Part 10

The night was finally coming to a close. The Historical Society had, according to an announcement by Vanessa Gilcrest, surpassed their goal for donations that year. She ventured a speculating comment that Wayne Manor might soon be added to their list of historical tours, although Lex doubted it. Bruce had to suppress a frown at her words, and that didn't bode well. After the announcement had been made and subsequently applauded over, most of the guests began to make their exits.

All in all, Lex thought as he walked back to the pool house with Lana and Jonathan Kent, the evening had gone surprisingly well despite some minor annoyances. While the tours were taking place, he and Lana had joined the dancing going on in the main hall. Lana had been a pleasant dance partner, even if Lex had been prompted to give her a few impromptu lessons in ballroom dance. Bruce had cut in a few times, stealing her from him and saving himself from Amelia's grasp for a few moments.

After one such interruption, Bruce excused himself. "I've had it," he said to Lex in a conspiring tone as he went off to find Donovan Gilcrest. Sometime later, Lex was surprised to see Donny escorting his sister to the door.

"You're awfully quiet," Lana inquired as the trio passed the pool house gate.

"Just thinking," Lex told her. "Did you enjoy the evening?" he inquired. He suspected she had, but her forthcoming answer was interrupted when they reached the front door to the small villa. Clark, Pete and Chloe tumbled from the house at their arrival, shrieking with laughter.

"Well, I take it they did, anyway," Clark's father commented. "What's so funny, you three?"

"Pete got lost!" Clark managed to get out at last. "On the tour!" Chloe was laughing so hard she was holding her stomach. Pete looked mournful.

"It's not funny, you know. I could have trapped in that passage for days," the boy protested.

"I thought Bruce warned you guys about sticking to the tour." Lex smirked.

"I did!" Pete insisted. "It's not my fault they don't warn people about not leaning against the walls while we listen to their boring speeches."

"Come off it, Pete!" Chloe sniggered. "Clark and Mr. Pennyworth found you in one of the towers in a wing not even on the tour! Although, I'd like to know how you got there myself."

Pete looked defeated. "Why are you pickin' on me? Bruce Wayne even said he's gotten lost before. And it's *his* house!"

"I guess you were lucky, then, Pete," Jonathan Kent added, patting the boy on the shoulder in mock sympathy. "If Mr. Wayne can't find his way around his own house, who knows what could have happened to you."

"I'm sure they'd have found him," Lex said, unable to resist joining in. "Eventually." His lips twitched upwards in an evil half-grin. He cast a conspiring glance at Clark. "When his rotting corpse started to smell." The words were delivered with all the seriousness Lex could muster.

Clark and Chloe howled in laughter. Lana's face lit up in an irrepressible smile. Even the token adult of the group chuckled ruefully.

"That's cruel, man," Pete muttered under his breath, with a glare reminiscent of last year when he still thought he had reason to hate Lex. "Real cruel."

"I do try, Mr. Ross," Lex quipped with a smirk.

"Come on, kids," the elder Kent said, still laughing at the exchange. "We'd best be getting to bed now." He gave his protesting son a light push towards the door.

As Clark's father herded the teens into the house, Lex began to turn away. He hadn't quite made it yet when the soft sound of high heels against the cobblestone path stopped him. He turned just as Lana stopped in front of him.

"Lana?" he said in questioning voice. He was surprised when his night's companion planted a soft-yet-determined kiss on his cheek. He felt her warm lips press against his skin gently before drawing away. "What was that for?" he inquired, searching her young eyes carefully.

"I... I wanted to thank you," she told him in a very shy whisper.

"For?"

He thought he knew, and his suspicions were confirmed when she said, "For hanging out with me tonight... at dinner and the dancing. You made me feel really special, even though you didn't have to."

"You make it sound like I was doing you a favor, Ms. Lang," Lex said smoothly. "On the contrary, it was my pleasure to have your company this evening."

"Really?" Really? Lex briefly wondered what had been happening out in Smallville in his absence that the closest thing they had to local royalty was astounded to find she was good company. Had the town suddenly started ignoring her now that the quarterback was gone? It hardly seemed likely, but the hopeful look in her eyes spoke of something that was off.

"Really," he told her. He made as if to kiss her cheek, but stopped when he noticed Clark watching them from a window. He nodded discreetly in the boy's direction. Lana flushed. "Goodnight, Lana," Lex told her.

"Goodnight, Lex," the girl said, already halfway back to the front door. Lex gave Clark a little wave as he closed the gate, slipping back up the path to the main house.

*L*E*X*

Lex was troubled. As he walked back to the mansion alone, he found himself lost in thought... thoughts he wasn't sure he should even be having. About Lana. He laughed ruefully, remembering the day he'd first met her well over a year ago. She had just finished riding her horse on his property and he was out inspecting the stables. When he'd introduced himself, he'd been surprised when she told him she knew who he was... that she'd seen him before. He remembered telling her, very flirtatiously, that he'd have remembered meeting someone like her. She was young, but even then he'd seen the potential in her.

She wasn't so young anymore.

Lex laughed at himself as he reached up to feel the spot on his cheek where she'd kissed him, as if remembering. He hadn't thought about her like this since she'd been infected by the Nicodemus flower. She'd breezed into the Talon in leather and chains, like something out of a porn fantasy. He'd turned her down that day--knowing what was happening to her--but the memory of a sexy, self-confident Lana Lang haunted him still. He wondered briefly what it would take reawaken that leather-clad nymph.

And then he shook the thought from his head. He had Bruce now, and although they hadn't technically declared themselves exclusive, he didn't want to risk losing his lover either. Not for a barely legal fantasy that was probably nothing but just that... a fantasy.

Pausing his thoughts, Lex realized that he'd somehow taken a wrong turn on the path and was standing at the entrance of a beautifully landscaped garden. Beyond the ornate gate, he could a huge fishpond surrounded by stones. A fountain in the shape of a dolphin was at its center. There was a low stone bench nearby and several well-tended rose bushes. He could smell their sweet scent in the night air.

He stepped inside to get a closer look at some of the other statues he saw within the enclosed area. As he did, he noticed one he remembered from the slide show. This had been, he realized, Martha Wayne's prized rose garden, which had won so many awards for its rare flowers.

He stood admiring it in the moonlight for a few minutes, and then made as if to leave. He started to turn, but suddenly strong arms wrapped around him from behind, stopping him, and the smell of a men's cologne reached his nose.

"Get lost?" a deep voice whispered close to his ear.

"Bruce," he said to the owner of the arms and voice. "I was just about to head back to the... oooh," he moaned, his train of thought broken as Bruce Wayne kissed the back of his neck. Soft hair tickled the back of Lex's bald head in an innocently erotic way.

His impassioned moan prompted the arms around him to tighten, and Lex soon found himself flush against Bruce's very hard body. "Easy to get lost around here," Bruce continued to whisper, his tongue trailing a moist path to Lex's earlobe. "Just ask Pete."

This brought a chuckle to Lex's throat. "You know about that, huh?"

"I know everything that goes on around here, Lex. Everything," he reiterates, sucking Lex's earlobe into his mouth. Lex wonder if he knew about-- "You smell like Lana," Bruce told him, answering that question. Lex half expected him to stop his amorous attentions then, but instead he found himself being pulled even closer. He hadn't thought that was even possible at this point. What was even less likely, but easily evident, was that if anything, his friend seemed turned on by the fact that he smelled of Lana's perfume.

"Bruce..." he said, starting to explain, but the other man had already changed topics as he nuzzled Lex's neck.

"I spoke to Gilcrest," he said enigmatically leaving Lex to wonder if he meant Donovan or Amelia... or both.

"And?"

"He's selling me his LuthorCorp shares." His arms slide down Lex's abdomen, hands coming to rest on his thighs, where they began to massage in slow circles. "A few more," he said between mouthfuls of Lex's skin, "and I'll have enough to assert myself as a shareholder. Just like we planned."

"How--soon?" Lex could barely get the words out; his body was too busy responding like a cat being stroked just the right way.

What his partner was doing to him was driving him to the brink of insanity, and he was certain the other man knew it.

"Soon," came the response and suddenly Lex was being turned, coming around to face the man standing behind him. He could see his lover's eyes, lit by the moonlight above them. They sparkled with dark mischief and deep desire. Lex reached up to touch him, threading his fingers through Bruce's hair and drawing him in for a heated kiss. His tongue plunged into the mouth that opened to him upon touch.

Everything--Lana, their business, even the moonlit garden--faded away as they kissed. Lex knew they would need to discuss some of it later, but for right now, the only thing that existed were the lips beneath his and the hands that had begun to tug at his clothes.