Ranger and I were gliding through the night in the Turbo, on our way back to Rangeman. The instrument panel glowed blue-green, lighting up the dark like the cockpit of a plane, and it felt like we were flying again. A light mist was coming down and the air was cool as it blew gently through the vents against my heated skin. I could feel my cheeks burning as I tried not to look at Ranger silhouetted against the wash of the street lights. The things I was thinking about doing to him were probably illegal, even in New Jersey. And I didn't dare to guess what he was thinking about doing to me.
When we were just a few minutes away, Ranger reached for his phone and dialed. Lester answered.
"We won't be long," Ranger said.
"Ten four." And Ranger disconnected.
"What was that about?" I asked.
Ranger didn't answer. He just glanced over at me, and then returned to his zone. It was like he was suddenly his old, silent, mysterious self. I waited for a beat, expecting him to fill me in, but he didn't.
"Hey. You have to tell me things now," I reminded him.
"That wasn't in the vows," he said. He wasn't going to tell me.
We slid into a dimly lit parking lot off Hamilton, and Ranger turned off the engine. He reached for me in one smooth motion as he opened his door. He pulled me across the console so that I was sitting in his lap. My lips met his, and he kissed me with a passion that had the earth spinning beneath me.
"Babe," he moaned against my lips. "There's just one more thing we have to do before we go back up to seven," he whispered.
No! My body was screaming for release. There was no way we were making another pit stop. I grabbed his hair with both hands and kissed him with wild abandon. I was going to make Ranger forget his own name. I didn't care if we were on camera. I was ready to do him right there in a public parking lot, and he knew I could do it, too.
"This won't take long," he promised.
"What won't?" I breathed.
"I just have to get you naked."
My body was humming in agreement, and I was braced for him to start stripping my clothes off right there, and then it hit me. A sharp pinch on my ass. I pulled back in shock.
"I told you, we have unfinished business," he whispered into my ear.
"You wouldn't," I gasped, as I felt myself slipping away. My head lolled back and I found myself staring at the upside down image of the traffic light at Hamilton and Broad.
I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn't see anything at first. It was dark, and there was a cool breeze on my skin. On all of my skin. I was naked. My first instinct was to cover myself, but when I tried, my hands were caught behind my back. I was handcuffed to a pole. And there was a ticking. Then a louder clicking noise. Then...oh, my God. Traffic!
I struggled to my feet. I was naked, wearing nothing but a pair of heels, handcuffed to the traffic light at Hamilton and Broad, and I was blindfolded. I struggled to rub the blindfold against my shoulder, trying to get a look around. There were white and green and red lights reflecting off the wet sidewalk at my feet. There was a brick building about thirty feet in front of me. There was a fine mist falling, and a light breeze was blowing my hair and making my nipples stand at attention as goose bumps rose like a wave across my skin.
Ranger wouldn't have left me here alone, I reasoned. I was his wife. No way he left me out here.
I tried to stay calm. This couldn't be happening. He wouldn't really do this. It was some kind of...some kind of...joke. Like something Connie would pull. It wasn't real. It couldn't be.
I thought about what I had just learned about Ranger. He lived by a code. And he kept his word. Was there a conflict between the golden rule, "do unto others", and his promise to keep his threat so I would respect him in the future?
A cool breeze blew across my skin again. I froze when I heard voices. It sounded like young men walking down the street, about a block away. Pigeons were flying overhead. Pigeons, in the mist, at night? I held my breath and listened, thinking about calling out to Ranger. But I was still trying to reason out what was happening. What did it mean? And shouldn't I be trying to get out of the handcuffs?
I slid down, feeling around on the ground. Maybe Ranger had left me a paper clip. Somehow, I was supposed to escape, right?
The voices were getting closer. But they didn't seem to have noticed me yet. I was distracted as a breeze sent a new wave of goose bumps over my flesh again.
Three seconds, I thought. There was a breeze every three seconds. That wasn't normal.
I stood up, slowly. I listened to the traffic. No one was screeching to a halt at the sight of a naked woman chained to the light pole. The men were still talking, and still getting closer, but no one was jeering at me.
The breeze hit me again, and I knew where I was. I was on the second floor in room C. Lester had set it up. This was what they were talking about on the helicopter. The temperature, the humidity, the sounds of traffic, the sidewalks and the pole. Ranger had been planning this all along, I realized.
Well, two can play at that game, I thought, grinning wickedly on the inside. I was actually alone with Ranger in the dark, and he was somewhere close with his eyes glued on me. And I was going to make him crazy.
One, two, three. Breeze. I moaned. I was really feeling turned on now. I stood up straight against the pole, posing myself to look sexy as hell in my black FMP's. I pressed my shoulders back. The red of the traffic light clicked on, bathing me in it's glow. One, two, three. I moaned again, shivering with excitement and the chill. I was wet now, from the mist, and from Ranger.
"I think you should come over here," I crooned, coolly.
I heard the rustle of clothing six feet away.
"Tell me what you want," Ranger taunted.
"I want you to tell me how sexy I look, handcuffed naked to the traffic light at Hamilton and Broad," I said, my voice low and seductive. I couldn't help the grin that escaped.
"Shouldn't you be worried?" he asked, taking a step towards me.
"Why worry? You've got me naked. I'm half way there already," I breathed.
One, two, three. Shiver.
"Babe," Ranger groaned.
"You know what I think?" I whispered.
"What?" he asked, taking another tentative step closer.
"I think you've been fantasizing about tonight for a long, long time."
"You have no idea," he admitted.
"Do I look the way you want me to look?" I did a little shimmy for him against the pole.
"Better than I ever imagined," he sighed.
"Come here," I begged.
I could feel him just inches from me, still cautious. He was keeping to my side, making sure I couldn't kick out at him once he got close. He wasn't trusting me yet.
"2C," I whispered. "But you had me going for a minute," I told him.
"What gave it away?"
"One, two, three. Breeze." My nipples puckered again and I shivered uncontrollably.
Ranger laughed silently to himself. "Sorry, Babe," he whispered, tracing my lips with his finger.
"I thought you didn't need handcuffs to enslave a woman," I reminded him.
"I don't. But tonight, you're going to find out how much fun they can be," he promised.
One, two, three. Shiver.
"What about the mist, and the chill?" I asked.
"Don't worry about it," he said. I could hear him sliding his t-shirt over his head and tossing it to the side. "It'll feel fantastic in a few minutes. It's about to get seriously hot in here."
One, two, three. Oh, yeah.