Disclaimer: Not mine..yada yada yada!

Okay! So I said that if I got enough people cussing me out then I would post early. Since my readers are so amazing...they couldn't curse me out, but did beg for an update today. Here it is, but I realized that this isn't the chapter that you all want to read so I'm posting two in one day! This is Zero's POV about everything that has happened and chapter 15 is him and Steph actually talking. I hope you all enjoy them.

Still not beta'd so please excuse my mistakes.

Lifetime of Love

Chapter 14

Zero's POV

How did my life get so fucked up? I had been a good guy, for the most part. I didn't run around and cause problems when I was younger. I did good in school and got decent grades. I was a good soldier and employee. So why did my life suck?

When I first met Stephanie Plum, I knew that she was someone special. Most women look at us and see a paycheck or they see a killer. Stephanie saw the person inside each of us. She never backed down from us, like she was scared. She never treated us like the thugs that other people assume we were. That first day I met her, I started to fall in love with her.

She's beautiful, and I don't just mean on the outside, although she has a smoking hot body. She's beautiful because of what's on the inside. Her outrageously big heart that accepted everyone she met. Her skips all love her because she takes the time to talk to them and she goes out of her way to help them when she can. I've been on Bomber Duty and followed her to restaurants to pick up food for the homeless lady at the bus station. She watched TV with Mooner and Dougie before carting them off to the station. She would rather inconvenience herself than one of the skips. She was always walking away and going to pick them up later. Her generosity and compassion amazed me. You don't see that very often in people.

When Ranger first introduced her to RangeMan, I thought she was just another piece of ass for him. He didn't usually bring women to the office, but he is the boss so he could do whatever he wanted. Watching Ranger and Stephanie together was always like watching a soft core porn video. They had this chemistry that ignited the entire room when they were together. I've saw their make-out sessions in the ally beside the bonds office and they were fucking HOT. Everyone could see that there was love between them, but Stephanie was always 'with' the cop and Ranger seemed to be okay with that. Their relationship was confusing as hell but none of us questioned it.

When I got the order on Valentine's Day to protect Stephanie at all costs without her being aware of the protection, I was scared shitless. I knew I could keep her safe, but I didn't want to get that close to her. I knew I would fall hopelessly in love with her if I even spent a little amount of time with her, but it was an order so I followed it.

I just watched her dance at first, hoping that I wouldn't have to approach her. Every guy in the club wanted to dance with her and I could understand why. Her outfit was sexy as hell and her moves on the dance floor were erotic and sensual; but there was something behind her eyes that I picked up on. She wasn't happy at all and, in fact she looked incredibly sad. I decided then to do anything I could to find out why and to put a smile back on her face. Hence the invite to the diner after my shift.

I knew she liked to eat and I assumed that maybe she needed a friend to talk to. When she broke down and told me about her and Ranger's non-relationship, I was shocked. I honestly thought that they were a serious couple. After the cop finally took the hint, she was at Haywood all the time and Ranger actually looked happy. I thought they were in deep, guess not.

I wanted to kick Ranger's teeth in when I found out the truth, but I didn't. I just held her as she cried about the stupid son of a bitch and I wanted nothing more than to go beat the shit out of the guy. How he could let Stephanie go, was beyond me. His loss could be my gain though.

Steph and I spent that night talking. I was ordered to take her home and make sure it was safe. The dinner and the talking weren't part of the command. It was my decision to get to know her better and to let her know me. I shared things with her that I hadn't told anyone else. She made it so easy to open up ad made me want to share myself with her.

I could feel her attraction to me almost instantly. I know that I'm a good-looking guy and had women throw themselves at me in the past. That is part of the reason that Megan and I broke up. She just couldn't handle it. I didn't lie to Stephanie about my break-up. Megan really did decide that we should take a break. She wanted to see who else was out there that might be a better match for her. It wasn't a permanent break at first, but after that first night with Steph; I called and made it permanent. I didn't want Megan anymore, I wanted Stephanie and if there was a chance to get her, I wasn't going to lose it.

She was the first person to call me anything except Zero in a long time. Even my past girlfriends didn't bother to ask what my name was. She not only asked, she called me by my given name. It made me feel special, like I was a real person to her. When I chose the name Breá, I was testing her. I knew she didn't know Irish, but she could look it up if she really wanted to. It was my way of telling her that even in the beginning, I loved her. She was my love.

That second day I took Stephanie out, that was an order from Ranger. He wanted Alvarez to make a move and wanted Steph in public. I wanted to tell her what was going on so she could protect herself, but was once again ordered to keep my mouth shut. I was just ordered to take her out, so I did and we had a blast. I knew the guys were watching us from a distance, but I didn't care. I acted like it was a real date because, in my mind, it was. I never got tired of talking to her. I never got tired of watching her eat. I did have to adjust my pants a few times because of her moans, but it was all worth it.

I deviated from the original plan and suggested a walk in the park instead of a movie. I wanted to keep talking and couldn't do that in a theater. I honestly forgot about the guys being there when we were on the bench. All I wanted to focus on was her.

When she told me about her relationship with Ranger again, I could see the tears in her eyes and I knew that she was hurting. I knew she still loved him, but my heart leapt with hope when she said that it was time for her to move on. I wanted to kiss her so bad and our lips were a breath apart. I was begging permission to take them with mine and to taste her sweet mouth. She surprised me when she closed the distance and kissed me first.

The second our lips met, my body exploded with tingles. It felt like my blood was replaced with volts of electricity. I took control of the kiss and traced my tongue around her lip, asking for permission to enter her soft mouth. She melted into me with a moan and gave me access and I took the opening. I owned her lips and her tongue. She let me do whatever I wanted to her.

I kept that first kiss gentle and caring. I didn't want to scare her with how I really felt, but inside I was ready to throw her down on the bench and fuck her brains out. I couldn't do that, though so I just kissed her and let my lips tell her how I felt. I caressed her face and loved hearing the little whimper she made when I pulled away. God I loved this woman. Right then and there it was over for me and I knew that I was in deep.

I wanted more of her. I wanted all of her. I wanted her for the rest of my life. I was brought back to reality when my phone chirped. I glanced at the message from Ranger and remembered that we were being watched. To say that he was not happy about the kiss was an understatement. I knew I would be on the mats the second I returned to Haywood, and I wasn't wrong.

I know I confused Stephanie with my attitude after getting that text. I was pissed at myself for not being aware of my surroundings. I was supposed to protect her and I let myself get so distracted that anyone could have approached us. When she was in my arms, she was all I saw. After that fucked up day, things got worse.

Ranger, Les and I were discussing her stalker when Bobby called to tell us of Steph's need for medical attention. We all took off for the garage. She wasn't one to seek help from anyone, especially doctor's so we knew it must be bad.

When we arrived at her apartment, Joe answered the door and each of us were immediately on alert. Why the fuck was he here. When he explained that she called him after the incident happened, I was a little hurt. Why would she call him and not one of us? I knew that they were still friends, but we were the ones she usually turned to for help.

She looked horrible when she walked out of her room. She was pale from the pain and couldn't stand up straight, but she still looked beautiful to me. Her sexual joking left me a little pained, but that's who Steph was. I watched her and Bobby disappear and when Bobby came back out a few minutes later, he didn't look happy.

She needed to go the hospital and it needed to be tonight. All of us hated when Stephanie was hurt and this time was worse because she didn't tell us herself. I could see how pissed off the guys were when she asked Joe to take her. Personally, I understood. She was still upset with Ranger and me. We both treated her like shit and I wouldn't want to be around us either.

Her injury was serious enough for us to talk her into staying at RangeMan. That would help with the stalker issue. She would stay inside and safe, easy. Right?Yeah, well things don't usually go as planned when Stephanie Plum is involved.

Ranger was already pissed at me for the kiss in the park. We had a meeting on the mats after I got back to the office that day. I honestly didn't care what he thought though. He lost the right to dictate who she dated. He's the one who left her. So, when I brought her back to RangeMan, I made sure that I positioned myself fully in her life. Ranger was busy with the case, so he didn't come around her.

That first night she was there, we spent I don't know how long kissing on her couch. She wanted more, and I wanted to give her more but she was still too sore. Kissing was just fine withe me. She has an amazing mouth.

We spent that next week together every night. I would bring pizza or Chinese and we would spend the evening watching TV. We spent God knows how many hours making out on the couch like teenagers, but I never allowed it go any further. I wanted to, trust me, but I wanted that to be her decision. I wasn't going to push her.

When she fell asleep on me one night, I sat on the couch holding her just staring at her beauty. She trusted me completely and I felt like shit for lying to her. My intention, that night, was to put her to bed and to walk away. When I carried her into the room and removed her bra (because honestly, can you sleep comfortably in a bra?), I started to pull away to leave, but she whined and pulled me closer to her. I had no choice but to remove my pants and climb in next to her. I had spent the night with her before, so this was nothing new. We made sure to keep our distance in the bed. Until that next morning.

The next morning, hell...the next whole day was amazing. When she initiated the sex, I was blown away. I knew from watching her and Ranger together that she would be phenomenal in bed and I wasn't disappointed. She was so responsive to my touches and the little noises she made drove me insane.

We spent all morning and most of the afternoon in bed together. The sex was beyond anything that I ever imagined, but my favorite moments were the soft whispered conversations we had in between orgasms. When she asked about my tattoos, I was worried that they bothered her. Some women find them unattractive. I was impressed when she kissed each and every one of them on my body. Her actions told me just how she felt about the ink and she wasn't disgusted by it.

After that conversation, Steph passed out from sheer exhaustion so I let her sleep. I was almost asleep too when I heard a knock on her door. I decided to get up and answer it. I wish now that I hadn't. Les did not look happy to see me half-dressed in her apartment. You could smell the sex in the air and see the love bites on my body. The discussion that followed was not a pleasant one.

When Stephanie came out to confront us, I was shocked that she understood the word 'whore'. Les didn't call her a whore directly. What he said was that I was treating her just like a whore. He had no clue about my feelings, so I could kind of understand his concerns for her. We were both so angry at each other that neither of us noticed Steph leaving.

With a stalker on the loose, Steph's not supposed to go anywhere alone. So when I realized that she was gone, I threw on some clothes and ran down to the garage. I saw her with Tank and immediately felt relieved. He wouldn't let anything happen to her so I went back into the apartment to finish the conversation with Les. We tried to talk but we were called up to Ranger's office for a meeting. Alvarez was close and we needed to step up the protection. We didn't know then that we were already too late.

When the alarm sounded from her panic button, every guy in the office was on the move. Ranger stopped us from entering her apartment as soon as we got there. Alvarez was dangerous and we didn't want to scare him. We needed to come up with a plan and execute it perfectly. That twenty minutes standing in her parking lot was the longest twenty minutes of her life.

We finally entered the apartment and Ranger slowly walked back toward the bedroom. We could hear Alvarez speaking and his words made me sick. When I stepped into her bedroom doorway with my gun locked on his head, the sight of Stephanie broke my heart.

I could see the bruises and the blood and I knew that he had sexually assaulted her. A bullet to his brain was too good a death for him. I wanted cause him pain, but my orders were given; shoot to kill. He had a knife on Steph's throat and we were taking no chances.

I don't regret killing him. He's not the first or the last person that I will kill. It's a fact of who I am. It's what I do. I can't change it, and I would do anything to protect the woman that I love. Anything.

When she collapsed in her bedroom and then wouldn't wake up for two and half weeks, I was frantic. The doctor's and Bobby assured me that she was fine. Her broken and abused body needed rest to heal and it was getting it. I still didn't like it. I wanted to hold her and help her. I wanted to be there for her.

I wanted to kill Bobby and Lester for talking about our relationship in front of her. I had every intention of telling her the truth when she got better. I wanted her in my life and I was going to fight for her. Those two clowns ruined everything. In the span of a ten minute conversation, they shattered the trust she had in each and every one of us. They destroyed her faith in us.

I can't blame them for everything. Ranger and I share a vast majority of the guilt. Seeing the pain in her eyes when the truth finally came out was enough to crush me. I didn't ever want to see that pain in her eyes ever again. If she gave me the chance, I would make sure she never felt that hurt again.

When she told me she needed space and couldn't be around me, my heart shattered. She was pushing me away and I wasn't sure if she would ever let me back in. I had lost her trust and maybe I didn't deserve to ever get it back.

She shut all of us out that day. She went home with Joe and sent him to get her things from Haywood. When he spoke to us in the lobby, his anger was evident but what hurt the most was when he told us that Stephanie didn't want anything to do with us. Every guy that worked there was pissed at Ranger and I. We were called to the mats by every man there. I still have bruises from the beatings they gave us.

We respected Steph's need for space. She was staying at Joe's so we didn't worry about her too much. It wasn't until Joe delivered the letters that we began to worry. She had left. She left and didn't tell anyone where she was going. I didn't know if she was sick, or injured, or lost, or alone, or sad. I didn't know anything. Just what she wrote in that damn letter. I read that stupid thing everyday for the past nine months. The words she wrote and her tone in the words gave me hope that she would come back to me.

I had to leave. After reading that letter, I called my handler and volunteered for whatever he had. Call me a coward or a pussy, but can you blame me? I had hurt the woman that I loved and I needed to do something to redeem myself. I don't regret my decision.

It was a hellish mission and I thanked God for the distractions that allowed me to push the thoughts of Stephanie out of my mind. It hurt too much to think about her. Returning to Trenton was hard, but it was time. My mission was over and I needed to return to reality, but being there just made me miss Stephanie even more.

Ranger was waiting for me when I stepped off the plane. His eyes were covered by dark glasses and his posture was rigid. He's always on the job. I approached him and shook his offered hand.

"Welcome back." I nodded in thanks and we made our way to the SUV that he drove.

"You're off-line for two weeks. Standard procedure, but before I take you to the office we've got one stop to make." I raised my eye brow. I knew I would be off-line. Maybe I would head to Cali to see my family or Oregon to see my new niece.

"What's the stop?" Not that it mattered. He was driving so I had no choice.

"Apartment. You'll need to go up and talk to the occupant. No arguments, it's an order." Fuck. I didn't want to talk to anyone except Stephanie, but I doubted she would even look at me much less talk to me.

"Have you heard from Steph?" I didn't think he'd tell me even if he had. I didn't know how serious they looked for her after I left.

"We searched for her and got a hit in Columbus Ohio, but lost track of her from there. Joe promised that she's fine and happy. Let's leave it at that." I turned and looked out the window at the passing houses. It pissed me off that she was still talking to Joe. I never thought I would be jealous, but damn it I was.

We pulled into a newly built apartment complex at three-fifteen. I didn't know anyone that lived there so I had no clue as to why I was there.

"Apartment 313. I'll wait ten minutes if you want a ride back to the office. After that, you're on your own." I was so confused.

"What's this about?" He glared at me thinking about what he wanted to say. Ranger isn't a very emotional or expressive man, but that afternoon I could almost see the war waging in his head.

"This is your redemption. Don't fuck this up. Now go." That didn't help me understand what the fuck was going on but I climbed out of the SUV and made my way inside the building. I climbed the three flights of stairs and found unit 313. I knocked on the door and waited. Nothing. Well this had been enlightening. I almost walked away, but something told me to knock again, so I did.

I heard the locks on the other side of the door tumble and then it was slowly opened. The hard look that hadn't left my face since reading the letter melted the second that I saw who stood in front of me.

My love, my life, my air, my everything stood there looking like the most beautiful creature that I've ever seen. I didn't know why I was here. Was I here so she could tell me to get lost or has she forgiven me? Will she give us a chance? I guess my questions were about to be answered because before I knew it, I was invited inside.

A/N - The next chapter should be up too. Let me know what you think!