Notes: Upon reading this, Beth noted that Lex here has major anger management issues. Be warned. Not a fluffy-puppy Lex.

This story contains disturbing behavior and themes, sex, violence, and bad language. To paraphrase the TV warning message, "Reader discretion is advised"

I started writing this after seeing "Shimmer", and the main plot is mostly unchanged (seriously, the V/Lionel thing was already written when "Leech" aired -- Beth saw the first draft and can back me up here <g>). Since I didn't get it finished prior to "Leech", this is an AU that splits from continuity after "Hug"

Thanks: To Bethy for the beta and for the cyber hand-holding.

If time was in fact a teacher, then Victoria Hardwick had fashioned herself into the teacher's pet. She'd learned her lessons well and applied them with calculated practicality.

Beauty was a genetically endowed tool -- unearned, but a very effective weapon when wielded properly. Her intellect, while the inherently greater power, was often more useful when hidden rather than displayed. Victoria had discovered early in her adult life which attribute to flaunt and which to conceal.

It was rather unfortunate that her current target already knew those things about her. She and Lex had learned the same lessons and done so while deeply within each other's personal space. She'd known going in that the usual strategies would never work with Lex, but she did have intimate knowledge on her side. When dealing with a Luthor, timing and patience were key.

Victoria entered the study in search of Lex's laptop. She had some investigating to do while he was gone and the servants were out of the house. Instead of the computer, she found Lex, staring down at the pieces on a marble chess board that sat on the pedestal table near the sofa. She didn't bother with feeling irritation at his unheralded return to the house. Lex was all about unpredictability, and she'd compensated by becoming adaptable.

A casual stroll into the room -- he looked distracted and probably hadn't noticed her slight hesitation at the door. "I wasn't expecting you back so early, or I would have held dinner. I've dismissed the staff for the evening, but I could warm something up for you."

"I'm not hungry," came the flat reply. Lex seemed to have completely missed the suggestive nature of her tone. Curious, that. "I had all the information I needed, so I cut the meeting short. Thought it might be nice to get out of the office before dark for a change." His eyes drifted to the window. "Didn't quite make it, though."

His eyes left the window to return to the board. Victoria found it strange that he hadn't looked at her once since she came into the room. It wasn't like Lex to avoid eye contact. "You and your father are still having that correspondence match, are you?"

Lex fingered the white bishop but didn't move it. "Yes... we always seem to be playing one game or another."

She inclined her head and smiled, though he hadn't looked up to appreciate the view. "And who currently has the upper hand?"

Lex looked at her briefly out of the corner of his eye before turning his focus back to the chess pieces and giving a slight shrug. "That depends on how you look at the board."

A furrow appeared between Victoria's brows as she walked closer. "What's wrong with you, Lex? You seem a bit... off tonight."

"Different, maybe, but not off. For the first time in weeks, I'm feeling exactly right."

One moment, he was standing across the study floor from her. Cool, calm, and enigmatic as always.

The next, Victoria found herself being pushed backwards and up against the wall, its sharp hewn edges digging into her back. Inexorably trapped by the body in front of her, which in a strange way felt more solid and lifeless than the stone behind her.

No, not lifeless. More like strung so tight that no motion was being allowed in the flesh. The unnatural stillness in him being achieved through a sheer force of will. Not at all the same as when Lex had last pressed his body to hers. A different passion had been claiming him that time.

Face close to hers, eyes blazing with an out of control anger she'd never seen or expected from him. In the small portion of her mind that wasn't scrambling for an explanation, she supposed it shouldn't have been a shock. Lex never did anything halfway.

"I underestimated you, Victoria." His voice held a mocking imitation of the usual charm -- smoked velvet being pretended at by frosted glass. His face came closer, and she shuddered involuntarily. "So much more going on beneath the surface than you ever let on. You're very good at playing dumb."

"Lex, I-"

She stopped abruptly, the finger pressed against her lips to shush her feeling akin to a slap in some indecipherable way. "Then again, you aren't the brains of this operation, are you? The two of you are quite clever. Too clever for your own good, knowing how to crack my passcode. Or is that too stupid and obvious for your own good? I seem to keep mixing them up."

The snide reprimand was familiar enough to make her careless. "I wasn't going to go through with it, Lex. I swear-"

The ice in the blue eyes cracked temporarily; burned like fire. "Shut up, Victoria. I won't ask nicely again. You speak when asked a question and not before. Nod if you understand me."

A stranger staring back at her from her lover's face. She'd never truly been frightened of Lex before, despite all of the reasons that she should have been. A cold tremor shot along her nerves seeing him this way. She raised and lowered her head with a few quick jerks, and the cool facade returned, accompanied by a feral smile. "See? That wasn't so hard, now was it? You are capable of making a good decision when you try."

Trying to fight off the panic overwhelming her, trying to *think* -- impossible with the adrenaline racing through her and the way Lex was staring at her, like a snake preparing to strike. Only one thing came to mind: Run... escape... She moved abruptly, bringing fisted hands up to his chest and pushing. Only a breath of freedom before he got his bearings and *slammed* her back into the wall. Her breath rushed out in a pained gasp as he grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head.

He shifted them both into one tightly gripped fist, and Victoria could feel the fragile bones grinding against each other. More than enough force to bruise, nearly enough to fracture. She knew how strong his hands were. "Good to see that you're smart enough to not bother screaming. I'm glad you gave the staff the night off. I know you did it for your reasons and not mine, but happy coincidences are to be savored, don't you think?"

He could break her with very little effort, and they both knew it.

The frightening serenity settled on him again. That was scaring her more than the pain in her wrists and back as he applied more pressure, pushing her mercilessly against the wall. Tears stung at her eyes as she stared at him, looking for any sign of yielding.

There was none, of course. She had only hoped against knowledge. Victoria was well aware that she'd done the one thing Lex wasn't capable of forgiving.

"What did he tell you, Victoria? That it would be easy? That I was so desperate to get away from this clean American nightmare that I'd buy any lie you had for sale? I'm not that stupid, and you should have known better than to believe him."

God... he sounded like he was discussing the weather.

He feigned a puzzled frown. "I am curious, though. How you two cooked this up, I mean. I have all sorts of wild ideas about it, but I want to hear it from you. Did you discuss it at a boring party? Or was it more than that?" His head came even closer, and heated breath puffed against the shell of her ear. "Tell me, Victoria. I have to know..." A sharp hip thrust against her pelvis that was intended to hurt and did, startling a cry out of her. "Was he fucking you when he asked you to be his spy?"

She bit her lip to fight back a sob of fear and pain as he leaned back to look at her. Scientific regard of her face as if she were a particularly interesting specimen trapped under glass, and she knew he was waiting for an answer. She'd held off confessing everything, believing it would only increase the damage, but she had to try *something*. "Lex, *please*... I'm-"

His eyes flared at the entreaty, and he cut her off with a sharp gesture of his free hand. "No. On second thought, don't tell me. They say the romance dies when all the mystery goes out of a relationship."

She could taste blood slipping across her tongue from the self-inflicted bite on her lip. His free hand came up to lightly trace a line down her neck, and she shivered, choking back another plea that she knew would only make things worse. Changing tactics, Victoria purposely let him see how frightened she was, no longer suppressing her shudders or fighting the tears now streaming freely down her face. If he wanted to terrify and humiliate her as payback, she'd let him. Lex caught a tear on his finger and studied it, looking up to catch her eyes, and she thought her counter plan just might work.

He appeared to be measuring her. Looking for signs that she was... what? Adequately shamed? Victoria couldn't tell, and it was even harder to read him when his eyes dropped again. "Such a lovely neck..." He moved his head from side to side, studying the length of her throat with that freakish detachment. "When I was younger, I used to dream about this neck. Did I ever tell you that? I'd spend hours just thinking about its length, how soft the skin was, how it tasted..." He licked a slow line along the throbbing pulse in her neck.

Even his tongue felt cold, and Victoria's skin crawled in revulsion.

His hand closed slowly over her throat, just barely pressing into the flesh. "That expensive makeup of yours works wonders. I can hardly see the bruises I made the other night." She felt Lex adjusting his fingers to conform to the faint yellow outlines not completely masked by her hours-old makeup job. "Did he ever ask you about them? Did you tell him how much you love to be choked while someone's fucking you?" The briefest pause as he looked up into her eyes, questioning. "Did he try to cover these with bruises of his own?"

Victoria bit the inside of her lip again to fight back a relieved laugh, almost welcoming the fresh flow of blood into her mouth. So *that* was his game. Becoming the object of a territorial marking wasn't the most flattering thing in the world, but if Lex could fuck this out of his system, then so be it. She tried to maintain the tension he so obviously wanted, waiting for the command to remove her clothes and the subsequent one, to turn and face the wall.

But apparently, Lex was not quite done yet. His eyes fixed on her throat a moment longer before he leaned forward to whisper in her ear. "So delicate..."

Victoria felt it the second he began contracting his grasp, closing her airway by carefully measured degrees, and she smiled as she started to gasp. He leaned back and stared into her eyes. "I know you prefer quick and rough, but I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you tonight. I'm planning to take this slowly."

Victoria's smile widened as she ran her tongue across her bottom lip. The light-headed feeling from her reduced volume of air started a familiar chain reaction along her nerve endings. Lex had always been the best at this -- the tease, the slow constriction, and it was hard to wait, so she tried to tempt him. Arched her body as much as she could, but he just cocked a brow. "I have tapes of us locked in the safe."

Her eyes flared then hooded. Voyeurism wasn't her particular kink, but she could see Lex wanting to watch, maybe even while he was inside her, and the thought made her moan.

Lex smiled again, a malicious bearing of teeth. "Watching you beg me to choke you in bed ought to be enough to convince anyone that it was an accident, don't you think?"

She tried to gauge him, tried see if he was joking, but it was impossible to tell. He was waiting for something... "An accident?"

"Yes. When I strangle you, they'll believe it was simply a sex game gone wrong. A completely accidental death."

"Lex! That isn't fun-" A tight squeeze on her larynx cut off the words. He held the grip for what seemed like hours before relenting.

She couldn't suppress the coughing that arose when she could breathe again. Looked at his face and wished she hadn't -- mask of indifference completely gone now, unveiling a burning rage, and she suddenly realized how badly she'd misread him. "I wasn't joking."

She didn't need the words to convince her that Lex was deathly serious about this in the literal sense. Her sore throat made her voice rough, barely audible, but she managed to speak. "Lex-"

Cut off by a hand over her mouth this time, flying up from her throat to clasp tight, fingers digging into her cheeks. She didn't understand what he was doing until she heard a voice echoing from far down the hall and realized that Lex must have heard a sound that she'd missed. "Lex, where are you? The door was open, so I let myself in."

Lex ground his teeth together, staring at the open doorway and swearing under his breath. His head snapped back and he glared a warning at her, leaning forward to whisper. "You make one sound and I'll break your neck. We should keep this strictly 'nella famiglia', agreed?

She considered her options, listening desperately for sounds in the hall, and nodded. Help was clearly too far away to reach her in time if he carried through on the threat. When he removed his hand, she didn't scream, and Lex smiled. Then his hand closed around her throat again.

Victoria began to fight.

She tried to buck him off her, but the way he had her pinned made effective motion impossible. She tugged at her trapped wrists. The panic-induced adrenaline rush increased her strength, and she managed to pull them free. Pushing at his shoulders had no effect. He seemed most concerned about preventing her from making noise, the hand on her throat tightening in warning as the other clamped over her mouth again. Desperate, she scratched both sets of nails down his face, but he didn't even flinch.

"Lex! Are you okay? I heard..."

She recognized that voice, no longer muffled by distance. The rescue was less than she'd hoped for, though. Lex hadn't moved to release her.

"Let her go, Lex." He was trying to sound firm, but she could hear a tremor under the words. Lex had to hear it too.

"Back off, Clark."

She turned a desperate gaze to the doorway. Why was he just *standing* there? "No. You have to stop-"

"Go home, Clark. Pretend you didn't see anything and just... go." An underlying note of desolation weakened the command.

"You know I can't do that."

The hand over her mouth finally moved. Lex braced his arm against the wall and raked his forehead across the inside of his biceps. "I know you're deep in the throes of your hero complex, but trust me, this 'damsel' is not worth saving."

And maybe the boy had done the right thing by not moving after all. Lex seemed to be relenting a bit. Victoria used the reprieve to try once more to extricate herself. Hands slowly raising to clasp her abdomen, she forced a confession from her raw vocal chords. "Lex... don't... baby..." She stopped when the grip on her throat clenched in silent warning. She doubted she could have managed more words anyway. She could feel another coughing fit brewing from the single broken sentence.

"I think it's a bit late for endearments, don't you, princess?" Coldly mocking, and he'd misinterpreted her completely.

But the figure across the room had somehow understood, breaking his stunned silence. "Oh, God... Lex, she meant... You won't just be killing her if you do this."

Inexplicably, the hands fell away from her throat. She stumbled a few steps away and leaned heavily against the wall, coughs erupting from her damaged larynx as she took her first full breath of air in several minutes.

"You're... pregnant?"

Rage and disbelief mixing in his voice, changing shades. Still unable to speak, she nodded weakly.

"Bullshit. This is just another-"

"No, Lex. Believe her. She's telling the truth." Good lord... how could he sound so certain? He couldn't know the truth of her words to avow them so vehemently. The kid must have picked up a few things from Lex about how to play psychological games.

She dared a look over at Lex, who was running an agitated hand over his skull. Taking it in, staring to accept, and to say he was not pleased would be a massive understatement. "Fuck... that's just perfect. You're quite the little overachiever, Victoria. Mata Hari and brood mare for the next Luthor offspring all rolled into one. Your puppeteer will be so pleased."

The acidic bile spilling out of Lex's voice would have stung if she'd still been capable of feeling anything. Despite the sudden numbness flooding her, she couldn't bear to continue looking at his face. She stared at the floor beneath her and tried to gather herself, breath shuddering through her bruised throat. She wasn't expecting the hand that grasped her upper arm tightly and swung her around. Lex's clenched jaw and bleak eyes that still held a frightening amount of anger warned her that he hadn't retreated far from the edge of snapping.

Caught in those eyes, it was easy to forget that there was anyone else in the room, until she heard his voice again. "Lex..."

Lex continued staring at her for a moment. Then he looked over her shoulder, and his eyes closed briefly.

Decision made in the silence, he flung her arm away. On shaking legs she had to force into motion, Victoria started across the room. A few steps and she collapsed onto the sofa, looked up and over her shoulder at Lex. He didn't even glance down at her, just continued staring across the room at her savior. He reached into his pants pocket and tossed a set of car keys at her feet. "Get out. Don't take the time to pack or I might change my mind."

Victoria grabbed the keys and scrambled to her feet. Staggering for the door, not having the courage to even look over at the dark-haired teenager who'd now saved her life twice, she froze upon hearing Lex's voice. "Oh, Victoria? Tell my father something for me."

The protracted silence said he was waiting for something, so she looked over her shoulder. Her eyes found him standing next to the marble chessboard. He tipped over the black king with the flick of a finger. "Checkmate."

She didn't look back again.

~*~

Lex's eyes flinched shut when he heard the front door slam. He kept them closed as he listened to the sounds of the car engine revving and the tires spinning loudly before gaining purchase. Silently counted backward from one hundred in an effort to calm the urge to finish what he'd started. He didn't raise his eyelids until the sounds outside the house had faded completely from hearing.

Funny. He'd somehow expected to be alone when he opened his eyes.

Clark hadn't moved. He was still standing in the doorway, looking over at Lex with an expression that, for once, wasn't easily readable. The concern, relief, and confusion were obvious, but there was something else.

Lex was in no mood to solve the emotional equivalent of a Chinese puzzle box.

Turning his back, he crossed the study toward the wet bar. "I'm surprised you're still here, Clark."

"Why?"

Lex grabbed a glass and the closest bottle. "Because your job is done, isn't it? You've saved the fair maiden from peril. Eight o'clock and all's well."

"All isn't well. Talk to me, Lex. What happened here?"

Alcohol sloshed over the side of the glass as he poured. Lex flung the liquid off his hand and slammed the bottle back down on the bar. He turned around, shooting off a glare that had made more than one employee resign rather than risk facing it again. "It's nothing you need to be concerned about. Go home, Clark."

"You almost killing someone concerns me, Lex."

So concerned that it made Lex's teeth ache, brought a mocking turn to his voice that he didn't even attempt to fight. "You could have stopped me yourself any time you wanted. I'm curious why you chose not to."

"You didn't want to do it."

Lex almost choked on the sip of liquor he'd taken. "What gave you that impression?"

"You knew I was coming over here."

He shook his head and laughed. So damned naive. "You're mistaking bad timing for morals, Clark.

Clark returned his stare, refusing to back down. The conviction was endearing, if rather misplaced. "Whatever. Even if I hadn't shown up, you wouldn't have gone through with it. I knew that, but you needed to know it, too. That's why I didn't force you to stop."

That gave Lex pause. He took a sip of his drink as an excuse to delay answering while he considered it. The realization that Clark's assessment was accurate took him a bit by surprise. With the initial rage of his discovery tempered, Lex placed Victoria's role in the appropriate light.

She was the symptom, not the disease.

Regardless, having Clark psychoanalyze him held no appeal. His continued presence in the room was doing nothing to assuage Lex's need to lash out at anything, anyone. The reaction was unwarranted, but Lex didn't much care -- Clark had made himself a convenient target.

Lex leaned his hips back against the wall. Crossing his feet at the ankles, he looked in Clark's direction without meeting his eyes. "You really are something else, Clark. You've saved me from a car accident and two disgruntled former employees. Now you want to save me from myself, is that it?"

Clark's eyes flared, but he didn't retreat. "Being a smartass isn't going to make me leave."

Lex's made a scolding gesture with his hand. "Tsk-tsk, Clark. Such language. What would your parents say? This is proof of my bad influence on you, no doubt."

Clark's jaw clenched, and Lex had a brief hope that the boy would finally take the hint and get the hell out. He had a full schedule of wallowing followed by plotting to see to. Disappointment ensued when, instead of leaving, Clark moved further into the room. "Stop trying to piss me off and tell me what happened, Lex!"

The wallowing part of the evening had apparently been delayed too long, because taunting Clark suddenly lost all appeal. "The same thing that always happens. Just another turn of the screw."

And though the comment made very little sense when Lex thought about it, Clark's eyes seemed to clear a little, as if being taken seriously mattered more to him than the explanation itself. "I'm sorry, Lex... I understand..."

Maybe Clark realized how wrong that comment was before he finished it. And frankly, Lex didn't *want* him to understand. "I doubt that, Clark. I'd wager that you've never seriously considered harming anyone."

A stubborn but truthful gaze as Clark raised his chin a bit. "You'd lose."

Hmm... food for thought. "Really? The knight's armor has some tarnish. Who would have guessed?"

Clark didn't react to being baited this time, and that annoyed Lex for reasons he didn't want to think about. He slammed back the remainder of his drink and was disappointed when it didn't burn more going down. As he reached for the bottle again, Clark spoke. "What are you going to do about her?"

He emitted a humorless laugh, pouring more alcohol into his glass. "Victoria? Nothing. She's my father's problem now."

"But, Lex..." And even without looking, Clark's confusion at the perceived lack of ethics was obvious. "She's pregnant. Don't you-?"

"It's not mine, Clark."

He wished that had sounded a little less bitter. Looked over to find Clark staring at him in unconcealed shock. "Oh... you mean you haven't..."

"Had sex with Victoria? Yes, I have."

"But... even if you used... umm..."

The overwhelming innocence... Lex had to laugh. "You can put away your safe sex pamphlets, Clark. My confidence has nothing to do with the statistical reliability of condoms."

"I... I don't..."

Lex sighed and considered the option of drawing a diagram. "The type of sex I had with Victoria doesn't lead to conception, short of the immaculate kind. And somehow, I don't see Victoria as the bearer of the next messiah."

He gave Clark a significant look and idly speculated whether or not the blush went all the way down to his toes. "Oh..."

"Getting the picture?"

"Umm... yeah. But... what you called the baby... I thought..."

A renewed flash of anger and self-loathing erupted internally, tightening his voice. "Like I said, Clark. Victoria is my father's problem now." His sibling rather than his child, and he wondered if Lionel would be better or worse the second time around. Being replaced had sounded much more enticing before it became a viable possibility.

"Your father? But... you said he's always hated her."

There are a few things he hates more, apparently. Lex shoved the thought aside and answered, "He was making a point. Several of them, actually. I'm interested in how he'll react to Victoria's 'happy news'. I'd love to be a fly on the wall during that conversation."

Clark moved a few steps closer, clearly feeling the need to comfort. "You don't have to pretend with me, Lex. This has to hurt."

It really shouldn't, all things considered, but it did. Used and fucked over seven ways to Sunday, by both of them, hurt his pride. The insult to his intelligence just made him furious.

The irrational need to lash out gripped Lex again. He latched on to what he'd filed away for future use and brandished it with a purposely casual voice. "Clark, how did you know Victoria was pregnant?"

Lex watched Clark, taking in the unsurprising reaction with less than his usual forbearance. Clark wouldn't meet his eyes and was starting to fidget. "Lex... I... You were upset, and the way she was holding her hands over... I put the pieces together, that's all."

Lex took a few steps closer, hoping to get a better look at the expression on Clark's averted face. "But Clark... you sounded *so* sure."

Clark did look up then, though he couldn't maintain eye contact. "Lex... I just believed her."

More evasions, more deceit, and Lex was getting oh so tired of people lying to his face. The image of his father flew to mind, mocking Victoria, ranting over Lex's involvement with her. A beautiful performance to add to Lionel's repertoire. He did a convincing portrayal of a human being every now and then.

Lex needed to find out who was in charge of the acting lessons. He could use a few himself.

Still, he knew he had enough natural guile to fool Clark. It wasn't even a worthy challenge, given the crowd to which he usually performed. A smile slowly spread across his lips. "You don't have to explain, Clark. I've figured it out myself."

Clark was starting to look irritated, which was pleasantly predictable. "That's good. Since I've told you what happened, it shouldn't have been too hard."

"Seriously, Clark, you don't have to pretend anymore. You..." Paused to watch Clark stiffen. Again, predictable."... befriended Victoria, right? I'll bet she came straight to you when she realized her condition. It must have been a great gab session, Haagen-Dazs and coffee for two-"

"Very funny, Lex." Clark's irritation showed signs of accelerating into anger. "You planning to take this show on the road or something? 'Cause I'm not buying it."

Lex's fingers tightened around the glass. This was much better. Getting him rattled might work. "Of course, that theory fails to explain other things. Two cars with irregularly bent metal, for instance." A pause while he considered Clark's reaction and he pressed forward. "You can tell me anything, Clark. We're friends, right? Just tell me..."

"I don't know what you want me to say, Lex. I can't explain it-"

The rage boiled up inside and spilled over again. Lex threw his glass against the wall and watched as Clark's eyes flew wide. He allowed venom to drip from words that he ground out from between clenched teeth. "Don't lie to me! Not tonight. If you're going to make up another excuse, just get the fuck out."

Lex turned around and went to the fireplace. He stared into the flames and listened to the rush of his blood while he waited for the sound of the door slamming.

The last thing he expected after that outburst was for Clark to come closer.

~*~

Clark didn't move for a long moment. He stared at the stiff set of Lex's shoulders, tension and dismissal written in every line of his back. Clark realized he should leave. Lex obviously wanted him gone more than he wanted the truth.

That was all it took to make Clark decide to stay.

He crossed to where Lex stood, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Clark was still there. Confirmed it with a touch of his hand on Lex's shoulder that received a flinch in response. "Let me help, Lex."

"You can't."

Even Clark knew that someone who was twenty-one should never sound that old. He swallowed hard and worried at his lip. "Let me try."

He wasn't expecting Lex to jerk his shoulder away. When Lex whirled around, an ominous rigidity shrouded him like a fine mist. "Leave, Clark. Leave now, or our friendship will be over."

"Is that a threat?"

A bitter twisting of his lips. "It's a fact." Lex's hand reached up and a thumb traced suggestively across Clark's lips. He felt pierced on that blue-gray stare as it followed the motions and had to fight back a moan at the flash of sensation that went straight to his groin. "I'm capable of doing major damage, Clark. Get out before that happens."

Clark knew what the warning meant -- not just telling him to go for the night, but to not come back. For once, he was able to read everything going on in Lex's expression. All of it laid bare, and Clark was ready to play a very dangerous game. "I'm not afraid of you, Lex."

Lex's hand dropped away, eyes flying up, wide. He covered the slip in composure almost immediately. A brow cocked up and mocking. "I know," was the reply.

Lex's tone said, 'You should be'.

The silence that fell between them grew, stretched taut like a drawn bowstring. Clark wasn't used to Lex being readable, let alone speechless, and he instinctively filled the void. "Have you even noticed that you're bleeding?"

Lex reached up and touched his cheek. The blood from Victoria's scratches had started to congeal, but his fingers dislodged the incomplete clot, leaving smears of red across his cheek and fingers. "The sex kitten has sharp claws," he muttered with an attempt at indifference that failed miserably.

The undercurrents in the air swept with seductive menace over Clark. Exquisitely repulsive, and despite the instinct urging him to leave *now*, he didn't move away. Too late for retreat, and even if Lex hadn't realized that yet, Clark had.

The anticipated attack came on the tail of a chilling smile. "What do you want, Clark? Do you want me to tell you about Victoria? There's so many things I could say."

Lex began advancing on him, and Clark backed up in spite of himself. Trying to maintain the distance, but Lex just kept moving, footsteps punctuating his words. "I could tell you how much she hated begin taken in the ass, and how that just made it better. I would pretend her legs were longer, her hair shorter, her body shaped by lean muscles instead of curves."

Lex paused, giving him a silent, unmistakable body scan. Clark prayed his reaction remained concealed underneath his untucked flannel shirt. Didn't check himself for fear of giving away the truth. "Do you want to hear that when I'd get behind her and push inside, I'd close my eyes so I could imagine it was you? In the end, that was the only way I could come."

Backed up to the edge of the couch, and Clark stopped retreating. He'd accepted this, was waiting for it, and it seemed Lex might know that on some level because he stopped just inside Clark's personal space. "Does it get you hot, knowing that while I was fucking Victoria, I was wishing it was you?"

/God, yes.../ Didn't speak it. Had to let Lex play this out to the end.

"Do you want to take her place, Clark? Do you want me to touch you?"

He knew what Lex wanted to hear, knew instinctively what to say to stop this in its tracks. If he said the words Lex was expecting from him, Clark knew he'd be categorized -- tucked away safely in a labeled box and dismissed.

He wasn't willing to cede that conquest -- not when he knew that what Lex needed was entirely different from what he wanted.

Knowing that, Clark knew what he had to say.

"Lex... I... no."

Only the slightest hesitation before the cold smile reappeared, viciously triumphant. "Good."

Lex pushed Clark backwards, the edge of the sofa catching the backs of his calves and sending him into a sprawl on it. Lex climbed on top of him and straddled his thighs, reaching out to start unbuttoning Clark's shirt.

Had to hide his reaction. Had to make this *work*. "Lex..."

"You can stop me, Clark," Lex's menacing purr as seductive as the look he was giving him, heavy-lidded and burning. "We both know it. Just show me. Force me off you."

The buttons of the flannel were all freed from their holes, and Lex was stroking his chest, still covered by the cotton t-shirt. "No."

Lex leaned forward, hands sliding between the two shirts to explore his back now. "If you're waiting for those morals I don't have to kick in, you're making a mistake." Lex's mouth moved next to his ear, breathing on his skin but not touching it. "I need some truth tonight. Either you admit that you want this, or you prove I'm right and make me stop." Since Lex couldn't see it, Clark bit his lip, fighting the urge to *take*. "It's your choice, Clark." He leaned back again, eyes searing into Clark's. "Make it."

Clark didn't flinch, didn't look away. Made himself stay silent in the face of that overpowering presence Lex knew how to wield so maliciously. Stared into those eyes and searched, but they weren't alone in the room. Not yet.

Another raised brow look, this one more irritated than mocking. "You still don't believe I'll go through with this, do you?" Not waiting for a reply, Lex pressed his knees inward, drawing attention to his dominant position. "You'll tell me soon enough." Hands trailed up his chest and stopped at the edges of his collarbones, fingers hooking there, thumbs tracing the exposed flesh of his neck. "Don't worry, Clark. I won't fuck you until you're begging me to."

Lex roughly yanked Clark's flannel shirt off, cuff buttons abrading the backs of his hands. Lex's fingers at his waistband now, pulling the hem of his t-shirt out of his jeans and rucking it up his torso. Lex arched to bring his mouth down on an exposed nipple, licking first and then biting.

Clark clenched his hands into fists to stop himself from grabbing Lex's hips and thrusting against him. Knew he had to wait for it. Too soon to relent. Had to let Lex take what he needed first. Had to *give*.

Clark wished he could tell himself that he was being completely unselfish, that he was doing this to help Lex. But he was no better at lying to himself than he was at deceiving anyone else.

He wanted it, too.

More than that. He knew that this would bind Lex to him. Guilt was a powerful thing. Nearly as powerful as faith. Clark believed he could save them both.

Even if he was damning them both, it didn't matter. Not with Lex on top of him, touching him and tasting him, all around him and pressing into his skin like he wanted trying to fuse them into one being.

Clark wanted Lex, wanted *this*, and he didn't care how he got it.

Bit his lip against a cry of loss when Lex pulled back. The t-shirt pushed further up with silent command, and he raised his arms to allow Lex to pull it over his head and toss it away. Watched as Lex studied his chest visually and tactically, fingers roaming until they reached the hard nipples again to circle slowly and then twist. A jolt of sensation that might have been pain joining the pleasure, and Clark swallowed hard against the urge to ask for what Lex wasn't able to give him.

Lex placed his hands on the sofa, bracketing Clark's shoulders, and stared into his eyes for a long moment. Suddenly thrust his hips forward, and Clark couldn't stop the audible hitch in his breath. Waited for Lex's reaction and silently offered *anything* for it to be the right one.

A slow lean down, and Lex's lips hovered a breath away from his. "Tell me what you want, Clark. Tell me to fuck you, and I will."

Caught the answering plea before it emerged. Had to wait. Had to see the switch first. Drew in a deep breath that shuddered when he exhaled. Felt heat shoot from his cock to his spine when Lex began a slow grind in his lap. Knew what Lex was trying to do and *still* he almost begged for it. Managed to shake his head in counterfeit denial.

Felt the puff of Lex's breath against his lips when he laughed. The lips hovered over his skin without touching as they traversed a path along his jaw to his ear. "Your body doesn't lie any better than you do, Clark. Just this once, can't you tell me the truth?"

Heated breath down his neck, across his collarbone. Wanted that mouth on him. Lips, tongue, teeth, everything. The taunt of that hot air not enough, and Lex knew it, was waiting for him to plead, to surrender. Lex still needed that control, and Clark knew he couldn't last much longer, but he had to try.

A low, frustrated growl met his ears, and suddenly Lex's hands were at his waist again. He shifted back to get access to Clark's fly and quickly undid the button, slid the zipper down. A questing hand invaded Clark's boxers and sent all thought scattering.

Long, hot fingers closing around his cock. Not stroking except the thumb that circled the head slowly, playing with the foreskin and spreading the pre-come that had leaked from him. A slight squeeze that sent heat racing through Clark's nerve endings. He was burning alive from the inside out, felt like he might just come apart from nothing more than watching Lex holding him in his hand.

Lex wasn't looking at him. Lex was still fully dressed. This was about to go horribly wrong if Clark didn't do something.

He did the only thing he could think of. He reached out and touched Lex, covering the erection concealed by his black trousers. Heard Lex's gasp and felt the instinctive arch against his hand. Lex still wasn't looking at him. Unclenched the fingers of his other hand and unbuttoned Lex's shirt, surprised that he was able to manage it with how much he was shaking. Even more surprised that Lex was letting him do it.

Spread the fabric and rested his hand flat on Lex's abdomen. Moved it slowly up until it reached his chest, stopped there to feel the pounding of Lex's heart under his palm. Still no words stopping him, Lex's eyes staring downward, and Clark couldn't take much more of this. Raised his hand to Lex's chin and tilted it up, forcing Lex to look at him, hoping that Lex would *see*.

He watched the blue eyes, trapping them with his own, not letting Lex look away. The moment it changed, he saw it. This was no longer a piece of performance art for the ghosts in the room. Once what had happened disappeared and left only the present, Clark was finally able to speak.

And he said the only thing that mattered. "Lex..."

~*~

He'd never heard surrender and absolution in a single syllable before.

Lex couldn't ask for more, even if he wanted to and thought he should. It was enough. He leaned down to take what he hadn't allowed himself to have yet. Slid his free hand into the dark hair and lowered his mouth to Clark's.

Kissed him slowly at first, learning the texture of those soft lips from the outside before teasing them open and sliding his tongue inside. He explored carefully, craving every texture like a drug. He teased Clark's tongue into playing with his, eventually luring it into his own mouth and sucking on it, feeling the shudder in Clark when he did that.

Felt Clark's hand come up to cup the back of his head and angled further into the kiss, made it deeper. Pressed his tongue back into Clark's mouth with rough impatience. Slid into that warmth and wanted to mark every inch of it, painted each surface with hungry stabs and licks until they were both breathless and had to pull back for air.

Clark didn't waste any time -- his hands were already fumbling at the button of Lex's slacks. Lex pushed away and climbed off Clark to stand. He relished the hungry gaze that traveled over him as he unfastened his cufflinks. They landed on the coffee table behind him with a light clatter and were soon joined by the dress shirt he stripped off and discarded over his shoulder.

He bent down to pull off his shoes and socks, managing to balance and keep his eyes on Clark the entire time. Kiss-bruised lips and disheveled dark hair, laying in a boneless slouch with the moistened head of his cock peeking out of the lowered waistband of his boxers, Clark visually defined lost innocence. Lex supposed that should have made him feel remorseful, but he'd made an art of defying expectations. Even his own.

When he straightened to remove his trousers, he saw that Clark was toeing off his shoes. As Lex divested himself of the rest of his clothes, he realized that Clark's regrets would come later. He'd been teased too far to back off without release, but the damage was already done. No way for Lex to give back what he'd already taken from Clark, so stopping now would solve nothing.

Live for the moment. Make one time mean something. There would be plenty of time to hate himself for it after.

Shook himself out of the inner dramatics when he saw Clark stand up and hook his thumbs in the waistband of his jeans. Lex dropped his slacks and moved forward, grabbing Clark's hands to still them. The green eyes shot heat through him, and he answered the question there. "Let me."

Clark's hands fell away, leaving Lex's to take their place. He drew the denim fabric down Clark's legs, ending up kneeling and lifting one leg, then the other. Tossing the jeans away and running his hands slowly up the muscled legs, feeling the hair and the skin underneath. Had to stop and lick behind the bend of a knee to hear the gasp that trailed into a groan. Felt the shudder in Clark, fingers reaching out to trace his skull as he tongued the flesh then sucked it into his mouth for a soft nip.

Turned his head to run his tongue along Clark's inner thigh. His hands slid up Clark's flanks to grab the elastic of the boxers and pull them down. Moved his head back reluctantly, but he had to get the fabric out of the way. Dropped the garment for Clark to kick off when it pooled at his feet and resumed sampling the flesh in front of him.

Going higher now, savoring the difference in texture and taste. Body hair becoming coarser, musk mixing with the salt of the sweat in the crease where thigh met groin. He leaned back slightly, pausing until Clark looked down at him. Held that gaze while he licked Clark's balls, one then the other, before suckling them, and he smiled when Clark bit his lip and the fingers still cradling Lex's skull spasmed.

His hands slid around Clark's hips to cup his ass as he moved away from the sac to lick along the prominent vein on the bottom of the shaft, tracing a path from base to tip. Clark's hips shot forward in supplication, in offering, and Lex tongued the fresh pre-come from the head just to see if Clark would bite his lip again.

He did, and Lex licked his own lips, watching the blanched marks disappear as blood flowed into the dents with the retreat of white teeth. Arousing as all hell, and he had to give what Clark was silently begging for, couldn't stand the tease any longer himself. Took the hard cock in his mouth, tongued the foreskin and sucked lightly on the head. Played a little -- the faintest raking of teeth that earned him a pleasured shudder and fingers clenching on his shoulder -- before taking it deeper, working in earnest.

With applied pressure from his hands, he encouraged Clark's natural instinct to thrust inside the wet heat of his mouth. Lex felt his own cock jerk at the sheer possession he felt at taking Clark deep into his throat. Sucking, swallowing, tonguing until there was nothing Clark could do but thrust one last time and release, come jetting down Lex's throat, taken in with closed eyes and a pleasured groan.

Lex released Clark, watching as he fell back on the sofa and tried to regain his equilibrium. Lex studied the uneven rise and fall of Clark's chest with fascination, then ran his eyes over the rest of him, stopping once at the parted lips and again at the stunned but sated eyes. Lex blindly reached behind himself to pull open the small drawer in the coffee table, realizing he had one thing he could thank Victoria for. Her continual initiation of impromptu sex had led him to keep supplies on hand in unusual places.

He quickly ripped the foil packet and prepared himself, catching Clark watching him with more than just curiosity as he put the condom on. Lex put the bottle on the floor next to Clark's feet and moved between his legs. Clark was perfectly positioned for the preparation already, shoulders propped against the back of the couch, hips at the edge of the cushion. Opened and waiting in a pose that was more erotic because Lex knew it was natural, merely the result of his fall.

Clark leaned down for a kiss and Lex allowed him to drive it this time, the tongue delving into his mouth a divine type of distracting torture as he opened the bottle and poured the lube into his hands to warm it. He felt Clark jerk slightly when he began massaging the slick fluid into flesh. A few languid strokes of the perineum had him tensing, then relaxing exactly the way Lex had intended.

At the intrusion of the first finger into him, Clark's head flew back with a gasp. Eyes came back down to Lex's, wide with surprise then shuttering with pleasure as Lex worked the finger inside him. When the second slick finger entered, stretching and probing along with the first, Clark groaned and thrust forward against the pressure of them, and Lex noted that the blessing of the teen sex drive had Clark almost fully erect again. Knew he wouldn't last much longer watching that, so the third finger went in fast. Clark tensed but then started moving again, thrusting against the fingers, and Lex knew he was ready.

He pulled out of Clark and waited until his eyes were partly unglazed. "Come here." Lex directed Clark to the floor and had him turn around, kneeling with his arms braced on the couch once Lex was done positioning him. It was better for Clark this way -- physically easier, less intimate. Something he could walk away from.

"Lex?"

The voice was choked, slightly desperate, and Lex knew he couldn't allow any more time for doubts. He moved to kneel between Clarks calves, trailed a hand slowly down the bumps in his spine to learn the feel. "Just appreciating the view," he murmured. Clark's chuckle trailed into a groan as Lex reached the base of his spine and moved two fingers in a caress down the cleft of his ass.

Having used the free hand to slick his cock, Lex was ready. Torturing himself with the wait but wanting this to last, he didn't press inside. Instead, he leaned down to place an open-mouthed kiss the back of Clark's neck, then licked a path to his ear. "I want to feel you from the inside." Paused, smiling when he heard the moan. Then Clark pushed back, his ass colliding with Lex's cock, and Lex couldn't stop the hiss of the quickly draw breath he took at the pain-pleasure of the contact. Grabbing the shreds of his composure, he whispered again, more unsteady this time, rougher. "Do you want that, too? Do you want me in you?"

Clark shuddered under him. Lacking words to ask, he blindly reaching back to clasp a hand on Lex's hip and pull forward. Lex didn't need any further prodding. He positioned his cock at Clark's opening and pushed forward just enough to breach entry. Listened to the hitch in Clark's breathing, waited to feel the loosening. It came sooner than expected, and he let his hands glide down to brace Clark's hips and thrust slowly into that incredible, tight heat. Pressed in to the hilt and just stopped, just tried to *breathe*.

Wanted to memorize this, freeze-burn into his mind how Clark felt, sounded, tasted. After the pause, Lex began to thrust -- out slow; in fast. He gradually increased the pace as Clark started to move with him, heard the sounds Clark was making and that just drove him faster, closer to breaking. Trying to angle the strokes just right, knowing each time he succeeded by the sounds Clark made, the flesh convulsing around him in reward. Lex leaned down, allowing one hand to slide past Clark's flank and close around his cock. Clark was ready to go over the edge, thrusting forward into Lex's hand then back against his hips in a completely unstudied rhythm. Lex stopped stroking him and moved to caress Clark's balls instead, ignoring the whimpered protest in favor of prolonging the pleasure.

"God... Lex... *please*..."

That *voice*. Needy and wanting and so *agonized* that it broke what little resistance he'd had. Lex returned his hand to the shaft, probably jacking Clark too roughly in his sudden lack of motor-skill finesse, but Clark was groaning, urging him on wordlessly. Everything was down to sensation now -- instinct taking over, technique a long forgotten concept. Lex heard Clark cry out, come spilling over his hand to drop on the floor. Clark had barely finished shaking when Lex felt the burn begin at the base of his spine and shoot outward through his body. Two more thrusts and he was falling over the edge himself, the world compressing and expanding, then *exploding*. He felt shudders wracking through every muscle and welcomed them. Everything he had poured out and left him weak, but he didn't care. Collapsed against Clark's strong back and just let the aftershocks take him down.

This time, he'd had his eyes wide open.

Rational thought returned unbidden and completely unwelcome. Fuck... he really was going to have to move, wasn't he? Lex repressed the urge to stroke Clark's back as he levered himself up, his sweat and Clark's clinging to his skin, Clark's come starting to dry on his fingers. Reached behind him and snagged some tissues to wipe off his hand.

Lex pulled out of Clark and stood. Removing the condom and knotting it, he bundled it inside the tissues and tossed the lot into the garbage can next to the sofa. The action drew Clark's attention, his head lifting to look over at the source of the sound, then searching over his shoulder for Lex.

Lex saw the silent question from his peripheral vision, but he turned away. Make this cold; make it harsh; make it easy. He'd already pulled on his slacks and reached down to retrieve his shirt from the coffee table. Negligently leaving the buttons undone, he crossed to the bar. While he poured the liquor, Lex could hear Clark moving behind him, gathering clothes and putting them on. He downed the first drink quickly and poured another, not daring to speak until he heard the sound of a zipper going up. "I guess I got my truth after all. Goodbye, Clark."

"You're not getting rid of me that easily. It'll be different next time."

There was something inherently wrong with that statement, and Lex turned around, not trusting what he'd heard. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Clark finished putting his shoes on and stood up, grabbing his flannel and shrugging into it as he crossed the room toward Lex. "It means that next time, we'll do this on my terms."

"Your... terms?"

Clark stopped when he was less than one foot away, hands still working the buttons on his shirt. "Yes. Next time, there's nobody in the room except you and me. Next time, I don't want you pushing me away and pulling me in at the same time." Clark's hand reached up to cup his cheek, thumb trailing across his lips, and Lex had a sudden case of reverse deja vu. "And Lex... next time, I want to see your face when you come."

Lex couldn't speak, and Clark just grinned at him. "Good*night*, Lex"

Watching Clark's back as he walked away, Lex finally found words to say. "I don't get you, Clark. This is not the way normal people behave."

Clark laughed and stopped at the door to shoot Lex a sideways look. "I'm not a normal person, Lex. Neither are you. That's why we fit."

Clark's tone when he'd said that he wasn't normal tripped Lex's internal sensor. "How are you 'not normal', Clark?"

Another smile, this one shadowed. "Maybe I'll tell you... next time. I only lie when I have to, Lex. Remember that."

Lex stared at the abandoned doorway for a while, thoughts racing through his head at a pace too fast and jumbled to be properly processed. He put his glass down on the bar and crossed the floor, fingers moving mechanically to button up his shirt. Stopping at the chessboard, he reached out a hand to retrieve the white knight. It had remained on the board through some quirk in his father's strategy, taking a blocking position at the black king's four.

He didn't elevate his hand as he pulled the knight from the board, scattering the remaining pieces, both black and white, that lay in his path. He closed his fist, feeling the edges of the hand-carved piece digging into his palm.

As Lex exited the room, a black pawn that had been knocked from the board rolled into a groove on the stone floor and fell still.

-- The End --

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