Chapter Text
LPOV
Several long seconds passed as I watched her wage an internal battle. Those expressive eyes of hers told the story all too clearly. She wanted to say yes, but fear was fighting for dominance. It wasn’t like I could blame her. After all, she’d been burned by Morelli, then Dickie, then Morelli a second, third, and fourth time, Then, just when she thought she’d found the one in my cousin, he pulled the ‘My life doesn’t lend itself to relationships’ rug right out from under her. Allowing her heart to love again wasn’t going to come easy for her. Despite wanting her more than my next breath, I’d pushed her as much as I was comfortable. At this point, the decision had to be hers.
In all the time I’ve known her, she’s always been so resilient in her ability to bounce back from damn near any scenario. Early in their relationship, Ranger was still under contract with the Government. When he got called into the wind, she’d been strong for him, cried for a couple of hours after he left, then, despite her fear for his safety, went on about her life as if nothing was wrong. While chasing skips, I’d seen her covered in paint, food, and garbage, yet have her head held high as she hauled her capture into the cop shop and picked up her body receipt. Then there were her cars. I’ve never seen a woman lose so many vehicles to accidents or fire yet shake it off as if it was an everyday occurrence.
Deep down, I know that resilience has also helped her create an invisible wall around her heart. I wasn’t lying when I told her she was the queen of denial land. There wasn’t any way she could continue to bounce back time and again without suspending reality. At this point, I could only hope she was ready to pass her title on to someone else and join me in the real world.
Several nerve-wracking seconds passed, and I was just about to give up and move away when her lips slowly tipped into a wry grin. “Traelo, mi amor.”
My body jerked as her words registered. Hearing Steph speak to me in Spanish, not only challenging me to bring it, but also calling me her love, had shock ricocheting through me. If my little solider hadn’t already been standing at attention and ready to salute, it would have snapped to it with her words.
“You spoke to me in Spanish,” I replied, my voice laced with awe.
Her grin widened. “Hector’s been teaching me Spanish, and I’ve been helping him with his English.”
The growl started low in my chest, reverberating out as I slammed my mouth down over hers, plundering her delicate lips while begging her to let me take it deeper. On a whimper, she went pliant in my arms, allowing me to take some of her weight even as I pressed my knee against the sweet spot between her legs. The heat she generated threatened to scorch me through my cargos.
Her hands shifted, dropping from my shoulders to slide down my back, and began working to pull my t-shirt free from my cargos. I mimicked her move, breaking our kiss just long enough to divest us both of our shirts and I was rewarded with the sight of acres of perfect, creamy skin.
“God, you are so beautiful,” I ground out.
She turned her head and I watched as her desire began to wane and her attention shifted to the floor.
“Hey.” Once again, I curled a knuckle under her chin. “Baby, look at me.”
Almost painfully slow, she lifted her gaze. “You are beautiful,” I said. “I know you don’t think you are, but please believe me when I tell you that you have a girl next door beauty which men like me find fucking irresistible.”
I can still see the doubt in her eyes and it’s breaking my heart. She has no idea just how amazing she is. “Combined, with your caring heart, generosity, and the badass chick you’ve become, you’re the whole damn package. I’m pretty sure there isn’t a single guy at Rangeman who isn’t in love with you on some level.”
Her eyes widened at that and the doubt clouding them just moments ago began to clear. “You mean that.”
“I do,” I replied as I lowered my head again, taking her mouth more gently this time, toying with her lips. “You don’t know just how special you are,” I said, then deepened the kiss, beseeching her to let me explore again. It didn’t take long for that gentle kiss to slowly morph into something more desperate and needy. Before I knew it, she was fumbling with the button on my cargos. It was everything I could do to grab her hands to pull them away. “Steph, stop.”
“What?” Her gaze rocketed up to look at me. Confusion claiming her features. “Why?”
I leaned my forehead against hers and fought to regulate my breathing. “Not here. Not like this.”
Her brow knit beneath me. “What do you mean?”
“I want our first time together to be special, and me taking you against your living room wall is not special.”
She gave a nearly imperceptible head shake. “I don’t need you to romance me, Lester. I just need you. I need you so much it hurts.”
Her desperate plea pulled a groan from me and before I changed my mind and took her right here against the wall, I scooped her up and carried her to her bedroom. I can’t begin to count the number of times I dreamed of making love in that tiny bed of hers.
As I lowered her to the mattress, I followed her down until I lay next to her. Slow Santos. Take it slow. You have all night. She lifted her hands to cup my face, pulling me to her and our lips met again in a desperate and needy joining.
“Please, Les,” she murmured, as I slowly began my path down her body, nipping at her chin before working my way down her neck. Her fingers slid through my spiky hair. “I hurt for you.”
Her plea only bolstered my resolve to do this right and make it good for her. “Where do you hurt, baby?” I asked as I grazed my lips over the swell of her breast.
Without hesitation, she grabbed one of my hands and placed it at the juncture of her legs. “Right here.”
Holy shit! Never in my life have I ever seen her be so brazen in her actions. Normally, just the mention of sex in a conversation would have her turning red and hiding her face. While I was enjoying seeing the uninhibited and wanton side of her, I couldn’t help but think if this kept up, she would be the death of me.
On instinct, curled my fingers inward and rubbed her through the fabric as I lifted my face to kiss her neck. “Right here?” I growled against her ear.
“Yes. Oh God, Les. Please. I need more,” she begged as she reached for my cargos. Her shaking hands fumbled as she struggled to undo my belt. If she managed to touch me right now this would be over before I was ready. When I finally came, I had every intention of being buried deep inside her wet heat.
I shifted again and worked my way back down her body until I’d moved out of her reach. She let out a frustrated mewl in protest.
“Easy, Beautiful,” I soothed as worked to divest her of her boots, socks, and cargos. For a moment I thought I might have been dreaming again as I took time to enjoy the image before me. Steph lay on the bed, her hair spread over the mattress. Her wild curls tempted me to thread my fingers in their chestnut spirals. She wore only her teal-colored lace bra and matching panties and I sent up a silent prayer of thanks for the existence of Victoria’s Secret.
Knowing I was about to learn all of Beautiful’s secrets, I quickly toed off my boots, set my weapon in the chair in the corner then dropped my utility belt. I unbuttoned and unzipped my cargos, then pushed them to the floor, before turning back to her. She leaned up, resting on her elbows. Her lust-filled gaze locked on me as I approached, and she licked her lips.
I barely managed to stifle my growl. “Like something you see, Beautiful?”
She grinned. “Oh yeah. Just knowing you don’t wear underwear has all kinds of naughty thoughts running through my head.”
Fuck me! Her words spurred a few thoughts of my own. “Woman, you are going to be the death of me.”
“You have to admit, it would be one hell of a way to go.”
Oh yes it would, and I could only hope that when my time came, I would be so lucky. Without answering her, I knelt at the foot of the bed. The mattress sank beneath me as I leaned forward to mouth kisses over her abdomen, then turned my attention to parts lower as I peeled the lace away. Without taking my eyes off her, I let the scrap she called a thong fall to the floor. “Spread your legs for me,” I ordered and nearly had my control snap when she obeyed without hesitation.
Again, I leaned forward. Only this time I slid my hands underneath her and gently pulled her to the edge of the bed. She angled up onto her elbows again. The intensity of her gaze sent my arousal into overdrive. Forcing myself to take it slow, despite the urgent need to assuage the growing ache between my legs, I started at her ankles, peppering her skin with open mouth kisses.
Her panting breaths were punctuated with the occasional gasp and tiny moans, all of which were seriously threatening to snap my control. Finally, I couldn’t take anymore and settled my mouth over where I wanted to be most. She arched as a cry tore from her lips, and I nearly came on the spot. Not only was she so incredibly responsive, but she tasted like heaven.
I felt her hand thread through my hair again, holding me in place, while she mumbled nearly incoherent pleas for me not to stop. I had absolutely no intention of stopping until I got to see her fall over that glorious edge.
Even then, I’d only be stopping long enough to sheath myself, before plunging into her wet heat. For years, my dreams have been driven by images of her in the throes of an orgasm, resulting in more than one cold shower or session of self-relief. To know those dreams were about to come to fruition only served to feed my desire.
I could feel her contract against my tongue and eased one finger inside her heat.
“Les!” she screamed. “Oh God. Please. I need to come.”
I lifted my head just enough to meet her gaze. “Then come for me, Beautiful. Let me see how gorgeous you are when you let go.” Without warning, I thrust another finger inside her and made a come-hither motion as my mouth covered her again. That was all it took for her to fly apart.
Her body tightened as her cry echoed off the walls of her tiny bedroom. It was a glorious sound. So, raw and filled with wonderment, my heart swelled with love. Wanting to give her ever bit of pleasure I could, I continued to coax her orgasm from her as she writhed above me until finally, she went limp. Her chest heaved with gasping breaths, while her hands fell away from me.
She was absolutely perfect.
When I pulled away, she issued a soft protest, conjuring a grin from me. “Don’t worry, baby. We’re far from done. I just need to get a condom from my wallet.”
She opened her eyes, lifted onto her elbows and shook her head. “No condom.”
I froze, as my attention rocketed back to her face. Now way could I have heard her correctly. “What?”
“I said no condom,” she replied. “I’m on the pill and I haven’t been with anyone in almost a year. I’ve had my physical since then and I’m clean.”
Impossibly, I think I actually grew harder at her admission. “You’re sure?”
She nodded. “I want to feel you,” she said as she reached for me.
I dropped my cargos and turned back to her. “Just so you know, I’m clean too.”
She nodded, then locked eyes with me as I knelt on the edge of the bed, draped her legs over my forearms, and watched her face as I slowly made us one.
It was like coming home.
She dropped her head back to the mattress and closed her eyes on a groan. “Oh God, Les. You feel so good.”
If she’d been anyone else, I would have allowed her to keep her eyes closed, but the need to feel that connection, to see into her soul drove me to say, “Steph, baby, open your eyes and look at me.”
When she did, the look she gave me was like nothing I’d ever seen. The intensity of it slammed into me with a force that threatened to steal my breath and stop my heart. I can’t even begin to describe it, but I knew what I was seeing wasn’t something she’d ever dared share before. In that moment, when we were joined so intimately, I knew in my heart, she wasn’t just my everything, she was now mine…forever.