CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

BABY STEPS

Ranger took Stephanie's half-empty glass of wine from her hand and placed it on his desk. "We both need to be clear-headed when we play."

"Are we going to play now…Sir?" Steph was trying to remember all the rules and procedures she had researched. The download of information was too much for her already addled brain, and she went completely blank.

The sheer panic on her face forced a smile and then a laugh from Ranger. This is going to be so much harder than I thought. How am I going to keep a proper air as a Dom when she looks and acts more like a scared puppy than a sub? Dig deep, man, she is counting on you. "I was hoping we would just have some great sex. Official training isn't scheduled to start until Friday. But I suppose we could try some new positions. That is, if you are up to the challenge."

He didn't have to ask twice. Her smile was broad and hungry as she jumped from her chair. "Up for it? I'm aching for it!" I hope 'aching' was the right word, she thought as she started to unbutton her blouse.

"Whoa there, Babe! Half the fun is taking it slow and watching each other heat up. At this rate we would spontaneously combust before we even get started." As he took her hands in his, he could feel her trembling. Was it from excitement or fear…maybe a little of both? His sac was hard and his member was harder. I want her so badly right now that I could tear her up where she stands. In fact, I think I will.

Ranger leaned against his desk with his ankles crossed and a feigned casualness to his voice as he ordered his sub, his woman, his lover to "strip for me… slowly and seductively."

"You're kidding, right? I can't move like those girls at the Snake Pit! I'll look ridiculous." She was beginning to use her 'whiny voice' but stopped herself before she regressed completely.

"One thing you will have to get used to, is the fact that I will be telling you to do things that you have not done before…either because you have been too scared to try or too self-conscious to do them. Don't be scared. I won't let you get hurt. And for god's sake don't be self-conscious. I have tunnel vision when it comes to you. Everything you do to please me…does just that, no matter what the outcome."

His reassurance helped, but not as much as his coaching. "Close your eyes and pretend that your hands are really my hands. Show me what you want my hands to do for the next time."

Steph closed her eyes and imagined Ranger's hands touching her face, then her neck. Slowly she saw them sinking to her blouse and caressing her breasts through the fabric. With one hand on her breast, she used the other to carefully unbutton the blouse. She slipped out of it with such ease that she hardly noticed that it was missing at all. The bra she wore had a front closure and she took her time releasing it. In her mind it was Ranger that was playing with her nipple…it was Ranger that slid the bra to the floor.

Her hands slid down her belly and encircled her hips. With her eyes closed, her mind envisioned Ranger as he slowly, sensually unbuttoned each button on her Levi's. Steph found herself swaying to music that only she heard in her head. Inch by inch she slid her jeans from around her hips. When they puddled on the floor, she simply stepped away from them. She was lost in her own erotic fantasy and turning herself on.

Ranger's hands grasped the edge of the desk. His breathing was becoming deeper and more rapid. Damn, the Snake Pit snakes have nothing on her!

In two steps he was standing in front of her. "Perfect Babe, I'll take over from here." He stopped her hands just as her fingers were tucking themselves between the lace of her panties and her perfect waist.

Steph opened her eyes just in time to see his mouth capturing hers. His hands moved to stroke the small of her back and stopped at her ass cheeks. He cupped them and pulled her close. His erection was hard against her belly. He reached between her legs and felt the silken fabric, wet with her arousal. "You are so ready," he hissed through his kiss.

In one swift move, she found herself pantyless and her back against the wall, pinned there by Ranger's strong hand. With his free hand, he was undressing himself as if his clothes were on fire. As soon as he was free of combustibles, he took both her hands in his and raised them above her head. She was pinned and being held captive, more by her increasing lust than by his grasp.

His kisses were demanding and needful. He nibbled her neck…her shoulder…the top of her breast. His tongue played with each nipple, circling and circling until they were hard and dark. Then the playing stopped.

Placing both her hands in one of his, Ranger reached down and caught her left leg, behind her knee. He lifted it up and captured it in the crook of his elbow. Steph had no choice, but to try to balance herself by leaning against the wall. He had a victorious grin on his face as he thrust himself entirely into her. He was claiming his property. She was his.

His sudden entry caused Steph to gasp. The sudden fullness caused her to involuntarily moan. The fact that she had no control, no way to move other than the way he was directing her was a turn-on that she had never experienced before.

His voice in her ear was demanding and authoritative. "Come on, Babe, give it up. Cum for me."

She started to whimper at the intensity. Her orgasm didn't roll over her. It crashed into her. She became one with the wall. She knew that without the pressure of Ranger's body against hers, she would fly up that wall and into space. In his passion, he was grounding her to the earth.

Ranger pumped more slowly while waiting for her climax to wind down. Then he started thrusting in earnest again. He knew she had one more climax in her. And he wanted to join her in that one.

"No, no I can't. I'm so tired. I just can't," she tried to protest his latest onslaught.

"Yes, yes you can. You will do as you are told," he growled, albeit gently in her ear. With those words he grabbed her right leg and wrapped both her legs around his waist. He took his hands and held her wrists against the wall.

Steph held tight with her legs. Whether it was to keep him tight inside her or to keep from falling, she didn't know or care. Her next orgasm was on its way. She screamed out his name as she was losing all sense of being. She could feel him releasing deep inside her.

They stood silently. Steph still with her back to the wall, but standing on two shaky legs. Ranger in front still palming the wall, but with the slightest pressure holding her wrists. She was free to remove them and chose not to. Interesting, Promising… Ranger thought as he rested his forehead on the top of her head. He didn't trust his voice to speak, let alone his legs to walk. His member was still twitching from the powerful release. He had entered her so deeply that it felt like he was fucking her womb. That thought, that feeling had forced every seed from his balls. He was drained and oh, so happy.

It wasn't a 'scene.' He hadn't completely dominated. Steph hadn't submitted as much as she cooperated. It was a strange mix of vanilla and Domination. It was new and it was wonderful. Shit, maybe there is hope here. Baby steps, Manoso, one baby step at a time.

When they both trusted their capacity to be self-mobile; they walked hand-in-hand to the oversized ottoman…the nearest available piece of furniture. Sitting at first then collapsing onto their backs, they stared at the ceiling.

Steph was the first to break the silence. "Will it always be that good? I don't think I could imagine anything better."

"I don't know. But I promise you Babe, that I will do everything in my power to make the times we are making love the best times of our lives. You have trusted me to take you places where you have never been. But to be honest, I'm a pioneer in some of those places too. We're both in uncharted waters but so far we are sailing smooth."

"I expect nothing less. You are my rock, my lover and now you are my Dom. I love you and I trust you. This will work. I promise"

With those words and the little time it took to say them, their libidos had returned. They made good use of the ottoman.

In the back of his mind, Ranger was dreading Friday and their first official 'scene'. In the back of her mind, Steph was wishing that Friday would hurry up.

Ranger's last cognitive thought as he drifted off to sleep…baby steps, baby steps.