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Chapter 2

He hadn't moved but I knew he'd been aware of my sneaking into his bedroom. Mostly because I'm like Lucy from I Love Lucy fame and he's stealthier than 007.

"Ranger?" I whispered, standing by his bed.

"If you're going to come into my bedroom at 0500 hours, take off all your clothes and get into bed," came a thrillingly morning gruff voice. "I'm not in the mood to compromise."

Holy shit. I gulped, then reminded myself that I can be brave. Proving it, I flipped on his bedside light.

Ranger sat up, looking sexier than sin on a stick. His hair, dark and silky straight, fell over his forehead. He had a five o'clock shadow. He looked wide-awake and surprisingly wary. The sheet fell to his waist, revealing his torso, which was etched in hard sinew and made to elevate a woman's heart rate. I was pretty sure he was completely naked. "Um." It was a struggle to remember what I'd wanted. "I came to take you running."

His gaze took itself on a slow tour of my body, cataloging my teeny tiny shorts (commando) and my jog bra. His eyes heated and dilated to solid black, and some of my bravado failed, even as my hormones kicked hard.

"You want to run," he said, his voice laced with amusement.

"Uh huh." I held up a bag. "But I brought donuts in case."

"In case what?"

"Well, you did turn 31 last week. You're getting up there." Oh, God, was I really baiting Batman? "Maybe you don't have the same energy you did when you were thirty."

His gaze had been traveling the length of my nearly bared body and leaving a trail of goose bumps in its midst, but at my latest pronouncement, those hot eyes suddenly locked on mine.

"Getting up there?" he repeated in disbelief.

"Well, maybe 'up' is the wrong word. I know that lots of men your age having a problem with ... You know ... Getting up." Go for it, Steph. Stay on track with the plan. Taking a deep breath for courage, I climbed on his bed, crawled toward him and straddled him. "Oh," I breathed, wriggling on him, eliciting a soft groan from deep in his chest. He wasn't having a problem with 'up' at all...

His hands grasped my hips and he hissed, "Sit still."

And I did. Eventually. The saddle was lumpy and I was having a hard time finding just the right spot.

Huh. His eyes were shut tight and he looked like he was biting the inside of his cheek.

"What's the matter, Batman?" I asked as I took a messy bite out of a Boston crème. Oops. Some dribbled down my chin … and onto his chest. Better clean that up.

Ranger slapped his hands down to his sides and bunched up the sheets in his fists. This is fun. No wonder he loved to torment me. Maybe I'm sexually sick too!

"Mmmmm." I sat back up and smacked my lips. Looking down, I saw that there was some creamy filling on my breast. I made a little surprised 'O' with my mouth and scooped it up … well, I started to scoop it up. But I accidentally brushed my nipple. And that felt nice. So I just kept circling, and circling and-

"Babe."

"Huh?"

"What the hell are you doing?"

I placed my half-eaten Boston crème on his chest and stretched my jog bra out and down, you know, so I could get a better look at it. "I was trying to clean up my little mess. And then I touched my nipple." I made a pout. "No one has touched my nipples for a very long time. Except me."

My saddle twitched.

"You know, you could touch them for me. It's been a reeeaally long time since you touched them. Or sucked on them. I remember the nibbles. Those were nice. But I understand you might be…"

His voice was low and deadly. "Might be what?"

I looked up at him through my lashes. "Intimidated. You know, have performance anxiety." I gave him a little crotch to pelvis rub.

Ranger sucked in a breath through his teeth, tantamount to a full-throated groan from any other man.

"It's okay," I whispered, grinding against him again, already breathless. He was deliciously hard, and damn it'd been a long time since I'd felt him like this.

Too long. I rocked again, and again got that sharp hiss of breath from him, plus his hands rose and gripped my hips hard, which was shockingly arousing.

Huh.

I'd only meant to tease him but my toes were curling, and my nipples were throbbing. I was close to orgasm and the only place he was touching me was where his fingers were digging into my hips. "I've got this," I told him. "You just lie there and look pretty."

I was fairly certain that that would do it but the sound that came from him this time was … a short-breathed laugh?

Okay, that was it. The man needed to be as shaken as I was, dammit. So I rocked back onto his thighs and before he could blink, ripped the covers from him.

And then I was the one moaning.

Ranger slept in the buff. Thank God for small favors, right? Well, actually, thank God for large favors, because the favor he'd just granted me – full frontal view of Ranger in all his morning glory, was …

Very large.

"Hmm," I murmured. "I found something better than donuts."

Before I could draw a breath, I was flat on my back, a red-blooded and a fully aroused Cuban Sex God pressing me into the mattress. He slid a hard, powerful thigh between mine and it rubbed against ground zero.

I saw stars.

He rocked once, twice, and I was gasping, on the very edge--

"You're right, we should run," he whispered in my ear, his voice low and rough.

And then he was gone.

I blinked. "Huh? Wha-" I managed to lift my head in time to watch his very fine ass vanish into the bathroom.

Looking down, I realized that when Ranger had, uh, exerted his authority over me, the Boston crème had met its demise. Melted chocolate was smeared across my jog bra and the pastry had been pushed to its limits, the creamy filling squirting across his sheets.

Lucky donut.

Sitting up, I leaned over to grab some tissues off of his nightstand in an attempt to clean up the mess.

I climbed off the bed as I tugged the dirty garment over my head and made my way over to the bathroom, intent on rinsing out my bra before the stain would set.

I tried the knob but the door was locked.

"Ranger."

"Mmmm."

"I need in."

Nothing. Well, nothing for a minute, then I heard him turn on the shower.

I tapped my knuckles on the door and said, "Would you let me in?"

Heavy silence. Not any normal shower sounds, you know, where the body shifts and the water follows suit, changing the way it hits against the tiles. No clunking of shampoo or Bulgari bottles, just the steady fall of water.

"Ranger."

He grunted. But I do have to say; it was a very sexy, very male, tense grunt.

"What are you doing in there?"

Nothing for a moment, then, "I'm busy."

And a little breathless.

"Doing what?"

Nothing. His private shower manners were little better than his phone manners.

I shifted and leaned against the door, closing my eyes, imagining the wicked things he might be doing to himself in the shower.

I cleared my throat and sing-songed, "I could give you a hand."

He groaned then. A minute later, the shower cut off.

The door opened and he strutted by me, only giving a passing glance and a quirked eyebrow at my uncovered breasts. Following him to the closet where he quickly selected some running clothes, my eyes wandered down to take in his glorious but relaxed package.

After stepping into loose basketball shorts and a wife beater, Ranger eyed me as he scraped his damp hair into a leather tie.

"You going to run like that?" he asked.

I looked down at the girls, crossed my arms and met his eyes. "I'm just going to stay in. Did you just … uh, take care of yourself in the shower?"

He gave me a wolf grin. The bastard wasn't the least bit embarrassed.

I stepped over to my small section of his closet and dragged down a Rangeman baby tee, pulling it over my head. In the past, I'd tried not to give much thought to the implications that I actually had possession of a section of his closet. It hurt my head to think on it. On what it said about him. Us. But right now, it did make me think a little. Clearly he didn't invite other women up here. I had clothes in his closet, panties in his drawer, toiletries under his sink…

Focus, Stephanie. "That didn't take long."

He sat on the leather bench in the middle of space, lacing his running shoes. "Stephanie, I've been jerking off since I was thirteen. I have it down to a science."

Good God, the thought of him touching himself, eyes closed, head thrown back nearly had me panting.

Or did he lean forward, head bowed down; one hand braced on the travertine tiles while the other…

I cleared my throat and said, "I've been doing it a while too but there's no way I could-"

"Make yourself come in under two minutes?"

"Uh… yeah."

He pushed himself up from the bench and stood in front of me, pressing me into the doorframe.

Angling his head to nibble at my neck, he whispered, "I could make you come in under a minute—"

"Uhhhhhm…"

"—But I won't."

And with that, he brushed past me and stopped short when he took in the mess all over the sheets. Shaking his head, he picked up the donut and said, "Christ. Ella's going to think she needs a HASMAT suit to clean this up."

"Well it's clearly cream filling and chocolate."

"Clearly," he said, letting me know that it was about as clear as mud.

Swiping the donut from him, I took a bite. Huh. Wasn't quite as fulfilling without the creamy goodness inside. I delicately picked some lint from my teeth and ignored Ranger's incredulous stare.

I swallowed and said, "Maybe she'll just think you're kinky."

He cocked a brow. "If you knew what I was thinking of while I was in the shower-"

"Was it kinky?"

Ranger looked nonplussed. "Some might consider it taboo."

"Would I?"

He closed his eyes a moment, looking for some inner patience, strength, or maybe a reason not to throttle me.

"Stephanie, what has gotten into you?"

"Lately? No one. But you could help me if you'd just-"

"Stephanie."

"What? This doesn't make any sense. I've tried to seduce you twice. Twice! And you've spent the last two years trying everything to get into my pants, Mr. If Your Bed Is Empty Too Long. You're all talk! Watch this!"

I turned around, pulled my Lycra running shorts over my ass and shook my bon-bon. I looked over my shoulder at Ranger and his eyes were glued to my ass but his hands were fisted at his sides. Watching him watching me, I slipped my hand between my legs and moaned as I touched myself.

His nostrils flared and he took a step forward … and pivoted on his heel, stalking from the room as if the hounds of hell were after him.

"Hey!" I half jogged, half stumbled as I tugged my shorts back up.

I found him at the front door, his hand on the knob and his forehead resting against the wood.

None of this was making sense. He wants me. I know he wants me. Now he could have me and…

I reached out a hand to touch his shoulder, thought better of it and pulled it back. I dropped my gaze to the floor and muttered, "It's the aggressive thing isn't it?"

He didn't say anything so I looked up and saw that he'd turned his head to the side, a soft almost-smile threatening his lips.

Voice low, he said, "No, that turns me on."

"Then…?"

He turned around fully and leaned back into the door, his arms crossed over his chest. "It's your motivation that has me stumped."

"Why do I have to have a motivation? Can't a girl just want sex?"

"Steph."

"What?!" Oops. Even to my own ears, I sounded like a shrew.

He pushed off of the door and was standing over me, against me in a few short steps. He hooked a finger around one of my curls and wound it round and round. I wanted to look up at him but I was lost watching the steady thud of his pulse beneath the silky mocha latte skin of his neck.

"Steph," he repeated softly.

"Huh?" I looked up at him just as he was lowering his face towards mine. I felt my eyes drift closed and then his lips skimmed mine once, twice, and then they were gone. He gave one sharp tug on my hair which brought my eyes open.

"You clearly have a goal. Or you think you do."

"I …" Hell, yes I had a goal. A getting naked goal, thank you very much.

But he stepped back again and put his hand on the knob of the door. "Babe, have you thought this through?"

"Thought what through?"

He went still for a beat, let out a barely there breath, then opened the door and stepped into the hall. Before he closed the door completely behind him I heard him say, "Exactly."