"No."
"Come on, Rodney! It'll be fun. You do remember fun, right?"
Rodney rolled his eyes and made a big show of not looking at her, though he did make sure to be able to see her in his periphery. "I do remember fun, Cadman."
Laura's right hand found its way to her hip and she smiled sweetly at her beau, knowing full well that he could see her out of the corner of his eye. "You're afraid, aren't you?"
Rodney slowly looked up from his tablet and turned to look at Laura. "I am not."
Laura's shapely eyebrows rose in response. "Really? Because it seems to me like you definitely are afraid."
"Look, Cadman," replied Rodney, his voice grating and loud in the lab. He ignored the looks he was getting from Zelenka and the ten other scientists and focused on the irritating yet incredibly hot woman in front of him. "I'm busy trying to figure out how to keep the plumbing in the residential areas from conking out whenever someone activates the transporter in corridor alpha." He held up a hand when Cadman opened her mouth. "I don't know why it happens or how they're connected. They shouldn't be connected. One should have no bearing on the other. But it happens according to Sheppard who's had at least three unintentional cold showers and Ronon who's had a very, very unfortunate episode with his toilet." At Laura's quirked eyebrow he said, "Let's just say he hasn't gone near a burrito since." He shared a quick evil grin with Laura and then schooled his features into their usual grumpiness. "So I really don't have time right now."
Assuming he'd more than made his point, Rodney turned away from the suddenly pouting Marine and concentrated on the tablet on his desk. It was nearly five minutes later when her voice, very soft and very close, sounded in his ear.
"I'm not fooled by your bravado, Rodney," she whispered. "I know you're petrified."
Rodney gulped and cursed himself when he sensed her smile. "What makes you think I'm afraid to kiss you, Cadman?" Again he cursed himself… he'd sounded like a gawky teenager who was asking the most popular cheerleader to a school dance. In other words he'd sounded like he was way out of his league.
"Your lips, Rodney," she whispered breathlessly, "on my lips in front of Radek and everyone else here."
Rodney's head turned so that he could take a good look at those luscious lips. It just so happened that as her pink lips came into view, her tongue darted out between them and retreated back into her mouth, leaving her lips moist and glistening in the light. Whether the action had been unintentional or by design, the effect was instantaneous want.
Before Cadman could say anything else, Rodney turned and crashed his lips to hers. He was vaguely aware of a crashing sound somewhere in the lab, like someone had dropped something, but he tuned it out as Laura wrapped her arms around his neck and the beautiful tongue he'd gotten an all too brief glimpse of earlier grazed against his lips. His hands moved onto her hips and squeezed the flesh there as he deepened the kiss. He had no idea how long they'd been at it, but when the kiss finally ended they were both flushed and winded.
Cadman was the first to recover. "See? Petrified."
There was only response to that: he kissed her again.
A/N: "Bravado" was written and composed by Neil Peart, Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee of one of the most awesome bands ever, Rush. It was released on their 1991 album, Roll the Bones.