Rodney was reading the same information on his computer screen for the third time when something flew over his shoulder and hit the wall in front of him. He glanced up, but didn't see anything, so he went back to reading. Then a small pebble bounced off the wall and landed on his computer. He slumped his shoulders and turned around to find Ana facing the other wall. He frowned at her back, then turned back around.

Half a minute later, another very small pebble tagged him in the back of the neck. "Alright!" he turned around.

Ana turned around from facing the wall. "What?"

He frowned at her. "You can stop throwing rocks, now."

A smile played at her lips. "I can?"

"Are you telling me that you haven't been tossing rocks at me?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Last I checked, I'm not tellin' you anything. You're not talkin' to me, remember?"

He frowned. "Did you want something?"

Ana put her hands on her hips and smiled. "I should think I made that more than obvious a little while ago."

Rodney sighed. He looked down to his computer, then turned it off and put it on the floor. "Ana," he said. "This is ridiculous."

She tilted her head. "I agree." She walked toward him.

He walked toward her so that they met in the middle. He put his hands on his hips. "I can't help how I feel. What do you want me to do about it?"

She crossed her arms. "Do you want a list of every guy I may have kissed in my life? It's a long one; starts all the way back in the third grade."

He pursed his lips. "I really don't care about all the guys you 'may have kissed', only Sheppard."

Ana frowned. "Why? What does it matter?"

"He's my friend, Ana. And that's," Rodney looked around. "that's just not something you do."

She rolled her eyes. "That's a fat load of bull, Rodney. My two best friends in high school used to trade girlfriends like women trade jackets."

"Well, it's not something I do."

A thought occurred to Ana. "You're afraid I'll compare you two."

Rodney suddenly looked miserable.

"Well, I am," Ana crossed her hands. "You want the details. I'm not going to say who the better kisser is, because I don't think that way, but…"

Rodney held up his hands. "Stop!"

"No," she shook her head. "I can tell you that he likes to hold a woman's face – "

He couldn't think of any other way to stop her, so he grabbed her again, ala John Wayne, and kissed her hard. It didn't take but a second for her to kiss him back, darting her tongue into his mouth and he was eager to reciprocate. He pulled her in close and ravished her mouth until she whimpered and felt like she was losing her footing. Then he pulled back and looked at her face.

She was flushed and her eyes were hooded. Her lips were slightly swollen and he smiled.

"You were saying?"

She blinked. "Ah…" she cleared her throat. "Wh-why do you keep doing that?"

He shrugged. "I couldn't think of any other way to stop you."

She frowned. "So you feel guilty about kissing me because you're afraid of what Sheppard will think, but you're okay about kissing me to shut me up?"

Rodney continued to hold her. "Doesn't make any sense, does it?"

She shook her head. "None whatsoever."

"And for your information, it's not the kissing part that concerns me," Rodney swallowed, looking over her head.

Ana straightened. "Oh." She bit her lip. "Well, there's nothing else for you to concern yourself about. If you're going to ask me if I slept with Sheppard, that would be none of your business. I don't talk about that kind of stuff with anyone. It's unladylike."

Rodney snorted. "Oh, please. Since when are you worried about being ladylike?"

Ana pulled away from him, then and pulled her shirt straight. "Once again, McKay, you're damned mouth has to ruin everything."

At the sound of his last name instead of his first, his heart sank in his chest.

Ana was waiting for his response, but the look of intense disappointment was something she wasn't expecting. It pulled at her and she stepped back to him. She put her hands on his face. "Damnit, Rodney," she whispered. She touched her lips to his, lightly. "What you do to me!"

The words were so soft that he almost didn't hear them. It gave him a feeling of power and lifted his spirits again. Then he realized she'd gone back to calling him Rodney. He put his hands on her waist, leaned in and, gently, kissed her.

She reached up and put her arms around his neck and once again, their kiss became fervent; exploring each other like there was no chance for tomorrow. His hands found their way under her t-shirt and burned designs into her skin, around her waist and up her rib cage. She reciprocated by unzipping his jacket and pulling his shirt up in the front, her fingers exploring his skin.

He pulled away from her mouth and smiled at the groan of protest it elicited from her. In response, he focused his attention on her neck and felt her knees go weak. He gently guided her to the floor, there in the center of the circle of ancient writing. On their knees, he pulled back to look at her, taking off his jacket.

"Rodney, please don't stop this time," Ana whispered, with a look of vulnerability that he couldn't remember ever seeing on her before.

He took her face in his hands and kissed her again, gently but thoroughly. His hands explored her body again, over her shirt and when his hand got to her breast, she pulled back and pulled off her shirt, giving him an eyeful of her pale skin in nothing but a black bra from the waist up.

He knelt paused, staring at her for a moment, wishing they weren't in the dark. Then that voice of pessimistic, self-doubt told him to be grateful they were in the dark because, eventually, she'd want him to take off his shirt.

Ana put her hands on his chest, then. "What is it, Rodney?"

No way was he going to tell her what was really going through his mind, so he opted for the first thought. "I was just thinking that I wished there was more light."

She frowned. "Why?"

He looked into her eyes. "You're beautiful, Ana. What man wouldn't want to see you naked in the light?"

She ducked her head suddenly, smiling.

"I've embarrassed you?" he asked. He tilted her head up. "I…I'm sorry, I didn't…I mean, that is to say…"

Ana put her fingers to his lips. "I'll be fine, Rodney. There's no permanent damage."

He put his arms around her and leaned in to kiss her again. This started soft and gentle and quickly moved to demanding and intense. She pressed against him, even kneeling on the stone floor and he pulled her close, running his hands across her bare back up to the strap of her bra.

Sheppard to McKay!