Title: Falling Away With You, Part Four
Author: a.lakewood
Spoilers For: Exile
Rating: Hard R
Pairing: Clark/Lex

It wasn't until Lex had already had the operation that Clark wondered how long Lex had been planning having the procedure done. Lex had set up appointments with that doctor before Clark had ever told him anything. And, now, he couldn't even ask because, when he passed Lex at Lex's favorite coffee shop, Clark only received the briefest of glances. Only mild recognition.

That coffee shop eventually became one of Clark's favorites, too. As he frequented it, he learned Lex's schedule for stopping by. Soon, even that wasn't enough. He had to make Lex remember. Two months of casual glances, after three and a half months of the most perfect thing Clark had ever known, would never suffice. So, he started keeping track of where Lex went after-hours.

Lex had been visiting this particular club almost every night for a week straight. The club was familiar to Clark. Somewhere deep in his belly, excitement thrummed in beat with the pulsing bass-line and sweaty dancers as his body recalled his time spent on the Metropolis club-scene. The movement came naturally, and he wove his way through the crowd towards his target. Red kryptonite had nothing on the effects that seeing a writhing, half-naked Lex had.

Clark remembered seeing Lex enter the club earlier with a tall, dark-haired woman, and wearing a dark plum silk shirt. Now, the shirt was nowhere to be seen. And the woman had been replaced by a couple of men – eager men. Clark knew that if he wanted to get Lex back – in whatever way – this was his best bet. He gave into the pull of the bass and let his body summon sensory memories and move accordingly. He was fluid motion as he pressed his way between Lex and one of the other men. The slide of Lex's sweat-damp skin against the thin cotton of his tee made Clark wonder about the things he and Lex hadn't had the chance to do. He couldn't keep his hands off of Lex's body, sliding over his back, his shoulders, gripping at his hips. As the last song bled into the next, Lex leaned up to Clark's ear and Clark could feel Lex's erection pressing against his thigh. "Come with me," Lex said loud enough for only Clark to hear.

That was all the encouragement Clark needed to follow. Beyond the VIP section and another couple of rooms where several of Metropolis' elite were partaking in less-than-legal acts, Clark found himself pressed up against a pale blue padded wall.

"How much?" Lex asked, licking a stripe up Clark's throat as he pulled a roll of bills from one of his front pockets.

"It's not like that," Clark breathed, hands at the small of Lex's back and just holding him there.

"Five grand?" Lex slipped his thigh between Clark's and pushed lightly.

"No," Clark groaned.

"Ten?" One of Lex's hands found its way under Clark's t-shirt, blunt nails scraping along his abs. Wet, open-mouthed kisses on his neck.

"You don't have to pay for this," Clark panted.

Lex pulled back to look Clark in the eye. "Everything has a price. What's yours?" Then a flash of recognition in his blue-gray eyes that made Clark's heart skip a beat. "You're the guy from the coffee shop. Did my father put you up to this?" Lex backed away like he'd been burned.

"I have nothing to do with your father, Lex. I just want this. With you." Clark tried to plead with Lex, make him understand with his eyes.

Lex looked skeptical, hesitant. "Free?"

Clark smiled a bit and looked at Lex through his eyelashes – something Lex had admitted often made him hard on the spot – and said, "Maybe dinner."

Lex took a couple of step towards him. "No strings?"

"No strings." He leaned down and claimed the mouth that rightfully belonged to him. But the kiss he was met with was nothing like those that he and Lex had previously shared. This was want and lust and something dirty, naughty – not what he and Lex had. A tarnished, poor-man's perfection. But he'd take it. Because this was still Lex. Grasping Lex's ass firmly, he thrust against the thigh between his own. "Just the one attachment."

Clark had wanted his and Lex's first time together – really together – to be special, and this was far from it. It felt like what it really was: just a fuck. One of the things Clark had heard rumored about Lex's past – the type of thing the multi-millionaire had done for kicks before being banished to Smallville.

But it was good. Lex behind him, pounding into him. "Harder," he found himself pleading. Ask and ye shall receive, Clark thought somewhere in the part of his brain that still allowed synapses to fire. Then Lex was driving into him – roughness and power that Clark was sure a lesser man would have never been able to take. The rhythm Lex had set became more and more erratic as he neared his climax. With one hand gripping Clark's hip with enough force to bruise human flesh, he twined the fingers of the other into Clark's hair to pull the younger man's mouth back into a voracious kiss.

When Lex came, he abruptly broke off the kiss, burying his face in Clark's neck, gripping the body beneath him as he rode out his orgasm. Clark followed almost immediately, calling Lex's name as wave after wave of ecstatic pleasure tore through him. They collapsed onto the couch together and Lex only remained pressed against Clark's back for a couple of minutes, getting up and pulling his pants on once his body stopped trembling.

Clark sat up, reaching for his abandoned shirt on the floor to wipe his drying come off of his stomach and the cushion, but Lex wordlessly handed him a towel seemingly produced from thin air. He watched Lex toe a door in the table at the end of the couch shut. "Thanks," he said, wiping his belly clean and starting on the cushion.

"Just leave it," Lex said.

"All right." Clark stood, pulled his shirt on and his jeans up from around his knees. The silence was suddenly awkward; Clark wasn't quite sure what to do. He couldn't kiss Lex as he wanted, suggesting they go back to Lex's penthouse to sleep. He couldn't tell Lex he loved him. So, he did all he could think of – he started to leave.

"I haven't come that hard in years," Lex admitted as Clark neared the doorway.

Clark paused, turning to look at Lex. He knew, in that single moment, he had the upper hand – controlled what happened next. The fact that Lex was stopping him, however unconsciously, from leaving told him that. "Maybe we should do this again sometime." Then he resumed his exit.

Clark, forgoing the daily coffee-shop visits, kept returning to the club every night after his encounter with Lex, but he waited two weeks before approaching him again. Lex had made it a habit of coming unaccompanied. Clark wondered if it was because of him, but didn't let the hope of that make him see the situation for any less than what it was. He knew Lex. Knew that he preferred his own company to that of Metropolis' privileged and the wealthy debutantes that dreamed of falling into his bed and often did so. Well, until their tryst that Thursday night, anyway. Since then, Clark hadn't seen Lex take a single woman, or man, up to the penthouse. Perhaps an offer would be made. Maybe a suggestion on Clark's part.

Moving slowly, trying not to appear as obvious as he felt, Clark danced his way through couples grinding and writhing and towards Lex. From behind, he grasped onto Lex's hips, following their movement perfectly, and latched his mouth onto the juncture of shoulder and neck. Lex stiffened in his arms only slightly, the tension receding when Clark turned him around, still following Lex's lead. He bent his head down again and kissed the older man obscenely. "I've been watching you tonight," Clark said, voice low and deep and almost breathy. "Let's go someplace else. Your penthouse; a hotel."

"What makes you think I want a repeat performance?" Lex questioned with his trademark smirk.

This caused Clark to grin slowly. "Why else would you come back here every night? Alone? And not taking anyone home with you?"

Lex leaned back, the look in his eyes the same as when he'd recognized Clark from the coffee shop and accused him of working for Lionel. "Are you spying on me?"

"I just had to make sure I was worth something to you." Not the nothing he'd feared he would become.

Lex just looked at him for a few long moments, perusing him. "I believe we have yet to determine your worth." Something wicked crept into the smirk.

Clark nodded his head towards the exit. "So, like I said: let's go someplace else."

Within twenty minutes, Clark had Lex pressed against the penthouse door, one of his thighs firmly between Lex's. "It's a good thing you've got the floor to yourself – if you don't get that door open soon, I have no qualms about fucking you right here on this floor." He punctuated his statement my pressing his thigh higher.

Lex's breath hitched and he fumbled, rather uncharacteristically, for his keys in his jacket pocket. "We will not be fucking in the hallway," he said after tearing his mouth away from Clark's throat so he could work on getting the door open.

Clark locked the door behind them once they were inside. A trail of clothing marked their path to the bedroom. With a not-so-gentle push, Lex was sprawled on his back on the bed for Clark's taking. Clark settled himself between Lex's spread thighs and took a moment to savor the sight before him. Smooth, pale skin a sharp contrast to the bedspread which was a color the same as the deep, royal purple irises in Martha's garden. Eyes lidded and dusky. Mouth slightly open. Chest rising and falling in time with the beating of his heart. Stomach muscles quivering under Clark's light touch. Cock heavy and thick, weeping. Tonight, Clark would make Lex his.

Leaning over Lex, a hand on either side of his head, Clark descended on Lex's mouth. Tongues seeking, parrying; breaths shared. Lex's hands slid up Clark's back, fingers trailing over defined muscle, one staying to explore while the other continued toward thick, silky, dark hair.

Clark shifted his weight to one hand so he could reach the other down between their bodies to prepare Lex. Using Lex's own pre-come, Clark slid one barely-lubricated finger into the heat of Lex's body, past that first ring of muscle. After a while, he added a second, then a third. When Lex was writhing, straining to meet the thrusts of his fingers, he pulled them away. Lex let out a frustrated sound that caused Clark to chuckle and kiss the impatient man beneath him. He grasped his cock gently, stroking himself a few times, noticing Lex watching him. Lining himself up with Lex's hole, he slowly pressed forward, allowing Lex's body to adjust. Eyes closed tightly, he panted into Lex's neck, the feelings of such intimate contact overwhelming him. When he was fully sheathed by the tight, flexing muscles, he reached the hand up to find one of Lex's, threading their fingers together. "God, Lex," he sighed as he started to move, slowly pulling out. He'd anticipated tonight, thought for sure it would be as quick as their first time. But this – slow and teasing – this he would draw out as long as possible. Make love to Lex. Take his time.

A few minutes into their love-making, Lex let out a strangled cry, gripping Clark's shoulder and hand, demanding, "Harder. Faster," and trying to quicken the pace to his liking.

"Shh," Clark whispered against his lips, then kissed him passionately. "Let's make this last." Eventually, the slow torture he was subjecting himself and Lex to got to be too much and he increased his rhythm. Lex still clung to him, eagerly meeting every thrust.

Lex's legs wrapped around Clark's body. "God, yes," he gasped when Clark's hand closed around his aching, straining erection.

Clark was just as close as Lex to falling over the edge, chanting, "Lex...God, Lex...oh..." Then Lex's eyes caught his. And it was like everything stopped. Time. Sound. The beating of their hearts.

"Oh, God, Clark," Lex moaned, head lolling back against a pillow, eyes drifting shut as he reached his climax.

Hearing his name one Lex's lips – everything came rushing back – and he orgasmed, too, collapsing onto Lex's trembling body. He mindfully rolled to the side, lying next to Lex so they were face-to-face.

This was so huge. Lex remembered him – he had to, because Clark never gave him his name during that first encounter at the club. But maybe... God, no. As the thought entered his mind, the afterglow of their love-making started to recede quickly. He didn't want to think it. But it was a possibility.

What if Lex had never had the procedure done at all? Just made it up as an excuse to get rid of Clark? Maybe he couldn't deal with the truth. Maybe they both couldn't. Clark, limbs still heavy with lethargy, slowly scrambled off the bed. Away from his...lover.

Lex's eyes were open now. Just watching him. Not with confusion. Not silently asking him to stay. Curious. And the recognition was gone.

A fluke.

"Lex." Didn't come out as pained as it felt. Clark averted his eyes from Lex's and bent down to pick up his boxers. "I gotta..." He backed out of the bedroom, picking up the rest of his clothing on his way. And Lex just let him leave.