Ranger's POV:
"So, boss, if you don't care so much for my plan then what have you got up your sleeve for catching this bastard?" Santos said, breaking me from my musings of Stephanie.
"Santos, we will come up with something different and we will not leave this room until we do." I said with a stern tone. Don't fuck with me, cuz, I am not backing down from my decision of keeping my babe away from this apprehension and out of danger.
"Babe," I said quietly and turning in her direction so to address her personally, "This may take a while. If you would like to go up to my apartment and wait for me I can call Ella, my housekeeper, to escort you up there."
She looked at me with a threatening blank face; I wonder who taught her that lethal look, and said, "No, Ranger, I think I am just fine here." Crossing her arms in front of her chest she continued, "I would like to hear what else you come up with seems you are so quick to dismiss my involvement." The last parts of her rant escalating to a higher pitched volume. Oh no, she's angry.
"Babe, can you join me outside for a minute, please?" I say calmly and smoothly.
I can tell she wants to say something and as she opens her mouth she looks out over the table at the guys who are pinning us with interested looks. She closes her mouth, breathes deeply and says, "Ok, Ranger, let's step out."
Stephanie and I exit the conference room and instead of discussing the matter at hand in the hall I decide that a more private location would be best. I grab her hand and lead her down the hall to my office. Once inside the door I close it and turn in her direction. I can't help but grin at the sight of the marvelous women standing tall before me. She has both hands on her hips and a shoulder width stance; her blank face is once again in place and I don't think she appreciates my grin.
"Ranger, may I ask why you are smiling at me? I am obviously not in a good mood." She says.
"Babe, I can't help it. You look so adorable right now. Believe me; I can't explain my smile to you. I am not sure what to make of it myself. I don't smile, but you, you have managed to bring out expressions in me today that I haven't revealed in years; it's invigorating, really." I explain and as I do I wonder where the hell that came from.
Obviously, Babe feels the same way about my statement because she drops her hands from her hips, scrunches her brow, cocks her head to the side and says, "Ranger, that is the most I think I have heard you say in once sentence. You haven't really stricken me as being too loquacious, so I really wasn't expecting that." She says and I, for the second time today, throw my head back and laugh. I guarantee no one has ever used the word 'loquacious' and me in the same sentence before.
When I gained my composure from my laughing outburst I noticed that Stephanie was smiling ear to ear and her body had relaxed from that tensed up aggressive posture it had been set in when we entered the room. I figure this to be the best time to address the "distraction" and my reservations of her involvement.
"Babe" I said moving into her personal space and brushing a way ward strand of hair from her cheek and tucking it behind her ear. Hearing her breath catch when my forefinger grazed her cheek caused my cargos to tighten a bit and me to shift my weight to the other foot. Yep, she is definitely as affected by our sexual tension as I am. But, I need to focus and we need to have a discussion.
I broke our eye contact, reached down for her hand and began leading her to the black leather sofa that sits up against the far wall of my office.
"Babe, please sit." I ask and she obliges.
"Babe, it's not that I don't trust your professionalism or your ability to distract the perp, believe me you could distract a Monk from his practices of celibacy and silence." She giggled and I once again had to adjust my legs. Dios, that giggle is so angelic.
"My issue with you joining our apprehension team tonight is plain and simple; I don't want to put you in any kind of danger. I could not live with myself if anything happened to you. This is an extremely dangerous apprehension and I just can't involve you. I hope you understand."
"No, Ranger, I don't understand. You haven't even given me a chance to prove to you that I am perfectly capable of doing this job and that I am also more than capable of taking care of myself. You are just assuming that I am like any other female and what you don't know is that I am not like any other females at all. In fact, I am pretty sure you have no idea what I am actually capable of. What do I have to do to convince you that I not only have the ability to distract this low life, but I could in fact take him down on my own, without a team assistance? Believe me, Ranger; you have no clue who I am."
I am dumb founded. What does she mean I have no clue who she is and what she is capable of? Well, she is actually right I don't know who she is, but her capabilities? I am pretty sure, though she is in fact fit and I love that about her, I am pretty sure her capabilities are limited and not up to par with my men's but how do I tell her this without offending her. Who is this woman and why does she want to do this job so bad?
"Babe, I am sure that you are perfectly capable of many things, but again this man is very dangerous, this business is very dangerous, and I do not want to put you in any situation where I could risk your safety…or worse. I don't even know why Santos spoke of a distraction technique in the first place; we rarely use distractions with FTA's of this magnitude. It's just too risky."
"Ranger" she says a little too loud for my liking, "Again, what do I have to do to prove myself to you?"
"Babe, why do you want to do this so bad?" I say with a little annoyance lingering in my tone.
She sighs and her body again relaxes. She looks into my eyes and is silent for a few seconds before saying, "Ranger, you have helped and supported me so much in just a few hours today, even though you know nothing about me. You did me a favor this morning by escorting me into the TPD, you intercepted that scum of the Earth, Morelli, when he was getting to be too inappropriate with me, and you waited for me to ensure that I not only escaped the police department without another run in with Morelli, but offered to get me home safely, with a little fieldtrip to Rangeman." She said that last part with a smile.
I went to speak, but she held up her hand in a halting manner.
"Just listen to what I have to say, please." I nodded and she continued, "Ranger, you have done more for me this morning than any man in my life before you have. Well, aside from my father and my brother." Hmm, a little insight into her life, we are getting somewhere. "Look, I know for a fact that I could take care of that piece of shit, Martinez, and I could do it with one hand tied behind my back, enjoying every second of it. But, the reason why I want to do this is to somewhat repay you for being so kind to me today."
She looked down to her fussing hands in her lap and for the second time today, the first being in the police station after Morelli walked off, she looked unsure of herself. And again, for the second time today, I placed my finger under her chin and raised it so that her divine blue eyes met mine and said, "Babe, there is no price for anything that I have done for you today. There is no need to feel that you need to repay me…for anything."
My Babe and I held each others gazes for a few more seconds before she once again spoke, "Batman."
Confusion washed over me and I for sure thought that I misunderstood her.
"What's that, Babe?"
"You are like a real life super hero…you are my Batman."
At her declaration of me my heart once again swelled and the urge to feel her lips to mine, her body to mine took over. I brushed my right hand along the side of her face and wrapped it behind her neck as I placed my left hand at the small of her back and pulled her to me. Our bodies touched in certain places and that familiar spark flew through me. Our faces only inches apart and our breathing labored from the intense moment of longing. I searched her eyes with mine and noticed that they had darkened with desire and need, I assume mine have done the same. I lost all sense of everything around me and the interest in the conversation we were having, all I saw was her alluring eyes and tantalizing mouth and I knew I had to have her.
My mouth came over hers in a searing and heated kiss. Within seconds she moaned and I took her slightly parted lips as an invitation for my tongue to slip in. At the meeting of our tongues Stephanie reached both arms up and wrapped them around my neck and I leaned further into her, bending her so that her back was lying flat on the sofa and my chest was pressed tightly to hers as I lay over top of her.
My right hand still placed at the base of her neck and my left now wrapped fully around her back, holding her tight. Our tongues continued to caress each others, relenting to the desire and passion that haunted us all morning. My body burned for her, and I knew that I would never get enough of this amazing woman, this woman who is but a stranger to me.
I felt her arms tighten around my neck, pulling me tighter to her. The kiss intensified to a magnitude that left me almost uncontrolled and all I could think of is how I have never felt a kiss so intense, so deep, so passionate. I want more, need more of her. I broke from our kiss and my babe let out a slight whimper in protest, but immediately followed it with a deep moan when I moved my mouth behind her ear and down her neck. Dios, her moaning had my cock throbbing in my cargos and the taste of her body had my testosterone stirring crazily through me.
With another moan she tilted her head back, further exposing her neck to me and I continued surveying it with my lips and tongue, sucking, kissing and grazing. When my face was positioned over her chest I looked up to meet her eyes and saw the same feeling I owned ; longing, lust, passion, excitement, oh there is so many emotions going on in that beautiful head, but none that gave me any clue that she wants me to stop.
"Ranger" She said breathless and placed her hands on either side of my head as almost a plea to continue.
"Babe" I replied and bent down to kiss the middle of her chest.
"Mmmm" She moaned to my touch and I continued to the circular mound that peaked from her work out tank, licking and kissing it.
"Your taste, Babe, you're so sweet."
I moved to explore the other mound and a loud knock came to my door and I halted dead in my tracks and looked up into the wide blue eyes of my babe. I think we both forgot where we are and what we were supposed to be doing.