Disclaimer: Still not mine.
WoW! Thank you all so much for your reviews! I tried to respond to each of them, but if I missed you then I am deeply sorry. It was not intentional and I hopefully won't do it again!
Thank you to my beta, Potterwench. Without her, you all would be reading dribble that didn't make any sense!
Now...on to the chapter! Does Ranger man up or chicken out?
Chapter 2 - Man or Chicken?
The minute Joe left Stephanie's apartment, she immediately stripped her clothes off and pulled on one of Ranger's black T-shirts. She cleaned her face of make-up, crawled into bed and let the tears fall. She was exhausted but she knew sleep wasn't going to come that night. Too many thoughts were swirling in her head and she couldn't turn them off.
Ranger was first and foremost in her mind. Stephanie knew that she needed to come to terms with the fact that he would never be hers. She needed to face it and move on. Being in limbo hurt too much, she didn't want to torture herself unnecessarily but she also knew seeing him every day and not being able to get close to him would hurt too. Maybe leaving was the way to go. But Could she do that? Could she leave Trenton?
Her tears had stopped falling, but she laid awake for what seemed like hours making plans in her mind to leave Trenton. There was nothing really tying her there, just family, friends, and her job. She wondered if she would be able to leave all that behind. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear the locks tumble on her front door. She wasn't aware someone was even in her apartment until he spoke from her bedroom doorway.
"Babe." Hearing that word made the tears flow from her eyes once again. Her back was turned to him and she didn't bother rolling over. She tried to stop crying. She hated crying, especially in front of him. She hated appearing weak. She felt the bed dip from his weight and let out a long sigh. She knew she was going to have to talk to him.
"What are you doing here, Ranger? It's late." Stephanie honestly couldn't stop the bitterness from creeping into her voice. Ranger sat staring at her back and he began to have second thoughts for being there.
"I just wanted to tell you that I'm leaving in a few hours. Call Tank if you need anything." Stephanie let out a sob and buried her head in her pillow. She felt the bed move when he stood and she knew she needed to say something to him.
Her voice was weak and full of emotion when she spoke. "Please don't get shot." Ranger almost didn't hear her words but when they finally registered in his brain, they broke his heart. He was back by her bed in two strides and he pulled her into his arms. He let her cry into his shoulder while he stroked her back and whispered Spanish words of love into her ear to help calm her down. When the sobs turned to hiccups she pulled her splotchy face back to look at him. She was expecting to see his patented 'blank' face, but what she saw stopped her breath.
Ranger's face wasn't blank. It was full of emotion and there was even a tear track on his handsome cheek. He bent his head down slowly, giving Stephanie time to back away, and placed his lips lightly onto hers. The kiss was short but full of love that made both of their hearts swell.
After several silent minutes of just staring into each other's eyes, Ranger spoke softly. "Why are you so upset Babe? I've gone away before and you haven't been this sad." He kissed her on the nose and she closed her eyes at the feelings coursing through her.
In Stephanie's mind, a war was raging. She had just broken up with Joe so she shouldn't be actively thinking about starting ANYTHING with Ranger, but her heart was screaming to tell him the truth about her feelings, to lay everything out on the line and come clean. She also knew that once she told him, he would turn her away and she could use the time he's away to leave Trenton without him following her.
Stephanie took a deep breath ready to spill her guts to the man she loved more than anything. "I'm always this sad when you leave; I just usually wait until you're gone to break down. When you're gone, a part of me is missing and I feel incomplete." Ranger squeezed her tighter in his arms in a show of support and understanding. He felt the exact same way about her. "Tonight, you just caught me at a bad time. I was already a little depressed because of what happened between Joe and me earlier." She stopped to gaze into his eyes.
"What happened between you and Joe?" Ranger whispered the question. He knew the answer already, but he wasn't going to let her in on his and Morelli's conversation.
"He proposed, sort of, and then we decided to end us." Ranger watched as a small smile formed on her beautiful face. He could tell that she felt free from that relationship. Ranger now had two options, he could tell her everything then hope and pray that she felt the same way OR he could give her a gentle push to spill her guts to him. He could be brave or be a coward, what should he do? Morelli's words from earlier screamed at him. They were too loud to ignore.
Time to man up, Manoso! "I'm glad you ended it with Morelli, Babe." She looked up into his eyes and furrowed her brow. She couldn't understand why he would be happy about that. He'd pushed her to Joe many times so she was confused about his statement. Ranger saw her confusion and ran his rough finger between her eyes to smooth the skin there. "I'm happy about it because I want you for myself. I've been so stupid Babe and I came here tonight to tell you the truth." Ranger scooted back and rested against the headboard of the bed. He pulled Stephanie up into his arms so that she straddled his waist. He wanted to see her eyes as he confessed his feelings.
He waited too long to continue so Stephanie whispered a question to encourage him to continue. "What's the truth, Ranger?"
Ranger looked into her beautiful blue eyes and said the three words that he had never said to another woman that wasn't family. "I love you." He heard her suck in a breath and her eyes got wide. Without skipping a beat, he continued his confession. "I've loved you for so long and I want to be with you. No qualifiers, no limitations. I want you...all of you. Do you want me Babe?" Stephanie started to answer but Ranger silenced her with a finger to her lips.
"Let me finish first and then you can answer." Stephanie kissed the finger pressed to her lips and nodded. Ranger smiled brightly at her. "Being with me isn't going to be easy and I want you to understand fully before answering. My job is dangerous, both with the government and at RangeMan. I have enemies that would love to hurt you to get to me. I'm going to need you to take some precautions to lessen the risk of that happening."
Stephanie could tell by the look in his eyes that Ranger was dead set on her following whatever rules and regulations he put out there. She also knew that she would do anything for this man, so she wasn't too worried.
"I need you to train with the guys. Learn some takedown techniques, and some self-defense moves. Get better at shooting your gun and always carry it with you. Learn to be more aware of what's going on around you. You are the most important person in my life, Baby, and I cannot lose you. I need to know that you're safe at all times or I might go insane." Stephanie's eyes filled with tears hearing the emotion in his voice.
When Ranger didn't continue, Stephanie decided to ask a question in a scratchy whisper. "Is there anything else?" She gave him a small smile and stroked his face. She watched as he closed his eyes and almost purred at the touch.
"You'll need to understand that I can't always tell you where I'm going and I can't always share everything about my past. What I can share with you, I plan on telling you. I want you to hear my childhood stories and I want to tell you things that no one else knows, just like I want to hear those things from you." Another tear fell, her dreams were coming true that night and there was no chance to stop the tears.
"If there's a threat against you, you're going to have to understand that everything I do...I do it because of you. I do it to protect you because like I said before, I can't lose you. I know you don't like doing things that you're told to do, so I promise to talk to you and let you in on the decision-making process. Does any of that sound unreasonable or undoable to you?" Once Ranger was done talking, uncertainty flooded his body. The moment had finally come. He laid it all out for her and now all he had to do was wait for her answer. She was either going to shatter him or make him the happiest man alive.
Stephanie thought a few seconds about everything he had said. Nothing sounded unreasonable. She knew she needed the extra training. It would make doing her job easier and would keep her safe. She was tired of being the laughing stock of the town. She also wanted to know more about him and she even had some tidbits of her life that she had tucked away to share with him. As for the procedures she would have to follow during a threat, as long as he included her in the decision-making, then she didn't have a problem.
By the time Stephanie looked back up at his face, she realized that she had been quiet too long. The look of love and adoration was gone from his face and in its place was hurt and fear. He looked away and made the move to get up off the bed but she forced him back and took his face in her hands.
"Please let me go, Stephanie. I understand, but I need to get out of here." Her heart hurt hearing the disappointment and sadness in his words. She had to make him better. She had to tell him the truth.
"I'm never letting you go because I wouldn't survive without you. I've loved you for so long, Ranger, and now that you're ready to give us a chance; there's no way in hell I'm letting you go." A smile broke out on his face hearing her words. She loved him!
"So you're with me, Babe? You want this as much as I do?" Instead of answering his question with words, Stephanie decided to use her lips in a more enjoyable fashion. He let her control the kiss and moaned when she sucked his bottom lip in between her teeth. They broke apart when breathing became mandatory.
Ranger stroked her hair away from her face and wiped off a stray tear or two that escaped from her eyes. "I'm sorry that I'm doing this at such a bad time, Babe. I hate to admit to all of this and then leave you for a few months." Stephanie sobered as she remembered the reason he came to her apartment tonight in the first place.
"I'm not sorry you did this now. I'll be here waiting for you when you get back. And you WILL come back to me, right?" Ranger nodded as he brought his lips to her once again. Desire swelled between them and Stephanie felt the object of his desire throbbing between her legs. There was only one more question on her mind. "What time do you have to leave?"
Ranger glanced at his watch and made a face. "I need to be back at Haywood in two hours. I already told the guys going with me to be ready so all I have to do is grab my bag off seven and meet the chopper on the roof." Stephanie nodded and ground her core into his erection getting a hiss in return for her actions.
"That's not enough time to do everything I want to do to you, but it will have to do for now." Stephanie purred into Ranger's ear before nibbling the lobe and sucking it into her hot mouth.
~#~ Smut Warning ~#~
The half-groan, half-growl that escaped Ranger's throat made Stephanie giggle. In a split second, the T-shirt was ripped off her body and she was flat on her back with a horny Cuban on top of her. Her panties were torn away the next second and his pants were gone soon after. Nothing stood between them any longer. They were finally together and free to love like normal people did. There was no guilt or fears. Only love. Ranger looked deep into her eyes. He placed a gentle kiss on her nose and then on her lips. His cock was poised at her entrance. "I love you, Babe." He whispered the words as he slid to his home inside her.
He paused, letting her adjust to him again. It had been too long since he'd been inside her and the feeling was almost too much for him so the pause allowed him to gain some control back, too. When she had enough waiting, Stephanie wrapped her legs around his waist and began moving for them. Ranger closed his eyes and relished the feeling of her taking control. The movement stopped and Stephanie's small voice penetrated his lust filled brain. "I love you, Carlos."
Ranger had never been called anything other than his street name in years. And never by a woman he was currently having sex with. He looked down at his beautiful woman and had never felt more complete. He needed to hear it again. "Say it again, Babe."
Stephanie smiled coyly up at him. "Which part? The 'I love you' or the Carlos? Because if it's the latter...then I would rather scream it!" Ranger growled as he attacked her lips with his. His hand massaged her breasts as he began to move inside her. He started slowly, letting the pressure and desire build. His hand not occupied by her perfect breasts moved down to tease her swollen clit. Stephanie tore her mouth away from his and let out a hiss that only encouraged him to continue.
His movements sped up and his hand at her massaged her in time with this thrusts. His ministrations were driving her wild and all she could do was lay there and pant or moan. He occasionally tore a groan or a hiss from her. When she wanted to return the favor, she would scrape her nails down his chest and over his taught nipples. She saw that it drove him crazy so she continued.
After what felt like hours, Ranger tilted her hips so that his cock would brush against the bundle of nerves inside her. "Are you ready to scream my name Baby?" Stephanie couldn't answer so she just nodded frantically. She was lost in the feelings.
The tingling started in her toes and quickly moved up her legs. It curled in her stomach and then traveled up her chest. "Carlos...I'm going to..." She couldn't finish because her orgasm burst through sending her spiraling over the edge. Lights flashed around her as she screamed his name through her release. She barely heard him yell her name, but felt him releasing his seed deep inside her.
He continued to stroke as they both came down from their climax. Ranger collapsed on top of her briefly before rolling onto his back and taking her with him. Stephanie snuggled into his side with her head resting over his heart. The beating she heard was frantic and made her smile. Her's was just as bad at that moment.
~#~ End Smut Warning ~#~
They continued to hold each other in the darkened room. Neither spoke because words were not necessary. When the alarm on Ranger's watch sounded, both gripped the other tighter, not wanting to let go, but they knew that they had to. Ranger kissed her head and turned onto his side to look at her one last time. "Call Tank if you need something. Les, Junior, Hector and Zip are going with me but there are plenty of guys here to help you. Promise me that you'll be safe while I'm gone." Ranger was pleading and for once in his life, he didn't care.
"I promise I'll be safe. I'm going to go first thing in the morning and talk to Tank about training me. Do you think he'll be too busy?" The smile generated from her words could have lit up all of New York.
"He's not too busy. I'll give him a heads up. I'm so proud of you, Babe." It was Stephanie's turn to smile brightly. She never got tired of hearing that phrase. Just knowing that Ranger was proud of her made her day. Hell...it made her year! "I love you, Stephanie Plum."
"I love you too and when you get back, we're going to announce it to the world that we love each other."
Ranger looked intently at her and then bent to whisper in her ear. "I'm announcing it now that I love you."
Stephanie looked at him puzzled. "Why did you whisper it to me like that?"
Without missing a beat, Ranger responded, "Because, Stephanie...you are my world." Stephanie's eyes filled with tears as he kissed her one last time before climbing out of bed.
She watched him redress and gather all of his gear. He looked down at her lying naked in the bed. He memorized how she looked right now because it was going to have to satisfy him until he came back. When the image was seared into his brain, he bent and kissed her again. "Don't go crazy, Babe."
Stephanie smiled and did her normal response. "Don't get shot, Batman." Ranger smiled and walked out her bedroom door. Stephanie waited until she heard the locks on her front door close signaling he was gone to break down. She sent a prayer up to God asking him to return Ranger back to her. Now that she had finally gotten him, she wasn't prepared to let him go.
A/N - Okay...keep those reviews coming! I love and read every single one of them! Let me know what you thought of Ranger finally manning up!
