From: msnsc21@yahoo.com   
      
   OK to send to newsgroup; I'll send to Gossamer and Ephemeral.   
      
   Land of the Living Part I   
   by ML   
   ~Headers, etc. in Prologue.  This is all story.~   
      
   ~x~   
      
   Chapter Five   
      
   The grave's a fine and private place; but none, I think, do   
   there embrace. -John Donne   
      
   Mulder closes his eyes and revels in the sensation of Scully's   
   kisses.  He's almost afraid that he will wake up, find he's   
   back home in his apartment, that he's dreamed this whole trip.   
   He stays very still while he can feel the pressure of her lips   
   on his, marveling that Scully has made the first move.  He feels   
   her part her lips slightly and pull on his lower lip.  He sighs,   
   and gropes for her hand, which has been looking for his as well.   
   They twine fingers as they continue to kiss, draw breath, and   
   kiss again.   
      
   For now, Mulder is content to let Scully take the lead, and be   
   merely an enthusiastic follower.  She pulls back for a moment,   
   and he opens his eyes to see her with her head lowered, drawing   
   a shaky breath.  He lowers his head, too, so that his temple   
   rests against hers, breathing in time with her.  He doesn't   
   want to lose contact with her, and nudges her cheek a little   
   with his nose.  He closes his eyes as she turns to kiss him   
   again.  Except for hands and lips, he has not yet touched   
   her.  It is all he can do now to let her set the pace, and   
   he doesn't want to do anything that will stop what she's   
   doing, what he's wanted for so long.   
      
   Scully's lips are so soft--softer than he remembers from their   
   brief New Year's kiss.  She brushes her lips back and forth   
   over his with the lightest pressure before deepening the kiss,   
   opening her mouth and inviting Mulder to do the same.  Then,   
   without breaking contact, she moves the hand not holding Mulder's   
   to his shoulder and shifts so that she's sitting sideways with   
   her legs tucked under her.  This gives her enough leverage to   
   move closer to his side, to encourage him to put his arms   
   around her as she reaches up to cup his face.  He feels a   
   tingling in his lips that shoots up to the top of his head   
   and then down his spine, radiating through his body to his   
   groin as her tongue touches his, darts away, and returns,   
   beckoning his to do the same, to connect, to explore.   
      
   They finally have to stop to breathe and Mulder leans his   
   head back against the cushions, his throat working to drag   
   more air in.  "*God*, Scully.  Don't do this if you don't mean   
   it,"  he finally manages to say.   
      
   He looks unutterably sexy to her with his head thrown back   
   and his eyes closed, throat working to gulp down in more air.   
      
   What a thing to say to her.  She can barely speak herself.   
   "Do you think I don't?"  she asks.   
      
   At this, he raises his head and looks at her.  "*Do* you?"   
   It comes out sounding like a challenge, though in his eyes   
   she can see he genuinely needs to know.   
      
   By way of answer she leans forward and presses her mouth against   
   his.  "What does this feel like?" she asks between kisses.   
   "Does it feel like I mean it?"   
      
   His answering groan fills her ears and her soul.  He pulls her   
   into his lap and his mouth explodes against hers.   
      
   They kiss and kiss some more, stopping only to draw ragged   
   breaths from time to time.  His hands run up and down the   
   contours of her back, shoulders, arms, and face; she does   
   the same to him.  Lips and tongues touch and caress mouths,   
   eyelids, cheeks, throats and earlobes, imprinting desire.   
      
   He has not yet crossed the barriers he set so long ago for   
   touching her.  But his mind and body cry out for further   
   exploration, even more intimate touches.  Still, even after   
   seven years, and at the edge of the final border, he delays   
   taking that last irrevocable step.   
      
   After her initial bold move, she seems content to nestle in   
   his arms.  She kisses him with enthusiasm, but hasn't let her   
   hands stray past certain boundaries, either.  Part of him wants   
   to move quickly, get past the point of no return quickly so   
   that there will be no turning back.  But every inch of her   
   skin is so delicious, he wants to take his time, explore each   
   precious increment of flesh before advancing to the next.   
      
   And, he tells himself, he has to be sure.  Sure that this is   
   truly what Scully wants, that she isn't just swept along on   
   the wave of his enthusiam.  If it isn't mutual, it will never   
   be right.   
      
   After a long while, Mulder gently pulls his mouth away from   
   Scully's and tucks her head against his shoulder, settling   
   into the corner of the couch, his arms wrapped around her.   
      
   "Scully," he says gently when his breathing slows enough.   
   "Scully, I need to know.  Do you really want this?"   
      
   She stirs a little in his embrace but doesn't look up at him.   
   "What about you?  What do you want?" she asks softly.   
      
   He grins.  "I think you know," he says in a smoky undertone,   
   placing her hand on his thigh where she can feel how hard he's   
   become.   
      
   She brushes her fingers along his jeans-clad length, eliciting   
   a sharp breath from him.  She looks up at him with a little   
   half-smile.  Her eyes are almost black, and there is a spark   
   deep within them.  "Are you saying you could stop right now?"   
   she asks wickedly.   
      
   "Sculllyyy...," he groans.  "I asked what *you* want.  I   
   *know* what I want.  But I won't assume anything about you."   
      
   "This from the man who accepts the existence of extraterrestrials   
   without question," she teases gently, hugging him more tightly.   
   "And now, when I practically throw myself at you, you want   
   incontrovertible proof."   
      
   He only smiles briefly at this, intent on saying what he needs   
   to say.  He might never be able to explain himself if he doesn't   
   do it now.  "Scully, if I've learned nothing else from you, it's   
   that I should never take you for granted."  He brushes her hair   
   from her eyes, trailing his hand down her cheek.  It's a gesture   
   of affection he's used many times in the past, but never before   
   has she felt just how freighted with meaning it is.  He continues,   
   "I want you to be clear about what you want.  Because for me,   
   this is it.  This is forever."  He kisses the top of her head.   
      
   Before this moment, he'd felt tongue-tied and incapable of   
   expressing himself.  Now the words just pour out of him.  It's   
   as though Scully kissing him was the key he'd sought for so   
   long.  "I've fought this for years, Scully.  For all the times   
   I've teased you and flirted with you and made suggestive comments,   
   I always meant it as more of a pressure release.  If I could keep   
   you exasperated enough, you were safer, and so was I.  I've gotten   
   so good at hiding my feelings over the years, sometimes even *I*   
   can't find them.  Until I look at you, Scully.  They're all   
   there, every one of them."   
      
   He presses his lips against her hair again.  "I don't want to   
   influence you one way or the other, but like I said, I already   
   know what I want."  He turns her face to his, cupping her cheeks   
   the palms of his hands.  "This is for keeps, Scully.  If it's not   
   the same thing you want, I'll figure out how to deal with that,   
   too."  He falls silent, counting the beats of his heart until he   
   hears her speak.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)