Disclaimer: I own nothing. Janet owns everything.

Day Off

Part six

We were silent on the way back to Ranger's. He had taken my hand immediately and stroked the top with his thumb all the way back, in his zone. I sat in quiet contemplation. I knew he loved me. He had always told me that. But the way he had been acting lately I thought he was changing his mind about his relationship stance. And there it was. I had no one to blame but myself.

We pulled in to Rangeman and rode up to seven. Ranger still had my hand. Ella had set out dinner. Roast pork with sautéed vegetables and new potatoes. And per my demand there was half of a gooey chocolate cake with a note about ice cream in the freezer. It was like she could sense when Ranger was an ass.

"I'm going to jump in the shower real quick before my hair afros. Do you mind?"

"Not at all, Babe."

I powered through my shower, carefully avoiding the Bulgari. The fact that my shampoo and conditioner were standard in his shower depressed the hell out of me. I threw in some gel and put my hair back in one of his ties. I pulled on one of his shirts and my clean undies with Rangeman stitched on the ass and a pair of shorts. Did the clothes I had here keep multiplying?

Ranger had the food ready when I came back out. We ate mostly in silence, postponing our discussion by mutual consent. We talked a little about some cases we both had coming up. I even ate the veggies.

When we were done, Ranger excused himself to take a shower. He pulled off his shirt as he was talking and I stared. I couldn't stop myself. No matter how many times I saw his stomach, I wanted to lick it every time. And I didn't want to stop there. I wanted to lick upwards to his neck and then I wanted to trail back down, drop to my knees and slowly ease his pants over his hips and….

"Babe."

I dragged my eyes back to his. He was smiling but his eyes were very dark and very hot. Oh God. Please tell me I didn't say any of that out loud.

"You said it all out loud." He was walking toward me. I backed up a step. He stepped forward again and I stepped back until I was flush against the wall, my breathing ragged. Ranger was leaning into me with both hands on either side of my head.

"Babe, do you want this?"

And I did. Even if this was all I was going to get.

I closed my eyes. "God help me, but I do. I will probably regret it, but I want it."

Ranger stilled and stepped back. I opened my eyes.

"No, Babe. No regrets. If we do this it's because you want me." His eyes became blank. "Did you regret last time?" He asked quietly.

"Yes and no, Ranger. I don't regret the night we spent together. But I regret the way you treated me the next morning. It hurt bad enough and my feelings weren't fully involved yet. If you treat me that way this time, I won't just be feeling bad about a one night stand. I…love you." I looked away. I couldn't look at him in my honesty. "And I know you don't want anything more than this, but I need it. Even if it is just one more night." I was still looking away when I felt him back up. He didn't even want the one more night.

Ranger sat heavily on a chair, his legs stretched out in front of him and stared at the floor. He looked deflated and weary. I was about two seconds away from bolting when he spoke.

"You want to know the truth?" I nodded. "I'm tired, Steph. I'm tired of my schedule. I'm tired of being on call for my clients 24/7. I'm tired of leaving town on a moments notice and being gone for weeks. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do and I want to be involved, but I have been toying with promoting Tank. Giving him more responsibility. The problem is that he scares people, but I have someone in mind for a Client Relations role, but we can talk about that later." He paused and looked up at me. "But do you know what I'm really tired of?" I waited, holding my breath. "I'm tired of waking up in the morning without you there. I'm tired of pushing you away. I don't mind being alone, but I can't be without you any longer."

I took a step nearer and Ranger reached out and pulled me between his legs. He threaded his fingers between mine and I could see the emotion plain in his eyes.

"I'm so in love with you, Babe. You may not even want to take a chance but if I don't try to fix what I've fucked up that will be my regret for the rest of my life."

I was speechless. A combination of fear, joy and hope welled up inside of me. Ranger was laying himself bare before me and allowing me to make a choice. He was watching my thoughts, his eyes never leaving mine. It took me all of about five seconds before I fell into him.

"Oh God, Ranger. I love you!"

Ranger crushed me to him, kissing me like a lost man. In a heartbeat he pulled us up, our arms wrapped around each other. We were all tongue and teeth and I had never experienced anything sweeter in my life. His hands slipped beneath my shirt and caressed my sides and my back. He eased my shorts off and started walking us backwards towards the bedroom, his hands cupping my ass. I ground myself against his erection causing him to groan. My hands stroked up his chest and down to his stomach. When I fumbled for the buckle to his shorts he grabbed my hands.

"Not yet."

By this time we had made it into his bedroom. He pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it aside, leaving me in only my panties. His eyes raked over my body, lingering on my chest and I felt a flood of wetness between my legs.

"You're the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."

I must have looked doubtful because he spun me around. In front of us, by the bed, he had a full length mirror on the inside of his armoire door which was standing open.

"Look at yourself. The way your skin flushes when I touch you." My back was to his front and he lifted both of my hands up and around his neck, securing them there with his left hand. With his right he tilted my head away, baring my neck. He licked up from the base and just touched my earlobe with his tongue. I shivered at his hot breath and he worked his way back down my neck, nipping slightly as he went. His right had moved down to my stomach and he continued to kiss and lick my neck. His hand traced circles, getting closer to my breasts with each pass. My nipples ached for his touch, but he kept away.

I ground back against him and moaned. He tightened his grip on my wrists and my stomach to still me. Slowly he brushed across one nipple as lightly as he could before moving his hand back to my stomach. I moaned again. He shifted around to the other side of my neck still keeping my hands prone. His right hand reached back up and brushed across my nipple. This time he left it there and he continued to caress and rub them lightly while he bit down on my neck. I was writhing at this point. I don't think I had ever been so turned on in my life and he still had his shorts on.

When I ground into him again, he moved his hand down over my panties between my legs. I heard his breath hitch when he felt my wetness.

"God, Babe." He breathed against my ear.

He continued to stroke me, tracing his fingers up and down the length of me. Slowly one finger slipped inside my panties and he lightly touched me up and down. I almost lost it.

"Ranger, please!"

He removed his finger and pulled my thigh up until he had placed my right foot on the end of the bed and pushed on it softly, telling me to keep it there. I was now spread open with my hands still pinned behind his neck.

"Look in the mirror, Babe." I opened my eyes and we watched as he slid his hand back down and into my panties. His fingers stroked me until I was pushing against them and moaning. I was slowly spiraling out of control. When his fingers brushed against my clit, I bucked against him. His hand immediately withdrew.

"Not quite yet." He breathed after I had protested loudly.

He released my hands and came around the front of me, his back to the mirror. He brought my foot down from the bed and removed my panties. Placing my foot back on the bed he kneeled before me and angled us so I could see his mouth in the mirror.

"Now watch how beautiful you are when I make you come." I could feel his breath against my wetness and I slid my hands in his hair. I couldn't look away as he licked slowly up my folds. My head fell back.

He angled his shoulder under my raised thigh bringing his arm over, reaching around so he could use both hands to spread me open. He continued to lick, using his whole tongue in sensuous strokes. He moved back down to my center and I felt him thrust his tongue in and out before moving his mouth back up, licking my folds as he went. He removed one hand and thrust two fingers inside me, moving them until he found the right spot. At the same time he moved his tongue over my clit and I started to come, the pressure building out of control. As my release washed over me, I felt him press gently on my oversensitive clit, prolonging my orgasm. I cried his name and felt and heard him moan against me.

Ranger stood up and with one arm around me to keep me steady he removed his shorts and boxers. The second he was free, I ran my hands down his stomach and began stroking him up and down. He grabbed my hands.

"Babe, I don't need any help. I'm trying to hold it together, as it is." With that he picked me up and laid me in the middle of the bed, covering my body with his own.

"God, I need you so bad, Ranger." And I did. I felt like if I didn't get him deep inside me I would go out of my mind. We had waited so long.

Ranger settled between my thighs and brushed his erection against me, causing me to groan.

"Babe." I opened my eyes and looked into his, seeing all that he felt. He brushed a kiss against my lips, his eyes still looking into mine, his voice rough. "I love you, Stephanie. I'm not sure either one of us will ever be family or marriage material but I was hoping we could make that up as we go. Babe, just be with me." I felt my heart swell with contentment.

"I love you, too, Ranger. I just want you for the rest of my life. However we find our way."

Ranger smiled and slid into me. He stilled and brought his face down to my neck. "Oh, I'm a dead man." Then he whispered something in Spanish that I had no idea what it was but it sounded dirty.

Slowly he began to thrust, pulling out, rolling his hips, grinding back in. I could feel him hot and hard, deep inside every time he thrust. He grabbed my thighs and pushed them forward slightly so that he felt deeper, pressing that spot way inside.

I groaned and grabbed his ass and thrust him into me, causing him to groan harder. He sat back and pulled me up so that I was straddling his lap. I wrapped my legs around his waist. Ranger pulled my head down and kissed me as I began to move against him.

We made love slowly then, whispering to each other, no longer needing to hold back. Finally we couldn't take it and Ranger gripped my hips thrusting hard until I climaxed and he followed, rasping out my name. He rolled us over so that I was cradled into his chest. Both of us were smiling lazily.

"Stay the night?" He whispered.

"How else would I be able to abuse you several more times?" I was relaxed and satisfied and feeling a little smug. I loved Ranger and he loved me. All was right in our worlds.

We lay quietly for a little while before I felt Ranger kiss my forehead.

"So, Babe. What's next?"

"I was thinking Disneyworld." Ranger pulled back to look at me.

"I don't think so. You might drag me to Hurricane Harbor so I can see you in a bikini, but there is no way I'm going to Disneyworld."

"Hmmm. A challenge."

"There is never going to be a simple day off with you, is there?"

"Nope. And stop trying to distract me from my goal."

"You go ahead and work on that. I have a challenge of my own." And with that he rolled on top of me and drove Disneyworld right out of my mind.

The End