Rating on this chapter is a definite M for sexual situations. You can probably skip this without missing much in terms of plot, but what's the fun in that? ;-)
Thanks to everyone who continue to leave reviews despite the slow updates. Yes, Kahuna, I definitely have plans! So many plans I don't even know what to jot down first! Thanks also to AriseIcarus for unwittingly pointing out that my fic summary was kinda sparse and perhaps a few people were giving this story a pass because they didn't know what it's actually about.
CHAPTER 36: NEED YOU NOW
Jack sighed in relief as they exited the upscale restaurant that catered to government and defense contractor expense accounts. A car had been ordered to pick them up and drop them off at their hotel.
Carter had gone to the can while he and Daniel stood on carpeted pavement under the restaurant awning, large topiary pots flanking them, waiting for the shiny black car that Pentagon officials liked to be driven around in.
Even Daniel was all talked out and they were happy to stand there in silence, taking in the D.C. traffic fumes.
The lunch had run long, the topics had been mundane, he'd barely tasted his food from all the small talk he was required to make, and to top it all off, he had to do it all dressed in his Class As.
He hadn't even been allowed to sit next to Carter or Daniel. Jumper and Maynard had spread them out across the long table so they could chat with the other officers and civilians. Sam drew the short straw and got sandwiched between the two four stars which meant her whole entire meal consisted of "yes, sir" and "of course, sir". The glare she'd flicked at him would have wilted the arugula on his salad plate.
Daniel was seated with the Russian higher ups, which suited the linguist just fine. From what Jack had caught of the conversation, they started with comparing American and Russian dishes which quickly deteriorated to potent potables. He'd tuned them out when they started arguing over 19th century Russian literature.
He'd been sat next to the only spook. With Burke blessedly absent that left only his superior, Kerry Johnson. Despite having pushed him during the briefing, there were no hard feelings carried over to lunch, and she'd been a charming conversationalist, having travelled to many of the places he'd toured during his stint with Special Forces. He was sure they knew the same people, but no names were ever mentioned. They were both careful to stick to neutral topics as they were in a public venue and the Russians would probably find their business chit-chat even more interesting than the relative merits of Pushkin and Gogol.
At the end of the ordeal that was lunch he came out a bit more optimistic about the joint operation team President Hayes and Mikhailov had assembled, if Kerry Johnson was anything to go by. He'd made a real effort to make nice since he'd be forced to work with her, but he found that she hadn't minded his acerbic and at times off the kilter humor when it inevitably bled through as he relaxed around her. He was aware that if she spent enough time with him and his team, she wouldn't be spared the O'Neill brand of sarcasm that had made many geeks cry and his future father-in-law want to toss him into an incoming wormhole.
God, he missed Jacob.
The mess with the Trust had taken up valuable time which he usually spent with Jake. The Asgard were taking good care of the General, monitoring his slow recovery, allowing both symbiote and host to heal at their own pace.
The senescence therapy was still in its infancy, with Heimdall and Silje proceeding tentatively with Jacob's treatment. While Loki had been cavalier with his experiments on human genetics, the more humane and moral Asgards were careful to follow guidelines that were set out by their Council.
The Asgard Council members were painfully aware of the botched job one of their own had inflicted on O'Neill, the potential savior of their race, the golden boy of the Tau'ri, etcetera etcetera. They knew he'd almost gone glowy because of one of them - Loki. No matter that it was unintentional on Loki's part, just all part of the nasty side-effects of messing with one's genome.
But the little grey guys knew all about that. They were dying because of millennia of shortsightedness, taking the easy way out. With all the technology at their disposal, they had ignored the fundamental necessities of life; biological urges that allowed evolution to steam on. He only hoped Heimdall's and Silje's new avenue of research panned out. He'd grown to love the little guys; Thor was good people.
Speaking of steaming on… Sam finally emerged from the restaurant just as the car pulled up at the curb. She bypassed him completely and slipped inside the vehicle without a pause. It appeared that Carter was pissed.
Daniel looked at him pointedly, working his jaw then raising his eyebrows, commiserating and at the same time supremely glad that he wasn't in Jack's shoes at that very moment.
Jack glared back before getting in after Sam, Daniel joining them at the back once Jack had secured his seat belt.
Once the car got going, Jack slid his hand into Sam's and interlaced their fingers, giving her hand a slight squeeze. She finally looked sideways at him, looking a little mollified. "You OK?" he asked in a low voice, careful not to be heard by the driver in front of them.
"Later," she replied, squeezing his hand back.
Jack nudged a sleeping Daniel awake once they arrived at their hotel.
Sam and Daniel had been staying there while he'd been at Walter Reed. He had no idea with whom he was bunking; regardless, he would make sure he slept in the same bed as Sam even if he had to break into her room in the middle of the night.
Well, it seemed he wouldn't need to commit any felonies that evening. Once they were on their floor, Sam took his hand and pulled him to a room a few doors from where Daniel had disappeared into.
The moment the heavy door shut behind them, Sam turned around and leaned her forehead onto his uniformed chest. She just stood there for a minute, unmoving, just breathing in his scent and taking in his warmth.
After another minute he shifted forward and pulled her away to look down at her face. "What's wrong?"
She gazed at some point over his shoulder before answering. "I gave Daniel a pep talk last night."
He looked at her oddly at the non-sequitur.
She sighed and moved away from him. She slipped off her regulation pumps, increasing their height difference by another inch. Sam relished the relief before preceding him to the king sized bed in the center of the room.
She sat at the foot of the bed and motioned for Jack to do the same. He toed off his black Oxfords and sat right beside her, waiting for her to continue.
"Daniel was having another one of his crises of faith. It seemed his best friend had been holding out on him on quite a few things."
"You told him that mom and dad still loved him right?"
"Something like that."
"So…"
"But this afternoon got me thinking," she looked down at her lap where a finger had been tracing her empty left finger.
"About what?"
"Daniel's not the only one you've been holding out on."
"You know I don't mean to," he was quick to reassure her.
"I know. I told Daniel exactly the same thing last night. I just-" she bit her lip. "I thought I was fine with it, but it seems I'm not!"
"What exactly prompted this?"
"Burke. Orlov. I caught some of your conversation with Kerry Johnson. She seemed to know more about your past associates than I do."
"She has access to my files. She was military before the CIA recruited her. That particular playground isn't very big. You end up playing with the same kids on the same monkey bars after a while."
"I get that, Jack. I even understand it. But it doesn't make it any easier. There's this whole part of your life that I'll never know about. I just started to feel like an outsider, just like Daniel was feeling. I guess after 8 years on SG-1 we thought we had you all figured out until things like this happen on Earth and it brings it home just how much we really don't know you."
Jack took hold of her shoulders and spun her around so he could look at her straight in the eye. "Look at me, Sam. You think just because those people knew me from missions that they know the real me?" he shook his head. "They know O'Neill. They know the hard ruthless bastard they send in to coldly execute other ruthless motherfuckers polluting this fair planet. You've met that guy too, Carter, and I seem to recall you didn't have much time for him." He'd seen the look of utter disbelief that had crossed her face when he'd told Hammond to close the iris on Alar. She hadn't believed that he had that coldness in him until that very moment.
"Trust me on this, Carter. You don't want to be around that Jack O'Neill. Be glad he no longer needs to make a regular appearance and the so called galactic hero is firmly in his place," he said the last part with irony. He'd never felt right with the label the President and the JCS had often attached to him. Yes, he'd been the first. Yes, he'd dealt the blow that killed the most powerful of system lords. Jack O'Neill: System Lord Killer. Yes, the Asgard named a ship after him and were reluctant to deal with anyone else. The Free Jaffa saw him as the Tau'ri that turned a First Prime from his god with only a few words and a digital watch. All of it unintentional, his mouth simply running away with him. Right place. Right time. Tactical nuclear weapon just happened to be handy.
Sam matched his gaze, fighting the tears threatening to fall. "I do love all of you Jack. The good and the bad. Just like I hope you feel the same about me." She reached up and cradled his face with both hands.
Jack shook his head, stubble abrading her palms. "You couldn't be bad even if you tried, Carter. But even if you were, I'd have a hard time not loving every bit of you."
She sniffed then grinned at him. "Then there's hope for us yet with you being deluded."
He flashed his gorgeous dimples at her. "Nah. Just hopelessly in love with you."
Arousal, low and deep, in her center, erupted as he continued to grin at her, thin lips stretched around perfectly white teeth, brown eyes bright with affection and adoration, all aimed at her.
It really wasn't fair. Did he do it deliberately or was he genuinely ignorant of his effect on every female within a fifty mile radius with a pulse, even faint ones? Did Jack have any inkling on just how much she wanted him from his smile alone, never mind his scent, his heat, his hard body - tanned skin stretched over sinewy muscle; Thick, just-regulation hair that she couldn't help but grip during the throes of love making, as he pushed hard and deliberate inside her body with the most perfect part of him.
She had no idea who moved first.
Her world suddenly tilted in its axis and she was on her back in the middle of the large bed with Jack on top of her, his mouth latched onto side of her neck.
She moaned deeply at his actions, her lips parting open at the sheer pleasure of his kisses. She felt his hands quickly divesting her of her clothing and she pushed him away in frustration, determined to remove all the barriers between them hindering the feel of his naked flesh against hers.
Their movement was well practiced. Even after months of intimacy, they still felt desperate for each other, and they inevitably ended up pressed against any convenient surface the moment they were alone in a room together outside of work, madly clawing at each other's clothes to experience the sublime feeling of being joined.
This time was no different.
Before she knew it, they were both nude, tongues duelling, hands wandering freely, grasping at hard limbs and soft skin. Sam gasped and cried out as his nimble fingers slipped down to stroke between her thighs, gathering and using her moisture to ease his index and middle finger inside her, while his thumb zeroed in on her arousal. She thrashed under him, crying out for him to continue the overwhelming pleasure he always gave her.
Jack continued his ministrations, his mouth drifted away from her lips and moved lower to capture a nipple into his mouth, sucking and biting at her sensitized flesh, his fingers not ceasing their stroking between her legs.
Sam's whole world narrowed to the bursts of pleasure he was creating, her body surrendering complete control to him. His mouth detached from her swollen breast, only to relocate to where his fingers continued to push and pull at her soppy flesh.
His fingers left her only to be replaced by his lips and tongue. His mouth worked her until she sobbed out her release.
Jack crawled back up her body until he was positioned between her legs, the taste of her in his mouth sending his arousal into overdrive. He simply couldn't wait, he needed to be inside her. Right. Now.
He grasped his weeping hardness and placed himself at her entrance. "I love you, baby," he whispered in her ear before thrusting fully inside her, burying his face at the base of her neck to muffle the moan that slipped out between between his lips.
Sam carefully wrapped her legs around him, mindful of his still tender ribs, and he slipped even deeper inside her body, the tip of his arousal nestling behind the mouth of her cervix. "Jack…" she cried out his name at the deep penetration. Her walls fluttered around the tight fit around him as she hovered at the edge of another orgasm.
He felt so damned amazing, his hard length stretching her so tightly, bordering on the edge of pleasure and pain. He was making short stabbing motions with his hips, torturing her inner walls with the short bursts of movements against that spot inside her that drove spikes of sensations to pulse inside her womb. Each push and pull motion dragged against her most sensitive parts, and at the next pull of his hardness, her inner core tightened in release. "Jack!"
Sam's second orgasm slammed through her and Jack felt his control slipping. He started to move harder against her, ignoring the protestations from his injured ribs, hips hammering between her splayed legs that had risen higher around his back to give him better access.
She was still coming around him when he surged forward, pleasure coiling at the base of his spine, no longer holding back to wait for her pleasure before succumbing to his own. He drove harshly inside her a few more times, drawing out the moment, then finally giving into his release, his teeth sinking into her clavicle as he let out an anguished groan, spilling his hot seed at the mouth of her womb.
He collapsed in her arms, both their bodies trembling from the intensity of their joining. He remained embedded inside her, still hard, her flesh relaxed around his length. Sam pulled his head away from her shoulder and captured his mouth in an affirming kiss, loving the peace that came at the aftermath of their lovemaking.
"Love you…" she breathed into his mouth, still breathless from their exertions and his heavy body on top of her.
Sam sighed as she felt him withdraw, followed by their mixed juices, her wetness and his essence dribbling out onto the white duvet covers which they'd failed to pull back from their haste to make love.
Jack rolled onto his back. The haze of pleasure was fading and his ribs screamed at the abuse he'd just inflicted on them with his rough movements. "You should've been on top," he panted out, breaths coming in short bursts from the sexual euphoria leaving his body rapidly being replaced by chest pains.
Sam stroked his bandaged ribs in concern. She quickly slipped out of bed to find a wet washcloth to clean them both off. It was usually Jack who did this, but it was clear from the tightness in his expression that he'd overdid it, and was in considerable pain.
She tenderly wiped the traces of their lovemaking from his groin and went back to bathroom to take care of herself. Once she'd managed to clean off the stickiness between her thighs, she came back to the bedroom to draw the covers down and tuck a slumbering Jack underneath.
She went around the room to pick up their uniforms from the floor, knowing both sets were destined for the dry cleaners after their little escapade.
After assuring herself that all was in order, she crawled back into bed with Jack, tucking herself beside him, suddenly feeling the long hard day deep in her bones. She let out a breath of contentment at its wonderful conclusion. It was all worth it if at the end of the day she could have this, have him in her arms, the proof his love inside her.
The action will continue, I promise, but I wanted to reward those who continue to hang on for the Sam/Jack moments that have been few and far in between. I hope this chapter makes up for it.