Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers. Any other character is a figment of my imagination and any similarities to real persons is merely a coincidence
This story is definitely AU. The characters have the same physical appearance as in J.E.'s books; however I have changed ages of some characters. This is a Babe HEA and Cupcake fans may not be happy as Joe is now dead and so are Frank and Helen Plum. They were killed off in the original story. References may be made to any of the books in the series so if you haven't read them all, you may want to wait to read this. That said...
Chapter 8: A First Anniversary
Stephanie's POV:
I felt a little guilty, but I thoroughly enjoyed my morning alone. I soaked in the tub for over an hour. Then I stepped in the shower so I could shampoo my hair. Once I had dried off, I dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a sky blue sweater. I added gel to my hair and brushed it back into a ponytail. I got out my overnight bag and carefully packed clothes for tomorrow, the bra and panty set I'd received for Christmas as well as the sheer nightgown, toiletries, and everything I would need for tonight. I took out the dress and slipped it into the garment bag along with Ranger's tux. I added what I thought Ranger would need for tonight and tomorrow and found I still had time before Ranger and Rafael came back up for lunch.
When Ella came up so we could head out, I went in and gave Rafael a kiss. I felt the tears burn as I told him we'd be back the next day. I was going to miss him, even though we would only be gone overnight. I hugged Ella and told her to call us if she needed us for anything. Finally, Ranger picked up our bags and we rode down to the garage. Ranger put our bags in the trunk of the Turbo and then made sure I was seated. It didn't take long to get to Atlantic City. Ranger pulled into the Trump hotel and we went to check in.
When we were shown to our room my eyes lit up when we entered the Honeymoon Suite. Ranger tipped the bellboy and when he left, Ranger pulled me into his arms and covered my mouth with his. It was several minutes before we came up for air. We agreed to unpack and take a walk along the Boardwalk before getting ready for our night out. Once everything was set out, Ranger took my hand in his and we headed for The Boardwalk.
We stopped in several of the shops and I bought a few things. We did a rolling chair ride as well as the other rides. Ranger even bought me a cone of cotton candy. That's right, the man who when I first met him had banned sugar from his building, calling it contraband, had bought me spun sugar. I enjoyed every bite, and even managed to tease him into taking a bite. We finally returned to our room to get ready for the night ahead.
I decided to take another shower and once I dried, I left the towel around myself while I took care of my hair. I added some more styling gel and managed to get my hair up in a loose topknot. Then I added a set of sheer stockings, a barely there little black dress that screamed sex, and a 4" black pair of FMP's. I added a few pieces of jewelry and then added a light dusting of makeup. When I was ready I went out into the sitting room to find Ranger already there in his tux. He turned and our gazes met, his eyes going dark with desire. I felt the heat wash over me as he took me into his arms and claimed my mouth. When we came up for air I asked if he'd rather stay in. He took a deep breath to get his desire under control and said he wanted to give me more. I grabbed my bag and we headed out.
We started the night with a cruise on the water. Ranger had chartered a private sailboat and the two of us sat on deck while the owner who had agreed to pilot for us cruised the waters. We docked at 8:30 p.m., and thanked the owner for the wonderful cruise. Ranger wrapped his arm around my waist and we walked The Boardwalk back to our hotel where we would be dining and joining the New Year's Eve Party. We arrived just before 9 and as we entered we ran into the owner of the hotel. Ranger introduced us and the gentleman asked us to join him. Ranger smiled and thanked him, but told him we were celebrating our first anniversary. The gentleman congratulated us and wished us a wonderful evening and we thanked him.
Once we were seated a waiter came over and handed us menus. He asked what we wanted to drink. Ranger looked to me and raised an eyebrow. He asked me what I'd like to try and I told him I'd trust his choice. After all, the only thing I'd ever tried was the champagne Ranger had ordered at my birthday party. Ranger gave our drink order and the waiter moved off. We poured over the menu and by the time the waiter returned I had decided what I would order. I chose a steak and shrimp dish and Ranger chose a chicken and rice dish. The waiter took the menus and left us. I took a sip of the wine in my glass and moaned with pleasure. It was delicious.
Ranger took my hand in his and lifted it to his mouth. He kissed first the back of my hand and then turned it over and kissed the palm. There was music playing and several people were already on the dance floor. Ranger asked me if he could have this dance. I smiled and nodded. We made our way to the dance floor and he pulled me into his arms. I looked up and met his gaze and knew he was remembering too. This was the first song we'd danced to as man and wife. Always And Forever by Luther Vandross. I laid my head against Ranger and closed my eyes. We swayed gently to the music. When the song ended, Ranger leaned down and kissed me gently on the mouth. I returned the kiss and it was several moments before we came up for air.
By the time we made our way back to our table, our food was making an appearance. Ranger seated me before taking his own seat. We ate while we made small talk. When the waiter came back to bring a tray of dessert samplers, my eyes lit up and I moaned. There were a total of 7 different desserts, and each sampler was enough for two people to each have a bite. I was surprised when Ranger used his spoon to scoop up his half of the first dessert. I put my bite in my mouth and moaned in pleasure at the tastes bursting in my mouth. I went to the next dessert, but before I could scoop up a bite, Ranger held his spoon with the other half of the first dessert to my mouth. I raised an eyebrow and he smiled. "You know I'm not a dessert kinda guy Babe. You're all the dessert I'll need and I want to make sure you have lots of energy."
I smiled and allowed him to feed me the bite. I closed my eyes and moaned. By the time I had finished the last bite of our desserts, I was feeling extremely energized. I took a sip of wine and Ranger and I hit the dance floor again. We danced and danced and danced. When it was five minutes till midnight, the music stopped and the countdown began. The DJ had a mix done of the top 20 songs for the year and for the next four and a half minutes he played it. By then everyone had a glass of champagne and then the real countdown began. Ranger had his arm wrapped around my waist and I was pulled close to his side. We held our glasses ready to make the toast at midnight. I looked up at Ranger, my eyes lit with excitement. As the DJ said Happy New Year, Ranger and I each took a drink of champagne and then shared a very intimate kiss. When the kiss ended, we headed upstairs to our room.
Once inside our room, Ranger set our glasses down and lifted me into his arms. He carried me through to the bedroom and slowly removed all my clothing as I re-paid the favor by removing his clothing. When we were both naked, Ranger lifted me and laid me on the bed before following me down. His mouth covered mine and our tongues dueled. My hands roamed his body as his hands roamed mine. He found a breast with one hand and kneaded my nipple between his thumb and forefinger. I arched upwards and moaned at the pleasure he was bringing to my body. My hand found his maleness and I caressed him. We moved around to have better access and soon his mouth was kissing a trail of fire down to my core. As he parted me and covered my core with his mouth, I took his member in my mouth and sucked as I licked. I cried out in pleasure as his mouth brought me to climax. Within seconds he had moved around and was entering me. He thrust fully inside of me and started slowly moving in and out, slowly increasing the speed until we were on a runaway train with only one goal in sight. When I climaxed for the second time, he went over the edge with me. It took a few minutes to come back down and then Ranger was lifting me and carrying me into the bathroom. We showered, which led to Ranger lifting me and using the wall to help us balance as he thrust in and out of me. When we'd both finally gone over the edge, he set me down so we could clean ourselves up.
Once I had dried myself off, I slipped into the bra and pantie set I'd gotten for Christmas as well as the sheer nightgown. I had brushed my hair and left it down. When I went into the bedroom, Ranger took one look and his eyes heated with desire. He gave me a gentle kiss and we headed to bed. This time when we slipped under the covers, he kissed the top of my head and told me to sleep, we had plenty of time. He wrapped his arms around me and I was asleep in seconds.
Ranger's POV:
I held Babe in my arms watching her sleep. Last night had been all I had hoped it would be. We'd walked The Boardwalk and done some shopping, then we'd done the sailboat cruise, and finally dinner and dancing. When I got my first glimpse of Babe in her dress, it was all I could do to stay with the plan. I wanted this to be a memorable anniversary for her. When we finally made it back to the room, I loved her over and over. Once we'd showered, I convinced her to sleep for a while. I smiled, remembering when she woke me up in the early hours of the morning. We'd had several more loving sessions where we both ended up extremely happy. I lifted my hand to her face and gently caressed her face. I loved her more with each passing day. It was hard to believe she'd only been in my life for less than 15 months. I couldn't picture my life without her in it. Before I'd met her I had no plans to marry. I figured I'd continue to do missions for years to come and live my life on my own. I'm sure there would have been women; after all I am a man. But once she entered my life, there was no other woman out there for me. My life plan suddenly did a 180 and here I was, the happiest man in the world. The love she and Rafael brought to my life was like a ray of sunshine in an otherwise dark world. My world was no longer dark. Now it was filled with light and love with shadows appearing only occasionally.
I kissed Babe on the top of the head and whispered, "I love you Babe."
She turned to me and smiled, "I love you too Ranger."
I leaned down and kissed her, and that led to us making each other very, very happy.
