Ranger and Stephanie still belong to Janet. The mistakes are mine.
"Watch and learn, Babe."
She rolled her eyes at me. "Does everything have to be a teaching tool, a deal, or a lesson of some kind with you?"
"You say that like you haven't been receptive to my tools, deals, or lessons."
I could see a delicate tinge of pink spread across her face.
"We're talking about you here, not me."
"No, you were talking about me, I was about to go apprehend Winslow."
"Meaning ... you were going to go show off."
"If you prefer to look at it that way. Are you coming along?"
She sighed. "Yeah. You are kind of hot when you go all alpha on me."
"On you?" I asked, noticing the slip.
"On someone, I meant. When you turn into a badass with somebody other than me."
"I'm sure that's what you were really thinking. You can tell me all about your alpha fantasies when this guy's back behind bars."
"There's nothing to discuss," she said.
"Lately, you've been having as hard of a time lying to yourself as you usually have lying to me."
"Umm ... your skip's going to get away if we keep talking," she told me, instead of pursuing an argument she knew she wouldn't win.
"No, he's not," I said, pushing my door open.
Alfred Winslow is a dumb fucker, but a strong one. This apprehension should be fun. Maybe not her idea of a good time, and yet she blew off Lula and the mall to come with me. I used this job as an excuse to pick her up, and she did the same by accepting my ride along invite just to spend more time with me. We both are aware of our motives, and are one step closer to admitting them.
My FTA was right where I was told he'd be, between Broad and Route 1, trying to score something that would put him behind bars again without my help. It's too bad for him that I'm already here, so he'll be receiving another cavity search courtesy of the PD sooner rather than later. When the dealer he'd approached suddenly bolted, Winslow turned his shaved head, mouthed 'Oh fuck', and ran like the pussy I knew him to be.
But he wasn't the person I was tracking. I had eyes on the skip the entire time as I broke into an easy jog, but my ears were trained on the sound of Stephanie's footsteps behind me. The skip has some muscle to haul around, but he clearly isn't as dedicated to weight-training and cardio endurance as I am, so I wasn't at all concerned that he'd be able to outrun me.
Hell, he couldn't outrun Stephanie either, I was pleased to note. She was moving that perfect ass of hers surprisingly fast today. If it wasn't for the skip's tendency to lash out when cornered, I'd leave him to her and enjoy the fireworks when she caught him.
"I shouldn't have had that doughnut this morning," I heard her say.
Her breathing had become labored, making me recall just how she sounds when I'm buried as deep as possible inside her.
She was a distraction on many levels, and I had to come to grips with the fact that she's a permanent one. I can still remember how she tasted, felt, and moved underneath me. It's only been a few days since she allowed me into her apartment, then her bed, and finally in her, and I'm already craving her again. I'm not about to give her up, or give up my place in her bed.
Had Rangeman not been slammed with new clients, handling an increase in break-ins, and dealing with the training of two new employees, I would have had a conversation with her already about where our relationship is about to go. Once Winslow is out of the way, I figure she and I can spit out what needs to be said, and then give my bed a thorough workout this time instead of hers.
While I was busy thinking of other ways of making her sweat, she was keeping up with me in the chase, but wasn't happy about it.
"Can't you just shoot him to get him to stop?" She panted out.
"That would take all the fun out of it," I told her, my voice as even as it had been in the car.
"This. Isn't. Fun. Are you hanging back because of me?"
"Partly. "
"Well, don't. Get the douchebag. I'll be right behind you." She paused. "Make that a couple of seconds behind you."
I glanced over my shoulder at her. Her forehead was damp, and the curls that had escaped her ponytail were sticking to her face. Which is similar to how she looked when I got called out of her bed. I've never regretted giving Tank my cell number more than I did that morning.
"You sure?" I asked, not wanting her to miss the action.
"Yes!"
Okay then. I picked up some speed as I rounded the corner. I almost smiled at the expression on Winslow's face when he realized his newest predicament. The fucker wasn't aware of his surroundings or even where he'd been running, but I sure as hell was, which is why I let him get more than a foot away from me in the first place. That, and I always enjoy a impromptu run. I regretted the fact that the fence stopped him before my heart rate had a chance to double and make this jog worth my time.
"Time's up," I told him. "You should know by now, Winslow, that there's no getting away from me. When are you going to learn?"
"Not today," he said, and jumped the fence.
Or ... he tried to, anyway. Steph had caught up to us by then, and she took in the situation accurately.
"Uh-oh," was her assessment of the skip's stupidity.
I grabbed the back of his neck with one hand before he could make it out of my reach, and when he tried to kick me, I kept hold of his leg and used his own momentum against him, flinging him off the chain link like the sack of shit he is. His face broke his fall. Looks like I'll have to give an explanation or two when we drop him at the station.
"Ouch," she said to him. "Why do you idiots always run? It never turns out well for you."
"Shut up, Bitch."
"Big talk from a guy too stupid not to notice eight feet of fence blocking his escape route."
He swiped a hand over his face, smearing the blood leaking from a cut on his cheek, and he made an aggressive move towards her. He couldn't have had a bigger error in judgment.
"Touch her and you'll lose a hell of a lot more than your freedom," I warned him, tugging Stephanie out of asshole range.
"He doesn't scare me," she said from behind my arm.
"I know, Babe, but you'll probably injure him more than I can explain away if he runs his mouth and pisses you off."
"He is getting on my nerves."
"You ready to do things my way?" I asked him. "Or are you going to continue being a dick?"
I got my answer when he charged me. I pushed Steph further away from us and then focused on humiliating the fuck out of Winslow just for being idiotic enough to challenge me.
"Ranger, don't kill him," is what she told me, when I brought him down to the ground.
He ended up on his stomach, with his head turned sideways so he wouldn't inhale any of the shit coating the alley. My boot was keeping his neck touching asphalt, making moving difficult ... if not impossible. I bent at the waist to speak to him, which just happened to apply more pressure to an already sensitive area.
"Apologize to her or I'll break your fucking neck," I told him quietly.
"It's accepted," Steph said.
"He didn't issue one yet."
"It's fine."
"No. It's not. This has just turned into one of those lessons we were discussing earlier. Winslow will serve as an example. If anyone threatens you, they'll have me to deal with. This capture will be the start of your own reputation."
"I don't need - or want - another reputation," she told me. "All the ones I've had have been bad."
"I promise you, being labeled 'Manoso's woman' won't be a burden to you."
"Run that by me again."
"Later," I said to her, my boot pressing harder into the skip since he seemed to think my request was optional. "I'm waiting, Winslow. It wouldn't be wise to piss me off. Whether you live or die in the next couple of seconds is solely up to me."
He held out for two of those seconds, but then caved like he always does.
"Sorry," he choked out.
"Not good enough. What are you sorry for?"
"For calling her a bitch."
"And now you know never to do that again, don't you? Keep going."
"Ranger," Steph said, "his face is turning colors. I'm not a doctor or anything, but I'm guessing that's not good."
"He'll be released when I'm satisfied that my point was made."
"Unless he dies first," she muttered to herself.
To make her happy, I dragged Winslow to his feet, replacing my boot on the nape of his neck with my forearm locked across the front of it, keeping his oxygen low.
"Talk," I ordered him.
"Fuuuck," he breathed out. "I'm sorry for threatening her."
"And why is that bad again?" I asked him.
"Because she's your woman and you don't like it."
"And you're going to pass that information along to every asshole you associate with if I let you live?"
"Yes."
I let him go and he dropped to his knees, drawing in air as any fight left in him wheezed out.
"Hands behind your back," I told him.
He complied immediately this time. I cuffed him, careful not to come in contact with any blood, and with Steph sandwiching him between us, we walked back to the Cayenne. I secured him in the backseat so there'd be no chance of him moving, closed the door, and turned to find her staring at me with her arms crossed under her breasts.
"What the hell was that all about?" She asked.
"I was showing you how reputations like mine are made. You threaten the skip, and he in turn does what you want him to do, and warns other assholes what they can expect if they fuck with you."
"And all the other stuff?"
"I want everyone to know that you belong to me ... including you," I told her.
"Couldn't you have said that over wine and flowers?"
"Yes, but this was more memorable and made a bigger impression. We can try your way tonight if you'd like."
She paused. "You'd buy me flowers and ply me with wine while you tell me that I'm yours?"
"Yes."
"I'm ready when you are. Let's ditch the third wheel, and then you can explain in detail the benefits of being with you."
"I can explain, as well as demonstrate, a few of them if you're up to it."
"Apparently, I'm up for a lot of things today, but that's the one I'm looking forward to the most."
"You'll do more than look forward to it," I assured her, reaching to open the passenger's side door. "You'll enjoy it, beg for it, and require daily reminders of it."
Before she got into the car she had another question for me.
"Are we talking about sex or about you telling me that you love me?"
"With us, the two have always been one and the same."
And I plan to keep it that way. I can't stop wanting her anymore than I could stop loving her.