CLEAN

It fell like rain, but it was warm, seductive.

The water descended from the showerhead, in rhythmic timing, onto her body. Sam lifted both hands to her head and smoothed out her hair, assisting the water in the job it had begun.

Slowly her hands framed her neck and massaged the muscles there, relishing in the now tender crimson marks that were not there the day before, but now bore witness to the tenderness of the previous night.

Reaching for the bar of soap, she took it in both hands and rubbed it until the lather covered her fingers.

She lathered her body, starting at her shoulders and working her way downwards. Her breasts and nipples were much more sensitive than they usually were, but she didn't mind.

The lather slinked down her stomach, into her navel and continued its downward flow. She followed the soapy trail, working it into circles around her torso. Her fingers worked their way through her pubic hair and eventually lower, at the very core of her body. Flinching slightly, she realized that she was a bit sore there.

She exhaled the breath, smiling to herself as she continued her cleansing ritual. Sam tried to remember the last time her soreness - any soreness - resulted from an extreme night of lovemaking, and not from the effects of the latest battle.

This was a better scenario, she thought. No. She concluded, this was a damn better scenario. One she planned on getting used to.

Sam finished up, turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. She stopped suddenly as she opened the door to find Jack standing there, holding a big white fluffy towel.

Water still dripping off her body, she looked Jack in the eyes, then at the towel, and back at Jack before she took it from him and held it to her body. Jack watched Sam as she slowly patted her naked body dry before him. His warm brown eyes captured her grayish-blue, and acquired an intensity that she happily recognized.

Teasingly, he asked her, "All clean?"

Her response was low and seductive, "The body, yes. Thoughts of you? Never."

The General quirked an eyebrow at his Colonel, then took two sure steps towards her.

"Dirty thoughts Carter?" He asked in mock surprise, as his arms found her bare waist and pulled her to him. "Who knew?"

Sam's arm circled Jack's neck and the towel dropped, unceremoniously to the floor, before she responded, "You know General." And just before her response became completely physical, she reaffirmed to him, "But still," she began, as she drew him further into her, "allow me the pleasure of showing you, again."

The water droplets on the walls of the just used shower slowly began to join, one with the other, until they gained a momentum that caused them to rush to their final destination on the shower floor, mimicking the occupants of the room, until even the mirrors, wisely relinquished their clarity.