When Jag had mentioned the evening gowns, Camille had assumed there would only be a couple and basic at that. What she found in Jag's immaculate room was a clothes rack almost collapsing under the weight of all the dresses currently hanging from it. Sequins, pearls and gems sparkled in an array of colours while silk, satin and various wads of tulle had melded into some giant cloud of fabric.
Soft pinks, sultry blacks, elegant golds and rich reds were lined up waiting to be examined and slipped on. Just one of the dresses had to cost more than what Camille earned in a month and just being in the same room as them was intimidating.
This had to be a mistake.
Turning on her heel, Camille left the bedroom and sought out Jag. He was still very shirtless in the kitchen, his flaming eyes focused on his tablet while the coffee percolator gurgled away filling the air with the scent of coffee. <
"How many fingers am I holding up?""Three.""Okay, and what day is it?""Wednesday."The Draygonian medic withdrew from Camille and turned to his computer to make a few notes letting a tense silence settle in the examination room. Camille didn't recall how she got to the medical floor but when she woke up, the pain was gone and she was wearing a hospital gown. So far the only people she had seen were the medic and a nurse. While they were friendly enough, the whole thing had her on edge and she desperately wanted to go home where she would feel safe. She didn't even know if anyone knew she was here. Well, Jag obviously knew but what about Charlotte?Since waking up Camille had been subjected to a series of tests and examinations with little explanation as to what had happened. She had been sitting on the edge of the bed as tense as a springboard, un
Sid didn't think he had ever been as happy to see the Ark as he was now. Then again, this was the first time he was returning to base since finding his female. It had been an exhausting patrol no thanks to the ambush and the clear up following that. They had tried to track down the members of the cell that had escaped but they were like ghosts and had disappeared without a trace. It hadn't been a complete bust though. They had managed to apprehend a few of the men left behind to try and slow the soldiers down. They had also been able to salvage some evidence which they hoped would help determine if the terrorists were planning any attacks either on the military or on civilians. It appeared that the drama hadn't been on just the battlefield though. He had received word that things had been unsettled back at the Ark as well. Naturally Jag had told him about Emma's visit to the hospital but also what she had said about the Isis
Come Friday morning, Camille was determined that life got back to normal. She had never been one to feel sorry for herself and she wasn’t about to let her friends and boss treat her like some fragile statue made of glass. Sure, it had been a terrifying ordeal bleeding from her eyes and feeling like someone was trying to open her skull with a buzz-saw but the doctor had pretty much confirmed it was probably stress or an infection. And it was no surprise that she was stressed, not that Camille wanted to address why her body might now be weakening under the years of emotion and physical torture. She had promised herself that she wouldn’t fall victim to her memories now that she was safe. She had a good job after all and some friends. How easy would it really be for Nathan to find her in a city like New York? She wasn’t even going by her own name. I will always find you, no matter where you hide. You’re mine, baby, and I’d fu
Camille was both stunned and slightly intimidated by the question posed to her by Jag. For a few moments she sat silently contemplating the slight surrealness of the moment whilst Jag tucked into his meal calmly as if he had all the time in the world and that the dozens of urgent and important tasks he had could in fact wait. It felt oddly normal; far from the usual tension between them. Jag even appeared to be in a good mood despite being away for god knows how long.But then there was the fluttering sensation of not wanting to make a fool of herself in front of a Draygonian while talking about his world and his culture. The fear squirmed like an eel in Camille's stomach making her shifted in her seat."Not much else." Camille attempted to play down her knowledge so as not to embarrass herself. "I know that your planet isn't that different from ours in terms of being carbon based. There is one continent sized land mass but there
Camille couldn't help but shift nervously as she stood in front of Sid's apartment door, waiting for him to unlock it.Jag had been consumed by work after their dinner chat and Camille had used her lunch to head back to Charlotte's apartment and freshen up. By the time she got back to Jag's, the soldier was gone only for her phone to chime with a message from him telling her had a last minute meeting and would see her on Monday. So, she had entertained Hunter and tidied up a few things before returning the taego to his master's quarters and waiting for Sid to come get her.Surprisingly, her nerves had remained steady up until she found herself outside of the male's door. Then she had found herself jittery like a teenager on their first ever date. Sid had so far been a real delight though. He had Camille in stitches almost immediately and the way he had flung his arm around her shoulder and kept her close while they walked had Cam
"Sid kissed you!?"Camille cringed and nodded, ignoring the surprised noises Charlotte was making beside her on the couch.“I totally knew he was into you. He was practically drooling over you when we did that class a few weeks back.” Charlotte chortled.After practically running out of Sid's place following their rather intense kiss, Camille had wandered around aimlessly for a few hours to try and clear her head but found herself no closer to making sense of what had happened. The guilt was clawing at her insides to the point that she felt like she couldn't breathe and yet she couldn’t work out if she felt guilty for kissing Sid or for running out on him the way she had. She still couldn't work out why she would do something like make out with someone while dating someone else.In the end the only thing Camille had worked out was she clearly wasn't ready for a rel
The warmth of the sun filtering through the open window slowly pulled Camille from her slumber as the sound of birds chirping and the scent of something sweet being cooked filled the air. Opening her eyes, she rolled onto her side to face the window, her ocean blue eyes admiring the view of lush grass and trees and the dozens of brightly coloured flowers swaying in the breeze. She was certain she could lie here forever, watching the day slip by and enjoying the warmth of the sun like a snoozing cat. "You're awake." A familiar voice pulled Camille from her thoughts. Looking over her shoulder, Camille couldn't help the smile that curled her lips upwards when she saw Kal in the doorway. He was wearing loose pants and a vest that exposed his muscled arms that were littered in the same markings as Camille saw on Jag once before. "Are those new tattoos?" She found herself asking as she sat up. &
"You're our soulmate."The words had slipped from Kal's lips so easily that at first, Camille thought she had imagined him speaking. Yet the heavy silence that fell after those three words were spoken and the way all three males were looking at Camille told her that she hadn't imagined it at all. Each of them held a different expression but Camille could only discern two of them.Unsurprisingly, Jag's face gave nothing away about how he was feeling or thinking and yet something told the blonde that emotions bubbled just below the surface. They were carefully concealed as always.That left Sid and Kal. Their expressions differed. Kal, forever the romantic, looked optimistic. His smile was soft but fond as his golden eyes watched Camille with adoration. It was virtually impossible not to fall into those soulful eyes and get lost.But it was Sid's guilty look that made Camille realise
You are not going back to that man!” Camille was pretty sure that if their door was capable of being slammed, Jag would have slammed it as he stormed into their apartment behind her. She had known her plan wouldn’t go down well but that didn’t deter her from it. She had all but made up her mind. If this was their only shot at flushing Nathan out of his hiding place then Camille was going to make sure they took it. It was one thing when it was just her being victimised but now innocent bystanders were getting hurt. “Camille!” The warning growl pulled the blonde from her thoughts and she turned to face her male. She wasn’t surprised to see his anger or the concern in his eyes and yet it still made her heart ache. Despite his gruffness and stoic exterior, Jag still had emotions and right now, he was as equally scared as Camille was about the whole situation. It felt like the walls were closing in around them with combat quickly becoming the only way out. They couldn’t let that happen
Camille wouldn’t lie, she was still suspicious of Sia’s motives and yet as agreed, she was sitting at a small round dining table that Sia had insisted on being set up in Sid’s room. She could still see in her mind the look on the doctor’s face when she had seen what was going on.“This isn’t a hotel!” “Are you telling me that you would deny a mother the chance to eat dinner with her son after he nearly died?” Sia had been as intimidating as ever in that moment. It wasn’t that she was aggressive or threatening violence but she certainly made it clear how difficult she would make everyone’s life if she didn’t get her way. Just her presence commanded attention and respect like a General in front of their men.Needless to say, the doctor had quickly walked away, putting an end to the disagreement.In a way Camille was impressed. It took skill to be able to carry something like that off without barely saying anything. But Camille also had dealt with enough intimidating people in her life
“You should be resting.” “I could say the same to you.” Camille frowned at Sid’s retort, watching as the giant male moved himself carefully from his bed to a wheelchair with all the precision of someone who had done this before. It was only when Sid had made himself comfortable that Camille took a seat in one of the chairs on the hospital room. Outside fat droplets of rain pelted against the window turning the grey sky, buildings and lights from vehicles and signs into watercolour. Somewhere above them, thunder rolled across the skies. It had been several days since the incident in the tunnels and since then, all anyone could talk about what Nathan and Tina. Their pictures were plastered on every news channel, newspaper, website and social media platform just like Jag had promised. Not only were the military looking for them but so were NYPD and the FBI. There was literally nowhere to hide and yet they had both gone to ground. Predictably EFHA were resisting any pressure to give u
For what had to be the umpteenth time in the last forty eight hours, Jag found himself pressing the tips of his fingers into his closed eyes to try and relieve the pressure from a looming headache. He was careful to ensure that outwardly he appeared calm and unfazed but even the most seasoned soldier would find themselves fighting off a stress headache with everything that was going on. And it seemed like literally everything was going on and none of it was working in their favour. “Digital forensics turned up nothing on EFHA or Matthews.” Kal announced as he walked into the room, dressed in his usual uniform and white hair neatly combed back. He looked like he had showered after a good night’s sleep but that couldn’t be further from the truth. “The only telling thing is that everyone fell into radio silence over usual channels about four months ago. They must have found new ways of communicating to ensure they were never tracked.” “Not surprising. They would have known their digita
Camille didn’t even have a chance to register what Sia had just announced before the woman was off out the door. Speechless was perhaps an understatement for how Camille felt and she tried to get her brain to compute while also trying to dampen down the alarm and panic rising up inside of her. She didn’t want to go to Draygon. At least, not like this. Earth, despite all the history Camille had there, was her home and it hadn’t even crossed her mind to leave. That seemed absurd! At least, right now it did. She couldn’t imagine why she would agree to the whole thing but at the same time, Camille got the impression that her agreement wasn’t necessary. She had no time to object though. Everything around her moved on while Camille found her mind frozen in alarm. Before she knew it, she was standing in the infirmary hallway as Jag and Sia discussed something with the doctor. In fact, it was the warmth of someone’s hand on her lower back that helped ground Camille once again. “You look like
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 h
She watched as the small silver speck in the sky grew closer until she could make out the full detail of the aircraft. The peachy light from the setting sun turned the silver body of the ship into copper. The day was coming to a close but the new nightmare Camille found herself in was far from over.There’s been an incident. Her eyes followed the aircraft as it slowed down and began to descend smoothly towards the landing pad. A group of people were waiting patiently for the ship to land before they moved swiftly towards it. It felt like the scene unfolding Down on the landing pad was a million miles away from and yet everything unfolding was linked to her.It was meant to have been a routine trip. They had been planning it for weeks, staking out the property and monitoring everyone’s movement. So how had this happened? How had Nathan gotten away? How had someone manage to detonate a bomb? There’s been an incident. Kal had explained that he had been able to jam the signal between t
Whoa, This place is amazing!” “Thanks,” Camille laughed nervously, cheeks turning red as she followed Charlotte inside. “I think the guys went a little overboard.”Neither Jag nor Kal had returned that evening which Camille had expected but had still found herself disappointed by. It was bad enough Sid was on some mission for god knows how long but Camille knew that there was a reason for it all. Come the morning, Camille had decided she had sulked enough and it was time for her to do some of her investigating. Ever since she had found out that Nathan had been behind everything that had happened, Camille had become determined to find out how he had managed to pull everything off so easily. Camille’s details being found amongst the LA Ark’s deleted employee files had told Camille that Nathan had someone working for him that could pull off planting files and hack systems. But hackers didn’t just go around announcing they were hackers so, Camille needed help figuring out how to flush t
"Did she like it then?” “Jag seems to think so.” “I knew it.” “Sid, Kal, focus.” Jag spoke up, interrupting his best friends’ conversation. It wasn’t that he wanted to be the serious one right now. He too wanted to discuss how their surprise for Camille had gone but, they had a job to do. In just a few minutes, they would have apprehended Nathan and this whole ordeal would be over. This mission was no doubt for the greater good but this time it felt personal. Jag had no illusions that when he finally came face with Nathan that it would take everything in him not to tear the piece of shit limb from limb. And it wouldn’t even be about what the man had been involved in. Not entirely. No, this man had laid is hands on Camille. He had hurt her, abused her and then turned her into his unwitting spy. He dreaded to think what would have happened if Camille hadn’t met them. “Alright, we are approaching the target.” Sid spoke up, taking on a slightly more serious tone. “All units are in po