Continuation of "The Unnatural"

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Xfiles.

Rating: PG

"Hips, then hands" Scully's mind whirled as his hand touched her hip. Electrical impulses shot through her. His strong body curled around her, his big arms enfolded her, his warm breath tickled her ear...good heavens.

"Dana Katherine Scully STOP thinking about those things!" she scolded herself. "STOP it STOP it." Her body, however, refused to listen. It continued to tingle, and with dismay she noticed that her heart was beating faster. "It's like I'm 17 again for heaven's sake."

Lost in her own thoughts, she wasn't listening to him babble on about forgetting your problems while playing baseball. She was vaguely aware of his voice; that sweet, deep, hushed voice in her ear, but she was engulfed in a wave of warm, syrupy arousal. It was as though her body and her mind were in an epic shouting match-and her body didn't care a thing what her perfectly logical brain was stating-this was Mulder, her partner, her PROFESSIONAL partner. She wasn't even sure he really thought of her as anything more than just a friend.

Oh, but his warm embrace felt so very good. Unbidden, her body relaxed against him, snuggling into his arms, eliminating that admittedly fine airspace between them. Why did this have to feel so good? Why was her body betraying her? Why was her heart pounding, why was that flush creeping up over her breasts and staining her throat an embarrassing pink? Why would her body not LISTEN?

"Scully." That maddening sweet whisper, that warm breath over her ear...oh God she was drowning. "Yeah?" she managed to say, hugely embarrassed that her voice came out throaty, sexy, like she was Mae West or something.

"Scully. Please stay with me tonight."

Her heart stopped and her brain stuttered. WHAT did he just say?

"Mulder I..."she managed to get out, her voice strangled, excitement welling up in her chest

"It doesn't have to be anything you don't want it to be." he said quickly. "I just can't let you go right now. I need you...in my arms...just like this."

Her heart broke and tears began to sting her eyes. He was laying his heart bare to her. He never did this. Concrete walls-bunkers actually-guarded his heart against the pain and the rejection he had experienced through his life. Here he was, baring his soul to her, handing over his heart completely unguarded, risking her dismissal, her refusal, a sarcastic disbelief at his true feelings.

She turned in his arms and gazed up at him, her head spinning. His eyes, deep sparkling pools of beautiful hazel with flecks of green, usually clouded with pain, were clear. His devotion to her was reflected in them...and they were so still she could see her own face reflected in them as well.

"Mulder." She whispered. She dropped the baseball bat from her hands and reached up to run her fingers into his hair, lacing them together behind his head and pulling him down to meet her lips. She smiled. "I thought you'd never ask."

A cough of nervous laughter escaped his mouth as he let go of the breath he had been holding. His world had completely stopped. How many years of denial had he fought through? How many nights dreaming of her, then telling himself it was only because he saw so much of her? How many times, broken up over Samantha or his parents or his frustration at the Bureau had she comforted him and held him? How many times had he wished she would just curl up with him, just let him hold her, without angst or illness or nightmares or terror for an excuse? But to be there just because she wanted to be.

And now she was. She was so close to him he could feel her heart pounding in his own chest, in concert with his own. Her ice blue eyes, usually steeled with determination, logic, gravity, were now so wide open, so gentle, so inviting. He imagined he could dive right into them, right into her soul.

"Come home with me." He said, planting a kiss on her forehead. "Let's just be together, just for tonight."

In the middle of the night, her eyes fluttered open. Yes, she was still here. Yes, he was still here. She still felt giddy and nervous and excited all at once. When they had arrived back at his apartment, she didn't know what to do—where to put herself. She was accustomed to being in control and this unnerved her.

He broke the ice with a classic Mulder joke. "If I had known you'd take me up on it I would have cleaned up a little." He smiled, gesturing to the mess that was his apartment.

Relief flowed into her and she relaxed. This was Mulder. This wasn't some strange uncharted territory. This was the man she almost knew better than herself. She put an arm around him, and he grabbed her and pulled her close.

Now, in the bluish dark of the wee hours, she looked down at his head on her chest, his face peacefully relaxed in sleep. His arms were still around her waist, holding her to him as though he was afraid she would get up and leave or vaporize in the night. He probably was, she thought. He had lost so many people close to him, he probably was afraid she would also leave him. Tears stung her eyes again as she thought of the courage it must have taken to ask her to stay with him, to confess his feelings so plainly.

Her hand made tiny little massaging circles in the muscles of his back. She pressed a kiss into the top of his head. "I'm not going anywhere." She whispered.