The Key

"Oh God, harder... harder... Oh... Oh..."

Krycek gasped as Mulder thrust deep into his body, feeling the silken steel shaft slide across that special place, taking him to even greater heights of passion. He screamed as he came, white come splattering across his belly and chest, his body squeezing around the pounding cock, taking Mulder over the edge moments later.

Mulder collapsed across the sweat-slicked body, his breathing as harsh and erratic as his lover's, his muscles shaking with the intensity of the orgasm that had ripped through him. It had never felt this good before, the total mastery over the other man adding an extremely erotic dimension to their lovemaking. He felt his softened cock slip from its tight human sheath and groaned in disappointment; he wanted to stay here, just like this, forever. Mulder slid to one side of the still gasping man, before leaning back across to smother the sweaty face with soft kisses and licks. He loved everything about this man; his beauty, his scent... even the taste of him. Everything about Alexei Krycek turned him on, releasing the uncontrollable beast inside him. He stroked his hands along the lean, muscular flank moving upwards, through the sweat-matted hair of the underarm, along the bulging biceps, the crook of an elbow, until he reached the source of his total domination.

The steel band encircled his lover's wrist, the other end of the handcuff closed around one of the bars in the brass bedstead, holding the single arm securely above Krycek's head. Mulder smiled, the smile expanding to a shit-eating grin as he remembered how long it had taken him to convince Alex to let him restrain him.

"Didn't I say it would be good?"

Alex swallowed hard, his breathing almost back under control. He grinned up at his lover, almost purring like a cat as he stretched his satiated body. He wiggled his hips, enjoying the sensation of warm fluid seeping between his asscheeks; Mulder's warm fluid. It *had* been good, giving over all that control to another, releasing himself from the burden of responsibility. For those few sweaty, fantastic minutes he belonged solely to Fox Mulder, all his own desires and needs dependent upon Mulder for fulfilment... and it had been glorious. A memory struck him and he blushed, furiously.

"Did I just scream?"

Mulder's grin grew even wider - if that was humanly possible - at the husky voice.

"Like a Banshee."

Krycek grew an even deeper shade of red, the blush reaching the tips of his slightly elfin ears. In all his sexually active years he had *never* so much as groaned loudly when he came, but the powerful orgasm that flowed over him like a tsunami had ripped a cry from his throat leaving it dry and sore.

He moaned softly as Mulder's hand retraced a path back down his body, the fingernails dragging across his chest to circle one still puckered nipple. Mulder leant over and nipped at the small bud, worrying it between strong, white teeth.

"Mulder. Mulder!"

"Hmmm?"

Mulder raised his head and looked at the slightly pained expression.

"My arm hurts."

Mulder sat up and stared along the length of the vulnerable body from the tips of the lovely slim toes to the up-stretched arm, his eyes pausing along the way to dwell upon the firm, six-pack stomach and chest, splattered with evidence of Krycek's release, and upon the beautiful face with it's wide, sea-green eyes and softly pouting mouth. He sighed, wishing he could keep Alex handcuffed and at his mercy a little longer, before reaching over to the bedside cabinet to pick up the key.

Leaning over, he inserted the key into the lock, giving it a quick twist. Nothing. Mulder tried jiggling the key before twisting it a little harder. Again, nothing. He pushed himself further up the bed and tried once more, holding the metal bracelet tightly as he wrenched the key.

Snap.

It was only a little sound but both men froze in horror. Mulder's eyes flitted to Krycek's.

"Uh oh."

"What d'you mean 'uh oh'?"

Mulder brought his hand over to hold it in front of his lover's face. The green eyes narrowed, momentarily, in bewilderment then widened in full realisation of what was held between Mulder's thumb and forefinger. Kiss-swollen lips parted, the eyes flicking up to meet their hazel counterparts. Then, with a suppleness Mulder had never seen before, Krycek pushed his body up the bed until his eyes were level with the handcuff: they widened even further as he viewed the bottom half of the key still embedded in the lock.

"Try and get it out."

"What with?"

"You've got a set of picks, haven't you?"

Mulder leapt off the bed and started rummaging around on his desk in the other room until he found his lock-picking set of tools. He hurried back to the bed, pausing on the threshold, the air gushing from his lungs at the breath-taking sight of Alexei Krycek handcuffed naked and well used on his rumpled bed.

"Mulder!"

The annoyance in the husky voice broke the spell, galvanising him into action. He raced forward and sat on the edge of the bed, unzipped the case and pulled out a fine tool. He tried to lever out the broken off piece of key but only succeeded in snapping the lockpick.

"Damn!"

Krycek snarled in annoyance, any pleasure from their recent activity had faded and he was left feeling cold, wet, dirty and tired... and his arm *did* hurt. He cursed anew the loss of his left arm. Perhaps, if he still had it then he would be able to pick the lock himself rather than rely on Mulder.

"I *knew* I should never have agreed to this."

"Don't be such a baby, Alex. I'll have you free in no time."

"Oh yeah?"

Mulder ignored the sarcasm dripping from the angry man and stood up. Krycek half raised himself from the bed, mouth gaping as Mulder hurried towards the door.

"Hey! Where're you going?"

"To get a tenon saw from the tool box."

Mulder returned to find Krycek seemingly biting at his handcuffed wrist and, for one shocked moment, thought Alex was trying to chew off his hand like a wild animal in a mantrap would chew off it's own foot.

"Alex!"

"What!"

Angry, panicked green eyes turned to face him.

"What're you doing?"

"I'm licking my wrist, see if the saliva will act as a lubricant so I can slip outta this thing, but now you're here..."

Mulder approached the bed and lifted the abused arm, seeing the chaffing already appearing on the delicate flesh. He held the saw against one of the metal links between the bracelets and began to saw, awkwardly, back and forth.

Alex's eyes moved from the fast moving saw to Mulder's single- minded expression, and then back again. He frowned, a small line forming above the bridge of his nose; a line that Mulder loved to lick whenever he saw it... until now.

Mulder glanced across, noticed the frown and turned back to the task at hand. Eventually, Alex shook the handcuff to grab his attention.

"Are you getting anywhere?"

He pulled himself up again as Mulder held the saw away, wanting to inspect the work, and looked up into Mulder's face, noticing the way those beautiful hazel eyes skittered away from his own. There was barely a scratch on the metal.

"Let me see that saw."

Mulder held the object up and cringed at Krycek's snarl.

"Where're the fucking teeth! It won't cut without teeth."

"Okay, so it's a little long-in-the-tooth..." He gave Alex a cheeky grin but swallowed at the stony expression he gained in response.

The next expression that crossed Mulder's face had Alex *really* worried. It was like seeing a light bulb flick on behind the chameleon eyes. He groaned at the idea of Mulder having yet another great idea.

"I'll be back... just hold on."

"Yeah, like I'm going somewhere."

Phut... phut... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

"What the fuck!"

If Krycek had been a little worried before, now he was absolutely terrified. The sight of Mulder, stark naked, standing in the doorway to the bedroom with a chainsaw buzzing in his tight grip nearly caused Alex to black out in fear. He swallowed hard, focussing on the blade that moved faster than the human eye could measure. The manic glee on the face gave him no confidence whatsoever as Mulder approached the bed, and Alex gave his second girly scream of the day as Mulder leaned towards the handcuff link. The warm sensation flowing over his thighs went unnoticed at first as Alex gave into the safety of unconsciousness... and fainted.

"Alex? Alex?"

Alex Krycek opened his eyes. The only sound filling the room was Mulder's voice frantically calling his name. The next sensation he felt was the coldness under his ass.

"I think I wet myself."

A hand stroked, lightly, though his hair in a soft repetitive movement.

"I'm sorry, Alex. It was a joke. Thought it might lighten you up."

Mulder carried on stroking the sweat-matted, sable hair, remorse etched across his strong features, his lower lip sticking out like a small, lost child. He had become so used to the sight of his lover with only one arm that he had forgotten how Alex had lost it; held immobile, fully awake and aware, while it was cut off with a heated knife. How could he have joked about such a thing to this man? How could he have forgotten the nightmares that still plagued Alex on occasion? He bowed his head, ashamed to look at his lover.

A soft chuckle seemed to come from the man below him. The chuckle turned into a guffaw, and then into hysterical laughter. Mulder looked on in astonishment as tears ran down the beautiful face.

"Alex?"

Alex began to hiccough as he tried to pull himself back under control.

"Dare-devil, super ex-Consortium spy who's faced down aliens and human monsters alike.... and I wet myself."

Mulder felt the beginnings of a smile tug at his full lips.

"And you passed out... and that blood-curdling scream..."

Mulder collapsed across his lover, hugging him as hard as he could, his own laughter joining Krycek's.

"This is pretty sappy but... I love you."

Alex nuzzled into Mulder's neck, wishing he had the courage to respond with similar words. Instead, he whispered into Mulder's ear.

"Then get this thing off me."

Mulder sat back up, looking seriously thoughtful.

"There's only one place I know that has the equipment - and skill - needed to get this off..."

"Yeah, pretty much figured that out for myself. Least you can do is clean me up first."

Mulder came back from the bathroom with a bowl of warm soapy water and a cloth. He dipped the cloth in the water, squeezed out the excess and then stroked along the sweaty, come and urine- covered body. Mulder smiled as he watched Krycek's erection form, the shaft gradually lifting from its bed of dark curls to stand proud against the taut abdomen. He ran the cloth over the balls, feeling them tighten, then dragged the cloth over the flanks and between the parted legs to caress the soft inner thighs. Alex moaned, softly.

"Mulder? You're gonna get me all dirty again."

"No, I won't."

Mulder grinned and then bent down to lick along the length of the hardened shaft before taking the tip into his mouth. He sucked and nibbled on the flared head, pushing down the foreskin with his tongue and licking the dew-drop of precome from the sensitive tip.

Krycek arched as the sensation of tongue and hand rippled along his nerve endings, sending sparks of desire zapping through his whole body. He gasped as his body overloaded on the sensation, unable to stop himself from giving small thrusts as he came into the hot mouth.

Mulder swallowed hard then pulled away, licking the spilt come from his lips. He leaned over and kissed his lover, allowing Krycek to taste himself in Mulder's mouth.

"Better?"

"Hmmmmm."

"I'll get your clothes."

Fifteen minutes later, Alex was dressed in jeans, socks and shoes. Mulder, fully dressed, eyed him curiously before reaching into his wardrobe for a favourite old sweatshirt. Using a pair of scissors, he cut off the right sleeve and then sliced through the seam from armpit to hem. Mulder helped Alex into the mutilated sweatshirt and then, using a needle and thread from one of those complimentary kits, he sewed up the seam in an awkward running stitch. When he gazed back up he found green eyes, softened into something that looked remarkably like love, staring down into his own.

One last job. Mulder got a screwdriver and detached the brass bedstead from the bed. Between them they manoeuvred it, with Alex still attached, out of the apartment and down the stairs.

"It isn't gonna fit, Mulder. I'm telling you. Ow!!"

Mulder tried several different angles but, finally, had to admit that there was no way he was going to be able to get the brass bedstead into the car. He sighed deeply, in exasperation and faced his lover.

"Alex, I still don't understand why you won't let me ask them to come here."

"*Because*." Krycek gave an exaggerated sigh of his own. He started again, speaking slowly, as if to a small child. "The Consortium has its collective fingers in many pies. You give out your address - even to them, and I can guarantee that *they* will be here almost as fast just to see what's going on."

"Well... there's only one thing for it. We catch the bus. What? Nobody will so much as bat an eyelid. Plenty of stranger things found on buses."

Krycek raised one eyebrow. "And how would you know?" He closed his eyes. "No. Don't answer." He gave another heartfelt sigh and, together, they walked to the nearest bus stop.

The last time he had been handcuffed in a public place he had, casually, draped a coat over the 'evidence' and stood nonchalantly, as if waiting for someone to come through the airport arrivals' gate. This time was very different.

As they waited for the bus, Krycek found himself fully aware of every set of eyes that looked their way and, silently, prayed that no-one was watching Mulder's apartment. If Spender ever caught even so much as a whiff of this, then that cancerous old bastard would probably die laughing. He whispered a small prayer of thanks as he saw the bus turn the corner and come towards them. It halted, the pneumatic doors whooshing open. The driver looked at him, looked at the bedstead, looked at Mulder, looked even closer at the bedstead then looked at him again with a smirk on his face.

|| So this is what it's like to die of embarrassment. ||

Mulder ignored the driver and hauled Krycek onboard - with a sharp tug on the bedstead. He dove deep into his pockets for the right change then, together, they made their way down the bus. Small titters followed their progress as the few passengers spotted the handcuffs; a wolf whistle brought Krycek's head snapping around and he glared at several unrepentant-looking passengers.

The short journey seemed to take forever but, eventually, they left the bus a few hundred yards from their destination.

Two Hours Later:

Krycek watched as his lover pottered around him, bringing him drinks; sweets... in fact, anything he asked for. He debated, internally, how long he was going to keep Mulder waiting before he accepted his apology. In all fairness, once they reached the Fire Station, he had to wait maybe ten minutes before the Chief produced a tool that cut through the metal bracelet like a hot knife through butter.

Pulling his tattered dignity around him like a shredded cloak, Krycek had, stoically, ignored the sniggers from the on-duty firemen, and had hightailed it out of there as soon as they had finished bandaging his chaffed wrist, grateful that the Chief had accepted Mulder's explanation. It probably helped that the handcuffs were, obviously, not Police - or FBI - issue. The engraved logo 'Boys Toys' being a dead give away.

The journey back had been marginally better, mainly because he was no longer handcuffed to the bedstead, but the clink of the bracelet still attached caused many an eye to turn in their direction; knowing looks and smirks fixed to their faces.

Mulder eased onto the couch behind Alex, pulling his lover back against his chest, his warm lips nuzzling the fine, dark hair. He breathed in the shower fresh smell of apples, but his mind filtered out the cosmetic and reacted to the unique scent that was Alexei Krycek.

He had just finished rescrewing the bedstead back onto the bed and had stopped, momentarily, to lovingly fondle the bracelet that Krycek had insisted he leave attached as a reminder of their 'stupidity'. He sighed, deeply and with a pained smile, Mulder let his mind drift away with thoughts of the past day.

|| Damn key! Damn handcuffs... should have bought the executive pair... ||

Minutes passed in companionable silence as Alex dozed in his arms, all thoughts of his ordeal slowly slipping from his mind. Meanwhile, Mulder's brain continued to tick over until...

"Ropes."

"Hmmm?"

"Next time we use ropes."