_______________

 

They were about a mile from where they'd left the cloaked jumper when a familiar whine caused John and Rodney to stop in their tracks and search the sky anxiously. John spotted the dart first and grabbed hold of McKay's arm, pulling him to the ground into a patch of bushes and out of sight. A small 'oomph' escaped from Rodney's lips, but thankfully he made no other noise as John thumbed on his radio.

"Teyla! Ronan!" he hissed into the tiny mic.

"Colonel," Teyla's tense voice answered. "Are you and Dr. McKay all right?"

"For now. Are you two at the jumper yet?"

"Yes, we've just arrived."

"Okay, good. Stay inside and out of sight. Rodney and I will try to find a hiding place. What?" he snapped at Rodney.

Rodney stopped poking him and pointed to their left and up the hill they'd been passing when the dart appeared. "Cave," Rodney said, turning a pale face to John. "We could hide in there."

"Yeah, okay, good." Turning the radio back on he said, "McKay's spotted a cave. With luck we can make it inside without being seen. Sheppard out."

Turning off the radio again, he checked the sky for signs of the dart and then the two men made a dash for the hillside and the safety of the cave. They made it inside their refuge and hunkered down inside the small cavern. In the far distance, they spotted the dart heading back to their location. Turning on his radio again, John said, "Okay, we made it. We're going to go farther into the cavern. Contact us when you see the dart go back through the 'gate."

"Very well, Colonel," Teyla answered, and then the radio went silent and John motioned for Rodney to move. Once they were far enough away from the cave's mouth, John turned on the flashlight attached to his P-90 and led the way to the back of the cavern. They found a place where they could settle in while they waited. As Rodney slipped out of his field gear, John started getting a little concerned with Rodney's continued silence, so unusual for the verbose man.

"You okay, Rodney?"

"Yes, yes, fine," Rodney said in a voice so tense that John winced slightly. "I wasn't sucked up into a Wraith dart this time, so yes, I'm perfectly fine."

"Don't worry, Rodney. If you'd been scooped up, I would have just shot the ship down," John said in a joking voice. The joke fell flat.

"Yes, thank you," Rodney snapped. "That worked out so well the last time that I feel much better now." If it was possible, he appeared to get even paler in the dim light. "What if you got taken up with me?"

"Hey," John said firmly, clasping Rodney on the arm. "I didn't; you didn't. We're safe."

Rodney looked at him with wide, worried eyes and lips firmly clamped together in a thin, straight line, and then he nodded and relaxed slightly. They settled down to wait until the sound of the dart's whine faded away, and then they waited a bit longer. John was just about ready to move back to the mouth of the cave and reconnoiter when he noticed Rodney's head tilted to the side in a listening attitude.

"Do you hear that?" Rodney asked distractedly, his brows drawn together into a vee over the bridge of his nose.

"What, the dart? I think it's gone."

"No, not the dart. It sounds like...like someone's in pain."

John concentrated on listening and then he caught the sound too. A low, deep moan was coming from somewhere farther back in the cave, possibly from another cavern. As he listened, he began to suspect that the moans were not moans of pain. To his embarrassment, his cock hardened.

"Do you think we should check it out?" Rodney asked as he reached for the P-90 that rested beside him.

"Uh, I don't think anyone's hurt, Rodney," John said and felt a flush of heat suffuse his face.

"Colonel, there's someone moaning in pain. In my experience, that generally means someone is hurt."

"And in my experience, Rodney, moans do not necessarily mean someone's in pain."

Rodney looked at him in confusion for a moment and then understanding spread across his face along with his own embarrassed flush.

"Oh," he said weakly. "You think..."

"Yeah, that's what I think. What do you say we head back to the jumper?"

Rodney swallowed and looked away from John, nodding and gathering up his equipment. They made their way to the front of the cave just in time to hear the telltale sound of the returning dart.

"Fuck!" John muttered. "Why doesn't this guy just leave already?"

With a quick nudge, he herded McKay back to their spot in the back of the cavern. They settled down again to wait, but this time, the sound of the dart was almost drowned out by the sound of the moans echoing throughout the cave. John found himself squirming and growing uncomfortably hard. It didn't help that he could feel the heat of Rodney's body next to him, and if the way Rodney was beginning to pant was any indication, the moans were affecting him too. They sat there listening to the sounds for what seemed like eons, and John was growing more and more uncomfortable as his body reacted to the breathy moans. He tried not to look at Rodney, tried to ignore the nearness of the other man's body.

"Jesus!" Rodney burst out suddenly. "Is that really people carrying on like that? It can't be people, can it?"

"What do you think it is, if it's not people?"

"I don't know!" Rodney snapped. "The wind, maybe? Yes, yes, I think it's the wind. I mean, come on, Colonel. Who has that kind of stamina, for God's sake?"

John smiled a little. "Not me, that's for sure," he answered turning his head to look at Rodney's flushed face.

Rodney looked at him in surprise. "Really? I always thought you'd be like the Energizer Bunny and just keep going and going and going."

John raised his eyebrows. "You've thought about how long I'd last in bed?" He tried to ignore the way his cock twitched at the thought of Rodney thinking about him that way.

"No!" Rodney's eyes widened and he shook his head vigorously. "No, of course, I never thought-"

"Hey," he interrupted softly, reaching out and gently grasping Rodney's shoulder. "It's cool."

Rodney stopped talking and then nervously licked his lips, his wide eyes staring into John's. The moans or the wind or whatever it was echoing throughout the cave began to sound throatier, deeper, as if the lovers were finally racing toward climax, and John stared into Rodney's eyes as his hand slowly slid from Rodney's shoulder down his arm.

He was never sure who moved first. It didn't really matter, because the kiss was mutual and sloppy and blazingly hot. Lips glided against lips and tongues touched, retreated and touched again. Teeth scraped together and nibbled at tender flesh. Rodney's hand came up and cupped the side of John's neck as John's hand slid down and grasped Rodney's hip. Their mouths parted and John's own moan echoed in the cavern as Rodney's talented mouth glided over to his neck, biting and licking and sucking. His hip thrust into Rodney's thigh and both men moaned at the contact.

Rodney's hand wandered down over John's belly until he reached the point where John's shirt was tucked into the waistband of his pants. A few sharp tugs and the shirt pulled loose. Another moan escaped John's lips as Rodney's broad, warm hand slipped up under the cloth and caressed John's skin, sliding up to finger through chest hair and rub hard, sensitive nipples. Somehow John found himself flat on his back; his shirt rucked up revealing his flat belly. Rodney leaned back looking at the exposed flesh and then slowly and lightly drew his hand across the skin causing John to arch up into the touch. The hand traced the line of hair down and then settled over the button on John's waistband. Rodney looked into John's eyes as he slowly unbuttoned and unzipped the pants. Leaning down, he captured John's mouth again while his hand slipped inside wrapping around John's aching cock.

Another moan escaped from John's throat when Rodney began to stroke, slow and steady with just the right amount of pressure. Rodney released John's mouth and raised his head to watch John's face. John tried to look back, but the pleasure was too much and he closed his eyes, his head tilted back and his body arched as he gave into the sensations. He hadn't lied about his stamina; he wasn't going to last long. It'd been too long since anyone's hand other than his own had touched him so intimately, and he felt the pressure building as his climax neared. He began to thrust into Rodney's fist and begged, "Harder."

Rodney's hand tightened just a bit more and his strokes sped up sending John over the edge. He cried out as he came, fluid pumping into Rodney's cupped palm. He felt Rodney give him another brief kiss and then the heat of Rodney's body was gone. He opened his eyes to see Rodney cleaning off his hand with a handkerchief. He closed eyes again and tried to will strength back into his body. He was just about ready to draw Rodney back to him when his radio crackled in his ear.

"Colonel Sheppard?"

With a groan, he hit the button on his earpiece. "Sheppard."

"Colonel, the dart has gone back through the 'gate. It is safe for you and Dr. McKay to return to the jumper."

He closed his eyes in disappointment. Sure, now the bastard left. "All right, Teyla. We'll be there a soon as we can."

He turned to apologize and tell Rodney that they'd have to make it quick this time, but Rodney was already up and pulling his gear back on.

"Hey, we don't have to leave right this second," he said reaching toward Rodney. Rodney didn't look at him, only continued fastening his pack into place. "They'll be expecting us. We should go."

He watched as Rodney walked rather stiffly to the mouth of the cave. With a sigh he stood up, put his clothes back in order, and grabbed up his own gear. Rodney was waiting for him just outside the cave, and as soon as John stepped through, he started to walk toward the 'gate and the waiting puddle jumper.

John reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Rodney, wait."

Rodney stiffened slightly and then said, "You don't need to worry, Colonel. I won't say anything about what happened inside that cave. In fact, I've already forgotten it." He tried to pull away, but John tightened his grip.

"You may have forgotten, Rodney, but I haven't." He pulled Rodney back around. Rodney's face was flushed and he looked so vulnerable that John couldn't help himself. He lifted his hand to the side of Rodney's face and leaned in to kiss him. Pulling back he wiped his thumb over a bit of dirt on Rodney's cheek and said, "You know, being in that cave left us kind of dirty. I think after the debriefing, we need to take a shower." His hand slipped down and cupped Rodney's erection. "Together."

Rodney moaned as he pushed into John's hand. "Colonel...John, you don't have to..."

John kissed him again, effectively cutting off his words. When they parted he said, "I want to, Rodney."

Rodney looked at him searchingly with his wide, expressive blue eyes and then smiled. "Oh. Okay then."

They kissed again, a brief touch full of promise, and headed back to the jumper, Atlantis, and a hot shower.

The End