Disclaimer: I don't own them and I'm not making any money.
Chapter 13
I woke up sprawled across Ranger's chest. That wasn't uncommon when we shared a bed, but as I stretched my body, I took the opportunity to revel in the delicious soreness of my muscles and the complete absence of guilt.
"Keep moving like that and we're not going to make the morning meeting," Ranger said, voice a little rough from sleep still, but he didn't sound like he was just waking up.
"That doesn't sound like a bad thing to me," I said, looking over at the bedside clock, shocked to see it was almost eight. "And not that I'm complaining, but I'm a bit surprised you're still here with me."
"Yesterday was a long day. And - if you tell anyone, I'll deny it - but I wanted to wake up with you on our first full day as a real couple."
I got a warm glowing feeling as he said that. There was a part of me that was sure that our discussion yesterday was too good to be true. That things would stay the same, just with the addition of the agreement to have exclusive sex. This demonstration that Ranger was actually in for a real relationship made me absurdly happy.
And I must have given a little happy wiggle because I got a growl from the delicious man still laying under me.
I nibbled my lip and looked up at him through my lashes. "Do you think Tank will be mad if we're late?"
"Let's find out."
oOo
Tank was not mad. If anything, he showed his support by smacking Lester on the back of the head when he speculated on the reason for our tardiness.
And like my surprise at finding Ranger still in bed with me, I was absolutely shocked when he kissed me before dropping me off at my cube. It wasn't like the guys hadn't seen us kiss before, but Ranger was generally more circumspect with displays of affection. What they had seen before was a loss of his legendary control. This kiss was quick and affectionate, nothing inappropriate but still a bit of a shock.
This was going to take some getting used to.
I was still logging into my computer when Lester rolled into my space on his desk chair.
"So, you and Ranger?" he asked, giving me an exaggerated eyebrow waggle.
"Yes." I felt my cheeks heat up and cursed my pale, Hungarian coloring. My one-word answer must have communicated my unwillingness to have this discussion because Les held his hands up in surrender and scooted away.
I felt a bit bad, but the guys could be relentless gossips and I wasn't quite ready to share. I was still trying to get over my too good to be true anxieties surrounding Ranger finally giving a relationship a try.
I was just starting to give in to my insecurities when my phone dinged with a text, distracting me. I opened it up and was shocked to find a single heart emoji from Ranger. Black of course, but I still couldn't stop the silly grin that spread over my face.
'Relax' popped up on my phone screen next and I jerked my eyes up to the camera that covered my cube. Batman was watching me. And just like that, I felt some of the tension ease out of me and had faith that the rest would resolve with time.
I blew a kiss at the camera and turned my focus towards my computer and the research I was planning to do.
The searches I'd done earlier in the week had made a link between Johnny Menduza - who was a person of interest to the feds and I'd also spotted at the Varanus warehouse - with the Boitatas. His tie to the Boitatas had identified some loose links back to Varanus. They could be nothing, but my gut was telling me otherwise. And I knew from experience I wouldn't be able to focus on anything else until I sorted out the nudges I was getting from my spidey sense.
I started with bare bones searches on Varanus. The public stuff that I would need to know to put whatever my deeper dives turned up into context.
On the surface, they were pretty boring. They did drug research and manufacturing with the bulk of their operations being in New Jersey. Combing through their catalog of drugs was fairly time consuming, but I noticed most were for heart related issues. I did notice that a significant portion stated they were derived from dragon venom or based on synthetic versions of dragon venom.
Well, that was all kinds of suspicious. Combine that with what we saw at the warehouse yesterday morning and I felt like I was getting somewhere.
That information triggered a few more questions, but I was starting to feel out of my league. I was hoping I could phone a friend instead of doing all the leg work myself because I was heading into legal stuff. I stood and gave my back a stretch before making my way to Ranger's office. He was on the phone but held up a finger in a 'one minute' signal.
I nodded that I understood before taking myself to the breakroom. Ella made muffins, so I grabbed a pair for Ranger and I - blueberry crumble for me and zucchini for Ranger.
When I got back to his office, he was off the phone and waiting.
"What's up, Babe?"
"I think I may be on to something, but it will be quicker with some expert help," I said, handing him his muffin.
He thanked me before asking "What kind of help?"
"Legal."
That got me a single raised eyebrow, so I explained what I found so far and that my gut was telling me Varanus was straying out of the legal drug manufacturing realm. That they were actually at the center of everything. I just needed to know what was legally within their scope and what crossed into crime.
"Proud of you, Babe," Ranger said.
"Don't say that yet," I said, still frustrated with how much I didn't know. "It's still just a hunch. And I have no proof or explanation for how all of the pieces tie together."
"But you'll get there."
Ranger's confidence in me was like a big glowing light going off inside me. It warmed me up and made me feel competent. The exact opposite of how Joe always made me feel. And as we sat, finishing our muffins in companionable silence, I suddenly felt much more confident in our fledgling relationship.
Ranger loved me, believed in me, and quiet moments with him gave me a sense of peace rather than anxiety. This was right. I needed to have more faith in us.
We finished our muffins and Ranger took my wrapper, tossing both in his wastebasket before passing me a business card.
"This is for Jasper Buchanan. He's a lawyer Rangeman keeps on retainer. I'll shoot him an email and you should get a call sometime this afternoon. If he can't answer your questions outright, he'll be able to find the information you're looking for."
"Thank you," I said, taking the card and standing to leave. I knew he was busy, between the investigation and regular Rangeman business. I didn't want to take up too much of his time.
Before I made it a full step though, I felt myself snagged by the arm and spun into Ranger's body.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked in a teasing voice as he bundled me closer.
"My desk." But it came out sounding much more like a question than a statement.
"I finally have the right to kiss you and hold you like I've wanted." He dropped his face to nuzzle my hair before nibbling kisses up and down my neck, sending shivers through my body and causing me to press closer. "It has me feeling a bit greedy."
"You're supposed to be the one with the self-control here."
He gave me an amused smile before saying, "Hate to tell you, you've had me tossing my self-control out the window since I met you."
With that, he went back to delivering little kisses to my neck before giving the sensitive spot behind my ear a nibble causing me to let out a less than discrete moan.
"Think they'll do it in front of us?"
I had to suppress a disgruntled noise as Ranger pulled his lips from my neck so he could use his mouth for less worthy actions.
"Santos, mats 0500 tomorrow."
"Shit. I thought being with Steph would lighten you up."
"Not where respecting my woman is concerned."
"Your woman?" Lester asked with a brilliant smile on his face before turning to Vince and Manny behind him. "You two owe me two hundred each. Bossman got his head out of his ass."
"Do you want to meet on the mats every day this week?" Ranger growled.
"Not in the least," Lester quipped back, seemingly unaffected by Ranger's threat. Vince and Manny were looking a bit apprehensive, though.
"Then I suggest you take your four hundred and invest in a spa gift certificate for Steph," Ranger said, nearly shocking a laugh out of me.
The smile fell off of Lester's face. He didn't look too broken up, so I decided to add my own input. "Chocolates would also be a good idea. And stop betting on my life."
I tried my own version of Ranger's glare, but since the guys didn't run away in fear, I didn't think it was working. Lester just let his full smile bloom back over his face.
"Sure thing, Beautiful."
I rolled my eyes as they turned and walked away.
I reluctantly gave Ranger one last kiss. "I'm going to get back to work."
"Dinner together tonight?" he asked, surprising me by catching my arm before I could walk away.
"It's a date."
"It might be late, but I want to squeeze in some time with you."
While not as pronounced as yesterday, I could see some of the nervousness Ranger had shown during our discussions in the car and at the diner.
"You're not so bad at this relationship stuff," I said, hoping to further ease any lingering anxieties he had. Looks like we both needed time for this to feel real.
When I turned to walk away this time, he let me go. I could still feel his eyes on me, so I added a little extra swing to my hips and couldn't help the smile that spread across my face when my phone dinged an incoming text.
Behave.
I sent a kissy face in return and settled into my chair.
Dropping the card Ranger gave me on my desk, I opened a word document and started working up a list of the questions I thought a lawyer would be able to help with.
I had barely finished when my desk phone rang. The caller ID displayed Buchanan, Browning, and Browning Law.
"Hello?"
"Hi, am I speaking to Ms. Plum?"
"Yes, but please call me Stephanie."
"Stephanie - this is Jasper Buchanan. Ranger said you had some questions related to a case you're working on."
"That's correct. Thank you for getting back to me so quickly."
"So, what can I help with," he asked, obviously ready to jump right in.
"Are you familiar with the laws around keeping dragons for research?"
Jasper shocked me by letting out a bark of laughter. "Sorry, that was a special interest of my advisor in law school. It isn't my area, but I have more than a passing knowledge."
"That's good for me," I said, unable to keep from smiling at the stroke of luck. "I'm assuming it's legal to keep dragons for medical research, but with limits?"
"That's correct. The number is determined by the scope of the research, facility size, and number of certified care takers. But it's rarely more than two or three at a time."
"So having a dozen or so would be unlikely to be legal?"
"I can't think of any situation where that would be allowed," Jasper said.
"What about dragon research?" I asked. Varanus had some information on their web page, but it did not line up with the number of animals we witnessed yesterday morning before the warehouse was evacuated.
"There are actually very strict laws about the transparency of research involving dragons. They were written into the books a couple decades ago when the wild populations were becoming endangered. Captive dragons used for research need to be licensed and lines are tracked using DNA to ensure wild dragons aren't being introduced. That's a concern since most dragon species reproduce so slowly."
"That's great information," I said, checking a few items off of my list before scanning over what I still wanted to know. "What about the actual chemicals derived from dragons that are used for research? Do those require the same transparency?"
"Yes and no," Jasper said with a laugh. "I know, that's a very lawyerly answer. If a company or organization is doing manufacturing or research using chemicals derived from dragons, they need to declare them and have them available to the public. Lobbyists have kept the amount in inventory from being public record but there are legal limits to the volume of some substances allowed in one location."
I gave my list another scan and realized we'd covered most of what I wanted to know at this point. So, I thanked Jasper and confirmed I could email him with any follow ups as I dug into the hunches I had.
I'd just hung up when Ranger stepped into the opening to my cube. I was about to suggest that we sneak away for a break together when I noticed his face which was a mix between blank and frustrated.
"Might not make our dinner, Babe."
"Oh?" I asked. I did my best to mask my disappointment. I knew this was part of the deal going into the relationship. I was just hoping to steal a bit more time to enjoy the newness of everything with Ranger.
He stepped into my cube and pulled me into his arms, burying his face in my hair. I'd always known Ranger loved my crazy curls for some reason only known to him, but this was something I'd noticed him doing more since we'd declared ourselves a couple. Like it was a luxury he hadn't allowed himself before and was indulging in now.
"A container ship went up in the Newark Bay. Agent Johnson's junior agent just called because the ATF thinks it may be related to the case."
"At least I was an hour away from the explosion this time. It can't be blamed on me."
"Babe," he said with a chuckle and one last hard kiss before disappearing around the corner, off to save the world.
