Chapter 21 #2
“Oh, my sweet Cam! I’m so glad you’re safe and you’ve found our people,” she gushed as she squeezed him tightly. For such a small woman, she gave some obscenely strong hugs.
“And I’m so glad you’re here. Did you have a good flight?”
Releasing him, Halmeoni waved one hand absently. “The jet was so fancy. Baldewin and Sasha took excellent care of us. We were quite safe at all times.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“I’m so glad she came, really. Sasha, I mean. She’s your sister’s new girlfriend. They’re so cute together.”
Cameron could only blink at that news. Girlfriend ? His grandmother had to be wrong, but he was not going to dig into that now. It was always better to tighten the screws on Cassie when they were alone, and he’d made sure it was harder for her to escape him.
“King Alric would like to meet you,” Cameron prompted, motioning across the courtyard where Alric was in deep conversation with a frowning Baldewin.
They were likely talking about the man Cassie had captured and their failed interrogation.
Cameron just wanted to cross the distance separating them and wrap his arms around Alric, snuggling into him until the frown was gone.
He glanced down to see a sly smile lift his grandmother’s lips as her eyes darted from Cameron to Alric and back again. Dear god, he didn’t want to contemplate the evil swirling in her mind.
With her hand on his arm, Halmeoni marched straight over to Alric as if she met with dragon kings every day.
And why not? His grandmother didn’t so much as blink an eye at the crazy things of life.
She’d always believed their family came from mages and they were destined to do magic.
Why wouldn’t she be meeting with the leader of the Burkhard clan?
As they approached, Alric quickly ended his conversation with Baldewin and arranged an appropriate smile on his lips.
It was like watching the dragon fit himself into a role.
The switch from Alric to King Alric was visible as he straightened, his expression smoothing out into something politely interested.
It suddenly became critical to Cameron that he continuously knock Alric out of those molds and roles when they were alone together.
The dragon definitely needed to escape from his duties every once in a while.
“King Alric, may I introduce you to my grandmother, Noh Ha Na?” Cameron said, briefly wondering if there was some more appropriate way of doing this, since Alric was a king. Should Dieter have handled the introductions? Or maybe even Baldewin.
Alric didn’t even blink an eye. He bowed to his grandmother and extended his right hand. “It is an honor to meet you in person, Lady Noh.”
“I trust you’ve been taking good care of my grandson. No more kidnapping attempts?”
Cameron hissed at his grandmother. His cheeks burned hot enough to fry an egg.
The dragon’s face became incredibly serious, and he actually held his grandmother’s hand in both of his. “I assure you that I take Cameron’s safety and well-being very seriously. He’s being protected by the entire Burkhard clan. I am personally seeing to his safety.”
“And what about his happiness? Are you personally seeing to his happiness as well?” The waggle of her eyebrows made it clear what she really meant by that.
Alric’s eyes widened and darted frantically to Cameron, a rosy flush painting his cheeks. Beside Alric, Baldewin nearly fell over laughing, and Cameron could only sigh loudly. Yes, his family had arrived at Burkhard castle in style.
Carefully pulling Halmeoni’s hand from Alric’s, he started to usher her away from the pair of dragons. “Alright, that’s enough. You’ve scared one dragon, and from what I’m hearing, you’ve scarred another. Let’s go get you settled in your room.”
“What? Scared a dragon? How would a dragon be scared of a little old woman?” his grandmother demanded as she was ushered toward the castle.
“He’d be scared if he was smart, and Alric is a smart man,” Cameron replied.
“He’s only smart if he snatches you up as his mate,” Halmeoni said fiercely, and Cameron struggled to not roll his eyes. He was pretty damn sure mates didn’t work that way, but he was also a smart man, and he was not going to argue with her.
Instead, he focused on corralling both his grandmother and wayward sister into the castle.
Cassie hadn’t been excited about separating from her new girlfriend—Cameron still needed a minute to wrap his brain around that—but she was soon distracted by the opulence of the castle.
They oooed at the paintings, furniture, and various decorations.
They happily met every person Cameron had met over the past several weeks.
But the ooo ’s turned to shrieks—mostly on Cassie’s part—when they saw their private suites.
Cameron dropped them off in their rooms to rest and refresh after their long trip before escaping into his own.
The silence lasted two minutes.
Cameron was still pulling off his sneakers when there came a knock at his door. His heart skipped a beat, hoping that maybe Alric had come to check on him again. But on the other side of the door, he was faced with Cassie’s determined glare and Halmeoni’s questioning look.
“So? Have you rocked that dragon’s world?” Cassie demanded.
Cameron groaned and stepped backward, waving for his twin and grandmother to enter. “I’m working on it.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Cassie grumbled back at him.
Her grumpiness was short lived as a smile spread across her face a second before she darted across the room and launched herself at Cameron’s bed.
She landed with a bounce and sighed, settling against the heavy blankets and thick pillows.
“It means I’m working on it,” Cameron repeated.
Halmeoni’s hand gently patted Cameron’s cheek, drawing his attention down to her. “Seriously, child, what’s the hold up? That man looks like he needs a little nookie.”
“Halmeoni!” Cameron choked on a laugh, though he wasn’t really surprised.
His grandmother had always been rather blunt and outspoken.
She just chuckled at him as she crossed the room and dropped into a heavily cushioned chair in front of the empty fireplace and placed her feet up on the matching ottoman.
Closing the door, Cameron turned back to his family, arms folded over his chest. For as exhausting as they were, Cameron didn’t hesitate to admit he was glad they were here.
Not only were they safe from the threats from this secret mage group, but they could give him some much-needed insight into a certain tight-lipped dragon.
“It’s complicated.”
Cassie snorted from her blanket nest. “Sex is not complicated. You only make it complicated.”
“Is that what you told your new girlfriend?”
Cassie’s head immediately popped up and she glared at her twin.
“Sasha isn’t just sex. She…” Cassie paused and let out the dreamiest sigh he’d ever heard.
Cameron expected little red hearts to dance around her head and blue birds to start singing in his room.
What the hell ! “Sasha is just amazing. She’s fierce and brilliant and so protective.
She looks at me like I’m the most precious thing she’s ever seen.
And she’s not intimidated or overwhelmed by me. She’s…she’s perfect and I adore her.”
“Are you telling me you’ve met your mate already? Are you kidding me?”
“Yeah. Why not? I just look at her and know.” Cassie fisted her hands in the bedding. “She’s mine.” His sister looked ready to go to war to defend that statement.
“Does Sasha feel the same way?”
“I think so.” Cassie shrugged and looked away. “It’s not like we’ve had that conversation, but I can see it when she looks at me. She’s mine and I’m hers.”
Cameron wandered over and flopped down on the comfy sofa in front of the fireplace next to his grandmother’s chair. “Yeah, well… things aren’t so obvious with Alric. He’s complicated.”
“Men like to think they’re complicated, but they’re not,” Halmeoni said sagely, earning a glare from Cameron before he dropped his arm over his eyes.
“It’s not a matter of whether he’s interested. We’re definitely attracted to each other.”
“That’s a good start in terms of nookie,” Cassie interjected.
Cameron ignored her. “But I don’t know if he’s my mate, and I don’t get the feeling Alric is sure I’m his mate.
We’re both being cautious, and I understand.
Alric survived this whole war that decimated his family, his people, and our people because some asshole wanted a dragon who wasn’t his mate.
I don’t want to be that next asshole who destroys more dragons, and Alric doesn’t want to hurt me. ”
And then there was the entire issue with Alric’s self-esteem and sense of self-worth thanks to his old war injury. But Cameron wasn’t comfortable talking about that just yet. The urge to protect the dragon was damn near suffocating.
A scoffing noise came from Halmeoni, and Cameron lowered his arm to see his grandmother looking at him with an expression of disbelief. “Do you really think you’re going to start a war over Alric?”
A little voice in Cameron’s heart immediately shouted, “YES!” Alric was his.
Cameron wanted to lay claim to all his smiles and even his frowns.
He wanted to be the person Alric talked to when he was worried or upset.
He wanted to be the one who took his cares away and made him feel lighter.
He wanted to teach him that his damn scars didn’t matter, that he was beautiful, strong, and powerful even with the scars.
He blinked. Um. Emotions, where did those come from?
Shit, had that possessiveness really been hiding under the surface all this time?
How had Cameron not realized it before? And what should he do about it because obviously this was so much more than attraction or a crush.
Cameron’s heart was going into some pretty serious territory.