After they'd driven a few blocks from the restaurant, Sam began to feel chilly. She rubbed her bare arms to get rid of her goose bumps. Daniel noticed and apologized that he hadn't had time to get his Jeep's heater fixed. He offered her a jacket instead. When she accepted, he pulled over and reached into the back to get one for her and a dry one for himself. As he drove on, they listened to the radio and chatted as usual. Occasionally, Daniel would reach over and squeeze Sam's hand or rub her knee when he wasn't otherwise occupied with the gearshift. That had been the extent of their physical contact since they'd left the restaurant.
They planned to take the relationship slowly, and since Sam's mind raced with thoughts of what she'd like to do with Daniel right there in his Jeep, that meant she had to keep her hands to herself. Luckily, Daniel seemed to understand this as well, and kept the contact to a minimum, but even those small, simple touches lit her body ablaze. His smile, the way he laughed, everything about him made her want to be closer, but she fought to push those thoughts aside.
After half an hour of keeping up the light banter, Daniel parked his Jeep next to the curb in front of Sam's house. She didn't wait for him to open the door, and they both climbed out. Daniel came around to meet her, and Sam interlaced her fingers with his as they made their way to her door. As they climbed the steps, Sam told him, "I had a great time tonight, Daniel."
"Me, too. I'm sorry the evening has to end."
"Yeah, me, too. I'd invite you in, but. . . " She shrugged in an attempt at both an explanation and apology. "I don't think it's a good idea."
Daniel nodded. "It's okay. I understand."
She wanted to be certain he truly did understand. She didn't want to leave him with any doubts about her feelings for him. "It's not that I don't want to. I just want to take it slow."
"I know." He kissed her forehead. "We'll have plenty of time later."
She smiled. "I really don't deserve you." Sam kissed him back, intending to make it an innocent goodnight kiss, but she felt her pulse hasten as their lips met. She quickly pulled away and declared, "I should go inside and let you get going."
He nodded and watched as she unlocked her front door. As she opened it, she turned back to say, "Goodnight."
"Goodnight," he responded as he kissed her cheek then turned and walked down the steps.
Sam closed the door and sighed with relief. She'd managed to make it all the way home without doing something she might regret. Now she could go to her bedroom, kick off her shoes, and quickly go to sleep. . . yet, her hand was still on the doorknob. It just wouldn't let go, and her legs refused to move.
Sam's chest heaved, and many long seconds passed before she threw open the door and called out, "Daniel, wait!"
He had just opened the door of his Jeep. Now, he closed it and walked toward her. Sam ran to meet him, but stopped a few feet away. "Forget taking it slow. We've had seven years for that. I want you to make love to me now."
He closed the distance between them and looked into her eyes to ask, "Are you sure?"
"Yes," she gasped as she pulled his mouth to hers.
As his lips met hers, waves of emotion washed over Sam's body. Excitement, calm, joy, sorrow, and everything in between. His arms wrapped her in safety and security, molding her body to his. Sam's fingers made their way through Daniel's hair as her lips communicated her feelings in ways words could not. A tear slipped down her cheek as she realized this was the most amazing feeling she had ever known. She loved someone with all her heart, her mind and soul, and he loved her in return. More than that, she knew she could always trust Daniel with her heart. For the first time in her life, she could relax and let down the walls she'd built up so high she was surprised anyone had ever seen past. Daniel had seen, while for so very long, she had not. Finally, the walls were down.
Sam kissed him intensely, wishing for an even deeper connection. She was torn. On one hand, she wanted to get inside and get Daniel into bed as quickly as possible. On the other, she didn't want to stop kissing him for even the few seconds it might take to rush to her bedroom and strip. She decided to compromise. Pulling him along with her, she began to slowly make her way backward.
She could imagine what the neighbors might think if they happened to be looking out their windows, but she didn't care. Let crabby old Mrs. Carr call her a hussy. It didn't matter. She was with the man she loved.
Sam found the porch steps difficult to navigate backward, and she released her lips from Daniel's long enough to reach the top. When she did, Daniel spoke up. "Sam, are you really sure about this?"
"Absolutely."
"I don't want you to feel like I was pressing you to--"
Sam silenced him by placing her fingers on his lips. "Daniel, I've always hesitated, second guessed, thought things through, and waited for the timing to be right on my relationships. But this, us. . . we're always going to be right. Hesitating and waiting for timing isn't going to make it any more right."
Sam withdrew her fingertips from his lips and began to replace them with her own lips when Daniel spoke again, "So you have no doubts about this, about your feelings for me, about us."
"None." She leaned in to kiss him once again then stopped when a thought hit her. She pulled back and looked into his eyes. "Do you?"
He shook his head. "No. I love you. I just don't think I could handle it if I woke up beside you tomorrow morning to find out you think you made a mistake."
Sam met his eyes. "That won't happen," she promised, then she kissed him, showing him exactly how much she meant those words. Taking his hand, she opened the front door, pulled him inside, and shut the door behind them. When she flipped the deadbolt and turned back to him, she found him leaning against the wall and gazing at her with a smile playing at the corners of his lips.
Even if she'd wanted to, she couldn't stop herself from smiling back. "What?" she asked.
"I haven't told you how beautiful you look," he answered. Then he held out his hand in an invitation for her to come to him.
Sam nearly ran forward, letting her jacket slide to the floor as she went. Interlacing her fingers with his, she whispered, "Thank you," and made her appreciation apparent with a kiss. Deepening the kiss, she released Daniel's hand and ran her fingers up his arms and along his well-defined chest. Taking hold of the collar of his jacket, she pushed it off his shoulders, pressing her body into his as that piece of clothing hit the floor.
Once his jacket dropped from his arms, Daniel's hands moved back to her. They started low, pulling the hem of her dress up just slightly and brushing the skin of her thigh as they made their way slowly up her body. With Daniel's hands busy in her hair, she took the opportunity to pull his shirt from its neatly tucked position in his pants.
His lips caressed their way down her neck, hitting exactly the right spot to make her shiver. Then without warning, his hands slid down and lifted her off the ground. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he took a few steps forward and pinned her against the wall.
He continued kissing her skin where he'd left off, trailing downward over her collarbone and to the cleavage that had been taunting him all night. His tongue danced along the v-shaped curve as one hand slipped the strap of her dress off her shoulder, dropping the dress lower and revealing more skin for his tongue to engage.
Sam moaned in excitement and managed to get out the words, "Bedroom. Now!"
xxxxxxxxxxxx
Daniel spent a few additional moments worshiping Sam's flesh before he complied. He stepped away from the wall, and with her legs still wrapped around him, he began to make his way to the bedroom. He was forced to stop kissing her to find his way through the dark hallway, guided only by streetlights filtering through the living room curtains. As he navigated the darkness, Sam began to give his neck the same treatment he'd given hers. A few times, she claimed his lips, causing him to halt his journey or risk running into the wall or some unseen obstacle.
At one point, he nearly hit a small, poorly placed table he swore hadn't been there the last time he'd visited. For an instant, he considered setting her down and taking her on it right there, but he steeled himself in his determination to get to the bedroom. He wanted to do things right the first time, and he'd already promised her that he would make love to her in a bed. There would be plenty of time and opportunity to get to that table -- among other places -- later.
Within minutes, he found himself in Sam's bedroom. It was not his first visit, just the first as her lover. From this new perspective, he glanced around the room and tried to take in as much as he could in the dark, to memorize every detail. Her cotton pajamas were strewn across the floor as though she'd been too rushed to fold them away like a well-trained soldier. The bed was precisely made, suggesting she hadn't been rushed until much later in the day. Every inch was tucked in perfectly, despite the sorrow and helplessness she'd confessed to feeling that morning. Most people wouldn't have bothered, but Daniel knew Sam Carter would push her tears aside to do everything she felt had to be done, no matter how trivial. She would ignore her pain until she could no longer avoid it, no longer find another task that needed her attention. He wanted to take her pain away, hoped he already had.
Daniel's attention was drawn back to Sam as she eagerly left hot, moist trails across his throat. He kissed her lips and used his foot to kick the door shut behind him. He heard Sam whisper in his ear, "I love you," at the same instant the latch clicked.
He carefully laid her on the bed, and she began to work on the buttons of his shirt as he leaned over her. With his hands holding him up on the bed on both sides of her, he was unable to touch her while she removed his shirt. He instead used his mouth to caress her skin in as many places as he could reach: her earlobe, her shoulder, her neck. . . It distracted her and slowed her progress slightly, but Sam finished before he became impatient and ripped it off himself.
She slid his shirt back, pushing him into a standing position as she did so. She moved with him to caress his bare chest and stomach with her lips as she pushed the garment from his shoulders. Once the shirt had fallen, her lips continued moving against his skin and her fingers toyed with the fabric at the front of his pants. Daniel ran his hands through her hair as her lips descended to join her fingers, and they worked to unfasten the button. Soon, his pants were unbuttoned, and he kicked away his shoes and wriggled out of his pants.
After he'd gotten rid of the second pants leg, Daniel noticed Sam leaning back and smiling up at him. He reached out and pulled her up to him. "What are you smiling at?" he asked as he drew her body into his and began nuzzling her neck.
She breathed back the obvious answer, "You."
In response, Daniel captured her lips in a deep kiss. He felt her sway in his grasp before she was able to steady herself. If she hadn't been securely wrapped in his arms, Daniel thought she might have fallen.
He still held her close as he began to work his way down her neck, then brought both hands to her shoulders to finish what he'd wanted to do since he'd first laid eyes on her that night -- to watch her dress slide down the curves of her body and hit the floor. He began with one strap then the other. He didn't let them drop. Instead, he held them and let the fabric move only enough that the top of her cleavage peeked out. His mouth sought out her breasts, seeing to it that every part of them got equal attention. Then he let the dress slip a few more inches and paid tribute to each newly revealed portion of her body. He continued all the way down until the gown finally hit the floor.
He slowly worked his way back up her firm, smooth body. His lips stopped at her mouth while his hands continued to explore. Sam's hands moved their way along his stomach to the elastic of his boxers and pushed them downward. He then carefully slipped off her panties and guided her backward onto the bed. He knelt over her and ran his hands along her skin, all the way down her legs to her feet. Daniel gently took one foot then the other and slipped off the high heels she still wore.
Taking one more opportunity to spread kisses across her delicate skin, Daniel made his way back up to gaze into her eyes. Stroking her hair, he whispered, "I love you."
"I love you, too," she whispered back as she pulled him to her.
From there, their two naked bodies became one in rhythm -- mind, body, and soul, and neither slept until the first rays of dawn overtook the darkness.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
When she awoke that afternoon, Sam was greeted by the site of Daniel's smiling face. "Morning."
"Morning." She smiled back.
Daniel lay next to her on top of the covers. He lay turned on his side with his head propped up on a pillow, dressed in his suit pants and a partially buttoned shirt. He didn't seem the least bit groggy or sleepy. In fact, he seemed wide-awake. "Did you just wake up?"
He shook his head. "Nope. Just waiting for you." A second later, he nearly leapt off the bed. He reached for Sam's hands and pulled her up to him. She begrudgingly left the warmth of the covers to be greeted by her robe being wrapped around her shoulders. She slipped her arms through the sleeves and tied the knot in front. Daniel kissed her cheek then stepped behind her. "Come on," he said as he guided her out the bedroom door.
Laid out on her table was a full breakfast of waffles, bacon, eggs, and coffee. Sam stopped and turned to Daniel with her mouth wide open. "Where did you get this food?"
Daniel shrugged. "Well, your fridge was kind of empty, so I had to make a trip to the grocery store."
Sam wrapped her arms around Daniel and squeezed him in a big hug. "Thank you."
Daniel stepped forward and pulled out her chair, allowing her to take a seat. He then moved around the table to sit across from her. "Sleep well?" he asked as he picked up his coffee cup.
Sam grinned back at him as she watched him sip the hot liquid. "Yes, very well."
She cut into her waffles as she silently laughed to herself. She couldn't believe she'd thought Daniel Jackson would be bad in bed. The notion now seemed downright silly. The only thing better had been waking up to find him right beside her, and that was definitely something Sam could get used to. She was only sorry it had taken her so long to realize it.