The Lesser of Two Evils - NC-17, Chapter 56 (May 27, 2016)

[kitten]

The Lesser of Two Evils
NC-17/ Angst

Disclaimer: Smallville, the characters therein, and all affiliated copyrighted materials are owned by the WB. This is a work of fanfiction not intended for profit or infringement, only for the pleasure of fans of the series.

Distribution: I have posted these stories and have control of them on this site. I don't want them to be posted anywhere else unless I'm the one posting them. Please take down my stories if you have them posted on another archive site. I understand I can't stop you from doing this but I hope by asking politely you'll respect my work and my wishes. If anyone has more comfort and convenience saving the text of a story to their own computer, I have no problem with that.

Spoilers: All up to Season 4, except things will be twisted to the tune of Lex having never moved to Cowtown, U.S.A.

A/N: What would Chloe Sullivan have had to do to get from under Lionel Luthor’s thumb if Lex had never moved to Smallville? What would she have had to sacrifice to earn the son’s help against the father?

AU for Season 3 and 4, and strongly rated for a good reason:
THERE WILL BE BORDERLINE NON-CONSENSUAL SEX.

I’m posting in very short chapters so readers can choose when enough is enough for them.


Chapter One


She sipped the drink and forced a smile at the man sitting across from her in a chair that cost more than her father had in the bank. The whiskey burned down her throat and she calculated how long it would be before it hit her empty stomach and was pushed back up again. She always threw up afterwards, but not just because of the liquor.

“I thought your son’s preference for brunettes was well documented in the gossip pages,” she said, allowing a tint of joking derision in her voice.

When Lionel was laughing it was permissible to laugh a little as well. Actually it was expected, even when you were fighting terror and disgust.

“He does have a tendency toward a certain physical type, but primarily he is a bored young man with passing fancies,” Lionel said, swirling his drink gracefully. His eyes were crinkled with enjoyment, probably at her expense. “You are a lovely young woman and a very different experience from the usual for him. Which is what I have offered him as a token of appreciation for his work on our takeover of Augustine-Jellinek Incorporated.”

Pillaging and burning down villages sure pays well, she thought, even in the modern era. Free virgins for all good corporate raiders.

This man, her patron, was evil incarnate. He hated everything except the things that made his life more pleasant. He tolerated those things that might one day be useful to him.

Chloe Sullivan had just become useful.


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


She had been frightened of Lionel Luthor from the beginning, very frightened when he showed enough interest not only to hit on her at the LuthorCorp Christmas Party two years ago but look her up months later. He had walked into her life with what was literally an offer she couldn’t refuse. Someone had destroyed The Torch, her newspaper, and the office would require at least $20,000 worth of repairs the school wasn’t willing to pay for. She had still been grieving over the initial shock when Lionel had strolled in and patted her on the shoulder.

‘Chin up, Miss Sullivan, I think we both know when one door closes another one opens.’

She was standing there wondering how a seventeen year old girl from Smallville had become the subject of a Luthor’s interest, when he had delivered the edict that had ruled her life ever since.

‘You’re going to find out why Clark Kent is involved in so many strange happenings in this little town,’ he had said, ‘And in return I will provide the school with funds to rebuild your office and make sure you are the only candidate for a new position as a junior columnist at The Daily Planet.’

The tears had dried immediately, burned away by rage and suspicion. She had known there was something odd about the convenient timing of the targeting of her relatively unimportant newspaper. Lionel’s smug grin had told her that it was no coincidence he was visiting just hours after she was discovering her journalism career was spiraling out of her grasp.

‘Fuck off, Mr. Luthor, I’m not dumb enough-’

‘I don’t think it would be dumb to accept my offer, Miss Sullivan, in fact I think it’s your only alternative. I can always ask a . . . professional to look into Mr. Kent, but I doubt you’ll find it so easy to come up with such a considerable sum of money and a plumb job offer. I also wonder how much more of a hindrance a professional investigator would be in your friend’s life.’

Her uncontrolled knee-jerk rejection of his offer had angered him, and she had been careful never to show her emotions like that again. The threat was clear and she couldn’t do anything but accept. She had to protect the man she loved.

Clark Kent was her first love, the third most important thing in her life after her father and her passion for journalism. They had been friends since she moved to Smallville from Metropolis for her father’s promotion to plant manager of the local LuthorCorp fertilizer plant.

She had kissed him only hours after her first day of eighth grade in Smallville Junior High, Clark’s first kiss and her second. Every bit of the initiation she had received from a boy on a sofa years earlier had served her well, but it was so much more with the quiet farm boy. She had fallen in love with him on the spot. His bright blue eyes and shiny black waves of hair always brought a smile to her face. His strong body was the stuff of her unfulfilled dreams.

The sad facts of the matter were shamefully typical: They had become friends, peas in a pod with Pete Ross, another classmate. Chloe fell deeper and deeper in love with Clark as time went on, and as time went on Clark fell deeper into love with Lana Lang. He had a telescope to watch her and a fumbling response when she deigned to show him a tiny amount of attention. As Chloe became more a part of Clark’s life she was forced to acknowledge by painful steps that he was in love with someone else and likely would never return her feelings.

The love had cooled but not extinguished itself, was even now burning gently only to flare hotter with a simple hug or an idle comment. The only reason he wasn’t overtaking her future ambitions in her priorities was because he wasn’t really giving her the time of day since Lana had become single.

But Chloe wasn’t naturally a bitter, brooding person, and she was trying to find the bright side. Her time could be spent on getting into a good college and making a name for herself in a combative industry. Eventually, maybe, Clark would turn his eyes to her and see that she had just been waiting for him to realize she was the woman who would love him more than anyone else could.

Her father had once consoled her by telling her there were two types of high school girls; the ones you grow out of and the ones you grow into. He had pronounced her the kind of girl Clark would have to grow into, and Chloe had resolved to wait for as long as it took.

She knew the Kent family had a lot of secrets, most of them somehow related to Clark’s adoption as a baby. He was always a bit odd, though she had never minded. He often darted off without explanation and returned without offering one. Chloe had once bothered to ask about those oddities but now she knew better.

Now her life was about making newspaper deadlines joylessly in between meetings to feed tiny bits of information to Lionel Luthor. She knew he was going to hurt Clark and his family and she couldn’t let that happen, but she also had no way to change it yet. All she could do was string him along with what she thought was harmless information until she could come up with a plan.

Or an ally equal to the task of going against him.

[kitten]

The Lesser of Two Evils
NC-17/ Angst

Disclaimer: Smallville, the characters therein, and all affiliated copyrighted materials are owned by the WB. This is a work of fanfiction not intended for profit or infringement, only for the pleasure of fans of the series.

Spoilers: All up to Season 4, except things will be twisted to the tune of Lex having never moved to Cowtown, U.S.A.

A/N: What would Chloe Sullivan have had to do to get from under Lionel Luthor’s thumb if Lex had never moved to Smallville? What would she have had to sacrifice to earn the son’s help against the father?

AU for Season 3 and 4, and strongly rated for a good reason:
THERE WILL BE BORDERLINE NON-CONSENSUAL SEX.

I’m posting in very short chapters so readers can choose when enough is enough for them.


Chapter Two


“How do you know Lex will accept?”

She hated him, hated him for all of this but especially for making her refer to herself as an inanimate object with no feelings about being handed around like a common whore.

In addition to the well publicized womanizing of both Luthor men, there was also a well publicized feud between father and son. They butted heads on company policy, which contracts they would accept and where to base their operations. The Smallville plant was Lionel’s choice and Lex would happily close it down if he had the power to do so. At the moment he was only the second in command. Father and son were only seen together at company functions to preserve the image of corporate unity.

But Lionel knew his son had a soft underbelly of sentiment for his sire and that he craved approval even more than he had once craved the drugs that had obliterated his late teenage years. Crumbs thrown down from above were received with sneering contempt but never outright rejection. Lex Luthor was a needy, sniveling brat and he was lucky to have a father to teach him how to be a man strong enough to head LuthorCorp.

“He always does, Miss Sullivan,” he said, leaning forward and extending his glass in a toast. “Here’s to your introduction to my son.”

The blond woman leaned forward as well and clinked their glasses together, downing the hard liquor as Lionel did. She was learning to be quite a drinker during their meetings.

“I have some instructions for you, wardrobe and a few things you’ll need. He’ll be expecting you two nights from now, in the Metropolis penthouse.”

Two days isn’t long enough to get used to sleeping with a man you don’t know on the say-so of his father, Chloe thought. Two days isn’t long enough to go from a virgin to a whore.


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Two nights later she was standing outside the doors of an apartment and fighting tears. They would smear the careful makeup and probably be off-putting for a twenty-four year old man who thought she was his quarterly bonus. Although Chloe thought the reactions of a man who would accept a hooker from his father for a job well done might be a bit harder to judge than the average person.

She had spent her small amount of free time studying the instructions Lionel had provided, awed at the amount of intimate knowledge he had of his son’s life. It was truly disturbing how much detail had been put into the file, marked ‘sexual practices’. Everything from positions to preferred length of fellatio had been included, and she had read every word despite the nausea they inspired. She knew far more about sex than she had ever been curious to know, and was sincerely frightened of it in a way that she hadn’t been since childish misconceptions had been put to rest with sex ed class.

Chloe had always expected losing her virginity to hurt, especially considering the body proportions of her five-five frame against Clark’s six-two, but it seemed like Lex Luthor would make sure it hurt a lot. He almost never had sex with the same woman for more than a month, and his tastes veered toward BDSM.

The few things she would need had turned out to be a corset that would cut off her breathing, a black leather riding crop, and a pair of handcuffs with an extra long chain. She didn’t want to be cuffed on top of everything else, but this was the only way she would ever get anywhere near the younger Luthor.

The only way to escape was to take another step deeper into the morass of intrigues that had become her life. Chloe wished she could be surprised but it was beyond her.

My life is like quicksand.

She looked down at the red silk dress and marveled at how her perceptions were colouring everything so darkly. Under other circumstances she would love it, would feel proud and attractive and powerful. Tonight the draped silk across her breasts just reminded her that there hadn’t been a bra included in her wardrobe, to match the lack of panties. Her stockings were old-fashioned thigh highs with a garter belt. The red shoes were both sexy and comfortable and she despaired of ever being able to wear another stitch of red clothing again.

Chloe had lied to her father and said she was visiting her cousin Lois for the night, but she didn’t want to leave it to chance that he would call her cellphone looking for her. She had left it in the car, and it was only another minute before she would be officially late for her first appointment as a call girl, so she pushed the doorbell and swallowed hard, wishing for a last minute reprieve. Surely a call girl could leave work on a family emergency, it was some kind of rule, wasn’t it?

Lex Luthor opened the door himself and he was more striking in person. Six feet tall and completely bald due to an accident in childhood, his body was both muscular and lithely graceful. His eyes were a clear blue, but Chloe thought they should be green or yellow to match his catlike motions.

“Chloe?”

She couldn’t summon the confident greeting she had been practicing in her head and just nodded, clenching her hands around the small overnight bag she had packed.

He smiled politely and it was attractive, and his hands were rather unexpectedly gentle despite the hard look in his eyes. There was no overt use of strength when he put a hand at the small of her back and pulled her into the apartment.

“Please come in. Would you like a drink?”

Lex wondered how old this girl was, wondered if she was even legal. Her face was pale and soft with a lack of experience in life. He would bet that she wasn’t yet 20, probably had never had a job, or even lived on her own. Her hand in his was soft but strong, shaking and a little sweaty. Maybe she was very new at her profession, which would explain the nervous looks she kept darting around the room.

I hope she’s not a lousy lay, he thought. It would be just like dad to disguise a burden as a gift.

“No thank you,” Chloe said, and it came out low and nervous. Apparently no amount of practice was going to help her regain the fake confidence she used in front of Lionel.

She looked for the father in his son and found very little there. He was dressed more casually than Lionel would ever consider dressing, in a black sweater and gray slacks. His shoes were black loafers and his watch was his only adornment.

Lex was regarding her as well, wondering if she was yet another one of his father’s petty slights. Every hooker who had ever displeased Lionel with her lack of skill or finesse had coincidentally been ‘given’ to him as a token. Not all of the girls were bad but most lacked the experience he liked in a woman, not to mention the taint of his father’s recent possession. If not for the little mystery associated with her, this one would have been an automatic reject. He wasn’t in any mood to tutor lost little whores.

The red dress was well-suited to her, and it brought off the short blond curls beautifully. Chloe, whore or not, looked wonderful. If not for the awkward behaviour he might have considered putting her on the list of girls to order again.

Except she didn’t work for any agency he’d heard of, and it was one piece of information his father had not offered. Asking him would have been a folly, but there was probably no harm in asking her directly. Caveat Emptor and all that.

“Which agency do you work for,” he asked, pouring himself another brandy. He glanced over his shoulder and made an offering gesture to the bottle, but she shook her head with wide eyes.

“Agency?”

Christ, a stupid one.

“Yes, you’re a call girl, correct? Most call girls work out of an agency.”

Chloe searched her memory for the name of an agency but she was sure it hadn’t been in the information Lionel had given her. She didn’t know enough to make one up and she needed not to get kicked out before Lex Luthor even let her speak.

[kitten]

The Lesser of Two Evils
NC-17/ Angst

Disclaimer: Smallville, the characters therein, and all affiliated copyrighted materials are owned by the WB. This is a work of fanfiction not intended for profit or infringement, only for the pleasure of fans of the series.

Spoilers: All up to Season 4, except things will be twisted to the tune of Lex having never moved to Cowtown, U.S.A.

A/N: What would Chloe Sullivan have had to do to get from under Lionel Luthor’s thumb if Lex had never moved to Smallville? What would she have had to sacrifice to earn the son’s help against the father?

AU for Season 3 and 4, and strongly rated for a good reason:
THERE WILL BE BORDERLINE NON-CONSENSUAL SEX.

I’m posting in very short chapters so readers can choose when enough is enough for them.


Chapter Three


“Uh, I don’t actually,” she guessed, then fought the urge to cringe as his eyes narrowed.

“You’re a little new to be freelance, aren’t you?”

Lex strolled over to a plain sofa and sat gracefully. He didn’t wave her to sit so she didn’t, just turned to face him as he moved. He sipped the drink and looked her up and down, and Chloe nearly let out a sigh of relief. She recognized his facial expression now - it was a leer of increased interest. She had risen in his esteem as a free agent, and she struggled for an answer.

“I have a . . . family connection who lets me work occasionally when I can get away from school,” she said, and watched as his nod indicated he bought it.

He wondered what kind of family connection would set such an innocent girl up in the call girl business.

“Which university,” he asked idly, thinking he might as well try to get her to loosen up a bit while he was finishing his drink.

Chloe kept her eyes carefully on him as she answered. “Columbia.”

“Law?”

“Medicine,” she said, musing on how much easier the latter lies became once you had the first out of the way.

That makes sense, Lex thought, expensive education and time-consuming classes. This is probably her only real chance at funding her living expenses.

He made a mental note to pay her well no matter how unskilled she was. It was shortsighted to insult anyone who might eventually be of use, and it was always good to know a doctor. The idea of this girl as a sheltered, childish young woman made more sense thinking about how little time she must have to date and party. She most likely spent all her time in class or studying in her dorm room.

“Good luck with that,” he said, finishing his drink and opening his belt buckle.

Her eyes flew down to his hands and she choked out the words, “Thank you,” then fell silent.

Lex pulled the belt free and laid it to one side, opening the fly of his pants and folding the two sides back.

“Put your bag down out of the way and suck me off.”

Chloe could feel the wild flush roll up her chest and into her face, but the young billionaire didn’t seem to care. She bent on unsteady feet and put the overnight bag down by the bar, then trembled her way over to the sofa. Lex was sitting with his knees splayed apart and she stood between them. Her hands shook as she pushed the skirt back around her hips and knelt down.

“Is there anything in particular you’d like,” she asked, stalling frantically. His pants were open and black silk underwear was visible in the gap, and she had never touched a penis before. She wasn’t even sure how to get it out of his clothes.

“Just the usual,” he said in a bored tone.

She inched forward and put her hands experimentally on his knees. When he didn’t correct her she slid them up his thighs to the parted zipper and delicately pulled the elastic of the boxer shorts away from his skin. His skin was hotter than she expected, much hotter in that way that men seem to be more than women.

Lex had closed his eyes and let his head fall back, sensing that his inexperienced companion would not be any great shakes by her hesitant manner. Times like these he was inclined to participate as little as possible. When her cold fingers finally inched their way under his underwear he lifted his hips enough to let her pull them down.

Chloe was reviewing Pretty Woman in her head and cursing her lack of knowledge. What good was a movie about a hooker if it didn’t teach her anything? She didn’t even know how to get him out of his clothes, how was she supposed to convince Lex Luthor she was a hooker?

His hips twitched and she almost jumped, but he wasn’t looking at her and seemed calm. If he got angry she just wouldn’t be able to do anything except cry, and it was touch and go that she wouldn’t even if he was nothing but pleasant. Her eyes went to the discarded belt and she remembered the riding crop. It wasn’t likely that he was going to be this quiet the rest of the night.

She put her right hand into his boxers and used her left to tug the pants down. By concentrating on it objectively she managed to get both garments down enough to free his erection.

Lex dropped his hips back down as air hit his cock and he waited for her mouth to touch him. It was actually a nice little mouth, with red lips that seemed energetic. If they lived up to appearances she might be worth a return visit, but only on a weekend. She moved too slowly for a weeknight fuck.

“Okay,” Chloe whispered to herself as she leaned down. Her nose twitched with the scent of the fluid that was leaking out of the curious little slit at the head, but his penis seemed like it might fit in her mouth if she was careful. She opened her lips and shuffled in closer, her left arm resting on his thigh. She snuck a glance up at his blank face and sucked it up - literally.

Her breath was barely grazing him one second and the next one of her hands was around his base as she took more than half of him into her mouth. Lex stifled a moan and relaxed into the light pumps of her fingers, reflecting that her hands were quite soft and pleasing.

Oh this is so weird, Chloe thought, taking in as much of him as she could. He was hard but not as hard as she had expected, and it was easy to take quick breaths around him if she timed them right. Her hand around his cock covered the rest of his seven inches, the part that she couldn’t possibly fit into her mouth. It tasted funny but at least it didn’t hurt and he wasn’t yelling at her for doing anything horribly wrong yet.

His thigh under her palm was moving slightly and his chest was moving a little faster than before. She tried moving her tongue faster than she was moving her hand and he let out a sharp exhale. Intuitively she knew it wasn’t a bad sound and tried the tongue trick again. She was just getting slightly confident when one of his hands came down hard on her shoulder and she flinched.

Lex lifted his hand off of Chloe’s shoulder and instead laced his fingers into her hair. He wouldn’t touch her there if it interrupted her, and he liked hair better anyway. His hand curved around her skull as she rose and fell around his cock. She was finally moving faster and he felt himself become fully erect in her mouth.

Chloe’s eyes went to Lex’s face again but he was still impassive with his eyes closed. He could be asleep if not for the hand pushing lightly against her head. When he suddenly got harder and longer she stopped for a second before his hand urged her on. Now there was a smaller window of time to gasp between swallows and she found herself sucking in her cheeks in an effort to make it work. Her hand was moving more smoothly and she squeezed experimentally, startled when the hand on her head pushed her down with more force than before.

She shifted her shoulders and the hand lifted away for a minute, then resettled as she put most of her upper body into his lap. Both elbows were thrown over his thighs and she began moving her mouth and her hand as fast as she could to the rhythm he was keeping her to. Her mouth was filling constantly with saliva and that strange fluid from him, but she closed her eyes and ignored it as she swallowed. Lex’s file had also included a recent battery of tests for STDs, all of which had come back indicating his extreme good health.

Lex let his hips gyrate slightly as his orgasm got closer, looking down at the young woman in his lap. She might start out slow but she was working him quickly now, and he was happy with her technique. Not perfect, but she was putting plenty of effort into it and he was close.

Chloe inched her jaw a tiny bit wider and managed to get another inch of him inside her mouth, although now he came dangerously close to the back of her throat. She tried to figure out how soon she could expect him to come so she didn’t choke on even more fluid, but just as she was trying to figure out if the throbs up and down his shaft were getting more frequent he did. The hand on her head kept her down and sealed around him as her mouth filled up, and she swallowed repeatedly. The taste was slightly bitter and the texture was strange, but if she imagined it was just coffee she could get it down and keep it in her stomach.

[ruafair]

Oh wow.....now this is differnet.... Very interesting and very good so far.

Fiona

[Zannie]

Originally posted by nonky@Dec 19 2004, 02:42 PM
Two days isn’t long enough to go from a virgin to a whore.

. . . wow.

Very compelling beginning--kind of raw and disturbing, of course, but brutally real and heart-wrenching. That last scene was so precise and realistic (both physically and psychologically) that I felt like I was actually there, which is a little weird considering the circumstances.

I'm fascinated about where you're planning to go with this.

[asharnanae]

ohhhh, like the change of pace! great story so far, and it really grabs at you!

Fantastic! :worship2:

[hfce]

Wow that is heart wrenching. I feel bad for both of them. More please...



Hope :)

[buddyfozzy]

Wow, this is certainly a different kind of Chlex. I'm intrigued. Great start. :worship2: :worship2:

[autumngold]

Oh please, please you have to continue this!! I want Lex to realize how old Chloe is and what he has done!! I really, really want him to get her away from his father before Lionel tries to use her himself!! Great beginning to your story!! Please update again soon!! :yay: :chlexsign3: :yay:

[sydsvaughn]

Disturbing and dark, but I am intrigued as to how this will play out. You handle writing this with such sensitivity, yet rawness that is real, something tough to do with this type of material.

I'm in it for the long haul, so please, continue soon!

SaraC

[Impress]

Ok an interestign start. I can't wait to see where you take this.

[Béatrice]

That's an interesting beginning. I am sorry for both Chloe and Lex. They're so manipulated. :chlexsign3: Well I can't wait to read the next chapter. :biggrin:

[lexchloe]

:ohmy: :worship2: Really drawn into this so far. I feel really bad for Chloe though, because this is obviously not how she imagined her first time. Really want to know how Lex reacts when he finds out. More very very soon please.

[tiger04]

I like this new take on the Lionel, Chloe, Lex relationship. Very interested to see where it goes. I hope that you will continue. Dying to know what lex's reaction to chloe is going to be when he learns all the info.


AT

[crankychick]

Dark, disturbing and yet your story completely indulges my evilness, nonky. I feel bad for Chloe, but I'm hoping the Luthor prowess makes up for the forced nature of the rendezvous. :devil: :devil:

[Rae]

Not my usual cup of tea but as usual you've managed to suck me in. And even if I wanted to get out, I wouldn't be able to. The plot is definitely interesting and you write the characters so well. Chloe just breaks my heart and it's great to see Lex without Smallville's influence. I wonder if without its influence, did he lose his way quicker or can the man still be saved? And will Chloe stand up to Lex? Too many questions. I can hardly wait for your next update!

[Thessaly]

As per usual, another cracking fic. You know, if it weren't for the fact that you're my fic dealer, I'd have you shot for being too damn good.

Now hook me up with another update of Survival and I won't nag you for at least... oooh, another five minutes.

Thessaly

[kitten]

The Lesser of Two Evils
NC-17/ Angst
Disclaimer: Smallville, the characters therein, and all affiliated copyrighted materials are owned by the WB. This is a work of fanfiction not intended for profit or infringement, only for the pleasure of fans of the series.

Spoilers: All up to Season 4, except things will be twisted to the tune of Lex having never moved to Cowtown, U.S.A.

A/N: What would Chloe Sullivan have had to do to get from under Lionel Luthor’s thumb if Lex had never moved to Smallville? What would she have had to sacrifice to earn the son’s help against the father?

AU for Season 3 and 4, and strongly rated for a good reason:
THERE WILL BE BORDERLINE NON-CONSENSUAL SEX.

I’m posting in very short chapters so readers can choose when enough is enough for them.


Chapter Four


Lex let out a long exhale and dropped his hand from Chloe’s head. In his newly-relaxed state he smirked and arched his back, feeling the tension of the business day fade into the background. He had long since stopped wondering if empty sex from a woman he paid was an appropriate way of winding down. For him it was his only option unless he wanted to end up with another spoiled society rich bitch for a wife. Hookers were less expensive and they went away with less fuss.

Chloe pulled her mouth away and was embarrassed to see a long string of white fluid trail from his softening cock to her face. She flicked out her tongue and licked it up, swallowing it. Her hand moved back as well and she sat back on her heels uncertainly.

He opened his eyes and looked down at her mildly. He didn’t seem much of anything but he was definitely more relaxed than he had been. She wondered what was coming next and realized the blow job part hadn’t been as bad as she had expected. The thought reminded her of all her numerous worries and she was back to being just as frightened as she had been before the door had opened.

“Good, although I prefer a faster stroke from the beginning,” Lex said.

He watched her cheeks redden and internally shrugged off what he figured was her insult. The luxury of fucking a hooker instead of a girlfriend was that he didn’t have to care about pissing her off. There was no expensive dinner and tiresome clubbing to be suffered through before he could get laid. His secretaries didn’t have to waste precious time at work buying presents and sending flowers.

“I’ll - I’ll keep that in mind,” Chloe said, trying to keep the utter horror off her face. It was if she had just given him a handshake, and there was no more recognition in his look now than there had been when she arrived.

Lionel had made her accustomed to being ignored and treated like furniture at various points when he had no interest in her. He had set up a number of meetings last winter, telling her to wait on the side of the highway for his limo. More often than not he hadn’t shown up and she had been left to sit in the cold car for hours just in case.

But Lex Luthor was cold as a matter of course. He had no reason to keep her in line, he just didn’t want to spare the facial expressions on her. His blue eyes were like ice chips with nothing behind them except a constantly measuring intellect.

“Go get undressed in the first bedroom on the left,” he said, pointing to a hallway and lifting his chin stiffly. He didn’t like eye contact, and the girl’s heavy look had been making him uncomfortable. That was unusual, or maybe he was just tired and didn’t want to drag out the preliminaries any longer.

Chloe stood up carefully in the shoes that were no longer very comfortable. Apparently they weren’t designed to be worn for more than a few minutes, and she didn’t want to take the hand Lex was offering her. She supposed it indicated some human feeling in him, but she didn’t want to touch him any more than she had to.

He probably doesn’t want me to end up face down in his lap again, she thought cynically, since it seems he didn’t like it much the first time around.

She stepped carefully around his leg and picked up the overnight bag. The weight of the bizarre items inside made her pause and she wondered if she was expected to offer him options. She had no idea what terminology was used, having only figured out the purpose of the corset after an attempt to try it on had nearly bruised her ribs.

She walked swiftly into the hallway, deciding he would have to mention it if he wanted something weird. It was only fair since he would likely have to give her instructions as well. He probably thought she was the worst call girl ever.

Chloe cautiously opened a door and found the bedroom, gingerly closing the door behind her as she stepped inside. She desperately wanted to use the lock, but forced herself to walk slowly to the bed. It was a huge four poster covered in dark linens. Like everything else in the penthouse it was plain but clearly expensive.

She put the bag down and unzipped the side pocket. She hadn’t known what to bring, but packing her hairbrush and makeup like it was a normal trip had been soothing. She took them into the attached bathroom and looked at herself dully.

At least I don’t look as bad as I feel.

She splashed cold water over her red face and reapplied the mascara and lipstick. Smacking her lips together reminded her of what she had done minutes before and she rinsed out her mouth. It made her feel better but she had to apply lipstick again. The hairbrush flattened her curls, but she thought it was better than having a giant tangle the size of a man’s hand.

Her watch showed it was only 8:20, and she had only been in the apartment for half an hour. It seemed like a lot longer. She flicked off the light and went back into the bedroom.

Once the hairbrush and makeup were back in her overnight bag she sat down on the edge of the bed and removed her shoes. The lights were out and the vibrant red was dull now. They looked like shadows, and she felt like a shadow.

Maybe he’ll leave the lights off, she hoped. Maybe it will be quick.

Chloe huffed out an irritated breath and stood up. She was being so melodramatic it was disgusting. Many women before her had gone through this in one way or another, and there was no real danger to her life. It would be terrible, but her daily existence under Lionel’s thumb was at least as bad.

He’s not Clark and he doesn’t care about me, but he’s just a man. Not a monster, not a serial killer, just a man.

She heard muffled footsteps from somewhere in the apartment and she jumped, a few tears rolling out of her eyes despite her pep talk. She’d never been frightened in quite this way before and it was suddenly evident to her the vulnerabilities of women to men. She was smaller, shorter, weaker and softer. No amount of feminist theory and intellect could deny that.

In her fantasies Clark was her first lover, and he was gentle and tender with her. She imagined careful foreplay and soft kisses and promises to be together forever before a little bit of pain and a lot of pleasure. She cherished that, treasured it like her love for him, but there was no way it was going to happen now.

Except there was no way it could happen if Lionel was able to carry out his plans for the Kents and Smallville, either. She was the only one who could begin to stop him, but she needed Lex to help her. Maybe there would still be that night with Clark, maybe it would be enough that it was her first night with him.

Chloe squared her shoulders and wiped the tears off her cheeks, then pulled down on the shoulders of the dress. It fell to her waist and she reached behind her back to unzip it. The rest of it hit the floor and she stepped out of it. There wasn’t much else to take off and she was getting cold as she picked up the dress and shoes.

It was embarrassing to see her bare breasts sway in front of her as she bent over, and she folded an arm over them. She draped the dress over a chair in the corner of the room and put the shoes on the floor, then turned back and got the overnight bag, putting it next to the shoes.

The black garter belt was very dark against her skin and she didn’t need to turn on the light to unbuckle it. In her dress rehearsal she had practiced with the tiny clasps with more success than the corset. It was hanging from her hand before long, and she threw it toward the chair. She sat down to unroll the stockings, flinching at the feel of the bed underneath her bare ass.

Just nudity, she thought, just a bit naked. Nothing to worry about. You’re naked every day in the shower.

She balled up the stockings in her fist, then smoothed them out over her bare thigh. There was no way to tell how she would react once he was in the room, but she was okay for now. She could breathe and she was holding a picture of Clark’s wonderful smile in her mind.

Then the doorknob started turning.

[nokchan]

*goesonherknees*

nonky! What a Fic... What a Fic!!! I'm.... amazed!! Without words... So great...

Oh my...!

Maybe I'm twisted and sick, but I love it!!!

[crankychick]

Then the doorknob started turning.

Turn, dammit, turn! :devil: :devil: nonky, I'm catching up with your excellent fics this morning and loving each one. Great writing!

[lexchloe]

Arrggh, you stopped it at the best bit!!! Loved this update. you're conveying Chloe's emotions so perfectly and making me feel like bawling like a baby for what she's going through. I'm really hoping Lex is gentle with her. Eagerly awaiting the next update.

[buddyfozzy]

Wow, what a chapter! :ohmy: I love knowing everything that Chloe is thinking and how horrible the whole situation is for her. I hope that Lex is gentle with her.

Great chapter! :yay: :yay:

[tiger04]

that was a fab chapter. I really liked chloes raction to the whole thing. Her feelings are very understandable very realistic.

Hope you update again soon

AT

[autumngold]

You make Chloe's feelings so realistic!! She's so used to being used by the people she loves, like Clark!! I can't wait for more!! Please, please update soon!! Please have Lex be gentle with her!! Please!! :yay2: :chlexsign4: :yay2:

[randa]

you just left it there
while the doorknob was turning....that's like me pausing a movie right before all of the action really happens..cause i have to pee and dont want to have that urge while the rest of the movie was on.

come back so i can push play, please!!
i like this take you have on their relationships, the darkness works well.


randa

[kitten]

The Lesser of Two Evils
NC-17/ Angst
Disclaimer: Smallville, the characters therein, and all affiliated copyrighted materials are owned by the WB. This is a work of fanfiction not intended for profit or infringement, only for the pleasure of fans of the series.

Spoilers: All up to Season 4, except things will be twisted to the tune of Lex having never moved to Cowtown, U.S.A.

A/N: What would Chloe Sullivan have had to do to get from under Lionel Luthor’s thumb if Lex had never moved to Smallville? What would she have had to sacrifice to earn the son’s help against the father?

AU for Season 3 and 4, and strongly rated for a good reason:
THERE WILL BE BORDERLINE NON-CONSENSUAL SEX.

I’m posting in very short chapters so readers can choose when enough is enough for them. This is the worst chapter of the entire story and Lex is NOT gentle with her. I cried and I wrote it. Seriously, I’ll fill in the blanks in chapter six if you want to skip it.


Chapter Five



He lingered in the living room for a few minutes, pacing restlessly as he waited for Chloe to get ready. He wasn’t interested in the preparations she made but most women liked a few minutes to primp, even the ones who were getting paid.

He returned his glass to the bar and checked the clock. Ten minutes had passed and he was getting impatient. The side effect to getting whatever you want when you want is a lack of patience, he thought.

As a precaution to that he made himself wait another five minutes. Eagerness didn’t serve anyone well, least of all a man in his position. His steps down the hallway were slow and he turned the doorknob leisurely.

She was standing beside the bed in the dark, and he flicked on the light as he shut the door. Whatever it was about this little blond, she managed to keep an innocence that he’d never seen in another woman in her profession. It was clear from her terribly upright posture that she was uncomfortable, but her head remained high as he approached.

Chloe tried to keep still, but it felt like her knees were literally knocking. She desperately wanted to cover herself, but knew it would be in vain. He would see her and touch her and there was no avoiding it. If she didn’t go through with this she would have to work for Lionel forever.

The thought of someone scarier helped her focus and she relaxed her body enough to stand normally. If he wanted a sexy pose he was going to have to direct her in it, because she was having enough trouble not hiding in the bathroom behind a locked door.

“Very nice,” Lex said, his expression neutral. “Natural body but slender and toned, lovely breasts. They’re real?”

Startled, Chloe looked down at her chest and nodded. “Of course.”

He strode across the room and stopped a foot away, and his hand came up to weigh her left breast. She sucked in a shallow breath through her nose and fixed her eyes over his shoulder. His thumb rubbed her nipple and she recognized a tiny amount of arousal. Unfortunately it was a purely physical reaction that did very little to reassure her.

Lex released her and smiled at her to indicate he was pleased. “They’re quite symmetrical. You’re luckier than most women.”

I’m meat to him.

She smiled in return but it was as empty as his was. They were both actors, both playing out this scene of false passion in lieu of looking for the people who could really inspire it in them. The image of Clark’s smile changed to his look of disgust and she abandoned it. This was what it would be, and no sweet thoughts would help her deal with it.

Instead she thought back to the file Lionel had given her. Lex liked bondage, was always on top and didn’t like his women to talk much. She didn’t know how to use any of those facts, would need specific physical directions to do anything at this point.

His hand slid down over her side to cup her hip and Lex gave the rounded flesh there a short massage before he stepped back.

“Lie back on the bed,” he said.

She realized he was taking off his shirt and looked away, feeling ridiculous. She had seen his penis, held it in her mouth, but she couldn’t look at his chest.

Lex walked back to the switch and turned the lights out again. Her gaze was still so unsettling and he didn’t want her looking at him as he fucked her. He wasn’t used to dissecting his feelings or even acknowledging them, so he ignored them and moved on. With the lights off her green eyes would be less . . . intrusive.

Chloe sat back on the edge of the bed and braced her hands as she inched back slowly. It was easier when he was turned away, but once he turned back she could feel him looking even if she didn’t see it. She shuffled to the middle of the bed and lay back with her eyes closed, listening to the quiet slide of clothing. Her hands fisted at her sides and she tried to put herself somewhere else, but couldn’t think of anywhere else that could take her away from the reality.

I’m sorry Clark, I’m sorry Dad, I’m sorry . . .

His hands on her knees made her jump and she reluctantly let him push her legs apart. Her knees bent slightly, she felt his weight settle between them and the heat from his body hover over her.

Lex tossed the condom to the side and looked at her, trying to figure out what she was doing. Usually this would be the time where he would be fighting off stroking hands and complimentary words that did nothing but irritate him. This one, Chloe, was lying still and silent with her eyes closed. Maybe she was very passive, but he wondered how she made her living this way. However, she was following what he had said, and he wasn’t inclined to talk.

Twin weights were pressing into the mattress on either side of her ribs and Chloe tried not to show how upset she was. She wasn’t even steady enough to push him away and run, so she guessed this was it. The darkness behind her eyelids was nice, infinitely preferable to seeing what was happening.

Lex leaned over her and eased his weight down on her lower body. She seemed smaller now and he held his upper body on his elbows. Any moment he expected her eyes to open, but they stayed stubbornly closed. It goaded him that she was so inactive. It felt like being ignored.

His mouth closed over one nipple and he relished her gasp. He angled his body to free one hand, closing it over the other breast and squeezing it a bit harder than he might normally. Her skin was soft and fragrant and he was gratified to see her eyes fly open as her hips moved against his.

Chloe looked frantically down at his bald head as he sucked on her nipple, and made herself stop moving. She could fight the panic when he was barely touching her, but now it was overtaking any feeling of resolve she felt.

Please stop, please stop, please . . .

She ruthlessly bit into her lower lip and stopped the words from spilling out. There were worst things than this, she told herself, far worst things. She felt dizzy even though she was flat on her back, and feverishly sick. Her hands had come up to his shoulders but they were lying open instead of pushing him away like they wanted.

I’m not fighting, she thought, surprised at her own ability to think through the disjointed layers of feelings. The fear was clouded somewhere amongst regret, anger, relief and awe. She felt absurdly lucky that she wasn’t handcuffed or cinched into that horrible corset, relieved that he wasn’t literally hurting her. She was amazed this was happening, helpless except to watch her life change in stark real time. Underneath it all was the fear, but it was accompanied by anger at Lionel for being such a bastard and regret that she was robbed of what should have been a meaningful experience.

Lex Luthor was about to become her first lover and there was no other choice.

He looked down at her and caught a plethora of emotions crossing her face before she went blank. Her eyes stayed open but there was nothing going on behind them. Her hands on his shoulders were just there. He released her breasts and knelt up.

Chloe was just getting used to his mouth, then his fingers were between her legs. Her hands came down to fold over her chest as she willed her legs to stay open. She thought he was trying to arouse her but it wasn’t going to work. She wondered if telling him that would make him get it over with, and decided it would probably offend him instead.

He flicked his thumb over her clit several times, then dipped a finger inside her to find she wasn’t wet at all. A glance up to her face told him she was feeling nothing. It galled him, and he tried another circular rub of the small nub then pushed his finger a little deeper. Her hips moved from side to side but she was no wetter.

Fuck it, he thought, I don’t have time for this. She’s not doing much to help herself out.

He stood up and pulled open a drawer in the bedside table. Chloe froze as he left the bed, but then he was back and her brief hope was gone. His finger had been different than her forays into masturbation, different in a bad way. No pain, but she suspected there would be a lot when it came.

Lex rolled the condom on as he knelt between her legs, then reached for the small bottle he had taken from the drawer. He flipped up the cap and squeezed a bit of the lubricant on his fingers, rubbing them on his palm to warm it up. He swiped it along her pussy and wound his fingers inside to spread it around.

Frigid whores be damned, he had planned on getting off and that was what was going to happen.

“Bend your knees,” he said, lining up his body on top of hers. She did it without dropping the blank expression and he pushed them up marginally higher and slid his arms underneath her raised thighs.

Chloe braced herself and closed her eyes again, her arms dropping down to clutch at the bedding like it could save her. Her bitten lip was starting to bleed and she turned her head away as he moved her legs around to suit him. His shoulders hitched her legs up higher and she felt his breath land on her chest as he rose up over her.

Lex took a last look at her face to find her looking like she just wanted it all over with. He scowled in anger and decided he didn’t care. He would make the effort to make sure she came, but he wasn’t going to work a miracle.

His first thrust inside was shallow, stopped by the clench of her muscles as she tensed around him. He tried a second time and got halfway in, the lubricant helping and hindering as Chloe seemed to fight him back out again. Her upper body was arched up and pulling away from him, and he pulled her back down by her hips.

“Christ, you’re strangling me, relax,” he muttered. His mouth went down to her breast but she only made a mewling sound and shook him off.

She started to shake violently and he held her tighter, levering his hips up to hit her g-spot. Her face was twisted into curled up lips and Lex shoved himself into her roughly, his hands grazing hers on the bed. He could tell she was wet enough because there was warm fluid spreading on his skin where it was rubbing over hers.

Chloe couldn’t believe how bad the pain was, getting worst with every movement he made. It hurt just to have him inside, but when he moved it exploded into a sharp jerk of his hands on her hips. His weight landing on her added a bruising agony and she put her fists up against his chest to keep some of it off. Her legs over his shoulders folded her at the waist and she could hardly breathe. It was just wrong, all of it was wrong.

There was a rushing sound of slapping skin that sounded just before the pain hit and it was the only thing she could hear. He was looking down at her and she knew she was nothing more than a warm body to him.

Lex leaned in until he was holding her off the bed and brought his knees underneath him for leverage. Her legs were almost pointing toward the ceiling and her nails were scraping over his chest as he thrust from the new position. Her lips were forming words and he could watch as he ended each drive inside.

When he lifted her the pain was blinding all the time, and Chloe stopped being able to control her voice. She was sobbing, whether it was in her head or out loud, and she couldn’t stop.

He was getting close to coming and she seemed to be as well, her muscles fluttering wildly around his cock. Lex broke the rhythm he had set and pushed back and forth with his whole body, barely withdrawing before he was back inside. Lightheaded pleasure rose from his balls into his torso and roared through his head as he came.

Chloe brought her hands up to fold over her face as she gave in to the urge to scream. She felt like he was shaking her, the jolt of each time he moved landing like a hit to her smaller frame. When he froze above her she couldn’t stand it, and her tensed muscles finally got to fight like they had been urging her to do.

Lex felt her fists before he heard the loud cries from Chloe. He pried his eyes open to see her terrified face and the shock made him drop her. She let out another sob and pushed herself away from him with unbelievable strength, his cock sliding abruptly out of her body. She flinched away from him as he reached out to steady her and fell over the side of the bed.

“Hey, what happened? Calm down,” he said.

He saw the quick dart of her pale skin as she ran into the bathroom and slammed the door. The sobs didn’t stop, and he stood up slowly, leaning on the bed as his knees wobbled.

“Fucking stoned,” he grumbled.

Lex unrolled the condom and distastefully rubbed his hand over the sweat on his abdomen. He picked up his white shirt and wiped his hand, since all the towels were in the bathroom. Dropping it, he walked to the door and knocked lightly.

“Chloe?”

There was no indication she heard him and the crying was still going, so Lex flicked on the lights. He needed a drink.

There was an imprint of his knuckles in blood on the white door and he spun around to see a matching stain on the bed and the carpet next to it. Thinking he was imagining it, Lex walked back to the shirt and picked it up, horrified to see more blood.

It was smeared all over his stomach and thighs and he stalked back to the bathroom and shouldered the door open.

[crankychick]

:devil: Damn, and in case I forget, damn! Visual, chilling and soul-cutting - that chapter completely floored me :read: :clap: :clap:

[buddyfozzy]

Damn woman, that was just....geez. That was so graphic and painful. :crygreen: :crygreen: We need more of this asap! You can't just leave it there! :devil:

[lexchloe]

..................................That was painful to read but incredibly well written. Need more.

[Rae]

I feel like crying. God, that was just...

God. This story is heart-wrenching. I'm in awe of you right now.

[dreamingincolor]

I dont like this whole unfeeling lex, especially around chloe. Poor chloe, lionel is a bastard. However you story so far seems interesting and its not the usual lex and chloe romance.

[autumngold]

That chapter was extremely hard to read, very realistic. I feel so, so sorry for poor Chloe!! Please, please don't have Lex be mean to her now!! Can't wait to read your next chapter!! Please update soon!! :crygreen: :chlexsign4: :crygreen:

[Impress]

I'm not sure what I feel. Typically a story like this would have me well...not reading. But I find myself interested in where you take this.

[Zannie]

Wow--gripping, and disturbing, and powerful.

I'm dying to know what Lex's reaction will be now.

[nokchan]

Originally posted by nokchan@Dec 20 2004, 04:30 PM

Maybe I'm twisted and sick, but I love it!!!
Okay.. I'm definitly sick and twisted but nonky... this is sooo good!

It screames: "YAY!ME nonky writes me! Go down on your knees fuckers and love me, because I'm great and georgeous and ... hey... I need an update!"

[kitten]

The Lesser of Two Evils
NC-17/ Angst
Disclaimer: Smallville, the characters therein, and all affiliated copyrighted materials are owned by the WB. This is a work of fanfiction not intended for profit or infringement, only for the pleasure of fans of the series.

Spoilers: All up to Season 4, except things will be twisted to the tune of Lex having never moved to Cowtown, U.S.A.

A/N: What would Chloe Sullivan have had to do to get from under Lionel Luthor’s thumb if Lex had never moved to Smallville? What would she have had to sacrifice to earn the son’s help against the father?

AU for Season 3 and 4, and strongly rated for a good reason:
THERE WILL BE BORDERLINE NON-CONSENSUAL SEX.

I’m posting in very short chapters so readers can choose when enough is enough for them. This probably classifies as darkfic, so it won’t be sunshine and roses, but this chapter is a bit easier to take than the last.


Chapter Six


Chloe had collapsed on the floor next to the bathtub, her head slumped against the side. Her body was nothing but jarring trembles and she pulled her bloody legs closer to her chest when he burst into the room. She didn’t know what to do, and the cramping pain was sapping what little energy she had summoned to get away from him the first time. She put her head down and sobbed.

Lex turned on the light and he flinched to see the amount of blood on her pale skin. She was hunched in on herself and crying. She looked broken.

I did this.

He had never hurt a woman, not like this. Their feelings, and their egos, maybe the occasional bruise from a careless grip, but the little blond was sobbing like he’d robbed her of her soul. He had known he was being rough, but she hadn’t said anything, hadn’t asked him to stop. He tried to remember if she had pushed him away and didn’t think she had until the end. But it was pretty clear he had been misinterpreting what she had been doing from the beginning.

“Chloe,” he said, trying to be considerate. Her eyes were shut tightly and he said her name louder. “Chloe!”

He looked down and swore. He didn’t know what she was feeling but it couldn’t be very reassuring that he was looming naked over her. He grabbed a towel and ran it under the tap, not waiting for the temperature of the water to heat up. He scrubbed the cold cloth viciously over himself and got rid of enough blood to go back to the bedroom and pull on his slacks.

Lex kept an eye on her through the open door, but she didn’t seem able to move at all. He went back to stand in the far corner of the room and tried to decide what to do. The random spots of blood on both of them and various parts of the room reminded him of a horror movie, but he was fairly certain she wasn’t in danger of dying. She was still sitting up and clutching her knees to her chest tensely. As long as she didn’t pass out it was probably just a minor wound.

He took another towel and ran it under water, waiting for it to warm up this time. He knew a doctor who would make a house call discreetly, but ideally it was to be avoided. The fewer people who knew about this the better. He also wasn’t sure she would let a man touch her intimately.

“Chloe, I need to find out how badly you’re hurt. Will you let me wash the blood off?”

Her green eyes opened in a wan face and he felt like the worst kind of man. They were accusing, and he realized they had been since she had walked into the penthouse. She had been blaming him before he even touched her.

Her body unwound and he tried to hide his shock at how much more blood there was on her. It was on her face and arms, with flecks over her chest and down to her knees.

Chloe grimaced as she pulled herself up by the edge of the tub. His concern was far too late to impress any kind of gratitude from her.

“I can do it myself,” she said, and he handed the towel to her slowly. He seemed to think she was about to bolt, but her legs wouldn’t carry her to the next room, let alone out of the penthouse and downstairs to her car. The light hurt her eyes and her vision was blurry.

Lex stepped back as soon as Chloe was up off the floor, but she paid him little attention as she ran the towel over her stomach and between her legs. Her face was expressionless, but his mouth twisted into a deep frown as he saw the towel go from white to a reddish-pink colour. She ignored it and kept turning it to a clean area as each was saturated with blood.

She had to keep one hand wrapped around the lip of the bathtub to stay seated, and there were headachy spots floating in her vision. Lex was watching her like a hawk and she wondered what he must be thinking. She looked at his face and saw remorse before he broke away to take another towel off the shelves.

Her eyes hit him - physically caused an ache in his chest as he recognized the deeper wounds he had caused. He wondered what had really led to her career choice. Lex wasn’t ignorant of the fact that many sex workers were victims of abuse and she was acting very much like a habitual victim. The stiff acceptance of his body even as she hated him with her eyes or did her best to ignore him had been odd at the time, but now it was ripping through his conscience. He had written it off as the effect of whatever drug she was on to get her through the night.

She was trying to regroup as she took a last swipe over her shaking thigh. He was looking at the towel in his hands as she dropped hers into the bathtub and stood up slowly. She still hurt, but the panic was gone. It was pretty clear that Lex didn’t want to touch her anymore.

Chloe hobbled out to the bedroom with her hands covering her abdomen. It was like very bad menstrual cramps and she felt just as bruised as she could remember feeling after being in an accident that had wrecked her car. She felt like she’d been beaten, one particular area most of all. She was every bit of her pain but her body didn’t feel familiar at all.

She hadn’t expected it to be that bad. Her fingers wrapped around the dress and she fought a hysterical giggle as she realized she matched it now. Blood-red Chloe.

Lex followed at a long distance as she plodded out slowly and picked up her clothes. She was hunched over and holding herself together with her arms around her waist.

“You can’t leave.”

Her back tensed and he gritted his teeth. The terse words hadn’t been right, hadn’t been what he meant. He wasn’t used to being moved by the pain of another person and he was clumsy in it.

“I didn’t mean - I’m not going to keep you here against your will and I won’t hurt you, but I can’t let you try to drive,” he said, and his voice got very quiet. “You’ve lost a lot of blood.”

She shrugged and the hurt little animal slump of her shoulders made him feel like a bully.

Lex opened and closed his fists in an attempt to drain off some tension, but the numb lack of response from Chloe was frightening. Real pain didn’t dissipate when you cried it out, and he remembered that all too well.

“Okay,” she said, and he saw that victimized stance return. It said without words that she would obey him as long as there was some kind of hope that he wouldn’t hurt her again. He’d never felt so low.

“Can you . . . Why don’t you sit down and I’ll get you some water?”

She did so, her eyes on her knees. Apparently she didn’t care if she was nude, but Lex inched up next to the chair and draped the bath towel over her shoulders without touching her skin.

Chloe heard him leave the room and licked her lips, feeling the burn of her own bite into the flesh. She’d forgotten. Her hands hurt too, and she opened them on her lap to study the curved cuts of nails into her palms. It was just as well that he had stopped her because someone else would have noticed how much of a mess she was.

She wondered if Lex would agree to help her, but the plan didn’t really seem to be as important anymore. Lionel seemed very far away at the moment, but so did her father and her friends. There was barely enough air and she yawned, pulling the towel around to cover herself.

He’s probably not a bad person, she thought, he can’t be all bad. No one is.

Then she thought about his father and reconsidered. Started shaking again and quelled it by reminding herself that he was genuinely upset that she was hurt.

Lex came back into the room and held out a bottle of water, but hesitated once he saw the cuts on her hands. Chloe had to reach out and take it from him, and he dropped two white tablets into her other hand.

She glanced up quizzically.

“It’s just a painkiller,” he said.

Chloe took them one at a time, but she needed three or four sips of water to swallow. Crying had swollen her throat and her eyes.

He sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall, and her eyes fell on him briefly. He really did look like he cared that she was hurt.

“Is this your first job,” he asked, clasping a hand to the back of his neck.

God, if he’d taken her like that her first time out . . . It was repugnant.

She wasn’t sure if he was referring to the bleeding or the whoring, or what answer she should give. Ultimately a lie was beyond her.

“It was my first . . . everything,” she said, and her face crumpled into a mask of grief as new tears started.

She might as well have kicked him in the head and Lex’s stomach churned. He had just brutally, unknowingly and without consideration, taken her virginity.

This time he ran into the bathroom and slammed the door.

[crankychick]

“It was my first . . . everything,” :cryblue: :cryblue: :cryblue:
We seriously need a 'pass the tissue' emoticon. Amazing work, nonky and excellent writing as always.

[autumngold]

Thank you so much for having Lex feel so bad about what he had done!! Now he really needs to help Chloe!! Poor, poor baby!! I hope the pills Lex gave her will help!! Please post more soon!! :yay: :chlexsign3: :yay:

[nokchan]

.
.
.
*diescrying*
.
.
.
*comes back like a phoenix to read the next update*

Update Hun!!! So great!!!

[tiger04]

wow. I liked that lex is having such a serious reaction to chloe.

I can't wait for the next update. I hope it is soon.

AT

[ruafair]

:ohmy: :ohmy: :ohmy:

That's pretty much all I can manage at the moment.... Absolutely incredible imagery and emotion....

Brilliant :worship2:

Fiona

[lexchloe]

Wow..........seriously I can't think of anything else to say. Each chapter pretty much leaves me speechless. :worship2: Gotta have more please.

[asharnanae]

:ohmy: damn. talk about ripping out my innards and frying me! this is intence. very well done though. please continue. :blinkkiss:

[Zannie]

I've been thinking about this story all day--I'm so glad you updated it. Powerful subject matter and powerfully written.

I'm happy to see that this Lex has a conscience. Looking forward to more.

[hickchick]

wow. this fic is amazing so far.

it's just so touching. i'm really sad for Chloe, but i'm glad that Lex is concerned about her. i just know he'll help her get free from his father's control.

please update soon!

[randa]

ho-lly crap! that was really powerful


randa

[buddyfozzy]

:crygreen: :cryblue: :crygreen: :cryblue:

This chapter was so sad. I'm happy that Lex is having such deep feelings and remorse for what's happened though. :ohmy: I'm so glad I found a new update when I looked this morning....it took me forever to fall asleep last night after that last chapter.

Post the next chapter soon please, I'm dying to find out what happens, and if Chloe tells him the real story of how she got to be there.

[Thessaly]

Lionel must die for this...

Really painfully.

Thessaly

[Impress]

Originally posted by Thessaly@Dec 21 2004, 07:09 PM
Lionel must die for this...

Really painfully.

Thessaly
normally I like the MB. But for this story...I have to agree.

waiting to see what happens next.

[Tehzo]

That was amazing. It's so sad and dark. But, for me at least, the angst fics always turn out to be the best ones.

I can't wait to see how you handle Lex and Chloe's relationship after them having such a horrific beginning.

Please update soon! :)

[bogusbabe]

Wow!!! this is intense... i love it!!

I feel so sad for Chloe... at what she has to go thru to get to Lex.

I'm glad Lex feels sorry for what he's done.


:chlexsign4:

[nokchan]

Update... please update.... can't wait anymore....*babbles*

I want:

Chlexy Love
Chlexy Smut
The MBs Death
Chlex Smut
Chlex Smut

For christmas

[zelda]

Hurry Hurry, Update Quick!!

[kitten]

The Lesser of Two Evils
NC-17/ Angst
Disclaimer: Smallville, the characters therein, and all affiliated copyrighted materials are owned by the WB. This is a work of fanfiction not intended for profit or infringement, only for the pleasure of fans of the series.

Spoilers: All up to Season 4, except things will be twisted to the tune of Lex having never moved to Cowtown, U.S.A.

A/N: What would Chloe Sullivan have had to do to get from under Lionel Luthor’s thumb if Lex had never moved to Smallville? What would she have had to sacrifice to earn the son’s help against the father?

AU for Season 3 and 4, and strongly rated for a good reason:
THERE WILL BE BORDERLINE NON-CONSENSUAL SEX.

I’m posting in very short chapters so readers can choose when enough is enough for them.


Chapter 7


As usual, Lex Luthor’s soul made itself known far too late.

He didn’t feel an intrinsic presence of goodness in himself unless he did something horrible to cause it pain. His soul proved its existence only when he did something wrong, by burning up inside him and making him want to scream helplessly. It kept him from sleeping and eating, made him dependent on various substances to scrape his way through life. It punished him for his name and his father.

Luthors didn’t scream, nor did they cry. Emotions of any kind were discouraged, except for anger. Luthors got to be angry and so that was what Lex had been for over a decade. When he hadn’t been stoned, drunk or in the middle of anonymous sexual gratification with a stranger, he had been driving too fast with ear-pounding metal music expressing his rage for him.

Two years ago he had stopped doing drugs and things had become clearer. It had hurt, still hurt some days enough to make him wish he could go back to those half-forgotten mistakes. But the pain was emotional and therefore had to be ignored. Luckily it was perfectly fine for a Luthor to fuck around, drink too much and drive suicidally fast.

Apparently it was also acceptable to send a young woman to be all but raped for amusement, the Luthor version of snakes in a can.

Lex clamped his hands on the edge of the sink and held on as hard as he could. Physical pain wasn’t shameful like the remorse he was feeling, so when his palms began to bruise he could justify feeling it.

‘I want to treat you to a different kind of woman,’ his father had said, and Lex had been taken in. He had tried to see the obscenity of hiring a hooker as a gift, a token of the love Lionel couldn’t admit to feeling. A measure of the pride and respect he really had for his son.

But Chloe - if that was her name - was no prostitute to be lightly used and turned away with an envelope of cash. What he had done couldn’t be repaid, even with the Luthor fortune.

He gritted his teeth and made himself stare into the mirror, and the soul-sick rapist reflected back at him sneered contemptuously.

You think this is the first time you’ve done this to a woman, it seemed to ask. You don’t remember most of them, so how do you know?

When sober, Lex was blessed and cursed with a near-photographic memory. Images kept pushing into his eyes, horrid freeze frames of Chloe’s poor body underneath his. Unlike the reality, they were brightly lit to show every vicious detail of his crime. The blood glistened fresh and vivid compared to the drying brownish stains on the white surfaces of the bathroom.

God, she had been dry as a bone and he had ignored it.

She had been flinching away from every innocuous touch and couldn’t even look at him as he got undressed. He hadn’t even tried for a full minute to get her aroused. She had been shaking to pieces under his hands and he had held her down so she didn’t interfere with his orgasm. Barked at her to relax when her inexperienced body was too tight to fit him.

Soft green eyes in a young, pretty face with lush lips mouthing a single word as he shoved himself into her protesting body. That single, silent word repeated countless times as he disregarded her even as he was staring into that face. Tears rolling down as she begged him not to hurt her anymore. ‘Stop’ said over and over again by the lips she had bitten bloody from the pain.

It was unforgivably clear to him that he should have known long before he ever touched her. She had turned down a drink with a slight blush that indicated she wasn’t legal and teetered on high heels like someone better used to sneakers.

Lex took great handfuls of cold water and splashed them over his upper body. He was still just wearing trousers and they were unpleasantly sticky against his skin. He pushed aside the selfish thought and tried to decide if Chloe needed a doctor. He wouldn’t let her go without medical attention if it would be dangerous for her. He wasn’t so much his father’s son to want her out of the way at all costs.


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Chloe wondered if she should be doing something, but couldn’t think what it should be. She couldn’t go to a doctor and the bleeding had stopped anyway, though the pain was still intense. She was chilly in the towel but she only had one set of clothes to wear and putting them on without a shower would get them bloody.

He was still in the bathroom and she wondered what he was doing and thinking. Lex was the only person who could get her out of the corner Lionel had backed her into.

The door opened and he emerged looking pale and sullen. Chloe watched as he pulled a chair over to set it next to her own. He sat down heavily and looked at her seriously.

“Do you want to go to a hospital?”

He knew what would happen there. Nurses and doctors would take one look at her, especially in her current flattened state, and they would do a rape kit. Calls would go out to the police and the psychiatric staff, and by morning he could be in a jail cell.

It was the least he deserved and he cursed the self-preservation instinct that made him hope she would say no.

“No, I can’t. Your father can’t find out what happened here tonight,” she said.

She says that like she knows him personally.

Lex’s head snapped up and rage momentarily crossed his face before he pushed it down.

“I want to explain,” Chloe continued, the angry reaction a strange jolt to the icy calm that she was feeling. “None of this is a coincidence.”

“My father . . . “ Lex sighed. He gave up any slim hope she wasn’t part of an elaborate set up. It wasn’t surprising, but it was disappointing.

She actually gave him a sympathetic look as he spoke, and he wondered how she could know enough about Lionel to pity her rapist for being his son. It was depressing and telling. She wasn’t just a random young woman. He nodded for her to speak.

“My name is Chloe Sullivan and I’m the editor of a newspaper in Smallville called The Torch. The meteor shower over a decade ago left behind vast quantities of strange green rocks that I believe have caused some genetic mutations in some of the citizens.”

Her eyes lifted to his bald head and the look of sympathy was back briefly. He hated it.

“I know you’re aware of the incident, so I’ll skip the history lesson. When my father and I moved to the town a few years ago I noticed the odd behaviour and high fatality reports from Smallville High. I’m about the only one who believes the rocks have something to do with it. Your father does, too.

“Since then I’ve witnessed several people who were exposed to the rocks under unusual circumstances and came away with powers. There was a guy who needed to suck body heat from others to survive after falling into a frozen lake impregnated with rocks, a girl who had to suck body fat, and numerous other people who seemed to become insane and homicidal along with the abilities they received.

“The common suggestion is that LuthorCorp is behind the weirdness, but Lionel found out I was working on researching the rocks,” she said, her voice gaining confidence as she spoke.

Lex noted the familiar address to his father but let her keep going.

“He contacted me to do research for him but I refused. My father works at the fertilizer plant and I’ve heard some things that convinced me Lionel is not a guy I wanted to be working for.”

Chloe paused and took a long sip of water.

“But he had my newspaper destroyed and offered me the funds to repair it, knowing that they wouldn’t come from any other source. He also offered to sweeten the deal with a column in The Daily Planet. All I had to do was give him copies of the research on the rocks and on a particular person he thinks has abilities.”

“Who would that be?”

“My best friend, Clark Kent,” she said, not pleased with having to reveal his name to Lex without any agreement between them, but knowing it was necessary. “Lionel has a plan for the entire town and I don’t think it’s altruistic, so I took the job to keep him off the right track. I feed him information that doesn’t lead anywhere important so he’s not looking into other things.

“No one knows I work for Lionel, not even my father. He would lose his job if I told him. I don’t know what would happen if anyone else found out, but I think they would be in danger. You’re the only one who might be able to help.”

Lex nodded encouragingly when she stopped and folded her hands together awkwardly.

“I’ve been working for Lionel for over a year, but lately he’s been stepping up his research and pushing me for results and concrete information. I’m surprised I’ve been able to string him along this far and it won’t last,” she said, and tears started to fall again.

Chloe squinted and impatiently rubbed her eyes.

“I have to admit your particular circumstance is unusual, but there are many people who have been sorry they went to work for my father,” Lex said. “Why do you need me to intervene?”

She passed the water bottle back and forth in her hands and shifted her shoulders uncomfortably.

“His expectations have increased recently. He wants to fuck me for my eighteenth birthday.”

[zelda]

Holy Shit!

[asharnanae]

:ohmy: Ok, cant actaully speak. D.A.M.N.

I dont think I have every hated lionel more. And your portaile of lex and chloe is fantastic, wrenching, but fantastic. :worship2:

[§åß®îNå]

Oh my... Im speachless as well, great work!
I think I never felt so much loathing toward Lionel as now.

[buddyfozzy]

Lionel is such a bastard!! :devil: I'm glad that Chloe told Lex everything though, I hope he will help her now. And the first part, from Lex's point of view...wow! Very intense. :ohmy:

Please update again soon. Pretty please? :puppyeyes: :puppyeyes:

[lexchloe]

Originally posted by zelda@Dec 23 2004, 05:46 PM
Holy Shit!
:ohmy: :ohmy: What she said. :worship2:

[ldydee81]

oh man :worship2: you need to come back and update right now NOW :yay2:

[Impress]

Originally posted by zelda@Dec 23 2004, 10:46 AM
Holy Shit!
yeah that.


You know..this is one of the very few stories where I don't like the MB in all his glory. And to top it off, I'm all for killing him off. Says alot considering I like the MB.

Intense and good so far. More soon.

[crankychick]

An amazing update on almost-Christmas. I'm just floored, really. :worship2: :crygreen: :worship2: :crygreen: :worship2: :crygreen:

[kitten]

The Lesser of Two Evils
NC-17/ Angst
Disclaimer: Smallville, the characters therein, and all affiliated copyrighted materials are owned by the WB. This is a work of fanfiction not intended for profit or infringement, only for the pleasure of fans of the series.

Spoilers: All up to Season 4, except things will be twisted to the tune of Lex having never moved to Cowtown, U.S.A.

A/N: What would Chloe Sullivan have had to do to get from under Lionel Luthor’s thumb if Lex had never moved to Smallville? What would she have had to sacrifice to earn the son’s help against the father?

AU for Season 3 and 4, and strongly rated for a good reason:
THERE WILL BE BORDERLINE NON-CONSENSUAL SEX.

I’m posting in very short chapters so readers can choose when enough is enough for them.


Chapter Eight



There was no way to describe the sound Lex made, but it shot out of his mouth seemingly independently, a gravely tone. His head tilted all the way back as he ran a palm over his scalp, then tilted all the way forward to direct his eyes to the floor. He looked at small segments of the carpeting, dully wondering how much worst things could become.

He made me his weapon and I didn’t even bother to ask a single question, Lex thought. I didn’t want to give him the upper hand by showing curiousity. I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“Has he ever . . . touched you?”

Chloe could hear the question hurting him as he asked it and knew he was as disgusted by the idea as she was.

“No, he doesn’t want to give me anything to use against him,” she said quietly.

It was illegal for a 17 year old to have sex with someone older than 24, conveniently Lex’s age. His father couldn’t fuck her yet so he had his son do it, had arranged a scenario that would ensure he was as inconsiderate to Chloe as possible.

Luthor family politics were twisted, but the personal interactions were Freudian to the extreme.

Lex had been his mother’s ally against his father his entire life, had taken on the guilt of his younger brother’s death to preserve the image of his late mother. He still dreamt of her sadly relieved face as she looked from the stilled little body in the crib to her older son and told him he was beyond hope.

She had killed Julian to save him from becoming his father’s son, to prevent him from becoming Lex, then she had died and there was no one standing with him against Lionel. He had done what he needed to do to keep a part of himself, and at the tender age of 11 had made the same choice Chloe had made - it was better to work for Lionel than to openly defy him. Carved out bits of yourself fed to the monster to keep it at bay.

The arrogant billionaire was like a star burning itself out, pulling parts of the world out of existence with him and showing no signs of going quietly. He had been ruined decades ago and he was zealously seeking out others like himself to ruin in turn, building a staff of minor devils for his office in hell.

Lionel never targeted the weak because they were not challenging enough. Instead he found a strong person and weakened them with shallow cuts to their will and their morality. By the time they were of no more use he could deliver the killing blow and discard them.

Dad was a word that tasted like ashes when Lex said it, and mom was a word he didn’t own since the first time someone had innocently said ‘you’re just like your father.’ Lillian Luthor would never want a son like him unless he could change.

It was possible, he hoped. He could save Chloe.

“Why did Lionel send you to me if he wants you?”

The blunt question made her press her legs closer together and he regretted that he had never had a civilizing influence to teach him sensitivity. This brave young woman deserved some form of comfort he was helpless to provide.

“He said . . . deflowerings were tiresome and he’d let you do the . . . “ She choked up and braced herself back into the chair. “ . . . dirty work.”

He would have thrown some furniture, but he was gutted by green eyes filled with tears and didn’t want to frighten her. She glowed with pure suffering and it was beautiful in a way, mesmerizingly real. It was obvious why Lionel had wanted her, and Lex was determined he would never have her.

Chloe sniffled and swallowed back more tears.

“He also said he wanted to see how you would deal with what he called ‘a character-defining quandary,’” she said. “He wanted to have something to hang over your head.”

This little blond high school student was the latest acquisition in the arms race between father and son Luthor. Maybe she would be the one to decide the victory.

“He wanted you to be able to press charges, and for me to be aware of that threat,” Lex said, and she nodded.

“Without the full disclosure I’m providing now, of course. I don’t think it would ever occur to him that I would recognize the possibilities of meeting you or that I would choose to trust you.”

Lex started coughing and Chloe handed the bottle of water to him, watching as he drank deeply and caught his breath.

“You shouldn’t trust me, Chloe, I raped you less than an hour ago,” he said angrily, his free hand closing into a fist.

I’m not trustworthy, he thought. She’s sitting there with blood drying on her thighs and talking about trusting me. It’s a travesty.

The physicality of the act was Lex’s, but the violation was Lionel’s. She was no child to be blinded to their equal status as his father’s victims.

Chloe’s hand reached out and lay on his, and he looked at it in wonder.

“You didn’t rape me, he did, and it happened the first time he looked down my shirt and told me he could afford to buy and sell my life with his pocket change.”

Lex didn’t know what to say to that, so he stayed absolutely still underneath her hand and tried to understand her forgiveness. Hate was common, lack of it was completely foreign to him. He was shocked and silent when light fingers pulled back and she fidgeted with the towel wrapped around her.

“Hell, I’m sorry, you probably want to get cleaned up.”

Lex glanced toward the bathroom and remembered the heap of bloody towels. He wanted to have the entire building razed to forget the shame he felt when her hand discreetly rubbed over her belly.

She needed to get this deal finished, and Chloe shook her head.

“I’d prefer to finish our discussion.”

The wording was too serious for a girl her age, and Lex wondered how old she felt. He knew he felt ancient.

“Okay. How long until . . . your birthday,” he asked. It was as much tact as he could muster.

“Five weeks.”

He thought about the business trips scheduled in that time and resolved to cancel them all. He wouldn’t be able to protect Chloe from overseas and Lionel usually left most of the traveling up to junior executives, so he would be within reach. Lex didn’t doubt his patience was already being tested, his appetite for the girl whetted by the idea of her innocence and fear.

“If you and I combine our efforts we should be able to gather enough evidence to submit to the FBI,” he said with a confidence he didn’t feel.

She shrugged off his reassurance and rubbed her forehead. The painkillers that were soothing her body were irritating her head and stomach, and she retrieved the bottle of water to take a sip. Lex kept talking when it seemed like she didn’t have a reply.

“I’ve been investigating his business practices for the past several years and I have about half of the information. I just need to get the paper trail together.”

“He knows Morgan Edge,” she blurted.

Lex recognized the name of the infamous organized crime lord, but it wasn’t a big surprise. His father knew a lot of unsavoury people, many more than the few decent ones he duped into believing he was an upstanding businessman.

He smiled gently at the girl and tried to break it to her.

“I can’t work with that, there’s no such thing as guilt by association. Edge knows a lot of people and so does Lionel. There are probably hundreds of legitimate reasons why they have contact.”

Chloe looked at him significantly.

“But they knew each other in the Suicide Slums before your grandparents were killed.”

He froze, looked at her with new respect, then steepled his fingers. His mind raced but he reined himself in. There was no point in endless speculation they couldn’t support by evidence.

“Can you document it?”

“I have police records that put them in the same kids’ gang and in the same neighbourhood,” she said. “There was, uh, an insurance policy that paid out a few weeks after the fire, and shortly after that they both moved on and started their current careers.”

He murdered his own parents.

Lex’s head reeled as he realized how long Lionel had been a sociopath. It had started long before his wife and son had died, long before family life had failed him and business had become his priority.

She waited for him to say or do something, then reached out to touch his arm, but Lex flinched away.

“I’m sor-”

“Don’t be sorry for anything.”

His voice was hard and his blue eyes were bright with anger. She gaped at the difference it made. He was suddenly alive.

Tiger, tiger, burning bright . . .

He regretted snapping at her and turned apologetic eyes to hers.

“I’m sorry for all of this, Chloe. If you help me I’ll make this right. He’ll never touch you and yours,” he said. “It goes without saying that what happened tonight never will again.”

Green eyes shut tightly and she shook her head vigorously. Her hand came out again and he let her close it over his forearm, wished she could hurt him with her grip like he had her.

“But I need it to happen again.”

[crankychick]

Luthor family politics were twisted, but the personal interactions were Freudian to the extreme.
I think I'll starting breathing again sometime tomorrow. :puke: Oh, Lionel, what a bastard you are. I hope Lex makes you pay :devil:

[buddyfozzy]

Originally posted by nonky@Dec 24 2004, 03:44 AM
“But I need it to happen again.”
What does she mean? You can't just leave us hanging, come back! :puppyeyes:

I love how they are going to work together to bring Lionel down. :worship2: :worship2: :worship2: :worship2:

[Charmeye]

:worship2:

The emotion in this fanfic is just incredible!! Wow. I've never been so rivited by this aftermath 'talk' that they're having. You have me sitting on the edge of my seat and checking every day for an update. So please, soon...more. Can't wait for the two of them to kick Lionel's pervy butt!!! :devil:

Charmeye

:chlexsign3:

[zelda]

“But I need it to happen again.”

WTF? :huh:

Anyway, good update, keep em coming

[autumngold]

I'm so, so happy that Lex is going to help Chloe!! Thank you for the two great updates!! I can't wait for more, especially an explanation of Chloe's last statement!! Post again soon please!! :yay2: :chlexsign4: :yay2:

[tiger04]

Loved the new update. Very Happy that lex is going to help chloe. The whole Lionel thing I was like :ohmy: but I can see Lionel doing something like that.


“But I need it to happen again.”

Does it have to happen again, so A it's not always a bad feeling when coming to sex or B Lionel is going to "send" chloe to lex again?

Hope you have time to update with more soon. I can hardly wait.

AT

[kitten]

The Lesser of Two Evils
NC-17/ Angst
Disclaimer: Smallville, the characters therein, and all affiliated copyrighted materials are owned by the WB. This is a work of fanfiction not intended for profit or infringement, only for the pleasure of fans of the series.

Spoilers: All up to Season 4, except things will be twisted to the tune of Lex having never moved to Cowtown, U.S.A.

A/N: What would Chloe Sullivan have had to do to get from under Lionel Luthor’s thumb if Lex had never moved to Smallville? What would she have had to sacrifice to earn the son’s help against the father?

AU for Season 3 and 4, and strongly rated for a good reason:
THERE WILL BE BORDERLINE NON-CONSENSUAL SEX.

I’m posting in very short chapters so readers can choose when enough is enough for them.


Chapter Nine


No one needs what I just did to her on that bed, Lex thought. No one would want that.

“Don’t worry. If he sends you to me again I’ll refuse.”

Chloe let go of Lex’s tensed arm and wrapped hers around her middle. She felt herself start to cry for the third time, or maybe just continue the crying that had only been paused. Her face was damp and the tears made the bite on her lip sting.

But she cleared her throat and looked at him as she spoke. This was more important than her own life.

“He won’t send me again, you’ll have to ask me back. If you don’t he’ll have me right where he wants me.”

She looked more jittery than she had been earlier and Lex grimaced as he tried to run through the possibilities. If Lionel was content to wait another month what could be so urgent?

“I’m going to need specifics,” he said, wishing for a drink to cut some of the insatiable anger.

“About six months ago, Lionel switched me to his personal physician. He said it was to prepare for our upcoming change of relationship. I was given the standard STD tests and put on the birth control pill, except I had an allergic reaction to it and they gave me a birth control implant instead.”

Chloe slid her fingers idly over a patch on her upper arm, over the implant, Lex assumed.

“I had the leftover pills tested and they were just placebos. I think I’m on the implant now so I don’t have any way to find out what I’m really being given,” she said.

Her eyes turned to all sides of the room and settled on the armrest of her chair, a deep sigh raising her chest.

“I think he wants to get me pregnant.”

The statement dropped down on his shoulders like one of Lionel’s occasional insincere hugs. Lex tried to deny it but his mind had been sketching the same conclusion from the first word of her explanation.

His head shook unknowingly, and his face softened as he looked at Chloe. She was holding so much up, the entire little town from the sound of it.

“He’s been talking a lot about you and your childhood,” she said, apologetic that she knew such intimate family secrets. “He keeps saying things about ‘inferior genes’ and ‘unfortunate lapses.’ Talking about feeling sorry that he will have to leave LuthorCorp to you or Lucas.”

“I’ve always been a disappointment to him, he’s made no secret of that.”

Lex took the insults calmly, and Chloe wondered how many times the crude dismissals of his father had fallen on his ears. Wondered how he had survived Lionel so long. She shook her head and made herself keep talking. Once it was started the truth had to be told.

“And Lionel mostly refers to Lucas as being unruly. He’s obsessed with the future of LuthorCorp after his death and he wants someone other than you or Lucas to run it. He wants another son.”

His eyebrow rose up in question and she reached down into the overnight bag, pulling out a file folder.

“I broke into the doctor’s office and copied both his and my files. I’m getting a mixture of fertility drugs and also an experimental drug that should increase my chances of conceiving a male child.”

Lex took the folder and opened it, skimming through the poor handwriting and deciphering the pharmacological jargon. She was right about the implant, and his father was taking hormones as well.

“They’re boosting his sperm production, and they’re treating him for a some unspecified liver disease that might be fatal,” Chloe said.

He flipped through the heavy sheaf of papers and found the last page. The doctor’s prognosis was that Lionel could have as little as a year, or another forty. It wasn’t clear, but they were suggesting he err on the side of caution and submit to regular monitoring of his health.

They also suggested that he make any attempts to have another child as soon as possible.

“That goddamned bastard,” he whispered. He didn’t know much about his parents’ marriage before he was born, but there was at least some evidence that Lionel had bothered to romance his mother instead of terrorizing her.

They tell him that he might be dying and he goes out to trap a teenage girl into his bed to use her as a brood mare.

“Yes, he really is. But he won’t touch me if he thinks I might already be pregnant by you; his pride wouldn’t allow it. He wants to know definitively that I would be carrying his child,” Chloe said. “Which is why I have to come back here regularly.”

Lex hated to break it to her, but that wouldn’t be a workable lie.

“I’m sure you know that my father has spies everywhere watching everything I do. He knows my sexual habits and that I never fail to use a condom. I’m sorry, Chloe, but he wouldn’t buy it.”

She disagreed and leaned forward in the chair to emphasize her point.

”He told you I would be a different experience, and that I was a gift, right?”

He nodded uncomfortably, reluctant to recount the other words Lionel had used. His polished veneer of class wore thin when he was talking to his sons, especially about women.

“Well, he told me to do whatever you asked. What if whatever you asked was to take advantage of my inexperience to go without protection for a change?”

Her green eyes sparkled with intellect and desperation, and Lex wished he could tell which was prevalent. She seemed to know Lionel at least as well as he did, and was certainly quite bright to have formed the strategies she was using. His father would admire those talents and was apparently choosing her to pass them on to his fourth son.

Unless her ruse worked.

“Wouldn’t it be sufficient for you to meet me here, stay for a few hours and let him assume we had sex?”

She sneered and rolled her neck.

“No, because I have a standing appointment every week with the doctor, and he has been instructed to do a pelvic exam each time,” she said. “They will know the difference between the appearance of sex and actual penetration. They’ll also be able to tell Lionel if I’ve conceived in the five previous days. He’ll be convinced because I’m supposed to believe I can’t get pregnant, and he always thinks he’s fooled me.”

Lex managed a laugh at her last smug comment. Clearly Lionel was labouring under quite a few misapprehensions with Chloe. It might just be enough.

He stood up to pace and marveled at how similar her methods against his father were to his own. It had taken him years to get to a balance of confrontation, acceptance and looking the other way.

“Chloe,” he said, turning to meet her eyes. “It doesn’t have to be me you’re sleeping with. After tonight I can’t imagine that would be your choice.”

Her chin lifted proudly and she frowned.

“It was my choice tonight. I never said no.”

He wanted to argue that, but he couldn’t get into a fight with her after everything else.

“I just meant if you had someone you cared about . . . “

He realized the cruelty as he said it. If Chloe did have someone she wanted for a lover it would be different for her now. Tainted by him. Her mouth was pressed tightly closed and she was looking down sadly, but her voice came out clearly.

“You’re the only man I can touch who won’t be in danger from him if he thinks you’ve made me pregnant, Lex. There’s no one else unless I just sneak off and get laid with a complete stranger once every couple of days.”

She ached to say Clark’s name, to go to him and have his arms wipe all of this strife away. He always made it better somehow, even though he didn’t consider her anything but a friend. But he was the reason she needed to do this, the absurd reason she had to sleep with another man while convincing a third she would sleep with him as well.

Lex walked over to the bed and sat at the foot. He wondered if Chloe would survive even if he got her out of his father’s clutches. His fingers brushed a bit of loose fabric and he looked down to see her crumpled stockings. Picking them up, he noticed they were ripped.

“This is surreal.”

Chloe had said it, but he felt it as well. It bounced around in his head and echoed off the cacophony of thoughts that would keep him up for days.

“These are ruined,” he said, tossing the stockings into the trash.

A lot of things are, she thought.

They retired to other bedrooms to shower, and Chloe left the penthouse before 11 p.m. She was invited back.

[hickchick]

wow! that's all i can manage to say after that wonderful chapter.

i can't wait to see how Chloe and Lex work together to bring down MB. if anyone can save Chloe, it's Lex.

thank you for updating so quickly each time.

i look foward to your next update!

[sylvia]

Okay, well, wow. Not your regular Christmas (eve) fic present, but wow. I'm loving the way your plots are so well constructed, and yet so realistic and seamless. Great characterisation of both Chloe and Lex, and especially of Lionel's more bastardous side. I also like how you wove in elements from the actual show itself; I find for some reason that they really ground the story.

Anyway great work as usual, merry christmas, and keep updating!

[lexchloe]

:ohmy: Two excellent updates. I'm really loving this story and the idea of Chloe and Lex working together and seeing how their relationship develops after the way it began. I didn't think it was possible to make the :devil: MB even more evil than he already is but you've definately managed it. Eagerly awaiting the next update.

[zelda]

Oh, poor CHloe, has to keep jumping Lex. :drool:

[autumngold]

I can't believe that Chloe still has to keep in touch with Lionel!! If she gets pregnant by Lex what makes her think that Lionel will let her keep it? Thanks for the new update!! This story just breaks my heart!! :crygreen: :chlexsign4: :crygreen:

[crankychick]

She was invited back.
:worship2: That was a masterful update and I cannot believe how much I detest Lionel. Usually, I adore his evil, malevolent ways but the way he's using both Lionel and Chloe in this scenario is enfuriating. :devil:

:read: I hope Lionel's brushing up on his Dante because Chloe and Lex are going to send him straight and direct to hell.

[tiger04]

That is a pretty good plan that chloe came up with. Yeah, for lex going along with it. Also thank you for the updates. I really am rapped up in this story.


“I think he wants to get me pregnant.”-me :ohmy:

Hoping for an update soon

AT

[Zannie]

Great updates: fascinating plot twists and amazing character development.

Still need more soon.

[buddyfozzy]

Lionel gets more and more of a bastard with every chapter! :ohmy: :ohmy:

At least they have a plan though.

[hateSmallvilleLoveChlex]

Holy crap, that is intense!!! And so very good! You have to continue to update this supurbly. Merry Christmas. Happy holidays. Blessed Be!!

[Impress]

Originally posted by crankychick@Dec 24 2004, 12:11 PM
:worship2: That was a masterful update and I cannot believe how much I detest Lionel. Usually, I adore his evil, malevolent ways but the way he's using both Lionel and Chloe in this scenario is enfuriating. :devil:

:read: I hope Lionel's brushing up on his Dante because Chloe and Lex are going to send him straight and direct to hell.
exactly

[Charmeye]

Oooohhhhh!! I can't wait for the two master-minds to take out the MB.
I'm so loving this dark fic...your plot is so intense! :yay: :yay: :yay:

But no update for 3 days?! I'm so used to an update every day there for a while, please update soon. Please.

:worship2: :worship2:

[kitten]

The Lesser of Two Evils
NC-17/ Angst

Disclaimer: Smallville, the characters therein, and all affiliated copyrighted materials are owned by the WB. This is a work of fanfiction not intended for profit or infringement, only for the pleasure of fans of the series.

Spoilers: All up to Season 4, except things will be twisted to the tune of Lex having never moved to Cowtown, U.S.A.

A/N: What would Chloe Sullivan have had to do to get from under Lionel Luthor’s thumb if Lex had never moved to Smallville? What would she have had to sacrifice to earn the son’s help against the father?

AU for Season 3 and 4, and strongly rated for a good reason:
THERE WILL BE BORDERLINE NON-CONSENSUAL SEX.

I’m posting in very short chapters so readers can choose when enough is enough for them.


Chapter Ten


The fallout of a few significant hours could take up much more time afterward, as Chloe found out in the following four days. She drove home, slowly, and parked her car. She hauled herself upstairs as silently as she could and went to bed in her clothes, only bothering to take off the fussy shoes.

She avoided her friends and her father, afraid something would clue them in to the darkness she was grappling with. The nightmares she had expected hadn’t arrived, but she was very sad and felt vulnerable physically. Even Clark’s touch was unwelcome, and she usually treasured each little contact with him.

But as different as her life had become, she wasn’t broken. The nighttime crying jags that accompanied her to bed didn’t keep her from getting to sleep. Physical worries were eliminated almost immediately, when Lionel’s doctor informed her that she had a small tear in her vagina that would heal on its own in a few days. She was restricted from sex for the rest of the week, but she would have been happy enough to be banned from it forever.

Lionel’s summons had been more difficult, but she’d been more angry than afraid in his presence. Knowing there was an equal force at her back bolstered her courage.

He had waved her to a chair, asked how she was, and she had closed her hand around a crystal ashtray and fought not to throw it in his face as she told him she was fine.

“How was your date with Lex? I hope you enjoyed yourself,” he had said, his obscenely paternal smile stretching from ear to ear.

Chloe had long since abandoned any musings on why he was such a twisted bastard, and she had shrugged mildly. He looked surprised and it had made her feel good to know he wasn’t in control of every emotion he felt.

“It was as good as it was going to be.”

Lionel sipped at his drink and she wondered if he was an alcoholic, then decided she didn’t really care. He would die prematurely of one thing or another and it might as well be a rotting liver for her purposes. Cirrhosis probably hurt as much as anything she could hope for him.

He leaned forward and patted her knee in a way that might have been comforting for the uninitiated, put on his sad face, and said, “The doctor called me after your appointment. You were injured?”

What do you care?

She shook her head and smiled in a carefree way.

“My first stupid sex injury. I slipped and caught a bad angle, but it’s okay. Lex seemed to think it was a result of my nerves and enthusiasm to please,” she said. "I’m invited back on the weekend. He said I move too slowly for a weeknight.”

This is unexpected, Lionel thought. She’s supposed to be a throwaway.

He had accepted the variables coming together when Chloe and Lex met, but the plan was for Lex to introduce her to sex in a way that would push her toward fidelity for self-protection. If she associated young men with being used and abused, she would appreciate the benefits of an older man looking to settle down. The injury had made him happy, validated his notions, but not if Lex was looking to make it up to her with return visits. More than one hardened professional whore had fallen for his son.

“Really? You must have a latent ability, then, because Lex certainly knows how to appreciate talent.”

His whoring is well-known, old man, so don’t bother with the cheap shots.

“I’m not sure what he thought,” she had answered. “He doesn’t like very much talk. There were a few instructions but that was about it.”

Cold gray eyes had widened quizzically and she had remained silent, making him voice the question.

“Which instructions?”

Another shrug from the young woman had him nervous, and her answer had his fingers twitching toward the telephone.

“He said it had been years since he’d had a virgin and he was pleased you’d sent me. He didn’t want to use a condom and I figured that was okay since we both tested clean and I’m on birth control. Right?”

The guileless smile she shot at her employer covered her triumph nicely, and Chloe was on her way home minutes later. Perhaps for the first time in recent memory, Lionel Luthor was in a bona fide snit.

I hope he enjoys it, she had thought.


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


“Doctor, I remember quite well what you told me about Miss Sullivan’s checkup, but I’d like you to tell me again. Considering the amount of money I pay for your services I don’t think I’m out of line.”

Lionel swilled back another brandy and switched to whiskey. He wanted something to burn down into his stomach to accompany the heated sensation of rage.

Sending Chloe to Lex was an inspired idea and he had been sure there was no way for it to turn out badly for him. His mind had listed out the scenarios that could result with mechanical precision.

If it was a singular event Lex would feel flattered or unmoved by his gift and Chloe would feel used. If she was hurt and traumatized it would just make her all the more vulnerable to kindness when he took her to bed, and would put an ace in Lionel’s back pocket. Rape charges could ruin his son’s life and would likely be a valuable bargaining point. If Lex managed to make the experience good for Chloe she would learn a few things and it would incite her curiousity for sex.

Lionel had never considered a change to Lex’s well-established sexual routine. The file he had given Chloe was embellished to make her afraid of his son, but the important things had been true. He was tested regularly for STDs and completely healthy. He used condoms with every woman, no matter how familiar he was with her.

But apparently Lex’s interpretation of a new experience was to ride bareback, with Chloe’s virginity as the only safeguard. He wondered if she had told him or if her behaviour had given it away, but it didn’t really matter.

She was fertile and unprotected and he had to make sure she hadn’t and wouldn’t conceive his grandchild.

“Mr. Luthor, if you’ll recall, I expressed reservations about this course of events. While Miss Sullivan appears to believe that some women still menstruate while on the implant, there is no way a pregnancy would get past her,” the doctor said. “I would not be able to answer her questions satisfactorily, and I would lose my license to practice.”

Lionel sighed and didn’t bother to hide his distress. Some days it paid to let loose.

“I cannot and will not allow my son to attain the heir that should rightfully be mine, and you will do whatever it takes to make sure it does not happen. I will have your cooperation or you will find yourself much worst than unemployed.”

He heard the doctor gulp and smiled without warmth. Power was as much a part of him as his name.

He listened to the same results repeated once again. Chloe had vaginal bruising consistent with rough sex, and a small tear that indicated the same. It would heal quickly and didn’t mean she was unwilling in the act. There had been no semen, but that wasn’t surprising a few days later.

She hadn’t been upset or worried at the appointment, nor had she taken an opportunity offered by a female nurse to confide a sexual assault. Lionel had counted on her behaviour during their meeting to give him the final pieces to figure out what had happened, and he was frustrated when she had been low-key and even.

“How likely is it that she is pregnant?”

“The odds of conception are a mystery, sir, but there’s a better than fifty percent chance that she will conceive through multiple incidents of unprotected sex over a period of a year.”

It wasn’t what Lionel had wanted to hear.


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Lex Luthor had spent four days enraged. He had gotten drunk directly after Chloe had left his apartment, and stayed that way during his off hours. The guest bedroom he couldn't help but think of as the scene of the crime was empty, newly painted and awaiting a new destiny. He had no intention of ever putting another bed in there and had no real use for it.

It would be a very long while before he would enter that room again, and he wasn’t inclined to call for female companionship either. Chloe’s words didn’t change the facts of his actions and he didn’t want to relive her struggles physically as he did in his dreams.

When he returned from work he sat in the living room and thought relentlessly about his father’s plan. It was diabolical and all too easy to attribute to Lionel’s mind. He would do anything to win, even if winning was a petty thing that existed only in his own perceptions.

The team of investigators he had hired were telling Lex the Morgan Edge friendship was correct, and working to find things that would implicate his father, the crime lord and anyone else involved. He had read the police reports of the fire that had killed his grandparents, finding out for the first time that dozens of other people had died in the overcrowded tenement the same night.

And just when he thought there was no way he could feel worst, he opened the door to Chloe Sullivan once again.

[hickchick]

yay! you updated!

poor Chloe, she has to come back for more.

but i'm sure that in the end Lex will be able to help her.

please update soon!

[Zannie]

She was restricted from sex for the rest of the week, but she would have been happy enough to be banned from it forever.
So powerful and sad. Poor Chloe.


Perhaps for the first time in recent memory, Lionel Luthor was in a bona fide snit.
Ha! Wonderful line, and wonderful concept.

Great update.

[sylvia]

I love the way Chloe's silent pain and strength comes through in this story, and the way you wrote power and control she had when dealing with Lionel Luthor himself was very impressively done. Can't wait for how Lex and Chloe deal with the aftermath, and how the MB Strikes Back.

Update soon!

[crankychick]

Lionel Luthor was in a bona fide snit.
I love this line! Fantastic update and this story is captivating.

[buddyfozzy]

Originally posted by nonky@Dec 28 2004, 11:56 AM
Perhaps for the first time in recent memory, Lionel Luthor was in a bona fide snit.

I love this line so much :biggrin:

Even though she is in so much pain, I love the inner strenghth Chloe has in this story.

Lionel is such a bastard, I'm so happy the plan is working, and he's beginning to realize he's screwed. :yay: :yay2: :yay:

And I love how Lex is still so affected by everything that has happened. :ohmy:

I'm so happy you updated this, please post again soon! :worship2: :worship2: :worship2:

[asharnanae]

:ohmy: oh man this is just ripping my guts out, but Its so friken great!!! damn but you have me totally adicted! And Lionel is so creepy, gah, you have him spot on! :worship2:

[lexchloe]

Lionel is definately the :devil: incarnate. I love that you showed us that Lex is still feeling bad about what happened, it shows how different he is from his father and makes me love him more. More, more more, more please.

p.s Chloe kicks ass in this story. Love how strong she's being.

[autumngold]

How I really, really wish that Chloe didn't have to go back to Lionel again!! I really wish that she didn't have to go through the pain, although she's already proving what a strong person she is!! I can't wait for your next chapter!! Will Lex and Chloe be able to sleep together again or will it be too hard for the both of them? Post again soon please!! :yay2: :chlexsign4: :yay2:

[hfce]

That story is just heart breaking and very gripping. Its like a novel that starts off weird but you cant put it down. By the time you get through reading it. You can't believe it but it keeps pulling you in. :ohmy:



Hope :chlexsign4:

[Impress]

Originally posted by hfce@Dec 28 2004, 02:42 PM
That story is just heart breaking and very gripping. Its like a novel that starts off weird but you cant put it down. By the time you get through reading it. You can't believe it but it keeps pulling you in. :ohmy:



Hope :chlexsign4:
That sums it up nicely.

[zelda]

Come on, Lex. Show Her what Sweeeet Lovin' is all about. :wub:

[hateSmallvilleLoveChlex]

You can't stop there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I need more. I'm addicted and I don't even like these types of stories.
Please come back and update!!!

[tiger04]

That was an Awesome update. I was so rapped up in lex's reaction to chloe and the room. I can't wait for what is going to happen next.

I hope that you will come back and update soon. I love all your stories so much i don't know which one i want you to update first.

AT

[kitten]

The Lesser of Two Evils
NC-17/ Angst

Disclaimer: Smallville, the characters therein, and all affiliated copyrighted materials are owned by the WB. This is a work of fanfiction not intended for profit or infringement, only for the pleasure of fans of the series.
Spoilers: All up to Season 4, except things will be twisted to the tune of Lex having never moved to Cowtown, U.S.A.

A/N: What would Chloe Sullivan have had to do to get from under Lionel Luthor’s thumb if Lex had never moved to Smallville? What would she have had to sacrifice to earn the son’s help against the father?

AU for Season 3 and 4, and strongly rated for a good reason:
THERE WILL BE BORDERLINE NON-CONSENSUAL SEX.

I’m posting in very short chapters so readers can choose when enough is enough for them.


Chapter Eleven


Dressed in a pair of flowing black pants and a white silk blouse, Chloe stepped inside the penthouse. She had foregone the high heels of her last visit and had to look up a bit more at Lex to see his uncertain expression.

At least one other person has no idea what’s going on, she thought. Here I was thinking it was just me.

She didn’t know how the night would go, but she didn’t think Lex was accustomed to hurting women. On a second reading of the file Lionel had given her on his son, most of things it said didn’t add up to his behaviour. He wasn’t a cruel man, at least not physically. His sexual appetites might be wild, but they didn’t run to violence.

“Good evening,” she said, and he smiled slightly.

“Hello. How are you?”

Chloe ignored the polite question. She was okay, but only if she could deal with things one at a time. Talking about Lionel while worrying about going to Lex’s bed was not possible. Therefore she was not fine, which was the only answer anyone ever wanted when they asked how you were. No one wanted the responsibility of having a casual greeting turn into a sob story unless they were facing Lana Lang and therefore craving it like mad.

Lex hovered an awkward distance from her, too close for strangers but too far away for friends. It was clear he had no idea how to proceed, and she wondered at the irony of the blind leading the man with x-ray vision.

Chloe walked into the living room and he followed, apparently trying to be an inoffensive as possible. She put her purse down on the sofa and turned back to see him looking a bit lost in his own home.

“Please stop treating me like I’m hysterical. I’m here to have sex with you, and if you accidentally stand too close to me I won’t file a police report,” she sighed.

He blinked and nodded, stepping into the room and toward the bar.

“Would you like a drink or some other refreshments?”

She shook her head and turned to the wall of windows overlooking Metropolis, admiring the view. The Luthors were very screwed up but their living conditions were luxurious. She decided the view from her second storey bedroom was nicer though, and turned back.

“I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but I’ve got other things to do while I’m in the city and it’s not like we’re dating. If we could just get on with this it would free me up,” Chloe said.

Lex froze at the bar, stopped pouring his drink for fear he would drop the crystal decanter.

He’d never had anyone dismiss him like that except his own father. It sounded so cold and impersonal, so dehumanizing he was actually insulted. It sounded exactly like how he spoke to women he was sleeping with, unless they were among the few who treated him coldly first. A patronizing screw you before the actual event even started.

Why do they put up with it, he wondered, struggling to remember engaging a woman in a real, private conversation since he had divorced his third wife. The closest memory he could come up with was when Chloe was standing in his apartment days earlier, making disinterested small talk as he finished his drink.

His skin crawled with a recognition of who had guided his treatment of women. Lionel didn’t like to mix conversation with his sexual relationships. He had suggested the same kind of policy for Lex when he was a teenager. Sometime between the first treacherous wife and the last, he had started to listen.

“I’m still not sure it’s strictly necessary for us to have sex. There must be another way to get you away from Lionel within the next month,” he said. “I could send you somewhere overseas and he’d never find you. I can protect you, Chloe.”

She chuckled bitterly and he felt like a fool.

Of course she’d considered running away. Even he had considered running away from his father, but ultimately the globe was too small to escape him.

Chloe kicked off her shoes and started unbuttoning the blouse, and Lex felt queasy. He had been drinking all afternoon, and the liquor churned in his stomach as he saw the chill resolve in her stance. She would hate him this second time far more than she had after the first, because he was aware of her duress. Cooperation of the body was nothing compared to the searing hate he remembered in her green eyes. They blazed out at him from cutting shadows in the dim room as she stripped off the shirt and threw it down.

“I don’t know much about you, Lex, but I know you enjoy sex. If you’re taking something from me that you value I will know there’s a give and take going on here, not just me using your feelings about your father. No one should be used, and there’s nothing we can do but use each other. I think we should try to keep this as businesslike as possible.”

She made her fingers move quickly so they couldn’t stiffen into the fists she wanted to make. The anger was morphing into an unfamiliar desire. It seemed like a good idea to have something to hurt, but she didn’t physically know how to act on the feeling.

Get on with it, she thought. Get this over.

“It’s all fucked up, but there’s no getting out right now,” Chloe said, pushing the pants off her hips. “The only thing I can do for you or you can do for me is this.”

He tried to look only at her face as she was left in bra and panties, but Lex was more comfortable with his sexual response to her than the anger she kindled in him. No one except his father made him feel when he was trying to be implacable. She was dangerous and the idea of his feelings being inspired by hers was threatening.

“I think we need to establish some ground rules of what’s going to happen here,” he said, trying to ignore scraps of emerald satin on pale skin, and the slight tremors through her body.

“What do you mean,” she asked warily.

“Sex can mean any number of things, and I’m not inclined to leave it up to chance that I know what is allowed,” he said, putting his drink down and moving toward her.

Chloe made herself stay still as Lex kept walking until he was almost touching her, but she couldn’t maintain her indifference. His hands came toward her with a sickening slow motion effect and she stepped back quickly, letting out a yelp as she dropped down onto the sofa.

He stepped away again and she saw a hint of satisfaction for having proven his point. Lionel’s upbringing was very thorough, I see.

“Chloe, this doesn’t have to be a horrible experience. Whatever my father has told you, many women have enjoyed their time with me,” he said, sitting on the far end of the sofa.

Her head was bowed and he wondered if she was praying for an alternative that didn’t exist. Her eyes opened and closed madly but she kept her lips pressed together.

“Chloe . . . “ he sighed, “I’m at a loss as to how you think our arrangement will work if you can barely speak to me.”

She looked longingly at the bar but couldn’t rationalize becoming an alcoholic just because Lex Luthor was insisting on speaking to her. If she had to drink every time her anxiety level rose she’d be chugging entire kegs by the end of the week.

“You feel like the enemy, and I don’t want you to touch me,” she said, soft blond hair covering the side of her face Lex could see.

I don’t know how to deal with her, he thought. I don’t know how to make her feel better and I certainly don’t have any way out for her.

He sighed and ran a rough hand over his scalp.

“I’m not a brutal man. I’m not a rapist and my predilections don’t include hurting women for fun. Despite my earlier . . . performance with you, I’m actually fairly skilled at giving a partner as much pleasure as I receive from her. You have no reason to believe me but I give you my word: I won’t hurt you again.”

Chloe’s head shook and he heard tears on the face he couldn’t see.

“If you put your hands on me it will feel like dying,” she said.

She felt empty, misery gaping inside her heart. It wasn’t easier the second time around, because the fears had all been confirmed and she was foolish enough to return for more punishment. Normally she felt intelligent, capable, but Chloe just felt like another stupid girl about to be trampled under the Luthors' boots. Everything she was trying to save in Smallville would never really be hers again, anyway, and the effort was crushing her.

Goosebumps covered her nearly-nude body and she knew Lex was moving toward her. His motions were slow, easing closer, but she wasn’t inclined to waste more of her energy. There was nowhere to run.

Lex knelt on the plush carpet in front of a shattered teenage girl and felt powerless.

“If you let me try, Chloe, I promise you I won’t put my hands anywhere on your body.”

[crankychick]

Haunting, bitter and addicting - what a great update. And yet this:


No one wanted the responsibility of having a casual greeting turn into a sob story unless they were facing Lana Lang and therefore craving it like mad.

kept the devil :devil: in me well satisfied. Bring it on, non-touching Lex.
:satanwink:

[nokchan]

“If you let me try, Chloe, I promise you I won’t put my hands anywhere on your body.”

Okay... maybe I'm a little bit ..."uncreative" but how is that possible???

I think you have to update again to let me know... It would be good if the update could be as great as this was. Because is so... nonky.

Gals,... guys (?) I think our new word for great should be "nonky"!

E.g.: This chapter was so nonky! I love the way you describe their feelings and how they react to each other... very nonky

Nonky job! :blinkkiss:

[asharnanae]

:ohmy: damn, this is powerful stuff. I for one would like you to continue. :blinkkiss:

[hateSmallvilleLoveChlex]

:tease: Man, you've got me laid out like a $2 crack-ho! :worship2: Like always, I want more.

[autumngold]

Oh, please come back and post soon!! I can't wait to find out how Lex will help Chloe get over her fear!! Excellent update!! :yay: :chlexsign3: :yay:

[LaLa]

:chlexsign1: great nonky job! that was fab'! :biggrin:

i'm totally nonky with that fic!


xoxoLaLa

[tiger04]

You left it there? Not to be pushy or anything but could you post more very soon. I really want to know what lex is going to do.

AT

[lexchloe]

“If you put your hands on me it will feel like dying,” she said

Ok I went from this :cryblue: :cryblue: ..................



If you let me try, Chloe, I promise you I won’t put my hands anywhere on your body.”

to this :ohmy: :ohmy: just from reading this one update. :worship2: :worship2: More soon please.

[dreamingincolor]

Wow,the words chloe uses when she talks to lex about what she is feeling are amazing and seem so realistic to what she is feeling. Simply amazing!

[Impress]

good stuff. more soon.

[campbti]

Powerful. I just don't have words for this story at the moment. So much heart-ache and sadness. Maybe there is room for redemption.

More as soon as you can.

:chlexsign2:

[Queen Of Tact]

oh i like... poor Chloe.... She's being put through hell... lex please help here your the only one who can....

CC

[hfce]

:crygreen: I feel so bad for her. Please let Lex comfort her in some way.



H. :crygreen:

[kitten]

The Lesser of Two Evils
NC-17/ Angst
Disclaimer: Smallville, the characters therein, and all affiliated copyrighted materials are owned by the WB. This is a work of fanfiction not intended for profit or infringement, only for the pleasure of fans of the series.

Spoilers: All up to Season 4, except things will be twisted to the tune of Lex having never moved to Cowtown, U.S.A.

A/N: What would Chloe Sullivan have had to do to get from under Lionel Luthor’s thumb if Lex had never moved to Smallville? What would she have had to sacrifice to earn the son’s help against the father?

AU for Season 3 and 4, and strongly rated for a good reason:
THERE WILL BE BORDERLINE NON-CONSENSUAL SEX.

I’m posting in very short chapters so readers can choose when enough is enough for them. I know I’m leaving heinous cliffhangers, but I’m posting literally as soon as I get each chapter finished. Faster writing just isn’t going to happen with such an emotionally grueling piece, especially since I’m dealing with the psyches of two Luthors and a Chloe. However, there will be the concluding chapter of Chloe’s second night with Lex up later tonight.

Also, I’m fairly certain I’m not worthy of my own adjective, but thank you for the kind reviews and for sticking with an unconventional story.


Chapter 12


Green eyes blinked out from blond silk and Lex stayed very still. He could see that for the first time she was listening to him, and impatience would ruin his progress.

“I don’t know what you mean,” she said shyly.

Lex nodded gently.

“I know, but I’ll show you. I just need you to answer three questions first.”

Chloe didn’t know how he had done it, but she was calmer and intrigued. She knew the old sayings about the price of curiousity and the fear was still present. Being in her underwear was uncomfortable and she wanted to wake up and find herself in a simpler life where she knew what would happen the next day.

When will I be able to turn my back on knowing, she thought.

But she had to admit to her fascination. Lex Luthor was a different man than she had expected.

Her pout was rather cute and Lex sat back on his heels to watch her face like a movie. It was very expressive and open despite the tension in her limbs.

“What questions?”

“Do you feel physically okay to have sex?”

She was sick to her stomach and feverish, but the pain hadn’t lasted long and the soreness had been gone when she woke up that morning. Chloe nodded.

“Is there any other man who you would prefer to help with this aspect of the arrangement?”

Clark, her broken heart screamed.

“No.”

Her answer wasn’t quite convincing with the hard nibble she had given her lip after she said it, but Lex had to trust Chloe to be honest or nothing they said would get them anywhere.

“Do you believe you can have power over me like I had over you?”

Chloe balked at being able to force someone, but she looked carefully at the man sitting on the floor at her feet. She believed he could share his, and it seemed like that power could command the seas.

So she nodded again.

Lex climbed to his feet, deliberately avoiding even the slightest brush against Chloe.

“I’ll wait for you in the bedroom at the end of the hall,” he said. “Take your time.”

She watched as a rich, gorgeous billionaire turned gracefully, stuck his hands into his pants pockets and walked out of the room to wait for her attention. Her mouth went dry and it wasn’t entirely from fear.


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Lex refused to look at the door of the former guest room as he went to his own bedroom. He thought superstitiously that perhaps if he didn’t think about the other night it might be easier for Chloe to avoid thinking about it. He wondered how long it would take before she would be able to follow him, and although he had no intention of undressing he did take off his belt and shoes.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, he tried to interpret the look in her eyes. It was astonishment and something else. He needed to know more about her before he could begin to guess, but his version of getting to know someone went more like a research project than a social situation. It often didn’t give enough information about a person’s character.

Her school records showed her to be a towering intellect compared to most of the small town kids who were her classmates. The online version of the newspaper was impressively designed and her articles were on par with any he’d read in The Daily Planet. She had made good use of her devil’s bargain, and the clippings from the city newspaper were excellent for a cub reporter. If he could preserve the future that awaited her, Chloe Sullivan would be a very successful woman in any career.

She was already beautiful, but he was willing to bet she would outgrow the lingering gauche hints of her youth. Her childhood had been spent in Metropolis, which meant she had a foothold in the two sides of Kansas and an insight to the simple and the complex. Like Lex, her mother was absent, but Gabe Sullivan had a better track record as a father than Lionel. Every dentist and doctor’s appointment had been scheduled after the recommended period of time had elapsed and every appointment had been attended by both father and daughter.

Every comment Lex encountered in the documents was positive. She was well-liked, energetic and tolerant of others. Summer jobs in Smallville had shown her to be a responsible worker who was good with people. Her only major failing was her lack of patience as it had been noted by a tenth grade guidance counselor.

He wondered if she would ever become confident enough around him to be impatient, and hoped it would happen.

Lex looked at the clock.

Twenty minutes, he thought. Hard won patience tainted by human sacrifice.

He sat back against the headboard and wondered if there had ever been a time when he had held a fraction of the innocence she still possessed.


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Chloe had never been one of those people who went to a horror movie and covered her face at the scary parts. She often skipped to the end of a novel if she thought she had figured out the ending. Pandora’s box was her favourite myth and Woodward and Bernstein were her second and third favourite journalists after Nelly Blye, the first woman investigative reporter.

Simply put, she couldn’t leave well enough alone.

Lex had given her an irresistible challenge by presenting something as possible and offering to prove it. His words had evoked a number of mental pictures and a flurry of questions she wanted answered.

Why did he have to stop me? I could have gone the entire night without thinking at all if he’d just cooperated.

Her plan had been to walk into the apartment, get naked and fucked, then leave. She wasn’t interested in Lex or his rumoured sexual talents, nor was she interested in being tutored in those skills. The Luthor charisma wasn’t something that worked on her anymore. At the moment she had no inclination to explore her sexual nature for years at least.

But if she continued on with the only experience of sex a violent act she was afraid no man would ever be able to get her off. Even if it wasn’t Clark, Chloe held out hope of a future and someone to share it with. She didn’t know about children but it was a possibility she wanted to have at her disposal. Her feelings toward all those hopes were fading away and maybe dying, and it made her sadder than watching her secret love fawn over another girl.

She sighed out loud in the empty room and tried to focus on a rational decision, and when it finally arrived she sighed again.

The heavy door pushed inward with the first hesitant brush of her fingers, and Chloe was committed as soon as blue eyes latched on to her. She stepped inside and closed the door, shrugging her shoulders petulantly.

“What are the rules?”

Lex took in the combative posture she was giving him and preferred it to the wounded slouch he had last seen her tucked into. He swung his legs off the bed and knelt on the floor as she gasped.

“That’s for you to decide,” he said, lacing his fingers behind his neck.

Handcuffs wouldn’t make her any more at ease.

“I don’t know,” Chloe said, and he could hear frustration and confusion in the shrill tone. “You told me that you’d show me.”

“I will if you ask me.”

She frowned over the cryptic response and looked down. She felt naked, tired, frightened and underpinning it all was the damnable curiousity. It took the place of the bravery she didn’t have and made her walk up to the bed to stand a few feet from Lex.

“Show me.”

He didn’t make her say it louder and she was grateful. It wasn’t something she could say more than once. Lex nodded slowly and she found herself looking down at him and watching his lips move as he spoke.

“I’m your slave. You tell me what to do and I’ll do it. No hands and nothing you don’t want,” Lex said.

He shifted on his knees and leaned forward to put his face closer to her, and her twisting fingers were only inches away from his face.

“Can I use my hands, though?”

There was no way she could avoid it because Chloe knew her body wouldn’t believe her mind’s placating reasoning. Self preservation didn’t overrule the immediacy of adrenaline and she wanted to be able to push him away.

He nodded. “You do whatever you want, but I’d appreciate it if you would let me use my mouth to make you cum. I want to make amends.”

[hfce]

My jaw is like this :ohmy: yikes. This is getting good. More please...



H. :chlexsign2:

[lexchloe]

:yay: :yay: :worship2: I'm just as curious as she is to see how this goes. If possible I love Lex even more for being prepared to do this for her. Can't wait for more.

[Thessaly]

Mmm, submissive Lex. It has a certain appeal...

I can certainly see how he'd need to be very careful with her though, not just for her sake but for his.

Incidentally, the MB is going to perish in a freak scalding molasses explosion, isn't he?

Thessaly

[ldydee81]

please hurry and update again soon and since he asked so nicely "I want to make amends" you should let him. really you should :) PLEASE pretty pretty PLEASE.

[bogusbabe]

please hurry and update again soon and since he asked so nicely "I want to make amends" you should let him. really you should smile.gif PLEASE pretty pretty PLEASE.

I agree! :biggrin:



:chlexsign4:

[Impress]

Originally posted by Thessaly@Dec 29 2004, 05:24 PM
Mmm, submissive Lex. It has a certain appeal...


I'll say..... :drool:


I can certainly see how he'd need to be very careful with her though, not just for her sake but for his.

I like the fact he is doing so. shows the difference between him and the MB


Incidentally, the MB is going to perish in a freak scalding molasses explosion, isn't he?

Thessaly

:huh: now there is and interesting image.

[crankychick]

And Lex said:
I’m your slave.
And I go :applause:

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Lex knows how to get it done, but nonky can get it written down excellently! :biggrin:

[hateSmallvilleLoveChlex]

:cliffhanger: You are evil! EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:rage: I need more, damn you! And I need it now!


:suckup: PLEASE! I'll do anything. :puppyeyes:

[asharnanae]

:biggrin: And I say it yet again, DAMN!!!!!! this is so fricken great it not true!! :yay: :worship2:

[buddyfozzy]

Wow! These chapters are amazing! I'm happy that Lex is trying to make things as easy as possible on Chloe and wants her to have control of the situation.

Wonderful updates!! Keep 'em comin' :yay: :yay2: :yay: :yay2: :yay:

[autumngold]

:yay: Wow!! :yay: Lex is so patient and wonderful!! I'm so glad that he is going to take his time to make this good for Chloe!! :worship2: Thank you so much for the update!! This is an incredible story!! More soon please!! :wub: :chlexsign2: :wub:

[sylvia]

Okay, Chloe's a complete IDIOT if she turns down this one. Lex Luthor, sex slave. It does have a certain, almost paradoxical appeal...

Update soon, damnit! It was just cruel to leave it there.

[zelda]

Chloe had never been one of those people who went to a horror movie and covered her face at the scary parts. She often skipped to the end of a novel if she thought she had figured out the ending. Pandora’s box was her favourite myth and Woodward and Bernstein were her second and third favourite journalists after Nelly Blye, the first woman investigative reporter.

Simply put, she couldn’t leave well enough alone.

Love the inserted characterization.

Also....

Let's hear it for Amends! :worship2:

[Béatrice]

Lex is so adorable on this chapter. :wub:

Please update. :yay: Please! Please! Please! :worship2:

[Zannie]

I got behind on the last updates--what with travelling and writing and all. But I can see now it was all for the best. Because otherwise I would have had to wait for two extra days for the next chapter of this.

Now I won't have to wait at all. Because I'm quite sure you will be updating this today. In fact, I expect it will be within the hour. Right? Of course, right. I shall sit here in front of my computer and wait for you to update. It will be any minute, I'm sure . . .

Please?

Great chapters. Can't wait to see what happens next.

[kitten]

The Lesser of Two Evils
NC-17/ Angst

Disclaimer: Smallville, the characters therein, and all affiliated copyrighted materials are owned by the WB. This is a work of fanfiction not intended for profit or infringement, only for the pleasure of fans of the series.

Spoilers: All up to Season 4, except things will be twisted to the tune of Lex having never moved to Cowtown, U.S.A.

A/N: What would Chloe Sullivan have had to do to get from under Lionel Luthor’s thumb if Lex had never moved to Smallville? What would she have had to sacrifice to earn the son’s help against the father?

AU for Season 3 and 4, and strongly rated for a good reason:
THERE WILL BE BORDERLINE NON-CONSENSUAL SEX.
I’m posting in very short chapters so readers can choose when enough is enough for them.

If there was ever a time Lex Luthor needed to bring out his best moves, this was it. Sorry it took so long, but I’ve learned a valuable lesson about mixing cold pills and champagne. A valuable, painful lesson. Don’t do it kids, get your highs with sex or horse tranquilizers.


Chapter Thirteen


He was relaxed, but Chloe’s eyes traced his features and found a fierceness with his avid observation.

He would never be able to look mild and unassuming. The bald head made him sleek like a fast animal that had to run down its prey or it would starve. His eyes were light and sharp, moving constantly to judge and adapt his perceptions. They illuminated without allowing light in to show himself. If he lost ten pounds his cheekbones would be razor sharp and emaciated, but as he was he just looked tight and muscled. Confined energy poured off of him like victories he could win in his sleep.

The deliberate stillness didn’t seem suited to his personality but she didn’t know him at all. Her mind raced with assumptions anyway.

He’s not a man to kneel, she thought, I knew that the first time I saw him in a photo. He’s not one to placate a sore ego because it would be easier. He doesn’t give up or give in.

Except he was kneeling at her feet like he could be there indefinitely. He didn’t look humbled or put out, just quiet. He wore the mantle of a man of consequence with a loneliness that made him somehow stronger. He knew he was alone.

“You’re not my slave,” she said tightly.

He wasn’t capable of being powerless or weak and she found no satisfaction in having him act as if he were. Lies were too much a part of the rest of her life.

Lex started to lower his arms, disappointed. He had thought Chloe would understand what he was doing, that he was making everything as much the opposite of the other night as he could. Apologies were hollow but he had expected his actions to coax her into accepting his reparation. Apparently she was going to be another skeleton he would carry with him.

Chloe’s hands dropped to rest at her sides and she gave up the quick glancing looks to meet his eyes.

“You’re my soldier.”

He was flattered by the word and by her eloquence. There were plenty of people who would count him as attractive, powerful and valuable. Few would ascribe the loyalty of a soldier to him. The acceptance was more than he had hoped.

But he only nodded, and looked directly at silk covered flesh within his reach. Waited for his orders and Chloe’s permission.

“Okay, but I don’t want you to talk,” she said, astonished by her own actions as she took off the bra and pushed the panties down to her ankles. Her knees started to shake as Lex brought his arms from over his shoulders to behind his back, but he was careful to lean away as he did it.

Chloe felt like her eyes were tied to Lex as he made a show of fixing his hands the base of his spine, then moved his face toward her pussy. She knew a woman could gain as much pleasure as a man from oral sex, but the technique was a mystery. Even the crass high schoolers she was vaguely associated with didn’t seem to discuss it with the same expertise as the male version.

Would he suck or bite even?

She didn’t think biting would feel good and her hips swayed uncertainly. Lex looked up and she tilted her chin up to the ceiling, but she didn’t move again. He felt as nervous as she was acting, but he didn’t think it would help her to confide that.

As his lips made contact with her skin she trembled and sighed sharply. He nibbled on her thigh and let her get used to it, angling his breath to ruffle the blond curls a few inches over. She was slightly cold and he exhaled over her, feeling the shiver roll down her frame.

Chloe’s hands were still fisted by her sides and they opened to let her fingers fan out. Lex felt safe now, like he had felt when she had her mouth on him. There was control and restraint in his bowed head and she managed not to move too much when he slid his lips up to the join of her leg and her body.

Lex was inching his way closer, almost sneaking his mouth over pale softness. He glanced up to find Chloe stuck indecisively, looking down with her eyes closed tightly. Her legs were tensed but it was because she could move and was fighting the reflex. Tense because curiousity demanded she stay while caution told her to run.

He’d researched her enough to suspect she would choose knowing over wondering.

Light, non threatening kisses were being strung over her like a chain, and Chloe could feel the flush that used to be embarrassment change into something hotter. She might not like Lex, or even know him, but she had every confidence his mouth was fast in more ways than one. She’d heard of being sweet-talked and hated the notion, but the rush of feelings he was evoking made her more accepting. Neither of them had to be misled for this to work, and she didn’t have to feel like the injured party just because she had no idea what she was doing.

The thoughts had distracted her long enough to lull her into the soft press of lips because when it continued onto the patch of curls she sucked in a deep breath. Lex pulled away and checked her face again before continuing.

He bent his neck all the way down and leaned forward until the top of his head was rubbing against her pussy. Her legs moved further apart to balance as he pushed forward with moderate force, rolling his neck up slowly with the motion.

She was startled at first, then overwhelmed as the surprising motion was decoded by her fuzzy brain. Bald scalp he wore like stigmata, forehead smooth with youth, the bridge of his noble nose, the tip of his nose catching to rub extra long over a small nub that was the center of the known universe in that moment, then his mouth on her made Chloe moan.

She didn’t recognize the widened stance except for the benefits when Lex moved his tongue over her easily, making long sweeps before settling on her clitoris to jostle it in all directions. He rolled it between his lips and licked it until she felt dizzy with following the motion in her head. It wasn’t just his mouth working on her, because sometimes he would move his chin to press deliciously lower or push his nose down into her flesh and heat would spread as he inhaled and exhaled like he was smelling her.

Lex waited until Chloe was twitching constantly before he dipped his tongue inside her passage. She was wet and already starting to cling to intrusion, and if he had been allowed to use his hands he would have sunk two or three fingers inside. Instead, he extended his tongue as far as it would go and felt her hips roll fluidly to meet him. He couldn’t fill her this way, but he used clever flicks to taste her and urge her movements faster. He turned his head sideways and plucked at the swollen lips with his mouth, then repeated the motion on the other side.

It was all more complicated than she had thought, but simpler, too. It was hard to describe the physical actions, but immediately understandable to see or feel them.

When his tongue was inside it was clear how close he had gotten her, but Lex hesitated over the finishing move. It was a rough one and it would either make her cum or break the mood. He was well aware that Chloe was doing her best to ignore who he was, probably fantasizing about someone else. He didn’t like it, but he didn't’ have any grounds to complain about sexual mistreatment either, so he decided to test her.

His jaw opened on her inner thigh and she gasped, but it was just a part of the other sounds she had been making. He raked his teeth over the damp skin and applied pressure as he sucked hard enough to bruise.

Her hips jerked harder than before and she was forced to lock her knees to stay upright, but the movement was toward him and not away. Lex moved back to take one last plunge into her center, then opened his mouth over the highest point of her pubis, anchoring his front teeth into the soft curls and closing his jaw slowly. His tongue caught her clit and pushed it up for his lower teeth to catch it and drag over the sensitive nerve endings.

And Chloe came, as Lex carefully gentled the bite to keep her spasming hips from cutting herself. She let out a long, low moan that made her sound desperate, ancient and mad, and him wish he could take the initiative to drive his throbbing cock into the space he was lapping at.

But it wasn’t his place to ask and he was relieved when her hands dug into his shoulders and pulled.

She couldn’t see or hear properly, but the wild flush of pleasure had taken away all of the anxiety Chloe felt and she was going to savour the mindlessness as long as she could. Her hands closed around Lex’s shoulders, first to keep from falling on him, then to pull him away from between her legs and onto the bed.

Not right or wrong, just this desire and now . . .

She chanted it in her head as he struggled to his feet with his hands still clasped behind his back. Knowing he wouldn’t move them without her permission made her brave and she leaned heavily into his front.

“Condom, now,” she said, and he obeyed, stripping off the pants and boxers.

His shirt fell down to cover him, but he seemed to be able to roll the condom on just as well without looking because he was covered and unbuttoning his shirt the next time she looked. It felt like time was slipping and she couldn’t concentrate, felt high like the few times Lois had dared her to smoke pot.

Chloe moved back and Lex stepped closer to the bed, shrugging out of the shirt. She was breathing hard, almost panicking maybe, but he wasn’t allowed to ask if she was okay. She stopped him with a hand on his chest and pushed him down to sit against the headboard, then swung her leg over his and paused.

What am I doing?

The sexual stupor faded and she was suddenly and drastically afraid and uncertain. It seemed frivolous to be so embarrassed when she was afraid, but Chloe was swamped with awkward feelings. Her legs didn’t like to be in the halfway position she was in, but she wasn’t sure how to go further.

She had been able to think of Clark until she had touched Lex and pushed him onto the bed. He was looking at her from blue eyes that weren’t the ones she wanted and she was about to climb off of him and retreat to the bathroom when he closed them. His body reclined under her shaking thighs and his head tilted back to rest against the headboard, the picture of surrender.

She studied him, looked at the toned muscles going unused. His shoulders were marked by her nails and Chloe wondered if he minded, then told herself it was beside the point. She was taking what he had offered and he was allowing her to control everything that happened. Her eyes drifted down to his erection and she licked her lips slowly. He didn’t scare her as much as he intimidated her with his presence, but at least he wasn’t looking at her.

I can do this. He’s not going to hurt me.

Chloe knelt higher and shifted up Lex’s body. She lined her hips up over him and bent her knees slowly, jumping when the head of his penis rubbed against her. She rolled her eyes at herself and looked down as she lowered herself again, this time successfully.

Lex listened to her whimper and gasp as her body enclosed him, but he didn’t know what he could do to help. She was wet and as relaxed as she was going to be, but she was tight. It wasn’t the ideal position for a novice, but he wasn’t going to break his word.

No hands, no words.

She was fighting the urge to flee with every second, but gradually sinking onto him. Chloe wondered if there would always be an unpleasant pressure during sex or if it was because she was doing something wrong. There was a tinge of the previous excitement, but it was suspended as she shifted her hips back and then forward, finally finding an angle that was less tight. It left her sliding the last inch down with her face nearly pressed into Lex’s, and he felt her shaky exhales over his cheek.

Too much and not enough. How is that possible at the same time?

She was actually feeling good, with the first orgasm still echoing through her body and around his penetration. It was odd but the unfamiliarity wasn’t preventing the tiny muscle twitches. She took a second to catch her breath and started to move haltingly.

Chloe was rolling her hips very slowly and Lex clenched his stomach muscles. He hated himself for thinking it, but her inexperience was a great turn on. It was exciting to know she was feeling things for the first time with him, and the novelty was a wonderful difference from the numbing presence of nameless women. It was hard to feel very deeply when you knew it was all superficial posturing for a pay out. With Chloe he knew she was really reacting to him and that he was really reacting to her.

She found a rhythm and a tilt of her hips that made the motion smoother and kept going, feeling the suppressed jerk of Lex’s hips as well but not objecting to it. He seemed to know what he was doing, because on the upswing of her slide down his motion made a sharp burst of sensation. It wasn’t all good or painless, but it felt urgent and she started moving faster.

Lex was keeping up as much as he could with his hands virtually tied behind his back. He’d never managed to get out of the shirt and it was wrapped around his wrists and twisted. There was sweat rolling off of both of them and he was getting close. It was hard to tell if Chloe was close to cumming, but he thought it was likely. The clasp of her pussy was more regular and the pained whimpers had been replaced by frustrated moans.

He braced his shoulders and tried a harder thrust up, repeating it when she leaned in. He’d been helpless under her for long enough and it didn’t seem that she was satisfied with the depth she could get without his help.

“Oh, there . . . right there . . .”

Lex opened his eyes and found Chloe almost gone, her face flushed beautifully and her body swaying gracefully on him. He watched her as she lifted her hands off the mattress and leaned back, chest heaving.

“Close . . .”

He moved slightly lower on the bed and aligned them so that Chloe was coming down straight on his cock. She was precariously moving faster and faster and he let himself become mesmerized by the sight of her body swallowing his. Then the deaf, dumb, blind rush was over them and crashing down and he could only hope it was good for her.

[Thessaly]

Give Lex a biscuit. Good Lex.

Ok, I'm slightly more coherent now. I love the fact that they've taken the first step towards sexually rehabilitating Chloe after the badness that was the MB's evil plan (and the fact that it seems to be rehabilitating Lex as well. Squeee!) Also I'm relishing the fact that the MB is going to be beside himself with rage. Hah!

He should count himself lucky that I'm not beside him with a red hot poker.

Thessaly

[June]

This is so good, beyond good, addicting almost. Is it wrong that I'm going to be checking the site constantly just see if you updated?

I hope you're feeling better.

:chlexsign3:

June

[buddyfozzy]

This chapter was amazing! :worship2: :worship2: I love the way Lex is treating Chloe and trying to make it good for her. And I also like that this is good for Lex too...not just some nameless person waiting for a pay out. :wub: :wub: :wub:

I'll be be impatiently waiting for the next chapter of this! :yay: :worship2: :yay:

Oh, and I too have learned the cold pills and champagne lesson. :ohmy: :ohmy:

[autumngold]

Cold medicine and champagne? Ouch!! Poor baby!! Hope you're feeling better soon!! Thank you so much for the update!! My only hope is that soon Chloe enjoys that it is Lex that she's with!! Can't wait for more!! :worship2: :chlexsign4: :worship2:

[hfce]

I know this will sound funny but this was so romantic. I love how Lex was so careful with her and let her do the leading. It was beautiful to read.


Hope :chlexsign2:

[tiger04]

That was a great update. I like the part about lex knowing that chloe was truly reacting to him and not just going throw the motions like other women do with him. I can hardly wait for the next update.

please update soon

AT

[Zannie]

Beautiful chapter: lovely language, precise details, and such realistic psychological development. You managed to make it erotic, hypnotic, and slightly numbing at the same time--reflecting both of their perspectives at this point.

I'm fascinated about how their relationship will continue to grow, and, as always, looking forward to more soon.

[lexchloe]

:worship2: :worship2: Great update. Love how you've shown that they're both experiencing something new with eachother. I also really like how the relationship and the trust between them isn't rushed and is to be building up gradually. More please.

[Impress]

:applause:

[crankychick]

nonky, that was a ten on both the romantic and the sensual. When Lex brings on the feeling, he dispenses the sexual healing.

Bravo! :applause: :applause:

[randa]

this is such a strong and beautiful fic! i love it!

more soon


randa

[Béatrice]

What a magnificient update! :wub: :wub: Please come back. :worship2: :worship2:

[TheDragonLady]

I have a pineapple in hell with the MB's name on it...

But Lex, Lex gets cookies.

[Thessaly]

Originally posted by TheDragonLady@Jan 3 2005, 11:01 PM
I have a pineapple in hell with the MB's name on it...

Heh. Does the MB have to wear a French maid's outfit when said pineapple is introduced to him?

Update? *peers upwards hopefully, whimpering like a puppy and threatening to ruin the carpet in excitement*

Thessaly

[FroggyJump]

Even though the main subject being dealt with at the moment is heavy, the story is great to read because you aren't too graphic with the descriptions.
The situation that you have made between Chloe and Lionel is a first, that I have read and to me makes a lot of sense.I really like the way that you wrote Lionel's thoughts as well.
The link between Lex and Chloe is intriguing to read as it develops. The last chapter was so great in a way that has them giving something to the other. The way that Lex gave himself to Chloe was stunning with a tender moment of Chloe denying him the role of a slave but giving him the role of someone who comes to protection. I'm excited to read how this relationship will continue to develop.

Eagerly awaiting the next update.

[buddyfozzy]

Pleeeeeeeeease with hot chocolate, whipped cream, sprinkles, and cherries on top can we have an update?? :puppyeyes: :cryblue: :puppyeyes: :cryblue:

[kitten]

The Lesser of Two Evils
NC-17/ Angst

Disclaimer: Smallville, the characters therein, and all affiliated copyrighted materials are owned by the WB. This is a work of fanfiction not intended for profit or infringement, only for the pleasure of fans of the series.

Spoilers: All up to Season 4, except things will be twisted to the tune of Lex having never moved to Cowtown, U.S.A.

A/N: What would Chloe Sullivan have had to do to get from under Lionel Luthor’s thumb if Lex had never moved to Smallville? What would she have had to sacrifice to earn the son’s help against the father?

The really rough stuff is over for the moment, but still references to nonconsensual sex and ChLionel. As previously discussed, he’s quite the genuine bastard in this one.


Chapter Fourteen


Chloe was surprised that the motion continued on its own for a minute or so, her hips swaying gently forward and back as her shoulders slumped down into exhaustion. She heard Lex exhale long and slowly and realized she was breathing heavily.

It shouldn’t have felt like that.

The thought propelled her back up to her knees and she fumbled her way off of him. Her body didn’t like it and there was a weird sucking noise as her muscles protested, but she closed her eyes and raised herself painfully. Rolling to the side, she shifted away from him and turned to face the wall. Her own arms wrapped over her chest and she tried not to mind that there was no one else to hold her as she calmed down.

Lex moved on the bed and she tensed, but the motion didn’t bring him nearer.

“Are you alright?”

She closed her eyes against his voice and nodded, exaggerating the motion so he didn’t have to ask her again. She didn’t know what to say.

Lex felt humiliated by her actions, though he wasn’t sure why. He hadn’t intended to spend hours stroking her back and whispering compliments to her, but she didn’t need to reject him so obviously. It was only with the women who really bothered him that he demanded they keep their distance after he came. It wasn’t as if he would shove her aside if she didn’t get away from him.

He finally got his hands untangled from the shirt and brought his arms to his sides. Chloe was curled up on the far edge of the bed, huddled into herself like she was crying. His fingers stretched toward her but she all but recoiled and he stopped.

Her answer to his question was convincing as far as it went, but he wasn’t easily fooled. He didn’t lack emotions, simply repressed most of them, and could recognize them in others. He also knew when he wasn’t wanted.

Lex felt he should do something for Chloe, maybe put a blanket over her. Instead he eased off the bed, took off the condom and pulled on his pants, trying not to alarm her. He walked out into the living room and sat on the sofa, staring vaguely at the reports he’d been pretending to read before she arrived.

He could make her cum, but she found him repulsive. The strictly physical aspects worked only because she braced herself for everything before it happened, and the only emotional component was fear and distaste. It was empty and he knew it was empty, but it was also the only real sex he’d had with a real woman in years. Maybe forever.

How did life come to this?

He remembered having a mother who loved him sometimes, and who ignored him and flinched away from his childish hugs on other days. People at her funeral had told him he would eventually forgot all the bad memories about her and only have the good times. They had likely been referring to his memories of her illness, but she had been his safe haven inconsistently and there were plenty of daily slights to recall.

Seeking her out was always an anxious pleasure after he had returned home from school, but he was turned away with harsh words as often as he was given a kiss on the cheek. Her disgust for Lionel spilled over to her sons and Lillian Luthor had been suffering as much from insanity as from cancer when she died.

He remembered the times when she had stood up to his father and protected him from the ambitions that were being pushed onto him. Lex also remembered the night he had found his younger brother dead and his mother’s silence as Lionel accused him of killing the baby.

He had never learned how to tell by looking when his mother was really present, but he’d never been able to give up trying to approach her. She’d died whispering about evil and he had known she was talking about his future. In the years since, he’d realized both his mother and father had left scars on his childish mind, and that neither had been there for him when he had needed them.

Lex picked up the white silk blouse from the floor, fingering the fabric and holding it up to inhale Chloe’s perfume. It was nice, a lighter scent than most women preferred. Many of them seemed to be trying to make the entire world hold their perfume years after they were out of the picture.

He shook the wrinkles out of the garment and reached down to do the same with the pants. The shoes were black patent leather flats, and he tried to remember the last time he’d seen a woman wear sensible shoes.

She’s practical, he thought.

He liked it. They were upholding a pretense, so it was important that she appear well-dressed and coifed, but the suicide shoes weren’t necessary. Chloe had taken what she needed and disregarded the rest of the image.

About twenty minutes after he left the bedroom, Lex heard the shower start. He put the clothing on a chair in the room and put on a fresh shirt, then went to his office. He sat behind his desk and tried to feel capable and in charge, but the gnawing guilt was back. He wasn’t even angry, just sorry that another innocent life had been swept up in the constant game of one-upmanship between himself and his father. The Sullivans and the people of Smallville didn’t deserve to be pawns. She shouldn’t have to be the human sacrifice on the chessboard that Lionel made of the world.

He listened as light footsteps made their way from his bedroom to the living room, hesitated, then continued on out the door.

And didn’t know if he was relieved or disappointed.


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Chloe didn’t go home that night. She called Lois and arranged to crash on her couch. As usual, her uncle was out of town and her cousin was mainly operating under her own recognizance. The Metropolis apartment rented by Sam Lane was more Lois’ than anyone’s.

Once she was settled on the couch, Lois watching television and talking online with a guy she had met in Germany, the blond was lost in thought. She sipped the coffee she had managed to find in the cesspool that was Lois’ kitchen and tried to find some kind of peace.

Lex Luthor, the man who had hurt her terribly only days ago, had just given her the most stunning pleasure she had ever known.

She wasn’t a hopeless romantic and Chloe knew sex and love were not synonymous, but she had thought sex would have to go along with trust for her. When she made herself consider a future without Clark she allowed for the possibility of being swept away by a strong case of lust. She was only human, and there were guys who she could appreciate. Love didn’t preclude a physical attraction for another person, but it did hold her back from pursuing anyone else. They all had too much or too little in common with Clark and they all had to meet criteria based on him.

But with Lex it was impossible to compare him to her longtime friend. He was too overwhelming and so different from anyone she’d ever known. She was starting to wonder if the feelings she’d considered her cross to bear were less deep than before.

It was odd. She didn’t want to sleep with Lex and had a clear resentment toward Lionel for creating a situation that prevented her from making her own choices. At the same time she didn’t hold it against Lex that he was the one fucking her. She feared him, but it wasn’t the same fear as when he was hurting her. There was more unease than terror.

Along with the fear and anger, there was a persistent languorous pleasure in her soul. She was satisfied in a way there were no words to describe, but it transcended all the horrible circumstances of her life. Adrenaline had taken her over the top and pushed her into an abyss of sensation where the harsh realities got buried in feeling everything in a single second. It was like being burned up, except she was still walking and talking. She was a phoenix risen.

Chloe still didn’t like Lex, and she knew the pleasure would fade into the soreness of unfamiliar muscles and dread that was nibbling on the back of her mind. When she woke up she fully expected to feel wretched. But sitting safely on Lois’ couch, replaying the better parts of her night, she was okay and maybe a bit better than that.

“Perky there, Chloe. Are you thinking about Clarky?”

Lois smirked as she prepped a few choice insults for the boy she thought was far too dumb and boring for her pretty cousin. Her girl was going places and the only way the flighty farm boy would go anywhere but Smallville was on a scholarship to some kind of agricultural college. He was as small town as Chloe was big city. He might be inexplicably hot, but he wasn’t much for an intelligent conversation. Her cousin needed a hot, sexy, smart older man to really appreciate her.

Chloe moved over on the couch to let her cousin pile in next to her. Lois had no concept of personal space bubbles, and she was evidently finished with the German hottie for the night.

“No, actually,” she said, and smiled wryly.

Whether it was a good or bad sign was anyone’s guess.

[lexchloe]

:worship2: :worship2: So glad you updated this. That was an excellent chapter. Loved how you described Lex's emotions after Chloe's 'rejection' :cryblue: and gave us insight into his character. (that boy needs a hug). Also like Chloe's reflection on the events as well, totally in character.
Can't wait for more.

[asharnanae]

:ohmy: :blush: meep! this keeps on punching you in the gut, but its just fantastic!! wonderful! :blinkkiss:

[buddyfozzy]

Wonderful update!!!! :yay2: :yay2: :yay2: Lex's emotions were so sad, I like your take that Lex's mother was abusive as well. I agree with lexchloe....Lex really needs a hug. :wub: :wub: I liked Chloe musings too, I'm glad she's not as terrified of Lex, just uneasy. :yay:

:worship2: :worship2: :worship2: :worship2:

[zelda]

Excellent way to edge in the potential for friendship slowly.

[Thessaly]

Both Lex and Chloe are portrayed as very strong characters most of the time so it's good to see you writing them as having a fragile side. Especially since it points up their similarities, both being abused by Lionel and unable to truly be themselves outside the strange relationship they have.

I really love the idea of Lex as Chloe's soldier as well and it links up with the chess analogy (the knight sent out to protect the queen in a game of tactics).

I love, love, love this fic and have no shame in begging for more. Pweeeease?

Thessaly

[hfce]

I know they are supposed to go slow but come on Chloe. He likes you. :blinkkiss:

[randa]

interesting
like lois coming into the picture

more soon


randa

[autumngold]

I hope Chloe will be able to show Lex that she doesn't really hate him anymore!! He really, really needs some love!! Thanks for the great update!! Hope you post again soon!! :yay: :chlexsign3: :yay:

[Impress]

that was fab.

[crankychick]

Even the strongest tower of ice has to thaw sometime, but I love InControlChloe. The way you bring us into Lex's mind, though......I'm just in awe. This is a great bit of writing, nonky :worship2: :worship2:

[Sandi]

Originally posted by Thessaly@Jan 8 2005, 12:24 AM

I love, love, love this fic and have no shame in begging for more.
Neither have I, so I'll join in: Update please :worship2:

[Zannie]

Thank you so much for not making it too easy--for not having the orgasms suddenly fix things or miraculously heal them. But I like how we can see how they are both progressing, realizing that something is missing or not quite right in their lives. Great realistic portrait of their growing relationship.

And I hereby volunteer to give Lex the hug he needs. And anything else he might want as well. Anything. Do you hear me, Lex?

More. Soon. Please. Very soon. PUH-leeeeeeeeeeeeeeese! (See--I can beg as effectively as you. And I have student loan woes of my own to appeal to--nine years' worth--so don't make me haul them out as ammunition.)

[Thessaly]

Originally posted by Zannie@Jan 8 2005, 03:43 PM
And I hereby volunteer to give Lex the hug he needs. And anything else he might want as well. Anything. Do you hear me, Lex?
Don't be selfish, Zannie. I think Lex needs all the... comfort he can get. From everyone. And if I happen to be first in the queue - well, that's just gravy.

However, if nonky updated, there'd be more Lex to go around. I think you know where I'm going with this...

Please update!

Thessaly

[Shy Butterfly]

Wow this is really great stuff. Hope you continue soon!

[psychgirl81]

This fic is so very dark and yet I just can't bring myself to stop reading because you are doing such a good job with it. Keep up the great work.

[Zannie]

Originally posted by Thessaly@Jan 11 2005, 12:38 AM
Don't be selfish, Zannie. I think Lex needs all the... comfort he can get. From everyone. And if I happen to be first in the queue - well, that's just gravy.

However, if nonky updated, there'd be more Lex to go around. I think you know where I'm going with this...

Please update!
No way, Thessaly. I claimed the hug (and anything else) first. No cutting in front of me in line. If there's anything left after I'm finished, then everyone else can take their turn. (Not likely--*chuckles maliciously*)

But nonky, now that psychgirl81 has kindly brought this fic back to my attention, I do think it's time for an update. Poor Chloe and Lex. They had just made the first step toward healing . . . and you've just left them hanging.

I know you have wonderful things planned for them. Are these things going to happen anytime soon?

I'm always an optimist, so I'm sure the update will arrive in the next 24 hours. In fact, the clock starts now.

[sylvia]

Yesyes. Update now would be very nice, please.

:chlexsign3:

[kitten]

The Lesser of Two Evils
NC-17/ Angst

Disclaimer: Smallville, the characters therein, and all affiliated copyrighted materials are owned by the WB. This is a work of fanfiction not intended for profit or infringement, only for the pleasure of fans of the series.

Spoilers: All up to Season 4, except things will be twisted to the tune of Lex having never moved to Cowtown, U.S.A.

A/N: What would Chloe Sullivan have had to do to get from under Lionel Luthor’s thumb if Lex had never moved to Smallville? What would she have had to sacrifice to earn the son’s help against the father?

AU for Season 3 and 4, and strongly rated for a good reason:
THERE WILL BE BORDERLINE NON-CONSENSUAL SEX.

I’m posting in very short chapters so readers can choose when enough is enough for them.


Chapter Fifteen


Though neither could have known, both Lex and Chloe woke up feeling unsettled.

He wasn’t used to having any kind of feelings for a woman after sex, though he sometimes deluded himself into thinking there was something more than attraction between himself and a woman he was seeing. It never lasted longer than a few weeks, which made it all the more bizarre that he had been married several times.

Lying on one side of his bed, he put his arms behind his head and winced as he felt the stretch of his shoulders. His back was sore as well, but there was nothing to be done about it. Far better that he wake up in pain than she did. He looked to the unoccupied side of the mattress and remembered the little blond who had huddled there the night before.

Chloe Sullivan mattered far more than she should.

He winced at the thought and corrected himself. She mattered to him personally more than was expected, but it was no less than she deserved. Despite what his father had tried to teach him, Lex knew everyone mattered. He tried to respect other people but money and breeding did leave a sense of entitlement. He was a snob and a generally self-centered person.

He’d slept with hundreds or perhaps thousands of women, most of them one night stands. They were only attractive in the first blush, before their clinging hands and greedy expectations had stripped away the illusion of safety. No one was safe and no one understood. No one cared about him beyond the parties, drugs and money that made up his lifestyle.

Now that he was taking charge of various facets of management, Lex didn’t have time for the old routines to meet women. He wasn’t about to squander his few hours of free time mingling at parties he didn’t want to attend to meet debutantes he didn’t want to spend more than an hour with. He got off with hookers who didn’t develop any awkward attachments to him.

He thought the reactions he was having to Chloe would fade over time and distance, but for the moment he would be seeing her every few days. If he was this confused by the situation he couldn’t imagine how badly she was reacting.

Worse than wondering about it, he was worried about her, and that was something that hadn’t happened in a very long time.


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


She opened her eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling and took a moment to calm down as her mind oriented her body. She was in Lois’ apartment and she was safe.

Chloe pondered the term and sighed. She wasn’t safe. She was safer with Lex on her side, but by no means secure. Lionel wasn’t going to give up his plan just because it was marginally more difficult to enact. If anything he would be getting more determined to have her now that she had sex with his son. It was just the kind of twisted situation that he would enjoy.

Thankfully Lex didn’t have his father’s perversity, nor did he seem to be as cruel as the older man. She had the completely unsupported sense that he would do as he had promised, even if the reasons behind his protection weren’t entirely altruistic. He had enjoyed having sex with her both times, she thought, although she had been in no shape to judge the first time around and had almost run away last night.

The first time could be written off as something done to her, but she knew last night she had participated as much as she knew how. He had been as obedient as he promised, listening to her commands without any hesitation. The memories made her blush with embarrassment and a reluctant arousal. He wasn’t overrated, despite the rumours of his extraordinary skills. He also wasn’t who she wanted or someone she could imagine wanting to know.

The soreness in her body was less than the first night with Lex, but still present. She hadn’t taken any pain killers and regretted it as she sat up and propped her head against the arm of the sofa. In some ways the brutality had been easier to understand than the pleasure. There were only a few reasons to cause a person pain, and numerous reasons to make them feel good.

His humility and consideration for her went against everything Lionel was, but the resolve and persuasion were common in both father and son. Lex was stronger in it, more patient and more resolved. He wasn’t blinded by the arrogance of thinking he had everything worked out in his favour. He took notice of the details and nuances of behaviour that Lionel felt superior enough to ignore.

I think he’ll beat his father, she thought. I think he can do it.

There was a slam of a door down the hallway and trotting footsteps as Lois approached. Chloe smiled despite herself at her ebullient cousin as she darted into the living room with the grace of a child on a sugar high. Her hair was fixed in the careful disarray she preferred, though she was still wearing a nightshirt. Lois had her priorities sorted out.

“Rise and shine! I’ve got my father’s credit card. Do you want to buy an enormous breakfast and help me pick out a leather jacket?”

They were both surprised when Chloe’s stomach gave an audible rumble and both girls broke into giggles. She was very hungry and could only conclude the exertions of the previous night were the reason.

“Whoa Nellie, I don’t think we have a choice,” Lois said, yanking the blankets off her legs and pointing to the bathroom. “Grab a shower and we’ll get you a manly breakfast. Maybe a man, too.”

She gave her cousin a dirty look over her shoulder.

“I don’t need a man, Lo,” she said.

“I’ve seen the ones you’re hanging around with in Teeny Town. You need more!”

The hell I do.


++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Chloe ignored her ringing cellphone for the third time in an hour, knowing who it was. She had already suffered through her doctor appointment and was now trying to dodge Lionel without pissing him off. She didn’t have time to deal with his random meetings this week. All he wanted to do was stare at her threateningly and circle her a few times, checking out her body.

Her report had included the few pieces of information she could give him without feeling like she was selling out the Kents. There was a sketchy recounting of Clark’s schedule and a few personal notes about strange reactions he had to some of her meteor theories.

She tried to finish at least one investigation every month and had faxed in a lengthy report on the effects of the rocks on local insect populations. It wouldn’t bend minds, but at least it showed she was still working on something. If she could conceivably ‘miss’ all of Lionel’s calls she would be able to make it through to Wednesday night and her next meeting with Lex.

She looked at Clark behind the other desk in her small office and cringed. He was her ideal, so earnestly wholesome and innocent. A virgin, a good boy who loved his parents and a charismatically hopeful person who could make anyone melt with his smile - when he was paying attention.

He was so oblivious to everything she was going through for him. He didn’t even notice that she always tensed when he hugged her or threw an arm around her shoulder. Simple physical affection was ruined for her, as was her sense of trust. He had been lying to her from the day they met.

She was angry at him.

Without Clark she wouldn’t be working for Lionel or sleeping with Lex. Without the Kents’ strange code of silence she would be able to tell him that he was in danger and let them deal with it. Without her hopeless unrequited love of him she would never had been sucked in by lies and intrigues.

Chloe would have gone to the sheriff and gotten an investigation into the vandals of her office if not for the worries that Lionel really did know something about Clark that would ruin his life. All of the meteor freaks they had discovered had been mentally unstable in some way and most of them who weren’t dead were in Belle Reve under the diagnosis of being criminally insane.

Clark wasn’t like them and her conscience wouldn’t let her give him up to Lionel, even if it meant handing herself over in exchange. He was a good person with secrets that made him selfish and furtive, but he didn’t deserve to be at the mercy of the unscrupulous man.

There was no telling how long she would have played along with the situation if he hadn’t started talking about making her his mistress. She wouldn’t let him touch her and he certainly wouldn’t have a claim on any child of hers. He was a neglectful, emotionally abusive father to his grown sons, and it was still suspicious to her that a third son had died before his first birthday. Lionel wasn’t a man to be trusted with young lives and developing psyches.

She smirked bitterly at the ironic thought. It could easily refer to her as well.

As much resentment as she carried for Clark, it all came from love. She wanted him and knew it would never happen, because he saw her as a friend who happened to be a girl. The only concession he’d ever given to that was not to toss footballs directly at her chest. With his growing popularity in the school now that he was a football star, she didn’t stand a chance romantically. Even if she did he wouldn’t understand why she wasn’t a virgin and she would always have to keep her job with Lionel secret. Her betrayal of Clark had made it impossible to date him unless she managed to get her freedom.

And that meant she was working and sleeping with Lex Luthor for a chance at happiness that would likely never come about.

“Hey Chloe, I have to get to practice. Can you finish up with this story? It just needs the background from last year,” Clark asked.

He was already putting on his letterman’s jacket and didn’t even notice the tears on her face, but she brushed them away quickly. She had her pride.

“Sure. Go, I’ll handle it.”

The dark-haired boy missed the anger in her tone as he glanced at her. He looked but didn’t see anything about her. He flashed the smile that had won her heart so many times and she felt nothing.

[crankychick]

The internal thoughts of both Chloe and Lex are captured so well in your story, nonky. Lex's fragile self-security and Chloe's apparently well-disguised anger are laid out for us to read and analyse. I'm glad she's coming to the realization that Lex can reasonably beat Lionel.

Another well done update. :biggrin: :biggrin:

[hfce]

I am so glad Chloe is finally waking up from her Clark dream. Bravo girl :clap: Now all she and Lex have to do is realize they belong together and cut of Lionel pee pee to make sure he doesnt populate the world with anymore of his seed. :blinkkiss:



Hope :)

[autumngold]

Originally posted by hfce@Jan 25 2005, 06:32 AM
I am so glad Chloe is finally waking up from her Clark dream. Bravo girl :clap: Now all she and Lex have to do is realize they belong together and cut of Lionel pee pee to make sure he doesnt populate the world with anymore of his seed. :blinkkiss:



Hope :)
I love Hope's ideas!! Now if only Lex and Chloe would follow them!! Thank you so much for the update Nonky!! I hope that Lex and Chloe get closer, without Lionel appearing, in your next chapter!! :yay2: :chlexsign4: :yay2:

[Impress]

Wonderful update.

[lexchloe]

Excellent update. I really liked how unsure and wary Lex is of any feelings he might be having for Chloe. Very in character. Also liked Chloe's own reflection on her situation, especially in relation to Clark (how completely oblivious is he?) Clark is just a boy who was never good enough for her and Lex is a man who is worthy of her love and I hope she grows to realise this.

:chlexsign3:

[Zannie]

Well, honestly, you were a couple of hours past the 24 hour mark I had so strategically set . . . but I'll forgive you because it was such a good update.

I really like the gradual development of Lex and Chloe's characters, and how things are going in the right direction, but in a plausibly slow way.

Love this fic. Looking forward to more.

[Queen Of Tact]

great update hon. like everyone else i love what ur doing witht his fic... I can't wait for more....


CC

[tiger04]

That is a fab update. I really like the way you have the characters changing. I hope that you will update again soon

AT

[June]

Originally posted by nonky@Jan 25 2005, 06:00 AM
“I don’t need a man, Lo,” she said.


Yeah you do babe. Specifically a bald, rich, powerful, sexy one.

I can't wait to see Lionel's reaction to all of this. I like how your slowly building up the final demise, the last straw to end Chloe and Clark's relationship. I can't wait to read the next chapter. At least I hope so anyway.

And the last couple of paragraphs. Ah, I'm in a full blown Clark hating mood.

[randa]

i liked their day after, it seemed right for their situation.
lionel is such a bastard, i really would enjoy hurting him right now, but then he would probably be into that and that's just wrong and :huh:


randa

[Thessaly]

Originally posted by nonky@Jan 25 2005, 05:00 AM
She had already suffered through her doctor appointment and was now trying to dodge Lionel without pissing him off. She didn’t have time to deal with his random meetings this week. All he wanted to do was stare at her threateningly and circle her a few times, checking out her body.
I can't help worrying. Lionel's normally fairly proactive with the evil and I think he may be building up to something with all the circling and lech-ing. Thank God Lex sees Chloe as more than a pawn in he and his father's games because I think he may need to start the protecting sooner rather than later.

Of course, this is merely random speculation which could easily be dispelled with another fantastic update. D'you hear me, nonky? I can't wait for the next chapter and I'm thoroughly ashamed of myself for pestering you. Although I am a Catholic so I'll work through the guilt.

Thessaly

[Maha]

Originally posted by June+Jan 26 2005, 03:10 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (June &#064; Jan 26 2005, 03:10 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteBegin-nonky@Jan 25 2005, 06:00 AM
“I don’t need a man, Lo,” she said.


Yeah you do babe. Specifically a bald, rich, powerful, sexy one.[/b][/quote]
:angel:

Can&#39;t wait for you to update this fab story. Everyone is soo in character. But Lionel is really giving me the creeps.

[crankychick]

He flashed the smile that had won her heart so many times and she felt nothing.

Remember that, Chloe and keep that always in mind when seeing Clark. Feel the opposite for Lex, please? :puppyeyes:

nonky, I just did a re-read on your latest chappy and the way you capture Lex&#39;s personality so perfectly strikes me as fresh each and every time. :applause: This is a dark fic, I know, but that aspect of our nature is one that must be faced, dealt with and acknowledged. I like knowing that a writer like you is around the capture the essence of what that nature truly entails.

But how about a little bribe for a new chappy? :gift: Here you go.

[vardaquareien]

This ficcy is really heartwrenching&#33; :cryblue: It&#39;s just such a cruel situation, both to Chloe and Lex. You&#39;ve really written both of their turmoil wonderfully.

I&#39;ve just swiftly become adicted to this fic - I want to know what&#39;s gonna happen so much&#33; You really make me invest my emotions in what&#39;s happening and make me care about what will happen.

I really like the way you have contrasted Lex&#39;s growing care for her and his worry for her -

She mattered to him personally more than was expected, but it was no less than she deserved.
...
He thought the reactions he was having to Chloe would fade over time and distance, but for the moment he would be seeing her every few days. If he was this confused by the situation he couldn’t imagine how badly she was reacting.

Worse than wondering about it, he was worried about her, and that was something that hadn’t happened in a very long time.

with Clark&#39;s total obliviousness. Sure, he doesn&#39;t know what&#39;s happened but he doesn&#39;t even notice the pain that she&#39;s in&#33;

He looked but didn’t see anything about her. He flashed the smile that had won her heart so many times and she felt nothing.


While it&#39;s horrible for Chloe, I love seeing that she may be beginning to realise that he&#39;s not worth it.

I can&#39;t wait for more of this story&#33;

[buddyfozzy]

Nonky? You out there? *looks around sadly* We miss this wonderful story.
:puppyeyes: :cryblue: :puppyeyes: :cryblue: :puppyeyes: :cryblue: :puppyeyes: :cryblue: :puppyeyes: :cryblue:

[sylvia]

UPDAAAAAAAATTTTTEEEEEEEEEEEEEE&#33;&#33;&#33; Please? :puppyeyes:

[Charmeye]

:puppyeyes: Please Nonky...pretty please, you were updating so frequently there for a while&#33;&#33; Please come back and update....don&#39;t leave us dangling&#33;&#33; :cliffhanger:

[Sidhe]

I am fast falling in love with this fic. The angst and pain that both Lex and Chloe feel are so real. I love the fact that Chloe recognises the fact that Lex is not Lionel, that he is more human. The confusion that Lex feel for Chloe is so great. I&#39;m waiting anxiously for your next update. :worship2:

[oropheria]

Please, nonky, can I have some more? :blinkkiss:
{waves empty fic bowl and bats urchinesque eyes}

[hollywoude]

More, more, more&#33; :yay: Please?&#33; :worship2:

[emayne]

I found this story just a couple of hours ago and read all the way through the last update. Darkfics are hard to pull off in any fandom and I am amazed at how well this is written&#33; I can&#39;t wait to see how things progress.

-Elizabeth

[coxxy]

I just read the whole thing and all I can say is - WOW

you are an amazing writer - every scene is so vivid

cant wait to read more....

;)

[Azabeth]

Please, please, pretty please, come back and write some more of this fantastic story. I&#39;m actually addicted to its darkness and to the great characterization you have displayed so far. I like the time and depth you dedicate to both Lex and Chloe&#39;s thoughts and points of view regarding the situation they are stuck in.

So please, great author, feed your loyal readers :))

[lilinny]

Will yelling at you help? I want a new chapter dammit&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; That felt better. Please update this creepy fic. :yay:

[polly]

Umm, hi. :unsure: I&#39;m doing my best to overcome my lurking tendencies so I&#39;m going to ask meekly for another update. Okay, here goes:
Can I please have another update? I really like this fic and want to see the Chlex develop, so can we have more?
Please?

[celticangel]

I love this story&#33;&#33; :drool: Please, please update :worship2: :worship2:

[kitten]

The Lesser of Two Evils
NC-17/ Angst

Disclaimer: Smallville, the characters therein, and all affiliated copyrighted materials are owned by the WB. This is a work of fanfiction not intended for profit or infringement, only for the pleasure of fans of the series.

Spoilers: All up to Season 4, except things will be twisted to the tune of Lex having never moved to Cowtown, U.S.A.

A/N: What would Chloe Sullivan have had to do to get from under Lionel Luthor’s thumb if Lex had never moved to Smallville? What would she have had to sacrifice to earn the son’s help against the father?

AU for Season 3 and 4, and strongly rated for a good reason:
THERE WILL BE BORDERLINE NON-CONSENSUAL SEX.

I’m posting in very short chapters so readers can choose when enough is enough for them.


Chapter Sixteen


There was an insecurity to success, one that haunted those men who had to scrape and fight for the privileges they enjoyed. Adjusting the sleeves of his expensive suit and folding his hands at the small of his back, one such man looked out at his expansive country estate and wondered how long it would remain his.

Life felt like a precipice to Lionel Luthor on most days. He was keenly aware of his vulnerability to his enemies, chief among them time.

He had stolen his life from the deaths of his parents, and though he didn’t miss them he did ponder the consequences of his actions. His wealth, all the billions of dollars he had won, lost, spent and saved, were based on his immature treachery. He had been careful to become a well-educated man, an impeccably dressed member of high society, but it was all built on the early years of petty thuggery.

Lionel didn’t feel guilty for what he had done, nor did he feel regret at his early start on a life of crime. If he hadn’t been strong enough to escape he would have many regrets and crimes to think about. His will had been too much for his neglectful parents and he remembered the siblings he had once had. At least two other children had been born into his fetid home, neither of them surviving past infancy. His parents hadn’t been fazed by the losses, so he felt no obligation to grieve the absence of their guidance.

The only thing his parents would have been able to do was raise him to be as much a loser as they were.

The anger remained, as did a hot resentment toward anyone who tried to take away what he had or wanted. He was powerful because he was able to do whatever was necessary, and that included squaring off against his own son. Immutable family loyalty had never struck Lionel as anything other than a conceit.

The LuthorCorp public image was tied up in the hard luck story of his underprivileged youth in the Suicide Slums, with a few minor revisions. He knew people liked to be able to cling to a bit of veracity in the bulk of a lie. It was one of the few instances where the truth was more valuable. The average joe makes good angle had brought in more free publicity over the years than anything else he could have done.

Lionel hated that his past was known, even in a sanitized version that implied his innocent potential at a young age. He wanted to leave it behind forever never hear the questions about how it felt to rise to being a billionaire from being penniless. It was a trap of his own making back when he couldn’t afford to get the right people to talk to him. He’d never been able to shrug it off and it made him feel as unwashed as the teenage boy who had stood outside a burning tenement and resolved to be much better than he was.

He wondered who had decided the winners wrote the history books, because from his perspective he had won only to find everyone else writing his history for him and finding it lacking.

He’d bought a lot of things to rid him of the feelings of inferiority. Cars were first, then motorcycles. Homes that cost more than most people made in their lifetimes and had too many rooms for any single man to ever use. He had bought a lovely, fragile society wife and found out too late that she was even more dainty and easily broken than he had thought.

Lionel knew better than to pay very much for a woman anymore. He preferred to rent them for a few hours and send them away. His grasp of human relationships was slipping more each year he was alone, and he had little ability to mend his ways.

He had a son who barely spoke to him, another son who took his money but regarded him with suspicion, and two lonely graves to visit when he drank enough to become maudlin. His family was all but nonexistent, and he was dying.

Despair licked at his heels and he resisted the urge to physically kick it away. He was strong, stronger than anyone he’d ever known. The soft life of privilege wasn’t necessary and he could build it all again if he had to.

If he had time.

The doctor had tried to give him a sallow pep talk before delivering the news, but he wouldn’t have it. Pity wasn’t something a Luthor would accept from anyone.

“Mr. Luthor, I’m sorry to inform you that our test results have shown advancing tissue damage in your liver. Our best estimate is that you have no more than six months.”

The man might have seemed more sympathetic if Lionel hadn’t been blackmailing him to impregnate a teenage girl, but he still showed remarkable restraint in the telling. Many people wouldn’t have been able to withhold laughter at the idea of the Lionel Luthor they knew laid low by his habitual glass of high-priced liquor.

What the world didn’t know about him was that he’d been an alcoholic since before his voice had changed. Over the decades his choice of liquid mistress was so cheap it was homemade, then the most expensive, now it was a neat scotch in private like a trusted friend.

“What about a transplant,” he had asked, voice gruff with the shock of mortality catching up to him.

He would fight because it was all he knew. There were always options available to a man with money. He would live through this as he had through numerous attempts on his life.

“Your body would be too weak to sustain a new organ,” the doctor had said, “I’m sorry.”

Whichever medical school had trained him should get a massive endowment, Lionel thought. He can almost convince me that it won’t be a relief to see me dead.

“You’re apologized twice in the past thirty seconds. There is little consolation in it unless you can keep me alive. It is why I hired you, after all,” he said.

The blanching of the man’s face was obvious and he put down the test results to make a futile soothing gesture.

“I’m sor - Mr. Luthor, at this point all I can do is manage your pain.”

Lionel tapped his foot on the cheap tile floor and ignored the other man. Platitudes weren’t going to get them anywhere.

He had six months on the outside to settle his legacy. Half a year to create an heir and ensure that the boy would become a child he could be proud of. Half a year to force compliance from a young woman whose spine was the consistency of solid steel.

He had stood up quickly and walked out on whatever the doctor was prattling on about. It didn’t matter. Medicine had failed him in one way, but he had to make arrangements to get his heir and see him raised properly.

Looking over the lawn that had once hosted the only Luthor family picnic to include Lillian, Lex, Julian and himself, Lionel nodded sadly. Everyone in his life was lost to him, but he could have hope in his fourth son.

His hand wrapped comfortably around the tumbler of scotch and he allowed himself an ironic smile at his ruin and his salvation.

Such a small thing to do so much damage, but all great men started as small infants squalling in their mothers’ arms. He hoped the baby born of his union with Chloe Sullivan would be cut from the same cloth. He hoped many things for his little boy because it was all he could do for him.

He wouldn’t live to see the child born.


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


“Hello.”

“Come in.”

Lex stepped back from the double doors to let Chloe pass and she noticed that he was careful to keep the distance precise; Far enough away that she wouldn’t have to brush his body, but close enough to touch if one of them reached out.

She wasn’t inclined to reach out, but she wasn’t feeling nearly as anxious as her previous two visits. There was nothing to fear if she just kept things under control. It seemed that Lex would follow her lead, and her emotions were under wraps for the time being. Avoiding Lionel for a few days was a small victory, but it was enough to get her in something approaching a good mood.

He waited until she was walking into the living room before looking her up and down. The outfit tonight was a sweater and designer jeans, both in a shade of indigo. Her boots were plain, but they set off the rest of the clothes, and long tweed jacket was hanging over her arm. She looked good and she seemed steady, which was encouraging for the next step.

“Can I take your coat,” he asked, and she nodded absently while looking out the windows. Lex moved up gradually until he was at her side and Chloe let him take the coat and drape it over his own arm.

He carried it back out to the entryway and hung it in the closet before walking to the bar. The drink he poured was only water, but the ritual was the most important part. Deep breaths were drawn in through his nose and allowed to drift back out through his lips, controlled and neutral.

Chloe was still facing away when Lex stepped toward her and spoke.

“How long do you have before someone misses you?”

And she realized she had done such a good job distancing herself from everyone that they might not miss her for days.

[Krysia]

I guess that after all these years of people seeing him as the devil and him acting like one Lionel forgot that he is mortal after all. I find it very interesting to see him strugling to, in a way, get a second chance. He strikes me as someone who is sure that if he has enough strenght and determination there is nothing [ even his own mortality ] to stop him from achieving what he desires. Mind over matter. He frightens me.
Wonderfull chapter :worship2:

[hfce]

I am sorry Lionel is an ass. He deserves whats coming to him. And if he wants the child to grow up right. How will he accomplish that if he is not there to ruin its life like his other sons. Whats the point of having another kid you will have no hand in raising. Idiot. :nobad:

I am glad Chloe is trusting lex very slowly. And I hope to God if she gets pregnant its Lex&#39;s. I will not be happy if he has to raise his own brother with Chloe as mom., Yuck&#33;


Great update. :)

Hope ;)

[Zannie]

I was just cleaning my house and thought I would take a break between vacuuming and scrubbing the tub--when, lo and behold, an update appeared for my second-favorite nonky fic ("Witness Protection: Summer Interludes" being my favorite--I&#39;m sure that will get updated soon).

And so, in celebration of nonky&#39;s return, I shall use my first ever emoticon. Ready? Here it is.

:yay2:

Now that I&#39;ve gotten that out of the way, what a good update. You&#39;ve done a fabulous job fleshing out the Lionel-monster and making him human. Not nice or sympathetic, but human, like a real person. Wonderful portrait of him.

And this line is so poignant and powerful:


And she realized she had done such a good job distancing herself from everyone that they might not miss her for days.

Thanks so much for the update.

[lexchloe]

Wow :worship2: :worship2: That was a great update, loved how you gave us insight into the :devil: MB. Kept having conflicting emotions as I read this, for a second there I felt kind of sorry for him because of how isolated he must feel but then a larger much louder part of me realised that this is a mess of his own making. He ****ed up and now he&#39;s trying to get a second chance by screwing up Chloe&#39;s life rahter than trying to fix the relationships with the kids he has&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; That just makes the twinge of sympathy I might have been feeling fly out the window.

Also liked the brief Chlex and how the trust is building up slowly.


Lex stepped back from the double doors to let Chloe pass and she noticed that he was careful to keep the distance precise; Far enough away that she wouldn’t have to brush his body, but close enough to touch if one of them reached out


Not sure why but I especially liked these lines. (maybe it&#39;s because they show Lex doing the smallest of things in an effort to gain her trust)

[June]

Nonky, oh how I&#39;ve missed you. And your wonderful stories.

This update was fantastic. I loved the insight to Lionel, loved the Chloe and Lex scene, loved it times a hundred trillion.


He had bought a lovely, fragile society wife and found out too late that she was even more dainty and easily broken than he had thought.

Loved that line. Lionels little insight on Lillian was right on and I love it.


He carried it back out to the entryway and hung it in the closet before walking to the bar. The drink he poured was only water, but the ritual was the most important part. Deep breaths were drawn in through his nose and allowed to drift back out through his lips, controlled and neutral.

I adore this story and the relationship you have built between Chloe and Lex. They are slowly beginning to trust each other, slowly becoming accustomed to each other&#39;s presence in their lives, and I can&#39;t wait until they finally realize how important the other is to them.

I&#39;m so glad your back and hope your doing better&#33; We missed you&#33;

Waiting for more patiently.

[Sidhe]

Lionel needs to rot in Hell. Every choice that he made brought him to where he stands today. He made Lex dislike and distrust him. He got Lucas&#39;s mother pregnant and when she died, he couldn&#39;t even be bothered with finding a decent home for him. He drove Lillian insane, and when Lex took the fall for Julian&#39;s death, he hated Lex. yup, he deserves every moment of agony.

I feel so much for Chloe in this fic. She is so alone, and the only one that she can trust on any level is Lex. Who is so emotionally damaged, that he can&#39;t ever trust anyone completely.

I&#39;m lovin&#39; this fic, and await the next update.

[Yarvarni]

poor chloe i want lex to take lionel down&#33;

[lilinny]

Down with Lionel&#33;&#33;&#33; Hope that Lex can save her. Great chapter&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; :chlexsign3:

[Impress]

you know...I could see Lionel thinking that. It seemed totally in character.

enjoyed the update, except for the fact that it was too short. ;) more soon.

[Charmeye]

Happy&#33; Happy&#33;&#33; :worship2: You updated&#33; Finally, thank you thank you thankyou.
This fic keeps getting better and better, I love the interaction between all the characters, and how you&#39;re keeping them emotionally apart for as long as you have. It really shows how difficult Chloe and Lex have it, dealing with their emotions and other people. Really well done and told. Please don&#39;t wait too long to update the next part.

:chlexsign3:

[autumngold]

I&#39;m so glad that you&#39;re back&#33;&#33; Excellent new chapter to your story&#33;&#33; I really, really hope that Chloe is able to hide away from Lionel until he dies&#33;&#33; I also hope that she learns to enjoy her time with Lex&#33;&#33; Thanks for the update&#33;&#33; :yay: :chlexsign3: :yay:

[BellaMR]

Thank you for the fantastic update. I was getting worried about this fic. I&#39;m glad that Chloe is starting to trust Lex more. I just wonder what he has planned for this evening. Please let us know soon.

[star del mar]

I am so glad that you updated this story. It is so good. I&#39;ve been reading it from the beginning and it just keeps on getting better and better. There&#39;s so much pain and history there between Chloe and Lex but they&#39;re still trying to make it work, hopefully to bring down Lionel.

Lionel just needs to go away anyhow, he&#39;s bothering me again. Anyway, great chapter.

Steph*

[sylvia]

Yay you&#39;re back&#33; :yay2: And with an excellent update too. I loved the characterisation of Lionel, which was almost a complete flip from the perspective of him shown in previous chapters. Your treatment of themes like mortality and regret was also well done. Can&#39;t wait for more of the progressing relationship between Chloe and Lex -- don&#39;t keep us hanging too long, please&#33;

[buddyfozzy]

Thank yo so much for this update, wonderful as always&#33; :worship2: :yay: :worship2:

I&#39;m glad Lionel only has the six months left, though this will probably mean he will step up his advances. :devil: :devil: :devil:


“How long do you have before someone misses you?”

And she realized she had done such a good job distancing herself from everyone that they might not miss her for days.

Wow, this last sentence almost made me cry. :crygreen:

[mimi71884]

:chlexsign4:


Glad this fic is back from a temporary oblivion.
Can&#39;t wait to see where this goes...
Lionel is such a creepy weirdo...
I&#39;m liking your Lex and feeling very sorry for your Chloe.



Update again soon please?



:chlexsign4:

[Star14]

Thanks for the update&#33; :worship2: Superb...almost had me feeling bad for Lionel&#33; More Please. :biggrin:

:chlexsign4:

[crankychick]

Ah, nonky. You are missed and you are appreciated.

I would read a long book on the origins and background of Lionel Luthor; I wouldn&#39;t open a pamphlet to know about Lana&#39;s. Even though I realize there is no excuse for Lionel&#39;s actions, I&#39;ve always found profiling a fascinating activity. His background, the loss of his siblings and the targeted annihilation of his parents have all made him the calculating bastard that he is today, but he&#39;s not entirely without the semblance of emotion. If he were, he would care only for the acquisition of the child and not about Chloe herself. As it stands, he still wants to break her spirit, dominiate her and impose his will even when he&#39;s no longer physically present to enforce that will.

Love the fact Chloe and Lex grow closer as they continue to attempt staying apart. So similar in both their demeanor and approach, those two. :biggrin: :biggrin:

[asharnanae]

:biggrin: FANTASTIC&#33;&#33;&#33; loved this chappy, and the scheeming is great&#33; I just cant wait for the next chappy&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; :blinkkiss:

[tiger04]

:yay2: me doing the happy dance for the fab update. Can&#39;t wait for the next update. You are doing a wonderful job in writting all the characters. You have me totally caught up in the story with them.

AT

[godddess1]

OMG How could I have missed this Fic?&#33; Keep up the good work. Luv the intensity of this fic, well done. Ciao

[randa]

i love this story. i really do. wanna know why ;)

cause of this web you have spun and the way that everyone reacts to each other is perfect. you are absolutely amazing and ill be waiting for you next update&#33;


randa

[celticangel]

Love this story. can't wait for the next part. Update soon Pleeeeeeeeease!!

[Ori]

This is amazing. You have taken darkness and angst and balanced them in an intruging story. You have an amazing talent.

[fanette]

i love it
i hope you are going to update soon

[hateSmallvilleLoveChlex2]

Come Back!!!!!! We need you!!

[Ainur]

*sighs* No update?

[junelle1]

Excellent update. Cannot wait to see what happens next.

[starmoon]

Update please I need more soon.

[asharnanae]

MORE PLEASE MORE!!!! soo very good! :D

[kitten]

The Lesser of Two Evils
NC-17/ Angst

Disclaimer: Smallville, the characters therein, and all affiliated copyrighted materials are owned by the WB. This is a work of fanfiction not intended for profit or infringement, only for the pleasure of fans of the series.

Spoilers: All up to Season 4, except things will be twisted to the tune of Lex having never moved to Cowtown, U.S.A.

A/N: What would Chloe Sullivan have had to do to get from under Lionel Luthor’s thumb if Lex had never moved to Smallville? What would she have had to sacrifice to earn the son’s help against the father?

AU for Season 3 and 4, and strongly rated for a good reason:
THERE WILL BE BORDERLINE NON-CONSENSUAL SEX.

I’m posting in very short chapters so readers can choose when enough is enough for them.


Chapter Seventeen


Steely blue eyes were pinning her to the floor, even though she wasn’t facing him. It was a strange feeling but he had a way of doing it without imposing a threat behind the gaze. Still, Chloe didn’t feel any need to be too honest with Lex Luthor. It would only make her look as pathetic as she felt.

He was trying to keep to the polite but friendly distance but Lex saw Chloe’s initial tension stiffen her frame. She didn’t like the question even though he had worded it as carefully as he could.

“I have a few hours,” she hedged, turning around to face him in what looked like an act of pure willpower. “Why?”

He noted the reluctance as she spoke and the way her mood dimmed into calm misery. She suffered his presence. There was no practiced social skill that could change what he was to her.

“We need to talk about a few things.”

Lex tried not to make it sound dire and commanding, but he didn't succeed. He wasn’t used to being soothing to others, had practiced inspiring fear and anxiety since his childhood by emulating his father. Her expression didn’t give him anything to go by but she withdrew physically a little.

Chloe circled the big, gray sofa and looked at him over the characterless piece. She hated how he had used his money to furnish his house with expensive pieces of nothing.

“What things,” she asked warily.

“We need to discuss gathering evidence against my father and a few other details. Your medical situation, some kind of strategy . . . ”

He trailed off to wander back to the bar again to retrieve his water. Once he was far enough away the blond reporter sat down uncomfortably on the edge of the sofa.

“I don’t really - I’m not comfortable . . . “ she sighed and could hear him take a sip of his drink.

Pull yourself together. You are not going to freak out when all he wants to do is talk to you. Do you want to be in the dark about what he’s doing? Would that make it easier to sleep at night?

“I would rather discuss it with a lawyer or someone else you have working on it.”

He had watched the argument in her eyes and then the squaring of shoulders before she fixed her verbal stumble. It gave him some comfort to see a backbone in her, even if she never seemed to direct to the outside world.

“I understand that, but it will give us away if you’re seen in contact with lawyers, private investigators and FBI agents. My meetings with them get lost in all the other business I conduct,” he said.

Her nod wasn’t an agreement as much as an acknowledgment that she had heard him. Chloe still needed to be convinced. Staying by the bar, without looking at her, Lex gentled his tone.

“I know you feel bad and maybe you think there’s nothing left to salvage, but you told me you want to protect your family and your friends. I’m not going to tell you we will win and I’m not going to tell you how to feel. Who you trust is your decision, but I can only help you so much unless you’ll clarify things for me.”

Her head bowed for a moment then nodded in real agreement. She would talk.

“What do you need to know?”

Lex picked up his glass and settled one cushion down on the sofa, slipping back into that polite, safe distance.

“Aside from living in a town that was struck by a meteor shower, is Clark Kent extraordinary in any way that would garner my father’s interest?”

Chloe would have once said he was the best, most wonderful person she had ever known. She didn’t, nor did she think it, and not just because she knew it wasn’t what Lex was referring to.

“He’s adopted,” she ventured, “And I know he doesn’t know who his biological parents are. I offered to help him look but . . . “

In fact she had tried to look into his real parents and had once been in touch with a woman who claimed she was Clark’s mother. He had found the e-mail and accused her of being thoughtless and heedless of the repercussions of her actions. He hadn’t spoken to her for days and she had dropped the subject, still stinging over the memories the incident had dredged up about her own absent mother.

“ . . . he wasn’t interested in knowing. I did find out that Lionel funded the adoption agency that placed him with the Kents and that it was one of only two transactions it made before it was dissolved.”

Lex leaned back casually and draped an arm over the back of the sofa.

“The other adoption being the placement of my half-brother,” he remarked.

“Yes,” Chloe said, darting a glance to and away from his face.

“Are you suggesting Clark is the product of another one of Lionel’s indiscretions?”

He didn’t know how to feel about the prospect of another half-brother. Lucas was as much an enemy as their father at times. There was no genuine loyalty between them and they had little contact unless they were working together against their sire. The discovery of one more family member wouldn’t be likely to bring any comfort into Lex’s life.

“I don’t think so. There’s a certain degree of tolerance when he talks about you and Lucas, but he talks about Clark more like a curiousity or an experiment. Like he’s not even human.”

The billionaire mask was firmly in place as Lex absorbed her answer without making any attempt to reconcile his feelings to it. Clark Kent wasn’t his half-brother and how he felt about that was a moot point.

“I’ll have my people look into the Kents from a business perspective then. If you think of anything else that might be a lead just let me know,” he said.

She was getting to recognize the ways he used the timbre of his voice to be different things; approachable, reasonable, disinterested, unaffected, carnal. She heard them all but they didn’t make her feel the way he meant them to. There was a deep numbness that was getting her through the day and she had to keep it.

So Chloe nodded without looking in his direction and let him believe he was being comforting if that was what he wanted to believe.

“You wanted to talk about my medical situation,” she pointed out. The conversation was best over as soon as she could manage it. Except afterward they would go to his bed again, so perhaps she should be clinging to the words and pontificating to draw it out. It was hard to know what to fear most when she feared everything.

Lex’s glass was empty and he returned it to the bar. His arched eyebrow offered her something as well.

“No thank you.”

“I think you should get a check up from a doctor who doesn’t work for my father, or at least at blood test to make sure the hormones you’re getting aren’t doing any damage to your system.”

Green eyes shiny with a new surge of fear turned to his and soft pink lips pouted at him. “You think they’ll make me sick?”

He tried to convey confidence and a lack of concern, but Chloe was wringing her hands. She looked paler than before and painfully younger. The dark clothing that seemed so fashionable when she arrived now emphasized the drain of colour from her skin.

Lex extended a hand and tossed a business card onto the coffee table in front of her, but he sat back from her. “This is a doctor who is willing to see you anonymously, as much for his safety as for yours. He’s willing to send a nurse to draw a blood sample from you the next time you come here,” he said.

“Okay.”

She was recovering a bit, but Chloe still had her hands clasped tightly. She didn’t want to be ill on top of everything else. It would make surviving all that was going wrong so much more difficult. Submitting to a simple blood test was barely a blip next to that.

“He might need to see you personally once the results come back, but with anonymity we’ll be able to arrange some way to get you there. He’s Metropolis-based, so you could probably use a visit to your cousin as a cover,” Lex suggested.

There was a jolt in hearing how much detail he had about her, but Chloe didn’t think Lois was in danger. It just felt exposed to be in the presence of a man who could have her investigated. Lionel had taught her to fear the power of money in capable hands.

“Yeah, I can do that. Lois and I are close,” she said. “Is there anything else?”

Lex crossed his legs and cleared his throat. He didn’t know how to bring it up but he needed to talk about her previous visit.

“There’ll be other things as I gather more information,” he said, “But there’s something a bit more immediate. If we’re going to be having sex on a regular basis there’s something that has to change.”

[Saint]

It's so awful to see just how bad Chloe's life could have become without Lex to protect her. This is incredibly realistic and just so sad that without Lex, Chloe becomes this withdrawn almost shell of a person. Lovely.

[BellaMR]

Thank you for updating again. This fic is so fantastic. I hope Chloe will eventually be able to open up to Lex. I fear for her long term mental health. Please continue this soon.

[lexchloe]

Great update, loved the angst and emotional tension.



He noted the reluctance as she spoke and the way her mood dimmed into calm misery. She suffered his presence. There was no practiced social skill that could change what he was to her.


Love how he can read her mood even though he hasn't known her that long. It's not her fault and I don't blame her but the rejection that Lex must be feeling from her reactions makes me feel :( for him.


She was getting to recognize the ways he used the timbre of his voice to be different things; approachable, reasonable, disinterested, unaffected, carnal. She heard them all but they didn’t make her feel the way he meant them to. There was a deep numbness that was getting her through the day and she had to keep it.


:( :( So sad that Chloe feels closing herself off is the only way to survive this entire situation. Really think she needs to let someone in to help her deal with all this emotionally.



“There’ll be other things as I gather more information,” he said, “But there’s something a bit more immediate. If we’re going to be having sex on a regular basis there’s something that has to change.”

Always leave us wanting more!!! My curiosity is peaked and I can't wait for the next part.

[asharnanae]

man, its great, in a depressingly great sort of way. so much feeling, wonderful! :D

[Zannie]

“There’ll be other things as I gather more information,” he said, “But there’s something a bit more immediate. If we’re going to be having sex on a regular basis there’s something that has to change.”
Hmph! That was kind of mean. I'm dying to know what he's talking about. It's not a cliffhanger in the normal sense of the word, but I'm actually more curious and intrigued than in a typical edge-of-the-seat cliffhanging ending.

That means you better update this soon. I try not to nag as a general rule, but rules can be broken under extenuating circumstances.

This was a surprisingly tense and absorbing update, given that it was just a fairly calm conversation. But you've done a great job depicting the desperation and helplessness of both of them as they try to make the most of a situation neither one really knows what to do with.


He had watched the argument in her eyes and then the squaring of shoulders before she fixed her verbal stumble. It gave him some comfort to see a backbone in her, even if she never seemed to direct to the outside world.
I like how Chloe's true character comes through despite everything, and I love that Lex can recognize it and actually wants to see it.

And I also like how Chloe wants to find more in Lex than what she's seen so far:

Chloe circled the big, gray sofa and looked at him over the characterless piece. She hated how he had used his money to furnish his house with expensive pieces of nothing.
The fact that this trivial detail bothers her seems significant to me.

The most powerful line to me in this chapter was this:

So Chloe nodded without looking in his direction and let him believe he was being comforting if that was what he wanted to believe.
Despite the steps they are taking, they are still not communicating or bonding in any real or genuine way. I'm fascinated by how you plan to finally get them to the point of really opening up with each other.

Assuming that's what you're planning to do.

[crankychick]

It was a strange feeling but he had a way of doing it without imposing a threat behind the gaze.
This is a very typical framing technique that MR pulls off very well on the show. I could visual this instantly.


“I would rather discuss it with a lawyer or someone else you have working on it.”
Smart Chloe. Despite her situation and the means she's willing to go to in her effort to get out from underneath Lionel Luthor, she's still unwilling to let herself get blindly backed into a corner.


She was getting to recognize the ways he used the timbre of his voice to be different things; approachable, reasonable, disinterested, unaffected, carnal. She heard them all but they didn’t make her feel the way he meant them to. There was a deep numbness that was getting her through the day and she had to keep it.
Yet another technique, this one used by AM in her scenes with MR that we've sadly not seen this season. Chloe's an anthrolopolist - she studies people she's wary of before she responds.


“There’ll be other things as I gather more information,” he said, “But there’s something a bit more immediate. If we’re going to be having sex on a regular basis there’s something that has to change.”
The breath is is bated and it is waiting.

nonky, I love the way you personify broken yet wary Chloe, but I especially admire the way you've taken certain aspects of their face-to-face body language and brought it into this AU. Great update and the story continues to pique my interest. :)

[hfce]

God that was tense and sad. :(


Hope ;)

[autumngold]

I can't believe that you really stopped the story there?!! That was almost evil!! I can't wait to find out what Lex wants changed!! So you must come back soon and update please!! I love this story!!

[Star14]

Loved the "not even human" part! I can't wait to read how Lex thinks the sex needs to change! More please!

[lilinny]

The Chloe in this story is breaking my heart. Great chapter.

[June]

She was getting to recognize the ways he used the timbre of his voice to be different things; approachable, reasonable, disinterested, unaffected, carnal. She heard them all but they didn’t make her feel the way he meant them to. There was a deep numbness that was getting her through the day and she had to keep it.

Love the gradual buildup of their relationship. How both of them are observing each other, figuring out their quirks. It's enjoyable to read, especially when you're writing it because you write so well.



Lex crossed his legs and cleared his throat. He didn’t know how to bring it up but he needed to talk about her previous visit.

“There’ll be other things as I gather more information,” he said, “But there’s something a bit more immediate. If we’re going to be having sex on a regular basis there’s something that has to change.”


I am really interested and seeing what he has to discuss. Way to end a chapter... update soon please, very soon. I'm addicted to this fic and this AU is so believable and just true to the characters even under the dire circumstances.

Waiting for more.. As patiently as possible.

[star del mar]

I'll try to wait as patiently as well but you got me with that last line!! What has to change?! Great update as always.

Steph*

[buddyfozzy]

Nonky!! Come back!

Wow, wonderful chapter!!

[Whenyoufall]

I'm so glad you updated, I love this story. Can't wait for the next chapter.

[kitten]

The Lesser of Two Evils
NC-17/ Angst

Disclaimer: Smallville, the characters therein, and all affiliated copyrighted materials are owned by the WB. This is a work of fanfiction not intended for profit or infringement, only for the pleasure of fans of the series.

Spoilers: All up to Season 4, except things will be twisted to the tune of Lex having never moved to Cowtown, U.S.A.

A/N: What would Chloe Sullivan have had to do to get from under Lionel Luthor’s thumb if Lex had never moved to Smallville? What would she have had to sacrifice to earn the son’s help against the father?

AU for Season 3 and 4, and strongly rated for a good reason:
THERE WILL BE BORDERLINE NON-CONSENSUAL SEX.


Chapter Eighteen


Chloe’s cheeks took on a rosy blush that looked extra vibrant on her milk-white face. She didn’t move, froze actually, and braced herself.

What does he want? I can’t do that again. I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.

She panicked in her head while her body kept the pretense of being in the room and maintaining her composure. There was no conscious effort not to act upset, but she did it out of habit. There were moments sitting across from the lazy, vainglorious form of Lionel Luthor when she was absolutely certain the sheen of tears was dooming her. There was no guarantee it hadn’t already, but at least she had learned to shut off her emotions. Chloe drew on the numbness and huddled around it like it was a campfire.

Taken aback, Lex saw her flee. Chloe wasn’t in the room anymore and where she was it was brittle and desperate. He’d been in similar places.

“Chloe, I’m not going to make demands on you,” he said. “I’m not going to ask anything of you or disagree with our previous setup. But if I’m not allowed to speak later I have to say something now.”

Her mouth did a subtle jump around an expression that might have been a grimace or a wry grin and he knew she was grounded again. Rapid blinks and a nervous lick of her lips woke her up all the way. Finally, when she turned her head to look at him, her eyes were full of her identity once more.

“What,” she asked hoarsely.

He was used to doing without saying or not caring how he said things. Women Lex considered as suitable companions were willing and able to put up with him in any mood he found himself and they rarely called him on his bad behaviour. He had an ivy league education that was wasted in conversation with most of his society acquaintances and a vocabulary that was neglected during bragging contests about boats, private planes and priceless art. As he was trying to form a tactful reply he realized Chloe was presenting him with the most intellectual challenge he’d had in years, and she didn’t even want to speak to him.

“At the end,” he began, “you have to be more careful. You have to stop and relax for a minute because when you’re still tight around me it’s too soon to pull away. You’ll get hurt.”

She didn’t know how it was possible to be so horrified and embarrassed at the same time as feeling flooded with relief. If Lex had asked her to give him another blow job or for something worst she would have been sick. The rant that had been forming in her head was still dissipating when she answered.

“It’s just that I . . . “ Panicked, but she didn’t say it. It was too much to reveal to this man who was barely a stranger but knew more about her than anyone else. “I won’t do that again.”

Lex nodded and refrained from telling her the other reason she had to let him pull out slowly. They were depending solely on a thin layer of latex to prevent a pregnancy that her body was primed to carry. By all evidence he was as virile as any healthy man should be. It would do little good to prevent a tragedy of one sort by creating another one of nearly equal harm.

Of course, he wouldn’t be like his father. Chloe would be allowed to have an abortion and her recovery would be taken care of by the best doctors. She would be allowed to move on with her life and he would destroy any record of this unpleasant chapter of hers.

He wasn’t a good, kind, or caring man, but Lex Luthor tried very hard to be a fair man. He lived his life largely in defiance of the world, and imposing the justice it resisted was only another aspect of that. The fact that he sometimes broke his own rules was mainly in order to work against the greater crimes his father was attempting.

The fact that his latest quest for fairness was in defense of an attractive young woman who was sleeping with him was something he wasn’t willing to think about. It nibbled at a part of his psyche he wasn’t comfortable with, just like the thoughts of another lost sibling.

Lex shook himself out of his musings and fixed a mild expression on his face. He had pushed Chloe into enough conversation for one night and he was secretly admiring of the way she had handled herself.

“That’s all,” he said, not moving.

She pursed her lips and stood up, swiveling to face him without making eye contact.

“Do you mind music?”

He typically didn’t notice, neither did he suggest it since it implied a sense of romance that he didn’t want to foster. But Chloe was a special case.

“That’s fine. What would you like,” he asked, sliding out to stand as well.

The media room was filled with CDs still wrapped and waiting in vain for him to have time to listen to them. He normally didn’t allow anyone in there, but she wouldn’t use it to enforce the grasping intimacy of a relationship.

“I’ve got something,” she said quietly.

Lex studied her and couldn’t work out what she was projecting. There was something there but it was masked by the resolve she was wearing.

He strode to the bar to give her a safe zone to walk through. “There’s a CD player in the bedroom.”

Chloe turned crisply and left the room and he stayed for a few minutes, wondering how long she needed. There was a delicacy to dealing with her that didn’t allow him to lapse into his seduction routines. He waited until the music was audible, a medium speed electronic instrumental song he actually liked. And he knocked softly before opening the door.

She had undressed and sat on the bed, looking smaller than she had in clothing. There was a scent of freshness that indicated she had washed her hands or her face, but Lex was more concerned with the vague hint of a more earthy aroma.

The body remembered, she had thought as she got ready. It remembered pain but it also remembered ecstasy. When she looked at Lex there was fear and anger, but there was also a dark thread of excitement. Her body knew he had hurt her and it thought he should be making it up to her.

She was mortified by it, but it would make things easier. She wasn’t a deeply religious person nor did she think there was nobilty in giving up things that were desirable.

But when Chloe had snuck a finger down her body to feel the beginning dampness between her legs she had wanted desperately to desire anyone but Lex Luthor. It had struck her so jarringly that she had washed her hands and face with cold water.

He didn’t say anything as she stood up and waited. The music hummed and skittered over her skin and made it somehow more silent. Toed off shoes were left by the door, and his shirt was unbuttoned and tossed over a chair. She tracked his first bare footstep toward her, closed her eyes and didn’t open them again.

Lex let her stay where she was because her fingers were wrapped around the bed frame. He left his pants on and dropped to his knees gracefully. And breathed in.

He exhaled forcefully as his mouth crept toward her, but she wasn’t making the flinching motions he had expected. Her hips were steady and her legs were spread slightly, so he immediately found her clit and kissed it. The subtle touch gave her an opportunity to object, but she didn’t. The nudge of his chin got her to open a bit more, then his tongue was bringing her to climax as carefully as he could.

Chloe was letting it happen, trying not to think about anything, sometimes following the music and sometimes the motions of his tongue. It was easier with no acknowledgment of who he was, or even who she was. She imagined it was very similar to really being a woman who was in his bed for the night simply to get the pleasure of his body without any messy relationship problems.

When she felt her knees start to vibrate with regularity she reached out for the headboard with her other hand. And when a large male hand brushed against her calf for a split second she didn’t panic or object. She ignored it as she ignored the way the entire world seemed to hurt her and she came.

Lex listened to the whimpers on Chloe’s lips and brought her through the last of the big spasms of her body. He had forgotten for a moment that he wasn’t allowed to use his hands, and almost ran his hand up to grasp her hips to steady them. But she hadn’t reacted badly and he wrote it off as a product of his own excitement.

Leaving her to catch her breath, he stood up and took off his pants and boxers. She was still clutching at the bed and he slipped the condom on without waiting for her to tell him. Half-mast green slits started at his shoulders and ran down his body, not stopping at his cock. They looked at all of him, down his legs and back up again to his face. He felt stripped by it, but there wasn’t any accusation behind it.

Chloe Sullivan had accepted her fate, even if it was him.

He walked to the bed and lay on his back across it. She liked her grip on the headboard and he suspected it was helping her, so he worked with it. His hands were folded under his neck and only then did she kneel over him.

She slid her left hand along the rounded railing and settled her knees on either side of Lex’s body. He was acting like last time, still, quiet, passive. Or as passive as he could look with an erection that still staggered her a little. Knowing it fit and believing it were two different things.

Her feeling of calmness was staying with her, though, and she only needed a moment to line up and take him inside. It was a strange thing to be separate and then joined, but she rode it out with the music and the lingering pleasure.

Chloe had always been a smart girl and a good negotiator of her circumstances. She had once wasted it on finding ways to hold out hope for Clark to come around, now she used it to find the good points of her heinous predicament. The major one happened to be the escalating sensation as Lex started to rise underneath her, the friction of cock to pussy in a purely physical unity that brought it all around to the point where she was closing her eyes and biting her lips in a surplus of whatever it was that made sex worthwhile.

She wasn’t quite good at being on top, Lex thought, but she had every sign of becoming so once she had some more experience. There were moments where she lost the rhythm and had to stop for a few seconds before she got it back, and other times when she accidentally worked against him as he tried to get them to the end. Once or twice he had to stop moving on a sound she made that was edged with pain. There were many signs that Chloe was a rank amateur but she was also enthusiastic and open about what worked for her.

He had spent years learning how to get his with any woman, even the boring, stupid and drugged ones who only knew how to lie down with their legs open. Chloe was much better than that, and he was close to an orgasm when she finally leaned over his chest and clamped down around him, her free hand gouging into his side as her strong little howl rang out. He pumped his entire lower body with his release and arched his back into it, lifting her off the bed.

They were both gasping when she opened her eyes and looked down to find her fingernails digging into Lex’s ribs. Chloe had to wince as she saw the half-moon shapes she had accidentally cut into him.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, and his eyes opened. She wondered how he could look both exhausted and sharper than ever when she just felt sweaty and sticky. She also wondered how he could be so nonchalant about sex when it was so disconcerting to her.

Lex shook his head at the apology and tried not to be touched by the sweetness of it. She was a lovely girl, one of the few he had met. Money tended to drain the decency out of people. She was looking at him and he glanced away, down their groins. Her knees shifted a bit as she straightened up, then blushed. Sweetness again, and an innocence that would probably last her entire life.

Taking a deep, uncertain breath, Chloe reaffirmed her grip on the headboard and levered herself off his body, expecting the same soreness. It wasn’t entirely absent but it was very mild. There wasn’t any kind of strain because her inner muscles were giving way and letting his penis out.

She looked at his face and found his eyes on hers, watching as she pulled away. They seemed to be a different colour whenever she found the courage to meet them and at that moment they looked almost warm. Finally free of his body, she rolled off to one side of the bed and sat huddled up with her arms and legs wrapped into her chest.

Chloe knew she must be losing her sanity if Lex Luthor was starting to seem warm. He was the last person she could imagine liking in any way. He wasn’t the enemy but he was the son of the enemy and enough like Lionel that she should feel soiled in his presence. Her bottom lip trembled as she put her head down on her arms and shook.

He sat up gradually, flexing his arms discreetly. They were cramped badly and his hands were numb.

The little blond was hunched up and silent, but Lex took it to mean she was feeling awkward. He was just congratulating himself on getting her safely through another night that shouldn’t have to happen when she lost her composure.

He couldn’t tell if she was crying but she was clearly upset. He stood up to give her space, threw out the condom and pulled on his pants. He waited for a sign that she was hurt or one that she was calming down. He shivered in reaction when goosebumps prickled along her arms and wondered if she would allow him to put a blanket on her.

Endless minutes later she slid to the edge of the bed, avoided him in every way possible and walked quickly into the bathroom. The door closed and he heard the lock turn before she started the shower.

At a loss for what to do next, Lex turned off the CD player and walked out of the room.

[teejei]

wow. 2 in one day.

my muse certainly got its Lex-fix for the day. :D

[tiger04]

:D 2, 2 wonderful updates in so close together. thank you thank you thank you!! hope the mood to write more hits you agian soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love all your stories nonky :)

AT

[Zannie]

Her body knew he had hurt her and it thought he should be making it up to her.
As well he should. And I do believe he's making a start.

I really like how Chloe is breaking through Lex's distance and defenses. At this point in the story, he has been touched by her sweetness, innocence, strength, courage, and beauty. I like his reluctance--actually resistance--about admitting it to himself; it seems to keep him in character with the alternate life experiences you've given him here. But he also seems almost baffled about what to do with this new kind of intimacy and responsibility, and I find his confusion--particularly at the end of this update when she's crying--rather endearing.


Chloe knew she must be losing her sanity if Lex Luthor was starting to seem warm. He was the last person she could imagine liking in any way. He wasn’t the enemy but he was the son of the enemy and enough like Lionel that she should feel soiled in his presence. Her bottom lip trembled as she put her head down on her arms and shook.
This is a flawless psychological reaction--perfectly in keeping with the likely emotional response of a woman in this situation, particularly a woman like Chloe. Just the fact that her reactions to him are making her cry at this point proves that Lex is starting to break through her barriers too. The detail of her not reacting negatively to his brushing his hand against her is another proof of it.

Oh, and I love that she apologized for gouging him with her nails, and I especially love that he was moved by her apology.

Great update. Thanks for making it so soon.

[Norah]

Wow! I just spent way too long reading this whole thing. It's really powerful and well written. I like how you've handled the hard subject matter, not making things better too quickly or easily. So often people try to deal with hard stuff and then make it all better too soon, just so they can get to the happy ending, without really dealing with the issues or making the characters change gradually the way real people do, so I'm glad to see how well you're handling this. I can't wait to read more.

[lexchloe]

Another excellent update. Loved the subtle hints of how they're both starting to affect eachother. I really love how realistically you're portraying the progression in their relationship. Can't wait for more.

[asharnanae]

gahhhhhh.... smutt, but do wrenching!!!! wonderfulll! :D

[Krysia]

I feel for both of them. Such horrible circumstances, and yet they are making the best of it. I like how you separate the outside from the inside, it seems like two different stories. Something is going on on the outside and they react to it and that is a story in itself and than you go deeper and we find out that ,that isn't all, the characters become even more 3 dimensional.

[hfce]

I feel bad for both of them. :(

[autumngold]

Lex is being such a good man, doing everything he can to make up for his earlier mistake and help Chloe!! I really hope that Chloe learns to like Lex as well!! The sooner the better!! Thanks for the excellent update!! I can't wait to read more of this wonderful story!!

[lilinny]

It's beautiful but so sad. I want some more...

[squash]

It's so disheartening to see Chloe in a position where she has no choice but to act in ways she doesn't want to. Your ability to make the reader feel for the characters is really great, because I feel just as bad for Lex too. Great story.

[star del mar]

I'm so glad you updated! It was another great chapter that just makes my heart bleed for Chloe because she is an such a weird place with everything that she is going through and enduring. So great update and great smut :) just sad though

Steph*

[June]

The body remembered, she had thought as she got ready. It remembered pain but it also remembered ecstasy. When she looked at Lex there was fear and anger, but there was also a dark thread of excitement. Her body knew he had hurt her and it thought he should be making it up to her.

Loved that paragraph, very fitting to her state of mind, and the inner battles she must be having with herself.

Wonderful stuff, more please and as quickly as possible.

[BellaMR]

Do we have to worry about a Chlex pregnancy? Lex seemed concerned.

I loved the update, even though it was heart breaking.

[ptite_mily]

I read this fic in one sitting and i am now...well, i can't find the words to describe my feelings.
This story really moved me, the firsts chapters totally turned my stomach upside down, i hurt so much for them,especially for Chole.
I don't know if i should congratulate you of be mad at you for moving me so much.
...Since i'd like an update i guess i should congratulate you!
Thanks a lot, it had been a long time since i was so touched by a story.
Update coming soon? Please...:-)