New: Embers Eight by syntax6 (NC-17)
syn...@my-deja.com
http://www.omniscribe.com
Naked characters ahead. Minors please read elsewhere.
XxXxX
Chapter Eight
XxXxX
I was alone on a vast beach.
The salted sea breeze whipped my long skirt against my legs while the
ocean tickled my ankles, its white surf swirling in and out with the
tide. I curled my cold toes into the sand even as it slipped out from
under me. Eyes closed, I listened to the rhythmic rush of the waves and
the chatter of the sea gulls overhead. Their cries grew closer, more
angry and raw, until they weren't birds at all but human screams.
I gasped as my eyes flew open. Silence.
There was no beach and no screams. Just my bedroom, draped in shadows,
and Mulder's heartbeat creating the ocean sounds beneath my cheek.
I released a slow breath as my pulse dropped back to normal, wrapped
safe in the covers with Mulder. His tee-shirt was soft and sleep-warm
against my bruised cheek, and I closed my eyes again, listening to the
rain pattering against the windows outside. I drifted as the seconds
slowed.
Mulder sighed in his sleep, his legs mingling with mine as his faint
breath stirred my hair. Blinking sleepily, I stretched with care and my
sore joints registered their immediate protest. All traces of my dream
faded as the dull ache of reality began throbbing at the back of my
head. I rolled from Mulder and slipped free of the heavy quilt,
staggering in the semidarkness toward the door.
The floorboards were cold and smooth beneath my feet, the first gray
haze of dawn making long shadows on the wall. In the bathroom, I
swallowed a pair of Tylenol tablets with the lights still off and then
shivered back to bed. Mulder stirred under my added weight, squinting
at me in the fuzzy, indigo light.
"Hey," he said in a hoarse whisper.
I shifted to face him. "Go back to sleep, Mulder. It's still early."
"Mmmm." His fingers threaded through my hair, touching my scalp
lightly. "How's your head?"
I closed my eyes under his gentle massage. "Okay." His fingertips
smoothed in rhythm from my crown to my temples, easing the ache until I
was near purring with pleasure. The backs of my ears grew warm and
tingled.
After a few more glorious seconds, he slipped his hand down to palm the
curve of my face. I nuzzled my cheek against him in answer before
covering his hand with my own and drawing his arm back under the covers.
He hid a large yawn in his pillow, and I realized that the rocky night
had taken its toll on him as well. His hair stood up on one side and
his eyes were bleary from lack of sleep. "Thank you, Mulder," I said,
giving his fingers a slight squeeze.
He answered with a slow blink. "For what?"
"For being here. For taking care of me."
He rolled over on his back, withdrawing his hand from mine. We stared
at the ceiling together for several long moments while the wind swept
sheets of rain against the window. "I had a book," he said at last,
speaking more to the ceiling than to me -- whispered words meant only
for this strange, expansive time between night and day. "On cancer."
My skin rippled in fear at where the conversation would lead, places
inside that burned too bright to look, wounds too raw to touch. Words
of my own tumbled forth but I kept them closed and secret, waiting with
shallow breaths to see how far Mulder would go. He tilted his chin at
the ceiling.
"It had things you were supposed to do to help if...if you knew someone
with cancer. Like recipes for special foods and stuff to bring to the
hospital. But I couldn't see any way for me to do those things. It
never said..." He stopped short and shook his head. "I don't know why
I bought it."
"Mulder..." I reached out to touch his arm but he didn't seem to feel
it.
"So white and brittle," he whispered. He twisted on the pillow, his
black eyes boring into mine. "Like if I touched you, you would shatter
into a million pieces."
I could not speak. All at once, I realized how different it had been
for Mulder, how vast was our separateness on this matter. I'd kept the
cancer close to me, deep inside where it lived and grew away from
sympathetic, prying eyes. I had told Mulder first, had thought he
understood how much it meant to me that he knew and that he shared in my
fight. My partner in all things. Only now, in the absence of my
desperate tunnel vision, could I see how far away he had been, and how
hard he was still struggling to catch up.
"It's okay now," I murmured, pulling him to me. He came willingly, like
a sleepy child, and I folded him in my arms. His breath whispered
against my neck as I stroked his long, lean back. "It's okay."
I thought about telling him the number of times I had called him from my
bed during those awful days, paralyzed under the weight of my headache
or gripped in the claws of nausea. The words, "Mulder, come over," had
hovered on my lips, and I'd imagined him sitting with me, cool cloth in
hand as he distracted my pain with gentle chatter. But to relent to
that need would have cost me my equality, forcing Mulder to choose
between pushing me harder or pulling me back.
And I'd needed to be pushed more than held.
I wondered if he had sensed that need and disregarded his own, letting
me set the terms of our relationship even when there was so much left
unsaid. I ran my hands up and over his shoulder blades and tangled my
fingers in the silky spikes of his hair. "Mulder," I said, "you did the
best thing possible. You never let me get complacent. You showed me
how much there was left to do and let me shoulder my share of the work.
You...you let me see you waiting on the other side of this illness,
making sure there would be something left for me to return to when it
was over." I brought my lips down to his forehead, kissing him
fiercely. "And Mulder, it is over. You've got to believe that."
He squeezed me hard and buried his face in the curve of my shoulder.
"For now," he said, muffled. "But what about the next time?"
"We have no reason to think it will come back," I answered, relieved to
hear that my voice did not belie my own nagging worry.
"I'm not talking just about the cancer, Scully," he said as he pushed
himself up to look into my eyes. "It could be anything -- another
illness, a stray bullet...maybe they'll just blow up the basement one
day and take care of both of us all in one shot."
"Mulder, stop it."
"No," he insisted, still pinning me to the mattress with his
considerable weight. I squirmed to get away, but he trapped my arms in
his. "Listen to me, Scully. You told me once you wouldn't change a
day. Maybe you still believe that, even now. But one day it will
change, one day it will be too much and you'll regret it."
I frowned. "Is that the voice of experience talking, Mulder?"
"Maybe." He sighed. "I just don't want to be here when that day comes
for you, Scully. I don't want to be part of your regret."
His expression was sad and open, letting me see the truth behind his
words. I tightened my lips together to keep my chin from trembling.
"That would never happen," I whispered finally, and he dropped his
forehead down to mine. My hands slid around his ribcage, seeking more
contact. Our breathing slowed as Mulder relaxed into me once more. I
stroked the soft hairs at his nape. "Mulder, four years ago you made it
clear that I was not going to stand in the way of your search for
answers. I can't be the reason you stop now."
He pulled away again. "Just for a little while," he whispered, fingering
the hair by my cheek. "I didn't realize how fast the years have been.
I never expected..."
"What?" I asked, breathless.
He hesitated, then ducked his head. "I never expected to stop and find
you here."
My heart quivered in my chest as I caressed his stubbly cheek. "Where
I've always been, Mulder," I told him in a cracked whisper.
He pressed his lips to my palm, my wrist, my neck, and I brushed my
fingertips over the shell of his ear, our lips so near they merged in
the space of one breath. The rain rustled the trees outside while we
remembered each other with kisses, slow and soft. I curled my legs and
arms around him like a loving vine. I ached to bring him inside my
heart, where he could see the place carved for him over the years by
moments of sharp terror and melting sweetness.
"We shouldn't." Mulder broke away, lips swollen around his parted
mouth. "You're hurt."
"No, it's fine," I murmured, hands sloping down his shoulders. He
jerked his hips, and I parted my legs further, welcoming the press of
his erection through our thin layers of clothing. He closed his eyes
and met my gentle rhythm. Arousal was a pleasant ache, a languid river
that lapped at my edges until I was wet and open.
"Please," I said, and used both hands to guide his mouth down to mine,
holding him in place for my lips and tongue. He hummed with pleasure
and I vibrated to my toes.
"Slow," he cautioned when we paused for breath. "We have to go slow."
I signaled my agreement with another lingering kiss, and he opened my
pajama top one-handed, the other hand still threaded in my hair. As the
last button slipped free, satin slithered to my sides and Mulder brushed
warm fingers on my breast bone. He dropped light kisses on my face
while stroking long lines down to my belly button.
"Oh!" I gasped when he found my nipple, his tongue soft as he licked it,
fat and swollen in his mouth. I touched his cheek, the littlest finger
sliding down to graze his lips. He pulled me in with a wet moan, and my
eyes slipped closed, my jaw open as he rubbed my fingertip and nipple in
concert.
My hands restless, I stroked him everywhere I could reach -- the
slippery skin of his ribcage, the sleek muscles under his shoulder
blades, the slight peach fuzz at the small of his back. Squirming
downward, I teased my fingers there along the elastic waistband of his
boxers, then slipped down inside to hold him stiff and curved in my
palm.
"Oh, God." He squeezed his eyes shut, his upper lip curled in
concentration. I closed my fingers around him, watching the pleasure
play across his face as I stroked him root to tip. Our previous
encounters had been too frenzied for me to notice the fine arch of his
neck, the sheen of his brow, the perfect "O" of his mouth.
The front of his boxers grew damp, Mulder hot and hard in my hand. He
choked on a breath. "Enough...enough. I can't stand it." I stopped my
rhythm but kept my fingers pressed against him, tangled in his
underwear. He kissed me again, mouths open wide as his tongue slipped
in for deep, soft licks. I felt him tugging on the waistband of my
pajama bottoms.
"Ever wonder," he breathed as he worked, "what it would've been like to
have just this? What would've happened if we'd met somewhere besides a
dirty basement?"
I lifted my hips to oblige him. "Like where? On the street, or some
social event? Somehow I don't see it, Mulder. You would have spent all
your time chatting up the leggy brunette in the corner."
"Hmmm," he said, planting tiny kisses along my throat. "You may have a
point. Then I guess we'll have to meet at the bar, when we both go for
refills at the same time. What are you having?"
I smiled into his shoulder, pleased at the warmth in his words and the
certainty behind them. This was one place I was willing to follow
Mulder into fate. "Ah..." I shivered as he stroked me through my cotton
panties, my fingers biting into the strength of his upper arms.
"Um...kahlua and cream."
"Ah, there's my opening, then." He slid my underwear down to my knees,
and I wiggled until I could toe them off. "I would want to know why a
no-nonsense type woman such as yourself was drinking such a sissy
drink."
"Very funny." My eyelids fluttered closed, my lips parting as he
slipped nimble fingers along my folds. "I...uh, what...what are you
wearing?"
"Huh?"
"At the bar," I said, licking my lips while trying to picture it. "When
you're hitting on me, what are you wearing?"
"Oh. Why?" He added a little more pressure to his caress.
I opened my eyes and smiled at him. "Because I have to decide whether I
should go back to Raoul from Puerto Rico or keep talking to you."
"I see. Well, what would you say if I told you I was wearing jeans and
a black tee shirt?"
I closed my eyes again as he added his thumb between my legs. "I would
say, 'Don't knock it 'til you've tried it.'"
"Hmmm. But what if I don't want the whole thing? What if I just
want..." He leaned down and licked my ear. "...a taste."
"I think...that could be...arranged." My mind spun fantasies of us
necking like mad in a shadowed corner of the bar, mixing with the feel
of Mulder's touch between my thighs. I felt hot, needy -- the
beginnings of a breathless spiral I recognized. I hadn't expected to
come, not with my aches and pains, but all of a sudden I was right on
the edge. "Mulder."
I reached for him, pulling him over me, needing him inside. He tugged
off his boxers and climbed over me once more. My hips jerked with
anticipation as his erection brushed the skin of my inner thighs. He
slipped over me several times before finally pressing inside. We
clutched each other, murmuring nonsense, as he slid the full length into
me.
When he moved, I felt a pinch of pleasure deep inside and gasped as it
melted white-hot between my legs. "Close?" he breathed, the word
fanning hot across my face. I nodded and arched against him. He
shifted to ride higher against my body, giving me access to the salty
skin of his neck.
The pressure of his penis sliding inside me and its slippery caress
against my clitoris soon had me moaning into the curve of his shoulder.
I felt tight and lightheaded at the same time. "Mulder," I blurted,
surprised that it was happening so fast. He kissed my temple as the
orgasm began in earnest. I shook and panted for long moments while he
pumped with my slowing rhythm.
After a few moments of dizzying recovery, I stroked my hands down the
length of his back, cupping his ass and encouraging him to move again.
He moved to thrust hard and deep, holding me close as his breaths
tickled my cheek. When he went rigid in my arms, I moaned with him at
the wracking pleasure. We lay in a quivering tangle for several long
minutes.
"Scully," he said at last, sounding both dazed and reverent. "You
okay?"
Actually, my head was throbbing in time with my heartbeat and there was
pain shooting down my arm from my elbow. "I'm fine," I said, meaning
every note of it. I hugged him tight.
A few minutes later, he rolled to his side, bringing me with him. He
smoothed the hair from my eyes and smiled. "So who's this Raoul guy?"
"Nobody you have to worry about," I answered, snuggling closer. His
hand smoothed up and down my arm. "Mulder..."
"Mmmm?"
I hesitated, toying with his fingers. "I love that you're so sure about
this...that you believe it was meant to be so much it would have
happened no matter what the circumstances."
He shifted so he could see my face. "Scully, whatever else I've
doubted, whatever questions I might still have...none of it's to do with
you. You must know that."
"I do." I held his face in my hands, rubbing my thumbs along his
cheeks. "But I can't be everything, Mulder."
He turned away, and for a moment I thought he might leave. But instead
he lay down beside me again, tucking me into the warmth of his body.
I slept.
XxXxX
The phone yanked us both awake with a jolt at seven-thirty. Mulder sat
up, rubbing his eyes, as I fumbled for the receiver.
"Hello?" Silence. Mulder frowned and I tried again. "Hello?"
"Agent Scully? It's Lee-Lee. Lee-Lee Centara?"
"Of course. What can I do for you?" Mulder made a questioning gesture
and I shrugged at him.
"Um, I need to talk to you about the fires," Lee-Lee said, sounding like
she might bolt at any moment. I climbed out of bed.
"I can meet you right now."
"No! No, I can't. Meet me later, behind the diner at eleven-thirty,
okay? That's my break."
"Eleven-thirty, got it." I paused. I could not quite believe she was
my attacker, with her thin frame and demurring demeanor. But still --
best to let her know she wouldn't be taking another whack at me, if that
was what she had planned. "Agent Mulder and I will see you there."
"Okay, but..."
"But?"
"Don't bring my brother," she said in a rush, then hung up the phone.
XxXxX
Continued in Chapter Nine.
Thanks as always to my tag team betas, busy with their own lives but
still managing to help me out from time to time. This week's chapter
brought to you by the number "2" and the letter "J." Thank you Jerry
and Jintian!
Hello? Anybody still out there? :-) Feedback welcome at
syn_...@yahoo.com
Gone to California.
See you on the other side.
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
DBKate2
Nicely done.
Kate :-)
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