****No ownership, No fee obtained. I know it's been a few since I last posted, we've all been recuperating from the flu and the crud. I want to thank all the ladies from the babesquad for their support and kind words. Thanks to my great friend Angie for trudging through this chapter. Really, action's not my thing (much rather write some fluff or smut). Hope you enjoy.

She shook her head to deny that anything was wrong when her eyes caught the flutter of the curtains on the cabin window. "Oh, shit. He's here."

Chapter 14

"On the Run"

He didn't even have to look toward the cabin to confirm her statement. Her instincts were usually right on the money and Ranger was sure that this time was no different. Years of his own training kicked in and everything happened fast.

Ranger barked to his men, "Get in, now." From the corner of his eye, he saw Stephanie clamber to the floor, snatching the knife he'd secured to bottom of his seat. She crawled to the back of the boat and began hacking at the ropes that strapped down the water tube, making room for everyone in the boat.

Each Merry Man jumped into the boat, as Ranger slammed the throttle into reverse. Once on board, Lester immediately crawled to the storage hull and began distributing the guns they had tucked away earlier, while waiting for Stephanie to return with their surprise.

Sullivan must have realized the jig was up. He and three other men burst through the door of the cabin guns blazing. Ranger had already adjusted the throttle to neutral and was thrusting forward when a stray bullet whizzed past him, hitting the inflatable in Stephanie's hands, sending it flying through the air.

Seeing that Stephanie was in the line of fire, Hector grabbed her by her shirt, pulling her behind one of the seats, while shielding her with his body. He thrust a 9mm into her hands and a lifejacket in front of her.

Bullets were arcing past the boat as the Merry Men returned fire. Ranger dodged and weaved the boat through the cove and safely into the waterway.

Ranger barked, "Report." His voice was that of a commander and had each man snapping to attention according to rank.

Bobby responded immediately with a report of no injuries.

Breathing heavily from the excitement, Lester answered, "There's good news and bad news. The good news is that I still have the keys to the other boat in my hand. It will take them some time to hot wire the boat. That'll give us a head start. The bad news is that I hadn't retrieved the sat phone from the dry box before we had to ditch."

"El hombre, su bebé salvado el culo. No sólo es bella, pero inteligentes. Es mejor ver de nuevo el hombre o podría tratar de robarle el de usted." Hector grinned and winked at Stephanie, so she was sure that his comment was about her.

Hector threw his head back and laughed at Ranger's growled response of 'Mio'.

(Translation: Man, your babe saved our asses. Not only is she beautiful, but smart too. You better watch back man or I might try to steal her from you.)

(Translation: Mine)

Tank and Ranger silently communicated what they knew in their hearts to be true. Both of them knew that they were lucky to have escaped uninjured and that they owed their lives to Stephanie's intuition. Tank responded to Ranger's directive with the same clipped tones of a soldier responding to his commanding officer, "We received a direct hit, losing fuel and fast, Sir."

Ranger concentrated on his driving while his mind desperately tried to formulate a new plan. He needed the assurance that his Babe was okay, so he stretched his hand out behind his back until he found her hand. The warmth of the connection with her instantly calmed him and the firm squeeze of her hand in his relieved the tightness in his chest. His Babe was safe.

He wasn't sure what to do. They were in the middle of the Tennessee River, running low on fuel and Sullivan was only minutes behind them. Ranger felt Stephanie nudge his arm and turned his head to the side to hear her.

"Uh, Ranger, I think I know a place that we can get to quickly and use as shelter for the night." All eyes turned to her, she only hesitated a moment before explaining to them about the conversation that she'd had with Eddie at the Marina. "There's a back entry way to an abandoned NASA plant just around the bend. Maybe there's a place to hide the boat and regroup."

They all made impressions of the large-mouth bass that flourished in the blue-green water below them. Ranger just smirked, shook his head and said with amusement in his voice, "You never disappoint, Babe. Give me directions."

Her feelings of guilt were almost overwhelming as each man pulled her in for a hug, thanking her for her quick thinking. Telling them that this was all her fault was going to be one of the hardest things that she'd ever done.

Hector noticed her sullen expression and alerted Ranger. "El hermano, algo está arriba con nuestra niña.. Pienso que ella se culpa."

(Translation: Brother, something is wrong with our little girl. I think that she is blaming herself.)

Trying to keep his expression neutral, Ranger responded, "Cuidaré de ello cuando llegamos a un lugar seguro." Ranger couldn't understand how she could doubt herself after everything that had happened. If it hadn't been for her, they would have walked directly into a trap.

(Translation: I'll take care of it when we arrive at a safe place.)

The sky was black, ominous, when they pulled into the inlet that was nearly hidden by overgrown brush and low hanging trees. Ranger's catlike eyes took in the area and thanked his lucky stars for his Babe. It would provide cover for their boat until the morning light and allow them time to regroup and prepare for Sullivan's arrival.

Stephanie watched as the men pulled the boat ashore, going to work silently to further hide the boat. Ranger began cutting tree branches and tossing them at his feet. The other men scooped up the branches and covered the boat, just as silently, camouflaging it from outside view. Once they felt confident in not being discovered, Ranger took Stephanie's hand and began the climb uphill.

They didn't have to travel far before coming upon what appeared to be a guard housing facility. Hector made quick work of picking the lock to gain entry. The Merry Men filed in and began searching the facilities for anything that could be used in an assault against Sullivan and his men.

Ranger tugged Stephanie into his warm embrace, stroking her back, assuring himself that she was unharmed. "What's wrong, Babe?"

In a quiet voice, she told him, "This is all my fault." She could feel the tears threatening and had to blink them away as she pulled back to look him in the face.

"Explain." His blank face told her that he didn't understand how this could possibly be her fault.

"Ranger, Sullivan didn't have time to follow Sylvio's paper trail, so somehow, he followed us here through me. Also, I should have told you when I got back this morning, but I felt somebody watching me when I went to buy a swimsuit. If I'd just said something, then we could have prepared and been waiting for them like we planned, instead of him waiting for us." She let out a shuddering sigh after her confession.

Ranger cupped her face, stroked her cheek lightly with his thumb, as his expression softened and the blank face fell away. "Querida, you couldn't be more wrong."

At her shocked 'Huh?' he chuckled and brushed a tender kiss across her lips.

"Babe, more than likely, someone he knows spotted us when we went into town. He's had plenty of years to make connections all over the country. That's what he does best, what he's trained to do. As to you sensing somebody watching you, for all you knew, it could've been anybody. Sure, I would like to see you trust your instincts, but I don't blame you." Ranger saw that all the Merry Men had stopped what they were doing to listen to what he was telling her.

Ranger turned her toward their understanding faces, so she could see for herself the importance of his next words. "There's not a man in this room that would trade today for a few more hours of security. Today meant more to us than you can ever know."

All of the men nodded vehemently and came over to hug her. She didn't know what to say, "Uh, well, you're welcome." The huge feeling of relief that coursed through her was overwhelming.

Ranger wrapped his arms around her waist and started assigning duties. "Stephanie and I will take first watch since we had a nap today. Tank, you and Lester take second watch and Hector and Bobby can take third watch. If they don't find us before dawn, we'll spread out among the trees and wait. It won't take long for them to spot the boat once the sun rises."

He held the door for Stephanie to exit the guard house. Once outside, she could tell that he immediately went into high alert mode; watching, listening and waiting.

The night stretched out long and heavy with the silence and dread of what the morning would bring. One thing was certain, she liked this even less than surveillance. Stephanie was bored to tears; the only thing to entertain her was the singing of the cicadas. At least during surveillance, she knew what was in the car with her. Out here in the dank woods, every crinkle of the leaves had her skin crawling with fear of the unknown.

She had been so preoccupied with the buzzing of a nearby mosquito that she nearly yelped out loud when Ranger put his hand on her shoulder. With a twinkle in his eyes, he silently took her hand and began leading her back to the guard shack. As she stumbled along behind him, she thought she heard Lester whisper something about trying not to wake the dead.

Earlier, she had been so busy worrying about this being her fault, that she hadn't noticed the Merry Men carrying packs. Her snarling stomach was glad that they always seemed to be prepared, even if it wasn't her 'dream' dinner. Lying on a dusty table, in the middle of the room, were several bottles of water and what appeared to be nutrition bars.

Ranger scooped up two bars and a bottle of water and led her to a bare room, closing the door behind them. Someone had spread out their blanket on the floor. They silently shared their meager meal picnic style in the darkened room.

After cleaning up, Ranger stretched out and pulled her against him. She could feel the heat and hardness of him. Her body hummed with wanting to feel him deep inside her. She didn't need to see his eyes to know what he was thinking or feeling, but she knew that she needed the connection of an intimate joining. She reached up and stroked his face, down his arms and up his chest. The plains of hardness, that she had become so familiar with, quivered under her touch.

He found her mouth with urgent need, devouring the taste of her. Even though they had already made love twice during the course of the day, he needed to have her again. He couldn't seem to get enough of her as his blood pounded through his veins. Her soft hands dipped under his shirt, finding that spot on his side that made him groan and grow harder. As her hands danced lightly to his back, his own hands made their way under her shirt.

Just the touch of each other's hands on bare skin was enough to turn their soft exploration into an explosion of passion. Needing to feel skin against skin, they tore at each other clothes until each was completely naked and Ranger was poised above her.

He nudged her knees apart and thrust with such force that she had to bite the inside of her jaw to keep from screaming out. She matched him stroke for stroke, as he pounded into her. The only sound in the room was flesh slapping against flesh, and the soft panting of need. She felt the orgasm bubble up fast and hard from her center as Ranger's mouth caught her scream.

He thrust deep in her womb so hard that the orgasm stretched out until she almost couldn't bear the waves rolling through her. When she felt him going stiff with his orgasm, she caught his mouth in a hungry kiss, swallowing his growl of release.

Their bodies were sated from the gripping desire and drenched in sweat from the sultry night. Ranger rolled and pulled her to his chest, stroking her down from her orgasm. "Stephanie?"

She knew from the sound of his whisper and the use of her full name, that he was about to say was something serious. She tried to tilt her head up and look at him, but he held her head tight to his chest. "What is it, Ranger?"

His body was rigid as he spoke, "I have no intention of letting you go. I'll not let Sullivan take this, what we have, away from us. I've waited too long to find happiness. I won't let him come in and take it, take you away from me. I know that you're scared, but know this….tomorrow, the running ends. We'll finish it….together."

His passionate speech burned in her gut. Just as passionately, she answered, "Together then, we'll finish it." This time he allowed her to raise her head so that she could look him in the eyes. "You're wrong though. I'm not scared as long as I have you by my side. I've waited too long to have you, to be with you, to allow somebody to take it away. I love you, Ranger and I'll fight by your side to protect what we share."

He could see the fierceness in her eyes and knew that she meant her words. Kissing her hard on the mouth, he said, "I love you too, la mujer del corazón. Let's get some rest, tomorrow will be a long day."

She nestled into the crook of his arm thinking about his words. As she began to drift, she asked, "Ranger, will you tell me what it means?"

He was almost asleep when she asked and he answered without thinking. "Wife of my heart."

She was almost asleep, but she heard the words float through her brain. Her last waking thought was that he was the husband of her heart.