�Colonel!�
Jonas� look of excitement was nothing new to any of SG-1, and Sam had to smother her own grin as she watched Jack roll his eyes and adopt a look of resignation. �What, Jonas?�
�They�re having some sort of ritual observance tonight. It sounds really fascinating; you see, they honour their goddess with this night-long party and �� He stopped talking as Jack raised a hand, but the native who�d accompanied Jonas apparently didn�t understand the gesture, for he took up where the Kelownan had left off.
�You will stay for the celebration, yes?� Aldaran asked, looking from one team member to another. �Perhaps make an offering to the goddess?�
She saw Jack�s fingers twitch towards his weapon, though he didn�t actually take it in hand. �This �offering�,� he asked carefully, �it doesn�t involve a... sacrifice or anything like that, does it?�
The little man�s eyes widened. �A sacrifice?� he repeated, then laughed delightedly. �Oh, no no no! In the time of my ancestors they did use blood, yes, to appeal to the gods and goddesses, but no longer. We celebrate life, not death!� He clapped his hands together enthusiastically and Sam almost expected him to exclaim, �Cumtrya!�
She felt herself relaxing; their host was too guileless, too exuberant to be anything but truthful. She saw Jack�s eyes flick to her and Teal�c, assessing their opinions, and apparently seeing no signs of protest turn back to Aldaran. �We�ll stay,� he agreed, then fixed his look on Jonas. �But only until morning. Got it?�
He looked at Jack with wide-eyed innocence. �Of course.� And then he was gone, disappearing into the crowd that was beginning to gather.
***
The celebration had commenced at sundown and would end at dawn which, Sam estimated, was maybe an hour to an hour and a half away. The natives of P7X 459 were still going strong, and she was once again thankful for her ability to go for days at a time with little sleep; it had come in handy during her life more times than she could count.
Sam stared at the flames of the large bonfire, vaguely aware that something was a bit off. Her brain was fuzzy, her body lethargic; she almost would have suspected that she�d been drugged, but she�d had nothing to eat or drink that a couple dozen other people hadn�t also had, and she�d been assured that the ceremonial drink � consumed after a short recitation in a language she didn�t understand just as the full moon peaked overhead � was non-alcoholic. But still, there was... something....
The colonel, who had been sitting beside her for much of the evening, stood suddenly and moved to stand before her, holding out a hand. The gesture should have surprised her but somehow didn�t. She reached up and allowed him to pull her to her feet, following him into the woods a short distance away.
Sam didn�t question how Jack seemed to know where he was going; it seemed perfectly natural that they should be walking through the pitch black forest hand in hand. A tiny voice in her head tried to raise an objection or two, but that voice was remarkably easy to ignore.
They emerged in a large clearing at the edge of a cliff. Sam drifted to the edge to survey the view before her; above, an impossible number of stars in an inky black sky, while below was a patchwork of black on black. She knew that she was looking down on treetops but it was too dark to see, giving her the impression that she was standing on the edge of the world. It was an exhilarating feeling.
Jack walked up behind her, sliding a hand from her hip to rest flat against her stomach, pressing her back against his body. She complied willingly, tangling her fingers with those of his free hand and tilting her head back to rest against his shoulder, her view filled exclusively with the stars above.
They stood there for she didn�t know how long, his thumb brushing across her stomach and his chest expanding and contracting against her back with every soft breath. Her eyes had drifted closed at some point, but she could still see the stars reflected on the inside of her eyelids.
Jack moved then, and she was momentarily disappointed; she had been perfectly happy resting in his arms. But he disentangled his fingers from hers and trailed them up her arm to rest on her shoulder, his other hand moving to lie in a similar position on her other shoulder. Grasping the edges of her fatigue jacket, he pulled it off her. She could hear him toss it on the flat, waist-high rock off to the side of the clearing, and a few seconds later the sound was repeated; she guessed that he must have stripped off his own jacket.
Jack�s arms snaked around her waist to tug her t-shirt from the waist of her pants. This time he let his hand rest directly on her stomach, his skin on hers warm and slightly rough. When he began stroking his thumb again Sam couldn�t stop the sudden tensing of her muscles nor her soft explosion of breath in an almost-laugh. �That tickles,� she murmured, the sound of her voice a bit startling in the near-silence of the clearing. His hand increased its pressure, which stopped the tickling sensation but had the secondary effect of trapping her more firmly against his body. She wriggled a bit and he groaned softly. Grinning, she did it again and felt his fingers flex against her stomach.
�Sam,� he whispered in warning, his breath in her ear making her shiver, and then it was her turn to moan when he sucked her earlobe into his mouth, laving it with his tongue. He did that for only a few seconds before abandoning her ear to leave a trail of wet kisses down her neck, occasionally flicking his tongue against her skin.
Beneath her shirt, both of his hands came up to gently cup her breasts. �Ohh,� Sam breathed, leaning more fully into him as her already-shaky knees threatened to give way completely. She grasped one of Jack�s arms where it disappeared beneath her shirt while her other hand rubbed restlessly up and down the outside of his thigh.
Jack�s hands left her breasts and he bit gently at the juncture of her neck and shoulder at her small of protest. �Lift your arms,� he ordered, and was it her imagination or was he a bit breathless?
She lifted her arms and Jack tugged her t-shirt up and over her head. His hands landed at her waist, unbuckling and unbuttoning and unzipping until she was divested of her pants. With his hands on her shoulders, he urged her to turn and face him.
Sam tilted her head back slightly so that she could meet his eyes, a corner of her mind noticing that the sky had lightened slightly. Dawn must be approaching.
Still holding Jack�s gaze with her own, she reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head. Her hands landed on his collarbone and slowly worked their way down his chest, exploring every inch. He shuddered when she gently flicked a nipple with her finger, and Sam filed the reaction away for future use.
Temporarily finished with her exploration, she placed her hands on either side of his waist and took a step forward to brush her bra-covered breasts against his chest, once more tipping back her head so that she could see his eyes.
He cupped her face, tunneling his fingers through her hair to cradle her head while his thumbs framed her cheeks. Their first kiss was light and gentle but not unhesitant, a chance for both of them to adjust to this next step. Jack pulled away only briefly before returning his lips to hers, firmer and more exploratory. Their lips parted simultaneously and Sam slid her tongue into his mouth to slide wetly against his, her fingers working his pants open as he backed her up against the large slab of rock. He pressed into her fully, trapping her hands and his hardening erection between their bodies.
Sam managed to free her hands and hooked her thumbs into his waistband, pushing them as far down as she could reach and using her feet to pull them down to his ankles, where she was stopped by his boots. Unconcerned for the moment, she ran her hands up the backs of his thighs to rest on his boxer-clad rear end, squeezing gently. He broke off the kiss, his hips circling helplessly against hers.
Jack wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug and she returned the gesture, her forehead resting against his chest. Remembering his reaction earlier and unable to resist, Sam turned her head slightly to the side and placed her open mouth on his chest, her tongue flicking his nipple. Jack shuddered and groaned, a sound she felt more than heard. His arms tightened over her almost painfully as she continued her to caress him with her tongue until he finally stepped back out of her reach.
He knelt to undo his boots and Sam took the opportunity to manoeuver onto the large flat rock, tossing her bra off to the side and bunching up their jackets to use as a pillow. She then knelt on the edge and once more looked out across the view stretched before her; the sky had lightened to a medium blue, allowing her to make out some of the details that had been masked earlier by darkness. The treetops were easier to discern, grey-green in the early morning light but still blurry and indistinct, and Sam thought that she could make out a village in the far distance.
She could hear Jack making his way up onto the rock, and a few seconds later he knelt behind her, wrapping his body around hers. He must have removed his boxers because she could feel the hard heat of his penis against her lower back. One hand searched out her breast, playing with the nipple, while the other one landed about halfway down her inner thigh. He trailed his fingers up in an agonizingly slow manner until he reached his goal, rubbing softly between her legs; she imagined that he must have been able to feel her arousal through the fabric of her panties.
Both of his hands stilled and he brought his lips to her ear; but not to arouse. �Are you okay with this?� he asked, sounding perfectly serious.
Sam�s passion-blurred brain tried to make sense of his words. Was she okay? Her lips still felt swollen from their earlier kisses, her breasts were heavy and tender, there was a pleasant ache between her legs, and every nerve ending felt as if it were awaiting his touch. She was way beyond �okay�.
But Sam didn�t think she could form a coherent sentence, and so instead of answering verbally she broke away from his loose embrace and lay back on the surprisingly smooth stone. With a slow smile she held out her hand in invitation.
***
Jack felt an answering smile spread across his face as he straddled Sam�s waist, the last little niggling bit of doubt that they were doing something wrong fading into nothingness. He kissed her, brief and hard, before sucking her lower lip into his mouth and smoothing it with his tongue for several seconds. Abandoning her mouth altogether he moved downwards, lightly scraping his teeth down her neck and sweeping his tongue into the hollow of her throat before kissing his way to her shoulder. Sam stroked her hands up and down his back, massaging erratically.
Her breathing, already heavy, became noticeably laboured when his mouth latched onto her nipple, his tongue circling the tightened nub before flicking over its top. He suckled at her left breast for long minutes, his hand mimicking the motions of his mouth on the right before switching. Sam brought a hand to his head, her fingers clenching painfully in his short hair as her hips moved languidly beneath him.
Jack finally pulled away, shifting to Sam�s side so that he could draw her underwear down her legs to be tossed aside, leaving her naked before him in the early morning light. Placing a hand on the inner ankle of the leg closest to him he trailed it slowly upward, gratified when she bent and spread her legs to grant him easier access. He could feel the heat of her core even before his fingers made contact, instantly soaked with her arousal. He slid a cautious finger into her opening, followed shortly by a second as he gently explored. Withdrawing his fingers, he spread her moisture up, brushing over her clitoris. Sam trembled violently, a cry of pleasure escaping her lips.
She wrapped a hand around his wrist and tugged, drawing him up so that they were face to face. He settled his weight over her carefully, nestled securely between her thighs. Sam cupped the back of his head and urged him down for a kiss, meeting him halfway. Her other hand snaked between their bodies to firmly grasp his erection, guiding him to her slick channel. He eased the head of his penis inside her welcoming body, penetrating her with one long, slow thrust and, god, she was hot and tight, so tight that he was afraid he might be hurting her. But a look at her face banished that fear � her head was thrown back as she groaned his name; her back arched sharply as she drew him deeper inside.
Fully seated in her silky depths they both took a moment�s pause; Jack could feel her relaxing around and beneath him. Sam lazily opened her eyes, the slightest of satisfied smiles turning her lips. One hand tenderly cupped his cheek, her legs rising to wrap around his waist and her hips moving in a slow circle to bring him even further inside her; he wouldn�t have thought it possible. Despite himself, Jack�s eyes slipped closed at the sensation.
He felt Sam�s lips on his cheeks and the tip of his nose before she took his mouth in a languid kiss, thrusting against him gently. Knowing how take a hint, Jack began a slow, unhurried rhythm that she easily matched. One of his arms slipped beneath her lower back, subtly changing his angle of entry, while his other hand linked with her fingers above her head. Her free hand ran over his body, scratching lightly when he thrust a little more forcefully.
It wasn�t long before their movements sped up, gaining an edge of urgency. He could feel Sam�s inner muscles fluttering around him every few seconds and knew that she was as close to release as he was; a little harder, a little deeper, and it would be enough for both of them. But something held him back.
Instead of doing what his body was urging him to do, Jack found himself slowing, then stopping completely before withdrawing from Sam. It was nearly daylight now, the sun close to rising, allowing Jack to read the confusion in her eyes, huge and black with desire. Guiding her legs away from his waist he rolled over so that Sam lay atop him.
She pressed a quick kiss to his lips before rising fluidly to her knees, straddling his waist. Grasping his erection in one hand she gave it a gentle squeeze before placing it against her opening. She lowered herself only far enough to take the tip inside before rising again, rubbing his hardness over her clitoris. When she sank down on him without warning, envelopping him in her heat, Jack reflexively jerked his hips up to bury himself even deeper inside her. Sam groaned, contracting around him.
They found their earlier rhythm and she moved over him seemingly without effort, his hands on her hips helping to guide her movements. She leaned forward to kiss him, bracing herself with her hands on his chest, their tongues sliding sensuously along and around each other. Both of them gasping for breath, Sam sat back, arching her back with her hands on his thighs for leverage. She stopped thrusting and began grinding against him, her hips shifting back and forth. Jack moved a hand to gently circle the small bundle of nerves with his thumb and she came in seconds, her head thrown back in a keening cry just as the sun broke over the horizon.
Jack stilled, momentarily captivated by the vision above him. Her hair glowed golden in the sunlight, her face twisted in the pleasure/pain expression of a powerful orgasm. Her sweat-slicked flesh shone, heightening the contrast between her paleness and the tanned skin of his hands on her body, and for just an instant he almost couldn�t believe that this beautiful woman wanted to be with him. But then her inner muscles were tightening around him insistently and he had no more thoughts for several long, blissful moments.
He was dimly aware of Sam collapsing against his chest, of slipping out of her body, of her hands moving over him in soothing strokes as she readjusted her position, straddling his leg, the wetness of their lovemaking pressed intimately against his upper thigh. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close in a futile attempt to keep them both warm in the chill morning air.
They were quiet for a long time, giving them time to calm their breathing and slow their heartbeats to something approaching normal. Sam was the first to break the silence, her voice startling him out of a light doze. �What the hell did we just do?�
�Were you not here for the past hour?� he teased lightly. �Or did your parents never get around to explaining the birds and the bees?� Too late, he remembered her mother. �Sorry,� he murmured.
�It�s okay.� She curled her fingers against his chest. �But you didn�t answer my question, Jack.�
He could get used to hearing his name from her lips, he thought as he rolled her beneath him so that he could look into her eyes. He inadvertently pressed his leg against her sex and she moaned slightly, arching into him. He marvelled at her uninhibited responses to his touch. �I�m not sure what happened,� he answered honestly, laying a hand on the slight roundness of her lower abdomen. �A celebration of life?� he ventured, recalling Aldaran�s words.
She laid a gentle hand on top of his. �Not if the birth control does its job,� she reminded softly.
He was faintly relieved and, surprisingly, a bit disappointed. These were far from ideal circumstances under which to have a baby � hell, he wasn�t even sure if he wanted another child � but part of him found the possibility appealing.
With a sigh he discarded that line of thinking; he�d worry about it when and if it became an issue. �We should get back,� he said reluctantly. �Teal�c and Jonas are probably wondering where we are.� They were lucky that the other two hadn�t come looking for them, he thought; this wasn�t something that he particularly wanted to explain.
Sam sat up with a murmur of agreement and slid to the ground, and he took a few moments to simply watch her; knowing Sam, it was entirely possible that this would never be mentioned again, let alone repeated. So he took advantage of the situation to see her naked, wearing nothing but her dog tags and... bright pink nail polish?
�Sam,� he said, staring at her toes, �isn�t wearing nail polish against regulations?�
She blushed slightly and he watched with interest how far down her chest the stain spread. �Nobody sees my feet,� she defended.
He grinned widely. �Carter, you can be such a girl.�
�Yup,� she agreed easily, which surprised him. �And if it interests you, I also indulge in triple chocolate fudge ice cream when I�ve had a really bad day.� She pulled on her t-shirt, much to his disappointment, then looked at him with a raised eyebrow that would have done Teal�c justice. �And I don�t think that you�re in much of a position to be quoting the regs at me, sir.�
She was smiling, but Jack caught the seriousness in her eyes. He paused in the middle of tying his boots. �Are you okay with this?� he asked, vaguely aware that he�d already said those words once that morning.
Her answer was a long time coming. �I will be,� she responded finally.
Jack finished tying his boots before moving to stand in front of her, wrapping his arms around her in a loose hug. He inhaled deeply; she smelled of the outdoors, of sex, of sweat, and of an unidentifiable scent he�d long ago associated with Sam. �We�re going to talk about this when we get back,� he said, not quite making it an order.
She nodded against his chest. �I know.� She moved away and pulled on her jacket, waiting patiently for him to do the same. Silently they headed back from where they�d come. When he reached for her hand, she took it without hesitation.
They both slowed as they approached the village, stopping altogether just out of sight. Sam was pulling him down for a kiss before he�d even realized that he�d intended to do the same thing.
After they�d pulled away he opened his mouth to speak but she stopped him with a finger over his lips. �Don�t say it. Not yet.�
He nodded in understanding and with a last brush of his fingers over her face, they stepped into the open.
--end--
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