A/N : Here we are folks, the next installment. Hope you enjoy it. Keep reading and leaving your reviews, they make my day! :-) Rain (Jackie)
SPOV
I was awakened by the insistent beeping of my alarm clock. I grumble and slam my hand down to stop the noise. I roll over and look at the clock, it's 8:30 a.m. I do not want to get up, but I have to. I have felons to haul back into the system.
I drag myself out of bed and toward the bathroom. I do my morning routine before I climb in the shower. The hot water and floral smell of my body wash wakes me up. I am about to turn off the water when I feel a presence in the room.
The tingle on the back of my neck alerts me to who it is. Only one person makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up like that. And I smell coffee.
"I hope that's coffee I smell Ric." I say out loud.
"Yepp, it's in the kitchen along with breakfast babe. You need any help in there?" He asks playfully.
"No, I'm done now. Just give me a few minutes to get dressed. I'll be right out." I tell him.
I hear him walk away and close the bathroom door. I turn the water off and step out of the shower stall. I dry myself and blow my hair dry. I wrap a towel around my body and head to my bedroom to get dressed.
After I pull on a pair of jeans and a tight blue T-shirt, I make my way to the kitchen. I follow my nose and the smell of coffee, and is that bacon I smell too?
"Morning Ric, what's for breakfast? It smells wonderful." I say.
"Morning babe, I brought you a greasy breakfast sandwich from McDonald's, also known as "death on a bun". I got myself oatmeal, of course." He laughs.
"Thank-you so much." I tell him as I lean up and give him a kiss good morning and as a thank-you. "You are too sweet to me. The coffee makes you my Cuban God."
Ric just chuckles as he shakes his head at me. He then passes me my morning wake up juice.
I take it from him and sigh in bliss at the first wonderful swallow. I sit down at my kitchen bar and sit my coffee down as I reach for my sandwich.
I unwrap the greasy goodness. I was right, it's a bacon, egg, and cheese McMuffin. I take a bite and moan loudly at the flavor explosion. I look up at Ric and he looks pained.
"What's wrong, Ric?" I ask as I swallow the first bite.
"Nothing, just enjoying listening to you enjoy your food. I don't think I will ever get used to hearing it. Not that it's a bad thing, just murder on my groin." He smiles as he takes a spoon full of his oatmeal.
I blush a little and continue to eat my breakfast. We continue to eat our breakfast in silence.
After we are finished I get up and throw the trash away. I curl my arms around Ric's waist and ask him.
"So, what do you have planned for today?"
"All I have scheduled today is a quick meeting with the guys. Slow day today." He tells me.
"Well I'm going by Vinnie's and see if Connie has any files for me today. I have another skip to go after, though, Lonnie Dodd. He is wanted for grand theft auto. Should be easy enough to haul in. Want to give me a hand later today, since you're not busy?" I inquire.
"OK, I'll stop by Vinnie's when I get done with my meeting and we'll go after Mr. Dodd together."
"Sure thing, thanks, I'll see you a little later then." I tell him as I walk him to the door.
He then proceeds to kiss me senseless. I groan as he pulls away.
"You better leave, we have work to do. And another felon to go after this afternoon, so get going before I tie you down." I wink.
I see his eyes darken as he places on more light kiss on my lips and turns to leave. I hear him say as he walks out the door.
"Later babe, much later, we'll pick up where we left off. I'll make sure I have my handcuffs."
I close the door behind him as I talk myself out of running after him. I go to the bedroom and tie on my sneakers. I pick up my purse on my way out the door. I am crossing the parking lot toward my borrowed SUV minutes later.
I crank the engine over and head to the bonds office. I pull up a block away, parking sucks on this street. I walk in the door and am immediately attacked with questions.
"Hey Steph, what no doughnuts today?" Connie asks me.
"Nah, I already ate so I didn't go by the bakery today. Any files for me today?"
"No, nothing new, just the ones you have, Dodd, and Morelli," she says."
"OK, I'll be going after Dodd later. And Morelli is an ass. I hope to bring him in soon." I tell her.
"You've been at it almost a week now! What's taking you so damn long?!" I hear Vinnie screech from his office doorway.
"Shut up Vinnie! I'm doing my best. And it's a pleasure as always talking to you ... NOT!" I yell back at him.
"Just get your ass back to work. I don't pay either of you to sit around the office and gossip!" He growls.
"Just crawl back into your hole of an office and talk to your johnson or go meet up with that duck or horse or whatever it is you put your wanger in now-a-days!" I throw back at him.
Connie is gasping for air by now laughing so hard. Vinnie just grunts and slams his office door closed again.
"I can't believe I'm related to that weasel." I grumble to Connie.
"Well you sure told him. I haven't laughed that hard in weeks. Thanks." She tells me.
We are both laughing again when the bell above the front door jingles. I feel that familiar tingle again. I turn around just in time to see Ric walk in.
He walks up to me and gives me a bone-melting kiss, right in front of Connie. I am shocked.
Connie picks up a file folder and starts to fan herself with it. Then she speaks.
"Hey Ranger, what's up?"
"Same shit, different day, Connie, any files for Rangeman?" He asks her.
Connie digs around in the pile of files on her desk and hands Ranger three. "Just these three for today."
Ric grins at her. "Thanks, you ready to go after Dodd, babe?"
"Yeah, might as well get it over with." I answer.
We tell Connie good-bye and head out the door to Ranger's truck. He tells me we can pick mine up later, or he can send on of the guys to take it home for me. I tell him to get one of the guys to deliver it to my apartment for me.
We pull up across the street from Lonnie's house. After Ranger turns off the engine he turns to me and asks.
"Are you dressed babe? Your gun I mean."
"Yes dear, it's in my purse." I tell him with a smirk.
"Smartass." He teases as we get out of the truck and make our way over to Lonnie's house.
We walk up to the front door and take our places. I stand right in front of the door so I can knock. Ranger takes his spot a little off to my right, as not to scare Dodd, like that's gonna help.
I knock loudly on the door as I yell out.
"Lonnie Dodd, bond enforcement, open up!"
I hear from inside someone walking toward the door. Within seconds it is jerked open by none other than Lonnie Dodd. He is wearing baggy jeans and a wife beater T-shirt that used to be white but is now a sickly yellow.
"What do you want? It's too early for visitors, especially chicks. Come back later tonight and I'll be happy to assist you, or let you assist me, with my hard-on that is." He slurs.
'Wrong answer buddy.' I think to myself. This guy is starting to tick me off. "Come on Lonnie, just get you shoes and let's go get your court date re-scheduled."
I look down to grab my cuffs out of my purse, but Lonnie grabs it first. He jerks my purse off of my arm and throws it in the house behind him. Ranger has had enough. He steps out from beside me into the house in front of me and right in Lonnie's face.
"Put your hands behind your back and turn around Dodd." Ranger tells him with a look of murder on his face. I am scared shitless and am slow to react when Dodd bolts for the back door.
Ranger is too fast for him and tackles him before he gets even a foot away. Lonnie lands with a thump right beside my purse. As Ranger is reaching for his cuffs, Dodd reaches into my purse and pulls out my gun. This is not noticed by Ranger, but is by me. I yell out.
"Ranger, look out! He's got my gun!"
But it's too late. Lonnie has time to get a shot off. I watch in horror as Ranger's leg jerks from the impact of the bullet hitting him. I dive down and grab my gun from Lonnie, bringing the handle down on his face as I do. I hear the satisfying crunch of his nose breaking.
Lonnie starts screaming in pain and cursing me for hitting him.
"Shut up asswipe, you deserved it!" I yell back.
I turn around to check on Ranger. "Are you OK?"
"Just a flesh wound babe, nothing to worry about." He says.
Ranger pulls his phone off of his hip and dials. I can only hear his side of the conversation so I don't know who he has called.
"Send Brown and a couple of guys to take this skip in, asshole of a car thief got a shot off and hit my thigh. No it's OK, just send Brown to patch me up, and Santos and Hal to take this prick to the station for Steph. Fine." He says as he hangs up. I ask him.
"Who was that? And who are the guys coming here?"
"That was Tank, my second in command. He's sending our company medic Bobby Brown to look at my leg, he can handle bandaging it up. And Tank is sending Lester Santos and Hal Brooks to take that asswipe to the station for you." He explains.
"Oh, OK, are you sure you're alright?" I wonder.
"I'm fine babe, no worries." He tells me again as I see two SUVs pull up.
I watch three hot guys climb out of the vehicles. The first one is light-skinned African American with braids hanging almost to his neck. The second is obviously the same Cuban decent as Ranger with short spiky blonde hair and gorgeous green eyes. The last is white and built like a stegosaurus. This guy is huge!
The first walks over to Ranger and immediately starts probing around his leg wound. I just now realize he is carrying a medical kit. Ranger starts the introductions.
"Babe, these are some of my men. The one torturing me is Bobby Brown, our company medic." Bobby looks up from his work and smiles and nods at me.
"The big guy to your left is Hal Brooks and the other is Lester Santos."
Both Hal and Lester smile at me, but Hal blushes when Lester wiggles his eyebrows at me.
"Nice to meet you guys." I say with a little finger wave. Hal nods and blushes even more while Lester says.
"Pleasure is all ours Beautiful, made my day." He grins.
I hear Ranger growl low in his chest. I don't know if it's because of Lester's open flirting with me or pain from what Bobby is doing. I have my answer when Ranger speaks.
"Knock it off cuz, mine."
"Damn!" I hear Lester grumble. Hal is looking confused.
Bobby looks up from his work on Ranger's leg and announces that he is finished. Damn that was fast.
"Thanks man." Ranger tells him as he shakes his hand.
"No problem, bro. It's what I do best." He grins.
"OK you two, take the trash inside and take him to the cop shop." Ranger tells Les and Hal.
They instantly hop to and go inside. Bobby sees his work is done so he turns to leave.
Ranger now has a small bandage on his lower thigh. I guess it was just a scratch. He isn't even limping a little.
"No babe, it was just a burn mostly, the bullet barely hit my skin. I have had much worse." Ranger tells me.
"Good, I was worried for a minute there. Now what do we do?"
"It's up to you babe. I told you I'm free for the rest of the day."
I smile deviously as the thought comes to me. I know what I want to do.
"How about we hit the mall. There are some things I need to pick up." I say.
I could swear I saw a look of pain pass by his face, but it is quickly hidden away. His blank face has dropped down. He just nods and tells me.
"Whatever you want to do. Let's go then, the guys can handle things here." He replies as we see Hal and Les stuff Lonnie Dodd into the back of their SUV.
We climb into Ranger's truck and he points it toward the highway. 15 minutes later we are pulling into the mall parking lot. Ranger finds a space up front, his good parking karma strikes again.
"Where do you need to go babe?" He asks.
"First I need to go to the pet store and get Rex some food and bedding, then I need to replace some lingerie you destroyed, so Victoria's Secret is next." I wink as I tell him my plan.
"As long as you model anything you buy at "the secret". Let's get going."
I smile back at him as we head inside, thinking of how I can torture him with my purchases and looking around. We head to the pet store first so I can get Rex set up for another 3 months.
Ranger is carrying the bag from the pet store as we make our way toward Victoria's Secret. We walk in and my eyes get a devilish gleam. I head to the thongs. I pick up a tiny black lacy number and hold it up for his inspection.
"What do you think of this one?" I ask playfully.
"Perfect, can't wait to see it on you, then rip it off." He growls out.
"Hey! I'm not replacing these undies for you to just destroy them again!"
"I'll buy you a whole store full to replace them if you want." He offers.
I just sigh and head over to the bra and panties sets. I choose 4 sets in black, red, sapphire blue, and white. Time to up the ante a bit. I stroll over to the negligees and begin to look through them.
Ranger walks up behind me and points to a small purple number that is mostly lace and very minuscule. It has ribbon bows that tie at the shoulders and what looks like snaps at the crotch.
"You want me to try this one on?" I ask.
Ranger presses his hips into my backside and I feel his answer before he groans out a single word.
"Please."
I giggle and head for the dressing rooms, taking my choices with me. I enter the first one from the left, with Ranger right behind me.
"Hey, you need to stay outside. I can change by myself."
"No way babe, you promised to model for me." He wolf-grins at me.
I just sigh and strip out of my T-shirt and shed my jeans. I push Ranger down onto the bench inside, telling him to stay put and no touching.
I strip out of my underwear and slide on the purple lace nightie he picked out. As soon as I get it tied on completely I turn around and ask Ranger what he thinks.
His answers me by bolting up out of his chair and grabbing me around my waist. He growls and kisses me deeply as he grinds his groin into my stomach. I kiss him back with all my pent up passion. As we break for air I tease him.
"Glad you like it Ric. So this one is a definite purchase?"
"I may have to buy it. All I want to do is rip it off you right now." He answers.
He leans back down and starts to kiss me again. I wrap my arms around his neck and hang on. He reaches down and pulls my legs up to wrap around his waist. His hands wander around to grab my ass.
He walks a couple of steps and traps me against the wall, still not breaking the kiss. When he finally does he moves his kisses down to my neck. I am barely containing my moans as he continues to kiss and suckle my neck at my pulse point.
I feel his hands reach down between us and unsnap the crotch of my negligee. The next thing I know he is pushing his erection into me. Then he is pounding me into the wall. He moves his mouth back up my neck and kissses me again to muffle my moans.
In no time we are both shuddering our release. He lays his head on my shoulder as we catch our breath. He slowly lowers me back down to my feet and says.
"Yes, that one is definitely a keeper."
"Yes sir. Now let's get out of here. I hope no one heard us or knows what we were doing in here." I blush.
"Who cares what the know or don't know or what they think. We can't help our attraction to each other." He answers.
"You're right." I tell him as I get re-dressed and he tucks himself back into his pants.
When I am fully dressed again I exit the changing room and head to the cashier to pay for my purchases. When we get to the register, Ranger pulls out his wallet and his black AmEx card. I look over to him with question in my eyes.
"Let me treat you this time babe. I want to." He pleads.
I sigh and let him pay for my items. He owes me some more anyway.
As the cashier is ringing up my purchases I notice she is eyeing Ranger. I give her a 'Burg death glare as I tell her. "Mine, eyes to yourself missy!"
I hear Ranger chuckle lightly. He pays for my undies and we pick up the bags and head out. We drop the bags behind the seat of the truck and pull out to head home.
A few minutes later we pull up to my apartment building. Ranger shuts the truck off and we get my bags and head up to my apartment. I unlock the door and we drop the bags in my bedroom after Ranger does the standard security check, of course.
I walk him back to the door and kiss him good-bye. He has an early meeting tomorrow and I need to try to find something out about the only skip I have at the moment, Morelli.
I watch out the living room window as he crosses the parking lot, gets into his truck, and leaves.
I shuffle off to the shower and then snuggle into bed. I am so tired. I fall asleep as I think. 'My life is so good right now. I have a great boyfriend, a steady job, and wonderful family and friends. It doesn't get much better than this.' #################
Please continue to review. I need ideas on what should happen next. And I live for your kind words of support. Rain (Jackie)