snapped my mouth shut.

"Stephanie?" Ranger asked. The look on his face was one of shock and disbelief, and I could feel the color rising to my cheeks. I was completely mortified that I had just uttered those words. I averted my eyes from his and studied the pattern on the blanket. It was a nice blanket, I thought. I wondered when I died from humiliation if I could be buried with it.

Ranger reached down with our joined hands, tipped my chin up so that he could look me in the eyes. There was no doubt that he could see the truth of it shining in my eyes, I couldn't make it stop. He took a deep breath and I sighed.

"Ranger, you don't have to say anything. I already know how you feel."

I let go of his hand and turned my gaze to out the window. The curtains were blocking my view but anything was better than seeing the look of desperation to be out of the situation shining back at me. I gathered my pajamas up off the bed, and shrugged my top on. I couldn't button it considering Ranger had ripped the buttons off of it. He watched me intently as I got off the bed and pulled my pants back on. The more I thought about what I just blurted out the more upset I got with myself. I went so long without accidentally blurting it out, but what was done was done. I couldn't take it back now.

I padded out into the living room and to the front window that faced the parking lot. The snow was really coming down now and the entire skyline was covering with big fluffy snowflakes encasing everything it came in contact with. I spotted Ranger's truck in the parking lot and it looked really out of place with all the old Buicks and Oldsmobiles neatly lined up in front of the building.

I wrapped my arms around me, waiting to hear the door close behind Ranger, but all I heard was quiet footsteps getting closer and closer to me. Ranger's hands slid up my arms and he pulled me against his chest. His head came to rest on top of mine and we stood there in silence just watching the snow fall. Dawn was nearing, but there would be no sunlight this morning.

"I've always wondered when I would hear you say those words to me." Ranger said quietly. "I didn't know what I was going to do other. I know I wanted to tell you it would never work between us and keep feeding you the same lines of bullshit I've been feeding your for over a year now; but I can't do it, babe. I just can't do it."

I stopped breathing and my lips parted slightly. I kept staring out the window, but Ranger turned me in his arms so he could look at me. He studied me for the longest time, as thought he was memorizing my face, every little line and dimple.

"I wanted to push you away, babe. I didn't want this, and I didn't want you to get hurt; but there is something about you Stephanie that I just can't get enough of."

Ranger leaned down and pressed his lips to mine.

"Does this mean you're staying?"

Ranger flashed a small smile and shot a glance out the window, "Doesn't look like I'm going anywhere tonight babe. Looks like we're going to be snowed in for a couple of days."

My heart felt instantly lightened and the weight of the world was falling on my shoulders anymore. It was out in the open and he was going to give it a shot. I shot him a look and pressed my lips to his bare chest, "I like the sound of that."

Ranger pushed me back towards the bedroom, "I have plans for you."

I stripped off my pajama top as I was walked towards the bedroom, "I knew there was a reason why I asked you to stay."

Ranger caught up to me as I made it into the bedroom doorway. He grabbed a hold of my hand and pulled me back against him. "Say it, Stephanie."

I glanced up at him, and murmured on his lips, "I'm in love with you."

And with that, Ranger kicked the bedroom door shut.

The End.