SG-1 – Parenthesis – Chapter 1
Disclaimer : don't own the characters of that wonderful story, unfortunately...
Warning : you're entering unbetaed territory. The story was originally written in French. I've translated it into English for my dear friend Pauline.
Thanks to all of you who read my stories : you rock !
If you want to put yourself in the mood I was in when I wrote this story, listen to Darren Hayes' Insatiable, Martina McBride's Valentine and Céline Dion's Seduces Me.
The story that follows is AU. Just a little shipper because I was feeling romantic ;)
They had arrived the previous evening in Washington for a whole day of meetings with the Air Force top brass for Jack and scientific conferences for Sam. For once, the other members of SG-1 had not been required to tag along, which suited Daniel and Teal'c perfectly fine. Daniel had gone to visit Catherine and Ernest and Teal'c had been granted permission to spend a couple of days off with his son and his old friend Brata'c. And for once, Jack and Sam had traveled in first class and been granted large and comfortable rooms with air conditioning at a hotel in the heart of Washington and though they were used to making do with the bare necessities on their off-world missions, they had had to admit it was a pleasant change.
They had reached the hotel quite late in the evening and had only seen each other briefly in the morning but had agreed to meet for dinner to talk about their day. The programs at the SGC were seemingly ever under the scrutiny of the Treasury and they always had to bend over backwards not to see the program shut down by one of those stupid politicians leading the Congress committees, people who didn't seem to have one ounce of good sense.
Sam's cab dropped her off at the hotel around 18:00. When she entered the hall, she saw Jack had already arrived. He was seating in one of the comfortable leather armchairs in the lobby, waiting for her. He was still wearing his uniform and when she apologized for being so late, he motioned to it and smiled. "No problem, Carter. As you can see it for yourself, I've just arrived."
"How was your day, Sir?"
"Good, if you consider everything's fine for the SGC." She gave a sigh of relief. "Not so good," he added, scowling, "if you imagine me sitting for hours on end answering endless lists of dumb questions."
She couldn't help laughing. Yes, indeed, she could easily picture Jack seething with rage at all those desk job conceited jerks who knew nothing about the program!
Jack noticed for the umpteenth time since he'd known her how wonderful that was to hear her giggle and how much it resembled joyful chimes. His long, boring day suddenly vanished. Only the present mattered.
"Ok. Let's talk about something else... I'm hungry. What about you?" he asked, raising one eyebrow in a very Teal'c-like fashion. She giggled again. He would have done anything to hear her giggling. Actually, that's what he did when he told dumb jokes before heading for new missions or when he played tricks on Daniel. He only hoped that she had not noticed though, knowing Carter, you could bet she had. She never overlooked any detail and her brain was always at full throttle, even when she slept. That he also knew because of the uncountable number of times he'd watched her sleep when they shared a tent off-world. He hoped too that she didn't know that!
"As a matter of fact, Sir, I am. I only had time to grab a sandwich for lunch."
"No donuts?" he cried out, in mock indignation. Donuts and blue jell-o were Sam's favorite food, the gasoline for her wonderful little gray cells.
She shook her head in mock despair. He chuckled.
"Well, in that case, we should get to the restaurant right now, before you faint."
He motioned for her to follow him.
"Sir?"
"Yes, Carter?" He turned around and saw she had not moved and was looking quite embarrassed.
"Can you give me fifteen minutes to change? I really don't feel like keeping my uniform on for the rest of the evening, especially as it's quite warm outside."
Come to think about it, she was right. He didn't particularly care for keeping his uniform on either. Like her, he much preferred his BDUs. He bent his head a little to the side, as if her question required some thinking, just to tease her a little, then nodded his assent. Threatening her with his forefinger he then added: "fifteen minutes, not a second more, Carter, understood!"
She beamed at him, sending shivers down his spine and headed for the elevator.
He had been to his room to change too and was waiting for her in the lobby when she stepped out of the elevator. Whao! Was all that came to mind. She was wearing a red dress that fastened in the front and fell under her knees. It was only tame in appearance. It was sleeveless with a nice cleavage and slits on the skirt that showed her legs up to her knees when she walked. She smiled at him and he silently prayed that he didn't quite look like the idiot he felt like, standing there, gaping at her. Carter clad in a dress! He felt as if his brain was padded with cotton. He couldn't think when she smiled at him that way! She turned around to leave her pass at the reception desk and he saw that the dress was also low-cut at the back, tightened at her waist with two wide ribbons, which hugged the swell of her breast, her slim waist and clung around her hips. She wore crystal and silver pendants that swung when she walked and a charms' silver bracelet. She had low-heeled silver sandals that made her look even more feminine, especially to one who only saw her in SF uniforms.
His mind was still trying to process all this brand new data when she came to stand in front of him. "Ready when you are, Sir!" she said, saluting him mischievously.
"Carter, had I known you'd get all dressed up, I would not have selected jeans and a shirt," he said, embarrassed, turning towards the elevator, obviously intending to go and change.
She laid a hand on his arm and countered: "I love this blue shirt and you look good in jeans, Sir." The feel of her hand on his arm gave him the impression the temperature had suddenly risen sharply around him.
He breathed in deeply and locked his eyes with hers: "Carter, please, humor me, will you? We forget about the Sirs tonight, ok?"
She felt as if she were melting under his chocolate-brown gaze. All she could think of was : "Yes, Sir."
"Ah!" he said, threateningly, "It's Jack, got it?" He offered her his arm.
"Yes, Sir, I mean Jack," she said, taking his arm. "Where are we going?"
"Just across the street. There's an Irish pub with plush chairs, good beer, good food and music... How does that sound?"
She answered with yet another smile that melted his heart. The day was definitely ending much better than it had started.
They talked about their day of work, and also about this and that. They had just finished the main course and were waiting for dessert when the small band sitting in the corner of the room that had up until now played background music, started playing Fly Me to the Moon. He suddenly saw her eyes brimming with tears and she averted her gaze when she saw he had noticed.
"Sam, what's wrong?" he asked, suddenly worried.
"Nothing, a mere nothing."
"Sam, look at me." She forced herself to look up. "It's obviously not a mere nothing. Can't we talk about it?"
She breathed in deeply and brushed off her tears. "My mom loved that song. She had chosen it to be the theme song at her wedding with Dad."
He smiled and standing up, held out his hand to her. "Then you should never be sad when you listen to it. Come, let's dance."
She shook her head. Being in his arms was all she had ever wanted but not that way, not because he pitied her.
He bent towards her. "I'm not doing it out of pity, Carter. I only want to dance with you. Come."
She understood that he would not take no for an answer so she put her hand in his and followed him to the dance floor.
He laid his left hand just above the small of her back, sending a wave of pleasure down her spine. His right hand had not let go of Sam's and he was now holding it again his shoulder. She rested her free hand on his arm, making him shiver. She had dreamed of a moment like this one for years but her dreams were but a pale imitation of what she was feeling now. Yet, as Jack was taking her out onto the dance floor, she couldn't help but be troubled by what she felt. There was a world of difference between daydreaming and making one's dreams come true, especially if one considered the situation they were in. It was well and fine to say it was just a dance but she was well aware it was much, much more than that for them both. Everything in him seduced her and she couldn't disregard the way he had looked at her when she'd stepped out of the elevator.
Now, there were strict rules in the Air Force: no personal relationships were allowed. They could spend quality time with their colleagues but until now, the situation had never been ambiguous as they had always been with the other members of the team. Being alone in this pub, a step away from their hotel to top it all, was a blatant infringement of the most elementary regs. If they got on slippery ground, they were both eligible to be court martialled and though it was a well-known fact General Hammond loved them dearly, he wouldn't be able to do anything against that. They would be separated, their careers would be over and the team would be dismantled, the consequences of which for the program she could not even start to fathom.
"Sam?" Jack had stopped dancing and was looking at her. She felt as if he could look right into her soul. "You stop that right now!" he ordered her in mock anger.
"What?" She hadn't done anything, for God's sake!
"You stop thinking for once! You little gray cells need a rest and I would like to dance with Sam, not Major Carter, for crying out loud!"
"Jack, I'm sorry. I was thinking about a new project..." she attempted to divert the conversation.
"Sam, stop telling me lies, will you? I know what you're thinking about and I refuse to spoil the evening with that." He led her to their table where dessert had been served and held the chair for her then he sat and took hold of her hand. "Tonight, there's no Air Force, no SGC, no regs. We don't have forty lifetimes ahead of us, we've just got one and I'm already well into mine. I think I'm entitled to say we've done more than our share. There's nobody here who knows us. Only one night, Sam..."
He let go of her hand and concentrated on eating his chocolate cake so she would have time to think about it. They had never talked about it. No promises had been made. Chances of being one day allowed to date were so close to zilch that they didn't even dare confess how much they missed each other when they were not in the same room. All her repressed feelings were suddenly resurfacing. She was dumbfounded to hear him voice out his feelings. After years on the field, working on mission after mission, depending on each other for their survival, they had developed a non-verbal form of communication that was only theirs. Daniel and Teal'c knew it well. Sam and Jack didn't need to communicate to understand each other. One glance was enough. In fact, he'd never spoken so much for such a serious matter.
He was trying to focus his attention on the cake, playing with his food rather than eating it, for once, waiting for her to decide, when he heard her giggle. He looked up in amazement. "What's so funny?"
She beamed at him: "I'd never heard you speak so much!" she teased him.
He smiled at her. "Is it a yes?" he asked.
She bent her head to the side, her head resting on the palm of her hand, as he sometimes did just to aggravate her.
"I mean, can you forget about the rules and regs for tonight?" he added, intimidated by her wide blue eyes.
She didn't answer. She only got up and held out her hand to him, clearly inviting him to leave the restaurant.
"What about your cake?" he asked, nodding at her untouched plate.
"No big deal. I have everything I need right now," she answered, winking at him, almost making him blush.
They left the pub hand in hand and went for a walk to enjoy the evening's cool atmosphere then they retraced their steps, their arms around each other's waist, stopping every few feet to kiss. His warm hand around her waist was fondling her hip and though they'd first only exchanged a few shy kisses when they'd left the restaurant, they were now being much less reasonable on the way back.
"Jack..." she whispered against his shoulder as he was holding her against him and was kissing her from her earlobe to the base of her neck.
"Hum..." he answered absent mindedly.
"Someone could see us... Please, try to be sensible, will you?" she begged him.
"Don't want to!" he answered impishly, with the same mischievous look he had when he was up to something and she realized she'd have to be reasonable for them both.
"Jack?" she insisted.
"Yep?" he said, still kissing her.
"We should go back to our hotel. It's getting late..."
He held her tight and warmth spread through her whole body. His eyes locked with hers and she felt her resolve instantly melting away.
"You're the boss tonight, hon'. Whatever you want, ma'am."
Sam missed a heartbeat. Either he was the cleverest wheedler she'd ever known or he was really sweet. Her heart opted for the latter.
"My room," she said, not daring to look up at him, knowing she was blushing.
He cupped her face in his hands and bent towards her to drop a tender kiss on her lips.
"And?" he prompted.
"And I don't want you gone when I wake up tomorrow morning..." she added shyly.
"No way I'm leaving you, Sam," he said, taking her towards the hotel.
They found themselves with an old couple in the elevator who glanced at them when they got inside, holding each other's waist. Sam did what she could to repress a fit of laughter and by the time they reached her floor, she was on the verge of tears. As they were leaving the elevator, Jack bent towards her and whispered in her ear: "It's going to be a long night, honey." He had not spoken very low and could see that the old people had heard him so he thought What the heck! and moved his hand down her waist in a long, sensuous caress that was anything but accidental. Then he turned to the old couple, beamed at them and bid them good night, choosing to ignore the utterly scandalized look on their faces.
"I think I shocked them," he said innocently to Sam as they were heading for her room.
"You're such a brat!" she chided him but couldn't help laughing anyway.
"And I'm insatiable too..." he added, taking the pass from her hand and opening the door. "You still can say good night to me and kick me out if you're not sure..." He wanted to make sure she wanted it as much as he did.
"No way, Sir. You're here to stay. You're mine and mine alone tonight," she said, taking him into her room.
"Carter! I told you not to call me Sir!" he chided her, pushing her gently against the wall and closing the door.
"So you're not allowed to call me Carter either! Too bad... It always turns me on when you do and I love the idea of you being my colonel..." she remarked impishly.
"You mischievous little rascal! You're going to pay for that!" he whispered in her ear as he started unfastening her dress, kissing her all the while.
The kiss that was at first suggestive became downright sensuous when he decided it was high time to move on to more serious matters and started exploring her mouth with his tongue as he unclasped her bra with one single swift movement. The dress was already on the floor at her feet and all she had left on now were her panties and shoes. He took her in his arms and carried her to the bed. "Not very original, I know," he whispered as he lay down on the bed beside her. "But that was the first option that came to mind, though," he added between two kisses as she was starting to unbutton his shirt, "if you're not too tired, later on, I have a lot more to explore..."
"Show off!" she retorted as she smothered him with her kisses.
TBC