Not mine, but a girl can dream.

Warning: language and sexual innuendo and smut

Better Man 7

Storyline borrowed from Lean Mean 13

I awoke from my second nap of the day to an empty bed. I glanced at the clock, it was 5:00pm. I could hear the shower running. Must be Ranger. Yum. Naked Ranger. Double Yum. Naked wet Ranger. MMMMMM…

"See something you like Babe?" I had been lost in my musings, staring lustily at the bathroom door and didn't realize when Ranger had emerged. I thought he was just part of my fantasy. I mean no one in real life looked that good – except Ranger. His hair was wet and brushed the top of his shoulders. He had a white towel slung low on his hips. The contrast made his skin even more beautiful. His massive mocha chest caught the drops of water that dripped from his hair. I watched like a deer in the headlights as several drops joined together and the rivulets traveled down the crevices of his amazing abs before disappearing into the towel right above the promised land.

"Hmm…" I was still lost in my musings and blatantly taking in the fine Cuban specimen in from of me.

"Babe, shower, Ella will be here with dinner in 15. Our day off is over, a tip came in on someone connected to Gorvich, Rufus Cain. We need to leave in an hour." With that he turned into the dressing room.

I made my way into the bathroom and showered quickly and did the hair and make-up thing. It was pretty easy since everything I needed was here. Ranger had duplicates of all of my make-up and hair products in a basket under the sink. When I was at Joe's I just had to make do with his stuff. It always seemed like too much work to pack all of my stuff to take with me. Usually we were only together a night or two at a time anyway. What does that say about our relationship?

As much as I didn't want to, I knew I needed to talk to Joe. I was still thinking about all the things my talk with Ranger had helped me realize. While I still don't know how I feel about what he said about my childhood. It was something I needed to explore, maybe with a counselor and I was nowhere near ready to discuss it with Joe. I mean what do you say? 'Joe, remember when you fondled me when I was in kindergarten, I thought about it and I think we need to talk.' I didn't see that going over very well. I tried to call Joe; I left messages on his cell, at work and at home. While I wasn't ready to discuss our past, I needed to tell him we had no future.

Clothes were laid out for me in the dressing room. I was guessing we were undercover tonight. There was a long sleeve purple v neck sweater and black skinny leg jeans. Next to them was a pair of kick ass knee high black leather boots with a 3" heel. I opened a drawer to find not only a supply of my normal Rangeman undies and bras, but several new lacey matching bra and panty sets from Victoria's Secret. God I love Ella. I selected a purple set with black lace to match the sweater and jeans. I knew I had taken longer than 15 minutes to get ready and in Ranger's world, being late is a cardinal sin. I hurried and got dressed.

I threw my hair up into a quick ponytail and stopped in the bathroom to grab some lip gloss when my reflection caught my eye. I looked pretty good, the bags were gone from under my eyes and my skin looked pretty good too. I was wondering if it was from the two naps I had today or the Ranger induced orgasm? Uh oh, a pony tail was not going to do it tonight, or tomorrow or for another week or so. In addition to a glow from the Ranger induced orgasm, I was also sporting a Ranger hickie. On the left side of my neck, right above my collar bone were two purple mouth shaped bruises. They overlapped each other so it almost looked like a heart. Nice. I wanted to be annoyed. But the stupid smile wouldn't leave my face as I traced the mark with my fingertips. I started to think about how I had gotten them and the smile got a little bigger. Before I could think too much more on it, my stomach growled interrupted my musings. I pulled the elastic out of my hair and fluffed it, making sure the mark was covered before heading out to find food.

Yum! The kitchen smelled heavenly. But what whet my appetite was the gorgeous man leaned up against the counter. Ranger's hair was down and he had gold hoops in his ears. He had on a heather gray button down shirt left untucked to cover the gun I am sure sat at the middle of his back in the waistband of his black jeans; mmm… jeans that showcased his strong thighs and amazing ass. He was resting against the counter looking though a file. When he heard my boots on the tile he looked up. His eyes raked over my body, taking stock, just as I had of his. He closed the file and closed the distance in two strides. He snaked his hand around my back and pressed me to him and whispered, "Beautiful" against my lips before tracing them with his tongue. My mouth opened for him and he kissed me deeply before pulling away reluctantly when my stomach made its demands known. "We need to eat," He grinned.

I grabbed plates and silverware and headed for the dining room. What I found was a surprise. Where the dining room table had once sat was now a pile of kindling. I could see bits of fabric that used to be chair cushions among the splintered wood that at one point had been the dining room table and chairs. Now I guess I know what the crashes were from earlier.

Ranger came up behind me and took the plate and silver from my hand, returning them to the breakfast bar before coming back and wrapping his arms around me from behind and resting his chin on my shoulder. He took one of his hands and reached up to shut my mouth which was in the shape of a perfect 'o' seeing the destruction in the dining room. "We're eating in the kitchen tonight Babe." He whispered into my ear.

He steered me to the kitchen and sat me down and started to serve dinner. I sat kind of dazed for a minute or two while I mindlessly ate whatever it was he put on my plate before I found my voice, "Ranger, the dining room? Was that the noise I heard earlier when you left the room?"

"Babe" he tried.

"Ranger" I instisted. Ha, let's see how he likes it.

He looked sheepishly at me and said, "It was that or go out and kill Morelli. I didn't want to leave you alone." Yeah, like that explained everything.

"Plus killing a cop involves a lot of paperwork and I know how you hate paperwork." I joked, hoping he wasn't serious, but best to be clear.

"Ranger, I appreciate everything you have done for me the last few days, the concern you have for me, pushing me to see the reality of my life. You've made it clear about how you feel about my history with Joe. I agreed to talk to someone; in fact I think it is a good idea. I am not sure how I feel about the past, if I am ready to put a name on it. I need to talk to Joe; I have already left him messages on all of his phones. But when I do talk to him, it will be short and sweet. He and I are done. There is no future for us. I am not ready to discuss the past with him and I don't know if I will ever be. What I want you to understand is that what happens from here is my choice. I will handle it. Do you understand?" Wow, I sounded positively grown up. Now if I only felt that way.

We finished dinner in a semi comfortable silence. As I put the plates in the sink for Ella, Ranger came up behind me sliding his arms around my waist and pressing his cheek to mine. "Steph, I am willing to step back and let you handle Morelli. I don't like it, but I don't want you to think that I doubt you can. Just know I am behind you and if you need me to step in, I will. Don't let your pride let you get in over your head; just remember today's bravado is tomorrow's pain. I will not let him hurt you again." I felt a lump in my throat so I just nodded yes. He kissed me on the cheek and steered us towards the door.

"No purse tonight, these are all you are going to need." He handed me my gun, stun gun and a black leather jacket. I placed the gun at the small of my back, put the jacket on to cover it and slid the stun gun into the inside pocket on the jacket. He ushered me out of the apartment and into the elevator. It wasn't until we were buckled into the truck and pulling out of Haywood that I asked him where we were going.

He flashed me all 200 watts. Uh oh, I am not going to like this. "Dominos" he answered, still smiling.

I groaned, just what I wanted to do tonight go to a strip club with the Cuban Sex God.

It was a long evening. First I had to beat strippers off of Ranger with a stick at Dominos while we waited for our mark to show. If I thinking about Joyce coming on to Ranger made me jealous, seeing strippers straddling him, shoving their fake boobs in his face nearly made me come unglued. Plus I was doing my best to keep my jealousy hidden. After our discussion from the other night and all that had happened since, I wasn't sure where Ranger and I stood. It wasn't like he was trying to attract them; in fact he showed no interest in any of them at all. The only thing that seemed to pique his interest was when one of the strippers approached me instead of him. I was so caught off guard that she was half way through her lap dance routine before I came out of my stupor. Ranger pulled her off of me, handed her $100 bill and hauled me into his lap.

I caught my breath and turned to look at him, his eyes were dark and looked intently into mine before something behind me caught his attention. He reached into the back of my jeans and removed my gun. Just when I thought he was going to open fire he slid me off his lap and threw me over his shoulder. I started to struggle until I felt his hand come up the back of my thigh before smacking me on the ass. A cry escaped my mouth. I had intended it to sound insulted, but it came out a little more of a moan. "What the hell are you doing?" I gasped. My hair was covering my face as I swiveled trying to see where we were going. The only thing I had a view of was his fantastic ass. The muscles in his shoulder were moving against my pelvis at just the right spot. Even though he hadn't spanked me again, his hand still clasped around the back of my thigh just below my ass; his fingers only inches from the Promised Land. He didn't answer me, so I leaned forward and grabbed a handful of his luscious ass. He growled and moved his hand on the back of my thigh a little higher and his fingers brushed over the seam on my jeans. I moaned again as he pushed through the doors and walked the quick strides over to the truck.

Ranger slid me down the front of his body and pressed me back into the truck. He put his arms over each side of my head and moved his mouth to my ear and whispered, "Rufus was leaving the club, escorted by your friend with the stapled nuts. We couldn't lose them and I couldn't risk him seeing your face. They are parked just to our left so play along. We need to make out here for a while and then make a big production of being in a big hurry to leave when we see them move to the car. Got it?" He licked the shell of my ear before sliding his attention to the sensitive spot below my ear where he licked and sucked gently. I knew we were doing this for cover, but why look a gift horse in the mouth?

I was already worked up from my ride out to the parking lot. The thought that I had to make out with Ranger in public for the next few minutes was revving my Hungarian Hormones into overdrive. There is no limit on the sacrifices I am willing to make for my job. I slid one hand to the back of his head, fisting it into his hair while my other hand returned to his ass as I pulled him toward me as I gasped "Yes…" He groaned as he ground his hips into mine, reaching down the back of my thigh, pulling my leg up around his waist. I pulled the other leg up to wrap around him while he widened his stance to support me and pushed me harder into the truck.

I thought maybe I was getting carried away, a little too into the role until I felt how much this was affecting him too. I could feel him pulsing against my center through our jeans. My jacket was still open and my nipples were straining against the cups of my bra, partly from the cool night air, partly from the hot Cuban man. I never thought of myself as an exhibitionist, but I was seriously turned on. Add to it the fear that a man who wanted to do me bodily harm was less than 50 ft away, I was ready to blow. I could feel my orgasm building tightly in my belly. I heard angry voices coming from their direction and car doors opening. "Now!" Ranger growled. Showtime. Ranger grabbed my hips, pulling me tight against him as he ground into me. He dropped his head and caught my nipple in his mouth and he bit down. I shrieked. "That's it Babe, tell them what you want me to do to you" he purred instructions in my ear. "Fuck! Take me home and fuck me now!" I bawled loud enough for the whole parking lot to hear.

That earned us cat calls and even a few 'Get a room' calls, including one from my friend with the stapled nuts. Ranger wrenched open the driver's side door and climbed in with me still wrapped around him, hollering to his fan club "Thanks, I think we will." I flopped into the passenger seat and tried to buckle the seatbelt, but after three tries Ranger leaned over and hooked it for me, chuckling, before starting the truck and following Rufus and Mr. Stapled Nuts out of the parking lot.

After I regained coherent thought Ranger grinned at me, "You never disappoint Babe."

"You know me," I replied, "Always willing to take one for the team. Just wait until we get home, paybacks a bitch."

He faltered for a second before he responded, "I am a professional, I came I saw, I conquered. Although in this case, you came, I saw, and we conquered." A self satisfied smirk graced his talented lips.

He went back into his zone, tailing Rufus and company 2 car lengths back. When they stopped, we parked ½ a block down waiting for them to get out of the car.

Keeping his eyes on their car, Ranger reached for my hand and brought it to his lips. "Babe, I got a little carried away back there, god knows you make me lose control. I still think we should slow it down a bit. You've been through a lot lately…" He didn't get to finish his thought because Rufus and Mr. Stapled Nuts got out of the car and he was back in Badass Ranger mode.

The next couple of hours were a blur. We followed them to Smullen's apartment building and it all went to shit after that. The highlights are two charred dead bodies, another explosion, and chasing a murderer whose weapon of choice is a flame thrower. And then I lost it. Between the adrenaline let down, the fear and the fact that I was running on fumes, my body just gave out. Ranger wouldn't let me out of his reach. When we were given the all clear from the police, we climbed into the truck and headed for Haywood.

As we left the scene Ranger reminded me Ella has dessert waiting at home for me, trying to cheer me up. It sounded wonderful, but incomplete. I needed more.

"We need to make a stop. I need some happy and since you don't think it should be you giving it to me, I am going to have to rely on Bill Murray. I need Ghostbusters. Swing by Joe's so I can get it." I know I sounded a little bitter, but it had been a hell of a night, even by my standards.

Ranger looked annoyed or was it hurt by my attitude, but knew better than to argue with me in the state I was in.

Morelli's house was dark as we pulled up. "Do you want me to come in with you?" He asked.

I shook my head, "No, he isn't even here. I just want to get my movie and head home. Just give me 2 minutes." Realizing Bob would lonely with Morelli gone all the time, I told Ranger it would be more like 10 minutes

I hurried out of the truck and grabbed the spare key from under the geranium pot. Very safe I know. The house looked dark, but there was a little light coming from the living room, probably the TV. Sometimes Joe left it on for Bob so he didn't get lonely, then he was less likely to eat the couch. As I opened the door, I heard voices. I was sure they were coming from the TV, but that seemed odd. Joe usually left sports on for Bob, not movies. I thought about calling Ranger, but I didn't want him to think I was overreacting. So I just pulled out my stun gun and made my way to the living room. Before I could investigate, a figure appeared in the doorway. There was no light in the kitchen and the only light in the living room was coming from the TV so I could see someone was coming, but I couldn't see who. It was too tall to be Joe, but there was something familiar about him.

I turned to flip the light switch when a hand came from behind me to cover my scream while another arm held onto my waist. A menacing voice hissed in my ear, "You bitch! This is all your fault. You ruined everything!"

Now I had been fucked with a lot tonight, an orgasm in public, 2 more charred dead bodies, and another building exploded. I had enough. I jammed the stun gun into the arm around my waist and flipped the switch. I heard an "Eep..." as the hands released me and I heard a large thud. I turned around to see Joe flying out of the living room with his gun drawn and taking in the scene, me with my stun gun drawn and Dickie slumped in a heap on the floor being licked by Bob the amazing guard dog.

"Cupcake what are you doing here?" he asked placing his gun at the back of his jeans. What am I doing here, yes that seems like the most pressing topic considering my ex-husband who I was suspected of kidnapping and killing was apparently in the care of my current boyfriend.

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here? And what the fuck is he doing here?" I pointed at Dickie drooling on the floor.

Joe had both hands in his hair before he pulled them down over his face. "Nothing is ever easy with you is it Cupcake?"

"With me? What about you Joe? You are the one who told me I was a suspect in Dickie's disappearance knowing he was alive and well and living in your goddamn house!" Rhino level readily approaching. I was sure I was going to start pawing the ground any minute and charging.

"I told you not to worry." He sounded like he was talking to a child.

"I didn't know you meant it. People say that all the time! You told me to have Ranger help me, I thought if you were scared enough to ask him for help, it must be pretty serious. I have been busting my ass trying to find out what happened to that dickhead; meanwhile making myself a target for every fucking crazy involved in this shit!" Not to worry my ass.

"Cupcake, you can't blame me for you drawing crazies; you do that all on your own." Now he was laughing.

Fuck it; I had had enough, "I can't do this now. I came for my movies. I just saw my 2nd and 3rd barbecued bodies for the week and I met my 2 building blow up maximum so I am taking Ghostbusters and going home."

He moved towards me with what he thinks of as his bedroom smile and suggested, "Cupcake, if you need something to take your mind off your troubles. I could help you. The boys have missed you." What he was doing was nothing new, but my reaction was. As he moved towards me, I panicked. I started to back towards the door quickly with my hand held up. "I…don't think…" I stuttered and kept backing up until I backed into a wall; a wall of Cuban muscle. Ranger wrapped his arm around my waist as he moved his body between mine and Joes. He took in the scene, Dickie unconscious on the floor, Joe's seductive advances and the fear in my voice. Ranger was trying for his blank face, but fury was radiating off him in waves.

Joe looked confused by my reaction and annoyed with the interruption. "What are you doing here Manoso?" he asked accusingly.

"Taking care of Stephanie," Ranger answered in a monotone.

"Well I think I can take care of her for tonight just fine," he replied in a suggestive tone as he reached for me. Ranger pushed me farther behind him. Joe narrowed his eyes taking in Ranger's protective stance. I watched the interaction knowing I had to do something before all hell broke loose. Ranger had agreed to let me handle this, but that was in theory and this was reality. I put my hand on Ranger's shoulder and he calmed slightly.

"Ranger, please wait for me in the truck and I will be out in a minute." I asked, knowing it probably wouldn't happen. I was right. He didn't move. When I could see I wasn't getting anywhere, I walked around to the front of Ranger placing myself between him and Joe. As much as I didn't want to be any nearer to Joe, I was really tired and didn't feel like having to help Ranger find a place to bury Joe's body. I placed my hand on his chest and pushed, well I tried to push, but I am sure it didn't feel like it to him. At least I had his attention. His left arm came up to rest protectively on the small of my back. He kept his eyes trained on Joe but allowed me to back him up towards the door.

I leaned into him, so I knew we wouldn't be overheard. "Ranger, this one is my fight. You know that watching my back without stepping on my toes, this is one of those times. I appreciate that you want to protect me, but don't do this to me. Don't make me feel weak. Let me take care of this my way, please. You promised." He kept his eyes on Joe, but when he understood what I was saying, using his own words to describe what he was doing. His eyes softened as he looked at me. I felt his hand tighten on my back for a moment before he released me and said loud enough so Joe could hear him, "I'll be outside." It was not lost on me that he was going to be right outside the door, not in the truck. I was a little annoyed, but a lot relieved.

I turned around and came face to face with a very angry Italian. "Is this how it is Steph? When I asked him to take care of you, those weren't the needs I was talking about," he sneered as he advanced on me. "Don't deny it Cupcake. You are glowing like a fucking light bulb. And getting him to heel like that, you must really have him pussy whipped too."

"Too?" What the fuck was did that mean? I wasn't going to argue the rest of it. I knew the facts, Ranger and I hadn't had sex, well technically, but there would be no convincing him. I also knew the wattage I was putting out was a lot hotter that if I had been with him. I am sure it hurt him, but I didn't give a flying fuck.

"You've been leading me around by my dick for years, now him too. I'm sure Manoso can have any woman he wants. You must be doing things for him that you won't do for me." He insinuated. He stalked towards me.

I froze. Something had changed, a man I have known my whole life and have been intimate with, scared me. Well I was done being afraid. I squared my shoulders and gave him my best burg glare.

"You really think that don't you? The only reason he would be helping me is because I am fucking him? Is that really how little you think of me? No one can make Ranger do anything he doesn't want to. For you to imply I have some power over him is laughable. The only thing funnier is the idea that I have been leading you around. Our whole lives, whatever has been between us, it has never been about me, what I want, what I need, it has always been about you; you and your wants, your needs, your job, becoming your wife and the mother of your children, oh and last but not least your boys." I spit out at him.

"Joe it isn't even that with you, I don't come first, it is that my needs were never in the running."

I turned my back on him and walked out the front door. As I stepped off the front step Ranger was at my side guiding me to the truck.

"Thank you," I whispered. He nodded.

I made it to the truck before the tears started to fall and we had already pulled away from the curb by the time I was wracked with sobs. I just wanted to go home. Then it dawned on me when I said home, I meant the penthouse with Ranger. That was a whole other conversation and I wasn't sure I was ready to have it.

4,725 words minus title, warning, yada, yada, yada.