Title: Staking a Claim Part 5
See Part 1 for additional information
Author's Note:
1. At last RL seems to have calmed down again enough for me to write and post this continuation of the story. Thanks to all of you who sent me feedback for the first four parts and encouraged me to continue. I hope you enjoy this new chapter. Let me know what you think – feedback adored! :-)
2. Many thanks are again due to ImmerRDA of beta reading this story and her insightful comments and suggestions that helped me to improve on my original version. Without her help, there would be many more errors. If you find some now they are entirely my doing.
Staking a Claim Part 5
A few weeks later:
Cursing with exasperation, O'Neill flourished his arms in a gesture of acute impatience, flexing his uncooperative fingers. He hated ties, everyone knew that. Like a noose around his neck, they suffocated and stifled him. Jack avoided them whenever possible, often joking about why he'd been dumb enough to choose a profession where it is mandatory to wear one with the uniform.
Having sported a tie for years, though, why did he have to choose now to make a mess of knotting it? Sheesh, as if he had a lifetime to get ready!
"Jack, for crying out…" Sam started as she entered the bedroom. She'd heard his cusses from the bathroom, was close to getting exasperated herself, but didn't want to panic today. Then she noticed the knots he seemed to be tying himself into - or, rather, his tie into - and trailed off with a smile. "Got the jitters by any chance?" she asked and he grunted.
"What do you think? I'd say I'm… pretty wired. Aren't you?" he grumbled, glancing at her in the mirror and thinking she looked superbly serene. That so wasn't fair when he was a wreck.
"Of course I am, honey," she replied smoothly, sounding quite the opposite. Approaching, she added, "Here, let me."
Jack turned to face her, allowing her to fuss. A few seconds later, his tie was perfectly straight and he grimaced.
"Now why couldn't I do that?" he muttered grumpily.
"For god's sake, Jack, smile!" Sam responded more calmly than her words implied, refusing to get flustered. "You are happy, aren't you?"
Pausing to look her up and down, he smiled and then kissed her on the lips, pulling her into a hug. "Sure. This doesn't stop me from falling to pieces apparently. You look great."
"Don't muss my make-up," she demanded, pushing away. "I want to look my best."
"Sam, you never look less than your best. Believe me, I'm an expert on the way you look in all kinds of situations." She grinned and took his hand in hers. "But do me a favor and try to seem a little bit more anxious, will ya?"
"And that would help calm you down?" she retorted with a hint of mockery.
"It might." He pouted boyishly and when Sam giggled, the pout morphed into a grin. "You really do look… stunning."
Her close fitting pale pink skirt suit emphasized her curves. Peeking from beneath her jacket collar was a bright pink silk blouse that complemented the suit. Cream high heeled sandals accentuated her shapely tanned calves and her make-up and hair were meticulously unflawed.
Pink was not a color that immediately sprang to Jack's mind when he pictured Sam. Not unless he was thinking about her beautiful rosebud colored nipples, a vision that entered his head as he ogled her now. Unfortunately, at present they didn't have any time for hanky-panky so he tried to suppress the resultant lustful notions.
Later, he promised himself. Later he'd take great pleasure in leisurely removing that flattering pink outfit, and the bright pink sexy underwear he knew lay hidden beneath.
Her color choice had surprised him but it really looked amazing on her, brightening and enhancing her skin tone, making her glow luminously - more vibrant in appearance than the woman he had grown accustomed to over the years. He loved the look. Perfect.
Jack felt positively untidy by comparison. Apart from the trouble with his tie, he'd been attempting to tame his unruly grey hair for some time but without success. It simply refused to be conquered, instead sticking up in an undisciplined manner despite his recent haircut. He'd given up that particular fight fifteen minutes ago while Sam was putting on her make-up in the hotel bathroom.
Sam smiled. "Thank you," she said, taking a short bow. "You look pretty darned good yourself."
"Oh, puhleeze!" he replied, waving a dismissive hand. "My hair refuses to behave, I can't tie a tie..." He sighed. "Wired." He shrugged in a frustrated manner.
"I love your hair. You look hot, Jack," she insisted clearly believing it, and he grinned with glee.
Sam had been great for his ego over the few weeks since that fateful night he'd turned up on her doorstep, drunk and out of control – well, kind of out of control anyway. Jack wasn't an out of control sort of man most of the time. Occasionally he wondered how much of his insobriety on that night had been due to his subconscious desire to let himself go and act on his feelings. As it was, Sam had done most of the hard work and he'd just turned up for the show.
The couple hadn't seen as much of each other once she'd moved to Nevada, but during the subsequent short few days they had spent every free moment together. Then, once she'd left the SGC, as much time as logistically possible too.
Now, she regarded him with open admiration and Jack figured love did strange and astonishing things to the intelligent brain, blinding her to reality. He wasn't good enough for Sam, he knew that. He wasn't as handsome or charming or young or smart as she deserved. However, he was what she wanted and that in itself was one of the wonders of the universe as far as Jack was concerned.
She let go of his hand, moving her fingers to pick a speck of something from his smart dark blue suit and then stroking his cheek. Her eyes glistened with joy and that open admiration thing that gave Jack such a frisson of pleasure. Briefly, he pondered whether he looked as besotted with her as she did with him. Probably, because he was totally and utterly under her spell - enthralled, awed and very much in love.
Every moment spent together since that night had confirmed the deep feelings they held for each other. Jack could barely believe his luck and it seemed Sam felt the same way.
That first time they made love together - which had utterly cured any remnants of his hangover - had not been perfect. Okay, nice, fine but not perfect. He'd wanted it to be but you don't always get what you wish for. Seeing her naked for the first time, however, had blown him away. Kissing her, holding her, caressing her.
The sublime came later, after they got over those initial nerves and high expectations that made perfection close to impossible to achieve. Sam was more than he had ever imagined, and he'd imagined quite a lot on and off during the many years they'd known each other, way more. A whisper of her touch brought him alive - a word, a gesture, a smile.
She captivated him and there was no way of escaping. Not that he wanted to escape, not ever. The commitment he'd made to her that momentous morning had increasingly intensified as hers had to him. This relationship, this love, was for life and they both knew it.
As for Sam, she had surprised even herself that first night, let alone Jack. She had never believed she could be that forward, never planned for it. When Jack rudely interrupted her sleep, she had been dreaming about him. This was partly why she thought the knocking at her door, his loud slurring voice, was still part of her dream.
As the time approached for her to leave the SGC, Sam thought about Jack quite a lot, considering pursuing a relationship with him once she left his chain of command. Before going to bed that fateful night, she had argued the toss about taking some kind of action. She'd hashed it over in her head for the best part of the evening. They had both failed to act for far too long.
In a few days, the Regulations that kept them apart would no longer apply and she would be free to have that relationship she knew she wanted. He wanted it too, Sam was almost certain about that.
She ended up persuading herself that she would make her feelings more obvious, let him know she was willing. Someone had to act first and Sam was convinced Jack never would. He had good reason to doubt her what with the whole Pete thing.
Sam ended it with Pete because she knew he wasn't the man she really wanted. Even if she could never have Jack, marrying Pete was not the right thing to do. They would both be miserable, Sam because she couldn't love him enough and Pete because she could never make him happy when she loved another man more than him.
Before he died, her father had helped her to see that. He met Pete, knew he wasn't truly right for her and seemed to know who was. She had created her father in a concussion induced hallucination on board the Prometheus. He told she'd denied herself love; that she had to let go of the things that prevented her from finding happiness.
Then she'd hallucinated Jack and he'd told Sam she was using him to deny herself what she deserved - something better, real and attainable. He was her safe bet.
Sam had gone for Pete as a result but later realized she had badly misinterpreted those hallucinations. Jack was never the safe bet, the excuse keeping her from finding the real deal. He was not one of those things her father referred to that she had to let go. Sam convinced herself he was but she was wrong. Jack was the real thing. She couldn't let him go.
Her dad spoke to Sam for real about it when he lay in the infirmary dying. He seemed to see inside her heart, to know what she truly wanted, and it wasn't Pete Shanahan. Jacob Carter was an observant and intelligent man. He wished her to be happy, to live the life she desired, to go for it.
She thought about that a lot and broke her engagement with Pete. Then she set her sights on achieving the rest of it and that included trying for the seemingly unattainable Jack O'Neill.
Consequently, she thought about that a lot too. What she might do, what she might say. She took a huge leap in deciding to leave the SGC, but the rest of the dream was much more difficult to pull off. Plucking up courage to face Jack, knowing she'd hurt him, not knowing if she'd left it too late, seemed like an impossible mission.
That night when he turned up drunk on her doorstep, she had already persuaded herself to do whatever it took to achieve her goal. It wasn't going to be easy. She would have to find courage, be audacious and single-minded. If she failed, Sam had the bitter comfort of knowing she probably would never have to face him again.
Once she moved to Nevada, he would be out of sight if not out of mind. She could hide her mortification and get over him at last. Jack wouldn't be there to remind her of how much she loved him and what a fool she had made of herself.
Then out of the blue he was there, virtually falling into her lap. Drunk, yes, and she should have been pissed with him, but it wasn't like Jack to be so out of control. Sam knew him well enough to realize it was an aberration. Sure, he drank, but getting into that kind of state was not O'Neill-like at all.
Half of her wanted to believe he had good reason to be there, that he'd been thinking about her too, about taking action. The other half thought he might be in trouble and need her help. Why else would he be that smashed and knocking on her door in the middle of the night?
Either way, she wasn't going to let him down when he needed her. Maybe he behaved like a bit of an ass but above everything, Sam considered Jack a good friend even though she wanted to be more than that. You don't abandon friends that are in trouble.
If he'd turned up for the reasons she wanted, it was an opportunity. If he needed a friend, she was there for him always. Just like she knew Jack would be for her.
Therefore, instead of being angry and spurning him, she welcomed Jack, thinking his unexpected appearance might be fate. Seek and you shall find it said in the Bible. All she had to do was reach out for it.
At first, Sam was cautious. Jack was still her CO after all. Then, with a steely determination that shocked both of them, she went for the prize full throttle.
Sam had always strived for a lot, worked hard to get it. Never in her love life before though. That night she scared herself with her forwardness, yet somehow it had seemed easy as well as hard. Fortune favors the brave.
Now here they were and Sam didn't regret her actions for one single moment. She'd done good and she was getting what she wanted at last. Her dad would have been proud and she wished he'd lived to see this day.
Jack made her happy. She loved him, they'd made a pledge to each other and that was that.
Now it was time to do something tangible about their commitment before it was too late.
To be continued in Part 6
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Copyright © 2009 Su Freund