I know I said this would be the last chapter, but I changed my mind. There is far too much to wrap up to cram it all into one chapter, so you have to bear with me just a little while longer…

Thank you all so very much for your reviews, they mean more than you can imagine.

And a thank you extraordinaire to Stayce, my friend, my beta and my much-needed editor!

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, I still don't own them. Thomalla is mine though. Big whoop.

Rating: Rated t for Teen

Spoilers: None, it's my own thing…

Living on a Prayer

Chapter 33

I took a deep breath and allowed myself a second to listen. Thomalla must have reached the front door, he was yelling through it. "Are you alone?"

I almost cried out with relief when I heard Ranger's muffled response. It wasn't loud enough to understand what he said, but I recognized his voice. Even though I had been pretty sure Thomalla had been talking to Ranger on the phone, and that it was Ranger who was banging on the door, I really hadn't allowed myself to give in to hope.

"Drop your weapon, let me hear it fall. And don't try anything, I have Cookie here in front of me!" Thomalla yelled. Probably he was facing the door. Good, I needed him preoccupied and as far away from me as possible. Once again I reached for the doorknob. I had to act slowly so I wouldn't make any noise, but it was very hard for me to slow down.

I found the knob and turned it bit by bit. Thomalla had been so sure of himself, he hadn't even blockaded the door, it opened easily. I heard the click of the safety on Thomalla's gun and knew I had to act fast. Ranger wouldn't have come alone, but Thomalla could shoot him before any of the Merry Men could get a good shot at him.

"Sorry, she can't talk right now, but I assure you she's fine," Thomalla was yelling, apparently still through the door. That meant his back was to me. I took my chances and cracked the door open further, until I could slip through.

Thomalla hadn't bothered with any lights, it was almost dark in the house. The only light came from outside, as if headlights were trained on the front windows.

I barely allowed myself to breathe, I was concentrating on making as little noise as possible, preferably none. Unfortunately that meant moving carefully, setting one foot in front of the other, making sure I didn't trip or bump into anything in the poor light.

A few feet ahead of me, the sitting room opened to my right, and the light was a little better. I could make out Thomalla crouching next to the front door. At first I thought he was turned sideways, which meant he could easily pick me up in his peripheral vision as soon as I stepped out of the shadow, but he appeared to be facing the wall. I wondered if he was trying to give the impression of standing right behind the door.

"I need to talk to Stephanie before I open this door," Ranger said and my heart skipped a beat. I couldn't remember ever being happier to hear his voice. Fuck it, I decided, it was now or never. The only thing I was sure of was that I didn't want Ranger to get hurt. I ignored everything else.

"IT'S A TRAP!!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, raised my makeshift weapon and ran towards Thomalla at full speed.

It couldn't have taken more than a few seconds, but time seemed to stretch, as if there was too much input, my brain had to process it one thing at a time.

Thomalla turned, his eyes wide in surprise. I saw him lift his gun at the same time I heard a loud crash and saw the front door splinter into hundreds of pieces. I registered that Thomalla levelled the gun at me, but I realized that's what I wanted. I needed his attention away from Ranger.

I caught a glimpse of Ranger in the doorframe and Thomalla's gun swivelling in his direction. Suppressing all thoughts, especially those of risk and danger, I launched myself at him. I tried to raise the hanger while I was sailing through the air, but I don't know if I was successful.

All I remember was the impact, like running into a punching bag at full speed, and several loud retorts, gunshots.

And Ranger's voice, louder than I'd ever heard it before. A piercing pain shot through my side and the world went black, as sudden as turning off at TV in the middle of an action sequence.

When I came to, I knew immediately where I was. White walls and ceilings, the smell of antiseptics and the overall hush were a dead giveaway: I was in a hospital. And for some reason I knew it was nighttime, I was sure of it. At first I didn't do more than open my eyes and blink a couple times, trying to lift the fog of unconsciousness completely.

Next, I wiggled my fingers and toes for some reason, I guess to make sure they were all still there. I groaned softly when I involuntarily turned my ankle and it hurt. Clothes rustled next to me and I turned my head slowly when Ranger came into my field of vision.

He leaned forward and picked up my hand, carefully avoiding the IV line that had been poked into it. "Why am I here?" My voice sounded like scraping sand paper. He shook his head almost imperceptibly.

"How're you feeling?" He asked, his dark eyes studying me. I tried to roll my eyes to show him how much I hated that question, but I was too glad to see him. "Are…" I tried to say, but it came out like a croak, my throat was bone-dry. Ranger picked up a cup from the nightstand and put the tip of the straw into my mouth.

I took a couple sips of ice water and cleared my throat.

"Are you okay? What happened? Where's Thomalla?" Ranger chuckled, I wasn't sure why. His expression changed before he looked down at our hands, there was unusual emotion in his eyes.

"That can wait, Babe," he said and stroked his thumb over my knuckles gently. "You need to rest some more."

I tried to sit up when a sharp pain shot through my side. I gasped. And I remembered what happened right before I woke up in the hospital. Ranger jumped up and lowered me back down.

"Don't move," he advised. "You were in surgery for a while, it will be a couple days before you can sit or stand."

He held me easily with one arm while he fluffed up a pillow with the other hand and stuffed it behind me. I couldn't see any casts or bandages on him. He was wearing a skin-tight black t-shirt, I would notice any bandages under it. And since he'd just now jumped up, his legs were fine, too. I sighed relieved. Ranger hadn't been injured.

He locked eyes with me when he lowered me onto the pillow and he looked dead tired. "Hey," he said softly. "Hey, " I replied very eloquently and got the eerie sense of déjà vu. "You're okay." Ranger nodded. "Yeah, Babe, thanks to you I'm okay."

"Where are we, Trenton?" I asked. I was having difficulty getting the words out and keeping my eyes open although I still wanted to know what had happened, and soon.

Ranger shook his head slightly as a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, "Bridgeton."

Yep, definitely déjà vu all over again, that explained his smile. I was glad I was in a room and not behind an ER curtain like the last time Ranger'd brought me here after rescuing me from that house of horrors. I would've rolled my eyes, but I was too tired.

A knock on the door made me flinch. A nurse entered smiling, followed by a doctor. The nurse introduced herself as Joyce; she was about my mom's age and had the same motherly air about her. She took my vitals, made some notes and handed them to the doctor before she smiled her goodbyes and left.

Unlike last time, this doctor was a woman, Dr. Desprez, as she and her nametag told me, so I couldn't charm my way out prematurely. She asked me if I was okay with Ranger staying and I said yes without hesitation.

She explained I had a flesh wound and I'd been very lucky that the bullet had missed all organs and had torn right through me. I missed what else she was saying while she examined me because I realized that I could have just as easily been killed. Bells started clanging in my head when I understood what Ranger had meant by being stupid.

"…so if everything heals well, you'll be out of here within a week," Dr. Desprez finished up and that caught my attention.

"A week?" I asked, and I could feel Ranger's eyes on me. The doctor nodded, "We need to make sure there are no side effects from the blood loss today, and then there's the risk of infection…"

"Babe," Ranger said softly next to me, "Please." I knew he wouldn't let me get away with the fib that my roommate was a nurse. I sighed, "Can we renegotiate if I heal well in two days?" I asked.

Dr. Desprez chuckled, "Get some rest for now. I'll be back later to check on you, and we can discuss it further." She made some notes on my chart and stuck it back into the pouch at the foot of my bed. She continued smiling when she left, but I was tempted to give her the finger behind her back. A week! No way!

"A week," I whined. "It's for the best," Ranger said. He looked pleased. Hunh. I gave myself a moment to calm down and took a deep breath, but really, I was too tired to really get worked up about it at that moment. . I knew it was useless to argue with Ranger about how long I should or shouldn't stay in the hospital, he was probably happy the doctor had backed him up.

"Why don't you start by following her orders, hmm?" Ranger asked and took my hand. "Get some sleep, it can all wait until later."

"Will you stay?" I asked. "As long as it takes," Ranger replied, I think, but I'm not sure since I was already drifting off at the time.

The next time I opened my eyes, sunlight streamed in through the vertical blinds and almost made it to my bed. I was feeling a little more like myself. Ranger was still sitting in the chair next to me, his fingers entwined with mine. When I looked at him, his lips curled up in a smile.

"There you are," he said and ran his other hand over my cheek. I wasn't sure what he meant by that, so I just replied with a smile.

"Are you thirsty, or hungry?" He asked, tucking a loose curl behind my ear.

"Is there more water?" I croaked, cleared my throat and looked longingly at the cup. Ranger grabbed the cup and put the straw between my lips again. "How did you find me?" I asked when I was done drinking.

Ranger smiled and put the cup back on the nightstand, "Don't you always compare me to Batman? I have ways." I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't help smiling. "No really, how did you find me? No one followed us. I checked."

"I like the version where I'm Batman better but," He reached into his pocket, pulled out a key ring and jangled them. "LoJack, Baby." The only way I could describe his smile was goofy, and I snorted. Ranger never smiled goofily. In fact, I would have bet Ranger never did goofy, period. When the meaning of his words set in, my eyes widened. "You tracked me the whole time?" I couldn't believe I'd had the right feeling about the keys. True, I only thought of them as a talisman, but they were magic after all.

Ranger grew serious again. "No, not at first. You went to your house and left it a little while later," he almost-shrugged, "Nothing unusual about that. The control room saw the movement, but wasn't recording it." He sat down on the bed next to me and focused on arranging my blanket just right. "At the time, they didn't know they 'saw' you, I didn't tell them you had my keys. When I was done at the courthouse, I called you. That's when I got suspicious." He looked up and ran his index finger over my jaw line. "I knew the days you avoided my calls were over."

I blushed. Why did I ever think not talking to Ranger was the way to solve this mess? I reasoned I couldn't really be blamed, traumatic circumstances and all that. And really, I had learned a lot about myself during the last month, and I had grown up a little, in a way. Faced with the same situation, I would react differently now. I gave him an apologetic smile. "Then what?"

Ranger slid his fingers between mine. I looked down at our hands, admiring our contrasting skin tones. "I went to your apartment, found your phone. I'm sorry it took me that long to catch on."

I shook my head and met his eyes. "No, don't. You know this is not your fault. I should have waited for you at the courthouse."

Ranger smiled. "If it's not my fault, then it's not your fault either, okay?" I returned his smile, realizing I'd automatically taken the blame. "Okay."

"So what happened?" I asked and when I realized I sounded like I didn't remember anything I added, "I mean, after you thought something was up? After you found me?"

That didn't sound much better, and I grunted in frustration. Ranger chuckled softly and gave me his full-on smile. "How much do you remember?"

"Everything," I said at once. "Thomalla abducted me. You rescued me." Ranger barked a short laugh and it sounded relieved. "Yeah, that about sums it up," he said. He was stroking my finger with his thumb and warmth spread from my hand up my arm.

I frowned at him, getting confused. "You were at the door," I pointed out, "Negotiating with Thomalla." Ranger nodded. The rest was a bit fuzzy, it had all happened so fast.

I looked down at the big bandage around my waist. "I was shot!" I yelled in surprise. I should have been able to make the connection between the sharp pain and the lights-out before, but I'd just now put them together.

Ranger ran his finger over the bandage. "He shot you, but the bullet was meant for me," He said and the smile disappeared from his face. "You did a very brave and very stupid thing," he looked back up at me again.

"Thomalla?"

Ranger shook his head, "His goon. Came out at about the same time you did, but it was the last thing he'll ever do."

I grimaced. I'd forgotten all about the accomplice, even though he had just run by the closet minutes before Thomalla had started negotiating with Ranger. It wasn't like I cared for him, but I didn't wish him dead either.

And now I was confused. I remembered the coat hanger and the big jump.

"You broke in the door when I tackled Thomalla," I said, just thinking out loud, and it came out almost like a question. I shook my head. "Enough with the piecemeal," I said, trying to sound resolute. "Why don't you tell me everything from the start and I add my part afterwards?"

Ranger blew out some air, but the almost-smile was back on his lips. He pulled up the chair, sat down on it and rested his elbows on the mattress next to me, still holding my hand. "You want the long version or the summary?"

My stomach growled as if in response and Ranger commented it with "Guess that answers that question…" but then he leaned back, bent down and picked up a paper bag from the floor. He turned it upside down and an assortment of Tastykakes and candy bars rained down into my lap. Probably I looked like a kid on Christmas morning, it doesn't take much to make me happy. I felt better instantly and gave Ranger my version of a full-on smile. Ranger just shook his head.

"This will last me an hour, give me the full story!" I said, selecting a package of Butterscotch Krimpets. Ranger laughed at that and traced my jawbone with his finger, "Only you Babe."

I felt like the spot on my leg where his hands now lay was slowly heating up. I blamed it on the meds, they must have given me something, right? I didn't usually react to Ranger's every touch.

I closed my eyes to savor the taste and felt much better after the first cake. "Okay," I said, tackling the second one, my eye already on the next package. "Go on."

Ranger ran a hand through his hair. "I got to your apartment and got a feeling when I saw your cell phone in a pile on the floor." I raised my eyebrows, "A feeling?" I just had to tease him. Ranger shrugged and continued, "I got two teams together we practically flew to the location. Probably broke all existing traffic laws on our way, made it in record time. We found the car and ran the plates so I knew you were with Thomalla."

I nodded. "Did you check my laptop?"

Ranger shook his head, "Not at the time. I called Bobby to take over at your apartment, see if anything was stolen and such, and he told me what he found..." I stopped my hand halfway to my mouth as my jaw dropped. "So you didn't know?? It's the reason Joe was killed. It's the missing evidence, it's what Joe died for…" I waved my free hand in an all-encompassing fashion.

Ranger nodded. "I knew most of it. I knew there was evidence that would prove who the rat was. I just didn't have the last piece of the puzzle, what the evidence was. Bobby called before we got to Shiloh."

He picked up my hand and started stroking his thumb over my knuckles again. It felt nice, normal. Like we were sitting on my couch, not in a hospital.

"There were pictures and audio, but I didn't know what I was seeing and hearing."

"The photos were surveillance pictures of Thomalla with one of the tri-state mob bosses, Anthony Picariello," Ranger said, "Proving Thomalla's connection to the mob. I take it he saw you find it?" He asked, but it sounded more like a statement, so I just nodded.

"He could have killed you right in your apartment." I just nodded again, "Like he killed Joe." Ranger squeezed my hand, "Yeah."

"Did you suspect Thomalla when you got to my apartment?"

"He was the last one I knew you'd been with. And I got a call from Detective Krenzler. She had a hunch. She told me Thomalla hadn't checked in after court." He focused on our hands now, lacing his fingers with mine.

"Plus, you sent out the bat signal," he said and winked. My head had started to hurt and I was rubbing my temple without noticing it until Ranger got up and replaced my hand with his, gently massaging my scalp.

"There's a panic button on the key fob," He explained, "I thought you knew that because you kept pressing it. That's why we tried our best to get to you as fast as possible." I remembered how I had squeezed the remote thingy, trying to draw strength from it.

I let myself relax in his hands and closed my eyes again. Within minutes, the headache was gone.

"What was Stayce's hunch about?" I asked, my eyes still closed, my head resting in Rangers hands. His fingertips were circling on my scalp, inching their way towards the back of my neck and it felt heavenly. I could feel all tension in my muscles evaporate.

"Apparently, she has a Spidey-sense, too," Ranger said, and I could hear the smile in his voice. "She said she'd gotten a weird vibe from Thomalla the last time she'd talked to him."

When his hands reached the spot where my neck met my shoulders I moaned involuntarily.

Ranger's hands stilled and I opened my eyes. I wanted to ask him why he'd stopped but when my eyes found his I couldn't form the words. His face was inches from mine because he was hunched over to avoid touching my injured side. He blinked and the moment was over. Maybe I had imagined the whole thing.

I cleared my throat and Ranger straightened. "That felt good," I said to end the uncomfortable silence. When he didn't respond I tried to read his expression again but the blank face had slipped into place.

"So you followed me because Stayce had a hunch?" I asked, deliberately teasing him. He shook his head 'no'. "I followed you because I thought something was off," he said and shoved his hands into his pockets and remained standing. "Stayce just confirmed that I wasn't overreacting."

I raised my eyebrows in a silent question. Ranger never needed anyone to confirm or condone what he was doing, he did what he thought was right. "What are you not telling me?"

He finally met my eyes again. "You asked me days ago to check Thomalla out," he said softly, "Something always came up. I keep thinking if I had done my job I might have found him out before you…" He gestured towards my bandage.

"That's ridiculous," I objected before he could finish, "I'm sure he was smart enough to cover his tracks. Morelli'd found him out that's why Thomalla had him killed!" I noticed how I was able to speak of Morelli's death now without even choking up. I hadn't believed Ranger when he said I'd heal, but it was true. For a second, I forgot the more pressing issue of what had happened and realized that I was healing. Ironically, because of Teddy and Thomalla, in a way. They had jump-started Take Charge Stephanie, and she didn't do Distressed Damsel, crying mess.

Ranger misunderstood my silence and put his hand on my forearm, "You okay?" I nodded. Then I wondered if I should feel guilty for being okay or if it was what Joe would have wanted. I decided to think about it later.

"What did Bobby do with the evidence?" I asked instead. "Handed it over to the Feds," Ranger said, "Are you okay?"

"You mean aside from a flesh wound that will keep me in the hospital for a week?" I raised my eyebrows at him and he gave me his 1000-Watt smile, "Yeah, aside from that."

I picked up a Snickers bar. "What happened to Thomalla?"

I didn't know if I wanted him dead or brought to justice, as they say. He was responsible for Joe's murder, but a quick death seemed way too nice for him.

"Well, he's alive…although we had a hard time getting him out of the house, he kept tripping and running into things…" Ranger smiled at the memory. Good, I thought, at least they'd gotten to beat him up.

"He'll go to jail, Babe. And you wouldn't want your worst enemy to be a cop in jail," Ranger finished, as if reading my thoughts. I remembered Morelli telling me something similar a long time ago, and an evil smile spread across my face. "Good."

I finished the Snickers bar and licked my fingers. "Do you think Thomalla was the only rat? Can you trust the feds?" Ranger was watching me but again, I couldn't read his expression.

He cleared his throat, "The lead agent, Guerro, and I were in boot camp together. We stayed in touch over the years. Yeah, I trust him." I sighed relieved. Ranger didn't trust anybody lightly.

"They pretty much established early on that it's just one leak, it always seemed to be the same source," he explained. Thank God! I motioned for him to go on, but he changed directions.

"The control room dispatched the cops and an ambulance," he continued, absently stroking my bandaged abdomen. "We got you to the hospital and Thomalla to jail."

I was thinking about pointing out that a huge part of the puzzle was still missing, but for some reason, I didn't want to think about it any more right there and then.

Instead, I summed it up for the moment, "So it's over."

"It's over," Ranger confirmed and reached out to run his fingers that had been resting on my arm higher up. He tucked a strand of hair back behind my ear and lightly touched my earlobe. It tickled and I automatically smiled. "It's over," he repeated, softer this time. He seemed to mean so much more than just the case. I looked up and our eyes locked.
A smile was playing around his lips when he leaned down and kissed me. No tongue, just his soft lips meeting mine. When he moved to pull away, I slid my free arm around his neck and pulled him closer. After the slightest hesitation, as if he needed to assess this new situation, I could feel him smile against my lips.

I don't know why I took the lead, it seemed like the thing to do. I wanted to kiss Ranger. I wanted to kiss him guilt-free and because he was Ranger, not because he was poaching and not because he was seducing. Because I wanted to. In a way, I almost had to thank Teddy and Thomalla for helping me grow. Almost. This was the new Stephanie, Take-Charge Stephanie, Knows-What-She-Wants-Stephanie.

And this Stephanie was not afraid to make the first move. I tightened my grip around Ranger's neck and deepened the kiss, running my tongue over his lower lip teasingly, seeking entrance. I was the one kissing him, not the other way around. But if Ranger had been as surprised as I was, he'd gotten over it fast. His lips parted willingly and when our tongues met and I moaned into his mouth, I felt his hands snake around me and pull me to him. Thank God I wasn't hooked up to one of those beeping machines, my pulse probably shot up to 180.

Ranger's scent filled my nostrils, Bulgari and…Ranger, and his tongue was doing something magical while his hands had pulled me up and were wandering over my back.

I'm not sure where I was going to take the kiss; we were interrupted by Ranger's phone. He swore colorfully when he pulled back to answer it and I couldn't stifle a nervous giggle.

What was happening anyway? I was wounded, lying in a hospital bed, still clueless about how I'd gotten there, and my first priority was to make out with my friend? Except Ranger was so much more than a friend, and we both knew it.

And that wasn't the point either; my guess was I was going with denial again. And what better way to distract myself, really?

I shook my head to clear it. Ranger had turned and stepped towards the door, I couldn't hear what he was saying and I couldn't see his reaction. He walked back over to me after he'd disconnected.

The phone call left Ranger smiling, but he didn't move to continue our intimate moment. I tried not to be disappointed and reminded myself why I was here to begin with.

"Booked and not going anywhere," he said cryptically and he sat back down next to me.

I occupied myself with straightening the blanket. I wasn't embarrassed about the kiss, but I didn't know how to proceed either. Ranger was smiling, but it was impossible to tell whether he was smiling at me or about the phone call.

I cleared my throat, "Who are you talking about?" I asked just to say something, "Who was on the phone just now?"

Ranger leaned back. "Guerro. They're done evaluating the evidence and issued the federal arrest warrant for Thomalla," his smile broadened. "Federal in this case means no bail, no arraignment, just his cell until the case is ready to be presented. And not in front of a district court either." He smiled satisfied.

The fact that Thomalla definitely wasn't going anywhere was reassuring. Although with the evidence out in the open, probably Thomalla wouldn't need to get me out of the way anymore.

My mind went back to the conversation I'd had with him and all of a sudden, a scary thought hit me like a ton of bricks. And the more I thought about it, the more it seemed likely.

"What about Teddy?" I asked, "what if he cuts a deal? The FBI always lets you cut a deal, it's on every TV show. He'll tell them what they want to know and they'll release him, all charges against him will be dropped and he'll be free to stalk me, except I won't be his first target, that will be you, because according to him, you're in his way, and…" I realized I was babbling, but I was unable to stop. I panicked.
"Stephanie!" Ranger cut me off. I hadn't even realized he'd gotten up and put his arm around me.

"Calm down, Babe, you're shaking!" I'd been too involved in my panic attack to notice. Somewhere along the line I'd grown so scared of him, the mere thought of hearing Teddy's voice freaked me out.

"He won't cut a deal, I promise." He said as he sat down next to me and pulled me to him.

"You can't promise that," I argued, my face against Ranger's chest, but I could feel myself calm down when I felt his heartbeat.

Ranger ran his hand over my hair. "It's over. RangeMan will hand over all the evidence we found at Gardner's house. Neither of them will get a deal. We'll get him on insanity charges if push comes to shove. They're in jail, and that's your accomplishment."

I pulled back to be able to see his face. "How is it my accomplishment? All I do is get kidnapped and shot!"

Ranger chuckled, "Yeah, that's all you do." He held me with one arm while he smoothed my hair with his free hand. "I swear, Babe, I stopped breathing when I saw you jump Thomalla. Do you realize you could have been killed? But you distracted him! Otherwise I would have been the one getting shot, and I wouldn't have woken up."

"You can't know that," I protested.

"I know you saved me," he said and touched my cheekbone lightly. "I'm sorry it took me some time to catch up, but I did pay him back for hurting you."

I smiled, "You didn't know he'd hurt me at the time." By know it was probably literally written on my face. I had a pretty good idea what my cheeks looked like from being slapped repeatedly, probably turning funny colors. But I was still proud of the fact that I hadn't broken down in front of Thomalla when he'd hit me.

Ranger kissed my forehead. "Pain is not all physical," he said and his lips traveled down my nose. Ranger talking about feelings? That would explain his blank face when he told me about the shooting.

"Yes, but…" I'm sure I had an argument at the time, but I never got to say it because Ranger's mouth had reached my lips. "Shhhhhhh" he whispered before he gently shut me up with his mouth. His hands cupped my face and his tongue slid out to caress my lips.

Whatever I'd wanted to say became unimportant when I parted my lips and Ranger's tongue met mine. Tiny spark of electricity shot down my spine, pooled in my belly and traveled south. When I looped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer, I felt him growl deep in his throat and the heat centered in my core.

Part of me knew that we were in a hospital, in a tiny bed even, but a much larger part didn't give a damn about that, I wanted to feel Ranger, every inch of him. I fisted his hair and deepened the kiss, showing him exactly how much I didn't blame him for anything that had happened to me. He had lowered himself onto the bed alongside of me and I pulled his shirt free and slid my hands under it without breaking the kiss.

I could tell Ranger was trying to avoid my injuries when his hand slid under the hospital gown and moaned when his hand touched my breast.

He pulled back about an inch, "Maybe we should postpone this until we have more room," he whispered, touching my nose with his.

"Shhhh…just kiss me."

TBC

A/N: In case you're still curious, you will get the play-by-play of what happened, I just couldn't fit it in here. Steph wasn't ready for it…

Please let me know what you think, I draw my inspiration from your reviews and they entertain Ranger and Steph while I keep them in rooms for days while I try to come up with the next step.