Title: Yee-haw Author: bizzzichick@yahoo.com (Satina) Rating: MA MSR, UST, RST, MulderTorture (giggle) Disclaimer: Sigh...no they aren't mine, at least legally, anyway. Chris Carter thought 'em up so he gets to deprive them of love and life as much as tickles his twisted fancy. I'm just using them without permission to rid my brain ( and those of a few friends) of some demented fantasies. Notes: Mulder and Scully go undercover at a dude ranch to investigate some suspected cult involvement. Mulder sustains some injuries that only Scully can adequately treat. ;-) (This one's for you, Sherri) .................................. Chapter 1: Two Agents, One Bed "Can you cook?" "Excuse me Sir?" Scully's eyebrows arched in surprise at Skinner's question. "I said can you cook, Agent Scully. I have an undercover assignment at a dude ranch, and I need you to pose as a ranch cook. Agent Mulder, you'll be acting as a ranch hand. It's necessary for this assignment that you pose as a couple." Scully looked over at Mulder, who appeared pleased at the possibility of living out some cowboy and Indian fantasies. "Yes sir, I think I can meet those responsibilities." Scully sighed softly. Cowboys weren't really on her list of desirable personalities, and weeks spent making mile-high stacks of flapjacks didn't trip her trigger. Dealing with Mulder's reprise of the increased teasing and open flirtations she had experienced while on the California planned community case wasn't something she was sure she was really ready for either. Mulder's voice was almost too quiet for Scully to hear. "Yee-haw." .............................. Mulder shifted in his seat uncomfortably as they drove out to the secluded Montana property. Part of his discomfort was due to the unfamiliar feel of his stiff, just-purchased Clint Black shirt and black Wrangler jeans, part of it was the dusty heat inside the older vehicle they were riding in, and part of it was seeing his usually straight-laced, suit-encased partner duded up in tight white jeans and a chambray button down shirt the exact shade of her eyes, knotted flirtily at her waist. God did she look like she was ready for a roll in the hay or what? Mulder shifted again, feeling the scratchy new cotton against his belly and chest, and his swelling erection pressing painfully against stiff, black denim. Damn he should have pre washed these stupid jeans. "So, Scully," Mulder's voice sounded hoarse, and he cleared his throat before continuing. "What say we do some research?" He raised his eyebrows at her and leaned across the seat toward her. Scully turned to him with a nonplussed expression, uncomfortable as hell in her country-girl garb. She tilted her head and arched her eyebrows as his long graceful fingers came away from the wheel and started reaching forward between the seats. What the hell was he up to? Her breathing nearly ceased as she watched his body close the distance between them. She let out her breath as she realized his questing fingers were settling on the radio knobs in front of them. Her eyes rolled as the country western music filled the ten-year-old Dodge. Ugh. Country music. Nothing but unrequited love, cheating hearts and crying in your beer. Was there any sound more annoying? Mulder moved his lean body to the music, pursing his lips in a mock attempt to appear to be enjoying it. In spite of herself, Scully had to smile. She felt weak inside looking at those full sensuous lips, pursed in a kiss aimed at no target. She watched with veiled amusement as his beautiful fingers tapped out the rhythm of the inane song on the dirty steering wheel of their borrowed vehicle. "Mulder." "...cuz if you tell my heart, my achey-breakey heart, it might blow up and kill this man." Mulder's torso undulated to the grating rhythm of the song as he finished up the last line of the chorus. She arched her eyebrows at him pointedly, and he sighed good- naturedly and fiddled with knobs some more. Able to receive nothing more pleasant than a commercial for Abner's Feed and Seed, he pulled his fingers back and returned his hands to the wheel. "You play with it Scully. Maybe you'd be better at getting what you want from it." A flash of heat went through his body as he threw her this subtle innuendo, but he kept his face absolutely neutral, eyes focused on the highway stretching unendingly before them. Scully blushed just a little, but pretended not to notice anything out of the ordinary. She shifted in her seat sideways and reached forward to find something bearable on the radio. Mulder stole glances sideways as her small, delicate fingers manipulated the knobs, feeling the distance between them lessening as she leaned in more closely to eye the numbers on the dial. Finally settling on a vaguely familiar Motown tune, she sighed and leaned back into her seat. Mulder's breathing returned to normal and eyes went back to the road as the singsong words went through his mind. "Oh won't you please be my, be my, be my little baby, my one and only, baby my darlin...." He shifted again and focused his attention on the rolling expanse of sage-brush and volcanic plains. This was going to be one unforgettable case assignment. And it had nothing to do with the possibility that there was a dangerous religious sect possibly operating up in these hills. ........................ Scully's eyes widened as she surveyed the room before her. Gorgeous hardwood floors, a beautiful, huge, obviously antique oak highboy dresser, an old wooden chair with leather-covered seat and arms, a little wooden side table with an antique lamp, a lovely handmade braided rug...and one queen sized bed covered with a wonderful quilt decorated with the marriage ring pattern. One queen sized bed. A rather uncomfortable looking chair. No cot, no couch, no real room on the hard wood floor for a sleeping bag. Her lips pursed and she swallowed awkwardly, feeling the weight of her duffel bag strap cutting into her shoulder. "Hope you find these accommodations to yer likin'" said their gracious middle-aged male host and employer, sweeping his hands through the air in a proud gesture. "My Emma made that quilt and that rug herself. We used that quilt on our honeymoon bed. We think it brought us luck when we made little Matthew." He finished, arching his eyebrows suggestively at Mulder. Mulder smiled and laughed nervously. "It's fine, Mr. Charden. I'm sure we'll be comfortable here." He stole a glance at Scully, who blinked her eyes as if waking from a trance and nodded her head. "Yes, Mr. Charden. The room is beautiful. The handwork on the quilt is really quite exquisite." Scully walked over to the bed and appeared quite fascinated by the tiny stitches. Mulder let his eyes travel over the rounded shape of her ass in those white denim jeans and felt his own jeans become even more tight and uncomfortable. His lingering gaze wasn't lost on their smiling host, who waggled his eyebrows at Mulder and nudged him in the shoulder roughly. "She's a keeper, son. You take good care of that little filly." Mr. Charden stepped to the door. "I'll let you two get settled now. Dinner's in an hour, you'll hear the bell. Bye now." And with that, he closed the heavy wooden door behind him, leaving Mulder and Scully alone in the quiet of the rustic bedroom. Scully said nothing, lowered her duffel to the feather bed, and began removing meticulously folded little squares of clothing from her perfectly organized bag. She was careful to place the shirts and jeans on top of the panties and bras, before taking the small bundles in her hands and turning to the highboy dresser. "I'll take the bottom three drawers since you're taller." Mulder was about to protest and offer her the top drawers when his breath was taken away by the site of that denim covered ass jutting in the air as she bent to place her clothes in the lower drawers. His voice was low and rough. "Thanks." He opened his own bag and pulled out his own clothes, struggling to control the trembling of his fingers. He gave her sufficient time to straighten up, then looked up to see her carrying her toiletries bag into the small adjacent water closet. When he heard her placing small bottles on porcelain, he turned and took his clothes to the top three drawers in the highboy. It gave him a silly adolescent thrill to know his clothes were in the same dresser as Scully's...on top of them in a way. He rolled his eyes at his pathetic musings and shoved his clothes into the drawers roughly. He stowed his bag and hers under the bed and slowly bent his legs and lowered himself onto the high pillowy feather mattress with a sigh. Scully surveyed the small bathroom, her brow furrowing. A small white porcelain sink in a large oak vanity, a toilet, and a claw footed white porcelain tub. She had been hoping for a more communal bathing arrangement, rather than having to be naked in the tub just a wall away from Mulder, but it looked like she would be doing her bathing right here, in this small shared room, for an undetermined amount of time. She sighed deeply and tried to arrange her things in the smallest amount of space possible, leaving Mulder plenty of room for his own gear. When she couldn't avoid him any longer and her bottles were as perfectly arranged as any bottles had ever been, she took a deep breath and walked back out into the bedroom, her expression pleasant. "How's the bathroom?" Mulder's voice cracked more than he would have liked and he played nervously with the needlework under his fingers. "Um nice...very clean." Said Scully, walking toward the only chair in the room. "Great." said Mulder, nodding stupidly. He stood and took his own toiletry bag into the bathroom without another word. He closed the door behind him and sighed deeply, relieved to be away from the source of his anxiety, if only for a few moments. Once inside the small white and wooden room, he turned to the sink vanity. Scully's pretty little cosmetics were arranged precisely in short rows along one side of the wooden vanity top. His fingers reached out reverently, softly trailing along the sides of the bottles, barely touching them. He removed his own ugly, masculine shaving cream, after shave, toothbrush, toothpaste and bar soap from his bag and placed them on the opposite side of the sink. He gave her softly colored little possessions one last lingering gaze then turned to the tub. Scully's bath gel, shampoo, conditioner, shaving gel and razor were all gathered neatly in the metal rack that spanned the width of the tub, taking up less than one half of the allotted area. He gulped, suddenly swimming in a vision of Scully's leg perched on the side of the high claw footed tub as she stroked down its length with the pink razor. He took a deep shuddering breath and placed his own personal care products in the other side of the metal rack. He couldn't resist opening her shampoo bottle and bringing the tip to his nose. He felt his heart constrict painfully in his chest and an ache settle into his belly and groin, and wondered how he was going to survive living in such tight intimate quarters with his walking fantasy. Hopefully the ranch supervisor would keep him busy and away from the main house most of the time so that he could catch his breath. He turned and opened the door to return to his and Scully's bedroom, his heart thudding in his ears. ................................... Scully had endured sitting through dinner with Mulder beside her, tolerating his teasing comments and playful nudges with what she hoped appeared to be loving acceptance. She had barely touched her chicken-fried steak and potatoes, but noticed that Mulder had no trouble fully consuming his in large, generous forkfuls. Truth be told, Scully loved to watch Mulder eat. He always cut big, generous bites and opened his mouth eagerly, shoving the food in with obvious enjoyment. Mulder didn't savor his meals, taking carefully measured bites the way Scully did. He consumed them with mindless pleasure, soaking up the last drops of gravy with yet another slice of homemade bread. Scully found herself transfixed at the sight of those long, graceful fingers pulling out from between those full, sensuous lips as he licked away the last traces of gravy. She even felt her own tongue making a tiny swipe across her bottom lip thinking of how Mulder licked his fingers with the same slow unrestrained pleasure with which he ate his dinner. He seemed to throw himself fully into any sensuous experience he chose to partake in. Mmm. She started at the sound of his voice as spoke directly at her. "So what say, Scully...going to have some of that pie?" Mulder's grin was boyish as looked from her full plate back up to her face. Before Scully could answer, a warm wedge of apple pie topped with a generous scoop of melting vanilla ice cream was slid in front of her and her dinner plate was whisked away. She turned her attention to the dessert in front of her and, shrugging, lifted her fork to cut a bite. Mulder's grin widened when without consent Scully was served with this seemingly too-large portion of sweet decadence. His eyes widened and his breathing became more rapid as he watched her lift a forkful of pie and ice cream to her perfect pink lips, capturing it with obvious pleasure and making a sound of gratitude in her throat. "Mmm..." Scully nodded to indicate her enjoyment of the dessert, and Mulder swallowed painfully as he watched her little pink tongue swoop the corner of her mouth to recapture a missed drop of ice cream. He realized he also had his own serving of pie, his dwarfing hers although hers was more than generous. Trying to keep Scully from hearing the hitch in his breath, he sighed quietly and turned his attention to the dessert. Scully reveled in the perfect, sweet, spicy, creamy taste of the pie in her mouth. Unbeknownst to Mulder or the others at the table, it wasn't necessarily a small appetite that had caused her to leave most of her meal on her plate. She just wasn't at all fond of beef, which could prove to be a problem on this ranch where "beef...it's what's for dinner." was more than just a slogan. Oh well, as long as they kept serving desserts big enough to make up for an entire entree, she wouldn't be going hungry. She continued scooping up bites of the pie, sopping up the melted ice cream with the large flaky chunks of golden brown crust. She stole a glance at Mulder when she heard his fork start to decisively cut the huge forkfuls of food she knew were his norm. She couldn't help but watch as his mouth closed around the immense mouths full of apples, crust and cream, and let out a tiny, breathy little sigh when she saw him close his eyes briefly, lost in the pleasure of the flavor. She turned back to her pie and was halfway finished when Mulder dropped his fork to his plate and leaned back in his chair, patting his midsection appreciatively. "Now that was good." He said, running his large hands in lazy circles on his full belly. "Course not as good as my Laura's pie." said Mulder, winking at Scully in a decidedly lascivious fashion. Scully knew she blushed bright red and kept her eyes on her plate, hoping that no one was paying attention to his carbohydrate-induced ramblings. She heard the good-natured titters and knowing laughter and her eyes burned with the effort of keeping herself calm. "Well, that's why we hired her, Rob." said Mr. Charden in a soothing low tone. "Guess we'll get to experience some of that cooking you enjoy so much starting tomorrow morning." Scully looked up and met his gaze, which was nothing more than fatherly and warm, and she smiled a shaky smile, wanting nothing more than to use her brand new uncomfortable cowboy boots to make a deep dent in Mulder's shin. Mulder's laughter rumbled low as the group prepared to leave the table. .............................. Mr. Charden had invited them to sit around the huge fire pit in the center of the main house after dinner for some cowboy poetry, but Mulder and Scully (Rob and Laura) had declined, claiming they were "done-in" by their long drive up from Colorado. They made their way back to their room, not saying a word to each other until Mulder took his hand from the small of Scully's back and turned to close the door behind them. Mulder was immediately flattened by a look of pure ice shooting from those baby blues. "Mulder. I'll thank you not to humiliate me in front of our employers and coworkers like that again." Her eyes didn't leave his and he could see she was breathing heavily with anger. Mulder regrettably decided to take the humorous approach to her attack. "Come on Scully. I was just telling them how much I enjoy your pie." His confident adolescent grin was instantly withered by the glare of pure rage she gifted him with. "Mulder. If you cannot behave professionally during this assignment, I'll see that you're written up with the bureau." He was shocked to see tears shining in her beautiful blue eyes, and opened his mouth to pour out his apologies, but she was already slamming the bathroom door behind her. Mulder raked his hand through his hair and stared at the closed bathroom door. He could hear little glass bottles and plastic caps being roughly manipulated and even heard one bottle drop loudly against the porcelain of the sink basin, eliciting a hissed curse from behind the thick wooden door. He took a few steps toward it, feeling completely awkward at being trapped in this bedroom with a mad as hell Scully on the other side of a bathroom door. He knew he should back off and give her a little time to cool down before beginning his imminent groveling crusade. He turned to the bed and pulled his bag out from under it, sighing a little as he nudged aside Scully's bag to get to his own. He extracted his file on the case they were on and looked around the room, trying to decide if he wanted to sit in the chair or on the bed to sift through it. He finally decided he could spread his materials out better on the bed, and after kicking off his amazingly painfully uncomfortable cowboy boots , he settled back against the pillows, opening the file before him. After a few minutes of trying to figure out what was happening behind the bathroom door Mulder heard the water pouring as the bathtub was being filled. He sighed heavily and scooted across the bed, a not-so-simple task given the soft, sinking nature of a real feather mattress. He finally rolled out of the soft pit and walked over to the door. "Um...Scully?" Mulder's voice was low and embarrassed. He heard the deep sigh as Scully turned off the water. "What is it Mulder." Her voice was tired. "Uh I just wanted to say I'm really sorry for the asinine way I acted at dinner. I was totally out of line and I had no right to be such a bastard. Jesus, Scully. I'm really sorry. I promise you it will NOT happen again." Scully could hear the genuine sadness and regret in Mulder's voice and rolled her eyes to the ceiling, knowing it was just a matter of moments before she forgave him, yet again. She sighed again and perched on the edge of the tub for a moment, swirling her fingers through the hot soothing bubbles. Mulder heard the swishing wet sound and tried not to think about what part of Scully's body could be parting the water. The sound was small enough that he decided it was probably just her hands. Just her tiny, slender fingers sliding gracefully through the wet soapy suds. He felt his groin tighten. "It's OK Mulder." Scully said with a resigned tone to her voice. She didn't sound happy but she didn't sound angry any more, and Mulder let himself relax as he heard her voice roll over him. "I'm...just going to take a bath now. I'll be out in a bit." Mulder could feel his pulse pounding in his throat as he heard Scully step into the deep bathtub and lower herself slowly into the water. His heart skipped a bit when he heard her hiss of breath as she adjusted to the overly hot temperature. He made his way back to the bed and blinked, trying valiantly to shake off the overpowering images of a nude Scully, lying back languorously in the bubbles, sweet vanilla-scented suds lapping at her soft pink nipples. He climbed back into the center of the bed and crossed his scratchy denim-clad legs in an effort to quell his raging erection. He tried hard to focus on the photos of the strange symbols burned into the flesh of the victims of the cult crimes he was there to investigate. He had actually succeeding in becoming sufficiently focused on the case in front of him when he heard Scully extracting herself from the bathtub and heard the small wet slap of her feet on the polished hard wood floor. His pulse quickened as he waited for her to emerge, holding his breath with the anticipation of seeing a steamy, wet Scully fresh from her tub. He jumped at the unexpected sound of his name coming from the other side of the door. "Mulder?" "Yeah?" His voice was gravelly. He cleared his throat quietly. "Um, could you open the bottom drawer of the dresser and get my bathrobe for me?" Her voice sounded embarrassed and unsure. Mulder realized she hadn't taken any change of clothes into the bathroom with her in her fit of anger and was now standing naked and dripping on the other side of the door, asking him to hand her something to cover her body with. He closed his eyes and swallowed loudly, trying NOT to visualize the scene playing out behind those wooden panels. "Yeah sure, just a sec." This time his voice sounded more level, and he gave thanks and rolled across the bed, beginning his second climb out of the natural pit made by the weight of his body. He opened Scully's bottom drawer and trying not to finger her other clothing, reached and sank his fingers into the plush white cotton terry of her bathrobe. He couldn't resist bringing it closer to his face and inhaling gently as he made his way to the bathroom door. "Got it." Mulder said, unsure how to proceed next. He jumped a little as the door opened and one slender white arm reached out, beaded with moisture, fingers trying to find purchase on the robe. He hurriedly shoved it into her questing hand and she drew it inside the bathroom and closed the door, this time much more gently than the last time he'd heard it being shut. He nervously shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he heard the soft sounds of her wrapping her body in the robe, then stepped back quickly when the door opened and Scully emerged. Her hair was wet and curling gently around her face as she chanced a quick look up into his face, making her way around him to the dresser. When she saw the intense expression in those deep hazel eyes, she looked away quickly, not wanting to get caught up in their depths. Being naked except for the robe that had only seconds before been grasped in those long, male fingers was making her feel very vulnerable and uncomfortable indeed. She bent to extract the T-shirt and leggings she had brought to sleep in and hurried back across the room to once again seclude herself behind the bathroom door. Mulder couldn't help but watch her, open-mouthed, as she treated him to a view of her lovely ass, naked beneath her plush cotton robe, her delicate bare ankles and small pink feet peeking out from beneath its fuzzy hem. As she stood up and pulled the robe closed more tightly around her, he closed his mouth with almost audible snap just in time. He wordlessly watched her as she padded on warm, pink toes back to the bathroom and quietly slipped inside. He blinked and shook his head and turned to the bed to pick up some of the mess he'd made with the case notes and pictures. He didn't turn around when he finally heard the door open one last time and she came back into the bedroom. Scully felt much more calm and relaxed in her comfortable, cotton sleep wear and she lazily brushed the tangles from her wet hair with one hand while shaking the water from her robe with the other. As she entered the bedroom, she saw Mulder leaning over the bed, hurriedly pulling papers together and scooping up photos. She found herself gazing at his tight, perfect ass incased in the pitch black denim of his never been washed jeans. A bumper sticker she'd caught site of on the drive here teased through her brain. MMmm it was true. This particular Wrangler butt anyway, was freezing her dead in her tracks, holding a soggy bathrobe in one hand, her other fingering a wet strand of her hair absently. Mulder straightened up and turned around to see Scully just standing behind him wordlessly. Feeling awkward, he extended a hand full of notes toward her and made his way to the chair. Blinking away the Mulder's-ass induced trance she had been in, Scully took the sheaf of papers offered and pretended she was very interested in reading them. She turned to see Mulder folding his long legs up as he lowered himself into the lone bedroom chair, and she walked over to the bed and turned to sit. That was when she realized the bed had a real feather mattress and was too high off the floor for her to simply lower herself down on it. Embarrassed but trying hard not to show it, she turned and placed the papers on the bed and proceeded to figure out a way to quickly and elegantly climb up onto the high, soft mattress. Mulder tried extremely hard not to look too closely as he watched her raise one curvy, spandex covered knee up to the mattress in an effort to climb up. His breath caught painfully as the softness of the mattress caused her to pitch forward, putting her smooth round ass directly in his line of vision, the thin fabric of her T-shirt stretched tautly across its lovely globes. His jaw clenched as he watched her catch her balance and turn on the bed, avoiding his gaze as she settled in, legs crossed. Scully's heart was racing as she tried to appear unruffled by her unseemly display of clumsiness. She brushed some wet strands of hair away from her forehead and turned to the case at hand. .............................Chapter 2: Darkness Falls The sun had set and they had discussed how best to find out the biggest amount of information in the most efficient way possible, planning out who to approach and how for the next few days. They had various pieces of surveillance equipment they needed to install around the property, and Scully was responsible for the main house, while Mulder was going to set up the outbuildings and vehicles. Scully found her eyes getting sleepy and saw Mulder yawn more than once as he sorted through the various pieces of equipment, making sure each had its required accessories and cords. Neither of them wanted to face the fact that in order to get any rest, they would soon be bedding down together for the night. Mulder finally shuffled the photographs together and slid them back into the case file, then stood from the chair and stretched toward the ceiling, yawning hugely. Scully's gaze travelled over the long expanse of his flat belly, watching his shirt pulling out from the waistband of his tight black jeans, creating a gap just big enough for her hand to slip down inside. She forced her eyes to focus in on the stack of files she was neatly arranging and placing in the folder. Mulder pulled boxers and a T-shirt from his dresser drawer and made his way to the bathroom. Scully didn't look up, but as she heard the door latch click quietly, she let her breath out in a long sigh. It was time to face their sleeping arrangements. Should she be in bed waiting for him when he came out? Or would that seem suggestive, like she was inviting him into bed with her? Of course, if she let him get in bed first, it was like she was climbing in to be with him. She remembered how difficult it had been for her to maneuver on the soft feather mattress and finally made her decision to be already comfortably arranged on said offending soft surface when he emerged from the bathroom. Mulder sighed with relief as he slid the rough denim of his Wrangler jeans down his legs and kicked them across the floor. He would definitely have to do some laundry right away, or continue to suffer the torture of stiff new jeans against his skin for the rest of the week. He pulled up his soft, comfy flannel boxer shorts and stood to remove his western shirt. He unbuttoned the shirt and slipped it down his shoulders, hearing the snaps on the pockets clatter softly as they hit the hard wood floor. He slipped his T-shirt over his head gratefully, sighing slightly at the feel of the familiar soft cotton against his slightly abraded and sensitized skin. He brushed his teeth and applied new deodorant, sheepish at how his thoughts turned to making sure Scully wasn't offended by any body odor. When he had finished his grooming and picked up the western wear off the floor, he faced the closed bathroom door and prepared to go to bed with his walking, breathing fantasy, Special Agent Dana Scully. Feeling lightheaded at the prospect, he opened the door and stepped into the now darkened bedroom. He pushed his dirty clothes into a long cotton sack hanging to the side of the bathroom door as his eyes adjusted to the dim light. Scully had turned off the main lamp and left on a small lamp on a sconce right over the center of the bed. The soft light illuminated her tousled hair, left un styled to dry naturally after her bath, and cast her pale face in a gentle golden glow as she bent over a small hardback book, reading. God she looked more like an angel than he had ever seen her look. His feet felt rooted to the floor as he tried to summon the courage to climb into that sumptuous bed with that vision of perfection. Scully heard Mulder exit the bathroom but didn't look up as his soft barefooted steps crossed the room. She read the same sentence several times until she realized that he had stopped moving and was now just staring at her on the bed. She felt the heat come up in her face and her throat closed painfully. Finally, she looked up at him from beneath her eyelashes. Mulder was standing there, stock still, dressed only in his boxer shorts and a sparkling white T-shirt. She felt her eyes surreptitiously travel up his long, lean legs, quickly brush over his crotch, skitter up his belly, which was moving in and out with his deep breathing, and finally come to rest on his slightly parted lips. For a moment she was hypnotized, hearing the breaths puff out from between those lips. A split second later, she allowed her eyes to make direct contact with his. Her own breath left her. Mulder's eyes were shining dark in the low light, never once straying from Scully's face as she peered up at him hesitantly. The lust and confusion was plain in his expression and she felt the weight of it physically as she struggled to reply to his unspoken question. She finally bit the inside corner of her mouth and spoke. "Come on Mulder. You need your sleep. We both do. We've got a lot of work to do tomorrow." Turning from his gaze, she gently placed her book on the small bedside table, and reached above her to turn out the last light. There was no way she could watch Mulder climb into her bed in the light. If it was dark, she could pretend it was someone else making the bed shift under her with the weight of his body. Mulder nodded, absently noting the slight tremble of his hands as he carefully turned back the quilt and slipped between the cool white sheets. He made every effort to stay as far to his side of the bed as possible, feeling every one of his muscles tense with the effort of not touching Scully's body. That was when Scully and Mulder learned a very interesting fact about overstuffed, well-used feather mattresses. They tend to sink in the middle. Scully felt the weight of Mulder's body pull the bed down between them, her body rolling toward his as if drawn by a magnetic force. She struggled to stay out of the dip of the mattress, but seeing as how she was not gifted with the power of levitation, found gravity pulling her body down into direct contact with Mulder. Mulder felt the gravitational logistics of the featherbed kick in as well, and used every fiber of his being to try and hold himself out of the small dent forming in the space between them. His efforts went as unrewarded as Scully's as he felt himself falling toward her body, unable to do anything except tense his body in anticipation of the contact. Their bodies fell together in the center of the bed and they both jumped. They were both facing slightly away from one another, not completely on their backs and not completely on their sides. They froze as they decided how to handle this amazing new development. Scully struggled to breathe, not wanting Mulder to hear the sound of her struggles, but needing to quell the swirling headiness caused by her predicament. She didn't move a muscle as she felt her hip press against Mulder's, her arm trapped between their bodies, her legs touching his from thigh to calf, her toes brushing his shins. Her eyes squeezed tight as she struggled to remain calm and dismiss the images assailing her mind. Mulder's hip pressed to hers. Mulder's body holding her arm between them. Mulder's hard, tensing thigh hot against her own. For one breathless moment, she pictured herself wearing shorts instead of leggings, feeling her bare flesh pressed full length against his. Her panties were getting very wet. Mulder stared into the darkness, feeling Scully's firm little leg stretched all along his own bare one. He could feel that her slender little arm was pinned beneath him, but was to terrified to make a move to free it. He could feel her fingertips grazing the tops of his butt cheeks under him and it took every bit of willpower he had not to move against them. He knew his painfully hard erection was lifting the quilt away from his body in an obvious way, but in the darkness he was pretty sure she couldn't see it. He resisted the urge to turn to her and roll over on top of her and trap her with his body and his mouth. Finally the tension in her limbs became painful and Scully shifted her body, trying to get the circulation back into her pinned arm. She felt her fingers brush against Mulder's rock hard butt cheek and felt a fresh new gush of fluid seep out between her legs. She felt her center clench with uncontrolled longing as she slid her hand out from beneath Mulder's body and placed it on her own. She said nothing as she tried hard to ignore the heat coming off Mulder in waves, as well as the throbbing between her thighs. Her fingers, resting on her hip, trembled with their need to plunge into her depths and relieve the pressure there. But she stayed completely still, and finally felt the exhaustion overtaking her tortured mind and body. She fervently prayed tonight wouldn't be one of those nights when she awoke with Mulder's name on her lips and her hand between her legs. She tried to picture her most recent autopsy as she felt her mind slip into the velvety black of sleep. Mulder felt Scully extract her arm and hand and almost moaned at the sensation of her fingers sliding up over the top of his ass and up his side. He willed his body not to jerk as she shifted beside him, getting comfortable. He tried to turn away from her a bit more, to make sure she wouldn't catch sight of or worse yet brush against his painfully erect cock during the night. He didn't think the throbbing was going to abate any time soon, and his hands clenched beneath the blankets as he willed himself not to touch himself to relieve some of the pressure. He desperately hoped he wouldn't wake, as so many other nights, pressing himself into the bed and moaning her name. He willed himself to think of circus freaks and flukemen as he felt his hold on consciousness slip away. .................................. Scully had awakened in the early dawn before Mulder, relieved to find her lips silent and her hand between her pillow and the bed, instead of between her thighs. She had carefully extracted herself from the warm bed, and looked back at Mulder's sleeping face in the half-light of dawn. He was lying on his side, and didn't look that comfortable or relaxed, although his face was slack and those delicious lips slightly parted. Scully shivered in the cold of the early morning and grabbed her clothes to get ready for her first breakfast shift. She vowed to ask her hosts for some extra pillows to put between her body's and Mulder's in hopes of getting a good night's sleep some time in the near future. Mulder came awake at the sound of Scully closing the bedroom door on her way out and rolled over in the bed, into the space he'd so carefully tried to avoid all night long. He breathed in the scent of Scully from the pillow and sheets, and felt his erection press into the soft feather mattress. Sighing deeply, he wondered if he would ever be boner-free again while working this case, and stumbled to the bathroom to put on another pair of scratchy tight Wranglers. ....................................Chapter 3: The Appearance of Big Red Mulder and Scully had been working the ranch for three days, and neither was particularly enjoying their roles as cook and ranch hand, but they were coming very close to figuring out who was in this strange cult and who was not. They had also learned to place pillows between them in bed in a way that let them both get a more relaxed night's sleep, although having the discussion about Scully's plan to use them was one of the most embarrassing she could remember having with Mulder. The only thing that made it bearable was his own obvious discomfort at having to discuss this problem openly, and his ongoing strict adherence to his promise not to tease her with sexual innuendoes. She almost missed them. She was wiping the perspiration from her brow as she placed a platter of hot biscuits on the table. Straightening up, she heard the lunch bell being rung. She saw the group of dirty, sweaty ranch hands come shuffling up to the main house as a group, lining up at the huge basin to wash up for the noon meal. She scanned the crowd of hungry men looking for Mulder and thought she saw his brown hair beneath his gray cowboy hat but decided it must not be him because upon closer inspection she realized this man was wearing Chaps, and Mulder didn't own a pair. Her eyes widened as the tall lanky man turned and Mulder's eyes met hers with a grin. Her gaze travelled from the strangely arousing sight of his sweaty, disheveled hair peeking out from under a gray cowboy hat with a silver coin band. She let her gaze slide over his dusty, sweat-shiny face, to his oversized silver belt buckle...and the chaps. Oh yes the chaps. There was something about seeing that long, lanky body flanked by those black leather flaps edged with fringe that just made her heart do somersaults. Was it the whole Marlboro Man thing? An archetype of the free spirited American male, like a wild stallion not yet broken? Scully didn't know, but she did know that she was grateful to whatever man on the ranch that had suggested that Mulder get a pair. Mulder caught Scully's impossibly gorgeous blue-eyed gaze and it filled his heart with pure joy. He'd worked hard for several hours this morning, finally starting to get the hang of this cowpoke business, and he was almost as starving for the sight of her as for his midday meal. He felt himself grinning like an idiot and decided what the hell and tipped his hat in a characteristically John Wayne-like gesture. Did Scully actually lower her eyes flirtatiously at him?? He decided he was being stupid and only seeing what his over heated, over sensitive sex-deprived mind wanted to see, and he finished washing up and took his place at the table. Scully brought her next plate of food out to the table and made a special trip over to Mulder's side and leaned in next to him to place it on the empty space in front of his plate. All the ranch hands were watching her, expecting the two of them to display average couple behavior, so after she let go of the hot casserole dish of baked beans, she turned and gave Mulder a quick peck on his sweaty cheek. Mulder startled at the touch, as he almost always did when she would bestow the gift of this pretend affection on him in public. He felt his grin widen as he gazed up into her eyes with joy, and saw her smile down at him exactly the way he supposed a loving young wife might smile at her hard working man. He almost forgot he had come up to the house to eat. Scully finished putting the food on the table, then retired to the great room to rest while the meal was eaten. As one of the cooks, she ate after the hands were done, with the rest of the house staff, before assisting with cleanup. She stretched her sore muscles and extended her denim-clad legs along the length of the leather couch, careful not to let her shoes leave any dirt on the upholstery. She let her head fall back on a big, animal print pillow and let her thoughts wander as she fingered her ice tea glass absently. She was afraid to admit to herself just how much she enjoyed it when she was "forced" into a public display of emotion for Mulder. It wasn't like all the times when Mulder had been focused on making stupid wisecracks and throwing her off balance. Unlike those other undercover assignments, their fight this first night had caused Mulder to behave in a perfectly respectful, albeit publicly affectionate way, every day since. Mulder could really be a gentleman when he wanted to. Sometimes when they would join the rest of the group in the great room at night, they would sit super close together, hands entwined, listening to the other people tell their stories, and she would completely forget they were play acting. She could tell from the way Mulder put his hands on her to help her rise from the couch, and then lead her to the room, that he was enjoying the freedom of their increased physical expression as well. She felt sad as she thought about it coming to an end. It was going to be soon, because after three days, they had gathered enough surveillance information from the miniature tape recorders they had placed around the ranch, to break the case wide open, once they got just one more critical piece of data. A few more days of playing Laura and Rob and they would be reverting back to Mulder and Scully. Oh she was MORE than happy to give up her job of cooking and cleaning up and she was positive, watching Mulder take his nightly Epsom salts into the bathroom to soak out the aches and bruises, that he was only too happy to say goodbye to the life of the real cowboy, but she knew she would miss the easy physicality she was so enjoying now, and sleeping alone in her bed was going to be hard after listening to him breathe each night in the dark. ................................. She was just cleaning up the last of the crumbs from the chairs surrounding the table when she heard a commotion outside. It sounded like someone had been hurt and she heard the shouts of men as they carried someone up to the main house. Her medical training kicked in immediately and dropping her dishcloth she ran out to the wraparound deck to see who the injured party could be. Her hand flew up to her mouth when she saw a group of men carrying Mulder up to the house on a makeshift gurney, which she could see with her practiced eye was stained with blood. "Mul....My god, Rob!" She caught her slip as she ran out to meet him. Mulder didn't open his eyes as they continued to carry him to the resident nurse's station. His face was drawn and pale, his eyes squeezed shut with the effort of holding back his sounds of pain. As soon as the men had Mulder carried into the makeshift examining room, Scully was surprised to see them roll him onto the cot on his stomach. She stepped forward. "What..." but snapped her mouth shut as a tall, beautiful woman with long brown hair stepped forward and started cutting away the back of Mulder's jeans with practiced concentration. Scully's eyes narrowed just the slightest bit as she saw the woman's hands stroke over Mulder's now bare butt cheeks. Then she saw the deep bloody puncture wound and gasped aloud. One of the hands must have heard her, because he stepped forward and put his arm around Scully's shoulders. "Don't worry hun. Tammy's our nurse. She ain't puttin' the moves on your guy. Rob just had a nasty little run-in with the meanest bull on the property, Big Red. But it's nothing he can't get over, sweetie." Scully offered him a grateful smile and blushed at the thought that this man had seen jealousy, not concern, in her expression. Tammy looked up and met Scully's intense gaze. "Pretty deep puncture wound here, but we'll get him cleaned up and sewn back together and those purty little cheeks will be good as new in no time." Tammy gave Scully a slow smile and lowered her focus back to Mulder's twitching backside. Scully felt unexplainable anger well up inside her at the way this woman very obviously made a move onto her turf, then shook herself as she realized Mulder wasn't REALLY her turf, she was just pretending he was. Her anger returned she saw Tammy smiling while she gently cleansed Mulder's wound. Scully knelt down at Mulder's head and put her hand to the side of his face. His eyes, which had remained squeezed shut till now, opened and he struggled to focus on her face. She arched her eyebrows and looked into his eyes inquisitively, silently asking him if he was all right. He answered her with a roll of his eyes and then shut them as Tammy continued with her work. Scully, satisfied that his pride was sustaining more damage than his body, brushed her hand against his face once more and straightened up. Tammy finished cleaning the wound, then straightened up and held Scully's gaze once again. "That puncture is deeper than I first thought. I don't think we better sew it up until we let it heal a little from the inside out first." Scully nodded, understanding better than Tammy could ever know, the value of letting a deep wound like that heal a bit before closing it up. Tammy continued. "Rob here's gonna have to stay in bed at least a coupla days, with his tush in the open air. He's going to need someone to help him keep this wound clean and freshly bandaged. Now do you think you can handle that, or are you too squeamish for that kind of thing?" Scully bit back a sardonic smile and felt a little flash of heat as she realized from the tone of Tammy's voice that she was hoping Scully would ask her to take on Mulder's care. "Thanks, I think I can handle it fine. I've had a lot of first aid experience." She caught Mulder's lopsided grin out of the corner of her eye and struggled to keep her own face neutral. "All righty then. Let me show you what you need to do for him." Scully leaned over Mulder's backside as Tammy showed her how to clean and dress the wound. She explained, much to Mulder's utter embarrassment, that he would have to be on clear liquids, in order to minimize the amount of "use" of that particular part of his body, and that Scully would need to check, clean and dress the wound at least three times a day, more if there were any complications. "I'll check in on him once a day to make sure everything's going well." Said Tammy, letting her eyes linger on Mulder's unmarked butt cheek just a little too long for Scully's liking. Scully smiled her enigmatic smile and said curtly, "That will be fine." After they had Mulder's throbbing backside bandaged and covered with a sheet, they called the ranch hands back in and had them carry him back to his and Scully's room, where Scully and Tammy arranged him face down on the feather bed, propped just so with pillows. Mulder kept his eyes closed throughout most of this time, awash in his own embarrassment, but quite honestly, enjoying the attentions of his two beautiful attendants. After giving "Laura" another little primer on basic puncture wound care, Tammy went around to look at Mulder's face. "I'll see you later, hun...you be careful with that thing." She gave him a super light love tap on his uninjured cheek and glided out of the room. Scully felt her jaw clench and realized her teeth were grinding against each other. She waited until everyone was gone and the door was closed behind them, then pulled the chair up to the side of the bed Mulder was facing. They said nothing for a few minutes, Scully looking at Mulder with raised eyebrows, her arms crossed in front of her. Finally Mulder sighed deeply and spoke. "I was trying to hear what was going on behind a tree out in a pasture, and I climbed over a fence and was sneaking up to get a better vantage point. I think they were discussing the date of the annual meeting of the Sage Masons, the one piece of information we're lacking, Scully! But before I could hear much of anything, I was...interrupted by Big Red." Mulder's eyes closed in embarrassment, but Scully didn't smile, only tilting her head, imploring him to tell the rest of the story. Realizing she wasn't going anywhere until he finished the tale, he sighed heavily and resumed speaking. "I heard this snorting behind me and God Scully...I felt this hot breath just saturate my entire back. I straightened up and turned to look behind me, knowing what I would see, and there's Big Red, pawing at the ground, getting ready to toss my ass clean over that goddamned fence. I didn't even think twice about it. I just started running. Thank God I was good in track, because I got a lead on that goddamn demon-bull before he caught up with me and...." Mulder swallowed hard, "Stuck his horn into my left butt cheek and tossed me clean up in the air." Mulder's head collapsed against the pillow with the memory of the trauma, his story told. He expected Scully to start laughing now, and steeled himself against the humiliation. But her voice held only concern and curiosity as she leaned in closer. "Mulder, how did you get away?" Mulder kept his eyes shut for the rest of the story, as he explained how his scream (NOT a girly scream) had brought a group of men running, and they had distracted the bull and kept it from turning him into a bloody mess, then had hauled him out of the pasture and carried up to the house on the gurney. Scully knew the rest of the story and sat back in her chair and sighed. Mulder stole a look at her face. The tenderness in her voice shook Mulder to his core. "Mulder...my God Mulder you could have been killed." Mulder opened his eyes and saw that Scully's eyes were closed now, trying to block out the picture of Mulder being impaled fatally on the horns of a huge angry bull. "Hey...I'm OK Scully. I mean, aside from a NASTY case of ass- ache and an overwhelming need to pee, I'm gonna be fine." His feeble attempt at humor drew the half-smile he'd been hoping for and then she turned to the business at hand. "Mulder, Tammy left a bedpan. Can you unfasten your jeans and get them down, or...do you need my....help?" Scully looked around the room as she asked this, and Mulder blushed all the way down to his exposed buttocks. "Um, there's really nothing left to the back of the jeans I think, so I should be able to pull them down myself. I...." Mulder stopped and swallowed loudly, "I might need some help getting them the rest of the way off though." He finished, running his words together nervously. "OK Mulder. You...get them down as far as you can, and I'll wait over here until you're ready. Just call me." Scully was using her doctor voice now, which was immensely comforting to Mulder, given his intensely vulnerable state. Scully moved to the other side of the room and studied her cuticles as she heard Mulder's groans of pain and his struggles to get his pants off. The sounds of his misery jolted her and made her want to run over and cut his pants off with her scissors, but she allowed him to keep what was left of his pride and waited for him to ask for her help. She heard Mulder end his struggle with a deep, shuddering breath and waited. His voice was barely audible in the silence of the bedroom. "Scully? Uh...guess I'm ready for you now." He gulped, realizing that thinking about Scully pulling his jeans off was getting him ready in more ways than he wanted her to know about. He focused on the pain in his ass and tried to will his cock to quit twitching beneath him. He actually grinned slightly as he heard Scully snap on latex gloves and the doctorly gesture helped him deal with the coming humiliation....and excitement. Scully walked over and keeping her eyes focused somewhere on Mulder's forehead, she reached underneath him and finished pulling his jeans down his legs. His underwear had been totally shredded in the efforts to get his jeans cut off, so when his jeans were on the floor, he was naked from the waist down, except for his socks. Wordlessly, Scully reached down to the floor, never meeting Mulder's tortured eyes, and handed him the bedpan. She rose silently and walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her. Mulder sighed and slid the bedpan underneath his aching body and relieved his miserable bladder. He was horrified at the thought of Scully having to carry it into the bathroom and empty it, but kept reminding himself that as a doctor, it probably didn't bother her nearly to the extent that it bothered him. Scully leaned against the door of their bedroom, breathing deeply. She congratulated herself for having the presence of mind to bring, and then to use, her latex gloves. She was positive her hand had brushed against Mulder's swollen cock at least once in her struggles to remove his jeans, and it was only the layer of latex separating her flesh from his that had kept her sane. She heard his quiet plea come from inside the room after a minute. "Um Scully..." She walked briskly into the room, donning her all-business doctor expression, and efficiently removed the bedpan and took it into the bathroom to empty it. She set it in the bathtub and ran some water to wash it, then walked back out to the bedroom. Mulder appeared asleep, but she knew better. She could only imagine his embarrassment at being so open and vulnerable before her and figured he was pretending to sleep to avoid having to look in her in the face. She carefully and tenderly pulled the blanket up over his bare backside, tucking him in. She quietly left the room to talk to their employers about how to handle this little situation. Mr. Charden was deeply troubled by Mulder's accident, and assured Scully that he carried full worker's compensation insurance. He patted her hand as he told her that she could take the next several days off to care for her husband, with full pay. She smiled her gratitude and thanked the kind man, collecting some food for her and Mulder to eat alone in their room. As she walked down the long hall to their bedroom, she wondered exactly how she was going to spend three or four days, alone with just Mulder's ass to keep her occupied. In spite of her concern for Mulder's discomfort, she allowed herself an evil little smile. She waited until she saw Mulder come awake, then wordlessly served him the cold cuts and fruit she had brought up from the kitchen, and turned to make her cell phone call to Skinner to explain why their pursuit of the case was going to be delayed a few days. She could hear the suppressed humor in Skinner's voice as he expressed his concern for Mulder's welfare and told Scully to call him if she needed him. Scully assured him the wound wasn't serious and that the ranch had adequate supplies for her to care for him. She promised to update Skinner on developments with both Mulder and the case in a few days, and Skinner told her to just take the time off and don't worry about the case for now. Nothing was particularly urgent about this matter and it would wait until Mulder could walk again. Scully expressed her gratitude for his concern and understanding and ended the call. .................................. As Scully was preparing herself for bed that night, she heard Mulder moving restlessly in the bed, making little sounds of discomfort. She walked over to his side of the bed, a concerned look on her face. "Mulder, what is it?" "God Scully...every muscle in my body aches. I need to move...to change position." Mulder's features contorted as he spoke and Scully could see him wince against the pain. She nodded. "OK Mulder, let's move your body around and loosen up those muscles." "Thanks Scully." Mulder said quietly, totally helpless in the grip of the agony of his screaming muscles and tendons. Scully climbed up on the bed, crawled over to Mulder and slowly pulled the quilt down his legs so she could see his body better. Mulder started at the sensation of the warm quilt sliding down his bare legs and tried to get control over his thundering heart rate as he waited for Scully to touch him. He felt her small, warm, soft hands settle on his right thigh and felt the resulting jolt of electricity instantly travel the short distance from thigh to crotch. He squeezed his eyes shut helplessly, realizing that Scully was bound to see his excitement when she rolled him over, but powerless to do anything about it but wait. Scully's hands were starting to sweat as she laid them on Mulder's thigh. Wordlessly, she pulled his body toward her with a grunt of effort, trying to give his back a chance to bend and give relief to his strained muscles. Mulder groaned and the sound made her heart catch in her throat, desire and concern warring for control over her autonomic responses. She resisted the urge to let her fingers play over the flesh of his legs, keeping her hands all business and helping him bend his legs, running her hands from thighs to knees to calves in an effort to move muscles that were painfully cramped and stiff. That wasn't the only thing painfully cramped and stiff. The feeling of those soft Scully hands slipping over his legs had made his cock hard as a rock and it was springing free as Scully pulled his weight off his stomach and back into her lap. The pain in his butt almost made him forget the sensations of Scully's hands on his bare flesh, and his almost fatal embarrassment that she was about to discover how hard she was making him. He closed his eyes, having no idea how she might react, and steeling himself for anything from laughter to anger to disgust. As Scully rolled Mulder's body backward against her own, she caught sight of the dark pink flesh of Mulder's erection and bit back a yelp of surprise and desire. She felt her womb contract in waves of intense want and her panties became instantly soaked and hot. She found herself staring open mouthed at its intense beauty and had no idea what to do about it. Time stretched on and neither Mulder nor Scully moved or said anything. But the sound of their breathing filled the room thickly. Mulder was trembling with the effort of keeping his body still, and his strained whisper broke the spell they were both under. "Scully. I...I" He pushed his face into the pillow to hide his shame. Scully saw his crumbling expression before he lowered it into the pillow and her eyes filled with tears at his emotional turmoil. "No Mulder...Mulder it's...." Words failed them both. Finally, Scully leaned over and placed her left arm around Mulder's waist. She ran her hands up his chest and stroked the sweat and tear-soaked side of his face. Her touch seemed to release something in him and he breathed heavily into the pillow and made a small sound of pain, his shoulders sagging. Scully moved her body in closer to Mulder's being careful of his injury, arranging pillows around them both so that his weight was supported and nothing but soft pillow was against his backside. She relaxed against his body, feeling her own body tremble as she stroked his arm and face. "Mulder, it's beautiful." Her voice was incredulous and loving and the sound of it allowed Mulder to breathe again. He took his face out of the pillow and laid his cheek against the soft cotton, drinking in the incredible sensation of having Scully's hands stroking his body, not because she had to but because she wanted to. He didn't care if it ever went further than this, because this was more than he had ever allowed himself to expect. They stayed like that for several minutes, Scully breathing against Mulder's back and running her fingers over skin as she had restrained herself from doing so many other times. She never wanted to leave this warm, perfect feeling...and yet, her body was starting to make its own needs more and more obvious as she gazed over Mulder's shoulder down at his tense, bruised and beautiful body and his trembling hardon, which she now knew deep in her heart, existed for her. Mulder thought they were going to fall asleep like that and if that was the end of it for tonight, he would never have a complaint. When Scully's warm lips began tracing kisses on his upper arm, his breath left his body in a stifled gasp. Scully placed her lips against the tight, hot flesh of Mulder's shoulder and traced the line of his shoulder muscle around to his arm, letting her tongue flick out and take tiny tastes of Mulderflesh as she moved against him. She heard the small sound of pleasure come out from between those luscious lips and added her own sigh to it as she pressed her breasts against his back, ever mindful of his wound. As she felt the need growing deep in her belly, she started to wonder exactly how they were going to consummate this swiftly blossoming emotional and physical passion. Looking down at the sweet dusty pink evidence of his own frustration, she found her tongue slipping around in a circle, licking her lips all the way around. A delicious image formed in her nimble mind. A slow, feral smile stretched those hungry lips and she started to pull back away from Mulder's body. "Mmm..wha?" Mulder's voice was confused and painful as he felt the warm softness that was Scully being pulled away from him. He twisted around in the bed, trying to discern what was making her leave. "Ssshhh...be still." Scully whispered, trailing her fingers along his hip as she scooted off the bed and came around it to sit once again on the chair in front of Mulder. She pulled it close, touching the side of the bed. Mulder watched her every move with quiet desperation and longing. She looked into his eyes for the first time since they had opened their bodies and hearts to one another. She gazed into the deep, dark, intense depths of Mulder's soul and thought she had forgotten how to breathe. She couldn't resist the urge to reach forward with one shaking finger and trace the small indentation of that full bottom lip. Mulder's lips parted when her finger touched him and she felt the heat of his tongue and mouth as he drew her finger more deeply between his lips, sucking and licking it sensuously. The jolt of arousal went straight to her clit in a pain/pleasure fire bolt and she threw her head back and moaned. "Mmm...oohhhhh." Mulder tasted the small, slender finger in his mouth and when Scully moaned, his own throat vibrated against her finger with his answering groan. He reached for her face with both hands and, releasing her finger, pulled her face in to his and fastened his mouth on hers in a deep, starving kiss. Scully felt Mulder's full lips mashed against her own and immediately opened her lips to receive his tongue, wanting him deep inside her any way she could have him. She swooned under the power of his passion, and made sensual humming pleasure sounds deep in her throat as her tongue stroked his. She felt like she was being lovingly devoured like a sweet mouthful of apple pie. Her hands reached up and her left tangled itself deeply into Mulder's thick brown hair as her right clutched blindly at the flesh of his chest, desperately wanting something to hold onto. As the kiss deepened even further, she lost her breath and felt Mulder groaning into her mouth as he pressed her face hard against his own. Her hand travelled quickly down Mulder's hard, straining torso, and felt sweet velvet heat as it encountered the stark proof of his raw need for her. Mulder felt Scully's hand lighting tiny fires all the way down his body and his hips bucked forward, desperate to have that touch lower. When he finally felt that soft hot little hand wrap itself around his painfully hard cock, he tore his lips away from hers in a loud gasp of pleasure. "Scuhhhhhllleeeee!" He reached out with his grasping fingers, desperately trying to pull Scully's T-shirt up over her head as her hand squeezed him gently and rhythmically and she made deliciously erotic sounds deep in her throat. "Mmmmmmmulder...." she moaned, trying frantically to help him undress her so that he didn't hurt himself. She finally abruptly stood up and ripped her T-shirt off and tossed it across the room, and before it hit the floor she had rucked her leggings and panties off and was kicking them away. She stopped as she realized Mulder was staring at her with his mouth wide open, his eyes half closed in the daze of his amazed desire. "God Scully....you're so beautiful..." Mulder's hands reached out to her again and he tried to move across the span of bed in front of him and Scully saw the involuntary wince of pain as his hips pushed toward her. She immediately kneeled beside the bed, bringing her face directly in line with Mulder's straining manhood. She looked back at his face, which was contorted in such gorgeous ecstatic anticipation that she felt his pain deep in her own center. She offered him a quick smile then leaned forward and took him deep into her mouth. Mulder's hips jerked forward at the intense heat and sensation caused by his partner's wet little mouth engulfing his throbbing cock. "God.....Scully...Oh God..." he reached down with his hands, placing them gently on her silky red head and she opened her throat a little more to take him even more deeply inside. It was all he could do not to thrust into her face, but the pain in his buttock served as an adequate reminder that Scully was totally in charge here. He tried to just relax into the pleasure and experience her amazingly agile lips and tongue, desperate to feel her flesh, settling for sinking his hands into her soft, silky auburn hair. He knew he wasn't going to last long like this and he tried to hold back, biting his lip and squeezing his eyes shut, almost unable to believe the sight of Scully's fiery head moving in and out below his navel. Scully sucked Mulder's cock deeply into her mouth, feeling its satiny length and width grow even as she took him in. She wanted to grab his hips and help guide him in harder and deeper, but was afraid of hurting him, so she reached up with her right hand and caressed his balls with her nimble fingers while she reached up with her left hand and played up and down Mulder's heaving chest. She pressed her thighs together tightly and slid them back and forth against each other, trying to quench some of the fire between her own legs as she drank Mulder's heat down desperately. She opened her throat to allow him to penetrate her more deeply, and as she felt the head of his cock slide tightly against the back of her throat, the deep shuddering groan this elicited from Mulder caused her cunt to throb with intense need. She took her hand away from Mulder's balls and lowered it below her legs frantically, pressing two fingers deep inside her immediately, needing to feel filled. The pleasure was so intense and satisfying she moaned against Mulder's cock deep in her throat which caused him to thrust against her face, pain or no pain. "Oh Scully...Oh God I'm gonna...I'm gonna come!" Mulder's cries were desperate and wild and he tried to pull away from Scully's bobbing head before it was too late. She reached up and roughly pulled his hips and held them against her firmly, not taking too much heed of whether it was causing Mulder pain or not. She wasn't about to let him leave until she made him come hard. Mulder's ensuing cries didn't sound like pain, but her own pleasure was so close she couldn't really tell. Suddenly he grabbed her head and held it in place, thrusting deeply into her and shooting his seed down her throat, calling her name roughly. Scully! Scully! Ah God Scully! Scully....Scully....Scully...." With each spasm of his hips, he called her name again and hearing that drove Scully right over the edge. As her own climax overtook her, she pressed her fingers deep inside, the heel of her hand pushing her clit hard against her pelvis as her hips bucked against her own movements. Mulder had pulled himself out of her mouth and as he slid out between her lips her own cries of pleasure filled the room. "Ahhhhhh....Mulderrrr......Ahhhh......" her head fell back and Mulder watched as her glistening mouth opened in a huge "O" of abandon, calling out her ecstasy and his name. Her hips stopped moving and Scully kneeled limply, hand squeezed between her thighs, head lolling back, eyes closed. Mulder had never seen anything so beautiful in his entire life. She was too far from the bed now for him to reach her and he felt cold and empty not being able touch her. She seemed to sense his need and opened her eyes and took her hand from between her legs, and scooted a few feet to the left until she was facing Mulder's sweaty, gawping, incredulous face. She swallowed and offered Mulder a shaky smile which he returned gazing deeply into her eyes. He reached out his hand and gently brought the hand that had been between her thighs up to his lips and his eyes closed in rapture as he licked and sucked every drop of her juices from her fingers and hand. Scully ran her other hand through his hair as she felt her desire start to build again at his oral attentions. "Mmmmmulder...." her moan reached his ears and made him breathe heavily against her palm as his tongue licked the last drops from between her fingers. He opened his eyes and held her hand against his cheek. "Scully....I...I want to kiss you." Scully smiled and leaned her face in toward his own. "No. Not like that." Mulder said, stopping the descent of her lips in mid air. Her head swam as she realized the meaning of his request. Her own hunger and desire was barely abated, her body feeling cheated that it was once again her own hands, rather than Mulder's, who had given it its release. Her lips parted and her eyes widened as she considered what he was asking. She looked deeply into his passion-hazed eyes. "Please, Scully." He begged. "You have to help me." Mulder started removing the pillows Scully had used to prop him on his side and rolled back over onto his stomach. Then using trembling hands, he pushed himself halfway down the length of the bed, wincing slightly as his legs reached the end and his knees draped over. Scully watched Mulder go through the pain of getting into better position and felt she could do nothing but her part to finish this incredible evening's activities. She felt her inner muscles spasming with anticipation once again as she climbed up in front of Mulder. He was propped on his forearms, watching her hungrily, licking the last traces of her juices from his lips as he waited. She hesitated a moment, sitting with her knees drawn up in front of his face, then sighed deeply at the look of pure power and longing on his face and heard herself whimper softly as she laid back against the pillows, sliding her hips down the bed until they were under Mulder's face. He sank his face between her thighs with a long groan and opened his mouth against her slick hot flesh. He heard Scully cry out and felt her small white thighs try to snap closed, but he used his hands to keep them pressed wide apart. He looked up the length of her body and saw her head was thrown back, her mouth open as she cried her pleasure. He lowered his head back down and began using the tip of his tongue to trace small circles around the hard little button of flesh at the top of Scully's center, at the same time sliding his hands down the insides her thighs, brushing his fingers and thumbs against her slippery, swollen lips. He lowered his mouth to suck Scully's clit into his mouth, then drew back for more tongue teasing and pressing, running his fingers around the rim of her opening, feeling her hips rise off the bed to meet his mouth. Scully's body was frozen in a rictor of pure pleasure as she felt Mulder's tongue tracing circles of sweet torture around her clit. She pressed herself against his face, hearing herself emit a constant low "OOoohhhhh" of pleasure at his touch. She felt her thighs trembling as he moved his hands closer to her opening and cried out sharply as she felt him insert one long slender finger into her, palm up. His eyes glanced up at her face, afraid he had hurt her, but seeing the pure ecstasy on her face, he moaned against her and began using his finger tip to stroke the inner top wall of her vagina. Scully felt jolts of pain/pleasure/pure sensation throb through the very core of her body, making her womb contract almost painfully in preparation for the coming climax. Her cries became lower and more throaty, drawing out one word over and over and over between her lips. "Mmmmulder Mmmmulder MMmmulder MMmmmulder Mmmmulder!" Mulder moaned into her again, hearing his name said in such breathless, lustful abandon and he increased the speed of his tongue's flicking and the pressure of his finger's stroking. "OOOOoooooohhhhhhh I'm coming.....MMmmmulder I'm going to commmmme." Scully's voice broke as she sobbed out her loss of control. Mulder hummed against her flesh, encouraging her to let go and come for him, keeping his tongue and finger working constantly against her hot flesh. Scully felt her whole body let go in a long, wild, throbbing series of spasms and outcries, and she grabbed Mulder's hair in both hands and pressed him hard against her, bucking her hips against his face over and over, riding the intense waves of sensation wracking her body from head to toe. As she felt the power subsiding, she realized she was suffocating Mulder and quickly released the pressure on his head, allowing him to come up for air. "Ohh Mmmulder I'm sorry..." She half moaned, running her hands through his hair sensuously. Mulder just gasped in deep breaths and grinned at her. Scully saw Mulder's grin and met it with one of her own, letting her head fall back against the pillows. They both rested for a moment, catching their breath and feeling their bodies relaxing after the intense physical experience. Finally, Scully moved over onto her side of the bed, then reached down to help Mulder as he gingerly and with some obvious discomfort, pulled himself back up into his original position. Scully's lips pouted slightly with sympathy as she watched him struggle, then relaxed into a warm smile as he settled in on his stomach and rested his head on his arms, gazing at her. His voice was low and reverent. "That was...incredible." Scully's grin widened a bit and she laid her head down inches from his. "Yes it was." She scooted in to give him one more last, tender kiss, tasting herself on his lips and tongue, then snuggled up next to him and closed her eyes. Mulder felt her warm lips draw away from his and gazed at her relaxed, open expression, reaching up to lightly caress the line of her jaw with his thumb. He wasn't sure how getting stabbed in the butt led to his walking fantasy becoming his incredible reality, but he had some surprisingly warm feelings toward that huge black bull as his eyes closed and he fell asleep with Scully's breath tickling his lips. ............................... "So, agents, after all that time at the ranch, this report was the best result of your investigative endeavors?" Mulder looked up from his hands sheepishly, shifting uncomfortably against the hard office chair's seat. He stole a glance sideways at Scully, who was looking pointedly at a paper weight on Skinner's desk and saying nothing. "Yes sir. We uh...failed to gather evidence conclusive enough to make any sort of arrest. We kind of missed the main event." Mulder's gaze fell back to his hands, which were fidgeting against one another in his lap. "Sir, Mulder's injury forced us to divert our energies at what we later realized was a critical point in our investigations, causing us to miss the culminating event that would have given us the proof we needed to move forward against the suspected cult members." Scully's voice was calm and professional and this speech was delivered with complete conviction. "So you missed the most important event during your assignment because Mulder got himself gored in the ass by a bull?" Skinner's scathing tone made the color come up in Mulder's face and he scraped his bottom lip against his front teeth, sneaking another look at Scully. "Sir, Agent Mulder and I simply missed our opportunity. We didn't realize that our redirected attentions would result in missing the most important event in the investigation. In hindsight, had we known how important it would be to stay fully aware of the events at the ranch, we would have made more of an effort to focus our attention on the goings on around us." Mulder allowed himself a small smile, remembering the three days following his injury, and how they found out afterward the annual cult gathering had happened without their knowledge, right under their noses, while they were immersed in their 'redirected focus.' Letting his eyes glance over quickly to the right and seeing Scully's barely-there enigmatic smile, he thought she would probably agree. He was going to ask her about it tonight at her place. END