AUTHOR: Matt, July – August 2003
SUMMARY: The best gifts aren’t really the ones you can give in public
RATING: NC-17
DISCLAIMER: Characters belong to MGM, Gekko et al. I don’t make a cent from this, but they don’t do this to Sam and Jack either.
THANKS TO: Deanie, for her immense patience with this fic. It started small and grew into a rather large elephant. Furthermore, I lost count of the number of edits we went through!
The evening hadn’t exactly gone the way Jack had anticipated, but then spending it with anyone other than Carter had never figured into the equation. Therefore, he had been surprised when his now former commanding officer had told him that it was in his best interests to be at a certain bar in town that night. After suffering through Daniel’s version of blackmail, Jack had finally appeared at the venue to find not only his team and Hammond there, but others as well, all in a mood to celebrate his retirement.
He did have to admit that it had been fun so far. He and Daniel had spent some time reminiscing with Ferretti over the original Abydos mission, something they’d never quite managed to do in all their years at the SGC. It was good to talk over old times, even if there was a quiet ache in his heart from all that happened surrounding that mission. Not a day went by that Jack didn’t miss his son and that would never change. Now he had lost Skaara, the young man who could have been Charlie’s big brother. Kawalski was dead, Abydos gone, but there were still the three of them to remember that first time.
“I’m surprised they’re letting you go,” Ferretti teased. “I mean, you were the first one to go through the gate.”
Jack couldn’t help but glance down the table at that point. Hammond was sitting with Major Davis, who had come from the Pentagon with what had jokingly become known as his ‘freedom papers.’ Seeing them in deep discussion, he’d made a mental note to see exactly what he’d signed earlier in the day. He hoped to God there wasn’t a ‘we can count on you when we need you’ clause in it; there was no way he was giving up valuable fishing time for anyone, Thor included. Well there was probably one exception, but that person was at least ten times more worthy than his favourite Asgard, or any other alien, in his opinion.
That person was seated next to Janet, where she’d been for most of the evening. It occurred to Jack that she’d barely said two words to him all night. In fact, she’d been strangely out of sight for most of the day. She’d not been in her lab or her office when he’d sought her out earlier, and even a trip to the had commissary proved futile. They’d exchanged smiles and hellos at the bar earlier, but she hadn’t lingered after getting her drink. Still, he’d kept an eye on her periodically hoping to make silent contact with her.
To say he was surprised when Carter decided to leave early was an understatement; usually she was one of the very last to leave on a team night out. One minute she and Janet had been deep in conversation, the next she’d left her seat and made her way to Daniel, who was still talking with Ferretti. While he watched, they had exchanged words and Daniel had handed her something small that Jack hadn’t been able to identify. Then she had slipped away from the bar without as much as a goodnight. He couldn’t believe it; his retirement party and she’d not even had the courtesy to say goodbye. Hell, he didn’t even know when he’d next see her again.
He resolved to not let her actions bother him, at least not visibly. After all, there was no need to let everyone else know what was going on in his mind. There was still beer to be drunk and other people to spend time with, after all. Jack had a fleeting thought of going after her but decided against it - it probably wouldn’t have looked terribly great in front of Hammond – so he returned his attention to the conversation at the wooden table.
The main topic had become the various versions of Monopoly and he found himself wondering how the conversation had turned to such trivial matters while he’d been Carter-watching. Still, he made an effort to join the debate, having received the Simpsons version a number of years previously from his team. Jack wasn’t surprised that Siler and Sergeant Davis had the Harley Davison versions while the General was a traditionalist, shooting down any version other than the original. It also wasn’t much of a shock to observe Teal’c listening carefully to the discussion; the man took his board games seriously.
Finally, it was time for the bar to close. Jack was somewhat loath to be on his own on this night, disappointed that the evening wouldn’t end the way he had originally hoped. As a consequence, he attempted to coerce his friends and colleagues into returning to his place with him and continuing the party. Hammond was the first to decline, shaking his head and saying that he was too old. The two Davis’ and Siler were next, muttering about testing something in the morning. Jack wasn’t quite sure what it was they were testing, but he didn’t particularly care. He was done with that place – for now. Ferretti also declined quickly but Jack couldn’t blame him since his wife was expecting their first child sometime in the next month.
Daniel and Janet surprised him, actually consulting with each other first before shaking their heads at him. “Another time, Jack,” Daniel told him and, as Jack watched in amazement, the younger man placed his arm around the doctor and drew her into him. Okay, so when had that happened?
“Teal’c?” He swung to where the Jaffa had been sitting all evening only to find the space empty. Great, so someone else had opted not to say goodnight. Were his team that eager to be rid of him? He looked back at Daniel, half expecting him and the doc to have also vanished in the short time his attention had been away from them.
“He was driving the others back to the base,” Daniel supplied with a smile.
Ah. “Jeez, you’d think he’d make someone else be the designated driver for a change,” he muttered. His friends grinned knowing that would never happen – Teal’c had an addiction to ginger ale. Even though he’d lost junior no one thought he’d start drinking alcohol at impressive rates any time soon.
“Yes, Jack, speaking of that…” Daniel exchanged another glance with Janet and it didn’t take a genius to work out what he was trying to say.
“Daniel you said, no you promised…”
The archaeologist shrugged. “Sorry.”
Oh, for crying out loud. With a sigh, Jack pulled out his cell phone and called for a cab. It showed up twenty minutes later, by which time the bar had closed and he was the only one left waiting outside. Fortunately, it wasn’t a cold night, but he still wished he’d remembered his jacket when Daniel had picked him up at his house earlier.
The cab driver wasn’t in a particularly talkative mood, which was a mixed blessing for Jack, giving him time to go over Carter’s actions earlier on. Why had she left? Why had she barely acknowledged him all evening? He knew he’d have to broach the subject with her sooner or later, but decided against asking the driver to go to her address instead; he had a feeling she wouldn’t appreciate him knocking at her door at one in the morning.
It was the driver who pointed something unusual out to him. “Looks like you’re in trouble,” he grinned as Jack handed over his fare.
“Huh?”
“The wife left the light on.” He pointed to the house. “Guess you should have taken her out instead.”
Jack bit back the urge to point out to the guy that he sure as hell wasn’t married. “I know what I’m coming home to,” he lied in a pathetic effort to look good. Still, he was a little concerned about the low light coming from within his home.
The cab slid back down the drive and disappeared from view. Filled with suspicions of a burglar ransacking his property, Jack trod cautiously around the side of the wood and stone building and stepped onto his deck. He wished he still had his gun, but he’d handed in the standard issue one when he’d completed all that paperwork earlier. As he passed by his patio door, he realised the light emanated from his living room and decided that the would-be thief had so better not be stealing his television set. He entered quietly through the back door and crept through the kitchen to the main room, coming to an amazed stop when he took in the scene before him.
The living room was illuminated only by the flickering of firelight, and on the thick carpet in front of the stone fireplace lay Carter. A very naked Carter propped up on her elbow, gazing at him in a most un-Carter-like fashion. The glow from the flames danced wickedly over her body, carving patterns over her skin and hiding parts of it in shadow, away from his eyes. Jack found himself speechless at the beautiful vision, which was just as well given that his breath had been caught somewhere inside of him.
“Well,” she began lazily as she moved her body around, giving him an even more impressive full frontal view of herself. “It’s about time you got here.”
One thing slowly came to the forefront of Jack’s mind and he forced his mouth to work. “This was a setup, wasn’t it?” His eyes continued to roam over her and he felt an intense hunger grow within. This was Carter; she was naked on his living room floor and he wanted her so very badly.
She smiled at him and his heart hammered loudly in his chest. “They all knew not to not to accept any invitations to continue drinking with you.” She cocked a finger, brazenly beckoning him. “Come here.”
His brain was still attempting to play catch-up, even though his body was reacting instantly. “Even Hammond?” he asked as his legs propelled him towards her.
She laughed and her laugh was like the most magical thing he’d ever heard. “He came to me earlier today, said something about me finally being able to have a life outside my lab.”
“Well, you do spend a lot of time in there.”
She moved her body again and he felt faint as the firelight revealed more of her to him. Before he was completely aware of it she was kneeling in front of him, her hand sliding up his leg. He felt his erection swell as her fingers brushed over it and he hungered for more of that touch. “You’re a little overdressed,” she noted as she grabbed his shirt, pulling it loose from his pants. “That needs to change.”
“Does it?” he managed to ask. Looking down he focused his eyes briefly on her gorgeous smile, before his gaze drifted downwards to the swell of her breasts.
“Fair’s fair, Jack,” she replied.
“Jack?”
“I refuse to call you ‘Sir’ when you’re no longer my commanding officer,” she purred.
Responding to a tug on his shirt, he dropped to his knees, ignoring the yelp of pain that threatened to escape. The exclamation was stifled finally, not due to his amazing self-control, but because her lips had fastened hard onto his. Her kiss was electric, even better than when he’d kissed her in the time loop, the taste of her lips all the sweeter because this time they were both fully involved and would both remember what happened. Her lips scorched his and he felt like a man on parched ground thirsting for water. Her lips parted, and he thrust his tongue into the gap, thoroughly exploring her mouth. Never one to let a challenge go unanswered she retaliated, her tongue duelling with his as her hands clutched at his hair, pulling him closer. Somewhere in his mind it registered that Carter was really here and they were really in this position. He wondered if anything could possibly be better than this.
Moments later he discovered there was. Without a word, she pushed him down onto his back and began to crawl her way up his body, slowly divesting him of his clothing. Lost in mindless sensation, Jack was powerless to resist. Instead, he lay back and enjoyed the view of her head and the top of her breasts. When prompted, he lifted his legs one at a time so that she could first remove his shoes and socks, the latter being playfully flung over her shoulder. She then moved further up his body. His cloth-covered erection swelled again as her breasts brushed against it. With a groan, he closed his eyes.
“Ahem!”
What? His eyes shot open to be greeted with her grinning face looming over him. Lifting his head from the ground he captured her mouth for another kiss. His hands slid over her back, feeling her bare skin for the first time and he clutched her tighter, his hips rising to meet her groin.
She pulled her head back and the implication was obvious; Carter wanted to be in control of this night. Strangely, he found himself enjoying it. Obviously, her fine leadership qualities weren’t just limited to the field. “Your shirt,” she growled, pulling at the buttons and he hastened to obey. Reluctant to move his hands away from her warm skin, he spent long moments untangling the material from his limbs, but the shirt soon flew over their heads to join his socks. She leaned in again, but not for another kiss; instead she grinned and lowered her head. He was then treated to an amazing display of what she could do with her tongue when presented with an expanse of bare chest. Despite the heat from the fire he found himself shivering at her touch, her fingers lightly tracing the muscles of his chest as her tongue drove him wild. The woman was amazing.
At some point Jack realised he was being very passive. He’d never really imagined he would be if and when they’d ever found themselves like this. The thought quickly vanished, however, as Sam tantalizingly dragged her tongue back down his body before briefly sitting up to pull off his pants. All other thoughts he might have had also disappeared as her beautiful mouth slid over his erect shaft, engulfing it with wet heat.
Her tongue swirled expertly around him, teasing and tasting. His hips rose involuntarily in response, thrusting himself deeper into her mouth. He brought his hands back to her head, ostensibly so he could run his fingers through her unruly mop of blond hair, but with the added benefit of holding her head lightly in place, as he wanted her to stay there forever. Well, maybe not quite forever…
Jack could feel himself losing control, the last thing he wanted at this moment. He wanted to come inside her, at least for the first time that they made love, though the idea of exploding in Carter’s mouth had a certain quality to it. “Sam,” he managed to moan and he could sense her reluctant understanding as she released him, leaving him dangerously on the edge. He felt the chill of the night, dangerously mixed with her warm breath as she placed a soft kiss on the swollen head.
“What?” she asked as she raised her head.
“Want you,” he ground out, incapable of saying any words of more than one syllable. He wasn’t even sure that had been said coherently, but all he could do was stroke her scarred yet beautiful skin and hope she got the message. It seemed that she did, because she smiled again and manoeuvred herself so that she straddled him, supporting herself over his groin. Her core was so close to his shaft now and all he wanted was for her to sink onto it, but then she shifted her hips forward and down so that she was sitting in front of it. She wriggled good-naturedly against him and he groaned once more, not knowing how much longer he could continue.
She giggled and moved herself further forward. Jack immediately felt her absence.
“Tease,” he observed.
Reaching behind, Sam hooked her hands around his ankles and pulled his legs up so that his knees were in the air. Then she leaned back so that she rested against him and ran her hands over his chest. Once again her skin rubbed against the erection that was trapped between her back and his thighs, yet she didn’t seem too inclined to ease his ache.
“Oh, for crying out loud,” he muttered in frustration. “What does a guy have to do around here?”
“Nothing,” she said cockily. “Consider this your retirement present.”
His eyes widened at her statement as she rose up and over him again and his legs slid down slightly to accommodate her movement. Their eyes met and held and Sam slipped over him with an agonising slowness that made him want to scream. This was it; surely this had to be it. She couldn’t torment him all night, could she?
Maybe she could; she’d pulled all night stints in the lab before now. Come on, he willed her. Take pity on an old man.
She must have heard his silent plea, because in one sudden move she impaled herself on him. They froze for a moment, both taking in what was happening between them. As his hips thrust up to meet her he wanted to cry at the feel of her encasing him so firmly. She felt warm, she felt good. This felt good. More than that; it felt right.
Sam grabbed his arms, pulling Jack into a sitting position. He reached for her legs and helped her unfold them from under her. She stretched out her legs behind him, wrapping her ankles around his back and bringing their bodies even closer. One of his hands wrapped around her waist and she began to rock gently against him. Realising quickly that he wasn’t in much of a position to thrust he placed his free hand between them, coming to a rest where they were joined. His fingers focused on her nub, teasing it gently until he had her weeping with need for him.
Her rocking motion intensified and she gripped his shoulders tightly, her nails digging into his skin. Somewhere in the distance he heard them call each other by their first names, an act so intimate it was more than he could have ever imagined. Together they rocked back and forth wordlessly until her eyes screwed shut. He heard her wail as she tumbled over her precipice, and he joined her just moments later. Exhausted, they crashed to the floor together, letting the diminishing firelight wash over them as they drifted off to sleep.
Jack woke early in the morning, feeling the aches in his body even more after spending the night on the floor. Still, there was a naked Carter lying next to him and that was just fine where he was concerned. There was just one thing…
“Babe, can we please move this to the bed? I’m cold.”
FINIS