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Sloane didn’t stopfiring until the mutant beast fell to the ground. She raced over to Dallin and flung her arms around him. “You’re alive!”

There was a stunned expression on his face as he stared at her. “Am I? Or have I died and found you again?”

She pulled off her breathing mask and kissed his cheek. “I’m so angry with you.”

“It’s great to see you, too. But what the hell are you doing here?”

“I followed you. I knew you were up to something when you made up that excuse to get me off the ship.”

His brow furrowed. “Were you on the ship that tailed me from the waystation?”

She glared at Dallin as her gaze ran over him. Stars! He was in terrible shape. He was pale, sweating, and bloody. “I was. Did you really think I’d let you go on this adventure on your own? You always stop me from having any fun, yet you zoom off the second you get the opportunity to punch the bad guys. Maybe I’d have liked to blow something up, too.”

He grimaced. “This doesn’t feel much like fun to me.”

She gripped his face in her hands and gave him a long kiss. “I’m going to have to punish you some more for this. It seems you haven’t learnt from your first mistake.”

Heat flew into his eyes. “What kind of punishment are we talking about?”

“It will involve oil and no clothes. And you begging a lot to get inside me.”

“I like the sound of that punishment.”

“It won’t happen unless we figure out a way to get you out of here.” Sloane stared at the huge pile of rocks pinning Dallin’s leg. “I take it you blew this place up on your own?”

He nodded. “The plan wasn’t to be in here while it happened, but the Siblet caught me as I was laying the last of the grenades.”

Sloane tried to move the lump of rock off Dallin’s leg, but it was too heavy. “Brutus, I need your help.”

The grimlin let go of the dead mutant beast and walked over. He sniffed Dallin and licked his face.

Dallin gently pushed him away. “What are you trying to get him to do?”

“I’ve discovered Brutus is great at following commands. I got him to bring down a Siblet and ordered him to bring us here, with some encouragement from Brutus and his fangs. That’s how we found you.” Sloane narrowed her eyes. “And just so you know, I’m keeping you. Every time you run off on some gung-ho mission without telling me what you’re doing, I’ll chase you down and make you sorry you did it.”

“If making me sorry involves you naked and lots of oil, I’m likely to keep doing that all the time.”

Sloane was too happy to have Dallin back and alive to stay mad with him. “We still have some things to figure out, though. I’m through with you keeping secrets from me. And no more lies. I know you only do it to protect me, but it’s annoying. Either I’m your partner in everything, or nothing.”

His eyes narrowed and his gaze flicked around the room. “You want an answer now?”

“Yes!” Sloane placed her hands on her hips. “Are you in or out? I expect truth, honesty, and lots of make-up time in bed.”

He stared into her eyes, making her heart flutter. “I’m in.”

“Well, that’s good.” She grinned. “Brutus, put your head under this rock and lift as hard as you can. I’ll help.”

Brutus snuffled the large lump of rock before nudging it with his nose.

“We need more effort than that, handsome boy. We need to shove at the same time. Are you ready?” She demonstrated lifting the rock.

After a minute, Brutus seemed to understand. He shoved his head as far as he could under the rock until it balanced on his shoulders.

“That’s it. You’re a clever baby. Now, let’s pull.” She wheezed out a breath as she struggled against the rock.

“It’s moving,” Dallin said. “Keep going.”