Dearly Beloved

by Jackie Ivie

  Considering she’d just placed him at the top of her enemy list, and added a possible epitaph to boot, he took it fairly well. All he did was lean back and put both hands to his hair, pulling it away from his face as he pillowed his head. Courtney forced her eyes to stay glued to his face, focusing on his perfect sculpted jaw. It wasn’t helping, but if she concentrated on finding just one slight flaw, maybe she’d staunch how the rest of her suffered rampant tingling.

  “Good eve.”

  “There’s nothing good about it.”

  “No?”

  “You’re here. In my bed. Without permission as far as I can recall.”

  “You seek to wound with words, but your eyes tempt with heat. Both speak volumes to me about…permission.”

  He sat, pooling the errant bedding into his lap, so it could form a base for showcasing perfectly formed chest. The man was more than stunning. He knew it. And he knew she realized it. Her sigh was just icing on the cake to him.

  “You appreciate what you see, Agapimeni ?”

  “What does that mean?”

  “You like asking questions.”

  “Come on, Dominick. We’re way past the ‘I ask the questions’ phase of our relationship. Beside which, you never ask any. And you didn’t answer. So, I’m asking again. What does Agapimeni mean?”

  He smiled, showing pearly teeth without one glimpse of fangs. It was devastating. The bastard.

  “What?” Courtney asked.

  “You have titled this a relationship. I approve.”

  “It’s not up to you to approve or disapprove. And you’re avoiding answering. So, I’m going to do the broken record thing. What does that word mean?”

  “It means ‘my love.’”

  Oh…no! She gulped. Her heart thudded into over-drive and that was just shy of giving her a head-ache. She narrowed her eyes. “I wonder why that sounds not only unlikely, but presumptuous as well?”

  He leaned closer somehow, looming about her, while the immediate flare of candles helped with the impression. Courtney’s gasp was loud. There wasn’t any way to hide it. So she licked her lips and started talking.

  “Come on, Your Highness. I admit it. I’m way over my head here. It’s obvious you’ve got more experience than me. You’ve got a gilded tongue and looks to match. You probably entice women to your bed for the fun of it. Or the exercise.”

  “Do not use titles with me, Agapimeni . I am Dominick to you. Or if you prefer…Dom.”

  “You see? There you go again.”

  He lifted one eyebrow. The result was worse than devastating this time.

  “You didn’t answer my question,” she informed him.

  “There is a question asked? When?”

  She licked her lips again. It didn’t help much, but it gave her a little time to try to curb the nervousness that was going to become words she couldn’t take back. And then she just asked it. “How did you get so experienced?”

  “Experienced?”

  “Yeah. Experienced. As in pleasuring women. And don’t go and say you don’t know what I’m asking. I refuse to believe it. You’re experienced, and that means there’s a powerful amount of women involved. That could lead to complications involving health organizations. I’d like to know now if I need to worry.”

  Courtney sat there and felt every bit of the blush infusing her as she waited for him to deny it. Putting a number to prowess was the last thing a man admitted. If a woman asked, they deserved the lie they got. Instead he gave her a huge grin, reached for her, and enfolded her into massive arms, resting her cheek against his chest. The bedding hadn’t made the move with her. She ignored it. She really didn’t need or want it. Skin on skin was too heady an experience, while she felt cocooned in warmth.

  A fingertip touched her chin, lifting her to face him. She locked gazes with him. Any hint of amusement was gone. The spark of red was back deep in his eyes, drawing her into a vortex of red. And black. And sending pore-raising electricity.

  “I have little experience, Agapimeni , and it is so far in the past I cannot even recall. The pleasure of which you speak is due to who you are. What you are. And how it is when we are together. Finally.”

  “We?”

  “You are my mate. And I am yours.”

  “Don’t do the vampire stuff again, Dom. Please? I’m not certain—.”

  His kiss stopped the words, her heart, and her ability to breathe. And then all of them slammed back into existence. The resultant lunge against him was impossible to hide. As was the frenzied attempt to meld right into him. The man had the ability to rob her of common sense, reality, and truth. But he replaced it with an amalgamation of emotion, sensation, and awareness. The room spun, re-righted, and then spun the other way. Courtney slammed her eyes shut.

  “Do not deny me, please?”

  The words accompanied the slide of his lips to an ear and then to her throat, leaving a trail of wet-kissed chill the entire way.

  “Dominick…I—.”

  “I…love you.”

  Those three words, said with the barest quaver through them, robbed her will and sent her spirits soaring. Totally. Courtney’s dismay evaporated, spinning into the whirlpool of amazement that had him at the core. A vista of wonder opened, even behind her tightly closed eyelids. She barely felt duel pin-pricks of pain at her neck. The resultant uproar was absolute fire. It raced through her veins, sending passion laced with bliss, fervor coupled with wonder, and wanton need mixed with ecstasy.

  “Oh Dominick! Yes!”

  Her voice showcased the mix of sensations she dealt with. He didn’t answer, but his sucking motion intensified, showing he’d heard her. She could’ve sworn they rose, soaring well above the mattress, while the entire room rotated about them. She slit her eyes open to watch.

  Dominick’s arm tightened and he went rigid, lifting his head despite her whimper in order to sniff, grab her to him, and move in a blink of time to a crouch beside the bed. And then the walls imploded.

  CHAPTER TEN

  “What’s…happening?”

  It wasn’t possible to go from eroticism to panic without something giving it away. The squeak in her voice was an excellent example. Courtney swallowed on what was going to be full-tilt screaming as one moment they were beside the bed while Dominick wound them together in a sheet, and the next she was aloft and heading for a solid stone wall.

  “Just a moment, Your Highness.”

  Dominick spun, taking Courtney with it, although her vision seemed to be behind the move. A lanky, black-clothed man stepped through the dust and rubble. There were more black-cloaked figures with him. Courtney froze with fear, contrasting all the more with how Dom seemed to relax. She didn’t have time to ponder it before he addressed the tall guy as if they weren’t facing annihilation.

  “Findlay.”

  “It’s Doctor Findlay to you. From D4 Team Blue. Akron sent us. We’ve got about…four minutes. Maybe five. You can even take the stairs.”

  “Good.”

  “Don’t go up. It’s blocked. There’s a fairly large group of Hunters at your villa gate as we speak. If I set the charges right, I’m going to nail about eight of them. Easily. I’m very thorough. Don’t leave much that’s recognizable. This little cave of yours is about to become rubble. It’s my new trademark.”

  He motioned about him with his machine gun thing. Courtney narrowed her eyes. It didn’t look like any weapon she’d ever seen. That thing was more lethal.

  “My jet is waiting.”

  “The jet is history, Pal. You going to move or am I going to have to shoot you first?”

  Dominick stiffened. “You would not dare.”

  “True. But my wife won’t hesitate. Sasha?”

  Courtney stiffened as a stunning brunette stepped in to stand beside her husband. Even encased in something resembling a black wetsuit, she was stunning. And if Dominick had women like that about, why on earth would he look twice at Courtney Dwyer?

  “Stop talking nonsense,
Stuart, and see to the destruction phase. You’ll have to forgive him, Dom, but he’s a natural. He really takes to destruction. Blowing stuff up. General mayhem. It’s his hobby anymore. You need to leave . Now. Use Domination.”

  “Don’t tell him to do that,” Courtney complained before she could stop herself. “He’s an expert at it already.”

  The brunette pierced her with charcoal-hued eyes and then smiled. She directed her words to Dom, but didn’t move her 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 cannot allow the Hunters to gain you. Please cease arguing and climb up.”

  “I’m beginning to think it’s a gender thing.”

  “You still argue?”

  “Men. They just can’t see the obvious. I’m not moving without you. Period.”

  “I will be right behind you, Agapimeni —.”

  His voice quavered again. Courtney’s heart dropped. Her eyes misted. All of it worse than wrong. Stupid. Supremely, totally, overwhelmingly stupid .

  She didn’t dare feel anything for him. She had her reasons. Not only was he way too pretty, but he’d be completely unmanageable. Prone to violent episodes. Able to bust through stone walls. Chuck heavy tables right into the ocean. Swoop and fly without expending an ounce of effort. He was being hunted. He had some very odd friends…and she might as well admit it.

  He really was a vampire.

  They might not exist, but that didn’t change it. The guy was a true creature of the night. She didn’t need a relationship therapist to see they’d never suit. Courtney forced every emotion away, aimed for the most sarcastic and cold tone she could, and actually thought she managed it.

  “Whoa. Down, Boy. It’s not what you think.”

  He blinked and looked like she’d hit him. That was just at her tone. Courtney kept it up.

  “I’m not going anywhere without you because we are wrapped in the same sheet. I’m not about to prance about stark naked. Are you?”

  “My name is not Boy. It is Dominick.”

  If she’d thought him dangerous before, she’d been mistaken. The look he gave her literally stopped her heart. He looked chiseled from marble and just as hard. His eyes weren’t warm, nor were they glowing. They were black and obsidian cold. Death-cold.

  Courtney couldn’t control the shiver. She didn’t need to be a vampire aficionado to read that look. If he didn’t believe them mated, she’d be dead. History. Yet even now, with murderous intent covering him, he was still jaw-dropping gorgeous. Her mouth was bone dry and everything on her shook. He didn’t say a word, only reached over his shoulder to pull the end of the sheet loose before stepping back from her. Then he wrapped the rest of it about her, rippling bared chest muscle the entire time.

  And he had on thigh-length skin-tight black swim trunks.

  “Go below. Rashid will escort you.”

  He jerked his head and another explosion rocked the chamber. The resultant chunk of stalactite barely missed spearing where Dom stood, ignoring everything as he kept his eyes on hers. She’d been right the first time. Domination wasn’t the name of any stupid boat.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  He’d been mistaken. This mate of his was a remarkable woman. The more he was around her, the more amazing she grew. She’d be the perfect assassin: nothing to look at twice, and a complete mistake to overlook. It wasn’t any individual feature; it was the combination of them. She was well-formed. He got a very good example of that since she’d slid her way into his embrace hours earlier and stayed there. She had those greenish eyes, blemish-free skin, perfect lips, and this ash-blond hair that easily curled. She hadn’t dried it from her shower, taken after demolishing two burgers and a half pound of deep-fried potatoes, washed down with a couple of lagers. According to Rashid, she’d been humming to herself through most of it, too.

  It wasn’t just her physical features. Nor was it the wondrous smell wafting from every portion of her. Dominick lifted the lock of hair curled around his finger to his nose and sniffed, and that got
him jolted by electricity only she seemed to have. The sparks she sent were more than considerable. They were addictive. She wielded it without any effort right at him. He blinked on a sudden wash, blurring her image, and then forced the rampant emotion down.

  This mating thing was overwhelming at times.

  “We really have to stop this, you know.”

  Her words lifted him from contemplation of his finger to meet her eyes. The moment it happened, he suffered a solid surge of primal arousal that sent his body into full rigidity. Dominick worked at controlling it, solidifying and tensing every muscle at his command, until it almost worked. He only hoped the moisture in his eyes wasn’t noticeable.

  She wasn’t unaffected. Or the quick slip of her tongue to her lower lip didn’t mean anything. Nor did the instant tremble of her entire body where it matched to his. Dominick tightened a bicep to lift her; thrilled at the contact, and then suffered another semi-seizure of reaction all the way through him.

  “I mean…uh…every time we’re together, the world is either exploding around us, or we’re in bed.”

  Color touched the tops of her cheeks, her blush sending liquid fury racing through his veins, elongating his teeth and making him shudder with containing it.

  Not yet .

  “Together. Uh…without clothes. Again. It’s a real…problem.”

  “I do not see the problem.” His voice was lower, containing so much bass it reverberated through the chamber.

  “Of course you don’t. You’re a guy. Sex and explosions is probably “Guy Heaven.”

  “Guy Heaven.” He repeated.

  “Ok. We’ll go slower. We need to communicate. As in…have a conversation. Do you think we can do that without adding explosions?”

  Her breath was a curse of provocation, crippling him with every word as it slid across his chin, touched his chest, and then slithered inside to reach his heart. If he answered verbally, it might be a sob. He nodded.

  “Good. Now…let’s move on. Can we have some meaningful dialogue without sex mucking up the works?”