I was hit hard in October with a nasty stomach bug, which messed up my posting timeline, so now you'll have a spooky tale in Nov.
Disclaimer: The Plum universe belongs to JE. Typos are my bad.
Stephanie's POV
I awoke from a rather sexy dream for no apparent reason just when it was getting so, so good. Opening my eyes, I was greeted with darkness as my nose pressed up against a familiar, hard chest. Inhaling that unique Bulgari and Ranger aroma I love so much, I snuggled even closer against Ranger's solid form. In response, his strong arms immediately tightened around me, further keeping me close in the warm safety of his embrace.
With a wide grin, I skimmed my lips across his well defined pectorals, blindly trailing kisses across his chest until I reached his equally muscled shoulder and upper arm. In response, his lips found the top of my head and gave me a kiss. As sweet as the gesture is, I've had other plans for our night. Feeling weird being by my lonesome in bed while naked, I donned one of his T-shirts to wait for him only to end up inevitably falling asleep. Turning in his arms, Ranger quickly molded himself to my back. Grinning into the darkness, I decided to pick up where my steamy dream left off. And true to his opportunistic ways, one ass brush against his crotch was all it took for me to have Ranger fully awake and standing at full attention. Yum.
"Babe." Enveloping me tighter, I felt his delicious lips leave a trail of nuzzling kisses on the side of my neck until his hot mouth reached my left ear. "Mmmm." The groaning/moaning sound that rumbled across his chest gave me the good kind of full body chills. Oh boy.
"I was waiting for you..." I gasped when his hand slipped under the hem of my sleep T-shirt. His groan of approval elicited an unchecked moan from me when his fingers skimmed across my doodah. Wanting to surprise him, I slipped under the covers in my birthday suit so that he would find me in all my naked glory upon his return from a late shift. Feeling weird and a little chilly, I hauled ass to the walk-in closet to commandeer another one of his Rangeman Tees. "…I must have fallen asleep." I admitted as Ranger's dexterous hands got me as equally naked as him. Tonight, it took less effort as I didn't bother with panties nor a sexy lingerie set.
"You were sleeping so peacefully." Ranger said he found me hugging his pillow, and didn't want to wake me given how late he was finally done with his long work day.
Oh, but I wanted him to wake me up. To show him my intention, I flipped over so we could be face to face. My lips crashed against Ranger's as I used my hold on his chiseled abs to push him onto his back.
"I'll risk your lethal knee for waking you up if this is the reaction, Babe." Ranger teased, smiling against my lips when we broke for air.
To ensure he'll wake me up for sexy time and not to go for a run at the butt crack of dawn, I made sure to use my best arsenal for a fast and powerful surrender. My Batman enjoyed my sensual moves so much that his tight control snapped, leading to a rushing climax that left us both spent and breathing hard.
When I opened my eyes again, it sadly wasn't for a repeat performance of my not too shabby moves. Smacking my hand at the alarm notification before it could go off again, I stretched across Ranger's side of the bed. He didn't miss his sacred time at the gym, and has likely been awake since the early signs of dawn painted the sky a color other than darkness.
After a sluggish start to my day, I managed to shower and start changing into my Rangeman uniform by the time Ranger joined me in the walk-in closet. Obviously, he's already gotten a head start on his day. Dressed in his fitted Rangeman uniform, he came to find me to let me know that Ella is on her way up with breakfast.
"Be right the… hey!" I playfully slapped his wandering hands away from my breasts as I reached for my T-shirt. We'll never get going if we get handsy. Been there, learned our lesson.
"Babe." The twitch in his lips and his tone told me that he was clearly reading my very inappropriate early morning thoughts. The last time our wandering hands had an unchecked opportunity before work, Ranger just barely made it to his in person meeting with a new business client across town. Our morning fun session could have earned Rangeman a bad point reputation wise.
Smartass. I thought, which earned me the full wolf grin before Ranger turned on his heel. I'm positive he made sure to add extra swagger to his ass as he left me to finish getting ready. The man knows exactly how to get me hot and bothered.
Not wanting to miss the opportunity to share a quick breakfast with Ranger, especially after the hectic week it's been, I hurriedly stuffed my feet into my boots and laced up. I opted for a ponytail to help contain my curls considering today's going to be a long day for us all.
When I joined Ranger in the kitchen, my attention was momentarily monopolized by the mouthwatering aroma of Ella's latest breakfast creation. Honestly, I know it's on the healthy side, though I can't complain when it's so, so delicious.
"Babe." As soon as Ranger passed me a doctored coffee cup, I knew it was exactly how I like it just by the color. Before taking my first sip, I stood on the tips of my boots to be able to place a thank you kiss on his yummy lips. The arched eyebrow look he gave me in question made me smile in return.
"Thank you." I simply said in response to his silent question, ready to dig into my food. Before my butt could connect with the seat, Ranger used his hold on my hand to pull me closer. His intense look was followed by a seriously steamy kiss. It took several long seconds for the brain fog to clear after our lips parted, leaving my tongue and other parts of my body tingling after the scorching interaction.
As we ate, we caught up with each other. It's been a pretty crazy load for us both and we've had varying schedules, limiting our free time. I'm definitely looking forward to some downtime with him as soon as we can have it.
"I'm with Hector's team this morning." I shared, even though he likely already knows. "Meet you here for the night part of this?" I asked Ranger as we cleared our dishes.
"Yes. See you tonight, Babe." Ranger confirmed, kissing me once more as we exited the penthouse. With Rex munching in his breakfast goodies, I'm sure his next order of business will be hitting his running wheel. Ah, the cushy life of my hamster.
Walking down the two flights of stairs with him was doable, mostly because of gravity. We parted ways on the fifth floor, with him going to reconvene with Tank while I loaded the elevator to head down to the parking garage. I do train and exercise more regularly than I did before moving in with Ranger, but if I go down all seven flights of stairs at once my legs will be a little wobbly before I reach the underground garage. By the time I emerged from the elevator car, the fleet SUVs were already loaded with all the gear we needed, so I climbed in with Ramon and Hector as soon as I spotted them.
"Nice to meet you. I've heard so much about you." Hawk was anxiously waiting for our arrival, ushering us in. The last time I was here, we didn't get a chance to have a proper introduction.
"Nice to meet you, too." I greeted back, shaking his strong, firm hand. "I hope you heard good things about me, and not just the embarrassing ones." I joked, to which Hawk didn't so much as smile or even attempt to ease my worries, much less try to joke back. The man was serious with a capital S.
Ranger expanded on his extensive connection to Hawk when the nightly alarms from the Sullivan residence began. Just like many of the Merry Men, Hawk served some time with Ranger and several other Core Team members. Despite getting hurt so young, Hawk didn't give up on life. How I understand it, his spine injury was somewhere below the chest but above the waist. He's clearly kept himself in great shape, his upper body and arms all solid muscles just like any Rangeman. The kind, generous, and amiable fellow that I've heard so much about isn't the vibe I'm currently getting. It could be that this whole situation has taken a toll on him, though our interaction has my Spidey Senses tingling.
"Let me know if you need anything from me." Hawk told us as he basically gave us free rein of his home. After the bad night they had, his wife and daughter are still sleeping.
Zero, Hal and Manny are covering the outdoor part of the security system. I'm with Hector, Ramon and Binkie inside. While the guys work with Hector on the systems diagnostics and other tech upgrades in preparation for tonight, I'm mostly here to look around to get myself reacquainted with the place and offer suggestions on additional surveillance points.
There were a lot of rooms to take in and I'd yet to even make it down to the basement level or even upstairs to the second floor this go around. Despite not really seeing anything out of place on either my last visit or this morning, I felt like something was off. Unable to put my finger on what it was, I simply kept on looking.
As the realization that despite the massiveness of this McMansion I'd yet to see any house employees began to wash over me, a very sharp smack on my left buttcheek quickly snapped me back to reality. Thinking I'd accidentally bumped into something or someone while being distracted, I whirled around only to be surprised to see that there was nothing behind me. The closest person to me was none other than Hawk, though he's out on the hall, and I would have most definitely heard or felt his presence nearby as his wheelchair crossed the hardwood flooring. Though he and the guys were far enough away, with nothing that I could have bumped into, I could hardly believe what had just happened. There is no reason, nor any words to describe what just happened. I felt momentarily disoriented, too stunned to believe it.
"You okay?" Ramon asked as he crossed the huge home library in a handful of large strides. "You look like you just saw a ghost." Ramon joked, trying to gauge the situation. "I mean, you're already white as hell, yet your face went whiter."
Rolling my eyes at his playful jab, I waved his concern aside. "Not all of us were blessed with a natural tan." That quick comeback earned me a grin from his perfect smile as I pointed out how I don't really tan, mostly just turning tomato red instead. "I got a little disoriented here. That's all." Not wanting to distract us from our objective, I assured myself that I was fine. Believing it myself makes it ten times easier to make everyone else believe it too.
"Yeah, it's the odd angle on the ceiling for me." Ramon commented that he too finds something weirdly odd about the room's set up before he returned to his task.
Shaking off the unexplained experience, I continued with my part. When we finished the day portion of our work, the Merry Men and I had a really late lunch. We stopped at Shorty's on the way back to Rangeman, devouring several pies and subs amongst us before heading back to the building.
Threading upstairs, I chatted with Rex while I split my butterscotch krimpet with him. Ranger's not a fan of junk food, so my Tastykakes are solely for me and my hamster to indulge in.
"It's so uncanny." I huffed out a breath, stumped. Rex locked eyes with me, his whiskers twitching in open expectation. "No more." Shaking my finger, I reminded him that we're on a 'with moderation' lifestyle now. Rex scurried into his soup can, flashing me his tiny butt in response. "Hey!" I tapped his glass home as I reminded him that he promised to be on his best behavior.
When Ranger asked me to move in with him he cited his need to not only know that I'm safe, but also expressed his vital necessity to spend every night together. Of course, Rex was automatically part of Ranger's vision for when we fully blended our lives together. It was a huge step, almost as huge as finally taking the plunge into Someday. Although I was scared to mess this up, I took Ranger's lead and demonstrated that I'm all in by accepting to move in with him and work for Rangeman full time. So far, like all the other times we'd cohabitated in the past, we've never been at each other's throats. Things are going very well for us.
Checking the time, I opted for running some pending searches that were assigned to me at end of day yesterday and this morning. Taking my company issued laptop to the living room, I ditched my boots and sat cross legged on the couch. Knowing the search would take some time, I set it on the coffee table in front of me and stretched out along the couch with my eyes closed. My mind was reeling about what could possibly be happening at Hawk's place. The two times I've been to the property, nothing has really jumped out at me. Sure, I've felt a bit weirded out in certain parts of the home, yet there wasn't really a reason for it. Meeting Hawk, he seemed like a very practical person. He's done so much troubleshooting on his end before contacting Rangeman that first time. Though I didn't get to interact with either his wife or daughter on either of my visits, I'm sure they're as worn out by the situation as Hawk is. The dark eyebags on Hawk told me how little sleep he's had these past couple weeks.
The next time I opened my eyes, I found Ranger's big body hovering over me.
"Shit." I murmured, explaining how I'd fallen asleep while waiting on the search results.
"Are you feeling okay?" The concern was clear on Ranger's handsome face as he tucked a curl behind my ear. His big hand massaged my right shoulder before moving down my arm, kneading as he went.
Nodding, I told him that I was simply a bit tired. "Little sleep last night." I teased, nudging his fine butt with my knee as he sat down.
With his seated position on the tiny free sliver of couch by the edge, Ranger's hand slid over my hip, squeezing my ass before planting his big hand on the cushion behind me so that he could lean down to be face to face. "Babe." His playful smile is one of my favorites, especially when he flashes me the full thousand watts.
"So you don't want me to wake you next time?" I didn't even get a chance to fully elaborate on my groggy jest when Ranger's lips crashed down against mine.
"You can always wake me up, Stephanie." His use of my given name meant how serious he was. The cheeky grin before he kissed me again, with a lot of tongue this go-around, solidified us being on the same page. When he pulled back, Ranger's hand resumed its massaging touch. "Are you still feeling up for tonight?"
"Yes." Nodding vigorously, I stretched so I could rid myself of the kinks from falling asleep on the couch at such an unnatural angle. Reaching behind me to grab Ranger's wrist, I checked the time on his watch. "I'll take a shower and we can head out." I confirmed we were most definitely still on as I sat up.
When I felt him follow me into the bathroom, I spun on my heel and arched an eyebrow in silent question.
"I can be of great help, Babe." His patented thousand watt grin made an appearance.
Without a word, I began undressing before his watchful eye. With deliberate moves, I did my best seductive, though subtle, routine. Starting with my Rangeman T-shirt, I made a show of taking it off. Tossing the cotton shirt by my feet, I reached back to unhook my bra. It too slid down my arms to land somewhere near my shirt. Unbuttoning my cargos, I shimmied out of my pants. Kicking them aside, I toed off my socks so I'd be left standing in just my embroidered panties. To further spice up the moment, I turned to face away from him. With my back to him, I hooked my thumbs in the waistband of my cotton panties, slowly dragging them past my hips and down my legs. Bent at the waist, I watched Ranger obliterate the space between us with one quick stride. Before I could fully straighten back into a standing position, his large hands were already ghosting over my ass.
"How'd you get these?" Ranger's serious inquiry was not the reaction I was going for. Before I could ask what he was referring to, his fingers traced a portion of my left buttcheek, around the scar courtesy of Jimmy Alpha.
"Get what?" I tried to twist around to face him, but Ranger's firm hold prevented it. Instead of being ravished right about now, Ranger's inspecting something on my backside. Turning me so that my back was to the big mirror over the sink, I had to look over my shoulder to try and see what he was getting at.
"When did you get these bruises, Babe?" Ranger's fingers traced an angry-looking, fist-sized bruise on my butt that extended onto my lower back, solely on my left side.
"I… I don't know." Jogging my memory, I really couldn't put my finger on when I got the fresh bruising. "It doesn't hurt." I said to Ranger, which was odd since any bruise I get typically is at least a little sensitive. When I noticed the all too familiar dark look that flashed across his dark eyes, I swiftly read his mind. Cupping his face so he'd look at me instead, I assured him that these weren't from him. Yes, we were quite enthusiastic during our sexy time in the wee hours of the night, though rough wasn't really part of the session.
Trying to clear the atmosphere, I urged Ranger to get naked and join me in the shower. It didn't take much coaxing for him to ditch his Rangeman uniform and follow me inside the glass enclosure.
As the water cascaded over our heads, Ranger wrapped his arms around my waist to pull me close. Plastered to his hard front, his forehead rested against mine. His lips brushed mine as he spoke, confessing his fear that he'll hurt me when he loses control.
"You don't hurt me, Carlos." I reassured, trying to joke to lighten the mood. "Even when we get a little rough and desperate." Raising on my tiptoes, I kissed him deeply, pouring everything I feel for him that I'm not the best at expressing with words.
"Only you can snap my control, Stephanie." Ranger growled against my mouth, our lips morphing into a tongue duel we're all too familiar with.
"Oh my God!" Wrenching back from our kiss once my memory jogged itself to earlier this morning, I quickly placed what could have caused the bruising. While my hands still rested against Ranger's chest, I filled him in on the odd moment. "I guess I must have bumped against something after all."
"Babe." Ranger's use of his nickname for me can mean a lot of things. This one meant that he wasn't buying it. "It's not comforting to know that you're bruising that much, and so easily."
"I do bruise easily." I defended, reminding him how fair my skin is. A slight scratch against some bushes while I'm in pursuit of one of my FTAs results in an angry looking scrape. It's always been like that for me, which he's aware of. The look Ranger gave me told me that he'll have Bobby take a look and possibly run some blood work so he can have some peace of mind. "Fine." I compromised as Ranger reached for my shampoo bottle.
When his hands did little more than create suds, I opted to take matters into my own hands. Or, should I say, take him in hand.
"Babe." Throwing his head back, Ranger's harsh groan was music to my ears.
After our quick, passionate loving, we sped through our cleansing. There's a reason why joint showers are never a good idea when we're in a time crunch. Oops! What can I say? We just can't keep our hands to ourselves. Besides, why should we?
While we dressed, Ranger tenderly put some of Bobby's most recommended arnica ointment on my fresh bruises, his touch ever so gentle.
We spent the drive on a group call with the guys who will be on patrol or staking out the residence, and thankfully arrived at the Sullivan residence on time despite our shower quickie. Before we exited Ranger's Turbo, we ended the call with the Merry Men.
"It's show time." I whispered to Ranger as we walked up the steps to the front door. One of the guys will take the Porsche so it's out of sight and bring it back in the morning.
The plan I suggested consists of us spending a night with Hawk and his family. When the youngest Sullivan answered the door, Ranger introduced us. The teen called her father over, not really up for chatter with a stranger. Ranger and Hawk retreated into the home office down the hall and I followed after Luisa, Hawk's wife, into the kitchen. Luisa welcomed while simultaneously thanking me for the help as she resumed prepping dinner. Once again, I noted the absence of staff in the home. It could mean something, or it could not. I mean, what do I know about the lifestyle of the hella wealthy?
"It really is nice to meet you after hearing about you for so long." Luisa shared as she poured us both a glass of wine. "Jay and I are happy to see that Carlos has found his other half." As we waited for the oven to do its cooking magic, Luisa and I got to know each other. Not having much frame of reference for her, I can note that the woman looks absolutely exhausted.
"Babe." Ranger's voice reached my ears seconds after the tingling on the back of my neck gave his close proximity away.
Locking eyes with him, I nodded in understanding. Turning to Luisa, Ranger asked her in Spanish how she's doing. Well, I'm pretty sure that's what he asked since I still struggle with certain Spanish phrases. The word 'como' means 'how' or 'to eat', and it's not typically hard for me to know what the meaning is based on the context, though it could apply to either just now. Ramon last used the word in a sentence that fried my brain. His 'como como como' was too much for me to process at once since it all sounded the same. How was I supposed to know Ramon's phrase meant 'I eat how I eat'? Anyhow, once Ranger spun on his heel Luisa flashed me a knowing smirk.
"What?" I asked while taking a small sip of the chilled red wine. I'm no expert on fancy wine, but this one's dangerously good! I can barely taste the alcohol. Before I could even think about taking another sip, Luisa commented on the silent exchange Ranger and I shared.
Before, during and after dinner I got to pick up on the not so subtle familial dynamics. I have no real frame of reference aside from what I've been told by Ranger and the Merry Men, yet there's obvious tension between Hawk and Luisa. The clear strain between them may mean something, or it may not since they're all clearly under a lot of stress and practically running on fumes by now. Regardless of my limited experience with the Sullivans, I feel like I was able to gather enough of an insight with Luisa. She let slip without realizing it that her marriage is not at its best, and that things aren't always what they seem. The cherry on top? When Luisa squatted to pick up a fallen utensil, her shirt rode up the tiniest bit, exposing a sliver of flesh that was sporting a very familiar bruise. Whereas mine is vibrantly bluish-purple, hers is a fading yellowish-brown, with both of our bruises located in near identical locations. It's not that I tried to refrain from sharing my thoughts with Ranger until we were back at Rangeman, but for some reason every time I tried to broach the subject once we were finally alone, I was repeatedly distracted by random thoughts. It was extremely odd, even for me. To top it off, a wave of heavy drowsiness overtook me, inevitably sending me into a quick slumber.
Sobbing sounds filtered through my thick sleep haze as violent jostling movements awoke me from my deep slumber.
"What…" Frowning, I instinctively tried to shield my eyes from the harsh lighting aimed directly my way. "Oh my…" I felt my eyes snap wide open as I watched a huge figure appear behind Ranger. "Closet!" I warned Ranger to turn around, but the shadowy figure was quicker than him, stretching nearly to the ceiling and then zooming into the slightly ajar door beside it. That thing was gone in the blink of an eye!
Gun drawn, Ranger was ready to clear the walk-in closet. Not wanting to be left alone in this creepy ass place, I hurriedly crawled off the bed and practically glued myself to Ranger's back. Grabbing a fistful of the back of his shirt had Ranger freezing in place for a fraction of a second. I could clearly hear his 'Babe' in my head in response. Following his silent and telepathic instructions, I quickly squatted, reached into his pant leg and took possession of the gun strapped to his ankle. When I stood again, Glock in hand with the safety off, Ranger began leading the way.
The closet was empty, fully void of anything or anyone. Ranger was in the process of touching bases with the Merry Men posted on the grounds below, when a high pitched, bloodcurdling female scream reached our ears.
What the hell is going on in this place?!