A moment after speaking those words, Daniel stepped forward and took her into his arms. Their lips came together, and, all at once, all their concerns didn't matter anymore. Slow and deep they kissed, no reservations, no hesitation, tongues entwining, caressing, delving into the mysteries of each other's mouths. No longer worrying about what they should and should not do, they touched each other everywhere, pushing clothes aside to reach bare skin. Sam pressed herself tightly against Daniel, wanting to be a part of him.
"Sam, I want to make love to you," Daniel breathed against her lips.
"I want that, too," she answered huskily. Then she looked at him. "Make love to me, Daniel."
Their lips and hands never leaving each other, Daniel and Sam made their way to the bedroom. Once there, Daniel very slowly and lovingly removed Sam's clothing, his lips blessing each inch of skin he uncovered. When her bra fell to the floor, Daniel went to his knees, his hands and mouth upon her breasts driving Sam insane with pleasure.
As the last of her clothing fell to the floor, Sam stood naked before Daniel, her body aflame with need and singing with rapture. No man had ever brought her such pleasure before, and they had not even made love yet. Daniel was worshiping her body like she was a goddess . . . and, now, she wanted to do the same to him.
Reaching down, she encouraged Daniel to stand. She got to work on the buttons of his shirt, trying to ignore the fire that was burning in his eyes.
As soon as the shirt was gone, Sam's mouth descended upon his chest, giving it the same loving attention that he'd given to hers. The moan and the reaction of his body told her how it made him feel.
Daniel closed his eyes as Sam made love to his body with her mouth. It had been so long, so very long since he'd known this joy, this ecstasy. He was trembling, both on the outside and on the inside, his senses overwhelmed by the power of what he was feeling.
Once he was as naked as her, Daniel pulled Sam to her feet and crushed her to him, the feeling of their bare skin touching almost too much for him to handle. He took a step forward and lowered her onto the bed, mouth sealed over hers.
And then, with a quick movement, Sam was on top of him, their kisses growing frenzied with need, hands touching their most intimate places.
Unable to wait a moment longer, Daniel rolled them back over. His lips rose away from hers, and he looked down at her. He had no words to say, so he told her everything he was feeling with his eyes. Her eyes smiled back at him, mirroring the same emotions.
Keeping his eyes upon Sam's, Daniel joined with Sam, completing the connection of their souls with that of their bodies. Their eyes slid shut, the feelings pouring through them too powerful to keep them open.
"Sam," Daniel uttered in a long, deep sigh, that single word saying everything. Sam answered him with a whispered utterance of his name.
For long minutes, bodies and souls entwined, Daniel and Sam made love slowly and gently, the wondrous sensations of their first union making them feel like they never wanted it to end.
As the joy and rapture of their lovemaking grew, Daniel felt something deep inside him break free, released from the fear and grief that had kept it trapped within a hidden corner of his heart. Clutching at Sam more tightly and feeling her do the same, he let himself go, no longer afraid.
Sam cried out as their gentle lovemaking grew fast and powerful. She was instantly catapulted into a maelstrom of passion and pleasure.
Caught in an inferno of ecstasy, Daniel's climax hit him with powerful, uncontrollable suddenness at almost the same instant as Sam's body stiffened and arched upward, her muscles seizing. A cry tore from his lips as he gave himself to her, carried away on the wild euphoria.
Soaring upward on her climax, Sam felt Daniel join her in release, his cry an echo of hers. Everything else melted away until there was nothing but the glorious feeling exploding through her body, white-hot and all-consuming.
At last, the fire dimmed. For a long time, they lay unmoving, exhausted yet feeling like they could both fly, their bodies thrumming with the lingering power of what they had just experienced. Daniel turned his face into Sam's neck and began kissing the sweat-slicked skin.
"I love you," he whispered shakily.
"I love you, too," Sam told him back, her voice cracking with emotion.
Daniel's lips moved upwards, and he covered her face with sweet kisses. After a few seconds, she felt something wet plop onto her cheek, and she realized that he was crying. She took his face between her hands and looked into his tear-brightened eyes. A shy, embarrassed smile flitted across his lips.
"I'm sorry. This is silly," he said, making a move to pull his face away so that he could wipe away the tears.
"No, it's not," Sam told him, not letting him go.
"It's just that . . . that it's been a really, really long time since I had this," Daniel said with a catch in his throat. "For a long time, I thought that I never would again."
"I know. But things are going to be different now, Daniel. You don't have to be alone anymore."
Sam pulled his lips down to hers. He returned the kiss with all the love he was feeling. For several minutes, they kissed and caressed each other softly. Then Daniel looked at her, his face completely unshuttered, his eyes like open windows into his heart.
"I'm not afraid anymore, Sam," he told her.
Tears welling up in her eyes, Sam drew his lips back down to hers, then kissed his cheek and forehead. Daniel nestled his face into the crook of her neck and just laid there. Sam gave a sigh of utter contentment and wrapped her arms more closely about his shoulders, her fingers gently running through his hair.
This was . . . this was too amazing for words. If she had only known that it could be like this between them, she'd have gone after Daniel a long time ago. God, she had been such a fool all these years. All those mixed up feelings for Narim, Martouf and Jack, and then topping it off by leaping into a relationship with a new guy right after her little soul-searching trip on the Prometheus. And all that time, all those years, the love of her life was right there in front of her, and she didn't see it. She might be a genius according to her IQ test, but, right now, she felt incredibly stupid.
The minutes continued to pass as they lay like that, Daniel's body upon Sam's like a living blanket. Though he was a bit on the heavy side, Sam had no desire to move. It felt so good to be like this. So, she just kept holding him, touching him, thinking that there was not another place in the entire universe that she'd rather be.
After a while, Sam felt Daniel's body start to relax, and she realized that he was falling asleep. She was well aware that this was a common occurrence with men after sex, but it still made her smile to know that she was the cause of it.
Knowing that sleeping in this position would get rather uncomfortable after a while, she decided that she'd better do something before Daniel completely fell asleep. She was about to say something when he made a little humming sound and nuzzled her neck.
"Daniel?"
"Hmm?"
"I thought you were falling asleep."
She felt him smile against her skin. "No, I'm just very happy and content. I like where I am."
Sam smiled and turned her head to kiss his ear. "Me too," she whispered into it.
Daniel lifted his head and looked down at her. He shifted his hips, rubbing up against her pelvis. Sam's eyes widened in surprise as she felt the beginning evidence of his returning arousal.
"Already?"
"Yeah. I guess that's something that hasn't changed, though I had figured that, as old as I am now, things would be different."
"What do you mean?"
Daniel grinned down at her. "Well, let's just say that I never left Sha're wanting for more."
Sam's eyebrows rose. "Oh, really." She suddenly flipped them over. "Well, in that case, Doctor Jackson, it's my turn to be on top."
Daniel's eyes sparkled into hers. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Colonel-Doctor Carter."
Sam lay sprawled over the top of Daniel, them having just made love for the second time. They were both utterly exhausted – and utterly happy.
"Daniel, speaking as the woman whom you just shot into orbit for the second time in a row, you are most definitely not rusty!" Sam gasped between heaving breaths.
Daniel laughed. "I'm glad I didn't forget anything."
"Not as much as I am." Sam paused for a few seconds. "I am curious about something, though."
Daniel slid his fingertips up and down her spine. "What's that?"
"Well, you've studied all different cultures, right?"
"Right."
Sam lifted her head and looked at him. Her eyes were sparkling. "Then I should imagine that you learned everything about them." She grinned. "Any interesting mating rituals or practices that I need to prepare myself for?"
Daniel returned her grin. "Hmm. Could be." He lifted his head and whispered in her ear. "Did I ever mention that I've read the Kama Sutra from cover to cover . . . the original Sanskrit version?"
Sam felt a little quiver of excitement course through her. "No, you failed to mention that fact. It's good to know, though, for future reference."
"Well, I'm afraid that we'll have to wait a while before I start giving you lessons on what I learned. I need a bit of recovery time."
"So do I," Sam told him.
Sam slid off Daniel and curled into his side, tucking her head beneath his chin. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair.
God, he was so happy. When was the last time he felt this much joy? Not since before Sha're was taken. And to think that he almost lost out on having this. If he and Sam hadn't come to their senses when they did, they might never have seen the truth. Sam might have married Pete and eventually left SG-1 so that they could have a family.
That thought led to him recalling what he had been thinking about earlier. "Sam, what are we going to do about work? For us to be together will one of us have to leave SG-1?"
Sam didn't reply for a while. "I don't know. That may be necessary now that I'm, technically, your commanding officer. I've never looked up the regs regarding this kind of situation since I never thought it would apply to me."
Daniel tightened his arms around her. "I don't want to leave SG-1, but I will if that's what I have to do."
"I don't want you to leave either. I'd miss you too much every time I went on a mission, and I'm talking about in every way: as a teammate and a team leader, as a friend, and as someone who is in love with you."
"I'd hate it, too, watching you and Teal'c go off without me on every mission. I can imagine how hard it's been on Jack since his promotion. I know he wishes that he was still going with us." He tilted his head down to look at her. "But you need to know something. You told me that you would not have been willing to leave the SGC to keep your relationship with Pete. Well, I would, Sam. I would leave SG-1, the SGC, whatever was necessary to keep what I now have with you."
Sam felt her chest swell at Daniel's statement, knowing how much he loved her to say that. She thought about it and came to a realization that surprised her. Though she had dated Pete for almost a year, she had not come to love and need him enough to sacrifice her career for a life with him. Yet, lying here in Daniel's arms after having made the most incredible love she'd ever experienced, she knew it would shatter her heart if she had to give this up. If leaving SG-1 would mean that they could stay together, she'd do it.
"I feel the same way, Daniel. But I hope it won't come to that. I guess we need to talk to General O'Neill. The fact that you're a civilian might make it possible for the rules to be bent. It's not like it would be if we were both in the military."
"So, when do we tell him? Tomorrow?"
Sam gave a sigh. "I guess we'll have to, though I wish we could put it off."
"Me too. But I wouldn't want you to get into trouble if we did try to keep this a secret for a while and someone found out. Besides, I don't want to hide."
"Neither do I."
"So, tomorrow it is."
Since it was lunchtime, Daniel and Sam got up to fix something.
They were nearly finished eating when Sam shook her head and said, "You know, it just suddenly hit me."
Daniel looked up at her. "What?"
"This. You and me. I mean . . . wow. All these years of working with you, being friends, I never thought about us being more, of us one day being lovers. It's not that I never looked at you like a woman looks at a man. Of course I did. I'm not dead, after all, and you're a really good-looking guy. But it never went beyond that. I guess it was because you were married in the beginning, and I got used to thinking of you as a married man. Even after Sha're died, it was like you were still unavailable, probably because I knew that you were still in love with her." Sam looked at Daniel. "What about you? Are you as surprised by this as I am?"
"Yes, but partly for a different reason. You're right that I was still unavailable after Sha're died. Except for that brief moment with Ke'ra, which was a mistake right from the start, being with another woman was something I couldn't even think about. I loved Sha're so much. Right up to the time that I ascended, I had no desire to find someone new. After my return, I did a lot of healing, and, if I had made an effort to do so, I may have started dating, but I was . . . gun shy, I guess you could say." Daniel smiled. "My track record with women hasn't been all that great, you know. In fact, Sha're was the only relationship I ever had that was even remotely successful. I really didn't even want to try again. Besides, I knew that, unless it was someone who was a part of the Project or someone I found off-world, anyone I got involved with would have to be kept in the dark about what I do for a living, and I couldn't live like that. I couldn't lie to someone that I love. So, I'm surprised as much by the fact that this happened at all as I am that it happened with you, although, like you, I never consciously considered a relationship between us, and it was pretty shocking when I started feeling these things for you." Daniel gazed at her. "But you know what the funny thing is?"
"What?"
"Now that I'm not fighting it anymore, it feels right, natural, like it was supposed to be this way."
Sam reached for Daniel's hand and entwined her fingers with his. "I feel that way, too. Maybe it's because we were already so close that this is like just a small step forward in our relationship. I already loved you so much. Now, there's just an additional level to my feelings." She grinned. "And then, of course, there's the sex. I really like that addition."
Daniel leaned over until his lips were only a hair's breadth from Sam's. "Me too," he murmured before taking her mouth in a hot, hungry kiss. He nearly fell out of his chair as Sam grabbed hold of him. Lifting her up, he set her on the table, both of them ignoring the sound of dishes and silverware clattering to the floor.
Possessed by their sudden and uncontrollable need for each other, they frantically removed each other's clothing. Daniel laid Sam down on the table. Seconds later, their bodies were again united.
Their lovemaking was wild and intense, very quickly sending both of them over the edge. In the aftermath, they lay still as their breathing and heart rates gradually slow.
"Wow," Sam finally said.
"I have to agree. In fact, I can't think of a better word in any of my thirty or so languages."
"Now, this is something else that really surprises me."
Daniel looked at her. "What?"
"I would have pictured you as the kind of guy who always made love slowly and gently, sort of like it was during the first few minutes of our first time."
"Well, I do like to make love like that, but I also like it this way." Daniel gave her a long kiss. "It will be my very great pleasure to show you all the ways that I enjoy making love."
"Mmm. And it will be my very great pleasure to learn."
They cleaned up and put their clothes back on. Then they picked up the mess that was on the floor, thankful that they'd both eaten most of their lunch before it ended up on the linoleum.
