TITLE: All Part Of The Game II AUTHOR: aRcaDIaNFall$ FEEDBACK: arcadianfalls@yahoo.com.au RATING: PG SPOILERS: none CLASSIFICATION: UST SUMMARY: Mulder and Scully play one-on-one. Scully's perspective. AUTHOR'S NOTE: Another fic published previously under a different pseudonym. Companion piece to All Part Of The Game - it doesn't really matter which order you read 'em in, though it probably works out better if you read the original first. Enjoy! --> http://www.geocities.com/arcadianfalls/ All Part of The Game II by aRcaDIaNFall$ For some reason, I'd been feeling undeniably sexier the past week. Maybe it was just the weather toying with my hormones, but I'd become increasingly aware of my own femininity. And Mulder wasn't helping. The airconditioning in the basement was broken and in the sweltering heat we both stripped off as much as we could without both getting kicked out of the bureau. Having a sweaty, half-undressed Mulder not three feet away from me for three consecutive, entire days had tested my self-control to the limit. He'd been looking at me differently, too. Just an occasional glance, his eyes sweeping up from my toes and staring resentfully at my hemline. I found it fascinating, almost amusing, that the man could be so obsessed with a few inches of hidden flesh. Granted, he had seen me naked before, at least twice, by my count. Once or twice in my underwear, and at least half a dozen times in various states of undress. But still, I could see the lust in the eyes glued to my knees. And today, I decided to indulge it. Not that I really had any choice in the matter, I suppose; I mean, I wasn't going to wear sweats to play basketball in the middle of a summer heatwave. Maybe that was why Mulder challenged me to the game in the first place, knowing that in this weather I wouldn't be crazy enough to wear anything other than the bare minimum. Either way, he was right. The gym shorts, even after the skirts I'd been wearing, left me feeling naked. The basketball singlet I had swam on me, about six sizes too big, occasionally slipping off one shoulder and gaping at all openings, which I'm sure gave Mulder a nice view of my black workout top. Even though it wasn't my usual attire, I felt strangely confident in what I was wearing. I hesitated for only a moment before entering the gym. Mulder was in there alone, bent over as he tied a shoe lace. I took the opportunity to study him without him knowing. He was dressed in wellworn pumps, blue and black shorts and a loose-fitting red cotton t-shirt, all of which looked as though they'd seen better days. His hair looked unbrushed, adding to the scruffy effect. My eyes travelled over his lean form appreciatively as I tried to take down every detail. Every time I've seen Mulder lately he seems sexier than the last and right then was no exception. I might have ended up drooling if he hadn't finished tying his laces and straightened up, facing me. I saw the look he gave me as I approached him and I enjoyed it. I revelled in it, as short and apparently uninterested it was. Because I knew he was more than just interested. And I couldn't blame him for that; I could have stared at him all day. For some reason, men's legs have always been a turn on for me. And this gave me the opportunity to reaffirm that Mulder did, in fact, have great legs. Sure, there wasn't an ounce of fat on his whole body, but his legs in particularly were so well proportioned, muscular but not obscenely so like some men's, or too skinny. They weren't excessively hairy, either, just... nice. Legs I wouldn't be repulsed by brushing mine in bed. I realised his eyes had finished their wanderings and were focused on my face, and I regretfully left my lusty musings behind and smiled at him, tossing the ball between my hands, feeling almost seductive. "Ready?" He flexed his fingers, returning the grin. "Bring it on." I'd known Mulder was good at basketball, but I felt pretty confident of my own ability as well. My height was my greatest disadvantage in this game; I'd started playing when I was six and Bill got a basketball hoop for Christmas, and since then I'd been struggling against being too short. The problem had always been that I stood a good foot or two under the rest of the team, so no matter how obsessively I practiced or how quickly I moved, the coach would always be reluctant about putting me on the court. I broke my ankle in high school when I went for basketball tryouts in a pair of pumps with four inch heels, but even after that I wouldn't give up. I just practised harder, determined to get in on speed and skill if I couldn't get in on height. And that, I figured, was why I was ahead of Mulder by the time we agreed to take a break. Well, I was beating him by one, anyway, which I figured was pretty impressive given that all he had to do was stand in front of me and I was blocked. Mind you, I'd been pretty impressed by him as well. I'd seen him shooting hoops a few times before but this was the first time I'd ever played against him. I was actually glad to take a break; in the sweltering heat whole body skin felt as though it were on fire, and I relished the cool water that slid down my throat. "You're down by one," I commented. I couldn't help it; I wasn't trying to rub it in, just teasing. Mulder's response came smoothly, but the inflection gave away that he was fibbing. "I always get off to a slow start. Means I've got the energy to play team hero and shoot the winning basket." That received the derisive, amused snort it deserved. I stared ahead of me, feeling very relaxed, even as I felt Mulder's eyes on me. I decided to let him watch and continued to stare ahead, keeping a poker face even as my skin tingled as though he had reached out and was tracing the path of his eyes with a fingertip. I knew with calm certainty that he couldn't pick a fault with my appearance; legs and pits shaved this morning, body moisturised, plenty of deoderant, all limbs well toned. I felt clean and fresh, despite the layer of sweat coating my whole body. I could have done with a tan, I acknowledged, but some things couldn't be helped. Very deliberately, I took another sip of water, then I offered him the bottle, keeping my grip on it long enough for my fingers to brush his. At the simple contact warmth spread through me and I smiled, watching him as he gulped down the rest of my water. He would have been shocked if he'd realised how close I was to kissing him long and hard. We agreed on a rematch and began to play. I guess I started to get a little out of control, but I was well and truly drawn into the game. As far as I was concerned, the confines of the gymnasium were the world. I could tell Mulder was getting tired, but I was pumped up on adrenalin. Sure, my chest was on fire, my feet hurt from constant pounding, my head was throbbing, but I had distanced myself from those things. I kept shooting and dribbling and ducking, pivoting until I got dizzy to escape Mulder. It was all pretty much a blur. Then it suddenly came into focus. His arms suddenly clamping around me, hitting the ball from my hands as I was about to shoot, had the same effect as somebody suddenly hitting a lightswitch. We suddenly became quiet and still. I felt completely thrown by the sudden move. Mulder hugging me was the last thing I'd expected during a game of basketball. I thrill of anticipation ran through me. I made the move to turn to face him, but he surprised me by tightening his grip on me, his right hand easing mine down to my side. "Don't move," he whispered. He was still out of breath from the game and there was no way I was going to do anything other than obey him. Not when he spoke in that tone. He slipped both of his hands on my stomach and I hesitatingly slid my hands over his, letting my eyes flutter closed. This, I knew, was going to be sensual rather than visual or verbal. I felt what I guess was a kiss in my hair, his cheek nuzzling my neck, and then what I knew for certain was his lips on my neck. So simple, and yet so exquisite. No man I'd ever known, even those I'd known most intimately, had ever been able to evoke such powerful emotions with such a simple gesture. His movements were so gentle, so firm, so purposeful, so unthinking. I felt his cool fingers on my bare skin and couldn't help a small moan of utter bliss. I couldn't imagine possibly being more content than I was right then, except perhaps in a promise of it not ending. I don't know what caused him to pull away - I was drowning in his touch, and all my five senses were so focused that all else was blocked out. Slowly, I half turned to face him, but, again, he stopped me. Not yet, he seemed to be pleading. And I realised that he was right. We had to let the spell slowly fade and feel confident of ourselves. God knows it took me a few seconds to recover, my thoughts becoming coherent. The orange basketball in the corner caught my eye and I focused on it, heading toward it purposely. I couldn't help almost skipping as I headed toward it, and it was hard to tamp down my excitement. By the time I'd turned to face Mulder, ball in hands, I'd managed to arrange a demure expression, or at least as close as I could get. Mulder and I were silent until we reached the point where we parted. "Good game, partner." I held out a hand for the traditional opponent handshake, and Mulder surprised me by taking my hand and holding it for a brief minute. For a moment, I thought he was almost going to kiss it. He grinned at me devillishly. "Not so bad yourself, shortie." I resisted the childish temptation to stick my tongue out at him and settled instead for a smirk. But before it reached full bloom Mulder took me by surprise. One moment we were at least a foot apart, and then suddenly his lips were on my cheek. Not completely a rarity, but still something to treasure. But what came next surprised me. Instead of pulling away immediately with a small grin, he brushed his cheek against mine. I could feel his breath on my ear and it was disorienting. Then he sniffed a little before pulling away. I caught a grin before a theatrically disgusted expression appeared on his face. "Go have a shower, Scully. You smell terrible." He grinned evilly at me. I rolled my eyes at him, knowing that he was only kidding and not to rise to the bait. Well, honesty, we probably both reeked of sweat, but neither of us were bothered by it. We'd dealt with each other too long to be concerned by such trivial things. Sweat was better than blood. He'd turned, not waiting for a response from me, and before I really thought the move through, I swatted his backside with my empty water bottle. He turned, his expression a little stunned but quickly replaced with an amazed grin. "Beat it," I said calmly. "If I need a shower, you need one more." Giving him my most sardonic smile, I turned and pushed open the door to the locker room, slipping through without looking back. Mulder, I think that makes us even. fin. ===== : VISIT aRcaDIaNFall$' X-FILES FANFIC : http://www.geocities.com/arcadianfalls/ > check out the new images!! < http://briefcase.yahoo.com.au - Yahoo! Briefcase - Manage your files online.