Disclaimer: Not mine, JE owns everything

Minor Spoiler: I have taken some liberties with a plot line from Hot Six

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Chapter 4

Married, and Not Loving It

The day after my wedding was not starting out well. It was still dark in the apartment when I opened an eye gingerly. When it didn't fall out of my head, I opened the other. I could see a dim light coming from the kitchen and that's when I realized that I had spent my wedding night on the sofa. I was covered by a soft afghan. I lifted it to see that except for my boots I was still clothed. My head was filled with a hundred drums all pounding to a different beat. I had a vague memory of emptying a champagne bottle. I made my way from the sofa to the door of the bedroom. The bed was empty, but had obviously been slept in, and it beckoned to me, but I bypassed the bed and went to the bathroom to take care of business. As I finished I caught a glance of myself in the mirror. Yesterday's mascara was ringed under my eyes. My ponytail had fallen and my hair was frizzed out in all directions. I looked like a bride, alright. Unfortunately I looked like the bride of Frankenstein. I desperately needed my hangover cure but there was no way I could be seen by anyone, let alone my new husband, like this.

I peeled my clothes off letting them lay where they hit the floor, and stepped into the shower. The water was warm and soothing, and the scent of the Bulgari shower gel seemed to calm my aching head. I stood under the spray until my fingers and toes were wrinkled and still I couldn't make myself step out of the wonderful shower. When I got tired of standing I let my back slide down the marble wall and sat in a crumpled heap letting the water course around me. I tried to remember the events of the night before.

Ranger and I had eaten Ella's sumptuous feast in an uncompanionable silence. I remember having at least three glasses of the delicious champagne. Apparently that was about two glasses too many. I must have fallen asleep and Ranger just let me lie on his sofa. Well that was the only night I would be sleeping on his sofa. I would be availing myself of the comfort of his thousand thread count sheets from that point on. If his promise to Father Rodriguez made him uncomfortable sleeping in the bed with me then Mr. Carlos Manoso could spend his nights under the afghan on the sofa!

My thoughts were jumbled by the sudden cessation of warm water. I looked up to see Ranger's hand twisting the faucet off. He reached his hand down to me. I placed my hand in his and let him draw me up from the floor. He held out a plush white terry robe and covered my shoulders slowly wrapping it across my breasts, wiping away drops of water as he did so. His eyes traveled up and met mine. His pupils were dilated and the desire I saw there made me shiver in anticipation. He took a towel and gently squeezed the water from my hair, running his fingers softly through the tangles separating them and calming the wild mess. I stood there and luxuriated in his every touch. He, he, he, I mentally chuckled as I waited for him to pull me against him, round two definitely goes to Stephanie.

He didn't pull me against him. He led me by the hand back into the bedroom. Gently he settled me in his bed, my back resting against the headboard. He leaned across me, his arm brushing against my breasts. I shivered again, my nipples contracting. He picked up a brown sack from the nightstand. He removed an order of McDonald's French fries and sat them in my lap. He reached across me again and this time handed me a coke. He turned and walked out of the room and left me holding my hangover cure. My head was still throbbing, but I could feel the blood pounding in other areas of my body too. Now I thought maybe round two had not been so much a victory as a draw. I ate the fries, drank the coke and slid under Ranger's down comforter. I sighed in bliss as my headache eased and my legs were caressed by the decadent softness of Ranger scented Egyptian cotton sheets. It was a very pleasurable feeling drifting off to sleep in that soft cloud and I enjoyed it knowing that this was as close to an orgasm as I was going to get today.

I woke up to Ranger's hand on my shoulder gently shaking me. "Babe, time to get up. Ella's brought lunch." I groaned and rolled over. The comfortable cocoon I was wrapped in disappeared as the covers flew off the bed leaving me a bedraggled heap of wild hair and white terry cloth robe. "Go away," I muttered. "I'm not a morning person."

"That won't work, babe. It's afternoon. Come on and get up. We'll eat lunch and discuss a plan of action for fixing this situation."

"Situation?" I asked. "When did this become a situation? I thought there was a plan. I thought you had everything under control. Now I find myself fake married to you, a prisoner of your apartment and in the middle of a situation."

"Come on Steph." He pulled me from the bed. "You need food. You are not a prisoner here and we are not fake married. You are in a situation not of my making, and I do have a plan. We know the identity of the people who wanted you dead. The easiest way to solve the immediate problem was to marry you. We will work together and find out why they wanted you dead and fix that problem. Then we can dissolve this marriage and return to our normal lives."

That was the problem, I thought. Before Ranger came back and dropped the bombshell that someone was trying to kill me I had been dissatisfied with my life. I had been trying to decide what to do about the lack of a man in my life. Well, the lack of man was no longer a problem. The lack of sex was another issue altogether. If Ranger remained firm in his resolve to stay away from me I was going to have to increase my sugar intake. I pulled the robe close around me and went to see what wonder Ella had prepared for us. I hoped there was dessert.

We peacefully co-existed the rest of the day. Ranger spent a lot of time at his computer doing Rangeman work. I watched movies on his gianormus plasma TV. And I found a pint of Ben and Jerry's in the freezer. Ella was good. I'm sure the rest of the building was filled with Merry Men who had a whole other idea of what was going on in Ranger's apartment. I spent some time thinking about my bitchiness. I knew that our marriage was only a front. Why then was I so upset when Ranger reinforced what I knew to be true by not touching me? Was I that pitiful female who couldn't survive without a man? I should be thankful that Ranger was being strong, because married or not it would still be casual sex with Ranger. I knew that he could hurt me in ways I'd never been hurt before without even trying.

As the day came to a close I got ready for bed and slid between the sheets of Ranger's bed. He came in the room and stared, raising an eyebrow. "What?" I said. I'm not going to sleep on the sofa. This is a big bed. You stay on your side and I'll stay on mine. I have to get a good night's sleep tonight. I need to pick up a skip for Vinnie tomorrow. I mean, the honeymoon's over. Right?"

"Babe I have no problem sharing my bed with you, but you need to keep your boundaries. You tend to migrate during the night. No pretend sleep fondling please." I threw a pillow at him and without warning got the full Ranger laugh. It doesn't happen very often and I enjoyed it. I smiled at him and he came over and kissed the top of my head, tucking the covers in around me. "Sweet dreams, Babe."

I did have sweet dreams. I awoke early to find myself alone in bed. I heard the shower running and I knew Ranger had slept beside me. I had a vague memory of a wonderful dream. There had been soft fingertip caresses of my breasts, lips kissing a path from my neck over my shoulder and lower. I remember a soft blanket of warmth enveloping me, a slow building of tension in my belly and a wonderful gentle feeling of release. It was the best dream sex I'd ever had. The sound of the shower turning off brought my thoughts back to the present. I stretched and rolled over in bed and realized that I was smack in the middle with sheets tangled around me. At least I had migrated only half way to Ranger's side.

Ranger walked into the bedroom, mostly naked, but with the important stuff covered by a white towel knotted low on his hips. I stared. His body was perfect. He was all smooth mocha latte skin with muscles that rippled as he moved. He looked my way and saw me staring.

"Morning, Babe." I didn't respond. I was too busy watching a small rivulet of water wind its way down past his pecs over his abs and disappear beneath the towel.

"Cat got your tongue this morning Babe?"

"Listen Ranger," I said, "We need some rules. If you are expecting us to have a celibate lifestyle you can't walk around like I'm not living here."

"If you weren't living here Stephanie, there'd be no towel. You seem a little grumpy this morning. You were restless last night. Didn't you sleep well?"

"I don't even remember you coming to bed," I said truthfully. "I slept like a baby."

Ranger came over to the bed a patted my tangled mass of curls. He put his fingers under my chin lifted my face, our gazes meeting. "I'm not sure how a baby sleeps, but the sounds you were making last night sounded all grown up to me." He turned and walked into the dressing room. Oh my gosh! Even in sleep I thought out loud.

Then I had an astounding thought. What if it wasn't a dream. What if Ranger had launched an undercover surprise attack. Nah, not possible, he didn't have a clue that I was waging a private war with him. Right?

Ranger and I shared a breakfast of fruit, yogurt and bagels and we were ready to leave the apartment at the same time. It suddenly dawned on me that I had no car. My current POS , a silver Buick Century, was parked at my apartment. Ranger with his ESP said, "What's mine is now yours. Take a car from the garage. I'll have one of my men on standby today if you need help with your skip."

"Thanks." I smiled my appreciation. I walked to the sideboard and picked up the keys to his Porsche from the silver tray. I hitched my purse strap over my shoulder and headed for the door. Ranger's long sinewy fingers covered my hand and stripped the keys from my fist.

"Babe."

I sighed and went to the garage where I hauled my ass into a black Ford Explorer and went to face the day.