Although he hoped it would become a more common occurrence, Mulder took
advantage of the rare opportunity to study Alex without the force of his
personality affecting his looks. Without the smirk, Alex's lips looked
fuller and even sexier than usual. Mulder, with a peculiar bit of pride,
gave their earlier kisses at least some of the credit, for the lush pinkness
and faint surrounding whisker burn, if nothing else. Without expression,
his face was surprisingly smooth. How could someone so dangerous look so
untouched? Mulder would have thought those interesting little lines were
more permanent, but he knew they would be one day, if Krycek managed to live
long enough.
Shaking off the potentially distressing thought, Mulder raised his attention
up to the nose. That pointy little inconsequential nose certainly had a
talent for sniffing out trouble or intruding into Mulder's business, a fact
the agent had actually appreciated on a few occasions, not that he would
ever admit it to the man sleeping beside him.
He studied Alex's eyes next. Without being the focus of the intense stare
that seemed to examine the depths of his soul, Mulder could objectively
appreciate the long black lashes, thicker than any girl ever dreamed of.
The arching brows that could convey so much with just a twitch were...
Mulder's thoughts drifted away when those eyes opened suddenly and pinned
him with an alert stare. One minute Alex was dead to the world, and the
next, as if a switch had been flipped, he was awake and completely aware.
"Hello," murmured Mulder as his appreciative gaze ran slowly down to where
the sheet pooled at Alex's hips.
Watching in bemusement as Alex jerked the sheet up to his neck, Mulder held
back a laugh and said, "What have you got to be modest about? We've got all
the same stuff, and yours looks really good."
"It's not modesty exactly."
"Well, what is it exactly?" asked Mulder as he tugged at the sheet. "Come
on, let me see you."
"It's just that I'm... and you're so... perfect."
Mulder frowned as Alex let go of the sheet and continued quietly, "And I'm
not."
"I'm not either." Pulling the sheet from the unresisting grip, Mulder
brushed his fingers lightly over a scar on Alex's side just below his ribs.
"Where'd you get this one?"
Alex turned his head away and said, "Hong Kong. It was just a flesh wound."
"Small caliber gunshot?" The professional agent could speak clinically of
such things, while the lover cringed inwardly at the very idea.
Alex nodded and a muscle in his jaw jumped.
Running one fingertip down the shiny pale pink scar on Alex's left shoulder,
Mulder murmured, "And this one? Tunguska?"
Again, Alex nodded silently, but Mulder saw his lower lip tremble before
tightening and pressing against his teeth.
Knowing he should stop, but feeling oddly compelled, Mulder glanced down the
length of his new lover, moved his hand across a thigh, and said, "What
about this? This was a knife, right?"
"Bayonet."
"What?" exclaimed Mulder, not sure whether to believe it. "Where would you
get an injury from one of those?"
"The Gulf." All but whispering, Alex glanced sharply at Mulder before his
gaze skittered away to settle on some spot in the middle distance.
"The Persian Gulf? You were in the Gulf War?" Mulder was really
struggling to keep his disbelief from showing.
"No, the Redneck Riviera. Of course, I meant the Persian Gulf, but it
wasn't the war," sighed Krycek tiredly.
"But why were you there? When was it? What..."
"Look, I really don't want to talk about this, Sni— Mulder." Alex's voice
sounded as if it were being pulled forcibly from his throat. "I couldn't
tell you if I wanted to."
"Shh, it's okay." Mulder wrapped his arms around the other man, burying his
face in rumpled dark hair as he continued, "We don't— you don't have to.
I was just curious about your life."
"These scars are not my life. They're just damage... unpleasant reminders
of some of the worst parts of it."
"I don't know about that. They're proof of what all you've survived. How
much strength you have. In warrior societies, scars earned in battle are
badges of honor and looked upon with great favor."
"Honor?" Krycek snorted. "What did honor ever get me? Doesn't keep you
warm at night or feed you when you're hungry or hold you when you're hurt."
Smiling sadly, Mulder placed tender kisses on each mark he had mentioned and
several that he didn't bother to ask about. Returning to his place, he
turned Alex's face back to him for a long wet kiss, then broke the mood by
saying, "How can you taste so good after all the things you've done with
your mouth lately?"
"Like what... this?" asked Alex, diving under the sheets.
"Ummm, oh, that. That's good," gasped Mulder, trying to grab onto a
coherent thought. Alex's skills made coherency impossible. "Oh, yeah,
that's very, very... um, good."
Just as Mulder felt his orgasm gathering, Alex withdrew and popped out of
the sheets like a demented prairie dog.
"Hey, that reminds me. I've got something for you. It's in the living
room. I'll be right back." Gloriously and unashamedly naked, Alex climbed
out of bed and left the room.
Resisting the temptation to finish himself off, Mulder cursed and gasped and
tried to get his body under control in the brief moment allowed him. He was
successful enough that when Alex returned with a fully packed overnight bag,
he asked in his usual deadpan manner, "Feeling pretty sure of yourself?"
"No, not at all," grinned Alex, setting the bag on the bed. "Just being a
good little Boy Scout."
"Yeah, sure, whatever."
"I was a Cub Scout for awhile. I got kicked out for inciting a riot."
"Cub Scouts? So you would have been about what... five or six?"
"I was six and sick of Jamie Miller's mother's nasty oatmeal cookies. See,
Trevor's mom would bring rice crispy treats, and Allen's mom made these
homemade chocolate chip cookies. Everybody's mom brought something good
except Jamie's. Her cookies were horrible. So I kind of got the other guys
to protest and it got out of hand. But a Valium and a G&T and she was fine.
I heard the next time it was her turn, she brought Oreos."
"What did your mother make?" Mulder asked, curious if Alex would even
answer something personal.
"What else? Snickerdoodles," laughed Alex. "So I may not have made it to
the Boy Scouts, but I am always prepared...or try to be."
Unzipping his suitcase and rummaging inside, Alex pulled out a bottle, which
he displayed as if it were a fine wine. Mulder read the label, "Hot Damn!
Hot Cinnamon Schnapps Liqueur". Alex serenely suggested, "Maybe I was
feeling sure of you."
"Uh, oh. Guess I better work on that. We don't want to lose the mystery so
soon." He took the bottle with a bemused smile, and said, "So what do you
want to do with this stuff? Something really kinky, right?"
"Well, I was thinking we could drink it, but, hey, kinky's good. The
mystery is safe for awhile, Fox-don't-call-me-that."
"I have shot glasses, but they're probably pretty dusty." Mulder
reluctantly sat up and tossed back the sheet. "I'll go see—"
"No, we don't need them just yet," muttered Alex, looking at Mulder's
half-hard cock. "Lie back down for a minute."
Mulder shivered and complied, stretching out on his back. The longer Alex
just stood watching him, the harder he got. He dragged his gaze away from
the tempting man beside the bed, and glanced up into the mirror, wondering
once again where it had come from. He watched as Alex knelt on the bed and
bent over his chest. The cool liqueur dribbling over his heated skin was
pleasant enough, but the hot tongue that licked it off his nipples had him
biting his lip to stifle a moan. And when the mouth closing over his
dribbled a trail of liquid fire down his throat he did moan—loudly. Alex
pulled back and grinned at him. Mulder gasped, "What the hell—"
"Take a deep breath, Snickerdoodle," suggested Alex, taking a swig of the
liqueur and demonstrating. Inhaling deeply caused the cinnamon flavor to
burst through Mulder's mouth, lessening the burn on his tongue while
intensifying it in his throat. It was quite enjoyable, so Mulder grabbed
the bottle for another hit. The alcohol hitting his stomach was a warm wave
washing through his middle, accompanied by the sharper jags of sensation
caused by Alex's mouth, filled again with the drink, engulfing his cock.
He reached out to stroke Alex's hair, his back, a thigh, anything he could
reach. The extra wet heat of Alex's mouth had him writhing, desperate to
thrust, but afraid that Alex would stop if he did. He held his hips as
still as he could and wondered if he was supposed to feel anything special
from the liqueur on his cock. The look on Alex's face as he pulled away and
drew in a gusty breath suggested he had certainly gotten something
exceptional from the experience.
Mulder tilted his head back and watched in the mirror as Alex moved between
his legs, took another sip then went down on Mulder again. This time he
didn't stop to breathe, just sucked and licked until Mulder came screaming
into the pillow hastily shoved over his face. Vaguely aware of Alex licking
him clean then moving up beside him, Mulder opened his mouth at the
whispered command and drank down more of the burning pale red liquid,
shuddering lightly as it seared his throat. He licked the faintly sweet
taste off his lips and whispered roughly, "That was incredible. Where'd
you— no, I don't want to know. Thank you. I'll... uh, return the favor as
soon as I get the strength to move."
"That's fine. I can wait. We'll just keep drinking, and since neither of
us have eaten all day, getting a nice little buzz shouldn't take too long.
You're all right, Fox."
"-don't-call-me-that," completed Mulder with a giddy laugh from the orgasm
and the alcohol on the aforementioned empty stomach.
"You could have been really fucked up from all the weird stuff that's
happened to and around you, but you're not...really." He passed the bottle
to Mulder. "You seem to cope, unless you're saving it all up to take into
the clock tower along with a sniper rifle." He took the offered bottle, did
the drink-and-breathe, then passed it back to Mulder. "If that's the case,
just tell me when and I'll get you a good deal. Seriously though, you're
fun when you're not hitting me. I like you, so, even though it is so much
fun, maybe I won't try to fuck with your head quite as much anymore."
"Why should you when you can fuck with my body instead?" Mulder laughed
again.
"Excellent point, my friend. And I'm going to do just that... in a little
while."
"No, no, it's my turn to do you next." Mulder sipped delicately from the
bottle, running his tongue provocatively around the rim. He took another
drink, then sucked a few inches of the bottle into his mouth, watching Alex
through lowered lashes the whole time. He was delighted to notice that
Alex's eyes were glued to his lips sliding along the cool brown glass. He
let the bottle slide slowly from his lips with a soft pop, then offered it
with as innocent a smile as he could manage.
Alex groaned and took the bottle and several fast swallows, gasping for
breath as tears sprang to his eyes giving them a crystalline sheen. Mulder
rolled closer and covered those wet pink lips with his own, lapping at the
liquor and nipping and sucking Alex's kiss-bruised lower lip between his
teeth. They kissed until they were both breathless, and Mulder lay back
against his pillow.
He looked up at their reflections in the mirror above his bed, happy for the
moment to just be. He gave Alex a soft little smile, sharing the
contented feeling. He was vaguely surprised to get a narrow, contemplative
look in return. He settled back with a sigh and waited for Alex to say
whatever was on his mind.
"Mulder, this is going to sound disgustingly sappy— I shouldn't even be
telling you this..." Alex drew a deep breath and, with intoxicated
precision, said, "For the last four, five years, you have been my light.
The thing beyond survival that kept me focused through all the weird and
difficult times. Sometimes the thought of you was the only light that got
through."
Mulder's throat tightened and he cleared it to speak, but Krycek wasn't
finished.
"Just so you know, this is no declaration of unending devotion born of love
at first sight. Sometimes it was jealousy or anger or a desire for revenge
that kept me going."
Mulder filed away the remark about jealousy for further analysis then
grinned and said, "If you keep telling me how much you don't love me, I'm
liable to get my heart broken. Your protests are sounding pretty weak
there, Sparky."
"What? Nuh uh. I don't know what you're talking about and I certainly
don't—"
"Yes, you do." Mulder laughed in Alex's face, delighted at the cornered
look in his eyes.
"No, I don't."
"Oh, yes, Alexei-Alexander-Sparky-Krycek, you do."
"No I don't. You're drunk."
"So are you and yes you do."
Alex straightened himself up against the pillows and said belligerently,
"Yeah, so maybe I do love you, so the fuck what?"
"I have something—" Mulder turned to open the drawer of his nightstand.
"-that you may recognize." He drew out the velvet glove that Alex had sent
him and turned to dangle it in front of his startled lover's face.
"What— That's all you have to say?"
"Yes. For the moment. Did you really want to get into a discussion about
feelings?"
Alex shuddered and said, "I'd rather have a tooth pulled than talk about
feelings."
"That's what I thought. Take this." He dropped the glove on Alex's chest
with an anticipatory smirk. "You know what to do."
"What?" Alex stared back with a confused look in his eyes. Mulder raised
an eyebrow and watched as comprehension slowly dawned on the fine features.
"Yep. Exactly what you meant for me to do with it," Mulder confirmed the
other man's suspicions.
"You said you'd do me next."
"I want to see you do yourself. Just do what you were doing those times we
talked on the phone and the night you came to my car. Or should I say, the
night you came in my car? You remember that, don't you?"
Alex broke into a leering grin and nodded. "Oh, yeah. That was fun. I saw
your cock and knew I was going to get my mouth on it sooner or later."
"And so you did. But right now, let's have some more of that fun. Show me
your technique."
"Aren't you going to...?"
"No, I already came. Besides, you know I like to watch. Put the glove
on, Alex," ordered Mulder softly.
"When did you get so bossy? I thought I was in charge of this
relationship." Alex complained, but he followed the orders without
argument. Mulder watched avidly as Alex wiggled those long elegant fingers
into the soft black velvet. He'd always gotten a secret thrill watching
Alex's strong expressive hands, and now he would see them pleasuring his
body in ways Mulder had only imagined.
Alex grinned and suggested he look in the bed's mirror for a better view.
Lying back on the pillows, Mulder happily complied. He had a complete view
of Alex this way, from his almost-black hair sticking up in a cowlick over
his left eye down to his pale little toes sticking out of the crumpled
sheets.
Mulder's gaze followed Alex's hands in the mirror, the distance and reversed
perspective giving the actions a dreamy feeling of unreality, as did the
contrast of the dark gloved hand moving over the winter pale skin of Alex's
torso. The small brown nipples rose eagerly into the velvet touch. The bare
left hand brushed lightly over his thigh edging ever closer to the erection
straining for a touch, any touch that would bring relief.
Mouth open in a sympathetic gasp, Mulder licked his lips as he watched the
velvet fingertips stroke slowly over Alex's stomach to dart lightly from
cock to balls and back again in teasing touches. After interminable
minutes, the taunting fingers wrapped around Alex's rampant erection, and
his groan was almost drowned out by Mulder's.
Mulder was surprised to find his cock filling anew, and moved one hand to
stroke it, idly at first then more deliberately as Alex brought his bare
hand over to take Mulder's free one. Gasping and almost laughing at times,
the two men watched in the mirror as they held hands and jerked off. The
beautiful sight and heart-rending sounds of Alex's orgasm sent Mulder right
over the same jagged edge.
Alex languidly waved the gloved hand at Mulder, who said, "You are going to
get that cleaned, aren't you?"
"I didn't come on it." Alex motioned at his belly.
"Oh. Well, I can take care of that for you," offered Mulder generously,
rolling over to lick at the semen trails. When Alex let out a lush sigh, he
smiled against the damp skin, then nipped at Alex's belly button, causing
the other man to squirm under him.
"This is all very decadent, Fox-don't-call-me-that. Do you often spend
entire Saturdays in bed?"
Mulder snorted and said, "I thought you knew everything about me."
"Truthfully? Not quite as much as I'd like to know, but possibly more than
I should." Alex shrugged and continued before Fox could question him. "I'm
starving. Think we could get someone to deliver right to the bed, so we
wouldn't even have to answer the door?"
"No. But I might be persuaded to make the supreme sacrifice of dressing to
get up and pay the delivery person."
"I hear an 'if' in your voice..."
"If you'll tell me more... about being a Cub Scout."
"You want to hear about a bunch of six-year olds in matching uniforms doing
arts and crafts? You are so weird Mulder, but, lucky for you, I like that
in a guy."
"Oh, yeah, I— I feel real lucky right now. I'll pay for dinner if you'll
tell me another thing."
"What now? The fourth grade spelling bee? My senior prom?" Alex laughed.
"Polo on Fridays."
"All right. Over dinner."
Half an hour later, the two men sat hunched over Mulder's table, scarfing
down mu shu pork, five flavored vegetables, cashew chicken, and fried rice,
as if they never expected to have food ever available again. In between
eating and gulping down bottled water, Alex told Mulder some of what he
wanted to hear about his childhood, or at least what he was brave enough to
ask.
Finally Alex pushed his plate away and said, "When I was a young agent—"
"FBI, KBG, or something else entirely?" Mulder asked, only half joking.
Alex shot him a quelling look and said, "When I was a young FBI agent, I
knew a guy. We had a standing date every Thursday night, and I would spend
the night at his place. He wore Polo."
"So you would borrow his cologne on Friday morning as you got ready for
work?"
"Yeah. That's all there was to it. Are you disappointed?"
"No, I don't believe so. Who was this guy what was he like?"
"He was quiet— a good guy, very smart. He was about 6' 1", had medium
brown hair and hazel eyes. He had a swimmer's build, or maybe a runner's.
He liked to do both. Not really traditionally handsome, I thought he was
gorgeous anyway." Alex smiled softly at the tabletop and said, "He treated
me well, even though he knew I couldn't love him. We had fun together."
"So what happened?"
"Well, when I had to leave town rather suddenly, we broke it off. It was as
amiable a breakup as the entire relationship had been. I heard that he got
married a few months later. I hope he's happy."
"That's generous of you."
"You don't have to sound so damned surprised. I have my moments. They're
extremely rare, but I've got 'em."
"Yeah, I guess even the most hardened criminal can have moments of
nobility."
Alex's head tilted and his eyes narrowed as he exclaimed, "Hey! I'm not
a—"
"I know," Mulder interrupted. "I was just kidding. I think you may have a
lot more nobility than you would like people to know about."
"Yeah, I'm a noble savage all right, but let's keep it between us, okay? I
have an image to maintain."
"Oh, James Dean or James Bond?"
"Why can't I be both?"
Mulder laughed and said, "Okay, Jimmy. What do you want to do now?"
Alex gave him a look that seemed to question his intelligence. "Go back to
bed, of course. What did you want to do, play Scrabble or something?"
"It wouldn't really be fair to you because foreign and swear words aren't
allowed." Mulder sighed and shrugged dramatically. "I guess that leaves
going back to bed."
"I'm going to ignore that insult for now, but you will make it up to me
later."
The next time Mulder awoke, cool morning sunlight illuminated the empty bed.
The nightstand was strewn with crushed sticky tissues, an empty liqueur
bottle, and a couple of scrunched up gloves. He got up and slipped on a
pair of jeans he found crumpled halfway under the bed. After checking the
bathroom and kitchen, he wandered into the living room, but found it as
empty as the bed had been. Alex had gone, and there was no trace of his
presence anywhere in the apartment except for the bedroom. Mulder shook his
head and almost laughed at what that said about their budding
relationship.
Opening the door, he bent down to pick up the Sunday newspaper and felt
something poke his thigh from inside his pants. He straightened up and
stuck his hand into his pocket. Deep in the very bottom, his fingers
wrapped around a small metal object. He pulled out a silvery key, an
ordinary key that might open a door or a deadbolt. Mulder had never seen it
before, knew it wasn't his, and wondered exactly when he'd worn these jeans
last.... He returned it to his pocket for the time being.
Glancing over the front page, he went to the kitchen to start a pot of
coffee, then went into the living room to wait for it to finish brewing. He
tossed the paper on the coffee table and turned on the computer to check his
e-mail. He read through an interesting thread on the UFO abductees' list on
his Yahoo account, and deleted some of the porn offers on his Juno account,
keeping the more interesting ones.
After fixing a cup of coffee, he checked his official mailbox. He scrolled
quickly through the in-box, but found nothing urgent so he started back at
the top of the list. Taking a sip of the steaming coffee and hoping to get
the energy to go for a run, he glanced at the side of the computer screen.
He knew something was different from usual, but couldn't quite place it. He
read through a couple more messages, then looked at the folder list again.
He noticed his Drafts folder had an unread message in it, and that's what
was bothering him. He hadn't left anything in there. He opened the folder
and read the message. He smiled at Alex's sneakiness, even though he was
irritated that his spyboy lover had been hacking around in his computer.
Why couldn't he have left a note on the pillow like a normal person?
Although it had been instantly immortalized in his memory, he reread the
message, taking out the key again and turning it over in his fingers as he
did so. Alex gave him a week to find him and use the key, but Mulder gave
himself two days, three tops.
The hunt was on, and Mulder could already smell victory. He drained his
coffee and went to put on his running clothes. He suddenly felt very
energized.
Mulder was sure this was going to be a very interesting week.
Getting to Know You
by Amy B
Mulder awoke to afternoon sun and an unusual warmth next to him. He rolled
over and had to shake his head at the sight that greeted him. Alex Krycek
was in his bed and sound asleep from the looks of it. Alex Krycek was in
his bed... naked. Alex, who didn't seem ever to relax his guard fully,
even in sleep.
