Chapter 1 in 30 minutes

Getting a burg girl angry was not a smart thing to do. Just ask Joe Morelli. But even a burg girl has to rein in the anger when dealing with her mother. After all, that's how we were raised. You never raised your voice at your parents. Oh sure, you could be angry, but venting the anger was done elsewhere, preferably with your best friend because she has her own set of parents and could totally relate.

One would think that as an adult, those rules wouldn't hold…but oh, they hold, 'cause they're made of steel and welded into place; probably wind tunnel tested under the worst conditions. Then again, they hadn't come up against my dysfunctional relationship with Joe Morelli…and my mother's take on it. I swear to god, that if my other eye starts to twitch, she's done for.

"Stephanie, Joe Morelli is a good boy. How can you not want to marry him?"

I closed my eyes and counted to 10…twice. "Because Mom, I've told you," I started, trying but not very hard, to keep the annoyed strain from my voice, "he gave me an ultimatum. I don't do ultimatums."

"This job of yours isn't good for you anyway. It's not a proper job for a woman." Not even pineapple upside-down cake was worth this. "He loves you Stephanie," she said.

That's it. A bigger rule than not yelling at your parents was not talking about your feelings. Love, hate, sadness, hurt and most of all lust was never discussed. I pushed back from the table and stood. "Mom, Joe may have feeling for me, but he LOVED the …" I stopped myself before blurting it out. I know my voice was louder than I intended, but if she was going to break the rules, so was I. Maybe. "the…" I tried again. Damn, I'm such a wimp.

"What? The sex?" My eyes went wide. Ok, now she's done it, you do NOT talk about SEX with your parents. "I've told you, you give the milk away for free…"

"Mom!" I know I screeched because I noticed movement in the living room out of the corner of my eye. My Dad had moved his head and turned, ever so slightly, away from the T.V. "Mom," I started again, with my voice significantly lower, but was cut off by the ring of my cell phone.

"What?" I barked into the phone. Hey, if I couldn't bark at the woman in front of me, it was going to be at the nearest other person, and right now they were at the other end of the line. Too bad for them.

"Babe?" Swell, the nearest "other" person was on the same shit list as Morelli.

"I'm busy," I said curtly and disconnected.

"Stephanie, that wasn't very nice. I didn't teach you to answer the phone like that."

Ignoring her comment, I threw my pocketbook over my shoulder. "I'm going home, Mom." I needed to be anywhere else but here.

"But Valerie isn't back with the Buick. You haven't had dessert." The concern in her voice was loud, clear, and genuine. Letting out a big sigh, I realized that she cared and wanted what was best for me.

"I know Mom. I'll just walk. It's a nice night." 10 minutes later I was strolling down the street with a bag of leftovers in my hand. The walk was actually calming me down. I kept telling myself that it wasn't really exercise, just a means of transportation.

Being totally distracted by thinking about Bob and how he'd love to be out walking with me, and wondering if there are hamster leashes, I completely missed the Black BMW slowly cruising along next to me. Wonderful.

Stopping, I stood still and closed my eyes. I really wasn't in the mood.

"Babe?" Jumping at the sound of his voice, I wondered why I didn't even hear the car door open and close. "Need to be more aware…"

"Save it," I said dryly.

Slowly opening my eyes, my heart started to beat double time when I saw the look in Ranger's.

Chapter 2 in 40 minutes

The only way to describe the look on Ranger's face would be ... amused? And, even then, he was sexy as hell. Curse those damn hormones. I was supposed to be angry with him, that means not turned on, right? Doing a mental eye roll, I tried to calm my beating heart.

" What's wrong Babe? " he said with a smirk firmly in place.

" What's wrong? " From zero to pissed in less than a second, must be a new record. " Your going to ask me what's wrong? " When I noticed he slid his blank face into place, I knew I was in trouble. But I don't think I cared, did I? After all, I wasn't the one being stupid, at least not this time.

Hey, that's right. This time it wasn't me. Suddenly, the longer I stood there and the longer he was quiet, the more my anger melted away.

" You know something Ranger, " I said as I cocked my head to this side, " nothing, absolutely nothing.” Wow, that was pretty calm if I do say so myself.

Proud of myself, I turned on my heels and started to walk away. Unfortunately, a strong arm on my shoulder halted my progress. " Babe? "

" Ranger? " I asked innocently as I turned around.

" I think we need to talk. "

" Oh? And what would like to talk about? " Now, I was standing there with my arms crossed, baggy dangling from my left hand, behind my right elbow. Yeah, I was tough.

" I think we need discuss the other night.”

" We have already done that.” Turning again, I started to walk away. Only this time it wasn't his hand that stopped me. It was the tone in his voice. He was not happy.

" Well, I think we need to discuss it again. "

Not believing what he just said to me, I spun around to face him. Generally, I know my angry face doesn't scare too many people. But this time ... this time, I would swear, for split-second, Rangers face registered fear.

" You listen to me, Ricardo Carlos Manoso, there's nothing left to discuss. When you came to my apartment the other night looking for your payment, " I spat at him, " I told you then, and I'm telling you now, that I won't do it. I still can't believe you asked me to do that. " Ok, so maybe I was a little out of control. Slowly I closed my eyes, trying to regain some composure.

Finally, after several beats of silence, I opened my eyes to a very stoic face. I could tell he still wasn’t a happy, but if he was angry, he wasn't giving that way either.

With the most sincere smile I could manage, I said, "Have a nice night, Ranger." This time when I turned and walked away, he didn't stop me.

Chapter 3

Over the past week, my life settled into it's own little routine. Without fail, everyday I'd get a call from Ranger. I'd tell him I was busy and hang up. Then he would find me wherever I happened to be, and say, "we need to talk". I would, in turn, say, "there's nothing to talk about" and walk away. Unlike the first time, he never tried to stop me. And, every morning when I'd wake up, there would be a gift on my kitchen table. Sometimes it was flowers, other times small tokens, and this morning, it had been a bag of Boston Cremes. I think I was bringing him close to the edge…hehehe.

Ok, so his efforts were starting to weaken me, but he didn't need to know that. I was having lots of fun watching him trying to apply pressure, and for once, he didn't know if he was getting to me. Score one for Babe.

If he only knew all it would take was him naked…

 My Boston Crème, sugar induced fantasizing was interrupted by a knock at my door. Who knocks anymore?

 After looking through the peephole, I fell back against the wall and groaned.

 "Open up. I know you're in there."

 "Go away."

 "I'll just pick the lock." Damn it.

 Resigning myself to the fact that he would indeed come in whether I wanted him to or not, I pushed off the wall and opened the door. "I'm surprised you didn't pick it to begin with."

 "I've been getting a vibe you aren't too happy with me right now, so I didn't want to take the chance your gun might be out of the cookie jar," he said and he strode over to the cookie jar and looked inside. The smirk on his face told me he was obviously pleased he found the gun where it belonged.

 "Getting a vibe?" I asked with a lowered voice as I narrowed my eyes. "Getting a vibe?"

 His smirk got bigger and I wanted to wipe it right off his face…then when I was done with that, removing his clothes wouldn't be a bad idea…

 "Huh?" I think he said something to me.

With a small chuckle, Ranger repeated himself. "Babe, I said let's talk."

That got my attention back to the matter at hand. "No," I said, and walked off toward my bedroom.

Rummaging through my closet, I could feel that Ranger had followed me. Turning around, I realized I was right. He stood there, arms and legs crossed, leaning against the doorframe…looking absolutely edible.

"Will you excuse me, I need to get dressed," I said haughtily.

"No."

"What?" I couldn't believe my ears.

"You told me no, now I'm telling you no." Boston Cremes or not, this was going too far.

With as much anger and disgust as I could put into my voice, I said "Fine." I started toward the door and tried to pass him. Before I knew what was happening, he backed me up against the door, his body pressed against mine, holding me there.

"No, Babe, it's not fine. But I think it's time we made it that way." As he talked, his face came closer and closer to mine. When he finished, his lips were only a breath away. "Yeah," he said, "I think it's time."

Chapter 4

A shiver went down my spine when his lips gently touched mine. His tongue traced the seam of my lips, and I eagerly parted them. At the same time he brought one of his hands up to cup the side of my face, his tongue swept into my mouth. Angling his head, he increased the pressure of his lips, pushing me back until my head hit the door. It was when his thumb started to gently caress my cheek that I whimpered. Good lord, this man could kiss.

I could tell when he started to pull back, so I tried desperately to keep him kissing me. Moaning, I brought my hand up to the back of his head. For a few seconds it worked. There was a renewed sense of urgency, but eventually, his free hand removed the one I had fisted in his hair.

Abruptly breaking off the kiss, he moved his head back, but really, only separating us by a fraction. "Babe," came out in somewhat labored breaths. His eyes were searching mine, but I'm not sure for what.

I waited, but it was obvious he wasn't going to say any more. His hand had never left my face and I was starting to get really distracted by his soft touches.

"Ranger?" Christ. My voice sounded low and sultry even to me. It must have sounded that way to Ranger too because his eyes grew dark at the sound of his name and his gaze settled on my mouth.

"Ranger?" There, that was better.

"Yeah, Babe." His eyes never moved.

"Uh, you said Babe."

"What?" he asked, eyes still glued to my mouth.

"You said Babe…before…first." I felt my face turn warm.

Finally, with what looked like great effort, his eyes met mine. "We need to talk." I'm not sure, but I think he believed if he said it soft enough, low enough, I wouldn't hear it. Ha!

"I need to go get dressed."

He pushed back enough to slowly rake my body with his eyes. By the time he was done, my face was on fire. Leaning back in, he said, "What you are wearing looks fine to me." I checked for any hint of humor I could find. Nope. None. He was serious.

"My flannel sleep pants, ratty T-shirt, and socks are good enough for you?" He nodded once. I rolled my eyes.

"We still need to talk." Jeez, he wasn't going to let go…so neither was I.

"I still need to get dressed."

Leaning his head to the side, with a skeptical but questioning look on his face, he asked "We gonna talk?"

"We are talking."

"About our deal?"

Giving him the best I've-told-you-already look, I answered, "No. There's nothing left to say."

His jaw clenched slightly, but his eyes never changed from the deep dark pools that they had become. "You're right, maybe all that's left is to take action."

Chapter 5

In one smooth move, without any hesitation, Ranger had me over his shoulder; butt in the air, before I could blink.

“Ah…R..R..Ranger?” I may be upside down, but damn if his ass wasn’t distracting me.

“Yeah, Babe?”

“What are you doing?” The urge to reach down and touch that fabulous behind was overwhelming.

“Taking action.”

“Oh,” was all I could think to say. He really had one mighty fine butt.

Wait. I still wasn’t dressed and now we were headed down the stairs to outside.

“I’m not dressed!” I screeched as he stepped into the parking lot.

“I told you, Babe, you look fine to me.”

“What? Are you blind?” How could he possibly think I looked fine? Oh my god…my hair. The minute he had me in the front seat of the Bronco, my hands went directly to the top of my head. Yep, it felt as bad as I’m sure it looked. Here, the sexiest man alive is dragging me from my apartment, and I look like something Bob threw up. I wanted nothing more then to disappear into the seat cushion.

It wasn’t until he was about to shut the door that he noticed, what had to be, a frantic look on my face.

With one hand on the frame of the open door, and the other coming to rest on the hood, he leaned in and stopped only inches from my face.

“No, Stephanie, I am not the one who can’t see.” After a soft brushing of lips, he shut my door, and we were on our way. Which begs the question…

“Where are we going?” Silence.

“Ranger?” Yeah, like he didn’t hear me.

Great. Crossing my arms, I turned to look out my window. If he wasn’t going to tell me where we were going, I wanted to make sure I was paying attention to how we got there…in case I needed to escape.

“Babe, time to wake up. We’re here.” I felt something soft and warm brush against my cheek a few times. Then it was on my neck, moving downward.

“Hey!” I shouted as my eyes flew open in time to see Ranger’s face pull away from my shoulder. “You bit me!”

“Just wanted to make sure I had your attention, Babe.” I knew he was talking about something else other than waking me up. Not having a snappy response, I went the smart route and kept my mouth shut and decided instead to look at my surroundings.

We were in the driveway of a very nice two-story home. My eyes went wide the minute the thought hit me. No, this couldn’t be. The bat cave?

“Where are we?” I asked, trying sound as casual as I could.

All I got was a chuckle in response as he held his hand out to help me out of the car. Being the mature woman that I am, I refused his offer of help and stumbled out of the Bronco on my own, thank you very much. I’m sure the thick men’s hunting socks and plaid flannel pants that I had on, only added to my air of superiority.

“Ok, if you won’t tell me where we are, can you tell me why we are here?” A very sneaky grin appeared on his face and I suddenly became more than a little nervous.

“We’re here to talk.”

Narrowing my eyes, I pointed out the obvious, “We were talking at my apartment.”

“True, but we weren’t talking about what I wanted to talk about.”

Crossing my arms and taking an “oh yeah, make me” stance, I said “And what makes you think I’m going to talk about what you want to talk about here…or anywhere else?”

The sneaky grin turned lecherous. Uh oh. “Because you’re staying here until you do.”

Chapter 6

"What? You can't keep me here against my will! I have obligations! I need clothes! I have to work to pay my bills!" I fisted my hands and put them on my hips, coming up with a reason I know he wouldn't argue with. "You don't want to be responsible for Rex's death, do you?"

The lecherous grin on his face stayed as he turned back to the Bronco. When he went to open the back door, my stomach fell. I snapped my eyes shut not wanting to see what Ranger was doing.

The sound of the car door slamming made me jump, but my eyes remained closed. "Open your eyes, Babe." I could hear the triumph in his voice, and at that moment, I wanted to scratch his eyes out. How could this man always be two steps ahead of me? Oh, who am I kidding. "Come on," he chided, "open 'em."

The squeaky noise I heard, and knew very well, told me two things 1) it was directly in front of my face, 2) now I really didn't want to open my eyes.

"Stephanie." Uh oh. Sounded like the smirk was gone.

Grudgingly, I opened my eyes to come face to face with Rex. "When did you…"

"You seemed to be preoccupied when I grabbed his cage." My suspicious were confirmed when I chanced a look in Ranger's direction and saw that the smirk was back. Oh god, he knew I was checking out his butt.

Putting Rex's cage down on the driveway, Ranger came to stand in front of me, putting his hands around my waist. "I've got Tank covering your job. Any money he gets for your skips will go to you. There are plenty of everyday clothes for you inside." Now he was sporting a soft smile that reached his eyes and had me wanting to melt into his arms. "And I think your curiosity is enough to keep you here, at least for a little while."

Suddenly his face turned very solemn and I could barely hear him when he started to speak. "Do you really think I'd keep you somewhere against your will, Babe?"

"You had me cuffed and ready to go when I was helping you with Ramos."

"That was for your safety."

"Ohhh," I said, finally starting to see the light. "There are different rules for different situations when it comes to kidnapping." He flashed me a brilliant smile and nodded. "So, when it comes to my safety, you'd take me over any protests I may have. But this?" I questioned as I made a small sweeping gesture with hands; "This is different. If I protest enough, you'd take me home? After all, my safety isn't in question, right?"

A very sad look crossed Ranger's face. If I hadn't been so close and staring at his gorgeous face so intently, I would have missed it. "No, this isn't about your safety. This is a situation that has to do with affairs of the heart." All I could do was blink.

After a prolonged silence, the sad face returned, but this time it stayed. Well this wasn't going very well, was it?

I turned around to face the house and Ranger's hands stayed on my hips. Leaning backwards, my back came into contact with his very muscular chest. "My curiosity always did get me in trouble," I offered as I pretended to study the house.

I felt, more than heard, Ranger start to laugh before I was spun around to face him again.

Thank god. The sad face was gone, replaced by the beautiful, sexy, lecherous one.

Hey, wait a minute…

Chapter 7

Taking several steps backwards, I must have surprised Ranger by my sudden movement because he didn't try to stop me.

"Let's not forgot one thing," I said as I crossed my arms over my chest and narrowed my eyes. "There is still nothing left to talk about."

He came at me so quickly I didn't have time to react. Capturing me tightly in his arms, he whispered, "Maybe I don't want to talk anymore. Maybe it's the last thing on my mind right now."

"You said you brought me here to talk."

"You've made it perfectly clear you don't want to talk. I'm thinking there are other things we could do." My eyes went wide. Not with me looking like this there isn't.

"Think again." I said with as much burg girl attitude as I could muster. I mean, after all, I was pressed up against Batman.

I received a blank stare as a response. Wonderful.

Finally, after many long seconds, Ranger loosened his grip. "Let's go inside, Babe. You can freshen up."

The house may have been modest from the outside, but inside it was magnificent. Once Ranger had Rex settled on a table in the family room, he led me upstairs to, what I assume, was his bedroom.

And while the bed was big and impressive, the bathroom took my breath away.

I don't know how long I had been standing in the doorway, dumbfounded, before Ranger broke my trance.

"Use what you need, Babe. There's a robe behind the door and clothes in the closet." And, with that, he was gone.

When I finally emerged from what can only be described as a glorious tub, I was wrinkled like a prune, but squeaky clean from head to toe. Finding a very plush robe right where Ranger said there would be one, I slipped it on and padded into the bedroom.

Having a vague memory of him saying something about clothes in the closet, I headed over and opened the door. Sure enough, the entire right side was lined with woman's clothes. With closer inspection, they were all my size.

Now, while that was interesting, it posed so many questions, my brain just couldn't handle it. Turning my attention to the left side of the closet, I noticed it was full with men's clothing. My eyes latched onto a built-in shelf piled high with black T-shirts.

Christ. If this isn't Ranger's house, then I'm the freakin' queen.

Throwing all caution to the wind, I snatched up one of the neatly folded T-shirts. After quickly slipping off the robe, I pulled on the T-shirt, closed the closet doors and then went back and hung up the robe where I had found it.

With that done, I strode over to the bed. Jesus, it looked so soft and comfy. I could swear I heard it calling my name, so how could I turn away? Without any further thought, I lifted the covers and climbed in.

Oh good lord. This bed has to be a sin. Nothing that feels this good could be anything else. Closing my eyes and letting out a moan, I burrowed into the fluffy softness that had enveloped my body and drifted off to sleep.

Slowly coming awake, my first thought was to wonder how long I had been asleep. My second thought was to wonder how long Ranger had been in bed with me.

Chapter 8

"Have a nice nap?" came from the warm body behind me.

"Ahh, yeah," I said as I tried to scoot away. That only caused him to tighten his arm around my waist. Why I thought he'd let me leave, I'm not sure. Why I wanted to was even a bigger mystery.

Nuzzling my neck, he whispered in my ear, "I like your choice of pajamas." When I felt his warm breath on my ear, I couldn't hold back the shiver. After that, it took me a second, but it finally registered with my hormone-fogged brain what he had just said.

Shit. I was in bed with Batman and only wearing a T-shirt…one of his T-shirts…no bra…no panties. Mental eye roll. Now what was I going to do?

"Enjoy it," he whispered, this time placing a soft kiss on my neck. I just about melted on the spot.

"Um, Ranger?"

"Yeah, Babe?" Kiss.

"Well…" Kiss.

"I need…" Kiss.

"What do you need, Babe?" Oh god.

"…to…" Kiss.

"Yeah?" Kiss. Lick. Nip.

Christ, that did it. My body shivered again and then involuntarily snuggled back into the warm, muscular, delicious body that was spooning me from behind. But, I was given a smidgen of satisfaction that I wasn't the only one succumbing, when I heard Ranger moan after I gave my butt a slight wiggle. Hey, I was just trying to settle in. Honest.

Although, had I known the repercussions of my wiggle, I might have thought twice about doing it. After "the moan", the work being done on my neck seemed to increase in it's intensity. It also seemed to have released the hounds, because his hands became very hard to keep track of after that.

When the palm of his hand met the bare flesh of my hip, I started to squirm.

When said hand started to work it's way up under my T-shirt, I started to panic. Sort of.

"Ranger?" I said as I tilted my head to the side to give him better access.

"Mmm?" Great. He's beyond using words. He just continued the assault down my neck.

"I need to get out of bed now." Wow, I managed an entire sentence and didn't stutter once.

"Mmm," was the only response I received as his hand slid up my stomach to my rib cage and his lips worked around to the front of my neck.

The panic I had started to feel a second ago, increased 10 fold, overcoming my overactive hormones. I don't think I'm ready for this.

"I'm not ready for this." I'm not sure if it was the words, the tone of my voice or the fact my entire body tensed, but he stopped…didn't move, but just stopped mid grope. As if frozen in time, we were both perfectly still, waiting to see who was going to do what next. I hadn't noticed until the second he stopped, that we were both breathing pretty heavy.

Being the patient person that I am, I decided to wait him out.

Yeah, whatever.

"Ranger…I'm…"

Without a word, he released his hold on me and rolled onto his back.

Having no clue what to do, I just lay there thinking I'm the dumbest woman on the face of the planet.

I was surprised when I felt him move and it wasn't off the bed. He was suddenly spooning me again, arm around my waist, just like I had found him when I woke up.

"You're not dumb, Stephanie." How does he do that? "I'm sorry I was pushing you."

"B..but.." He cut me off.

"I'm going to leave now, but I'll be back in 30 minutes." Letting go of me he rolled off the bed and headed to the door. When I saw that spectacular body and that he was only wearing boxers, I cursed my decision.

Stopping at the door, he turned to look at me still lying on the bed. "When I come back, you better be ready to fulfill your part of the deal."

What?!

Quickly throwing back the covers, I sat up on the edge of the bed. I was not pleased. Through gritted teeth I let him know it. "I told you no."

"30 minutes," was all he said before leaving the room.

Chapter 9

Oh, I was pissed now. Jumping off the bed, I started to pace the room.

How dare he think he can just…just…be…so…so…MALE! I needed to do something, and I needed to do it now. I only had about 15 minutes before he came back in.

Quickly, I went to the closet and started rummaging through the women's clothes. Just as I was about to put on a very expensive pair of jeans, I realized that I probably shouldn't. What if he's got these clothes bugged? I'd never be able to sneak out. That left the clothes I came in. No, I wasn't going out in the world with my pajamas on again.

Spinning to face the men's clothes, I formulated a plan. What are the chances Ranger would bug his own clothes? As fast as I could, I put on a pair of his jeans, which were way too big, and another one of his T-shirts. The shirt being too big was not a problem, the pants, however, were not going to cut it. Searching frantically, I found a tie that I slipped through the loops and tied in a knot. Good enough. Shoes and socks weren't an option and I didn't have time to improvise.

Moving to the wall with the floor to ceiling curtains, I pushed them aside to find a set of French doors that led to a deck. Taking a deep breath and praying that God was on my side, cause I'm sure she'd understand what I was doing, I tried the handle on the door. There was a soft click and the door was open. No bells or whistles went off, but that didn't mean there wasn't a silent alarm.

Stepping out onto the deck, I couldn't believe my luck. There was a set of stairs leading off the deck, down to the lawn…down to freedom. I wasted no time.

After a few tense minutes of making my way out to the street, I walked as fast as I could away from Ranger's house. Stopping to catch my breath at the top of a particularly steep hill, my eye caught a black Bronco turning the corner. In about 2 seconds it would be coming straight at me.

Making a run for the bushes in front of the house where I had stopped, I dove for cover. I waited, face down in the dirt, to hear the sound of the Bronco go by. Endless seconds ticked by until finally I heard the strain of the engine pulling the beast up the hill and away from me.

Popping my head up over the bushes for a quick "all clear" check, I untangled myself and started on my way again, cutting through the back yards of several houses.

When I hit the street again, I figured I was only a couple of blocks from the house. As I stood on the sidewalk trying to decide what to do, I noticed a guy out washing his car. Ok, so I didn't exactly look like a sex kitten at the moment, but I'm sure I could get him to let me use his phone.

Sauntering over, I worked myself up to do the best ditzy woman impression I could.

Skippy didn't even notice my approach.

"Excuse me?" That seemed to work. He looked me up and down. If he noticed anything odd about the way I was dressed, he didn't mention it. One point for him.

He was good looking enough. Don't get me wrong, he was no Joe or Ranger.

But then he smiled. Oh yeah, he could hold his own.

"Hi. Is there something I can help you with?" If he only knew.

"Well, my car," I said turning slightly to point down the block, "broke down and I was hoping I could use your phone?" Smiling, I batted my eyes and threw my shoulders back to push out my chest.

He threw his rag down and started towards me. "I could take a look at it."

"On no, no. I just need to call a friend to come pick me up. I can pay you for the call." Maybe I should tell him my friend is on her way to the same contortionist class that I am.

"Ok, follow me," he said with a bright smile as he turned toward the house.

It had been pretty easy to convince him to stay in the house after I made the call because I didn't want to take the chance of being spotted. He was also nice enough to give my ride driving directions to his house. Twenty minutes, a cup of coffee, and a bathroom break later, the loud pounding of music filled the quiet neighborhood.

"Oh, that's my ride. Thank you so much Mike. You've been a huge help," I gushed. Christ, I gushed. Ranger's going to pay.

"No problem," he said but I got the feeling he wanted to say something else, so I waited. Noticing a blush start to creep across his face, I couldn't help thinking how adorable this guy is. "Do you think I could call you sometime?"

Without giving it much thought, I scribbled my number on the pad sitting next to the phone, then smiled a genuine smile at him, and walked out of the house to meet my ride.

Gliding along the highway towards Trenton, my driver finally spoke. "Girlfriend, you better start splainin' what kinda trouble your skinny white ass is in now." Lula gave me a once over. "And why you dressed like Batman?"

"I'm not in any trouble and I'm dressed like Batman because these were the only clothes available that probably don't have tracking devices sewn in."

She snorted. "Yeah, you ain't in any trouble."

Fine, if she wasn't going to believe me, we'd talk about something else. "I need food."

"I'm on it," she said with a determined nod of the head.

Chapter 10

While sitting in Cluck-in-a-Buck and stuffing our faces with chicken, I told Lula the whole story, from the deal, to why I was dressed like Batman. Well, Lula stuffed, I talked. When I told her what it was he wanted for payment, I thought she was going to choke on a chicken bone she laughed so hard.

“ Girl, you telling me, you told Batman no? " She doubled over in laughter again.

" Lula, it’s not funny! I can't do what he wants as payment. "

“ Sure you can, Girl. Any women would jump at the chance. "

" But what if I'm no good? "

She stopped eating and pointed the chicken leg in my direction. " It don't make no difference if you be any good or not, you'd be with Batman. You'd never get me believin’ that Batman wasn't no good. " Dropping her chicken leg, Lula leaned across the table. " It's about time you and that man be gettin together anyway. His deal would only help that along. "

Pushing myself back further into the corner of the booth, I let out a long exaggerated sigh. " I suppose you are right. " Humph and a head nod was her response. It was the response that came from behind her that had me nervous.

“Yes, she’s right, Babe. It’s about time.” Damn, damn, damn. " Will you come back with me now? " Huh? The fact we were in a public place must have made a difference in the kidnapping rules. I’d have to make note of that for future reference.

Standing, I walked to stand in front of Ranger. “Lula was just about to take me back to my place so I could collect my pocketbook and some clothes. Then we were going shopping.” Turning around, I wanted to find some support from Lula, unfortunately what I found was her getting ready to bail.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Lula said. “I knows better then to get in the middle of this one.” Before she left, she came over and whispered in my ear. “If you need me, you knows where to call me.”

“I need you now,” I said with a little too much desperation for my liking.

For a split second I though she was going to help me out because just stood and studied us. All my hopes were dashed when she winked at Ranger while she said to me, “No you don’t honey.” With that, she turned and left. Shit.

With just a simple sweeping gesture, Ranger motioned for us to leave. On the way over to his car, the only thought going through my head was to just keep walking. It was really pissing me off that he thought he could demand something from me…expect me to…to…as payment no less! Well, I wasn’t about to give in. Just as I was about to veer off towards the sidewalk, Ranger stepped in front of me and blocked my escape route.

“Stephanie.” Uh oh. “I will take you back to your place, but I really wish you would come back with me.”

“So you can demand payment from me?”

“Do you really think I’d force you?” I think I just hurt Batman’s feelings. Crap.

Dropping my head to check out the interesting pattern of gravel at my feet, I mumbled, “No, I’m sorry.”

Gripping my face with both his hands, Ranger gently turned my face up to look at his. “Please come back with me.” A pleading Ranger? Well hell.

As I nodded my head in agreement, I silently hoped I knew what I was doing.

The drive was quiet with each of us lost in our own thoughts. Well, I was lost in thoughts of how I was going to get out of having to keep my end of the deal. Ranger was…well, I have no clue what Ranger thinks when he’s quiet.

The car jerked to a stop and I was startled to see us parked at Pino’s. I gave Ranger a questioning look.

“Be right back,” he said as he placed his hand on the door handle. Pausing, he turned to look at me. Shock doesn’t even begin to describe what I was felt when I saw the look on his face. No, what I was feeling was like…like a jackass. Ranger was hesitating because he wasn’t sure if I’d be here when he returned.

Reaching out, I put a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll be here.” The dark cloud was lifted from my heart when I received a 200-watt smile and a nod.

Like everything else, Ranger was quick in getting our food. Well, I hope he’s not quick at everything. Mental head slap. Damn these hormones!

****smut below*****read at your own risk**** ;-)

Chapter 11

The ride back to Ranger’s was quiet. Dinner was eaten in silence also. I was about to go out of my mind if something wasn’t said…and soon. Just as I was imagining what I’d look like in institutional gray, I was jolted back to reality by the sound of Ranger’s voice.

"What did you say, Ranger?" No use in pretending I had been listening. He’d know better.

A warm smile that reached his eyes also lit his face. "I think we need to talk."

Letting out an exaggerated sigh, I stood and left the kitchen where we had been eating dinner. Wandering over to the large picture window in the family room that overlooked the back yard, I started to mull over my options. That took all of two seconds because I didn’t have any.

Ranger came into the room and stood directly behind me. Slipping his hands around my waist, he rested his chin on my shoulder. "You make quite the fashion statement in those clothes." I couldn’t help but laugh, it was kind of comical. Ranger straightened, which allowed me to lean back into his embrace.

The sun was beginning to set and the sky was a beautiful orange color. We both stood there, watching as the day slid into darkness. Finally, the only thing we could see was our reflection looking back at us. Our eyes met and locked, and I found myself getting lost.

"Come upstairs with me." I don’t think it was a question, but at this point it didn’t matter. I nodded slowly, never losing eye contact with the handsome image in the window.

Taking my hand, he led me to his room. Once inside, I stopped short realizing what I must have looked like. Ranger had kept walking, but was jerked to a stop when I didn’t move. One look and instantly he knew what the problem was. Wordlessly, he led me over to the bathroom door, and with a slight shove, guided me inside and closed the door.

The warm water felt wonderful, but being clean felt even better. My tumble behind the bushes had left me washing twigs and leaves out of my hair. I shut off the water and was about to step out of the shower when I realized I hadn’t brought anything to change into.

After sliding the shower door open, my eyes zeroed in on two towels and a black

t-shirt sitting on the counter. Guess he really did like seeing me in his clothes.

Dried, dressed…sort of…and ready to go in less then 15 minutes. My hair was still wet, but there wasn’t much I could do about that. The minute my hand reached for the door handle, the door swung open.

I stood there slightly shocked, not only from having the door opened unexpectedly, but because Ranger was standing in front of me wearing only his briefs. Holy Mary mother of god. I didn’t know where to look first.

Then again, Ranger never gave me much time to sort it out. He quickly captured me in his arms and brought his lips to mine. The kiss was slow and full of passion. My arms went around his waist and started to roam over the smooth skin of his back.

Totally unaware that he had guided us over to the bed, I was startled when the back of my legs hit the mattress. Breaking the kiss, Ranger let go of me and backed away. I stood transfixed as he took his time sliding his briefs off. By the time they hit the floor and he stepped out of them, my knees gave out and I plopped down onto the bed.

Reaching out, he took hold of my arms and brought me to my feet. "Your turn," was all he said. Then, ever so slowly, he started to lift the t-shirt I was wearing. By the time he had it off, I knew my knees were about ready to give out again. I didn’t have to worry about that for too long, because I was being lifted and gently lowered onto the bed.

Ranger positioned his body directly over mine without touching me. He was kneeling between my legs, with his upper body weight resting on his hands, which were positioned on either side of my head.

Looking down at me, all he did was stare. My breathing had been shallow, but the longer our gaze held, the more relaxed I became. Finally, when I was breathing normally again, I noticed the look on Ranger’s face change from blank nothingness to a tender, loving expression. The look on my face must have had a different appearance because suddenly Ranger’s lips were barely touching mine as he spoke.

"Yes, Babe, all that you’ll see and feel is for you."

"How do you…"

"Shhh," he whispered, trying to quiet me. "It’s all for you."

His tongue entered my mouth and all the thoughts I had swimming around in my head vanished. Lowering his body onto mine, he shifted his weight onto his left forearm, while his right hand started a journey down my body.

He deepened our kiss when his hand started to massage my breast and play with my hardened nipple. Moaning into his mouth, my hands started a journey of their own, down his back until they reached his tight butt. With a hand splayed on each cheek, I pulled down and heard him moan as his erection rubbed against my abdomen.

Leaving my mouth behind, his lips trailed kisses down my jaw to my ear, and then down my neck. His hand also continued south until reaching my wet folds. Deftly he parted them and started to stroke.

"Oh Babe," he groaned, "I don’t think I can wait. You’re so…"

"Ready," I cut in.

Lifting his head, he studied me. I noticed a slight, but serious smile curve his lips. As he removed his hand from between my legs, he leveled his weight onto both forearms. As I brought my legs up, my hands slid from his ass around to his erection. The second my fingers touched his impressive package, I stilled as our eyes locked.

Never ending seconds ticked by until I couldn’t wait any longer. As I started to stroke him, I watched as he slowly closed his eyes and threw his head back. The look of pure pleasure on his face almost pushed me over. Good lord, I was going to explode just watching him.

Without a word, I brought my legs up to wrap around him. His head fell forward and he entered me with one slow push. Buried to the hilt, he started to kiss me senseless as he moved in and out of me with the same rhythm as his kiss. Between the dual sensations of his tongue in my mouth and his cock deep inside me, I was extremely close

Stopping the kiss, he brought his head down to my shoulder as he started to thrust harder. It was only a matter of a few strokes before I was slipping over the edge, my orgasm washing over me. My inner muscles contracted around him and I heard a muffled moan escape as his own orgasm shook his body.

We lay there, sweating and breathing heavily, until I felt Ranger’s lips start to work on my neck again. It tickled a little and I started to laugh, wiggling my hips to tease him in return.

Pulling his head back, he looked at me with a soft expression. One of his hands brushed some of my hair out of my face as he leaned in to give me the softest of kisses.

"Stephanie, I…"

"Shhh," I said, and brought my hands up to cup the back of his head. I grinned wickedly and he returned my smile with a wolf grin of his own. "I know. Me too." We rubbed noses and I started to laugh again.

He chuckled too as he rolled off me and onto his back. "Now Babe, about payment for our deal…"

I groaned and rolled onto my side to bury my face in his neck. Bringing his arm around my shoulder, he started to caresses it in – I suppose – what was meant to be a comforting gesture. He could take his comforting gesture and shove….

"Ranger, you’re not really going to make me help you cook and serve dinner for 15 ex-arm goons, are you?"

The End.