Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews! I finally got to respond to them. I never really know what to say in a review. I'm always afraid that I'm going to give something away. So please forgive me if I sound like an idiot. Lol!

Enjoy!

Chapter Eight

Steph took in her surroundings in complete silence. Right now, she wished a huge black hole would just suddenly appear in the middle of the floor or a wall, she wasn't picky and suck her in. She didn't even care if that black hole took her to Timbuktu or the middle of the Sahara Desert, she just didn't want to be here.

With Lester.

Because Lester was really fucking scary. When those black eyes turned on her, she felt like the air had been sucked from her lungs and shoved down her throat. And those two little words that left his mouth meant so much more to her and to him than they would to the average person.

Even though there was some major sexual tension between her and Ranger, she was still scared of him. The man was an enigma. He was fucking freaky. He could move on any terrain without being heard. He could just suddenly show up in the strangest of places just when needed and disappear just the same way. He could kill only using one hand. He could scare the hardest of criminals with just the sound of his voice. And don't even get her started on his parking karma.

The man was scary. He was Batman scary. He may be Batman hot but he was definitely Batman scary. Maybe even Joker scary. So when Lester looked at her with those dark cold eyes and said 'fuck Ranger' in that menacing tone, it shook her to her core. She had never felt so utterly stupid for doing something than she did now. She always knew she was nosy, but she never saw the harm in helping her friends. Now she did.

They entered through a gate that was ten foot high. It was connected to a ten foot high fence and the top was covered in barb wire. As they entered through that gate, Lester informed her that the fence was electrified so if by some chance she figured out how to get over the barb wire, she would be electrocuted. She just nodded, wide eyed as hell. Lester also assured her the windows were bullet proof and the house was too. She was completely safe.

From the outside world.

But what about from Lester? Was she safe from Lester? She wasn't so sure anymore.

"You hungry?"

Steph jolted from the sound of Lester's voice abruptly appearing in the silence of the huge house. Oh and huge it was. Lester pulled in to a four car garage where two of the four spaces were taken. One by the huge truck they were in and the other spot by a mint condition '67 Chevrolet Impala. Black. What was with the Merry Men and their black 'toys'? From the garage, they entered a state of the art kitchen with two ovens and a six burner stove. There was also two dishwashers, two full sinks, and a walk in pantry that was bigger than her bedroom.

And it was full of food!

On one side of the kitchen was the dining room that could easily hold twenty people and she would know because Lester's dining room table seated twenty. On the other side of the kitchen was a living room that Steph wanted. She envied that living room. A giant flat screen television took up one whole wall. Yes, it was that big. Below it was an entertainment center that held three different game consoles, a DVD/CD player and every movie and game known to Wal-Mart. The overstuffed sofa, loveseat, and recliner were leather and black. And Steph could smell the money coming off of them. They were that nice. She just wanted the television though. Lester then led her down the hallway off the living room and into a guest bedroom.

One look of the bedroom and she wanted to laugh in Lester's face. Run away? Who the hell would want to run away from this place? From this bedroom? The whole house was done in manly colors. Black, brown, gray, a little white and blue thrown in different places. The wood was all done in dark cherry or dark cedar. But this bedroom, she fell in love. The four poster bed, the dresser, and night stands were done in mahogany; a rich dark mahogany. The walls were a pale yellow and the carpet was rich white color, but the comforter, the sheets, and the curtains were all a sky blue. It was the prettiest blue she had ever seen. She loved it.

Lester had left her alone in that bedroom to unpack and unwind. She stepped into the on suite bathroom and gasped in delight. The blue and yellow theme continued in the bathroom, but it was a different blue and yellow. The shower had one of those rain head showers and there was a huge Jacuzzi tub. Steph was seriously in love. She never wanted to leave.

If only scary Lester wasn't there.

Steph looked up and met Lester's eyes. She nodded. "I could eat."

"Follow me." Lester replied before turning on his heel and walking down the hall. She followed him, looking around at the art on the walls and the decorative pieces placed throughout the house. She had yet to see Lester's room but her curiosity was almost killing her. She was sure that eventually she would see his bedroom…

No! That isn't what she meant at all. Get the minds out of the gutter, please.

She was stuck with him indefinitely so she knew eventually she would be able to explore the rest of the house.

She followed Lester into the kitchen and sat down on the one of the many bar stools surrounding the kitchen counter. It was like a little eat-in breakfast nook or something. Lester placed a plate of food in front and Steph wanted to weep. A good size chicken breast with some kind of sauce covered it, next to that was a huge pile of green beans with bacon and a good size portion of mashed potatoes covered her plate. There was no way she could eat all this food.

"You don't have to eat all of it. I just know you need some actual food in your system and not all that shit you've been eating." Lester commented, reading her mind.

Steph nodded and dug in. Only after her plate was half clean, did she speak. "This place is locked up tighter than Fort Knox." She stated.

Lester nodded. "Your point?" He asked, his mouth full of food.

"So why can't I just stay here instead going with you to RangeMan?" Steph asked. Usually she hated being locked away, but this time she kind of deserved it.

Lester sighed. "You need to learn some skills and while I could show you those skills here, you need to be seen out in public."

"Why? Aren't you worried that he just might shoot me from a distance?"

Lester shook his head, finishing his plate. "Did he threaten to shoot you, Stephanie?" Lester asked, his voice low and deadly.

Steph shook her head. "No."

"What was the threat, Steph?" His voice got lower.

Steph took a deep breath, her voice shaking. "To slit my throat."

"Then that's how he'll have you killed."

"Oh."

Lester rinsed his plate and stuck it in one of the dishwashers. He returned to stand in front of Steph, their noses almost touching. "You have to trust me to keep you safe because I am the only mother fucker on this planet who can."

Steph nodded, her whole body now shaking from his nearness. "Okay."

He straightened to his full height and stepped back. Nodding towards her plate, he asked. "You done?"

She gave a short nod. "Yes. Thank you. It was delicious."

Lester chuckled. "I didn't fix it."

"Oh. Who did?"

Cleaning her plate and shoving it in the dishwasher, he glanced over his shoulder. "Ella."

That made Steph laugh. "Ella is everywhere." Steph said, patting her now full belly.

"Yep." Lester finished cleaning up the kitchen and sat down in a stool near hers.

Steph looked at him and decided to take the plunge. "Are you and Ranger…" Steph searched for the right words. "Fighting?" She finally decided on.

Lester cocked an eyebrow. "Not really. Why?"

Her eyes widened. "I… But…" She didn't know what to say.

Shaking his head, Lester stood up and walked away, towards the living room. "Come grab a controller." He hollered over his shoulder.

Steph followed suit, grabbing a controller. She turned around to take a seat on the sofa and almost fell over when she ran straight into Lester. She let out a gasp of surprise, delight, and pleasure when Lester fisted a hand in her hair at the base of her neck and pulled her head back. She met his eyes and let another a little gasp. They were green again, but they were green with lust, desire, and rage.

"You and Ranger are fucking over." He declared harshly.

"What?" Steph questioned in shock, not understanding at all.

His grip tightened and she shivered. "Until this shit is over, you ignored Ranger."

"I don't understand why." She replied, licking her lips.

His eyes flickered to her lips and back to her eyes. "It doesn't fucking matter why, Stephanie. You just need to follow my orders." He growled.

Her eyes narrowed in anger. "No. Not with this. Not unless you tell me why. Not Ranger. He's always been there for me. I'm not turning my back on him."

Lester growled in aggravation. "Do you want to die, Stephanie?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Then the only fucking way I can maybe save your life is lie. Telling him that you're my girlfriend and you just thought I was cheating on your fucking ass is the only thing I can think of right now to keep him from killing you."

"Oh. Will that work?" Steph asked.

"I don't know. I already gave him that story."

"Oh. And?"

"He hung up on me."

"Oh. That's not good. Is it?"

Lester shook his head. "Not normally, but I know he's watching, Stephanie. We have to convince him that we're lovers."

"But what about before?"

"Before?"

She tried to nod, but Lester's fist held her in place. "When I was following you and you know… we never spent time with each other…"

"I told him we had been arguing and shit. But when you thought I was suddenly seeing another woman, you went all stalker on me. Now we're back together and in love and I'm just busy fucking you all over this house."

Steph couldn't stop the shiver that racked her body or the images that suddenly came to mind. Lester noticed the shiver and grinned. Her panties went damp at that grin.

"Do you get it now, Steph?" He asked, once again his fist tightened and Steph's stomach fluttered.

She nodded. "I get it."

"So… what are you going to do?"

She swallowed hard. "Ignore Ranger."

His other hand came up and cupped her cheek in his palm. His thumb brushed over her bottom lip and Steph felt her knees buckle.

He brought their noses closer until they touched. His breath fanning across her lips. "Good girl." He whispered softly.

Steph was pretty sure she just had an orgasm in the middle of Lester's living room. Just as she was about to self-combust, Lester stepped back and grinned.

"Let's play some Mario cart." He exclaimed, grabbing his controller and taking a seat on the sofa. Steph followed his lead blindly and probably in a haze of lust. For two hours straight, they played Mario cart. For two hours, he was the old Lester. The one she missed. The one with the easy jokes and bright eyes. For two hours, she sat there in wet panties. For two hours straight, she had sex with Lester in eight different ways.

But sadly, only in her head.