Scalding water pounded my back as I squeezed pink shower gel onto my loofa. What a day. Then again, it really hadn't been all that different than any of my other days so I guessed that meant that every day in the life of a bounty hunter (or maybe just every day in my life) had some of those "what a day" qualities.

Katy Perry sang to me from the speaker I'd placed on the sink as I rubbed the loofa over my arms and breasts. I waited for my favorite part of the song and, when it came, I gave my hips a little wiggle with the music.

"Babe."

I jumped, dropping the loofa and losing my balance at the same time. From outside the tub, Ranger caught my outstretched arm in one hand and kept me from falling. Once I was steadily back on two feet and he let me go, I grabbed the shower curtain and drew it between us to protect myself from his probing gaze. I narrowed my eyes at him. "What do you want?"

A smile that hadn't yet reached his lips twinkled in his eyes. When it didn't seem like I was going to get an answer, I pulled the shower curtain closed and stepped back under the water. I really needed to get a Ranger-proof lock but I was also pretty sure that Ranger-proof locks didn't exist.

"I need a date to the Donovich wake tonight. My client and his wife have requested our security services for the evening," he finally said from the other side of the curtain. There was a hint of laughter in his voice.

"You're gonna hear me roooooaaaar…" I sang along with Katy, ignoring Ranger's request. He was always asking me to accompany me on these bodyguard gigs and what did I ever get out of it? Shot at. Usually I got shot at.

"Babe."

I turned around again, slower this time. And there was Ranger. Standing in my shower. Fully clothed, minus his boots.

I laughed. I couldn't help myself. "What are you doing?"

"I thought that was an invitation."

"I was just singing along!"

"Oh." He was standing far enough back that he had managed to avoid most of the spray coming from the showerhead. He didn't move.

I rolled my eyes and turned around in an attempt to go back to enjoying my shower. Maybe he would just leave. It really had been a long day. My FTA had gotten away and somehow I'd ended up covered in powdered sugar in the process of losing her. At least as Lula and Connie had pointed out, a day that involves powdered sugar can't really be all that bad. Still, all I wanted was a long hot shower, a beer, and a few hours of mindless TV in my favorite sweat pants.

Ranger was still standing behind me. I looked at my loofa on the floor of the shower and sighed. There were two options to retrieve it: bend over or squat down. Bending over seemed unnecessarily provocative so I squatted down instead.

"Babe."

My skin tingled. His hand was on my hip. I turned to him and dropped the loofa. The desire that normally simmered in his eyes was smoldering at a whole new level. He took my wrist and in one sift move, pulled my toward him and pushed my back against the wall of the shower. My breath caught in my throat and I shivered at the sudden chill of the wall behind me.

That seemed to do it. He kissed me.

His tongue was in my mouth and he had one hand on my waist and one wrapped up in my wet hair and I was pressed between him and the wall which felt like the luckiest place in the world to be.

As his tongue explored my mouth, his hands explored my body. They trailed across my chest and over my breasts. He rolled a pebbled nipple between his fingers and I let out a hiss of pleasure. When he did it again and I arched into him, he smiled against the kiss and allowed his hands, hardened with callouses, to continue their journey over my body. Tease. I pressed my body into him, savoring the roughness of his hands on my skin.

He nudged my legs apart with a knee and I moaned at the feel of it between my thighs. I ground down on it, partly because I wanted to see how it would feel and partly because I could barely trust my own legs to hold me up. He let out a sigh that sounded a lot like "Babe." The hand that had been on my waist was now pressed against the wall next to my head. I had a feeling he didn't trust his legs right now, either.

I shimmied my hands up between us and placed them on his chest, wanting to feel the hard muscle I knew I would find there. He still had his clothes on and, somehow (probably because he is Ranger) they had managed to stay dry. I slipped my hands under his black Rangeman shirt and felt his abs tighten under my touch. But touching wasn't enough. The shirt had to go.

He saw what I wanted and finally the smile reached his lips. He peeled off the shirt, tossed it out of the shower, and placed his hands on the wall on either side of my head. He steadily held my gaze a moment longer before resuming his attack on my lips.

He trailed kisses down my neck and, seemingly of their own accord, my hands reached out to undo his pants.

I tried to stop them. I swear I did.

With my fingers defying me, I swiftly unbuttoned his pants, unzipped the zipper, and began tugging the pants over his strong glutes. His erection sprang forward; he had gone commando today. I let out an involuntary gasp (he really was a very impressive man) and a chuckle rumbled in his chiseled chest. He stepped out of the pants and tossed them out of the shower as well. Moving toward me again, he trapped me against the wall.

"Now what?" he whispered in my ear, one hand on the side of my face with his thumb stroking my cheek, the other hand travelling south. The other thumb stroked something else.

I moaned and my legs finally did give out, but his knee was between them again and he held me up. My eyes fluttered closed as he continued to work magic with his thumb, and when it was too much he slid a finger into my throbbing wetness. "Babe." The desire I saw in his eyes made my stomach flip and I knew there was no going back. Not that I wanted to anyway.

He withdrew his finger and spun me around to face the wall, his hard body molded against my back. He took my hands and placed them on the wall, swept the wet hair off my back and over my shoulder, and bit my neck. Hard. Nudging my legs apart with his knee again, he took a hand from the wall to guide himself in and sank balls deep into me.

I let out a moan of pleasure and he began to move slowly inside me, nibbling at my neck while letting me warm up to his length. With one hand he cupped my breast; the other he left on the wall to support himself.

His slow, deliberate thrusts were maddening and just when I thought I would die with the desire for him, he pulled almost all the way out and sank back in. Hard. And then again. Faster and faster. Our wet bodies slid against each other deliciously and I marveled at the way his pelvis cupped my ass with every thrust.

The hand that had been working wonders on my breast wandered down my body. With his fingers he circled my clit in time with his thrusts. My legs were quivering and I whimpered with pleasure, biting my lip and arching my back into him. He kissed my neck, his tongue swirling over my wet skin. His teeth tugged at my earlobe and he whispered, "Just let go, Babe."

With those words the building pleasure reached its peak and exploded in waves across my body. I bucked into his hand and arched against him, riding the waves as he chuckled softly in my ear. I was still riding my orgasm when he came too a few thrusts later. When he finished he turned me back around and hugged me against his chest, resting his cheek on top of my head.

"Babe." He tilted my chin up with his thumb and looked into my eyes with an intensity that was making it difficult to breath. And then he kissed me, first sweetly, gently, and then more forcefully, his tongue delving back into my mouth and tangling with mine. The familiar hum of desire was building again between my legs when he broke the kiss and stepped back. With a smile, he pulled back the shower curtain and stepped out of the tub. I let out a sign of disappointment when he closed the curtain behind him.

"So about tonight," he called from the other side of the shower curtain, "I'll pick you up at eight. And wear the red dress."

I grinned.