Part: 10/?
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It was wonderfully warm in the hotel compared to the unusually cold San Franciscan night. On their walk back to the hotel and through the lobby they had heard people talking about the possibility of snow tonight. It had been decades since there had been snow here and everyone seemed clearly excited about the possibility, but John really didn't care. He had been far more interested in the fact that he had been holding Teyla's hand all the way back to the hotel, her hand tucked into his coat pocket alongside his to keep it warm.
She had felt amazing in his arms and if it hadn't been for the air's chill and his very clear awareness of how little she wore under her coat, he would have stayed out there in the quiet square kissing her. But instead she had willingly accepted his invitation back to the hotel, to his room with a room service order of coffee for two on its way up.
In the crowded elevator ride up from the busy ground floor of late evening diners, he had kept his attention on her. In that small space surrounded by strangers he had let his eyes wander over her face like he had never risked before. She had pulled her gloves off in the lobby, tucking her hand around his arm again on the way through, and now she had loosened his scarf around her throat.
The elevator stopped at the sixth floor and a few people left, only to be replaced with several more on their way up to the roof to see if it would snow. Everyone shifted back in the elevator car to make more space, and John slipped his arm around Teyla to 'assist' her further back into the more comfortable space of the closest back corner. She lifted her beautiful smile up to him, her body leaning against his in return and he felt that wonderful sense of possessive excitement again.
"It may snow, dear," an older woman whispered from the front of the car towards an older man next to her. "It would be wonderful to see it."
"It's not likely that it will," the man muttered back.
"Well I hope it does," she replied with clear excitement.
"The chances of snow fall in this area of the US are low as it is, and with this year's overall temperature readings…" he replied, sounding very much like a scientist John knew. He glanced at the man through the crowded car and then back down to Teyla, who saw his look and smiled herself.
"Don't spoil it, dear," the woman argued in a loud hushed voice.
"I'm just saying…"
John leant slightly closer to Teyla. "That's probably what Keller is having to deal with right now."
She let out a breathy chuckle. "I am sure they are doing fine," she whispered back, still backing her corner though the bet was over.
The elevator stopped again, but this time it was their floor. "Excuse me," he ordered as he stepped forward, his hand against Teyla's back to help her through the press of people. As they stepped into the empty corridor John glanced back at the older couple just inside as the doors closed. The woman was full of eager excitement and the guy looked like he was bored and put upon. The doors shut on his "Yes, Dear."
John looked at Teyla to see that she had seen it as well. "That could be them in the future," John told her amused as they turned down the hallway towards his room. He wondered if she would want to stop at her room first, but he didn't ask because he hoped she wouldn't and that she would stay in her lovely dress for the rest of the evening with him.
She looked up at him with a teasing look. "I thought you did not believe they are likely to last?"
"I wanted to get you on the golf course," he admitted.
She laughed lightly, her hand sliding around his arm again. "And instead you spent the day at the spa and the ballet," she replied with clear laughter in her voice.
He looked down at her as they turned the corner. There was a new openness to her laughter that suggested she had been curbing her amusement before now. He glared down at her, trying to summon some indignation, but he felt just too pleased with how the day had turned out to really feel it. Her playfulness was far too attractive anyway, the sparkle in her eyes at his expense just made him like her even more. He tucked his hands into his pockets, both her hands around her elbow, and without her gloves on anymore the heat of her touch was stronger. "Rub it in," he mumbled at her.
She laughed again, but it faded a little at the end. "You could have very easily have been right," she admitted.
They had reached his door, and as yet she had made no indication that she was going to leave for a bit, so he dug into his pocket for his key card.
"They have not been getting along as well as before," Teyla continued as John slid the card into the door's handle and the lock freed. He pushed the door open for her and as she entered in front of him he reached to the wall and triggered the lights.
"Rodney told me that seeing Katie Brown made him think about how compatible he and Keller really are," John told her as he followed her into his room. It was almost an exact double for her room, other than the décor was towards the red and greens, whereas her room was blue and white. Back in the hotel he felt more relaxed, though eager to get more comfortable – starting with making the room a little bit more romantic.
"He did?" She asked.
"He thinks he's more like Katie," he told her as he headed past her towards the wide windows across the room. He pulled the thick heavy curtains across the sitting area's large window, looking out briefly as he did to see that as yet the city remained snow free. He closed them and immediately set his fingers behind his bowtie, eager to finally be free of it. He turned towards the bedroom area and the other window, glancing back at Teyla as he did.
"I suppose he is correct in many ways," Teyla considered where she stood, her concentration focused on unbuttoning her coat. It was strange he realised that though the two of them had been so invested in Rodney and Keller's relationship, they hadn't discussed it properly with each other. He felt a sense of relief at being able to share with her again. He hadn't realised how much he did before now.
He pulled off the bowtie and threw it on the bed and turned to unbuttoning his own coat. "He said he was worried Keller might be losing patience with him," he reported as he quickly hung his coat and jacket over the back of a nearby chair.
"I would think that is a commonly held fear for most couples," Teyla suggested thoughtfully from the sitting area and he heard her pulling herself free of her coat. He pulled off his waistcoat and freed the top button of his shirt, finally feeling properly comfortable again. He considered her words and they took on an entirely fresh meaning in light of what had happened between them tonight. They hadn't talked about it yet, though clearly she wasn't about to retract it all, but the subject of being a couple hadn't been discussed. He set his cufflinks on the side as he headed to the window and pulled the curtains of the bedroom area closed.
"I guess," he conceded over the rattle of the curtain rail above him.
"I wonder," she said softly. "If perhaps he admitted this to Jennifer - maybe that is why they have repaired things so clearly between them."
He headed back towards the sitting area to stop short, seeing her looking down at her feet. The skirts of her dress were slightly raised as she stepped out of her dainty shoes. A flush of arousal went through him as he watched her stocking covered feet touch down on the thick carpet of his hotel room. The dress's hem lowered again and her feet disappeared behind the material. He watched as she stepped lightly and carefully, as she always did, towards the sofa.
She looked towards him with a waiting look, clearly expecting him to reply.
"Could be," he agreed as his brain returned to their conversation. "But Rodney did say they hadn't gotten on all that well in India. You gotta wonder how a week with each others' families is going to affect them."
She stopped at the furthest end of the sofa and gathered her dress around her legs to sit down. He saw her eyes drift down him, to where he was adjusting his open collar, before she looked back up to meet his gaze. There had been a new look there that he hadn't seen from her before and it made him feel nicely warm.
"Though it may unify them further," she suggested as she sat down. "Sharing the holiday and dealing with relatives together…" There was the teasing touch of banter in her eyes and tone again, but this time he had no interest in arguing with her.
"Maybe," he replied instead and moved towards the sofa. A light knock on the door stopped him though, for their coffee had arrived already. He headed towards the door and pulled it open to reveal the polite smile of a young man with a silver tray.
"Your coffee, Sir," he reported.
"Come on in," John replied holding the door open. The guy walked to the coffee table and set the tray down.
"Good evening, Ms," the man added to Teyla and John was sure he heard a flirty touch to his voice. John mentally lowered his tip.
"Thank you," Teyla replied, unaware or uncaring to the man's attempted charm. She leant forward towards the tray with interest.
"I've included some complimentary chocolate dipped fruits for you," the guy added as if it had all been his idea.
John rolled his eyes. "Thanks," he said adding an edge of his Colonel-tone to his voice. The guy heard it as he immediately turned from his ogling of Teyla to head back towards the door, his eyes averted from John's. Until he reached the door and he turned back to John with a hopeful smile. John paid him his tip and closed the door on the guy's sneaky peek back towards Teyla.
"These look lovely," she said from the sofa where she was inspecting the free fruits. She was leaning forward, the rather traditional cut to the dress's neckline no longer all that conservative from this angle. John had to smile a little – the young guy had no chance against her.
He reached the sofa and sat down on the edge beside her as he turned his attention to pouring their coffee. "You want sugar?" He asked as he poured out the dark rich liquid.
"Yes, please," she replied. "What is this fruit?"
He glanced down at the plate and to the piece of fruit at which her manicured finger pointed. "That's a slice of kiwi," he replied as he returned his attention to adding the sugar to her cup and stirring it with its sparkling spoon. "You haven't seen them in Atlantis?" He was sure there was kiwi in the city from time to time.
"I do not recall so," she replied as he watched her select a strawberry instead, its tip coated in dark chocolate.
He placed her cup in front of her and turned to adding sugar to his own dark filled cup. She murmured with delight beside him and he looked round to see her biting into the chilled strawberry. A touch of juice coated her lips and he watched her tongue lick out across them. She murmured again with approval as she regarded the strawberry. "These are very good," she reported and John couldn't have agreed more with her.
"They look good," he replied looking down at the half fruit piece in her fingers and then back to her lips as she bit into it again.
She swayed her body against his a little, telling him that she was aware of his extra meaning, as she chewed the fruit. He waited till she finished the strawberry, then he leant in towards her. She lifted her chin and he pressed his mouth to hers again. She made the murmur of approval again and her fingers touched against his jaw. As he pulled back from the kiss he slid the tip of his tongue over her lower lip and he could taste the fruit. As he pulled back further, but still close to her, he licked his own lips tasting the mixture of her and sweet strawberry.
"That does taste good," he told her and he left her to decide if he had meant her or the strawberry.
She smiled at him, and her fingers slid along his jaw. Her eyes dropped to her touch. "That was a close shave," she commented, her fingers sliding up his cheek now. He could feel the vaguest sense of stubble against her fingers, but he only cared about how close she was and that she was touching him so openly, so affectionately.
"I don't smell too flowery do I?" He asked to make her smile and she didn't disappoint. Her eyes were like liquid – dark and sparklingly mysterious to him as she looked down at his chin and neck. Then she leant in closer to him and he moved in to meet her as she touched her cheek to his. It wasn't the fullest part of her cheek, but the area where her mouth began and he felt her in breath as she inhaled against his cheek. He let her take her breath and then he brushed the short distance it took to graze their lips against one another's again.
He watched her lips move away from his and widen with a soft smile. "You do not smell flowery," she reported and her voice was deep and darker than he had heard before. "You smell very nice."
He instantly regretted not having taken the opportunity to draw in her scent when they were pressed so close, but he didn't need to be that close to appreciate her. He dropped his eyes down her throat to the shadow of her cleavage. "That makes two of us," he muttered, drawing his eyes slowly back up the interesting curves and lines of her, enjoying his new freedom to appreciate.
He thought he may have heard her chuckle, but he wasn't sure. Her fingers dropped from his cheek and she shifted.
"You should try the fruit, John," she suggested and he finally broke his wandering eyes from her throat as she leant towards the table again. He glanced down at the plate before them and watched as her fingers hovered over the fruit selection. They had tasted good on her lips, but then he suspected almost anything would.
He blinked his eyes to clear and focus himself a little as he looked down at the plate. It was nicely done – the fruits chilled and partly coated in the dark chocolate. He selected one of the strawberries for himself and bit into it. The sweetness of the fruit was a nice contrast to the bitterness of the dark chocolate and he murmured appreciatively himself as he chewed.
She shifted beside him, reaching for the plate again and this time she selected one of the chilled raspberries. They were definitely a fruit that was a rarity in Atlantis, but they had been in the mess hall more regularly since being on Earth. He watched her place the whole raspberry into her mouth and chew delicately. He could tell from her expression that it was just as good as the strawberry had been. No juice escaped to coat her lips this time and he was both disappointed and relieved – he needed to cool down a little. Last thing he wanted to do was end such a romantic day with jumping her unceremoniously on a sofa.
It didn't stop him thinking about it though, so he turned back to the plate and selected a chocolate coated raspberry for himself before he shifted to sit back in the sofa, leaving her to finish the fruits. He settled back against the comfortable back of the seat as he chewed the sharp raspberry and let his gaze settle on the bare skin of her upper back.
She made another appreciative sound as she ate an orange segment. She leant further forward and as she sat back he saw that she had found the remote. She looked over her shoulder at him with a glance that told him she would be in control of the channel skipping again. He didn't point out that according to her earlier argument that since it was his room and his remote he really should have control, but he didn't care. She pointed the remote towards the tv and it jumped to life with some scifi show. He reached forward for his coffee and sipped the hot brew as he frowned at the very fake monster chasing two people in silver suits down a hallway. Teyla sat back beside him, the plate of fruit in her hand, her shoulder against his and she rested her feet against the edge of the coffee table. John noticed the high polish to her toe nails through her stockings – her pedicure.
"This is not very realistic," she uttered with amusement and he looked back to the tv to see that the monster was wrestling weakly against one of the good guys. It was pretty obvious there was a guy in the monster suit.
He took another drink of his coffee and then reached for one of the orange segments on the plate she held. "This would be when you change the channel," he teased her.
She picked up the remote and the scifi show became a game show, but fortunately she didn't appear interested in that. Next there was the abrupt image of a car chase, tires screeching and sirens screaming. She moved on from that to another movie, this one a dark room with a lone woman easing along the wall, her face full of fear. Teyla put down the remote and selected the last strawberry. John slid his eyes from the horror movie to her face to watch her lips surround the fruit. He made a note to buy her some strawberries tomorrow. She frowned as she chewed.
"Why is she going up the stairs?" She asked gesturing to the tv.
John smiled as he looked at the screen. "It's a horror movie tradition – there's a scary noise outside and the girl goes upstairs." The picture cut to a group of young jocks lost in a dark school. "Now, see these guys - they're gonna split up to find something."
"But, if there is danger, they should remain together or in small groups," she pointed out.
He nodded. "Not in a horror movie," he explained and smiled as on the screen the jocks all decided it would be best to fan out down the dark corridors alone.
"That is foolish," she replied as she turned her attention to the plate and its last two pieces of fruit. "Which would you like? The orange or the raspberry?"
"You have them," he offered.
She looked up at him, nice and close. "Are you sure?" He nodded as from the tv the young girl screamed in terror and Teyla looked round. The raspberry paused before her lips as she watched. "Why is she not defending herself?"
John smiled at the clear disapproval in her voice and he guessed there would be much about the presentation of women on tv that she would not entirely approve. And there probably wasn't going to be much chance of Teyla getting all scared watching a horror movie and needing to be comforted. He grinned at the thought. "It's a dumb movie," he concluded for her.
She nodded as she ate the raspberry and picked up the remote again. Two channels later and the familiar sight of the Golden Gate Bridge appeared. She smiled with a breathy laugh. The camera shot lifted elegantly up and over the bridge, to focus down on one car travelling along it. The image cut to two young women inside the car, both laughing and swaying to music. Names appeared across the scene indicating it was the start of a movie and Teyla set the remote down. They had missed the title so he had no idea what the movie was, but it looked like a chick flick.
He turned his eyes back to her to see her wiping her fingers along her lips, the fruit all gone from the plate. She leant forward and set the plate on the table and returned to his side with her cup of coffee, her eyes on the movie with its bright colours and cheerful music. He watched her lips lift with a smile as she listened to the dialogue, and it occurred to him that he had spent most of the day watching her like this in some fashion. The only difference now was that he was able to openly admire her and let his eyes wander.
She looked happy and relaxed, a state she had been in almost entirely throughout the day and he felt that burst of pleasure again at knowing he had helped give that to her. She had had her day away from the city, had experienced some Earth culture and she was happy. He liked that.
She had always been a very poised and independent woman, but over the years they had seen each other at their best and worst. And the last couple of years had been tough on her. Her people being taken, her unexpected pregnancy and being forced to give birth to Torren on Michael's ship – she had coped with it all and remained standing strong at the end of it. She had feared for her son, had viciously protected him from Michael and then had been taken to an alien galaxy away from her people. Though she said Atlantis was her home she missed her people. That she and Kanaan had separated had only seemed to add to the shadow of her expressions afterward. John had seen it all, but hadn't known what to do about it, especially since the subject of Kanaan had been a sore point for him. But, then two months ago she had begun to appear happier again and he had jumped at his opportunity to help keep that playfulness and sparkle to her eyes again. The bet aside he had enjoyed these past months because he had seen her smile more often than ever before, and today…she had smiled a lot at him. Like he made her happy and he hoped that might be true.
He swallowed down the last of his coffee and leant forward to set the cup on the table. He sat back and lifted his arm up and over her to settle it around her. He had wanted to do this earlier, to hold her against him on her sofa, but it hadn't been the right time…now he had his opportunity and he knew it would certainly make him happy.
She had been engrossed in the movie, but as soon as she felt the touch of his arm she shifted forward so that he could wrap his arm around her back. He cupped his arm around her and pulled her gently further against him and she responded, pulling her eyes away from the movie to settle herself within his arm against his side. She looked up at him briefly with a smile.
They shifted around slightly against each other, finding their most comfortable fit and he enjoyed the way she trailed her eyes over him as they did. He reached up and gently brushed his fingers across her cheek. "I'm glad you enjoyed your day," he told her.
Her smile deepened as she looked up at him with her beautiful dark eyes. "I did," she replied.
"So did I," he said.
"Even though there was no golf?" She asked with a lift of her eyebrows.
He took a breath. "I liked spending the day just with you," he confessed, his fingers trailing down to her chin.
She blinked softly. "And I with you," she replied. Her hand touched against his as he slid it back up to her cheek, cupping her soft face, her hand over his. Her eyes closed briefly, as they had done when he had touched her like this earlier. A deep thrill went through him to see her look of pleasure. He leant in and kissed her gently, the kisses still light and soft and somehow all the more meaningful between them. He pulled back from her, her hand still against his as she blinked her eyes open again. "It has been a most perfect day," she whispered.
He smiled at her words and stroked his thumb over her cheek to her lips, brushing gently down off her full lower lip. "Yes, it has." He let his touch leave her face, but her hand followed his and he slid his fingers around hers, holding her hand now without the barrier of gloves between them.
Her eyes dropped to their joined hands and she smiled. She shifted herself back to her former position, but now up against his side, his arm around her and he liked her purr of pleasure as she settled against him. She turned her face to press her cheek against his chest and he dipped his head to press his lips to her hair, grazing down to her temple. Soft feminine scents of flowers drifted around her hair and he smiled as he pulled back.
From the tv a woman laughed brightly and Teyla turned her face from him, her attention caught by the movie once again.
"Do you mind watching this?" Teyla asked from against him as she had to pull her hand from his to lift her coffee cup to her lips
He glanced at the obvious chick flick and shook his head. "Nope, after all it's your day," he told her as he shifted his arm around her a little more to get more comfortable himself.
"We have finished my activities for the day," she replied as she sat forward and set her empty coffee cup on the table and settled back within his arm, fitting her warm body back against his. "You may now do anything you wish," she told him with just a touch of cheek to her voice.
He lifted an eyebrow at her though her attention was on the tv. "I'll keep that in mind," he told her as he tightened his arm around her, pulling her a touch closer against him as they watched the movie.
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She enjoyed the movie and the one that followed, but it was John's presence beside her that thrilled her the most. His arm was around her and as the movie had progressed they had both ended up more settled in the sofa. He had his legs stretched out to the coffee table, the tray having been removed earlier, and his strong bare feet almost reached the other side of the table with the length of his legs. She in turn had her feet tucked against the edge of the table, her knees turned against the warmth of his legs.
"See this is why I don't get these kinds of movies," John complained gesturing to the screen with his arm that wasn't currently around her with his fingers softly stroking up and down her forearm.
She looked up and back at him from her place against him. "That he would chase after her?" She asked with a smile as on the screen the dashing man was madly running through what John had explained was an airport.
"Why doesn't he just call her?" He replied. "He could pick up the phone, call her in France and sort it all out."
She laughed as she returned her gaze to the movie as the man shouted at the large men in uniform who were presumably the airport's security. "How will he know where to call her?" She asked.
"He can work it out. Her cell will probably still work there or her friend at the art school – he could ask her," he reasoned.
She smiled as she looked down at his arm around her. She had pushed the long white sleeve of his shirt back exposing his forearm. She ran her fingers along the skin of his arm, feeling the lithe muscles beneath shifting as he stroked her other arm in return. She liked the play of the hair over his arm against his warm skin under her fingers. "I think he would prefer to speak to her face to face."
The man on the screen yelled and she looked back up from her idle exploration of John's arm to see the man was now running through the airport, only to be tripped up by an old lady, who began to hit him with her handbag. Teyla laughed at the image, along with John, as the music faded out and the man covered his head against the bag as the large heavy hands of security clamped down on his arms. The advertisements began yet again and she muttered at their timing.
"Why do they insist in breaking up the flow of the story," she complained.
"To keep you in anticipation," John replied, his voice relaxed.
"I would think most people would be too annoyed at the interruption to focus on the possible purchases." John chuckled against her, his hand stilling on her arm.
"You want anything else? We can order up some more coffee or something to eat," John offered.
She reached across to his other hand, relaxed against his middle, and tilted his wrist to look at his watch's display. "At this late hour?" She asked.
"Room service is available most of the time in a hotel like this," John replied. "As long as you don't order a full meal or anything."
"No, I am not hungry," she replied as she let his wrist go. "But, if you want anything…"
"I'm good," he replied, his fingers returning to their gentle soft caresses over her arm. She settled her head back against him, her attention vaguely focused on the tv. She could remain like this all night – within John's embrace. She wondered at the time though and whether once the movie was over she should return to her room. It was getting very late and she did not want to keep John up if he actually wished to rest, but she could not see herself wishing to move from here all night.
The screen shifted with the promotions available. She had had many questions about the items and massive stores the advertisements had displayed, but now she and John remained silent, simply relaxed with each other as they watched the screen. They had turned the main lights off some time ago, leaving the room cast in only the light of the television and the light from outside.
"Is that a good price for a couch?" She asked idly.
"It's not bad," he replied. "Thinking of buying one?"
She smiled at the thought. "I do not think they would deliver to Atlantis."
"True, and we probably wouldn't get it in a Jumper either."
She thought that was a shame – she would like a sofa like this one in her quarters. She could snuggle up against John in the evenings like now and Torren would no doubt love to nap on the large seat. There were such large seats in the city, but most of them had been claimed long ago or been reserved for the communal areas of the city. It would be nice though…
The advertisements finished and the movie continued. The man was now seated dejectedly in a small room trying to explain his actions in the airport. The large security men stood over him, looking far from convinced. Then the screen changed to show the woman, watching her arrive at her destination in France, unaware that the man had tried to reach her. She looked sad, yet hauntingly beautiful, as she walked away into the pretty swirls of snowfall.
Back in the airport the big security men were now seated by the man asking him questions about his mistakes made throughout the movie, and clearly these security men were far kinder men than they had first appeared. Then he was free, and they were waving him goodbye as he finally boarded a plane.
"Now, see that would never happen," John muttered. "Any of my guys let someone like that go just because he tells a sweet little story would be in trouble."
Teyla chuckled at that. "I seem to remember an occasion when you agreed to be a host to an alien conscious so that a married couple could say one last goodbye."
"And look how that turned out," he pointed out.
She shifted slightly against him so she could look up at his face. "I think that you have a very romantic soul," she told him.
He looked surprised and huffed a disbelieving grunt.
She turned further against him so she could look up at him more comfortably. His arm remained around her, his fingers transferring from her arm to her back. "Did you not create a lovely day for me today?" She asked. "There was nothing about staying in a hotel, let alone one so luxurious as this, in our bet."
"It's not that luxurious," he argued, but she had the upper hand.
"And taking me for a walk to see the lights of San Francisco, and the ice skating…"
He gave a half-hearted shrug, or as much as he could do so reclined against the back of the sofa. "I just thought you might want to see as much Earth culture as you could."
She smiled at his weak protest. He had given her a wonderful day and even if they had not kissed it would still have been a very romantic day. She shifted in her seat, lifting from him enough to sit up further against him, resting her hand on his chest, hovering over him and he stopped his protesting, his eyes darkening and dropping to her mouth.
"Yes you did," she told him and touched her lips against his.
As she moulded her lips to his she gloried in the reality of what had changed between them, that she could kiss him now. His hand flattened against her back as his mouth pressed back against hers, the heat of his palm against her bare skin. His other hand touched her hair, sliding down to cup the back of her neck. As she caught his upper lip between her own she felt the touch of his tongue across her lip and she parted her mouth further, eager for the deepening of his kiss, licking her own tongue against his lip. He murmured deeply against her, the sound like nothing she had heard from him before, a faint growl of clear pleasure and it made certain parts of her body feel hot and weak. His mouth opened against hers and their tongues met as he invaded her mouth slowly. He tasted of dark coffee with the subtlest touch of sweet fruit and chocolate. She murmured, running her hand up over the warm material of his shirt into the open vee of his collar to touch his skin.
He murmured again as the kiss deepened, his hands tightening subtly against her. His tongue sought deeply into her mouth, abruptly powerfully possessive, and she heard herself moan in response. She would have felt a little self conscious at the unadulterated sound normally, but it so perfectly described how she felt that she repeated it. His hand slid across her back and he pulled her down closer to him. She broke her lips from his for a moment as she turned in her seat to more comfortably rest against him, shifting up closer to him, so that as she pressed back to him she fitted against him, her breasts against the strong planes of his chest. The layers of clothing between them did not lessen the delight she felt at the contact. She heard his intake of breath, and his hand tightened in her hair against the back of her neck as he drew her mouth back to his.
His lips pulled on hers, licking deeply in her mouth, and she felt the shift of the atmosphere between them, aware that she was sliding her leg up over his. His hands shifted, sliding across her back now, one sliding down to her hip, his hand hot through the thin layer of her dress. He squeezed her hip gently and that simple touch, even before his hand slid further down her leg, made her whimper with delight.
His hand stroked down her outer thigh and up again, the material of her dress catching ever so slightly against her stockings beneath. He broke his mouth from hers, nuzzling against her cheek and back across her lips. She inhaled his scent as she caressed her hand up and along his jaw, sliding her cheek against his as his mouth grazed over her cheek to her jaw. She tilted her head back, her eyes tightly closed in delight as his mouth slid down to her throat and she arched her back. He nuzzled that area of her neck again and she smiled at his quick discovery of that place. She felt her body shiver in delight, her knee lifting up his leg a little further in response. He made a deep sound of pleasure against her throat, his hand sliding back along her thigh to squeeze in behind her knee.
He broke his lips from her skin, his arm around her back pressing her chest against his as he crowded his upper body up against her, turning her so that she settled beside him once more, reclined in the loop of his arm. He pulled on her knee and she lifted her legs, swinging them over his lap as his mouth sought hers again. She leant into him, his thighs warm under hers where her legs now lay across his lap, and she cupped his face, enjoying the shifting of his jaw as he kissed her. He nuzzled across her cheek again and she hung her head back, letting his arm support her as she exposed her neck to him. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut as she ran one of her hands up into his hair, clutching at the short strands as his wet mouth slid over her throat.
His hand squeezed her hip again before running down past her knee, his mouth running up her throat. "This okay?" He asked softy against her ear as his hand reached her ankle, finding her stocking covered leg beneath the skirts of her dress.
"Yes," she whispered to him, hearing the sensual tone of her own voice.
As his hand slid up her leg, under the material of her dress, she bent her leg, her knee bumping against his arm as she did. He kissed her throat again, but pulled back looking down at her. His hand reached her knee and stroked down her calf and up again, his fingers sliding behind the tight space behind her knee with it bent. She ran her own hands down his neck to his chest, seeking out the tempting open collar of his shirt once more. She ran her hands under the edges of the open top of his shirt, sliding her palms under the material, tracing the thick planes of muscle under hot skin and hair.
His head was turned, his attention on his hand sweeping up her calf again. With his head turned the stark lines of his neck stood out and she turned her mouth to his neck. She pressed her lips to his throat, breathing over his skin, and kissed his skin with an open mouth. He tasted as good as she had thought. He pressed his cheek against hers, his nose and lips against her ear. He exhaled, his hot breath over her ear, making her murmur and clench her hands against him with her frisson of pleasure.
"Teyla?" He breathed over her cheek and she licked her lips to try and answer him, but no words seemed forthcoming. His hand slid around the outside of her knee, causing her dress to fall partly away from her legs, the gentle weight of it telling her the folds of fabric now hung down the edge of the sofa. She mumbled a reply to his question.
"If we're gonna want to slow this down," he murmured breathily, the tension of his body clear against hers. "Now would be the time."
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TBC
NOTE – rating will be changing from the next chapter.