Previously:
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.
Stephanie's POV:
Oh my god! I totally lost myself in the intensity and heat of the moment Ranger and I were having and completely dismissed my surroundings. I am currently laid out on the leather sofa of Ranger's office; he on top of me, eyes penetrating mine and one of his employees is banging on his office door. Oh I sure hope that it's locked or they at least respect his privacy enough not to invade it, because Ranger seems to be frozen and is not moving from his perch over my body, not that I really want him to. Damn interruptions!
Suddenly I'm stricken with a thought. "Oh god, please don't let it be Les at the other side of that door." I can see him busting in and not caring about the repercussions. He certainly didn't care about over stepping his boundaries with Ranger in the conference room.
"Ranger," I squeak out and with a slight shake of his head and a flutter of his eyes he responds. His eyes darken but not in an intimate way, this time he's pissed and I now almost feel bad for whomever it is at on the other side...almost. His blank face slams down and he braces his self on his hands and pushes his body off of mine.
"I'm sorry, Babe." He says as he leans up to kiss my forehead before standing and heading for the door. My mind suddenly wraps around his apology. Sorry; I hope he's sorry for the interruption and not the amazingly intimate moment we were having. Now shaking my head from the thought, I right myself, smooth out my clothes and fix my hair. He considerately glances in my direction as to make sure that I am put together to my liking. I nod my head and he pulls open the door with enough force to send a wave of air in my direction.
"What?" He grits out through clenched teeth.
Oh look, it is Santos and he is wearing a huge grin. Man, he really likes to push Ranger's buttons…maybe I can help with that. My musings of assisting Ranger with putting Les in check cause me to miss the entire conversation between the two of them, but leaves me with a huge grin of my own plastered across my face.
I turn my head slowly and notice that Ranger is leaning against his now closed office door, arms crossed with a 100 watt smile and a curious look in his eyes.
"What's the source of that beautiful grin, Babe?" He says while pushing off from his resting place.
Oh, Ranger I think you are going to like this one…I hope.
"Well, Ranger, funny you should ask. You see, though the reason for being sidetracked from our earlier discussion was a good one…damn good one." Ranger's smile upped a good hundred notches. "We have yet to come to an agreement in the matter at hand. You need a decent, no more than decent, game plan for your apprehension tonight and I want to be apart of that plan."
"Babe, I already expressed to you my reservations for your assistance with this apprehension…it's too dangerous, Babe, I couldn't bare anything to happen to you." He said as his two hundred watt smile is replaced with his customary blank face.
"Ranger, I understand your uncertainties but you are making decisions before knowing all the facts. That in itself is a dangerous move and not the righteous kind of danger that I know you are accustomed to. I know this because I am accustomed to it as well." This gets me an eyebrow lift and an expression of curiosity becomes etched across his face.
"Babe?"
"Ranger, I am probably saying too much when I say that I am not the average woman, I have not lived the average life by any means."
Reaching his left hand up and cupping my cheek he says, "Babe, nothing about you is average, not even in the slightest" My insides melt at his endearment. I sigh contently but immediately re-square myself; this is no time for a repeat of earlier…no matter how much I want it…not table that thought, Plum.
"Ranger, look I understand that I need to prove my skills to you. I can more than take care of myself and I think I have an idea that will not only prove this to you, but will help you out with a little nuisance that has been pulling at your nerves today."
"Ok, Babe, correct me if I am wrong, but is this nuisance a 6'3" Cuban man with short-spiked brown hair and goes by the name of Lester Santos? Because, if so I'm listening." Ranger says and the beautiful grin returns.
I grin and nod my head.
"I want to teach him a lesson. I want to challenge him…I want to spar with him."
Ut-oh, that beautiful grin falters and is replaced with that damn blank face again. I dismiss it and continue with my idea.
"Ranger, I want to spar with Les. In doing so I will prove to you that my hand to hand combat skills are impeccable and that I am more than qualified for this job. In fact, I can say with confidence that I am highly qualified for probably any of your Rangeman dealings." I say matter of fact. Ranger lifts a dark eyebrow at my statement, but still gazes with interest. I think I have him; he may not like it but I am going to win this round. I know it.
"You want to spar with Les, Babe?" He says flatly
"Yes, Ranger, I would love to teach him a lesson for his constant irritations today. I know you are not happy with his behavior. My proposal is that I spar with Les, he looks to be in great physical condition and I can't imagine you would employ anyone who is not trained. If I beat him I'm in. I assume the distraction role and we go with Les' plan." I say the last portion of my proposal with a stern tone. He needs to know I mean business.
"Babe, Les is one of my best hand to hand men. In fact, next to me, he is probably my best. I don't think this is a good idea at all. Experience has taught me that you do in fact have one wicked kick and you move with the speed of a cheetah, but my men and I come from a whole different level of training, very, very few men in this world are witness to the extent of training I am referring to and very, very few men obtain the skill sets that my men have obtained. I only employ the best of the best and my men are the best of the best." Ranger gifts me with a look of pity…oh, Ranger, I don't need your pity. I also can't help but notice Ranger refer only to men. Hmmm, didn't pin you as a sexist, Ranger, this gives me even more incentive to kick one of his "men's" ass.
"Ranger, I know you are looking out for my wellbeing and I also know that you barely know anything about me so that is why I am granting you a free pass for your insults on my skill sets. Now, I am aware that you employ the best of the best. I have been itching for a sparing partner for almost a year now and I am feigning for that itch to be scratched, today it will. The only hiccup in this beautiful arrangement between the two of us is my mat is not only far too small for a sparing match, but it is in my bedroom, which is definitely not acceptable. Do you know of a place we can take this to?
Ranger opens his mouth to speak, but quickly closes it. His blank face again set and silence encompassing us. Hmmm, a staring match, I can play this game, I think as my PA self comes over me. Oh, I miss her. This has been a great day and it keeps getting better; this is a day of revelations, of remembering the person of whom until now I realize I miss immensely. I can go without the long, gruesome missions but the feel of excitement and the rush this life that Ranger lives and that I want to be reacquainted with has over me is far to powerful to walk away from, it owns me and with that thought my proficient monster awakens and I am ready to go in for the kill. I will succeed at my self appointed mission to prove to ranger my skill sets and abilities and he will want me as part of his team…for good. I know this, now it's time for him to realize.
Ranger breaks me from my internal pep talk so to speak and I instantly note the achievement of my first mission; staring contest, check.
"Fine, Babe, I will allow this absurd idea of yours but on one condition..." He gives me time to protest but I don't. He's throwing me a bone here; I'm not going to challenge him any more than I already have…not yet anyways. "Babe, if and when I feel the match is getting out of hand I call it, no questions asked. Got it?" I ignore the emphasis he adds to "when" and nod my head tersely.
"Ok, let's get this over with, shall we?" Ranger says and rises from the leather couch.
"Uh, Ranger, you still haven't answered where this spar will take place."
For some reason my statement pulls a slight smile to Ranger's tense filled face.
"Babe, do you remember me telling you that I wanted to show you something after my meeting?"
I nod.
"Well, let's just say I know the perfect place for your ludicrous deal. I can't believe I am agreeing to this." He says shaking his head side to side.
I roll my eyes at the "ludicrous" comment. You will see, Ranger, and then you will apologize…and then we can kiss and make up. The last part of my thought makes me feel warm and brings an oh so delightful feeling in the lower regions of my belly. Mmmmm!
Ranger and I make our way back to the conference room. This time he walks in first. He may be a little exasperated with me but it soon becomes an after thought. No time to dwell on Ranger's possible annoyance with me now; I will address it later if need be but I have quite the feeling that he will not remember it after I kick Les' ass on the mats.
Ranger greets the men at the table who look slight exasperated themselves. Just how long were we gone?
"Men" Ranger says tersely.
"Miss Plum and I have come to an agreement for tonight's job."
Miss Plum? Yup, he's aggravated with me.
"How exactly did you two come up with this agreement?" Says Les with a cheesy grin and pointing two fingers back and forth between Ranger and I. I am going to gain so much enjoyment out of kicking your ass, Mr. Cocky.
Ranger fixes him with a serious "Do not fuck with me look" and Les pales. Wow, so Les does fear Ranger like the others do. Still, I must figure out what the reason is for him to push Ranger the way he does. And, why Ranger gives him so much rope to play with before he tightens in on him with his firm warnings. It's like he has some sort of a tolerance for Les' antics and when Les goes too far he is cut off. Les knows this too. Yep, I definitely have to delve into that relationship.
"As I was saying, Stephanie and I have come to an agreement as to tonight's apprehension and Les' plan of action to take down Martinez."
"Come here, Babe." Ranger says reaching behind him for my hand. I gladly accept it and walk toward him, my eyes locked in on his.
Ranger holds my gaze for a few beets before turning his attention back to the table of delicious Rangeman men.
Still holding my hand he speaks, "Stephanie is very adamant about being apart of tonight's job. I have agreed to allow her the chance at demonstrating her skills in the form of hand to hand combat. If she wins she will assume the distraction role. If she does not, then we will continue on formatting a new plan. Though I am not pleased with the danger tonight's job poses to her, I agreed she should have the opportunity to change my mind."
The guys are all speechless and I am shocked when someone other than Les breaks the silence.
"So, what exactly do you mean hand to hand combat? What will she be doing?" asks Tank.
Apparently, my proposition is humorous to Ranger because his blank face breaks and he lowers his head and brings a hand to his face trying to conceal the silent laughter. Hello, Ranger, you can still see your shoulders shaking. I can't help but sever our entwined hands and cross my arms over my chest in displeasure.
Once he composes himself he addresses Tank's question.
"Well, Steph will be participating in a sparing match to demonstrate her level of sill."
"Ok, who will she be sparing with? We haven't any females on staff aside from Ella and I highly doubt she will be sparing with the Rangeman housekeeper and cook." States Bobby.
I wonder why Les hasn't spoken up yet. With that thought I turn my gaze to Les. He is looking at me quite intently. What is he thinking?
Ranger breaks my stare down with Les by saying, "Well, she will be sparing with one of you. In fact, she will be sparing with the second best." Almost instinctively everyone turns their attention to Les. Hmmm, they all know Les is second best, interesting.
Les is silent following the reveal of Ranger's and my agreement. It seems like minutes go by before he says anything, when in all actuality it was probably only ten to twenty seconds.
Finally Les responds to the announcement and I can't help but inwardly giggle at his silence. It is uncharacteristic of him.
"Beautiful here is going to spare with me?" He says with disbelief
"Yes." Comes Ranger's clipped response and again to my surprise Les just nods his head and removes himself from his chair, moves around the table and stops a short distance in front of me.
Les stands still and again silent for a few seconds. I have been here before; I have personally witnessed this exchange and have also given this. Les is assessing his competition. It is not to be taken as disrespectful but quite the opposite. If he didn't see me as being a threat then there would be no need for this action. I am pleased.
He moves in, closing the distance on the few feet of empty space between us. He wraps his strong arms around my small frame and I swear I hear a low growl from behind me. Les positions himself so that his mouth is right at my ear and whispers, "Beautiful, you don't know what you have gotten yourself into. You are crazy. I'll go easy on you."
Les begins to pull away but is halted by my sudden grasp of his shoulders. I pull him in so that he is the only one who will hear what I have to say. "Les, please treat me as you would any other opponent. I do not need nor do I wish you to down play your skills. Go your hardest; give everything you have because I will be doing the same. I ask this of you as a fellow professional in this style of life."
Les pulls back, again assessing me, our eyes stay locked in on each other and I know exactly what he is searching for. I gave away information of myself that should have been kept undisclosed for many confidential reasons. Once entered into a life such as ours you are always apart of that life. It is a constant and it stays with you in many aspects…forever.
Giving knowledge to others of my profession retired or not, is hazardous, the fewer to know the better, and up until my minimal disclosure to Les, Lole is the only one who knows my deepest secret...who I really am and the things I have done and am capable of doing.
Les knows exactly what I mean by "style of life," it's etched all over his stunned and quizzical face. I am surprised I am not concerned about my forthcomings to Les. Providing him with this knowledge is to assure that he will not hold back, I can't have him give less than one hundred percent. Still, the anxiety I thought I would feel after unveiling this most important attribute of my life is not present. I trust this man, this nuisance as I only a short time ago dubbed him as being and I now see why this trust I have for him has fallen silently over me. I see it in his eyes; he has been where I have been and through gauging the extent of my disclosure he sees it in me too.
With a cocky half smile, Les, clasps his hands over my shoulders and says, "Bring it, Beautiful." Oh, there he is…he's back.
Seems I am already dressed in my workout attire there is no need to stall any longer. I guess it's a good thing Ranger rushed us back here without allowing me to change first.
Everyone in the conference room decides to join Ranger, Les and I and follows us out and toward a stairwell. I am not sure if they were all still in shock of what was going to take place or if silence is a normalcy around her, but we all walked quietly down the steps until we reached the second floor. Ranger wrapped his hand around the door handle in front of us and with a small display of a smile he looks to me and says, "You ready, Babe?"
Without waiting for my reply he tugs the door open and ushers me into the most beautiful and amazing training facility I have ever seen.
The gym is the size of the entire width of the building. It has everything you could possibly imagine, including a pool. I can't help the face splitting grin that instantly plasters to my face. I am in heaven!
I turn to face Ranger and notice an equally excited grin on his face. Though, his is not expressed toward the gym but is fixed on me. My heart fills with joy that I am the reason for his happiness here and now.
"What do you think, Babe?"
"Ranger, this is amazing! You have no idea how excited I am right now. I have been dying to train in a facility like this for so long. You have everything anyone would ever need right here in this giant room!"
And, he did. The pool, is strategically placed at the back of the facility behind a wall of glass, there is a track above where we stand that runs the distance around the facility. The equipment is all high tech and up to date, the best of the best for the best of the best. There are various different punching bags and floor mats placed throughout the gym.
Finally my eyes focus on the middle of the gym and I notice the most beautiful and substantial Rumble Ring I have ever seen. I am in awe. Mouth hanging open, eyes bugged out, awe.
Eventually, after what felt like minutes but was probably only seconds of drooling, Ranger reaches his hand up to my chin and gently closes my mouth. With a chuckle he says, "Rumble Ring, Babe?"
I blush a nice shade of crimson and shrug my shoulders, "You know, Rumble Ring." I say in a small voice. I instantly think of Lole. Lole too chuckled at my designated term for a sparing ring, but he always knew the respect I had for it. I miss him and I know that with him in my head I will dominate. The Rumble Ring has always been my sanctuary and I can't wait to enter this one!
"Alright, let's do this, Les." I say while I begin my stretches.
Les shoots me a wide grin and says, "You got it, Beautiful."
After finishing with our stretches Les and I prepare to enter the ring. Les climbs on in and I move to do so myself when Ranger places a hand on my shoulder. I turn to face him and notice the tension set in his face. I instantly know what has produced it and for a split second guilt washes over me, but as quickly as it came I let it go. I can't afford to feel guilty for the unease in Ranger, not right now. Besides, it will be dissolved soon.
I flash him a heartfelt, sensual smile and note his slight relaxation. He reaches his right hand up and brushes the backside of it along my cheek, sending an electric current through my body. Yup, it's still there.
"Babe, you don't have to do this." He says
"No, Ranger, I do have to do this. I need you to understand my capabilities. I need you to see what I can offer you…your business." Grabbing his hand that is now cupping my cheek I bring it to my lips and place a gently kiss to it and say, "I am not the average female; in fact I am probably unlike any female you have ever encountered, you'll see." I say with true affirmation.
"Babe, I know you are unlike any other woman I have encountered, believe me." And for some reason I do, but I still have to prove to him my physical capabilities.
"Ranger, I am doing this. We have a deal and I have no intentions on backing out."
With that final statement I turn and crawl into the ring. Les is bouncing around in the middle of the ring. He looks so smug and sure of himself. I can't help but smile at the thought of that assurance soon dwindling.
Ranger calls for us and Les and I both turn to face him.
"Ok, are you both ready for this?" He asks reluctantly and Les and I both nod our heads agreeing.
"Just a reminder to the both of you; I reserve the right to end this match anytime I feel it necessary and I will do so with no protests. Do I make myself clear?" Yikes, yes you are very clear I think to myself while again nodding my head.
"Ok then. The match begins now." Ranger says and I instantly fall into my zone, no hesitations. My beast has been released and I almost feel sorry for Les. I am quick, I am strong and I acquire some of the most lethal skills in the world, although I would never truly harm Les I will make my dominance known.
Les and I begin circling each other, assessing each other. We are both focused, completely aware of every move we each make.
Finally, Les strikes first and I can't help but feel satisfied, for he making the first move is exactly what I was hoping for. His moves are quick but mine are quicker and as he lifts his right leg expecting to land a swift front kick to my shin, sending me off balance, I slide to the ground, catching his foot in mid air and twist it so that he loses the balance he has placed on his left leg, sending his entire body slamming to the ground.
I am up off the ground quickly and back in my combat stance, ready to pounce. Les is back on his feet in decent speed too and though he looks a little shaken he is also ready to go and I didn't expect anything less.
Knowing that he will refrain from striking again until I do I decide to make my next move, another of my signature moves. It is a trustworthy move and will in fact slow him down when I land it perfectly…I have never miss my mark.
I move in quickly and come across my body with my right hand so that it appears I am trying to land a punch to the side of his face. Just when he goes to block or grab my fist I retract it back into my body, spin on my right foot and land a powerful round house to the middle of his chest.
I instantly lower my foot and return to my combat stance and eye my opponent. Slightly hunched over, he pulls himself off the ropes. Straightening his body, he readies himself in his own combat position. I can see the anger in his eyes, not at me, but in himself. I slowed him down and he knows it. Good maybe it will be enough to push himself harder and make this a decent sparing match.
He comes at me with force. He's trying to scare me by using his body size against mine. I block his first throw, but he manages to land a forearm to my chest. No problem, I have had worse, my body is trained for this kind of abuse, as is his, and I know that this battle will more than likely be eventually called by Ranger, as neither of us will give up.
Les and I continue with quick movements and brutal force connecting kicks, punches, hand jabs and forearm thrusts. We are both blocking a fare share of each others blows, but I can't help but notice I am landing more on him than he is on me. However, I must remain impassive. The number one rule in hand to hand combat is never let your guard down, number two is never gloat; gloating causes you to lose focus and it is when you risk yourself the most. Always keep centered and never lose your edge.
Finally, after maybe ten minutes of Les and I going at it in the ring he makes a very, very lethal mistake and I notice it instantly. He steps back on his left foot, positioning his weight in his heel…major no, no. I move forward on him with a hand blow to his chin that causes his head to fall back and his body to lose balance because of the weight shift. I must say, I am quite surprised in his lack in focus just now; my move was most affective because of his loss of total body control.
By stepping into the blow I am now side by side with Les, only facing opposite directions. He is thrown back and I react quickly with a straight arm blow to his shoulder blades sending him forward. I finish of my round of moves with a back kick to his back that puts him down on all fours. If this was a mission I would finish him off, but in sparing you never disrespect your opponent by attacking while he is down. I resettle myself in my combat position and wait for him to do the same. He is moving slower, much slower. I am wearing him down.
Les doesn't disappoint. He's back in position and ready for more.
We continue sparing for another fifteen minutes and I can feel him wearing down. Throughout our sparing I have blocked or caught most of what Les has delivered and landed most of mine. Don't get me wrong, Les is good, damn good, but I am better…the best. My dominance over Les is not surprising to me, although I have a feeling it is to everyone else observing. Like I said, I am known as the best at what I do. I have been told there is only one other person who may rival my skill set, but I have yet to meet him and I choose to believe otherwise.
Les and I go around another five to seven minutes when I am gifted my opportunity to shut him down. Maybe Ranger won't be calling this, maybe it will end now. He must be getting tired, I mean I have landed some pretty nasty blows and some very technical moves, plus he is exerting immense energy trying to take me down and failing.
He throws a punch my way and I catch it cross armed. I have Les locked in my grip and in an instant his eyes widen, he knows he's mine. I abruptly untwist my arms, pulling down at the same time. Les' feet fly out from the back of his body and he comes down face first onto my driving knee. I can feel the power and the rush firing through my body. It's been so long.
I release my hold on him and he slumps down to the floor, blood has sprayed everywhere and once I notice it I come back to reality and suddenly gasp and pull my hands to my mouth. Oh my god, did I go too far. I haven't spared with anyone in so long and I got caught up in this last opening Les left me, I forgot that this was a spar and I went full force. Oh god, Les. He's motionless…bleeding.
I drop down to my knees, roll his body over so that he is laying on his back and immediately notice the damage my last move did to his beautiful face.
"Les!" I yell
"Can you hear me, Les?"
I sit and lift Les' head into my lap just as Ranger and Bobby climb into the ring; their faces ashen, shocked.
"Ranger, I am so sorry. Oh my god, I don't know what got into me?"
Ranger squats down and places his hand on my shoulder and says, "Its ok, Babe. We all know what we are doing when we climb into this ring. I heard Les and you make the agreement to go hard, to give it your all. You were just better, Babe." He says as he swallows hard and stairs intently into my eyes as if trying to figure me out.
Ranger and I hold our stare for a good minute while Bobby tends to Les. I finally pull away when I feel Les' head move in my lap.
"Les?" I say a little to panicked for my liking.
"Les are you ok? Bobby, is he going to be ok?"
"Yeah, Steph I think he will be fine. He definitely has a broken knows. Most likely his ribs are just bruised but I will get some x-ray's just in case. The black and blue tats you supplied all over his body will heal but I am pretty sure his pride may be a different story." He says with a slight chuckle and I can't help but notice the smirk on Ranger's face too.
Les moves again and this time when I glance down at him he is looking up at me. Oh god, I hope he is not too mad. We stay locked in on each other for a few beats before his lips part and twist in an upward motion. Soon he is flashing that beautiful smile my way and I can't help but return it. At last, he speaks and though it is in a scratchy tone he says, "Damn, Beautiful, I would let you kick my ass any day if the benefit is waking in your lap and staring up into those gorgeous blue eyes of yours."
I hear Ranger growl something about getting another ass beating but I ignore it, throw my head back and laugh. I am so happy that Les is taking this so well.
"Les, always the ladies man, eh? Let's just hope you still think that when you look into the mirror" I say as my smile falls off.
"Don't sweat it, Beautiful, I usually have to meet Ranger here on the mats, so it can't be much worse" replies Les.
"You may be surprised, man" says Tank and I suddenly remember we had quite the audience for our sparing match.
I take a chance and glance over toward the group of guys outside the ring. I don't know exactly how they will react to my kicking their partner's ass . I mean I am a girl and I have unfortunately ran into instances where men do not approve of my skills but they were usually the enemy and I was in the process of single handedly defeating them. This doesn't usually make one too popular at least with the likes of people I encountered the nine years I was running missions.
It was very rewarding and heart warming when I glanced over to Tank, Ram, Cal, Hal and Hector and saw respect in their eyes and welcoming smiles on their faces. Turning my attention to Bobby I see and feel the same vibes coming from him. I glance back down at Les and that patented smile shines bright. He waggles his eyebrows at me and I can't help but giggle. Les, you're such a flirt…even beaten and bloody.
I raise my head, close my eyes and take a deep breath and think "I haven't fit in anywhere in so long. I finally feel like I fit in again. I am so glad they don't hate me."
"Proud of you babe…were all proud of you. I am sorry I ever doubted you. You are right you more than exude the hand to hand combat skills to take care of yourself and just so you know, you do fit in here with us and I don't think any one of us would ever be able to hate you, even if you were completely incapable of taking care of yourself. Besides, Les deserved an ass whooping. If you don't recall; I was going to take care of it tomorrow at 0500 but seems you handled him for me I think I will allow him to sleep in a little while longer" Les attempted a laugh but quickly grasped his ribs.
"I guess I said that aloud, huh?"
"Yeah, Babe, you did but its ok." Ranger said while cupping my cheek with his hand and placing a kiss at the top of my head, which I am guessing is pretty unusual by the odd stairs he was receiving from the guys.
"Ok, I need to get Les up to my office. He needs to be cleaned up, examined and his nose reset" says Bobby.
"Awe man, Beautiful, you so owe me for breaking my nose. Resetting that shit hurts like a bitch."
"I am so sorry, Les," I say while allowing a giggle to slip out "but in all fairness I did warn you." My previous disclosure resurfaces with him as his expressions resume a more serious appearance. He nods his head in understanding and I am reassured that my secret is safe. It's not that I don't trust the others, especially Ranger, I trust him one hundred percent, it's just that if it is going to come out to anyone else, which after today's performance I assume it eventually will, I want it to be at my own discretion. Besides, all Les knows is what I told him, which is very little, "Our style of life" can mean so much. All he really knows is that I am not your average woman and that I have been trained…hell, they are all aware of that.
"How about I buy you a few beers sometime and we'll call it good."
"Sounds great, Beautiful"
With that Bobby and Ranger help Les out of my lap, of which I think he was less than eager to vacate. After he is steady on his feet Bobby and Ram helped him to the elevator where I assume they head for Bobby's office.
A round of "great job, Steph" and "we won't be messing with you" came from the remainder of the Rangemen before they exited the gym in a stunned state of mind.
And then there were two.
"So, Ranger, I guess I am joining the team tonight, eh." I say with a light punch to his shoulder.
"Yeah, Babe I guess you are." He says as he pulls me into his warm, taut muscled body and kisses me with more passion and fervor than any other kiss has ever possessed in my life, even the ones we shared earlier.
Ranger breaks the kiss and presses his forehead to mine. My body is humming and completely entranced by the possessiveness shown through by his mouth.
"Babe, I don't know what to say. Amazing doesn't even come close to expressing what you are."
I melt.
"Babe, how about I treat you to a late lunch. I know a great place five floors above us." He says with a grin that has my lower extremities twisting in that oh so pleasurable way.
Ranger helps me from the ring and guides me hand in hand to the elevator. He must think I'm tired and I am slightly, it has already been a long day and it's only 3:00 p.m.
Once on the elevator I realize how hungry I am and ask Ranger what's for lunch.
"Your guess is as good as mine, Babe. Ella, the Rangeman house keeper and my personal chef, usually surprises me but I guarantee you will love it. Plus, we can knock out two birds with one stone." He replies
"What do you mean?"
"Well, we can enjoy a nice meal together and you can inform me on how you became such a lethal weapon. I sense you hold quite the secrets."
Oh shit!