Smut warning. Let me know what you think! An epilogue will be forthcoming– Heather

Chapter 43

Ric wrapped his arms around me, and I leaned back into his arms. 'Ok?' he asked.

I nodded, and then I yawned. 'I guess I'm tired,' I said sheepishly, 'I didn't get much sleep, what with the great escape and all.'

'I expect the effects of the adrenaline are making it worse as well. Wanna go take a nap?'

I looked in his eyes, examining him, then I sighed. 'You haven't been sleeping well either huh?'

'No Babe, turns out I'm pretty used to having your body curled up in front of me, even in Boston I was having trouble sleeping.'

'Me too.' I admitted, 'let's go crash.'

We made our excuses and went back to Ric's bedroom. We lay down, my front to Ric's back.

'Babe?'

'Hmm?'

'How did you get here?'

'Well Ric, my Mom and my Dad loved each other very much and they-'

Ric laughed, 'Babe. That's not what I meant and you know it.'

I giggled, 'sorry, couldn't resist. I got a cab number from Not-So's wallet, then I went outside and found a street name. Then I called the cab using the home phone, and then I asked the cab driver to pick me up and bring me here.'

'How did you know where here was?'

'You told me your parents address one time.'

'And you remembered?' he said, incredulous. 'Babe, sometime you forget to feed Rex, how could you remember something I mentioned in passing?'

'It's hard to forget: Number One, Heart Street. 'One heart' – of course I remembered it! Any other questions?'

'Nope, fresh out of those…but I do have something else you might be interested in.'

'Oh?' I asked.

He laughed softly and leaned his body into mine. Something hard pressed into my butt.

'Something on your mind, lover?' I purred.

'One or two things actually, we were pretty rushed in the shower…I think I should show you exactly how much I missed you. How much I love you.'

'Maybe you should do that,' I agreed, a smile creeping across my face. I turned to face him, careful of my wounded shoulder and hand.

Ric leaned down, his tongue licked over the curve of my lips, tracing them, memorising them. I parted my lips in invitation and his tongue swept into my mouth. I moaned into his mouth as his hand gently kneaded my breast through my clothes.

'You know…' he said, drawing back from my lips, 'you must be pretty hot in all those clothes. Maybe I should help you out of them?'

I stifled the urge to point out that he had only helped me into them an hour or so ago.

'Maybe you should do that.' I said instead.

His careful hands tenderly eased my clothes from me, mindful of all my scrapes and wounds.

He stroked a possessive hand down my body, caressing my skin, sending shivers through me. He gently pushed my body back into the bed, and leaned over me so he could place soft kisses down my neck. 'Mine.' He whispered into my ear, his tongue curled out and lapped at my ear lobe, whilst his teeth nibbled on it.

I let out a soft moan, and he smiled, 'you can't be too loud Babe, these walls aren't the thickest in the world.'

I looked at him with desire dancing in my eyes, 'then you'd better gag me.' I said.

His eyes darkened and his breathing turned a bit harsher. He pulled off his shirt, and rolled it up sideways, making a makeshift gag.

'Open your mouth.' He ordered. I did, and he put the gag in my mouth, tying it behind my head.

'Ok?' he asked.

I nodded, moaning low in my throat.

Ric pushed my legs gently apart and positioned himself between them, still clad in his pants: dammit.

His mouth brushed soft kisses over my breasts and I made a noise in my throat to let him know I wanted more. Obligingly he opened his mouth and took my left breast in his mouth, sucking on me, causing jolts of pleasure to travel straight to my clit. My hips shot off the bed as his fingers pinched my other nipple. Then he swapped over breasts and lavished the same attention on the right one as he'd given to the left. I moaned again, the sound thankfully muted by his t-shirt.

Eventually Ric moved further down my body, his fingers stroked between my folds but he didn't touch my clit. I made a noise of protest and he flashed me a wicked smile. Then he slid two broad fingers inside me and bent his head down to lick between my legs. I gasped as his tongue flicked against my clit again and again. His fingers were moving in and out of me and I felt the low heat starting to burn in my belly. I let out another moan and I writhed against his tongue. He added a third finger inside me, and I drew in a sharp breath of air as I felt myself stretch pleasantly. He sucked my clit into his mouth and my hips jerked off the bed as I came, my cries muffled by the gag. Ric stayed with me as I came, his fingers and his tongue prolonging the orgasm as much as possible.

Finally I took a deep shuddering breath and came back to myself. I couldn't speak because of the gag – Esp, don't fail me now. Ric, get your cock inside me NOW.

Apparently Ric got the message because his eyes widened and he quickly yanked off his pants. My eyes feasted on his naked body, so long absent from me. I dragged my eyes up to his and I pulled my knees up, spreading my legs wide.

Ric didn't need an engraved invitation, and his cock pushed gently at my entrance. I used my uninjured left hand to drag my nails down his back; faster, harder – I silently demanded.

Ric laughed softly and eased his huge length inside me, I writhed as I felt him stretch me and fill me in the most delicious way possible. We moved together easily; both of us knowing the other so well that we knew what we wanted. Ric's hand slipped between out bodies, searching for, and finding, my clit. He rubbed me firmly and I cried out as I came again. My walls clenched around him and he came too, gasping my name.

He held himself up from me, careful not to collapse on top of me as he came. Eventually our spasms stopped and our breathing started to even out. Ric gently slipped his cock out of me, undid my gag, and then he lifted me up and carried me to the bathroom so I could clean up.

I shooed him away and did my thing. Then I left the bathroom and crawled into bed next to Ric.

'I'm really tired now.' I confessed.

Rico laughed softly, 'me too.'

Ric spooned me from behind and put an arm round my waist.

'I love you Steph.' He said.

'I love you Ric.' I replied, and we both disappeared off into the world of dreams.

Ranger's POV

I woke to find myself tangled around her in a mass of limbs. My eyes flicked to the clock by the bedside and then to the window. It was dark outside and the clock read 10pm. I was still tired, but there was some unfinished business that I needed to take care of. So I inched my body away from hers and got dressed. I pulled on a full utility belt, but the gun I secured to it was unregistered.

I was so happy to have my Babe back, but she wasn't unhurt. Just the thought of her protruding ribs and her broken fingers drove me into such a rage that I had to struggle not to slam my fist into the wall.

I clenched my jaw and stroked her hair out of her face with a gentle hand. She smiled in her sleep and my heart clenched to think that Pedral might have taken her away from me. I made sure her nakedness was covered with the sheets and then I opened the door and stepped into the main room.

'Tank.' I said, 'you're on bodyguard duty. Not for anything do you let her out of your sight. Clear?'

Tank nodded and took his post by her bedside, closing the door behind him. I ignored my family for now; I didn't want my baby sister to see murder on my face.

'Bobby, Bear, Coyote; you're with me.' All three men nodded and rose. 'What's their location now?' I asked.

Bobby answered, 'Damien and his men secured the prisoners at safe house Tango.' I nodded, 'Let's go.' I said.

I drove there calmly; I didn't want to get arrested for speeding and have to explain away our knives and unregistered guns. Still, we were there within half an hour, and although I drove calmly, I was anything but calm.

In my mind I could see where she'd been stabbed in the shoulder – she kept saying it wasn't that bad, but I saw her wince virtually every time she moved. And when she used her right hand by accident, I saw her bite back a gasp of pain, and I saw her skin pale.

We entered the safe house. I dismissed Damien and his men. Damien looked into my eyes a long moment before nodding, all trace of his usual good humour gone. 'I didn't talk to Steph that much when I was at the compound, but I talked with her enough to know that I like her, a lot. Don't get yourself thrown in jail, Ric.'

I nodded once, and Damien and his men left.

Without a word Bear went to the safe house's security room and removed the security tapes and turned off the cameras. There would be no record we'd ever been here. Silently, we each took a room, and with each room came a bad guy.

I got Pedral.

When I walked in, Pedral's eyes were resigned; he knew what was coming. He was bound, and gagged. The sportsman in me wanted to untie him, to give him a small chance, but then I remembered the chafe marks on my Babe's wrists. They hadn't given her a chance. With that comment raging through my brain, rational thought left the building, and my fist slammed into the son of a bitch's face.

Three hours later and we'd disposed of the bodies and the guns, and we'd cleaned up the house. The tapes showing Pedral and his cronies being brought here were also destroyed. We changed our clothes and checked over every detail. Satisfied, we reconnected the security cameras and left.

We dropped Coyote off at the airport, he told me to tell Steph to 'live up to the jacket'. Then he told me that if I hurt her he'd hunt me down – my Babe makes a big impression on people; even cold hired assassins love her.

I drove back to my parent's house, we slipped inside and I went to relieve Tank of bodyguard duty.

Tank left, and I undressed and climbed into bed once again. I wrapped an arm around my Babe and relaxed, sleep was not long in coming.

Steph's POV

I woke up as Aly ran into the room, yelling for us to 'wake up!'

This comment was closely followed by, 'Daddy – you're naked!'

Ric woke up; during the night the sheets had fallen down to expose his broad chest and his long muscular leg was out of the covers as well, but luckily nothing else was um...exposed. Ric quickly pulled the sheets up to cover him properly.

Aly looked at us for a beat. 'Did you have sex?' she asked.

Ric was blushing bright red and his mouth was gaping; moving up and down but no sound was coming out. 'Uhnk.' He finally said, or something like that.

I was biting the inside of my check, trying not to laugh at Ric's reaction.

'Because if you did,' Aly continued, 'did you use a condom?'

Ric froze, 'what?' he said in a strangled voice.

'I said, did you use a condom? Because my teacher at school says that condoms stop the man's tadpoles from making the woman pregnant. But I think it would be better if you didn't use a condom so Mom could maybe get pregnant and then I'd have a baby brother or sister! Wouldn't that be coolest?'

The door to the living room was wide-open thanks to Aly's entrance, and I could hear Tank, Bobby, and Lester all having 'coughing fits'.

Ric was just staring at his daughter, 'you have sex education at 9?' he asked, incredulous.

'Actually it starts when you're 8,' she said helpfully.

'Aly, honey,' I interjected, 'why don't you go and have some breakfast, I'll be out in a bit and I'll read you some Charlotte's web, coolest?'

'Coolest!' she said happily, hopping off to the kitchen, luckily she closed the bedroom door behind her.

I managed to wait thirty seconds before I burst out laughing, 'Ohmigod, you should have seen your face!'

He mock frowned at me, 'behave yourself!' I smiled and kissed his hand conciliatorily. Then I paused as I saw his scraped knuckles, which had been perfectly fine last night. He followed my gaze and he paused too, waiting for my reaction.

'It's over?' I asked softly.

'It's over.'

'For good?'

He nodded once, and I knew what he'd done for me. 'Thank you.' I whispered. He leaned over and kissed me, his arms holding me closely.

Then a thought occurred to me. 'Oh my god!'

'What?' Ric asked.

'We didn't use a condom!'

'So?'

'So, my kidnappers didn't give me the pill once a day Ric!'

'Oh.' He kissed me on the forehead reassuringly, 'Well, if you were pregnant would you be ok with it?'

I thought about it, really thought about it. I imagined having a mini Ric/Steph combo growing inside me and I smiled, 'yeah, I'd be more than ok with it.'

Ric smiled into my eyes, 'me too.'

'So, we want more kids?'

'We want more kids.' He agreed.

'Ok, so when we get home, how about I throw away my boxes of the pill?'

A wide grin spread across Ric's face, 'that sounds great Babe.' A predatory glint entered his eye, 'and then I think we should have lots and lots of sex.'

'Weren't we going to do that anyway?' I asked, amused.

He started to laugh, 'well, yeah.' He admitted.

'Just checking,' I laughed. 'Ric?'

'Yeah Babe?'

'One more thing.'

'Yeah?'

'If I get pregnant then we have to get married before it starts showing.'

Ric grinned, 'it's a deal Babe.'

'Ric?'

'Yeah Babe?'

'One more thing.'

'Yeah?'

'I love you.'