Disclaimer: All credit goes to JE for creating her characters and writing the books. Original characters I've created are all mine (muahhahaha).

Warnings: It's a Babe story. Rated M+. Bad Language, Alcohol, Violence, Drunken Decisions, Sexual Situations, Attempted Sexual Assault, and a Happy Ending. Not cupcake friendly, but no brutal bashing…

Chapter Thirteen

It had been fifteen days since Ranger had brought me to his building. Fifteen days of being cooped up inside. Fifteen days of trying, and succeeding, to keep my tattoo hidden. Fifteen days of sharing a bed with Ranger. Fifteen days of long, hot, slow burning kisses that were driving me slowly mad. Fifteen days of petting and rubbing and tasting. Fifteen days of not actually jumping his bones and him not jumping mine. Fifteen days of me managing to bite my lip and not reveal to him how much I loved him. But it was only a matter of time until he saw my tat, or figured out my feelings.

He'd found it the other day when his hand had gone exploring under my night shirt. He hadn't pushed though. He would keep his word and not look until it was healed. That meant I'd have to keep my word and actually show him when it was healed.

The good news was, I'd been able to run a few searches on my skip, Kyle Jackson, track him down, and send the Merry Men out to pick him up. Kyle had been exactly where I'd thought he'd be; in a rehab centre over in Hamilton. The guys got him re-booked and took him straight back there in a matter of hours. It seemed his mother had given him an intervention or an ultimatum. I wasn't up on the details though.

More good news sort of, depending how you looked at it. The Merry Men had been taking turns giving me self-defence lessons. We'd been doing an hour in the morning and an hour in the late afternoon. The exercise was probably the only thing keeping my hormones in check enough so that I didn't ravish Ranger while he was sleeping.

The bad news was there'd been no news or sightings of Talavera. Ranger didn't want to take any chances. I was pretty sure he didn't want to let me out of the building until Talavera's court date. That was still weeks away.

We were currently sitting in his office, arguing. Sort of.

"Babe, I don't like this." His arms folded tightly across his fine chest. His powerful shoulders practically blocked out the sunlight from one of his enormous windows. It made me want to run my hands all over his body and memorise each and every rise and fall.

"You won't let me out of the building, so someone has to come to me."

His eyes darkened and I noticed my eyes were trained on his muscles and I was biting my bottom lip. Damn. My panties started to feel damp. I shifted uncomfortably. Ranger noticed, a soft growl emanating from his chest. Damn, he didn't miss a beat. It had been like this for the past couple of weeks. I think living in close quarters with little, uh, relief, was making us hyperaware of the other. I kept wondering what was making him hold back. We both knew he could very easily get me naked if he wanted. He didn't seem to want that just yet, which made me curious. Did he still think Joe was in the picture?

"Bobby's been handling it."

"Oh, is Bobby an expert on tattoo care and maintenance?" I sassed, trying to alleviate all the tension that seemed to be building in the room.

Ranger paused for a long moment, staring at me intensely. I tried hard not to shiver under his gaze. "Could be."

I rolled my eyes, partly in response to his answer, partly just to draw my eyes away from his ridiculously tempting body and face. "Bobby's told me it's not infected and it looks like its healing okay. I want a definite yes or no," I explained, my eyes already drawn back to him. I could see a definite bulge in his pants that seemed to grow the longer my gaze lingered.

"I'll make a call," he said gruffly, pulling out his cell phone and striding out of the office, away from me.

I flopped face down on his office couch and closed my eyes in sexual frustration. Damn. I thought about slipping my hand into my panties and relieving some of the tension. Then I thought better of it. Anyone could walk into Ranger's office without warning. I didn't want anyone catching me doing that unless it was Ranger. Maybe still not even then.

I shifted on the couch slightly and my nipples rubbed through my bra and along the couch fabric. I moaned quietly and rolled onto my back. I was so hypersensitive around Ranger; I swear I could probably cum just from one look.

I felt someone's eyes on me, a warm tingle on the back of my neck and my nipples perked up some more. I opened my eyes and found Ranger giving me a dangerous smile that made my tummy flip-flop and my lower region clench.

"He'll be here in ten minutes," he said softly.

"Cool," I murmured, sitting up so I could make room for him. The fabric of my clothing rubbing against my skin made me hiss as I shifted. Damn, damn, damn. I wanted him so bad.

Ranger dropped down onto the couch beside me and without warning lifted me onto his lap, my thighs straddling his, his erection pulsing against me. It made me feel so hot that he was just as aroused as I was. His hands slid slowly around my waist to link behind my back. I placed my hands on his shoulders for balance as I swayed into his touch.

"Come here, Babe," he murmured seductively, staring at me with his warm brown eyes.

I involuntarily licked my lips. His eyes darted down to linger on my lips for a moment and then reluctantly moved back up to my eyes. I shivered, longing flowing through every muscle in my body. Kiss me, Ranger. I love you, God, just kiss me.

"I'm here," I said. I couldn't get much closer.

"No, here," he emphasised, tilting his head up a little.

Oh. There. I leant forward close enough so that our lips were gently skimming. My heart pounded in my chest as our eyes remained locked. My doo-dah contracted in a mini orgasm and I groaned. He had too much power over me and my body. It just wasn't right.

"Here?" I panted teasingly, our breaths intermixing as the air crackled between us.

He leaned in, his gaze so full of heated passion that I nearly melted right then and there. "No. Here."

He captured my lips and slowly drew me into a passionate kiss that kept building and building. I couldn't stop the trembling that shivered through my body as his lips moved over mine. I held on tightly as he softly nibbled at my mouth, his hand slipping under my shirt and slowly, slowly sliding down my abdomen to the waistband of my jeans.

Yes, yes, yes!

Then his hand was inside my panties, his rough fingertip circling my sensitive bud, over and over, setting my body ablaze. He dipped a finger, and then two into my wetness, making me cry out. His mouth swallowed my mewls of pleasure, as he brought me higher and higher until I crashed over the peak, breaking our kiss to cry out his name.

"Beautiful, Babe," he whispered hoarsely before his lips trailed down my neck, licking and tasting. His hand moved to my hip and started rocking me over him back and forth.

I whimpered on each movement as his steel hard erection brushed against my oversensitive clit. His mouth captured mine again, quieting my sounds as we picked up our pace and our hands frantically ran over each other's bodies. I couldn't get enough of him quick enough. I wanted more. He thrust his hips up against mine roughly as he used his grip to grind me down on top of him. My eyes rolled back in pleasure and I threw my head back.

"Mine."

That was all it took. My abdomen heated at his possessive tone and I came for the second time in minutes. He slowed our rocking down, but didn't let up. He was still hard underneath me. God, I want him inside me so bad! One of his hands came up to cup my head and drew my lips back to his.

Ranger's phone buzzed. I whimpered as he pulled back reluctantly to answer it, not stopping our rocking motions. "Yo. Hooah." He disconnected and found my lips once more, heating me up all over again before finally pulling away and forcing my hips to a stop.

"Your guest's here, Babe." His eyes were black as night as they stared at me from under hooded lashes.

"Five more minutes," I pleaded. I could feel just how into our make out session he was and knew he didn't want to move either.

"Later. Promise. I want a lot more than five minutes with you," he said with a wicked gleam in his eye and a very suggestive kiss as he set me aside so he could stand up. I watched as he adjusted himself and bit back another whimper of longing.

"I'll hold you to that." I itched to reach out and drag him back down on top of me, visitor be damned.

Ranger just flashed me a panty melting smile and headed out of his office.

I groaned in frustration but got up and headed into Ranger's adjoining bathroom to splash my face with cool water and clean up as best as I could. When I came out, I sat in Ranger's desk chair and waited for someone to arrive. I figured it would probably be Sketch or Jet, or maybe someone Ranger knew and trusted that was familiar with tattoos. Jet soon walked through the office door, closely followed by Ranger.

"Jump up on the desk, I'll use the chair," Jet instructed.

"Well, hello to you too," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes for good measure.

He paused and grinned at me. Then he ducked down and kissed my forehead. "Hello, Sweet-pea."

"Babe. Ten minutes," Ranger said from the doorway. I shivered at the warning in his voice and the fact that it still held the promise of later. I couldn't wait for later. Later was going to be as soon as Jet left. Maybe even before he was out of the building. I wish it was later right now.

Ranger was leaning against the doorframe, his eyes zeroed in on Jet. I shifted nervously until Jet stepped out of my personal space.

"See you then," I replied huskily. Ranger's gaze darkened and swept between me and Jet before he gave a nod and closed the door behind him. I stood up and sat back down on the edge of Ranger's desk.

"You know the other day, how I said I wasn't sure whether Ranger was waiting to make a play, or if just keeping you safe was enough?" Jet asked as he lifted my shirt up and over my head.

I shivered slightly as his warm gaze slowly travelled down my torso. It felt so wrong to have anyone other than Ranger touching me or looking at me. Especially after what had just happened. What had just happened? He said he wanted more than five minutes with me. What did that mean? A whole night? Twenty-four hours? A week? Until he got me out of his system? It would hurt a hell of a lot more now when he walked away from me than last time. But any length of time spent with him had to be worth it. Quality over quantity. Ranger had quality in spades. His bedroom quality was off the chart. Right?

"Yeah." I was distracted with thoughts of me and Ranger and later.

His eyes moved back up to lock on mine, forcing me to focus. "He's not waiting. He's making a play."

Oh boy. My heart fluttered. A play? Did he feel for me what I felt for him? I swallowed down the optimistic lump that was forming in my throat and making my eyes prickle. "I think you're mistaken. Ranger doesn't make serious plays." I fiddled nervously with the edge of the desk, willing myself not to listen too carefully to Jet. I couldn't get my hopes up. I just couldn't. Hadn't I just decided I would take whatever time Ranger was willing to give me, consequences be damned?

He sat down in Ranger's chair, pulled on a pair of gloves and inspected my tattoo. "I don't make mistakes." He pulled out some things from his bag and started cleaning my tattoo.

"What, ever?" I asked sarcastically, trying to mask the weird mix of joy and pessimism I was feeling.

He paused from his work and looked up at me. "Making a mistake can get you killed."

I snorted as he went back to work, a real smile working its way onto my face. He and Ranger were similar in a lot of ways… and completely different in others. I was safe and relaxed around Jet. Warm and cosy. What I felt around Ranger couldn't be described. It was off the chart. Electrifying. Soul nourishing.

I gave Jet a wry smile. "That's funny; you sound like someone I know."

He gave me a quick grin and refocused on my tat. "Mañoso's a good guy. He'll take care of you and treat you right. If he doesn't, I'll be the one making a play." His eyes flashed up to meet mine again. Tensions sizzled in the air between us. Wow – was it getting hot in here? Whew.

"So, how do you know Ranger?" I wondered, clearing my throat awkwardly.

"I was a pilot in the army. I mostly did extraction work."

"Hence the nickname," I clarified with raised eyebrows. He flashed me a grin and nodded. "So, extraction work? Meaning you extracted Ranger from third world countries?"

"Mañoso and his men would get impossible missions, and then it'd be my job do the extractions no-one else had the balls for when they beat the odds. I left the army not long before he did."

"He must trust you a lot, then," I murmured mostly to myself. He'd have to. You'd count on the extraction team with your life – if they weren't where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be, it could be game over.

He stood up and his chest brushed slowly against mine. Two of his fingers slipped under my chin. His eyes moved between mine and then darted back down to my lips. "Let's just say, if it wasn't Mañoso, I'd be seriously trying to make you fall out of love with him. But, he has my respect. I'm gonna go wash my hands. Everything looks good. Be right back."

I was stunned mute for a few seconds. I cleared my throat twice before I managed, "Don't worry, and take your time."

I sighed and stood, pulling my shirt back on. Great, that was just what I needed; another alpha male sniffing around. Because I didn't have enough of them already. There was only one I actually wanted sniffing around. It was too bad he wasn't as direct as Jet was.

I moved in front of Ranger's desk to pace. And how did he know I was in love with Ranger? I'd only just admitted to myself a few days ago. Was I that terrible at hiding my feelings? Anyway, being head over heels in love with Ranger didn't change anything. Jet was wrong – Ranger would never make a serious play for me. I was more trouble than I was worth. He was way out of my league. He didn't do relationships.

"Don't make a sound bitch, or I'll cut your throat and dump you at Mañoso's feet."

My blood froze even as I jolted. Oh God.

TBC...