This one is a little longer than usual from me. I'm heading on vacation and wanted to give you guys something to remember me by. Lol. Tiina thanks so much for being a
late-nighter like myself and proofing this for me.
And Renee, thanks for always making me feel like what I write is actually good.
And to everyone at You guys are awesome. I read everyone's comments and cherish them completely.
Hope this keeps ya'll satisfied until I return.
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Ranger rose his head and met her lips half way. When the pulled back he said, "Are you one of those women?"
Stephanie smiled and said, "There's only one way to find out."
In one quick move, Ranger rolled them over until he had her pinned beneath him. "Actually babe, I can think of a few more ways than just one." As his wolf grin slid into place, Stephanie's toes instinctively began to curl.
Chapter 20
The following morning Stephanie rose with a smile. She rolled gently in bed and gazed upon Ranger's sleeping form; one arm tucked behind his head while the other was hanging off the mattress. His dark body lay in stark contrast against the white sheets which tangled around his limbs.
His lips curled slowly as he began to speak, "You're staring babe."
"So?" she countered wondering how he had known she was indeed staring.
With a chuckle he opened his eyes to meet her gaze. "Good morning." He said as he lifted his head slightly to meet her lips.
"Morning Ric. Sleep well?" she teased.
"In fact I did. At least for the 30 minutes you weren't jumping my bones, I did."
"I didn't hear any complaints at the time."
"And you won't hear any in the future either." Ranger moved the hand that was tucked behind his head and let it slowly drift up Stephanie's arm. His hand stopped when his palm cupped her cheek. "I adore you Stephanie."
"The feeling's mutual." She replied.
After a quick peck on her nose Ranger whispered, "What do you have going on today?"
"Nothing until this afternoon. You didn't forget that I have the doctor's appointment today did you?"
Ranger smiled then slide from the bed. "Of course not. Today's the first ultrasound."
"I'm nervous."
"That's normal babe. But don't worry it's not painful and I'll be right beside you holding your hand the entire time."
"You're too good to me." Stephanie told him as he walked into the bathroom.
Talking over his shoulder he replied, "Yeah, well get use to it. Now get up babe, I promised Kat we would have breakfast with her, Eva and Daniel this morning. They should be here any minute."
Breakfast consisted of waffles, eggs and homemade muffins provided by Ella.
"God I've missed her cooking." Eva said as she refilled her coffee cup.
"She does know the way around the kitchen." Stephanie added.
"Yes she does." Eva said.
After everyone had cleaned their plates, gone back for seconds and cleaned them once again they discussed their plans for the day.
"I really need to go shopping for some clothes. I won't be able to fit in these pants for much longer." Stephanie stated.
"Oooo, shopping! That sounds fun. Mind if I tag along?" Eva added.
"Only if you promise to be totally honest with your opinions. If I try on something that makes me look like the Goodyear Blimp you have to tell me."
Eva raised her right hand while she placed her left over her heart. "I do solemnly swear to be brutally honest and I will do everything in my power to prevent you from buying something hideous."
"I think I'll leave the shopping to you two. Want to go see some of the guys today? Tank and Bobby were going to be at the shooting range for awhile this morning." Ranger asked.
"Yeah, that sounds great. I need to get some practice in anyway."
"Daddy! Don't forget you promised to drop me off at Sam's this morning." Kat yelled.
"I didn't forget. We'll drop you off on the way to the range. Are you ready to go?" Ranger asked.
"Yeah, I just need to grab my bathing suit. Sam and I are going to work on our tans today." Kat said as she jumped up from the table. "I'll run downstairs and get it. Be right back."
Eyeing the disapproval in Ranger's face, Eva spoke up. "Ric, you can't keep her a little girl forever."
"I know!" Ranger said sharply.
Stephanie placed a soothing hand on his arm and he immediately began to relax.
"Sorry I yelled. It's just that you're use to seeing her like this. The last time I was with her she was still playing with Barbie Dolls. I feel like I've missed so much."
Eva, "What choice did you have Ric? Kat knows you love her. She knows that you spend as much time with her as you can. Don't beat yourself up over the past. Just make sure you make the most of the present."
Before he could argue, Stephanie agreed. "She's right Ric. Don't waste time fretting over what could have been. Just look forward to all the wonderful time you're going to have with her in the future."
Ranger lifted himself from the chair and grabbed Stephanie's arms raising her with him. He pulled her body into his and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"I didn't know I would have both of you ganging up on me. I don't think it's very fair."
Stephanie laughed. "Stop pouting Ranger, it's not a good look for you."
Wanting to shut her up, he grabbed the back of her head and forced her mouth to his. When their tongues touched a moan escaped from them both. Before Kat returned, and before things got out of hand Daniel cleared his throat to break up the necking couple.
Stephanie blushed. "Sorry. I'll go take a shower so we can head out to the mall."
Eva laughed. "No problem. I'll just wait here for you."
When Stephanie turned towards the bedroom, Ranger instinctively followed but was abruptly stopped when Daniel grabbed his arm.
"No way man. I want to get there before the day is over and if I let you follow her into that shower we'll never leave." Daniel explained.
Ranger shook his head then agreed. "Yeah, you're probably right." He clapped Daniel on the back and the pair made their way to the door. As he was pulling it secure behind him, Ranger stuck his head back in and said to Eva, "Take care of her today."
Eva smiled, "Don't worry Ric. I have a feeling she's going to be just fine."
Feeling better, Ranger finished closing the door and went to catch up with Kat and Daniel.
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After a much needed cold shower, Stephanie struggled to button her jeans. She sucked in a breath, squirmed on the bed, nearly fell on her head and in the end was still unable to make the snap connect. Resolved not to give up, Stephanie walked through the living room in search of Eva who would hopefully have a safety pin.
She found her standing on the balcony taking in the sights of the city below.
"Any chance you have a safety pin?" Stephanie asked, causing Eva to jump from surprise.
Eva turned towards Stephanie, but refused to meet her eyes. She tried to hide a sniff when she spoke. "I think I have one in my purse."
Stephanie caught the shine in her eyes and grabbed her arm as she walked past. "Eva are you crying? What's wrong? Has something happened?"
Eva stopped in place and waved a hand to dismiss Stephanie's concern. "Oh I feel so silly Steph. One minute I was fine and the next minute I'm a basket case. I've been that way ever since we found out that Daniel was going back to active duty."
Instinctively Stephanie pulled Eva into an embrace. "Shhh. You aren't being silly at all. In fact you're being incredibly strong given the circumstances. I would probably have found a way to drug Ric and hide him in a cave until it was all over."
The thought of anyone hiding Ranger in a cave made Eva laugh. "I'd pay good money to see you try that."
"Nah. I like living way too much to mess with his badass." Stephanie replied.
Eva's laugh came quicker. "Please don't tell me that man is still doing his tough man routine?"
Stephanie smiled, "More than ever. In fact I think he has it trademarked by now."
"He always did enjoy intimidating people."
"It's good to know that some things never change." Stephanie laughed.
"True. But some things do change like the size of your pants. Let's go shopping so you don't have to spend the next four months naked." Eva said as she made her way through the apartment.
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Four hours later Eva and Stephanie crammed one last bag into the SUV.
"I can't believe we bought this much." Stephanie sighed.
"Me either. That must have been a record or something for speed shopping." Eva agreed.
Eva and Steph settled into the front of the SUV and sent it in the direction of Rangeman. The women fell quickly in the comfort of friendly chatter. Stephanie couldn't believe how much she enjoyed spending time with Eva. Ranger's ex-wife had turned out to be nothing like what she had expected. But the more and more she got to know her, Stephanie began to see the reasons Ranger had undoubtedly fallen in love with her.
After stowing the bags in the apartment Stephanie suggested they have lunch on the balcony. After a quick call to Ella the two women dug into a delicious homemade soup while looking over the sights of downtown Trenton.
"Can I ask you a question Eva?"
Eva eyed her suspiciously then laughed, "I wondered how long it was going to take you."
"Take me to do what?" Stephanie asked.
"How long it would take you to start asking me questions about Ranger. I'm impressed that you actually waited this long." Eva explained.
"Maybe I wasn't going to ask about Ranger?" Stephanie pouted.
"Uh huh." Eva laughed.
"Ok fine. I was going to ask about Ranger, but do you blame me?" Stephanie laughed as she playfully tossed a napkin across the table.
"Of course not. I would have been asking questions ages ago. So let me have it. What do you want to know?"
"How did you two meet." Stephanie questioned.
"Honestly, I don't remember ever meeting him. I've always just known him. We grew up together. Our families lived in the same neighborhood in Miami. We were the only kids on the street around the same age so it was natural that we became friends. He was the first boy to look up my skirt and I teased him about it all through school." Eva explained.
"So when did you guys go from being buddies to being married?"
"That too sort of happened naturally. When puberty struck we both searched for the familiar. I just remember one day we were playing outside together and all of a sudden I had the urge to kiss him. So I did. Boys are slower than us remember, so he hated it. He acted as if I had just given him the gout. He ran home and didn't talk to me for a week."
Stephanie laughed at the thought of Ranger not liking girls.
"When he finally started talking to me again he had apparently decided the kiss wasn't that bad. So he asked me to do it again. So I did and that was all it took. Our parents let us have our first official date when we were 15. His mom drove us to the movies. We spent the entire time in the back row watching the other couples make out." Eva grew quiet as the memories began to flood back to her.
"I wish you could have known Ric back then. He was so different from the man you know now." Eva continued. "Now, he's this self-confidant, self- assured man but back then he was a gangly little punk. He hit a growth spurt when he was 16 and that made him quickly become the tallest boy in our class. And although he was tall, he was also very skinny. No matter what he ate he couldn't put on any weight. He was scrawny, clumsy and despite what he may say today, he was a dork."
Stephanie laughed too quickly and soda spewed from her mouth. Eva tossed her some napkins then continued with the story.
"He didn't have a lot of friends back then. It was really just me and him. He wasn't the most popular as you may have suspected and he wasn't a great athlete. He did play football our junior year of high school but he spent most of the time on the bench. Back then I thought everything was perfect."
"So what changed?" Stephanie asked.
"We both changed. Him for the better, me for the worse. After high school we immediately got married. Not long after that we moved to New Jersey to attend college. In the beginning it was terrific. We had a crappy little apartment off campus and we could barely make ends meet. But we were both happy. I just wish I could have understood that then.
During our second year of college Ric's body started to change. The once scrawny kid was suddenly filling out to become the man he is today. And for the first time in his life, women were noticing him."
Stephanie gasped. "He cheated on you!"
"I didn't say that. Don't get ahead of me." Eva scolded.
Shutting up, Stephanie took a large sip of soda and leaned back for the rest of the story.
"So suddenly women were taking note of him, but he hardly paid them any attention. Ranger is fiercely loyal so anytime I would comment on the looks he got from women he would brush them off and say that the only comments he was interested in were the ones I made. In the beginning, I enjoyed having other women be jealous of me because of who I was with. But it didn't take long for that to fade.
Things started to really go downhill when I got pregnant. I had a troublesome pregnancy so I was on bed rest most of the time. That meant Ric had to work extra hard to pay the bills and attend school at the same time. He would come home late at night after working double shifts at his job and I would accuse him of cheating on me."
Eva suddenly turned more serious and reached out for Stephanie's hand. "Stephanie if you hear anything I say, hear this. My jealousy is the reason for our divorce. I just couldn't understand how a sexy man like Ric, who had all these women lining up for him would want to come home to me. At first I made my accusations seem like I was teasing, but over time I grew obsessed with the thoughts of him cheating. My self-esteem hit rock bottom. I was constantly accusing Ric of doing things that were simply untrue, while inside I was convincing myself that I wasn't good enough to be with him."
A small tear trickled from Stephanie's eyes as she listened to the pain still in Eva's voice.
"In the short amount of time I've been around you, I've heard you put yourself down a couple of times. Don't do what I did Stephanie. Ranger is with you for one reason, and one reason only. He loves you. Never forget that." Eva reached across the table and placed both of Stephanie's hands into her own. "Always remember that there a lot of women out there that would gladly share their bed with him, but there's only one person he chose to share his with. That's you. Don't waste time questioning why he loves you, simply let him. Embrace his love and embrace him and he'll make you happier than you could ever imagine. Don't be a fool like I was. You're an amazing women you deserve to be with Ric just as much as he deserves to be with you."
Maybe it was the hormones raging through her body, or maybe Eva had struck a nerve, but no matter what the cause Stephanie broke into tears. Eva got up and walked over to her. She placed her arms around Steph's quivering body and did her best to soothe the pregnant women.
When she was finally able to catch her breath Stephanie spoke through the tears. "You've just described my worst fear. Everyday I ask myself why this man is with me. I just keep waiting for him to come to his senses and realize he could have someone so much better than me."
"Nonsense Stephanie. Ranger's not a stupid man. He knows exactly what kind of woman you are. He knows what else is out there but he's made his choice. He chose to be with you, don't push him away because of some silly insecurities on your part."
Stephanie sniffed again and willed the tears to stop. "Eva you'll never know how much I needed you to say these things to me. I thought I was all alone with these thoughts. I never imagined that someone else could have felt the same way."
Eva released her hold of Stephanie and returned to her own chair. "I felt just like that for a long time. So long in fact that it ultimately ruined a perfectly good marriage. I hated myself for what I became. It took me a long time to rebuild my self-confidence. I've finally learned to love myself, faults and all."
"How did you do it?" Stephanie asked.
"Sheer determination. It sounds stupid, but every morning I would tell myself that I was a worthy person. Sometimes that was harder than it sounds. It also helped that I had a wonderful man by my side. Daniel was a godsend. He was my strength when I needed it most. Ric can be that for you if you just let him. I know you want to be independent, but it doesn't make you weak to lean on someone else every now and then."
Stephanie patted her face dry with her napkin. "Dammit Eva, I was really hoping I would hate you."
Eva laughed, "Oh god! I was hoping I would hate you too!"
"So instead of hating each other do you think we can become friends?" Stephanie asked.
"We already have Steph."
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An hour and a half before her appointment with the obstetrician Stephanie heard the bathroom door open while she was in the shower.
"Babe?" Ranger asked.
Instead of answering him Stephanie opened the shower door, grabbed him by his shirt and yanked him under the spray.
Her hands were hot and greedy. She needed to touch skin, his skin. She grabbed at his shirt popping the buttons as she moved her way down his chest. She tugged the bottom of it from his pants and finally tossed the torn material over the top of the shower door.
"Steph…" Ranger moaned as she took turns biting one of his bare nipples then the other.
When his brown skin had reddened from her assault she dropped to her knees, unbuckling his pants as she went. His hard cock fought with the zipper of this trousers as it fought for release. When the button was unfastened and the material shifted off his hips, his dick bounced solidly in front of her face.
In one quick move, she grasped his balls in one hand, his shaft in another and sucked the very tip into her mouth. Ranger lost all control of his body. He placed his hands on the sides of the shower as he braced himself to prevent falling. His hips jerked forward and back as Stephanie sucked him deep into her mouth.
His orgasm started slow and deep. He tried with all his might to warn Stephanie. He wanted to stop her, to prevent the sensations from coming to an end. But his voice was weak and her mouth was strong. He dropped one hand to the back of her head and tangled his fingers into her thick curls. With a few shallow thrusts he exploded, filling her mouth with his very essence.
As she willingly accepted his last drop she fell backwards onto her butt. After prying his eyes open, he dropped to the floor beside her.
"Good god Stephanie. What the hell was that?" he panted.
Stephanie smiled, "I just wanted to remind you of how damn lucky you are to have me."
Ranger's head jerked back with laughter. "I would say that's unnecessary, but I don't think I have enough willpower to deny you from doing that again."
Stephanie regained just enough composure to pull herself to her feet. She held out a hand to help Ranger up. "Get up and rinse off, we have to be at the doctor's office in an hour. Then afterwards I believe you owe me some payback."
Ranger rose to his feet and wrapped Stephanie into a giant bear hug. With his face buried in her hair he mumbled, "Don't worry about the payback, you're definitely going to get what's coming to you."
To Be Continued…