A/N not mine, I own nothing.

Ok all this one is response to Spiffytgm, and her challenge for the base of Steph's food pyramid. I hope it lives up to the challenge!

I don't normally write anything M rated, but I think this one may need it.

The Base of the Food Pyramid

I was trying to prove to myself that I could cook, and take care of myself. Joe had called me a few nasty names a few months ago. He had been on a tangent about marriage, and quitting my job to stay at home and take care of him then have a few kids too. I told him to fuck off.

That night my Mother told me, that unless I fix my relationship with Joe, I was no longer welcome at her dinner table. I have been on my own for meals ever since.

Ranger has been "in the wind" for the last four months, so dinner with him was out of the question. It was getting to expensive to eat out all the time, plus I had put on about 15 lbs from all of the crap I was eating. So, about two weeks ago I decided that it was time for me to start taking care of me.

I bought pots and pans, bakeware, and all the kitchen supplies the guy at the store said I would need for a newly single person to cook.

I had a cookbook, and I hadn't been doing to bad. I could follow the directions, cut chop, and measure. Turns out that cooking was pretty simple when you didn't have someone telling you how badly you were screwing it up.

This morning before I left I put a roast, and veggies in the crock pot, that I had won at Bingo, along with some seasonings and beef broth. I knew that when I got home I would have a hot meal ready and waiting.

I was able to get home earlier that I anticipated and decided to make a cheaters version of pineapple upside down cake for my dessert. The downside was that I would have a whole cake, the upside was that I would have a whole cake to myself. Grinning to myself I got to work.

I was so into what I was doing, that I never noticed Ranger come in. Probably, I wouldn't have noticed him come in anyway, the man was like smoke.

"Babe?" he asked me. I took this to mean; What the hell are you doing?

"I am expanding my horizons and learning to take care of myself. Want to stay for dinner?"

He raised an eyebrow, but nodded his head yes. I just looked at him and smiled. I couldn't help myself I pulled out all the ingredients for a small salad.

Rangers jaw opened slightly at the sight. I laughed ot loud at the sight.

"Did I finally break Batman?" I asked him.

He gave me his signature smile, and just answered, "Babe."

Yup, I broke Batman. I turned and pulled the cake out of the oven, I hoped it would be cool enough to take out of the pan when we were done eating. I even had whipped cream for on top of it.

Ranger was making himself at home, and setting the table. I think the man was going into overload, because I could have sworn I heard him something about checking to see if pigs were flying.

We sat down and I dished up our meal, salad included. He poured us each a glass of wine, and dug into the meal in front of him. I think he may have moaned with that first bite, his eyes became wide, then he closed them to savor the flavors. I couldn't believe it! I sat there stunned!

"Babe, this is good. What brought the domestication of Stephanie Plum on?"

"Well, about a week after you left Joe got on one of his tangents again. I told him to fuck off. Now this part may sound slightly fimilar to you, since you told me something similar at one point. Anyway, I went to my parents and my Mother told me to fix my relationship with Joe, or I wasn't welcome at her dinner table any longer. So, I started eating out all the time. I gained 15 lbs, and decided to start cooking for myself. Tonight is my fisrt foray into baking a dessert. Will you try it?"

"A small piece," he said suprising me.

I walked into the kitchen and Ranger followed, bringing our dishes in with him. As I flipped the cake out of the pan and onto a plate, he washed up the few dishes from our meal.

I began to dish it up. He took both plates from me, and I grabbed the whipped cream. We sat on the couch to enjoy our treat.

"Babe, you have a little..." He pointed to my lips, and I licked them. His eyes darkened he leaned over and lick my lips. I moaned at the sensation. He took my plate from me and sat it on the coffee table. He began to feed me from his plate, stealing kisses between each bite.

The next thing I knew he was picking me up and carrying me to my bedroom. He set me down removing my shirt and bra. He kissed his way down my neck to my breasts, and began to suckle at my nipples. He drew sounds from me that I had never made before. He made his way down my abdomen, peppering it with kisses. He only stopped when he reached my belly button to pay homage to it.

I felt as though he was worshipping my body. He removed the rest of my clothing and his. I watched him through my heavily lidded eyes. He raised an eyebrow in question, I nodded.

"Do I need a condom?"

"I get a shot every three months, we're good," I whispered. He groaned at that.

He slowly layed over me, he centered himself at my entrance. He began to enter me. He brought his head to mine and kissed me, pouring all of his love into it.

I had never felt so cherished in my life. We came together, it was beyond words.

We fell alseep in each others arms.

I woke the next morningg stretching like a cat, and I heard a chuckle from the doorway. I looked up and there was Ranger standing in a patch of sunshine, bare chested, and still damp from his shower. I wanted to lick the drops of water from him...yum!

I must have said that out loud, because he let out a full belly laugh.

"I think I now see the benefits of having dessert as the base of yout food pyramid Babe."

"Really?"

"As long as I am the only dessert from now on, I think we can handle the sweets."

"You sure?"

"Babe, pack a bag for a week. I'll grab Rex. I want to take you to the Bat cave."

"Forever?" I asked.

"Forever Babe."

A/N as I finished this I realized I completed two challenges in this one...so xo13 her is your bare chested Ranger as well. ;)