(Special thanks to Major Gee for her beautiful artwork for this story)
Gaia woke from sleep, momentarily confused. Daniel had wrapped his arms and legs around her in sleep, and she was trapped within his embrace. Sighing gently, she set about extricating herself from his body, however regretfully, without waking him. She drew her knees up to her chin, and sat unmoving, watching him as he slept. His blonde hair, fallen across his eyes, made her palms itch to stroke it. And Gaia knew that she had not been entirely successful in evading the snare he set for her, all unknowing.
Dawn was breaking, as she knew it must. This brief interlude was almost over. And yet, her mind still shrieked at her not to let it happen. "Turn back the night," it yammered at her, for it was within her power to do so. To turn back the night and keep Daniel with her, just a little longer. Had it ever been so difficult to release a soul, she wondered? In all the countless years, had she ever ached to keep someone close to her, as she wanted so badly to do with him?
She had thought earlier that it was his bewitching physical form that was capturing her interest so, but she knew now that it was not. Well, not entirely. Daniel's soul, so pure and gentle, was what truly captivated her. The peace and tranquility she had engendered in him, as he had surrendered to her, given his strength to her, created a soul of even greater power, and now she wished only to keep him here.
But she knew that was not possible. His friends - the blonde woman, the Jaffar, the oldder man - needed to have him back. As much as she needed him, they needed him more. He was their heart, as a team - he was their conscience, their soul. Losing him would devastate three lives - more, Gaia thought. For who would continue the fight to return Sha're to herself, to free her from the Goa'uld, if Daniel remained here?
They all needed him, and she would have to allow him to return to them. She would have to give up this profound feeling of peace, that he alone had enabled her to feel. She was sustained by him, she would go on now as she had for years, but she knew that this time, it would be different. This time, she would feel very alone.
Tears began to well in her eyes, and, unnoticed, they spilled down her cheeks.
Daniel swam up from the depths of his sleep. Lazily, he opened his eyes. The room was flooded with soft, early morning light. Gaia sat at the end of the bed, watching him. She was caught in a shaft of sunlight, making a corona of her red hair so dazzling, he had to blink several times before his eyes could adapt to the light.
As her face became clear to him, he noticed her tears. And then the profound sorrow in her eyes, and his heart went out to her. Sitting up, he moved to her, gathering her into his arms and kissing the top of her head.
"Gaia, my love, what's the matter?" he asked gently. When she did not answer, he merely held her close, stroking her back. Soon, she moved back from him, so that she could meet his eyes.
"I am sad, my best beloved, because you must leave me," she said quietly.
And Daniel was suddenly reminded why he was here, on this planet. He was horrified! He had spent the night with this woman, and never given a single thought for the rest of the team. What the hell was wrong with him? He was off the bed in an instant, searching for his uniform, cursing himself for every different kind of fool, and wondering if Jack would forgive him so easily this time. After what happened with Shyla, Daniel was on pretty thin ice when it came to going off on his own, and damned if he hadn't done it again.
Gaia's voice interrupted his thoughts as he looked for his clothes. "Your friends are unharmed, Daniel. They will be waiting for you when you return. When you understand what has happened here, I hope you will understand, and forgive me for keeping you from them."
It was not the words, but the tone that caused Daniel to stop and turn to her. The voice that had been so light and playful last night, was now flat and lifeless. Worse, he could hear the unshed tears in her words. And his heart went out to her. He was back on the bed in an instant, taking her in his arms.
"Gaia, I'm sorry. It's not that I didn't enjoy being here with you - believe me, I did. But I have a responsibility to the rest of the team. I didn't mean to upset you, but I have to get back to them," he tried to explain, so that she would not be so hurt by his actions.
"I understand, my love. Would it help to know that, while for you many hours have passed, for them the time will seem much shorter?"
Daniel's scientific curiousity surged to the fore. "Just how is that possible, Gaia?"
"Daniel, I promise you that everything will be clear to you when you leave here. All of it. I will give you the knowledge you seek, including how I have been able to defeat the Goa'uld. I know that is important to you, in your quest to retrieve your wife and her brother from them," she said, and his heart stopped in his chest.
This woman was incredible! She had given him an experience unlike anything he had ever had, and he repaid her by treating her like a mistake, as if he could not get out of her bed fast enough. And then, when she should have been shoving him out of the door with his clothes in his hands, cursing him for the bastard he was, what did she do? She promised to give him information that might help him to get Sha're back. Daniel did not know exactly what was going on here, but he did know one thing. This woman was worth ten of him, and he did not deserve her kindness.
"Oh no, my best beloved," she said, reading his thoughts, "That is not true! You would not be who you are if you did not care about your friends, and your wife. You are not the one who is at fault here, it is I."
"How on earth could you possibly be at fault, Gaia, when I've been so damn rude?"
"Because, if I had done what I should have, none of this would have happened!" Daniel went cold - was she telling him last night had been a mistake? But she went on, "I should not have been here when you awoke, my love. You should have awoken alone - hopefully with pleasant memories," she paused, and he smiled at her.
"Very pleasant memories, my Gaia," he said, and ran a gentle hand down her thigh.
She smiled back at him and continued, "When you awoke, you would have dressed, and found the rest of your team, unharmed and waiting for you. But I was here, because I was weak."
"Weak, Gaia? I don't understand."
"Weak because I could not leave you, my love. Because I told myself it would not hurt to take one more minute to watch you sleep, and then another and another, until you awoke and discovered me here. I am sorry, my love, it is just that I want so much to keep you here with me. I will miss you very much when you leave," and her voice broke and the tears started again.
And Daniel began to understand, very much unconsciously. His soul sensed her immense loneliness, and was aghast at the thought. Daniel's heart only knew that she was crying, that she would miss him, and wanted to somehow make it better.
His arms went around her, and he spoke quietly, soothingly, "Gaia, my Gaia, it's all right. I will miss you too, but we both know I can't stay." His own voice broke at the words, and he realised that it was going to be much harder to leave here having seen her. Perhaps she was right, it would have been better if he had woken up alone.
He held her as she wept, stroking her hair gently. He wasn't sure exactly what was going on here, but he knew it was important. She had made him feel . . . incredible. Not just physically (although he had to admit being with her had been an intensely erotic experience), but . . . spiritually, he guessed, that was the right word. He felt at peace, soothed and comforted. He felt stronger, more in control - he felt as if he had been wearing blinkers and now could see everything clearly. And he knew he would succeed - because his whole being could now focus on what needed to be done.
That lost feeling he sometimes had, he didn't think that would bother him again. There was still pain in his heart for Sha're, pain and loneliness, but he didn't think it would overwhelm him now as it had done sometimes in the past. Somehow, she had managed to put it all in perspective. All by simply loving him. Loving him with her body and her mind.
He didn't think he could get inside her head the way she had gotten inside his. But he knew he could love her body. And if brought her even a small measure of the peace he now felt, then it was the least he could do for her - his beautiful, sad Gaia.
His hands went to her head, burying themselves in her beautiful hair. He raised her so that he could look into her face. Her eyes were reddened and wet with tears, but she was still the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. He bent close to her and caught her lips in a gentle kiss. He held her very gently, giving her the chance to move away if she didn't want this, but she responded by leaning into his embrace.
He kissed her again, harder, still holding her head. His tongue sought her mouth, and she parted her lips to admit it. He pressed her gently back until she was lying flat on the bed, and he moved to cover her with his body. All thoughts of SG-1, of duty, fled - the only thing in his mind was to comfort this woman, who had brought him such joy.
Gaia knew she had to stop him. There was great risk here, and he had to be made aware of it. She pulled her lips from his with regret. He moved to kiss her again, and she placed her hand against his lips to prevent it.
"Gaia?" he queried gently.
"Daniel, my best beloved, there is something I must tell you. This is dangerous for you." He waited, listening intently. Her tone made it clear she was very serious about this. "In order for me to return you to your friends, and to give you the knowledge you need to understand what has happened here, I need to become a part of your mind."
He nodded to show her that he accepted this. He didn't understand it, but he knew he could trust her.
"The process is not unpleasant, or painful, but your mind will sleep for a time after it occurs," she went on.
"You mean, I'll be unconscious," he said, and she nodded.
"I have already put you at risk, my love, by being here when you awoke."
Now he was puzzled. "How, Gaia?"
"The more memories you have of me, the longer your mind will sleep. Had I left before you had awakened, you would have been . . . unconscious?" she looked at him , questioning him with her eyes about her use of the word. When he nodded, she continued, "for perhaps a few minutes, maybe as long as an hour. But the time increases dramatically the longer we spend together. If I was to leave you know, you would be unconscious," the word came more easily now, "for perhaps half a day."
He understood what she was telling him. If he remained with her, if he loved her as he so desperately wanted to do, he might be unconscious for days. He weighed it carefully - a prolonged period of unconsciousness against the certain knowledge that he could ease her pain at his leaving. Again, he glimpsed something of the enormity of what was occurring here, and he spoke.
"When I'm unconscious, you'll return me to my friends?" She nodded. "And they'll be able to take me through the Stargate to Earth?" Again, she nodded. "And there won't be anything physically wrong with me, I'll just be unconscious while I . . . process the knowledge you give me?"
"Yes, that it the way to describe it!" she said, looking almost happy, for the first time since he had awoken. But pain still shadowed her eyes, and that was what decided him.
He bent over her again, kissing her slowly. "Gaia, my love, how could I leave when you are so unhappy? When I could help you to feel better, the way you did for me? You gave me the greatest of gifts last night, my Gaia, and I'm damned if I know how you did it. Magic maybe. Well, I may not know all the tricks you do," he kissed her almost savagely. When her eyes cleared, he continued as if nothing had happened, "but I have some magic of my own I think I'd like to try."
Her arms came up around his neck, and she looked deep into his eyes. "Daniel, I cannot trust my motives here. I want more than anything for you to stay with me, even for just a few more minutes. But I want it for purely selfish reasons. I cannot place you at risk for my own desires."
"Gaia, I am staying for my selfish reasons. I want to try to make you happy, because if I don't, I won't be able to stand myself. I want my last memories of you to be seeing you smile, knowing that I helped ease the pain of my leaving. I couldn't leave now, even if I wanted to. Not like this," he said.
She searched his face, and his mind, and knew it was true. And she gave him a tiny, sad smile.
Daniel's heart overflowed, and he kissed her then, pouring every once of tenderness, affection and desire into that one kiss. And Gaia felt his soul reach out to hers. By all that was holy, he did have some part of the magic within him! Untrained, and unskilled compared to her, but it was there.
His lips and hands moved over her skin, no longer the aimless wanderers of the night before. Now he unerringly sought out the places he had discovered then, the places where his touch gave her the most pleasure. He kissed the base of her throat, and then nuzzled her ear, as his hand moved up to cup one breast. He took the hardening nipple between thumb and forefinger, teasing into greater hardness, stimulating it to just below the threshold of pain. Just when she thought she could stand it no longer, he bent his head, bathing it with slow strokes of his tongue, before taking it between his lips. And the other hand moved to caress its twin, following the same pattern - almost over-stimulation, and then the loving attention of his mouth.
His lips then began a slow journey down her body, finding particularly pleasurable spots on her ribs, and then her belly. He paused at her cupped navel, running the tip of his tongue around it until she thought she would go mad. She writhed under him, and again, just short of the time when she would have found the experience unpleasant, he moved on.
She knew when he referred to "some magic" of his own, he had been referring to his skills as a lover. But what he didn't know was that this other magic, the magic of his soul, was his unwitting accomplice, allowing him to torment her like this, helping him to know what she liked, and when to move onto something new. He truly was "bewitching".
It was her last coherent thought, as his lips traced a path to the centre of her. He moved between her thighs, which parted almost of their own accord. And the only thing that existed for her was the feel of his mouth, his tongue, his hands cupping her buttocks, as he pleasured her. Almost without warning, she felt the orgasm explode in her, leaving her shaking in its wake.
Daniel moved up to cradle her in his arms, stroking her gently, soothing her as her body relaxed again. And then his caresses became more purposeful, as he sought to re-ignite her desire. He kissed her, over and over, deep, slow kisses. He stroked her body, her breasts, her buttocks, her thighs, pressing her against him. She opened to him, gathering him against her as he moved to enter her.
He looked down into her eyes as he began to move slowly within her. Her body matched its rhythm to his, and they moved together, eyes locked together. He bent to kiss her, the pressure of his lips waxing and waning as his body moved above her. As the tide of pleasure rose in both of them, his eyes remained fixed on hers. He matched his rhythm now to hers, as her second orgasm burst through her like a flood. And as she rode the wave of it, she felt him reach his peak. And joy surrounded them both.
He collapsed on top of her, and then gathered her into his embrace. When he could move again, he kissed the top of her head. He felt her smile against his chest, and knew that he had been right to stay. She raised her head to look at him. Her eyes were smiling too.
"Thank you Daniel," she said simply. The happiness in her green eyes spoke volumes more.
He laughed. "This time, it was my pleasure!"
A short while later, they moved off the bed. Gaia retrieved her gown from the floor, and Daniel gathered his clothes and began to dress. She watched him move with that unconscious grace that was so much a part of him. As he began to lace up his boots, sitting in the chair by the fireplace where he had removed them the night before, she retrieved his glasses from the table by the bed. As he stood up, she handed them to him, and watched as he put them on. She held up his jacket, and he shrugged into it, settling it on his broad shoulders.
"Now what?" he asked.
"Lie down on the bed, where you were when you awoke and found yourself here," she replied. He noticed she had drawn the coverlet back up, and rearranged the pillows.
He looked down at her, and then took her face between his hands and kissed her gently. "Thank you Gaia, for everything."
"Thank you Daniel," she responded.
He lay down on the bed.
"You will fall asleep Daniel, and when you awake you will understand everything. Your friends will be with you momentarily, and they will take care of you until you awake," she explained.
His eyelids grew heavy, and he fought sleep just long enough to murmur, "Love you Gaia, will never forget you."
She touched his cheek gently, and spoke directly into his mind, "And I will never forget you, my perfect one, my best beloved. I will always love you, Daniel. I will love you for eternity."
And then he slipped into unconsciousness, as his mind began to uncover the wonders she had left for him there . . .
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