Ranger was tired, really tired. A stake out was not his way of spending Christmas Eve, but he didn't want any of the guys missing time with their families. Besides, his plans had only been waylaid by a few hours He just didn't count on being so tired. In the end, it didn't really matter. Even if she kicked him out, the few minutes while he was yelled at would be enough.

He pulled into her lot and immediately noticed Big Blue parked by the dumpster. He smiled, but automatically looked around for any signs of Morelli. He knew he wouldn't find any. Morelli hadn't been around for months, but he still looked. Probably always would.

Climbing out of the car, he took a deep breath of cold winter air. He loved to do that and it sort of revived him a bit. Slowly he made his way inside the building and up to her door. As always, he picked the lock and let himself in. The place was quiet and dark. When he reached the bedroom door, he found what he expected. Stephanie was sleeping, tangled in sheets and blankets.

He stood motionless, just watching her. His brain was giving one last attempt to convince him to leave. This was not a new place for him, but every time he was this close before, he ended up leaving. Not this time, not tonight. He would face her reaction, whatever it might be.

Leaving a trail of discarded clothes behind him, he made his way to her bed. Ordinarily he wouldn't throw his stuff around, but he noticed a trail of Steph's clothes on the bedroom floor as well. When in Rome…

He lowered himself into bed and under the covers…well, what covers she didn't have tangled around her legs. She was on her side and he scooted up behind her until her back was flush against his front. He slipped an arm around her waist and then held his breath. She never even moved. The steady rise and fall of her chest as she slept let him know she was breathing, just sound asleep.

After several seconds when it was obvious she wasn't going to wake up, he let out the breath he had been holding and relaxed his body, snuggling into her warmth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stephanie's brain clawed its way through a sleep-educed haze to register that it was very warm in her bedroom. She kicked trying to remove some of her covers but came into contact with something solid behind her. Distracted by the cool air washing over her, she ignored whatever she had hit and feel back into a deep sleep.

Some time later, she woke again when it felt like her arm was asleep. As she shifted she felt a weight around her stomach move. Still too sleepy, and feeling way to content and snuggly, she ignored it. It wasn't until she felt a large weight move behind her that she started to come out of her sleepy fog. Half way to consciousness she had a thought.

"Ranger?" she whispered.,

"Hmmm…Babe…sleep," came the drowsy reply.

She was quiet until her brain registered the situation. "Ranger?" That was louder but she still hadn't opened her eyes. She thought she felt him tense.

"Yeah, Babe. Go back to sleep. It's still early."

She rolled that around in her head a bit and then asked the next logical question. "What time is it?"

A small rumbled escaped from him, then more movement. "4:30. Now go back to sleep."

Yeah, right. She was fully awake now, but back to whispering, and he wanted her to sleep when she just realized the Cuban sex god was in bed with her.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

He was definitely tense now. Seconds ticked by and no response.

"Ranger?"

There was a small sigh, but she heard it. "I was on a stake out. Too tired to make it home." He paused. "Do you mind?"

Wasn't that the question of the hour? She decided to ignore that and ask more questions. "A stake out on Christmas Eve?"

"Yeah. A low end skip."

Ranger's low end skips were her high end skips. But still…."Why did you do it?"

He relaxed a bit at her line of questioning. He had been facing away from her, she could tell by the sound of his voice. Now he moved and when he spoke it was obvious he was only inches from her face. "Because. The others have family and friends to be with tonight. It was easy and nothing happened so it wasn't a big deal to be by myself."

Her mind worked a mile a minute. He had nothing else to do but work and then come and be with her? She could ask more questions about that but decided a safer route was best. "Well I'm glad nothing happened since you didn't have back up."

“I figured I could always call you if I got stuck.”

Her eyes flew open. She expected to find him smiling, a teasing look on his face. There was none. His blank face was firmly in place. My god, he was serious.

She snorted and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right.”

Ranger didn’t respond. He continued to look at her until she started to feel uncomfortable under his gaze. She had been lying on her stomach, but now she pushed off the bed to get up only to come to an abrupt halt. His arm was still around her middle and he quickly pulled her to him, engulfing her in an intimate embrace.

“Where are you going?” He said it so quietly she almost didn’t think she really heard it.

Just as softly, she mumbled a response to his chest…well, more like his neck. “I don’t know. I was getting uncomfortable with you staring at me.”

He shook slightly as he laughed as he tightened his grip on her. She inhaled and was rewarded with the musky scent of Ranger’s cologne. Not sure what to do, she lay still for several beats until finally relaxing in his arms and slipping an arm around his waist. The steady beating of his heart and rhythmic breathing lulled her into a state of contentment. She was so relaxed she didn’t even think before she spoke. It was just a whisper.

“What do you want from me?”

His chest stopped moving but that was the only indication she had that he heard the question. He took a big breath, then let it out slowly, answering her question in the process. “I don’t know.”

She nodded, totally understanding where he was coming from. She had no clue what she wanted from him. Well, she wanted more of whatever you would call what was between them. Steph mentally rolled her eyes. Yeah, that spells it all out.

Gathering her courage, she asked another question. “Does this mean that you might do a relationship?”

He stopped breathing again. She knew she was on target with her questions, and this felt like the right time to ask and get answers.

“I don’t know,” he whispered.

She sighed and pushed at him to let go. “Look, Ranger…”
He quieted her with a kiss to the forehead, keeping his lips on her skin until she stopped pushing him away. Finally he said, “Babe, I have to honest. I don’t know exactly what I want. All I know is that when I thought about who I wanted to spend Christmas with, you were the only person who came to mind. All the guys were talking about their wives or girlfriends and all I could think was that I needed to be with you. Even if you yelled and kicked me out, I’d still have spent a few minutes with you. That would have been enough.”

All that was way too much for her brain to wrap itself around, so she focused on the one thing that she could face. “Why would I yell and kick you out?”

He snorted laughter and kissed her forehead again. “Because I broke in and climbed into your bed.”

“But Ranger,” she leaned back and looked up at him with big blue eyes, “you said you’d be back. I’ve just been waiting.”

His heart stopped. Hell, time stopped. It wasn’t until his brain registered that she was talking that he felt like he was grounded again.

“…maybe I misunderstood.” She was looking at him apprehensively. He blinked a few times and finally focused on the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on. Only…only she was suddenly looking scared.

“No, don’t look so scared.” He lowered his lips to hers. “You didn’t misunderstand.” He felt her tense immediately. “I was an idiot,” he whispered against her lips. He didn’t give her much time to think about that. Instead he started to kiss her.

He kissed her in a way that said he was all man and she was all woman and he wanted everything she had to give. He also knew that he’d give anything she wanted to take. It wasn’t long before they were both naked. Hands and lips were everywhere, touching, tasting.

Stephanie felt like she was about ready to explode. Ranger wanted her. For what? She wasn’t exactly sure, but it was at least better than what he had said before. He felt and tasted as good as she remembered, as good as she dreamed and fanaticized about every night since their first encounter in bed.

Finally, he had her on her back and was poised above her. Her eyes drifted close as he slowly pushed inside; her legs coming up to wrap around him. He felt good, he felt right and she felt…

She opened her eyes to a vision. Ranger, his head thrown back, eye closed and a look of pure pleasure on his face, and she knew she put it there. Her own release started to build as he took long stokes in and out, but she caught sight of his lips moving. She concentrated hard on his lips, trying to figure out what he was saying but kept losing focus as he moved within her.

It wasn’t going to be long before they both went over the edge and she knew she had to figure out what he was saying before that happened. She strained to listen, moving her lips to mimic his. Finally, just as she started to climax, she got it. Her eyes went wide and not because of her orgasm.

“Te amo,” she said in a gasp.

Ranger’s head immediately snapped forward. His eyes locking with hers in surprise, but it was too late. His orgasm washed over him. He stiffened as he spilled his liquid into her, his eyes fluttering closed for a few scant seconds.

Eventually, they both came down and he lowered himself to lightly lie on top of her, both of them breathing heavily. She had closed her eyes, but she could feel him staring at her only a few inches away.

“Babe?”

Oh no. She wasn’t going to have this conversation. She felt his nose rub hers.

“Babe.”

She swallowed, but didn’t say a word.

“I heard you.”

Oh no, again. He wasn’t going to say she was the first to say it. Her eyes opened.

“You were saying it. I was trying to figure out what you were saying and when…when I realized…I mean…well then I said it.” She paused as his blank look slid into place. “You said it first.” She mentally smacked herself in the head for being so mature, but she wasn’t backing down. He did say it first.

The staring contest continued and she was beginning to feel the weight on his body pressing her into the mattress. Finally, Ranger let out a big sigh, shaking his head and closing his eyes. “Why do I even try to fight it? Why?”

She knew he was talking to himself. When he opened his eyes again, what she saw took her breath away. There was warmth, caring and love in those gorgeous brown eyes.

With his eyes firmly on hers, he brought his head down until their lips touched.

“Te amo,” he whispered, then gently kissed her. “Te amo.”

She wasn’t sure what to say, so she didn’t.

“Babe?” He pulled back to look at her.

“Yeah?”

“Can I spend Christmas with the one I love?”

A smile spread across her face, she nodded and pulled his lips back down to hers.

“Te amo,” she breathed.

The End