49

The scent of coffee and the feeling of Hunter’s snout bumping against her hand roused Camille from her slumber. She felt like she had slept for a lifetime and yet her exhaustion was bone deep, weighing her down. Trying to open her eyes felt like a struggle but in the back of her mind she realised that it was now morning and hopefully Sid had made it through the night.

That glimmer of hope was enough to chase away the last foggy layers of sleep from her head and Camille forced her eyes open. It took a couple of blinks for the sleep to leave her vision and everything to come into focus, but eventually Camille found herself staring at Hunter as he rested his giant head on the edge of the bed. The poor guy could sense something was wrong and hand been pacing the apartment. He looked tired and miserable which Camille could relate to all too well.

“You’re awake.”

Camille glanced up, her exhausted mind taking a moment longer than necessary to register that Jag was stood in the doorway of her room in a pair of grey sweatpants, two mugs of coffee in his hands, steam floating up from the contents inside of them. Camille couldn’t deny she was surprised to see the male. With everything going on, she had assumed Jag would be neck deep in work. She had tried to imagine what that work would entail but she had forced herself to shut those thoughts down when she found herself imagining Jag beating Nathan to a bloody pulp.

“I am.” She finally replied and shifted to sit up in bed. “And you’re not at work.”

“I’m not.” Jag agreed, smoothing with smooth strides towards the bed, offering one of the mugs to Camille. “But I will be going back to work soon.”

“Oh.” Camille nodded. Her hands wrapped around the mug as she settled it onto the divert cover her lap, eyes staring at the brown surface. “How is Sid?”

“Alive.” Jag moved to sit at the edge of the bed, shooing Hunter away. “He made it through the night which is good.”

“But that doesn’t mean he’s out of the woods.”

“Not yet, but he’s fighting.” Jag replied. “That’s what counts.”

“And what about Nathan?” She asked. “Have you found him?”

Jag shook his head at this. “We’re close, though.”

Camille didn’t respond to that immediately. She couldn’t deny she was disappointed, but she wasn’t surprised. Nathan was a snake. It didn’t surprise her that he was laying low waiting to strike again. She wouldn’t let that happened again though. Letting out a heavy breath, she set her mug on the bedside table and moved closer to Jag, sinking down beside her, and resting her head on his shoulder.

“It’s going to be okay.” She murmured. “We will find him, and Sid is going to pull through and everything can go back to the way it was.”

“Well, not completely the way it was.” Jag replied. “If it did, then we wouldn’t have found you.”

Camille felt her cheeks warm at the statement. She lifted her head to look at Jag who was watching her intently. She couldn’t help but smile at the sentiment despite the dark cloud that hung over them as a constant reminder of what they were dealing with. For a few precious moments though, that all melted away and Camille couldn’t resist leaning up to press a kiss to Jag’s cheek. However, the giant had other ideas and turned his head enough to lock Camille’s lips into a kiss. It certainly surprised Camille given how aloof Jag had been lately, but she welcomed the soft warmth of Jag’s skin on hers.

Before she knew it, Camille found herself on her back, Jag’s god-like form hovering over hers as the kiss deepened into something much more enthusiastic and heated. Camille had almost forgot how Jag tasted so found herself storing the experience to memory in case it was a long before Jag showed her any affection again.

But it seemed Jag had no intentions of letting things remain as a kiss, his mouth pulling away from Camille’s only to attack her neck with the hot wetness of his tongue and the teasing softness of his lips. Despite the urgency of Jag’s actions, there was a tenderness there as well, something that almost juxtaposed Jag as a person. It left Camille’s head spinning.

Her T-shirt and underwear were no match against Jag’s hungry hands and a soft cry of surprise escaped Camille when her panties yielded to the male’s strength in a rip. The cool air against her heated womanhood was nothing compared to the friction of Jag’s hips grinding into hers.

“I’ve dreamt about doing this every night.” Jag murmured between kisses up Camille’s neck and back towards her mouth. “Do you have any idea how much strength it took not to claim you every time I saw you?”

“Why didn’t you?” Camille asked breathlessly.

“Because watching you squirm with want made it worth the wait.” Jag smirked.

Camille didn’t know how to respond to that, not that it mattered because Jag seemed content without an answer as his mouth crashed into hers once more. The ferocity took Camille’s breath away and she let out a whimper, her body burning for more.

But it wouldn’t happen.

“Well, isn’t this a surprise.”

The unfamiliar female voice shattered the moment like a wrecking ball crashing through a pain of glass. Camille yelped in alarm, eyes locking on the woman standing in the doorway to her room. The realisation that she was naked was like a bucket of icy water being dumped over her head and Camille scrambled to grab her T-shirt to cover herself. The tips of her ears burned from how mortified she was while Jag just let out a frustrated groaned and moved to shield Camille behind him.

“Sia,” Jag’s voice failed to hide his irritation. “What are you doing here?”

“Why else would I be here?” the woman shot back. “I’m here to see my son.”

“Son?” Camille asked before she could stop herself.

“Yes.” Jag sighed. “Sia, this is Camille. Camille, this is Sia. Sid’s mother.”

----

There had been plenty of times in Camille’s life that she had prayed for the ground to open up and swallow her whole, but none compared to this moment as she, Jag and Sia in awkward silence in the living room.

After the alarming introduction, Jag had quickly guided Sia out of sight to allow a very red faced Camille to get dressed. While the woman appeared unperturbed by what she had seen, it didn’t mean Camille felt the same and even now, some half an hour later, she still couldn’t bring herself to fully look Sia in the eye. Jag however, seemed more unimpressed by the whole situation rather than embarrassed by being caught in bed by his best friend’s mother.

Despite not having seen the place before, Sia made herself at home by with ease by making a tea from Draygonian plants before setting several small but beautifully simple cups in front of each of the occupants. Camille had been too mortified to raise her voice above a squeaky whisper when she thanked the woman for the drink. Whether Sia heard or not remained a mystery as her expression never deviated from the stoic calmness that currently covered her features.

Now that they were all say around the coffee table in a painfully tense silence, Camille was able to properly take in the presence of the woman currently sat opposite her with all the grace and poise of a leopard on a branch.

Camille had seen photos and recording of women from Draygon but being in the presence of one made anything Camille thought she knew pale in comparison. Sia was certainly older than Jag, but she wore her age well. She was undeniably beautiful but there was a hardness to that beauty. Wisdom hid in her yellow eyes, and it was muscle, not the softness of time, that lay under her light blue skin. Unlike the males, Sia had no marking on her face, but instead white lines and shapes had been tattooed along her arms, specks of gold littered amongst the hieroglyphs like stars. They were like what Camille had seen on Sid but there seemed to be no reasoning for them.

Much like Sid, Sia’s hair was white. Thick silky tresses were piled into an elegant bun with a few thin braids to break it all up. This was finished off with an intriguing gold headband that framed Sia’s forehead and hid the first few inches of her head. To Camille, Sia looked like a queen, something that was backed up by the elegant flowing dress. The soft lilac material almost resembled silk with a cowled neckline and shoulder that looked as if two gold buttons were together holding them. The flowy material fell in soft waves only to cinched at waist by a golden band before flaring outwards.

Camille couldn’t help but feel vastly underdressed suddenly.

“You should have let us know you were coming.” Jag finally spoke up.

Jag had purposely sat close to Camille and now, as Sia’s critical eyes examined the pair, she could feel the warmth of a protective arm being her on the head rest.

“I would have thought it was obvious that I would be coming here when you informed me that my youngest son had been critically injured.” Sia replied calmly.

While Jag seemed unfazed by the response, Camille help but flinch a little, her eyes briefly meeting Sia’s only to quickly look away. She couldn’t tell if Sia was annoyed or not. The woman’s face gave nothing about how she was feeling. No doubt she had to be worried for her son but, what else?

“Before you say anything, I did try the intercom but I got no answer, so I got Kal to let me in remotely.” Sia finally spoke up again, taking a sip of her tea. “My intention was to drop my belongings in a guest room and then go to see Sid.”

“You’re staying here?”

Camille had never heard Jag sound alarmed but there was a first time for everything. It was obvious there was some unspoken tension between the two because of the way they spoke to each other and the fact one could cut the air with a knife.

“Yes.” Sia replied with a sigh. “Goddesses, I know you’re not normally this clueless. Now,” and with that Sia’s eyes turned to Camille, pinning the blonde to her seat. “Don’t look so scared, my child. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you albeit under better circumstances.”

“Sid told you about me?” Camille blinked in surprise.

“Not outright, but a mother knows things about her children that they themselves don’t know.” And for the first time, Sia’s expression change as an amused smile spread across her face. “I knew Sid would introduce you to me in his own time. Sadly, the circumstances are not in our favour. So, here we are. I must say, you are much stronger looking than I imagined.”

“Sia!” Jag scolded.

“What?” the woman looked at Jag innocently. “It’s no secret that humans are much more delicate than we are, sort of like newborn babies.”

“Camille is more than capable of protecting herself.” Jag responded, his frown deepening. “I think it’s time to go see Sid.”

“That has to be the smartest thing you’ve said all day.” Sia mused, setting her tea down and standing up. “And then we can discuss arrangements for Camille return with me to Draygon.”