Babe story. Babe HEA. Very Morelli UNFRIENDLY. Some angst but lots of fluff to counteract it.

Mi amor(my love) Querida (Dear) Mi cariña (My darling/sweetheart) Si (Yes) Dios (God) Amante (Lover)

Language, Sex and Adult themes apply. I own none of the Characters.

11

SPOV

"Two servings of Arroz con Pollo, por favor" Carlos instructed. The waiter nodded and left quickly. Glancing at the table I realized he had deposited two drinks. I attempted to raise an eyebrow at Carlos. (Rice with chicken, please)

"Diego sent them out" He explained with an amused smile. "They're Mojitos" He continued, reaching around me to bring the drinks closer. Holding one up, he held the straw to my lips. "Small sip" He added. I did as he requested. Wow! That's got a kick.

"What's in it?" I asked after my throat stopped burning.

"Rum mostly, white rum" He smiled, clearly entertained before taking a sip out of my drink, ignoring the straw. "And it's much stronger than usual" He commented taking a pull.

"What about the temple?" I wondered as I watched him empty the glass.

"I'm celebrating" He answered pouring half of the second Mojito back into my glass and handing it to me.

"What?" I wondered. I didn't know we were celebrating, I just thought we were on a date...a wonderful, romantic, perfect (minus the confrontations with Tank and Pedro) date.

"You, I'm celebrating you" He replied kissing my lips ardently. I gently traced his lips with my tongue. He tasted yummy, like lime, mint and rum. I think I moaned before I pulled back.

"And why do I only get half a Mojito?" I enquired, taking a sip of my drink.

"Because when you and alcohol get together you tend to fight. And the alcohol always wins Babe" He laughed. I punched him in the arm.

"Not always" I grumbled.

"Name one time Babe" He was still smiling. Damn him.

"You're mean" I complained, making a move to slide off his lap and sit next to him. His arm sneaked around my waist and secured me where I was.

"No. I just prefer you sober when I want to ravish you mi encantadora" He divulged quietly while brushing his nose up and down against my neck and moving a hand down to the bottom of my dress. (My lovely)

"Well may-be I pre-fer you sober t-oo" I stammered, trying to ignore the hand tickling and massaging my upper thigh.

"It takes a lot to get me even tipsy Babe, let alone drunk" He took the drink out of my hand, setting it on the table before trailing kisses from my shoulder across my collar bone and up my neck. I could feel him pressed hard against my throbbing centre. God I ached for this man.

"Carlos" I whispered, my voice thick with want.

"Later, amante. I promise" He whispered back just as two plates of delicious looking food were placed in front of us.

"Enjoy" The waiter smiled, his eyes lingering on me for a second before he met Carlos'. The man practically ran off. I turned to the food, all previous thoughts of desire replaced with new ones.

"Babe I'm hurt. You want food more than you want me." He pouted. God, and I didn't think the man could look sexier.

"I was refused one option so I'm taking the other" I answered, taking a bite of heaven. Mmmmm, so full of flavour.

"Not refused bebés. Only delayed in getting, unless you're up for some acts of indecent public exposure" Was that wistfulness I detected in his tone? (Baby)

"As much as I crave you right now, I want you all to myself Babe; I'm not up to sharing." Damn ESP. I was going to have to get used to it...it would probably only get worse as time went on.

"So am I allowed to eat dinner now?" I enquired playfully. He took my fork and placed a mouthful of food onto it before feeding me.

"Only if I'm allowed dessert later" He placed a kiss below my ear, darting his tongue out to taste my skin. I moaned and he hardened against me.

"Dios Babe. ¿Tiene usted alguna idea de lo que eso hace para mí?" Carlos groaned in my ear. (Do you have any idea what that does to me?)

"I can imagine" I breathed back, wiggling my hips slightly. He groaned again and stilled my hips with his hands.

"Eat your dinner Steph, please" He rested his head on my shoulder and took a deep breath.

"Lo sentimos mi amoroso guapo hombre" I whispered sincerely in apology. (I'm sorry, my loving, handsome man)

"I'm not, mi poco sexo-gatita" He murmured smiling against my neck and giving me a sweet kiss before stealing my fork and taking a bite. (My little sex-kitten)

I was just about to complain about him stealing my food when he held a forkful up for me. We continued eating like that until we had polished off both plates. I finished off what was left of my Mojito with dinner. I leaned back into Carlos' chest.

"Stand up Babe?" He asked in my ear.

I nodded and slowly untangled myself from him. He stood up behind me, wrapping an arm around my waist, anchoring me to him before sauntering off into the crowd. Leading us into the middle of the dance floor, he placed his hands on my hips and began moving me to the beat. I took over once I realised he wanted me to dance. The song had slow grinding beats. I wrapped my arms back around his neck and held myself there. He ran his hands slowly up and down the curves of my body, grinding his hips in time with me.

The song finished and I recognised the familiar beat to the Cha Cha start to play. Spinning around so I faced Carlos, I started the movements. He momentarily looked shocked before falling into step with me, collecting me in his arms. After the Cha Cha, we danced the Rumba, Salsa, Merengue and the Samba. Each time Carlos was surprised that I knew the steps but always took the lead. The club was starting to wind down a bit when a Bachata song came on. Carlos pulled me flush against him; one hand in mine, the other resting firmly on my hip, holding us together intimately.

"You know this one Babe?" He asked speaking into my ear just above the volume of the music. I leaned up, closer to his ear before answering.

"The basics, but not very well, no" I felt him start to move his hips in a particular way and I fell into the rhythm. He inserted his leg between mine, bringing us even closer together. Spinning me around so my back was facing his front, he took both of my hands in his and wrapped them around my body, continuing the hip movements. Turning me back around to face him, he pulled us together again, slipping his leg back between mine but this time wrapping his arms around me. (http://www(DOT)youtube(DOT)com/watch?v=9GKzbyaEPGY)

The dance was extremely sensual. I continued to follow whatever moves he did, getting more and more turned on as the song went on. The dance finally came to an end with Carlos dipping me. Slowly allowing me to stand up, he drew me close to him for a deep passionate kiss. It was laced with lust, love and want. I could feel his desire pressed against my stomach. He led me away from the dance floor, sticking close to me.

"Ready to go Babe?" He whispered in my ear. I nodded and he steered us towards the exit. We passed Juan on the way out who smiled at us knowingly. My back was plastered to Carlos' front, his arms around me as we walked...well we sort of walked.

"Got a small problem Ric?" Juan laughed. I almost rolled my eyes. There was nothing small about his problem.

"I'm keeping this beautiful woman forever. I think I'm going to have a constant problem" Carlos answered with a cheeky smile.

"Have fun" Juan muttered, shaking his head as he held the door open for us. We exited into the cold night air, the noise level dropping to quiet instantly. I shivered and Carlos pulled me even closer to him.

"I plan on keeping you warm all night amante" He promised in my ear, gently pushing me in the direction of his car. Once buckled in I wondered where we were going now. Back to my Apartment...that wouldn't make any sense, why would I have packed a duffle bag, with the majority of my belongings? Haywood? Where else?

"I'm taking you to my home Steph" Carlos spoke softly. I faced him quickly.

"To the Batcave?" I asked, slightly shocked.

"If that is what you wish to call it" I studied him momentarily.

"The Batcave is forever" I stated.

"Are you ready for forever Babe?" He sounded anxious.

"Only if it's with you Carlos. I couldn't ever see myself spending forever with anyone else. It's always been you" I smiled slightly. It was true. Whenever I had pictured my future, the only man who had ever been in it was Carlos. Albeit, he wasn't my lover...but he was there and no other man was...not even Morelli.

"I want forever with you Steph" He smiled while answering.

"I'm glad because you're stuck with me now" I laughed. He reached over and grabbed my hand, resting it in his lap. Periodically he would lift it and kiss my knuckles or palm.

"Where did you learn Latino dancing?" Carlos suddenly asked; we had been silent for ten minutes or so.

"Every little burg girl has to take dance lessons; I simply refused to do ballet or jazz or tap so I ended up in an adult Latino dance course from the age of six to eleven. It was really fun, but there wasn't anyone my age to dance with so I learned all of those dances alone, without a partner. I'm actually surprised I remembered that many of the steps" I shrugged; honestly it was a time in my life I had forgotten about. Other than dance lessons, the days had been filled with tortuous activities such as cooking and cleaning and learning how to iron...in other words being trained to be a burg wife.

"You're a natural" Carlos stated with a small smile.

"And you're a perfect dancer. All a woman needs is a strong leader, and you've got that down pat" It was true. The way that man moved was incredible.

"Maybe I should let you lead sometime" He smiled brightly. I resisted the urge to fan my face. We fell back into another comfortable silence. Well, I'm sure it was comfortable for him anyway, me I like to talk, but I was going to respect his wishes. Besides, I didn't want to interrupt his zone. Wish I had a zone.

"Tank followed you" What?! That was random, especially from Carlos.

"Huh...where, when?" I demanded perplexed.

"That's how he knew" Knew what?! This was getting frustrating.

"What?" I didn't even try to keep the burning curiosity out of my voice.

"That you went back to college. When I returned last night he told me he finally managed to stay on your tail and that he had found out where you had been sneaking off to. I didn't think anything of it at the time. I tend to like to sneak off too. He never mentioned where it was you were going." I sat there open mouthed. How the hell had Tank managed to stay on my trail?! I had been perfecting the ultimate lose a tail route. It had been working for the past ten months. Damn Tank!

"Steph, it took him ten months to finally figure out how to follow you. That is an amazing feat" Carlos smiled. I guess. But now I was going to have to work out a new method to get away from the Merry Men.

"You don't have to sneak away anymore, mi amor. Just tell me you want to get away and we'll disappear for a week or two." He flashed me a 200 watt smile.

"Just like that?" I marvelled. He brought my hand to his lips.

"For you, anything" I desperately wanted to kiss him...but crashing didn't seem like a pleasant option. Silence overtook us once again. I was deep in my thoughts about Tank, when it suddenly dawned on me.

"Oh My God!" I cried, turning around in my seat to search for my phone in my duffle.

"Steph, Babe?" Carlos sounded alarmed. Good, he should be.

"Looking for my phone" I replied, digging around. I could feel it!

"We're offline" I made an affirmative sound but muttered under my breath...

"The burg doesn't go offline" Finally grabbing it I sat back down in my seat. Carlos kept shooting me glances. I turned on my phone and waited.

"You have forty-eight new voice messages" The automated voice declared. I almost cried. Instead I turned my phone off and sunk into the seat, banging my head on the headrest. It had gotten into the grapevine.

"Babe?" Carlos was keeping one eye on me and the other on the road. We were on a deserted empty one by now, so I wasn't too worried about him crashing.

"Tank told" I mumbled.

"Told what?" We had just pulled up to a very tall, black wrought iron fence.

"He told everyone" I complained softly, staring out the window into the dark. Carlos turned off the car and leaned over, caressing my cheek.

"Steph, what did he tell everyone?" Carlos whispered.

"That I went to college" He blinked at me.

"I know you wanted to keep it private, but I don't exactly see why it's a bad thing that everyone found out that you're a brilliant, intelligent woman" I scoffed at him for the last remark but shook my head sadly.

"Never mind. You'll understand sooner or later." I sighed. Actually, probably he'd never understand. Everyone always respected his privacy. No-one ever dared gossip about Ranger Manoso.

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