Okay, so the muse will not let me get back to HDHTB until I at least write the first chapter of this story. None of the characters you know are mine, I'm just borrowing them.

She walked into Jammer's Art and looked around before sliding up on the stool. A man built enough that he could have been a Merry Man stepped up to her. He was probably about six feet tall, had blond hair and deep green eyes; he reminded her of Lester and she wondered if he was flirtatious. "Welcome to Jammer's. What'cha interested in?"

She looked around and shrugged, "I'm really not sure. I'm just thinking about doing something and looking at options."

Before she could say anything else, her nostrils were filled with the scent she'd begun to crave for the last eight months ... Sauvage. She had been partnered up with him when she finally accepted a full-time position at RangeMan. Turning around on the stool, she smiled up at him when he asked, "What are you doing here, Gorgeous?"

"I'm ready for a change. I need to do something in my life that is for me." She saw him nod with a smile. "What are you doing here? Following me on our day off?"

He laughed and shook his head, "No, I'm here for some more art."

"Why have I never known you have tattoos? How many do you have and where?"

He stood in front of her and slightly lifted his painted on grey shirt showing her a howling wolf with the moon in the background. Reaching out, she ran her fingers down the ink and heard his sharp intake of breath. "That is beautiful," she whispered. Pulling her hand back before her fingers hit the waistband of his faded tight fitting blue jeans, she sat up, "So, what others do you have?"

With a twinkle in his eyes, he responded, "Maybe some time I'll let you explore and find out yourself." He laughed when she quickly turned back around on the stool, mentally fanned herself, and looked back at Jammer's book of tattoos. Placing his hands on either side of her body, he trapped her between the counter and himself. He leaned down and whispered, "What are you getting? Piercing or ink?"

"I'm not sure. I don't like needles and I'm not sure I want to pierce my nose. What would you suggest?"

"I'd say go for a piercing." He lowered his voice more and leaned in closer, "You can pierce things other than you nose or ears."

Stephanie leaned back against his chest and closed her eyes, "Oh yeah, like what?"

"Well, there is the obvious, your tongue. Just imagine what pleasure that could bring your partner. Or you could pierce your nipples and allow your partner to bring you pleasure."

"How would you know about that?" she asked as she turned around to face him again.

Before he answered, he raised his shirt up higher than last time and showed her his pierced nipples. Without thinking, Stephanie reached up to touch his chest and ran a finger down, catching the ring in his left nipple. When she accidentally tugged on it a little, his head dropped back, his eyes closed, and he moaned a little.

Just as she was about to do it again, the bells above the door chimed as someone else walked in. "Hey, Manny. I'll be right with you, just let me get set up."

"No problem, Riggs," Manny said as he smiled at Stephanie and lowered his shirt. "That's how I know about pleasure," he whispered in her ear.

Stephanie's face flushed as she asked, "What other piercings do you have?"

"Like I said earlier, maybe some time I'll let you explore." He leaned down and kissed her cheek before saying, "If you want to watch Riggs in action, come on back. I don't mind you watching while I get some more art."

He walked off before she could answer, but knew she was following him with her eyes. Manny had been applying a little pressure for the past two months. He knew both Morelli and Ranger were out of the picture. Steph and Morelli had a nice talk and finally agreed they wanted different things, but they both wanted the other to be happy. Joe still lived in Trenton and, on the rare occasion that Steph had a disaster, he'd show up. Once he'd see she was fine and not tragically injured, he'd hug her and leave. No yelling, no arm thrashing, just a hug.

Now, for Ranger … that was one that took time for Manny to believe. Stephanie told Manny that one night Ranger came to her apartment to talk. He decided to see where things were heading. Stephanie laid it all on the line; what she needed, what she wanted, what she could accept and what she couldn't. Ranger heard her loud and clear and told her that unfortunately what he had currently been giving her was all he could. He just wasn't wired to talk about himself. He wasn't the type to lay his fears at her feet and he couldn't break the walls around his heart. He loved her, yes; more than he loved anyone else. But he couldn't do what she asked. They, too, were still friends, but nothing more.

As Manny stripped off his shirt and lay down on his side, he saw Stephanie enter the room. Riggs pulled a chair up for her and motioned for her to sit down. Once she was sitting, Manny reached out and grabbed her hand. "I'm glad you came back here to see it isn't all that painful."

Steph gave him a look that made him laugh, which caused her to laugh as well. "So, if I were to get one, would you sit here and hold my hand?"

"Absolutely."

"And if I got a piercing instead, would you still hold my hand?"

Manny closed his eyes as he imagined Steph getting piercings in places he shouldn't have imagined. "Gorgeous, I'd hold your hand anytime you let me." An hour later Manny and Steph were at the register to pay for his new ink.

"Alright, you know the drill. Any signs of infection, come see me." Jammer looked at Stephanie, "Have you decided yet?"

"No, I think I'm going to think it over and talk to a few people at work."

"Where do you work?"

Manny laughed, put an arm around her and pulled her to him, "This is Stephanie."

Jammer and Riggs looked shocked, "No shit? You're 'Wifey', 'Bomber', 'Beautiful', 'Angel' and those other names?" Stephanie nodded. "Hell, the first ink or piercing you get is on the house. You are a legend around here. The guys all talk about you when they're here."

"None of it was my fault!"

"Yeah, we know that. We always ask how you are doing when we see them. Never thought we'd actually get to meet you," Riggs replied.

Stephanie thanked them and promised that if she decided to get a piercing or ink, she'd be back to see them. She and Manny left the store and headed towards the parking lot. "Want to go to lunch with me?" she asked as they reached her vehicle.

"Only if it is my treat," Manny replied. Once lunch was done, they ended up back at her place, sitting on the couch. Manny wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him, "So, still thinking of a piercing or ink?"

"I am but probably not how you are thinking I'm thinking about it."

"Oh?"

With a red face, she turned to look at him, "I'm trying to figure out where all your enhancements are."

Without a word, Manny had Stephanie straddling his lap. Looking in her eyes, he saw something he'd been looking for for the past few months. He knew he had developed feelings for her but wasn't sure about her feelings towards him. "Steph, if you want to find the ink and piercings on me, all you have to do ask."

Without saying a word, she reached down, grabbed his shirt, and slowly pulled it off. Tossing it aside she looked at his chest and sucked in a breath. She'd always seen him with a shirt on; even when he was working out, he had on a shirt of some sort. Now, she could see all the different tattoos he had. One that caught her eye was just below his left shoulder.

It was an old-time cartoon banner placed around a healed bullet wound and said "Bang". Reaching out to touch it, she asked, "What happened?"

"Gun shot on my first mission. Decided if I was going to have a permanent reminder, I'd make it into something I wanted to see every day. I love the old cartoons that show you Bang, Thump, Pow, on the screen. So, I had that done."

When he was done talking, he saw her lean in and felt her lips on the tattoo. As she had done earlier in Jammer's Art, her hand reached up and slightly tugged on his nipple ring. He dropped his head to the couch, closed his eyes and moaned.

Before he knew it, he felt her tongue on his other nipple and then her lips closed around. She sucked a little and her teeth found the ring and pulled just slightly. The sensation was too much for him. As he bucked his hips up into her, he groaned, "Oh God, Steph."

"You said this could bring pleasure and I wanted to test it out before I decided if I want mine done." Just hearing that she was thinking about piercing her nipples had him harder in an instant. She could feel him throbbing beneath her.

"I'd love to give you the same pleasure." He tilted his head back up, grabbed her face, and kissed her for all he was worth. When he decided they needed oxygen, he rested his forehead against hers and held on to her hips. "What are we doing?"