When I wrote the first chapter, I was honestly not sure what type of response it would get. I mean, most people hate tax season. I was blown away by the positive response. I wanted to describe how I think Stephanie's tax situation is without getting too technical. Let's be honest, she's most likely filed with the same person every year and most likely someone from the Burg who never broke down her situation for her. And Ranger would most definitely make sure she was covered;) As a thanks, here's a little bonus chapter.
Got to try a TastyKake today and let's just say it was a huge let down my East Coast peeps. Is it an acquired taste? It was dry AF.
Let me know your thoughts. Reviews help the muse.
Disclaimer: The Plum universe belongs to JE. The typos are mine.
Ranger's POV
"Babe." I warned even as I leaned back in my chair to better accommodate her squirming form on my lap.
"Mmm?" Her hum vibrated against my throat as she pressed her lips to leave an open mouthed kiss on my already overheated skin.
"You're playing dirty." I said as I tilted my head back to give her more access to my neck. Babe's nibbling kisses continued their torture, creating a path towards my mouth.
Her sultry smile should have been warning enough that she was feeling vengeful. "I learned from the best." Babe's lips widened, slanting against mine a second later. The kiss turned heated as our tongues dueled for dominance. "Be an opportunist, taking advantage of any given opening and applying the right amount of pressure." Her breathy explanation was accompanied by a torturous swivel of her hips, grinding herself against me. I thought I'd bypassed hard minutes ago, but I'm reaching new levels of need with every wicked movement.
"I've been a good mentor." I grinned, tangling my fingers through her loose curls and bringing her face down for another kiss. A moan escaped her when our tongues tangled. The kiss morphed into an insistent frenzy when she readjusted herself on my lap, moving to fully straddle me. My bare feet planted firmly against the hardwood floor to serve as an anchor. Wouldn't want the chair to tip over while we were in the middle of our liplock.
After partially satiating our need for each other in my office, I was momentarily intercepted by some of my men as I tried to follow behind Stephanie. Lester's spiel was expected, but not Hal's. I understood and even respected the men standing up for Babe, despite their concern being erroneous. Once I finally caught up to Babe, we spent a good portion of the afternoon loving each other. After a shared shower, we had dinner. While we ate, Babe announced that she wanted to retake the conversation we left handing in the air in my office. She proposed we had said talk in my home office to keep it strictly business. Yet now Babe's straddling my lap wearing only one of my T-shirts, torturing me. Not very businesslike.
"Yes." She agreed against my lips as we worked on gasping for air after our fiery kiss. "Let's make a deal." Babe's mischievous smirk should have been indication enough that I was about to be subjected to payback Stephanie Plum style.
"A deal?" I arched an eyebrow as I waited for her to elaborate.
"Yes, a deal." Her hands rested on my bare shoulders, holding me closer so she could whisper her proposal against my ear.
"That's your deal?" I groaned, already knowing it will be nearly impossible to be victorious given her arrangement.
"Yup." She nodded, her blue eyes pinning me in place with a smoldering look.
"Deal." I agreed, winking at her in encouragement. Now that she's finally in the know about her tax situation, Stephanie wants to repay Rangeman what she feels should have been her responsibility over the years. I said there was no need for her to do so. Babe likes to discount how much she actually helps us whenever I pull her into a case. She's been instrumental more times than she likes to give herself credit. As far as I'm concerned, she's more than repaid that withholding debt. Now, I'm never going to say no to a naked Babe so of course I was more than willing to take her up on her deal.
It didn't take much maneuvering for us to get naked considering all she was wearing was one of my T-shirts and I loose sweats. This new deal could have been achieved sooner, but she'd wanted us to have some clothes on for our business discussion. I mentally scoffed. We were hardly dressed for any type of work meeting.
Babe's deal involved her testing every shred of my control. Not one to back down from a challenge, I braced myself for sweet torment as she slowly sank down my throbbing length. My hands gripped the armrest as a last ditched effort of restraint as Babe began to move above me.
"Oh...mmm..." Stephanie was set on being the victor tonight. Her moans were genuine, like always, but not being able to touch her meant it was up to her to give herself what she needed. Babe knew that I'd never be able to have her like this and not be able to caress her soft, delicate skin. She knew where to exert pressure to get me to comply.
I'd resorted to gripping the armrest viciously, trying to hold on but knowing that it was futile. I was going to break. I knew it. She knew it too, which is why she kept teasingly running her hands all over my chest and abs.
"Stephanie." I growled when my control finally snapped. Her wide smile was nearly blinding as she looped her arms around my neck, rewarding me with a jubilant kiss. I gripped her hips, combining our efforts so we could climax together.
"I win." Babe declared against my throat, her breath ghosting across my cooling skin once we came down from the high.
Fine, Babe. You won this time.
But before I conceded to her numbers meeting, where we would sit down with Rangeman's accountant and her new tax person to crunch some figures, the opportunist in me decided I should submit a deal of my own.
"Best two out of three?" I swallowed her gasp of surprise as I stood, quickly moving our negotiation back to the bedroom.
Although we both know I'm going to lose, we'll go rounds two and three as professional courtesy to one another.