to the anonymous reviewer: the dream sequences are a hugely important part of this story and I'm sorry you aren't enjoying them. But they ARE vital to the storyline.

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Chapter 9

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"Hey, cupcake," Guido called out as the dim light shone like a beacon into John's tiny cell. "It's play time."

"Today is Wednesday, Colonel," Athena's hollow voice floated in from where she stood at the door. "One of your favorite days."

John let his eyes adjust to the light after so many hours and days of complete black. He should add weeks and months but had to stop and think how many of those had gone by. When he had put up his requisite struggle and had received his requisite smacks he was dragged into the outer room. His eyes immediately moved to the wall where the alcove was and checked to see ten long marks carved into the cinderblock. He had made one each Sunday when he had been allowed to roam the room for most of the day. It had been ten weeks here in hell.

He attempted to retreat back into the nice little world he had created for himself to try and stay sane but Medusa was having none of it. She grabbed his hair which had grown shaggy and long and yanked on his head.

"You need to stay with me, Colonel," she purred in her fake nice voice which she always deluded herself into believing would make John think she was less of a snake head. It never worked though.

John opened his eyes and spotted the device. She still hadn't given up on getting this thing to work no matter how much John had attempted to truly do that.

"When are you gonna realize this thing is a piece of crap?" John managed to verbalize, his aching bones and back so blatantly painful due to yesterday's beating and the whipping of the previous day. He really needed to go back inside his head, as this reality really sucked.

"I don't believe you, Colonel," Athena growled back and her eyes lit up with anger. "Every time you use it, all the correct buttons and lights turn on indicating it's doing something. I think you're just hiding from me exactly whose mind you've been probing."

John sighed from sheer exhaustion. He had long since lost the energy to even try and trade barbs with her. But he took a deep breath and gave it one last shot.

"Maybe I've been probing your mind," he threw the words at her and saw her actually pause for a second. "And you know Guido and Bruno here would be very surprised to find out exactly what you think of them. And I'm pretty sure Bruno isn't into the type of kinky sex you've been fantasizing about with him though Guido might be more than willing as long as you do it with the snake voice turned on."

The two gorillas actually started looking uncomfortable but Athena merely slapped him across his already bruised face and snapped, "Enough! Now turn the machine on and make it work. I need to know whose mind you are reading."

John lifted his hands and placed them on the pads and it immediately started to glow and he could feel the Ancient technology hum in his veins. He closed his eyes and concentrated as best as his abused body and soul could manage. Just staying on his feet was a huge task in itself. Luckily, or maybe unluckily for him, Guido and Bruno were right there to hold him up whenever he started to sag.

John focused on the machine and for the umpteenth time tried to figure out exactly how to connect to anyone at all. He had been hoping he could let someone know he was still alive but Athena had hinted that this device only read thoughts, it didn't actually send them. But then he didn't really think of her as the honest type.

A few minutes later and she was leaning over the machine, her hands on the pads next to his and her eyes were closed as well. John thought of trying to wrap his hands around her neck and squeeze the life out of her but he knew he had already done that a few times and in seconds the two apes would have him lying on the floor with their boot prints indented in his side and back.

"Listen, Medusa," John finally said impatiently, "I've tried Woolsey, I've tried my whole team, I tried the President of the United States, heck I've even tried freakin' Osama bin Laden. I'm just not getting anything. I'm not even sure what to look for or do. Maybe you need to go back and read the instruction manual again because obviously there's some trick to using this that I haven't figured out yet."

"Fine then, if you don't wish to cooperate yet again," she said completely ignoring what he had said, "then we'll just move on to play time. You know how much I love Wednesdays."

John closed his eyes and felt like crying. But as he took a deep breath he heard a soft voice inside his head beckoning him to be strong and hold on. He listened closer and he could hear Teyla calling him and welcoming him back to her side.

His cuffed hands were pulled roughly away from the machine and dragged over his head and within seconds he felt himself hanging like a side of beef again from the bar overhead. He opened his eyes briefly and saw what Athena called 'The Rod of Anguish' and tried to control the automatic tremors that always started inside at the thought of it touching his skin. And she loved to touch him in the absolute worst places, like the raw wounds on his back and finishing up with his privates. She always got a chuckle when she did that.

But John swiftly retreated and grasped for the reality he was slowly losing himself in. Someday he figured he might not actually come out. But as the rod touched his back he knew he wasn't in deep enough yet and a strangled cry erupted from his mouth.

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"God, Teyla!" John cried as he watched the beautiful woman crouched in front of his chair stroking his growing erection. "You're going to be the end of me, you know that, don't you?"

The smoldering look in Teyla's eyes gave her answer as she continued to pet and touch him. Then she inched in and touched her tongue to his quivering flesh and a loud moan escaped and his hands slid into her hair. He pulled her closer and sent a thought in the direction of his office door to lock it. It wouldn't do to have someone walk in while he and Teyla were doing this.

His hands got busy on the laces and straps of her Athosian top and he wondered if she wore these at times like this just to give him a challenge. But she also knew he was always up for a challenge. And soon her top was on the floor and his hands were playing with her breasts as she slid her mouth around his arousal and sucked long and hard.

He squeezed her mounds in response to what she'd just done and her indrawn breath told him she'd liked it. So he did it again and again. Then he pulled on her nipples and rolled them between his fingers loving that her mouth tightened around him when he did. They played this game for a while then he pulled Teyla up to kiss her moist lips.

She straddled his lap and ran her hands through his hair while her tongue thrust inside his mouth. He responded in kind then whispered his lips down her neck and finally reached the peaks he had been playing with a short time ago. Teyla didn't complain.

She arched her back and John had to hold on tight so she didn't fall off. His tongue licked around her perfect nipple then flicked it playfully eliciting tiny whimpers from the woman on his lap. He made sure to give attention to both and took turns lavishing them with his tongue and sucking on them. Teyla began to squirm and wiggle her hips back and forth.

"Something you need, sweetie?" John teased as he rolled the chair closer to his desk.

Her lips turned up in a sensuous grin. "Yes, John, I have a great need. Are you up for fulfilling it?"

John eyed the part of him that was very up and smirked. "Oh, I hope so."

He pushed her gently from his lap and unsnapped her pants then drew the zipper slowly down, his fingers skimming along as he did this. He turned her around and started tugging on the waistband sliding the gray material down over her backside. He groaned when he saw that she wasn't wearing any panties.

"So apparently this," he waved at himself in the chair and his arousal hanging out, "wasn't really spontaneous, huh? You had plans to come in here and seduce me away from my work."

Teyla's eyebrows rose in amusement. "It was a slow day and I was bored. I know how good you are at relieving boredom. I thought you might like to join me instead of having me relieve myself." Her eyes flashed over her shoulder with more mischief. "Or find someone else to relieve it."

John grabbed her around the waist and pulled on the pants rapidly now, exposing her to his hungry gaze. "There'll be no one else relieving anything with you, Teyla. Make sure you remember that."

"You do not often let me forget," Teyla teased him as she moved her hips and raised her hands to lift her hair away from her neck, pushing her breasts out further for his perusal.

John felt raw shock course through his stomach at the sight of her and her blatant sexuality. He felt himself twitch but wanted to concentrate on her pleasure for a while. He knew he'd still be getting pleasure as well.

He turned her again and pressed his face into her curvaceous bottom, his lips and teeth nibbling on the silky skin. The noises coming from her mouth made him kiss and caress more. Then Teyla bent over his desk, leaning her head on the surface pushing her delectable bottom out even further. John thought he'd died and gone to heaven.

He kissed and licked a bit more then used both hands to separate her cheeks and found her soft center waiting for him. His finger probed first and gently stroked her folds then explored a little more to enter inside. More whimpers floated through the air and John pressed another finger inside the already moist interior.

He wiggled them in and out then moved in to taste the sweet nectar that Teyla had to offer. His tongue licked around the edges then dipped inside and soon Teyla was writhing on his tongue and his smile was pure pleasure.

He looked down and saw that her pants were still on near the floor but then noticed his own pants were around his knees. He should probably do something about that. He pushed the chair back and patted her gorgeous tush a few times then instructed, "Why don't we see about removing the last of these barriers."

Teyla turned and slid onto his desk then reached down to kick off her shoes and remove her pants completely. John had taken little time to untie his boots and slide his pants off as well. His eyes then grew intense as he saw Teyla sitting on his desk, her legs out to the sides and she was leaning back on her elbows.

She looked sweetly at him and her eyes changed to concern. "John, you must not forget to eat. The time will be long until you can satisfy your hunger again."

John nodded and rolled toward her, still in his desk chair. "Gonna satisfy that hunger right now, I think."

His head moved down and his lips reached again for the apex of her thighs. Teyla's feet shifted to rest on his shoulders and her head fell back with ecstasy at his ministrations. His lips sucked and his tongue flicked and soon her body was shuddering with tremors and John knew her hunger had indeed been satisfied. For now. He knew Teyla was always hungry.

He stood up and began to stroke his own desire until she managed to pull herself together from the aftershocks. Then she joined his hand with her own and gently fondled the sensitive sacs underneath. John closed his eyes as more shock waves slashed through him and he knew very soon he wouldn't be able to hold back anymore. But he allowed Teyla her exploration and moved one hand to slowly caress her skin from shoulder to thigh down to her cute little toes.

Finally when he could take it no longer he thrust himself inside her waiting core and saw her eyes go wide in abandonment as he pushed and retreated feverishly. In and out he plunged as he drove himself over and over and over again until they went over the edge of a steep cliff only to land softly in each other's arms, sprawled on the desk.

John kissed her swollen lips once more and let his linger along her skin as he slowly backed away. She was a vision to behold with her ravished body and her satisfied smile gloating as her eyes travelled over his own satiated flesh.

It was all he could do not to shove his now hardening member back inside and take her once again. But there was noise outside the door and he knew that wasn't to be.

John felt hands wrap around his arms and pull and he shook his head to see Guido and Bruno intruding into his private world. He was surprised to see that he was standing in the alcove and he'd obviously used the toilet as he felt no urgency. He quickly zipped himself back inside his pants as they dragged him past the now empty bowl of mush. He didn't remember eating that either.

But as he was chained to his cold, slimy wall, his memory did resurface and he remembered what he had been doing. The door closed with a definitive thud and the inky gloom enveloped him like a thick blanket. He felt the panic begin to grow inside as it had often lately with the obsessive solitude. Then he heard it again, the voice calling him to not give up, to hold on. And to come to her.

He had no choice but to listen.

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"Is he asleep?" John asked quietly as he sidled up behind Teyla who was checking Torren in his crib. He looked down and saw the angelic face of the little boy he loved like no other. He still found it hard to believe he and Teyla had created something so beautiful. But then Teyla was beauty itself and he knew anything that came from her would also need to be beautiful.

Teyla nodded though she knew John could see that the child was sleeping soundly. She felt his arms around her waist drawing her back against his firm chest. It was a feeling she enjoyed immensely and she hated to admit that it made her feel safe and warm. She knew she did not truly need protecting but having John here near her like this just gave her that extra layer so she could relax.

His lips moved down to where her neck was exposed by the ponytail she wore and pressed sweet kisses along the silky skin. He knew he'd never get enough of kissing and touching her if they were together a million years. At Teyla's soft sigh of pleasure he knew she felt the same way.

He nibbled along her shoulder then pulled her out of Torren's room and into their bedroom. "Did you have anything special in mind for us to do tonight, Teyla?"

She turned slightly in his arms and gave him an impish grin. "I was planning to take a shower as I have an early morning and do not wish to have to get up extra early for that. What were your plans for the evening, John?"

John's eyes rose and he looked thoughtful as a grin appeared on his face too. "I think a shower sounds fine."

Teyla chuckled and shook her head. "I did not invite you to join me."

John whipped out his sad puppy dog eyes and gave a big pout, almost as potent as the ones Torren gave. "But I need a shower, too, don't I?"

Teyla sighed deeply and attempted to stifle her laughter. "I suppose but you must allow me to actually cleanse myself. Too often when we share a shower getting clean is not your first objective."

John looked contrite and promised, "I'll soap you up myself." He ruined the serious face with his eyebrows wiggling up and down.

Teyla just rolled her eyes and moved toward the bathroom, her clothes pulled off as she went. John's smirk got even bigger the more skin she began to show. He pulled his own t-shirt over his head, sat down quickly on the edge of the bed and ripped his boots off, then started unbelting his pants as he followed Teyla.

When he got in the bathroom she was already completely nude and adjusting the water temperature. She pulled the band from her hair allowing it to fall around her shoulders. She turned her head and gave him a saucy look then stepped inside the tub enclosure closing the glass door behind her. John's hands froze on his zipper as he watched through the clear partition. She was standing with her hands up pushing her hair back as the water sluiced over her upturned face and her breasts were pushed out prominently. He took a shuddering breath and tried to remember he promised he'd help wash her first.

His pants were removed in record time and he took a tentative step inside the enclosure closing the door behind him. He moved up closer to her but made sure he wasn't quite touching.

"Fancy meeting you here," he quipped as he knew Teyla loved it when he gave her ridiculous and tacky come-on lines. She'd never admit that she loved it but he knew she did. The little smile that always lit up her face when he threw one out at her was hovering over her lips at the moment.

Teyla gave him a long suffering look and he leaned in even closer putting his lips within a breath of hers. "Hey," he whispered seductively, "If I said you had a great body, would you hold it against me?"

Teyla couldn't stop the laugh that came out of her mouth this time. She usually tried not to encourage John with his ribald humor and silly lines, but sometimes he was just so cute when he tried them that she couldn't help herself. She knew he would never say things like that in public.

She reached up to touch his cheek and answered in a sultry tone, "I will hold it against you all night long if you so desire."

The breath John took in was more than a little shaky and he actually shuddered as he released it. "Oh, what you do to me, woman!"

Teyla ran her hands down from his shoulders to his chest then lower until they were just within reach of his growing arousal. "Or what I plan to do to you." And she gave him a quick stroke but then turned around to allow the water to run over her front again.

John just stood there wondering how he had ever managed to get this unbelievable woman to love him. And he planned on letting her know in every conceivable way that he loved her just as much if not more. He squeezed some of the liquid soap into his hands and rubbed them briskly together to make a lather then he positioned them on her shoulders and began to knead her skin with his fingertips.

Teyla's head fell back and she gave a low moan as he moved his fingers and hands down her back scrubbing and kneading and caressing. The lubrication of the soap felt amazing and so sensuous and John knew he could just stand here cleaning her all night long. Though he was hoping to move to a few more intimate spots along her body.

He got more soap and placed his hands on her rounded bottom then knelt behind her to scrub along her upper then lower legs. As his fingers worked their way back up her legs they lingered on the inside of her thigh teasing and tormenting as they swirled in tiny circles. Teyla actually placed her hands against the shower wall to keep herself and her shaky legs from collapsing.

John chuckled as he thought of her earlier comments about needing to be clean first. At this point he knew Teyla could care less about that. Her stance widened a bit and he took the invitation to allow his fingers to travel even further north. He knew what she wanted now but he thought he might make her wait a bit.

He put more soap on his hands and lowered them back to her feet and scrubbed along the front of her legs now even though he was still behind her. He let his lips linger on her curvaceous rear as his hands crept up and approached the apex of her thighs. They played in the curls that protected her core as his teeth nipped and took tiny bites of the delectable skin in front of them.

Teyla leaned further into the wall and her bottom thrust further into John's face, though you'd never hear him complain. He moved his hands back to her bottom and kneaded the skin then opened her to his eager tongue. Fingers played and his tongue caressed and licked and tasted her unique flavor. Moans and whimpers floated to him through the misty water that rained down on them both. Yeah, being clean was not her priority right now.

John grinned as he stood and left her sagging against the wall. When she felt him move away and not return she looked at him with censure and puzzlement in her unfulfilled eyes. John's grin turned potent.

"You said clean first, right?" And he squirted more soap on his hands that then moved toward her heaving chest.

Teyla's eyes narrowed fiercely but then her mouth twisted crookedly and she also took soap in her hands and began to rub his chest as he caressed hers. They continued with this for several minutes maybe longer until they were both breathing heavily and their eyes were filled with longing.

Teyla lowered her hands to John's generous erection and began to stroke and squeeze as his hands returned to the curls he had been playing with earlier. He backed Teyla against the wall and lifted her slightly to rest on the shelf where the shampoo bottle was. He continued scrubbing and caressing her feminine folds as Teyla moved her hands up and down his elongated shaft.

"John!" The cry was torn from her mouth and she pulled at his shoulders to come even closer and she guided him right where she wanted him. He could never accuse Teyla of not letting it be known exactly what she wanted. And he was happy to please.

The feel of him inside her made both of them groan in ecstasy and John began pumping back and forth as his mouth lowered to capture hers in a bone melting kiss. Her hands grabbed at his slim hips and helped him to keep rhythm as her tongue battled with his though certainly not for freedom. It was quite satisfied where it was.

More minutes passed as skin slid against skin and breathing and heart rates sped up. Words of love and longing passed between their mating lips and soon fireworks erupted in their minds and they held each other tight as the inferno slowly was put out. But embers still lingered and John's lips touched lightly on Teyla's shoulder and neck as her fingers kneaded his back and hips.

When breathing slowed down and strength somewhat returned John lowered Teyla away from his body and pressed a last kiss to her lips. "Guess I might need to rewash a few spots, huh?"

Teyla let out a big breath and nodded. She stood up and wrapped her arms around John's neck and rested her damp head on his shoulder. John pulled her in and held her close, knowing no words were needed between the two of them. They knew what they meant to each other and nothing would ever change that.

John helped Teyla wash her hair and she reciprocated then they did a final rinse to truly clean off. The water was shut off and large towels gathered to begin drying. But John didn't want to just let her go, not quite yet. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her into the bedroom, despite her protests that she was too heavy.

"Never, Teyla," he responded as he lay her on the bed, his towel falling off in his travels. He turned to the dresser and picked up her brush and sat down beside her.

"Are you planning on brushing my hair for me?" Teyla asked as she stared at his extremely pleasing bare form.

"Absolutely," he answered and grabbed her hips and slid her right in front of him. "But you need to be dressed the same way I am. Makes it fair and a lot more interesting, don't you think?"

Teyla chuckled as she did so often when she was with this man. He had a wonderful sense of humor and she knew so often it came about to try and lighten a tense mood. But he used the humor here when they were alone as well and she had to admit it had become very endearing. She knew she was so lucky to have caught his attention and become the focus of his love.

John tugged at her towel and she allowed it then leaned back toward him as he ran the brush through the snarls and soon it was flowing through her hair with no restrictions. He still continued this for a while and Teyla could tell he was enjoying the sensation of combing her hair. She was getting pleasure from it too.

Teyla's hair was soon free of much of the moisture and John put the brush down on the bedside table. Teyla made to get up but John just repositioned himself against the headboard and shifted her so she was leaning against him.

"Did you have other plans?" John asked as Teyla looked at him questioningly.

"No," she replied and settled back comfortably within his arms. "But the lights are all still on in the house …"

"That's not a problem," he said and with a grin all the lights turned off except a small one by the bed.

"Showoff," Teyla said but smiled knowing he loved his ability to do that. But now she could simply relax and sit by him until they were tired enough to go to sleep. It was getting close to that time but she did so love just sitting with him snuggling. It was not often they got time to do it.

"I love just relaxing here with you, Teyla," John said as if reading her mind. "I love TJ but he is definitely at a busy age now that he walks so much. And even though I don't get half of what he says, he sure does try and tell us a lot."

Teyla gave a tiny shiver and John pulled at the covers so they were comfortably under them, though he made sure to only pull them to their waist. His hands roamed her silky, squeaky clean skin though Teyla could tell he was just keeping a connection, not looking for more sex.

She turned on her side and rested her head against his chest and allowed her fingers to run through the fur covering it. She felt his hands pull her in tighter and again she felt very safe and loved. Being with John this way was so wonderful and she knew she could happily live this way forever. As his lips touched her hair and he gave a deep, satisfied sigh, she knew he felt that way too.

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Teyla sat up in bed, her body covered in sweat and throbbing with desire, as it had so often in the past few months. She gave a deep sigh and relaxed against the pillows as her memory reconstructed the dream she had just been pulled out of. But she could not get the passion and desire to drain from her tense body. She knew only one solution.

She got up and quietly padded barefoot to check on Torren. She wondered if she cried out in her sleep as she did in her dreams. She hoped not or she hoped that her son would sleep right through the noise if she did. He was a very deep sleeper, of that she was thankful.

She entered the bathroom, keeping the door open and allowing only the light from the candles in her room to filter their way in here. She quickly stripped as she turned the water on then stepped into the warm flow.

As she squeezed some liquid soap into her hand and began to get a lather, she felt it again; John's presence beside her. It was so real she could not ignore it. So she did what she did many nights that she awoke with such longing, she closed her eyes and stroked her hands over her skin. In her mind she saw John standing right there and it was his hands that caressed soap into her curves and brought her to a frenzy. And it was his hands that lingered near her feminine center and pushed in and out until she was so aroused and finally fulfilled.

She leaned against the shower enclosure and attempted to get her breathing under control. As she did she felt soft kisses drift across her back and down her arm. She knew he was here; she just did not know how. And why he never let her see.

Maybe it was not allowed and he was defying rules just to be with her nightly. John was never one to follow rules if he thought they were wrong.

Teyla grabbed a towel and dried herself off as she walked back to her bed and slipped back inside, still nude. The caress of the sheets brought her senses to alert again and she closed her eyes wanting John to be right beside her.

"John," her voice was soft but emotion filled. "I need you so much. I wish you were here with me now."

As she relaxed against the pillows, she felt John's arms wrap around her and a loving kiss pressed to her cheek. A smile grew on her face as slumber quickly overtook her.

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