Sometime after April 2000

Scully woke to the sound of rain falling heavily against the window and Mulder mumbling something, his weight pressing against her, though not unpleasantly. She blinked her eyes and stared at him.

"What are you doing?" she asked with a yawn as she attempted to stretch, but he held her still.

"Shh!"

"Mulder…"

"Did I not make myself clear when I said "Shhh!"?" He raised his head and looked at her from his position against her left side, before looking down again.

She was naked in his bed. Actually, they were both naked. He was currently lying beside her, one arm across her, his hand on the bed, supporting his weight as he stared intently at her stomach and her left side. He was moving his lips, silent words being said, but she could not understand them.

"Mulder—"

"SHH! Or I'll lose count."

"Lose count? What are you talking about?"

"Scully," he sighed loudly and pressed a finger gently into her side, causing her to arch into him. His touch was like a drug, and she craved it like an addict. "46, remember that number. 46, 46. What was that number?"

"46."

"Good." He maneuvered until his left index finger covered the spot, as he stretched to reach for something on his nightstand. "46. Aha! Got it." He held an uncapped pen and as he moved back into his former position, he drew a circle where his finger had been and she cried out with a laugh.

"What in the hell are you doing?" she asked, trying to see what he was drawing.

"Well, if you must know, I've been tallying them up," he said, still writing something on her flesh.

"Tallying up something that requires you to brand me? Like I'm cattle?" He chuckled and she felt it against her body, stirring her desire for him.

"I'd hardly consider you cattle. And it's simply so I know where to start when I begin again." He finished his work, blowing lightly to dry the ink, creating goosebumps on her skin. Looking up as he dropped the pen over the side of the bed, he grinned the smile that made her knees weak and her blood race.

Her core throbbed with an ache to feel him inside of her. This overwhelming desire for him was new to her, as it had happened only a few times. She had always wanted him, but now… she knew the taste of him, and the way he filled her so completely. The thought of life before this, when she could only imagine the feel of their bodies joining together, was a life she did not want to live.

"What are you up to, Mulder?"

"Physically?" he glanced down and she grinned. "I'd say we're livin' on a prayer." He wiggled his eyebrows and she laughed, her head back and her eyes closed, as he laid his head on her stomach, singing halfway there quietly.

She placed her hand on his head and stroked his hair, still chuckling. Opening her eyes, she watched her fingers disappear in the thickness of his hair, her fingernails scraping lightly and causing him to moan.

The rain fell harder against the window and she heard thunder in the distance. Closing her eyes again, she sighed, happy they had nowhere to be but in his bed, the sheets smelling of them.

"So, if I'm not cattle, why the 46 brand? If it's orgasms you're tallying, I'm sorry, but you're way off."

"By how much?"

"Hmm… I'd say at least 26," she laughed softly and he raised his head as she opened her eyes.

"That means I'm at 20. Not bad for the amount of time I've put in," he wiggled his eyebrows again and she smiled.

"More like I'm at 20, actually," she teased and he tilted his head as she raised her eyebrows at him.

"You're at 20 which means I have gotten you there, therefore…" he said, raising his eyebrows back at her and she shook her head. "No? What does that mean?"

"At least two, maybe four, have been… without you," He stared with wide eyes and she pursed her lips together, her fingers still in his hair. "But, I'll round up and call it 15 for you. With you."

"Two or four… without me?"

"Hmm, yeah."

"We've been together in one form or another for nearly three weeks, how… and… when?"

"Well, to be perfectly honest, I was thinking of you and how you…"

"How I what?" he interrupted, his eyes flitting from her eyes to her breasts, causing her nipples to harden. He ran his fingers up her stomach and between her breasts, her breath catching. "Is it that?"

"Nnn… no," she said, clearing her throat, her pulse racing and her legs shaking. "Not that exactly."

"What exactly did you mean then?" He circled his index finger slowly around her nipple and she moaned, exhaling loudly, as she bit her lip. "It wasn't this huh? Because it seems like something that would definitely result in at least one, if not two."

"One for sure if you keep doing that," she breathed, her head falling back as she gripped his hair and he continued his slow movements.

He scraped his nail down her breast and across her nipple and she cried out, squeezing her legs together, no control over her climax when he touched her that way.

"Mulder," she gasped. "Oh, Mulder. You don't… weren't we… didn't you want to know about the… the umm..."

"The what?" he whispered, palming her breast gently and squeezing her nipple.

"Fuck if I know," she exhaled and he laughed. She looked at him as she licked her lips and he smiled.

"16 for me," he smirked and she nodded.

"16. But not 46." She glanced towards her side and he laughed, shaking his head. "You show me yours, Mulder, I'll show you mine."

"Oh, Scully," he said, looking over the length of her naked body. "I think we're past that."

"Figuratively, of course."

"Hmm," he nodded, moving his hand from her breast, and shifting his body slightly. "Freckles."

"Excuse me?

"I was counting your freckles," he smiled and she frowned.

"My freckles?"

"Mm-hmm," he said, kissing the spot where he had inked her and she frowned again.

"What are you—"

"I was counting them as you slept," he explained, moving up and staring at her, his eyes moving across her face. "I can see them without your makeup." He smiled and she reached up to touch his face with a smile of her own.

"Are you telling me I have 46 freckles on my face?"she asked with a teasing tone.

"No," he chuckled. "Though there are quite a few and I love seeing them." She nodded, her hand on his cheek. "It's like when I first met you, so fresh faced and young. Not that you aren't now." He stopped her hand from leaving his face and moving away from him, as she huffed in mock anger.

"Stop it woman," he said as he wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her right arm to her side. "I'm paying you a compliment and you will listen to it."

"That you prefer me fresh faced and young? Nice compliment," she teased and he rubbed his face into her neck, his day old scruff scratching at her skin, causing more goosebumps.

"Prefer? No, and not at all what I said," he kissed her neck and she sighed, her left hand in his hair. "Young Scully would never have let me do this." His tongue licked under her jaw and she shuddered.

"Oh, you might be surprised to learn what young Scully would have let you do," she breathed as she closed her eyes, memories of motel rooms and car rides where she had very unprofessional thoughts about him.

He lifted his head and she opened her eyes to find him staring at her in shock. She smiled slowly and winked at him as he shook his head.

"Well, shit," he whispered and she laughed softly. He stared at her, his eyes serious, as she touched his face.

"It could have ended terribly. It might have been amazing. Maybe we would have been different, but that wasn't our journey. This is, and I'm not complaining," she whispered, as thunder cracked and lightning flashed and the light on the nightstand fluttered before glowing brightly again.

They both glanced at it and laughed as they looked back at one another.

"The gods have spoken it would seem," he said with a smile and she nodded, pulling her right arm free as he loosened his hold a little.

"So, 46 freckles huh?"

"Mm-hmm."

She smiled and ran her thumb across his lips while he stared at her intently. "Will you continue with your tallying? Shall I expect to have numbered circles all over my body?"

"Little rest areas along the freckled highway?" he teased and she laughed.

"Something like that, yeah," she whispered.

"I plan to continue, yes, I gotta be thorough. Investigate everything," he said, kissing her thumb on it's second trip across his lips. "Now you owe me a tit. Or a tat. Not sure which it would be."

"Well, you've had both this morning, so… I'd say we're even," she giggled and he shook his head.

"Not at all. You owe me two… or four," he insisted and she sighed with laugh.

"It was two and you really should add it to your list of 15… 16 now, as I was thinking about you, so credit where it's due," she said quietly, running her nails softly down his cheek, his eyes closing briefly.

"So 18 then, but you haven't told me what you were thinking. I think I know, but I want to be absolutely sure."

Thunder cracked so loudly, she jumped. The light went out, darkening the room, but she could still see him; his beautiful face staring and waiting.

"You don't know because I haven't told you," she whispered and he hummed. "It's not what you're thinking, but I do love that too." He nodded and she smiled, her right hand on his shoulder, her nails running in circles.

"It's the way you kiss me."

Lightning flashed, highlighting his surprised face, and she smiled as she stared at his lips.

"I was getting ready for bed, alone in my apartment, when I thought of how you kiss me, when you take your time. When it's slow… lazy… languid. I… I had to take care of the ache I felt or I might have gone mad," she whispered, and his breathing increased as he swallowed hard.

"Just by thinking about a kiss?" he said in a low gravelly voice and she felt it to her core.

"Mm-hmm."

"A slow, lazy kiss?" he asked, leaning closer to her, his lips close to hers, his breath warm and intoxicating.

"Ye… yeah…"

"Like this?" He pressed his lips to hers softly, his kiss unhurried. He kissed her again, opening his mouth and pulling her top lip between his, sucking gently at it and she moaned.

Slowly, he kissed her as he moved, his body now above her. She could feel that he was more than halfway there now and she shifted, allowing him to settle further between her legs. He ran his tongue slowly across her bottom lip and she whimpered, wanting more, but knowing this was nearly enough.

Nearly.

He slid inside of her and she broke from his kiss. Crying out at the feel of him, the way it was new and felt old all at once. An act they had perfected for years before they ever knew the whole story. He claimed her lips again, slowly kissing her, just as she said she had liked.

The rain continued, thunder shaking the windows, and lightning flashing; as though nature was capturing the moment, keeping it held safe for all of history.

Two bodies in motion, slowly learning how to physically love each other.