From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org Date: 18 Nov 2003 05:27:09 -0000 Subject: UNDERNEATH A SPANGLED SKY, by J. LaVa (1/1), MSR, R by Jacquie LaVa Source: direct Reply To: [email unavailable] UNDERNEATH A SPANGLED SKY (A BtS Birthday Challenge Fic) By Jacquie LaVa R, MSR No Spoilers, Just De Love! Disclaimers: Mine only to adore from afar... Note: It's BeyondtheSea's one-year birthday! In celebration, our list decided to have a birthday challenge. Elements are listed at the end of this fic. Dedication: To Toniann for making our list such a VERY warm place to be! Thanks: to Tess for cheering and to Carol and Sallie for beta! Summary: 'On that blanket, she opened up her heart and mind...' "Underneath a Spangled Sky" There was something utterly magical about lying underneath a starry sky in the heat of summer, stark naked. She'd always wanted to; never had the guts to ask her lover-of-the moment to strip and join her outside with only night creatures as witness to her nudity - his nudity. She had never been brave enough, secure enough in a relationship. Until now. Overhead, fireworks lit up the night and obscured the stars, another July Fourth come and gone. Almost midnight and still the celebration was going strong. This was the first year they'd begun so late; the municipality wanted to try something a little different, so they'd rescheduled the bulk of the display to hit at precisely twelve o'clock. If she'd been wearing a wristwatch that worked she'd have checked to see how accurate their estimation was. But she wasn't wearing a thing... Except her lover's skin. On a blanket in a remote section of the field, completely alone - no one anywhere near them. Four blocks down on the river, shooting missiles aimed to the heavens opened up in arcs of multicolored spectacle. On that blanket, she opened up her heart and mind, her body - to the man who was poised above her, the darkness unable to hide the adoration in his eyes, as he moved against her, inside her. Long fingers twisted in her hair, kisses scattered over her, tight and hard arm muscles an anchor she clung to - as if his loving could make her float away on a sensual cloud. Well, it could... There is a first time for everything and theirs was now; it seemed fitting that it should be out in the open this way, when for so long they'd hidden their affection too well. And to think hours ago she'd had no idea whatsoever her night would end in the embrace of her partner, her best friend, the other half of her whole. It was the right thing to do. They hadn't planned on anything more than an impromptu picnic under the fireworks. They'd packed peanut butter sandwiches and lemonade, Snickers bars and Sno-Balls. Junk food... she'd protested but he'd laughed at her, claiming that for once she needed to live dangerously. She'd snuck in a tub of yogurt and he found it right before they pulled away from the curb; with a flourish he'd tossed it in the nearest trash-can, ignoring her indignant, "MULDER! You've got a LOT of nerve!" He'd bared his teeth at her in a bratty grin. "What, you're just beginning to realize that about me?" She'd grumbled about it for approximately three miles, before relenting and letting the laughter bubble up. And the smile he shot her way warmed her from the tips of her hair to the polish on her toenails. They'd found the field by accident; had gotten turned around the wrong way and had completely missed the turnoff for the river access road. They'd bounced across the field, come to an abrupt stop and had sat stunned for a moment, before looking around and realizing that as open and wide as the sky looked from here, they'd have the best seats in the house. So they climbed out of the car and spread their blanket, turned off their cell phones and dug into their food with gusto. Mouth full, she'd inquired, "What if Skinner calls? One of us should have the phone turned on." His head-shake was decisive. "Nope. This is a holiday, Scully. No phones. If Skinner calls he can leave a message." She fretted about it silently for maybe ten seconds, before shrugging and challenging him to a bout of arm-wrestling for the last Snickers bar. He'd let her win, knowing those bars were one of her guilty pleasures. And she pretended to gag at the thought of eating the Sno- Balls, remembering they were his favorites. As the sky darkened she'd looked at her watch and realized the battery had died. "Damn. Mulder, what time is it?" He'd been lying stretched out full-length on the blanket silently contemplating the emergence of twinkling stars. He grinned at her lovingly. "Time for you to toss that watch away. Tonight there is no time. There are no deadlines, schedules, places we have to be. There's no television or radio, no communication at all, except for the crickets in the grass and the beating of our hearts." This spoken in a dramatic rush, and even in the falling darkness she could see the waggling of his eyebrows. She pushed at his shoulder in mock-disgust. "Gad, Mulder. Been reading those romance novels again?" He'd caught her hand in his, squeezed her fingers, brought her palm to his lips and kissed it gently. He'd whispered, "But of course, Scully." His voice had made her shiver... They'd lain side by side on the blanket waiting for the show to begin. They amused themselves by pointing at this star and that constellation, making up outrageously silly stories about the shapes they could see. "Orion's wearing a diaper." His deadpan voice had given her a fit of giggles as much as the words he'd spoken. She turned her head and arched a look his way. "And why would he be wearing one?" "Well, so as not to get the Milky Way all clogged up with urine, Scully! Why else?" Her startled, echoed, "Why else, indeed?" made him laugh out loud. The sky blackened nicely and the first rocket shot up, and up... and fizzled out in a boom that made both of them jump. She commented, "Isn't that always the way? They promise an explosion of color and we get noise, instead." No sooner had she spoken than a huge burst of red, white and blue sparklers lit up the night. She gasped, and 'ooo'd' and 'aah'd' like a five-year-old. And he'd chuckled and taken her hand; held it while the heavens above came alive with the power and passion of celebratory splendor. When he rose on an elbow and looked down into her happy face, she smiled at him. When he leaned into her very personal space and kissed the smile off her lips, she sighed... understanding that in some ways she always knew this day would come - and that she'd welcome it, take it to her heart and feed upon it - make it hers. As the night burst in a rainbow of color above them, they'd removed each other's clothes. He'd even taken off her dysfunctional watch, insisting on nothing but skin to skin. He'd flung her delicate pink lace panties over his shoulder; they landed somewhere in the grass. He'd scattered a chain of impassioned kisses on her soft skin, all over her. When he opened his mouth over hers and kissed her deeply she could taste the sugar on his tongue, in his throat; she drank in the sweetness of him and craved more, and more. He was happy to oblige... A generous lover, this partner of hers, this very best friend. Of course she expected that; how else could he be? So focused in on her needs and wants, her pleasure - tamping down his own desires to give her large amounts of himself. Warm hands and hot body; firm skin, hard flanks. Thick penis, pulsing for her, all for her... there might have been fireworks in the sky, but the true glory of the day's celebration was on their blanket in the hot summer night. She'd been expecting the passion but she was floored by the love. Taken aback by the adoration she felt for him - that she knew he was feeling for her. Awash with so many emotions she could scarcely breathe, they bubbled up and overflowed, so fast. She couldn't keep up with them, so she let them swamp her, infiltrate her, take her over. And when he finally slipped into her, when he at last joined himself with her, and the thrusts he gave her moved so much more than the world they'd created between them... the words she whispered in his ear pounded through him and entered her heart, and lodged there - just as she'd known they would. "I adore you..." He groaned and shuddered against her; she cried out and pulsed around him. And the wide sky lit up with the grand finale as he collapsed in her arms, as he trembled and shook with the force of his release... as reactionary tears streaked down her cheeks. He raised his head just enough to see into her eyes. His voice was a raw blade of sound in her ear. "I can't believe you finally said it. I've been wanting to hear you say those words for so long, baby." He called her 'baby'. She decided she liked it, as she kissed his lips and murmured against them, "I'd been thinking them for years, Mulder. I just kept hoping you'd read them in my eyes. That way, if you didn't love me back, I wouldn't feel the pain." "I'll never cause you pain, Scully - not if I can help it, not ever. I'll never stop loving you. Can't help that, either." His eyes were dark with emotion as they stared into hers. She caressed his cheek. "You won't hurt me; I know you won't. I know YOU, Mulder. Better than I know myself, I think. You'll comfort me, love me, keep me safe, nurture me - watch more than my back." He couldn't resist teasing her as he lay on the blanket naked in the inky night with the woman of his universe cradled in his arms. "Better believe it, Partner... much more than your back. Your front, too. And both sides. And that spot right between your -" "MULDER!" He made her laugh. He made her feel like the luckiest woman who ever lived. In that moment, in his arms, she vowed to assure he'd never regret the gift he'd given her. ***************** "Fireworks are over. I didn't even notice when the finale hit." His voice rasped against her cheek. They were still snuggled up together on the blanket, the air around them warm and humid. In the distance the faint sound of cars leaving the riverfront merged with cicadas and what crickets were still awake and foraging for food. Scully turned her head and squinted in the dark, knowing she couldn't see his eyes but happy as could be that she could feel the emotion in them, aimed at her. "I did. It was amazing, Mulder. It hit me hard, raised me up... made me scream." She grinned at the indrawn breath she heard him take, at the groan he breathed out. "Are we talking about the same thing?" Unsure, still thinking he hadn't provided her with all he thought she must need. She decided to start working on that inside-out attitude, first and foremost. "I believe so, Mulder. I'm talking about that killer orgasm you blessed me with. What did you think I meant?" He sighed in relief and hugged her tightly. "The same thing; what you said. Really." She pinched him. "Liar. You were worried I was paying attention to the fireworks... when in actuality I was concentrating on the fire, working its way through my soul. There's a difference." She raised up and caught his lips, kissed him, her hands wandering over his cheeks and cupping his jaw. He was adorable in his insecurity, cracking jokes to cover the feeling that he'd never be worthy of anything good in his life. She wouldn't change a thing about him, except for that. Starting now. She pushed at him until he lay flat on his back, then curled herself over his chest and sat up on his hips, wriggling until she managed to align their bodies perfectly, loving the gasp that forced its way out of his throat. "What's on your mind, Scully?" She replied, "Well, I think I need another 'shot of life.' You up for it, Partner?" Another wriggle; he stifled a groan and slipped both hands over her waist. She rubbed against him in a slow tease and bit at his neck. "I'd hate to think there aren't any rockets left to ignite. You got a rocket for me, Mulder? Or is that a lump in my 'mattress'?" He managed a heartfelt, "Rocket. Definitely a rocket." When he felt her kiss his neck then slither downward, lips moving over him, he stuttered out a startled, "Are you... you're going to... I'd never guess you'd want to do... that..." He ran out of breath when her mouth encompassed him, and she smiled around his heat, words murmured on the silky steel against her tongue. "Didn't I tell you once I'd always keep you guessing, Mulder?" He sighed and slipped his trembling fingers through her hair, supporting her head, loving the generosity of this woman. "Yes. You did. And please don't ever stop, Scully." She sent him one more affirmation, before the words between them became unnecessary. "I won't. I promise." end Elemental elements: M/S first-time sex The phrase, "You do keep me guessing" (Mulder) or "I'll always keep you guessing" (Scully) Sharing a meal/something edible A phone call from Skinner or Kersch TV (broken or working) A watch or clock that has stopped working Lacy underwear Magic A celebration or something celebratory I think I caught them all! This was a lot of fun to write, and brought back fond memories of when I wrote b-day fics aplenty! Hope you enjoyed, and thanks for reading!