Disclaimer: See ch. 1

Spoilers: Through 14

A/N: Soooo sorry for the long wait. Real life's had me pinned down at the keyboard typing up eight and ten page reports. Yuck. Hope this chapter makes up for it!

WARNING: If you are under 18 or easily offended…well, you probably shouldn't be reading this anyway, since it's rated M…


Previously in Just Life: Steph performed a masterful escape from the Rangeman building, was kidnapped by one of Trotter's goonies, got away through the ventilation shafts, was rescued by the Merry Men, fell asleep next to Lester, woke up with Ranger, and was sung to sleep….now, on with the story.


I woke the next morning with my head on a warm, mocha-colored, Bulgari-scented pillow. Yum. I kept my eyes closed, trying to feign sleep, but Batman was quick on the uptake.

"Babe," he whispered into my hair.

"Hmmph."

His fingers ran lightly down my spine, stopping just before the waistband of my sweatpants, leaving fire in their wake. I shivered.

"Babe."

As much as I had missed Ranger, as much as I had yearned for his presence, I really didn't want to open my eyes right now and have to explain what had happened yesterday. He wasn't like Joe, he wouldn't yell, he wouldn't belittle me. No, Ranger would get quiet, deadly quiet. He'd be 'disappointed'. And how much worse was that?

"Are you mad at me?" I asked softly.

His arms tightened around me.

"No, babe." He was quiet for a moment, his breath warm on the top of my head. "We'll talk about that later. Right now I just need to hold you, okay?"

I let out a long sigh. That was just fine by me. The hand I had on his chest began an exploratory mission all on its own. It started at his throat and drifted slowly down to his hard pecs, pausing over a sharp nipple.

Ranger sucked in a breath.

"Steph," he groaned.

My hand ignored him. It traced the defined ridges of his stomach, pausing to dip into his navel, then traveled further south on his abdomen. When it got to the waistband of his black silk boxers, he reached down and grabbed my wrist.

"We're going to be doing a lot more than holding if you continue with that."

I opened my eyes and peered up at him. His dark eyes were focused on mine. God I'd missed him. I took a moment to contemplate, then I tugged my hand free of his grasp, and let it drift down over the bulge in his boxers.

A shudder ran through him and a moment later I was on my back, covered in 6'2" of hard, Cuban goodness.

"Be sure about this, babe. Because once we get started, there's no way I'm stopping."

I wasn't sure that was true. I had the feeling that if I told Ranger to stop, he would. One of the few things I did know about Ranger was that he didn't do anything nonconsensual. I took his advice anyway and thought about it for another moment.

Did I love Ranger? Oh yes. Did he love me? I was pretty sure he did, but then he is the man of mystery, after all. Did it really matter? He cared about me; that much I knew. Was that enough? It would have to be. I knew that he still might not be in the market for a relationship. This might still all be a game to him; some intimate form of entertainment. Was I okay with that? What did I want? That was the question, wasn't it? The only answer I could produce at this moment was, Ranger.

"I'm sure, Ranger. This is all that matters right now." I motioned between us. "Just this. I need you, Ranger. I need you inside of me."

"Ah dios mío, bebé."

Then his lips were on mine; a hungry collision of teeth and tongues. Fire streaked from my lips to my breasts and continued south. I moaned and writhed beneath him but his strong, warm hands held me in place; one at my hip, one tangled in the hair at the nape of my neck.

"Ranger."

"Shhh, babe. Relax. I've waited too long for this, I'm not rushing it now."

I was all about savoring the moment, but just the realization that I was here, doing this, with Ranger, had me about to implode.

My hands crept down his back, feeling the give and pull of hard muscle under smooth skin as he moved up to kiss my forehead, my eyelids, the tip of my nose. My hands encountered his waistband and he reached back and grabbed both wrists, pinning them over my head.

"Slow, babe," he growled in my ear.

My eyes slid closed and my hands remained where they were with no restraint at all as his lips smoothed a trail down my throat to the edge of my t-shirt. His t-shirt. God, how hot was that? Apparently, Ranger thought so, too. He groaned and rolled his hips into mine, and I nearly shattered at the friction.

"Ranger," I gasped.

"I'm here, Stephanie. I'm right here."

And he was, too. He was right there. He slid slowly down my body, his hands never breaking contact, until he stood at the foot of the bed and smiled down at me.

"Pants, babe? Are you trying to make my life difficult?"

I grinned up at him and wriggled deeper into the pillow. "You said Lester wasn't allowed to see me in your t-shirt."

He growled and grasped the hem of the sweatpants. "No," he said. "Santos is not allowed to see this." Then he gave one firm pull and I was pant-less.

Before I could breathe again, he was crawling back up my body, planting kisses on my calves, the backs of my knees, my thighs. He skipped over the Promised Land, and slipped his hands beneath the black t-shirt I was wearing.

"Santos doesn't get to see this, either," he said, just before he tugged the thing up and over my head.

He stilled above me, his eyes softening, melting, darkening into black pools. His hands were so gently as they fell upon my stomach, moved up to skim my bare breasts, down to hover over my doodah. My lungs felt tight and the backs of my eyes burned as his eyes finally came back to mine and his face split into the most vibrant smile I'd ever seen there.

"Babe," he breathed. "Mío."

"Ranger, please."

The smile turned into a full fledge wolf grin and his lips were back on mine, sizzling, demanding, turning me to goo beneath him. I barely registered when he removed my panties in one swift tug, then I lay beneath him naked and steaming and needing his contact like a drowning man needs oxygen.

"Breathe, Stephanie."

Then his hands were all over me. Nothing made any sense besides the pleasure he was creating. He rolled one nipple between his fingers, then sucked the thing into his mouth. I felt an electrical sizzle just short of orgasm. He repeated the process on the opposite side, then his fingers traveled downward and I lost all practical thought.

They were inside of me and circling me and, God, I was so close, the humming inside my body was like background noise.

"Ranger," I begged.

He crooked two fingers inside of me and sucked one nipple between his perfect lips and I flew apart beneath him.

When the universe I'd been floating in finally coalesced back into Ranger's bedroom, I pulled his head back down to mine and wrapped a leg around his hips, urging his hardness right where I wanted it to be. Only he wouldn't let me.

Ranger pulled back, his smile mischievous as hell.

"Uh uh, bebé. I told you, we're going to make this last." Then he slid down my body, one inch at a time. His lips missed nothing, his tongue quick to follow, until I was positively quivering with need.

I couldn't even create words when his lips finally reached their destination. I gave up trying and tunneled my fingers into his hair to keep him right where he was. Not like he was going anywhere. The thing about Ranger is, he's really good with his mouth. Whether it's on my mouth or…other places, he knows what he's doing. It was only a matter of minutes before he was humming against my most sensitive flesh and I was flying again.

He groaned as he licked his way back up my body. I tugged him up by his hair and devoured his mouth, tasting myself on his lips. He groaned again and I felt him reach down to remove his boxers.

He tore his lips from mine and turned away, reaching for the nightstand. I pulled him back.

"I'm on the pill, and I trust you."

His eyes held mine for a moment, emotions I'd never seen before shimmering behind them, before he closed them and put his forehead to mine.

"Babe."

Then he was pushing into me, inch by amazing inch, and it was all I could do not to scream out in pleasure.

"Stephanie," Ranger breathed. Then he was moving, slowly out, then just as slowly back in. He cradled my head in his hands and I couldn't have closed my eyes if I'd wanted to.

My legs came up around his hips, almost of their own volition, and I was pulling him closer, deeper, harder.

"Carlos."

His eyes flashed black and he growled under his breath, then his strokes picked up, took on an almost feral quality and I relished in each and every one of them. I was coiled tighter than a spring and this man, this man I loved was going to be my undoing.

"Say it again," he demanded, pulling almost all the way out of me.

"Carlos," I moaned, and nearly burst apart when he shot back into me.

"Dios, babe, I love the sound of my name on your lips."

"Carlos," I said again, and was rewarded with another stroke of his hips.

He reached between us, picked up his pace, and I shattered in his arms, his name on my lips like a benediction. I felt Ranger thrust once, twice more, then he came groaning my name into my neck.

Minutes, hours, maybe days later, he stirred and moved to my side, pulling me against him.

"You're shaking," he told me, smoothing the damp curls back from my forehead.

"Mmmm," I agreed. "That was all you, batman."

"Babe," he chuckled.

We lay like that, tangled in each other, until my body was still and sated and the sheets had cooled to room temperature.

"I missed you," Ranger said quietly.

I turned my head to peer into his eyes. The blank mask was so far gone, it might have taken a trip to a third world country. In its place, were the softest emotions I'd ever seen there: caring, affection, and…I wasn't going to go there right now.

I got the feeling he was talking about more than his short trip to D.C.

"I missed you too, Carlos."

He growled again and hugged me tighter. He pulled by head down onto his chest; his free hand stroked my back. Up and down, up and down. I was warm and sated and probably safer than the Hope Diamond. Ranger's stroking was mesmerizing. I closed my eyes, and slept.


I realized immediately upon waking that I was alone. The bed was cold, the scent of Bulgari faded and light. It was the scent I associated with Ranger's bed…without Ranger in it. I kept my eyes closed and listened hard, but no one was moving about in the apartment.

I pried my lids open and peered at the clock. 10:30. Ranger had gone to work, I thought with a smile. Probably late. Then I remembered that the Merry Men knew that I was up here. Shit. They'd know exactly what Ranger had been doing all morning. I knew that Lester, at least, would tease me. Maybe the others would be too afraid of Ranger's wrath to say anything. What? A girl could hope.

I rolled myself out of bed and padded into the bathroom. I took care of Mother Nature and had a quick shower. Okay, so it was a twenty minute shower, but I blame Bulgari and Ranger's fantastic water pressure. What? It's not like I was doing anything my mother wouldn't approve of in there; I'd already done enough of that in the bedroom with Ranger.

I toweled off, put on Ranger's robe and went into the dressing room to find clothes. I pulled on a pair of jeans and a teal v-neck t-shirt which had somehow come to be emblazoned with the word Rangeman. Huh. This was definitely not part of my Rangeman uniforms. Ella had done my laundry yesterday. Someone really needed to have a talk with that woman about her embroidery machine addiction. Maybe there was a support group she could join.

After the hair and makeup thing, I headed out to the kitchen to scrounge up some grub. On the counter, next to a half-full pot of coffee, was a bakery bag. A peek inside told me that it held two Boston Crèmes. Yum. There was no note, not even a hastily scribbled 'Babe'. I had to assume that Ranger had left these for me. Who was I kidding? I didn't care who had left them, or who they were meant for. I was going to eat them both.

I poured myself a cup of coffee, added skim milk from Ranger's fridge, and sugar – which I had to believe he had bought just for me, since I'd never seen him use it. I popped it into the microwave and dug into my first donut.

I struggled to keep my mind blank, but no luck. I'd slept with Ranger. I tried to tell myself that it wasn't a big deal, but it was. To me, at least. I loved him. I was in love with him. He had my heart, and now I'd handed over my body as well. I wasn't sure either would survive the inevitable split. Because Ranger didn't do relationships, and this fiasco with Mortars was reinforcing one of the major reasons why.

The microwave dinged and I opened it and took out my coffee, then moved to sit at the bar and finish my breakfast.

I was going to play it cool, I told myself. I'd pretend it was just sex; pretend it hadn't flipped me around inside out and left me trembling. I'd go on down to five and see him. I'd put on a brave face, then I'd take myself home and prepare for the heartache when he gave me the no-relationships speech again.

Only I knew better than to hope that I'd be allowed out of the building after what had happened yesterday. And I loved Ranger too much to sneak out again and cause him more worry.

I could always ask for an apartment on four. Only that wouldn't be putting up a brave front, would it? And what excuse could I give Ranger? You're tearing me up inside and I can't let myself fall any deeper? No, I couldn't throw this on him. It wasn't his fault I'd fallen in love with him.

I sighed. This was getting me nowhere. For all I knew, they'd found Mortars last night and it was safe for me to go back to my apartment. I'd just have to wait to figure things out until after I'd spoken to the guys.

I cleaned up my breakfast mess and headed to the door.

Two minutes later, the elevator doors slid open and I did a double-take.

Vince was at the back of the elevator, feet shoulder width apart, arms at his sides, right hand resting on his weapon. He had a blank face on and he was staring straight ahead.

"You've got to be kidding me," I muttered as I stepped in beside him.

"No, ma'am."

"Ranger sent you?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'm to make sure you make it safely to the fifth floor, and no further."

I rolled my eyes and watched as he stepped forward and pressed the button for five.

Next, he unclipped a radio from his belt and spoke into it.

"Package is safely in the elevator. Headed to five. Over."

Another voice, one I didn't recognize, responded. "Lima Charlie."

"What would have happened if I'd taken the stairs?" I asked, my curiosity overriding any anger I had about being treated like a little kid…or a criminal.

Vince was silent beside me, studying the door in front of him with great concentration.

"Don't tell me, he's got another man in the stairwell."

"Not anymore, ma'am," Vince answered.

Meaning, now that I was in the elevator, the guy was allowed to leave the stairwell.

"Stop calling me ma'am. It's Stephanie, or Steph, or Bombshell, or whatever, just not ma'am." He opened his mouth to speak, and I cut him off. "Not Ms. Plum either."

"Of course, m…Stephanie."

I nodded. "So. Why weren't you sitting in front of the apartment door like Les was yesterday?"

Vince finally glanced over at me just as the doors dinged open on five.

"Boss knew that it made you angry," he said, following me out of the elevator. "He figured this would be less of an invasion of privacy."

"A guard dog's a guard dog," I mumbled as I left him and headed for Ranger's office.

I put Vince out of my mind. This was something I could deal with. Forget making love and unresolved relationship issues, anger I could handle. And I had plenty of that right now. Ranger was gonna get it for not trusting me to stay in the building. Did he really think I needed guards to keep me from wandering off? I wasn't stupid. I cringed. Even Ranger's guards hadn't been able to stop me from escaping yesterday. But I'd promised myself that I wasn't going to do that anymore. I wasn't going to place myself in danger and make everyone around me worry. This allowed the guilt to creep away and the anger to come back full force. I was gonna kick Batman's fine, sexy ass.

I opened the door without knocking and strode inside.

"Really, Ranger? Men in the elevator and st…"

He looked up at me from behind his desk and the look on his face froze me in my tracks. It was the ultimate blank face; only even the blank mask he was clearly forcing into place couldn't hide the rage bubbling beneath the surface.

"What?" I asked quickly, refusing to believe that the anger was directed at me. I mean, we made love…had sex, just this morning. What could I possibly have done between then and now? I'd been asleep. "What's wrong?" I said, knowing that I very well might not get an answer.

Ranger's black eyes pinned me in place. "We've had a visit from Mortars," he finally ground out from between clenched teeth.


A/N: Thanks so much for reading. I know this one is kinda short, but I figured it was better than nothing. Let me know what you thought!

Translations:

Ah dios mío, bebé – Oh my God, babe

Mío – mine

Lima Charlie- phonetic abbreviation for "Loud and clear"