Chapter Twenty-Seven

Stephanie heard a persistent buzzing noise that slowly pulled her from sleep. It was the alarm on Ranger's watch. He was still in bed with her. His arm wrapped protectively around her middle. He reached up and turned off the alarm, and pulled her closer.

"What time is it?" Stephanie mumbled.

"Early. A little before five."

Stephanie groaned. Apparently, Ranger got up this early every day, and the beach house wasn't an anomaly. Speaking of up. It was clear that all of Ranger was up. She could feel him hot and hard against her backside. The only thing between them was his silk boxers. Her borrowed t-shirt had ridden up some time in the night.

Stephanie had never really been a big believer in morning sex, but she was rapidly beginning to appreciate the value of it. Really, why should coffee be the best part about waking up?

She wriggled against him.

"Babe, what are you doing." Ranger's strangled voice was tinged with the hint of a warning.

"Well, if you have to ask, I'm clearly not doing it right." Stephanie murmured and reached behind her, sliding her hand down the front of Ranger's silky boxers and wrapping her hand around Ranger's most perfect part, gently stroking.

She smiled when she heard his sharp hiss, and felt him swell in her hand. He felt impossibly hard as he throbbed against her.

She knew the second his intention changed and whatever reservation he had was gone. He ran his hand up her thigh, over the swell of her hip to her waist, leaving a trail of fire. She heard him groan when he found her naked beneath the t-shirt. His t-shirt. She wondered if she could take one of them with her when she left. She had a feeling there was nothing else she would ever want to sleep in again.

Stephanie's pulse kicked up as he pressed a kiss to her neck, pushing her forward onto her stomach. He pulled her t-shirt up exposing her back. Ranger lowered his head and kissed the base of her spine. He touched his tongue to the place he just kissed. And then he kissed it again, working his way slowly up her back kissing each dip and bump. Devoting time to each spot, tasting and kissing until he reached the nape of her neck. A little shiver went through her when she felt his breath whisper across her skin. She was a quivering jumble, her nerves taut, her body begging for his touch. The slow ascent of his mouth hot against her skin had been agonizingly slow, lighting the fire low in her belly and fanning the flames with each touch of his tongue and scrape of his teeth.

"This isn't a good idea." Ranger said as he straddled her. It was pretty clear his conviction was wavering and he wasn't overly wedded to the notion.

Stephanie thought it actually seemed like a really good idea. Neither of them had many clothes on, so that awkward step was eliminated. And after everything she had been through, she definitely deserved an orgasm.

Ranger moved in and nuzzled her bare shoulder. "I know," she whispered. "The worst."

Ranger's mouth brushed just below her earlobe. His hand slid under her t-shirt, his palm heating her skin, as he pulled it over her head. He leaned down, arms on either side of her, and bit her where her neck and shoulder met. A gentle nip. It didn't hurt, it only made her want more. She could feel his chest flush with her back, and she wriggled a little against him. Urging him to give her what she wanted. To give her more, much more. The fire licking through her had hit a fever pitch, and the fluttering ache was rapidly becoming a throbbing need.

He sat back and she immediately missed his warmth. The cool air tingling her overheated skin. Ranger skimmed his fingertips down her back, sending little tremors through her. A feather light touch that branded her, and bound her to him in ways restraints never could. His fingers inched closer to where she needed them with painstaking slowness. Savoring the feel of her skin under his fingertips. He slid his fingers between her legs, teasing and testing. When she bowed her back, raising her hips to give him better access, she heard him growl a sound of pure male appreciation that rocketed straight to her core. She couldn't stop the impatient whimper that escaped.

Ranger used his knee to nudge her thighs apart, shifting so he was kneeling between her legs. He rewarded her by sliding his fingers forward and finding just the right spot to make her cry out and temporarily go blind from the intense sensation pulsing through her.

Stephanie couldn't help but rock back against his palm in an effort to find more pressure, more friction. Her breath came in small pants. Pleasure coiling like a spring. The guttural sound he made as she pushed back against his hand made heat pool between her thighs. Liquid and hot, begging him for more. The scent of her arousal heavy in the air around them.

Ranger slid one exquisitely long finger into her. Gliding in and out, pushing it forward and rubbing her sensitive spot, sending tremors through her. Her skin was flushed with heat, misted in a sheen of sweat. Stephanie was pretty sure she was going to come undone just from his touch, and then he set about doing things to her that almost made her black out. She never realized how talented fingers could be.

"Is that what you want." His voice was a harsh growl.

The only thing Stephanie could do was whimper her agreement. She was incapable of forming a coherent thought, let alone forming a sentence. Her entire body was vibrating with need. Release was so close, she was panting and shamelessly riding his hand. Her body quaking under his touch, her hands fisted in the sheets in an effort to anchor her against the rising storm.

Pleasure finally crested, rising up like a tidal wave swamping her. Stephanie was pretty sure she screamed his name, as she peaked and fell over the edge. Ranger's fingers slowed, the rough pads of his fingertips gliding over her gently coaxing the last waves from her. She gasped and shuddered as he slicked her wetness over her sensitive flesh, finally withdrawing his hand.

Her foggy brain barely recognized his words, but her body recognized the command in his voice.

"Get on your hands and knees."

Stephanie scrambled to comply as he grasped her hips and jerked her backward, pushing her thighs wider apart. She could feel him hot, hard, and throbbing against her. A fresh wave of desire started building. An emptiness fluttered and ached, begging to be filled.

"Color." Ranger barked. "Use your words, Babe."

Color she thought. What the fuck did that mean? Oh shit, right. Color! The haze in her brain lifted ever so slightly, bringing back memories from the beach house.

"Green." She practically screamed. "Jesus, green." She was pretty sure the talk they needed to have was everything was green unless she said it wasn't.

Ranger moved up guiding himself to her entrance. She could feel him heavy and thick against her, and then he surged forward driving into her, filling her. Easing that desperate empty ache.

"Oh fuck, yes." Stephanie was shocked to realize those words and that tone actually came from her. The man did something to her that she couldn't quite explain. He made her someone different, or maybe he just freed the woman that had always been there.

Ranger fisted his hand in her hair and pulled her head back, causing her back to bow more, changing the angle to allow him to move deeper. A sound of pure pleasure escaped her as he pushed farther in, grinding against her.

She sucked in a sharp breath when he sunk in as far as he could go, bumping up against her end. No man had ever been buried that deep inside of her, and a flood of arousal washed through her, coating them both.

Ranger remained anchored deep within her and began gently rotating his hips, pressing and touching her at her very center. The sensation was unexpected and overwhelming. She had never felt anything quite like that before. He was buried inside of her massaging and caressing her, in a rhythmic dance that touched a part of her she didn't even know existed. A pleasurable ache began to build deep inside. It felt like heat and pleasure radiating out from her very core through her entire body.

Instinctively she knew they weren't just having sex anymore; they were making love. Whatever happened, a part of her would always be intertwined with him.

She rocked back against him, and she felt his fingers dig into her hips, his hands leaving an imprint on her flesh, as the pressure continued to build with each perfectly timed movement designed to overwhelm her senses. Every touch, every swipe of his tongue, every stroke was a claim, a flag planted marking her as his. It thrilled her and terrified her.

Almost without warning, she felt contractions of pleasure start deep inside of her rocketing through her whole body. Every muscle tensed as she arched her head back as wave after wave of intense pleasure washed through her. Her heart was pounding and her breathing ragged as she collapsed forward on her forearms, desperately trying to get enough oxygen. Stephanie was pretty sure she blacked out for a second, as the world spun and little aftershocks ricocheted through her. It felt like her entire body was trembling. She had never experienced that kind of intensity, and a little part of her was frightened by it. Nothing would ever compare. What had once been nothing more than an outrageous thought, was now a foregone conclusion. Ranger had ruined her for all other men.

Ranger gave her a minute to recover and come back to herself, and then started working to exploit the friction between them, changing angles, and pushing deeper. His grip on her conveyed his demand without words, and she felt a thrill go through her that he wanted her as much as she wanted him. His commanding rhythm stroked that aching, tender spot deep within her, tearing raw, intense sounds of pleasure from her. She shuddered against him, her legs quaking from the sensation.

Her release hit her with such an unexpected force that she bit her bottom lip to keep from crying out, or maybe it was to keep her from confessing, she wasn't sure which.

Ranger followed quickly, hard and brutal. His shout echoing in the quiet room. He collapsed forward wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing his face into the curve of her neck.

"I knew it would be like this. You would be like this." She heard Ranger say. She didn't ask him what he meant or how long he had thought about it. Stephanie was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to handle the answers. Not right now, and maybe never. Ranger had sparked something in her that she didn't know existed.

Ranger rolled beside her, facing her. He stared at her with something she couldn't quite name. Possession, ownership, belonging? It made fear cut through her. It was too much, she would be lost to him, to the moment. She couldn't let him look at her like that because she would never survive it. A look like that could cause her to promise him anything, so she stopped him from looking. Stephanie threaded her fingers in his silky hair and pulled his mouth to hers. Lips, teeth, and tongue work together to distract him.

"You smell great." She told him, her lips brushing against his neck as she spoke, her mind suddenly not totally connected to her mouth.

"I thought of you when I took a shower. I love this stuff you use."

"Ella buys it for me." Ranger said. "Maybe I should give her a raise."

And, he kissed her again. A long, deep kiss that demanded surrender. Nothing held back, nothing in reserve. His fingertips traced lines down her chest across her heart, over the swell of her breast. She could smell his intoxicating scent, as he rolled her underneath him. Heat was swirling through her, settling at her core causing an ache only he could stop. She could feel him prodding against her belly.

The doorbell chimed and she stiffened. "What's that?" She asked against his lips. She felt him smile.

"Ella with breakfast." He told her.

Stephanie groaned. "It's not even six in the morning."

Ranger moved off of her and planted a kiss on her lips. "Go back to sleep, Babe."

Ranger rolled over and stood-up. Stephanie stared at him transfixed. The sheer physical perfection made her want to drag him back into the bed, and run her tongue over every inch of his body.

Ranger pulled on his boxers and the t-shirt over his head and started towards the door.

"I'd like nothing more than to spend the day doing just that." His voice drifted back to her. Stephanie snapped her head up. How the hell had he known what she was thinking.

There was no point in trying to go back to bed, she was far too keyed up. Stephanie climbed out of bed. Wincing a little. She was actually a little sore. Between the car wreck, the wrestling match, and Ranger all of her muscles were protesting. In fact, there were muscles that she didn't even know she had that were screaming.

Stephanie pulled on Ranger's t-shirt and a pair of yoga pants. She figured Ella could call them whatever she wanted but she would call them what they really were. Couch sitting, channel surfing, tastykake eating pants. She kind of liked the pants. Ella had good taste, even if every single thing, except for the pajamas and the underwear, was black. The bra and panty sets were lacy and seductive. Clearly Ella had an agenda. It was such a weird juxtaposition. All this frilly, lacy underwear under utilitarian black cargos and t-shirts.

Stephanie made a quick stop in the bathroom and made a valiant, but pointless, attempt to tame her hair. She padded into the kitchen, suddenly feeling self-conscious. She kept sleeping with Ranger, even though she knew it wasn't going anywhere, but damn if she could be around him and not jump him. From the moment he had knocked her on her ass at the food court, she'd been lost.

Ranger was at the table sorting through mail and having breakfast. He gave her one of those rare full-on smiles of his and her heart stuttered to a stop.

Stephanie's eyes landed on the tray. It was piled high with eggs, fruit, and pancakes. She raised her brow at him. Surely 'my body is my temple' didn't eat pancakes.

"Ella wasn't sure what you liked, so she made one of everything."

Ranger poured her a cup of coffee and added a healthy dose of cream, handing it to her.

"Thanks." She mumbled as heat flamed her cheeks. Way to play it cool. Suddenly having breakfast felt way too intimate. Apparently rolling around with him naked didn't bother her, but eating a croissant did. Yeesh.

"You eat like this every day?" She asked. Mainly so she wouldn't have to sit in awkward silence, and think about what he would be eating if breakfast hadn't interrupted them.

"Every day that I'm here."

"What about the tree bark and wild roots?" Stephanie was smiling at him.

He poured himself more coffee and took some fruit. "Only when I'm in a third world jungle. And I'm almost never in one of those."

"But you are sometimes?" She asked.

"Sometimes." Ranger confirmed.

Stephanie gestured around her. "If you have all this, why do you still do fugitive apprehension for Vinnie?"

"I'm good at it. And someone has to do the job." Ranger shrugged like it was a self-evident truth.

Stephanie thought that was as good a reason as any. It was more than she could really say for herself and why she worked at E.E. Martin.

"What's the plan?" she asked.

Ranger paused. "We keep pulling threads, following leads."

"What am I supposed to do? I can't just sit here and hope for the best. I'll go crazy." Stephanie was eyeing him, and her voice had been far more demanding than she had planned. This was the part where she figured he would tell her to simmer down, and let the professionals handle it.

"I was hoping you could help us out. We have a lot of data and a lot of searches that need to be done. With your expertise, you can probably spot things we can't." Ranger was watching her carefully, gauging her reaction.

Stephanie blew out a breath. "That would be great."

Ranger nodded. "Good. I'll have Silvio set up a work station for you. I've got to get downstairs, I'm late. Come down when you are ready."

Ranger cleared his dishes, and a couple of minutes later she heard the shower turn on. Stephanie sighed. This was such a slippery slope. Ranger's apartment was beyond comfortable. It was professionally decorated in soothing earth shades. The furniture was all clean modern lines. The kitchen was sleek and stocked with food thanks to Ella. The shower had limitless hot water and sinful shower gel. The king-size bed had thousand-thread-count sheets. And then there was Ranger. He was total eye candy, and surprisingly easy to live with as long as you understood that his energy would always dominate his space. Not to mention Ranger in bed. Yeah, a girl could get used to that way too easy. The only problem, eventually she would have to leave. Ranger had made that clear, and that would be a pain that killed soft and slow.

As hard as it might be. Stephanie rolled her eyes at her own bad pun. She had to quit sleeping with Ranger. It was like whacking your head against the wall, eventually it hurt and your head started to bleed. She was a little afraid that would be her heart. It was time to get some distance.

She heard the shower shut-off, and a few minutes later Ranger was back. Dressed in his usual uniform of black cargos, black t-shirt, black boots.

He leaned down and brushed a soft kiss across her lips. "I'll see you on five." And then he was gone. The minute the door clicked closed, she missed him. Stephanie was afraid that was just a preview.

Of course, if they didn't figure out the Novak and Vito situation, she wouldn't live long enough for it to matter anyway. Stephanie heaved herself out of her chair and padded to the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later she was showered and dressed in black cargo pants and a black t-shirt. At least this time they fit and her underwear wasn't monogrammed. Things were clearly looking up. She pulled her damp hair back into a pony tail and swiped on some mascara and lip gloss courtesy of Ella.

She grabbed her phone and fob and headed downstairs.

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A/N: Litus81 and Vicki Snyder1 – this chapter was for you! :-) Thank you and everyone for their reviews, feedback, and encouragement.