CHAPTER FIVE
The days passed. During the day, Daniel and Sam worked, got together publicly, and spent time with others, thoughts of each other never far from their minds. At night, every night, they made love, often more than once. Wanting to find every possible way to bring each other pleasure, they experienced ways of making love that neither of them had ever tried before. On the occasions that Daniel's body failed to let him find his own release, he committed himself to the single-minded purpose of bringing Sam as much pleasure as he was able.
All their lovemaking was now done in Sam's room since it gave them the buffer of having empty rooms on either side of them. The wall behind the room was one of the main supporting walls and was thicker and stronger and, therefore, more soundproof. There were no rooms on the other side of the hallway, adding an additional buffer. The biggest risk to being heard was of someone walking by. Though it wasn't easy, they held off much of their lovemaking until after midnight, when most of the day shift would be in bed, and the people who worked at night would be on duty.
Neither one of them dwelled on how needful they had become of the hours they spent together, how tightly they were clinging to this happiness they'd found. More than that, they refused to acknowledge to themselves how, with every passing day, their feelings for each other grew stronger and deeper, more a fundamental part of their souls, for to love each other could not be allowed. To love each other would leave them open to suffering the worst kind of loss and heartache.
It was no surprise that all the hours not sleeping would take a toll on them during the day. Both Daniel and Sam had dozed off over work more than once. When, for the third time, Cameron found Daniel sound asleep at his desk, he decided that it was time for the two of them to have a man-to-man talk.
Cameron quietly shut the door. Looking around the room, he spotted something that would serve his purposes. He picked up the empty metal water pitcher and the spoon – then very loudly beat the spoon against the pitcher. Daniel's head flew up off his crossed arms, his eyes wide with alarm, darting about frantically. When he saw Cameron standing there with a grin on his face, the pitcher and spoon in his hands, the archeologist gave the pilot the Daniel Jackson Glare of Death, the one he usually reserved for individuals like Sam's Replicator double.
"What the hell are you doing?!" he exclaimed.
"I didn't have a straw wrapper to wake you up with this time," Cameron replied.
Daniel frowned in confusion, then recalled the incident in the mess hall when the pilot woke him up from an unplanned nap to tell him that they were approaching Atlantis.
"A tap on the shoulder would have sufficed," he growled.
"Yes, but it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun."
Daniel rubbed his eyes and put on his glasses. "So, what do you want?"
"I think that you and I need to have a little chat."
The archeologist frowned again. "About what."
"You and Sam."
Daniel stiffened. His eyes turned to the screensaver on the computer.
Cameron straddled a chair. "I know that you and she are doing the deed. I'm guessing that the first time was the night before we left Atlantis. Now, I'm not gonna ask you how and why it happened. That's none of my business. But it's pretty obvious that this isn't some flash in the pan kind of thing. From what I've seen, you two have been going at it hot and heavy for around a week now. Just how many times have you two gotten together?"
Daniel glared at you. "You think that's any of your business?"
"It is if it affects the team. You're both looking a little ragged around the edges, Jackson. Happy as pigs in a wallow, but definitely sleep-deprived."
Daniel frowned down at the desktop. Yes, it was true that he and Sam probably weren't getting enough sleep. They always stayed up until after midnight, when Daniel would then go to Sam's room. Their foreplay and "fooling around" was often rather lengthy, their frantic mating of the first few times now in the past, and, on many nights, they'd awaken after a few hours and make love again. Obviously, they couldn't keep up this pace forever, especially at their age, but, for right now, they couldn't seem to stop themselves.
"I've . . . lost count," he admitted reluctantly. He glanced at Mitchell and saw the man gaping at him.
"You've lost count?" Cameron's mind was spinning. "Damn, Jackson. You sure are making up for lost time."
"I guess so."
Cam shook his head. "Have either of you thought about what you're going to do when we get home?" He watched as Daniel's head dropped again, brow furrowed. "You're going to have to tell Landry, you know. You can't keep this a secret."
Daniel sighed. "No, I suppose we can't." He groaned. "Jack's going to have a stroke."
"Oh, no doubt of that."
The archeologist glared at him. "Thanks for the support."
"Hey, as long as you two can keep this thing from interfering with the job, I have no problem with it." Cameron grinned. "I can't wait to see Teal'c's reaction. His eyebrow might actually achieve orbit. Can I be the one to tell him?"
"No," Daniel replied emphatically.
"Damn."
"Aren't you worried that Landry will split up the team?"
"Maybe a little. I was in the beginning. But he's a pretty fair guy. I'd say that he'll probably give you two a chance. As long as you don't blow it, it should be all right." Cameron got to his feet. "So, here's a little down home, country boy advice. Try sleeping at night once in a while. It's way better than sleeping on your desk or in a mess hall."
With a little smirk, the pilot left, leaving Daniel to his thoughts.
That evening, the archeologist knocked on the connecting door well before midnight. Sam opened it and smiled.
"Jumping the gun, aren't you?"
"We need to talk."
Sam lost her smile. "Oh. Okay. Come on in."
They sat down, Sam on the bed, Daniel on the chair.
"So, what's up?" she asked.
"I had a visit from Mitchell today." He told her about the conversation. Sam was more than a little embarrassed that the two men had discussed hers and Daniel's love life.
"I guess he does have a point," she admitted. "You and I have been pretty . . . single-minded."
"Yes, we have. I think I've had more sex this past week than during an entire Abydonian month with Sha're."
Sam grinned. "Well, can we help it if we find each other irresistible?"
Daniel returned the grin. "Nope. It's totally not our fault." The smile left his face. "Still, I think that we should probably, um. . . ."
"Just sleep tonight?"
"Yeah." He gazed at her intently. "I would really like to do it with you."
"I'd like that very much," Sam told him softly.
Daniel gave her a smile, which didn't stay on his face for long.
"Mitchell told me that we have to tell Landry about us."
Sam sighed. "Yeah, I guess we were both being rather foolish to even consider keeping this a secret after we got home."
"He seems to think that Landry will give us a chance to prove that we can remain together on SG-1 without our relationship getting in the way."
"I hope he's right."
They both got ready for bed, each of them doing so in their own quarters to avoid temptation. Sam smiled when she saw how Daniel was dressed when he came back into her room.
"That isn't what you usually wear, is it?" she asked.
Daniel glanced down at himself. He was dressed in only his boxers.
"No," he said. "But then I usually don't have anything but the sheets and blankets to snuggle up to." He smiled. "You want me to go put on some more clothes?"
"No, no," Sam hastily replied. "I definitely wasn't complaining."
Still smiling slightly, Daniel studied her choice of clothing, which was a pair of cotton tap pants and an athletic tee. The tap pants displayed the full length of her long, slender legs.
"Don't even say it," Sam said. "No, I don't usually wear these to bed. I wear them under my sweats when I work out."
Daniel's smile had more than a touch of amusement in it, his eyes twinkling merrily.
"Come to bed before I change my mind and boot you out," Sam said, her expression clearly stating that she wasn't serious.
Keeping his mouth shut, Daniel slipped under the covers with Sam. As she came into his arms, laying her head on his chest over his heart, he smiled in contentment. He had expected it to be a struggle to fight his sexual desire for her, but he was okay. Oh, there was desire, and he knew it wouldn't take much to fan it into an irresistible flame, but at that moment, hearing her contented sigh and watching her close her eyes, a happy little smile on her face, the emotion that was filling his heart was not desire, it was pure joy, joy the likes of which he hadn't known in so many years that he could not remember when he'd last felt it.
But Daniel did not want to analyze that joy. He didn't want to examine it too closely. He was happy because he was no longer alone. He was happy because he now had someone to help him deal with the terrible things in his life. He was happy because a smart, wonderful, beautiful, desirable woman had chosen him to be with. That's what it was.
With another smile, Daniel closed his eyes and joined Sam in sleep.
Daniel was snoring when Sam awoke. It wasn't much of a snore, very soft, actually. She tilted her head up and looked at him. His mouth was open, his hair sleep-tousled. One arm was flung up over his head, the other one wrapped firmly about her waist. He looked at least ten years younger than his chronological age, and he was just so darn cute that it made Sam smile.
The astrophysicist glanced at the clock and was surprised to see that she'd slept all the way through the night. When was the last time she'd done that?
Sam looked at Daniel again. She wished that she could stop time and spend a few more hours like this with him. She had discovered that simply sleeping with Daniel could be as pleasurable as making love with him. Of course, it was a different sort of pleasure, but no less satisfying.
Sam recalled what it was like sleeping with Pete. He moved around a lot, and, when she awoke in the morning, more often than not, his back would be turned toward her, and he'd have most of the covers. Now, here she was with Daniel. He must have barely moved during the night, and his arm was around her, holding her close, as if, even in his sleep, he didn't want to let her go. She didn't want to let him go. She wanted to hold onto him forever, for the rest of her life.
A moment of panic assailed Sam. No, no, no, no! She shouldn't be having those kinds of feelings. They were too dangerous. She couldn't let herself get too lost in him. Under no circumstances could she let herself fall in love with him.
The sudden cessation of the snore told Sam that Daniel was waking up. She looked up to see him open his eyes. He blinked a few times, then looked down at her, smiling.
"Hi," he said, a touch of huskiness in his voice.
"Hi."
Daniel cupped her cheek and brought his lips down to hers in a long kiss. After a few seconds, his tongue came out and asked for entrance. She let it in. The kiss soon grew deep and passionate, and Sam really began to wish that there was time for a little morning lovemaking.
She broke away from his lips. "Mmm. We'd better stop now. Otherwise, we're both going to end up being very late."
Daniel glanced at the clock, receiving a surprise when he saw what it said.
"Wow. I can't believe I slept that long without waking up even once."
Regretfully, they got out of bed, Daniel heading off to his own room to shower and get dressed.
"Good morning," Cameron greeted as the archeologist sat down across from him in the mess hall a while later. He studied Daniel's face, seeing that the man looked quite well rested. When Sam joined them a short while later, he noted the same thing about her.
"Well, you two look well rested," he remarked with a little smile.
"Yes," Daniel said. "We . . . took your advice."
"Advice?" Vala inquired. "What advice?"
"I just said they needed to get more sleep," the pilot told her.
"Oh." Vala looked at Sam, then Daniel, seeing that they did look like they'd gotten a good nights' sleep. Did they share a bed last night?
Since her conversation with Daniel, Vala hadn't spent much time around him. The truth was that she'd been avoiding him. Knowing that he was in a relationship with Sam and would never be with her had changed things. She no longer felt comfortable hanging around him all the time. She was sure he was happy about that.
Of course, Daniel was still her friend, and she still liked him, but things were different now. He was another woman's man, no longer available.
Daniel had, indeed, noticed that Vala hadn't come to his office since their conversation. He wondered about the reason for it, if it was because he was no longer "available" or if it was something else. One good thing about it was that he was able to get more work done.
"So, Jackson. How about a game of basketball later?" Cameron asked the archeologist. "One on one."
Daniel thought about it a moment. "All right," he agreed. Basketball was not something he used to have much of an interest in, but Mitchell had pulled him into it once he found out that Daniel had played a bit in college, though not on the university's team.
"Would you mind an audience?" Sam asked, surprising everyone. She'd never shown an interest before in either watching or playing.
"Nope, not at all," Cameron replied. "If you'd like to play, we could make it a foursome. Vala and Teal'c have played against me and Jackson a couple of times."
"No thanks. I've never played the game in my life. Just being a spectator will be enough for me." Sam smiled. "Now, if we were talking volleyball, I would be very happy to clean your clock. I was volleyball champ at the Academy."
Cam studied her. "Oh, really. Well, we'll have to see about that one of these days. I'm not half-bad at volleyball."
The game was played that afternoon at two o'clock. The basketball court was actually one of the large, unused storage rooms. Some of the crew had put up the baskets shortly before the long journey to the Pegasus galaxy began.
As the two men played, Sam and Vala watched from a bench set against the wall. Vala quite enjoyed watching the two very attractive, well-built men move around the court. Even knowing what she did, her eyes couldn't help but go to Daniel more often than his opponent, admiring the play of his sweat-slicked muscles as he displayed an athletic prowess that you'd never guess he possessed when he was hunched over some artifact or translation.
Vala wasn't the only one who was enjoying the show. Sam's gaze was nearly eating Daniel up. She found that she was getting more than a little turned on. An image of the two of them making wild, passionate love in the locker room showers after the game had her squirming on the bench.
'Okay, Sam. Get that image out of your head,' she told herself. 'Just concentrate on the game.'
Vala took her eyes off the game and glanced at the woman beside her. She noticed the heightened color in Sam's face and the way the woman was looking at Daniel. There could be no doubt of what was running through the astrophysicist's mind. Ignoring the brief twinge of jealousy in favor of her much stronger curiosity, Vala leaned closer to the woman.
"So, I'm guessing that Daniel must be very good in bed," she murmured.
All thoughts of the game going right out of her mind, Sam whipped her head around to stare at Vala.
"Excuse me?" she nearly stammered.
"Oh, come now, Samantha. We're both adult women who have had our share of lovers, though I, no doubt, have had many more. There's nothing wrong with two ladies sharing a little information about their love life. If I presently had a love life, I'd be happy to tell you all about it."
Sam frowned. "Vala, you may be the kiss-and-tell sort, but I'm not, and, even if I was, I wouldn't talk about my relationship with Daniel with you. He's told me all about you hitting on him even though he wasn't interested."
Not letting the comment bother her, Vala shrugged. "You can't blame a woman for trying, can you? He is, after all, a very attractive man. Of course, that doesn't always mean a guy is good in bed. I've been disappointed more than once by a man who looked good but was terrible in bed."
Sam returned her gaze to the men. She was so tempted to tell Vala that Daniel was most definitely not lousy in bed, but she held her tongue. It was none of the woman's business.
Seeing that Sam wasn't going to take the bait, Vala sighed silently and also turned back to the players.
The game ended a few minutes later, Daniel winning by two points.
"That was a lucky shot," Cameron insisted as they walked toward the women.
Daniel shrugged. "Lucky or not, it still scored."
They stopped before Sam and Vala.
"Ladies," Cam said. He turned to the astrophysicist. "So, did you enjoy the game?"
"Very much so," Sam replied, her eyes going to Daniel, who smiled at her.
Being no dummy, Cameron knew exactly why Sam had enjoyed the game.
"Well, I'm going to hit the showers," he told everyone.
"Yes, me too," said Daniel, giving Sam one last smile.
Sam was on her way back to her lab when she was called to the bridge. It turned out that there was a glitch in the computer system, and Colonel Emerson wanted to know if she could help the techs track down the problem. Happy to have something to do that might prove challenging, Sam readily agreed. Several hours later, she was almost wishing she hadn't. It was close to midnight by the time they succeeded in fixing the problem.
As soon as Daniel entered her quarters, he could see that Sam was tired. He asked her what happened.
"It sounds like you could use a massage," he remarked after she finished telling him.
Sam's face brightened. "God, I haven't had a massage in years."
"Well, then I'd say that you're way past due for one."
Once Sam was dressed for bed, Daniel pulled back the covers and instructed her to lie down on her stomach. The moment he started kneading the tight muscles in her neck and shoulders, she let out a moan of appreciation, which made the archeologist smile. He kept working on her, focusing on the tightest muscles. He'd been at it for around ten minutes when he realized that Sam was being awfully quiet. He looked at her face and saw that she'd fallen asleep.
With another smile, Daniel got undressed, used the bathroom, then slipped under the covers, pulling them up around himself and Sam. The moment he was lying beside her, the sleeping woman turned onto her side and snuggled up to him. The unconscious gesture touched Daniel deep inside, making a little ache grow in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and placed a soft kiss on her brow. Then he closed his eyes and followed her into slumber.
When Sam woke up the next morning, it was to see Daniel watching her with a tender smile on his face.
"Good morning," he said. "You fell asleep before I got to the best part of your massage."
Sam smiled. "Well, then you'll just have to give me another one one of these days."
"I'll be sure to do that."
"What time is it?"
"A little earlier than we woke up yesterday, but not by much." He began caressing her through her T-shirt. "However, there might be just enough time for a little of what we didn't have time for yesterday morning."
Daniel's touch instantly aroused Sam's desire, making her wish that they had all the time in the world. She rolled onto her back, pulling him down on top of her, parting her legs to let him settle into the cradle of her thighs. He began placing kisses down the length of her neck to her chest. When he pushed up her T-shirt and started licking and nipping at her exposed breasts, her urgency to feel his body joined with hers became almost unbearable. She shoved down his boxers and began tugging down her tap pants. Daniel helped her get them off, taking his own underwear completely off in the process, then stripped off her tee. He then laid back down on her, now skin on skin.
For several minutes, the pace of their lovemaking was slow and gentle, the lovers lost in the sensations. But they both knew that time was not on their side, that they both had to get up and go to work soon.
Then again, Daniel thought, perhaps they could kill two birds with one stone.
Sam was surprised when he separated from her, tossed back the covers, and got out of the bed.
"What are you doing?" she asked in frustration.
He leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Multitasking." A second later, he lifted her up off the bed. Surprised, she wrapped her arms and legs around him. Then she saw where he was taking her, and her respiration increased dramatically.
He carried her into the bathroom and shut the door. Not putting her down, he turned on the shower. In the time that they had been lovers, they had not yet showered together, knowing that doing so would significantly increase the time it took them to get ready for work. Daniel wasn't going to worry about that this time. What did it matter if they were several minutes late? Both Mitchell and Vala already knew about their relationship, and none of the crew would be paying attention.
Once the water was the right temperature, Daniel stepped under the spray with Sam. He finally let her down. He picked up the soap and began to work it into a lather. Sam watched him, her body trembling with eagerness.
When he brought his soapy hands to her body, she let out a low moan. Her head fell back as Daniel very thoroughly soaped up her body, paying a whole lot more attention to certain areas than simply cleaning those places would require. He moved around behind her, continuing the washing, going all the way down her legs to her feet, then back up again.
By the time Daniel was standing again, Sam was panting with need. His hands reached around her and cupped her breasts, soap-slicked thumps gliding over the peaks. She began rocking her hips back against him.
In the next moment, Daniel turned her around in his arms. He lifted her up, pressed her against the wall, and went into her.
This time, they did not go slow. As the water pounded down upon them, they make love swiftly, burning with the need for release. It was not long before Daniel was suddenly hit with his orgasm, Sam following him almost immediately.
By the time Daniel's climax was over, his legs were shaking. He laid his forehead against the wall of the stall as he drew in deep breaths, needing its stability.
After a moment, he lowered Sam to her feet. Then he took her mouth in a long, heated kiss.
"I am never going to want to take a shower without you," she murmured against his lips.
Chuckling, Daniel released her. "Well, we'd better finish this one before the hot water runs out."
"That won't happen," Sam assured him. She smiled. "You should see the size of the hot water heater on this ship." Her smile turned sultry. "Besides, I haven't yet had the opportunity to wash you."
Daniel's slowing pulse began speeding up as Sam reached for the bar of soap.
Sam's attention to detail in the washing of her lover's body was equal to what his had been. By the time she started going down his legs, Daniel was heartily wishing that he was twenty years younger so that he could make love to her a second time. Even though that was not possible, he utterly enjoyed every moment of the experience.
Finally, knowing that it was time to get out, they rinsed off, turned off the water, and exited the stall. Drying each other off proved to be almost as much fun as the washing had been. Wiping the beads of water from Sam's breast, Daniel bent down and licked off the last few droplets, making Sam moan.
"God, I am not going to be in any fit condition to go to work if you keep doing things like that," she gasped, her body quickly becoming aroused again.
Daniel smiled. "Well, I could take care of that, you know."
"We don't have time."
He sighed. "Yeah, you're right."
They left the bathroom, and Daniel went to his own room to get dressed, picking up his discarded clothes on the way.
Sam and Daniel both got deeply involved in their own projects that day, so they didn't see much of each other. That night, it was not quite eleven when a knock on the connecting door had the archeologist opening it to let the astrophysicist in.
"Now who's the one jumping the gun?" he asked. His smile disappeared. "Or do you need to talk about something?"
"No. Well, yes, I thought we could talk, but not about anything in particular. I just want to spend a little extra time with you." Sam paused. "Tomorrow is our last full day."
Daniel's gaze dropped to the floor. He'd thought about it a lot today, the fact that, day after tomorrow, they'd reach Earth. They'd have only two more nights together onboard ship. After that, there was no telling when they'd be able to get together again.
They both got dressed for bed, then got under the covers, leaving the light on. The seconds passed in silence as Daniel's fingers ran up and down Sam's arm. On impulse, he picked up her hand and placed a kiss on the palm and another on the inside of her wrist. The sweet, romantic gesture warmed Sam's heart. She pulled his lips down to hers in a long, tender kiss.
"This feel so good," she said.
Daniel caressed her cheek. "Yes, it does." He ignored the voice inside that was telling him it felt too good. "I was thinking about when we get back. We should probably always get together at your place."
"Why always my place?" she asked.
"You live in a house." Daniel grinned. "My neighbors aren't used to being kept awake by certain noises coming from my apartment."
Sam smiled. "Noises, huh?"
Daniel tilted up her face and smiled down at her. "Uh huh. I figure that, once we're off this ship, there won't be any reason to keep the noise level down." He punctuated the statement with a deep kiss. Sam curled her fingers into his hair and held him to her, deepening the kiss even more.
"There is another advantage to my place," she said after their lips separated.
"What's that?"
"A queen-size bed."
"Oh, I have that, too, now. When I moved from my house to the apartment, I got rid of the little bed. My feet always hung over the end. I only got that bed because the bedroom wasn't big enough for a larger one." He smiled again. "Of course, when I got my present bed, I wasn't anticipating that I might want it for some other reason as well."
Sam laughed softly. She looked up into Daniel's smiling face. She brushed a fingertip over his lips. "This is so nice to see. You rarely smiled after the stuff with the Ori began."
Daniel's gaze dropped from her eyes. "I really didn't have much of anything to smile about."
Sam gazed at him earnestly. "We are going to beat them, Daniel. You have to believe that."
The archeologist didn't reply. "I don't want to talk about the Ori," he said after a moment, pulling her a bit closer.
They talked about other things instead, a quiet conversation during which they shared little personal things with each other that they never had before. It was shortly after midnight that the talking was replaced by slow lovemaking.
When they both slipped into sleep a while later, it was with the mutual wish that the end of this trip wasn't coming so soon.
