****If I owned these characters, I would certainly do more that say "and then he was in her". Since I don't, I can only play with them on fanfic. Thanks Angie for your great edits!!!

It wasn't until she was asleep that he realized that he was still hard as a rock imbedded insider her. He tried to slip out of her, but every time he did, she would grind herself back down on him. Yeah, they were definitely a match made in heaven. Resigned to sleeping with a hard on, he relaxed and will himself to sleep.

Chapter 12

"Breakfast for Six"

She awoke in much the same position she had fallen to sleep in. The only difference was that a very hard Ranger was nudging at her entrance. She giggled into his neck. "Well, somebody's raring to go this morning. Couldn't you at least wait until I was awake?"

He persisted his prodding through a very audible sigh, "Babe, I've either been at half-mast or full salute all night. Some help here, please."

She rose up on both elbows flabbergasted. "All night? What the hell's wrong with you?" She thought she saw him nearly roll his eyes.

"Babe, every time it went down and I thought I was going to get some sleep, you'd grind yourself against me. And do you know that you make the sexiest noises in your sleep? They were driving me insane." He flexed again and slid into her warmth, letting out a sigh of relief.

She couldn't help it; the hilarity of the situation bubbled up and shook her entire body.

Her laughter should've mortified him and taken care of his little problem. It didn't. Instead, it turned him on even more. Flipping them, he asked on a playful growl, "You think this is funny?" He pushed deeper and bit none too lightly on her shaking shoulder. "I'll show you funny and…I won't be apologizing for it later."

They licked, nipped and laughed as they rolled in a tangle of limbs. The tone changed, when they got too carried away and landed with a thud on the floor.

Ranger looked up at her through her beautiful mass of curls and the feeling of love swamped him. "I love you, Stephanie Michelle Plum."

He'd never called her by her full name and she felt the magnitude and depth of his words all the way to her soul. "I love you too, Ricardo Carlos Manoso."

As he moved inside her, she caressed his face, leaning down to press delicate kisses on his mouth, face and eyelids. He took her to a place that she'd never been and she needed him to know how special this was to her. As the sweet tide washed over her, she told him with tears in her eyes, "It's never been like this before,…for me."

He brushed her hair from her face, wiping a single tear from her eyelash with his thumb. "For me either, querida." He flexed again sending his warm seed home.

He pulled her against his chest burying his hands in her hair as he pressed his lips to her forehead. Lost in each other, they both jolted at the banging on the door. Ranger lifted his head and growled, "Somebody better be dead."

Lester's voice answered on a laugh, "From starvation."

Ranger cleared his throat, "Ten minutes, and get the hell away from that door."

Stephanie giggled at the shuffling and scattering noises coming from behind the door.

Ranger groaned, "Babe, we better get them some breakfast before they start eating the furniture." He gave her a light smack on the ass and started disengaging their bodies.

In the shower, they tried to keep their hands to themselves, but wasn't very successful. It was nearly twenty minutes before they finally restrained themselves enough to get dressed and walk arm in arm out of the bedroom.

At the gawking looks that each man gave them, Ranger cleared his throat and shot them a menacing look. Lester was the only one brave enough to not turn his gaze to study his shoes.

"Hell, I thought you guys were going to be holed up in there all day." His wide mischievous grin lasted for about two seconds, until Ranger barked 'Santos!'

Ranger hooked his arm around Stephanie's neck pulling her toward the door and signaling for his men to follow. At Bobby's question about where they were going to eat, Ranger responded, "The Silver Spoon."

Hector asked a question in Spanish and Ranger replied with a smirk, "No, no vamos a comer mierda saludable. Voy a conseguir mi mujer que algunos panqueques, antes de que ella me mate."

(Translation: No, we're not going to eat healthy shit. I'm going to get my woman some pancakes, before she kills me.)

Stephanie had a sneaking suspicion that the comment was about her and asked once they were alone in the truck. Ranger replied innocently, "Babe, I told him I was taking my woman to get pancakes."

She gave him a disbelieving look as they pulled into the parking lot. "I'm so learning Spanish when we get home."

Ranger's eyes crinkled at the edges as he parked the truck. With one smooth move he had her unbuckled and hauled in his lap, nuzzling her neck. In a silky voice, he said, "I can teach you some Spanish words."

Her hormones kicked in and she asked breathlessly, "Oh, yeah. What words would you teach me?"

His warm breath against her ear was almost too much. "Amore, love, querida, beloved, lindo, lovely, pasion, passion, deseo, desire," chuckling at her growling stomach, he added, "hamriento, hungry?"

Responding breathlessly, she said "Starved," as she escaped to her side of the truck, trying to tamp down on her desire. Damn, what this man could do to her.

In the restaurant, Ranger and Stephanie held hands all the way to the table where the Merry Men were stacked like fire wood in an extra large booth. Once seated, everyone started discussing what they wanted to eat. Stephanie had other ideas, "Wait, everyone has to order something different, that way we can each sample each other's food."

Ranger smirked when she rolled her eyes, "Well, I'll sample everyone's food except Ranger's. He's just going to order something bland and unappetizing." The deal was made and everyone ordered something different when the waitress came to their table.

As they ate, Hector sat eyeing the woman who had captured his boss' heart. She ate from everyone's plate, with utter abandonment. He mused that she had a definite appetite and wondered aloud in Spanish if that applied to everything. "Hermano, si su apetito por la comida se extiende a su cama, entonces usted es un hombre muy afortunado."

(Translation: Brother, if her appetite for food extends to your bed, then you are a very lucky man.)

"No tienes ni idea, hermano. Una palabra, insaciable." Even as he said the words, Stephanie was running her hand up and down his leg under the table, inching closer to where he was already hard and throbbing for her. He could tell that Hector wasn't finished with his speculation.

(Translation: You have no idea, Brother. One word, insatiable.)

"Puedo ver que usted desea, pero te amo. ¿Quieres hacer lo correcto por ella?" Hector knew he was pushing it, but something inside him wouldn't let him relent. He'd seen something special forming between them for a long time and wasn't about to let Ranger fuck it up.

(Translation: I can see that you desire her, but do you love her. Will you do right by her?)

Ranger didn't look at Hector as he answered the question; instead he cupped Stephanie's face, pulling her to meet his gaze. In a rare moment, he allowed everyone see the love he held for her. "Ella es el aire que respiro, y estoy planeando pasar el resto de mi vida que muestra lo mucho que la amo, si me tendrá."

(Translation: She is the air that I breathe and I plan on spending the rest of my life showing her how much I love her, if she'll have me.)

Stephanie could tell by Ranger's steel gaze and the fact that everyone seemed to be holding their breath that Ranger had said something important. Trying to lighten the mood, she gave his thigh a squeeze and a quick peck on the lips before asking, "So, what's the plan for the day? I know that we have to wait until Silvio lays the paper trail for Sullivan to find us. So, in the meantime, what are we going to do?"

At the puzzled looks on each man's face, she forged on. "Well, you guys said it could be anywhere from five to eight hours before he shows up. Surely, you're not going to sit around all that time and clean your guns." She had to slap her hand over her mouth to stifle the laughter when she realized that was exactly what they had planned.

She shook her head, "Oh, no. Ranger, you can't be serious. You know that I'll go insane just sitting around waiting."

Lester finally grinned wide, "Ok, beautiful, what did you have in mind?"

With a twinkle in her eyes, she held out her hand to Ranger, "Sat phone, please."

Never able to deny her anything, he handed over the phone, giving her a warning, "Keep in mind that everyone at this table weighs well over two hundred pounds." He gave her a quick kiss on her nose as she rolled her eyes.

"Trust me, Ranger. I'll be right back. I want it to be a surprise." She left the men at the table staring at her, as she sauntered outside to make the phone call.

Ranger watched as every man in the room took appreciation in the sway of her hips. He wanted to go into a jealous tirade, but knew it was useless. He even tolerated Lester's comments because he knew they were true.

"Ranger, man, Jesus… fucking… Christ. You're one lucky bastard to be hittin' that. I bet you cum just looking at her naked. "

Tank hit him on the back of the head and gave him a look of disgust, even though on the inside he was thinking the same thing.

Ranger just smirked before giving them all a silencing look, since Stephanie was heading back towards them.

She came back to the table, but didn't sit down. Placing her knee on the bench and an arm around Ranger's neck, she stabbed a fork into Lester's hashbrown casserole. As she threaded her fingers into Ranger's hair and began talking, each man had to force himself to pay attention to what she was saying, instead of wishing her hands were on them.

"Okay, here's the plan. You guys are going back to the cabin and put on your swimming trunks. I'm going to go pickup your surprise. I'll be leaving the truck there so that when Sullivan arrives, he'll only see one truck." She moved back to let Ranger up from the booth, pulling him in close for a kiss. While she had him entranced with her tongue, she reached around and filched his wallet.

She pulled out a wad of hundreds, handed him back his wallet and started to draw away.

Ranger hauled her back to his chest, "Babe, while you're at it, stop by a store and buy a different bathing suit,...preferably, something a little more conservative." He handed her another hundred and leaned in until his lips were brushing the shell of her ear, "I don't think that the guys can handle seeing you in those little numbers you've been parading around in this week." Her face flushed, bright red and he loved that look on her. He added, "Not that I'm complaining. I just don't feel the need to share your sexy body." He nipped her earlobe and gently pushed her toward the door.

She couldn't wait for them to see her surprise. She had rented another speed boat and several water toys to pull behind the boat. The best toy of the bunch, hands down, was the Ultra Screamer 3-person towable. Stephanie couldn't wait to ride the waves with the Merry Men. She'd also ordered a water trampoline; Eddie was transporting it to their cove. Seeing the Merry Men jumping on that was going to be a hoot!

Proud of her plan to keep the Merry Men entertained, she made her final stop at a clothing store that she'd spied on the way to the restaurant. It was a small town, so there weren't a lot of options. In the store, she found a cute tankini that she thought would appease Ranger's possessiveness. The top was halter style that scooped in the back low enough that she could still get some sun and it came with boy shorts. Satisfied with her purchase, she headed back to the truck and what she knew was going to be a day of extreme sports.

Just as she was getting in the truck, she felt it. You know, that feeling you get when somebody is watching you. She rubbed the back of her neck. Her spidey sense hummed as she scanned the parking lot. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary since all the license plates were local. Nothing screamed to her 'warning, danger, Will Robinson'. Shrugging her shoulders, she put the truck in gear and pulled into the traffic, watching for a tail as she drove to the marina. She didn't see anyone following her and brushed the feeling off as nerves concerning the plan to trap Sullivan.