Chapter 7 I really didn't want to wake up from this wonderful dream, where Ranger was wrapped around me. I basked in the closeness and comfort I was feeling, hoping to prolong the desires I felt in my body and in my heart. I sighed because as soon as I woke up reality would come crashing down and my heart would break just a little more, knowing what it felt like to love that man, but to never be able to have him. I couldn't allow my body to curl against his and my lips would never explore his. I sighed, in my sleep or in my dream, I'm not sure, and slowly the cobwebs began to drift away, leaving the view of? Warm brown eyes and a smiling face surrounding by dark silken hair! I jolted back, blinking to make sure I was in fact awake. "Babe, how're you feeling?" "Not sure, I think I need to wake up" Lips across mine in a gentle caress and hands stroking circles on my hip had my skin tingling and I was definitely awake. "I don't understand" "No I don't either, I think we need to swap stories and work out how we both ended up in the same place, I found you fast asleep" "Oh" I know I was sounding simple but really how many women wake up with their dream man in their bed. Looking down I realized I wasn't wearing anything; I felt my cheeks warm up and quickly wrapped the large towel around my body. Ranger was already dressed and he slipped out of the bed and turned to me. "Come on, you need to get dressed and then we can check this place out, I don't want to be here any longer than we need to be" "I agree, someone followed me yesterday, and they were really aggressive about it" As I reached the bathroom I turned to him. "How come you're already dressed?" "I stayed dressed, I wanted to be prepared in case someone showed up" "How should I dress?" "I'm sorry Babe, I don't follow you" "Well I've been in disguise so far, do you want me to stay in disguise or just be me" "I love you as you, though I like the tattoos, I hope they're temps" "Yeah just part of the image" I picked up my rucksack and the clothes I had literally dropped on the floor last night and disappeared into the bathroom to shower. Showered, hair sorted into a ponytail and dressed in my black jeans and a T-shirt, I came out and proceeded to collect my things together to pack into my bag. I found Ranger downstairs going through drawers and cupboards in the lounge. "What are you looking for?" "Anything that will tell me something about the owner of the house" "You find anything?" "No, absolutely nothing, the place is empty apart from the furniture" "I'm supposed to collect something from the safe upstairs in the bedroom" "You know the combination?" "Yes, it's the same as the code for getting into here" "Let's go see what's in there then" Upstairs I opened the closest and knelt down on the floor, uncovering the keypad. I entered the date of my birthday and slowly turned the handle. A loud click signaled my success and I slowly opened the door. "Your birthday was the code?" "Yes" Inside was a single envelope with something lose inside, the same as the previous ones I had been given. "Take that and let's get out of here, I'm not happy that someone followed you and I think we would be safer back at Rangeman" Picking up the envelope I tucked it into my rucksack and went toward the door. "Hold on, I've requested Rangeman to do a scout around the place, wait until they report back" Not a minute later Ranger's phone dinged with a text. "Ok, let's go" He took my hand keeping me slightly behind him and opened the passenger door of a black SUV. "What about the bike?" "Was it provided for you to use?" "Yes, it was in the parking area at the airport" "Then we'll leave it here" Once buckled in, Ranger wasted no time turning on the ignition and we were through the gate, which was already closing, we made our way down the narrow road and onto the highway. Ranger was in his zone, but I could see he was being super vigilant. Another SUV pulled out behind us and drove ahead on the road as we took an exit. I looked at Ranger hoping he would know what I would be asking. "Rangeman is running interference in case we're being followed" I didn't respond but enjoyed the scenery passing the window, deep in thought, I wondered what was in this next envelope and how this whole secret of Beatrice's would come out, I couldn't get my head around why Ranger was here. The main business section of Miami city was busy, but traffic was moving, and before long we pulled in front of large metal gates that opened for the car, allowing us to drive into a garage very similar to the one in Trenton. Ranger pulled into a space at the far end, by what seemed to be an elevator and staircase entrance. He opened my door and taking my hand helped me down, I instinctively picked up my rucksack and slipped it onto one shoulder then entered the elevator. I noticed that there were not as many floors to this building and we exited onto level three. There was a hum of activity that dropped to almost silence as men turned to look at us. Ranger still had hold of my hand, which now I think about it was unusual. A man who was older than Ranger, but who had the same skin tone and facial features, strode out of a door and came up to us. "Carlos, a lot of smoke and dagger stuff, everything go OK at the house?" "Yes but I think we need to follow up there" "And who may I ask is this beautiful woman, you don't usually bring any here?" I looked down at my feet; I wondered where he did usually take them? "This is Stephanie Plum, from Trenton" "You mean the Bombshell, hell, why didn't you tell us she was coming?" "Not actually planned, Babe this is my brother Juan, he runs this office" I held my hand out with true Burg manners but before I could say anything Juan had swept me into a bone-crushing hug. "I am so pleased to eventually meet you in person, I've heard so much about you" No sooner had he let me go, than another pair of arms came around me. "Steph it's so good to see you, let me look at you" Hands on my shoulders revealed Silvio, the Merry Man who had first trained me to do the searches. "Silvio! How are you doing? I'm really relieved to see a face I know" "Don't take any notice of the rest of these boneheads they're just curious about you" Ranger took my hand again and led me down the corridor into an identical office as the one he had in Trenton. "Déjà vu" "Yeah basics are the same but each floor has a bigger square footage so we didn't need the same number of floors. Babe do you mind if Juan and Silvio are in on the conversation we need to have?" Did I? I trusted Silvio and obviously Ranger trusted his brother. "No but just those two, please" "Good, then let's get started" Juan and Silvio came into the office and we sat at a round table set to one side. As we all got seated a small Latino woman entered the room pushing a cart full of food. I smiled at her as she began to place plates in front of us. "I had Emma prepare us some food, as I know we haven't had breakfast" "Thanks Ranger, I'm starved, I didn't eat anything yesterday, other than on the plane" "Babe you want me to go first?" "Please" He explained about the house and how he had set up the system some years ago and the way in which Rangeman had it on their books, but not as a usual residence they monitored. I was surprised when Juan and Silvio admitted they knew nothing about it, and that it was under a name I didn't know. When it came to my turn I repeated my story of the parcel and letters and how I'd been led across the country to eventually be at that same house. I got up and began to pace, both Ranger and Silvio knew how I worked, but Juan was obviously confused. "Babe what's got you worried?" I ignored him while I tried to work out the puzzle in my head. "My spidey senses are telling me to be careful" Juan looked from Silvio to Ranger then back at me. "Steph has the best instincts of anyone I've ever worked with, if she says there's a problem then I believe her, so should you Juan" I smiled at Ranger; it felt really good for him to believe in me. "Thanks Ranger, alright I'm gonna start by throwing out questions that I don't have a clear answer for. Why do you and I have two different names for a person in that house, and why was there nothing personal there? Why use Rangeman to alarm the house if you were never really going to monitor it, 'cos it sure wasn't cheap? Why insist on Ranger responding personally? And why did I set the alarm off if she expected me there?" I looked around at the three men, obviously they had no answers either, and I sure didn't. Juan looked over at Ranger then responded to me. "Someone had installed an additional system to allow a code entry, I think they did that not knowing it would set off our alarm" "So no one was expecting Ranger to turn up?" "I don't think so" "Any ideas on why this woman has sent me all over the place in disguise and who followed me?" Ranger stood up and pulled me down onto his lap, his arms locked around me keeping me still.

"Plan of action then. Silvio I want you to pull everything you can on the two names we have, Beatrice Lang and Charlotte Rains, when you finish confer with Steph because she can see details you might miss, and she has some back door searches up her sleeve. Juan set up a surveillance team on the house, but keep it discreet. Babe we need to read your next letter"

"Ranger would it help to analyze the letters and envelopes for fingerprints or hand writing?"

"Good thinking, Silvio can you get the lab boys to do their work, but don't let on the reasons behind it, Babe let me copy them and the we have something to work with"

The others left the office and I removed the letters and the ids I'd been given. Ranger looked at the id photos and frowned.

"What?"

"I don't know, she had you in a strange disguise Babe and she seemed to know you really well especially since she'd never met you"

I shrugged my shoulders because to me any disguise would have been strange and if you went on the Internet all sorts of ideas came up.

"Maybe she has access to super searches like you?"

"Maybe, let's copy the letters and get them to the lab"

I handed the letters over and reread the earlier ones as I waited for Ranger to copy them. When he'd finished he passed them to Silvio, who was in the room next door, along with the envelopes. I then looked at the copy of the last letter that had been in the safe, when I had opened this letter a small key had fallen out.

" Well done Stephanie you certainly surpassed yourself if you are reading this letter.

You have a few days before your next action and then everything will fall into place and I will be able to rest in peace. In the city of Trenton within the Rosenbaum Bank there are safety deposit boxes that have been there for years, use the key, the documents you must retrieve to unearth the truth are there. You will know what to do with them. Beatrice" I read it twice before I put the letter down and looking at Ranger said. "I don't like this and my gut it telling me it's trouble, but I still don't know why" Ranger walked up to me and put his hands on either side of my face. "We'll work it out" "I want to go home, to go somewhere to get my head working, do we have to stay here?" "No, we can go home" And that is exactly what we did; Ranger let Juan and Silvio know our plans and that we were available when they had anything to report. Back in the car a Miami Merry Man took us to the airport but pulled through the gate for private jets. On exiting the car I looked in shock at the small plane we were headed for. "It's too small" "Babe it perfectly safe" With that I was just about dragged up the stairs by Ranger and into what can only be described as opulent sky travel. Ranger buckled me into a leather chair and took the seat next to me. "Ready?" "No" He laughed at me, until he realized I'd started to panic, then as the engines grew louder and we started to move he pulled my face to his and teased my lips open with his, I opened my mouth for his tongue to enter, I reciprocated his actions dueling for control, and with my fingers through his hair pulled him tighter until we moved apart lips still touching. I was breathing hard and my heart rate had gone up, I couldn't let this happen. I squeezed my eyes shut willing myself to calm down, and then turned and looked at Ranger, he was smiling at me? What was that about? "That was cheating" "Well I feel better, how's about you?" He'd kissed the hell out of me and I totally missed the take off, we were now cruising into the clouds above Miami. "Better, but my spidey senses are still buzzing" I curled against Ranger and got myself comfortable while he worked on his laptop. We'd been travelling for maybe an hour, me dozing most of the time, when there was a sudden juddering sensation that I felt through my chair and had me wide awake, Ranger tightened my seat belt while he got up and went to the front of the plane, he was gone too long for my liking and my spidey senses were singing now. I could feel vibrations through the floor and I was sure we were losing altitude. I unbuckled my seat belt and holding onto the backs of the other seats made my way forward into the cockpit. Ranger was on the radio and the pilot was struggling with the controls. Ranger turned to the pilot. "You know what to do, make sure you follow orders" He then turned me around, pushed me back into the cabin and opened up an overhead locker, pulling down green cloth coloured bundles, what on earth were they? There were three of them. He grabbed two green anoraks and thrust one toward me, while putting the other on himself. "Hurry put this on" I took the jacket and put it on, it was way too big, and why did I need a jacket? Looking back up at Ranger I looked on with shock as one of the bundles went on his back with straps between his legs, at his waist and over his shoulders. "You have to be kidding me?" I think I was too shocked to panic as I was turned around and a similar set of straps was attached to me. The co pilot retrieved what I now recognized as a parachute and quickly and adeptly put it on, at a nod from Ranger, he then went through the procedure to manually open the door. By then I was securely fastened to the front of Ranger, but was trying real hard to stay where I was. Not happening, Ranger picked me up, put goggles over my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. "You always wanted to fly Babe, close your eyes and keep your arms folded, I won't let go of you"

"Shit NO"

I had no leverage and as Ranger squatted down I was just about sat on his knee, seriously, there was a whoosh as the doors fully opened. As soon as we sat on the edge we were sucked out. My legs were flailing about and I tried to control my limbs, and get myself in order. It's hard to describe the feeling, the butterflies in my stomach, the intense adrenaline. It is like flying. Once I'd got a handle on my breathing, I tried to look around and savor the moment. It was absolutely incredible. Soon he'd released the parachute, just as I was getting a feel for it, but also just as I was starting to worry it wouldn't open. As the parachute opened the experience suddenly became a lot calmer. It was my chance to look around and take in the scenery, all I could see were trees and mountains and I envisioned us stuck at the top of some pine tree. As he swooped down and around I could tell he was looking for somewhere to safely land, I got just that little bit emotional. The relief at having survived and the disbelief that I'd done it, added to the incredible view just got too much for me. We cruised around for a few minutes and as our height got lower and the ground got closer he came in to land, skirting trees and rocky outcrops. I just had to lift my legs up as high as possible and he took the impact by gliding across the floor before coming to a complete stop. At first I was thankful to be back on the ground, then I was gutted it was all over. Ranger unclipped the parachute and it floated to the ground behind us. Then he released the clips holding me to him, pushed the goggles off my head, I turned around to face him and threw myself around him, arms and legs, and I'm surprised he managed to keep his balance. His grip on me was just as tight.

"Christ, Babe are you alright, not hurt or anything?"

"I'm fine, better than fine, that was freaking awesome, I want to do it again, but not when a plane is about to crash"

"I knew you'd love it"

Back on the ground he gently wiped a tear from my cheek then with a hand on either side of my face kissed my forehead, my nose then my lips.

"I don't think I would survive if I lost you, when we a have chance we need to have a long talk"

That's when my head dipped down, my heart broke a little more and my eyes teared up. He was going to send me away again, I cause him too much trouble and he can't afford to have me constantly needing him. His fingers lifted my chin and he frowned as he looked into my eyes.

"Babe I'm never ever sending you away nor am I ever going to walk away from you. The decision is entirely with you, think about it"

Not sure what he meant by that, but I suddenly felt ecstatic and smiled back at him. He took off a bag that had been around his waist and got out various instruments.

"Ranger what happened to the other two men?"

"They jumped before the plane went down"

"Why'd the plane go wrong?'

"Not sure Babe, but some of the instruments were malfunctioning and we were losing fuel"
"You think someone sabotaged it?"

"Yes, the guys are excessive about pre flight checks, but there was an hour between the checks and us taking off"

"Where are we?"

"Somewhere in the southern section of George Washington and Jefferson National Forest"

"Right and that's not good 'cos even I know it's a big freaking park"

"Yeah, we'd got in touch with Hop-along airport, north of where we were, but I'm not sure how close we are. An SOS went out and the plane should automatically transmit its whereabouts, but we're no where near the plane for when they send out a rescue party"

"Phone?"

"No signal"

"You've no Batman signal you can send to Tank?"

"No Babe, we'll use the GPS, as long as it can lock on to enough satellites, till then lets scout around for somewhere to settle for the night before it gets too dark"

"What are we going to be sharing our camp with?"

"Black bears are common but as we don't have food I don't think they'll bother us, White-tailed deer, bobcats, bald eagles, weasels, otters, and martens they're all here somewhere, but they will be more frightened of us so they'll keep their distance. If a bear approaches you, don't run, back away slowly. Face the bear, but don't look directly into its eyes, wave your arms, make lots of noise and stomp your feet. But remember, you can't out run one. They are extremely fast on the ground or at climbing a tree. If the bear attacks, fight back with anything available. Act aggressively"

"Shit, you mean it's like black bear meets Jersey girl?"

"Yeah, you do that and you'll be fine, but it won't come to that"

We started to walk slowly down the slope between the trees, my hand held tightly in Rangers, the sky was darkening and the sounds coming from the forest was changing. Insects were trying to catch the last of the suns rays. Ahead there was an outcrop of rock. Ranger walked around it and decided this was a good location to rest and it would give us some protection, not quite a cave but enough to feel closed off from the world. I collected some wood and decided that the enormous pile I had collected should be enough. Ranger had gone to find water and to see if he could get a better signal for the GPS. I pulled out my hoodie and put it on under the coat, with the fire going, I sat with my chin on my knees and looked out into the darkness. Needless to say I didn't hear or see Ranger till he was nearly on top of me. He sat behind me with his legs and arms encircling me. We sat in companionable silence.

"It's not the same as being near the sea but it makes a pretty good second. The sounds are almost hypnotic"

"I feel the same, I have a log cabin in Maine that has a similar feel, I'll take you there one day"

"So, find much out?"

"Not really, we'll head down and hope to find a river we can follow, or maybe we'll be more visible from the sky, I left our parachute opened up so maybe someone will see it from above"

I turned my body into his and snuggled into his chest, my favorite place to be. He felt me move and his arms pulled me into him tighter, I could feel him breathing into my hair, and hear the beat of his heart against my ear. His nearness brought out all the anguish I had bottled up.

"I can't do this"

"Do what?"

"Be this close to you"

"I don't understand"

"Ranger I can't be the girl on the side, friends with benefits, it's breaking me"

I tried to move out of his hold but he wouldn't let me go. He turned my face up to his and with a hand on the back of my head brought his lips to mine, at that moment I really didn't care, I should probably take what I could, I just needed him to love me back. When we came back for air with his head on my forehead he whispered.

"Te quiero mucho"

I knew what he had said and was waiting for the qualifiers to come; I didn't dare say anything because that could frighten him off.

"Babe no qualifiers, no excuses, I just can't keep pushing you away"

"What are you saying?"

"I always said someday, and I've worked hard to get here"

"I still don't understand"

"I needed to get Rangeman secure as a business, and that meant some high risk missions which paid very well. I couldn't get involved with you in case I didn't come back, I couldn't trust myself not to hurt you even more, but now I've finished with those, I won't be leaving to go away in the wind again"

I felt my eyes tear up, he loves me, and maybe he always had, but wouldn't admit to it?

"Babe I've always loved you in the only way I knew how, my life is always going to be chaotic and dangerous, but I think yours is probably the same, I just want you to be safe. I realized this week after you'd gone that if I didn't say this to you I could lose you forever, and I don't want that to happen"

My only response, as for once words wouldn't come, was to hold his face and kiss him, demanding of passion and giving everything I felt. Without even thinking it through I said what my heart felt.

"I love you too Ricardo Carlos Manoso"

That sent him over the edge as he then moved his mouth across to my neck licking and biting across to the lobe of my ear, my coat was off my shoulder and his hands were pushing under my layers of clothes toward my breasts. I moaned as he tweaked my nipples and massaged the surrounding area. I tugged at his coat and shirt until they were over his head then ran my tongue down his neck to the junction of his shoulders. My tops disappeared and he slowly eased me back to lie on the discarded clothes, as his teeth nibbled at my breast My hands and fingers ran over his chest, I was humming almost literally with sighs and moans as my skin responded to his touch. A snap of a button and a pull on a zip and I lifted my hips to be free of the rest of my clothes. As his mouth moved down to swirl in my belly button I moved to undo his cargos.

"Not yet mi amor, let me love you"

I felt his head between my legs and opened them to allow better access. With my hands laced in his hair and my back arched up I felt his tongue lathe at my opening, my breath hitched and I tried to vocalize where I needed him to be, but what came out were louder moans and interrupted words. His tongue entered me and sent waves throughout my body, I was so close to coming, that a finger with his tongue rippling within me had my muscles spasm and shock waves rippling out, I cried out his name.

"Carlos"

A growl from him

"So wet, so sweet"

He maneuvered his body alongside me, kissing me deep and fast, the taste of my own juices inciting me further. I moved down to his belly button and then to the hair below his waistband, he was already hard and a maneuver had his cargos open and his shaft springing free. My hands freed him and I moved my mouth to taste the pre-cum as it formed on the tip, my lips nipped and licked down the vein to the base while my hands massaged his sacs. He was growling by this time and when my mouth went over his shaft his back arched up pushing his shaft further into my mouth, I used my teeth to gently ignite the skin and hummed from my chest. Then suddenly he removed my head and looked into my eyes.

"I need to be inside of you"

I was flipped onto my back and he moved above me with his arms tucked under my shoulder taking his weight, instinctively I wrapped my legs around his hips and using my hand I guided his shaft to rub along my wet folds. When he was at my entrance I pushed my hips toward his. The feel of him entering me was ecstasy; he moved slowly and stilled allowing me to adjust to his size and then in a dance as old as time we began the ritual moves of moving against each other. He lifted my hips with one arm and the change of angle against my sweet spot had my body quivering for completion.

"Look at me Babe, I want to see you come"

With eyes open I looked into the pools of black, resplendent with a passion and emotion I'd not seen before. As he squeezed my clit, my muscles contracted and with a final push that seemed to touch my womb I fell over the edge shouting his name with him following me. The aftershocks died down leaving me breathless, my heart beating wildly and sweat pouring down my back, with him still inside of me he knelt pulling me up to his chest. I kissed his neck and moved to his lips and across to his ear.

"I love you Carlos"

"I love you too Babe"

Carlos, yes that was the name of the love of my life, he pulled the coat around my shoulders.

"We need to get dressed before it gets too cold"

I whimpered as he withdrew from me but knew we needed to stay warm, I put my layers of clothes back on using my briefs to clean both myself and him, before getting clean ones from my rucksack. Laying our heads on the rucksacks we curled up together holding each other and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Chapter 8

As the sun was beginning to rise showing the start of a new day I watched my Babe as she slept. She had been so strong yesterday when the problems began with the plane, maybe I really did need to take more notice when she was so worried, but I thought it was nerves that had her so upset. There was no way to tell what exactly had caused the failures with the plane, but I didn't believe in coincidence, someone was out to get Steph or maybe me, maybe they would believe that we had died in the crash, something to think about was to continue that subterfuge when we eventually got out of here. I'd left the parachute spread out so it would be clearly visible from the sky; there was enough evidence of the direction we'd taken so hopefully Tank would have a team on the ground soon. Stephs reaction to the jump had me smiling, she loved it once we were in the air, I knew she would, I just wished I could have had her jumping under different circumstances. Last night had been affirming of the love we shared and if it were possible I loved her even more. I felt her moving and saw her eyes flickering, not as in waking up but as in a dream, her frown concerned me, whilst she might deny the dangers that caught up with her she always relived them for a time when she slept. Often I would try to make sure I was with her to comfort her while she slept, the worst time for her was after Scrogg had shot me. I knew she was struggling by the dark circles under her eyes and the paleness of her skin but I couldn't help, Morelli tried to smother her and obviously didn't comfort her, then I had needed to go down to Miami to smooth down the after effects with Rachel and ensure Julie had support through sessions with a doctor. I stroked her cheek and tucked a curl behind her ear then whispered in her ear.

"Babe, time to wake up querida"

She stilled as if working out where she was, then smiled and opened those beautiful blue eyes looking right into my soul.

"Good morning, my love"

Was that her waking thought?

"I think we may have company soon"

"You do, who?"

"Tank and some men will have deployed a rescue mission for us, they're very good at finding people. We need to head to a clearing down the hill"

We collected our things together in silence, as Steph turned she froze, typical; a black bear had decided to take an interest.

"Err, Carlos we have company"

"Remember what I said?"

"Yes"

At that she suddenly stood tall and started to jump up and down waving her arms.

"Go away you big black thingy, we don't want you, there's nothing for you here, go find someone of your own"

Her eyes were bright, her face serious and I don't know if the poor bear was just too shell shocked at her verbal attack or not, but he grunted dropped to all fours and sauntered away from us.

"That told him, Jersey girl 1, black bear 0"

I laughed and taking her hand we began to walk down the slope. Two things made me stop and squat pulling Steph down with me, a sound of breaking twigs behind and the sound of rotors in the distance. Steph laughed and turned to look in the direction we'd come from.

"Tanks here with two others"

How the hell did she know that?

"I heard his laugh and someone reply"

"Really?"

"Nah, look there they are"

Tank was approaching with Ram and Manny all smiling at the sight of us, especially as we had no signs of any injuries. He walked past me and took Steph in his arms.

"Little Girl am I glad to see you"

" Hey Tank, we're good, I did my first chute jump yesterday, it was ace"

"Yeah I heard, come on lets get down to that clearing and I'll radio Santos 'cos you've got another day of firsts to come"

Did the guys totally ignore me? I watched them walk ahead, Manny had his arm around Steph and Ram was leading the way.

"You coming Ranger?"

I caught up to them as a helicopter hovered above the clearing. Steph was looking up at it with a puzzled look.

"Is it going to land?"

The answer came when the winch let the rope down with a harness at the bottom of it.

"Oh no, I came down through the air, I am not going up in that"

Tank looked at me as if to say, you sort it. I walked to the rope and tied the harness around myself then another around Steph. She didn't move or say a word; I think she had decided that this was the only way out of here. I fastened her harness to me then wrapped my arms around her shoulders and my legs around her legs just under her ass, she smiled and reciprocated the move with her arms and as our feet left the ground I gave her a passionate kiss. Hal pulled us into the main compartment, helped to free us of the harness then lowered the winch back down for the team on the ground. With Steph secured into one of the middle seats, I then helped Hal. Once everyone was on board with headsets on, Santos lifted the bird and headed out.

"Where to Ranger?"

"The coast house, we have some discussions and decisions to make, and I need to know how that plane ended up going down"

Steph was snuggled up under my arm, at first I thought she had fallen to sleep, but she raised her head and pointed to the headset, I gave her a nod that I understood she wanted to say something.

"What about the two men on the plane, are they alright?"

"Yes Babe, they made their way to the wreckage and are with the investigators looking at the plane"

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see soon enough"

The flight was smooth and everyone remained quiet, Santos brought the chopper into land on the gassed area in front of a house I owned by the beach. Its ownership was under layers of ownership through subsidiaries that I had set up when I bought the house four years ago. I helped Steph down and took her around to the side entrance that came into the kitchen. The house wasn't overly big but had the potential to build onto. There were two bedrooms with en suite, a lounge and a sunroom across the back, which faced the sea. I'd had Ella help with the décor and here, as opposed to the apartment on seven; she had made it more homely. Was that a word I would use? Well she added color, from pillows and throws in the rooms and had somehow managed to get hold of personal photos that were dotted around. The kitchen though, I insisted was to be functional and easy to keep tidy and clean, it was big enough for a table and bench seats.

"Go have a look round, the master bed room looks over the beach, freshen up and I'll meet you in the sunroom, through there. Oh by the way, there are clothes you can use in the closet"

She gave me a frown but disappeared just as the men came through the door. We helped ourselves to drinks, I'd text Ella earlier to supply the place with whatever she thought would be needed, then we all went into the sunroom.

"I'll leave the chopper here for now in case you want it, so what's going on?"

Everyone looked at me waiting for an answer.

"Steph needs to tell you her side, I'm not sure what we've been caught up in. There's the mystery over a house down in Miami which is how I connected with Steph, but I don't know who would want us dead, if the target is me or Steph, a lot of unanswered questions and a lot of research to do"

Steph came into the room and picking up a beer sat with me, she'd changed into cut off jeans and a white T-shirt.

"Babe it's your show, you can tell these guys anything you want to, or not, if that's the case"

"No they can hear, but it must not go beyond you five guys, promise"

They of course agreed, they'd all do anything to protect her, so she went through her story yet again, answering questions to clarify something when they asked. I then gave more detail of my time in Miami and the work that Juan and Silvio were doing.

"Primo, I spoke with Juan as we found you to let him know you were fine. News hadn't leaked out about the crash so I've told him not to mention it to anyone, even the guys in the office"

"Tank what's the word in Trenton?"

"Most of the guys know there was an accident, though they didn't know Steph was with you, nothings gone out of the office as far as I know"

"Babe you need to decide whether to hole up here and let people think you're still out of town working, if you were the target then the people responsible for the crash may think you're dead"

"I need to get back to Trenton to finish what I started. If I was the target, which I don't think, then it won't work Ranger, once they hear you're OK then they'll assume I am as well, plus not many people knew I was on that plane, maybe you were the target"

"Fair point, when do you want to head back to Trenton?"

"Can I spend at least a full day working with Silvio on those names and the house then at least I might have some answers to work on?"

"No problem, Santos will you fly the chopper back and take Tank, Hal and Manny with you. I'm going to get Hector to come out here this evening. The day after tomorrow Hector can drive Steph back and I'll take one of the cars from the garage so it doesn't look as though we've been working together"

"Oh and Tank send me a report through from Cal then I can see where he's up to, because no doubt the FBI will be knocking soon"

After that Santos and the guys disappeared to fly back, Steph was there to say goodbye and thanked them for saving us, while Ram and I raided the kitchen to start preparing for a meal. Steph came back in and watched as the two of us prepared the food.

"Anything you want me to do?"

"Maybe get the table ready Babe?"

"I can do that"

Our meal lasted longer than I thought it would, Steph was in fine form and was joking with Ram, they were comparing things that had gone wrong when going under cover. As we tidied up I turned to Ram

"Ram can you do a perimeter check and set the alarms up, I'll cover those in the main house?"

"Sure, am I in the apartment?

"Yeah, everything should be set up, I'll see you in the morning"

"Night Steph"

"Night Ram"

Steph and I sat on the couch watching TV, her choice of film no less, only I didn't have Ghostbusters, but "A ghost story" suited us both. I had sat sideways leaning against the arm with Steph leaned against my chest between my legs. I found I was constantly touching her, pulling a curl, rubbing circles on her bare skin or occasionally kissing the top of her head, a hand always linked with hers. I found that I liked the closeness, even craved the contact, I was relaxed and even totally at ease with how I was feeling. At the end of the film she turned sideways and kissed my cheek.

"I enjoyed that film, but I enjoyed just being sat with you"

"I know what you mean"

"So you own this house?"

"Yes, don't get here as much as I'd like to"

"Why not?"

"I tended to come here after a difficult mission, when I needed time on my own"

"It's a lovely place, can we go on the beach in the morning? Or will there be too many people?"

"Private beach, so no people"

"So why are there womens clothes in the closet?"

"For you"

"I don't understand, I know I've left some things in your apartment, but those upstairs are new"

"I've had Ella stock clothes for you, because eventually I wanted to bring you here"

"Oh"

"Come on bedtime, we've had a long day today and tomorrow is going to be busy"

I switched off the lights and taking her hand led her upstairs into the master bedroom. Steph seemed reticent as though she was unsure; I needed to work very hard to diminish the waves of anxiety that seemed to affect her emotionally. I hadn't realized that the things I had said to her in the past would have such a great impact, I must have been stupid to not realize that by protecting myself from the feelings I was having, I was hurting her. I walked behind her and turned her in my arms placing my forehead against hers.

"I'm sorry I hurt you by saying some of the things I did"

She looked up at me her eyes moist.

"Babe if I have to tell you ten times every day for the rest of my life then I will, I love you, only you, and I was stupid to try to think I was protecting myself and you. Please forgive me and believe in me?"

"I do, it's just that I've had to protect my heart for so long it's become second nature to

be cautious"

"Don't be cautious let yourself be loved as you are meant to be"

I slowly eased the T-shirt up and over her head allowing my fingers to tease along the lace bra over her breasts, as my mouth moved to feel the softness of each breast; my hand undid the clasp at her back allowing me full access with both my mouth and hand. Her neck arched back and her hands massaged my scalp. Who knew that my scalp was such an erogenous place, her sighs and whispers fed my desire and my erection became firmer and was demanding attention. I lifted her and placed her on the chaise longue in the room so that she was sitting on the arm. My hands unbuttoned her jeans and with her briefs eased them down her legs and off, standing between her legs I returned to her mouth demanding attention. We dueled tongues exploring each other's mouths, her hands now nipping and rubbing at my own nipples as her hands roamed under my shirt. I broke the kiss and lifted the offending shirt over my head returning my mouth to her nipples to bring them to a hard peak. As she placed her hands at the waist of my cargos I pulled them away.

"Not yet, let me show you how much I love you"

From her breasts I moved down her stomach, feeling the muscles in her abdomen contract as she lent back. I gently lowered her backwards so that her shoulders were resting on the seat and spread her legs to allow me better access; at first there was a hint of panic.

"Do you trust me?"
"Yes"

"I won't do anything to hurt you or make you uncomfortable, tell me to stop and I will"

She nodded and I felt her body relax, with her ass over the arm of the chaise longue I first used my fingers to stroke her slit and my mouth to tease between her curls, she was so wet and so ready, her body writhed and I held her still with a hand on her hips, moving my mouth and tongue to enter her wetness with a nip and massage to her clit I could feel her walls tighten onto me. Her screams accompanied the orgasm that tore through her and I gently moved my tongue to extend the pleasure she was feeling. As her breathing calmed I lent over her again to feed on her firm soft breasts and my hand now did the work to arouse her once more. Her skin was now so sensitized to my ministrations, her pleads and shouts evoked a primal need inside of me. I would normally ensure a woman at least three orgasms before I entered them, but I was losing all self-control.

"I need to come inside of you"

With that I shucked my cargos and plunged to the hilt inside of her, the euphoric feel was paralyzing and I stilled, for me to gain what little control I had, and for her to accommodate my size. Then with my hands on her hips I began the movement that would enable me to fulfill my release. I controlled all of the movement and when I felt my sacs expand and my muscles vibrate I rubbed and nipped her clit to ensure she came with me.

"Come with me Babe"

A last deep hard thrust and I felt my sperm being released, my orgasm perpetuated by the vice like grip her muscles applied as they drew me in with their contractions. My shouts deafened out her scream, but when I heard my name, Carlos, reverberate around the room, that incited my orgasm to inflame. Our orgasms fed off each other and once I felt her ripples slow down I lifted her and sank to the floor holding her to me, still inside her. Our hearts were racing and breaths were panting. A sheen of sweat covered our skin.

"God, Babe, I've never felt like that before, only you, you are my undoing mi amante"

Steph looked up into my eyes.

"I have never ever experienced anything like that before either "

How on earth had I been so stupid to keep pushing her away?

We continued to hold each other until I felt Steph shiver slightly, as I moved I almost whimpered at the loss of being inside of her. I lifted her into the bathroom and began to fill the bath adding fragranced bath salts, when the tub was full; I lifted and placed her into the water.

"Relax while I shower"

Thirty minutes later I had joggers on and was knelt beside the bath using a soapy sponge to caress and stroke her skin. She was so beautiful as she lay with her eyes closed, relaxed in the soapy water. Then as the water cooled down, I lifted her out into the shower to rinse off the soap. She turned and looked me in the eyes.

"Thank you for taking care of me"

We slept holding each other both of us enjoying a deep dream free night.