Title: Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries
Author: Aricia
MSR, PWP, S, NC-17 for sexual content ("Now I know my ABC's, next time
won't you sing with me?")
Summary: Summary? You want a summary on a PWP NC-17? bwahahahaha! Um .
. . ok. A game, a bet, and a bed.
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. 1013 and FOX do. No
infringement or profit is intended. All you'll get if you sue me is a
computer and an overactive imagination.
Spoilers: Small spoiler for Chinga

Author's Note: This story is based on a dream I had. Of course in the
dream, *I* was the one with Mulder, not Scully. *g* My first NC-17
fanfic. How in the world did I end up writing it from the male POV?
(shaking my head in dismay).

*Unending* thanks to Meg, who came up with the title, and gave me such
helpful feedback.

OK to archive at Gossamer. Anywhere else, please ask first. Meg's my
agent. She gets 10% of all my feedback anyway.

*This takes place sometime in the near future. It presupposes an
established romantic relationship between Scully and Mulder.* (even
though I'm a noromo in terms of the show)

Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries
by Aricia

"Diploblastic?"

"Mulder, if you can use clinophobia, I can use diploblastic."

Mulder snorted softly as Scully added up the score. She was the only
one he knew who had ever beaten him at scrabble. Of course, he was the
only one she knew who'd ever beaten *her* at the game too.

"Let's see, a triple letter score, and a double word score, plus 50
points for using all seven letters . . . ."

"Do you want something to drink?" Mulder got up and headed towards the
kitchen.

"Yeah, and bring the cherries back in here too, please. They're in the
fridge."

"These?" Mulder walked back to his side of the coffee table, putting
the drinks down and a large glass bowl of cherries.

"Thanks. Help yourself. They're the first of the season. I've been
looking forward to them for months now." She picked up one of the
cherries and put it in her mouth. "Mmmmmmm . . . ." Closing her eyes
in concentration, she savored the taste, finally opening her mouth
slightly, and
delicately lifting the pit off her tongue with her finger, put it on
the edge of her coaster.

"Scully, I just got very turned on."

"A slight breeze turns you on, Mulder."

"Nope, Mariah does nothing for me. Now if they called the wind, *Dana*
. . . . "

She rolled her eyes. "It's your turn, Mulder," reaching for another
cherry.

Mulder glanced at the board, rearranging his letters, but keeping most
of his attention on the woman across from him. She had on shorts and a
t-shirt as he did. Her hair was still damp from the shower, the ends
curling around her face as if to embrace it. He had trouble swallowing

suddenly. She was so lovely. He looked down at his letters again.
Sometimes looking at her was like trying to look at the sun.

He cleared his throat. "So Scully, can you knot the stem with your
tongue?" leaning forward, wiggling his eyebrows lasciviously.

"Of course. Knotting it once is easy. The real skill comes in double
knotting the stem."

"Double knotting?"

"Yes. Why? Don't you believe me?" arching an eyebrow at him.

Mulder grinned. "I want to believe, Scully. But you've been a good
influence on me." That got a chuckle out of her. "Now I need proof."

Scully smiled.

Uh - oh.

He knew that smile.

She picked out a cherry with a long stem, and pulled it into her mouth
with her tongue. Closing her lips around it, she deliberately sucked
on it, gently putting pressure on the stem until it released with an
almost audible "pop." He inhaled sharply. Staring straight at him, she
slowly rolled it around in her mouth before chewing and swallowing.

Licking his lip, he watched her put the stem in her mouth as he
shifted on the carpet uncomfortably, trying to find a position where
he wasn't so exposed. Jogging shorts might not have been the best
fashion choice today. How did she do that? He hadn't had this much
trouble controlling his libido since jr. high. Not that it was
anything she hadn't seen before.

Seen.

Touched.

Tasted.

Shit. This wasn't helping. You've already made love twice today and
it's barely noon. Give her a break. She wants to play scrabble.

Scully placed the now double knotted stem in front of him on the table
with a little "ta-daa" motion of her hands. He picked it up and
twirled it idly in his fingers. "Impressive. So where did you learn
this little trick, Scully?"

"Med school."

"They teach tying sutures with cherry stems now?"

"One of my study partners was from Washington state, and he used to
bring cherries to the study sessions all the time. And before you ask,
yes, we were studying anatomy. Gross anatomy."

Ooo, Scully. You're slipping, he thought. Right down the center of the
plate. "Well I don't know what *he* looked like, but trust me Scully,
there's nothing gross about your anatomy."

"Eat some cherries, Mulder. And it's *still* your turn. Isn't there a
time limit in this game?" she said with good natured annoyance.

"So competitive, Agent Scully," teasing. . . .

"There." Mulder added up his score as she pushed the bowl to his side
of the table. "No thanks."

"You don't want any?"

"I don't like cherries."

"Mulder, how can you not like cherries?"

He looked up, surprised to hear her "Mulder, how can you possibly
believe in bigfoot, time travel, the Knicks will beat the Bulls," tone
of voice.

"It's no big deal, Scully. I just don't like them. Besides those are
so dark they don't even look like cherries. Are you sure they aren't
spoiled?"

"That's how bing cherries are supposed to look. Mulder, those little,
dyed things on top of ice cream are not cherries. The only thing good
thing about maraschinos is saying the word - maarraaschiiinoooo. Try
one of these."

Ice cream sundaes *were* almost the only time he came in contact with
cherries. His father had been allergic to them, so they never had them
in the house growing up.

"I don't want one, Scully." What was the problem? She hadn't been this
insistent about her theory last week to explain why dentists have the
highest suicide rate of any profession.

Ok, fine. She wanted him to eat a cherry? He would eat a cherry. But
if he did, in return she was going to tell him what this was about.
*And* he was picking out where they went to dinner tonight, and it was
gonna be her treat. And not someplace cheap.

"I'll bet I can make you loooove cherries, Mulder."

Now *this* was interesting. The last time she looked at him like that,
he'd ended up deciding to increase his cardiovascular workouts and
start taking vitamin E capsules. How the hell was she going to make
him *love* cherries? Had Scully ever seen 9 and 1/2 Weeks? "What do
you want to bet?"

"Our annual budget report is due next month."

"But it's your turn!"

"If you don't think you'll win . . . ."

This was too much. She smirked. She absolutely *smirked* at him.
"You're on. I bet you can't make me love cherries." Besides, he had a
feeling even if he lost, he'd win.

"Go to the bedroom." Scully stood up and headed to the kitchen.

"Why Mrs. Robinson, are you trying to seduce me?"

"One word. Plastics."

Mulder froze in the hall. She was kidding. . . . Wasn't she? "Ummm,
Scully . . . ."

"Go on, Mulder, I'll be there in a minute. And please put the dark
blue blanket from the closet on top of the bed."

He turned and walked on, and heard Scully laughing from the kitchen as
he entered her bedroom. Plastics? . . . . Nah. He spread the blanket
on the bed trying not to think of all the possible reasons *why* he
was doing it. Ok. Now what?

"Strip and lie face up on the bed." She entered the room and put the
bowl of cherries on the floor at the end of the bed.

Mulder took off his clothes and was about to get on the bed when he
saw her bend down, and take a very sharp-looking knife out of the
bowl. He stopped. "When I said I wanted to play doctor, pathologist
isn't what I had in mind, Scully. And I'm already circumcised. You're
not channeling Lorena Bobbit are you?" What the hell was she doing
with a knife?

"Clinophobia problems, Mulder?" laughing softly. She waited until he
climbed up and got comfortable on the bed. "You can't move until I
say."

She looked at him inquiringly, and he nodded his agreement. They'd
played that game before, though neither one of them were fond of using
actual physical restraints. "So tell me about cherries, Scully."

"What do you want to know?" tilting her head at him as if questioning
his sincerity.

"Anything. Everything. Talk to me."

The left side of her mouth crooked up as she put the knife and a few
cherries on the bed, and began to undress. "Washington is the leading
US supplier and bing is the leading variety. It was developed in
Oregon about a hundred years ago. The farmer named it for one of his
Chinese
laborers." The t-shirt dropped to the floor leaving her hair tousled.

He knew Scully thought, or *had* thought, he said things like, "Are
you coming on to me?" just to change the subject when she started on
one scientific roll or another. But he didn't. Not most of the time
anyway. He was serious. He was serious when he'd asked her to marry
him while
she was in Maine too. But she didn't realize that yet. Or at least he
didn't think she did.

The bra joined the t-shirt.

"Bing cherries grow from June to mid-August."

He felt himself getting harder. Smart really was sexy. Dumb blondes
were fine for video, but for real life give him someone with brains.
Of course, if she *looked* like Dana Scully that was even better. If
the Nobel Laureate committee ever came out with a magazine, she could
be their centerfold.

"They peak in June." Now the shorts.

Peaking. Peaking was good.

And last the panties.

No matter how often he saw her this way, that buzz still went through
him like a perfect half court, two seconds left, nothin' but net shot.
Swiiishhh!

She grabbed the knife and cherries, crawling up his body, letting her
breasts lazily brush across his skin as she did, until she sat up
straddling his hips. Goosebumps trailed in her wake. He shifted,
instinctively trying to rub his erection between the rounded curves of
her ass.

"Don't move, Mulder." She put down the knife, and all but one of the
cherries beside him.

"Ok --"

"Shhhhhh . . ." whispering now, she leaned forward, kissing his
eyelids closed. "Stay like that."

He felt something cool and firm pressing gently against his face. A
cherry. She rolled it around on his skin, like one of those back
massage bead things almost, he thought. Across his forehead, down his
temple, into the hollow under his cheekbone. She rolled it in tiny
circles, tracing the outline of his lips, letting him taste it with
his questing tongue, but preventing him from actually putting it in
his mouth. She did the other side of his face, then gradually rolled
it down his neck, paying close attention to behind his ears, and the
sensitive sides of his neck.

"Cherries were named after the town of Cerasus in Asia Minor where
they were first cultivated 1000's of years ago."

Mulder heard the amusement in her voice at his preferred form of
verbal foreplay, but at this moment he could care less. She paused at
that little divot at the top of his sternum, then swept it out,
tracing the length of each collar bone in turn. He shivered. He never
would have imagined this would feel so good. Where the hell did she
dream this up? Did they teach this in special courses in med school?
Sexual Secrets 101? No, 401. Cause if this was just the intro course
work, he was a dead man.

The pressure disappeared for a moment. "Did you like that Mulder? Did
that feel good?" A breath against his cheek. He nodded, swallowing
noisily. Felt her stroke his cock with her ass, shifting her hips back
and forth, tightening and releasing her muscles each time to gently
grip
him. Mmmmm, Sculllleeee . . . .

He sucked in his breath when he felt two cool cherries begin to circle
his breasts, working in slow spirals toward his nipples. By the time
she reached them, they were already raised, begging for her touch. She
rotated the cherries around them, never quite touching what now seemed
the center of his nervous system. He reconsidered. Two of the centers
anyway. When he thought he couldn't take anymore, he would have to
break down and beg her to touch him, she stopped and removed the
cherries. No, Scully! No! Please! He pleaded mutely with his body.

"Ah, ahh, ahhhhhh . . . " his breath catching in his throat. What was
*that?* He felt two cool wet touches rotating on his nipples. Had she
cut a cherry in half? Yes! Damn, that felt good! . . . . Shit, he was
never going to survive this. She hadn't even gotten to the best parts
yet. He wriggled his hips under her appreciatively. Warmth surrounded
one nipple, and he felt her hair lightly slide against his chest as
she manipulated first one cherry and then the other with her tongue.
He was beginning to ache he was so taut. And not just his penis. His
whole body tingled. Some strange, electric, Scully current running
through it, making each hair stand on end. She slid one of the cherry
halves down his torso with her mouth, coating his skin with the juice,
then lapping it up.

"I love you, Mulder," she said reverently. "And I love tasting you.
You taste so good." Rising up and taking the other cherry half off,
she kissed him on the center of his chest, then moved between his legs
as he eagerly spread them to accommodate her.

Oh no, Scully, not the feet. Don't start on the feet. You can do the
feet later I promise. Move back up! "Scuuulllllleeeee . . . ."

"Problems, Mulder?"

"Yes!" He thrust his hips up to indicate where he wanted her to go.
Like she didn't know. Wasn't there something about this in the
Hippocratic Oath? The Geneva Convention? The Girl Scout's pledge?

"Looks like I'm going to have to gag you."

A gag? They'd never done that before. He wasn't sure about that . . .
. Ok, this is Scully. You trust her. Besides, she's never tried
anything yet you haven't liked.

Something small and round touched his lips for a moment, before he
opened his mouth to accept it. A cherry! He should have known.
Grinning, he tested the texture of the fruit experimentally with his
tongue.

"Don't chew it. Just leave it in your mouth." He nodded.

Mulder felt the bed dip when she moved back down, sweeping a cherry
half over his feet, sucking the juice off his toes. He'd never thought
of his feet as an erogenous zone until he and Scully became lovers. Of
course, he'd never thought of a lot of things as erogenous zones
before Scully. He lifted his legs a bit, letting her get to the
sensitive skin behind his knees. She pushed softly, and he bent his
knees further, happily allowing her to move up his inner thighs. Yes!
Finally! He couldn't help the whimpers that escaped.

A pause. Then the feeling of something smooth slowly moving up and
down his cock, then below, circling his balls before going back up to
the tip, and repeating up and down his length. His toes flexed, then
curled, in rhythm with her movements.

"Look at me."

He opened his eyes, blinking into her intense, blue gaze.

"You are so beautiful. I could watch you like this forever."

No, please. Not forever. Please, Scully. Not on the edge like this
forever.

He wanted to touch her. He wanted to . . . he gasped. She traced
figure eights across and around his scrotum with a halved cherry, as
she blew gently on his tip. His hips arched off the bed, his hands
desperately clenching fistfuls of blanket to keep himself from moving
further, not even remembering anymore why it was important to keep
still, only knowing it was. Her smooth hand caressed his, and he
quickly entwined his fingers with hers, clutching them as a lifeline
to sanity. Her other hand grasped his shaft, her mouth slowly drawing
him in, running the cherry half around the crown with her tongue as
she sucked on the head. She began to flick the underside with her
tongue, slow, then fast, the way he liked it.

Scuulllleeee!

Mulder jaws closed spasmodically as he came; the sweet liquid of the
cherry poured down his throat as she swallowed him.

Finally finding the energy to open his eyes again, he looked at the
redhead curled smugly beside him, her hand resting on his panting
chest. He swallowed and let out a long shuddering sigh.

"So Mulder. Do you love cherries now?" arching that exasperatingly
enchanting eyebrow at him again.

"No."

"No?" surprised.

"No." He rolled over onto her suddenly, supporting his weight on his
elbows so he could look at her. He spread her hair out on the blanket
making a sunburst around her radiant features, threading his fingers
through the strands. "I like cherries now. I *love* you. And as soon
as I catch my breath, I'm going to show you just how much."

Scully slowly smiled.