Disclaimer: The Plum universe belongs to JE. Typos are my bad and I post when I can.

Ranger's POV

I've fantasized extensively and quite frequently about a certain blue-eyed, curly haired someone. Steamy, passionate encounters have been a reality, fueling my fantasies during the times Babe keeps me at arm's length. When I woke up this morning with a raging hard-on, my alarm cut through at the worst possible moment while Dream Babe had her lips wrapped around my dick. Had my alarm blared seconds later, I'd have awoken from my wet dream in need of a cleansing shower instead of an ice cold one. What a start to my day…

It's not uncommon for me to keep tabs on her, even watching from afar at times to ensure Babe is safe. Today's been a hectic, busy day on top of some staffing issues thanks to a new wave of a nasty flu-like virus this winter season stretching us all quite thin. It's been a nonstop kind of month.

To my surprise, I bumped, literally, into that blue-eyed someone that effortlessly dominates my thoughts, heart, and dick: one Stephanie Plum. It's as if I'd summoned her with my thoughts. For some reason, she's all I can think about today. Sure, Babe occupying my mind isn't new, but it's been nearly obsessive today, even for me.

It's not far-fetched that I'd see her unexpectedly at the TPD of all places. From the looks of it, Babe just dropped off one of her outstanding FTA's. She was already on her way out as I was coming in to drop off a large bond skip for Rangeman. Like I said, we're spread quite thin, so I'm boots on the ground too. Given his propensity for violence, I didn't feel comfortable handing off this file for Babe to assist with in the field.

"Babe." I couldn't help, nor did I care to in all honesty, hiding my half grin at having Babe pressed up so deliciously close against me with this fortunate encounter.

"Ranger." A slow smile filled her beautiful face with happiness as she fully processed that I was the person she bumped face first into.

To my surprise, and most certainly everyone else's at the precinct, Babe used her automatic hold, her hands currently resting on my lower abs where she'd braced herself on impact, as support to steady herself as she rose on the toes of her CAT boots.

It was as if I was watching the moment in slow motion, my heart racing as it dawned on me exactly what she was about to do: kiss me.

As the opportunist that I am, I used my free hand to keep Babe pressed against my front. I'd automatically wrapped my left arm around her waist to keep her from bouncing off my chest after clashing. Opening up to her probing tongue, I admit that it was easy to get lost in such a passionate kiss regardless of our nosy audience.

And we had a lot of eyes watching us.

Seemingly oblivious to the various slack-jawed, open gawking stares from those around us, Babe's eyes turned that deep blue color I'm very intimately familiar with. Smiling at me like she had no care in the world regarding the buzz the Burg grapevine is no doubt already well on its way on, Babe pressed a quick peck on my lips before stepping back. Regretfully, I let her put some distance between us.

"I'll see you at home." Babe said to me with a dreamy smile before she stepped past me to continue on her way.

"That was hella tongue, man." Laughing, the scum I had a tight grip on felt the need to opine. "I bet she's a mega freak in bed…ah-ow-ghr!" Of course the piece of shit isn't as much of a tough guy when he's up against someone his own size, quickly clamping his mouth shut when I subtly applied some extreme pain with minimal effort.

Wanting to head out as quickly as possible in order to be able to catch up to Babe before she left, I marched my previously mouthy FTA up to the docket lieutenant on shift. She quickly averted her gaze when she couldn't fully school her shocked expression.

Side glances and even some full on open stares tracked my movements as I hauled ass out of the precinct after collecting the body receipt for the trash I brought in. Unfortunately, Babe was long gone from the parking lot near the back entrance of the TPD by the time I reached my truck.

Checking her trackers, I noted Babe was headed straight to Rangeman. Thankfully, the rest of the day is fully staffed, so taking some time off the streets to check in with Babe is a current possibility.

On my drive back to Rangeman, I kept replaying our kiss. It's safe to say that I'm rock hard just by remembering the tongue heavy kiss Babe initiated. Due to such an open display of affection, especially given that we haven't made any move towards having something exclusive and defined, Babe's kiss was extremely out of character. Sure, behind closed doors and in private we've shared more than just kisses, but even so… The display was just odd. It's not like Babe to use me, or anyone, to stick it to the Burg like that. Whatever is going on, I'm going to find out. Something tells me it's huge.

As I parked in the underground garage, next to Babe's latest SUV, a not so POS black Jeep Cherokee, I noted how uncanny this whole situation is turning out to be. For one, Babe's always parked in one of my personal spots when she stops by. I purposely keep one of my assigned parking spaces open at all times for that reason alone. However, what is odd is how Babe parked. All things considered, notwithstanding all the cars that have been destroyed in her possession, Babe's a good driver. I've seen her parallel park in extremely tight squeezes, as well as maneuvering in reverse out of possible ambushes when she's been on the trail of several dangerous skips. Stephanie parking with half her jeep sticking out of the parking spot is not the norm.

Something is wrong. I can feel it. Very, very wrong.

Rushing up the stairs to my penthouse on the seventh floor, my mind raced with a million possibilities. I'd worked myself up to the point that my heart was beating wildly in my chest by the time I emerged from the stairwell on seven. Maintaining myself in excellent shape, I know my racing heart beat isn't a product of my quick ascend. Going up seven flights of stairs is a warm up for me.

My first stop was the kitchen, but there was no indication that Babe had raided my fridge or cupboards. This is yet another oddity in her behavior. Stephanie loves to eat and eats well whenever she can. Not finding Babe munching on some Ella-made snacks is extraordinarily worrying.

My next stop was my bedroom. I could hear movement in the en suite, alerting me to Babe's presence. Without warning, I barged in on her private time, set on getting answers.

"Hey, you." Babe wasn't at all tripping on her feet to instinctively cover herself up. Clearly, I caught her just as she was undressing to get in the shower. Sure, I've seen, kissed, and worshiped every inch of her, having the image of Babe in all her naked glory burned in mind since that rainy night she called me to uncuff her from her metal shower rod years ago.

"Babe." Again, I'm an opportunist through and through, so there's zero probability that I'd avert my gaze. Not wanting to be a complete asshole, I took my time raking my gaze over her nearly nude body.

Standing in nothing but a bright red thong, Babe looked fine to me aside from a small scrape on her left knee. The jeans she shed, discarded by her right foot, show the evidence of a scuffle. The fresh tear at knee level of her newest pair of jeans has a blood stain on the dark denim just below it.

"How much alone time we got, Batman?" Babe asked, suggestively extending an invite for me to join her in the shower as she looped her arms around my waist. Frowning, her pouting lips further distracted me as her deft fingers worked on removing my utility belt. Placing my fully equipped belt on the counter next to the sink, Babe once again wrapped her arms around my waist, fully pressing our fronts flush together.

Oh, God. Mmmm.

"Are you okay, Stephanie?" I somehow asked when we gasped for breath after another tongue heavy kiss. Fighting myself in order to check that she's really okay when I want nothing more than to connect us as one and pound into her until we both have a much needed joint orgasm was not an easy task.

Despite my awakened dick having other plans, and her hands already busy untucking my Rangeman T-shirt from my cargo pants further testing my control, it was me who pumped the brakes to put a stop to this. There's a first time for everything, they say…

"Stephanie…" I gritted out to suppress a groan of approval when she reached for the button on my pants. If she frees my dick, I may not be able to stop myself. I'm a piece of shit, I already know.

"Mmmmm?" Her murmured question in response as she kissed my bare chest sent delicious vibrations across my heated skin. Regardless of my quasi honorable intentions, Babe's on a mission. My T-shirt was off almost as effortlessly as I rid Babe of hers when I'm on a seducing mission.

"Babe…Stephanie…" I didn't get to finish speaking, because her lips pressed against mine yet again. It's hard to resist Babe, even more when she's the one making the moves. Besides, I've never been one to deny her a kiss. In fact, I've been the one to continuously sneak past her defenses, pressing her up against a brick wall or two to get a fleeting taste of her.

We were mid kiss when my hands joined the mix, pressing her impossibly close. Unable to resist myself, I threaded my fingers in her hair as our kiss inevitably morphed with intensity. When my fingers found her brown curls sticky and caked to her nape, my worry grew exponentially.

Pulling back after abruptly severing our kiss, I showed her my blood stained fingers.

"Oh crap." Stephanie murmured, her focus on my hand.

Spinning her around, I parted her mass of curls to get a better look up close while I simultaneously messaged Bobby to haul his ass up here with his kit, yesterday!

"Ow." Babe winced despite my superficial poking around.

"What happened, Babe?" I asked, carefully guiding her out the bathroom and past my bed. Grabbing one of my T-shirts, I helped her into it, careful not to graze the still bleeding wound, as I kept us moving.

"I fall?" Her confused expression didn't sit well with me, especially as she failed to protest getting checked out when Bobby arrived less than two minutes after my message went out.

Keeping myself out of the way so that Bobby could do his thing was difficult to do as I wanted to comfort Stephanie.

"I'm okay." Babe tried to brush the severity of the situation off, insinuating that I was exaggerating. "You know how my husband gets." Babe joked, attempting to laugh the tension off.

"Husband?" Bobby prodded, cutting his eyes to me when once again Stephanie called me her husband.

What in the world is going on with her?

Bobby shot a pointed look my way immediately after Babe's shocking declaration. Mouthing for me to call an ambulance was confirmation that whatever happened to Stephanie today was the reason for her unusual behavior.

As I dialed 9-1-1, I prayed we weren't too late.