“You’re sure about this?” Skinner frowned at Mulder, his mouth a grim slash across a tense jaw. Mulder sighed and nodded and touched his lover’s cheek with a hand that trembled, not from fear but from excitement. Skinner held it there a moment, then kissed his fingers. Mulder sighed again.

“You say the word, Mulder. If anything feels too strange…”

Mulder nodded.

“You have to tell me if you don’t like it. Promise me!” Skinner’s voice took on a rough tone that made Mulder shiver. He nodded again, but couldn’t meet his lover’s eyes.

“Look at me, Fox.”

The growl this time was strong enough to turn Mulder’s face up almost against his will and he looked directly into Skinner’s eyes.

“Say all right.” The words were soft and serious and held all the weight of a shouted command.

“All right.” Mulder whispered.

“Say you’ve got the word.”

“I’ve got the word.” This said a shade more strongly, and his eyes never wavered.

“I trust you, Fox.”

“I trust you, Walter.”

“I want you to lie down.” 

As Mulder, fully undressed, immediately complied, Skinner, who hadn’t opened so much as a single button, walked around the bed, watching Mulder stretch out across the covers. He reached the head of the bed, and took a moment to just appreciate the view, then carefully reached over and tucked soft pillows under Mulder’s head and ass; he batted the man’s hands away when he reached for him.

“Don’t move,” he warned quietly.

He slid his hands down Mulder’s shoulders, forearms, moved on to his hips. Mulder reached up immediately, squeezed firm biceps encased in blue cotton, then grinned apologetically.

Skinner frowned. “I did say lie still, did I not?”

Mulder flashed on his father for the briefest of moments. Hardly enough to distract him from Skinner, certainly not enough to call a halt to the proceedings, but Skinner was taking great pains to watch for any such shift in emotions. It was very much his intention to use this time not just to control his lover, although Mulder had certainly made it clear that it was something he was wanting; but rather, he had an additional agenda, one that consisted of proving and proving again to Mulder that he was cherished, and loved, and worthy of love.

He didn’t know if it was the tone, or the words he had chosen that made Mulder tense up like that, but he decided not to use either again for a moment. Instead he leaned forward and covered Mulder’s mouth with his own, holding his face with both hands until he felt Mulder’s arms coming up and around his neck. He thrust his tongue deep into his lover’s mouth and took hold of his arms. By now he was nearly lying across his naked partner but as yet had neglected to remove any of his own clothing. 

Now he pushed down hard on Mulder’s arms, kissed him voraciously and let the rough cloth and buttons of his chambray work shirt stroke across the other man’s bare chest. He felt Mulder gasp and sat back abruptly.

Mulder’s breath was coming in hitching gasps, and his mouth was wet and a little swollen. He licked his lips once, his eyes dark and wide, and his arms didn’t move.

Skinner gave him a warm look of approval and grinned even more when Mulder squirmed and flushed under the unspoken praise. Skinner reached up and stroked his hair gently, and added a soft kiss as well. Then he trailed his fingers lightly over the tense arms held stiffly out from the body, checking for any signs of discomfort. He watched Mulder’s eyes and saw growing arousal and tension, but no pain, so he pushed his arms up over his head until his fingers were just brushing the headboard.

“Keep your hands there,” he said, “and stay quiet.”

A soft frontal massage followed. Skinner’s fingers lightly tickled over Mulder’s chest and stomach, making the younger man shiver and bite at his lips, but he held his silence. 

When Skinner continued the soft torment past his hips and over thighs knees and calves, the shivering increased. And when he tickled the sole of one foot, Mulder groaned, twisted his foot and brought his arms down. Skinner gave him a stern yet not unkind look.

“You did that on purpose!” Mulder protested.

“You moved your arms,” Skinner replied evenly. “And didn’t ask if you could speak.”

Mulder frowned, opened his mouth, closed it with a snap, closed his eyes as well, and brought his arms back up over his head.

Skinner reached over Mulder to tug his arms up a little higher until he could easily secure the padded leather restraints on his wrists. He adjusted the straps to be sure that Mulder could not pull free, but still had some movement without undo chafing, or cutting off important circulation. A sharp tug on his wrists, just to be sure, and Mulder’s body shook hard. He glanced at Skinner through half-closed eyes.

Skinner gave him a fierce look. “How’s that?”

Mulder stayed silent, although his body continued to tremble, and evidence of his arousal was growing more evident.

The frown was replaced by a warm smile.

“Nod if you’re good.”

A nod.

“Good.” Without warning, Skinner’s hands were back on his legs, stroking, massaging, subtly spreading them, while deftly avoiding what was becoming an impressive erection.

Feather light touches across shins, and then a hard shove so his feet lay flat on the bed, legs spread, knees pushed up, and Mulder’s breath caught in his throat. He realized immediately what sort of wanton picture he was presenting, and he blushed deeply, though it took nothing away from his growing need. 

Skinner watched, fascinated, as Mulder’s cheeks stained red, and then the colour creeped down and around him, painting his neck and ears as well. He leaned forward and kissed Mulder’s heated cheek.

“You’re beautiful,” he said. 

Another kiss, on the forehead this time. “I love you.”

Kissed his eyes shut. “My beautiful Fox.”

Mulder kept his eyes closed when Skinner moved on to claim his mouth with a demanding kiss, and found himself tugging on the restraints even as he in turn tried to consume his lover’s mouth. His eyes flew open in surprise and some alarm, though, when Skinner grasped his cock in one big hand and jerked roughly. He groaned into Skinner’s mouth and felt himself coming perilously close to orgasm.

When Skinner left him completely, he cried out in frustration, hips pumping uselessly for a moment.

Skinner put the hand that he’d been using to stroke him over his mouth, and Mulder could taste himself on his sweaty palm.

“Look at me.”

Mulder’s eyes were flashing above Skinner’s hand, light, then dark, then light again, and he drew deep shuddering breaths that moistened Skinner’s palm.

Skinner replaced his hand with his mouth. Mulder expected the same consuming sort of kiss, and was caught off guard by Skinner’s soft movements. His mouth barely brushed Mulder’s lips, cheeks, and chin. Warm breath caressed each inch of his skin before Skinner claimed it with his lips. He spent an inordinate amount of time working over Mulder’s ears, from tips to lobes and the skin all around them, stopping whenever Mulder would twist his head, then starting up again when he’d quit moving. The tease was tortuous, but in no way painful, and Skinner continued murmuring affirmations to him as well, until nothing seemed to exist for Mulder beyond the heat of his lover’s mouth, the whisper of his voice.

When Skinner moved further down his body, Mulder suddenly remembered there was more to him than ears. Wet heat branded his skin as his lover’s remarkable mouth started burning a trail down his neck, pausing briefly to nibble at his collarbone until he moaned. 

He sank his teeth into a nipple then, and reacquainted his hand with Mulder’s cock at the same time. Mulder jumped and nearly displaced his lover, and a breathy “Oh God” slipped from him before he could stop himself.

Skinner’s head came up immediately, and he caught Mulder’s eyes, held them, trapped them. He stood and glared down at him.

Mulder’s mouth worked soundlessly, until Skinner said, “Did you have something you wanted to say?” 

He shook his head.

“I think you do.” As he spoke, he stroked Mulder’s cock with a sure and practiced hand, not so rough as before, but with enough force to keep him almost painfully hard.  Mulder’s eyes moved restlessly between his lover’s face and the hand at his crotch, wondering what his punishment was going to be for speaking without permission.

When he still didn’t answer, Skinner released him, and began undoing the snaps on his shirt. Mulder’s breath quickened as Skinner’s broad chest was revealed slowly.

“Are you sure you have nothing you want to share with the rest of the class?” Skinner asked as he pulled off his shirt.

Mulder nodded, eyes wide.

“Okay, good.” Skinner sniffed his shirt, frowned and told his lover, “I think I need a shower. What do you think?” And he draped the shirt over Mulder’s mouth and nose.

Mulder found the material didn’t impede his breathing in any way, but at the first deep breath, all he could smell was the scent of his lover, permeating the shirt. He groaned in frustrated desire, and turned his head, which did nothing to move the shirt, then tried twisting his body, which didn’t help either. 

Another muffled groan when Skinner took hold of his ankles, forcing his body straight back on the bed, forcing his legs back up, a little wider this time, but still making sure his feet were resting completely flat on the bed.

“No moving, Fox.” Skinner regarded his lover from between the man’s thighs with a smile. “I’m going to take a shower. And you are not going to move until I get back.” He turned away for a moment, and Mulder kept his body still, although his eyes tracked his lover as best he could—he could see the man’s broad back as he did something on the other side of the room, but couldn’t make out what it was, at least not without moving, and he didn’t want to do that.

Skinner came back to his place between Mulder’s feet, and displayed three items in his hands. 

With the matches, he lit the two fat votive candles. He tossed the matches aside, looked down at Mulder’s feet. A moment later, Mulder felt a light pressure, first on the arch of one foot, then on the other. Skinner moved back, and by pulling his head up just enough to make something in his neck grumble a warning, Mulder could see that Skinner had placed a lit candle on top of each foot.

“Now if you move, I’ll know.” Skinner said, his tone gruff, his eyes sparkling. He found his way round to the head of the bed, and gave Mulder a soft kiss on the forehead. “I’ll be back.”

Mulder made some comment into the soft folds of the shirt, inhaled eau de Skinner again, and sighed, trying to relax his body. Already he could feel tension in legs pushed back almost too far, and he willed the muscles not to cramp. He understood on a very logical level, that should one of the candles fall, the worst he could expect would be a shock from warm candle wax, and maybe a small burn in the bed sheet before he could stomp out the candle. But on an emotional level, he trembled at what could happen if his lover came back and found that he had moved.

Skinner could only imagine what was happening in the other room, and he made his shower a quick one, wanting to prolong the tease and the tension, but not wanting Mulder to feel too threatened, or neglected for that matter.

It felt to Mulder like Skinner had been gone for hours. In the first few minutes, his legs had begun to shiver as he held them up and out, and the muscles started complaining. Not full on cramps, but he supposed that was a distinct possibility if he didn’t get to move soon. His arms started complaining about being left out, and he felt them wanting to cramp as well. A small shift of his body that he couldn’t control, and the cloth over his mouth muffled the sharp hissing sound he made when a drop of wax, newly melted, dripped over the side of one of the candles, and came to a warm stop on the top of his foot. Didn’t hurt in that screaming pain way, but was uncomfortable for a moment, and Mulder had a fleeting thought that Skinner probably knew exactly what size of candles would allow enough cooling to keep it from burning him too badly.

He wished it hurt more. He supposed it could, if he wriggled around a bit, and an ache in his thighs agreed with him, but then he thought about how disappointed Skinner would be if he moved, and that hurt more than all the hot candle wax in the world, and he stiffened immediately.

His erection had flagged somewhat, but as he breathed deeply through Skinner’s shirt, he felt more stirrings there, and when he tried to keep from getting turned on, lest he tip the candles by excited accident, it only made him think about his lover more, about his actions, about his own reactions, and an occasional stray fantasy of what was to come, and he couldn’t keep control. Another warm drip from the candle on his other foot this time, and he groaned.

When Skinner came out of the bathroom, splendidly naked and rubbing stray beads of water from his scalp and shoulders, he saw immediately that neither candle was extinguished, although he could hear soft noises coming from Mulder at regular intervals. He just stood a moment in the corner of the room, knowing that Mulder would have felt his presence, but that in his current position, he would be unable to turn and confirm it.

He hoped that he was doing enough for his lover. He hoped that he wasn’t doing too much. He just had to trust that Mulder would let him know. 

He came at the bed from the side, and grinned down on Mulder’s sweaty face, still covered from the nose down by his shirt. He saw that the area around Mulder’s mouth was damp, and moving as his lover took quick shallow breaths and stared up at him.

He glanced down at Mulder’s feet, saw some wax pooled there, but far less than he had thought, and it pleased him. He hadn’t been taking much time to catalogue his own feelings on the scene they were playing out, thinking more about his lover, and how he could best please him without giving into Mulder’s darker desires, ones that he thought would be harmful to them both. But seeing the man now, quivering and not helpless, but offering complete control to him, pleased him, and not just emotionally. He felt a warm jolt of desire zip down his spine and around to his groin, and he offered his lover a sample of it, grinning as he bent and gave the man another kiss on the forehead.

“So good,” he murmured, his mouth pressed to Mulder’s brow. “My good Fox.”

Mulder fought the urge to squirm.

Skinner pulled the shirt from Mulder’s face and a rush of cool air over his nose, lips and cheeks made the restrained young man shiver, then groan as more wax fell.

Skinner looked at the shirt he held in one hand, and the towel he held in the other, and dropped the shirt. He reached over, and turned Mulder’s head so that he was looking directly at him. Then he took a very long time to re-wipe his entire body with the towel, which was damper than he was. He spent several minutes stroking imaginary bathwater from his cock and balls, until Mulder was making a continuous groaning noise and his legs were quivering nearly as badly as his erection.

With great deliberation, Skinner folded the towel until it was a thick rectangular pad. This he placed over Mulder’s eyes and nose. Mulder sucked in air with a gasp, and exhaled it with a moan, and Skinner quickly moved to his lover’s feet. He blew out the candles, and plucked them off of him just as Mulder started to shake violently. He didn’t want the man to think he was being punished for his response, for it pleased him. He was also glad to note that in spite of the shivers, Mulder was still digging his heels into the mattress, doing his best to keep his feet flat.

Although his nails were short and manicure-neat, Skinner was able to, with a light scratching motion, begin removing the melted wax from Mulder’s feet. He continued to score lightly at his skin until red stripes appeared, then moved on to do the same to his legs. His hands moved lightly but repeatedly, and discomfort was kept to a minimum, tension to a maximum.

When he scored his nails across Mulder’s inner thighs, his lover gave a startled yelp, then bit down on his lip hard enough to make himself groan.

Skinner surged upwards, bringing his entire body up Mulder’s in a full body rub, and swallowed the next cry with his mouth. He forced his tongue between Mulder’s lips, rooted around his mouth for a while, and stroked his own impressive erection across Mulder’s, tasting each whimper and moan and craving more.

He pulled his mouth off of Mulder’s with a resounding smack, and then spoke clearly and quietly to him.

“You don’t have to hold it in, Fox. I want to hear you. Let me hear you. I want to know what you’re feeling.”

Mulder’s mouth opened and he sucked air desperately. Skinner gave him a moment, then pressed two fingers over his lower lip, pleased and excited when Mulder immediately sucked at them.

Rubbing himself across Mulder with renewed vigor, Skinner let his tongue trail down a sweaty neck, bit at a heaving chest, and relished every sigh, groan and gasp. He pulled his fingers roughly from Mulder’s mouth, and pushed his face under one of Mulder’s arms, tickling and blowing warm air to make him squirm while he ran those blunt relentless nails up and down his sides. The sounds coming out of Mulder’s mouth were half plea half protest, and he was twisting his body now, yet trying to keep his legs still, and Skinner knew it couldn’t be comfortable. He pressed on, though, repeating the procedure under the other arm, then sitting back abruptly so he was kneeling between Mulder’s legs.

Mulder’s cock was stiff and throbbing, seeking the warm contact it had just lost seemingly of it’s own volition. Skinner took a moment to appreciate the view, as he touched the skin of his stomach above his own erection, felt their mingled precum there. A few strokes of his own cock, and a single one to Mulder’s, which made Mulder cry out, and then he brushed his damp fingers across Mulder’s lips with infinite tenderness, and pushed back sweat soaked hair with the other hand. Another warm body rub, and more endearments whispered in an ear held firmly in place, and then Skinner had to pull back, lest he end the moment himself before he was ready.

He toyed with Mulder’s cock and balls for a bit, always pulling back when Mulder skimmed the edges of orgasm. The younger man was pulling hard on the wrist restraints now, and a continuous groaning, punctuated by nonsensical syllables that would be words if Skinner would give him permission, was issuing from his throat.

Skinner upped the ante with his mouth, knowing he was cheating even as he sucked gently on the other man’s balls, and then pulled away immediately when Mulder bucked and his feet came off the bed. He tightened his grip round the base of Mulder’s cock, squeezed firmly and warned him. “Steady, son, I’ll let you know when it’s time.”

Mulder’s breath was coming in whistling sobs now.  Skinner quickly fetched lube and condoms, paused a moment to lick at Mulder’s open mouth, making him gasp harder for breath, and then he sat back on his haunches between Mulder’s legs and warmed the slick gel in his hands.

At the first touch of Skinner’s hand on his ass, Mulder jerked again. Skinner touched his opening feather light with one finger, and told him. “Two words, Mulder. And only two words at a time. Not one, not three. Any two. Or I stop, and we spend the rest of the night reading old financial reports.” His other hand took hold of Mulder’s cock, and he pushed a finger into him.

“Oh, god!” Mulder gasped.

“Good. Good.” Skinner whispered. “My Fox. My good Fox.” He pulled out slowly, pressed back in, got the same words in a more strangled voice. A second finger, a slow deliberate search inside him, and a tight hold on his nearly purple erection, and Mulder begged him:

“Please!”

Skinner pulled away like he’d touched something hot. Mulder cried out.

“Please, Walter!”

He got a kiss for that, and then hands back inside him, on him, seemingly everywhere, turning his body into one giant trembling nerve ending, all tension and stimulation. He bit at his lips more frantically, trying to keep his mind on two words, not one, not three…

With a third stretching finger, Skinner found what he’d been looking for, and held tight to Mulder’s cock as he stroked over the tiny gland.

“Oh, yes! Oh, yes! Oh, please!”

Skinner supposed he could change the rules. Disallow “oh” and make his lover even more uncomfortable. In view of his own mounting desire, now increased tenfold by the reactions coming from Mulder, he chose instead to continue opening him for a moment more, then slip his hands away, making sure that Mulder knew he was not being punished, but that the next step was coming.

“I’m so proud of you, son.” He didn’t even know if Mulder was hearing him at this point, but he continued talking as he sheathed himself and added more lube. “You’re so very good. I love you very, very much, Fox. So much…”

Stretching over Mulder’s body, he pressed his erection firmly to the loosened entrance, but didn’t penetrate. He pushed Mulder’s legs higher, heard a pained groan, and let him rest his legs on his shoulders. Now he could be nearly face to face with Mulder and still enter him when he was ready. And the way he felt now, ready was going to be soon.

With infinite tenderness, he pulled the towel from Mulder’s face. The younger man blinked away tears and sweat, and Skinner closed his eyes with soft kisses, then licked the tip of his nose.

“I love you, Fox.” A hard and completely unexpected thrust and Mulder yelped loudly as Skinner filled him completely. His eyes flew open and he cried out again as his prostate received a quick brush, then another, then a rough battering. His cock was crushed between their stomachs and the wet heat was almost painful on his over stimulated skin.

“Yes, Walter, y—“ he managed to cut off the third word, and Skinner smiled down at him and kissed him hungrily, licking and biting sloppily as his movements increased. 

“Yes! Yes!”

Skinner arched his back and pushed Mulder’s legs off of his shoulders, making him squeal as he pushed them higher, then groan as he jerked them roughly down to his sides, holding them tightly for a moment as Mulder thrashed beneath him. The sudden shift in posture caused pins and needles to rip through his legs, and he felt the start of a cramp in his belly, and he was lost to all but the need to cum, to feel his lover cum…

“Walter, please! Walter, I—“

“Tell me, Fox!” he rocked his lover’s hips with the force of this thrusting, and ran his thumb over the head of Mulder’s cock.

“I-yes! I love—“ Again, though barely able, he caught himself.

“Cum for me, Fox.” Skinner crushed the man beneath him as his own orgasm burst through him, and Mulder found this last order easy to comply with. They rocked together in mingled sweat and cum, and Mulder wondered briefly if he wasn’t dying.

He wasn’t.

He came back to himself with a startled pained grunt as Skinner untied his wrists, and much needed blood flowed into his arms and hands so quickly that his muscles cramped and he couldn’t move them. Tears welled up in his eyes, not the first of the night, and Skinner wiped them away with a damp cloth. Mulder didn’t remember Skinner leaving him, but he had, and was now kneeling on the bed beside him rather than at his feet, a warm washcloth in one hand, which he used on Mulder’s whole face, and a water bottle in the other with a sports cap, which he offered to Mulder, holding it for him while he sucked greedily at the opening, bathing his dry throat with cold water. He whimpered when Skinner pulled it away, trying to catch it with his mouth. He found warm lips on his own instead, and then Skinner said “enough for now. You’ll get cramps otherwise.”

Mulder reached for Skinner’s face, winced at the effort, and only managed to touch his cheek briefly before his arm fell back to his side.

“Thank you.” His voice was little more than a hoarse whisper.

“Sleep now, Fox. You’re okay.”

“I’m good,” he murmured drowsily. He let his eyes slip closed, and felt Skinner pull his tired body into strong arms. 

“You’re good.” Skinner agreed with a kiss on the top of his head. 

The smile on his face as he slipped away was all the reward either man could hope for.