FicWad

Title: Incarnations of Immortality
Author: TheBear!
Crossover: XF/HL/FK
Pairings: M/S N/N T/V
161,428 words
15-Apr-02

Disclaimer—I don’t own any of it.

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Chapter 4

Room 1013, International Plaza Hotel

2:26am Tuesday December 12th.

Mulder was sitting on the bed in his room, lost in thought. He didn’t think he was going to be able to do it. “How can I not tell her that he’s a vampire?” he thought. Of course, he didn’t imagine that she would believe him anyway. “This is about her safety! He’s a vampire!” Of course, that wasn’t fair- he didn’t think Knight would ever be a threat to Scully. But she was going to have to know that if she was going to understand the rest of it. How could he explain about the guy they chased, and how it was that they happened to get the sword, unless he told her everything? He was so lost in thought that he didn’t hear her unlock and open the door.

She walked into the room to see Mulder lost in thought. She stopped, almost in shock at the sight, “He is so beautiful,” she thought. “Can I risk this? Can I risk driving him away?”

She paused as her heart felt like it was trying to painfully climb up her throat and escape out of her. “Can I continue on with this farce of an existence knowing that he doesn’t feel like I do? Can I…”

At that moment Mulder turned fully toward her and she noticed the blood slowly oozing down the side of his face from a ragged-looking cut at his temple. She was struck suddenly with a surprising anger. Anger at whoever did that to him, anger that she wasn’t there to protect him… and suddenly it became fury. Fury at him.

He saw her standing there, looking pensive, and then her face changed. She looked like she was getting really pissed off. She was looking at him, but not meeting his gaze. She seemed to be staring at his forehead for some reason.

“Hey Scully” he said.

Something snapped. How could he sit there with that endearingly goofy grin on his face? How could he sit there as if he hadn’t gone off and risked his life, again- leaving her behind to pick up the pieces- again? “Dammit Mulder! What if I had lost you!?” she screamed in her head.

“…Scully?” he said softly, hesitantly. Her face seemed to be getting red and he imagined that he could almost see steam coming out of her ears. “What’s wrong?” he whispered.

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?” she said, her voice rising as she repeated the words. “You did it again! You went off and risked your life- Again!” She was shouting now. “You could have died, you inconsiderate bastard! What was I supposed to do then?” She threw her hands up and let them fall, spent.

He goggled at her. “Where did that come from?” he wondered silently. He was suddenly struck by her appearance. That smart navy suit she wore, her face flushed and upper chest heaving as she breathed fast and deep. He was confused and aroused at the same time.

As the blood left his head for parts further south, the centers of higher reasoning in his brain began to shut down. Unfortunately, it seemed, the areas of the brain that generated untimely witty rejoinders were less swift to cease operations. He heard, as if from a great distance, the words “Gee Scully, I didn’t know you cared.” fall out of his open mouth. Instantly he wished that he could retract them.

Mulder blinked one time and when his eyes reopened he saw that all of the color had drained from Scully’s face. She looked like a ghost- “white as a sheet” was the phrase that seemed to fill his consciousness as time slowed to a crawl. He blinked one more time and she was gone.

She slammed the door to her room and collapsed on the floor, as though the weight of her feelings were too much for her to carry any further. “OhGodOhGodOhGodOhMyGod” reverberated through her head like a jackhammer chiseling away at her mind. She was unable to think. She felt like she was going to die. She felt like she was dead already. The last vestiges of the doctor in her made the clinical observation that she was going into shock.

“He’s right.” She whispered to herself. “He doesn’t know. I never told him…” “It’s only a cut on the head!” she sternly told herself, “you’ve seen much worse!” She knew this to be true, but she couldn’t overcome the feeling that he could have died and she had never told him she loved him. It didn’t matter that he didn’t feel the same way. It didn’t matter that she would have to watch him fall for some 5’ 10” brunette with long legs and big breasts and a vacuous smile. It didn’t matter that she would never find anyone who could satisfy her longing like she just knew that he could. He deserved to know. She needed him to know. If he had died and she had never told him it would end her.

The pounding she heard in her ears seemed to be causing her whole body to vibrate. After several moments she became aware that she was still sitting on the floor leaning against the door to her hotel room. She then realized that Mulder was pounding on her door and yelling for her to open the door. She slowly got up off of the floor and turned to the door. Choking back a sob and taking a few deep breaths to steady herself, she opened the door.

Mulder stood there, one hand raised beside his head as he drew it back to pound forward against the door. His mouth was open wide as he stopped in the middle of his shouting. His face looked angry and she silently berated herself for her unforgivable behavior, “was it just moments ago?” in his room.

He took her in. The sight of her- suit rumpled, hair mussed, eyes red and brimming with unshed tears. He stood there, unmoving for a moment as she turned and walked into the room.

“Scully, what wrong? I don’t understand…” he trailed off as she sat on the edge of the bed and gestured for him to sit in the chair facing her. “Scully, please. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“You’re bleeding Mulder,” he heard her say as she pointed at the side of his head where he had been struck when that guy- “Guy? Not a vampire. Something else?” he thought- had thrown him into the HVAC unit.

“Wait right there, Mulder” she said as she stood up and walked over to the bathroom, “I’ll get a washcloth,” she added.

Scully tried not to look at her disheveled image in the mirror as she saturated the washcloth with hot water and wrung it out. “Well, its not like I could grow 8 inches and 2 cup sizes in the next thirty seconds anyway.” She thought to herself. She hung her jacket on the door and went back out to “face the music.” She just hoped that today would not mark the end of their partnership.

Mulder waited with a sense of growing dread in the pit of his stomach. He looked at her as she exited the bathroom, washcloth in hand. He tried to meet her gaze as she stood before him and slowly, gently wiped the blood away from the side of his head and face. “Scully, I…” he stopped mid-thought as their eyes met and he caught the resignation in her eyes.

He could read the intent on her countenance- she was going to tell him something she knew he didn’t want to hear. He had seen the same look on her face just before she told him his mother had committed suicide. “I’ve finally done it,” he thought to himself. “She is going to tell me she can’t be my partner anymore. She is going to tell me it’s over. Oh God… Don’t let this be happening. Please!”

She saw the crestfallen look on his face. She had seen this before. “He knows what I’m going to say.” Her eyes began to brim with tears, “It’s going to drive him away from me.” She had seen the same look on his face just before she told him that his mother’s death was indeed a suicide- the look that said he knew he was about to hear something he couldn’t accept. “Can I really be this selfish?” she screamed at herself. “How can I tell him that I love him knowing it is going to drive him away?” Seeing his face, she knew their relationship to be over anyway. The look on his face was enough to give tell her that. “At least he will know the truth,” she thought. He deserved that. Their lives were spent searching for the truth. No matter how ugly or painful the truth was, the lie would be worse. It would be a betrayal of his trust, and she couldn’t let herself do that - no matter how much she screamed at herself to back away now.

“Mulder I have to tell you something. It’s going to be uncomfortable for both of us, but…”

“Scully, I…”

She interrupted him, “No, Mulder! Just don’t! I need to do this. I have to do this.” She could feel his stare like a crushing weight, begging her not to do this. She sat down on the edge of the bed and steadfastly refused to meet his gaze.

“She looks so small,” he thought. He longed to wrap his arms around her and make all of her pain go away. That desire, of course, was the reason why this was happening. How could he think she could ever love him? All the pain she had been through for the last seven years was his fault. Every wound, every scar, every loss was his doing. Her sister Melissa, her daughter Emily, her infertility, her cancer, her abduction, Antarctica, that damned chip in her neck- all of it. “I am poison to her,” he thought. Everything he touched turned to dust. She was better off without him, even though it took her seven years to come to her senses and realize it. And that was his fault too, wasn’t it? “I should have let her go,” he realized. His selfishness knew no boundaries.

“But not this time, damn it!” he resolved. He would take his medicine and then he would leave her- never to darken her path again. Maybe she would be able to get on with her life. The life she deserved. The life his obsession had denied her for so long. It didn’t matter that it would kill him to let her go. It didn’t matter that he had just found proof of vampires. It didn’t matter that there were wackos with swords running around chopping each-other’s heads off and causing lightening storms…

Her words interrupted his self-flagellating reverie. “Mulder, I know that it’s selfish of me; that it’s not fair to you; but I cannot keep pretending not to feel what I feel. I just can’t do this anymore,” she sighed tiredly. “I just can’t. I have been trying, really trying. For the sake of our partnership, for the sake of the work- because I know how important it is to you, to us.”

“God, how long has she felt like this?” he wondered. “She’s known for a while apparently, but she stuck it out even longer for the sake of ‘the work.’ More like my obsession,” he thought bitterly.

“I know you don’t feel for me what I feel for you,” She said.

What?…

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t just get past it and move on. You don’t deserve to have some hopeless pale little redhead pining away after you like a sappy teenager.

What?…

“I know that I am not the type of woman you find attractive, but I really wish I were.”

“What the…” he said. “What the hell is she saying?” Mulder thought.

“I want you to know that I don’t expect anything from you because of this.”

“Scully, wait. What are you trying to say” Mulder choked out, his mind reeling.

“Oh Mulder, please don’t make me actually say it. How can you be so cruel?” she thought. She whispered- almost too low to make out, “I love you Mulder.”

“Scully! What did you say!?” Mulder demanded. This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t have heard what he thought… How could she…

She finally looked up at him, her eyes locking defiantly onto his, “I said, I love you, Mulder.” Her resolve faltered and her eyes dropped back to her lap. “I’m sorry, Mulder. I wish I didn’t, but I do.” She waited for the rejection she was sure she would hear.

For a moment he headed once more down the path of self pity- “How can she love me after all I have…” he began to think, but then a different feeling stopped him. Shame so great that the pain of it overwhelmed his soul. She was worried about being selfish, when he had been the one focusing on himself to the exclusion of her. He had determined that he was unworthy and in doing so had denied her what she felt she needed. Him. He had ignored her needs and desires, instead focusing on his feelings of self-loathing and pity.

Her eyes were still locked onto her lap. He hadn’t moved since she had said it. It was as though time had stopped. She knew her heart seemed to have stopped while she waited for his response. “Mulder, please say something,” she whispered at last, looking up into his eyes.

As though the floodgates had been opened- hot, bitter tears began to flow down his face. He still felt unworthy- he thought she deserved so much more than he could ever give- but he made an instant decision to spend the rest of his life trying to make up for it. He dropped to his knees, and leaned forward until his forehead was touching her knees. Great wracking sobs began to shake his body as he wept freely. He was suffused with sorrow for what he had done to her and at the same time filled with joy at the gift she had just given him. He needed to speak, to tell her, but the emotion inside him poured out so fast and furious that he could scarcely breathe, let alone speak.

Scully began to panic, “What have I done?” she whispered to herself. She could feel his tears like droplets of fire striking her shins and running down her ankles.

“Mulder,” she began and then paused.

No response.

“Mulder,” she said a little louder this time. “Mulder, I’m sorry…”

Her words, or more accurately the fear he felt from her in them, gripped his heart, slowing the flow of emotion enough to return his ability to speak. At first all he could get out was a litany without pause, “Scullysosorrysosorrysosorrypleaseforgivemesosorry” over and over until he ran out of breath. When he was finally able to gasp for air he raised his head to meet her eyes once again. “Sc-Scully,” took all the breath he had. He gasped in another lung-full and continued, “I am so sorry.”

His pain almost tore her heart from her chest. “It’s not your fault, Mulder. You can’t blame yourself for how I feel…”

“Scully, stop,” Mulder said. If you think you are unattractive, ‘not my type’; if you think of yourself the way you described to me just now then it is my fault.”

“Please Mulder, you don’t have to…”

“Yes I do have to, Scully. Not because I am trying to patronize you or pity you. No. I have to because you are wrong. Dead wrong,” he said. Gripping her hands in his he continued, “I could spend all day telling you how beautiful you are. God knows I have spent entire days thinking about it. Cataloguing every look, every aspect, and every nuance that is Dana Scully. Frankly I am amazed that you didn’t catch me staring at you more often,” he said, shaking his head ruefully. “I actually used to worry that my career would end with a sexual harassment claim if you ever caught me staring. If you could have heard some of the things I was trying not to think about, you would have at least slapped me, if not just outright shot me.” Mulder caught his breath a bit before continuing. “I could spend the day telling you that, but I won’t. Because what was admittedly pure lust at first has become the least of what I feel for you.”

“Mulder, please. You don’t need to say anything just to make me feel better.”

“Don’t I Scully?” he interrupted her. “I hope what I am going to say makes you feel better. After all, my stubborn, pigheaded, obsessive selfishness is obviously what has been making you feel bad.” Mulder looked ready to cry again, “please let me tell you this, Scully. You told me how you feel, let me tell you how I feel,” he whispered. “Please Scully”

She could barely bring herself to nod her head. Speech was utterly beyond her. She still felt as though she were in the midst of some kind of dream fantasy and was waiting to wake up. She was so convinced that he was going to reject her that she still expected it to happen. “He’s just trying to break it to me gently,” she thought miserably.

Mulder settled back onto his heels, still kneeling before her. He looked down at his hands in his lap and, with a deep breath began speaking. “When you first joined the X-Files I was certain that you were there to spy on me. I had been waiting to see who they were going to send to interfere. I was waiting to see how they were going to do it. When you were assigned to me I figured that they wanted me to fall for you. So you could exert your ‘evil influence’ on me. Frankly I wasn’t worried too much- I wouldn’t let mere physical attraction interfere with my quest. Besides, how attractive could you be, I thought?” Mulder looked up from his hands, his eyes traveling steadily up her body to her face- meeting her eyes again. His voice dropped an octave and he said, “I had no idea, Scully.”

She saw raw emotion and arousal in his eyes. She was confused. “Why is he telling me this?” she wondered.

His eyes suddenly dropped back to his hands and he somewhat hesitantly said, “I lied to you, you know. I told you that I made my parents call me Mulder. The truth is that I thought that if I made you use my last name, I could keep things strictly professional. I could avoid developing any feelings for you. You were the enemy, and I had to keep my guard up.”

“You succeeded, Mulder,” she thought. “You never let that guard down. I wish I could have done the same.”

“It just got worse, Scully. You weren’t just beautiful- you were smart too. You didn’t take any BS from me, but you also didn’t try to change me. Even when I could tell that you didn’t believe my theories, you respected the investigation. You never belittled me for my ‘wild ideas’ even though you obviously disagreed with them. You adopted the quest for the truth as your own.” His eyes returned to hers, “I began to trust you, Scully. You weren’t the enemy any longer. I realized that you never were. I know now, that I had already fallen for you at that point, even though I didn’t realize it at the time.”

Wait, back up a minute, did he say…

Mulder continued, “I realized it after Duane Barry. When you were gone it was as though my life had ended. If you hadn’t come back- if you had died instead of coming out of that coma…” The tears started again and he took a deep, shuddering breath, “I’m sorry, Scully. I would have… I couldn’t have gone on.”

Her breath caught at the implication. “Could it be?” she thought.

He squeezed his eyes shut, “I never told you this before…”

“Shhh. It’s ok, Mulder…”

“No! I need for you to know, Scully.” He reached up and cupped her face in his hand, “I was given an opportunity that night- the night before you woke up. I was told that the men who had done that to you were being sent to search my apartment. I was told that their lives were mine to take if I wanted them.” He drew another great, shuddering breath, biting back a sob and dropping his hand he continued, “I said yes, Scully. I was there waiting for them. I had my pistol and I was going to kill them. Then I was going to turn it on myself.”

She gasped, “Mulder…”

He ignored her and continued, “I welcomed it. I yearned for it. Finally there was a knock at the door, but it wasn’t them. It was your sister. She convinced me that you needed me; that you were going to come back to me if I would be there for you. So I went. And you did. And I was the happiest man alive. I just wish now that I would have told you then. That I wasn’t such a coward.”

“Mulder, your not a…”

“Aren’t I, Scully? When you got cancer did I ever tell you how important you were to me? When you went into remission did I let you know that I felt like a sixteen-ton weight was lifted off of my chest? Obviously not or you wouldn’t have thought that I didn’t find you attractive. You wouldn’t have wasted a second comparing yourself to those other women. You wouldn’t have believed for a moment that I could ever find them more attractive than I find you. You wouldn’t have hidden yourself from me so that I never thought in a million years that you were attracted to me at all.”

She looked into his eyes again and saw them darken in emotion. His smell, his strong, masculine Mulderscent, began to overwhelm her. She felt her nipples harden and hot moisture begin to pool in her center.

He caught the scent of her arousal and he felt himself begin to stiffen, his erection beginning to show in the slacks he was wearing. “I thought you didn’t want me, Scully. I didn’t believe that I could ever be worthy of your desire- of your love. I blame myself for everything that happened to you while you worked on the X-files. I am the cause of all of your pain and I don’t know if I can ever forgive myself for it. I knew I should let you go. Give you a chance for a life. A real life.”

“Mulder, I have a life. A real life,” She said. “I didn’t stay on the X-files out of duty or obligation. I stayed because it is my quest too. And because I love you.” Tears began to well in her eyes, “There is nothing to forgive, Mulder.”

“Scully, intellectually I know that your abduction, your sister’s death, your cancer and all the rest are not directly my fault. I know that I didn’t do those things to you, but I cannot help feeling that way. I wanted you to stay because I was selfish. Even if that is not the reason you stayed, that is what I feel.” He sighed, “But, I don’t want to argue about that. Despite the fact that I think you would have been better off if you never met me, I am still being selfish. I desperately want you to stay.”

She said, “Mulder, I want to stay. I value our partnership, our friendship…”

Mulder interrupted her, “God Scully, and you think I’m dense.” He shook his head sadly; “Let me spell it out for you. I. Love. You. With all my heart. With all my soul. With all that I am.” He closed his eyes and said, “I still don’t think that I deserve you, but I want to spend the rest of my existence trying to prove myself wrong. Will you let me try?” he asked her.

She was stunned. She couldn’t think. Her mind revolved with, “He wants me? He loves me?” over and over.

“Please Scully,” he whispered. His voice became rough and low- dripping with passion “I need you, Scully”

“Oh God, Yes!” she said, her own voice gravelly with need and desire.

Mulder reached up and cupped the side of her face with his hand, slowly guiding her toward his lips for a kiss. The kiss was light, delicate, his warm soft lips playing over hers for a moment and then traveling all over her face. Bestowing his adoration to her cheeks, eyes, chin and forehead as her breath began to come in pants and the smell of him began to fill her with an exquisite longing. Suddenly his mouth was back on hers- and there was nothing gentle about this kiss. His tongue demanded entrance and it was granted. As his tongue swirled about her mouth, her tongue danced with his, entering his mouth.

God, he tasted salty and bittersweet- like sunflower seeds and dark chocolate. She was filled with an overwhelming desire to taste him everywhere. She broke the kiss and began to work furiously at the buttons of his shirt and before she knew it she had his shirt off and was leaning forward, tasting the warm skin of his chest.

Mulder moaned, his whole body vibrating, “No fair,” he panted huskily, “you’re still dressed.”

“Well,” she mumbled against his chest, “fix it!”

He stood them up and began tearing at the buttons on her blouse, and then, having gotten that off, he reached around to unhook her bra.

She noticed that he seemed to be having trouble with the hooks and pushed him back, down onto the chair by the bed.

He was suddenly hesitant, “Too fast?” he asked.

“Too slow!” she growled back at him, swiftly unhooking and removing the bra, and then before he could do more than gasp she unzipped and shimmied out of her skirt. She stood before him clad only in a small pair of sodden panties and her sensible pumps, her eyes challenging him, as if to say “Well, Do something!”

“How could she ever think she wasn’t attractive?” he thought, then spoke aloud, “You are perfect, Scully. Absolutely perfect.” Then he stood up and toed off his shoes and socks and dropped his slacks to the floor.

As he stepped out of the puddle of clothing on the floor, his boxer shorts tented out from his body, Scully felt the impact of his words and his actions. She read the sincerity in his admiring gaze and felt a fresh wave of arousal flow to the junction of her thighs. He swooped down upon her, crushing her lithe body against his hard muscled chest, and kissing her with such soul-searing passion that she felt as though her very spirit was being drawn out through her mouth and into him. She could feel his erection trapped against her belly as he devoured her.

He laid her down on the bed and broke the kiss, gasping for air, as she did the same. Mulder looked into her eyes and said, “You own me, Scully. Body and soul, I belong to you.”

She bit back a sob at his assertion, but before she could answer, the sensation of his mouth on her aching breast robbed her of the ability speak. She was unable to do more than groan aloud. As he worked over her nipples with his tongue, lips and teeth, all she could think of was, “Thank God for Sunflower Seeds! I am going to buy him the biggest bag of seeds I can find.”

Mulder left her breasts behind and began to travel south over her abdomen- licking, sucking and biting his way to her navel. As he dipped his tongue in, he heard her breath catch and then, “M-Mul-Mulder, I’ve never… You don’t have too…”

His eyes met hers and he saw her discomfort. “No one has ever done this for you before?” he asked.

She shook her head, eyes wide and breathing raggedly. The few others she had been with had been relieved when she didn’t feel comfortable with them going down on her. She had, for some reason, been shy of a man seeing her that closely. She worried that she would smell funny, or taste bad.

“Oh Scully, please let me do this for you,” he begged. “I want to taste you, I need to taste you. Please, Scully, Please,” he punctuated each word with a kiss to her belly.

How could she deny him when he wanted it so badly? When he wanted to do it, not out of obligation, or desire for reciprocation, but because he wanted it, needed it. She nodded her head and his face actually brightened. He smiled at her as though she had done him a favor. Oral fixation indeed she thought happily.

He slowly slid her panties down and off of her. As he pulled them over her feet, he kissed his way back up her legs, loving the sensation of her smooth, creamy skin against his lips. He kissed her right at the junction of her tightly closed thighs and she relaxed allowing him to spread them gently apart. He glanced up at her from his vantage point between her legs and saw that she was somewhat embarrassed. She was blushing hotly and her eyes kept darting away from him, as if she was torn between the desire to see his reaction to her, and fear of the reaction she apparently expected to see. He needed her to understand what she meant to him and how he felt about her. “I love you so much. Oh Scully, you are so beautiful. You’re so wet for me. Do you know how happy this makes me?” he asked as he gently stroked her with his fingers. “To know that you are this wet, for me; because of me? Thank you, Scully.” And with that, he began to explore with his lips and tongue.

Tears began to flow freely down her cheeks. Tears of relief, joy, and love. Scully’s mind began to revolve, “He really loves me. He’s not just saying it; he doesn’t feel sorry for me. He doesn’t pity me. He wants me! He loves me!”

She began to feel a sensation coiling tightly inside her, like a spring being wound tighter and tighter. She howled as he suddenly took her clitoris into his mouth, sucking on it while he inserted 2 fingers into her and began to rub them against the roof of her vagina, looking for that spot. Then he found what he was looking for and she screamed his name as the orgasm crashed down upon her. Wave after wave of pleasure rolled over her. She closed her eyes and bright spots of light winked at her behind her eyelids. She began to feel disoriented and dizzy, and still the orgasm rolled on and on and Mulder continued to stroke that spot inside her and suckle at her clit like a newborn against his mother’s breast.

Mulder was watching her face as she came, and came and came and came. Her scream had ended in a long, drawn out, shuddering howl as the pleasure kept flowing over her. The look on her face was agonizingly beautiful. He was amazed; this had never happened before. He was overjoyed that he was able to do this for her. Suddenly he noticed that she had stopped moving entirely. He rose quickly from her and was near panic until he saw the reassuring rise and fall of her chest- that lovely chest. He began to feel pretty proud of himself, a little cocky even.

When she came to she saw him standing before her, his boxers tented by his erection and a big, dopey grin on his face- pride and satisfaction practically glowing from him. “Well, he has darned well earned it this time,” she thought in awe. “Mulder…” her voice was raspy, “that was… That was… That has never…”

The pride on his face softened into adoration for her. He wiped his mouth with his hand and came down upon her to kiss her reverently. “Oh Scully, thank you. Thank you for giving me that. Thank you for letting me see you cum. You were so beautiful, Scully.” Tears began to fall down his cheeks and he leaned in for another kiss.

She loved him more at that moment than she would have ever thought possible. “Only Mulder,” she thought. Here he was; still in his underwear; obviously painfully erect from the way he winced when it pressed into her thigh; having just made her cum so hard and so long that she had been rendered unconscious; and he was profusely thanking her for the experience. He was grateful and she had yet to even touch him.

Well! It was high time to fix that!

Mulder was slightly shocked when she suddenly rolled them over with her ending up on top. She broke away from the kiss and began to work her way down his body with her lips and tongue. She began to lightly stroke him through his underwear as she tongued his nipples. She felt him twitch in her hand and he suddenly groaned loud and low in his throat. She tried to continue down toward the elastic of his boxers when suddenly his hands were in her hair, feeling the soft, silky strands, and trying to move her back up to his face.

She broke off from her attentions to his nipples and looked at him. “What’s wrong Mulder?”

“If you complete that thought you may get an unpleasant surprise, I don’t think I can hold out long.” He said, somewhat chagrined.

“I want that, Mulder. I need that right now- I need to make you cum.”

“Tonight I want to be inside you when I cum, Scully,” he whispered.

“Mulder, what makes you think this will be the only time you cum tonight?” she said with a wicked grin on her lips.

Mulder actually began to pant. “OhMyGod, Scully!” he gasped, his chest heaving.

Scully let out a delighted laugh and continued on her original course. She removed his undershorts and paused a moment in appreciation. He was so hard that the head was purple and the veins on the sides were throbbing in time with his heartbeat. She licked her lips and smiled up at him. His eyes were wide and staring. She said, “This looks serious, Mulder. It’s a good thing you’ve got a doctor handy,” and with that she gave it one long lick, from the bottom of the base to the underside of the tip. She immediately gripped the base, squeezing with her thumb to keep him from cumming. “Not just yet, Mulder.”

He thought he was going to die. No scratch that, he thought he was already dead and in heaven. She would take him into her mouth sliding slowly down him until her nose was buried in his pubic hair. Then she would make a few short bobs of her head before slowly withdrawing, swirling her tongue around the underside of him as she withdrew. She would then grip him, cutting off his orgasm while she would lick and suckle his balls. After what seemed like hours, but was probably only a couple of minutes she took him all the way in again and began bobbing up and down furiously, rubbing her saliva slicked fingers along his perineum, beneath his balls.

He hadn’t stopped groaning since the first lick. He tried to speak, “Sc-Sc-Scu-ul-ly, I’m… gonna… unh… gonna…” she locked gazes with him as if to let him know that she knew. She wasn’t stopping, however. She started moving faster and groaning herself. The combination of movement and vibration was too much and he came. “Oh, God! Oh, Scully,” he shouted over and over as he emptied himself into her.

She felt him cum and she concentrated on not choking. She wanted this, wanted to do this for him, to show him a little of the happiness he had given her. She wanted to show him a little of the love she felt for him. In the end she drank him all down and slowly withdrew, cleaning him with her tongue. She looked up and saw the awe and joy in his eyes. She felt a little proud herself for being able to bring him to this. She made a slow, languorous ascent up his body, tasting and feeling as she went. When she got to the summit, she stopped to taste his mouth once more.

After a moment she leaned away from him and gave to him the gift he had given to her earlier. Her voice rough and thick with emotion she said, “I am yours Mulder. Heart, mind and body, I belong to you.”

“Scully, I...” he began and then trailed off.

“Please Mulder, tell me. You can tell me anything.” she said, “You do know that don’t you?”

“I believe you Scully. And I love you. Oh, God how I love you. I know it seems like it’s a little late for this, but I need you to know something. Before we go any further.”

“What Mulder?” Scully asked, starting to feel a little self-conscious again.

Mulder reached out and cupped her cheek with his right hand and said, “You know how I am Scully. How I obsess about things and how I can be stubborn about things.”

“Mulder, you are like a terrier with a bone.” Scully chuckled.

Mulder ducked his head somewhat sheepishly and said, “Yeah I am like that a bit…” He then raised his head and locked his gaze on her eyes, “…If you stay here with me now, if we do what I really, really really want to do next…” His eyes were like bottomless pools of arousal now and Scully couldn’t have torn her gaze away from his even if the room were to suddenly erupt into flames. “…I won’t ever be able to go back. Not ever. You and I will be forever and nothing on earth, or from anywhere else will ever drag me away from you.”

Tears were flowing freely now from her eyes as she said, “Mulder, nothing, and I mean it Mulder! Nothing could make me leave you right now- or ever. You own me. Forever.” And with that she attacked his mouth, seeking to sear on his very soul the love she felt for him.

The kiss lasted until they were both lightheaded from lack of oxygen and broke apart at the same instant, gasping for breath. Scully was delighted to feel Mulder’s recovered erection pressing into her thigh. She pulled back enough to look down and see it, and then looked back up at Mulder with a coquettish gaze and said, in her best little girl voice, “Is that for me?”

Mulder rolled them both over and hovered above her for a moment. He looked at her in all seriousness and said, in a deep gravelly voice, “Every last bit, Scully. It’s all yours, and only yours.” In one steady thrust he sunk into her, in to the hilt, “Forever,” he gasped.

He began making long slow strokes, pulling almost all of the way out and then slowly sinking all the way back in so that his balls were nestled in the cradle of her ass. When he was all the way in, she felt like she had never been so filled in her life, and when he withdrew, she felt empty. His slow pace was maddening and his whispered endearments in her ear were only adding to the feeling.

“You’re so wet Scully. You’re so warm Scully. Is that for me? Did I make you that wet and warm?” he asked huskily.

“Oh God Yes Mulder, You made me wet, you made me hot and you’re making me insane!” she wanted to scream out, but all she could force out was an inarticulate “Ohgomld! Unnhhyah!” She would have been embarrassed except that he seemed to understand, and his eyes softened- the absolute adoration he felt for her expressed clearly. How could she have ever thought he didn’t want her?” It was obvious by the look on his face- she hadn’t ever seen that intensity of focus. It was as if there was nothing and no one else in the universe but she and he, and all the rest didn’t exist.

Mulder was driving himself insane, every instinct in his body was screaming to forget pace and slam into her like a jackhammer until the two became one. But he wanted this to last. He never wanted it to end. He wanted to make her scream his name at the top of her lungs until he occupied every last drop of her consciousness and there was nothing left in her but him, just like he already felt about her.

Suddenly he changed his angle, sliding up so that her face was level with his neck and shoulders, and his shaft dragged across her clit with each stroke. Almost instantly she was rocked with a powerful orgasm. It surprised her and she screamed at the suddenness of it. Her body started to convulse and the muscles that wrapped around him started to contract violently. It was the last straw for him and he lost any semblance of control and started pounding into her for all he was worth.

The waves of her orgasm were not dissipating, but rather they were crashing down on her faster and harder as Mulder picked up the pace, his shaft grinding against her clit as his strokes became faster and shorter. She locked her legs around his hips and her arms around his back and sank her teeth into his trapezius muscle, between his neck and shoulder, biting down so hard in her frenzy that she drew blood.

The sudden clutch she put him in and the sharp pain of her bite sent him over the edge. He roared her name incoherently as he pumped his seed into her. His own orgasm seemed to last much longer than normal. He felt like he was draining his entire self into her. He collapsed onto her and when he made to roll off of her, her grip on him tightened even more and she cried “No!” She was still shuddering from the force of her orgasm, and the thought of separation from him was more than she could bear in that moment.

“Baby, I don’t want to crush you, that’s all.” Mulder whispered. He then expended his last bit of strength and grabbed her and rolled them both over so she was on top of him and they were still joined. He pulled the sheet over them and promptly fell asleep with his arms wrapped around the love of his life.

A sense of peace and contentment unlike any she had ever known overwhelmed Scully. Her last conscious thought was, “I wish I could stay like this forever.”

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

Nick’s Loft

3:30am Tuesday

Natalie had fed Sidney and petted him for a while. He was less than pleased that his mistress had been gone for so long, but soon forgave her under the gentle attentions of her hands and fingers. She snickered at the thought of making Nick purr like that with similar stroking. “Soon! Soon!” her mind exulted. She got up and danced her way into the bedroom to pack an overnight bag. “I should call it an over-day bag, really, I guess,” she thought, smiling. She really didn’t think she would miss the day that much- not if she got to spend the eternal night with Nick. She laughed with excitement as she skipped out the door and to her car for the drive over to the Loft.

As she rode the elevator up to the loft, Natalie was truly feeling giddy. She felt like she hadn’t seen Nick in days, rather than hours.

Nick heard Natalie coming up in the elevator just as he lit the last candle. He had a bottle of Faiveley Cellars 1995 Clos de Vougeot Burgundy, as well as a bottle Raven reserve label and two glasses on the coffee table and had made a pallet of blankets and cushions on the floor in front of the fireplace. He flew to the refrigerator and pulled out another bottle of Raven label, his fifth since he got home, and drained it quickly.

Natalie’s eyes lit up as she saw the loft in candlelight, with a fire going strong and the little nest of blankets before it. “Maybe soon is sooner than I thought!” she thought, joyously. “Oh, Nick! It looks beautiful. Absolutely lovely!” she said as her gaze swept back and forth across the room. Finally her eyes rested on the visage of her beloved as he stalked across the room with leonine grace toward her.

“All things before mine eyes pale in comparison to thee, beloved. Thou art radiance above the moon and the stars to me. A gleaming brilliance in the darkness, penetrating the cold death of night. You warm my heart.” Nick said in low resonant tones as he crossed the room, taking her in his arms, “You are my life.” Then he dipped his head, meeting her lips with his and drinking from his fountain of life.

Natalie dropped her bag and wrapped her arms around him crushing herself against him with all of the strength she possessed, as if she could merge with him into one being. She finally broke the kiss, gasping for air. “NOT FAIR!” she thought. “I’m the only one here who actually needs to breathe!”

Nick chuckled when her eyes flashed in annoyance, instantly realizing what she was thinking.

“I don’t have your gift for poetry, Nick, but I want you to know- my heart is overfilled with joy and it is pouring out and through my entire body. And, you are the cause!”

Nick’s own heart leapt in his chest at her declaration. “I love you, Natalie Lambert!” he whispered and once again captured her mouth.

This time when she broke the kiss she was panting. “I thought… we had to… wait…”

“Do you want to wait anymore?” he asked.

“NO!” she shouted.

Nick laughed out loud and swept her off her feet, swinging her around and then carrying her over to the pallet he had built up. He gently laid her back on the cushions and knelt beside her. “I still think we should put off bringing you across for a few days, but I think that we can still do this. I spoke with LaCroix, and he…”

“You discussed this with LaCroix!?” Natalie was suddenly indignant.

“My love, you must understand that there are really no secrets between a vampire master and his or her progeny.” Nick said placatingly. Then he growled, “I didn’t want to wait another moment to have you!”

“Oh.” She said, pondering the idea briefly. “Good idea, Nick.”

He gave a low chuckle that caused shivers to run down her spine, and moisture to start collecting in the center of her arousal. “Anyway, I have satiated my hunger with as much blood as I could drink, and I believe I can control myself sufficiently to take only a little from you. I have a big bottle of orange juice and some Gatorade in the fridge for afterward.”

“What, no cookies?” she asked, “ You are supposed to get cookies when you donate blood!”

“I have an entire dinner, catered by Bellini’s, keeping warm in the oven. But that is for after!” and with that he once again bent down to ravish her lips, then making a trail with his lips and tongue to her ear, where he paused for a while, nipping and sucking. His hands slid over her blouse, down from her shoulders, alongside her breasts- cupping them through the material, and down to the waist of her skirt. He un-tucked her blouse and began to unbutton it, his lips moving down to her neck and kissing her gently over her pulse point. Knowing that he would be sinking his teeth into the river of blood he heard flowing just beneath the skin caused his own arousal to soar. The knowledge that tonight would be the night was sufficient to keep the vampire in check. It was well sated and willing to be patient.

Natalie was not so patient. His lips were fire on her skin and she yanked his shirt out of his trousers, and began running her hands inside his shirt, over the bare skin of his chest. She moaned with pleasure as he kissed her neck, and shivered with delight as he opened her blouse and retraced the path of his hands, this time over bare flesh. As he slid his hands over her bra-encased breasts toward the front closure, she felt her nipples stiffen against the fabric, as though trying to reach through it to touch the skin of her lover.

Nick opened her bra and leaned back long enough to take in the sight of his beloved’s bare flesh. He tried to speak and realized that he had stopped breathing entirely and had no air with which to form the words.

Natalie opened her eyes when his touch left her and found him leaning away from her, staring in open awe at her. She smiled and licked her lips, causing Nick to growl softly. He slid her blouse and bra down and off of her, and took the opportunity to capture one of her nipples in his mouth. He rolled his tongue around the edges of it, and stroked the top of it in long licks. He nipped lightly at it and then ran his tongue around it, soothing the bite. He stroked the areola round and round, memorizing each bump and wrinkle. His hand lavished the same sensations on her other nipple, but in a different order. The intensity of the sensation and its contrapuntal effect caused her arousal to become acute, her Vulva overflowed and ran down the junction of her thighs, saturating her panties.

Suddenly, the smell of Natalie’s arousal overpowered Nick. As he tried to unzip it the zipper stuck, and he tore the zipper-pull off of the skirt. He held it up between them and looked at it, like a small boy with a broken toy.

Natalie would have laughed at the look on his face if she hadn’t been even more desperate than he was to get that skirt the hell out of the way. “Just tear it, Nick!” she growled hungrily.

Nick lost what was left of his composure and tore the skirt in two with a quick pull and a little Vampiric strength. As the smell of her- even stronger now- assaulted his senses he ripped her panties from her, dropped to his knees and buried his head between her thighs.

Natalie was briefly thankful that she had decided not to wear pantyhose tonight. Then all rational thought left her mind as Nick began to trace her swollen folds with his tongue before latching on to her clit with his lips and tongue. He grasped the hood of her clitoris firmly between his lips, squeezing the clitoris itself out and between his teeth, which exerted the barest pressure on it while his tongue swept back and forth across it in slow steady strokes. She felt the pressure build up and up until she thought she was going to burst. Suddenly Nick stopped the side-to-side motion and began furiously flicking his tongue up and down over it. Natalie felt her consciousness shatter.

Nick heard Natalie begin a low, keening wail that got louder and louder. He changed the motion of his tongue over her clitoris and she suddenly arched her back and grabbed his head, grinding it into her crotch. She screamed his name loudly enough that he was glad this area of the city was virtually abandoned at night, otherwise he might be getting a visit from the police investigating a report of a woman being murdered.

“Oh! this is so much better,” Natalie thought to herself once her consciousness coalesced. “So much better than doing it myself!” she muttered as she dropped to her knees in front of him.

Nick was pretty sure she didn’t mean to say that out loud, “Glad to be of service, my Lady!” He said, chuckling.

Natalie blushed hotly in embarrassment and averted her eyes from his.

“Please don’t be embarrassed, Nat. You were magnificent! I felt like a violinist being given the chance to play a Stradivarius,” he said with awe in his voice. “It was just so wonderful, so extraordinary that I could make you feel that. I don’t think I could ever get tired of seeing you cum.”

She returned her eyes to his and saw the sincerity in his voice, the arousal in his eyes. Any sense of shame or embarrassment left her entirely. She wanted him to know everything- her longing, her desire, her absolute need for him. The need for him to know her completely was like a physical weight pressing down on her.

“Oh, Nick. You don’t know how many mornings I have spent touching myself, stroking and caressing myself, imagining it was you. Wishing it was your hands on me.” She punctuated her words with her hands, stroking her breasts, teasing her already hard nipples into achingly intense sensitivity. Her eyes closed and her hands drifted south along her torso, stroking, teasing and touching- until her fingers were tracing the outlines of her vulva, imitating the movements that Nick’s tongue and lips were so recently engaged in. “Oh Nick, I want you… I need you.” She dipped the fingers on each hand into the moisture that was flowing steadily again. One finger she slid up to the hard nub of her clitoris, where she began stroking agonizingly slow circles around the clitoral hood. The other finger she brought up to her lips, pausing to reach out with her tongue to taste the wetness there before inserting the finger into her mouth and sucking it clean.

She opened her eyes and saw him, his mouth glistening with her juices and hanging open as he panted heavily. His fangs were fully descended and his eyes, glowing red, were locked on the finger in her mouth. She could sense that he was holding back out of fear of her reaction to the vampire. She didn’t want him to hold back. She laid back, spreading herself open with the one hand, while pulling her other hand from her mouth and sweeping her hair away from her neck as she arched her head back. “Nick, I need you!” her breath coming in short pants as she began climbing up toward the peak of her arousal. “I need to feel you inside me. Now Nick!”

She saw Nick blur in motion, and heard the sound of his clothing shredding as he tore it away from himself in Vampiric speed. In between two blinks of her eyes Nick went from kneeling, fully clothed, between her knees to covering her body with his own naked form. He thrust himself deep into her with one powerful movement and she knew that this was going to be over in moments. That was perfectly all right with her, she knew that they had the rest of eternity to savor long, slow lovemaking. This was about raw need, and she needed it as badly as he did. She knew exactly what she was doing when she goaded him into this, and she secretly didn’t care if she remained mortal after this or not. She wanted to be with him, and would joyfully give up any thought of seeing another sunrise to have this for the rest of her existence.

Nick pumped madly within his love. His need overwhelmed him and after only seconds he plunged his fangs into the sweet essence of life flowing through the smooth column of flesh before him. The smell of Natalie’s blood had always reminded him of the heavily spiced, mulled wine that he had drunk in the winters before he crossed over. It was one of the physical pleasures he had missed most after LaCroix had changed him. He was sure that it had never been this wonderful, though. Her blood, sweetened by her orgasm, and enriched with the passionate love she felt for him, engulfed his senses. He felt her desire for him, her absolute need to have him in her, and she in him just like this. Any guilt he felt for loosing control so quickly was washed away as he felt her pleasure at having driven him to this state. “You little vixen!” he thought, and felt her laughter and joy.

She felt the sting of his fangs entering her neck and the cool wash of his orgasm inside her and the combination pushed her up and over the peak of her own pleasure. She once again screamed his name as she felt the whirlwind of sensation and imagery bombard her consciousness. She laughed with delight when she felt him realize that this had been exactly what she wanted- that she had pushed him to lose control in just this manner.

After several mouthfuls of her blood had slid down his throat, Nick found himself able to stop. He felt her willingness to continue- to go all the way, but the knowledge that it would happen soon enough, combined with his pleasure at the thought of drawing out the process, taking pleasure with her in this way for a while longer, was enticing as well. He withdrew his fangs and licked the wounds until the bleeding stopped.

She gave a small cry as she felt his fangs withdraw, and the images and sensations died away slowly. She gasped in surprise as Nick used his super-human abilities to rise up off the ground, bringing her with him, and rotate in the air so that she was on top of him, while they remained joined as one. He then came to rest amidst the blankets and cushions with his arms wrapped around her. She had never felt so content in her life. She was physically and emotionally satiated.

As Nick lay there with his heart’s desire draped over him like a human blanket, he had a feeling of peace wash over him such as he had never felt in his existence- even before, when he was mortal. “It was never like this with Janette,” he thought. He had loved Janette, and still did, but not like this. This was something he had never even imagined.

Natalie noticed that Nick was lost in thought and said, “Penny for your thoughts, Nick?”

Nick shook himself from his reverie and smiled. He said, “I was thinking of Janette.” Instantly he berated himself as he felt her stiffen, “I could have found a better way to say that!” He tightened his arms around her before she could pull away and quickly continued, “Nat, I was married to her for 97 years, and in all that time, never once did I feel as happy and content as I do right now.”

Natalie felt her heart soften and silently chastised herself for thinking for even a moment that Nick would hurt her like that. “I should know better. I should trust him more than that,” she thought. She had seen herself in his heart while he drank from her, and she knew that there was, and would never again be, anyone but her there. Instead of apologizing with words, she swept up and locked her mouth on his, drinking him into her. She felt him stiffening inside her and marveled at the vampire’s recuperative powers. She felt herself growing increasingly slick at the thought. “This is going to be wonderful,” she said to herself, imagining what it was going to be like being with a multi-orgasmic man, who could keep up with her own insatiable needs.

Natalie brought her lips to his ear and whispered to him “Some mornings, Nick, I would cum six or even seven times while thinking about you. Even then, I would only stop because my hands were tired.”

Nick instantly became painfully hard inside her. He growled back “Satisfaction guaranteed or your next one’s free.” He reached his hands behind her knees and pulled them forward until she was kneeling astride him, her dripping mound hovering several inches above, and slightly forward of his groin with just the tip of his penis still inside her. He then told her, “put your hands beside my shoulders.” she complied- her luscious breasts hanging above his chin, then he growled at her, “Now. Do Not Move! Understand me?”

Her eyes widened at the command in his tone and she was compelled to obey. Wordlessly she nodded her head but that wasn’t good enough for him.

“Say it!” he commanded.

“Yes, I understand.” she said breathlessly.

“Good, don’t forget it,” he said as he began moving inside her. He made long, slow strokes into her, taking as much as three or four seconds to steadily press into her until he was buried entirely within, then holding for a moment and just as slowly sliding out until only the tip of the head of his penis was still inside. He would then pause and begin again. After a few such strokes he changed patterns, stoking only a little of the way in, then back out then a little more in and all the way back out- increasing the depth of each stoke until he was fully inside. He then reversed course coming out in increments until he was almost all the way out again.

She felt like she was going to go insane- the desire to thrust back against him almost overwhelming her until she thought she couldn’t hold out any longer. Just as she started to give in he grabbed her hips in his iron grip and held her steady. Not breaking the intricate rhythm of his thrusts, he growled at her again, “I said don’t move! You can scream or shout or cry all you want, but if you move I will stop! Do you understand?”

Natalie couldn’t make her voice work. All she could get out was “Yunghhh” and she just nodded her head vigorously, keeping the rest of her body still.

Nick was relentless, beginning the long thrusts again as he dropped his voice even lower and rougher and said, “Do you want me to stop Natalie?”

She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood and shook her head violently, her hair whipping back and forth.

Nick picked that moment to reach his head up and, without touching her breast or areola, drag his tongue slowly across just the tip of her nipple.

Natalie felt the first orgasm like a firecracker exploding simultaneously in her left nipple and her vagina. How she managed to keep her body still she would never know. she threw her head back as she gasped, and she felt the walls of her vagina begin to convulse around Nick, who was keeping his maddening pace, changing between the long slow strokes and the incremental penetrations every minute or so.

It wasn’t until after the second orgasm- when he had treated her right nipple to the same languorous lick as the left- that she noticed each of the rhythms was getting slightly quicker.

After the third and fourth orgasms- he had scraped the tip of one fang along the top of each nipple, drawing a single drop of blood and then licking it off- she wondered to herself, “When did he start doing that rotating thing with his hips?”

She had lost count of the firecracker-like orgasms as his pace had increased to the point where the long strokes were pounding into her so hard that only his grip on her hips kept her from being bucked entirely off of him, and the incremental strokes felt like an air-hammer pistoning inside her. She was thrashing her head around and moaning so loudly that she sounded like a pack of wolves howling at the moon. Nick had teased her nipples and areolas in ways that she could never have conceived of and her juices were flowing so heavily that Nick was wet from half-way down his thighs, up almost to his navel. The cheeks of her ass were dripping and the wetness on the insides of her thighs was running down and saturating the blankets below. She hadn’t imagined that the human body was even capable of this level of pleasure.

As she reached the point where she thought she would collapse, Nick suddenly slid her up his body slightly, changing the angle of penetration so that the head of his penis stroked against the roof of her vagina, just a couple of inches inside of the opening. Her last articulate thought was that she hadn’t even known that she possessed a G-spot, then her mind shattered into a million shards. She didn’t even feel the sting as Nick slid his fangs into her breast. Several seconds into the longest, most intense orgasm she could have ever imagined she was suddenly thrown into the maelstrom that was the blood-link with Nick. It was finally too much- her consciousness fled and she collapsed against him.

Nick felt Natalie’s loss of consciousness through the blood link and withdrew himself from her completely. He licked the wound on her breast until it sealed over, and then held her boneless form against him for a moment. He was so suffused with pure joy and happiness that he felt as giddy as a schoolgirl. He also felt an inordinately profound sense of pride and accomplishment that he had been able to pleasure his Lady into this boneless puddle of spent flesh. He thought he had more than made up for the quickness of his release the first time. He wondered if Natalie would be sharing this event with her assistant, Grace. He felt a ridiculous sense of masculine pride at the thought of her bragging about his prowess to her girlfriend.

He stopped that train of thought and gently rolled her off of him onto the blankets next to him. He immediately became aware of the mess they had made. He ruefully chuckled when he saw the state of her clothes, the skirt ripped in two and the panties in shreds. He noticed that his own clothes seemed to have been reduced to tatters in his haste to become naked.

Natalie seemed to have gone into a light sleep. Nick carefully wiped her off with one of the blankets and then wrapped her in a clean one and laid her on the couch. He then used his extraordinary speed to quickly clean up the mess. He flew up to the bathroom and took a one-minute shower to get the worst of the mess off, and then ran a bath for Natalie, pouring in a generous portion of lavender-scented oil. He lit a few candles and turned out the lights, then went down to collect his beloved. He decided the food in the oven needed to come out and smiled at the image of him feeding her while in the tub. “Well, why not?” he thought. He checked and saw that she was still sleeping lightly then continued his preparations. A large glass of the juice, followed by a plate festooned with samples of the various items from Bellini’s along with the glass and the bottle of wine from the coffee table. The tub was filled and everything was set, now to collect his beloved. He unwrapped the blanket and lifted her into his arms like a baby

Natalie began to wake up in the arms of her beloved as he was carrying her up the stairs. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled her head into his chest. “Mmmm… What happened, Nick?” she asked. She could feel of every square millimeter of skin where she was touching him. It felt like she was hyper-aware of each nerve ending in her body.

“You passed out Natalie,” Nick said with a broad smile.

She became aware of the soreness in her neck where he bit her the first time, the soreness in her left breast where he bit her the second time. She then became aware of the soreness between her legs- not a surface pain like the bites, but the slow burn from the workout she had received on muscles that hadn’t been used like that since before medical school, she thought languorously. “Even then, it had never been like this was!” she thought. “I think I lost count around 10, not including that last one,” she thought. That last one, which had overshadowed all of the previous ones in both intensity and duration, was a marvel. She didn’t even know that she had a G-spot, had never really looked for it, but Nick sure seemed to know about it.

As Natalie was musing, they reached the bathroom. He set her on her feet and offered his hand to help her into the tub.

Natalie felt a bit unsteady and weak in the knees when Nick set her down. “Whoa! Nick, where did you learn to do that? That was not only the best, most incredibly intense sex of my life, it was better than anything I’ve even heard of or imagined was possible!” She saw his ego swell a little bit at her words, but she didn’t care! He deserved it for that performance!

“I read about it in the Ananga-Ranga, an ancient Indian text on sacred sex. Then I just added a little speed,” Nick said as he helped her into the perfumed water. He then handed her the orange juice and said, “Here, you should drink this, it will help restore some of what I took from you.”

She drank the juice greedily, only now realizing how thirsty vampire sex could make a body. She chuckled out loud at the humor at that thought.

Nick took the glass and said, “Now, just relax Natalie. Lay there and let me pamper you a little.” He took the plate and began feeding her bites of Spinach & Ricotta Gnocchi, Pan Roasted Pheasant Breast, Veal Scaloppini Marsala, and Seared Sea Scallops- alternating each bite with a sip of the burgundy.

“Oh God, Nick. You’d better be careful, a girl could definitely get used to this.”

Nick chuckled lightly, then dropped his smile and leaned in to softly kiss Natalie on the mouth. When he pulled back a single blood tear trailed down his left cheek. “Natalie, I just wanted to show you a tiny little bit of the overwhelming joy and happiness you have given me by loving me and letting me love you.”

She felt her heart break at the thought of how alone Nick must have felt for so long. Wanting to change who he thought he was, feeling alienated from the humanity he so desperately wanted to rejoin, and from The Community that he never really felt a part of. At the same time she felt her heart swell up with love and joy, that she made him feel so good, so happy.

She felt an overwhelming need to convey to him just how happy he made her. “Nick, I am so happy right now. The sex was amazing and the bath is so sweet of you. I adore the food and the wine is perfect. But, in the end, it’s nothing compared to the absolute, pure joy that’s in my heart because I know you love me.” Quiet tears of happiness began to overflow Natalie’s eyes and pour down her face. “That’s the best part, Nick. You are the best part.”

Nick reached out to cup the face of the woman he loved. He slowly drew her face toward his as he leaned forward. They captured each other’s lips in a passionate, loving kiss. A kiss not designed to incite sexual desire, but rather to communicate the love and adoration they each felt for the other. He rested his forehead on hers and breathed out, “I love you, Natalie Lambert.”

As much as anything else he had done to or for her that night, that kiss and that simple declaration of love filled her heart to overflowing.

“I hope you’re not too full for desert, Nat,” Nick said with a boyish grin stealing over his face.

“Hmmm, what did you have in mind, Sir Knight?” she said with a coquettish look on her face.

“Port and Chocolate Truffles”

“Oh really?” Natalie said, her voice belying her interest, but the look on her face giving her away.

Nick smiled and elaborated, “1985 Fonseca Port wine, and Gianduia Truffles from Vosges”

Natalie smiled and said, “Gianduia Truffles?” in a little girl’s voice.

Nick’s smile broadened and he elaborated further, “Milk chocolate and crunchy praline, dipped in dark chocolate and sprinkled with more praline pieces.”

Natalie gave up all pretense and excitedly said “Ooooh, you do love me!”

“Very much,” he agreed. “Now, let’s get you dried off and downstairs to where the chocolate is.”

“Yes, by all means, let’s,” she said standing up and stepping out of the tub, and into the large bath sheet Nick was holding up for her.

He wrapped her up and hugged her tightly for a moment, “I will let you dry yourself off and get dressed. Your bag is…” he let her go and was suddenly gone and back in a heartbeat, “…right here.” he said, handing her the ‘over-day’ bag she had packed. “I’m going to put on something and meet you downstairs.” With that he leaned in for a quick kiss and was gone in a flash.

===== X-FILES ===== FOREVER KNIGHT ===== HIGHLANDER =====

Nick flew into his bedroom and threw on a pair of black silk pajama bottoms and a black silk robe. He was nervous. Very nervous. Things had not gone as planned tonight, and that was ok- better than OK as it turned out- however; it left him wanting to do what he had planned on holding-off until later in the week- maybe even next week. Now, he didn’t think he could contain himself that long. Part of the reason for waiting was that if felt like it was too soon into this very new relationship. “But, it really isn’t new,” he told himself. Really, their relationship was deep-rooted. They were already mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and socially intimate, and had been for years. Not so long ago, only a few decades, the physical intimacy they had shared tonight would have been reserved for after marriage, not before. That was certainly the way he had been raised in the late twelfth/early thirteenth century. Still, he was nervous. She loved him, but did she want to marry him? She knew vampirism was forever, and she wanted that, so what could she have against marrying him?

He was driving himself crazy for no reason, he thought. She would say yes, or she would say no, but either way, he was confident that she would not leave him. He just wanted to marry her and make it official. “Marking my territory, I guess… but, it marks me as her territory as well,” he thought to himself- and that is what he wanted.

He set up the table for her, a glass of the port for each of them, his fortified with blood of course, and a plate with 4 truffles and the ring in the center under a small silver dome. Nick felt light-headed and the anticipation was coursing through his veins like fire. “I feel like a character in one of those trashy romance novels,” he thought. “Maybe, but it’s a really, really good trashy romance novel!” He moved to the window to look out at the stars while awaiting his beloved. Sunrise was coming soon. “Was it really only two hours ago that she came in?” It felt like forever. Soon enough they would have to discuss the events of the day, and decide on a course of action. He would speak to her about Mulder and whether or not Scully would be brought in- and he rather thought that Mulder would not leave her out of it. He wondered if those two would ever realize how they felt about each other. He hoped so; he himself knew exactly how they felt, and he wouldn’t wish that kind of suffering upon anyone.

He was still lost in thought when he heard Natalie. He turned around and saw his beloved descending the stairs, wearing a blood-red silk nightgown that hugged her lusciously curved body in all the right places. He almost felt a little jealous of that gown, wrapping her sensuously like that. It had spaghetti-straps, a cleavage- enhancing bodice and a long flowing length that was slightly tapered at the waist ended at mid-calf. Nick thought she looked absolutely ravishing, so he told her so.

Natalie just smiled and asked, “You like the gown?”

“Oh, yeah… the gown is nice too.” Nick said, with a wide smile

This time she did blush.

Nick walked over and pulled out her chair and helped her get seated before sitting across the corner from her, where he could look at her, and was close enough to reach out and touch her.

She looked at the plate and the arrangement of the truffles. She raised one eyebrow at the silver dome in the center and asked, “What’s under that, Nick?”

“That, is the piece de resistance, Natalie. It’s for last.”

“Oooh, a surprise!” Natalie was almost giddy with excitement at this entire night. What goody did he have for her under there? She would have to restrain herself from wolfing down the truffles in order to more quickly uncover her present.

Nick watched the near-rapture on Natalie’s face as she bit into the first truffle. He sipped at his blood-wine while he silently watched her savor the four truffles. He heard the automatic shutters begin to close over the window as sunrise approached. He watched Natalie’s tongue dart out to lick up an errant bit of chocolate from her full lips. He reached over to her and stroked her cheek as she smiled at him, his nervousness returning slightly as he waited for her to lift the dome.

Natalie leaned into the gentle caress of Nick’s hand, then catching his hand in hers, she brought it around and laid a gentle kiss in his palm, never loosing eye contact until he closed his eyes at the feel of her kiss. “May I look now?” as she reached out to touch the dome in the center of her plate.

“Yes, my love, my heart, you may look” Nick said, the anticipation threatening to choke him.

Natalie lifted the dome off of the plate and saw a red velvet jeweler’s box underneath. Her breath caught slightly and she looked at Nick as she lifted the box and just held it for a moment. “No, it couldn’t be that… Could it?” she thought to herself.

Nick heard her heart racing and saw the look of shock on her face and he could hardly stand it. “Open it, Natalie,” he said quietly.

Unable to form a coherent thought, let alone actually speak, she slowly opened the box and inside she found, nestled in the blood-red satin interior was a ring. It was a flawless one-and-a-half carat brilliant-cut diamond, surrounded by small heart-shaped rubies. It was exquisite. She was trembling.

Nick took the box from her and removed the ring. He took her left hand in his and slid the ring onto the third finger. He met her gaze, which had been fixed on his eyes since he took the box from her. Natalie, I think that I began to fall in love with you the night we met, when you refused to believe that I was dead, ‘Just different’ you said.” Nick smiled at the memory, “The truth, Natalie, is that I was dead inside, and even if I had managed to find mortality at that point, it would have been empty and meaningless. In the six years you and I have known each other; we have gone through many trials and tribulations together. Looking back I have only one regret about those times; I regret that I waited six years to tell you that I love you. Natalie, you are my heart, my soul, and my life. Without you my existence would be meaningless and unbearable.” Nick stood out of his chair and dropped to one knee before her, “Natalie Lambert, will you marry me?”

There wasn’t room enough in Natalie’s heart to contain the love and joy she felt. Her face lit up in a smile so bright that a lesser vampire would have been reduced to ashes at the sight of it. “Nicolas De Brabant Knight, I love you with all my heart and soul, with all that I am. I would be honored and delighted to be your wife!” whereupon she pulled him up and jumped into his arms, squeezing as tight as she could and peppering his face with little kisses and laughing out loud with delight. She finally let go of him and sat down, a little light-headed.

“Careful Nat, you should always remember to take it easy after donating blood.” Nick said with a smirk.

“Oh Nick,” she said, “It was worth it though!”

“Really?” Nick said, fishing for complements.

“Yes! I mean come on, Dinner from Bellini’s and Truffles from Vosges?” she said smirking herself, “That’s worth a pint of blood or two.” She laughed out loud at the crestfallen look Nick gave her. “Honestly Nick, for an 800 year old vampire, you’re such a little boy,” she said with a delighted smile on her face. “I don’t know if I will be able to walk tomorrow but it was definitely worth it!”

Suddenly concerned, Nick asked, “Was it too much, Natalie? I know it’s probably been a while, and maybe I shouldn’t have taken your challenge so seriously, and…”

“Nick! It was perfect, it was amazing- I would happily give up ever walking normally again for that kind of ecstasy.” She said, breaking into his self-recrimination. She then dropped her gaze and her voice, looking down at her hands in her lap, “It’s just that it’s been about a decade since I’ve had anything other than my fingers down there.” she continued.

“Oh Nat, I’m so sorry. But, how is that possible? You are one of the loveliest creatures to grace the face of the earth for the last millennium! And believe me, I’ve been around for most of it.”

Natalie blushed fiercely at Nick’s complement- the more so because she could hear the sincerity in his voice. “I am glad that you think so, Nick. Let’s just say that others do not share your unique viewpoint.”

Nick instinctively knew that words were not what Natalie needed at this point, so he bent down and swept her up into his arms. He kissed her hungrily and flew them up to the bedroom. ‘Their bedroom’ as he now thought of it. He didn’t think she should ‘donate’ again so soon, so he resolved that this coupling would be for her alone. And it would be as slow and loving as the last two were fierce and passionate.

He laid her on the bed and began at her feet, gently massaging and softly kissing each foot. He slowly worked his way up her legs, massaging and kissing, until he had her gown pushed up to her mid-thigh. “I love your legs, Natalie. Your calves are lovely and your thighs delight me.” He leaned down and softly kissed her mouth, before raising her up to a seated position and sliding her gown up and over her head. He couldn’t help pausing to look at her, lying before him naked and beautiful.

“Natalie felt herself blushing under Nick’s intent gaze and said, “what about you?” indicating the pajama bottoms he was still wearing.

“Hush now, my love. This one is for you. Let me convince you how much I adore you.” With that he began at her neck, kissing, licking and stroking. He gently kissed the bite-mark on her neck, secretly pleased that it marked her as his and his alone. He covered her shoulders and arms with soft kisses and caresses. He carefully laved each breast with his tongue, paying particular attention to the bite-mark on the left, while ignoring for the moment the taught flesh at the peak of each. He rubbed his smoothly shaved cheeks over her abdomen, pausing to dip his tongue into her navel.

Natalie felt Goosebumps form over her entire body when he did that. He was deliberately ignoring the primary erogenous zones, nevertheless, she felt intense heat building up inside her. She felt herself growing slick with anticipation, but she willed herself to be patient and take whatever he would give.

Nick could smell the increase in Natalie’s arousal and had to exert iron control to keep the vampire at bay. He finally made his way down to the junction of her thighs and nudged them apart with his chin. He again paused for a moment to appreciate the beauty before him. The tangle of dark curls covering the outer lips, and surrounding the smooth, pink inner folds. The apex of those folds with its swollen member peaking out. He smiled with joy at the sight before him and leaned in to place an open-mouthed kiss upon her lips. He traced the inner folds with his tongue and suckled them for several minutes before moving upward.

Natalie felt the slow buildup of pleasure inside her as Nick kissed and suckled, below. He was entirely ignoring her clitoris, and it was all she could do to keep from grabbing his head by the ears and dragging his mouth to where she wanted it. She kept her hands occupied by stroking and squeezing the nipples that he had ignored earlier, and tried to stifle the moans that kept rising out of her throat.

When he heard Natalie lose control of her moans and she started to buck her hips into his face, he moved up to her clitoris, slowly tracing the hood, and then sucking the hardened nub into his mouth and squeezing it with his lips.

This time her orgasm was not like fireworks or falling off a cliff. It was slow and languid, the waves of pleasure flowing out from her center to the tips of her extremities and then back. It filled her with happiness to have such a careful and attentive, not to mention talented, lover. She felt sleep overtake her and said, “I love you, Nick” as she drifted off. The last thought on her mind was that she would definitely find a way to repay him for this.

Nick heard her sleepy whisper and smiled. “I am the happiest man alive,” he thought. “I am also very hungry” he realized. He quietly made his way downstairs and to the refrigerator. It was cold and lacked the richness of his beloved, but it was adequate, “Still, it’s much better than Cow!” he thought as he emptied an entire bottle. The lassitude that daylight brought overcame him and he fled upstairs to join his beloved in a day’s sleep.