Sam's forehead wrinkled in confusion as the phone on her bedside table woke her. She groaned audibly, "Ugh, it's too early," as she propped herself up on her left shoulder and reached for the phone with her right hand. "Carter." She grunted into in the receiver.
The arm that had been lazily draped across Sam's stomach came to life as she listened, long, tapered fingers beginning to trace little circles on the exposed skin on her abdomen just below the fabric of her gray tank top. "Yes, sir." Sam replied to the caller with the distinct sound of a smile in her voice. The owner of the fingers smiled to himself, wondering if that smile was due to him or to the voice on the other end.
She was listening again. Then, "Yes, sir." More listening. "Just a minute, sir." Placing her palm over the mouthpiece on the phone, she rolled over to face her companion. "Good morning," her voice purred. God, he loved that sound! "It's for you."
"Hank?" he questioned softly. She nodded, then leaned in and kissed him gently as she handed him the phone. God, he loved that, too!
"Morning, Hank," he voiced boisterously, propping himself up against the headboard. His turn to listen to the voice, Sam thought with satisfaction; her turn to watch him. Eyes still sleepy, hair all askew—he looked adorable first thing in the morning. How she loved that! She wrapped her arms around him, put her head on his bare chest, and closed her eyes, letting the sound of his voice and his words fill the space around her without really listening to him, feeling his heartbeat under her cheek. She was as content as a cat in a sunbeam, she thought absently. Idly, he ran his free fingers through her hair, the smile on his face due, without a doubt, to her embrace.
He had surprised her last night, she remembered vaguely. She hadn't been expecting him, so she hadn't heard him come in. All those years of black ops had apparently paid off because she hadn't even been aware that he was there until he had lain down beside her. She had woken then, with a start, every muscle tense, ready to strike out at her intruder until she heard his laughing, familiar voice say soothingly near her ear, "At ease, airman."
"Nice surprise," she had slurred groggily as he spooned up behind her. Within seconds and with absolute trust, she had relaxed and returned to sleep. Her companion had been both amazed and awed. He had planned on ribbing her about how easy it had been to sneak in, maybe insist that she get an alarm system or a dog, but all thoughts about giving her a hard time left as she instinctively intertwined the fingers of her right hand with his. God, he loved that! But, he was humbled by it, too. What had he ever done to deserve her?
"Sounds good, Hank." He said, "See you in an hour." He clicked the phone off and threw it unceremoniously on the foot of the bed. He then turned his attention to the woman with her arms around him who had somehow managed to fall asleep again during that whole, what was it, three minutes of the phone call. "Hey, you, Sleeping Beauty, time to wake up," He lightly kissed the top of her head and then tussled her hair with his fingers. "Sam?"
Sam groaned. She didn't want to move a muscle. She was completely comfortable where she was. She nestled in closer and mumbled something muffled and incoherent. Could have been, "No. Not moving."
Her protestations only made him grin. That's my girl, he thought and then the grin became a full-fledged smile—my girl, he liked the sound of that. "Sam," he persisted, shaking her a little. Sam made a deep noise in her throat and all her muscles tightened. Was that a growl? But, he didn't give up. "Hey, sleepyhead! Wake up! You're wasting time."
"Fine. I'm awake." She muttered decisively and discontentedly as she pushed away from him and started to crawl out of the bed. She hadn't made eye contact, bad sign. And, there was mumbling; may have been, "Damn, morning person…."
"Wait, wait!" He called grabbing her legs and pulling her back towards him.
"What?" she asked in her crankiest morning voice.
He flipped her lightly onto her back and looked down into her pouting face. God, he loved that expression! "Where ya goin'?"
"I'm getting up." She scowled up at him.
He leaned down over her and kissed her nose playfully. "I said wake up, not get up."
She crossed her arms across her chest and continued to grimace. "And?" Her voice was small and tight. Oh, she was going to make him work for it, he surmised—she-devil!
"And," he paused, his delicious brown eyes studying hers, "We've got a whole hour before we have to be there." Her expression was hard and unforgiving. He knew he'd have to play this just right, walk a fine line, that sort of thing… "I figure it'll take 15 minutes to get to the base." She was about to protest, but he held up a palm," I intend to speed, of course." She bit back a smile and tried to keep her face fierce, but he saw the smile dancing in her eyes. Alright, he thought smugly, progress. "And, it'll take about 10 minutes to get showered and ready." Another protest grew in her expression, "Military showers, of course—less than 5 minutes." She frowned. "You can go first, of course… I'd suggest sharing, but I think that would be detrimental to the whole time conservation thing we've got going." That one got a smile and a slight roll of the eyes. Good, he thought, more progress.
"So," she responded coyly, her hands moving from her chest to his, "What does that leave us?"
He smiled down at her wickedly. "About 35 minutes, give or take."
"Hmmm," she acquiesced thoughtfully, "That's not much time… But, I suppose…"
"You suppose?" he questioned with mock annoyance and surprise.
"Well, yes, I suppose that, under the circumstances, we could give it a shot." Sam's face was mischievous, but there was obvious desire in her eyes. "So, what now, airman? How should we proceed?"
Jack looked at her thoughtfully, then bent in and kissed her, a lingering, passionate kiss. Then, he pulled back. "I realize that we've never really had much luck with plan A, but, right now, I'm thinking we should do something about that sweet little tank top."