Davis reached down and slowly undid the sash of her robe. Chloe's eyes flashed up to his in startlement, but she didn't resist.

Holding her surprised gaze, he slowly parted the robe, exposing a narrow band of flesh. The line of bare skin started at her neck, running between her breasts, then down to where the material was twisted across one hip. He ran a finger gently down along that line of perfect skin. His body was hard and insistent, but he ignored it.

She swallowed visibly. Her eyes were wide and still shining. "Davis, I don't think-"

He had damaged something between them tonight by allowing the monster to use him. Thinking on it now, he realized he could have attacked the thug as a man. He could have even done so by tapping Doomsday for power, but kept his human self intact.

He hadn't done that though. When he had seen that man lay violent hands on Chloe, he had instead let the howling madness of The Beast take over. He had wanted the man destroyed, and that was what Doomsday did.

He had given in to his very darkest impulses without a second thought and damaged something in her by making her a part of it. He had to attempt to repair that break. He had to remind her he was a man too and not just a monster. He placed his other finger over her lips. "Please Chloe, let me do this for you. Let me remind you that not everything is blood, and pain, and death. There is warmth, and joy, and fireworks. Let me do this for you."

Removing his finger from her lips, he paused - both his words and his gentle touch. "And maybe I need to do it for me too. Maybe I need to know that I can still do something good. Even if it is just this for you."

Her eyes filled with tears again, but he thought this time they might be for him. The haunted look was finally fading from her eyes. He felt that for the first time this horrible night, she may be actually seeing him - Davis - again and not just the shell holding the monster.

"Oh Davis, you are good. I see it. You are in an impossible position, but you still try."

She placed a small hand to his cheek and smiled gently.

Davis held her gaze for a long moment, searching her eyes. What he saw there took his breath away. She really believed what she said. She may not love him, may never really forgive him, but she knew he was trying. There were no words for what he felt, so instead he chose actions. He slowly lowered his face to hers. He wasn't sure if she would let him kiss her or not, she had been so insistent on reinforcing exactly where the "Do Not Cross" line was between them. So he gave her plenty of time to say no. With one last flick of his eyes to hers, her slowly pressed his lips to hers. It was soft and gentle and tentative. Just lips pressed to lips, no more. It went that way for long moments as they reacquainted themselves with the feel of each other's lips.

It may have started softly, but as it always had for them, passion quickly rose to the surface.

Covering her mouth with his, Davis tried to put every last bit of his love, his thanks, his need and joy for her into his kiss. Kissing Chloe was the sum or everything important that was left in his world. She drank it up like she was dying of thirst and he was a pool of clear water.

His hand moved to further part her robe, and even though it was warm here near the fire, she shivered. He ran his hand along her beautiful smooth skin. He was torn between wanting to see her body, and not wanting to part from her lips. So instead he focused for clues as to what she wanted. This was about her, not him.

Her responsive body would tell him what she needed.

Running his hand back up along her body, he pushed the robe aside until he could feel an exposed breast. He gently cupped it in his hand, feelings the fullness and weight of it. She moaned against his mouth. She had the most beautiful breasts, and they fit his hand so perfectly. He grazed his thumb over the sensitive peak and she moaned again. That was all the clue he required. He alternated drawing circles around the sensitive flesh and gentle brushes across it. She began to squirm as heat built within her. She begged for more with a sigh of his name.

"Davis..."

There was nothing in the world as sexy as Chloe saying his name with need in her voice. His hardness pressed insistently against the clammy fabric of his wet clothes. His body didn't care that this was about her, not him. It didn't help that Chloe was squirming in his lap, causing tantalizing contact even through the wet material covering him.

Pushing aside his own desires, Davis focused on Chloe. He shifted his hand to run down over her side. Seeing his direction, she parted her legs, exposing one bare thigh from the robe. He ran his hand over the thigh and around to her inner leg. The robe still tantalizingly covered the apex. He ran his finger among the terrycloth edge. The fabric was just barely covering her center.

He remembered the feel of her and the taste of her from that heavenly week together. It was never far from his mind. Feeling her again, made his body was so hard it hurt. Chloe shifted in his lap slightly and part of the robe slipped, exposing a bit of curl. He realized then that they had stopped kissing, both caught up in the feel of their bodies against each other. He took a moment to study Chloe's face. Her eyes were closed and her lips were slightly parted. Her breathing was fast and uneven. Everything about her screamed her desire.

Watching her face, he pushed the robe aside, exposing her core. She moaned and rolled her head back. Still watching her, he moved his hand to cup her. She pressed her hips up into his hand.

"Look at me, Chloe," he commanded.

She opened dazed eyes to meet his.

Holding her gaze, he slid one long, delicate finger into her. Her eyes began to close again. "No Chloe. Look at me." Her eyes slowly opened again. He slid the finger out of her slightly and sank it back in, but this time he curled the end so it hit the hidden spot deep inside her.

Her sleepy eyes sprang open at the sensation. "Oh my god..."

Davis smiled, pleased. God, she was so damn responsive. It was unlikely she had ever been with anyone that truly knew what they were about except him. He loved being the one that could give that to her. Only him.

He used his thumb to start flick across her, as his finger stroked inside her. Her hips began thrusting upwards as she rode his hand. Her rounded tush shifting around on his hardened body almost made set him off right through the clammy denim.

He knew she was at the very edge, so he shifting the finger inside her slightly. Then he scrapped the fingernail along that wonderful spot inside her.

She let out a screech of release as her hips bucked wildly. He had to grit his teeth to hold himself back from taking his own pleasure. He desperately wished to bury his throbbing hardness in her quivering body, but this was about her. He was the monster that had brought her so much pain, he didn't deserve pleasure. She did.

So he would give her all the pleasure he could.

As her shudders slowed, he shifted his hand from inside her to cradling her hip. Readjusting the other arm that had nearly gone dead with supporting her, her stood up from the couch with Chloe in his arms.

"What? Where?" she asked hazily.

"Bed. I'm not done with you yet."

"Oh. OK,"she said groggily.

He smiled. He knew that the sleepiness wouldn't last.

Placing her on the bed, he gently removed her robe. He paused, uncertain what to do with his own clothes. They were clammy, but he didn't want to take any pleasure for himself. He already received too much satisfaction in just touching her, watching her, making her explode. Removing his own clothes and feeling Chloe's skin on his would be exquisite. He wasn't sure how to balance on the line.

Chloe solved his moment of indecision. She gently tugged on his wet shirt. "This is cold and nasty. Make it go away."

He smiled. He had his answer. He also removed the jeans, though he kept the boxer briefs on. They barely contained him as it was. If his hardness touched that beautiful skin of hers, he would be lost. He would be plunging into her, no matter what promises he had made.

He did allow himself the pain/pleasure of running his eyes over the vision before him though. In her sated state, Chloe's skin glowed. She was small, with beautifully formed with full hips and breasts. Her waist was tiny, and her face... God, her beautiful, expressive face with their green eyes seemed to pierce what was left of his soul.

"God, Chloe. You are so beautiful."

She shifted uncomfortably. "No I'm not, but it is sweet of you -"

He cut her off. Grasping her face in his hands, he looked deep into her eyes. "You are beautiful." He leaned in to kiss her. He kissed her mouth, "Beautiful." Then her eyes "Beautiful." Then shifting down her body, he kissed her breast. "Beautiful". Then shifting down again, so his mouth hovered over her mound, he kissed the soft curls. "Beautiful."

"Davis, I -"

He didn't know what she meant to say, but he cut it off by plunging his tongue into her.

She cried out and her hips leapt of the bed. He had been expected something like that given her need, so made sure he was clear of her bucking hips. When she settled, panting, back onto the bed, he eased his way this time.

Using the softest of licks, he ran his tongue over her. Her hips twitched, but he was prepared. He held her thighs, keeping her in place. He reveled in the warm, sunshine and woman taste of her. It was even better than he remembered. He began plunging his tongue into her, using its mobile firmness to pierce her. He knew that he couldn't get the depth here to make here explode. He was just building her up, but judging from the way her hands were clenching and unclenching in his still-damp hair, it was working. When she began making lost little noises, he knew he had to turn up the pressure. He moved back up to the sensitive bud. Without warning of his intention, he thrust his tongue out and began flicking across it fast. Chloe cried out and bucked her hips. Again he held her in place with his hands on her thighs and kept up the intense flicking. He felt her beginning to crest, and switched to lapping strokes of his tongue interspersed with the intense flicking. When her body began to shake, he knew she was at the edge of what she could stand. He began the intense flicks, pressing hard into her. As she went over the precipice, he plunged two fingers into her.

Her scream echoed around the room, and her hips moved wildly as she rode his tongue. Wave after wave after wave of pleasure cresting over her. She had to beg for him to stop and lay curled as the surges continued to pour over her, causing her entire body to shake.

Davis was kneeling back on his heels watching her body convulse, his eyes molten. His chardness had worked out of his boxer briefs and was thrusting up into the sky.

Finally coming back down, Chloe realized his state. "Oh, Davis, you-"

Leaning forward carefully so his aching body didn't brush her flesh, he gave her a lingering kiss. "It's OK Chloe. This was for you."

"But-"

Pulling a blanket from the end of the bed, he draped it over her. "Go to sleep Chloe. I'll see you in the morning."

Exhaustion finally got the better off her and she was asleep in seconds.

Davis grasped himself and put it back into the briefs, even though it was painfully sensitive. Gathering up his clothes, he made his way down to his basement lair. He spent a painful, sleepiness night waiting for his body to give up thoughts of Chloe. The taste of her on his tongue made that impossible, but he couldn't bear to wash it away. It was the only pleasure he would allow himself, because it had been her pleasure. He didn't deserve pleasure for himself after what he had done in releasing the monster.

It frightened him how easily he had let himself slip back into the role of lover. When he saw how broken Chloe had been, her had to help her in the only way he could think of. That was all.

And it changed nothing between them.

He told himself it was needed for her, not for him. For that reason, he wouldn't even give himself the relief he so desperately needed. It was his own form of penance.

As he curled around his painfully swollen body, he wondered...Was it wrong to pray for salvation of the body as well as the soul?