Author's note: Thank you for taking the time read our first story as a collaborative couple! We've been anxious to put this out here to share with our readers. It has been an amazing experience working together, and we hope you enjoy the result as much as we enjoyed the process. Read on, and don't hesitate to let us know what you think.

Latetolove & Sonomom

xxxxx

Thirteen Coins

By: AlmostCompleteStrangers

Chapter One: The Distraction

Stephanie's POV

The sliding door opened silently, and he stepped inside. "I've been shot. Not bad, but I'm bleeding. They'll be in this room inside of five minutes. They know they hit the target, and if they find out it's me, we're both dead."

I ran to him and saw blood soaking the back of his white shirt. "How bad is 'not bad'?" I asked.

"The bullet just grazed the back of my shoulder, but it's bleeding, and it's going to need some attention."

I made an instant decision. "If I buy us some time, can you get us out of here?"

He nodded.

"Okay," I said, brushing his hair away from his face. I ran into the bathroom and came back with two towels. "Peel off your clothes, all of them, and stuff them under the bed." He looked at me for a mere moment, and I saw the decision in his eyes. He was going to go with whatever I had in mind. His mouth was pulled into a tight line, and I knew the wound in his shoulder was worse than he was willing to say.

While he was undressing, I undressed too. I stood naked except for a lacy black thong. My luggage was still packed, and I opened the suitcase to pull out five-inch stiletto-heeled red pumps and slipped them on my feet. Then I turned to help a naked Ranger into bed. I slipped the towels behind his shoulder to form a pressure wedge between the sheets and his bleeding wound. I knelt on the bed and bent over Ranger with my lace-flossed ass pointing directly at the door and pulled the sheets loosely over us, making sure my attributes were uncovered.

"Babe?"

"Let me do this, Ranger," I said. "I can pull it off." I ducked my head under the sheets and heard Ranger's softly indrawn breath as my lips came close to the juncture of his thighs. "Did you get the information?" I asked.

"Yes, but they don't know that and won't until tomorrow, when their systems come back online."

I heard a shuffling outside the hallway door and once again heard his softly uttered "Babe."

The sound of the door unlocking and swinging open caused a seizure-like shudder to rack my body. "Time to get your game on," I told myself, my breath caressing Ranger's thigh. I felt a response from Ranger and realized he was responding physically to my nearness. That would help with the scenario I had planned. Men's bodies were amazing. They could be ready for sex even in the face of death. Ranger lifted his head, and as I pulled my head out from under the covers I saw his look of dazed confusion. Either he was a good actor, or he was dazed and confused. Either way it worked for me. I slid off the bed and turned to face the men standing in the doorway.

Their first look into the room had been focused on my ass, legs, and the red pumps. My breasts led the way as I stepped toward them. My nipples were distended from the cool air and fear. I was hoping they'd think it was from passion. I could see both of their gazes linger first on my chest, and then run down my abdomen to the thong. I saw the man with the gun slide his eyes from me to the bed. I turned and looked. There was no sign of blood on the sheets. Ranger's mid-section was covered by the sheet and, sure enough, there was a tent pole.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked, exuding as much Jersey girl attitude as I could. I ran my hand through my hair pushing it off my face and stood legs spread, hand on hips. "And who are you?"

The man standing closest to the door answered, "We received a message of an abduction going on in this room. We came to make sure our guests weren't in danger."

I turned to look at Ranger and then back toward the door. "This is a little awkward," I said. "Could you come in and shut the door behind you? It appears we have a situation here. And could you lower your weapon?" I asked the man in front. I took a good look at the man standing behind him. "I know you."

He nodded his head in acknowledgment that we did know one another.

"Mr. de Franco, I believe you and I last spoke when Joe Morelli and I were guests at your cocktail party. Joe told me you had a controlling interest in this resort, and some impish spirit made me choose this resort as the spot for this little liaison."

Jolie de Franco stepped in front of his henchman. "Ah, Ms. Plum. Forgive me for not immediately recognizing you, and my apologies for our untimely entrance."

Ranger leaned forward resting his weight on his injured shoulder. There was no evidence on his face of the pain it cost him. I looked quickly to make sure there was still no sign of blood. He leveled his gaze at the man with the gun. "Put your weapon away and then leave." It was a command punctuated by the glock Ranger pulled out from under the spare pillow. The gunman turned toward his partner for instruction.

I moved toward the men making sure their eyes were focused back on me. "Let's not be coy, gentlemen. We all know what's going on in here, and I'm making no apology for it. You, however, should. And we'd like our room comped for this unwarranted intrusion of our privacy."

"I assure you my resort will maintain your confidence. I understand the importance of Mr. Morelli not hearing about this meeting. I am so sorry for the confusion." Jolie, lying bastard that he was, was smooth. His eyes never left my chest as he said, "Of course, your entire stay here will be on me, and no one will ever hear of this unfortunate occurrence."

"Especially when Mr. Morelli, my very close friend, thinks I'm spending the week with an old college roommate. And especially when Mr. Morelli hates Mr. Mañoso's guts. Now gentlemen, if you don't mind," I swung my mostly naked ass around them and held the door open. "Mr. Mañoso and I have, um, urgent business." Jolie de Franco grabbed my hand and pressed it to his lips, his eyes still focused on my bare breasts. I looked at his hand noting the ostentatious gold ring on the middle finger. It was in the shape of a crown with a row of emeralds wrapping around the base. The prongs of the crown stretched almost an inch up his finger, and each point was set with a diamond. I felt an instant sense of revulsion, knowing the ring had been funded by de Franco's criminal activities, and struggled not to shudder.

"Once again, my apologies, to you and," he looked across the room toward Ranger whose expression now was more pissed off and less confused, "my apologies to you, Mr. Mañoso." They left, and I closed the door behind them, slinging the security bolt closed. It was time to find out if the pissed look was for their benefit or if Ranger was mad at me.

With the closing of the door, Ranger fell back on the bed. His face showed only the strain of hiding his pain. He looked at me and uttered a soft, "Babe."

"It worked," I told him. "They're gone. Do you think they'll be back?"

"Yes," he said, "but you've bought us some time. We need to get out of here." He was up and out of the bed and totally back in control. He pushed the sheet aside and went to the closet where he pulled a first aid kit from his luggage. "This wound is going to have to be attended to. Are you up to it?" I nodded and followed him into the bathroom.

He sat on the commode and turned his back to me. "Try to keep the blood on the towels we've already used. We're going to have to get rid of anything with blood contamination. They can't know I was the one in his office."

I looked at the wound. It was a six-inch gash, and it probably needed stitches, but steri-strips were as good as it was going to get. I cleaned the blood off and pulled the flesh together holding it in place with the pieces of tape placed perpendicular to the cut. I spread a generous amount of antibiotic ointment over it and covered the entire area with a bandage. Fortunately it was his left shoulder as his right hand was his gun hand.

"Did you leave a blood trail to the room?" I asked.

"No." He grimaced as I ran my hand over the bandage to smooth it out before I handed him a black t-shirt to slip over his head. "I was careful. There was blood in the office, but I tucked my shirt in and pulled my jacket around my shoulders. And I didn't take a direct route back to the room. That's why they were here so quickly after my arrival."

Ranger stood and faced me with the t-shirt dangling from his left hand. I became aware he was totally, and I was mostly, naked. He pulled me against him and wrapped his good arm around me. His lips met mine in a kiss that was intense and passionate. I felt the warmth start in my core and move up. My breasts flushed and my nipples stood at attention, and this time fear wasn't the motivating factor. Once the immediate threat of death was gone, women could, apparently, think about sex, too.

"You did a good job," he whispered in my ear. "They knew they hit someone in the office, and I know they thought it was me, but I think you changed their minds." He kissed me again, this time softly.

Ranger pulled back. "Morelli didn't let you sign on for this." Shit, Morelli! I'd totally forgotten his existence. He and I were very much together; the only difference from what I told de Franco was Joe's awareness of my location. He hadn't wanted to let me come, but he knew it was the best option. Ranger needed a believable cover to pull this off, and I was the one who made it believable. Ranger's hand slipped down my backside and fondled a bare cheek. He sighed, "This isn't the time for this."

"Well, you started it," I said defensively.

"I did," he agreed, "but you surprised me with your quick thinking. You saved us, Babe. You saved us in a real good way." I looked up to see him smiling at me.

"Now, get out of those shoes and get dressed," he said, suddenly completely oblivious to my nudity. "Wear warm clothing and a jacket. We're going for a midnight hike in the mountains. It will be cold, and we will be hiking for more than a day. We're not returning here, but I don't want it to look as though we've left for good."

The next few minutes were spent dressing and filling my purse with the contents of the mini-bar. We left enough personal possessions to make it look as though we were still occupying the room. Ranger rolled his blood stained clothes and the towels into a small bundle, which he placed in the bottom of a small bag. Fortunately there'd been no blood on the sheets. We only had to take a pillowcase, the towels and his shirt.

Ranger looked around the room as he stood by the sliding door. As I crossed the threshold to leave the room with him, he pulled me to him.

"Babe, you were right. We do have urgent business," and he pulled me to him for another quick hard kiss. His voice was soft and low, and he was all business. "What we've been through tonight is nothing compared to what we may be going through in the next couple of days. We have to hike through the mountains to get to a safe place, and we will be moving mostly at night."

"Will I have to eat twigs and berries?" I asked.

There was a hint of a smile playing around his mouth. "If you deplete the mini-bar stash, then yes, you may have to eat a few berries."

I sighed. "Lead on, Batman, but you're going to owe me cake when this is done."

He turned to me all seriousness. "Babe, a lot of people will owe you more than cake when everything is said and done, and Morelli is one of them."

TBC...