Sparkling Cold

"Kolya?! Kolya?! I'll give you a ship! I'll fly it out of here for you myself! Kolya! Kolya! Don't do this!"

Low thunder was rolling over the sea and a bit of rain drizzled down on the ancient city while the current residents cleaned up the mess left behind by the subsiding storm and the assault of the Genii.

Never before had John Sheppard enjoyed such gloomy weather as much as today. He still couldn't believe that Atlantis was safe and Elizabeth was alive. So was Rodney who didn't stop babbling about this and that, being his tiring self, even though he must be dead beat considering the recent incident.

Right now John didn't feel the least annoyed with the eccentric scientist. He was the one who had talked Kolya out of killing Elizabeth. He wouldn't forget that and for the moment he was fine with Rodney being Rodney. He was not okay with still being stuck in his wet clothes and the fact that Elizabeth was busy going through the usual protocol procedures after an emergency. She hadn't changed either and her clothes were glued to the delicate curves of her body.

He swallowed and tore his eyes away from the delightful vision. This had been by far the worst day since they had come to Atlantis, and certainly ranked among the worst days in his life. He couldn't believe they had survived this nightmarish mix of terrorists and the forces of nature. Walking down the stairs to the Stargate he took a breath of relief grateful for the lucky outcome. Although he was feeling beyond exhausted, he knew he couldn't just lie down and rest. There was too much going on in his mind and his heart.

"Now I just want a nice hot shower," Elizabeth said, sneaking up to him.

"Yeah, me too." John tried not to stare at her nipples visible through the fabric of her shirt. A sight that turned him on more than he could bear right now. "Speaking of which... if you don't need me anymore I'm off," he murmured, while looking anywhere but directly at her. He wouldn't embarrass her and himself by sporting a boner in a public place.

"Of course you can go, Major. I don't want to keep you. You've done enough for today."

"Thank you, ma'am." He ignored the disappointment in her eyes and fled her seducing presence but not to go to his quarters. He sought out the place he wanted to be the most tonight. If his plan turned out to be a terrible mistake he could only hope she'd allow him to apply for a transfer so he could retain some dignity, but what the hell. He was done fighting his demons alone. On and off even a soldier showed actual strength by embracing his vulnerabilities.

Her quarters were as cold and gloomy as the weather outside but her distinct flavors lingering around were enough to make him feel at home. He exhaled and leaned against the wall. Hoping that she wouldn't be appalled by his actions he waited. He didn't wait long.

Only minutes later she entered her sanctum. She must have made a lot of excuses to get away that fast. A few seconds she stood in the middle of her room, frozen, but then she turned around and caught sight of his shape stuck to the wall.

Did she know I was coming here? Does she feel what this day has done to me? Does she need me to be here as much as I do?

"Jesus, John. Why did you run out on me just to come here anyway and almost give me a heart attack?"

"Sorry, but I needed to be alone with you."

"Oh? And why's that?"

"Just to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine, John."

"You didn't say that an hour ago." You okay? No. You will be.

"Didn't I? Well, I'm feeling better now. After all the city is safe and we're still alive."

"Not because of me." He shrugged, an empty gesture to make up for his failure.

"I don't understand." She frowned. "Weren't you the one who shot Kolya?"

"That's not what I meant." He sighed. "There are some things I need to get off my chest."

"This has to be now?"

"Yeah." John looked at the curve of her breasts. "Definitely."

"Did I miss something? Didn't I tell you enough how brave you have been today?"

"That was easy considering I thought you were dead."

"Saving me was the one mistake you made."

He winced. Okay. There she was. Dr. Weir. "The one mistake I won't regret."

"I'm not important," she carried on, shaking her head. "Atlantis is. Your determination to rescue me put the city in danger."

"You are important. You are the leader," he snapped, irritated. Damn. That sounded wrong and wasn't what he'd meant to say.

"That's why you saved me? Because I'm the leader?"

"Actually no. That's what we need to talk about." He closed his eyes briefly to shake off the visual impact her presence had over him. "I failed to be a good soldier after I learned you were dead. I failed at being indifferent to what he did to you."

"Kolya never laid a hand on me."

"No, he didn't, but I thought he had." He grimaced due to the painful memories. "For hours I was running through Atlantis thinking you were dead."

"I know, John." She walked towards him. "And I'm sorry."

"You don't know anything. I did wrong by pushing Kolya too far. It would have been my fault if he'd done what he threatened to do." There. You got it now?

"That's not true. You did everything humanly possible to save us and succeeded courageously. Kolya is gone and I'm fine. You can go and rest."

"You know how many I killed today?" He exhaled and pushed himself off the wall. "I can't afford to be this weak, to be ruled by my emotions."

"You are not." She kept moving closer. "You are the strongest man I know. You are good at what you do. You're soaking wet though. Shouldn't a good soldier be in the shower right now and then off to bed?" So close the shadows under her eyes and the fresh lines around her mouth struck a nerve in him. How selfish to think he was the only one affected by the recent trauma.

"He certainly should." He pulled his jacket off and threw it on a chair. "That's why I'm here."

"What are you doing?" She didn't retreat her eyes just widened a bit, blazing in captivating green. "What's this really about?"

"You and me. After this hell of a day I'm ready to take my chances. I won't waste any more time guessing if we might have a future together in spite of the severe conflict the chain of command matter creates."

"What are you saying?" That she didn't retreat but stood her ground was a comfort and sparked him with a hope against all odds.

"You tell me. You are the clever one."

"Am I?" She folded her arms and raised a mocking eyebrow. "Enlighten me anyhow. After all you're the ranking military officer."

Crap. How's she in control? How's she always on top of me? "I sure am... and if I overstepped a line-"

"Oh, relax, I won't spank you if you plan to violate the chain of command idiocy by making a move." She leaned in, breathing the same air as he did, and touching his crotch, she brushed over the bulge at the front of his pants. "Or maybe I will."

Holy smoke! A wildfire raced through his veins, a freaking lewd force burning all his doubts to the ground. God, he was so fucking hard, and he hadn't even touched her yet. "Elizabeth." He savored the pleasure of saying her name. "I. Need. You."

A smirk grazed her lips. "So what?"

"This." He pulled her into his arms, drowning his regrets in her intoxicating scent.

"I'm surprised, Major," she teased him further, rubbing the obvious need a bit more. "Aren't you exhausted from too much running?"

He held her with an ease that surprised even himself, knowing now that she only pretended to be in control of her emotions, because she was shaking all over. "I don't care. I thought I lost you," he rasped. "I need to touch you. I need to feel you're alive."

"I'm right here." She redeemed him from his agonies by claiming his lips. At first she granted him just a few open-mouthed brushes, achingly tender, a sweet promise of more to come. He surrendered to her tempting endearments, and even though she was taking the lead he wasn't just responding to her talented mouth. He put his hands on her breasts caressing them in a rather brash way, teasing the perky nipples with his thumbs.

"Oh, god," she moaned, arching into him.

"I'm sorry. Shouldn't I..."

"No, no. Touch me. That's an order," she whispered, rubbing herself up and down the length of his body, goading his hard-on to take her right on the spot.

"Sure... ah... whatever you say." He tugged at her wet shirt, pulling it over her head. She got rid of his shirt as well; in no time they stripped each other. The wet clothes went flying, landing everywhere, leaving the couple buck naked and panting.

For seconds he stared at her beauty. His cock ached to be inside her. She was strong-minded and empathetic, a leader in every sense. He would follow her to every galaxy in the universe and back again. Oh, hell. He wanted her so damn much.

"What's on your mind, soldier?" She didn't hide from him, let his eyes roam over her body as if this wasn't just their first time, and she was used to him taking care of her intimate needs.

"Shower?" he croaked, burying his face between her naked breasts, licking at the sensitive skin, stroking her nipples slowly, both hands skimming up and down until she was squirming against him.

"Oh, yes," she cheered him on. "Chase the cold away. Make me forget."

"That's the plan." He lifted her up and carried her to the small stall. Shortly after warm water was streaming down on them, filling the shower space with dampness, making it yet smaller with both of them snuggled against the metal walls.

"God, I need to be inside you," he moaned, running his hands over her breasts again, following the flow of water down to the soft curve of her belly, teasing the cutie of a button.

"Ah, the emotions a thunderstorm inspires in a military man," she gasped, nipping at his shoulders.

"It's not like that. I've wanted you from the first day I saw you. I just didn't dare... didn't hope..." He stopped, self-conscious, blinking drops of water from his eyes.

She smiled, running her fingers through his hair, touching the back of his neck. "Cheeky. I took you for a professional who'd never have such impure feelings whatsoever."

"Oh yeah?" He brushed his lips against her neck, sucking on the skin, kissing a line along her throat. The cold troubling him vanished through the wonderful warmth of their bodies melting together, though he still needed more, so much more. His hands were everywhere, cupping and bringing her breasts to his mouth, sucking, nipping, his fingers digging into her thighs, her ass.

"Please, John," she half-whispered, half-moaned, and the sound went straight to his cock.

"What?" She was the leader, true; opinionated, always doing what was best for the city, but she had her vulnerabilities too. Always seeing him off at the gate to go on a mission. Be safe. Come back in one piece. Always being there beaming at him whenever he made it back home.

"I need you too. Inside." She wriggled in his embrace, licking her lips. "I want to feel you. All of you."

"Yes, ma'am." He lowered to his knees, and having his wet face pressed to her stomach, he remembered the moment he had stopped feeling, learning from Kolya that she was dead, running through the city then, leaving all common sense behind. All that was past him. She was here with him. In his arms. She wanted him as much as he wanted her.

He glided further down, licking at her intimate spot, making her groan. She was alive. She was making him feel like he had never felt with any woman before. "You are so fucking wet. That makes me so horny."

"Well, we are in the water," she sniped back.

He looked up to her, smirking. "Is that it, huh?"

She spread her legs a little bit further. "You can prove otherwise."

"Mm." He dipped back in, going with slow teasing nips. She wriggled, tensed, and arched upwards, pleading for his touch.

"That's it. Let go." He pinned her in place, aiming for the sensitive center, earning a groan and a harsh tugging at his ears. "Ow. What?"

"Quit the games, John Sheppard, if you want this to go on."

"All I want is for you to take your time, to enjoy this as long as possible."

"No, no," she argued in a rather fragile tone. "I want you now, want you... to go faster."

"Always so bossy." He chuckled, but complied with her pleading by boosting up the frequency. When she was crying out, sliding downwards, twining her legs around his shoulders, he persisted in sucking gently at her clit. She panted and pulled at his hair again. Yet he kept up his steady suction to the point of her begging him to finish her. "Which is just the way I like it," he breathed on her, gripping her hips tight and pushed yet deeper, faster now, all efficient and dead on target.

"Oh, yes! God, yes!" she whined, high-pitched, "right there. Johnny!" His name on her lips she came apart, thrashing her legs, squirting off her juices, spluttering more delicious sounds full of relish. Sounds definitely too loud in the stillness of the night, though drowned out in the steadily running water anyway.

He didn't let go but scented and tasted her flavors before the water washed them away. He stood up then, holding her dear to his chest. "Still cold?" he said, his voice low and raspy. He was rock-hard now, enduring the most bittersweet pain humanly possible.

"Not in the least," she murmured, pupils dilated and lips parted. "What about you?" One hand cupped his cheek, her thumb caressing his mouth; the other drifted down to grip his cock. "Still hard?"

His hips rose and he bucked into her hand. "Damn," he cursed under his breath, fearing to come right away.

"Not yet, Major," she said, sensing his distress. She pulled gently from base to tip, and his whole body shook. Kissing the spot below his collar bone, she skimmed her other hand down over his chest, scratching, teasing, tweaking.

"Don't. I'm too close," he yelped. The pressure in his balls was alarming. He was hurting to come but not yet, not without being inside her.

"Well, I told you to go faster," she said cheekily, covering his right nipple with her lips, ravishing the flesh in ways unknown to him.

"Elizabeth!" Steamrolled, he almost slipped.

"Hush and enjoy." In the next second she slipped his eager length inside her dripping warmth.

He gasped in sweetest despair, and tried to focus on something other than the smooth tightness around his cock, anything to help him keep his control, to fuck her the way he had dreamed about more times than he could remember.

As if he had the slightest chance given the way Elizabeth was rolling her hips and the way her moans were bouncing off the walls as well as the water spattering down on him. Her beautiful ecstatic face, and her demanding body clinging to him, made him ache for instant release. His mind went blank and fuzzy due to the pleasure and his body was on the brink of collapsing.

"Come on, fuck me, fuck me now."

"Oh, that bossiness." He grinned in spite of his afflicting needs. "We should take it slower though. Slower is the far better option."

"What? You can't... Why?"

"Because otherwise I'm gonna come this very second, damn it." Once again he lost his footing a bit. "You want that?"

"Okay. Okay. Slow it is, but deeper then. Come on. Show me who the man is."

He groaned. "Stop saying things like that, you'll make me come already." Yet he pushed deeper bending to her will.

"Oh god." She shuddered, and clenched around him. "Please, I'm close. I... fuck me. Fuck me now."

He surrendered, and quickened his pace. She spurred him onwards with nails scraping at his back, and heels poking into his ass. There was no way he was going to make this last any longer, no fucking way, not with her begging and clenching around him, making his cock twitch with lust and his balls threaten to blow off in a blast.

"Harder," she cried out, bucking her hips against him.

"Damn, Elizabeth, I-" He was losing this battle for sure.

"Please," she begged, her eyes sparkling in brilliant green. "Go harder."

"Yes, ma'am." Her heat was spreading around him, roping him in, while the water was pouring down on them like the soft reins of a waterfall. He was aching with a need sharper than steel now, a need he had smothered way too long and didn't want to repress anymore. Balancing his weight on the slippery floor, soaking up the sounds of the messy slaps their wet bodies made, and the insistent hiss of the shower's spray, he slammed into her.

"Ah..." She dug her fingers into his flesh. "Do that again."

He obeyed and the feeling of her feisty muscles tightening around his shaft was finally too much. He came apart, and spilled himself into her, with his legs shaking so fiercely, he had trouble staying on his feet. Damn. She shouldn't get hurt because he slipped in the damn shower.

She went rigid shortly after his climax, scratching him frenziedly, biting into the spot just short of the pulse on his neck.

That didn't even hurt but added a unique thrill to his coming down from ecstasy. Holding her tight he didn't leave her warmth just yet. "God, I adore you," he groaned, overwhelmed by the burning sweetness consuming his body, and her passionate reaction to his release.

"You do?" She pulled his head down and sucked at his earlobe.

"Can't you tell?" He rolled his hips, jogging his buried cock to tickle her still.

"Well, I admit that was some 'Hail Mary', Major."

"It was?" Reluctantly he slipped out of her, missing the sensation of being a part of her already.

"Let's get dry and move over to the bed and I'll prove it to you." She flashed him a grin.

"I'm a dead man," he joked, considering he needed to rest already. Yet he couldn't resist such a luscious offer he'd never have hoped to receive when he got up this fateful morning.

The storm outside had calmed down hours ago; the storm in here was racing on.

Unfortunately every night no matter how blissful ceased with the coming of the dawn.

She stirred in his arms. "It's time."

"I know."

"You must go."

"Yes." He didn't move a muscle, though, couldn't bring himself to leave the sensation of her breath tickling his ear in the sweetest way. She didn't repeat the order, just snuggled him closer.

That convinced him she wouldn't make him leave. Not now. Maybe never. Yeah, right! Don't push it. She's still your boss. Ah. Whatever. Enjoy the moment while it lasts. She was safe and she was his. He was more than grateful for this unexpected gift life was offering him, a gift he didn't deserve, considering how many lives he had taken recently. Damn. I'm so fucking needy. "How do you feel about cuddly morning sex between cozy sheets?"

"Well, though it's not protocol," Elizabeth said, straddling him like a queen, "a dry run can't hurt."

"Sounds like a plan, ma'am," John agreed, as keen as a razor, thinking that this day might turn into the best day of his life.

"Weir's alive?! Let me talk to her." - "Sheppard! We're both here!" - "It's good to hear your voice."