Subterfuge

by

AstraPerAspera

"Carter."

She stirred slightly, but only enough to more completely curve her warm body against his in what always was a perfect fit. Ordinarily such a maneuver brought only pleasure. And it wasn't that it didn't—it just made doing what he had to do a little more difficult.

"Carter," he said again, shaking her shoulder slightly. He got a smile this time. At least he'd made contact. Well…conscious contact anyway.

"Mmmmm," she murmured settling, if possible, even more tightly next to him. Now it was his turn to stir. Well…for part of him to stir, at least. Which really wasn't what he'd been going for right at the moment. At least, not yet.

"Carter!" Her eyes flew open that time and she rolled against him to twist and gaze up into his face. Even heavy with sleep they were the most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen.

"What?" He could see her brain switch on, ready to respond to whatever crisis he was about to dump on her. Too many damn years in the field had left her as jumpy as he was.

Part of him hated that.

But at least this time the threat was minimal.

"Shut your alarm off, wouldcha? I can't reach it from here."

A moment's confusion resolved into comprehension on her face. Reaching over she hit the "off" button and the irritating buzzing finally ceased. "Sorry," she grimaced, looking genuinely contrite.

"Rule number one when it comes to vacation, Carter. Alarm clocks stay turned off."

"Force of habit," she replied, sheepishly, settling back to her previous position. "Won't happen again." She pulled his arm more tightly around her and pillowed her cheek on the back of his hand.

Whatever wry comeback he'd been about to throw at her, evaporated from his brain. Her warm breath on his hand sent unexpected shivers of excitement through him.

Apparently she noticed. A wicked grin slid up her face. "Well, I guess there are some advantages to waking up this early…."

It was the last thing she said…coherently…for quite some time.

o~o~o~o~o

He waited patiently, in the dark, for the sound of her breathing to even out into a slow, gentle rhythm. It hadn't taken very long. Careful not to jostle the mattress too much, he crept out from beneath the covers and made his way to her side of the bed. The LED display on her clock glowed an amber 11pm as he picked it up and very carefully felt for the alarm button. With only the slightest twinge of guilt, he slid it to the "on" position and replaced the clock in it's exact spot on the nightstand. He figured he had three days, tops, before she caught on. Maybe not even that long. This was Carter, after all.

With as much stealth as possible, he got back into bed, matching every curve of her soundly sleeping body with his own. His conscience barely rippled. Sleeping in was highly overrated, in his opinion. And who knew. Maybe she wouldn't even notice.

Or maybe she would. He knew he was busted the moment she spoke.

"Could you at least set it for 6:30 instead," her voice murmured sleepily from the depth of her pillow. "It is my vacation, you know."