Chapter 21 – The morning after the night before

Disclaimer – Not mine, never will be etc. etc.

He had been on the verge of getting up to move towards the bathroom when he felt a gentle breath on his neck. The experience caused what could only be described as goose bumps to form on his arms and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He felt a gentle hand touch his shoulder and out of the corner of his eye he could see delicate fingers trailing down his naked arm. They found their way to his hand and intertwined with it.

Before he had a chance to turn, he felt her spoon up behind him. He took in the distinctly familiar smell as she pressed herself up against him. His body instinctively pressed back as a silky leg drew up from his foot to his calf, moving higher each moment. As her foot moved to his groin he let out a gasp to which a giggle was the reply. Reflexively Jack murmured, "No giggling, Major".

Oh yes! Jack knew this dream well and smiled to himself in his sleep. He could hear a woman humming, a tune he knew but couldn't quite place. As the humming continued, his subconscious began to fill in the gaps and he could hear the words that went along with the music.

"In my mind
Everything we did was right
Open your eyes, I'll still be by your side
How could I ever have been so blind?
You give me something to sleep to
at night"

Hold on, Jack thought, that isn't usually part of the dream. He felt a soft foot stoking his calf and thigh once again as the humming continued. He sighed at the pleasant sensations that coursed through him at the imaginary touch. He felt warmth against his ear and then a voice began to whisper.

"Jack, open your eyes."

He smiled again. Ok, he thought, I recognize that voice but if I open my eyes I'll probably wake up and the dream will be over and I really like this dream. It's a good one.

Hi thoughts were interrupted by the silky voice tempting him with every drawn out syllable.

"Jack. Wake. Up. I promise you that it'll be worth it".

Hmm, worth it? Maybe a peek? Jack slowly raised one eyelid just a little knowing it would be easy for him to just roll over and go back to sleep. And then both of his eyes went wide with shock as he tried to wake himself from the dream. She wasn't usually there when he open his eyes. In fact, she didn't normally ask him to open hi eyes. What the … ?

Sam lay beside him trying to hold back the grin which was fighting to break across her face. Her eyes sparkled as she quietly murmured, "Did you expect me to be gone?"

Jack was so dazed that he didn't know how to answer so he simultaneously nodded and shook his head which made him look like he was actually moving his head in awkward circles. Sam couldn't contain herself and began laughing. "No giggling, Major", was the only response he could think of. He drew a deep breath, paused for a moment and then asked what he knew was a stupid question but he had to ask it none the less.

"You're still here?"

"Yes, flyboy. Where did you think I would be?", Sam replied.

Jack locked confused, shrugged his shoulders and replied simply.

"Not here".

"Well since this is my bed, in my house, I figured I would stay", she countered giving him one of her mega-watt smiles. She sat up slightly leaning her chin on her elbow.

Jack sat up looking around the room, quickly realizing that it was indeed her house, it was in reality her bed and he was naked in it. He shifted to get a better look at Sam and as he moved, the sheet slipped down revealing her naked breasts.

A quiet "Oh!" slipped from his lips as the memories of the night before came hurtling back to him.

"So it wasn't a dream then?", he asked smiling shyly at her.

"Nope", she answered in a cat who ate the canary tone.

Sam could see Jack thinking the situation through, his brow creasing slightly as he did so. And then an all encompassing grin, with a touch of leer, filled his face.

"So", he started with a new air of confidence, " can we go back to where we were when you woke me up?"

She raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"You mean with my leg here, and my hand here …"

And so began the most intimate yet strangely fun, love making either had experienced. They spent as much time laughing as they did kissing, as they took their time exploring each others bodies knowing they had a late start to the off-world mission they were to undertake that day.

Later that morning, the pair sat opposite each other, having breakfast at the kitchen table. Jack had shown off his culinary skills once again, whipping up a meal of fluffy scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. Sam had made rich, aroma filled, coffee and they chatted easily as they ate, falling into a comfortable routine of domestication.

As he sipped his coffee, head dipped low over his cup, he looked at her from beneath his lashes.

"Sam we need to talk".

"Last night you didn't want to talk", she replied with a smile.

"Yes but now we need to talk", he stated, his seriousness easily heard in his tone.

Sam sighed, gently putting down her knife and fork on the plate in front of her.

"I know", she said, resigned to the fact that he wasn't going to let it go.

Jack got up and sat in the chair beside her. He took her hand in his and whispered to her.

"Look at me."

She refused, slowly shaking her head, keeping her eyes, which were quickly filling with tears, focused on the remainder of her eggs.

"Sam, please look at me", he implored as he squeezed her hand.

She bit her lip and raised her head. As she did, the tears began to fall down her cheeks, a cascade of constant water.

"Hey! Don't cry! Look, I just want to make sure that we're on the same page. We have to go to the mountain in a couple of hours and I need to know where we stand. I need to know what this means to you."

Sam paused for a moment and then looked directly at Jack, ensuring that she made eye contact with him and whispered just one tentative word.

"Everything."

A huge grin spread across his face as the word reached his ears and it's meaning reached his heart.

"Sweet", he said and then stopped, thinking. "So we stick to the plan then?"

"The plan?", Sam asked, confused.

"Yeah the one that you came up with".

He looked at her for agreement and when she remained obviously perplexed he became incredulous.

"Your plan. You know. We keep this to ourselves. Not anything to do with the SGC. Nothing to do with SG-1. No Colonel. No Major.", he rushed the words out hoping he hadn't made a mistake.

She smiled, finally getting the drift of what he meant.

"We'll see where it goes before going public?", she asked for confirmation.

"Yep!"

"Just between Scarecrow and Dorothy?", she continued.

Jack pulled Sam gently onto his lap and kissed her sweetly, leaving no doubt of his love for her. He broke away and looked at her, smiling.

"For the moment, just between Scarecrow and Dorothy", he replied.

She nodded her agreement, even knowing that "the moment" may not be all that long with the speed at which their relationship was now moving.

Sam put her arms around Jack's neck and leaned in for another kiss.

A/N – We're just about done with just a short Epilogue to go. Please let me know what you thought … this was for some reason a tough chap to write!

Also not as many people reviewed the last chap - you remember the "sexy" one. To those who did review, thanks a million. For those of you who didn't, I hope it was more to do with it being around New Year and less to do with the fact that it was rubbish. However since the writing of this fic is as much to do with me trying to improve my writing, rest assured, ALL reviews are welcome even if they contain constructive criticism and especially if they tell me what you thought worked well.