Part 6   
      
   XXXXX   
   Mulder's room   
   April 9, 2000   
   12:45 AM   
      
   "Well, we're going to have to look at things from a different angle   
   tomorrow. He has to be keeping her somewhere," Scully said, as she got   
   up from the bed where she had been making some notations in one of the   
   files.   
      
   "I'll just read over these again and then turn in."   
      
   She shook her head. There was no stopping him. She went to the door.   
      
   "Goodnight, Mulder. Try and get some sleep."   
      
   "Night," he said, without looking up from his files.   
      
   She turned back to him and watched as he read the same file for   
   probably the hundredth time.   
      
   He looked up and saw her staring at him with a frown on her face.   
   "What? I said 'goodnight,' didn't I?"   
      
   She nodded. "Todd has it all wrong, you know."   
      
   "Well, of course he does. He's not exactly a stable individual."   
      
   "I meant, about the knight in shining armor business. You're one."   
      
   "One what?" he asked, still taking peeks at the file.   
      
   "A knight in shining armor."   
      
   "I am?" He said, looking up finally.   
      
   "Yes. It's not about swooping in and rescuing a woman. It's the way you   
   conduct your life. The sacrifices you make for what you believe in. The   
   way you're ready to fight any battle . . ."   
      
   "Tilt at any windmill?"   
      
   "That, too," she smiled. "Still, the one heroic act Todd is building   
   his hopes on wins a woman's gratitude, not her love."   
      
   "Are you trying to tell me something, Scully?" he said, with a coy   
   little smile.   
      
   "Maybe," she said.   
      
   "Wait a minute. I suppose the outcome of that speech is not a given   
   after all. It could go two ways."   
      
   She gave him a slow smile. "Yes, I guess it could."   
      
   "No clues?"   
      
   The smile suddenly left her face. "It's almost irrelevant. The truth of   
   the matter is, the armor sometimes gets in the way when all a woman   
   wants is to feel the knight's arms around her. That's the day-to-day   
   practical dilemma. 'Night, Mulder."   
      
   She turned and walked out of the door.   
      
   XXXXX   
      
   Scully's room   
   1:20 AM   
      
   A half-hour later, she heard a knock on the door. Before she could even   
   get up, he was announcing himself.   
      
   "Scully, it's me. I'm using the key. Don't shoot."   
      
   He walked in wearing a hotel robe and slippers. She sat up in bed and   
   looked at him. "That's nice, Mulder. Scare the people next door with   
   talk of gunfire."   
      
   He gave her a pointed look. "We *are* in New York. It's cold out   
   there."   
      
   "Most people don't walk around hallways half-naked."   
      
   He gripped the sides of his robe. "I don't do things by half, Scully,"   
   he said with a leer. He walked over to the bed and slipped the plush   
   robe off and slid into bed beside her.   
      
   "Armor's off," he said, cuddling closer.   
      
   "No, it's not."   
      
   "Yes, it is. Here, feel."   
      
   "The armor is never off, Mulder," she said, not sure why but knowing   
   she had to pursue the conversation.   
      
   He moved back a bit. "I'm here, Scully."   
      
   "Yes, but I didn't want to force you to come here. That's my problem. I   
   didn't want you to feel manipulated into making a choice between work   
   that you need to do and our relationship."   
      
   "I wasn't manipulated. I finished what I was doing and then came here.   
   I know that wasn't easy for you. You never complain and if you even   
   hint at something, I want to take notice."   
      
   "It's not just this place or this moment, Mulder. This has been going   
   on from the beginning. We have an all or nothing relationship with not   
   a hell of a lot of time for long, passionate nights together."   
      
   "So, you'd settle for a grope here and there?" It was his turn to shake   
   his head. "You deserve more."   
      
   "And so do you. So, we're 'settling' for nothing. Does that seem right   
   to you? If the world would end tomorrow, I'd be a whole lot happier   
   knowing I spent a couple of hours with you than if I couldn't even   
   remember the scent of your skin because I wasn't close enough to smell   
   it." He looked at her and his eyes seemed a shade darker, a shade   
   warmer, and a lot more mischievous than they were a moment before.   
      
   "I didn't have time for a shower. You might not like the smell of my   
   skin."   
      
   She gave him a look.   
      
   "Okay. You can smack me now."   
      
   She shook her head and put her arms around his waist. "I don't want to   
   smack you. I want to kiss you."   
      
   "Um, feel free?"   
      
   She buried her head in the crook of his neck and bit him softly. Then   
   she kissed his 'wound.' He ran his hands down her back and to the edge   
   of her pajama top. He bunched up the material and was prepared to lift   
   it off when she stopped him and pushed him on his back.   
      
   "Just lay back and relax, Mulder."   
      
   "I'm relaxed," his voice went up an octave on the last syllable as she   
   reached down and grabbed his erection. "Sort of."   
      
   She straddled him and sat back against his thighs. Her fingers were   
   softly, but steadily becoming reacquainted with him. He enjoyed   
   watching her like this. She was so serious as she set about her task of   
   arousing him. She was also sexy as hell in a red pajama top and no   
   bottoms. Her thighs encased his in creamy whiteness and he could feel   
   her lack of underwear against his skin. She looked at him as he watched   
   her and a faint color rose to her cheeks.   
      
   "I was reading before. You can turn off the light, if you want."   
      
   "First, with the grip you have on me, that might be risky business. And   
   second, I like looking at you."   
      
   She nodded and looked down at him as her hands moved faster on his   
   skin.  He saw her smile as he let out a deep moan. A job well done. And   
   she thought *he* was a workaholic.   
      
   Suddenly, she stopped.   
      
   "What?" he asked.   
      
   She looked down at his fully erect penis, as it seemed to hover near   
   his belly. "I like what I see, too," she said.  She lifted off her   
   pajama top and grabbed his forearms and pulled him to a sitting   
   position. She lifted herself up, positioned him against her and slowly   
   sank down. She was wet and warm and very ready for him. Maybe quick   
   gropes weren't so bad after all.   
      
   "You are mine," she said, pressing her bare breasts against his chest.   
   He looked down and saw their bodies pressed together. Scully's skin was   
   so much lighter than his. The sight of her perfectly round bottom   
   bouncing steadily against his thighs made him smile. It was not a sight   
   he ever really expected to see in his lifetime, and one he never wanted   
   to take for granted on any level. At the same time, he knew he had been   
   running scared. He'd been so thrilled and enthusiastic over the changes   
   in their relationship, he was worried about his commitment to the x-   
   files. And he supposed recommitting himself to his work while at the   
   beginning of a new phase of a relationship was lousy timing.  But she   
   hung in there.   
      
   He threw his head back as she increased her pace. He needed to hold on   
   a bit longer. He wanted to feel her coming around him. Feel the ripples   
   of pleasure emanate from her body to his and push him over.   
      
   She hung in there all right. And she didn't want him to change. She   
   just wanted him to give her whatever he could. And he sure as hell   
   could do better than he had been doing.   
      
   Scully reached behind him, grabbed the headboard and then began riding   
   him like a madwoman. Her breaths were coming fast and furious and   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)