Enjoy the new chapter!

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He really, really needed to learn to think before saying anything. ´This is not what it looks like´ would have sounded so much better now.

"Jack, what the hell are you thinking?" The old general sighed and rubbed his hand over his tired face.

It wasn´t that Jack O´Neill didn´t like the old general, or the Tok´ra who shared his body, Selmak was actually a lot more understanding in some things. This could have been one of them, but the general kept talking.

"Did you tell her?"

"No. You´re the first."

"Well, I´m honored." He replied, but to Jack, he didn´t sound that honored at all.

Jack sighed and ran his hand through his short hair. The older man wasn´t going to make his life any easier. Not that he blamed him; he would have done probably the same if it had been his daughter.

"I guess I´ll see you in the morning."

"Yeah, good night, Jack."

"Good night."

Jacob watched him leave the infirmary and then sat down on the chair the colonel had occupied only moments ago. He leaned back, crossed his arms across his chest and watched his daughter sleeping.

He didn´t dislike Jack O´Neill. In fact, he was one of the few men who had earned his trust and respect from the very beginning. He knew there was no man in this world, or any other, whom he would think was good enough for his daughter, but if it would have been up to him, if he had to make a choice for her, it would have probably been Jack.

There had been situations when he had let himself think that if there was something between that man and his daughter. Something more than the military allowed. Now all that made a perfect sense; their constant worry over each other, the gentle touches and looks, conversations exchanged without a sound, a simple look telling them more than words.

It was so much more than a friendship.

And how unfair the life had been to them.

Watching his daughter rolling on her other side in her sleep, her back now turned to him, he silently stood up and leaned to kiss the top of her head before leaving the infirmary and returning back to his guest quarters.

He wasn´t going to lose his night sleep over this. Of course he would worry and glare at Jack O´Neill for a long time, but it really wasn´t his business. He would let them take care of it.

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Seven days had passed since Jack had last seen her. A whole week.

After she had been released from the infirmary, Jacob had taken her home and stayed with her until this morning when he had flown to San Francisco to see Mark and his family.

Jack sighed softly as he turned off the engine of his car and stepped out to the rain. He knocked on the door, not wanting to use the key she had given him for emergencies some years ago. Though for a moment he thought that maybe this was listed under an emergency category. He did miss her a lot.

"Sir?" A pleased smile appeared on her lips when she saw him standing behind her door.

"Hey, Carter." He smiled back, hands deep in his pockets.

She stepped aside, allowing him to come inside of her house, letting the warmth greet him. He took off his wet jacket and followed her into the kitchen.

"Did I wake you?" He asked, a little frown escaping his lips.

"No." She shook her head and offered him a mug of hot coffee.

He brought the mug on his lips and sipped his coffee, allowing himself to enjoy the taste of it. She leaned against the counter, holding her mug with two hands close to her face, enjoying the scent of the fresh brewed coffee as much as the taste of it.

She was still wearing pajama pants and a tank top, the look on her face a little sleepy and blonde hair a little more out of order than normal and he was pretty sure she had left her bed only a short time before he had arrived.

"How are you feeling?"

"I´m fine." She replied, smiling into her coffee as he frowned. "I really am fine. And ready to get back to work tomorrow."

"That´s good. Things are just not the same without you."

She tilted her head questioning and he shrugged at her. "Teal´c being away on missions, Daniel just way too happy with the rocks Teal´c brings him, and me being bored to death in the meetings I don´t want to attend and doing the paper work I don´t want to do."

She chuckled a little and placed the mug on the counter behind her. "Well, sir, I am just waiting for Janet´s approval and then ready to go."

"I´m glad to hear that." He replied softly.

A deep rumble of thunder was heard in the distance, but they barely heard the storm that was closing in. Something had definitely changed between them.

His eyes darkened with passion as he shamelessly stared at her and she felt shivers run through her as she realized that everything she felt for him was reflected back from his eyes to hers.

The demanding ring of her phone made her broke the eye contact and leave the kitchen. Standing up he grabbed her arm as she walked pass him to answer the phone.

"Let it ring." He whispered, pulling her gently against his body. And she gladly did what he asked.

Her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him into a passionate kiss and his gentle fingers let go off her arm and found her hips, sneaking under the white tank top. She sighed softly against his lips as he caressed the bare skin of her sides.

All the thoughts of taking it slow and sweet disappeared from his mind as he felt her trying to pull his tee shirt up and over his head. He chuckled softly as he lifted his hands up so she could get rid of the clothing.

"We´re never going to make it in to the bedroom if you keep this up." He told her and pulled off her top.

Her lips crashed against his again with a hungry kiss, her hands working with his belt as she slowly lead him toward the living room. The rest of their clothes soon lay on the floor somewhere and she gently pushed him to sit on the couch.

And a little later, when she finally collapsed against him, head buried against his neck, heart racing wildly in her chest, breathing still fast, she felt his fingers run lazily against her naked, sweaty skin of her back.

"That was..." He started and she pulled a little back to look at him.

"...amazing." She finished for him and he slid his hand from her back up to cup the back of her head and kissed her deeply.

She moved slowly away from his lap and lie down on her back against the couch. He followed her down, lying half on the top of her, kissing her again.

And hours later, when they had finally made it into her bed and stayed there the rest of the day, she snuggled closer to him, an arm wrapped around his waist, feet tangled together, he reached to pull a sheet over them and they fell into a sleep.

It was dark already when he woke up, the rain still drumming against the windows. He rubbed his face with his free hand, the other arm having turned into a pillow for Sam sometime during the night.

His movements made her open her eyes to look at the clock on her nightstand. "Are you leaving?" Her voice was sleepy, eyes fell closed again as she realized it was still many more hours before sun rise.

"No." He replied softly. "Not unless you want me to?" He added, knowing it was unnecessary to ask. He knew her better.

Her sleepy "no," was mumbled against his chest as she snuggled closer to him.

"I love you." He whispered into her hair, pressing a soft kiss on her head.

A sleepy smile snug on her lips as she opened her eyes and turned her head up to look at him.

"I came to tell you that this morning, but got side tracked." He gave her a small smile.

She pushed herself up against her elbow, other hand still resting on his chest. "I love you too." Her voice was a soft whisper, her eyes serious as they met his. "I have loved you for so long." She leaned down to kiss him softly.

"I guess the wait was worth it." He said as she settled back down in his arms.

"It definitely was."

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Okay, nothing revealing just yet, but thought to give you some love. The next chapters will tell you more, I think, haven´t even started to write those yet, so we´ll see. Tell me what you thought. More to come... but I think we are closing the end.

Oh, and thank you so much for all the reviews. I just love you all!