A/N: I don't own any of this.
This didn't feel great to write, but I've done some fluff and had an idea about something more realistic.
Escalation
Clark knows Lex doesn't intend to hurt him.
Not that he could, of course. Though Lex doesn't know that. But he wouldn't, if he could. Not on purpose, at least.
But something is happening, changing, and Clark doesn't know why. He only knows that Lex is not as gentle as he once was. The intensity, the passion is still there - but there is a hardness to it now that makes everything different.
At the beginning Lex was tender, his touch delicate and kind, his kisses almost worshipful ... it was as if he was afraid to push too hard, that he believed Clark as fragile as he was irresistible. But now it seems Lex is trying to break him, leave marks, force him to cry out for mercy. It feels less like love and more like violence.
Clark doesn't know what complex emotional riddle Lex is trying to work out. He can't even convince Lex to tell him that anything is wrong. But Clark feels it in the hands that grip much too tightly, the unexpected sharpness of teeth against his impenetrable skin, the affected rising and falling of Lex's chest afterwards when Clark knows he's not asleep.
He yields every time. He wants to think he can solve Lex's troubles with his love.
He knows Lex doesn't want to hurt him.
He repeats it so he'll remain sure.