Disclaimer: I don't own Plum characters. A nod of respect goes to Janet Evanovich and her imagination for creating these characters.

Court's TBC Weekly Writing Challenge: Immediately hardened his expression.

Issued: December 03, 2007

Rules: The phrase must be included in the story.

Rating: M

..::What I Want For Christmas::..

It was another one of those nights. There was just a feeling in the air of things to come. I don't know how to explain it. There was something in the wind, and it just wasn't Ranger this time. People were antsy, crime was at an all time high for the city of Trenton and I was trying to avoid any sort of conflict with the ever stubborn Joseph Morelli. Just because Morelli and I were finis and that was never gonna change, didn't mean Morelli was going to back off. In fact, ever since I'd told him that we were done, he'd practically attached himself to my hip like a lovesick teenager. It was disgusting really and sorta sadly pathetic.

When Ranger went in the wind three weeks ago, he'd assured me that he'd be back for Christmas. But we were nearing the holiday with a rapid speed, and I'd shown restraint so far. I hadn't called his phone like a stalker or taken up the Goldilocks routine again. But there was only so much a girl could do before her curiosity got the better of her. Really, I knew he was okay. It was one of those girly things that you just know in your heart. That and Ranger had text me in the middle of a board meeting to say he was gonna rock my world when he got home. He didn't say when he was gonna rock my world (and truthfully, the shower massager was getting a little boring), but I was hoping sooner rather than later.

I slipped into my tiny kitchen; listening to a Christmas record I'd clept from Grandma before she'd pitched them after Grandpa had died. It brought back some good memories of the season and ones that I hadn't thought of until I was older. As happy as they'd seemed together, now I knew there was something underneath all the fronts they'd put up. They'd made the marriage work, but it didn't mean they were happy. And when I realized that, I made a promise to myself it wasn't going to happen to me again. I'd had one of those once before, had no desire to do it again. And every time I looked to Morelli, when I just kept going back to him and back to him and back to him like a broken record, I was just staying with the familiar. Someone I knew was easy, not necessarily because I was in love with him. How can you love someone who doesn't know who you are in your heart?

You can't.

I filled the coffee cup with the last hot chocolate packet and a little water, mixing it together before adding the rest of the water and sticking it in the microwave. I stood up on my tip-toes feeling around for the mini-chocolate marshmallows I'd just picked up at the grocery store. The microwave dinged and I yanked the marshmallows out of the cabinet. I put a couple in the cup. Then I put a couple more. Then I gave up and dumped a whole handful in them, and tossed a couple in my mouth for good measure. I walked by Rex, who was having his nightly run to keep his girlish figure, and looked out the window where the snow was falling like a like a modern day Christmas card.

Yeah, there was definitely something in the air. I could feel it.

I flipped the TV off and sat down on the couch, the street lamp was glowing through the snow like a beacon guiding a lost soul right into my living room. I drank my hot chocolate, thinking about Ranger. Thinking about Christmas. He was bringing Julie here for her Christmas vacation and even though Julie was a wonderful girl, she was very perceptive, just like Ranger. Julie could see things well past her age. And that made me a little nervous. After the summer scare, Julie had seen the depth of my feelings for Ranger. She was the only other person in the world who knew what it had been like to see him be shot… I finished off my hot chocolate. Ranger being shot was not something I liked to think about. In fact, it was one of those things I shoved down deep and didn't give it thought. But sometimes, when I was home like this and didn't have anything else on my mind, it was there. Lurking in the recesses, reminding me that life was short.

Life was short. I needed to stop running. I needed to let go of what was easy and familiar. No more baby steps. I was finally on the right track. I tossed the crocheted throw over my lap and huddled in for the night.

.:*:.

I felt eyes on me. And not just any eyes. Dark eyes. The heat blanketed me, and my nipples hardened instantly.

Ranger.

I looked through my lower lashes, trying not to move. I wanted to make sure my body just wasn't on meltdown and I was dreaming.

I rolled over on my back, a faint grin creasing my lips.

"Yo." I said, my voice husky from sleep. "Been here long?"

Ranger leaned forward, fisting his hands in my curls and put his lips on mine. I gasped, our eyes locking as his tongue flicked out over my lower lip. My nipples immediately hardened, his expression far from innocent. There was a flurry of motion after that. His tongue touching mine, wrapping around, sucking and exploring. The kiss was hotter than anything I'd experienced before, even after all those heated moments in his apartment. Even all those times when he pushed me against the brick wall in the alley and kissed me skillfully and senselessly. All of the times when the timing was right and the moment was stolen. All of those times all rolled into one, and it lit my body on fire like none other.

His hand slid up underneath the shirt I'd fallen asleep in, cupping my bare breast, rolling the nipple between his thumb and forefinger and sending electric shock waves all down my spine. I was tingling in places that hadn't seen action since he'd left, leaving me slick and wet and ready to feel him slide into me and never leave.

It only took a deft move on Ranger's part and he pulled the cover from me, blanketing me in a different way, all hard edges and unforgiving hardness. He was undeniably hard, pulsing along my belly, throbbing for attention. I fisted my hands in his shirt, yanking at it, wanting to feel skin, trying to get closer to having him naked and inside of me. He pulled it over his head, nudging my hands out of the way as he stripped off my shirt in one fast move and covered a nipple with his hot mouth, his tongue doing wicked things that had me squirming at the memories of his mouth on my clit, working his magic until I screamed his name.

He moved to my other breast, kneading the soft flesh, his mouth torturing me to new heights of pleasure, his hips moving in a slow grind motion. I fisted my hands in his hair, wordlessly pleading with him, begging him to fuck me. I wanted to feel him inside, stretching me, fulfilling me, making me come over and over again until it was all I could to scream his name over and over again.

His mouth covered mine again, the kiss wanton, our tongues dueling, teeth nipping, hips crashing together. He moved away briefly, our eyes never leaving each other as he stood, stripping out of his low-slung cargos and boxers leaving him in all his splendid naked glory.

"Take them off babe," his voice was low, the murmur more of a demand than a lover's plea. "Take them off before I rip them off."

A gasp escaped as I thought about Ranger ripping my panties off and burying himself to the hilt. And before I could move a muscle, Ranger was leaning down, his breath hot on my inner thigh, his mouth precariously close to touching the wetness he'd started. With one solid yank, the tiny bikini straps of my panties snapped and his mouth was on me. His tongue licked and sucked and his teeth scraped along my clit. It didn't take long before I was edging past my first orgasm and was nanoseconds from my second. No matter how I moved, no matter how I pulled his hair, the pressure of his mouth was constantly, unrelenting, demanding I submit and enjoy.

He kissed his way to my mouth, lavishing my breasts once again, pausing for a moment to sample the way my shoulder and neck taste, trailed his lips along my jaw line and as soon as he put his lips on mine, entered me with one smooth thrust. He slipped his hands underneath my hips, tilting me at an angle and pushed further. The feeling of fullness was coming to a head, and from what I knew of before, he wasn't enough close to being all the way in.

"Is this what you wanted, Stephanie?" He flexed his hips, withdrawing slightly and pushing in further. "I've done nothing but think about fucking you since I've been gone. That night before I left was all I could dream about. The thought of you and the shower massager, the way you looked in the mirror…" I felt him swell in width, and when I gasped from the feeling he pushed a little further until our hips were flush together. "God, you're mine babe. You were always mine." His lips crushed my own, leaving me reeling from his confession but no time to give it much thought as he began to make me forget anything but the rhythm of his hips, the way his lips felt on my own, the way his fingers were biting into my flesh as he gave no mercy. No matter how my fingernail dug into him, the way I cried out his name. No matter how many times I orgasmed around him, he just kept moving. He was relentless. He was amazing.

And he was all that I wanted and more.

And finally as my last orgasm crescendoed, Ranger came with me, plunging his hips with enough force that wouldn't soon let me forget and holding me there as we both lay spent on the tiny little couch that now would never see a better moment than this.

He swept the hair out of my eyes, a barely there smile tipping up the corners of his luscious mouth. He kissed me softly on the lips and slipped his tongue in there for good measure. He leaned his forehead on mine and I couldn't help but groan when he went to move away.

"Don't move. At least not yet."

His chuckle made me smile. My heart was lighter than it had been in a long while. "You can't be serious. The couch isn't made for two babe."

"Don't rain on my parade."

He kissed me softly once more and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me up with him. I wrapped my legs around his waist and kissed him as he began walking in the direction of the bedroom.

"Time for bed?" I asked, sleepily as the adrenaline of the moment was starting to fade.

His 200 watt smile spoke for itself. "No way. Time for a repeat performance with the shower massager."

We both laughed and kissed to seal the deal.

..::End::..

Original Posting Date: December 10, 2007

Secondary Posting Date: October 5, 2011