The Memoirs

Forty two minutes, because damn he was good. Enrique helped unload the groceries... feminine products going to... females, and Dominic was left with locking up the car and shivering. God, dammit, it was cold. The lady at McDonalds had been bundled up much more then he had, and the whistling wind into the car had frozen his poor hands. He stomped his feet, rubbed his wide palms, and walked through the garage door and into the house with Megan at his side, holding her little bag. "There, now. We've everything we need. You show our darling Shayla how to use.....things, and as for that, the young man as well. And I'm going to...ah..." He held up the McDonalds bag with a grin.

 

Megan kissed her brother on the cheek.  "You're so cute.  Shayla and I will be upstairs if you need us."  A squeeze to his hand, and she disappeared up the front staircase.

 

Then... from down the hallway...

 

"No.  You're letting your guard fall.  Raise both hands, keep one lower than the other, and look at my shoulders.  That's where the blow is coming from."  Lionel's voice.

 

Another voice, not as easily distinguishable.  "Shoulder.  Right.  All right, Ly, try that again."

 

Dominic heard the voices and, tucking the keys away in his pocket out of habit, followed the hard wooded, polished floors to where he heard people speaking. McDonalds in arm, of course.

 

"No.  You're still dropping your guard.  Like this." 

 

"But that's what I'm doin'."

 

"What you're doing is leaving yourself wide open to attack.  This isn't a dance, Jonathan.  Suck it in, lock up your frame, and guard your personal space."

 

Oh.

 

Dominic stopped. On a dime. He stopped in the hallway… nearly dropped the McDonalds, if he hadn’t set it on one of the numerous side antique tables...and listened. Okay, cause wait. Hold on a damn minute. Lionel. Jonathan. Dance. 

 

Wait.

 

"I am guardin' it."

 

The solid thud of a fist meeting padded flesh.  "If I can do that, then you're not guarding yourself.  This is a fight, Jonathan, where someone is out to do serious damage to you.  If I can kick your ass, as wounded as I am, what does that say about you?"

 

A grunt.  "Says that you need to lighten up, Ly."

 

Dominic turned the small corner, where he heard the noises coming from...and looked.

 

Lionel was sitting against the wall, pads and protective gear in place, helmet holding his hair back as he watched Jonathan.  "It says that you need to pay attention to what you're doing.  Or next time you'll get more than a broken nose for your efforts."

 

A snort.  "Only reason I didn't hit 'im back is cause he's your fiancée."

 

"And you don't know how much I appreciate that."  He shook his head.  "But he had a right to belt you.  Back to the bag, and then when I've rested, we'll try the hook again."

 

His eyebrows lowered… his fingertips went to the doorframe, and Dominic watched, silently, hot, dark, mindless fury creeping up into his heart. But he'd stay silent...for a moment. Just to see. Because when he did go ballistic, he planned on causing more then a broken nose.

 

"You sayin' I deserved to have my nose busted?"  Two solid punches landed on the punching bag.

 

"Yes, I am, because you knew damned well what you were doing."  A drink from the water bottle beside him, squeezing the plastic sides gently.  "Frankly, I'm surprised Dominic didn't do more than break your nose; you're lucky.  I would have."

 

Jonathan mopped his forehead for a moment before going back to the bag and grunting as he landed two more punches on it.  "Know you would have; surprised you didn't."

 

One. What the fuck was Jonathan Kent, the man with whom he loathed more then the darkest, deepest creature in the darkest, deepest lagoon in the darkest, deepest corner of the world, doing in his house. Two. Why was his lover, his wonderful man who had been wounded a week and a half prior quite badly, boxing with him when he could barely move that morning? Three. Why were they talking about him? Four. You deserve more then your nose busted, you filthy piece of hick ass trash. Five. Calm yourself, Dominic. You're a Senatori. Remember what your mom told you. Listen first, kill second.

 

"I should have."  Lionel put the water bottle back on the floor between his feet.  "Just couldn't bring myself to do it.  However, that doesn't negate the fact that he should have wiped the floor with your ass for having done it."  He still didn't move from his spot on the floor.  "Dammit, Jonathan!  You hit like a girl."

 

You say that like I’m not going to, lover. Dominic whispered in his mind, still watching as the black wool coat overheated with the fire flowing through his blood.

 

"Then get your ass over here and show me what I'm supposed to be doing!"  Jonathan slammed the bag hard in disgust.

 

"Aha!  There you go!  Solid force  behind it and a squared-shouldered start!  That is how you swing!"  Lionel pulled himself to his feet, but didn't approach the bag, only rolled his shoulder and touched the soreness in his back.  "That's it for now; if I were feeling better, I'd show you how it's supposed to be done."  He rubbed the back of his neck with the towel around his shoulder. 

 

So. His lover was up for this, but not up for touching him.

 

Hmm.

 

He turned from the door silently, walked down a few steps, and reigned in his temper as he walked louder to the door. Stopped… looked inside. "Hello, love... I’m home. I was wondering where you are...I brought you your request as you so said. Ah." He looked at Jonathan and smiled, brightly. "Hello."

 

"You brought me French fries?" Lionel asked hopefully, a wide smile on his face as he walked over to his lover and kissed him soundly.  "Please... I will kiss your feet if you say you brought me fries."

 

"I did, indeed, beloved." He held up the bag he'd snagged, and smiled at him. "Three, all for you. Toni said you've healed up just fine along the inside, and the stitches should have already disintegrated. Take it easy, though."

 

"Oh, Dominic... you are too good to me."  He slipped an arm around his lover's waist and kissed again, and then inhaled the scent of the fries in the bag.  "If I were a nice man, I'd offer to share them with you, but... no." 

 

He was, however, not all that huggy at the moment. Stiff and straight, muscles locked, and he slipped his eyes back up to Jonathan, speaking to his lover all the while. "Yes, I know. Go on along and eat them… I'll be up in a bit."

 

Lionel knew the stiffness was in reaction to Jonathan being there, and he didn't do anything but lean down and nip Dominic's ear.  "Come join me in the tub upstairs when you're done... I have something for you."

 

"Alright." But he arched a little to the bite, still watching Jonathan. Hah. See what I have, you little bastard, and what you don’t. Fucker. He pet his lovers shoulder lightly, and nodded. "I will."

 

"Don't take too long."  He slid his hand down his lover's chest, planted a soft kiss to his cheek, and then nodded at Jonathan.  "Goodbye, Jonathan."

 

"Yeah.  See ya later."  Jonathan watched Lionel go, and then lifted a wrist to his mouth, teeth tearing the tape around his wrist and hands off.

 

"Hurry, beloved," Lionel whispered, and with a final nip, he was gone.

 

He turned to watch his lover go...eyes making sure he'd be safe, and then he turned those same eyes Jonathans way. "Hello, Mr. Kent. Let me cut to the chase. What are you doing here?"

 

"Hello, Dominic.  Clark brought us, said the storm was gettin' too bad for me'n Martha to be there by ourselves.  Trucked us over here in that four by four Lex gave 'im."  He finished tearing the tape from his right hand, and started on his left.

 

"Clark's a good boy. I’m glad he brought his mother here, to be safe from the snow. You, however, I would have very much liked to sit out in your shed and see how you like being a slutsicle." He was approaching, very, very slowly, and very, very quietly. "You've some nerve, showing up here, sleeping in Lionel’s house."

 

Jonathan sighed.  "Wasn't my idea, Dom.  It was Clark's--and he don't take no for an answer when he gets his head set on somethin'."

 

"He's your son. You should learn how to say no, Mr. Kent. Because, quite frankly, I hate you. I hate the sight of you, I hate hearing about you, I hate that you interact with the people I love on a regular basis. I cannot stand the fact that, right now, at this moment, you are breathing my air. And oh, I really do hate coming home to find you boxing with my lover when you know he's been badly hurt. Or perhaps you didn’t know, because you, you didn’t visit him one time, Mr. Kent. For all you've said you care for him, he was at deaths door and you didn’t show your ugly mug not even once." He was getting very close... and very tense.

 

Jonathan finished ripping the tape off his hand with a very exasperated glare.  "I know what happened to Ly.  Clark told me.  And no, I didn't go to see him in the hospital cause Clark also told me you weren't leavin' his side.  Now, I had a lot of work to do in my life, and I wasn't gonna complicate Lionel's by showin' up and gettin' in another fight with you when he needed to get well."  He threw the wadded tape into the garbage can.  "He's tryin' to see if he's strong enough to go to bed with you, idiot.  Said you turned him down this mornin', and he wanted to prove he was strong enough."  There, see how you like that, you sanctimonious prick.

 

"Not once." He reached back, and let his fist swing. Connected with jaw. Hard. "He could be dead, for all you knew." Again, this time getting him right in the mouth. "You said you loved him. Had I been in your place, I would have done everything in my power to see him, regardless of who was fucking sitting by his side, so don’t try and holier then thou me, you fucking bastard!" He stepped back and cupped his bleeding knuckles. So. FUCKING. Worth it.

 

Clarks brow arched. Was there...oh, fuck. He gasped and let go of Lex's mouth, rising from the leather couch they'd been necking on, and snagged Lex's arm. "We're missing the show."

 

Megan stopped in her tracks... glanced over her shoulder, as the shouts and bellows rang from the side room. Oh, fuck.

 

Jonathan tried--really tried--to employ what Lionel had just tried to teach him, but it was no good.  There was a loud crack as Dominic's fist impacted with his jaw, and then another crunch as knuckles met teeth.  His cheek and tongue were bleeding into his mouth, and he spit the blood out onto the floor.

 

"Show?  What show?" But Lex got up, refreshed by their nap, and followed the insistent tugging of his lover's arm.

 

"Goddammit, Dominic!  I did... " spit "What I thought was" spit "Right for him!"  Jonathan spat blood out a third time.  "And that was... not botherin' him!"

 

"It bothered ME!" He snarled it, stepping back two steps as he let his arms fall to his sides. "You fool. You almost took away the most wonderful thing in my life when you didn’t really treasure it in the first place. I would have respected you...perhaps even tolerated you, had you shown that you were anything other then a lying, cheating bastard who cares nothing for the people around him." He spit on the ground in front of him, turned on his heel, pushed past Clark and Lex who'd just crowded the doorway, and stomped up the steps.

 

"....That show." Clark grabbed Lex and moved him out of Dominic’s path a second before he stomped passed, and looked into the room with a wince. "Oh...dad." He winced and stepped in, walking around to his father. "Dad...are you okay?"

 

"Think so, son... may have a cracked jaw though, and a couple of loose teeth."  He spat blood one more time, but that seemed to have cleaned it out of his mouth, for now.  "Want to give me a hand and help me clean up before your mother sees this?"

 

"Yeah, of course, dad." He winced and took his fathers elbow gently, leading him towards the stairwell that led to the guest quarters in the eastern wing where he and Lex slept. "What... what happened?"

 

"Dominic belted me a couple times.  Me'n Lionel were sparring in the gym."

 

"...Why would he get mad at that? Dad? Something happened I don’t... watch, watch the step... don’t know about. Dad, what’s going on? ...C'mon, this way, the bathrooms here. Dad, you're.. .you're bleeding all over, want to get to the hospital?"

 

"Yeah, son, lot's prob'ly happened that you don't know about."  He leaned against the toilet in the bathroom.  "Don't need a hospital, son, least, not unless I'm hurt worse'n I think."  

"It's alright dad... hey, its cool." Clark helped his dad sit down, then immediately started going through the cabinets for a first aid kit. "I told Lex not to tell me... I think maybe I’m not sure I want to know." He nodded.

 

Jonathan nodded.  "Prob'ly for the best, son."

 

 

~*~

 

 

"If you know what is good for you, Alexander Luthor, you will stay out of my way." Dominic snarled, still stomping up the steps. Hard. Fury was boiling in his veins, anger and contempt for the whole bloody mess. God DAMMIT.

 

"Then it's a good thing I don't know what's good for me."  Lex hurried up the steps after his father's lover.  "You going to explain what that was all about?"

 

"No, I am not." Snarled through his teeth.

 

"Okay, then you and I can talk to my father about it."  Lex still followed doggedly.

 

He stopped in the middle of the stairwell, and caught Lex's shirt lapel, pulling him in and speaking very calmly, and very quietly. "I want you to go find your lover, and help his father. Leave me be."

 

"I'm not going to leave you alone, Dominic."  He paused.  "That's not what friends do."

 

"Then you're just going to have to witness my putting your father in the hospital again." And he continued on his tirade without another glance back.

 

Now that was serious.  "I'm not going to let you hurt my father, Dominic, I don't care how angry you are."  Lex was sprinting to keep up, and was thanking God for his long stride.

 

Dominic had never been more angry in his life. ...Okay, that was a lie. Two other times he had. Two other times his lover had been near that man, and all that came from it was heartbreak. All of it. But he snarled at Lex, who was running beside him, and pinned him with a glare. "How dare you think I'd hurt him. Leave me to talk to him. Go, get out of here. I thank you, but I need to be alone with him."

 

"You're the one who said that you were going to put him back in the hospital."  He shoved Dominic against the wall.  "Now, I know you didn't mean that, but I'm not letting you go up there like this, not until you're slightly less agitated and slightly less likely to punch a hole through my drywall!"  Lex kept his hand on Dominic's shoulder.

 

He glared at him, darkly… but stayed quiet for a moment, catching his breath and doing his best to reign in his dark Irish temper. Calm, deep breaths, until the anger began to slide away. A little. Sort of. He kept breathing, closing his eyes and counting to ten in every language he knew... slowly calming himself down. "I would not put him back in the hospital. Tempted, yes. Do it, no."

 

"I know that, Dominic."  Good.  He was calming down, and Lex was pleased to have gotten through to him.  "Now, just calm the fuck down.  And tell me what that was all about."

 

"Sparring. With your father." Oh, and a wave of hate at that disgusting blond man.

 

"Sparring with my father is a reason for you to deck Jonathan?  I admit, I don't see why my father would choose him of all people, considering the past incident, but truly?"

 

"Yes. Your father told him about our problems, sat there and told that big headed bastard things about us! And you don’t DO THAT to people who've tried to RUIN YOUR GODDAMN LIFE!"

 

A cringe at the bellow.  "What, exactly, did my father supposedly tell Jonathan?"

 

"That he and I can't have sex yet! That’s what he told him! That we can't have sex because your father is still weak and he was trying to strengthen him up and that’s WRONG! YOU DON’T FUCKING DO THAT!"

 

Lex couldn't stop the whistle.  "I didn't think my father was that stupid."

 

"Neither did I!" And oh, the embarrassment of it stung. "God, fucking dammit! I’m going to kill that man!"

 

"Which one, Jonathan or my father?"

 

"BOTH!"

 

"At the risk of sticking my nose in where it doesn't belong... you did say Jonathan was trying to help strengthen him up?"  Oh, yes.  Lex absolutely didn't belong in his father's sex life.  Hell, no.  "Perhaps he was trying to make up for the past?"

 

"I have, very sparingly, kept my commentary and my temper to myself, for many weeks now. Things have been unfolding, words spoken, actions done, and I’ve kept to my nice little corner, where nothing ever goes wrong for Dominic. Yes, I have. Well, you know what? That corner is loaded with about two months worth of dynamite, and when it goes off, may God have mercy on all your souls, because you are going to see someone you have never seen before. DAMMIT."

 

"I do not care. I do not care if he was making up for ANYTHING." He gripped Lex by the arms, shook him. "I. Do. Not. care. He knew something he shouldn’t have known, and I am not only embarrassed, but mortified."

 

"You have a right to be all those things, Dominic... but just... think that perhaps my father was trying to get back to you quicker."  That was the only way Lex could put it without shuddering.  "He--wants you--badly enough that he will go to Jonathan for help."

 

"Another thing of which I do not care." He all but bellowed. "He is a stupid, pig headed lame brain for thinking that all I want from him is SEX! Id rather have him strong and well and able than in pain and unable to move! GOD DAMNIT!"

 

"Here.  Sit down."  Lex shoved Dominic down on the steps.  "Look.  When Clark was--going through his change--I felt the same way you did.  But he didn't.  He knew his own limitations, knew what he wanted--and needed--and basically tied me down to a bed to get it."  And yes, he was blushing, brightly.  "My point?  Trust my father to know what he wants and if he's capable of having it."

 

He sat down on the stairs, hard, and listened to the boy speak. He didn’t say anything for a moment... just looking down at his bloodied hands, and closed his eyes. Dammit. "I’m doing it again."

 

"What are you doing again?"

 

"Coddling him. We argued this morning about it. Because I’m too overprotective, and I seem to want to know what he needs and what he should and shouldn’t have." He sighed, heavily. Dammit. This was so new to him and he just didn’t... dammit. "I trust him, but I also know him. And I know he'll push himself to please me, and I don’t want that. I don’t give a rat’s bloody ass over sex. I didn’t have it for almost 5 years before your father, and I was fine. But now...I can't help it, alright? I’ve reactions to him, he to me, and it doesn’t help that I’m twenty odd years younger. I cannot help it. And then I feel bad. And I just want to say screw the whole bloody mess and off to the angels."

 

Lex gave a sage nod.  "I take it my father doesn't like being coddled.  Neither do I.  But Dominic... just because you don't care about it, doesn't mean he doesn't.  My father... my father and I are a damn sight more alike than either of us would like to admit, and you know it as well as I do.  And I speak as a prime example of Luthorism that for us, love and sex are intertwined.  Sex is the only expression of love that we're capable of giving unless we are taught otherwise."  He patted Dominic on the leg. 

 

He sagged and set his forehead on his knees, muffling, "You are all the biggest pissbrains I've ever encountered."

 

"I won't deny that."  Lex grinned.  "I've been called worse."

 

He looked up. "What on Gods earth do I do? Go up there, chew him out for being a moron? Thank him, for trying to make himself stronger? Throw myself out the balcony, which is seeming like the best option yet?"

 

Lex shrugged.  "For that answer... you'd have to ask Clark.  Because I honestly don't know.  I'd probably do both, and then threaten to hurt him if he ever does anything stupid like that again."  Lex got up from his seat on the stairs and held out his hand to Dominic. 

 

He took it… slowly rising and then rubbing his hands over his hair...across his face, rubbing his mouth where the stubble was growing more into a goatee everyday. "Lex… thank you. Thank you, very much. You just saved a 911 call." But he smiled a little, crookedly.

 

"You're welcome."  He gave a crooked smile in return.  "Anything I can do to save on ambulance costs."

 

He turned, and trudged back up the steps. "Ms. Birds got it on speed dial."

 

He left his friend, pleased in that section of his mind over the good lad and the friendship they were rebuilding. It was just...great. But the bigger part of his head was at war. Strangle his lover, or hug him. Possibly both. Hmm. He stopped at their bedroom door...taking a soft breath, and opened it.

 

Lionel was just beginning on the second box of fries when he heard the door to the bedroom open.  "Dominic?" he called from the bathroom, settling back into the warm, lavender-scented water.  "I do hope that it's you and not your mother."

 

"It's me." He stopped by their bed...and sighed, heavily. He fell across it, palms going to his eyes, rubbing them as he lay there at the foot of the covers for just a moment. Fuck.

 

Might as well. Lionel couldn’t bathe forever.

 

He slowly stood back up and pulled his long wool coat off... letting it fall to the ground. Didn’t matter where. Too tired to think. He toed off his tennies into a corner, and slowly walked into the bathroom.... and a little part of him grinned. Only his lover would be enjoying his feast amidst bubbles. "Having fun?"

 

"Definitely."  Hot steam wafted up from the tub, and Lionel stretched in pleasure, careful not to spill his French fries.  "I can think of only one thing that could possibly make this better."

 

His face few serious again, and he slowly walked into the bathroom...sinking onto the toilet lid beside the clawed tub. "I know."

 

"Know what?"  Lionel kept his face carefully blank as he looked up. 

 

"What would make it better. But unfortunately, they didn’t have the drink machine working with the power off." He rubbed his cheek absently.

 

"Not what I was thinking of."  Lionel set the box of fries down on the ledge beside the tub, where they would stay dry, and wrapped his fingers around Dominic's wrist.  "I was actually thinking of you."

 

He sort of nodded and slid to the floor in front of the tub...sweater getting wet as he slid closer. "I thought you might have been."

 

A gentle tug to the wrist caught in his fingers.  "Well then?"

 

"We should talk."

 

Lionel stopped tugging, but didn't move his hand.  "You've changed your mind about something?"  Panic in his eyes but not in his features. 

 

His lover was laying in their tub, with softly scented bath beads and bubbles Dominic had bought for him a few weeks ago, eating French fries and holding his hand.

 

And in those soft eyes, Dominic did something he should have done when he walked into the mansion.

 

He let it go.

 

Instead he smiled again, shook his head, and set his cheek on the rim of the tub...mimicking that mornings stature. "No, I haven’t. I’m just tired." He swept his fingers over a slender, powerful arm. "Me and my sister had a great time."

 

Lionel lifted his fingers and ran them gently through Dominic's hair.  "I'm glad you did, Jiminy."  He leaned over the rim of the tub to kiss his face, his lips, his cheeks.  "You needed to get out, but... I am worried about you."

 

"Eh. What’s new, right?" Another self chastising smile as he rose and slowly began to strip. "Let me brush my teeth a moment. I’ve been eating… ah… funions. Megan and I ate a whole bag on the way home… going thirty miles an hour will do that to you." He left his pants and under shirts on, dropping the sweater beside Lionel’s clothes on the floor.

 

Put the hot water on...dipped his fist underneath it, and started to wipe at the small, dark cuts between his knuckles. He scrubbed at them, even as he looked for his toothbrush, which some kind soul had returned to the drawer. Popped it out, put paste on it, and as he scrubbed his teeth he scrubbed his palm. "Ish o'ay." A nod, and he spit.

 

Lionel leaned back in the hot, scented water and listened to the reassuring sound of his lover brushing his teeth.  "Come... get in the tub with me.  You can tell me about your shopping trip with the lovely Megan, and perhaps get some of the rest you desperately need."  The swish and spit of water hitting the basin was oddly reassuring.  "Minty fresh kisses."

 

He rinsed and set his brush in the drawer once more, rubbing at his hand until the bleeding had stopped, and was slowly congealing. "I’m alright. A little… wired." Yes, good choice of words. He walked back around to the tub, slowly tugging up his two shirts, and letting them fall as well, soft, creamy skin coming into view. He pushed his warm ups down his legs… tugged the socks off, then as the cold wind creeped up his spine, he slowly… carefully... got into the tub with his lover.

 

The hot water was a sin, and he exhaled from the opposite side where he'd sat...linking their legs and sinking in. "Ohhh."

 

Lionel leaned back just enough to reach the bag with the third box of fries, then reached up to retrieve his own.  "If I didn't adore you, I wouldn't have saved the last box for you."  He passed the bag over to his lover, and then scooted down just a little more, so that his feet nestled in close between Dominic's legs, his lover's balls resting on his toes.

 

His belly kicked but his eyes were closed, gently soothing the soft ankle as the lavender skimmed up his nose. He accepted the bag… took a single fry out to munch, but then set it aside. His throat was too tight for food. He let his muscles all relax because they damn well needed to. "Thank you, beloved." He gave him a little smile. "I... I’ve a confession."

 

"What's your confession, Jiminy?"  Lionel sobered, and leaned forward to get closer to his love.  "Is everything all right?"

 

"Its fine. I just wanted to tell you that if Jonathan smiles with less teeth, I’m the reason."

 

"Dominic... were you brawling again?"  A deep sigh.

 

"It was my fault." Quietly. "I’ve had a short temper, as of late."

 

"Well... as I told him before you came home, I'm sure he was deserving of it."  A soft caress of his foot against Dominic's scar.  "I've noticed the man has a tendency to rub you the wrong way."

 

A second jolt, right to his groin, and he closed his eyes and looked away. Self control. "He does, but I didn’t have the right to hit him in the face. Twice. That was my fault, and I’ve got to.." He strangled on the word. "Apologize to him next time I can."

 

"Dare I even ask what he did this time that incurred your wrath?"  He slid his hand down to where Dominic's foot rested against his hip and started gently massaging the tired extremity.

 

He shook his head, and as his lover rubbed, he gently soothed the opposite hip. "Just be being here, I suppose."

 

"Mmm."  Lionel continued to rub.  "Wouldn't have been, by any chance, the fact that I was exercising with him instead of you, would it?"

 

A jolt to his belly, though this time it wasn’t lust. "No, it wasn’t that. That it was him made me angry, but I don’t mind your exercising with anyone. I’m just sorry I wasn’t here to help you."

 

"Mmmm."  Lionel kept rubbing, thumbing the arch of his lover's foot.  "I'm sorry you weren't too, but I did find something out today."  His thumbs rolled the ball of Dominic's foot.  "Except for a slight pull in my back when I overextend my reach, I'm actually able to move more of my muscles than I realized.  I merely had to get them stretched."

 

"You shouldn’t have stretched them. They’re going to get cold and hard...its going to hurt you, beloved." The last word was on a sigh, as those skilled fingers rubbed his foot, and he lay his head back against the porcelain. "Bitch to stretch again."

 

"Mmmm... which is why I'm taking a hot soak now, and in the morning, you'll help me stretch again."

 

"I will indeed." He sighed it, softly, still absently stroking his lovers ankle. "Anything you need me to do. I used to jog, actually. When I got some of my strength back...Id go for jogs in the morning. Helped keep my muscles limber."

 

"Hmm... I do believe there is a treadmill in the gym," Lionel said musingly.  "Perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad idea to begin using it."  He stroked his fingers up Dominic's ankle, massaging gently, and then switched feet.  "You know, I do hope tomorrow's workout is better than today's."

 

His eyes flickered open, just a little,  and jealousy was hot in his green irises. Just for a moment, though, before he relaxed again. "Mmm. Perhaps it will be--" He stopped and yawned, softly, rolling his shoulders into the hot water. "I hope it is. You seem like you feel a bit better today. I’m glad, for that."

 

"I do feel better," Lionel admitted.  "I needed to move around.  Do you know, I had to banish Martha entirely from the room?  She would not stop clucking; you would have been proud."  A hard sigh.  "I missed you today, but I'd hoped to be able to surprise you with the progress I'd made."

 

"You did." He slowly sat up, and caught his lovers wet strands of hair as he cupped his cheeks. "I can see it, how much better you're feeling. I’m proud, of that. And perhaps now I won't have to cluck so much, as you say." And it was hard on his already tender heart. But he reached over, getting some of the lovely shampoo, and squeezed a small amount into his palm. "Let me wash your hair for you, love."

 

"I'm sorry, for the things I said this morning.  You didn't deserve them."  He turned around in the tub, putting his back to his lover and allowing him access to his hair.  "I know that you're only worried for my health, and my safety, and I should not have said those things.  I am touched, you realize, by the fact you think I'm worth clucking over, no matter how damaging to my overly-sensitive pride it is."

 

"It was an emasculating thing for me to do. I know that, now." He pulled Lionel close, to his chest, and leaned back against the tub. "You don’t need all the protection I seem to want to give to you. You’re a strong, wonderful, kind and capable man. I just have to get over it." He rubbed his fingers through all those wavy brown locks, wetting and soaping them as he went until he'd worked up a nice lather. Taking care not to get any into his eyes, he rubbed his fingertips over the soft scalp… massaging gently as he went.

 

"But I don't want you to get over it, as you say.  Because that simply wouldn't be who you are."  He closed his eyes in pure enjoyment of the fingers slipping through his hair, a purr rumbling deep in the back of his throat.  "I love you, that you want to protect me.  Truly, I do.  And I don't want that to change."  Another purr as the fingers rubbed his scalp.  "If it means so much to you, then you can coddle me as much as you would like."

 

He closed his eye, and didn’t say anything for a long time...just rubbing softly, cleaning all that gorgeous hair with his fingers. And finally, when he did speak, it was of another topic entirely. "I learned something about my sister I wish I hadn’t, today."

 

Lionel was surprised to hear the change of subject.  "What did you learn?  Or, shall I leave it between family members?"

 

"You are family." Softly, as he dipped his fingers into the water to retrieve the small hand towel floating in the water. "My Lindy. A great injustice was done to her, by her own husband. Ex, now."

 

"Shall I hunt the bastard down for you?"

 

"Graham already did. Shot his balls off, so Megan told me in the car."

 

"Good for Graham," Lionel said quietly.  He liked Lindy; she was the one who had been quietly supportive of them all along.  "What did he do to her?"

 

"He's always been an abusive person. Through all of... Lindy's had several miscarriages in her life. And for that reason, she... she was on birth control. That much I knew. What I didn’t know is that her husband found out about them, beat her, and switched her pulls to fertilization pills without her knowing."

 

"He... did what?"  Even to Lionel, who was known for being the reigning king of underhanded behavior, was shocked into stunned silence.  "Why didn't Graham kill him?  Is he... how could that bastard be responsible for that beautiful child Eleanor?" 

 

He just shook his head, and pressed his cheek into the crown of Lionel’s soapy head. "I don’t know the answer to any of it. Graham stilled his hand out of pity... because that’s how Graham is. He won't take another life. Just do it nearly. Eleanor... my Ellie isn’t supposed to be here. And no one... no one told me."

 

"First thing in the morning, you and I will set up a trust fund for that little girl."  He looked over his shoulder at his lover.  "And find out if Lindy is well; if he--beat her, there could be damage internally that she's told no one about."  Lionel growled softly.  "I may be many things in this world, Dominic, but I am not a terrorizer of women.  And it escapes me entirely how someone as good as Lindy could have been so horribly, horribly treated."  A long pause.  "I want a name."

 

"You won't ever get one from her." Softly. "Or me. Nor of Graham, or the girls, or my mother. That I can assure you. He is filth, he is garbage, he is below us. Nothing he can do or say will touch us again. That’s our way." He nodded. "A trust fund... yes." He gazed down into darkened eyes and all that soap. "It's been five years, Lionel.... she'd be d… dead by now." A hard swallow, and he looked away. "I’ve decided to tell my family, too."

 

"Give me his name, Dominic, and I'll see to it that he, like Ethan Hill, suffers for what he's done every day for the rest of his unnatural, miserable existence."  His hands clenched tightly on the sides of the tub.  "About Lawrence?" he asked softly.

 

He let the part of Roddy go, for now. "Yes. Of Lawrence."

 

He moved his hands to grip his lover's.  "Would you like me to be there with you?"

 

He shook his head, tightly. "No. I’m going to tell Lindy, first. And then… if… if it goes alright, my family."

 

Lionel turned again in the tub, soap still in his hair, and wrapped his arms firmly around his lover.  "You are a brave man, Jiminy, and you do not know how proud I am of you.  I can't imagine the courage that this must take for you."

 

He shook his head, tightly, and gazed down at this wonderful person cushioned between his legs. "I have to. The time has come to let it go. I’ve got to do it, Lionel. For my sanity."

 

Lionel nodded in agreement.  "Yes, it has.  You can't let it eat away any more of your life than it already has."

 

"I’m going to do it for you." Quietly, rubbing his cheek. "For you, most of all."

 

"For... me?"  He turned into the gentle caress.  "I don't understand."

 

"Every time I suffer for what has happened to me, I take that moment away from you. Those moments might last hours....days...or even a brief second. And that is time that I realized very recently is too precious on this earth for us to waste on things that can never be changed. I love you, so very much, and I refuse to cheat you of parts of myself because they are kept under the past."

 

Lionel stared at his lover for a long moment, and then wrapped his arms back around him again.  "Thank you, Dominic.  Thank you."  He didn't realize it, but small tears were sliding down his cheeks.  "You... you are such a brave, wonderful man, and I do not deserve you."  He kissed Dominic's neck softly as he held to him.  "I love you so, and I couldn't love you more than I do in this instant."

 

He slid his palms over that warm skin...then his back, pulling him close and hugging him gently, as his fingertips traced the dark stitches and the ugly, yellow bruises. "You only have to thank me when I do something worth thanking for." He whispered into soapy hair. "This isn’t worth thanking for, beloved. This is something I should have done a long, long time ago, something that you've given me the courage to do. And I love you. I love you, so much. You are everything in my world, everything, and you give me what I need to succeed in my life."

 

"This is worth thanking you for," Lionel replied softly.  "This is giving me all of yourself, utterly, and I am without words to express... just how honored I am, and how touched I am, that you would do this because of me."  Everything that Dominic said pooled in Lionel's heart, and he glowed softly with happiness.  "You've made me the happiest man on this earth, Jiminy."

 

Yeah. He smiled at him with his own pleasure at having made his lover so happy, rubbing his thumbs against his cheekbones. "I’m so glad I didn’t come up here and wallop you, as I'd planned." He smiled again, and slipped his fingers through the soap, sliding it down his back. "You've always had all of me." Conspiratorial whisper. "You just didn’t know."

 

"Why were you going to wallop me?"  The smile on Lionel's face didn't dim.  At all.

 

"Because I was very, very jealous." A solid nod, as he rubbed the hand towel through the hair until the soap was floating with them, and his lovers hair glowed. "Very, and I’m man enough to admit it." His chin rose with pride.

 

"Mmmm... that feels good."  He leaned forward to nuzzle at his favorite spot under Dominic's throat.  "Why were you jealous?"

 

"Because of Jonathan." He let his eyelashes flutter closed, and slender fingers cupped behind all that freshly washed hair. "Mmmm."

 

Lionel's eyes barely cracked open.  "He was merely a convenience, Dominic... a way to make sure that I was able to surprise you with how good I felt.  That's all.  Had Lex been available, I'd have used him."

 

"Mmmm." He murmured again, pulling Lionel’s mouth very gently closer to his ear. "I know. That’s why I feel bad for having bashed in his teeth. Though, I must say, his shocked look was quite the Kodak moment."

 

Lionel obliged, moving up his lover's throat to nibble his earlobe.  "I am sure... he provoked you.  Knowing Jonathan... as I do... he is quite good... at riling tempers."  He bit down hard.  "Let's not... mention him again though, hmm?"

 

Oh, God. Straight shot, the third of the night, straight to his groin, and with Lionel pressed so close...control. Control, Senatori. Breathe through it.

 

And he did. Deep, soft breaths, enjoying the touch but fighting like mad to keep his body tame. Dammit. He was too young for this. "He did. Provoke... me. Though I must say, I went in with the idea of bashing his teeth in. That it actually happened was just an added side bar. But... but yes, no more talking of him." Softly.

 

Lionel shut his lover up with a hard kiss to his mouth.  "No cows either," he teased quietly into the kiss before his tongue thrust deep into Dominic's mouth, delving and tasting what he'd been denied in the quick, soft, chaste kisses they'd shared since his accident.

 

"No...L..." He accepted the kiss, offering his mouth as it was plunged, tongue stroking out for his own share. Want and pleasure skimmed through his veins and he sighed, softly, fingers fisting in his lovers hair before sliding free. Down, down to caress the long back, one shaping Lionel’s jaw to his hand as they kissed.

 

Lionel purred in his throat, vibrating his pleasure against Dominic's tongue as he moved in the tub, splashing water over the side but he didn't care.  He didn't stop moving until he was kneeling over his lover, accepting the hungry kiss that Dominic gave him as he situated himself facing his lover.

 

He didn’t know what he was doing but his mind was too focused on that sweet, lovely mouth. Every time it tried to leave he pulled it back, and caught the lower lip now... sucking softly at it before slipping inside, and taking the pleasure he'd missed so much. He'd been lying through his teeth, when he told Lex he didn’t care about sex. Christ, he loved it with Lionel. Just adored being with him. "L... no... too soon... c'mon... go lay d... down... mmmm.."

 

Lionel nipped his lover's lip sharply, and pressed his forehead to Dominic's.  "Mmm.  I will go lay down.  On two conditions.  One... you lie down with me.  Two... you let me get you off.  With my hand, is all I will use, and then, you will go to sleep and so will I."

 

He was too weak to say no to that. Oh, God. "Yes, pl.... L..... no, baby, you'll hurt yourself worse," He winced and shook his head, fingertips skimming over his hair... his beard, shaking his head some more. "You’re tired already baby, I can tell. I'm okay... I’m sleepy. Sleep with me a little bit… kay? Come on."

 

Lionel nodded, rising from the bath with a half erection.  "Let's go to sleep then, beloved... and you can dream about what I will do to you when I'm well."  He held his hands out to his lover.  "Come on."

 

He rose too...trembling as he did, pushing himself up from the water and gently grasping the warm, loving hands. "Soon, baby. I...I love you. I love you, so much." He leaned in to kiss him, softly, arms sliding around him to hold him tight. "I love you. Let me… let me make you feel better. Please?"

 

He shook his head gently as he clasped Dominic too him.  "No, love... if you have to suffer, then we'll both suffer.  I won't use you just to get off, no matter how much you say you enjoy it."  He climbed carefully out of the tub, snagging the last box of fries to take with them.  "Come on.  Fries and a nap."  He dangled the red box in front of his lover teasingly.

 

He smiled, though the smile was tight, dimples winking before he stepped out of the water and picked up two towels. One to his lover… the other drying himself off, the filled, hard organ against his belly tight and hot. He willed it down, rubbing the towel through his hair, and dried his face as he looked for his lovers hand. "I’m sleepy."

 

Lionel took the questing hand in his own, and laced their fingers tightly together.  "I am too, love.  Let's go to bed."

 

He dropped the towel in the hamper and walked slowly out into their warm room... the hearth glowing with a cozy fire as the wind howled outside. He pushed his jacket off the bed and slowly crawled into it, yawning, and glanced back once at his lover.

 

And as he rolled onto his pillow, he was asleep before he realized he'd laid down.

 

Lionel smiled softly as he climbed into bed behind his sleeping lover, spooning Dominic against his own body and pooling their warmth as he pulled the blanket over their twined bodies and snuggled in for a long, cozy nap with his Jiminy.

 

 

-fin-

 

go to the next part