feltgoodthough | (no subject)

The snow continued to fall, the fire continued to burn and Socks was content to snooze in front of the fire until Ronon prepared a little dried meat, fresh fruit and water - well Socks just ate meat and Ronon suspected that fruit might end up being in short supply if the snow kept up for long and the island didn't change to match it. But if that was the case fruit wouldn't be the best diet for this sort of weather. Jennifer had gone to sleep first despite her claims that she wasn't boring him - he'd covered her over with a fur and shifted her into a more comfortable position. He'd banked the fire to be safer but low burning and then laid down beside her. He hadn't meant to go to sleep - he couldn't remember the last time he'd slept beside anyone. Well he could remember - but he tried not to.

Ronon just meant to rest but the warmth from the fire and the lull of the wind outside had allowed to drift eventually startling awake when Jennifer moved beside him in her sleep. When she did wake up, he was prompted awake by her movement and reached for a weapon before he remembered where he was, he hadn't pulled the knife out of the sheath though he had stiffened onto the alert and he shifted awkwardly relaxing his grip on the knife hilt. "Hey," he said. "Sleep well?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ronon reached to help her with the sweater, smiling against her mouth at the sight of her wriggling. With the sweater gone he was free to explore more of her soft skin with his mouth and he worked his way down to her collar bone, rumbling his approval as her hands skimmed his chest.

She could feel the rumble of Ronon's voice against her palms, and her fingers curled against his skin, then slid around his neck, pulling herself close to him. God, she wanted--there was a lot she wanted, things that she hadn't ever much cared about until now. "Ronon," she said softly, her breath warm in his ear.

Ronon held as tightly as her as she was to him, he liked the feel of her arms around his neck and the sound of her voice in his ear. He hadn't thought he would ever feel like this again and he buried his face in her neck for a second, "love you," he told her gruffly.

That surprised her--really surprised her--and she stilled for a moment, her fingers stroking along his back. She wasn't sure she could say it yet, or if she was ready to say it even though she strongly suspected she felt it, but she definitely didn't want Ronon to think she didn't care that he said it or that it didn't mean something to her.

"Ronon," she said quietly, still holding him close. "I want you to know that I... I've never..." She hesitated, feeling the thump of his heart against hers, and hearing. "I don't make a habit of this."

Ronon didn't care if she didn't say it back - he'd wanted to tell her then, the words suddenly needing to be said. And he knew she cared about him or they wouldn't be together and he was willing to wait. And encourage her if he could. She did have something to say thought and he halted to listen, doing nothing more than playing with her hair a little.

"I know," he told her, as she said she didn't make a habit of it. He knew that, she'd never dated anyone on Atlantis, "me neither. I haven't - not since before running."

Jennifer continued tracing her fingers along Ronon's back, still not quite looking at him. "What I mean is... it wasn't a habit before Atlantis, either. I was always a lot younger than everyone I went to college with, medical school with, worked with... so I didn't date much. A little, but not much."

It sounded kind of lame compared to Ronon not being with anyone because he was on the run for seven years--but what she had told Ronon in the infirmary that time was true. She had never felt like she belonged, not in any sense, not until coming to Atlantis.

Ronon had been close enough to marrying the first person he had ever had feelings with so he didn't see anything wrong with only dating a little. But there was something about the way she was carefully stating this whilst not looking at him. He could have pointed out they were close in age but he didn't think that was it and they both knew that. He regarded her with his dark eyes searching for her meaning on her face but she just seemed uncertain. "Is this too fast?" he asked finally.

She shook her head, finally looking up to meet his eyes. "No," she said. "It's not. Not at all. It's just right." She traced a finger slowly down his chest, feeling a little less hesitant, and smiled a little. "It's good. Better than good. I promise."

"Good," Ronon echoed, brushing a bit of hair off her face. "I think so," he meets her gaze resting his forehead against hers for a second before kissing her again. That was definitely better than good and he slid one hand up her back as he pulled her against him, the other hand resting on the swell of her breast.

Jennifer had pulled off her shoes earlier, before she dozed off, and now her knee slid between his when he pulled her closer, bringing their bodies even more tightly together. She had had enough of talking for a while, and she suspected Ronon had too.