"Temptation"
Written By – SMBBOOKS, SEW Crew Member
Elizabeth, eyes closed, turned her face to the sun, feeling its radiant heat work its way through her body. Warm ocean breezes ruffled through her hair, bringing calm peace of mind with them.
Sighing, she opened her eyes and glanced across the glittering waves, squinting until she became accustomed to the glare. In the far distance, she saw large shapes arcing through the water and wondered, smiling to herself, if Sam the whale had stopped by to say hello.
All was quiet, except for the gentle lapping of the waves against the city. Elizabeth marveled at how utterly amazing life could be. Here she was, far away from Earth, in another galaxy, in a city built by an ancient race of people she had never met (well, not in this timeline anyway) and she had never felt more at home in her life. Fate was an odd mistress, she mused, smiling to herself.
The balcony door whooshed open behind her and she heard the determined steps of her second in command as he approached her position at the balcony.
"Gorgeous day, isn't it?"
"That it is, Colonel, that it is." Elizabeth took note of the grin on his face and the gleam in his eye and knew he had something up his sleeve. Something that would most definitely not relate to work.
John glanced out over the ocean as he said, "So, I was thinking…."
"Which is usually a dangerous thing," Elizabeth began.
"Oh, that's nice," he replied, but grinned cheekily as he said it.
Elizabeth laughed and said, "Only because it usually involves something specifically designed to distract me from work."
"Looks like you're already distracted."
Giving a small nod, Elizabeth knew he had her. "Fair point, Colonel." Waving him on, she said, "Proceed."
Looking like a 6 year-old who had just been told Christmas would come early that year, John said, "How about we steal a puddle jumper, round up Rodney, Katie, Carson, Cadman, Kate, Lorne, Ronon & Teyla and head for the mainland for the afternoon?"
"And, just who exactly, do you want to leave in charge while we're gone?"
"Zelenka is still recovering from that bad sunburn he got on MX-0842. He and Chuck can keep an eye on things for a couple hours while we're gone. We'll be in radio contact the whole time."
"I don't know, John. That's an awful lot of senior staff gone at one time."
John gently laid his hand on hers, which still had a firm grip on the balcony rail. Elizabeth shivered inside, hoping he wouldn't notice her reaction to his touch.
"Elizabeth, we'll be a short 7 minute jumper ride away." He caught her eye, saw her wavering and lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, said, "Come on, you know you want to."
This time, the heat suffusing her face had nothing to do with the sun. What is it about this man that has such an effect on me? She saw the evil gleam in his eye and, knowing it could lead to dangerous things, decided to step up and play. Game on, Colonel, she thought in her head.
John saw the shift in the set of her jaw and the spark in her eye and knew he had her. That's my girl, he thought to himself. Rise to the challenge.
"All right, Colonel, you've won me over…."
John interrupted her quickly, flyboy grin firmly in place, "Well, it was only a matter of time."
Elizabeth snorted as she brushed past him, careful to make bodily contact with him as she did, Did he just catch his breath? Remind me to do that more often, and retorted, "If you'll let me finish, I was going to say, you've won me over to your line of thinking."
"Oh, of course, of course."
"Contact Zelenka and tell him he and Chuck are in charge. Round up the others. We leave in an hour."
"Yes ma'am. Any other orders?"
Throwing a glance over her shoulder as she exited the balcony, "Careful, Colonel or I'll make you help me decide which bikini I'm going to take on our little excursion."
John choked and tripped over his feet as he followed her into the gateroom.
Elizabeth, grinning broadly, headed for her quarters, thinking to herself, There, Colonel. You just work that out in your head for the next hour.
Round #1, Dr. Elizabeth Weir.