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Chapter 15
Jessica awoke slowly, little sounds pulling her from a deep slumber. Her first instinct was to go back to sleep, as warm and comfortable as she was, and she was about to do just that when her brain registered what those sounds were; the rhythmic thumping of a heart beat, and it wasn’t her own. As she became more aware, she realized that her arm was wrapped around a strong torso, her leg draped over a muscular thigh, her head pillowed against a warm chest. The events over the last twenty-four hours came rushing back to her, and she hoped against hope that she could extricate herself without waking Cam up, but as she slowly raised her head she saw she wasn’t the one who had woke up first.
"Morning, Jessie," Cam drawled, a twinkle in his eyes, "you sleep well?" He grinned as she began to blush, her realizing how intimately she was wrapped around him. He was pretty certain she had no idea the self control it had taken for him not to roll her over and sample another round of the pleasures he had discovered the night before. He wanted to keep their friendship and working relationship on good terms, not to mention the possibility of a more personal relationship. He felt if he took advantage of the situation, regardless of how tempting, the trust she had in him would suffer. Reaching up, he brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes as she tried to gracefully untangle her limbs from his.
"Morning," she mumbled as she managed to bring a little bit of the cover between them, trying to find a shred of modesty in the process. Cam took pity on her and helped her with the blanket before he pushed himself to a sitting position. She went to do the same thing, and couldn’t stop the groan as a dull pain shot through her legs, as well as other parts of her anatomy. Cam moved around to face her, a hand on her back.
"You okay?" he asked.
Geez, she had muscles she hadn’t known existed before. "Yeah, nothing that a soak in a really hot bath won’t fix," she said through gritted teeth.
He wrapped his arm around her, then placed a lingering kiss on her forehead. It was such a sweet gesture, and it brought a smile to her lips. Cam rested his forehead against hers for a moment before looking at her. "Are we okay?" he said.
She knew what he was asking. "You betcha," she said before leaning over and giving him a soft kiss in return.
Jessica was relieved to see their packs neatly stacked against the wall. While she moved to the side of the bed, Cam went and retrieved hers, placing it beside her before returning to dress himself. She felt better once she had her own clothes back on, and grabbing their packs they made their way out the door.
Making their way to the great room, they found Jack and Sam, who had apparently just gotten up themselves. As if on cue, Brojorn came around the corner.
"Good morning," he said cheerfully, like a little boy who had gotten his way.
"Morning," came the mumbled replies.
"I don’t suppose I could interest you in something to eat, or drink?"
Jack shook his head. "No. We need to be getting back."
"I understand." Turning, he handed some papers to Mitchell. "This is the signed trade agreement. I left out the activities of last night, but the rest is in black and white."
Mitchell looked at the papers, amazed at what they had had to go through to obtain it.
"Once the other items are delivered, you can commence mining as soon as you can get the operation set up."
"We’ll be doing that," Jack replied.
Brojorn walked over to Jessica, took her hand and placed a kiss on it. "Thank you," he said softly, and surprisingly without any gloating on his part.
Jessica inclined her head, not willing to actually say ‘your welcome’ to him, but she smiled as she felt Cam take her other hand in his.
Brojorn smiled at Mitchell. "One more thing before you go. You know that meeting you had with your President?"
"What about it?"
"The President’s aide who was there, he’s actually a lackey to Kinsey. It was how Kinsey found out about things so quickly." Brojorn smiled once again. "Just consider that bit of information a lagniappe."
They all looked at him, shocked.
Clearing his throat, Mitchell said, "Thank you," and then led the gang out into the sunshine, and headed to the gate.
General Hammond was waiting in the briefing room when they arrived. Looking at them, he noted they didn’t look any worse for the wear. "So, how did things go?"
Mitchell held up the trade agreement. "Got it."
Hammond looked at Jessica. "Are you all right Doctor Watson?"
"Yes Sir, I’m fine."
"Good. Go check in with Doctor Fraiser, and then we’ll debrief."
Hammond wondered if the report they gave would contain all the events that had actually happened. He had a pretty good idea, going by the subtle marks on the necks of Jessica and Mitchell. Glancing through the trade agreement, his eyes stopped on the last stipulation listed, a slow grin growing across his face. Making his way to the office, he picked up the phone.
"Mr. President? This is General Hammond. Yes Sir, they just arrived. Yes, the trade agreement was successfully completed. There’s just one thing the Nandanian leader added before we can begin mining. It’s in regards to the non-fraternization order and the SGC…"
THE END
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