After a long, long delay, I present you all with Stupid Cupid Chapter 5.
Same old disclaimers, consider yourselves warned.
I own Sin, none of the rest. Not that Sin really shows up.
Chapter 5
"This feels like High School."
"I could have driven myself, you know." I answered as we drove into Newark. Ranger was dropping me off at Celia's to get ready for his parents' anniversary party. Celia was doing my hair - as per her demands. She was a hairdresser and aesthetist by day, and she insisted. I had to admit I was a little bit scared of whatever she intended for me. My dress and shoes were already there; Celia had taken them with her for me when we left the mall with a stunned Joe. And now, Ranger was driving me over. And he wasn't happy about it.
"I want to drive you. I just don't see why we can't get ready together."
"I'm sure Celia would love to do your hair. And makeup." I agreed, running my fingers through his hair, which he'd left down today.
"Babe."
I shrugged and took my hand back as Ranger continued to drive. I knew he just wanted me to himself, and was, perhaps, worried about Celia ruining the Man of Mystery thing he's had going for so long. It was also early, something he'd already whined about earlier when Celia had phoned and told him she wanted me by eleven, instead of 2 - did Celia really need me five hours early? I guess he thought the decorating was supposed to happen on its own. Typical male.
He'd been a bit whiney and out of sorts since the stunning incident the day before. He woke up shortly after Diesel left, while I was caressing his face and trying to figure out what our relationship was. His first words were "I'm going to kill that woman." Meaning Lula. I reminded him that she was his best friend's girl, but apparently he was going to kill Tank too.
He was shaky when he first tried to get up, and I scooted over for him to lean on me. I'd been stunned before and I knew from experience that the waking up part was NOT fun.
I explained everything that happened while he was out, and talked him out of murder, although he still kept grumbling about it. By the time we had the Bonds Office cleaned up, Tank and Lula had awakened. Then, because Ranger was looking tired and woozy - typical of stunning - we called off the Cupid-search plan and retreated to Rangeman where Ranger and I crawled into bed and slept the day away.
Of course, this means he was wide-awake most of the night, and so was I. He kicked Sin out of the bedroom and we put our time to good use, making love and even talking. Well, mostly the talking consisted of Ranger insisting that we plot non-death related revenges on Tank and Lula.
"We're here." Ranger's voice cut into my thoughts as he pulled u in front of a house. He parked, unbuckled me, and pulled me towards him. After kissing me thoroughly, he let me go.
"Don't believe anything she tells you." He said as I got out of the car. He waited until Celia had let me in before driving off.
Five hours later, I was standing beside a table wringing my hands together as I stood next to Celia and Mama Manoso. The preparations had been finished, and Celia had performed miracles on my hair. Now the party was well underway, and I was left with time on my hands to be scared to death. The majority of the large circle of Manoso family and friends were already here. The only one noticeably missing was Ranger.
He had called me a half hour or so earlier to let me know he was going to be late. Celia had, at that moment, grabbed my phone and informed Ranger that he'd better make it, after all of her efforts on me, or else she would kill him. Then she hung up on him, looked at me, and said "That's so cute, how he calls you Babe and then pretends you're just good friends."
That was the kicker. Truth is, I wasn't sure what we were. Friends with benefits and meet the parents? He loved me, but as he said, there are all kinds of love. And he hardly ever said it. And hell, he had let me leave Sin with him, but hadn't suggested I move in too. So it isn't like he wants me around all the time. My thoughts were wreaking havoc on my nerves. I looked down at my hands and realized I had such a grip on them that they had turned white. "Calm down, Stephanie." I admonished myself.
I might have succeeded in forcing calm, except that at that moment, the hairs on the back of my neck all stood on end. Slowly, I turned around and raised my eyes from the ground. Ranger was standing twenty feet away, framed along the corner of the stark white tent, watching me. His eyes were dark, and his face blank, but I could feel his intensity cut through the air. I tore my eyes away from him to make sure Celia noticed he was there, but they were gone, and I was standing alone. I looked back towards Ranger, and he was in front of me. He had moved like a panther, fluid and graceful, silent. And he was looking at me like I was prey.
He stopped in front of me, so close it was probably indecent, and his gaze raked my body, traveling up and down. I was wearing the red-burgundy-something-colored dress that clung to me in all the right places and fell just shy of my knees. My shoulders were exposed, and felt washed out in contrast with all of Ranger's dark-skinned Cuban relatives. Celia had pinned my hair up in a manner too precise for me to be bothered with, most of the time, then shook a few tendrils down to frame my face. They had all thought it was perfect but to be honest, I was skeptical. Mostly, I was worried Ranger wouldn't approve. And now he was standing in front of me, inspecting every inch of my body.
When his eyes finally met mine, they were black as night. His hand came up to my head, and hovered just above my hair. "Your sister is a goddess." I told him.
He shook his head once, sharply, and when he spoke, his voice was soft as silk. "The only goddess here is you." He leaned in closer to me, his gaze searing into mine as he gently fingered a tendril of my hair. "I'm going to take great enjoyment in letting this down." Slowly he dropped his hand, and trailed his fingers down my spine, along the zipper of my dress, sending shivers through my body at his touch. "And taking this off. Unwrapping you, like a present. Maybe we should leave now." he suggested.
"Your parents would kill us." I pointed out. It wouldn't take much to convince me to leave with him right now, not with him looking at me like I was irresistible. He leaned forward, and kissed the shell of my ear.
"They'd have to find us first. And there are places we could go they don't know about." He breathed. Then he jerked, startling me. He pulled back and spun around, and we both stared at Celia, who had just smacked him upside the head.
"You can ravish your girlfriend later." Celia emphasized, glaring at him. "I did NOT spend all that time doing her hair for you to wreck it before at least 10 tonight." Grandma Rosa suddenly peeked around Celia's shoulder, and grinned at us, before speaking rapidly in Spanish.
Ranger looked decidedly uncomfortable, and glanced my way before looking back at his grandmother. "No." Then he turned back towards me, and took both of my hands in his. "Come with me?"
"You better be going to wish Mama and Papa a happy anniversary, not sneak off and wreck my hard work." Celia warned.
"Are you suggesting Stephanie doesn't look perfect without your help?" He demanded, rounding back on Celia, who grinned widely. She had Ranger's two hundred watt smile, even, and it was especially present when she was needling her brother.
"Of course not. If you could resist her, she wouldn't be here." Celia rolled her eyes. "I'm just helping you test your control."
"My control is just fine."
"Yeah right." Celia scoffed. "I saw you. You're ga-ga over Stephanie. Especially in that dress." Then she winked at me. Ranger just shook his head, as if he couldn't believe he was having this conversation, then started walking, brushing past Celia. Since my hand was still grasped firmly in his, our fingers threaded together and his warm on the back of my hand, I had no choice but to follow.
"Are you really ga-ga over me?" I couldn't help but ask once we were out of earshot.
"Babe."
Right. Of course not. Why would he be? Hell, if he was, I'd be living with him. He didn't want a relationship, not in that sense. It made my heart ache, but I guessed that probably I just got too comfortable when I was living there while they repaired my apartment. "What'd your grandma say?" I asked. I wasn't sure I wanted to know, but I was pretty sure it pertained to both of us, and probably I should know.
"She wanted to know if that dress would make me put a ring on your finger."
Oh. He squeezed my hands and stopped long enough to kiss me gently, a soft kiss with no tongue. I could tell it was meant as a reassurance, and it did make me feel a little bit better. Even if he didn't intend to put a ring on my finger, he at least cared for me. A lot. Loved me, in his own way. And really, I didn't even want a ring, not really. I didn't think, anyhow.
"Mama." Ranger acknowledged, snapping me back to the present. He hugged his mom, shook his dad's hand, and then wrapped his arm around me, pulling me against him as they started talking in Spanish. I let myself zone out, and focused on how warm and cozy it felt to be tucked up against his side. My mind wandered back to the conversation we had with Tank and Lula after they woke up.
"I got arrowed." Tank had said, and it hadn't been a question. I had nodded anyways, and he seemed to think about it for a minute. "I hope I wasn't as embarrassing as Joe."
"Worse." I told him cheerfully, and Ranger had wrapped a possessive arm around me. Lula had narrowed her eyes.
"What'dya mean?"
"Trust me, you don't want to know."
"Fuck." Tank had said, conversationally.
"That about sums it up." Ranger told him.
"Babe." Ranger's amused voice broke into my thoughts. I looked up at him. "I asked you twice if you wanted something to eat." He said as he toyed with a strand of my hair.
"Yeah. Food. Absolutely." I said. We went over to the table and filled our plates, before spending the evening surrounded by Ranger's boisterous family. We danced and ate, and danced, and ate some more. Mostly we ate. Or at least, I did. After his first plateful, Ranger settled for occasionally stealing food off of my plate. At one point, he randomly produced an extra fork and started sharing my second piece of cake. "Um..." I said, slanting him a glance.
"That stuff'll kill you. Least I can do is save you from part of it." He grinned at me, taking another bite.
A while later, I was falling asleep on Ranger's shoulder. We were sitting at a table, so I could rest my aching feet, and I was absolutely exhausted. It was 9:30 on a Sunday night, and the party showed no signs of slowing down. "Do they not sleep?" I asked Ranger on a yawn, eliciting a chuckle from him.
"Sometimes yes, sometimes no." He said, brushing a tendril of hair off of my forehead. "Ready to go?" He whispered, resting his head on top of mine for the briefest moment.
"Mmmm..Yeah. Do I get to sleep in your bed tonight?"
"Couch is off limits, Babe." He whispered in my ear. He made no mention of my apartment, so I guessed that meant I could stay with him. I was glad - I loved sleeping cuddled against him, tangled in his arms. "C'mon, you have to stand up." He prodded me, and I swayed a bit as I got to my feet. He steadied me with an arm around my waist, and then looked at the rest of the table. I smiled and murmured goodbye, but I was entirely too tired from our wakeful night the night before, and the busy-ness of the day to handle much more. I was only half aware as Ranger tucked me into the Turbo and drove us back to Rangeman.
I was still sleepy when we got off the elevator on the 7th floor, and stepped into the apartment. As soon as I was through the door, Ranger swung it closed before scooping me up, carrying me into the bedroom, and setting me gently onto the bed. As I sat on the edge, he sank down to eye level, then kissed me softly, almost reverently. His fingers slid into my hair, and he slowly started to remove pins between kisses, until my hair was cascading down my shoulders. Then he kissed me, slow and deep, long and lingering, before lifting me to my feet and unzipping the dress, sliding the straps down my arm until it fell, and pooled at my feet. Carefully, he lifted me to lay me on his bed, then stood there, staring down at me with a small smile playing on his lips while his gaze raked my barely clad body. Then he joined me, and our mouths fused, and he proceeded to make love to me as if I was fragile porcelain.