Chapter 2

"Oh, come on, you can't be serious."

"I have shown my cards, Daniel Jackson. I believe you are required to remove another article of clothing."

"Come on, Daniel. It's not so bad."

"Of course you would say that, Sam."

"Oh, this is fun! Pity that your luck seems to be holding out, Cam," Vala pouted.

"Hey, the night isn't over yet. And I think the winner title goes to Teal'c."

They were only halfway into the game of Strip Poker and things were looking quite interesting. Daniel had just removed his shirt; his pants remained. Next to him was Sam, wearing just her bra, bikini underwear, and maid's hat. Cam had only stripped down to his white undershirt and boxers. The only articles of clothing missing from Vala were her cat ears, tail, and bow tie. It was mostly a showdown between her and Teal'c, who did not need to remove any of his clothing.

It was no secret things had now livened up quite a bit. They'd still had a bit of fun early on, though. During the apple bobbing contest, everyone managed to get an apple except for Cam. He'd forgotten to remove his vampire fangs, which had fallen out and remained stuck in an apple floating in the tub. There was no way they'd let him live that down.

The 'Pass the Witch Parts' game was a fun foray back into childhood, although Vala had nearly ruined it. Cam started by telling the story of a witch who had died a horrible death. He then passed around her 'body parts' to his blindfolded teammates: spaghetti for hair, peeled grapes for eyes, and Jell-o molded in the shape of a brain for her brains. Vala did not fully understand the point of the game and had eaten the hair before it made its way to Daniel. Embarrassed, she apologized, saying that she was quite hungry.

Things got better when they told scary stories. Sam and Cam each told creepy tales they'd first heard as kids. Daniel shared some scary bits of myth and folklore surrounding ghosts and vampires, as well as tales he'd heard in parts of Europe during his graduate school days. Teal'c told some customary Jaffa tales that originally served to frighten young children. Vala also had some scary stories to share, mostly ones she remembered hearing as a child from her grandmother.

As Daniel was in the middle of a scary story, he paused and then jumped at everyone. Sam jumped a little, but Vala was either scared or startled, or both. She jumped and clung to Cam. Cam felt something burning within him as he felt Vala touching him. He turned to her and met her eyes in the dark. His own eyes began to fill with hunger. He reluctantly tempered them when he caught the rest of his team watching them. Daniel cleared his throat, apparently wanting to get on with the story. Cam turned away from her and prompted Daniel to begin again.

In between the scares, there were quite a few laughs as well. Cam broke out the food and drinks, one of which included rum-spiced cider. It was another favorite old tradition of his; when he was younger, his Halloween parties always included this beverage. Vala found it slightly bitter at first, but later it had grown on her. Teal'c refrained from drinking as usual. Sam and Daniel's particularly low tolerance to alcohol was beginning to show, but they were still far from soused.

Back at the poker game, Daniel had just been made to remove yet another piece of clothing. This time he removed his pants, exposing some rather snug-fitting briefs. "Okay, you win," he muttered. His cheeks had turned rosy, either from embarrassment, the alcohol he'd ingested, or both. Turning to Sam for sympathy, he found her staring at his briefs, her eyes glistening.

Daniel quickly forgot his embarrassment, his eyes traveling down underneath Sam's bra. He impulsively reached for one of the straps and was about to pull it down when he heard Cam's voice.

"Jackson?"

"W-what?" Daniel asked, suddenly turning back to the others.

"You still in?" Cam asked.

"Ah ... no," Daniel said distractedly. He gestured to a room at the end of the hall. "You going to be using that bedroom anytime soon, Mitchell?"

Cam studied the archaeologist and a knowing grin appeared on his face. "Nope, don't think so."

Not letting go of Sam, Daniel stood up with her and made their way toward the bedroom. "Silly game, wasn't it?"he was heard commenting before he and Sam entered the room and shut the door behind them.

Vala gave a mock pout. "Hmmf, party poopers; just when the game was getting exciting. You have to remove something else, there," she told Cam quickly ... a little too quickly.

Cam studied his cards and then looked back at Vala, his eyebrow edging upward. "This actually isn't a bad hand," he told her.

Vala grinned. "Oh, but there's that little technicality. Teal'c is still beating you, so you need to remove at least one more piece of clothing," she maintained.

Cam turned to Teal'c, but the Jaffa was not helping. Grinning slightly, he merely kept his eyes on his winning hand. With a sigh, Cam removed his undershirt.

Vala's eyes grew wide and her breath hitched as she noticed his beautifully sculptured chest. A million different sensations began coursing through her body, but her suspicions that Cameron Mitchell was quite a sexy man were confirmed one hundred percent. She wanted to touch him, feel him, kiss him up and down, and many other assorted things.

"Vala," she heard Teal'c say.

She pulled her eyes from Cam and cleared her throat. "Oh! Yes, where were we?" Her mind felt like mush when she looked back down at her cards. They looked as close to a losing hand as she could tell. "Well, I'm out," she declared hastily. She was about to remove her leotard when Cam stuck his hand up.

"Ah!" he stopped her. "Wait, don't do anything yet. It's still between the big guy and myself." He gave Teal'c a sneaky grin, which was answered with a knowing look and slight inclination of Teal'c's head.

Several minutes later, Cam threw his cards down in frustration. "I don't know how you do it, Teal'c," he said.

"A good warrior learns to be prepared in such situations. He must also be aware of any dealings his opponents may be up to," Teal'c said with a hint of a grin.

Vala gave an awkward little chuckle.

"I believe I will take my leave," the Jaffa continued. "Thank you for inviting me to your All Hallows Eve celebration, Colonel Mitchell. I shall see you tomorrow at the SGC."

"Ah, sure, Teal'c. Have a good one," Cam replied.

Teal'c nodded and made his way out of the apartment, stopping to give them a slight smile before heading away.

Cam turned back to Vala, grinning at her as he gestured to his cards. He actually had a royal flush. "Yeah, I lied."

"You mean that's good?" she asked, pointing to them.

"Yep, pretty good," he told her. He stood up and removed his boxer shorts with one hand.

Vala's eyes nearly popped out of her skull when she viewed Cam completely in the nude. The shock quickly evaporated and was replaced with overwhelming desire as she met his gaze. She had always admired him, but now she knew that she really wanted him, mind, soul, and body. God, how she wanted him.

Vala grabbed him and quickly covered his lips with hers, initiating a hot, passionate kiss. Cam quickly took the lead, the same fiery passion coursing through her as his tongue searched her mouth and intertwined with her own tongue.

Never separating, they moved to the couch where he helped remove the pieces of her clothing. She found him staring appreciatively at her nude body before that hunger reappeared in his eyes and he resumed the passionate kiss.

Vala stared at him as he pulled away once again, unspoken words of admiration and passion in his eyes. She then moaned in ecstasy as he began planting small kisses from her jawline down her neck and into the valley between her breasts. The kisses made her feel like she was being pricked with fiery needles of intense desire. Cam was far from done, though. She felt as if she was melting as he began licking her up and down, from her neck to the mounds of her breasts to her abdomen and then down even further than that. The heat he was generating ...

"Oh, Cameron, I want you," she declared hungrily as she caressed every inch of his exposed flesh, from his neck down to his groin.

"And I want you, babe," Cam breathed, removing his tongue from her. Bringing himself on top of her and cradling himself in her creamy thighs, it happened: the woman from afar became one with Air Force lieutenant colonel. Vala groaned as Cam rocked slowly, his body in complete rhythm with hers. God, it felt so good having him inside her.

The feelings of ecstasy increased as they reached their climaxes. Vala cried out, sounding almost like an injured animal, but her heart itself was crying out in joy. Cam had always appreciated Vala's offbeat attitude, as well as what she was like inside ... and of course her beauty. At various times he'd wondered what it would be like to make love to her. He now knew, and he was glad that he did. It was one of the best experiences he'd had in a long time.

At last they collapsed back onto the couch, Cam on top of Vala. Her eyes met his once again for a fleeting moment and they shared a couple of tired smiles. They were overtaken by a euphoric, calming feeling and before long, they became mired in slumber.

Cam scooped up his tray and joined Teal'c, Daniel, and Sam at a table in the commissary for breakfast. Vala was right behind him, and the two sat together.

"Morning, Cam," Sam greeted with a smile.

"Good morning, Carter," Cam sung.

"'Morning, all," Vala said, giving a playful little wave. She turned to Cam and smiled lovingly.

"Boy, you two are in a good mood this morning," Daniel observed.

"Oh, really? Huh, I didn't even notice," Cam said innocently, shrugging.

Daniel shared a knowing grin with Sam. "How did that poker game turn out?"

"It was Strip Poker," Cam corrected, "and it turned out ... pretty well."

"Uh huh," Sam grinned.

"Hey, you would have known if you two hadn't forfeited like that," Cam shot back.

"Yeah, what were you two doing?" Vala asked them, playing dumb.

"Oh, we, ah, decided to do something a little more fun," Daniel said. He blushed faintly as Sam began rubbing his thigh under the table, but he pulled her close and put his arm around her.

"Aw man, well that's too bad. The game got a lot more exciting," Cam grinned, playing with a strand of Vala's hair. "You should have been there. No, actually, scratch that ... we're glad you weren't there."

Daniel caressed Sam's hand and then looked at Teal'c with a worried expression. "Please don't tell me Teal'c had any part in this."

"I did not, Daniel Jackson. I left and returned to the SGC as soon as Colonel Mitchell ended the game. I was quite content to do so." Teal'c turned back to Cam and Vala, giving them a little nod and a smile.

Daniel took a last bite of pancakes and then looked at his watch. "Well, I have to finish up that translation." He rose from the table and grabbed his tray.

"Yeah, I have a few spectral analyses to run," Sam chimed in. "See you guys later."

"I believe I too shall take my leave," Teal'c said once they had left. "I will see you during the briefing at 0900."

Once he was gone, Vala moved closer to Cam and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"We had all manner of tricks and treats at that party, didn't we?" she said.

Cam nodded, taking a hand and sweeping some hair back from her face. "We did."

"Thank you for the treats," she told Cam before capturing his lips for another kiss.

THE END

Hope you guys enjoyed it! Not quite my best work but I wanted to have something ready to post for today. Happy Halloween!