Part 4
"This is another one of those little ironies that give us so much in common, right?" Lex asked as he slipped out of the limousine and came to stand next to Bruce in the winding driveway in front of his lover's home. The mansion's many turrets stood out against the waning sun, tall and proud, so like their owner in many ways. Bruce Wayne merely laughed.
"I told you it was scary how alike we were," he commented, leading Lex up a small flight of stone stairs to the front door of the imposing edifice that was Wayne Manor.
"It's..."
"... like living in a museum," supplied the inhabitant of the Gothic wonder. "Especially recently, what with the Gotham Historical Society setting up shop for tomorrow night. Alfred pulled all the old antiques out of storage for the event. Some of it I'm sure I've never seen before in my entire life."
"How is Alfred?" Lex asked, smiling at the thought of Bruce not knowing his own possessions. Like with the vacation homes, he realized, which suddenly made sense to Lex when he factored in Alfred. The kindly butler-turned-guardian had apparently done his best to shield his young charge from the magnitude of his own excess.
"Oh, he's good... he's... Alfred," Bruce replied with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "He'll be pleased to see you, I'm sure," he said as he ushered Lex inside.
"Indeed I am, Master Bruce," Alfred said, having overheard them from where he stood at the bottom of the grand staircase. "Very pleased. Master Lex." He inclined his head politely in Lex's direction. "Your trip was enjoyable, I hope."
"Very much so, yes. Thank you, Alfred," Lex replied. He wasn't sure he'd get used to the older man calling him "master." It was too weird.
The other man smiled back before turning his attention to his former ward, leaving Lex to explore the foyer with his eyes. Stone floors and walls and a high ceiling--chandelier suspended gracefully above his head--greeted his curious gaze. Niches cut into the stone sported some of the antiques Bruce had mentioned moments before. Indeed, very much like a museum, Lex concurred. "A message came for you while you were out, sir," he told Bruce, handing his a slip of paper. Bruce read it and nodded, a flicker of a frown passing over his handsome face.
"Why don't you show Lex up to his room while I take care of this?" Bruce asked cordially. Lex swore he heard a sigh in his voice.
"Of course, sir. Master Lex, if you'll be so kind as to follow me?"
Lex followed Alfred up the stairs, but not before casting a glance in Bruce's direction. His friend had taken out his cellular phone, and was now sitting on the bottom step, shoulders slightly slumped, and this time Lex was certain he heard Bruce sigh.
*L*E*X*
Lex was sprawled out across the huge bed in his room when Bruce arrived nearly forty-five minutes later. "Oh, good. You're not asleep," he commented as he closed the door behind him.
"I almost was," Lex admitted. He hadn't been tired when they'd arrived, but while he waited for Bruce, jet lag had crept up on him. "Thought maybe you'd forgotten about me. The phone call went well, I trust?" inquired Lex. Darkness flickered across the other man's face, briefly fading away as he eyed Lex upon the bed.
"I could never forget about you, Lex," Bruce told him, choosing to ignore the question as he sat down beside him on the bed. Lex started to sit up, but Bruce blocked him with firm hands on his shoulders, gently pushing him back into the soft mattress. Soft, sure fingers glided along his shirt-clad chest and Lex shivered at the touch. He longed to touch Bruce in return, arms aching to hold him, but the look in his eyes told Lex that Bruce was up to something which didn't involve being held. Not yet, anyway.
His lover's hand stopped at the point where his shirt met his waistband, and with a tug, the shirt was free. Lex felt cool air touching his skin as Bruce pulled the garment up towards his neck. He allowed his arms to be slipped from the sleeves, reveling in the feel of each touch. His eyes flickered shut as Bruce eased the shirt over his head. He felt a kiss press into his right eyelid, then the left, as Bruce leaned over him, teasing him with the promise of things to come. He opened his mouth to speak, and suddenly found a finger pressed against his lips, and Bruce shushing him softly.
"Keep your eyes closed... just a moment... " Lex heard the whispered command and then felt the soft touch of satin smoothing its way across his skin. A second later, his eyes flew open, just as his lover bound the satin cloth around them, blinding him temporarily.
"Bruce..." he rasped, longing to surrender to the man still hovering over him like a phantom. Fingers ghosted across his skin in response, stopping when they reached the button of his pants.
Bruce responded verbally now, as he manipulated the fastener, Lex's name becoming a rolling growl in the back of his throat. Fire shot through his prisoner's body at the sound.
"God, Bruce," Lex moaned as his pants slid off his hips and down his legs. His boxers followed seconds later. Lex shuddered at the feeling of Bruce's hands brushing across his skin.
Then the contact ceased and the bed shifted as Bruce stood up. Lex moaned again, this time out of frustration. The whisper of clothing told him Bruce was undressing, and a few seconds later, another shifting of the bed and a light bush of skin announced that his partner had returned. Instinctively, he reached up, seeking total tactile connection with the man in bed with him. His hands found the soft-yet-firm expanse of Bruce's chest, caressing with shaky fingers.
"Please," he whispered, begging, just before the man he desired crushed down upon him, skin against skin, lips against lips.
*L*E*X*
"So..." Lex murmured in a half-sleepy voice.
"Mmm?" came the response. Lex propped himself up so he could see his lover's face more clearly. Bruce's eyes were half-veiled by heavy lids as post-coital slumber threatened to overtake him; Lex thought he could stare at such a vision indefinitely.
"Cynthia Kane, huh?"
Sleep fell from the other man's expression instantly, replaced with a slow smile. "Sweet Cyn.... not jealous, are you?" he asked with a mild chuckle. "She's just a friend, Lex."
"I don't think so. 'Just a friend' wouldn't have laid it on so thick with Dad merely so you could molest me in public without his knowing about it." Lex managed to keep his expression neutral until he came to the word 'molest.' At that, his lips twitched, threatened to curl into a telling smirk.
"Molest you? I never mol--" The protest ceased when Lex erupted in laughter. "She did do a good job, didn't she?" Bruce's eyes twinkled.
"Yes, she certainly did, thought I'm still at a loss as to why that is."
Bruce sighed. "We dated once... if you can call it dating. It was more like... mutual using." As Lex listened, Bruce went on to explain his brief affair with the young starlet. It was shortly after college--the summer after his engagement to Camilla Reed failed--and Bruce hadn't been looking for more than "a good time." Apparently, neither had Cynthia. "Whatever chemistry we had didn't last very long," Bruce admitted, wrapping up his narrative. "But we've managed to remain friends. Cyn's one of the few people I know I can count on not to want something in return."
"Does she know why you invited her to that party?" Lex asked while trying to digest the rest of the information.
Bruce shrugged. "She knows about my sexual preferences, if that's what you mean. About us?" Another shrug. "I don't think so."
There was a silence in which a larger question loomed menacingly in the back of Lex's mind. "Engaged, huh?" Bruce nodded, and Lex knew by the way his jaw tightened that he might be better off just dropping the subject. However, as with most subjects Lex knew he should drop, he pressed on anyway. "What happened?"
"I turned twenty-one," he was told after a moment of awkward silence in which his friend debated what to reveal, "came into my full inheritance, and woke up one morning to find that the sweet girl I thought I knew was little better than Victoria Hardwick." He said Victoria's name with no small amount of contempt.
"Ouch."
"Indeed. How *is* Victoria, by the way, Lex?" Another sarcastically spoken comment; it was one of those times Lex regretted his association with Sir Harry's daughter.
He shrugged. " I didn't know the two of you'd met. Haven't seen her since last year." Not since she slept with my father, he almost added.
"Oh, we met all right. My last year of boarding school." Bruce chuckled softly, as if remembering something funny. "She laid it on real thick for awhile, until I made it perfectly clear I wasn't interested in what she was selling." Lex nodded; the Victoria he knew had always used her body to get what she wanted. He wouldn't have put it past her to go after Bruce Wayne. "Alfred was pretty happy to see her go. Said he'd rather see me with the pool boy than trash like her." Something in Bruce's voice suggested this might not be just a colorful euphemism.
"The pool boy?" Lex echoed, and was rewarded with an even more telling and very serious nod. Did he really *want* to know about Bruce and the pool boy? "No, never mind. Don't tell me," he said, smoothing a hand across Bruce's cheek before letting his fingers tangle themselves in his hair. "I don't need to know; it doesn't change anything between us." He leaned in and the other man's mouth opened into his kiss. As the kiss deepened, Lex realized how true the words were. The past--their pasts--didn't matter now. All that did was the future they were making... together.
"This is another one of those little ironies that give us so much in common, right?" Lex asked as he slipped out of the limousine and came to stand next to Bruce in the winding driveway in front of his lover's home. The mansion's many turrets stood out against the waning sun, tall and proud, so like their owner in many ways. Bruce Wayne merely laughed.
"I told you it was scary how alike we were," he commented, leading Lex up a small flight of stone stairs to the front door of the imposing edifice that was Wayne Manor.
"It's..."
"... like living in a museum," supplied the inhabitant of the Gothic wonder. "Especially recently, what with the Gotham Historical Society setting up shop for tomorrow night. Alfred pulled all the old antiques out of storage for the event. Some of it I'm sure I've never seen before in my entire life."
"How is Alfred?" Lex asked, smiling at the thought of Bruce not knowing his own possessions. Like with the vacation homes, he realized, which suddenly made sense to Lex when he factored in Alfred. The kindly butler-turned-guardian had apparently done his best to shield his young charge from the magnitude of his own excess.
"Oh, he's good... he's... Alfred," Bruce replied with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "He'll be pleased to see you, I'm sure," he said as he ushered Lex inside.
"Indeed I am, Master Bruce," Alfred said, having overheard them from where he stood at the bottom of the grand staircase. "Very pleased. Master Lex." He inclined his head politely in Lex's direction. "Your trip was enjoyable, I hope."
"Very much so, yes. Thank you, Alfred," Lex replied. He wasn't sure he'd get used to the older man calling him "master." It was too weird.
The other man smiled back before turning his attention to his former ward, leaving Lex to explore the foyer with his eyes. Stone floors and walls and a high ceiling--chandelier suspended gracefully above his head--greeted his curious gaze. Niches cut into the stone sported some of the antiques Bruce had mentioned moments before. Indeed, very much like a museum, Lex concurred. "A message came for you while you were out, sir," he told Bruce, handing his a slip of paper. Bruce read it and nodded, a flicker of a frown passing over his handsome face.
"Why don't you show Lex up to his room while I take care of this?" Bruce asked cordially. Lex swore he heard a sigh in his voice.
"Of course, sir. Master Lex, if you'll be so kind as to follow me?"
Lex followed Alfred up the stairs, but not before casting a glance in Bruce's direction. His friend had taken out his cellular phone, and was now sitting on the bottom step, shoulders slightly slumped, and this time Lex was certain he heard Bruce sigh.
*L*E*X*
Lex was sprawled out across the huge bed in his room when Bruce arrived nearly forty-five minutes later. "Oh, good. You're not asleep," he commented as he closed the door behind him.
"I almost was," Lex admitted. He hadn't been tired when they'd arrived, but while he waited for Bruce, jet lag had crept up on him. "Thought maybe you'd forgotten about me. The phone call went well, I trust?" inquired Lex. Darkness flickered across the other man's face, briefly fading away as he eyed Lex upon the bed.
"I could never forget about you, Lex," Bruce told him, choosing to ignore the question as he sat down beside him on the bed. Lex started to sit up, but Bruce blocked him with firm hands on his shoulders, gently pushing him back into the soft mattress. Soft, sure fingers glided along his shirt-clad chest and Lex shivered at the touch. He longed to touch Bruce in return, arms aching to hold him, but the look in his eyes told Lex that Bruce was up to something which didn't involve being held. Not yet, anyway.
His lover's hand stopped at the point where his shirt met his waistband, and with a tug, the shirt was free. Lex felt cool air touching his skin as Bruce pulled the garment up towards his neck. He allowed his arms to be slipped from the sleeves, reveling in the feel of each touch. His eyes flickered shut as Bruce eased the shirt over his head. He felt a kiss press into his right eyelid, then the left, as Bruce leaned over him, teasing him with the promise of things to come. He opened his mouth to speak, and suddenly found a finger pressed against his lips, and Bruce shushing him softly.
"Keep your eyes closed... just a moment... " Lex heard the whispered command and then felt the soft touch of satin smoothing its way across his skin. A second later, his eyes flew open, just as his lover bound the satin cloth around them, blinding him temporarily.
"Bruce..." he rasped, longing to surrender to the man still hovering over him like a phantom. Fingers ghosted across his skin in response, stopping when they reached the button of his pants.
Bruce responded verbally now, as he manipulated the fastener, Lex's name becoming a rolling growl in the back of his throat. Fire shot through his prisoner's body at the sound.
"God, Bruce," Lex moaned as his pants slid off his hips and down his legs. His boxers followed seconds later. Lex shuddered at the feeling of Bruce's hands brushing across his skin.
Then the contact ceased and the bed shifted as Bruce stood up. Lex moaned again, this time out of frustration. The whisper of clothing told him Bruce was undressing, and a few seconds later, another shifting of the bed and a light bush of skin announced that his partner had returned. Instinctively, he reached up, seeking total tactile connection with the man in bed with him. His hands found the soft-yet-firm expanse of Bruce's chest, caressing with shaky fingers.
"Please," he whispered, begging, just before the man he desired crushed down upon him, skin against skin, lips against lips.
*L*E*X*
"So..." Lex murmured in a half-sleepy voice.
"Mmm?" came the response. Lex propped himself up so he could see his lover's face more clearly. Bruce's eyes were half-veiled by heavy lids as post-coital slumber threatened to overtake him; Lex thought he could stare at such a vision indefinitely.
"Cynthia Kane, huh?"
Sleep fell from the other man's expression instantly, replaced with a slow smile. "Sweet Cyn.... not jealous, are you?" he asked with a mild chuckle. "She's just a friend, Lex."
"I don't think so. 'Just a friend' wouldn't have laid it on so thick with Dad merely so you could molest me in public without his knowing about it." Lex managed to keep his expression neutral until he came to the word 'molest.' At that, his lips twitched, threatened to curl into a telling smirk.
"Molest you? I never mol--" The protest ceased when Lex erupted in laughter. "She did do a good job, didn't she?" Bruce's eyes twinkled.
"Yes, she certainly did, thought I'm still at a loss as to why that is."
Bruce sighed. "We dated once... if you can call it dating. It was more like... mutual using." As Lex listened, Bruce went on to explain his brief affair with the young starlet. It was shortly after college--the summer after his engagement to Camilla Reed failed--and Bruce hadn't been looking for more than "a good time." Apparently, neither had Cynthia. "Whatever chemistry we had didn't last very long," Bruce admitted, wrapping up his narrative. "But we've managed to remain friends. Cyn's one of the few people I know I can count on not to want something in return."
"Does she know why you invited her to that party?" Lex asked while trying to digest the rest of the information.
Bruce shrugged. "She knows about my sexual preferences, if that's what you mean. About us?" Another shrug. "I don't think so."
There was a silence in which a larger question loomed menacingly in the back of Lex's mind. "Engaged, huh?" Bruce nodded, and Lex knew by the way his jaw tightened that he might be better off just dropping the subject. However, as with most subjects Lex knew he should drop, he pressed on anyway. "What happened?"
"I turned twenty-one," he was told after a moment of awkward silence in which his friend debated what to reveal, "came into my full inheritance, and woke up one morning to find that the sweet girl I thought I knew was little better than Victoria Hardwick." He said Victoria's name with no small amount of contempt.
"Ouch."
"Indeed. How *is* Victoria, by the way, Lex?" Another sarcastically spoken comment; it was one of those times Lex regretted his association with Sir Harry's daughter.
He shrugged. " I didn't know the two of you'd met. Haven't seen her since last year." Not since she slept with my father, he almost added.
"Oh, we met all right. My last year of boarding school." Bruce chuckled softly, as if remembering something funny. "She laid it on real thick for awhile, until I made it perfectly clear I wasn't interested in what she was selling." Lex nodded; the Victoria he knew had always used her body to get what she wanted. He wouldn't have put it past her to go after Bruce Wayne. "Alfred was pretty happy to see her go. Said he'd rather see me with the pool boy than trash like her." Something in Bruce's voice suggested this might not be just a colorful euphemism.
"The pool boy?" Lex echoed, and was rewarded with an even more telling and very serious nod. Did he really *want* to know about Bruce and the pool boy? "No, never mind. Don't tell me," he said, smoothing a hand across Bruce's cheek before letting his fingers tangle themselves in his hair. "I don't need to know; it doesn't change anything between us." He leaned in and the other man's mouth opened into his kiss. As the kiss deepened, Lex realized how true the words were. The past--their pasts--didn't matter now. All that did was the future they were making... together.
