CHAPTER 16 – TO ERR IS TO BE HUMAN

Bloodied hands heal as do overloaded emotions, but it does take more than one night and as John lay restless in his bed that night, his mind flickered over everything that they had learned that day, both from General O'Neill and through Dani's hypnosis. He had taken her back to her quarters and she had been quiet, lost in her own thoughts, and had not given in to the temptation to spend another night in her bed. He only had so much self control, and he felt it slipping away, little pieces at a time.

Turning over and thumping the pillow to get it into a more comfortable shape, he attempted to find a position more conducive to sleep. Elizabeth had contacted the General to give him the location of the notes, and it was much later that night that they received communication from him. The senator had refused them entry into his offices without a court order, and given the nature of the conspiracy, that was going to be difficult to obtain. Most judges tread warily around senators unless there was an airtight case against them, and the General's story of intergalactic war games... John gave a small laugh... no doubt as to where that was going to end up. Front page of The National Enquirer and the General would be ridiculed right out of the airforce.

Hide in plain sight by ass... They still had to be able to get in there to get it.

The General was, if nothing else, a resourceful man – and he would organise a stealth mission to break in and find the files, and would hopefully find a little more, that perhaps the senator himself was keeping hidden there.

Sleep finally came, but it was not restful. A pair of gray eyes constantly filled his mind as well as the faces of the men who had effectively become traitors of their country. He hoped that their sleep that night was as tortured as his.

Awakening cranky and definitely out of sorts, he did however go straight to Dani's quarters, concerned that she was still feeling the effects of yesterday's traumatic experience. He had taken the time to shower, but had left out the shaving, just in case they were contacted by the rogue military and he needed to don his Sateda persona. As he hesitated outside her door, he ran a hand through his hair, still feeling edgey and his hair spiked up into disarray and that combined with his unshaven look, gave him a dark, dangerous appearance.

He knocked, almost walked away, but willed himself to stay. Unsure why he was reluctant to face her, he rested his head briefly against the door as he heard footsteps from the other side, somewhat slow and hesitant and wondered if she knew that it was him. The door opened under her command and he still stood there, arms braced on either side of the doorway, head now bowed and his eyes came to rest on her bare feet, those tiny high arched feet with the little rose tattoo at the ankle and that brought a smile to his lips, the first one of the day. Then upward, to bare legs, lovely legs and the hem of a black base teeshirt, that he could almost swear was one of his. Feeling his gaze, and watching where it lingered, she attempted to pull down the hem of the teeshirt just a little, feeling somewhat exposed to his almost hungry gaze.

"John... I'd ask if you slept well, but can see in your eyes, that it's likely you didn't..." A small smile played about her lips and his own eyes darkened in reponse, then dropped down to the length of leg that was on display. "So, are you going to come in, or stay propped up in the doorway like an untidy garden ornament..." and she turned, walking back into room and out onto the balcony to let the ocean breeze lift her hair away from her suddenly hot skin.

He growled, there was no other word for it. He felt hot and bothered and knew that he should turn around now and just... leave. But couldn't make himself do it. Not in a million years. He wanted her. Knew it without a doubt, without reason. Knew also, that for now – she was off limits. So,he followed her out onto the balcony, telling himself this was a bad bad mistake, then he was fisting his hands in her hair and hearing her sigh was his undoing. She turned, was not going to make it easy for him, knew by the anger on his face that the hot gaze in his eyes was not there because he wanted it to be. But damn it, she needed him too, he had gotten under her skin and if they could each enjoy a little release, then where was the harm.

He told himself that he tried, he really did. His hands slid down her body, under her teeshirt to feel the hot silky skin that warmed still further at this touch, then using his hands to cup her bottom and pull her tightly against him, no doubts as to his heightened state of arousal. Off limits... hell no! And that was his last rational thought, wrong or right, at this very moment, this is what they both wanted.

Her teeshirt was gone, and wearing just a tiny pair of lace underpants, she placed her hands flat against his chest and pushed, guiding him backwards into the room, towards the bed. Stronger than she looked, she had him on the bed and was astride him in moments, opening buttons on his shirt, then leaning forward to trail kisses down his chest and lower.

Soon it was skin to skin, sounds, feelings, heat then the release that they both needed, shuddering and earthshattering and he knew that he had made one of the biggest mistakes of his life. There would be no one time with this woman, he needed her scent and her touch as much as he needed to breathe, and by God, he would have it

She curled into him, skin damp and satisfied and knew that no other man had prepared her for him... once would not be enough, not in a thousand lifetimes and that this had been the biggest mistake of her life.

He growled a low sound in her ear and her body tightened again in anticipation. And sighed. She had already made the mistake, might as well make it as many times as she could. Afterall, you could only be hanged once...