#lovesicksapphic

[cynoopsie]

based off of the roadtrip chapter in this roomies au by lovesicksapphic on ao3:

( and they were roommates, oh my god they were roommates - Chapter 1 - lovesicksapphic - Once Upon a Time (TV) [Archive of Our Own] )

"Wanna put on some music?" She asked, glancing away from the road for a second to meet the brunette's eyes.

"I thought you hated my music taste." Regina raised a brow, recalling the time Emma had come home and asked what on earth she was listening to.

"Only when you listen to that classical bullshit." Emma wrinkled her nose.

"It helps me concentrate!" Regina said defensively.

"Put on some of the other stuff you like." Emma laughed. "Fleetwood Mac or something."

"How do you know I like Fleetwood Mac?" Regina frowned as she took the wire from the blonde.

"You sing along sometimes."

[lovesicks4pphic]

Inevitable Collision

Rating: E

Summary: Set after The Rain King. Sharing a bed in a tiny motel room means there's nowhere left to hide.

Read on AO3 here. 

The whole thing had to be some kind of cosmic joke. If he believed in God, he might think it was divinely orchestrated, some kind of humorous little game at his expense.

It had been a long day of dead-end leads in middle-of-nowhere Arizona, watching Scully get hit on by a creepy county sheriff and convincing himself he wasn’t just as bad when a bead of sweat rolled down her clavicle and disappeared beneath her white v-neck.

The invisible thread that bound them to one another seemed to be getting shorter and shorter these days, the gravity of their connection too strong. He knew, deep down, that at this point it was only a matter of time before they collided, for better or for worse, and the question was simply when.

He thought he might get his answer a few weeks ago when a cow of all things crashed through the roof of his motel room and he was forced to bunk with Scully. Fortunately for his nerves, Scully’s room had a couch and she didn’t put up too much resistance when he insisted he take it, reminding her that he had spent years sleeping on one and was in fact more accustomed to couches than beds.

They slept separately, deeply after such bizarre events, and when they woke the next morning, they continued their familiar dance, never getting too close but never very far away.

Tonight, however, at the lone motel in this tiny desert town, that distance would be forced to shrink even further.

They weren’t expecting to stay the night, thinking it would be a simple, open-and-shut, onto-the-next-case situation but they’d made far less progress than they’d hoped and their next assignment a state over would have to wait.

“You got here just in time!” The receptionist exclaimed after a few taps on her keyboard. “We have one room left.”

“We’ll take it.” Scully replied immediately.

Mulder could tell she was getting antsy, eager to wash off the day. She had been unusually fidgety all day, even jumping at one point when he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. A few times when he’d been speaking to her, her eyes had drifted to his bare forearms below his rolled-up sleeves, completely zoned out. The heat must be bothering her.

“Alright then!” The receptionist beamed. “It is one of our smaller rooms but I’m sure y’all don’t mind getting a little cozy.”

She winked at the two agents and Mulder tensed. How small? He wanted to ask. Please tell me what you mean by small.

As it turned out, ‘small’ was somewhat of an understatement. The bed took up most of the room, which was saying something as it was perhaps the narrowest double Mulder had ever seen. There was hardly any other furniture, just a desk with a rickety old chair tucked under it. Mulder found himself wondering whether he could curl all 6 feet of himself up like a cat and sleep on that instead. Even the bathroom had more floor space than the bedroom and he briefly questioned how offended Scully would be if he said he’d rather sleep on tiles than beside her.

As if reading his mind, Scully appeared beside him.

“Well, there’s no couch this time so I suppose we’d better get comfortable.”

He took a quick glance in the direction of the bathroom. Maybe with enough towels and pillows-

“Mulder, you’re not sleeping on the floor.” She sighed. “We’re both adults.”

He hesitated.

“Ok. If you’re sure. I am quite big.” He joked, trying to distract from his racing heart.

She smiled but he could tell she was a little apprehensive too. He wondered whether it was for the same reasons.

“I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”

After a few hours of hunching over files and photographs on the bed, Scully finally stretched and announced she was going to shower. She collected her things from her bag, Mulder’s eyes trying desperately not to linger on the blue silk she pulled out, and disappeared into the bathroom.

The sound of the shower running lured his thoughts into dangerous territory and he shook his head in an attempt to clear it, returning his focus to the evidence in front of him. It wasn’t the easiest task to concentrate when his mind kept helpfully supplying thoughts like Scully is showering right now, Scully is naked the other side of that wall, Scully is going to put on something silky and then climb into bed with you.

His groin stirred and he fought the urge to press his palm against himself. It was going to be a very long night.

He’d managed to get as far as reading the same sentence four times when he heard something like a gasp come from the bathroom. It was quiet beneath the noise of the water but he could’ve sworn it was there.

He strained to listen but when he heard nothing more, he returned to the page in his lap. Perhaps the water had suddenly run cold and startled her. That was something he’d experienced more than his fair share of during the many nights they’d spent at motels like these. Perhaps he’d simply imagined it.

“Mm!”

A high-pitched noise interrupted his thoughts and he froze. He definitely hadn’t imagined that .

A million scenarios of Scully in danger rushed through his mind. They were on the ground floor, there was a window in the bathroom that an intruder could’ve easily fit through. They were literally in the middle of a murder investigation. Granted, Scully didn’t have the mark that the other victims did before they were taken. Well, not that he knew of. What if she’d seen it now? What if-

“Mulder!”

The sound of his name in a strangled gasp had him leaping off the bed and across the room. Blinded by panic, he pushed open the bathroom door without knocking.

“Scully!” He called to her, glancing frantically around the room. “Are you ok?”

“Mulder!” She squeaked. “What the hell are you doing?!”

“I heard you call my name and I thought you might be in trouble.”

“Oh.” She said quietly, the word almost lost in the rushing water. “I’m fine.”

He wished he could see her face, see for himself that she was ok, but the sight of her was obscured by a grotty shower curtain.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” She said a little more confidently. “I, um- I saw a spider. It’s gone now.”

Mulder wasn’t entirely convinced by the explanation but something in her voice told him not to pry. He didn’t want to push her, their sleeping arrangements were going to be awkward enough even without the added element of pissing her off.

“Ok. I’ll just… go.” He finished lamely.

Closing the bathroom door behind him, he wandered back over to the bed to finish, well actually start , the file he’d been reading prior to the interruption.

Some time later, he decided to call it a night. They were at a standstill until they could speak to the most recent victim’s mother, who wouldn’t be back in town until the morning.

With a sigh, he scooped up the sprawling mess of papers and dumped them on the desk. He briefly considered tidying up a little, knowing that Scully wouldn’t be too pleased with his filing system, or lack of. Then again, even if he did organize everything into the relevant folders, she’d pull everything out and redo it anyway.

As he stood by the desk, shuffling the papers about so it looked like he’d done something, the bathroom door opened across the room. Holy fuck.

Scully stood there, framed in the dim light, fresh and dewy from her elaborate skincare routine, damp red hair curling around her freckled face, and silky shorts so tiny they must hardly cover her ass. She looked beautiful. Ethereal. And Mulder had to admit Holman had been right. He definitely did gaze at Scully.

“Sorry.” Scully said, her cheeks turning pink beneath his unrelenting gaze. “This is all I packed. I was anticipating it being hot and me being… alone.”

Mulder opened his mouth a few times before finally finding his voice.

“No, that’s ok.” He started. “You just look so… cute.”

“Cute?” Scully raised a brow.

Mulder winced. She was right. Cute is how he’d usually describe a small dog they walked past on the street, not his unnervingly gorgeous partner who he was hopelessly, desperately in love with. However, ‘you look so fucking good I need to go and take care of myself in the shower right this second before I lose my mind and pin you up against the nearest wall’ didn’t quite seem like the appropriate thing to say either.

“I’m just gonna-.” He pointed to the bathroom behind her before hurrying to grab what he needed, brushing past her and closing the door.

Fuck. He hoped he’d been quick enough that she didn’t notice the bulge in his slacks.

He stripped and hopped straight into the shower. He needed to get this out of his system before he got into bed with her otherwise he would definitely end up embarrassing himself or having to sneak out in the middle of the night to jack off into the toilet, which felt too pathetic even for him. Not that the shower was much better.

It didn’t take long. It never did these days. Not when she was so damn close all the time, always speaking so assertively and so intelligently and giving him those smiles, reserved just for him. Once upon a time, he felt guilty whenever she’d pop into his head as he stroked himself. He’d managed to keep the denial going for a while, ignoring his body’s reaction to her, pushing away thoughts of being on top of her, beneath her, behind her. The line he’d drawn in his head had since been crossed though. And now there was no turning back.

He bit into his forearm as he came, muffling the sound of his groan.

Once he was showered and dried, he reached for his change of clothes and was struck with the realization that he too had packed thinking he’d be sleeping alone. All he had was a clean pair of boxers and a Knicks shirt. It would have to do. He hoped Scully had already turned out the lights.

As luck would have it, he opened the door to a dark room, just enough moonlight seeping in through the flimsy drapes to see the shape of Scully’s body beneath the sheet. If the bed looked tiny before, it looked practically miniature now. Scully’s small form was curled as close to the far left edge as possible, yet somehow left very little room for Mulder. Cozy indeed.

He could already feel his heart pounding, his hands shaking as he pulled back the covers and lay down carefully, not wanting to disturb her. He lay on his left side with his back to her, the two of them facing opposite walls. It wasn’t the most effective option space-wise but it felt safer this way, if he couldn’t see her, maybe he could convince himself she wasn’t there.

“Night, Mulder.”

Scully’s quiet voice broke the still air, reminding him she was in fact there.

“Night, Scully.”

Moments passed by in silence. He could feel the warmth of Scully’s body beneath the sheets, faint heat against the backs of his legs.

He didn’t realize he’d been holding his breath until his chest started to feel hot and he exhaled shakily. In and out, Mulder, you’ve been doing this your whole life.

His left shoulder was starting to ache and he reluctantly turned over, coming face-to-face with the back of Scully’s head. The soft scent of her shampoo instantly surrounded him and he fought off a moan, the urge to bury his face in her hair hitting him fiercely.

He shuffled around some more, trying to get comfortable whilst maintaining some kind of distance between them. He didn’t notice when his fingertips brushed against her bare thigh but he did notice her resulting shiver.

“Are you cold?” He whispered.

The temperature had dropped significantly, as it often does in these kinds of places once the sun sets, and there was a definite chill in the air, though Mulder was too hot and flustered to feel it himself.

Scully nodded and before Mulder could process what he was doing, he was moving impossibly closer, his chest flush against her back. His arm circled around her middle, holding her close but not tight. It was almost strange how comfortable it felt, how natural.

“Is this ok?”

His lips were so close to her skin, his hot breath ghosting across the nape of her neck with every exhale.

“Yeah.” She whispered. “It’s ok.”

Her voice was breathy, the tone different than anything he’d heard from her before.

He hugged her tighter in response, the silk of her shirt so smooth beneath his fingertips where his palm rested against her stomach. Unconsciously, he stroked his thumb back and forth over the material.

Scully shuddered suddenly in his arms, her hips wriggling against his. It seemed to happen in slow motion, the flesh of her ass, barely covered, meeting the unavoidable bulge in his underwear. They both froze. Mulder mentally cursed himself and shifted his hips away from her as subtly as he could.

A beat. Scully pushed her hips backwards again but this time it felt deliberate, like she was seeking him out. Mulder bit back a groan when she found her target. He was undeniably hard now. So much for getting it out of his system earlier.

Another press of her ass against him and he gripped her hip firmly, holding her slightly away from him.

“Scully.” He gritted out.

She responded with a barely concealed whimper. The sound shot straight to his groin and the events of the day clicked into place in his mind with startling clarity.

“Scully?” He repeated, more of a question this time.

This was the moment that could change everything. He knew it and he knew she knew it too. They couldn’t pretend any longer. The thread between them was pulled taut, nothing left and nowhere to hide.

He swallowed.

“You didn’t see a spider earlier, did you?”

Scully’s reply was a hesitant whisper.

“No.”

“And you weren’t cold just now, were you?”

“No.”

The weight of the truth she had just revealed in those two simple answers was astronomical. He groaned and pressed his hips harder against her.

“Tell me you want this.”

He needed to hear her say it. To confirm what they both knew, had known for a long time beneath all the fear, all the doubt and denial.

“I want this.” She whispered, quiet but sure, and turned in his arms. “Please.”

The sheer vulnerability and desire in her eyes as they met took his breath away and after six years of waiting, he couldn’t stand to wait a moment longer. He kissed her.

It felt like coming home.

Her lips were soft beneath his own, parting almost immediately to allow him to deepen the kiss, while her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer. His hands slipped down to her ass as their tongues met and she moaned loudly into his mouth.

He had imagined their first kiss in so many ways. Everything from a chaste, gentle press of their lips to a frantic, clashing of mouths. This was somehow everything he’d wished for and more. Sensual and fierce, the intensity of it unlike anything he’d ever experienced.

He broke away, much to Scully’s disappointment, although she was quickly placated when he began pressing wet kisses to her neck, trailing his lips from her cheekbone to the surprisingly sensitive spot just beneath her ear.

He rolled her onto her back, legs intertwined with hers as he continued to kiss and nip at her exposed skin. She writhed and gasped beneath him, throwing her head back in invitation and clenching fistfuls of his shirt.

One of his hands slipped beneath her pajama top, the feeling of her bare stomach beneath his fingers making his head spin. In return, her hands slid beneath his t-shirt, nails raking across his back as she ground her center against his thigh.

He kissed her again, tongues meeting hot and heavy. His hand traveled higher until his fingertips were brushing the underside of her breast and he felt her still in anticipation.

“Is this ok?”

She nodded frantically, which made him chuckle and kiss her again. He couldn’t believe she was letting him do this after all these years. Not even just letting him, encouraging him, desperate for him.

He broke the kiss, pressing his forehead against hers and watching the way her eyes rolled shut when his hand spread across her breast and squeezed. He got distracted by her chest for a while, transfixed by the way she licked and bit at her bottom lip when his thumbs flicked across a nipple, the gasp and arch of her back when he gave a particularly hard pinch. She was so deliciously sensitive.

“Mulder.” Scully whined. “Enough teasing.”

“Never enough.” He replied with a grin.

He got the message though, reluctantly removing his hands from her shirt so that he could get to work on the buttons. Scully sat up briefly to help, scrambling to get Mulder’s shirt off too before pulling him back down on top of her with a firm kiss.

Somehow during the readjustment, Mulder had ended up kneeling between Scully’s spread thighs and when their bodies met once more, his clothed cock pressed directly against her center. They both moaned at the contact, Scully bucking her hips to press into him harder.

“Fuck.” Mulder hissed.

He didn’t think he’d ever been this hard in his life and he hadn’t even touched her yet. So much for getting it out of his system earlier, although if he hadn’t done that he might’ve come already just from the friction and the sounds Scully was making.

He drew back to take in the sight of a topless Scully beneath him and yeah, he was suddenly very grateful for his solo time earlier because fuck.

“You’re so beautiful.” He whispered, staring at her almost reverentially.

Sure, he had seen her naked before, but there was always some element of danger drawing his focus and he tried his best to avoid looking anyway, not wanting to disrespect her when she was vulnerable.

No, it had never been like this. This was something entirely different. He drank in the sight, memorizing every freckle, every scar. He wanted to worship her.

Before Scully could respond, he dipped down and flicked his tongue over a taut nipple. She gasped and scraped her nails at the nape of his neck.

“God, Mulder.”

He repeated the action before experimentally sucking, addicted to her sharp inhales and the sting of her nails digging into his skin.

Scully’s hips were grinding against his bare stomach now and he groaned around a mouthful of her when he realized he could feel her wetness through her shorts.

He paused and glanced up at her, her head thrown back against the pillows.

“Are you wearing underwear, Scully?”

She dropped her head down to meet his eyes. She shook her head.

“I only packed thongs.” She said quietly, a coy smile on her lips. “I can’t sleep in a thong.”

“Are you trying to kill me?”  

Scully laughed at that, a light and free sound that Mulder adored. He didn’t get to hear it enough. However, her laughter was soon cut short when he dropped his head back to her chest, giving her other breast the same attention.

“Oh .” She breathed.

Mulder’s lips moved across her sternum and then down across her stomach, placing kisses to her skin as he went. She was squirming beneath him in anticipation now and his desperation grew. He needed to taste her more than he could remember needing anything.

He moaned as the smell of her arousal hit him full force, his lips ghosting over her thighs.

“Scully.”

A plea.

“Yeah.” She nodded in immediate understanding, lifting her hips for him to slide off her shorts.

Once her shorts were off, he settled himself between her thighs, coming face to face with her glistening cunt. Holy fuck.

“Scully, you’re so wet.”

She moaned low in her throat, threading her fingers through his hair. He wrapped his arms around her thighs, tugging her hips closer.

This was it. This was the moment he had dreamt about, the moment that plagued his late night thoughts and dominated his fantasies.

He pressed his lips against her clit, inhaling deeply. Scully whimpered and his cock twitched.

At the first stroke of his tongue against her, they both moaned.

“Oh, fuck.”

Scully’s voice was tight, her grip in his hair tighter.

He lapped at her again, spreading wetness up and around her clit. She shifted her legs wider with a moan and he threw himself into his task with even more enthusiasm. No fantasy could’ve done this justice.

As he continued to lick and suck at her clit, her moans became louder and more frequent until they were near constant, interspersed with gasps of ‘fuck’ and ‘Mulder’ and ‘right there’. He had seriously underestimated how vocal Scully would be in bed, he wouldn’t be surprised if they got a noise complaint and he was only just getting started. Her surprising lack of inhibition only turned him on more.

Her hips rocked up over and over again, fucking herself against his face with increasing desperation. She was dripping down his chin and he couldn’t be happier.

Occasionally, he would dip down to her entrance and circle it with his tongue. On one such occasion, she made a strangled sound in her throat and her hips jolted.

“More.” She gasped out. “Mulder, I need-.”

He knew straightaway and let go of one of her thighs to bring his hand between her legs. He pressed his middle finger inside her, looking up between her legs to see her eyes roll back as she released a low, throaty moan. His finger curled against her front wall and he stroked slowly in and out.

“More.”

He obeyed, a second finger joining the first, his tongue returning to her clit.

“God.” Scully groaned. “Feels so good.”

Mulder gradually picked up the pace, paying careful attention to the sounds she made and the rhythm of her hips. He pushed against the back of her thigh with his free hand, opening her up to him even further, and moaned when he felt more wetness coat his fingers in response.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Scully panted. “Don’t stop.”

Her hips rocked in time with his thrusts, taking him as deep as she could. He knew he’d hit the perfect spot when her back arched and her thighs started shaking, her whole body trembling beneath his tongue.

“Oh god.” She gasped. “I’m gonna-.”

That was all the warning Mulder got before her thighs clamped around his head and her walls clamped around his fingers. She practically smothered him with the intensity of her orgasm but god , what a way to go.

He couldn’t believe he was making Scully come. Scully . His only regret was not being able to see her face but the night was still young.

Mulder continued licking and sucking at her gently, slowly bringing her down from her high, until she pulled him away. She dragged him up her body and met his lips with a hungry kiss. Her tongue slipped into his mouth, tasting herself. Fuck, that was hot.

She broke the kiss and sighed contentedly.

“I knew you’d be good at that.”

“Oh, really?”

“Two words, Mulder.” She smirked at him. “Sunflower. Seeds.”

She punctuated her words with two gentle pokes to his ass cheek and he laughed, ducking down to kiss her again. He couldn’t get enough of this woman.

Scully wrapped her legs around him, pressing her pelvis against his as she kissed him languidly. His boxers were the only layer that remained between them.

She pushed at his shoulder, encouraging him to roll over, and straddled him with zero hesitation. He wanted to burn this image into his brain, etch it into his retinas and never look at anything again for the rest of his life. She was completely naked, skin flushed the most beautiful shade of pink, smiling down at him almost shyly as she rocked her hips against him. Her fingers dipped into his waistband and he jerked against her.

“I want to see you.” She said quietly, sliding down his thighs.

His cock was straining against his boxers and the outline of his head was visible under the thin, damp material. Scully ran a finger over his firm length, her nails softly scratching him, and he shuddered.

“Take them off.”

He did as she requested and when she returned to his lap, she was staring down at his cock in awe. Understandable, really. Even Mulder was surprised that a human being could get his hard.

“I knew you must be big but god, Mulder.”

They would definitely be addressing that statement later. She knew ? Presently, however, he was far too occupied to be asking questions as she took him fully in her gentle grasp.

“Is this all for me?”

“Always, Scully.”

She must have heard the seriousness in his tone because she tore her eyes away then, meeting his gaze. Her focus drifted between his face and his crotch and she licked her lips as if deep in thought. When she shuffled further down his legs, he realized exactly what the thought was.

“Scully, I won’t last if you do that.” He warned.

She pouted, stroking her thumb delicately against his tip as if to say ‘are you sure?’.

“Next time.” He promised.

Scully raised an eyebrow before leaning over his torso, kissing his abs, chest, shoulders, neck and finally his cheek. She pulled back to look into his eyes. Their lips were mere millimeters apart.

“There’s going to be a next time?”

Surprisingly, her tone wasn’t teasing. It was a hopeful whisper.

In response, he pulled her down into a passionate kiss, trying to convey just how much she meant to him, how certain he was that there would be a next time if he had anything to do with it.

His fingers tangled in her hair and she gasped as he unintentionally tugged a little harder than necessary. She was rocking against him insistently now, hips slipping further backwards with each movement. Suddenly, his cock was very much against her ass and she whimpered into his mouth.

She lifted her hips and adjusted them so that she was pressing onto him. His cock was now trapped between her cunt and his stomach and when she began to slide along his length, they both moaned. Back and forth, she coated him with her wetness, little noises escaping her mouth as her clit brushed against him.

Mulder thought he might die if he didn’t get to be inside her soon. Luckily, Scully appeared to have a similar thought. Pulling back, she met his eyes once again, wordlessly asking for what they both needed. He nodded.

She raised herself up, slicking her hand over his length a couple more times, and then positioned him at her entrance. He was torn between looking at her face and watching the place where they were finally, finally about to join. He settled for flicking between both.

Scully’s eyes rolled back as she pressed the first inch inside.

“You ok?” Mulder’s voice was strained, hands skating over her sides as he resisted grabbing her hips and shoving inside her.

Scully nodded and they both moaned as she sank down further. She was so fucking warm and wet, walls fluttering around him as she adjusted.

They both watched as the last couple of inches slowly disappeared inside her. When her pelvis met his, she groaned and circled her hips.

“Don’t move.” Scully breathed. “I just want to feel you for a moment.”

He understood. As much as he was desperate to move, the feeling of being completely connected after all this time was indescribable. He’d held out this long, he could control himself for a few more seconds.

Slowly, Scully began to lift herself and sink back down. Her mouth dropped open in pleasure.

“Fuck, Scully.” Mulder murmured. “You’re incredible.”

It was true. If heaven were real, this would be it.

“Move.” She pleaded.

You don’t need to tell me twice, Mulder thought. He held onto her hips and pressed up into her, meeting her thrusts. He could get even deeper with their combined effort. She gasped when they got the angle right and his cock bumped against her g-spot with every stroke.

Gradually, they picked up the pace until they were moving frantically against one another. Scully braced her hands against his chest.

“Oh fuck.” She gasped.

Her breasts were bouncing on her chest as he pounded into her over and over again. His fingers dug into her hips so hard there’d likely be bruises in the morning but she didn’t seem to mind, in fact the quiet moan in the back of her throat every time he tightened his grip indicated that she might actually be enjoying the rough treatment. He filed that little piece of information away for later.

She was panting now, slamming her hips down against his to meet his every thrust even as her thighs began to tremble. She moaned loudly at a particularly hard thrust and collapsed forward, her face buried in his neck.

Mulder’s hands slipped to her ass and squeezed as he encouraged her to rock against him. Her movements were getting sloppy though and she whimpered and mouthed at his skin.

“Fuck me.” She moaned. “Please, Mulder.”

He understood immediately and flipped them. Scully whined as he slipped out of her but he didn’t keep her waiting long, thrusting back inside of her as soon as they were in position.

Scully cried out and arched up into him. Her legs came up to wrap around his waist and her nails dug into his shoulders, needing something to cling onto.

“You feel so fucking good.” Mulder groaned.

He wasn’t going to last much longer. Scully had grown wetter and wetter and the lewd sounds of their fucking were pushing him closer to the edge.

“Tell me what you were thinking about earlier. In the shower.”

He didn’t know where that had come from but he suddenly had to know.

“Mulderrrr.” Scully whined, clearly not in the mood for talking.

“Tell me.” He insisted.

“Fuck.”

Scully groaned and turned to press her face into his arm.

“Were you thinking about this?” He asked, although he knew what her answer would be.

She nodded.

“Do you always think about us when you touch yourself?”

His words were heavy with exertion, the two of them covered in a thin sheen of sweat.

“Yes.” She gasped.

“Show me.”

Scully moaned. One of her hands instantly fell from his back, slipping between their bodies.

Her moans increased tenfold when her fingers met her clit, her eyes flying open to meet his.

“Feel good?”

The way her hips writhed against him said it all.

“Kiss me.” She pleaded.

He did so without question, their mouths meeting clumsily. When her whimpers and gasps began to increase in pitch, he knew the end was in sight. He could feel her hand moving frantically against herself, her knuckles brushing against his skin.

“So close.” She whispered.

So was he. She was tightening around him and it took all of his strength to keep going. He would not come before her.

“Oh my god, oh my god.” She chanted and then suddenly she was tensing, her walls spasming around him. “Fuck!”

Mulder dropped his head to her shoulder, thrusting into her once, twice more before he was coming along with her, moaning her name into her skin.

Jesus Christ.

He kissed Scully’s shoulder and then her forehead before reluctantly pulling away and slipping out of her. She winced and he whispered an apology. He lay down beside her, their chests heaving in unison.

He stretched an arm out, making a space for Scully, who took the hint and rolled into his side, palm resting against his chest. He brushed his lips against the top of her head.

“We’re pretty good at that.”

“Mm.” She responded tiredly. “We should’ve done it sooner.”

He wondered if she knew how long he’d been waiting. How long he’d been wanting. He wondered if she knew he was in love with her.

“I can hear you thinking.” She murmured.

“Just wondering how we’ll explain the extra charge for noise disturbance on our expense report.”

She smacked a palm against his chest.

“What?!”

She giggled at his mock surprise, honest-to-god giggled . Post-coital Scully was adorable.

“I love you.” She said suddenly. His heart stopped. “In case you were wondering.”

She turned to look up at him and he saw the truth right there in her eyes. He wasn’t the only one who had been waiting and wanting.

“I love you too.” He said. “More than you’ll ever know.”

“I know, Mulder.”

The thread between them snapped.

[allthinxxfiles]

Two puzzle pieces. Made for each other. Somewhere in the sky an old Lord, in that moment, had finally found them - Alessandro Baricco

[ao3feed-swanqueen]

and they were roommates, oh my god they were roommates

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2p1LGdS

by lovesicksapphic

The one where Emma is a so-called lesbian casanova, Regina is horrific at identifying her own emotions and they’re both oblivious as hell. Lighthearted, tropey goodness because I miss these idiots.

Words: 1423, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Once Upon a Time (TV)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/F

Characters: Emma Swan, Evil Queen | Regina Mills, Belle (Once Upon a Time)

Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan

Additional Tags: College AU, homophobia but it's not really homophobia, some other ladies appear but i promise it's a swanqueen story

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2p1LGdS

[lovesicks4pphic]

Beneath The Surface

(Chapter 1 of 2)

Rating: E 

Summary: Early S5. Erotically-charged parasite checks.

Read on AO3 here. 

Another case, another road trip, another unexplained phenomenon.

This one had led them to a small town at the edge of a vast forest - a forest that the locals believed held the key to recent mysterious deaths. The most popular theory, and the one Mulder argued was most plausible, was that recent logging activity had uncovered something deadly. However, until they could either prove or debunk said theory, they were stuck there.

As night fell, the forest was plunged into darkness, eerily still and shrouded in silence. The waning crescent of the moon cast a mere sliver of light, barely enough to make out much under the thick cover of the evergreens.

Nestled there amongst the trees was a hunting lodge, the agents’ home for the night. With its cozy interior of wood-paneled walls and rustic decor, it was almost possible to forget the dangerous unknown that lurked in the shadows.

Scully glanced down at her watch. 1.45am. The fire crackled quietly in the corner of the room, the only real sound as the unlikely group pored over files and photographs.

“Alright, folks. I’m calling it a day.” The burly sheriff sighed, rubbing his hand over tired eyes. “We’ll head back out in the morning, there’s nothing more we can do now.”

He stood, pausing to give them a somber look.

“Any of you get in trouble, you shout.”

There were a few weary acknowledgements in response. The reminder of the danger they were facing was entirely unnecessary. The sheriff gave one final nod to the room, readjusted his belt, and disappeared upstairs. That left just Mulder, Scully, a local journalist, a park ranger and a guy who worked at the nearest gas station.

Not long after, the others followed.

“He’s right.” The ranger tossed the pictures he’d been looking at onto the table. “This is bullshit. I’m going to bed.”

“Agreed.” The gas station attendant said.

“Don’t stay up too late, you two.” The journalist waved to the agents.

Scully looked up from the file in her lap and gave him a polite smile. She couldn’t promise that.

Footsteps retreated into the hallway and the stairs creaked before it was silent once again. Scully glanced over at her partner. This was the first time they’d been alone since arriving in town that morning. His stance mirrored her own as they sat cross-legged on the carpet, his floppy hair falling in his face and the shadow of his jaw illuminated by the soft light of the fire.

“Mulder.” She said, and he met her gaze instantly. “What do you really think happened to the deputy?”

He shrugged.

“Exactly what the sheriff told us, Scully. You saw the marks on his spine.”

The deputy had been the third victim in as many weeks to be found dead in the forest, face-down in the undergrowth. Autopsies had revealed strange welts on their backs, like something had been trying to escape. The cause of death was still a mystery. To Scully, it appeared as though their bodies had been devoured from the inside out.

“But it makes no sense how this parasite moves between hosts. The three victims have no relation to one another, in fact it’s not clear whether they ever met.”

“It’s a small town, Scully. They’ve met.” Mulder raised a brow. “But they didn’t get it through close contact. They got it from here, from the forest. The answer has to be out there.”

He gestured to the window, to the seemingly infinite darkness just outside.

Part of Scully wanted to roll her eyes at his insistence, at his typically confident belief in his theories. But the other part of her, admittedly a far larger portion, felt a warmth rush through her, a thrill unlike any other.

Two months ago, she was laying in a hospital bed, watching Mulder leave for what she truly believed might be the last time. The fear of never seeing him again, of him continuing their journey alone, was so close to a reality. It was nothing short of a miracle that she was here now, beside him again.

Her cancer had revealed to her just how much she relied on him, on their work. It had kept her going. And then, when it couldn’t, he had been there for her, undeterred by Bill’s glares, smiling down at her despite it all. The press of his lips to her cheeks, her hands, was a lifeline in the face of uncertainty.

Presently, sitting there across from him, she had a new-found sense of appreciation for this man and his predictability. There were other feelings too, ones that had lay dormant for a while but were slowly re-emerging as her strength returned and her body thrummed with life once again. She feared that the flush on her cheeks might give those particular feelings away if she stared at him much longer.

“You okay, Scully?” Mulder asked, eyebrows furrowed in concern at her silent gaze.

She’d been caught.

“I’m fine.” She looked away and started fussing with the paper around her before standing, shuffling awkwardly. “I think I’ll head up too.”

He nodded and rose to his feet, apparently ready for bed too, much to Scully’s surprise. She sometimes wondered if he ever slept at all. Without a word, he followed as she ascended the stairs.

The lodge they were staying at had four bedrooms. The journalist was in a single room whilst one of the twin rooms had been assigned to the sheriff and ranger and the other to the gas station guy and Mulder. As the only woman, the sheriff had been insistent that Scully take the double room.

Scully went to push open her door when she heard Mulder call out to her quietly. She turned to face him. He had his back to the door of his own room, watching her cautiously. At her expectant expression, he crossed the small space between them.

“I don’t feel comfortable leaving you, Scully.” He admitted, his voice low as not to wake the others.

“I can take care of myself, Mulder.”

She opened the door and stepped inside but he was right behind her.

“What if you can’t?”

“Mulder, if I start to feel unwell, I’ll let you know.”

“But that’s the thing, Scully.” He was still speaking quietly but his tone carried a sense of urgency. “You won’t know until it’s too late.”

She wasn’t stupid, she knew he was being overly-protective because of what had happened to her, still so fresh in both their minds. Arguing with him was the last thing she wanted right now but she wasn’t sure if her reassurance would be enough.

“Mulder.” She sighed. “If any of us were going to become infected, it would most likely be you. You were the one jumping in ditches, climbing up trees and poking around in that gunk.”

He was silent, his eyes falling to the floor. For a moment, she thought maybe she had convinced him. Then he looked up and the intensity in his gaze almost knocked her over.

“I can’t lose you, Scully.” He said. “I won’t.”

It was like a punch to the gut.

“Okay.” She whispered. “Okay.”

She swallowed, slightly fearful of the answer to the question she was about to ask.

“Do you want to check me?”

He nodded, face unreadable.

“Okay, just- um.”

“You can check me first.” He offered. “If that would make you more comfortable.”

Nothing about this would be comfortable but at least it might give her some more time to mentally prepare for his reciprocation. She could already feel those new-but-not-so-new feelings swirling in her gut, visions of the last time they had done this playing out in her mind.

A storage locker in the arctic, the soft expanse of his skin beneath her palms, his solid hand on the back of her neck. They hadn’t even ventured further than the shoulders and it was enough to plague her fantasies for months. They hardly even knew each other back then. That was before they had been forced apart and come back to each other like magnets over and over again, before she had fucked someone else and thought about him, before she nearly kissed someone else thinking it was him, before she almost died without telling him how she really felt.

“Sure.” She agreed, hoping she sounded more certain than she was.

She turned the lamp on beside her bed, casting the room in a warm light. It was just enough for the purpose of what they were about to do without being too harsh. Although harsh might’ve been better, more clinical. Getting nearly naked with Mulder in a softly-lit bedroom felt like crossing a line.  

“We only need to check each other’s backs. Just the bits we can’t do ourselves.” He said as he began unbuttoning his shirt.

He’d never had any qualms about changing in front of her and now here he was again, stripping down with zero hesitation. Was he that keen to feel her touch? Did he share the same desires as her? Or was he simply unbothered?

“You’ll need to be firm though.” He continued, pulling her from her musings. “We don’t know how deep this thing can bury.”

He was dropping his clothes onto an ottoman at the foot of her bed as he removed them, revealing more and more skin. He was facing away from Scully so thankfully he couldn’t see the way her eyes were drawn to the muscles rippling in his back.

When he was down to just his boxer briefs and socks, he threw her a look over his shoulder.

“Ready when you are.”

Scully stepped closer, willing her heart to stop racing. She was checking him for a deadly parasite so that he wouldn’t get eaten alive during his sleep. It was decidedly unsexual. But when she entered his personal space, the scent of his cologne and something else entirely him encompassed her, drawing her to him, and she felt her knees go weak. If the parasite didn’t kill her, this just might.

“Bend down a little.” She instructed quietly.

He did just that, widening his stance and shifting himself slightly lower. This was better, she thought, now she could reach his head. She’d checked this part of him a thousand times over the years, looking for bumps and bruises while he of course insisted that he was fine. This would be a nice, neutral place to start, she thought.

She ran her fingers through his hair, focusing on the task at hand to avoid thinking about what came next. Lean muscles beneath her fingertips, the dip of his spine, those long, toned runner’s legs.

“Mm.” He hummed in his throat when her nails unintentionally scraped his scalp. She froze, the sound sending heat straight to her core. Her cheeks reddened. So much for neutral.

“Your head’s clear.” She announced. “You can stand up straight again.”

She took a deep breath, now eye-level with his shoulders. Slowly, she reached out, pressing her thumbs into the flesh of his neck, gently at first and then firmer like he’d said, sliding them down and across. Moving slightly lower, she repeated the action.

“That feels nice.” He said. She couldn’t tell if she was imagining the hint of roughness in his voice. “If the G-woman career ever fails, you could make a pretty good masseuse, Scully.”

“Thanks.” She blushed, grateful he couldn’t see her reaction to the praise.

She continued feeling her way along his shoulders. It was probably a more thorough inspection than strictly necessary, and whilst she had started out with the intention of getting this over and done with as quickly as possible, she found herself getting lost in the feel of him. His skin was so warm and pliant beneath her touch, it was almost hypnotic. The urge to press her lips against him struck her, unbidden.

He groaned suddenly when her thumb encountered a knot and her heart leapt into her throat.

“Sorry.” She whispered.

“No, it’s okay.” He replied, definitely huskier now. “Feels good.”

He rolled his shoulders a few times and tilted his head side-to-side, working out the kinks. When he stilled again, she tentatively resumed her inspection.

The silence hung heavy in the air as she reached his lower back, pressing her fingers into the skin just above his waistband, staring at the dimples there. Though they hadn’t discussed it, she knew he wasn’t expecting her to start kneading his ass. She let herself imagine it though, just for a moment, her gaze dropping to the round flesh defined by the tight cotton of his underwear.

What would it feel like, she wondered. She pictured him above her, strong arms either side of her head, dark eyes staring down into her own as he moved between her legs, her fingers digging into his ass and pulling him against her, forcing him deeper, harder.  

“Scully?”

“Sorry.” She quickly apologized, realizing she had been totally spaced out and tracing the same patch of skin on his hip over and over. “You’re clear.”

“Okay.” He sighed, sounding relieved.

“I’ll do your legs next.”

He looked over his shoulder, probably to ask if she wanted to change positions, but she was already dropping to her knees behind him. She heard him make a choked little sound in his throat but she did her best to ignore it, just as she tried to ignore the fact that his ass was now right there.

She started with his calves, thumbs running over the firm muscle. Above her, she could tell that he was holding his breath. He would go silent for a few moments and then release a shaky exhale. Sometimes his breath caught on a slight groan and she’d shiver in response.

When she reached his thighs, she felt his hamstrings twitching beneath the pads of her fingers. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted his fists clenching and unclenching and her stomach bottomed out at the thought of him being just as aroused as she was.

She wondered if he turned around whether there’d be a bulge in his boxers. The image of it had her feeling dizzy. She wished he would turn around. See her on her knees before him. Gently thread his fingers through her hair, brush his clothed cock against her cheek before slipping it free and guiding it into her mouth. She knew it was filthy, but she no longer cared.

Her thoughts were spiraling fast. She couldn’t remember ever wanting him this badly before. She felt feral with the urge to touch and taste, to have her mouth on every inch of him.  Her clit throbbed and she clenched her thighs together. If she had ever had any doubts about whether her sex drive would return to her, those worries were certainly quashed now. It was back with a vengeance.

“Are you done?” Mulder’s voice interrupted and she blinked, jolted back to the sharp reality of the situation they were in.

“Yeah.” She swallowed. “Yes, you’re all clear.”

She sat back on her haunches, shaking her head in an attempt to clear her mind, while he grabbed his vest and pants and slipped them back on, keeping his back to her all the while.

As he fiddled with his buttons and zipper, she got back to her feet, feeling a little unsteady.

“Okay.” He turned to her, his face strangely unreadable. “Your turn.”

[lovesicks4pphic]

Make Me Yours

Rating: E

Summary: Based on the prompt: Agent Scully likes to be spanked.

Read on AO3 here. 

In many ways, Dana Scully knew that she was anything but stereotypical. Her chosen profession and rational, level-headed approach often raised eyebrows, with assumptions made about either her gender or her faith. Sometimes both.

Even after all these years, some of her peers were shocked upon discovering that the incredibly skilled ‘Doctor Scully’ they’d heard so much about was in fact a 5 foot 2 woman in a skirt and heels with a cross around her neck. Misogyny remained alive and well, it seemed.

When it came to her personal life, however, Scully knew she had a tendency to fall into a pattern. Eager to please, she sought out older men, men with authority, men whose attention she’d have to fight for, even becoming ‘the other woman’ for Daniel. It was a predictable, never-ending cycle of craving approval and craving rebellion.

Melissa had always joked about their shared ‘daddy issues’, although hers had manifested in a totally different way. Melissa’s free-spirited nature was worlds away from anything their stern military father could comprehend.

Whilst Melissa was always quite happy to joke about it, Scully found it more difficult to discuss. There was nothing wrong with her preferences, she had tried on many occasions to reassure herself of that, but she couldn’t shake the embarrassment, the feeling that she should want something different. There’s that famous Catholic guilt, she thought.

Unbeknownst to most, her need to please ran a little deeper. It took her a while to even admit it to herself, swallowing down the rush she felt whenever she imagined her partner gripping her wrists or forcing her to her knees in the throes of passion.

Melissa had eventually got it out of her after multiple glasses of wine when the topic of conversation turned to her boyfriend at the time, Ethan.

“I don’t get it, Dana.” Melissa had said. “I thought you two were happy.”

She should be happy, she thought. He was thoughtful and kind, the perfect man on paper, but there was something missing. Blame it on the alcohol, or the months of sexual frustration, but there was no stopping the words that fell out of Scully’s mouth.

“He’s not rough enough with me.” She blurted.

“Rough enough?”

Scully blushed but Melissa’s tone was more curious than judgemental.

“I don’t know.” She sighed. “He’s a sweet guy but he’s too… nice.”

“Don’t you want someone who’s nice to you?” Melissa asked gently.

“I want someone who makes me feel alive.”

It was as much of an explanation as she could give. She could barely make sense of it herself.

Scully knew Mulder must have sensed it the moment she stepped into his office. His goddamn, world-renowned profiling skills probably spotted her submissive streak a mile off.

Now that they were together, at long last, she was even more convinced that it would come as no surprise to him. There was no hiding the flood of desire she experienced when he grabbed her hips and flipped her over without warning. Nor was there any denying the volume of her moans when he brought his lips close to her ear and told her how good she felt.

Curled up against him, sweaty and satiated, it seemed like the right moment for her confession.

“Mulder.” She started. Her voice was quiet, small, and she cursed herself for being so nervous. This was Mulder, Mulder, the last person on Earth who would judge her.

“Mm?”

“Can I talk to you about something?”

His arm tensed around her and she quickly placed a hand on his chest to reassure him, looking up to meet his eyes.

“It’s nothing bad.”

He nodded, sagging slightly in relief.

“Anything, Scully. Shoot.”

Here goes nothing.

“You may have noticed that I enjoy it when you’re a bit… rougher… with me.”

Mulder chuckled and pulled her closer.

“I have, yes.”

“I was wondering if we- I mean if you- Could we try-.” Scully’s cheeks tinged pink as she struggled to find the words. “Sorry.”

Mulder stayed silent, giving her space to continue. They had mastered the art of unspoken communication over the years. A simple look was all the encouragement she needed.

“I want more. Of that.”

“You want me to be more dominant with you?”

Scully swallowed and nodded. The jolt of arousal she felt from the question alone was a good indication that yes, that’s exactly what she wanted.

She dropped her gaze, her fingers tracing patterns on his chest while she figured out how exactly to put it into words.

“In the past, men I’ve been with have tended to treat me like I’m made of glass.” She explained.

“Even Jerse?”

“I never- we didn’t sleep together.” She clarified quickly.

“Oh.” He sounded surprised. “Sorry, continue.”

“Maybe it’s because people see me as reserved or uptight. Or maybe it’s just that they think they’ll break me because I’m smaller than them.”

She wrinkled her nose as if rejecting the notion and Mulder laughed.

“Well, you are pretty short.” He teased, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, before becoming more serious. “You could still kick their asses though. And mine.”

Scully smiled and pressed a kiss to his shoulder, grateful for his ability to delicately balance light-hearted quips and sincere understanding.

“The way they treated me… I’ve always craved something more.” She said, returning to her original point. “You’re the first person who’s really picked up on that so I’ve been wanting to ask you for this… for more.”

Mulder nodded and Scully could see his jaw clench and unclench as he mulled over her proposition.

“What exactly are you asking for here, Scully?” His tone was thoughtful, not harsh in any way. “Do we need to discuss your limits? Should we have a safeword?”

Scully’s eyes widened. This clearly wasn’t his first rodeo. She tried not to think of him having this conversation with anyone else, instead choosing to focus on the fact that this was sounding like a yes.

Mulder must’ve interpreted her surprise differently as he rushed to clarify.

“I just mean- there’s a lot of options here and I don’t want to take things too far.” He explained. “I would hate to make you uncomfortable.”

Scully nodded. He was right, of course. The possibilities were endless and there was a chance she may not enjoy them all. With him though, she was open to anything. She wanted them to take this journey together.

“I trust you. I’ll tell you if I need you to stop.” She looked into his eyes so he could see the truth in them. She lifted her hand to his face, cupping his cheek, and her voice was barely more than a whisper when she spoke again. “I want you to take me, Mulder. To make me yours.”

“Jesus, Scully.”

He was watching her with such intensity, brushing his fingers over her cheekbones. She could sense the arousal taking hold of him, his mind running through a million scenarios.

“I want…” Scully continued quietly. “I want whatever you want. I want to please you.”

His lips quirked.

“I see.” He ran his thumb over her bottom lip, gently tugging it away from her teeth before releasing it. “You want to be my good girl, don’t you, Scully?”

Fuck.

“Yeah.” She breathed shakily.

His hand drifted slowly down her body, running over the curve of her hip.

“And what if you’re not?” He asked, voice growing husky. “Do you want me to punish you? Spank you?”

Scully whimpered. He was a little too good at this. She should’ve known. There had always been an undercurrent of passion and possessiveness beneath that playful exterior of his.

His fingers continued their movements, now tracing over the sensitive skin of her inner thigh, and she shivered. He had already made her come twice that evening, but she wanted him again, badly. Her body was alight with anticipation in a way she’d never felt before.

He leaned in, bringing his face closer to hers. All the while, his fingertips danced higher and higher, and she squirmed beneath him.

“Touch me.” She pleaded against his lips. He ignored her, deliberately avoiding the place she so desperately wanted him. As frustrating as it was to be taunted, it was only arousing her further. “Please.”

Her voice came out as a whine and he must’ve taken pity on her because his hand moved even higher and then his thumb brushed her clit and she moaned into his mouth.

He took his time playing with her, tracing his fingers over every inch of her before he finally, finally, dipped down to circle her entrance. She felt dizzy with need.

“Fuck, Scully.” Mulder groaned. “You’re soaked.”

“For you.” She breathed.

Their eyes met, his gaze dark and dangerous. In that moment, Scully knew that she had unlocked something powerful, that he was in this just as much as she was.

When he slid two fingers inside her, she gasped in relief. She arched her back to take him deeper, clawing at his bicep, and that was the end of his teasing.  

He fucked her roughly, muttering filthy things in her ear until she was trembling and dripping down his hand, coming harder than she could ever remember.

That was definitely a yes.

-

It had been a whole week since their conversation, a whole week without exploring anything further. Scully had introduced a ‘no sex on company time’ rule back when they first got together and was now regretting it more than ever.

They had technically been on the clock 24/7, sleeping in separate motel rooms at night and trying their best to focus on the case during the day. Trying being the operative word. After the other night, all she could think about was him and what might happen the next time he got his hands on her.

They were back in DC but the case was still ongoing. Mulder was getting called out to locations across the city every night while Scully was stuck at the lab. There was no time for sleepovers and Scully was growing impatient.

It was a Friday morning when she finally snapped, her hand down her pajama pants after a particularly explicit dream about him, again. Fuck the rules.

A few hours later, she sat beside Mulder at the back of a conference room enduring yet another mind-numbing meeting about this stupid case that wasn’t even an X-File. He was stroking her thigh under the table, apparently just as bored and just as horny as her. His fingers slipped beneath the hem of her skirt and she held her breath, waiting for his reaction when he discovered her little secret.

He reached where the edge of her underwear should be and froze. She dug her teeth into her bottom lip to hold back a moan. He turned in his seat and leaned into her, his stubble grazing her cheek and his lips brushing the shell of her ear.

“Where are your panties, Scully?”

His voice was low so that only she could hear and its huskiness sent a shiver down her spine.

“I didn’t feel like wearing any today.” She murmured against his skin.

The responding growl in the back of his throat had her throbbing. If she wasn’t already worried about there being a damp spot on her chair when she stood up, she definitely would be now.

When they returned to the basement, he walked over to his desk, sat down and began reading a file without saying a word. Scully frowned. That wouldn’t do. Not when she had just spent the last thirty minutes picturing him shoving her against the wall and fucking her until she couldn’t walk straight.

She knew what she had to do. It felt a little silly, another cliché to add to her collection, but if it paid off it would be more than worth it.

She positioned herself directly in his line of sight, not that he was even looking up right now, the asshole, and dropped the pen and notepad she was holding, letting them fall to the floor with a clatter.

Mulder’s head snapped up at the noise. Got him. She turned and bent over to pick up her items, knowing full well the show he was getting.

She heard his chair scrape and she quickly straightened up, adjusting her skirt, but she didn’t dare turn around. His footsteps drew closer until his breath was hot against her ear and his hands grasped her hips.

“Are you trying to kill me, Scully?”

She opened her mouth to speak but he gripped her harder and all that came out was a whimper.

“I want you to go home now.” He said. “I’ll be over in an hour. Don’t change. I want you wearing exactly this. Understood?”

Jesus. His authoritative tone almost made her knees buckle there and then. She nodded, her pulse thrumming, and he released her.

She grabbed her things and drove home on autopilot, tapping her fingers against the wheel as her mind raced. When she got home, she couldn’t sit still. She paced around her apartment, flicking her wrist every few minutes to check her watch. Her heart felt like it might beat out of her chest.

His knock made her jump and she rushed over to open the door.

“Mulder, hi.” Her voice was breathy.

Without saying a word, he wrapped his fingers around her wrist and walked them to the bedroom. When they reached the foot of her bed, he let her go. She instantly missed his touch and shifted anxiously as he shrugged off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves. God, he looked good.

He sat down at the edge of the mattress and locked eyes with her.

“Come here.”

Her tongue darted out to wet her lips and she took a step towards him, maintaining eye contact as she lifted a knee to straddle him. He shook his head, pushing her knee back down. She frowned. Oh. Oh.

She crawled onto the bed beside him and bent over his lap, her torso pressed against his thighs and her knees and elbows supported on either side of him by the mattress.

He stroked her hip over the fabric of her pencil skirt.

“Is this okay?” He asked, his voice softer than when he last spoke.

“Yes.” She whispered.

It was more than okay. This was everything she had ever wanted. She could feel herself trembling, adrenaline pumping through her veins. She arched her back a little further, sticking her ass out for him in case her verbal confirmation wasn’t enough.

Armed with her consent, his hand slid lower, pushing her skirt up over her hips to expose her. It was a vulnerable position to be in but her arousal far outweighed her embarrassment. She dropped her head to her forearms, hair tickling her skin.

“You’re wet.” He stated.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I’ve been wet since I got dressed this morning.” She admitted quietly.

“Since you decided to come to work without any underwear on.”

“Yes.”

If he didn’t touch her soon, he might finally have some evidence of spontaneous human combustion.

“Even though you were the one who said we have to behave ourselves at work.” It was said as a statement but she knew he was looking for an answer.

The accusation in his voice really should’ve pissed her off but instead made her head spin with a feeling she couldn’t name. He squeezed her ass firmly and she suddenly remembered he was awaiting a reply.

“Yes.” She squeaked as he groped her.

“It feels like you were teasing me, Scully. That’s not very kind.” He said. “I thought you wanted to be good for me.”

“I do.” She insisted, just about reaching her breaking point. “Oh God, I do. Mulder, please.”

She wriggled her hips, trying to encourage him to touch her, to do something, anything, before she totally lost her mind.

He slapped her ass and she jumped, stilling immediately. It wasn’t hard at all but the shock of it was enough.

“Since this is new for you, Scully, I’m only going to spank you nine more times. Ten in total.” He explained carefully. “I want you to count them for me, starting with two. Can you do that?”

She nodded, lifting her ass higher for him. Fuck, she needed this. She was so fucking ready.

His hand came down against her, harder this time, more purposeful.

“Two.” She gasped.

Immediately, there was a third slap, which she counted aloud, breathless. Four and five were choked out around moans.

“This doesn’t feel like much of a punishment, Scully.” Mulder admonished. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

His patronizing tone went straight to her clit. She writhed around on his lap, seeking more contact. Her face flushed as she realized she could feel wetness trickling down her thigh.

“Don’t stop.” She panted. “Please.”

He spanked her again and she let out a strangled cry.

“Count, Scully.”

“Shit.” She let out a ragged breath. “Six.”

He hummed, pleased, and then struck her again. And again. By the ninth, her legs were shaking.

“One more, baby.”

She swallowed and nodded, the pet name making her all the more desperate to please him. As his palm met her ass for the final time, she moaned loudly.

“Ten.”

She didn’t even register the word leaving her lips, too focused on the stinging sensation, the way her whole body felt like a livewire.

“Good girl.” Mulder said, smoothing a hand over her ass, and she shivered at the praise. “You did so well.”

She knew her ass must be pink, her skin had always been sensitive, and she desperately wished she could see it. She hoped he would give it to her even harder next time. She wanted him to leave marks, evidence of his possession.

His hand slid down to her center and he ran two fingers through her wetness.

“All this because I spanked you.” He murmured. “Such a dirty girl.”

He brought his dripping fingers to her lips and she opened her mouth for him without hesitation, moaning around the digits.

“That’s it.” He praised, and then he was returning his hand to her entrance and pushing those same fingers deep inside her.

“Oh, God.” She groaned in satisfaction.

His thrusts gradually got faster and rougher and her eyes rolled back in her head. She could hear the squishing sound of the wetness between her legs with every stroke and it only turned her on more.

“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” Mulder goaded. “You just couldn’t wait.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She panted, rocking her hips greedily. She was already so close.

She could feel his rock hard erection through their clothes, present since she had first lay down but getting more and more difficult to ignore as she ground against him. Fuck. She wanted to come with him inside her, it was all she’d thought about for a week. She told him as much, gasping out the words.

“I am inside you.” Mulder replied, thrusting his fingers harder for emphasis.

Scully whined.

“No- no- I want…”

He stilled.

“Say it, Scully.”

Even bent over his lap with him knuckle deep inside her, she felt a twinge of embarrassment about saying the word, but she knew he wouldn’t move again until she said it. She swallowed.

“Your cock.”

“Do you think you deserve it?” Mulder questioned, resuming his rhythm and curling his fingers inside her. “What if I want you to come like this?”

“Please, Mulder. I want your cock, I’ll be so good for you.” She was babbling now, past the point of caring. “Please, I need it.”

Mulder growled and slipped out of her.

“Stand up.”

She scrambled to her feet, chest heaving as he began unbuttoning her shirt. He quickly unzipped her skirt and unhooked her bra, kicking her feet to prompt her into taking off her heels. He made no effort to undress himself, other than taking off his own shoes, and there was something about being fully naked while he was still in his suit. If she wasn’t so desperate to come, she would drop to her knees and beg to take him down her throat.

“Get on the bed.”

She didn’t have to be told twice. She positioned herself on her hands and knees, hoping that’s what he was implying. She arched her spine and pressed her breasts into the mattress. Her nipples were so sensitive, even the brush of the sheets against them had her shuddering.

She felt the bed dip and then he was behind her, tracing his fingers down her spine and over her tattoo before grabbing her ass and pulling her cheeks apart ever so slightly. She knew he must be able to see the arousal leaking out of her.

“I can’t believe this is all for me.” His voice was quiet, sincere. “I’m so fucking lucky.”

“All for you.” She repeated in a whisper.

“Having you put your trust in me like this, Scully, knowing I’m fulfilling your deepest fantasies.” He swallowed thickly. “It’s so fucking sexy.”

He had started stroking her clit again, ever so gently, and she twitched, pushing her hips back against him.

“Please, Mulder.” Her voice cracked. “I can’t wait any longer.”

“Okay, baby. Okay.” He soothed.

She heard the buckle of his belt followed by his zipper and she clenched her thighs together. She didn’t know the sound of someone’s clothes could be so erotic.

Then he was there, nudging her legs apart and pressing against her entrance. He pushed inside her in a single stroke and they both gasped. Scully could feel herself spasming around him, the stretch of him exactly what she needed.

After giving her a moment to adjust, Mulder began to move. She pushed her ass back against him, meeting him thrust for thrust, and he groaned in approval.

“Fuck, that’s it, Scully. Just like that.” He gritted out. “You feel so fucking good.”

He gripped her hips as he started to speed up, his fingers digging in hard enough to bruise. She collapsed to her elbows. His cock was hitting her so deep over and over again and all she could do was lay there and take it while he pounded into her. It was perfect.

She ducked her head, bracing herself against his thrusts, and suddenly his fingers were threading through her hair and tugging. She jerked upright with a strangled cry but he caught her, his arm wrapping tightly around her waist.

“Oh fuck, oh God.” She chanted, his manhandling pushing her closer to the edge.

“You like that?” He asked, his lips brushing the shell of her ear.

“Uh-huh.” She panted, unable to nod due to his firm grip.

“You’re taking my cock so well, Scully.” He muttered hotly. “Such a good girl for me.”

She moaned, clenching around him, and he covered her mouth with his own, swallowing the noise. He kissed her roughly, messily, and she felt a fresh wave of arousal course through her.

How did she go her whole life without this? She felt utterly consumed by him, his tongue in her mouth, his hand in her hair and his arm around her waist, holding her tight. Her mind was beginning to drift into a different space, one where all she could focus on was him and being his.

Before she could register what was happening, he was shoving her roughly back down with a firm hand between her shoulders, covering her body with his own. She turned her head to the side, fisting the sheets and gasping into the pillow as his hips slammed against hers.

He leaned back, his hands on her ass again and she heard a groan that meant he must be watching his cock slip in and out of her. The thought alone could’ve tipped her over the edge but then one of his hands slid beneath her body to find her clit and her legs began to quake.

“M-Mulder, fuck.” She choked out. “Don’t stop.”

“You’re mine, aren’t you, Scully?”

His other hand slid up her spine to grasp the back of her neck and hold her down more firmly.

“Yes.” She cried. “Yours.”

He swore under his breath and it was all she needed. Her whole body tensed and then she was coming with a shout, shuddering around him and dragging him over the edge too.

Neither of them moved at first, content just to bask in the afterglow. Eventually, Scully started mumbling about feeling cold and Mulder pressed a kiss to her shoulder before slipping out of her and maneuvering her under the covers.

“Be right back.” He whispered.

He returned a moment later with a glass of water.

“Here you go, honey.” He said gently, handing it to her. “Have some of this.”

She took a few grateful sips, not realizing how hoarse her throat had become until that moment. As she drank, he shed the rest of his clothes and slipped under the covers beside her. She placed the glass on the side table and shifted closer to him, tucking herself into his embrace with a content sigh.

“Thank you.” She said, referring to more than just the water.

“Was that the kind of thing you had in mind?”

He stroked her hair gently and the tenderness from the very same man who had just fucked her within an inch of her life made her heart swell in her chest. She couldn’t ask for anything more.

“Better.” She admitted, tilting her head to meet his gaze and giving him a soft smile.

He hummed and pulled her closer, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

This. This was feeling alive.

[lovesicks4pphic]

Effective Communication

Rating: E

Summary: No longer assigned to the X-Files, Mulder and Scully must attend a team-building conference with the rest of their department. As late additions, they are forced to share the one remaining room.

Written for @xfilesfanficexchange

Read on AO3 here. 

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

They were in Kersh’s office, a frequent occurrence these days. For once, they hadn’t been called in here to be berated, although it was heading in that direction. Mulder was clearly pissed off regardless.

Scully drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair and stared straight ahead, ignoring Mulder’s outburst. They were already in deep shit after the whole Bermuda Triangle debacle two weeks ago. The last thing she needed was to spend another morning arguing with her superiors and digging her ever-defiant partner out of whatever hole he’d gotten himself into.

“Agent Mulder.” Kersh warned.

“Sir-”

“I will say this wasn’t an easy decision, Agent Mulder. I’d much rather you be at your desk where I can see you. However, I think some time with your team could benefit you both.”

“They’re not my team.” Mulder muttered.

Scully glanced at him then, watching him huff and readjust himself in his seat. They locked eyes for a split second and she tried to subtly shake her head, warn him not to push it. Kersh sighed loudly and their heads snapped back up.

“Whether you like it or not, Mulder, yourself and Agent Scully are part of the Domestic Terrorism department now. You will be attending this conference.”

“Sir, you can’t seriously think this is a good use of our time?”

“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t think, Mulder. Besides, I know full well the two of you bailed on the last seminar you were supposed to attend.”

Scully felt Mulder’s eyes dart in her direction.

“Mark my words, there will be none of that tomorrow.” Kersh leaned forward across his desk and gave them a pointed look over his glasses. “Your flight leaves at 7am. You will get on it, you will go to the conference, you will come home. Understood?”

Silence. Scully cleared her throat.

“Yes, sir.”

Kersh nodded, then looked at Mulder.

“Fine. Sir.”

It was blatantly sarcastic but it must have been enough to appease Kersh. Either that or the man simply couldn’t be bothered to entertain this conversation a moment longer.  

“You’re dismissed.”

With that, the agents stood and let themselves out. Mulder held the door for Scully, letting her lead, but his hand was notably absent from its usual spot on her lower back. She could feel the annoyance radiating off of him, a prickle of tension in the air.

As they rounded the corner, she broke the silence.

“That could’ve gone worse, I suppose.”

Mulder stopped, took her forearm in his grasp and pulled her to the side of the hall.

“Scully.” He said. She looked up. God, he was so close, towering over her like this. “They’re making fucking fools out of us. First they take us off the X-Files and now this team-building, team-bonding, kumbaya shit.”

“It’s not just us, Mulder, all the agents from our department have to go.”

“Our department.” He repeated with a scoff. “This thing was organized months ago and we’ve been tagged on at the last minute as some sick kind of punishment. Besides, we’ve been working together for years, we don’t need to work on our communication.”

Scully sighed.

“I know. I can think of a million things I’d rather be doing tomorrow but I don’t think we have a choice.”

It was true. The thought of building furniture towers and making small talk with their colleagues, most of whom found Mulder bizarre and her somehow even more so for willingly associating herself with him, made her want to stick pins in her eyes.

What bothered her more though, what sank and settled as a knot in her stomach, was the idea of ‘bonding time’ with Mulder. Since Diana had appeared on the scene, Scully was aware she had distanced herself from Mulder. Feelings like doubt, like inadequacy and jealousy, seeped out of her into the space between them, pushing him further away as they grew and grew.

Thoughts of that last conference, of wine and cheese, of jokes about sleeping bags and songs about bullfrogs swirled in her mind. The image of her partner curled up in her lap. How things had changed and yet hadn’t at all.

She thought of her tattoo. Constantly moving but never forward. A never-ending cycle always leading her back to the exact same place.

She pushed past Mulder and headed back to her desk.

Their flight out to Florida was severely delayed. On the plus side, it meant they would actually miss half the conference through no fault of their own. Unfortunately, they still had to get up earlier than usual and Scully had to spend four hours in an airport lounge with a very bored and very impatient Mulder.

He had, of course, brought along some files he definitely shouldn’t have access to and read them beside Scully, who interjected with questions and the occasional eye roll. She sipped her second coffee and debated snatching away the bag of sunflower seeds he was holding. He was grazing on them almost unconsciously as he read, files sprawled across his lap. The constant spitting into his empty coffee cup was starting to grate on her but the way he brought his fingers to his lips and swirled his tongue around inside his mouth was causing a whole different kind of frustration.

When they eventually arrived in Tallahassee, they took a cab from the airport rather than a rental. Scully argued that the latter might look suspicious on their expense reports, might make it look like they wanted to take their own route or sneak off. Mulder sighed but ultimately agreed. It had been a long day already.

They finally got to the hotel around 2pm. It was practically empty, save for a couple in the corner who were wrestling with a giant map.

“Are you sure the cabbie dropped us at the right place, Scully?”

Scully looked at the sign on the wall and then down at the documents in her hand. She frowned. It was definitely the correct hotel.

“Can I help you?” The receptionist called over.

Scully picked up her bag and headed to the desk. Mulder followed closely behind her.

“We’re here for the FBI conference?” She explained, though it sounded more like a question. “Our flight was delayed. Agents Scully and Mulder.”

“Oh! Yes, you’re a little late but that’s no problem. Let me see here…”

The receptionist, Jennifer, according to her name tag, tapped away at her keyboard.

“Hm.”

She frowned, licked her thumb, and started flicking rapidly through a stack of papers beside the computer. Scully glanced at the large clock behind the desk. Her foot unconsciously tapped against the tiles.

“Is there a problem?” She asked.

“Yes… I can’t find… Nevermind!” Jennifer pulled a sheet out from the pile. “Dana Scully and Fox Mulder, Washington DC?”

“That’s us.” Mulder flashed her a smile.

Scully thought she saw Jennifer’s cheeks turn the faintest shade of pink. She couldn’t blame her. For someone so solitary he could be so charming when he wanted to be.

Scully wondered, not for the first time, what it would be like to meet him under different circumstances. For him to see her as a stranger, a woman, an object of desire, not his dependable, stubborn little Scully. Would she seduce him? Ask to see his apartment? Let him take her roughly against the wall like she had with Jerse?

“So.” Jennifer started, bringing Scully back to reality. “I can see here that a last-minute request was made for your rooms, however we are actually at full capacity right now.”

“Ok…” Scully replied cautiously. Were they going to have to find somewhere else to stay?

Mulder leaned over, his lips brushing against Scully’s ear.

“Feels like a sign we shouldn’t be here.”

He pulled away and smirked. She ignored him.

Jennifer started typing again.

“Ok!” She clapped her hands together. “We’ve actually had a cancellation for tonight so we should be able to squeeze you in.”

“Great.” Scully said, a little too hastily, eyeing the clock once more.

“However, it is just the one room. I’m so sorry, it’s the best I can do.”

Scully went to accept but Jennifer spoke again.

“I should also mention, it’s a queen room. Is that- are you both comfortable with that?”

Shit.

“Scully.” Mulder turned away from Jennifer again, murmuring directly into Scully’s ear. “I think we should find somewhere else.”

“We’re already running late, Mulder.” Scully said under her breath. “We don’t have time to find another hotel and I will not voluntarily subject myself to Kersh’s wrath when he finds out we missed the conference.”

The whole situation was quickly turning into a nightmare and neither option was looking appealing to her. The prospect of sharing a bed with Mulder made her feel light-headed but she refused to let her feelings for Mulder get her into trouble. Again. They were grown adults. They had survived much worse.

“Scully-”

“We’ll figure it out later. I’m sure there’ll be a solution.”

Mulder’s face was unreadable but Scully’s decision was made.

“We’ll take it, thank you.”

Jennifer smiled, scribbled something on the piece of paper and then ducked underneath the desk to retrieve their keys.

“Ok so you’ve got two keys here. Your room is on the 7th floor and your conference is on floors 2 and 3. When you’re ready, head to the Jefferson room on floor 2 to sign in.”

Keys successfully collected, they thanked Jennifer, and headed for the elevator. They rode to the 7th floor in silence.

“Home, sweet home.” Mulder pushed open the door. Their door.

The room was actually larger than Scully expected and she felt a wave of relief as they stepped inside and set their bags down. They would figure something out.

“I’m just gonna-.” Mulder nodded in the direction of the bathroom. “Meet you down there?”

“Sure.”

After signing in and collecting her pass, Scully slipped into the conference room and found a spot at the back. A few of the agents in front of her turned as she entered and she smiled politely back at them.

Just as the speaker stepped up to the podium, Mulder appeared at her side.

“Buckle up, Scully.” He muttered.

It was a fair warning as the two hours that followed were beyond dull. The topic of the tedious lecture in question was effective communication, which felt slightly ironic.

Scully found herself wishing she were back in that stale airport lounge reading stolen files. In fact, watching paint dry would probably be more enjoyable. All this so Kersh wouldn’t kick off. Right now, she’d rather be yelled at and done with it than sit through another minute of this.

Though she’d be reluctant to admit it, Mulder was the only thing keeping her from total, mind-numbing boredom. Every so often, he’d bump his knee against hers and raise an eyebrow as if to say ‘get a load of this guy’. In some instances, he’d lean in and whisper a sarcastic comment and she’d smile despite herself.

It reminded her of that first year they’d spent together, before her abduction, when things were simpler and her little crush on him had been just that. She didn’t have regrets, couldn’t have regrets. Everything that had happened to her was a consequence of her own decisions, as much as Mulder might argue he was to blame. But if she thought about it for too long, a distinct ache formed in her chest. A nostalgia for how hopeful they’d been. A longing for feelings so uncomplicated.

Finally, finally, the lecture came to a close and the agents were guided into an anteroom so the main room could be reset. At least there were refreshments. Scully poured herself a coffee.  

She winced as she took her first sip. It wasn’t the worst she’d had but it was certainly up there.

“Pretty vile, huh?” Mulder said from behind her. His ability to seek her out never seemed to fail him.

“Mm.” She grimaced but took another sip. If the next few hours were anything like the last then she needed more caffeine.

They only got a few minutes to finish their drinks before one of the organizers tapped his mic and cleared his throat loudly.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’ll now be moving onto our afternoon activities.” Mulder looked at Scully and pulled a face. “If you could please find your name on the board and sit at your assigned table. The teams have been switched up from the ice-breakers this morning so please do double check.”

They shuffled back into the hall with the rest of the crowd and approached the board, inching closer as other people found their names and dispersed.

“What table are you on?” Mulder asked, scanning the sheets of paper with a frown. He tapped his finger against one of them. “Ah. There I am. Team 5.”

“I’m on Team 1.” Scully responded as she caught sight of her name.

“I’d expect nothing less.” He smirked. “See you later, partner.”

“Enjoy.”

“I won’t.”

The next hour and a half consisted of a whole host of team-building activities. Whilst organized fun wasn’t Scully’s favorite thing in the world, her competitive streak was a mile long and she couldn’t help but take each challenge seriously.

After the typical introductions and ‘interesting fact about yourself’, where to even begin with that, they started with a game called Human Knot, with the fastest team to untangle themselves winning the point. There were a few other physical activities, then some that involved drawing or matching up bits of paper, and lastly a quiz. Scully, fired-up and ready to kick some ass, naturally assigned herself as scribe for that last one.

When Team 3 were announced as the winners, Scully whipped her head round and glared. There were a couple of assholes from Washington on that team who she’d overheard say some unpleasant things about Mulder on a number of occasions. Whatever. Have fun at your stupid, free dinner, Scully thought to herself. Hope you choke.

“Now for this last activity, we’d like you to get into pairs with your work partner.” The same organizer as earlier announced. “Buddy up and spread out and we’ll explain the rules in a moment.”

Mulder and Scully found a spot near the back of the room, used to working in their own space. Mulder draped his jacket over the back of a nearby chair and rolled up his sleeves. It was getting pretty warm in there despite the AC. Scully dropped her gaze to his forearms but quickly looked away, swallowing thickly.

Another organizer appeared and handed them some tape and a stack of old newspapers. Then the main organizer spoke again.

“For your final task, you’ll need to build a table using only the tape and paper you’ve been provided with. You will be given 20 minutes and the pair whose table holds the most weight at the end of that time will win. You may begin.”

Mulder sat down on the ground cross-legged and began rolling up bits of paper and wrapping them haphazardly with tape. For someone who claimed not to care about this stuff a few hours ago, he appeared to be approaching this task with remarkable enthusiasm.

“Wait, Mulder. Hold on.” Scully knelt down on the carpet beside him. “We need to think about the structure and plan it.”

“I’ve got this, Scully, don’t worry.”

“Mulder, I’ve done these things before.”

He wasn’t paying any attention, instead plowing on with his chaotic approach that made Scully’s inner physics major cringe. She glanced around at the other teams, all of whom seemed to be making a fair bit of progress already. Meanwhile, Mulder had merely created some random wads of paper and tape. Scully really didn’t understand what his plan was here.

They continued to bicker back and forth, their frustration at one another mounting. Maybe they really did need to work on their communication.

“Mulder, hand me the tape.”

“I’m getting there, Scully. Just let me do this.”

That pissed her off. Why was he completely taking over and doing it all himself? Why didn’t he trust her enough to help? Did he think she’d mess it up?

“Mulder, will you just listen to me?”

“Just trust me on this Scully, OK?”

“No. You need to trust me .”

“It goes both ways, Scully.”

God, this man was infuriating sometimes. Scully couldn’t believe they were arguing over a paper fucking table. Deep down, of course, she knew this wasn’t about the table. This whole exercise was merely a physical reflection of their relationship, a vessel for all the anger that had been simmering under the surface since she had shown up.

Before Scully could process the words, they were out of her mouth.

“I suppose you’d rather be doing this with Diana.” She muttered.

“What?”

Mulder looked up. It was clear in his expression that he hadn’t heard her. Thank God.

“Nothing.”

She knew that had been a petty thing to say, that she sounded like a scorned wife, but she couldn’t help wondering if it were true. When Diana walked into their lives, or rather back into Mulder’s, it was clear that there was a connection. A history. A shared belief. Was that connection deeper than the one Scully had with him?

Scully had always thought that she and Mulder complemented each other, that they balanced each other out. Not long ago, he had implied something similar and told her that her science kept him honest. But maybe what he really wanted, what he really needed, was somebody on the same wavelength. Somebody like Diana.

He was so defensive of Diana, wouldn’t abandon his faith in her even when Scully tried to make him see. At that point, Scully felt like she was asking him to choose: who did he trust more? It felt like he had chosen Diana.

Their conversation in his hallway haunted her. She really believed him at the time, his eyes so imploring, convincing her he couldn’t do this without her, begging her to stay. Maybe it was just the heat of the moment. After all, he’d also nearly kissed her so perhaps he wasn’t in his right mind. Scully though, she had never been able to see so clearly. She had wanted him more than anything, had leaned in with her heart pounding and tears in her eyes.

They hadn’t spoken about it since. Her mother had always said actions spoke louder than words anyway. His actions led her to believe it had been a mistake.

“Look, Scully, here.” Mulder interrupted her thoughts and held out a roll of tape. A peace offering. “You take the top section and I’ll carry on with these legs.”

Those were supposed to be legs?

She sighed in resignation.

“OK, fine. Hand me some paper.”

They quietly worked on their respective sections, occasionally motioning for the other to pass them something. When the final five minutes were announced, Scully took the ‘legs’ from Mulder and started piecing everything together. She tore off some more tape with her teeth to make the final adjustments.

“OK, everyone. Time’s up!”

Scully eyed their joint effort wearily. At least it was standing.

Everyone watched as the organizers made their way round the pairs, stacking weights on the tables until they collapsed. Some fell apart before their turn even came about but others only broke under the weight of a fair few pounds.

As Mulder and Scully had tucked themselves away in the corner, it was no surprise that they were left until last.

“OK guys, you’ve got a whopping 5 pounds to beat.” One of the organizers said. He was close enough that Scully could read his badge. George.

George placed the first weight on and to Scully’s surprise it held.

“So far so good.” He said and then placed another. And another. Until there were exactly 5 pounds on the table.

“This is the deciding weight, everybody.” George said to the room. “If they get this, they win.”

“It won’t hold.” Scully murmured, more to herself than anyone else.

“Such a skeptic.”

She glanced at Mulder. The corners of his lips quirked, his comment clearly meant to be light-hearted.

They both held their breaths as George placed the final weight. A beat passed and then he beamed at the pair of them.

“We have our winners!”

The other agents applauded politely as Mulder and Scully simply stared at their table in shock. George handed them some stationary, their prize.

“Congratulations, guys. That’s some pretty impressive teamwork, you must make a great pair out in the field.”

We used to, Scully thought.

The main organizer clapped his hands.

“OK! Thank you everybody for taking part today. We’ll now be moving to the bar for some drinks.” He pointed to the double doors behind Mulder and Scully. “If you could all head on through that way, please.”

Mulder gave Scully a small smile.

“Come on, Scully. I’ll buy you a drink.”

True to his word, Mulder bought her a glass of wine and they managed to find an empty booth to sit in. He cracked a few of his usual jokes here and there and she smiled in response each time but it never met her eyes. There was still a lingering tension and something inside her felt heavy.

As he sipped at his drink, Mulder glanced around at their fellow agents, people watching. Ever the profiler. She couldn’t help but notice how beautiful he looked at that moment. As he looked away, the dim lighting accentuated his profile, the strong line of his jaw. She wondered, not for the first time, what it would feel like to cradle his face in her hands as she kissed him.

A part of her wished he would try and kiss her again. That desire had never fully disappeared, no matter how hard she’d tried to put some distance between them. Maybe she should threaten to leave the FBI again, she thought wryly. Maybe that would prompt him to attempt another kiss. Or maybe he would just let her leave. Now that he had gotten his original partner back. His real partner.

The thought made her stomach plummet and she excused herself from the booth, realizing she had made herself feel quite nauseous.

“You OK, Scully?” Mulder frowned.

“I’m fine, I just have a headache.”

His expression turned from confusion to concern and it was heart-wrenching. Ever since her cancer, every headache, every illness or exhaustion caused a worried look to cross his features and made her wonder just how bad things must have been for him when she was sick.

“I think I’m just gonna head up.”

“Sure, OK.” He nodded. “You take the bed and I’ll ask at reception for a rollaway or something.”

Shit. She had totally forgotten about their shared room situation.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.” He insisted.

She felt awful that he was being so sympathetic towards her. Here he was, anxious that she was unwell, when really she was just an expert at breaking her own heart.

“OK.” She said quietly. “Thank you.”

He reached out and squeezed her hand.

“Go get some rest.”

She nodded and squeezed his hand in return before letting it drop.

“Goodnight, Mulder.”

“Night, Scully.”

Scully completed her nightly routine in a trance. It took every ounce of strength she had not to burst into tears. She was so exhausted when she finally crawled into bed that sleep came easier than she’d expected, one minute her head was hitting the pillow and the next she was blinking awake again. Except it wasn’t the next morning when she woke, no it was still dark outside.

The clock beside the bed told her it had been less than an hour since she’d lay down. Confused, she pushed herself up and switched on the lamp.

Across the room, she saw what had woken her. Mulder was climbing into the armchair in the corner, dressed only in a pair of pajama pants and a loose t-shirt.

“Mulder?” She murmured sleepily.

His head whipped round.

“Shit. Sorry, Scully, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Where’s your bed?”

“They didn’t have any rollaways but it’s OK, go back to sleep.”

She sat up a little further, the sheet slipping down to her waist and exposing her camisole.

“Mulder, you can’t sleep over there, don’t be ridiculous. You’ll get a crick in your neck.”

He looked at her blankly, he obviously didn’t want to assume anything. Scully sighed and pulled back the covers in invitation.

“I don’t want to deal with your whining in the morning.” She said by way of explanation.

Apparently too tired to argue, he slipped in beside her.

“Thanks.”

Scully rolled onto her side, turning her back to him. Despite not facing him, she could still feel him watching her. Her heart rate steadily started to pick up. She no longer felt tired. She felt nervous being this close to him. There was something dangerous about it. She sighed and her breath came out shaky.

“Scully.” Mulder said, his voice low and dark. “Are you OK?”

“I’m fine, Mulder.” She replied quickly.

There was a pause. She could hear him thinking.

“Are we OK?” His voice had dropped even lower.

Scully’s responding silence was deafening. Mulder reached out and cautiously touched her arm, prompting her to roll over and face him. She swallowed. It was now or never.

“Why won’t you trust me?” She asked quietly.

“I do trust you, Scully.” He said, soft but insistent. “With my life.”

That didn’t answer her question. Either she wasn’t doing a very good job of this or he was totally oblivious. She decided to try a different approach.

“Why did you never tell me about Diana?”

“Diana?” Mulder frowned. “Scully, my history with her is just that. History. It never felt relevant.”

“You’re not getting it, Mulder.” Scully sighed, frustrated. “I always thought that we had something special, that the X-Files were ours, that we were in this together, me and you. But now… now I can’t help but wonder if I was just a placeholder, a stop along the way in your real journey. With her.”

“Scully.” Mulder whispered, his face falling.

“I know you said my science saved you, that it made you a whole person, but I feel like you only tell me what you think I want to hear when you’re scared you might lose me.” She bit her lip, shrugged. “I don’t know. It would certainly be easier to have a partner who isn’t constantly challenging you.”

Mulder stared at her and then swallowed. Some kind of internal processing complete, a decision made.

“Scully.” He said. “It isn’t just your science, it’s you. You make me a whole person.”

“Mulder, that’s the same thing.”

“No, it’s not.” He touched her arm again, his hand warm and firm against her skin. “This isn’t about the X-Files, this is personal. Me and you.”

“What do you mean?”

She could feel a nervousness forming in her stomach, unsure where this was going.

“Do you remember the other day?” He asked. “In the hospital. I told you that I love you.”

Scully rolled her eyes.

“Sure, Mulder. When you were high as a kite talking about me saving the world from Nazis.”

“I meant it, Scully. It wasn’t the drugs.” He insisted. “I love you. I’m in love with you.”

Oh.

“I am so so sorry that you’ve ever had to question my faith in you, Scully. You are everything to me, professionally, personally. Everything.”

Scully exhaled shakily. She had not expected this today.

“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” Mulder pressed on, starting to ramble now. “If you don’t feel the same way, I can live with that, but you’re it for me, Scully. I’ve known that for quite some time.”

“Mulder.” Scully breathed.

He began to move away and she instantly missed his warmth, his touch.

“If you need some space, I understand-”

Scully reached out and cupped his face.

“Shut up, Mulder.” She murmured. And then she was kissing him, gently pressing her lips against his. They were even softer than she’d imagined.

She could feel his shock, his body unmoving, lips frozen beneath hers. He pulled away after a moment, gaze searching her face. Their eyes met and her heart thrummed in her chest. He must have found the confirmation he needed. His lips crashed against hers. Passion and desperation and devotion, the yearning finally giving way to desire now that they had been given permission to feel it.

He coaxed her lips open and then their tongues were meeting, his hands sliding into her hair. She surrendered to his touch, letting him lead. At last, she was getting what she wanted but never believed she could have. He wasn’t just choosing her, he was claiming her. She was his.

She rubbed her thumbs against his cheeks, loving the feeling of his stubble scratching against her skin. She wanted to feel it everywhere. Her neck, her chest, her stomach, her thighs.

He rolled on top of her and she felt arousal swoop low in her stomach. He squeezed her hips over her shorts then slid his hands higher, under her top, to her waist. His palms practically spanned her body. She felt dizzy.

Scully sucked at his bottom lip and then took it between her teeth, nipping at it lightly. She had dreamed of this. The noises he made in the back of his throat made her giddy and increased her hunger for him tenfold. She rocked up into him, needing to be closer, and his thigh met her center unexpectedly. She broke away with a gasp.

“Fuck, Scully.” Mulder groaned. “I want you so much.”

Scully whimpered in response, her hips twitching unconsciously.

“Are you sure about this?” He asked.

Instead of answering him with words, she held his gaze and wrapped her fingers around his wrist, dragging it down, down, until she was sliding his hand into her pajama shorts and under her panties.

“Jesus Christ.”

He kissed her again and they both moaned as he pressed his fingers against her. He moved them lower, dipping them inside and then dragging them back up, spreading her wetness over her clit. She could feel the ease with which his fingertips were gliding over her and she knew she must be soaked.

He set a steady pace, circling her clit with the perfect amount of pressure as if they’d been doing this forever. She wrapped an arm around his neck, holding him to her as her hips began to rock into his hand. Her breaths were becoming pants, little hitched moans right in his ear that had him groaning into her skin.

He slipped inside once again and then pulled back and she whined at the loss.

“I need to taste you.” He said, his voice thick with lust.

She stared up at him, temporarily rendered speechless by the wave of arousal that coursed through her at his words. She shook herself.

“Yeah. Yeah, OK.”

She sprang into action, scrambling to get her bottoms off and removing her top while she was at it. He followed suit and quickly stripped down to his boxers.

Draping himself back on top of her, he began trailing kisses down her neck and across her collarbones, nipping at the base of her throat. She had no idea she was so sensitive there. She didn’t even recognise the needy whimpers escaping her. Maybe it was him. Or years of sexual frustration. Or both.

When his lips reached her breasts and a tongue flicked against a nipple, she gasped. Now this sensitivity she was aware of. He must have realized because he spent a while there, licking and sucking, alternating between breasts while his fingers tweaked at the nipple not currently occupied by his mouth. It felt fucking incredible.

She should have known he’d be good at this, that he’d get off on it just as much as her. She’d never met a man so orally fixated. All that practise with sunflower seeds, straws, the erasers on the ends of pencils, even forensic evidence. And now, at last, she was reaping the rewards of his obsession.

“More. Please, Mulder.”

He reluctantly pulled away from her breasts and made his way down her stomach, mouthing at her skin and making her twitch beneath him. She threaded her fingers through his hair.

“Mulder.” She urged. If he didn’t hurry the fuck up, she felt like she might die.

He grinned up at her, clearly pleased with the needy mess he had made out of her and she had half a mind to smack him. But then his lips were pressed against her clit and the thought was gone. If she did die right now, she’d die the happiest woman alive.

He gently traced his tongue over her and she sighed contently, tugging him closer. Just when the teasing was starting to get too much again, he pressed his tongue inside her and she moaned loudly, bucking her hips into his face. His responding groan was muffled against her and only heightened the sensation. Taking the hint, he slid one then two fingers inside her and curled them just right.

“Oh fuck, right there.” She gasped.

Encouraged, he doubled down on his efforts. He thrust inside her and his tongue returned to her clit with equal enthusiasm. It wasn’t long before her thighs started to quake around his head.

“Don’t stop, please don’t stop.”

He didn’t let up and soon she was coming, her spine arching off the bed as if pulled by some invisible force. Despite his lack of oxygen and Scully’s fists tightening in his hair, Mulder continued until she was pushing him away.

He reappeared above her with the biggest smile on his face. Scully, blissed out and reclined against the bed, couldn’t even bring herself to take him down a peg. He more than deserved the bragging rights.

“You’re incredible.” He said, leaning down to kiss her. She could taste herself on his lips but she didn’t mind. In fact, as she ground her hips against him, she realized she was still insanely aroused. So was he.

His erection bumped against her, the first time she’d properly felt it, and they both moaned. Enough messing about. Impatient to feel him properly, she tugged at his boxers. He got the idea and slid off the bed to remove them.

Scully sat up on her elbows and drank in the sight of him. Jesus. She had seen hints of his cock over the years, a glimpse of a stray bulge in his slacks late at night, a distinct outline against a jean-clad thigh, and of course, though she’d tried not not to look, she’d seen him in his boxers when stripping him down due to sickness or injury. All enough to assume he’d be impressive but Christ .

“All look OK to you, doc?” Mulder joked, looking slightly nervous beneath her gaze.

She blushed, embarrassed to be caught staring. She was quick to reassure him.

“You have a gorgeous body, Mulder.”

He smiled.

“Likewise.”

He kissed her again, slower than before, more gentle, and she felt a little shy all of a sudden. They were really doing this. She was having sex with Mulder. Mulder . It simultaneously thrilled and terrified her. It felt so sudden and yet not at all. He was her partner, her best friend, and she could not afford to fuck this up. If he had been pining for her for as long as she had been for him then this had been a very long time coming. She hoped he was as rusty at this as she was.  

He cupped her face and stroked his thumbs over her cheekbones, clearly sensing her hesitation.

“You OK?”

“Yeah.” She nodded, smiling at his concern. “It’s just been a while for me.”

“Me too.” He replied. “We’ll take it slow, OK?”

Relieved at his understanding, she tilted her chin up so he could kiss her again. He met her lips gently, true to his word, and she was touched by his tenderness. He loves you, a little voice in her head reminded her and she smiled into the kiss, feeling his own lips twitch against hers in response.

“Ready?” He asked.

His hands were on her thighs, fingertips stroking the delicate skin there.

“Yeah.” She breathed, shifting her legs further apart beneath him.

He wrapped a hand around himself and stroked a few times before lining himself up. Scully stared, the fantasies she’d had about watching him touch himself suddenly flashing at the forefront of her mind. She filed them away again, vowing to fulfill them another day.

Mulder pressed his forehead against hers, their lips brushing, one of her hands clutching at the back of his neck and the other at his shoulder, and then he was pushing slowly inside her.

“Oh, fuck.” Scully groaned, her eyes rolling back in her head. The sensation of being stretched was just the right balance of pleasure and pain.

He paused, giving her a moment to adjust, and then she was nodding, mumbling against his lips and asking for ‘more’ and ‘please’.

With her consent, he slipped in further, deeper. She gasped and clenched around him.

“Fuck, Scully.” He groaned. “You feel so good.”

She nodded, biting her lip to hold back another fierce moan.

He kept going, inch by inch, until his pelvis was flush against her. Mulder was watching her face, an expression of awe written across his own. She knew the feeling. The sensation of him inside her, filling her so perfectly. Nothing had ever felt so right.

“Move, Mulder. Please. Fuck me.”

With one hand beside her head on the pillow and the other resting on her hip, he began to draw back and then push inside her again, slowly at first, then gradually a little faster with each thrust. As his speed increased, he brought his other arm up, now using both limbs for leverage.

She was starting to get lost in the slick sound of her around him, the rhythmic meeting of their hips over and over again.

“Right there, yes, yes.” She chanted in time with his continued pounding.

“What do you need, Scully?” He asked, his voice had taken on a quality that she’d never heard from him. “Tell me.”

“Harder.” She managed to gasp out.

He sat back, sliding his hands over her hips and squeezing before moving them round further, lifting her ass slightly and pulling her harder onto his cock. This was exactly what she needed. The way he grabbed at her flesh was almost possessive and she fucking loved it. On a particularly deep thrust, he hit a spot that had her crying out and clutching his arms.

Her clit throbbed and she dropped a hand between her legs. The other went to her breast, grasping it hard and rubbing her thumb over her nipple.

“Oh, fuck yes.” Mulder groaned, hands squeezing her ass tighter. “Touch yourself for me.”

Scully moaned loudly.

“Tell me how it feels.”

Jesus. She shouldn’t have been surprised at his proclivity for dirty talk, both the doing of it and the encouragement for her to do the same. He could never shut up outside the bedroom, of course that wouldn’t change just because they were fucking. She couldn’t deny how much it turned her on though. Hearing him make demands of her in that voice was outdoing anything she’d ever imagined. All those lonely nights spent thinking about him with her hand down her pants. If only she’d known how much better reality would be.

“So good, Mulder.” She moaned. “So fucking good.”

Her fingers moved faster and harder against her clit as Mulder continued his relentless thrusting. He fell forward slightly, bracing one of his hands against the headboard. It was slamming against the wall in loud, repetitive bangs. Scully couldn’t even bring herself to care. She glanced down her body, hypnotized by the sight of him pounding into her. She knew she couldn’t hold out much longer. Her eyes fluttered shut.

“I’m close.” She whispered.

“Look at me.”

She forced her eyes back open, meeting his. It felt like he was staring right into her soul and it was the final push she needed. Her body began to shake. Her breath escaped in continuous moans and gasps that she couldn’t control.

“Come for me, Scully.”  He said. “I wanna see you come again.”

“Want you to come with me.”  

“I will.”

With that she let go. Her mouth dropped open in a silent scream and her head tipped back as she came with an intensity she had never experienced. She could feel her walls pulsing around Mulder’s cock, his rhythm never ceasing, and then he was coming too. Through the ringing in her ears, she could hear him swearing as he spilled inside her and it only prolonged the sensations coursing through her.

They were both panting, covered in a sheen of sweat, but Scully had never felt more at peace.

“Come here.” She mumbled, tugging at Mulder’s arm.

He slowly lowered himself, careful not to crush her, and wrapped her up in his arms, pressing a tender kiss to her temple. They stayed like that for a moment, just breathing each other in, before Mulder shifted his hips and slid out of her. Scully whined softly in protest and he quietened her with another kiss.

“I’ll be right back.”

He disappeared into the bathroom and returned with a washcloth, gently cleaning them both off. When he was done, he crawled back into bed beside her and she curled up into his side. He tucked her hair behind her ear, cradling her head with his palm as he pressed his lips to her forehead, her cheek and finally her lips. She lifted her chin to meet him, her eyes drifting closed.

When they parted, he was smiling at her. He slid his hand down her face and pressed the tip of his thumb to her lips. She kissed it and smiled softly back at him.

“I’m so in love with you.” He whispered. “You’re all I want.”

“I’m all yours.” Scully whispered back, voicing her thought from earlier. “I always have been.”

“Yeah?”

“Mmhm.” She nodded.

His smile widened.

“Kinda crazy, huh?” He wondered aloud. “That we finally got here.”

“Must be an X-File.”

“Remind me to get Kersh a card.”

Scully huffed out a laugh. She turned in his arms so that he was spooning her. He kissed the top of her head and pulled her closer by her waist.

“Love you.” She whispered, twisting to give him one last kiss.

Feeling lighter than she had in a very long time, she closed her eyes and let sleep take her.