Free Dearly Beloved by Jackie Ivie

gaze from Courtney. “Dominick Miklos St. Guis. She’s a baby.”
    A baby?
Courtney was every bit of twenty-four. Jerks. They were all jerks. She was adding all of them to the list. If she had one of those weapon-things she’d knew where she’d be aiming it. She wasn’t a VIDWAR marksman with over forty-two thousand registered kills for nothing. Another explosion rocked the ground.
    “Time’s ticking!” Doctor Findlay announced. “Move! All of you!”
    “Hold to me.”
    The whisper hadn’t reached her ear before Dom was moving. He didn’t take the stairs. That might be too civilized. No. He flew full-tilt at the stone wall, swiveled just before impact and slammed his back into rock. Boulders and debris filled space that contained a lot of black nothingness and not one speck of floor. Courtney got a whiff of fresh air that changed to an acrid odor of something unpleasant burning. She wrinkled her nose, Dominick jumped into a complete freefall, and he should’ve been prepared for what happened.
    She screamed. Long and loud and with every last bit of available breath. The shriek echoed about them as he landed, the thud jouncing her against him.
    Her throat felt raw, and the place they ended in was so bright it hurt. Dominick didn’t seem affected at all. Courtney blinked around moisture until it focused into an underground launching site, well-equipped and stocked with cranes, a railing loading system, lighting, and space to dock a cruise ship if he wished. Right now it looked conspicuously empty. There seemed to be quite a lot of crew about, among them Rashid. Courtney looked over the very correct servant, immaculate in white tunic and slacks, a turban still neatly wrapped about his head. He was addressed Dominick and patently avoided noting her.
    “Excellency?”
    “Rashid.”
    “The motor craft is ready, per your orders.”
    “Good.”
    “Motor craft?” Courtney whispered.
    As if in reply the water rippled, became the top of a slick, black, stingray-looking object, and a few moments later a prow appeared. He had a stealth-boat? She didn’t know why she questioned the proof looming there, dripping water from its ascent. Courtney’s eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. And she was getting really tired of having those reactions.
    “My craft. I call her Domination.”
    “Of course you do. No wonder that woman called me a baby. She’s probably still laughing. I’m not the least surprised, either.”
    “She would not dare.”
    “Oh yes, she would. That’s why she said it.”
    “No. That was for me. She has no room for comment. Her mate is newly-turned as well.”
    “I’m not newly turned, and we’ve still got a lot of dialogue before we go into the ‘mate’ phase of this. Ok?”
    “I do not know why you fight it so. There is no need. You are my mate, Courtney. She recognized it.”
    “Bull—.”
    Another explosion rocked the area, sending chunks of the cave roof into the water about them. Dominick held her to him, rocked with the motion, and ignored how the water splashed all about them. For some reason, Courtney felt completely safe the entire time.
    “Quick. Use the ladder. We must leave. Right now.”
    “I’m not moving.”
    “It is not a request.”
    “You can’t just pick me up and take me along whenever you feel like it. Not only is it inconsiderate, but it’s not helping your ‘I’m your mate’ cause. Where – exactly – are we going, anyway?”
    “Colorado.”
    “In a ship? I’m pretty sure Colorado is still a land-locked state.”
    “I have a jet in Athens.”
    “I don’t know why I ask. I really don’t. Of course he has a private jet, Courtney. He probably named it Intimidation.”
    He sighed in a supreme motion that moved her with it. She barely kept from giving one herself, except his was filled with exasperation, and hers would contain something more along the line of adoration. Damn him, anyway.
    “You need to enter the watercraft. This is gaining us nothing. I