His big truck had an odd look behind her tiny Volvo parked in her street. He took the small bunch of flowers he had bought when selecting the wine. He was not a big connoisseur, but a trip to the vineyards of Bordeaux in France with Sara during their first year of marriage had educated him enough to be able to appreciate certain subtleties, and he was fairly certain the vintage he had chosen was a good one.
He had no precise idea on how the evening would turn out, and to be entirely honest, he was a bit nervous, feeling like a teenage boy on his first date, and that was rather unsettling. He looked at her softly illuminated windows and took a deep breath before walking to her door.
Sam heard the door bell ring as she was putting the final touch at the table. She smiled, knowing perfectly who was waiting outside, and went to open to him.
'God she's gorgeous!' he thought, his saliva almost choking him as he tried to swallow. He couldn't describe exactly what she was wearing, aside from the fact that it was dark pants and a tight creamy top. But what caught his eyes was the gleam in her deep blue ones, enhanced by the soft mascara he was so used to seeing on her, but which stripped from all the military regulations, held a suddenly totally different appeal to him. Her devastating smile should be forbidden, he thought. Her face was truly radiant, framed by the short strands of blonde hair, and he couldn't remember having seen that particular glow in the entire time he had known her.
He hadn't realized how long he had been staring at her, until she interrupted his gazing.
"Do I have a big ugly spot on my nose?" she asked, playfully.
Pulled out from his reverie, he replied softly.
"No, just stargazing…"
"Well I don't know about you but I'm hungry and it's getting a bit chilly out there…"
He smiled and stepped inside, giving her the flowers and the wine.
She inhaled the soft fragrance of the flowers as she walked into her kitchen to fetch a vase and put them in.
"Hung your jacket on the coat-rack, Jack!" She called from the kitchen. "And I'm afraid you'll have to uncork the bottle if you don't want tiny pieces of cork in your glass…"
He came into the kitchen and took the bottle from the counter while she went to put the vase at the center of the dining table.
"'Got a cork-screw?" he asked.
"Left drawer next to the stove…" she replied, putting on soft music in the stereo before returning to the kitchen.
Jack was busy uncorking the bottle until the satisfactory "plop" resonated in their ears. He smelt the opening to check it was not corked, then gave it to her so she could put it on the table.
"Maybe we should let it breathe a little…" he said following her.
"Breathe? I didn't know wine had lungs…" she said jokingly.
"Well to reveal its most intimate qualities, a wine should be oxygenated before being served." He replied playfully, stressing the word 'intimate'.
She smiled brightly, a twinkle in her beautiful eyes.
"Shall I see a double meaning in that, Sir?" she asked, enjoying the sudden turn their conversation had taken.
He cast his eyes downward a brief moment. 'Carter: 1, O'Neill: 0' she thought as she realized she had managed to embarrass the mighty General O'Neill.
"Sam…" he eventually said, reaching out to caress her forearm.
"Why don't you sit down on the couch while I fetch the beers? That would leave enough time for the wine to breathe…" she winked.
Jack rolled his eyes as she headed to the kitchen giggling.
"Since you're pulling out ranks, not giggling, Colonel!" He shouted.
"Ex-!" she shouted back.
She came back a while later with the drinks and a bowl of peanuts. She put them all on the coffee table, and sat opposite him.
"So?" she asked looking straight into his eyes.
"So, what?"
"It does feel a bit weird, don't you think?"
"Oh that it does… But when you think of it, it's difficult to fully realize that we can do everything after not having been able to do anything for 7 years and more…" he said.
She took a swallow of her beer then looked at him again.
"I want to know where we stand, Jack…"
"Well 'seems to me that we're standing on the same road, at last… Unless that's not what you think?"
"That is what I think… I just wanted to be sure you felt the same."
They fell silent.
"Jack, neither you nor I are getting any younger…"
"So?"
"So if you want to have kids…"
"Hey, hey…" he said, standing up to join her, putting his beer next to hers.
"Sam, as much as I love kids, like you said, I am not getting any younger. If there were to be kids in my life, Hell I should be their grand-father!... But if YOU want to have kids with me, then we'll have kids…"
She smiled affectionately at him and took his hand in her own.
"Sam, we've waited a very long time to simply be able to confess our feelings to each other freely. I don't want to sound egotistical, but kids are definitely not the first concern that comes to my mind right now… I… I'm an old solitary guy, Sam… I can be a real ass sometimes, and the last thing I want to do is hurt you in any way…"
"You won't, I'll keep you grounded, don't worry."
He chuckled.
"It may appear a bit silly, but I also want to take things slow. I don't want to mess anything up with you. My life is such a long succession of failures and I don't want to fail you…"
"Jack, your life is also full of great accomplishments…"
"I know, but one tends to memorize the failures more easily than the successes. Experience is a harsh teacher, Sam."
"You know what?"
"Tell me…"
"Although it's something you would rather say to me: you're thinking too much…"
He looked at her smiling playfully at first, then his expression changed to serious. He raised a hand to caress her cheek softly, drowning himself in her blue depths, then slowly drew her head to his.
She complied not resisting.
:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:¤:
Their lips met. Softly at first, then encouraged by her leaning into him, he brushed his tongue against her mouth, slipping an arm around her shoulders.
Sam opened up to him, accepting him tenderly, and showing him that what they were doing was the right thing, her fingers coming to tangle with the short grey hair on the back of his neck.
He sighed in her mouth, tightening his embrace and increasing the intensity of their kiss. Sam was a great kisser, he noticed, and he hoped she derived as much pleasure from his kiss as he from hers.
She ended up their deep exchange, softly kissing his mouth several times, before drawing her head back and looking him in the eyes.
"I should check on dinner…" she said as a matter of apology. "If that's a hint of what you brought for dessert, I'd be tempted to go for it at once though!" she winked at him before standing up swiftly and heading for her kitchen.
Jack followed her, a dreamy look on his face.
She opened her oven, took a spoon, and started basting the beef loaf and the potatoes cooking in there.
He arrived behind her and waited for her to rise back before encircling her waist and nuzzling her neck.
"So I take it Sam Carter not knowing her way around a kitchen is another legend?" He said softly, laying tender kisses on the nape of her neck.
"Well you'll tell me when you eat it, General…"
She felt him stiffen at the mention of his rank, and turned into his embrace.
"Jack…" She said, putting a finger under his chin so that she could look him in the eyes. "Look at me…"
He did.
"It's okay, I can call you General and you can call me Carter, or Sam, or whatever other NON-RIDICULOUS pet name you'd want to call me… And please avoid 'Sammy' that would make me feel like I'm 15 again…!" she concluded playfully.
He smiled and gave her a peck on the lips.
"What about Marge?"
She poked his shoulders as he tightened his embrace around her waist, laughing softly.
"Only if I get to call you Homer…" she replied.
And once again they were lost in each other's eyes.
Jack brought a finger to her face, tracing the outlines of her lips.
"You're so beautiful, Sam…"
She smiled and kissed him softly.
"Dinner will be ready in five, why don't you go sit down, I'll bring the meal, and we can eat?"
"I love you." He blurted out, as surprised as she was that he'd said it.
She quickly regained her composure, and smiled to him before giving him a peck on the lips.
"And I love you…" she said in her turn, caressing his temple around his ear. "Now go sit down, flyboy…" She said, pushing him slightly. "… or at this rate, we're never going to eat solid food, and I for one, am hungry for food!"
They ate dinner calmly in a joyous atmosphere, slowly relaxing and getting accustomed to being together without any pesky regulations coming in between them.
He helped her clean the table, and once the dishwasher was loaded, she offered to take coffees on the sofa.
They sat next to each other, Jack encircling her waist and drawing her body close. Sam snuggled up in his embrace, dropping her shoes and curling her legs underneath herself.
They drank their coffee in silence, enjoying their proximity and the almost instant familiarity they had found with each other, then Sam took his mug from his hand, set them both on the coffee table, and straddled his thighs, facing him.
Smiling cockily, he put his hands on her thighs as she encircled his neck loosely.
"Would you happen to have something in mind, Miss Carter?"
"You know I was in the Air Force?"
"So?"
"I was always flying back seat… I'd like to fly front seat and play with the JOYstick for a change, would you happen to know a pilot who'd do that for me?" she said, her eyes twinkling with mischief.
Jack almost chocked at the innuendo, but his thoughts were soon distracted as he felt one of her hands reaching for the top button of his shirt. Not wanting to be left behind, her sneaked his hands from her thighs to her bottom and underneath her top where his palms only encountered soft skin.
He pulled her to him and took possession of her mouth in a hungry kiss while she finished unbuttoning his shirt.
Things were threatening to get out of control soon. Panting, he steadied her.
"Sam, much as I want to make love to you now, take pity on a old man's knees… Bedroom?"
Sam stood up and dragged him by his open shirt through the corridor to her bedroom.
Once in the darkness of her bedroom, softly illuminated by the moonlight streaming through the window, she started tugging at his shirt impatiently, but once again, he steadied her.
"Sam, let me… I've dreamt of this moment since the day I met you, I don't want to rush it. I don't want our first time to be a quick one."
She acquiesced silently. He got rid of his shirt and went back to taking care of her top, sensuously caressing her back while pulling it above her head. When the garment lay discarded on the floor, his eyes now accustomed to the pale light bathing the room, he took one step back to admire the pale skin of her torso, reveling in the curves that made her a terribly attractive woman, like it were an exquisite sculpture in a museum. He smiled in admiration: "so perfect, so beautiful, Sam…"
She started to move towards him, but he stopped her with his raised hand.
"I told you, Sam, you've got to trust me on this…"
He stepped forwards again and finally touched her, his fingers tracing light paths on her front that made her skin go all goose-pimply. Without her realizing it, he had sneaked his hands on her back and unclasped her bra. Leaving her top half bared.
He bent his head to kiss her collarbones, his hands not idle a second as they stroked and softly kneaded her breasts, before going downward to the waistband of her pants.
In an instant, he had rid her of her pants and pulled her to him, skin against skin as his bared chest encountered hers, and he kissed her deep. There was nothing urgent in his kiss, nothing wanton, he kissed as sensuously as possible in a way she had never been kissed. She retaliated by slipping her hands to the waistband of his own pants, but once again he stopped her hand, lifting her up in his arms and laying her on the covers gently.
He stepped back a little, getting rid of his jeans in a swift motion, and joined her on the bed. Although his underwear was beginning to feel awfully tight, he didn't want to spoil her pleasure by introducing his arousal to more stimulation than he was capable of controlling now, so he kept it on.
His
hands once again slid along her body, now closely followed by his
lips as he deposited small kisses on her soft skin. He softly kissed
the body of her right breast, sending shivers down her spine. His
touch was voluptuous and sensuous, not like any other experience she
may have had, and she truly felt like a fragile treasure in his
hands. She had never felt so respected and so loved in her entire
life.
Suddenly, she felt her panties slide down her thighs, and he
started taking care of her in a definitely more intimate way.
Jack inhaled her scent deeply, intoxicating his brain with her fragrance. He kissed her abdomen underneath her navel as his fingers softly explored what would soon be his very private territory. He was very attentive to her body signs as he gently massaged her, bringing her where he wanted her to be, and his tender ministrations had the desired effect, as she suddenly arched, breathing erratically, and moaning his name.
When her tremors subsided, he rose to kiss her mouth in another tender kiss, caressing her cheek with the back of his index finger.
"I'm glad you liked it…" he murmured playfully.
She looked at him lovingly.
"Jack, nobody's made love to me like that…"
"Thank you…"
"No, thank you… Now come to me, I want to feel you, I want to blend with you…"
"Oh, such a nice choice of words, Miss Carter…" he joked.
"You are the one who messed up with my logical sense, mister." She retorted before attracting his mouth to hers in yet another kiss.
Her hands slipped under his underwear, and understanding her message, he finally got rid of it. His ears were burning with restrain and desire of being molded to her body. Her hand brushed him softly, but he really didn't need any further stimulation, having driven all he needed from her earlier pleasure. He wanted to please her before him; there would be other times for her to explore his body.
Her eyes pleaded him and he needed no more encouragement to slip into the soft nest he had so carefully prepared for himself.
Once again, Sam thought she had never experienced such a level of tenderness and restraint from a man, as Jack set a slow pace, and within moments, she was again on the verge of that sweet abyss where she so eagerly wanted to plunge with him this time. She encouraged him, murmuring soft words into his ears, and soon her heightened senses felt him tense and she let go of her own restraints, his soft moan the testimony of his surrender.
For a few moments, they simply lay together, their bodies tightly spooned one into the other, then Jack shifted slowly and pulled her into a tight embrace.
She started toying with the hairs on his chest.
"God, Jack, if you plan on doing that to me every time, you're going to make me a sex addict!" she murmured playfully.
He chuckled softly before laying a tender kiss on her forehead.
"I so hope you will still say that when you discover that 'mister' down there has its little failures from time to time…"
"Yeah, but 'mister' up there…" she said, poking at his forehead "… seems to know of ways to compensate that…"
He looked at her in the darkness and caressed her cheek before kissing her softly.
"So you're not disappointed in me?" he asked.
She was suddenly confronted to his self-deprecating opinion of himself and she felt deeply moved by it: it was not often that he let his guard down like that.
"Don't tell me Mighty General O'Neill doubts his capacities of satisfying a woman? Jack… cut the self deprecation there… I know you, I've known you for years…"
"Not in this way, Sam…"
"Well if you believe the rumor Daniel told me about, that we've been going at it in every corner of the base since your return, then I have some experience in that area too…!" she joked.
"Ah crap, and there I wanted to take you on my desk next time you'd drop by… I guess it's history now…" he replied playfully.
She smiled against his chest.
"Jack, I love you, and that's all that matters… Of course the fact that we are now free to have a relationship is the best thing that's ever happened to us, but we've gone a long way together, and I guess I've seen most of your bad sides, and you've seen most of mine."
He sighed.
"You know embarking on this adventure with you frightens me more than any Stargate mission we've ever gone on…"
"You don't need to worry, Jack, it's really going to be fine…"
He tilted her head with his finger so that he could look her in the eyes.
"… But I have so much to lose…"
"We're in this together, Jack O'Neill, and to quote a certain Colonel I used to work with: 'no one gets left behind'".
He smiled and softly kissed her.
"I'm sure I'd like him…"
"He's mine…" she said, pinching his skin.
"Ouch!"
They kissed one last time before giving themselves to the sweet abandon sleep provided, trusting their future together, and eager to discover what promises it held for them…
The END
