A.N. This is part of my 'Chemistry Series' including 'Warm' 'Warmer' 'Chemistry' 'hot' 'hotter' and 'hottest'. I know, it's light on the actual fluff but, there are good reasons for this.

1) Life is rough.

2) The fluff is on its way.

3) There are some fluffy components to these chapters. I want people to see how they can be engaging without falling apart on one another. Also, I put a lotta time and effort into 'Wizards of 'Warts at Wiztech' and nobody's reviewing! :'( It's okay though. I have the next bit in my head. So, enjoy...

"Justin… I need your help," Her voice came over the phone. He groaned. Alex did this so often now… want him, need him… demand him! And she always managed to find a reason for him to fix her problems.

"Justin….!" Her sing-song tone sounded announcing she was getting impatient.

"I'm on my way!" He called. Slamming the door to his apartment, Justin ran the necessary six blocks to reach his girlfriend/booty-call/friend/enemy/incredibly-sexy-yet-emotionally-unavailable acquaintance's home. He felt the coming spring breeze, but it was still pretty cold out. Reaching her place, the genius paused for a moment to think.

Oh, these were the days were he hated ever even meeting that girl. The second the door flew open, he had to take a step back. Heat shimmered out.

"Get in here!" Her voice had lost all pretext of seduction. He sighed and went to work.

Last month, as part of his, "you are my girlfriend, and a girlfriend gets gifts" phase, he had installed a new artificial sun heating system; environmentally friendly, cheap, and reusable. It had cut her heating bills down to zeros. He hoped to have a safe prototype to sell in six to seven months.

Alex had decided, as part of her, "no man owns me, so I'll do whatever I want" phase, to take it for a test spin. She turned the power up, way up.

Justin took his shirt off grumbling. Alex had slept over at his apartment (only slept over, you dirty freaks, get your minds out of the gutter) the past few nights, and had forgotten (felt too embarrassed) to explain that she did not know how to work his "heating thingie." Such a sophisticated device required his 'special touch'.

"Get your mind out of the gutter," He said after she smirked about his 'special touch.' Still, this was going to be tricky; the machine was unstable now. He had no idea just how tricky it would be.

Alex appeared wearing a thinly layered piece of cloth and a leopard bikini.

Justin swallowed hard when she came to see him. Thin lines of sweat beaded her skin. She pursed her lips sensually over the straw in her sweet tea.

"Are you almost done?"

Justin took a moment to collect his thoughts. He stuttered out an answer that sounded like, "Does it feel warm in here to you?"

Alex regarded him coolly by tipping her hot pink glasses. (How did she remain unfazed in this heat?) Justin swallowed again when she waggled a finger at him. It felt like a summons, not a tsk-tsk. He hoped it was a summons.

Justin tip-toed into her front room and found his… whatever she was, prostrate on a beach blanket. She had shed the cloth and lay herself down. There was something very… distracting about her posture. Alex had the superpower to make anything- well, hot, for lack of a better term.

"Justin, how about a hand?" She gestured towards a bottle of sun-tan lotion. He reached for it, understanding now how his system had been broken. Alex wanted a day in the sun, and decided to crank up the power. He had to shed his coat and shirt, his sweat had already soaked through.

"Justin…" She whined. He knelt beside her. Justin could not see her eyes, but her hair was a sweet-smelling pillow blossoming behind the back of her head. Times like these reminded him of how beautiful his girlfriend was without even trying.

He did, however, see her left had reach up her back… to the strings attaching her top… her nimble index and middle finger…. Slowly, slowly twirled the loose end… and then pulled it taunt…. The strain made a silent harmony as Justin's blood pounded noisily in his ears… and the loop Alex was pulling on collapsed-which caused the knot to collapse, which meant-

Justin dropped the suntan, blops of the white goo popped onto her back.

Whoops.

"Justin, I need your help," She breathed. His hand trembled. Alex had to know what she was doing to him, she had to! He took a steady breath and squirted some lotion into his hand. Her breathing was eerily steady, he almost did not trust himself to touch her. Alex lay as calm as a leaf on the ground, waiting for him. He reached forward tentatively.

"Oh!" She gasped when his hand touched her. Justin leapt back. Her head whipped around, and those cool, calculating eyes whipped at him from under the pink sunglasses, "Justin, that is so cold!"

He mumbled an apology, absently noticing the right string had fallen off her back after her head turned. Her eyes slowly moved back and forth, taking his in; they were monitoring him for reaction. Alex knew how to get him worked up- flustered beyond rational thought. Right now she knew exactly what to say, and exactly how to act to get him to look stupid.

"Justin, I still need your help…" Her voice was dull. She was getting to her real plan, after all, and he was not participating.

"Um, yeah, I… yeah," He managed to approach her. Their eyes locked. Even after everything they had done together, (the things that girl could do with her tongue, just plain impossible, and how was she so flexible?!) he still found himself nervous touching her.

It was so impossible to him. Several times already, she had surprised him at his office. Alex appeared, often wearing something skimpy, and pretended she was going out of her way to socialize with him. The second he even pretended her presence was not the most important topic in his life, she acted out. The odd thing, besides her behavior, was his. She had gotten him to do some... really spicy things with her- to her, really. She liked to be treated a certain way, and had ways of... having fun. Really explicite, filthy ways. Yet here he was, playing into her hands, as nervous as he had been on their first date. Justin had seen her completely naked, asking, very nicely, for him to put down his instrument and make love to her. They had been together several times, but somehow it still felt fresh to him, downright kinky no matter what she did...

Justin smeared the lotion over his hands while Alex looked on gleefully. The humidity had vanished, leaving a dry heat. He felt the need to drink from her tea, but also felt it would be impossible to ask for permission. Finally, after his stalling earned him a groan (seriously, he was acting like this he was painting that one chapel their boring art teacher had gone on and on in class) he placed his hands against her shoulders hesitatingly. After her neutral reaction, he pushed on, spreading the lotion evenly across her back. For a second, just touching her skin was enough to content him.

But Alex wanted more.

She sighed happily, leaning forward. The strings dipped even lower on her back. Justin found it odd that they were still there, like the fig leaves that Eve had in the paintings in the Sistine Chapel. How it clung to her! His hand pushed past her neck, her wings, and to the middle of her back. He tentatively brushed away the strings, baring her to him. Justin prayed that there would be no repercussions.

There were; Alex moaned loudly, "Justin, I need your help! Lower!"

His hands slid to the bottom of her ribcage.
"Lower!" She demanded. His hand hit the back of her stomach, "Lower!"

A gasp escaped her when he hit the small of her back. Alex whispered something Justin could not quite hear.

He bent nearer to her, "What?"

Her lids were closed beneath her glasses, dark red lips panting out silently, "I said… I said…" She took a breath.

"You need my help, right?" She nodded her head along with him, "What do you want Alex?"

Her eyes were shut, squeezed on the brink of ecstacy. Quietly, as if telling him a secret, she whispered in his ear, "Lower, Justin, I need you lower."

He reapplied the lotion, and slid it across the top of her bikini bottom. Her body trembled beneath him.

Justin took a moment to relish this; Alex, who was the driving force here, who had pushed him so thoroughly for so long, he continually lost all control and- well…...

(Alex was so noisy in his lab… doing her 'Alex things'... the corner desk found its contents knocked to the floor far too often. The furniture had been renamed in her honor. Together, they ripped apart his lab in throes of passion he thought improbable... The women Justin worked with actually respected him more, even if, after Alex left, visibly readjusting her clothes, he was incapable of doing much but muttered under his reddened cheeks. She had wrecked so much equipment...!)

He took this second to know for a fact that he was needed. She craved his attention, his touch. He was not just a toy, or someone she enjoyed. Sometimes, his girlfriend actually needed him. (Girlfriend, right?)

Alex shivered a bit when his hands withdrew. Her bikini bottom's elastic slowly crept back up, hiding what he had uncovered. She relaxed her buttocks, which had tensed unconsciously to her lover. This was what she wanted- to get worked up- to taunt, and tease, and drive him mad. Just one problem...

"Justin, I need you!" Alex pouted. He kissed her, angling her head up carefully. She was so skillful. As her neck reached for him, she granted him an eyeful of her breasts- but not too much to distract him from his kissing duties, but just enough to remind him how amazingly sexual she was. Her body lifted from the ground slowly leaving its covering behind, leaving the swell in shadow. They pulled apart and she, eyes closed, whispered to him privately, "I need you… lower.

Moving awkwardly back to his position, he went across the top of her bikini bottom.

"Justin!" It was not a shout, but it had urgency, "I need… you… lower…"

His mind froze for a moment, then he leaned forward, pushing his hands towards the bikini bottom. The material was not particularly tough; it wrinkled from his touch, baring more and more to him. He made a quick sweep and pushed it lower. The material reluctantly followed him partway, as if it had told him too much of a secret, but could not recover all of it. His hand dipped down onto her cheeks, slowly, slowly... slowly relishing in the soft firmness they possessed.

Her left hand was idly twirling at the string of her bottom. She would pull it taunt, just enough to start to pull it out, then released, then pulled it… then released it, teasing him. A bit, barely half a ladybug, was pulled out of the loop of the tie. Justin took a great deal of self-control out of his reserve not to rip her clothes off. Alex got off on this time. She loved to make him sweat, which at this point, was literally true. Actually, the air had started to cool, a fog enveloping them.

Alex shivered, "Justin?"

The heat had gone out. He sighed, and went to fix the machine. From his calibrations, it would not be operational for the next hour or so. His prototype needed a lot of work. Justin smiled to himself, remembering how Alex had actually demanded he hand it over. She had dropped by his office in an amorous mood. Teasing him, pushing him, finally he removed the machine from 'her spot' on the desk and swept the rest onto the floor. She had been offended the machine got so much attention. What was more important than immediately pleasuring her carnal lusts?! He actually took a moment to move it before beding her over like a slutty whore and-

And now she had broken it. Great. He went back to the room he found her in, but she had left. GREAT! Now his girlfriend was finished with her fun. He could hear her shifting on her bed. In the corner of his eye, he spotted that offensive bottom half of garment lying inside her bedroom. Oh, how his love for that bikini had so swiftly turned to hate.

"Justin?"

She loved calling his name.

"Sorry, Alex, your heat will be out for a little bit." He could practically hear her pout, "It'll be back on soon, I promise."

"How soon?"

"An hour or so," He flinched.

"Justin, I need your help!"

He stomped into the room, and found her snuggled into her pillows. Her bed was a fortress of warmth and comfort against the creeping winter chill.

Justin stood over her, "What do you need?"
She pouted, "Lower!"

He sat on the bed, "What do you need?"

"Lower!"

Justin leveled himself against her, "What do you need?!"
She smiled at him, "Justin… I need you!"

A.N. Guess what happens next! No, really, I am sure some of you have put it together. I'm sorry this is heavy on the sensual; I'm just going through a phase. After the next one or two, I'll get back into the emotional ones. The continuation of my 'Estranged' arc is coming up, and if I get the time, I will finish what should have been the first multi-chapter arc; "The X."

-Clever