Disclaimer: The characters are not mine they belong to J. Evanovich. I make no profit they are here for fun.

Thanks to Denny for all her help and Bets skills.

Rated M for language and adult content

THE DREAM

Chapter 1

"Hello Mare, are you busy today while the kids are in school?"

"Steph, why is something wrong? You're usually at work during the day!"

"Oh Mare, I just need some retail therapy and someone to talk to. My life is in the trash and I don't know what to do. Please, can you meet me at the mall?"

"Sure sweetie, I have three free hours before picking up the kids. See you in twenty minutes."

Steph was pacing in front of Macys waiting for Mary Lou. Her life had become such a fiasco. First, there was her breakup with Joe, her long time on again off again boyfriend. Boyfriend sounded pretty juvenile at thirty years old, but what else could you call him. When they were together, they watched TV on the sofa eating takeout pizza and had sex. They never went on real dates like most couples did. Not a very adult or stable relationship, and of course they usually were not together for long before a public fight occurred. Joe wanted her but only if she met his expectations. A person is only as big as the dream, they dare to live, thats what a college friend once told her and she planned to live and dream big she wanted to fly.

Then there was her mother, she always wanted Stephs flight for individuality to crash and be like her, cookie cutter version of a 'Burg housewife. Which meant all she would do was cook, clean, be pregnant, raise children and stay at home. Mom always wanted Steph to be safe and sound, in a house with a white picket fence as long as she didnt burn the house down.

Mom wanted her just to be 'Burg just like her. Never experiencing anything exciting or unusual, just waiting at home for Joe. She supposed she knew her mother loved her but she sure didn't understand her. That was one of the reasons Steph didn't go to dinner at her parents' more than once a month. She knew the lecture by heart and was too tired to listen any more. The way she saw it there was two choices. A, she could give in marry Joe and make an attempt to be 'Burg and wither away. Or B, she could fly, and maybe finally find happiness. After all no one can make you feel inferior without your consent, and she was tired of giving her consent to Joe and her mother. She was an adult and she had a right to her own choices. She had a right to her own life not a carbon copy of her mothers.

Her third dilemma was Ricardo Carlos Manoso aka Ranger. He was her mentor, her personal guardian angel, her protector, her one time lover and right now her biggest heartbreak. Ranger had spent the last several months of her life poaching kisses in the alley behind the bonds office where she worked and slipping into her apartment to watch her sleep. She never really knew why for sure, because he didnt say anything. She just felt him there, sitting and watching her.

Two nights ago, Ranger had come to her apartment and sat for several hours before he left just looking at her as she slept. He left thinking she never knew he was there. It was a little creepy.

Yesterday, Tank, Ranger's right-hand man had come to her rescue after an explosion. When she asked about Ranger, Tank said he was in the wind. He didnt know how long Ranger would be away. The thing is when Ranger is in the wind, he is off on some dangerous, long mission that could last for weeks, months or even years. He could be anywhere, a jungle or a desert, and he might never come home again.

Stephs head filled up with many unanswered questions.

Stephs POV

"What should I do with my life? Do I succumb to popular demand and give up my life for Joe, when I can only give him a small part of my heart, do I just leave my life, as I know it and leave Trenton for parts unknown? To get on with my life and try to learn what happiness is. Do I wait for Rangers return, knowing he may never return and might not want my love if he does?"

We had never talked about love between us. We never got that far. He only repeatedly said his life doesnt lend itself to relationships and that his love doesnt come with a ring but a condom.

Mare finally showed up and I was glad because I was about to break apart into a million pieces. Alone at the mall was no way to feel that way. One look and she could tell I was on the verge of tears: she took me by the arm and led me to the back of a restaurant and ordered two margaritas.

"So talk, girl. I can see you are on the verge of a cliff. Right now, we are not going to look down. We have spent our whole lives pulling each other back from the edge and I am here to pull you back."

"Oh Mare, I just don't know what to do with my life. I am thirty years old and have no idea where I am going. I feel I have to make a choice in my life. My life is in the toilet and I will drown if I don't get out. Help me decide the adult thing to do."

I proceeded to tell her about all my thoughts before she arrived. By the time I finished, I was in tears, no surprise for me but so was she. We sipped our drinks for a long time before we finally calmed enough to talk more.

"Steph, have you ever thought the reason you don"t want to be 'Burg is because you are too good or smart for it? No don't say anything yet just listen. Most of the women in the 'Burg were born and raised to be housewives and mothers, that's all they ever wanted to do. They were born with a Barbie doll and a wedding planning book in there crib. They played house and had tea parties. Those girls wore tiaras, had dish sets and Easy Bake Ovens. Some of them went to college and have degrees, but in the end they only wanted a home and a family."

The tears were still rolling down my cheeks as I nodded my head in agreement.

"Then there is you. Please listen until I finish. You grew up in the 'Burg, but you refused to be just that. You scaled fences to see what was on the other side. You climbed out second story windows to go where you wanted. You took the challenge with Morrelli in his garage at six to learn choo-choo. You were never the shy quiet 'Burg girl. I remember the two of us playing with Barbies, but yours was never cooking or keeping house. You always wanted to be Wonder Woman you wanted to fly, and you did at least once off the garage roof. Then when we graduated you went to college and stayed to get a degree in Business. You married Dickie because you thought you loved him. Remember you weren't sure but your mother pushed you into it and we both know how that worked out. Now she is pushing you to marry Joe."

We laughed at my escapades for a few minutes.

Mary Lou looked at me seriously for the first time over the rim of her glass. "The way I see it is you have two choices. A, you can make a new life, hopefully here. Trenton is pretty large town. You could live a lifetime and never see the 'Burg. You can wait for Ranger to return and see if this love goes both ways. Believe me when I say I think it does. No man would ever do all he has done for you the help or protect you unless love was involved. Whatever he does shows his actions speak louder than words. B. You can pack up, move to another city, start a new life, and maybe find happiness and love. Though, I doubt it. True love only comes once in a lifetime. Besides, I would hate to lose my best friend. Remember the choice therefore the power is yours. The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You just take it. If you stay when Ranger comes home, you will have to show him you love him and make him admit he loves you too. You're both denying you already have a relationship. Let him know you are not walking away and don't let him. Sit down and talk really talk. Now let's go work on that retail therapy."

We spent the next hour in Victorias Secret buying some non-essentials.

Mare had given me a lot to ponder. I knew that I didn't want to lose my BFF what would I do without her to talk to? Look how much she had helped me just now. Of course, she was right.

Sure, I could move to another area with no forwarding address; change my phone number to unlisted. I would have a hard time with my job staying totally hidden and out of touch for long. If I did move, I would never know if things had worked out between Ranger and me. Maybe for a few months, I could I do it to give Ranger and me a chance? Nothing ventured nothing gained or I could live the rest of my life with regret

I went back to my apartment to assume my thinking position in bed. I kicked off my shoes, flopped on the bed with arms outstretched, and promptly fell asleep.

My dream was a mixture of nightmare and erotica. I walked through dark lonely streets not knowing a soul, feeling alone and watched. I wanted to run but had nowhere to go. There were no lights just dark and emptiness. My heart was pounding as I turned the corner and there was one building with lights. I looked around and pressed my face to the door it easily opened and I stepped in. The entryway was large with a desk and at the side an elevator. There was no one around and my curiosity forced me to go to the elevator. I pushed the up button.

Entering the elevator, that was sparkling with mirrored walls; I noted there was no control buttons. Before I could think, the doors slid shut and the elevator started up. After several seconds, the doors opened to a black and white marble hallway with one door. My feet took me without conscious thought to the only door. Once I stepped inside the door, it closed quietly behind me and I was in total darkness.

Feeling more than hearing, I could tell I was not alone. I had a tingle up the back of my neck. Suddenly, I felt a warm breath on my cheek. Just as I was about to scream, hot lips took my mouth and swallowed the scream. A tongue traced my lips and they slowly parted to allow his tongue entrance.

I could tell it was a man as his large hands caressed my arms and I felt the very faint scrape of a beard. Somehow, I wasn't afraid I felt calm and protected. Maybe it was just because I was relieved of being off the street. He pulled me closer and I felt his hard muscular body pressed to mine, together knee to lips. Everything about him was hard and that is everything. I could feel the full length of his turgid pole pressing against me from my mound to above my navel.

I backed away as much as I could and trembled. Then I murmured, "Do you plan to hurt me?"

He just drew his lips back and forth across mine as he said he planned to make love to me in a voice that was as smooth as velvet or twenty-year-old whiskey. My breath caught in my throat and my knees went weak. He caught me before I fell he picked me up gently and carried me.

"I called you here tonight." He said as he laid me gently on a bed that felt like a silk cloud, I felt like I was floating.

In the darkness, I couldnt see his face but I still felt very little fear as I ask," Are you a stalker?"

I heard him chuckle softly, "I plan to be your destiny," as he moved us towards the middle of the bed.

Gently he caressed my body with his hands and slid my shirt up my chest and off my arms. His hands slid down my face and neck as his lips burned me as they followed his hands. To me, his hands were very hot and I still felt them on my skin even after they had moved on. His lips were warm and soft and left wet kisses over my face. Every now and then, he stopped at my lips so he could fully kiss me mouth to mouth. This gave me the opportunity let me taste him as well. He moved my hair back and traced the gentle curves of my ear with his tongue before nipping my ear lobe and tugging gently. He nipped below my jaw and trailed kisses down my neck gently biting me near my collarbone. He ran his tongue down my breastbone and under my breast. Then slowly removed my bra placing hot wet kisses around my entire breast before finally reaching my nipple, which was already hard and aching. I was unable to move, I had never felt anything so erotic. I was unable to move, unable to see, only hear and feel and I was melting into the sheets. He sucked and tugged and nipped at my nipple until I was almost ready to explode then he stopped and as I gasped at the loss of his mouth forcefully sucked my other nipple into his mouth and sucked hard I could feel the mark he was leaving and could only moan. His hands continued to roam down my stomach with his lips and tongue now close behind burning a path to where I needed him most. His dexterous fingers unbuttoned and unzipped my jeans as he lifted my hips and removed them and my panties at the same time. Gently sliding them down my legs and off, he kissed and licked his way down one leg to my foot and massaged my arch with his tongue then moved to the other leg and repeated all of the kisses and nips on the way up. As he reached the V at the top of my thighs, he growled softly in the back of his throat and rubbed his cheek over my lower abdomen. The stubble on his cheek both tickled and scratched me but I soon forgot about it as his fingers went higher. When one finger pressed between my thighs and stroked my lower lips, I could feel my wetness spread. Then his tongue followed his finger down the tight V.

Stopping any movement before pulling back with a growl he told me in a husky smooth voice "Tonight I plan to ruin you for all other men and make you mine."

After that he proceeded to make love to me in every way that I had every fantasized, he kissed licked and sucked every inch of skin on my body. His mouth, lips, tongue, teeth, his hands and truthfully all of his body were magic. I still had not seen his face. He was right he had ruined me for all other men and he continued until I had screamed repeatedly that I was his and only his. This feeling was so overpowering and consuming; I wondered could this still be a dream.

Word Count 2683 excluding disclaimer and word count