Sorry about the formatting issue previously! Here it is, the one you've been waiting for. Sorry this took a few days, but I hope you'll agree it was worth the wait. I'd hoped to have this story done by Halloween, but since at the moment I'm working about 17 hours a day, then another couple for writing, I'm working on about 5 hours sleep each night. I have enough plot left that I don't want to cut it short in order to finish quickly. If I keep having long delays, I'll start posting from another story I've already finished.

Recap from last chapter: Stephanie and Ranger discuss the fallout from her realizing how much of an emotionally abusive asshole he is. Ranger points out that Joe's abuse is so similar to how her mother treated her that she interpreted insults as love, and that she would rather be with the person who has always supported her, even if she can only have a little of him.

Ranger's POV

Stephanie and I have a long, complicated, and far too sparse sexual history. There was the night I bargained for by helping her capture Eddie DeChooch. I'd been trying to find a way through the sexual tension, and I thought making that bargain might break the ice. It was not a nice move, but as I've told her more than once, I'm not a nice guy. At least, I didn't used to be.

Sleeping with her didn't get her out of my system like I'd hoped. Instead it burrowed her deeper in. Like an idiot I told her to fix her relationship with the cop, and then suddenly I realized she'd been within my grasp, and I hadn't just let her slip away, I'd dropped her like a hot shell casing.

Then there was the Vordo. Some weird Italian voodoo that Babe said Morelli's Grandma Bella put on her to make her horny. I had never properly thanked Grandma Bella for that; I should have sent her that gift. That time in an alley in my Turbo is probably the most vulnerable I've ever let myself get while having sex. Broad daylight, in a confined space, with my back to Stark Street. But after wanting to have her again for months, finally getting a taste of her in my apartment, and her being so ready and willing, there was no way I was going to say no. There was a part of me that didn't care if I got shot in the head if it meant I got to be inside her again.

That recklessness reared its ugly, though satisfying, head again in a broom closet when we were doing a little B&E. I'd tried to not get so turned on, but being pressed up against her was more than even my control could take. In situations like that, it's just the knowledge that she might say no that keeps me from throwing caution to the wind. But we were still so fresh from Hawaii, and our passion overtook us.

And that's the rub. Hawaii. Before that I'm pretty sure I had saved her life more times than I had made love to her. And there had always been the wolf of the real world, baying at the door. She was in danger from some psychopath, or she was on a break from Morelli that I knew from experience would be temporary. But in Hawaii we could pretend that we could be together. We had each other all and nothing else pressing on our time. I didn't give a damn about catching the Rug, I just cared that for the first time, I could glimpse what life could be like in some alternate universe far from Trenton. I had spent a lot of time on the beach watching her play in the water, and imagining running away with her. I had enough money and investments that neither of us would ever have to work a day in our lives again. I had the contacts and skills to make us new identities and we could just disappear. Buy some little beach hut on a tropical island and never see the grime of New Jersey again. I'd actually been trying to figure out how to jokingly suggest the plan to her, just to see how she reacted.

We made love like the newlyweds we were pretending to be. And that's what it really was, making love. I'd never felt like that with anyone before, even Rachel during our short marriage. Every other woman had been a distraction for a night, or a week, maybe a month. Even as a kid I wasn't great with emotions, and before too long women always want to know them. But with Stephanie I could relax. She accepted what I could give, and somehow burrowed her way into my heart. And on that beach I finally got to give her all my attention. Noone threatening her, the business in Tank's hands, and Morelli wasn't always there in the background, waiting to dart in and grab her away again. I'd waited too long, though, and it had all gone to shit.

I wouldn't make that mistake again.

I looked up into her blue eyes, her beautiful body sitting astride my stomach. I ran a finger gently along the outside of her leg, from her ankle to her knee to her hip. Her wild hair was a mess of tangles, creating a halo around her head that shone in the dim moonlight. It's cliche to say she looked like an angel, but I'd certainly never seen a more heavenly body.

This is what she's done to me. I'm making stupid puns. And I don't care.

I cupped her hip in my hands, then moved them further up, skimming the bottom edge of the t-shirt, my t-shirt, that she was wearing. Amazing how something that seemed so basic and practical on me was as sexy as Victoria's Secret on her. I might have to have it framed and hung on my wall like a signed jersey. My hands kept creeping up her torso as her breath got faster and shallower.

I felt each rib as I moved my hands up to my goal. It was so tempting to rush this, to bury myself inside her until she screamed. But I was absolutely determined to do this right. So when my hands met her breasts I circled the nipples slowly with my thumbs. Her breath caught in her throat as I played with each nub, one clockwise, one counter-clockwise.

She arched her back, rubbing her clit against my abs. Then she did it again, and again. My stomach was slick with her juices as she slid up my body. I longed to see her, up close. So I slid down the bed until my chin was rubbing her pubic bone. She tore off the t-shirt, freeing her breasts and giving me a fantastic view from her downy black curls to the brown ones on top of her head, and everything in between. I nuzzled her with my chin, bringing in the scent of her, then pushed myself further down.

I started my exploration between her folds, my tongue caressing, exploring, probing, separating. With every movement she opened up more, like heavy curtains being pulled back. My nose nudged at her button, giving her teasing rubs that hinted at what was to come. She let out a soft sound, a tiny cry of pleasure as my tongue entered her, swirling around her depths. She fell forward slightly as she lost awareness of anything around her, my hands holding her up as they played with her breasts.

"Babe?" I asked, wondering if I should lay her down on the bed, though I loved having her above me.

"Don't…..you dare….stop." she gasped out, reaching forward and grabbing the headboard for support.

With my hands now free to roam, I let them explore her. My left hand went up to caress her jaw, and my right came down to assist my tongue. I gently pushed a finger into her, adding another two quickly. I thrust and rolled them around in her, relishing the moans and cries that came with every movement. Her face was scrunched up and her neck arched as she writhed. I could feel her muscles tighten up and I pulled away for another moment, causing her to grunt in frustration.

"Look at me, Babe. I want to see your face when you cum."

She tilted her head down, looking at me as I replaced my mouth, suckling and kneading at her. I felt her muscles contract around my fingers. She gushed again, and clamped her legs around me as she rode out the waves of her orgasm. Her moan bordered on a scream, crying out to a deity, to me, and then some incoherent ramblings. I couldn't breath, and I didn't care as long as I got to watch her in ecstasy. Ecstasy that I had caused. Her face was pure bliss, and it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I just hoped she'd let me put that look on her face every day.

When she finally came down from the orgasm, she collapsed on top of me, boneless and pliant as a pile of blankets. As luck would have it, one of her breasts was near my mouth and aching to be played with. I took the nipple between my teeth, worrying it without biting. She tried lifting her body, but her arms weren't cooperating. Chuckling slightly, I slid her down my chest and locked eyes with her. "That was amazing Babe. You can't imagine how beautiful you look when you're cuming from my touch." It was a bit more flowery than I generally was when I spoke, but hiding my feelings from her had never served me well.

"Holy shit Batman! That was incredible." I lifted the corners of my mouth slightly. Any man would be thrilled to get a compliment like that, especially from Steph.

Then her eyes darkened and she got a mischievous grin on her face. "Now let's see if we can top it." She whispered in my ear what she wanted to do, and I was quite happy to oblige. I reached into a bedside drawer and pulled out a condom, which she shatched from my hand before I could open it. She opened the foil package and pulled it out, settling it on the tip of my dick. I reached to roll it down, frustrated at how slowly she was going, but she held my wrist, then used her tongue and teeth to roll it from tip to base, swirling and teaesing along the way.

"Babe…" I said, not really capable of saying more as I struggled to not cum right then and there.

I pushed myself up with my arms, and raised my knees, creating a valley where my cock sat, throbbing painfully from how turned on I was watching her cum. She slowly straddled me mid chest, then slid down, leaving a slick trail in her wake. When she reached my groin, I slid into her like we were two parts of a machine designed to join together.

I knew there was no way I could last very long like this, so I leaned forward to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around my chest, leaving me to support our combines weights. I didn't mind at all, reveling in having her on top of me but still getting to feel our skin pressed together. I leaned all our weight on my left arm, and slid my right hand between us, rubbing tiny circles on her clit so I could see her cum again before I lost it. When she came again she tried to muffle her cry into my shoulder, biting down on it. The mixture of pain and pleasure drove me over the edge as I fell back, panting and reveling in the bliss that was this amazing, sensual woman whom I didn't deserve, but couldn't live without.