In Walked Love
Chapter 4
SapphireJ
Stephanie and I spent all night last night just talking. We learned so much about each other. Like, take for instance, her favorite color is Grey; like my eyes. My favorite color is Gold; like our wedding bands. I learned that she loves to run her fingers through my hair when we are laying and talking. I found that I can't keep my hands off her when we are close. I have to be in some sort of contact with her.
I looked over at my wife sleeping next to me and I smiled. We agreed that, while we aren't keeping the marriage from anyone, we aren't going to just blurt it out yet either. We are wearing our bands and will tell people when we are ready. If someone notices and asks, we won't lie. We sort of have a bet going on. I say no one will notice; at least not the guys at work. We don't tend to look at people's hands. Steph, on the other hand, says that everyone will see the bands the second we walk in the building. The wager? A full body massage to the winner given by the loser. I can't wait to collect my massage.
I reach over and brush her hair off her face; I hate not being able to see her face. I discovered sometime over the last few months that I love looking at her when she sleeps. It has a calming effect on me. Yes, I've watched her sleep many times. Ever since Ranger took off for his latest mission, Steph and I have been spending a lot of time together. I think it started out as her not wanting to be by herself and I was depressed at the time. She sensed something was wrong with me and started talking one day. We went to lunch, rounded up some of her skips, and then did dinner together. Ever since that night of just talking, we vowed to spend at least two or three nights a week just talking over dinner.
I was slowly falling deeper in love with her but doubted she felt the same about me. I knew some of what had gone on between her, Joe, and Ranger, but never the full extent. Last night Steph told me that while Ranger admitted to being in love with her, he also told her that a relationship with him would never be conducive. He has too many enemies and he'd always be looking over his shoulder. He has no plans on retiring from the government at this point in his life and he'd hate to have something happen to her just because of his life.
They have agreed to be friends; and of course Ranger offered his body anytime she wanted it, but she has assured me that will no longer be an option. I love my wife and I trust her, but I will be having a talk with Ranger when he returns.
Leaning over, I gently kiss Steph on the forehead and she stirs. Wrapping her arms around my neck, she pulled me closer and covered my lips with hers. When her tongued traced my lips, I moaned and couldn't resist opening to her. "Good morning, Steph," I whispered as my lips skimmed across her neck.
"Mmm, morning, Matthew. How long have you… ahhhhhhh, God that feels good," she moaned when I nibbled where her neck and shoulder met. I loved the sounds I was able to pull from her and wanted to find more ways to make them happen.
"Tell me again," I whispered in her ear before nipping the lobe.
"Tell you what?" she questioned.
"You told me last night when you began to fall in love with me; I want to hear it again." I loved hearing the story last night and just knew it would be one of my all-time favorites.
Curling up next to me, and placing her head on my chest, Steph began retelling me the story. "Well, I had gone back to the bonds office to drop off my receipt for Mooner. As soon as I walked in, my car went BOOM! I saw a black SUV pull up and Tank stepped out, along with Lester. They checked on me and left after the cops left. Of course, the cops didn't leave until they had exchanged money!" God, she hated when they did that; I really wanted to put a stop to that. "Just as I was debating calling my dad to pick me up, I saw another black SUV pull up. You and Zip walked in. Zip went to Connie for files, and you sat on the couch next to me."
"You asked if I was okay and I nodded. I remember you didn't believe me, bumped shoulders with me, and asked if I wanted to go to dinner. You and Zip dropped me off and you came back about two hours later. I think it was that night that I realized that you really cared for me."
"How?" I couldn't stop from asking. I wanted to ask last night but didn't.
"When you looked at me, Matthew, I saw more than friendship in your eyes. I saw that you really cared. Then we started hanging out more and more, and each time you'd send me a text or call me, my heart would speed up. I really looked forward to spending time with you."
I laid there running my hand up and down my wife's back. I loved holding her. I didn't want the time to end, but knew it was inevitable. "Honey, you know we have to head back to Trenton today. I have to work in the morning."
"I know. I just wish we could stay here for a few more days. I like this alone time with you," she said as she began kissing my chest. When her tongue slid over my nipple, I couldn't help the breath I sucked in.
One thing led to another, and we didn't check out of the hotel for a few more hours. Since neither of us had a vehicle, we had to call Chase to come get us. It was either him or Lester. Honestly, I didn't want to deal with Lester right now. I still needed to figure out what the relationship between him and Steph was. If I had to take him to the mats, I would; I just hope it didn't come to that. Unfortunately, Chase wasn't available. He and Lester were on a stakeout; so, Hector came to pick us up.
On the ride back, Steph was quiet and I was beginning to wonder if she'd fallen asleep. Looking over at her, I could see she was awake, just lost in deep thought. Knowing Hector didn't understand English, I took a chance to talk to her, "Steph, honey, what's on your mind?"
She looked in the rearview mirror at Hector to see if he was watching; his eyes were glued to the road and she nodded. "I'm just nervous about going back home."
That made a little sense but not much. "Why?"
"What happens when people begin to find out we got married? There are going to be a ton of questions that I'm not ready to answer."
I could see the tears threatening to fall. As much as I wanted to hold her to me, I knew she'd probably fight me on it. "Honey, if people begin to ask, we will tell them whatever you want."
"Yeah? How about this one… what do we say when they ask why we got married? Why we never told anyone we were dating in the first place? Why we snuck off to get married and not tell anyone?"
Shit, she had me there. "We could always tell them the truth." She looked at me like I'd grown three heads. "Seriously, do you think if we told them the truth, that they'd believe it to be true?"
"Yes. No. Maybe. I don't know!" God, I really wanted to pull her to me. Maybe Hector would think I was just comforting her and not say anything. I took a chance and reached for her. As soon as my hand touched her shoulder, she leaned over and placed her head in my lap. Running my fingers through her hair like I'd done several times in the past forty-eight hours, I felt her relax. A few moments later, I could tell she'd fallen asleep. Looking up, I saw Hector watching the mirror. At first, I wondered if he understood what was being said or he was just checking traffic. When he looked back to his side mirrors, I figured he was just checking to be sure no one was tailing us; old habits are hard to break.
We pulled into the garage and I nudged Steph a little. "Honey, we're back at Rangeman. Time to wake up."
"More sleep, Matthew. Please," she moaned. I knew we'd stayed up late last night, and as much as I wanted to let her sleep, I knew she needed to wake up before the guys came down and started questioning her.
"Not right now, Honey. We're at the office and this door is about to ripped open in four point five seconds." She sat up and looked around. She saw Hector turned around from the front seat and smiled. He looked at her, smiled, and said, "Bang, bang." Laughing, he slid from the truck and headed to the elevator.
"You think he knows?" she asked with panic in her voice.
"I doubt it. He doesn't speak English and he never gave away anything on the drive while we were talking. I think we're safe." When I looked at the elevator, I saw Chase, Lester, Zip, Tank, and Bobby stepping off. Sometimes I wonder how long the elevator will hold-up before it crashes to the basement. "Heads up, honey."
Stephanie looked out the window and let out a small whimper. Before I had the chance to tell her it would be okay, the door was ripped open and she was pulled out by Lester. He had his arms wrapped around her and was aiming a kiss for her lips. Before the growl could escape me, I saw Steph turned her head so his kiss landed on her cheek. "Beautiful, I missed you. Where have you been?"
"I was on a mini-vacation, Les," she said as she hugged him. Before anything else could be said, Tank nodded for me to follow him. Shit, does he know somehow?
"What's up?" I asked as we entered the stairwell.
"I need you on a stakeout tonight. Got a lead on a major skip; just have tonight as intel states he's buggin' out in the morning."
Shit. I really wanted to stay with Steph tonight, but now it looks like that isn't going to happen. "When and where?"
"Stark. Need you on-line at twenty-one hundred hours. You'll be with Zip. Lester and Chase are second. Zero and Bobby and third."
"I'll be there." I knew it was going to be a long ass night; stakeout and then I'm on duty tomorrow morning. Fuck, when do I get time to be with my wife again? I headed to my apartment and sent a message to Steph's phone. In apart. Come c me when u r free. Ten minutes later, I heard a knock on my door. When I opened it, she stepped in, shut and locked the door behind her, and then attacked me in the kitchen. Guess now is as good of time as any to christen the place.
Rolling over, I looked at the clock. Shit! I must have said that out loud because Steph sat up and looked at me.
"What's wrong, Matthew?" she asked as she clutched the sheet to her.
"Sorry, Honey. I didn't mean to wake you. I didn't plan on us falling asleep; I didn't set the alarm and I'm supposed to be on Stark in forty-five. I don't want to, but I need to get up and get ready. You," I said as I kissed her, "stay here for the night, please."
"Won't that cause questions?"
"I'll just tell everyone that were you exhausted and passed out at my place. I didn't have the heart to kick you out."
"Okay," she said as she leaned in for another kiss. "Be safe tonight. I don't like you guys going to Stark. It scares me."
"I'll be fine. Hopefully, I'll be able to crawl back in bed with you shortly." I kissed her once again and slid from the bed. Once I was dressed, I kissed her forehead again and headed for the garage. Slipping into the SUV with Zip, I got my game face on and was ready to take this fucker down. Evidently, Zip didn't get the memo on how I prepared for a takedown and he opened his mouth.
"So, I noticed Bomber didn't leave your place earlier."
"And?"
"And, what's going on?"
More than we're ready to tell you about. "Nothing. She was exhausted after we ate dinner and she crashed. I didn't have the heart to wake her up, make her go home, and back to sleep, so she's crashing at my place for now. Problem?"
"Nah, man. Just wondering if you found out any info that the rest of us might not have. You know, regarding Bomber, Joe, Ranger, and anyone else."
"Nothing that you need to know. Now, shut the fuck up and get ready to kick some ass." I swear he talks more than a girl! I just wanted to get through this takedown and go back to my bed; at least for a few hours before I have to be on duty.
We pulled up to the address and re-grouped. Bobby and Zero took the back door while Zip and I took the front. Chase and Les were just there in case the jackass decided to run. With a size thirteen to the door, Zip kicked it in and we found the ass wipe screwing around with a vacuum; what the hell he was doing, I don't want to know, but his pants were down and he was trying to feed his limp dick into the hose. Zip froze and started laughing. I didn't have time to screw around, so I slapped the cuffs on him and called for Bobby and Zero to help haul him to the SUV.
Bobby and Zero took him to the station while the rest of us headed back to RangeMan. I was so ready to crawl in bed with my wife, but of course the powers that be had other plans for me.