Disclaimer: I wish I owned Stargate: Atlantis, but I don't... I will just have to settle for watching with great enthusiasm and being undoubtedly inspired by the entire expedition!

Spoilers: Season 5, in general, but if you haven't seen Episode 18 Identity, you may want to steer clear of these two tags (Varda's & Mine) ;)

Summary: A tag to x_Varda_x's lovely fic A Night Under the Stars (which can be found here) that had me wondering what would happen once the Jumper made its journey back to Atlantis. Here is that story...

Skin

Jennifer couldn't seem to wipe the smile from her face. Here she was, still several miles away from Atlantis, in a Jumper with the man she loved after having spent one of the most romantic evenings she had ever experienced in her life on the mainland; it was almost beyond belief. It had taken so long for Rodney to get the nerve up to ask her on date that she'd never thought they would have made it to this point in their relationship so quickly. Well, Rodney hadn't really gotten up the nerve, more like Jennifer had given him a little nudge in the right direction.

Jennifer's eyes were focused on the man beside her, the man who had become so much more real to her since they had begun dating. Physics had never been her thing, Jennifer preferred the reality and emotion of the human body over the theoretical workings of the other sciences, but Rodney always had a way to make it sound interesting. Conversation with Rodney was always exciting, passionate, and often educational! In the last few weeks, Jennifer's knowledge of the workings of Ancient technology had increased threefold because of the geeky Adonis next to her.

There was a rosy glow to his cheeks that intensified when she noticed him giving her a sideways glance. She was smiling ear to ear as her imagination began to run wild with all sorts of naughty activities they could get up to in this Jumper. Her eyes trailed down his body, her point of focus leaving his profile and stopping on his mouth. Lips that had touched her own with a mix of tenderness and urgency. Lips that had traversed her body over and over. Noticing his tongue was sticking out of the corner of his mouth, Jennifer knew he was deep in thought and stifled the playful giggle that threatened to dance from her lips at the sight. Raking a hand through her hair, her mind began to relive the mastery of said tongue's earlier exploratory mission of her flesh. Her body shivered in remembrance, the heat of arousal rising within her and coloring the apples of her cheeks.

Eyes sliding lower now, passing over his biceps and the curve of his elbow down to his forearm. Being in his arms, feeling the security in their strength as they held her close ranked high on her list of the best things life had to offer. From there, her eyes found his wrists and finally his hands. Hands that had traced every curve of her form with their quiet hunger. Hands that looked callous, but had been soft and smooth. Hands that now slid across the console; fingers dancing over buttons deftly. Fingers that had probed, tickled, explored, caressed. Fingers that had found the heat of her arousal and brought her to a sweet release with such skill...

A fire had been set between them on the mainland, and Jennifer had no intentions of extinguishing it. The heat of her desire rising throughout her body until she felt the burn across every inch. Rodney's eyes shifted her way once more, but this time they locked with hers, that endearing little grin spreading across his lips. Mere seconds passed, but it felt like endless torture as she tried to hold herself back. There was no use denying what she was feeling. No point in fighting how much she needed him to touch her. Her body ached to feel his flesh against hers, the quiet hunger as they explored each others bodies in anticipation of their ultimate coupling.

She bit her bottom lip as his hands lifted from the console. Her eyes broke free of his gaze only to peer out into the black of space. Jennifer had been so caught up in her reverie that she hadn't noticed the Jumper's ascent into orbit around the planet. Her right eyebrow raised in curious question as he grinned sheepishly.

"Rodney," Jennifer's voice wavered as his name escaped her lips. It wasn't anger, teasing or taunting. It was passion filled. It was a plea.

One moment she was sitting in her chair, the next the lithe young CMO found herself in the lap of the cantankerous astrophysicist. Her lust stoked the fires of her imagination, propelling her onto his lap and into his awaiting arms. Left arm snaking around his back until her fingers could ruffle the hair at the nape of his neck as her right hand cupped his chin and gently tilted his face until his lips were mere inches from hers.

"Couldn't wait either, huh?" she said, voice laden with emotion. Her breath warmed his skin as she brushed her thumb gently across his lips.

TBC...