Tempted II: Surrender by Kelli Ro

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Tempted II: Surrender by Kelli Ro

Mulder woke the following morning to the sound of keys turning in the lock. He opened his eyes sleepily to see Scully entering the apartment in her jeans and an oversized sweater, a box of donuts tucked under her arm. She smiled over at him. "Good morning."

Mulder rubbed the grogginess out of his eyes. "...'morning." With a small groan he sat up on the couch and attempted to gather his bearings. He scratched the back of his neck. "Can I use your shower?"

Scully ran through a mental list of unmentionables that might be in plain sight in the bathroom... nope, she was pretty sure it was safe. She offered him a small smile. "Sure."

He got up and shuffled into the bathroom.

Scully opened the box of donuts and placed them on the coffee table. In the kitchen she grabbed some napkins and poured them each a cup of coffee. The water from the shower stopped not five minutes later and a few minutes after that Mulder emerged from the bathroom re-dressed in last night's clothes: his rumpled shirt untucked, his collar hanging loosely around his neck. He met Scully in the living area as she placed a cup of coffee in front of him. He took a seat on the couch and reached for his mug. "Thanks."

She sat on the floor next to the narrow end of the coffee table, edging up to the small spread of food she'd prepared. "How're you feeling?"

"Not too bad actually." He surveyed the room. "How did I get here?"

"Taxi I suppose." The corner of her mouth turned up at him. "You didn't specify when you stumbled in."

Mulder smiled sheepishly back at her. "That bad, huh?"

Her eyebrows knitted together. "You really don't remember?"

Mulder shook his head at her.

"Anything?"

"Why?" He eyed her wearily. "How big an ass did I make of myself?"

Then she was eternally grateful that her better judgment had remained intact last night. She couldn't even imagine the ensuing nightmare had she succumbed to find the next morning he didn't even remember it. She studied the floor with the slightest smile. "Not too bad." After a moment she continued carefully. "You did tell me you had a date last night..."

"Oh yeah that's right." He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Marie Elabro, this woman from the computer sciences lab."

Scully sipped her coffee and adopted a casual expression. "So did you have a good time?"

"Yeah it was nice."

The corner of her mouth turned up the slightest bit.

Mulder watched her reaction and had the distinct impression she knew something he didn't... "What?"

"Nothing. I'm glad you had a good time."

"Yeah it was okay."

"Think you'll see her again?"

"I don't know. Probably not."

"Why not? I thought you said you had a good time?"

"I did. But..." he shrugged as he studied his coffee. "... I don't know." He looked back at Scully. She was still wearing that damn expression. She was starting to make him nervous. She froze when he took hold of her wrist as she reached in front of him for a napkin. "Why do I feel like you're not tellin' me something, Scully?"

She stared at him.

"Well?"

She said nothing.

Now she was making him *really* nervous. "Scully...?" he asked slowly, "what did I say?"

She brought her eyes to the floor, her voice was low. "You said a lot of things Mulder; but you were drunk."

"Did I say something that hurt you?"

Scully looked at him. And she wanted more than anything to believe that what he had said last night was true: that he had meant every word. She had lie awake most of the night playing his words over and over in her head. What if he did mean it? Would she want to pursue it? Her heart and mind responded with different answers.

"You're scaring me, Scully; would you please say something?"

Her response was little more than a whisper. "No."

"No I didn't say anything to hurt you or no you won't say anything."

She stifled a laugh. "No you didn't say anything to hurt me." She raised her eyes to meet his.

He released her wrist and stared at her, trying to decipher the emotions hidden behind her eyes. She lowered her gaze. Slowly, through the haze of his hang over, the pieces of the puzzle started to fit together and he had a pretty good idea of what he'd let slip last night. Liquor usually loosened his tongue... but it didn't make him say things he didn't mean.

He brought a hand up over his mouth and rubbed his chin. And then he desperately wished he'd been sober enough to remember what had happened last night, to have been able to gauge her reaction immediately after he'd dropped that little bomb. God how stupid could he have been? Now he might have ruined everything. For all he knew she'd spent the night drawing up a mental draft of her request for transfer. Maybe that's why she'd hesitated when he'd asked to use her shower; she just wanted him out of there. But then she did bring him breakfast...

Confusion filled his mind; he hoped he hadn't blown it. He turned slightly on the couch to better face her and took her hands in his own. They both looked at their hands as he held them, lightly caressing the back of hers with his thumbs. They were silent for a long time as Mulder silently pleaded that things were all right between them; that *they* were all right.

Finally, Mulder ventured to glance at her face. It hurt so much to look at her, to not be able to touch her the way he wanted to. He was so, so tired of fighting against his feelings, of pushing her away: first, her friendship, now, something else. And as she sat there so close to him, his heart waged merciless war against his head. He was tired and battle-weary; and he was very close to surrender.

She raised her eyes to meet his, and what he saw there deconstructed him on every level: emotionally, psychologically, and even physically. His heart was threatening to pound right out of his chest as he received the acceptance in her eyes. She was clearly giving him the go-ahead, yet still he was petrified to make a move...

Scully could see the fear was still there in his eyes; the fear that any move on his part would send her fleeing, that any such move would destroy what they had spent the last few years building. She held his gaze steadily. "I have the same fears you do, Mulder."

They lowered their eyes back to their hands. He swallowed hard, his mouth was dry, his voice thick. "Are you ready to do this, Scully? Are you ready to cross that line?"

"I don't know," she responded truthfully.

He placed a finger under her chin and tilted her head up to look at him. "I feel the same way."

They stared at each other for a long moment. They were both unsure, but as they sat there now, the chemistry between them, their feelings for each other, were overwhelmingly persuasive. Mulder pulled gently on her hands.

"Come here," he whispered to her. She complied, moving to sit with him on the couch. She sat on his legs facing him, bringing both hands up to hold his face. She was close now; so close that he could feel her breath falling gently against his face. Keeping his eyes fixed on her mouth, he titled his head up to her slightly, then a little more.

Scully's eyes fluttered as she drifted closer and closer to him, then closed as their lips grazed each others. Her lips were soft and thick like velvet, their touch sent the blood in his head racing for parts south. They opened their eyes and studied each other's faces, then moved slowly to kiss again. They exchanged several soft kisses until he felt her tongue gently teasing his lips. His mouth opened to receive her as his hand slipped up behind her head to deepen the kiss. They stayed like that for a long time, enjoying long, slow kisses, hands starting their preliminary exploration, until they found it difficult to catch their breaths and the air between them had turned warm and humid with desire.

Mulder pulled from the kissing and rested his forehead against hers. "I should go" he whispered softly.

She nodded in agreement: they should take things slow. This was new and fragile, and both of them wanted to take their time testing the waters. She reluctantly slid from his lap, and with some difficulty, he got up off the couch. He lightly touched her cheek. "Bye."

"Bye." She watched him go with a smile.

The next day, Sunday, Scully found herself waiting all day by the phone for him to call like some nervous teenager. This was so weird. What was he thinking? Maybe he'd changed his mind about wanting to take this to a different level. Maybe he just wanted to keep things where they were. At about 5:00pm that evening she'd had enough. This is ridiculous... With a sigh of resignation she reached for the phone. Her hand wasn't half way there when it started to ring. She picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Hi."

She smiled at the sound of his voice. "Hi."

After an awkward silence, Mulder started. "So how was your day?"

"Good. It was quiet."

"What'd you do?"

"Nothing, just some things around the apartment. You?"

"Same."

More silence. Once again, Mulder was the one to break it. "Okay. Well. I just wanted to see how your day was. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Right, see you tomorrow." As she replaced the receiver she noticed something coiled on the floor beside her chair: Mulder had forgotten his tie. She leaned down off the couch and picked it up. She brought it to her face and inhaled deeply. The faintest smile surfaced on her face: it smelled like Mulder. Just like Mulder.

Scully entered the office early. She'd wanted to be the first one in to prepare herself for...what? For seeing him again? She didn't quite know. But at any rate, Mulder had beaten her to the punch: he was sitting at his desk loading the slide viewer as she entered. He looked up, his face brightening as he saw her. He offered her an apprehensive smile.

She returned a smile that was equally uncertain. "You forgot your tie," she said casually, placing it on his desk and moving to hers.

"Oh. Thanks."

"What are you working on?" She sat at her desk, resting her briefcase on the floor next to her, and started to remove some files. Her stomach was nauseous, the room felt thick with tension, and part of her wished it were just a normal day and nothing had happened and things were back to normal... and the other part of her wouldn't have changed a thing.

Mulder stood, plucking a few slides off the viewer and approached her. He stood behind her as she sat at the desk, then laid out the slides in front of her. "I'm trying to decide which of these to use for my profile report." As she examined the slides, he watched her... and was hopelessly, inescapably drawn to her. He leaned in, his hands resting on the desk, his arms straddling her frame. He continued to lean forward until his voice was a whisper at her ear. "What do you think?"

Her breath caught in her throat. She swallowed hard. "Um.. maybe this one here..." Her voice trailed off, she closed her eyes as he placed a delicate kiss just above her ear. Then, he reached a hand around to tilt her head back towards him until he could kiss her. A wave of warmth and pleasure spread through her abdomen at his tongue's gentle seduction. They broke from the kiss and looked at each other. He ran a finger lightly over her mouth which still glistened with their saliva. Scully mirrored back the small smile he gave her. She pulled her eyes from his, turned back to the slides and continued deliberating over the choices.

And so it continued for weeks: stealing kisses, sharing touches-- driving each other crazy. They started spending more after-work time together, something they didn't do much of before. Quiet dinners in secluded, dimly lit restaurants, hushed conversations over half-eaten plates of pasta and glasses of rich red wine. They were enjoying taking things slow, and neither of them wanted to push it... for now.

A little over a month later, a case they were working on had them heading out west to check on another reported case of abduction. They stood outside the airport terminal waiting for the shuttle bus to bring them to their rental car. It pulled up slowly to the curb and Mulder and Scully collected their respective suitcases. They set them on the rack at the front of the bus and moved to the back. It was late, after midnight, and the bus was completely empty. They collapsed in the very last seats as the bus started its journey for the rental lots.

Mulder turned to study her profile as the bus rumbled along. He shifted to put an arm around her.

She turned her head to look at him, giving him a soft smile.

He leaned in and kissed her gently, then more passionately as her mouth opened to him. Mulder rested his free hand on her knee, slipping it just underneath the skirt to caress her inner thigh.

After a few minutes Scully pulled from the kiss and smirked at him. "You better stop or you're not going to be able to get off this bus."

He mumbled an incoherent response as he moved to kiss her neck. She shuddered as his lips worked softly at the sensitive skin below her ear. Sensing eyes on her, Scully looked sideways up at the front of the bus... and found herself looking directly into the reflection of the driver's eyes in the mirror just over his seat. "Mulder..." she started lowly. He pulled from her ear and followed her eyes up to the mirror. She bashfully moved to hide her face in the warmth of his neck, her body still trembling from his lip's provocative touch.

Mulder eyed the driver with irritation before turning his attention back to Scully. He took her hand. She pulled from his neck to see what he was doing. He turned her hand over to expose the palm. With his index finger, he traced a letter in her palm. She eyed him curiously, then followed his eyes back to her hand. He repeated the letter.

Keeping her voice down, she ventured a guess. "H?"

He shook his head at her.

"I?"

He smiled slightly and nodded. He continued with the next letter, and the next, Scully nodding as she solved each word, until he had spelled out his message in her palm:

I WANT TO MAKE LOVE TO YOU

She smiled coyly at him, but indicated nothing else in her response...

At the motel Mulder lay sprawled out on his stomach on the bed in his room, his feet up by the headboard. Both arms hung off the foot off the bed; he held the remote in one hand as he mindlessly surfed the channels. His thoughts were not on the TV; he kept wondering what Scully was doing in the adjoining room next to him. It was late, she was probably sleeping. On the other hand, it had been a long trip, and he knew from hearing the water's hiss in the rooms she usually had next to him that most of the time she liked to head straight for the shower. But he couldn't hear the shower going in her room, maybe she was taking a bath... he shook that thought out of his head. No more mental images like that; not if he wanted to sleep at all tonight. He looked up at the sound of a soft knocking at the adjoining door. Scully came in, closing the door behind her and standing awkwardly at the entrance. Mulder propped himself up on his elbows, her presence putting every nerve in his body on alert. "Hi."

"Hi. What are you doing?"

"Nothing-- watching TV. You wanna watch something? I can change the channel..."

She smiled apprehensively. "Sure," she responded and approached the bed.

Mulder moved over and she took her place beside him, matching his position. They watched TV, but Mulder's mind was focused entirely on the woman lying next to him. She was barely touching him, yet he could feel her warmth radiating towards him through her clothes. She was wearing black sweat pants and an oversized denim shirt, and for some reason Mulder thought it was the sexiest thing he'd ever seen her wear. If only he'd known how she'd agonized on the other side of that door, staring at her image in the nearby mirror for almost ten minutes before deciding to go in. At first she had wondered if she should change into something more... appealing; then she'd decided she didn't want to seem like she was trying; but then thought she really did look kind of frumpy and maybe she should change... Eventually, she had let out a long breath in exasperation and knocked on Mulder's door the way she was. He'd seen her at her best, he'd seen her at her worst; there was no need to bother with pretense around Mulder. But as she lay there next to him now, she wished she'd decided to wear something a little more alluring; he seemed to be more interested in that damned TV. She sneaked a sideways glance at him lying next to her. She could make out his profile, the strong lines of his jaw, that thick dark hair she delighted in running her fingers through... She reluctantly brought her eyes back to the TV.

Mulder debated in his mind over whether or not to make a move. Normally, the kisses they shared, the moments between them, were taken in places that were "safe": the office, the car, a restaurant... places that weren't conducive to taking it beyond that initial closeness. But here, in the hotel, on the bed... Her reaction on the bus was indiscernible, he wondered what she could be thinking. And suddenly it didn't matter, he wanted to touch her more than any good intentions he might have had: he reached over and turned her face towards his.

Her bottom lip trembled slightly as she looked at his mouth, waiting for his kiss. He brought his lips to hers lightly, then again. He rolled her over onto her back as he kissed her with more purpose. After several minutes Mulder turned onto his back, pulling her on top of him. She unbuttoned his shirt, then placed a trail of kisses down along his breastbone. The skin there was soft and smooth, that soapy scent on his skin growing stronger as his body started to glisten with sweat. She moved back to his mouth, stretching her body along his, kissing him with increasing hunger.

His hands slid down her back to take hold of her hips and adjust her until she was right up against him. A soft sound of pleasure escaped her as he did so... and his self-control was heading straight out the window. Mulder took hold of her face and gently pulled from her feverish kiss. He looked at that flushed, beautiful face above him, mouth still open in mid-kiss, eyes sleepy with desire, and wanted more than anything for her to stay... "You better go, Scully..."

She hesitated as she looked down at him. "I don't want to go."

He stared at her for several seconds. Mulder slid his hands along her back down to her hips, where he slid his hands under her sweats and carefully started to lower them. "Are you sure..." he whispered hoarsely.

She closed her eyes and nodded in response.

He helped her slip off her sweat pants, then wriggled free of his shirt. He started at the buttons of hers. He rolled back on top of her, lifting himself up as she worked at the buttons of his jeans. He lowered his weight on top of her. His hands were at her undergarment; making his way towards her. Then there he was, poised for their union, and he could feel that she was more than ready for him. Showering her neck with kisses back up to her lips, he whispered into her mouth "Say you want me, Dana."

"I do..."

"Say it..."

"I want you"

"Say it again."

"I want you." She tightened her hold on him. "I want you Mulder; make love to me."

With the slightest moan he entered her, and they started their gentle rhythm. Her breathing quickened as her hands clutched desperately at his back-- she went quickly to the brink of her passion. He pulled from the kiss and held her face, his thumbs lightly caressing her lips. The sweat had soaked the delicate wisps of hair at her temple, her eyes were wild with the frenzy of longing and arousal. "Sh-sh..." Mulder whispered softly to her as he slowed his movement, "not so fast. I want you *slowly*."

She let out a small noise of frustration.

"Shh..." He waited until her breathing had slowed up a bit then started his movement again.

"Mulder..."

He shook his head at her. "Say my name, Dana, I wanna hear you say it."

"Fox..."

Hearing his name fall gently from her lips was beyond a turn-on; he let out a tremulous breath as he buried his face in her neck and intensified his rhythm. "Dana... you feel so good." He moved with increasing force against her. "God you feel so good."

And then she lost it-- totally and completely lost it, and seeing her like that, and knowing he was the one who was doing it to her, sent his body convulsing with wave after wave of blissful pleasure right along with her.

Their breathing, their bodies, slowed in satisfaction and exhaustion. He turned over to his side, pulling her along with him. She snuggled against the warmth of his chest and was soon fast asleep. Mulder lay awake holding her long into the night, taking remarkable solace in the steady sound of her breathing. He feared that if he closed his eyes, he would wake up alone, cold and lonely in that unfamiliar bed. He tightened his hold on her and fended off the inevitable...

Scully woke with a start sometime in the night. With a great sense of relief she realized she was still in his arms; it hadn't been a dream. She lifted her head to look at him in the pale moonlight. Somehow sensing that she was awake, Mulder opened his eyes and looked at her. He brought a hand to her cheek. "What's wrong?"

Her tone suggested she was kidding, but her eyes were serious. "I just wanted to make sure you were still here."

He smiled softly at her. "I'm not goin' anywhere, Scully," he whispered, "I'm not going anywhere."

- The End -

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