For those of you who celebrate it, Happy Thanksgiving. For those of you who don't, I hope you'll forgive the short chapter. 3 hours to make 10 pounds of Mashed potatoes, 2 dozen Deviled eggs, a carrot, feta, onion, and bbq sauce side dish, clean out my garden, redo my nails, and take a shower just seemed to be pushing it along with expanding on what I wrote last night.

Recap: Ranger and Stephanie have fun in the shower.

Stephanie's POV

I woke with the sun streaming in my face from the open curtain. I was tangled up in Ranger's arms and legs, my face pressed to his chest. I snuggled in even closer to him, enjoying the intimacy of being entwined with him. He responded by tightening his arms and kissing the top of my head.

"Morning sleepyhead."

"Is that your new nickname for me? Seems more awkward than 'Babe'. Though I do appreciate extra syllables to figure out what you mean."

He poked me at my jest, and I poked him back, and then we were kissing, and then he was poking me again, but not with his finger.

An hour later we were getting dressed and packing up.

"I noticed something in the past 12 hours."

"What's that, SleepyBabe?"

I threw a pillow at him. He caught it in mid-air and gently placed it on the bed.

"Last night and this morning, you were in such an Alpha-male role. Me handcuffed, you literally carrying my weight on your shoulders, you bathing me. It was a lot like what happened the previous times we've made- I mean, had sex." Shit, I'd nearly called it Making Love. I wasn't ready to say that yet.

His raised eyebrow showed he hadn't missed my slip of the tongue, but wasn't going to say anything at the moment.

"But in the past couple days before that, I've always been on top. I was just wondering, why the switch?"

He looked at me for a moment. "Because that was what you needed."

"I needed cowgirl style?"

He shook his head. "You were feeling out of control in your life. Everyone else told you what to do all the time, and tore you down when you tried to go your own way. Honestly, it scared me a bit how upset you were on Tuesday. You were wound so tight you looked like you might crack. I wanted you to feel in control of your life, at least some part. So when it came time to make love, I wanted you to feel like, no, I wanted you to know that you were making all the choices. And even last night, you chose the scenario. It might have been my fantasy, but you were the one that took action to make it come true."

It was such a considerate thing for him to have done. I knew how much testosterone he had, not to mention what a control freak he could be. Ranger putting me in charge probably wasn't an easy thing for him to do. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him, enjoying the sensation of having his body pressed against mine. And I hadn't missed that he had said 'making love', while I had been too scared to. I wasn't quite ready to go there yet, so I switched subjects.

"So Batman, what do you have planned for me this weekend, or are we just going to spend it in bed?"

His eyes grew dark and I had a feeling that he wouldn't mind that idea at all. I wouldn't be too upset at it either. Unfortunately, my stomach was growling.

"Do you want to go downstairs and have breakfast Babe, or order room service?"

I still needed to process the whole 'making love' thing. Did I love Ranger? Well, yes, I'd known that for a long time. Was I 'in love' with him? Probably. I had feelings I hadn't ever had before. Not with Joe, certainly not with Dicky. Maybe I hadn't ever really been in love before, so how was I supposed to know? Shit. I needed waffles. "Let's go downstairs. It will be quicker."

We finished packing and went downstairs to the breakfast buffet set out. I made a beeline for the Belgian Waffle-maker. Ranger got a piece of fruit and a bagel. Even on vacation, he just doesn't know how to eat. I joined him at the table he'd picked out with his boring food, while I had a waffle covered in strawberries and whipped cream. He smiled that fractional Ranger smile when he saw my plate. "That stuff'll kill you, Babe."

"It's healthy. See? Fruit!" I said, pointing to the strawberries smothered in the whipped cream. I took a bite, moaning at the yumminess.

He kissed me then, licking my lips. "Very sweet." he said, having acquired a small amount of whipped cream from my mouth. I dipped my fork in the cream and brought it up to my lips, my tongue darting out to lick it clean.

"Playing with fire again Babe. You keep that up and we'll never get to the Zoo."