Disclaimer: Power Rangers belongs to Saban.
Prompt: ranger_bingo Date Interrupted by Monster Attack
Taylor Earhardt was quite sure one did not jump into bed with another on the first date. In fact, she was quite sure that there was a rule somewhere forbidding this. On the other hand, she wasn't quite sure that the dinner that she had just had with Eric Myers can be actually considered a date. It was more like comrades going out for a meal, right? All this did not quite explain, however, why she was currently backed up against the wall of her room, half-naked and getting all common sense kissed out of her.
She wasn't even sure how it is that she was able to form coherent thoughts when all she could do at the moment was feel – like how divine Eric's touch was as he caressed her skin while tugging her tight jeans down her legs, or how heavenly his lips felt against hers.
It didn't matter now that she hated him only weeks ago when she first met him and he gave her a ticket for speeding in her new car; ever since they had had to work together to defeat the Mut-Orgs, she had gotten to know the man, and despite the loner attitude that he seemed to use almost as a shield, she found herself actually liking the man, dammit. He had a soft and big heart beneath all his bluster, and possessed an unexpected sense of humour too. Max had teased her mercilessly about her attraction to the Quantum Ranger, and she had scoffed at the insinuation. But it annoyed her that he was right, and when Eric had asked her out for a dinner, she had jumped at the chance to prove Max wrong. Unfortunately, Eric had given her a goodbye kiss when he sent her back, and before she knew it, they were in her room, with half their clothes gone, and making out like teenagers.
Then all thoughts flew out of her head when Eric pressed one finger, then two into her. Aroused as she was, it was all it took to send her tumbling over the edge.
Panting, she fumbled with his fly as he groped his back pocket for what she assumed was a condom. At the back of her mind, she knew she should be outraged that he even thought of getting some on their first date, but she needed to jump his bones too badly to care about that now.
Then, Eric slumped against her, buried his face in the crook of her neck and gave a frustrated groan before murmuring something intelligible.
"What?" demanded Taylor impatiently as she writhed in his arms.
He lifted his head perhaps an inch off her skin – "No condom." – then buried it back into her neck.
Unable to help herself, she groaned as well, but a part of her could not help feeling relieved that he had not expected to jump into bed with her on their first not-date. Dropping her head onto his shoulder, she was content just resting in his arms, waiting for their overheated bodies to cool.
Her growl phone chose this unfortunate moment to trill.
Eric grunted and untangled himself from her, making sure she was able to stand upright before turning away and doing up the fly of his jeans. As he left the room to hunt for his shirt, he could hear her talking to Alyssa on the growl phone.
It was a strange irony to him to be the one left hanging as his date was called to duty; usually, it was the opposite. However, she was a ranger and she had the world to save, and he understood and respected that, no matter how sexually frustrated that made him feel. It was just as well, he did not expect a simple goodnight kiss to explode into something else that ended up with the both of them almost having sex. Thank God he forgot to restock his condom stash after that last one night stand months ago.
He wasn't sure what had possessed him to ask Taylor out. He respected her as a Ranger, yes, but the woman was stubborn and rude and antagonistic. He certainly did not lack for dates, but the flirting that he had done with her during their fight against the Mut-Orgs had inadvertently given him a deeper understanding of the woman underneath that prickly exterior and he had found himself more than intrigued by the prospect of being the one to unravel all those layers.
After much debating and brooding, as well as a dose of prodding and good-natured teasing from Wes, he had located Taylor's number, called her up and asked her out.
Neither of them had expected that they would have lasted through dinner without incident. Nor had they expected to find the growing attraction that they were helpless to deny blossoming and deepening as dinner progressed.
Perhaps he shouldn't have given in to the impulse to kiss her goodnight when he had sent her to her doorstep.
Eric glanced down at the very obvious bulge pushing painfully at the fly of his jeans as he located his discarded shirt and slipped it on.
Yes. That was definitely a bad idea.
His head snapped up as Taylor came out of her room, fully dressed, an apologetic look on her face, her growl phone tightly clutched in one hand.
They stared at each other awkwardly in silence, neither quite knowing what to say after what had almost transpired back in her room.
Finally, Taylor broke the eye contact and glanced at the phone in her hand. "Monster attack downtown."
Eric nodded shortly. "I figured."
She bit her lip, trying desperately to think of something else to say that would not have her ending up sounding like an idiot. It was ironic that she would lack for words now when she usually had no trouble blurting out a whatever was on her mind.
"I've got to go," was the best Taylor could manage and just barely, she held back the impulse to make a mad dash for the exit and as calmly as she possibly could, let herself out of the room and joined up with her teammates.
Much, much later, Taylor shifted uncomfortably in her driver's seat, and shot another glance out the window to Eric's house. She had been sitting out in her car for the past half hour, trying to work up the courage to press his damn doorbell. It wasn't like she was a coward – she just didn't know what to say to him after almost having sex with him on their first not-date. But she did know that she didn't want to leave things hanging like they did when she ran off to fight that damn monster.
It was such a pity that the monster was such a weak one that it didn't take much for them to defeat it. She would have liked pounding out her frustrations on it a lot longer than the fight had lasted.
She growled in frustration and punched her steering wheel.
"So are you going to come inside or do you want to stay out here and continue hitting inanimate objects?" Eric's voice, holding just that hint of amusement, had her snapping her head up.
She hoped the poor lighting hid the fact that her cheeks had heated up at the embarrassment of being caught lurking outside his house like some sort of stalker. For such a well-built guy, it was annoying how he could move without making any noise at all.
"I was just –" Lurking outside your house? Passing by and happened to just stop outside your house? Sitting in my car? Damn the man for looking so gorgeous, standing there with his hands tucked casually into his pants pocket, and scrambling her brain.
His lips quirked; he reached out and opened her door. "Come in."
Stiffly, she slid out of her car, shut her door and locked it in one smooth motion. Then she followed Eric into his house.
What little furniture she could see as Eric led her into the den was simple, but served its function and was well-maintained. Perching herself on the sofa Eric indicated, Taylor folded her hands in her lap and focused on them.
Her nails were getting kind of long, and needed a trimming, she noted disinterestedly as her brain scrambled to think of something, anything, to say in order to break the awkward silence that now hung like a thick blanket around them.
"I-"
"It's –"
Their eyes met as they both started to talk then stopped when the other did as well.
The silence descended again.
Taylor resisted the urge to growl in frustration again, noting grouchily the slight amusement lurking in Eric's eyes as he gestured for her to speak first.
"I'm sorry for just leaving like that –"
"It's alright. I understand," Eric said softly, cutting across her apology.
She fell silent again, and glanced down at her lap, where her hands lay tightly clenched.
"I had a great time tonight," Eric said, causing Taylor's head to jerk up in surprise. "Awkward parting notwithstanding of course," he acknowledged, the corner of his lips quirking up in a slight grin.
She let out a breath she had not realised she was holding. "Me too."
"About the kiss," he blurted, "I never meant for it to... go that far..."
Flushing, Taylor looked away, and forced the unbidden image of his lips on hers. Damn the man for making her feel like a teenage girl running on hormones. She bit her lip in an effort to keep herself from blurting out a snappy retort that she knew she would regret later.
Eric cleared his throat, bringing her attention back to him again. "I'd like to do dinner again, sometime?" It came out more as a question rather than the statement that he had intended.
Taylor relaxed visibly and she smiled at him. "I'd love to."
His lips quirked in a half-smile. "Let's take things slowly this time."
"Hopefully, we won't get interrupted by Org attacks while we're at it," she added wryly.
Eric gave a snort of laughter, and shook his head. "We're Rangers. You do know that it will happen, right? It's like a law of the universe or something."
Taylor could not help but laugh at that.
"So," Eric grinned at her. "Coffee?"
"I'd love some. Black, please, if you have it."