Warning-Smut and character death.

Chapter 5

The next morning she got up early and dressed in her Rangeman clothes. It was time to work and give something back. Before she left the apartment, she checked her phone messages. There were nearly a hundred. Most were angry messages from her mother and Joe. She listened to a few of them. They went from irritated to downright vicious and angry.

"Cupcake. You have been mine since you were six years old and I was your first and I will be your last. You'll be back." She shivered.

"Stephanie Michelle Plum! You have embarrassed this family for the last time. It's a disgrace what you accuse poor Joseph of. You don't know a woman's place place and you need to learn it. I guess I didn't teach you well enough, but you will learn daughter! Joseph promises to take care of this." She shivered even harder at this. And then deleted the rest of the messages from her mother and Joe.

A few messages were from Mary Lou and Connie and Lula. She would call them soon. She went downstairs to the control room. It was quiet when she walked through. She scooted into her cubicle and put her head down and worked through the files in her box until they were finished and then headed back to Lester's apartment.

When she walked in, she heard the shower. She couldn't stop herself. She began dropping her clothes as she walked to the bathroom door and opened it. Lester was there in the shower.

His hair was wet and his hard body glistened as the water droplets rolled down his beautiful hard form. Her mouth watered and she instantly felt the heat and moisture building between her legs. She opened the shower door as he turned to her. She whispered, "Les."

His name on her lips was enough for him to lose all self-control and he reached out and pulled her into the shower and into his arms and he looked into her blue eyes and down at her sensuous lips and traced them with his finger and bent his head to trace them with his tongue. Then he covered them with his own lips and groaned at the softness and the taste of the sweetness there.

He was gentle and held her like she could break in his strong arms. His kiss deepened and he made love to her beautiful mouth, exploring and caressing her. His kiss was so intense that it was easy to imagine that this was Ranger again.

He whispered close to her mouth. "Steph, I want you. I want to love you."

She was lost in her memories. "Please…love me again."

He ran his hands down her thighs and lifted her legs up and around his waist. She reached down and guided him to her entrance. "Fuck, Steph. I know this is not right…"

"Please…"

He groaned and pushed into her and it felt so good. He pushed her up against the shower wall to support them and began to slowly make love to her. He had fantasized about this moment with this woman. There was not a man at Rangeman that wasn't in love with her. He was well aware that he wouldn't be making love to this sexy extraordinary woman if his cousin was still alive and he felt guilt and with the guilt came pain and need and then intense desire, for her. He knew she was feeling the same and trying to make the pain go away. Right this moment, he didn't care. He just wanted this, her, now.

He brought them both to a sensual peak, an ecstasy that even he had not experienced in a long time and maybe never exactly like this with this woman. He kissed her lips and her neck and kept slowly moving in her as her sweet mouth begged him for more. Querido dios (dear God), how she touched him like no other. Then she yelled out and squeezed him and he emptied himself into her as she whispered, "Ranger."

He gently set her on her feet and grabbed a towel and left the shower. She watched him walk away with his head down and she slid down the shower wall and lay on the floor and cried as the warm water washed over her.

The next morning she dressed and ate breakfast in the break room and headed to her cubicle. She was aware that she never saw Lester the whole day. She took a couple pain pills when she got back to the room that night and she was sitting on the couch in the dark when a knock sounded at the door and Bobby stuck his head in.

"Steph?"

"Bobby."

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah."

"Can I do something for you?"

"Yes."

"What, sweetheart?"

"Make me forget."

"Steph…"

"Please…love me."

He walked over to the couch and took her hand and pulled her up and walked her to the bedroom. He removed her clothes and lay her down on the bed and he touched her and caressed her and kissed her until she was begging and ready for him and then he entered her and held her as he moved inside her with the erotic intensity of a tantric warrior. This was Bobby. Healing, patient and protective as he loved her body and spoke sweet words to her mind until she was lost again in her memories and they both felt sweet release together and she whispered right before sleep took her, "Ranger."

Bobby felt guilt as rose from the bed and looked at her small, sad figure and picked up his clothes and left the room.

She cried in the shower the next morning as she thought about the last few days and her future. If she stayed here, she could tear her friends and Rangeman apart. She would have to make another painful decision in her life soon. She was filled with self-loathing. She dressed and took more pain pills and staggered to the living room to put on her boots. She slowly made her way to her cubicle and worked until noon. Hector came by and asked her if she wanted to have lunch. She asked him if he would follow her back to Lester's apartment.

She closed the door behind them and walked up close to him and put an arm around his wait and one around his neck and brought his mouth to her and kissed him. He grabbed her ass with both hands and pulled her hard against him. "Hector, I heard you sometimes like women and you like rough sex. Would you like be with me? I want it that way with you." He gave her an evil grin and unbuttoned her cargo pants and jerked them down and then pulled her shirt and bra off. He pushed her over the couch and put his hand inside her panties to touch her. "Tan cono jugoso todo para mi (such juicy pussy all for me)."

He rubbed and manipulated her clit hard until she climaxed and then ripped her panties off and unzipped his pants and stroked his long length and thrust into her hard and fucked her with fast long strokes until she quivered and yelled and climaxed hard. He didn't stop. "Estefania, did you not also hear that I fuck until I make my lovers cry. When you ask for a fuck from me, you get much more."

He fucked her hard for almost an hour and until they were both covered in sweat and hair soaked. She lasted through at least four more orgasms before she was tender and in pain and began to cry and beg him to please cum and stop. When she said the words, he did and she fell to the floor on top of him sobbing. He wiped the sweat from her brow and the tears from her face and lay his head against hers. "I love you Estefania. I know that you are in pain. I know you have been fucking the men and this will come to no good end soon."

After he left, she showered and reached for her pain pills, again. She finished the day and went back to her apartment and took another pain pill before bed. That night she dreamed about the last time she saw Ranger before his mission when he had come to her apartment and tenderly kissed her goodbye and then the dream changed and he pointed his finger at her and called her a slut and said that she was no better than Joyce Barnhardt and she should leave his company and his men.

She woke up sweating and crying. "I'm not her. I can't be her." She reached for her bottle of pain pills and took a handful and headed to the shower.

She stumbled to the apartment door to leave and swung it open and stopped dead. She thought she was awake. She had thought for sure that she was.

He stepped toward her and she backed up. "You went to the light and left me alone."

He reached out for her and she backed up several more paces again. He looked so real. "You always leave me."

"Babe...?"

She swiped her arm across her eyes and looked at him again. "Your boots sure are hard to fill. It takes allll...the merry men." She giggled.

"What is wrong with you?"

"I would really like to fuck while you're here, but I'm a lot sore after Hector. Don't get me wrong, he's good. He's kind of an animal though. I can give you a blow job or we can make out or just talk for a while before you go back. Sup' to you."

"Explain to me what you are talking about now, please." His eyes flashed dark and he stepped closer.

"You're pretty huffy for a ghost." She stepped back.

"Babe, I'm not a ghost. I'm real. I'm calling Bobby. Something is not right."

"No need. I already fucked him too. Oh, and Lester and Hal was surprisingly good." She giggled again.

"Are you high? The Stephanie I know would never fuck her way through my men!"

"You don't have any men. You're dead and I'm not your Stephanie any more..." She sunk down to the floor and began to cry.

"Shit. You're in shock. Listen to me. I'm not dead." She slowly looked at him starting with his boots and went up his body to his face, his hair and then his eyes. He was thinner and had some new scars and he did look sort of real to her. She could see him so clearly.

"Oh God. I'm going crazy." She closed her eyes and started feeling toward the door for the doorknob to just get out and her hand touched firm flesh.

She crawled backwards and put her hands to her head. "Nooo. This is not real. Please..."

"Babe, it is me."

She opened her eyes and looked up at him just staring at him. She whispered, "You didn't die? You're alive?"

"Yes. I'm alive. I was on a dangerous mission that was about to fail and it had to be this way. They had to think I was dead."

"Oh no! Oh God. What have I done?"

"What, Babe? You didn't actually mean..."

She looked up into his beautiful eyes and began to sob. She thought, he won't love me any more when he finds out everything that I've done. I didn't trust him. I didn't have faith and I did..awful things. What I've done will hurt him and he's going to hate me. She couldn't bear to see the disappointment and hurt in his eyes when he found out how pathetic and bad she really was.

She sobbed. "I'm so sorry. You didn't come to me any more and I was sad and lonely and I've done things.…You won't be able to forgive me Ranger."

"Babe, I think you need help. l know you're probably hurt and I'm sorry." He pulled out his phone and turned to make a call.

He may forgive me she thought, but he won't want me anymore. I am a slut just like Joyce. She grabbed her bag and ran past him and headed to the elevators. The door opened immediately and she rode it down to the garage and walked out and hailed Ram and Cal as they were leaving. "A ride please guys."

"Sure Steph."

She had them drop her off in the Burg a couple blocks from her parents house. She took a couple of her pills to numb her and for courage and then doubled back to Morelli's house and knocked on the door. He opened the door and scanned her black Rangeman uniform and then leveled twin pools of hate on her face.

"I..I've been so wrong...I know now..I deserved to be punished." He took her hand pulled her inside and closed the door behind them.

In the news – The body of the local celebrity Stephanie Plum, known as the "The Bombshell Bounty Hunter" was discovered at the Pleasant Hills Cemetary early morning on Thursday. Her body was found next to the grave of military hero and local business man Ricardo Carlos Manoso; known locally as Ranger who died a month ago on a military mission. The body was badly beaten and further details are not yet known. A Coroner's Office spokesperson advised that results of the autopsy are still pending. She will be laid to rest on Sunday at Pleasant Hills Cemetary close to Mr. Manoso where she was found.

TBC-

I originally wrote this as a sad and tragic short. My first ever non hea and story with primary character death. This was my original ending. My beta warned me that you wouldn't like this at all. DUH!, on my part, not hers. So, I did write some more, a twist to make it easier to swallow by more readers. Most of you want it so, the twist and extended version will be up next. A lot of the stuff up to this point that may not sit well with you will be changed by the continuation of the story.

This is a sad story about abuse and then addiction and then guilt. Hector gave her his version of tough love and or be careful what you ask for. He knows she's in pain and being destructive and is about to create some havoc. He warns her.