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“Last one,” Jack told her, setting his box on top of the stack.
“Thanks, I just didn’t trust the movers with this stuff. You know how they are.” Sam’s PCS was tomorrow. She was officially heading R&D at Area 51, and tonight was the last night that she would be under his command. They both knew it, of course, but neither one of them had mentioned it.
“So, thanks for dinner,” he offered. He looked ill at ease with his arms crossed and leaning against the entryway between her office and dining room.
“It was just pizza and beer. So, you’re welcome, I guess?”
“My favorite.”
Sam smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear.
“Yes, Sir. I did know that.”
“You know, you don’t have to call me that tomorrow.”
“I knew that too,” she offered shyly. Jack checked his watch.
“Nineteen hundred. I guess I should get out of your hair. Let you finish this up. But I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
“Yeah, I guess after eight years what’s another ten hours?”
“Well, it’s ten hours. Did you want me to stay?” Jack offered, looking rather like he hoped she would say yes, but they were going to have plenty of time on the drive to Nevada, and she really did have a few more things to do before moving day.
“No, you’re right. I do have some things to finish up here. Tomorrow’s good. It’s only ten hours, right? We’re mature adults, after all.”
“Right. If you say so. Goodnight, Carter.” Jack returned her smile, and with a squeeze to her shoulder he turned to leave. That was it. This was the last night their relationship was off-limits. Tomorrow morning when he showed up it wouldn’t be as her superior. It would be as her... what? Her friend? Yes, but he was so much more. They had done the hard part—the talking. Finally, after all these years, they had decided they were going to be together.
Finishing up her tasks, Sam opted for one last bath in her old house. She was going to miss this house when she was in Nevada with the park right across the street. It was sort of bittersweet to say goodbye to Colorado Springs. There were a lot of good times in this city, under that mountain. But being with Jack was worth the change even if she couldn’t be with him with him.
They had a plan. And that plan was what her mind wandered to as she soaked and as she slipped into the last pair of pajamas she’d left out of her suitcase, just her standard uniform of sleep pants and a tank top.
It was the same plan she was thinking about when she lay down and glanced at her clock. Twenty-three-forty-five. Another fifteen minutes and it was official. She was head of R&D. At Area 51. Not at Cheyenne Mountain. Sam smiled into her pillow, but refrained from kicking her feet at her giddiness.
It was the same plan she was thinking about ten minutes later when her doorbell rang.
“Hi,” Jack greeted her from her front porch while she stood there in her bare feet and pajamas. “You shouldn’t just open the door at midnight, you know. Could be someone with nefarious intentions.”
“Yes, people with nefarious intentions always ring the doorbell. And it’s not midnight.”
“Funny that you just sort of knew what time it was, or should I say wasn’t , without looking.”
“Yeah, funny,” she agreed sarcastically.
“So, listen. I know we could wait until morning, but the more I thought about it, the less I wanted to do that. I guess I’m not as mature as you are. But then, we sort of already knew that.”
Sam stepped to the side.
“Wanna come in?”
Jack smiled his answer, and Sam watched him walk through her entryway and seat himself on her kitchen stool. He was oscillating back and forth and looking the good kind of nefarious. Sam couldn’t help but smile at her fidgety General O’Neill one last time.
“What?” he asked, catching her grin.
“Nothing. I’m just glad you didn’t want to wait,” she admitted before she walked over to the bar. Maybe they couldn’t do anything for a few more minutes, but she could be close to him.
“Feeling immature yourself?” he asked with suggestively dancing brows, and the giggle that slipped from her lips was more excitement than amusement. Sam let her arms encircle him and muffled her giggle in his shoulder. When his knees hugged her hips, she turned, whispering her agreement against his neck.
“Yes, Sir.” But it wasn’t time yet, so she pulled back. Jack was looking as smug as she would have expected when her eyes crawled over his face. Sam leaned into his hand at the small of her back.
“You really don’t need to call me that anymore.”
“I’ll work on it,” she promised with a smile, and leaned her cheek into his palm. His fingers were toying with her hair now.
“C’mere, Sam,” he asked tugging her gently, and she shuffled the half step closer that they needed for what was coming next. Any minute now.
“It’s not time yet,” she reminded him when he brushed the tip his nose against her cheek and nuzzled her hairline.
“I know.”
“You just need to sniff me first?” Sam asked.
“What’s wrong with that? You smell nice.”
“So do you, but I’m not trying to get a forbidden sniff.”
“A forbidden sniff?” he ridiculed.
“Yes, forbidden.”
“I have to breathe, don’t I?” Jack was smiling now and pulling back to look at her. “If you happen to be in the vicinity, it’s just a coincidence.”
“Coincidence my ass. It was an intentional sniff.”
“At this point, who really cares? I don’t think anyone would fault me for a good sniff.”
“A forbidden sniff,” she reminded him, and his eyes narrowed at her. Sam knew that look. It was the one she saw every time he was about to cause trouble, and she braced herself. But whatever he had in mind was interrupted by the beeping alarm of her watch. Midnight. Fluidly, she silenced the alarm, but the beeping continued along with the blush on her cheeks—evidence of her embarrassment at being found overly eager. She checked her watch again, looking for her error.
“It’s mine,” he explained, wrapping his arms around her waist to silence the alarm behind her back. Sam’s grin grew as she realized that he had done the same thing she had done—counting down the minutes until they could have each other.
“Big plans for midnight?” she asked teasingly and suddenly at ease. Obviously, this was just as important to him as it was to her.
“Oh, yeah. You betcha.”
“It’s not even New Years.”
“It’s a new everything, Sam. Kiss me.” And she wanted to. She really did, but now that she could, it was as if something heavy had been on her chest and was suddenly gone. All of the urgency had been sucked from her, and was replaced by that same giddiness she had felt earlier.
“I can kiss you now,” she smiled and took his face between her hands.
“Yes, and I really wish you would.”
Sam knew now that she should have allowed her feet to kick earlier when she was thinking about this. She had held back in the privacy of her own bedroom, and now that pent up excitement was making an unfortunate appearance.
“I swear I’m going to, I’m just...”
“Nuts?” he suggested.
“Happy,” she answered, her smile holding steady.
“Ya know, I got that,” he smiled back at her, and Sam bit down on her lip in attempt to rein in the grin.
“You’re very observant.”
“I’ve been told. Do you know what I’d like to observe? Your lips. On mine. Care to?”
“I can’t.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m too happy.”
“So, you’re telling me that I drove over here for a good sniff?”
“But it was good, right? So...”
“Yeah, it was good. In fact, I’m just gonna...” Jack began before brushing his nose through her hair with an exaggerated inhale, and the smile on Sam’s face split into a giggle before she buried her face in the crook of his neck. The arms wrapped around her back tightened, and Sam’s smile melted into a contented sigh because even though she was teasing him the faint but distinct scent of Jack was powerful in its nearness, and no longer forbidden.
“Still happy?” he asked, and Sam leaned back. His half grin was no match for what hers had been, but the light in his eyes told her everything she needed to know.
“I could be happier.”
“If?”
“If you kissed me,” she suggested.
“Didn’t we try this already?”
“If at first you don’t succeed...?”
“Okay, but no giggling,” Jack admonished with a with a finger to her nose. “Or at the very least, save it for after when you’ve really got something at which to laugh.”
“You’re really selling this,” she teased him, “I’m not sure if—”
But Jack was apparently done listening because he swallowed her doubts with his kiss. Sam’s eyes widened for a moment, before shuttering and answering his unspoken question with her own lips.
All thoughts of giggling had vanished in favor of this moment that he had created and given to her with the warmth of his mouth brushing, tugging, reaching for hers. With his kiss, he was giving her tomorrow and next week, next month, and she really, really hoped he would give her next year. He was giving her a future—his future—and he didn’t want to wait until morning.
Jack gave them both a moment to catch their breath when his forehead rested on hers.
“No giggling?” he asked with a quirk of his brow. Sam gave a shake of her head rolling lazily against his.
“No, Sir,” she answered, and was met by an annoyed tilt of his head and a grimace. “Sorry, I’ll work on it.”
“You know, just for the record, I’ve been sniffing you for years—forbidden or not,” he told her, and the giggle was back, but she squelched it quickly.
“Well, since we’re going on the record, I already knew that.”