By Gina Rain
ginarain@aol.com
 

Category: UST
Rating: R
Spoilers: The Unnatural
Archive: Sure.
Summary: I'm leaving it out. Just go with the whole
story and trust me on this one.
Disclaimer: The X-Files belongs to a whole bunch of
people. I'm not one of them.
Thank you: To my wonderful beta, Sybil. Thanks a
million!
Special Dedication: To Sallie--who is so loving and
supportive to everyone--she deserves a little something
to cheer her during her recovery. This is my
contribution, sent with love.
 
 

XXX Row, row, row your boat XXX

The room looked like the one they had just checked out
of: faded walls, faded bedspread, ugly country landscape
hanging slightly askew above the bed. Broken air
conditioner.

It was a standard issue cheap motel room in the middle
of nowhere.

As she fiddled with the knobs and dials of the broken AC
unit, she let out a sound somewhere between a sigh and a
whimper. All the fiddling in the world wouldn't change
the fact that the machine would provide no relief on
this sweltering August night.

"There's more than one way to chill out, Scully."

*Chill out*. She would have hoped Mulder would have
stopped using that expression along with the rest of the
world. Sometime in the 1980s? She couldn't remember.

While she tried to recall the expiration date of the
slang expression, she felt her partner slip her jacket
off her shoulders. She heard it fall somewhere. The
location didn't matter. It couldn't be worn again
without dry cleaning anyway.

A warm hand pressed against her back. She shivered in
discomfort as the wet silk of her blouse, combined with
the damp elastic at the back of her bra, sent a sticky
reminder of just how humid the night had become. She
stepped away from the touch.
 

XXX Gently down the stream XXX
 

She turned to look at him. His jacket and tie were
history. The crisp white shirt still looked crisp--even
though the top three buttons were undone and his
shirtsleeves were rolled up to just below his elbow.
There was not so much as a single wrinkle in his
charcoal gray pants.

She smiled internally.

The cool drink of water in her room was raising the
already unbearable temperature up another notch.

"Come here," he said in much the same fashion he had
used when he once held a bat and gave her an extremely
early birthday present. She had known she was in for
trouble but had trusted him and went. Very clear signals
had been sent out and received that evening. Mulder's
erection had pressed into her back and when she shifted
just a bit, the only thing he had said was "ignore it."
And, of course, Mulder being Mulder and Scully being
Scully, they both did.

She thought about it later. The fact he had been aroused
was undeniable. The fact he acknowledged it was
unavoidable. The fact he asked them both to forget about
it was both unnatural, yet completely right. Given the
confines of their relationship, it was the only thing to
do.

For one evening, they enjoyed the heady excitement of
holding and being held. They didn't delve into deeper
issues, or take drastic steps. They just enjoyed the
warmth and the laughter without thought of going any
further.

Scully didn't know what he was asking her to do now. It
didn't matter. She still went willingly.

She stopped when she was an arm's length away from him.
He moved just a tiny bit closer and put his hands on her
waist, untucking her blouse from her skirt. This was not
what she expected.

"Mulder ... "

He didn't respond to the warning tone in her voice,
choosing instead to undo the buttons of her blouse--
working his way from the bottom up.

She should stop him. She knew she should, but the blouse
was wet and disgusting against her skin and she wanted
it off. She sighed in relief as she heard it plop on the
floor. She made a mental note to herself: Dry silk
floated. Wet silk plopped. Who knew?

Fingers were pulling down the side zipper of her skirt.
She hadn't given much thought to all the layers there.
Skirt, hose, underwear. He hooked his fingers in the top
two layers and began to pull them down. She reached out
a hand to grab his shoulder as he pulled them off,
grabbing and tossing her shoes on the way.

"Better?" he asked, straightening up and reaching around
her to unclasp her bra. Her arms automatically crossed
in front of her chest.

"No. Mulder ... " The warning tone was back even while
she was thinking of how good it would feel to have that
wet blend of elastic and lace off her body.

"I've *seen* you naked, Scully. You've seen me."

"Yes, but it was during extreme circumstances."

"Well, it's *extremely* hot."

And her bra hit the floor. Her panties soon followed.
And he stood there, fully dressed in front of her
completely naked body. She wasn't one bit cooler. She
was exposed in ways that went far beyond a simple lack
of clothing. There was naked and there was *naked*. She
knew without looking that her nipples were behaving as
if she had gone topless in Antarctica. Well, that was a
bad example. Perhaps Mulder had been right after all.
Perhaps it was just more of the same old, same old. But
there was also a full body blush to accompany the nipple
action, and she could feel moisture in the only area
that had been relatively dry before Mulder had started
to strip her. None of these things happened when she
stripped down for a Gyn visit.

Far worse than her own exposure was her total inability
to read his expression--or lack thereof. He didn't move,
didn't touch her and there was no expression on his
face.

"There's a pool ... " he said and she headed for the
bathroom to grab a towel before he could say another
word.
 

XXX Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily XXX
 

All inhibitions left when Scully found herself floating
naked in a motel pool. She didn't worry about sanitary
conditions or risk of widespread exposure, should the
other patrons of the motel also decide to choose this
way to cool off. She just reveled in the cool water
tossing around the strands of her hair--like a fiery
halo--and the water slipping through her fingers as she
gently lapped at it with her hands.

And then he was there, standing in the pool by her feet.
The water was up to his bare shoulders. He wrapped his
hands around her ankles and gently spread them apart.
She felt the incredible sensation of moisture both
running in and rushing out. She closed her eyes and
dipped her head further back. When she opened her eyes
again, he was not there.

She broke out of her floating position and began
treading water as she looked around.

There he was, sitting on the top stair of a concrete
staircase leading from the pool. He leaned back
slightly, his arms against either side of the railing.

His face was still a portrait of neutrality, but once
again, his body betrayed him. And this time, it was not
going to be easy to "ignore it." She was in the middle
of the pool, treading water and staring at his naked
body. Actually, staring at his erection. Straight,
proud, impressive.

"Come here, Scully," he said.

As always, she went. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as
each stroke led her closer to him.

And then he reached down and put his arms under hers and
lifted her out of the water and onto his lap. She spread
her legs until they enclosed his, and supported herself
again with one hand on his shoulder. With the other, she
reached down and positioned him where she wanted him.
She closed her eyes and began the slow, excruciating
slide down.

"Mulder," she said, as he began to fill her and she
accompanied her one-word sentence with a moan.
 

XXX Life is but ... XXX
 

"Scully."

She heard herself say something and moan before her eyes
opened. Heat. Intense heat. Damn, it was hot. And
sticky. But not in a good way. Not at all.

She opened her eyes. Mulder's hand was on her right
cheek, pushing her face away from the car window. The
one which had stuck three-quarters of the way down and
she had been sleeping against for the better part of the
last two hours.

"Ah, Scully. That's gotta hurt," he said as he gently
stroked the indentation the window had left across her
cheek. She heard him unstrap the seat belt and felt it
pull away from her body.

She felt like she was in a sauna. Everything was foggy
and heated. She looked around. There was no motel in
sight. No pool. Just Mulder and Scully in a rental car
without air conditioning. A rental car with a broken
window that could go up but not down. She knew that
much. If she concentrated, it would all come back to
her.

She focused. They were in front of her apartment
building after a long ride back from a case in upstate
New York. The pool had been a dream. Perhaps if she just
closed her eyes, she could quickly finish the dream
before going upstairs.

"Come on, rise and shine, Scully. Okay, scratch the
shine part but at least rise."

She could feel him hovering over her, still trying to
stroke life back into her half-numb face. It was too hot
to hover and all she could look forward to was the nasty
pins and needles sensation when the circulation
returned. She hated that feeling.

Damn him.

He took her from the cool water of the pool. From a warm
summer breeze and hot pulsing life within her. With
dream Mulder, she could look forward to an earth
shattering orgasm. That was a sensation she liked very
much, thank you.

"Scully ... "

There was a mild warning tone in his voice.

"Shut up, Mulder. I'm sleeping."

"You were in the middle of a nightmare, Scully. Come on,
it's hotter than hell in here. The faster I take you
upstairs, the faster you can cool off."

*Nightmare*?

She had heard herself moan as she felt dream Mulder
enter her. She could feel herself being filled by him.
Felt the thick, hot slide ... she supposed a moan like
that could have sounded like a nightmare.

Her eyes snapped open and she swatted his hand away and
reached for the door handle.

She was fully awake before her body hit the warm DC air.
That's all she needed. She had been known to come in her
sleep. Fairly rarely, but it had happened. Mulder might
not have much luck spotting aliens but he sure as hell
came close to being Johnny on the spot for this event.

He followed her up the stairs, annoyingly poking her
after every three steps to ask her if she was still
awake. It got stale after the first time.

"It's the heat, Mulder. I just fell into a really deep
sleep. Stop that."

"Well, I'm sorry about the air conditioning. I really
thought it would be much cooler once the sun went down.
If I had any idea, I would have insisted on another
rental."

"It's okay. I would have done the same thing," she lied.

They walked through the door and Scully made a bee-line
for the thermostat. She turned it down and heard it kick
in immediately.

"Just a few minutes, Mulder, and we'll be fine. Why
don't you sit down and cool off for a while before
hitting the road? I'll just change my clothes and we can
have something to drink."

"Take a shower, Scully. You've got cable and air--one
more luxury than my apartment currently has. I'll be
more than entertained until you come out."

She smiled and went straight to the bathroom.
 

XXX ... A Dream XXX
 

She walked out of her bedroom ten minutes later feeling
much better. She was in a tee shirt and shorts and felt
cool, calm and relaxed. Dream Mulder was back where he
belonged--somewhere deep in her subconscious only to be
released on hot, sweaty nights when the frustration of
not being able to cool off invited other frustrations
out for a pity party.

She opened the door and stopped. Mulder was standing
over a vent--his wet and wrinkled white shirt open and
flapping in the cool breeze blowing from the air
conditioning. His eyes were closed and the half smile on
his face was as near to rapturous as anything she had
previously seen in his limited repertoire of
expressions.

The smiled faded and she knew he sensed her presence.
Mulder opened his eyes and pulled the flaps of his shirt
together. A sheepish look crossed his face.

"For the record, Scully, you did *not* just catch me in
the middle of intimate relations with your AC unit."

"I know that. I can recognize afterglow when it's
staring me in the face."

He shrugged and smiled and her stomach clenched
slightly. He was beautiful and funny and real. Not an
expressionless body with a steel cock who could provide
a mindless, thoughtless, no frills fuck.

She remembered what he had said before she went into the
shower.

"How's your cable, Mulder?"

"Just fine, Scully. How's your internet service
provider?"

She ignored him. "So, that means your air conditioner is
not functioning?"

He nodded.

"No wonder you were having intimate relations with mine.
How could you not have a working air conditioner in the
middle of summer?"

"Because it wasn't quite this hot when we left town. I
figured we'd come back and I'd buy a new one before the
next heat wave hit. It's okay. I'll be fine. The health
club pool opens at 5:30."

She felt the color rise to her cheeks over the thought
of Mulder in the pool. The reasonable side of her began
to scold.

Mulder would never sit naked on some filthy steps. He'd
never yank her nude body out of the water and impale her
in public. Hell, he'd probably never even do that in
private. And all the things *she* did in that dream?
Nuh-uh.

Besides, the real Mulder would never be a body without
expression. Behind his sometimes poker-face, was a man
filled with passion who went into everything with all
his heart, mind, body and soul. Being with him would be
far too frightening at this time of their lives. Which
is why she occasionally needed dream Mulder to take up
the slack. There wasn't the least bit of emotion in
dream Mulder. Just a sexy body. Nothing to confound or
astound her. Just a quick release.

"Scully? Earth to Scully?"

"I'm sorry. I was just thinking."

"Do you have some sort of sleep disorder I should be
aware of?"

"No." She shook herself. Dream Mulder was convenient and
useful but definitely had no place in a room when the
real thing was there. "Of course not. And--no pool.
There's no need. Go downstairs and grab your bag from
the car. You're staying here. I'll even let you have the
living room so you and ... " she looked down at the vent
"*it* can be alone."

He gave her a wry smile and crossed the room to her
front door.  He turned back.

"What was your nightmare about, Scully?"

She looked at him--standing in her doorway--his
expression open and curious.

"I never said it was a nightmare, Mulder."

She was rewarded by another full out smile before he
turned and left to pick up his bag.

She sat down and closed her eyes; reveling in the cool,
clean air in her apartment--anticipating the warmth of
having Mulder as a short-term houseguest. Sometimes, it
was the simple pleasures of life that were the greatest.

But Scully never could do simple.

She remembered a simple song in school that she pondered
over for hours. "Life is but a dream?" How can it be if
people were conscious for sixteen out of the twenty-four
hours of the day? And even when asleep, dreams only
occurred during certain cycles.

Sex dreams were just sex dreams? And her true
relationship with Mulder was far more complicated but
could remain fairly simple on an interpersonal/romantic
level until it was mutually decided it was beneficial to
make a change? All well and good.

Until Scully remembered two sounds she clearly heard
herself making before she woke fully. Two sounds she was
pretty sure were not just part of a dream, but had
crossed the boundary into real life. Two sounds that
Mulder had been witness to and she had just confirmed
were not the result of a nightmare.

One was the sound of a moan, which had immediately
followed the one word that exposed all her mysteries:

"Mulder."

She heard his footsteps as they came down the hall.

He wouldn't mention it. She was pretty sure of that.

But if Mulder should break the rules of the game they
both played--if he should be so bold and out of
character--she would have only two words to say to him
in response:

"Ignore it."
 
 

The End.

This bit of freakiness was brought to you by the
overheated mind of Gina Rain in an un-airconditioned
room.