Unexpected Ally (complete) R

[Blaire023]

Title: Unexpected Ally
Author: Blaire
Archive: TBT, Malu's, wherever else you want to put
it.
Rating: PG13 (but this is me, we're talking about...)
Summary: On a weekend trip to Metropolis Chloe makes
a new friend. A very unexpected ally. Forces
combine, research ensues.
Disclaimer: Nooo, I don't own it, But thanks for asking ;)




Chapter 1: Mud bath:

"Shit! Watch where the hell you're going, asshole!"
Chloe screamed as the passing car sped off down the
road after spraying her with an arc of mud.

A white handkerchief appeared to her left and a smug
face followed. "It won't help much, but it's the
least I can do."

She glared at the man. Muttering a thank you as she
took the white cloth and wiped at her face she heard
his chuckle.

Turning her glare back on, he quietly shook his head.
"Miss Sullivan, I believe you may have made it worse."


Chloe shrugged. "It's what I get for standing too
close to the curb. I keep forgetting these things."

"Things?" Curiosity peeked his voice.

"Things. City things. In Smallville that would have
never happened. Stand too close to the curb, car
comes flying out of nowhere going way too fast and
sprays an unlucky girl with muddy water.---" She was
interupted by his voice.

"Instead in Smallville you have men made from muddy
water and standing too close to the curb may get you
sucked down a drain hole."

Chloe laughed. "Well, you sure know a lot about a
town you don't even live in."

"Miss Sullivan, surely you jest. I did exile my son
to Smallville, I had no choice but to research it
first." he smiled down at her and she felt her
insides tumble and turn. No butterflies, just sea
sick motions. Since when did the elder Luthor know
who she was?

"Mr Luthor---"

"Please call me Lionel."

"O-kay. Lionel. How do you know my name?" Chloe
tilted her head to the side. His eyes softened a hint
before coming back at her full force.

"You're Gabe's daughter, are you not? Add to that the
fact that my son speaks about you a considerable
amount of the time. Those two together would have me
recognize you in any crowd."

Okay Lex thought about her. 'Since when did Lex think
about me?' The confusion settled against her protests
and Lionel smirked. 'Now I know where he gets it
from.' She exclaimed inside her head as the
revelation hit.

She walked down the sidewalk with Luthor in tow.
"Miss Sullivan, may I ask where you are headed?"

"Chloe, please. And actually, I'm trying to find my
hotel so I can go change. However, I seem to have
lost my way." She looked up at the building looming
in front of her. She had forgotten where she was
going as soon as Lionel had approached her and just
turned when she had felt like it. Within seconds a
limo pulled up beside them and the window rolled down.


"Dad, you ready---" The younger Luthor's eyes roamed
well over her body and up to meet her own sparkling
orbs filled with a challenge to even comment on her
appearance. It was bad enough Lionel had witnessed
the muddy encounter, but Lex seeing it dried and caked
on to her faded jeans and red tank top just topped the
cake.

"Add a cherry why don't you." She muttered and Lex
eyed her suspiciously.

"Care to elaborate?" He replied, leaning a bit
further out of the window.

"Actually, no I wouldn't." She smiled smugly at him
and thanked Lionel for the handkercheif. She shook
his hand gracefully and they said their goodbye's.
She wasn't even going to give Lex the time of day. He
was a pompous jerk. For whatever reason, she wasn't
quite sure of yet. But she knew if she stuck around
to listen to the dry, judoistic comments on her mud
splattered outfit she'd tear him a new asshole.

The limo crept along beside her. "Chloe, get in,
we'll drive you."

She kept walking ahead, chin held high, pretended it
was the wind. Only the winds voice had definitely
switched to an older wiser one.

"Chloe, may we escort you back to your hotel? It
would be our honor."

She turned to look at Lionel and the way his eyes
danced. He had just gotten a woman's attention his
son couldn't get. He looked as if he just poured a
whole box of cereal out to get the prize at the bottom
of the bag. His eyes pleaded with her and she heard
Lex sigh as Lionel opened the door and stepped out
ushering her inside. She sat beside Lex, keeping her
distance as to not get his way too expensive suit
dirty.

"I don't bite." Lex commented as Lionel got in and
she scooted a little closer to the elder Luthor.

"Well, I do." She replied and grinned up at Lionel
who had softly chuckled at her response.

'1 to zero' Lionel mentally tallied the score.

"I'm staying at the Plaza." She said as she
remembered what she was doing sandwiched between two
of the most wealthy individuals this side of the
equator.

The driver nodded and the window whirred back into
place. After a series of turns and a quite
comfortable silence on her part. Lex was making calls
left and right and Lionel watched his son at work,
eavesdropping on the one side of the conversation he
could hear as Lex spoke cryptically and smirked when
he hung up the phone.

The limo pulled up in front of a neon sign flashing.
"Great place." Lex smirked.

"It's all I could afford, okay?" Chloe snapped back
sharply. Lionel got out of the limo holding his hand
out for hers.

She placed her tiny hand in his rather large one,
showing the domineering nonverbal side of him and he
kissed her hand and bowed. "I'll hope to be seeing
you in Smallville, Miss Sullivan."

"it's Chloe." She half bowed back to him. "And yeah,
if you're ever in the neighborhood and get sick of
your current company, stop by and make yourself
known."

Lionel smirked shortly. "Maybe I will, Chloe." Chloe
shifted her bag on her shoulder and heard Lex's
departing words.

"Bye, Chloe."

Her head whipped around and she glared at him, "That's
Miss Sullivan to you."

Lex nodded. "Miss Sullivan."

She turned and stalked off towards the entrance. 'Did
I just make friends with Lionel Luthor?'


TBC...

[Blaire023]

Chapter 2: We meet again.

"Torch." Chloe said with a mouthful into the phone. She sat on the
floor beside her desk that Clark was working peacefully at. Her
laptop perched upon her legs spread out in front of her. "Torch..."
She said again after she swallowed her starburst. Clark let her have
the pink one.

"Miss Sullivan?" A heavy thick accented voice came from the other
end.

"Yes...may I ask who this is?" Clark lifted a brow and his interest
was now placed on her.

"Mr. Luthor would like to extend an invitation for dinner tonight at
the Luthor Estate."

Chloe snorted. "Well then why couldn't he call me himself?" Her
voice had taken on a sing song tone.

"Mr. Luthor's detained at the moment. He requested you be informed
seeing as his meeting's taking longer than expected."

Chloe looked up at Clark and frowned. "What?" He asked with wonder
in his voice.

"Lex wants to have dinner with me." She put her hand over the voice
peice.

"Ma'am, The elder Luthor requests your company."

Chloe nodded silently. "Oh, well, then, sure, why not." Sarcasm
dripping from her statement. "I mean, hell, if Lionel wants to dine
with me, what's stopping me from making him happy."

Clark's head snapped in her direction at her statement. "Lionel?"
he mouthed the name. Chloe ignored him.

"So do you accept?"

Chloe sighed hard. She rolled her head on her neck stretching out
the sore muscles from her position on the floor. "I suppose. What
time is he expecting me?" Clark's mouth turned into a wide
surprised 'O' and she nodded into the phone.

"7 it is." Chloe replied and hung up.

"You, Reporter Extraordinaire, are going to dinner with Lionel
Luthor." Clark leaned back in his chair and folded his hands behind
his head. "I wonder what he wants."

"Excellent question."

Chloe's eyes glared in the direction of the door. "Why would he want
something from me?" She shrugged and continued typing. Her eyes
flitted back to Clark and her fingers stilled. "Oh, my god, maybe he
wants my body." She let her eyes go wide and Clark shook his head
lightly before she sighed. Her shoulders fell back against the side
of the desk. "Relax, it's just dinner."

Lex leaned in the doorway. "Yes, dinner, dinner with the big bad
wolf."

Chloe sneered. "Funny. First of all, my grandmother's dead.
Secondly, I won't wear red tonight, and last but not least, I refuse
to bring your father a basket of goodies." She lifted her arms above
her head stretching. "Can I have my chair back now?" She elbowed
Clark's leg.

"Yea, I have to get home, chores you know." Chloe arched a brow as
did Lex.

"Sure, chores, intriguing really." Lex smirked at Chloe's comment
and watched closely as she stretched again and pulled her legs up
under her, standing and then plopping down into her lush desk
chair. "See you tomorrow." She twiddled her fingers in Clark's
direction. He had just stepped out in the hallway when he heard her
comment. "Aren't you forgetting something? Or should I say
someone?" She motioned over to the door where Lex stood casually.

Lex nodded. "Go on, Clark. I think I'd like to speak to Miss
Sullivan in private." Clark nodded.

Chloe's attention had perked at Lex's tone of voice but she smiled
anyways. "I wasn't talking about you." She stood and walked over to
him, he could have sworn she was swaying her hips back and forth on
purpose. She stopped in front of him and reached behind the
door. "I was referring to this." She pulled a human sized cardboard
cutout of Hugh Jackman as the Wolverine and handed it over to
Clark. "Take good care of him for me." She lovingly pet the smooth
cardboard. "You know how much he means to me, Clark." Clark rolled
his eyes and sighed.

"Yes, Chloe, I'll take good care of your obsession." Chloe smiled.

"Thanks. I owe you." She smiled brightly and stepped back towards
her desk. Lex's smirk turned into a grin.

"Should I even ask about that?" He motioned to the hallway where
Clark had disappeared to with an Xmen cutout.

"Probably not, your ego might get a little bruised." She paused and
turned to him. "So why are you here?" Bitterness evident in her
voice. This was really starting to piss off Lex. She had no reason
to be mad at him. As far as he was concerned she was a friend of
Clark's and he was a friend of his. Besides the playful banter that
consumed a considerable amount of time they spent together, which was
rare to begin with, he saw no reason for her being so mean spirited
towards him.

"Why the sudden hostility?" Lex left the doorway to take a seat near
her desk. "Feel free to tell me what I did to you."

She looked over at him and couldn't help but sigh. "Look, Lex. I
can call you Lex right?" he nodded and was silent. "Well, Lex.
It's actually hard to explain, but I'm pretty sure if you thought
about it, you'd figure it out."

Lex cocked an eyebrow at her. 'This little blonde spitfire
definitely has some nerve.' His mind refocused on the conversation
he overheard when he first walked in. "Are you attending dinner with
my father tonight?"

Chloe nodded. "Shit. Which reminds me." She picked up the phone
and left a message on her home answering machine leaving the message
that she was joining Lionel for dinner.

As she hung up she noticed Lex's smirk had vanished. "Somehow I
don't think your father will be understanding about your situation."

"Somehow I don't think he'll care, seeing as how you sent him to
Gotham for the next week." She narrowed his eyes at him and it
suddenly dawned.

"Is that why you were in Metropolis alone last weekend." It was more
of a sudden understanding than a question.

She turned back to her work. "That's none of your business." Lex
stood and didn't wait for her to speak.

"Well, I'll see you tonight at dinner. 7, right?" And with that he
walked out of the Torch. Chloe sighed and leaned her head against
the cool monitor in front of her. She cursed herself for letting him
get the better of her.

*~*

She was immediately seated at the table when she arrived at the
mansion. Along with being informed that both Luthor's would join her
momentarily, her first glass of wine dissappeared quickly. Something
about tonight, just wasn't right. She told Lana where she was going
to be and decided that although it was rude, she'd leave her cell
phone on during dinner. She was definitely suspicious as to why
Lionel would invite her to have dinner with him, not sure if Lex was
in the original plan, but she also wasn't sure if she'd feel better
knowing he was there, or not. All she knew was that she just turned
17 on Saturday, her father, despite his protests of going to Gotham,
Lex had insisted he go anyway. And now, he was going to pay the
price for taking her only family away from her on the one birthday
that screamed, 'hey, I'm legal!' Well, legal for clubbing in
Metropolis and legal for having sex. But, well, sex wasn't really on
her mind, and clubbing, it has sounded good until she went to one
over the weekend and quickly changed her mind when all the men there,
were only interested in it.

She sipped slowly on her second glass of wine and stared into the
flame of the candle. Past the yellows and oranges and straight into
the blues and purples of the tiny flame. She was brought out of her
haze with a clearing of a voice.

"Eh-hem." Lex stood beside her and Lionel was just entering the room.

"Miss Sullivan," Lionel started.

"Chloe, please." Chloe stood up from her seat, showing the elder
Luthor the respect he probably required in his son's mansion.

"Chloe, then." He shook her hand lightly and waited for her to sit
before he and Lex both lowered themselves into their respective seats.

"Lionel." She nodded her head with a grin at the older man. He
grinned politely back at her and she couldn't help but notice, that
it was, kinda a little, in a very weird and creepy way, sexy. 'NO!'
Chloe berated herself. 'Lionel Luthor is not sexy!' She nibbled on
a breadstick. A voice in her head decided that debating the issue at
hand was a fun thing to keep occupied. 'This is the man that spawned
the hot peice of ass sitting to your right. He has to be sexy in
order to have reproduced that.' "Shit." Chloe mumbled and shook her
head trying to get the voice to stop commenting on the Luthor men.

"Dad, Lex." A light haired man walked into the room and sat down
across from Chloe. She arched an eyebrow and eyed him suspiciously.
She suddenly turned around and looked at the doorway from which he'd
just walked through.

"Is there some type of cloning experiment going on in the woodwork?"
She narrowed her eyes at the handsome man across from her. Lex spoke
up first.

"Chloe Sullivan, this is my younger brother, Lucas Luthor." Chloe
reached her hand across the table and he just looked at it. She
slowly withdrew it back.

"Well, I can see you still need to work on distilling manners in his
geno code." Chloe commented towards Lionel who laughed. She smiled
over at the elder and Lex's eyes rolled heavenwards.

"So are you Lex's new peice of meat?" The youngest replied.

Chloe smiled gingerly at him. "Not even in his wildest dreams." She
retorted earning a chuckle from Lucas. His smile widened and he
leaned across the table extending his hand. Chloe eyed it warily
before placing hers in his. He raised it to his lips and planted a
delicious, yet soft, kiss on her knuckle. She shivered and Lex
cocked an eyebrow over at Lucas.

The chef picked that exact minute to bring out the meal. She looked
around the table. At the head of the table, to her left, was
Lionel. To Lionel's left and seated across from her was Lucas. To
her right sat Lex. And as she peered down at the other twenty some
odd chairs adorning the table she decided tonight, definitely was
going to be interesting. A new Luthor, her age, with hair, an older
Luthor, a few years older than her, so fucking sexy she barely knew
what to do with herself, and the oldest Luthor, old enough to be her
father, much sexier than her own father, of course. 'Jeesh, Chloe.
So many Luthors, so little time.' A voice in her head popped up and
she grinned as she took a bite of her salad. 'Indeed, so little
time.'

TBC

[Blaire023]

Chapter 3: Hell NO!

Lionel led her from the dining room into a den, the
fireplace was lightly glowing and he motioned for her
to take a seat across from him. "I'd like to ask you
a question, Miss Sullivan."

Chloe stopped at the back of the leather chair, her
eyes raked over the overwhelming sight that was Lionel
Luthor, relaxed. She made her way to the chair and
sat down on it careful not to slouch. "Shoot." She
leaned forward putting her head in the palms of her
hands.

"Are you a romantic?"

Chloe perked up right away. 'What the hell?' Her
mind raced a million miles a minute. "Excuse me?"
She replied hoarsely. "Am I a what?"

"A romantic."

Chloe looked at his eyes, they showed no strain of
amusement. "I suppose so. I mean, what teenage girl
isn't?"

Lionel seemed to be in thought of her answer and then
nodded lightly. "I have a proposition for you." His
hands clasped together on his lap and a smug lift of
the corners of his mouth made her throat go dry.
'Shit, what have I gotten myself in to?'

"And what would that be Mr Luthor?" She leaned back
in her chair trying to get comfortable under his
leering eyes.

"First I need your word that whatever I say to you,
between now and my death will not leave your lips."

Chloe's eyes widened momentarily. "Your death?" She
chuckled lightly. "So I take it the Luthor legacy
precedes you."

He shook his head. "I don't plan on passing away
anytime soon, but in the meantime, I have to have your
word. Even if you should decline your assistance in
this task, I need to know it won't 'get out.'"

Chloe tried to lean back even further but she
couldn't. "Okay. You have my word."

Lionel smiled, a little wicked but otherwise somewhat
nice. "Good." He paused and she thought he was going
to actually show the excitement he kept so well
hidden. He was obviously pleased. "I'll explain
myself first, and then I will go into details." He
looked up at her face and she nodded in agreement.

"I plan on retiring within the next year." She hid a
well deserved gasp. "You see, Alexander and Lucas are
both businessmen. I feel as though it's my time to
take a well deserved vacation." She nodded and tilted
her head to the side just an bit. 'Why is he telling
me this? Does he not know I could just as easily let
it leak?' "However, there are still a few glitches in
my plan. Which is where you come in."

Chloe thought about the information he was feeding
her, and that he had asked if she were a romantic.
What the hell did one have to do with another?

"You see, Lex, being the oldest, should be the first
to settle down. However, he doesn't seem to be
appreciative of the opposite sex."

"Well, no shit." Chloe muttered and earned an amused
look from the elder. "Sorry."

"No need to apologize. Would you care to explain your
comment?"

She sighed and leaned forward again, her elbows rest
on her knees and her hands clasped together. "First
of all, I've never seen Lex in a serious relationship.
He considers it part of a business deal, right?"
Lionel seemed thoughtful then silently agreed.
"Secondly, from the women who do pose an interest in
him, it's not for the man beneath the armani, it's for
the money and the social status." Chloe grinned at
Lionel. "Which tells you that he knows this, as well
as everyone else, and doesn't seem to mind. It's
almost as if he's immune to falling in love, or
whatever those little butterfly things are in your
stomach."

"Are you implying he's been molded into such a being?"

Chloe looked at Lionel, then to the fire, then back to
him again. "I don't know your family, and I certainly
don't know Lex. But I'd say it was something in his
past that made him emotionally close down."

Lionel nodded and sighed, a very unexpected mannerism
coming from Mr. Composure. "I suppose you're right.
I've noticed it lately, and that's why I've enlisted
you."

"For what, though?" Chloe replied with a hint of
confusion.

"I'd like you to show Lex how to be romantic."

Chloe's eyes widened and she felt the pit of her
stomach trying with all it's might not to send back up
the food she had earlier consumed. "Hell. No." With
those two words she stood. "It's been great, Lionel,
really, but me teach Lex how to be romantic. No way
in hell."

She stuck out her hand to shake but he didn't even
look her way. "Please sit."

She cringed at his stern tone of voice. 'One pissed
off Luthor and two to go.'

She sat quietly in her seat, crossing her legs.

"In order for me to assure my retirement next year, I
need Lex to be settled down. He had quite a
rambunctious youth, and I thought sending him here,
would lessen the risk of his destructiveness. But it
hasn't. Instead he's locked himself away from people.
He has approximately two friends here. Clark and
you. He needs to get out more, meet people, live a
life other than work."

Chloe almost interjected at him called her a friend.
But then two days ago Lionel had told her that Lex
spoke of her. 'How often.' She wondered. "So, Miss
Sullivan, will you accept my proposal?"

Chloe sighed and looked at her surroundings. She was
ultimately being asked to teach a man, 5 years her
senior, how to have fun again and open his heart to
people. One question remained.

"Why me?"

*~*

Chloe sat in the Talon. She dumped spoonful after
spoonful of sugar into her coffee. Stirring
occasionally. The 'task' as Lionel called it was
really starting to sound like a painfully crazy plan.
She was supposed to do all of this under Lex's nose,
without him realizing she was intentionally taking him
for a ride. How was she supposed to get Lex to have
fun without being painstakingly obvious. Then it hit
her. Metropolis. She could go to Metropolis this
weekend and ask him to show her around the city. She
hadn't been there in so long and her last visit, just
a few days ago had been horrible.

"No too risky." She muttered. She had to come up
with a plan.

TBC

[Blaire023]

Chapter 4: Getting on the good side...

Chloe strolled into the mansion past the butler. She stopped at the
stairs and turned back to look at Donovan. "he's in his study." She
smiled and thanked him, heading up the stairs. Just yesterday she had
been asked to teach Lex, by whatever means necessary how to be a
romantic. Her stomach curdled at the thought of trying to get onto
Lex's good side without him getting curious. 'Does Lex Luthor even
have a good side?' She passed by his office and her eyes passed
through the room, he bent over near the pool table taking a shot at
the balls. Chloe groaned and realized Lex Luthor definitely had a
good side....his back one. She stopped midstep watching him aim and
fire. The balls knocked around and she heard a few drop. She clapped
and stepped into the room.

"Nice." She said as she smiled at him. 'Fake it, Chlo.' her mind
said but she really just wanted to take him right here.

"You play pool?"

Chloe grinned. "Rack em."

She watched Lex dig through the pockets, placing the balls in the
lovely little triangle. She picked up her cue stick and leaned on the
table, her short legs and the full table not agreeing. She placed the
white ball in front of her and Lex removed the plastic interferer.
Her eyes remained focussed and she let one long shuddering breath out.
His smirk was consuming her from the other end. "Stand back." She
commented, "don't want a stray ball to take out the infamous Luthor
heir." And as soon as he laughed lightly and stepped back she took
her shot sending every single ball except two, explosively into the
pockets.

She smiled, so proud of herself and looked up at Lex. His face
shocked beyond recognition. She tilted her head to the side and aimed
for the 8 ball, driving it from one edge of the table to another and
finally into a corner pocket. She laid the cue stick down on the
table and gave a little happy jump. "I win!" She exclaimed and
looked up at Lex's eyes playfully roaming over her.

"Where the hell did you learn to do that." he stated calmly and she
moved over to him.

"Tell me you want me to teach you." She stood on her toes and
whispered into his ear. His eyes still fixated on the table and his
body not budging, almost as if he were replaying the shot in his head.

He smirked and looked down at her. "Teach me."

She grabbed his arm and hauled him over to the table. "Okay this is
like the easiest shot in the world." He picked the cue stick up off
the table and she racked the balls. She rolled them in a circular
motion leaning over the table, once again cursing her legs and rolled
the gleaming white ball over to him. He placed it in front of the
triangle.

"No." Chloe said shaking her head. She removed the plastic triangle
and came around the table to stand beside him. "You're left handed,
you don't want to hit it dead on." She nudged him with her hips a
little off to the side. "Perfect." She grinned at him and his eyes
sparkled down at her. "Now, See the green solid?"

Lex grinned at her calling it by color and not by number. "Yes, I see
the *green* solid."

She rolled her eyes catching his drift. "Look, I'm not a pro, I just
know how to hustle when I need to." She bumped him with her hip again
and grinned. "Now, aim to make the *green* solid go into the right
pocket.

Lex took his stance and aimed, pulled back, and let go. All the balls
including the 8 went in and the white one stood perfectly still where
it had hit up against the clan of balls. He looked at the table
amazed by what he'd just done. "Wow." He muttered.

She smiled at him and turned her back walking to the door. "Nice."
She said and turned around once more, walking out the door in search
of Lionel.

*~*

"Ahh, Chloe, how are you doing this evening."

Chloe grinned and sat down before Lionel turned. She wasn't surprised
he knew she was there.

"I've got a plan." Her wide smiled settling on her features. Lionel
swiveled around to face her.

"Game of Billiards perhaps?"

She bit her bottom lip. "I want to make him an offer." Lionel nodded.

"Go on."

She stood up and stuck her hands deep in her pockets. "Okay this is
really embarrassing, but...umm..."

"Excuse me?" Lionel leaned closer to her pacing figure in front of
his desk. "Repeat that."

"I can't swim." She stated a little louder than before and jumped at
the sound of her voice. "I mean, I can doggie paddle, but I can't
actually swim."

Lionel smiled. It sent an icy patch of something through her veins
but settled nicely in her chest. "So he teaches you the breast stroke
and you teach him how to strategically hustle with balls and a stick."
Chloe snickered.

"Okay, you dirty, dirty man." She placed her hands on her hips and
Lionel let out a low rumble of laughter at the playful gleam in her eyes.

"Am I interrupting something?" Chloe's eyes shot to the door where
Lex leaned against the frame. "Or do I have an open invitation to any
room in my house."

Chloe's face remained calm. 'Oh, he definitely heard my comment to
his dad.' She felt a flush rise and forced it down quickly. "Hey, I
have no problem with you eavesdropping." She let one corner of her
mouth turn up. "I mean, afterall, it's in the Luthor blood right?"
She looked back at Lionel for his earlier comment of Billiards.

Lionel looked completely evil. His grin turned wicked at the corners
of her mouth and Lex sat down onto a nearby couch. She turned and
walked to the couch. "lex?" She sat down on the coffee table across
from him. "I havea favor to ask."

His eyes swam with disbelief. If he had heard her correctly she had
made an indescribable sexual laden innuendo towards his father, and
now she wanted something from him. True he had no idea what was going
on between the Highschool reporter and his father, but the fact that
this was her second day to the mansion in a row was a little, okay a
lot unsettling in his mind's eye. "And what would that be?"

She leaned forward, her elbows on her knees. "I'd like you to teach
me how to swim."

Lex cocked his head to the side. "Excuse me?"

She breathed in deeply and sighed. "I came here to ask your father if
he minded me using the pool. I know it's your place but truthfully, I
was kinda embarrassed by the fact that I'm 17 and only know how to
doggie paddle. I wanted to try by myself but then I realized that it
would be incredibly stupid of me to drown myself in your pool causing
such bad publicity, so...I need someone to teach me." She took in a
deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Please."

TBC

[Blaire023]

Chapter 5:


Chloe stood at the edge of the pool watching the
figure glide easily under water. 'What have I gotten
myself into?' She thought. Lex surfaced and wiped
away the water dripping over his face with a hand. He
stood up in the 3 foot end and Chloe couldn't help but
stare at him. He was elegant. The sex appeal that
radiated off of him, even if you didn't like him,
seemed to be multiplied by having a half naked Lex in
front of you. 'And I thought he looked hot in those
suits.'

"Chloe?" Lex ducked his head to look at her. She
caught his eyes and cleared her throat.

"Sorry."

"It's quite alright. The changing rooms are that
way," He pointed to a single door, "Shower before you
get in, please."

Chloe arched an eyebrow. "Why?" She asked timidly.

Lex had sank back into the water up to his neck.
"Less of a shock when you get in the actual pool."
Chloe nodded and turned away from him, heading in the
direction of the door. "Oh, and Chloe."

She turned back around. "Huh?"

"Do something with your hair."

She seethed and realized he was right, she should have
pulled her hair up before leaving the house, she
hadn't really thought about it.

*~*

She quickly changed and stepped into the stall letting
the warm water flow over her exposed flesh. She
stepped out and draped a towel over her arm, she
paused in front of the mirror and couldn't help but
smile. She had picked the least skimpiest of her
suits, and if she told Lex that, he'd probably have a
heart attack imagining what she could possibly own and
go out in public in that was skimpier than this. Her
blue triangle string bikini. Covered her breasts
perfectly last year when she'd bought it but she had
gained a little weight over the last year, not that it
was a bad thing. She liked the way she looked, she
wasn't skin and bones like Lana, hard edges and no
flesh.

She also wasn't all muscle, all fat, or all of
anything. She was toned where she wanted to be toned,
and her ass looked great. She turned and looked at it
in the mirror thanking the hell out of Jane Austin and
Tony Little. Buns of Steel she wasn't but Buns of
Perfection she was.

*~*

She walked back to the edge of the pool and stared
down at Lex's swimming figure once again. He was
doing the breast stroke and she threw her towel over
to a waiting lounge chair. After watching him do a
few more laps she shifted from one leg to another, his
muscles moved languidly through the water, precise and
cutting in all the right places. Chloe felt a flush
rise to her features as she thought about how those
muscles would move on top of her 'MIND OUT OF GUTTER
SULLIVAN!' A strong voice, sounding much like her own
commented to her.

She watched as Lex finally stopped swimming and faced
the opposite direction as her. "Over here, merman."
She replied. He whipped his body around and for a
split second she wanted to laugh hysterically at the
fact that his jaw dropped. She had actually made Lex
Luthor's jaw drop. 'Point for me.' She cheered
inwardly. "Okay, stop gawking and let's get this show
on the road."

Lex nodded and swam over to her. His eyes praised her
body and she felt a sudden shudder run through her
veins, uturn at her toes and head straight back for
all her pleasure points. He held a hand out for her
and she took it, walking carefully down the steps.
"Tell me why you're afraid of the water."

She cringed. "I'm not afraid, per se, I just don't
know how to swim."

He nodded and ducked under the water. He resurfaced
behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist,
pulling her under. She kicked at him, her arms held
tightly by her sides and she held her breath for her
life. The next thing she knew she was back above the
water sputtering and trying to breath. When she
caught her wind she spun and stared into a very
playful Lex's eyes. Tears caught in her own and the
sob she had tried to choke back dared to escape. She
turned and headed for the stairs, the hot tears
running down her face. She wrapped the towel around
her and sat down on the lounge chair, forgetting about
Lex, forgetting about everything, except for the
water.

The water closing in on her from all sides, couldn't
see, couldn't breath. She shuddered and felt the hot
liquid pouring down her face, she stared ahead of her,
everything blurred and rubbed into one. Her knees
pulled tightly up to her chest. She sat completely
stiff and then she heard her name, and seconds after
felt strong cold arms wrap around her.

"I'm so sorry." Words whispered into her ear. She
closed her eyes, blinking away the tears and when she
opened them again, stared back into a beautiful pair
of blue eyes. His forehead rested against hers.
"Chloe, I'm sorry."

She looked at him, his eyes, past them to his soul,
deeper into him, through everything, and he dared not
blink. Neither did she. He held onto her tight,
swaying back and forth a little. Knowing he should be
uncomfortable by her stare, by her red rimmed emeralds
unblinking and staring straight into his own orbs.
But he felt different. Like she really saw him
although she wasn't even trying.

"It's fine." She choked out and put her head down on
her knees. "I...this was just a really bad idea."
She moved to get up and he pulled her back down.

"Chloe, no, I'll teach you how to swim, it was stupid
of me to act so immature."

She simply nodded in agreement at his words and he let
out a low laugh. "Could you ever forgive me?"

She looked back to his eyes and saw that he meant it.
"No more dunking."

Lex nodded once. "Deal."

"No teasing."

"Deal."

She shook her head lightly and closed her eyes. 'Kiss
me.' She thought and when she opened her eyes she
found an amused pair staring back at her. 'Shit, did
I say that out loud?'

"So you accept my apology?" He smirked at her. She
inwardly sighed a strong breath of relief. 'Thank
god, that wasn't out loud.'

"Yes, I do. But I think I'm done for the day, if you
don't mind."

Lex shook his head casually. "Fine with me, but
tomorrow, we do this whole set up again."

Chloe nodded.

"And try to wear something less..."

"Skimpy."

Lex narrowed his eyes for a thoughtful moment.
"Arousing." He finished and stood up to flag down a
butler to have lunch prepared.

Chloe's eyebrows rose. "Why am I here again?" She
silently asked herself. "Oh, yeah, to help him be
romantic." She frowned. "Well, dear ole daddy didn't
specify whether it was a hands on assignment." She
grinned and went into the changing rooms to get her
clothes back on. She stepped into the shower and
peeled off her bikini, lathering her now naked self
with a small bar of soap.

"Eh hem." A voice sounded from outside the tiny
curtain.

"Yes." She said in a tired voice.

"Want some company?"

She grinned and rolled her eyes. "Nice try, but no."

Lex flung a towel over the shower rod. "For you."

"Thanks."

She pulled part of the curtain back and stuck her head
out. "You wouldn't happen to have any
shamp...nevermind."

"Ouch." She heard him mutter and jumped when his hand
brushed against her back holding a bottle out to her.


"Jesus, Lex. Warn me next time." She pried the
bottle out of his hand and maintained no bodily
contact with him.

"Next time." He said softly and she heard him walking
out of the changing room.

"Lex!" She shreiked with laughter as she inspected
the bottle. She tossed the towel around her naked
form and pulled back the curtain. She threw the
bottle at him as he entered the changing room once
again. She sat down on a bench and clutched the towel
around her laughing hard. "Rogaine Lex?"

Lex smiled. "A man can dream can't he?"

She looked up trying to be serious. "You are too sexy
for your hair, Lex. Don't try to change it now."

He grinned at her and sat down beside her on the
bench. His hand rested on her exposed leg. "So
you're better?"

She bit her lower lip, all laughing stopped
immediately. "Yeah, I'm good." She stood up quickly
and moved to her clothes.

"Good then I'll see you for lunch." He walked out of
the rooms again and she sighed heavily.

"Oh...my...god." She whispered at her shocked
reflection. "Oh, god."

TBC....

[Blaire023]

OUCH <Jumps as sabby&#39;s whip snaps lightly across her rear>

Chapter 6:

A tiny red light caught the corner of her eye as she inspected herself
in the mirror. She was a little flushed from the skin to skin contact
that had just taken place. She felt the imprint of his hand on her
leg and shivered. The camera followed her from the mirror to the
bench. "God. Dammit." She hugged the towel tightly around her and
called for Lex.

"What?" He barged in. She sounded panicked and the last thing he
needed was for her to freak out half naked in the changing rooms.

"That." She pointed an accusing finger at the video camera. Lex
sighed and ran a hand over his head. He grabbed a washcloth from a
cupboard beneath it and reached up successfully blocking the camera
lense.

"I&#39;m sorry, Chloe. I must have forgotten to have them turned off."
Lex looked over at her and saw her face go red. More than a blush
though, almost as if. His thoughts trailed off as she yelled.

"LIONEL&#33;" She stomped out of the changing room and out of the pool
room. Her towel was secure in place and her clothes were tightly
hugged to her chest.

"Miss Sullivan." Lionel appeared at the top of the stairs.


"You bastard." She replied through gritted teeth. Lex&#39;s eyes widened
as he caught up to her and heard what she called him.

"Chloe, that&#39;s enough." he reached for her arm and she snapped over
at him.

"Do not touch me." He backed away standing straight.

"You&#33;" She pointed at Lionel. "We need to talk." She marched up the
stairs and disappeared down a hallway with the elder Luthor. Lex
watched her as she walked away.

He had no control over her and his father, he knew that. He didn&#39;t
know what was going on between them, and although he was curious, he
hoped like hell it went nothing past physical. Lionel wasn&#39;t the type
of man to bed a teenager, but Chloe had more than her age working in
her favor. She was spunky and outspoken, creative and a damn fine
hustler. Lex enjoyed spending time with her, even when they were
sitting innocently at the Talon.

But now, after seeing her in that damn two peice he was having second
thoughts on not only her motives for the swim lessons, but how she
would react if he made a move on her. When he saw something he liked,
he went after it. It was part game, part thrill. But with Chloe, it
was all emotions. She was easier to read than a book, and she somehow
read him also, no matter how he shut himself down, she could still
read him by simply looking in his eyes.

He recalled yesterday when she made the million dollar shot, then
taught him how to do it. The way she whispered into his ear. His
skin had tingled with a sensation that could only lead to arousal.
What was worse for him, was that knowing her age, and her friends, and
no doubt what the town and everyone else would say, he still wanted to
act on these feelings. He didn&#39;t care about anyone but him when it
came to Chloe. It should feel selfish but instead, she had possession
over the one forbidden thing he could never claim as his own. Her
feelings for him couldn&#39;t be any more than a platonic based existence.
He knew that.

He straightened hisself as he heard her coming back into the pool
room.

"Sorry." She apologized. Lex didn&#39;t comment on the fact that she was
now dressed and her body had a faint blush to it. If he hadn&#39;t known
any better, which he didn&#39;t, he&#39;d say she had just gotten done
*handling* his father. Lex pushed those thoughts aside. If she were
in fact with his father in that way, it was none of his business.
However, it could be fun to cause a little mischief and see just how
exactly she felt about the Luthor men.

Chloe sat down beside him and folded her hands in her lap.

"I take it your &#39;meeting&#39; went well." Lex said as he slid a plate
with a sandwich on it over to her.

"Quite actually." She nibbled at the crust and then raised her eyes
to meet Lex&#39;s. "You think your father and I are together, don&#39;t you."
She stated, a small smile appeared on her face. Lionel had informed
her that he suspected Lex was wandering about it as they spoke in his
office.

"It&#39;s none of my business. But I should warn you, us Luthor&#39;s are
nothing but trouble." Lex smirked at the way her eyes danced in
consideration.

"I wouldn&#39;t say all Luthor&#39;s are." She had a far away look in her
eyes that Lex misinterpretted as her thinking about his father. Just
then a voice cleared from the hall. "Of course, the jury&#39;s still
out." She smiled and turned to see Lucas.

"Chloe, how are you today?" Lucas walked into the room and sneered at
Lex before taking her hand and pressing his lips to it. She brought
it down and wiped the back of her hand on her jeans without thinking.
Lex stifled a laugh as his brother&#39;s face fell.

&#39;Interesting.&#39; Lucas thought. &#39;Here I thought all the Luthor men had
free range with this quirky little blonde.&#39;

Chloe looked up at him. Lucas shifted and clenched his jaw realizing
he must have said that out loud. "Excuse me?" She said with a tinge
of disdain in her voice. "Is that what you thought?" She stood up and
grabbed her glass of lemonade. "Is that what you thought too?" She
looked over at Lex.

"Absolutely not, Chloe." Lex replied sincerely. He had only figured
his father had free range with her. He winced at the mental image it
produced and closed his eyes.

"And you..." She turned to face a smirking Lucas. "You figure
because I spend time with Lionel that you and Lex can just toss me
back and forth also. Well I&#39;m so sorry to disappoint you." She
raised the glass and in one swift motion Lucas was drenched in
Lemonade. She walked over to the doorway and looked back at a shocked
Lucas and an amused Lex. Lex sat completely still in his chair, he
smiled up at her.

"Same time tomorrow?" He questioned with guile.

She nodded and grinned, Lucas looked like a wet dog. She walked out
of the pool room nonchalantly. She could have sworn she heard a few
curse words follow her out, but she mentally barracaded them out.

Meanwhile, Lionel sat in his study watching the scene unfold before
his eyes. He watched as Lex laughed at Lucas drying himself off. "I
knew I liked her for a reason." He muttered with a wicked grin. He
had also noticed that she hadn&#39;t said that she wasn&#39;t seeing him. He
had no problem with his sons vying over Miss Sullivan&#39;s attention, as
long as she kept up her end of the bargain.

Chloe thought of her conversation with Lionel. He had informed her
that in fact she was being watched but only to be kept in the loop of
how her progress with Lex was going. It didn&#39;t bother her that there
were camera&#39;s around. She was just pissed that nobody bothered to
tell her. What if she had just let her towel drop in that changing
room. A very dirty old man would have gotten an eyeful. She grinned
at that thought. She liked Lionel. He possessed this evil way that
was somehow counteracted with his patience for his sons. She had to
admit, he was damn sexy when he wanted to be, but Lex was just yummy.
His smile, smirk, grin, everything about his mouth just pleaded with
her to touch it. And she probably would have. Why hadn&#39;t she just
told him to join her for the shower? &#39;Right, because I have a job.&#39;

TBC

[Blaire023]

A/N: Rating has raised a little bit.

Chapter 7:

Chloe sat on the side of the pool, her legs swaying back and forth in
the shallow end of the water. She had on a red orange bikini, much
like the last one only the top was a bit smaller and the bottoms hung
lower on her hips. The strings that tied the sides together had been
triple knotted in hopes that no embarrassing situations would occur
today. Her hair was pinned up and her hands rested on each side of
her, her nails tapping on the cement.

"Ah, Chloe, going for a swim?"

Chloe smiled up at Lionel and stood up, his eyes stayed locked on
hers. She found it refreshing that he didn&#39;t ogle her right then and
there. "Waiting for your son." She walked over to him and just as
she was about to comment further Lex entered.

"Chloe." He nodded at her and took his shirt off. Lionel placed one
hand on her shoulder and she felt his thumb brush against the string
that held her top tied around her neck. She looked up at him and he
winked she grinned back.

"Please, come to my office when you&#39;re done here, I think we have a
few things to &#39;discuss&#39;." Chloe nodded and kept her eyes on his. She
could have laughed at the faint sparkle in his eyes, the playful mood
he was obviously in.

"I&#39;ll be up in about an hour or so." Lionel let his hand drop,
smoothing down her arm and to his side.

"Until then." he turned and walked out. Chloe stood completely still
watching him go.

"Ready?" Lex said as he jumped off the diving board and swam up to her.

"As I&#39;ll ever be."
*~*

Chloe stood beside Lex and tried not to laugh as he floated on his
back. "I don&#39;t want to float, I want to swim."

"Can I ask you something?" Lex stood to his full height, towering
over her.

"I guess." She shrugged and smiled. "Shoot."

"Why do you want to start now? I mean, there aren&#39;t any major bodies
of water anywhere around here."

Chloe grinned and shook her head. "I guess I just felt it was time.
See, as soon as summer hits I&#39;m going on a cruise."

She was interupted by Lex&#39;s words. "With my father."

Chloe looked up at him baffled and then smirked. "Sure."

"Why are you with him? Not that it&#39;s any of my business."

"You&#39;re right, it isn&#39;t." She turned and Lex caught her arm.

"That doesn&#39;t mean I can&#39;t worry about you though."

Her eyebrows arched and she looked down at his grip on her as he held
onto her tight.

"Lex." She heard a woman&#39;s voice call out among the high ceiling of
the pool hall.

"Shit." he muttered.

Chloe grinned and stepped closer to Lex. "I&#39;m not with your father,
by the way."

"There you are." A brunette walked into the room, her skirt way too
short and her blouse hiding nothing at all. "Your father told me I
could find you here."

Lex sighed and ran a hand over his head. "Chloe...this is Victoria.
Victoria, Chloe."

Victoria payed absolutely no attention to her.

"I&#39;m going to work on my breast stroke." Chloe said in a seductive
tone that had Lex smirking. She swam towards the other end of the
pool. Lex watched her form as she swam away and couldn&#39;t help but
smile. He should have never told her to wear something less arousing.
She had obviously went against his judgement and ended up in
something that left extremely little to his imagination.

"I&#39;m still here, Lex." His eyes darted away from Chloe to the woman
standing a few feet away from the pool.

"What&#39;s wrong Victoria? Afraid you might melt?" He jested and earned
a sordid laugh from her. Lionel strolled into the room and his eyes
fell upon Chloe at the deep end of the pool.

"If you&#39;ll excuse me." He walked along the side of the pool until he
reached her. She stopped and looked up at him smiling. Swimming over
to the edge of the pool, she motioned for him to lean down closer to
her. Lex&#39;s mouth fell open as she grabbed his father&#39;s tie and pulled
him in. Victoria gasped in disbelief.

"What did you say her name was?"

Lex was momentarily lost as Lionel surfaced with an angry look in his
eyes and at something Chloe said he let out a round of laughter, his
arms moving loosely in the water.

"Chloe." Lex answered absently remembering her saying she wasn&#39;t
involved with his father. Somehow that seemed like a complete lie.
"Jealous?" Lex quipped as he saw a rage burning in Victoria&#39;s eyes.

"Not at all." She smiled down at Lex. "So are you free for tonight?"

Lex stared up at her. &#39;This day couldn&#39;t possibly get any weirder.&#39;
"Lex&#33;" Chloe laughed as she swam over to him with Lionel right on her
heels. She bounded to her feet and jumped behind him, hiding. Lionel
stood up to his full height in the water and in one swift movement
reached around Lex and grabbed Chloe&#39;s arm pulling her into plain sight.

"Lionel." Chloe sung, his name stretched out beyond belief with a
fake pout.

Lex smirked as the look in his father&#39;s eye caught his and he let go
of the blonde. "Chloe, you will pay for this." She smiled at him and
patted his drenched chest.

"Yeah, Yeah. All bark and no bite." She commented earning an evil
glare from Victoria and a stunned one from Lex.

Lionel leaned down and whispered in her ear, Lex realized Chloe didn&#39;t
shrink away from him and leaned toward him somewhat when Lionel&#39;s hand
landed on her shoulder. "Meet me in my office after please."

Lex had almost not heard the please on the end and Chloe grinned and
nodded. Lionel retreated from the water.

"So, Chloe is it?" Victoria said cattily and Chloe&#39;s innocent eyes
turned up to her hard ones. "How long have you and Lionel been together?"

"What makes you think we&#39;re together?" Chloe asked innocently and
shrugged.

"It&#39;s quite obvious. Although you are a bit young aren&#39;t you?"

Lucas entered the room just then and smiled over at Chloe. "I see you
redirected your hostility to yet another Luthor." Commenting on
seeing his father drenched to the bone as he was leaving the pool
room. Chloe smiled.

"Come here, Lucas." She used her finger to call him over and Victoria
glared over at him.

"And you are?" Victoria said snobbishly as Lucas made his way over to
the pool.

"Lucas Luthor." He held out a hand for her and she looked at it then
down at Lex who remained still staring at Chloe. "O-kay." Lucas said
and smiled down at Chloe. "Nice rack." He said leering at Chloe&#39;s chest.

She rolled her eyes. "Seeing as how we&#39;re never going to get today&#39;s
lesson done, I&#39;ll just go put something a little less &#39;arousing&#39; on."
She smiled over at Lex who returned it.

"And I think I&#39;ll join you." Lex followed Chloe to the stairs and
into the changing room.

Chloe stepped into a shower and turned the water on full force. "Well
if that wasn&#39;t awkward I don&#39;t know what was." She reached for the
string that tied her top together only to feel a pair of hands pull it
loose. She gasped as her top fell down hanging from her by the string
tied around her back. A firm pair of hands came around and filled
them with her breasts. She leaned her head back on his chest and
panted heavily. "Lex." She breathed.

"Chloe." His voice whispered into her ear.

His hands left her breasts and traveled down to her stomach, his
fingers played with the top of her bottoms. "You look so hot in this."

She leaned further back on his chest and placed her hands over his,
letting the water spray down on her chest. "Lex, I don&#39;t think this
is a very good idea."

"Because you&#39;re with my father." Lex whispered again and her eyes
shot wide open.

She moved her arms to cover her breasts and stepped away from him
facing him now. "So he&#39;s the reason you&#39;re coming on to me." She
heard him sigh and looked up into his eyes. "That&#39;s really sad, Lex.
I thought you out of everyone would be better than that."

TBC...

[Blaire023]

Chapter 8:

Chloe pulled her top up and tied it quickly pushing past Lex. She
grabbed a towel and her bag of clothes and ran out of the castle with
the tears already forming in her eyes. Something she had wanted so
badly and he just had to open his mouth and ruin it.

*~*

The intercom buzzed and Lionel&#39;s voice grainily came over the speaker.
"Lex, I&#39;d like to see you in my office. Now." Lex closed his eyes
briefly and swore stepping out of the shower. He just had to make
that comment after she had already told him that she wasn&#39;t involved
with Lionel.

Lex opened the door to his father&#39;s office and Lionel leaned forward,
his fingers steepled together, his elbows resting on the desk in front
of him. "I just had a very interesting conversation with a very upset
young lady. Have any idea what it could have pertained to?" Lionel
met Lex&#39;s eyes.

"It&#39;s none of your business."

Lionel let out a chuckle. "Yes, Alexander, it is. Chloe Sullivan is
under my pretenses while in our home. She is my guest. Had she been
yours, she would have called you."

"I made a comment to her about you and her being together."

Lionel&#39;s mouth quirked up in an easy grin and Lex sat in the chair
facing the desk. "Now, was that before or after you invited yourself
into the shower with her?"

Lex&#39;s eyes narrowed on his father. "You don&#39;t seem too upset, father,
not harboring any real feelings for Miss Sullivan?"

Lionel brought his hands down flat on the desk. "Chloe and I have an
arrangement. She has a task to perform for me and while she is in
this house, under this roof, she will be treated with the utmost
respect she deserves. If you carry on this way I make certain you are
not left alone with her, no matter where you follow her to."

Lex nodded once. "Why are you using her?" Lex forced out.

"Son, I have no intentions of using Miss Sullivan. She is a
refreshing, beautiful young lady whom I enjoy spending time with.
That should be enough of an incentive for you to leave her be.
However, any other arrangements that take place between Chloe and I
are not to be questioned by you."

"I like her."

"As do I, Lex. She is a great person destined to become something
even greater. I will see to it that her destiny is fulfilled on my
behalf. As for you, if you harbored any true feelings for her, you
would not have made such a bold move. Chloe is out of your league
son. And the relationship of her and I is not of your concern."

"You said you like her. In what way?" Lex needed answers and the
scene from the pool with Chloe pulling his father into the deep end
had made him realize that his father really truly did have feelings
for her, seeing as how he didn&#39;t strangle her on the spot.

"If you could imagine, having two sons to keep track of, both with
less than prestigious records, is a difficult task. Chloe is my
answer to relieving my stress. Boldly saying what comes to mind,
acting upon a more mature level. She understands me and my reasons
for doing what I do. In short, she is as close to a daughter as I&#39;ll
ever have."

Lex leaned back. So that&#39;s where the playfulness came from. His
father had so much pent up inside him that his cool and calm exterior
vanished whenever Chloe was around and he had jumped to the conclusion
that it was because they shared a bed. Not a sense of humor.

"Now, I suggest you leave this room with one task in mind. To make
yourself forgiven in her eyes. She won&#39;t press charges, although I
may make her see it as a much easier way of living. Afterall, her
father could then retire." Lionel sneered and Lex stood from his seat.

"Are you taking her on a cruise?"

Lionel smirked. "As I previously stated, son, Chloe and I made a deal
of sorts. For the task she preforms for me, I requested her company
on a cruise this summer."

Lex nodded and stopped at the door turning back. "You wouldn&#39;t happen
to know what her favorite flower is, would you?"

*~*

Chloe sat at the Talon curled up in a corner booth. Lex&#39;s hands on
her body made her liquify to the root. A huge bouquet of flowers were
set on the table in front of her. "Tulips." She said and leaned
forward without thinking.

"I apologize for my once again immature behavior today."

She looked up at Lex. "Your father told me you&#39;d be coming."

"You called him when you left."

She shook her head. "No. He called me a few moments ago."

Lex nodded and realized he had just been played. She motioned for the
seat across from her. "Sit down, Lex." He took the seat and noticed
her eyes averting his. "We really need to talk."

"My father explained everything to me."

She nodded once and closed her eyes. "And?"

"And I have nothing to be jealous of." Her eyes met his and she let
out a sigh.

"No I meant about the deal."

"No, he didn&#39;t tell me anything about the &#39;task&#39; you&#39;re performing for
him."

Chloe nodded and looked at the flowers. "I think you should know."

Lex sat back calmly. "You trust me with this information."

Chloe blinked and her eyes focused on his. "It&#39;s you."

Lex sat up straight. "What about me, Chloe."

"The task has to do with you."

Lana appeared from nowhere. "Hi, Lex. Need something?"

"Go away." His hand shooed her and his eyes never left Chloe&#39;s. Lana
looked from one to the other and shrugged. "Now about this task."

TBC

[Blaire023]

Chapter 9:

Chloe opened her mouth to speak just as her phone
rang, she looked down at the number and sighed. "I
have to take this." She said hello.

"Please, darling, tell me why Lionel Luthor called me
to ask my permission for you to go on a cruise with
him?"

She sighed and put her head down on the table earning
an indifferent look from Lex. "Dad, this really has
to wait until I get home."

"No it doesn&#39;t because I am on my way right now to
speak with Mr. Luthor. Please tell me you aren&#39;t in
any trouble."

Chloe put her head up and looked at Lex. "Oh, I&#39;m in
trouble all right." She flipped her phone shut after
her father announced he was at the mansion and wanted
her at home pronto to wait for him.

"I have to get going." She stood and picked up the
bouquet. "I&#39;m in some trouble and I have to get
home." Lex nodded.

"I&#39;ll follow you."

Chloe raised an eyebrow.

"We still need to talk about this task."

*~*

Chloe watched Lex pace the living room. "And you
agreed to that?" He asked calmly. She nodded.
"Why?" he asked and stopped walking to look down at
her.

"That I can&#39;t say." She looked away from his eyes and
over to the television. "I promised I wouldn&#39;t tell
anyone."

Lex knelt down in front of her. "Chloe, if you are
being manipulated by my father, I need to know."

Her eyes returned to his. "I&#39;m not." She stated
simply. Lex nodded and stood back up.

"So how did you plan on showing me how to romance a
woman?" Lex said and sat down beside her on the
couch.

Chloe shook her head. "No, I was asked to teach you
how to be romantic."

Lex seemed thoughtful. "By me giving you swimming
lessons?"

Chloe smiled at the fact that he hadn&#39;t gotten mad
yet. Yet being the operative word. "That was
actually just a perk. I figured, hey, since I need to
learn how to get in good with Lex, why not have him
jump into a shower and grope me?" Her dry statement
made Lex stand and pace again. "Would you cut that
out, it maked me nervous."

"Chloe Sullivan, you better be in this house or I&#39;m
hunting you down." Her fathers voice rang loud and
clear.

"We&#39;re in the living room, dad." Chloe said loud
enough, but not shouting. Lex stilled as Gabe walked
into the living room and crossed his arms over his
chest.

"I see. First off, Lex, sit down." Lex complied
immediately, not too many people talked to him like
that and got away with it, but Gabe definitely spoke
in a direct father tone, although Lex wasn&#39;t sure what
that was, Gabe definitely had it.

"One week ago you were arrested. On your birthday no
less."

"Not my fault..." She stated simply.

"You were still arrested young lady. And I let it
slide, although it wasn&#39;t the first time." Chloe blew
a puff of air up at her bangs and Lex watched as they
rearranged themselves again. "Plus, I was supposed to
still be in Gotham, but why did I have to come back
early? To check on you. Chloe, you are 17 years old.
Don&#39;t you think you could be a bit more responsible.
Not to mention you agreed, without my consent, to
participate in a deal with Lionel Luthor, not one of
my most favorite people in the world, no offense Lex,
but why *him*?"

Chloe started to protest and was immediately sut off
again.

"Chloe, I don&#39;t know what you&#39;ve been thinking lately
but this reckless behavior of yours has to stop. I
can&#39;t put up with this and I won&#39;t hesitate to send
you to Metropolis to finish off your senior year, or
ban you from the Torch."

Chloe narrowed her eyes and Lex saw her face go froma
small shade of pink to a bright red. "Sit." She
pointed at the couch beside Lex and her father sighed
and did so.

"First of all, I didn&#39;t ask you go to Metropolis alone
on my birthday, as a matter of fact, you were supposed
to be there, but were you? No. You couldn&#39;t have let
your work go for one night, one stupid helicopter ride
for one measly night. And don&#39;t make me remind you
about my 16th birthday or my 15th, because I&#39;m pretty
sure you weren&#39;t there for those either." She took a
deep breath and ignored the stunned look Lex gave her.

"Secondly, YOU were not there. I was only arrested
because that," she waved her hands around her head,
"neanderthal swung at me and I kicked him in the
balls. He deserved it, and that was only after he
grabbed my ass and I made a rude comment. However,
had you been there, it probably wouldn&#39;t have
happened."

And last but not least. I&#39;m 17, I can go where I want
and do what I want yet I still respect your rules
seeing as how I live under your roof. But, don&#39;t
think for one second I&#39;m not going on that cruise,
because I sure as hell am. Plus my two swimming
lessons, courtesy of Lex, aren&#39;t going to waste."
Gabe&#39;s eyes darted over to Lex and he shifted
uncomfortably on the couch. "As for Lionel and our
deal, that is between him and I. And as for my
relationship with any and all Luthor&#39;s. Lionel is the
least perverted of them all." She shot a dirty look
at Lex who put his head in his hands. Gabe stood and
stepped directly up to his daughter.

"I apologized for not being there, what more do you
want from me?" Gabe shouted at her.

Chloe took a step closer and waved her hands around.
"Oh, hmm, let me think, maybe for you to not have to
apologize and actually be there once in a great
while."

Gabe stepped forward and looked down into his
daughter&#39;s eyes, that rage and anger and hurt all
melted into one. He looked over at Lex. "Why are you
here again?" He said quietly.

Lex looked from one to another, Gabe&#39;s eyes fixed on
him, Chloe&#39;s eyes fixed on her father and Lex couldn&#39;t
help but cringe. "Innocent bystander."

Chloe snorted and muttered a &#39;yeah right.&#39;

Gabe backed down and took a deep breath closing his
eyes. "You aren&#39;t in trouble as long as you promise
me three things."

Chloe squared her shoulders. "Depends." she answered
shortly.

"Number one, you are not to become involved with
Lionel Luthor, in anything more than a platonic way."
Chloe huffed and Lex winced. &#39;ewwww.&#39; was the only
thing running through his mind. "Number two, no more
run ins with the police." Chloe nodded and sighed.

"What&#39;s the third one?" She looked tired all of a
sudden.

"You get your ass over here and give your old man a
hug." Gabe opened his arms and Lex watched on as she
walked right into them. "I love you, Chloe."

She sighed and closed her eyes. "Love you too, dad."

Lex watched in awe as the both of them had gone from a
shouting match to a hugging match in a span of very
few seconds.


TBC...

[Blaire023]

Chapter 10:

Chloe parked her car in front of the mansion and
walked up to the door, not bothering to ring the
doorbell she let herself in and immediately made a
b-line for the pool room. A body was already in the
water and she strained her eyes to see the movement
under water. Lucas surfaced and as he saw her pulling
her shirt over her head he grinned widely. "For me?"
he joked.

She turned to look at him and her lips turned upward
in what could have rivaled Lex&#39;s smirk. She held his
eyes with hers as she unbuttoned her pants slowly and
then unzipped carefully. Her hands ran down her sides
and underneath her pants, pulling them down slowly as
she went. She stepped out of the pants with one foot
and with the other kicked them up in the air. Lucas
let out a low whistle at her black crocheted bikini.

Lex stood in the doorway and smiled as Chloe pulled
off her shirt, before he heard Lucas&#39; quip. His eyes
narrowed on his younger brother and returned to Chloe
when he noticed her slow languid movements. As she
stepped out of her pants and kicked them off her
watched Chloe&#39;s hands run behind her, her index
fingers running the hem of her bottoms and adjusting
them on her butt. His breath hitched as she walked
over to the side of the pool and decided it was time
to make an appearance, afterall, who knew how much of
this his father was watching.

"Afternoon." Chloe smiled and looked over at Lex
taking off his shirt.

"Hey, sorry about yesterday, didn&#39;t think you&#39;d have
to witness that." Chloe flushed and Lex walked over
to her, he stopped behind her shortly and his hands
traveled from her shoulders to the back of her neck
where her top was tied together. Lucas stared up at
his brother, silently urging him on. Chloe closed her
eyes breifly and felt Lex&#39;s fingertips graze her neck
and then pull the strings tighter.

"No problem. And your top was coming undone." Chloe
nodded and looked down at Lucas, the small smile
slowly raising the corners of his mouth. Lex stood on
the diving board about to jump in when he looked up at
Chloe only to notice her staring down at his brother
and his father in the doorway. Lionel cleared his
voice just as Lex jumped.

Chloe&#39;s eyes lifted at the simultaneous sound of
Lionel&#39;s throat clearing and the splash of water Lex
had caused from diving. Lionel walked up to her and
touched her high on her back, between her shoulder
blades. "And I thought you two would be done with
these foolish lessons."

Chloe smiled up at Lionel and relaxed to his touch.
"Actually, the first day Lex decided to act completely
immature, and then yesterday we were somewhat
interupted by a skanky brunette, followed by Lex
acting immature. Honestly, though, I can&#39;t decide
whether or not to take a shower today." She grinned
humorously at Lex. Lionel shook his head in
disapprovement.

"Son, please leave the pool so that Miss Sullivan can
get her lessons started." Lucas looked between the
three. He couldn&#39;t tell if she were with Lionel or
Lex, but wasn&#39;t willing to reenact the lemonade
incident. He followed his fathers orders and was out
of the room in less than ten minutes, Lionel leaned
down to her ear. "Please visit me when you&#39;re done."

Chloe nodded with a smile and watched him leave. Lex
heard her sigh and arched an eyebrow. "Relief or
longing?" Chloe turned to him and slapped the back of
her hand on his stomach, earning a small chuckle from
him.

"Just tired, I guess." She shrugged and got into the
pool. Lex followed behind her. "So what are we doing
today?"

Lex smiled. "Actually I thought today we could just
free swim. Yesterday I taught you the breast and back
stroke and to hold your breath without holding your
nose, so I figured today we could play a game."

Chloe nodded once and dove under the water, Lex&#39;s eyes
were immediately drawn to her backside and he let out
a low groan while she was under, she uturned and rose
up out of the water a few feet in front of him.
"Okay, what game?"

Lex grinned and swam away from her. "You be Marco."

*~*

Chloe sat in Lionel&#39;s office, her shower had been a
solo one and although it made her uneasy to think that
she had been hoping Lex might accompany her, she
shrugged off the conflicting feelings. Lionel knocked
on the door shortly, jarring her out of her thoughts.

"Hi." She smiled up at him and he grinned down at
her.

"Hello, Chloe."

"Ummm, I have something to say." She looked over at
him nervously and played with a tiny hole in her
pants. He stared at her urging her to continue. "I
told Lex about our deal."

Lionel eyebrow quirked up. "How much?"

"Only my part, no reasons behind it. I just told him
that you asked me to teach him how to be romantic."

"And he had no qualms?"

"Oh, I did." Lex stood in the doorway looking
delicious as always. Chloe eased her mind away from
the not so sane thoughts racking her brain. "However,
I trust Chloe&#39;s judgement, and if she thinks it&#39;s a
good idea, then I believe her."

Lionel nodded and turned his attention back on Chloe.
"And you failed you mention what you get out of
this...how did you put it? Deal?"

Chloe nodded and looked squarely at Lionel. "I didn&#39;t
inform him of your task, only of mine."

Lionel leaned back and crossed one leg over the other,
right ankle resting on his left knee. "I see."

Lex looked between the two. "Well, seeing as how you
two are getting along so well, I thought maybe you and
I could start on your &#39;task&#39;."

Chloe&#39;s eyes met Lex&#39;s and she grinned. "Sounds
delightful."

*~*

Chloe sat across from Lex, their legs stretched out in
front of them, his back resting against one couch and
hers against a parallel one. "Nice room." She looked
up at the high ceiling with a painting of a night sky
on it.

"It was my bedroom at one time."

"Imagine that." She grinned over at him. "No wonder
it&#39;s on the highest floor."

"Easier to get away."

"Ahh, but difficult to escape."

"I never snuck out of the house."

Chloe snickered. "If that&#39;s what you&#39;d call it."

Lex nudged her thight with his foot. "Where shall we
start."

Chloe pondered the situation for a moment. &#39;Well, I
thought maybe we could start on the couch, then maybe
work our way to the bed.&#39; She shook her head of her
thoughts and looked up to see an interest piqued on
the face of the man across from her. "You okay?" He
asked.

"Just thinking." She noticed the amusement flittering
across his features. "I know, I know, dangerous."
She grinned and he returned it. "I thought maybe we&#39;d
start with you showing me how you would normally get a
girl&#39;s attention."

"You mean show you my bank statement?" Lex smiled at
her.

Chloe rolled her eyes and looked over at him. His
smile hit her head on. "Nooo, I mean, if a woman
didn&#39;t know who you were, just pretend," She added as
he shot her an unknowing look. "Pretend you don&#39;t know
me, and I&#39;m blind, or whatever so I can&#39;t tell who you
are. Give me your best pickup line." Lex smirked at
her.

He cleared his throat with a certain quality of air
about him. "Wanna see my bank statement?"

Chloe laughed loudly and then covered her mouth as she
silently shook. She settled down and patted his bare
foot with her hand. "If I was blind that would have
totally offended me."

Lex nodded in agreement. "I don&#39;t normally have to
make the first move, most of the time women come up to
me."

Chloe returned the nod thoughtfully. "I was afraid of
that."

His head tilted ever so slightly and she continued.
"Okay, you see me from across the room, and I do know
who you are, you catch my eye with yours I make my way
over slowly and you extend your hand, placing a small
kiss on my hand. I ask if you&#39;re enjoying yourself.
What do you say?"

Lex looked at her seriously. "I am now." Chloe
raised both eyebrows.

"You seriously say that?"

Lex frowned and stared at her. "What&#39;s wrong with
that."

"Its just too straight forward, a woman can&#39;t tell if
it&#39;s a line or if you&#39;re being sincere, it sounds
almost too practiced."

Lex leaned his head back and then straightened as his
eyes met hers again. "Chloe Sullivan." She extended
her hand and he delicately took it in his, his eyes
remained locked on hers as he slowly raised it to his
lips and brushed them lightly over her knuckles. "Lex
Luthor."

Chloe grinned and pulled her hand back. "Nice." She
commented and rolled her eyes. "However, the whole
eye to eye thing, a little too intense. It will work
if the woman wants to sleep with you, but not if she&#39;s
generally interested in getting to know you better."

"Why wouldn&#39;t it work."

"A little too sleazy." She cocked her head to the
side. "I&#39;ve got it."

"Huh?"

"Chloe Sullivan." She extended her hand once again
and as he stretched his out to take hers she raised
his to her mouth and kept her eyes locked on his. She
let her lips graze his knuckles and noticed his eyes
darken slightly, she smiled inwardly. As she let his
hand drop he pulled it back and stared at her.

"So?" She smiled at him.

"So." He stated plainly. "Defitely made me want to
sleep with you." She grinned widely and let out a
small laugh.

"That&#39;s the point."

"So I don&#39;t understand why I don&#39;t want a woman to
sleep with me."

Chloe rolled her eyes once again. "Jumping in to bed
isn&#39;t romantic Lex. What&#39;s the point when you know
that a woman will hop in the sack? Don&#39;t you want
someone who wants to take the time to get to know you
better?"

Lex shrugged. "What would be the point in that."

Chloe shot him a disgusted look. "Look, say we sleep
together," lex&#39;s eyebrows shot up as if actually
entertaining the idea, little did she know, he
actually was.

"And?" he added urging her to go on.

"And in the morning you wake up beside me and realize
that you don&#39;t want to leave, you want to get to know
me better. But then I wake up and bolt. Because I&#39;ve
already slept with you, I don&#39;t feel the need to know
you any better, if you did it with me, no doubt you&#39;ve
done it a million other times."

Lex nodded in acceptance. "So you&#39;re saying the
thrill&#39;s gone."

Chloe smiled. "Finally, you see where I&#39;m going with
this."

Lex nodded and let out a sigh when his phone rang. He
pulled it from his pocket and Clark&#39;s voice rang threw
on the other end. "Clark?"

"Yeah, umm, Lex, I was wondering..."

"Spit it out." He took in the annoyed look on his
tutor&#39;s face.

"If maybe you could make reservations at a fancy
restaurant in Metropolis. I&#39;d like to take Lana out
for a night on the town."

"Certainly. But I&#39;ll have to be present. I can&#39;t
just pass my name off on you."

Clark nodded on the other end. "So a double date."

Lex smiled over at Chloe. "Looks that way."

TBC...

[Blaire023]

Chapter 11:

"No." Chloe stated as she led the way out of the mansion.
"Absolutely not, Lex."

"Chloe, come on, it&#39;s just a double date."

"Umm, yeah, with Clark and Lana."

"And me."

"And you."

"So, where exactly does the problem lay?"

Her arms waved around her, "Hello, the problem lays in every nook and
cranny."

"So you&#39;d rather me call up someone else and take them out to dinner."

"Yes." She stated matter of factly and Lex opened the driver&#39;s side
of her door for her.

he sighed and ran a hand over his bald head. "Look, will you please
accompany me on a double date."

Chloe&#39;s eyes narrowed ahead of her as she turned the ignition and her
car roared to life. "Why?" He could almost hear a whine twinge her
voice and obviously she had too as he took in her wince.

"Chloe, please, we can continue our lesson over dinner."

She closed her eyes briefly and turned them on his face as he leaned
down and rested his chin on his hand which in turn rested on her door
where the window was rolled down. "Fine, but on one condition."

Lex let a small smile come into play. "Which is?"

"You have to ask my father."

Lex&#39;s smirk widened. "Is that all?"

"Yes."

Lex nodded. "Consider it done."

Chloe shook her head and sighed exasperated. "Good luck." she
muttered and put the car in drive, waiting for Lex to step back. As
he did she slowly made her way down the drive, she looked in her
rearview mirror as Lex stared after her. Once again she found herself
asking what she had gotten herself into.

*~*

"Chloe, come down here please."

Chloe took the stairs two at a time. "Yeah?" She stopped in front of
her father and noticed the weary look on his face.

"Why did my boss ask my permission to take you out on a date?"

"Double date." she corrected him.

"Whatever."

"Because I told him he had to." Chloe crossed her arms in front of
her.

"Have you heard of a restaurant called La Chamborde?"

Chloe nodded. "Yes."

"That&#39;s where you&#39;re going." Chloe smiled and patted him on the back.
"Don&#39;t get too carried away there, the only thing he had to convince
me of was to let you stay at his penthouse."

Chloe&#39;s mouth fell in surprise. "You agreed to that?"

Gabe shrugged. "Like you said, you can take care of yourself."
Chloe&#39;s glare went unnoticed as he ruffled through the mail. "He&#39;ll
be here to pick you up in two hours, you&#39;re expected to be home by
noon tomorrow, and I want you to call me as soon as you return from
dinner. Understood?"

Chloe nodded blankly. "Wait. You mean, it&#39;s tonight? Like as in
he&#39;ll be here any minute?"

"I said two hours. And from here you two will pick up Lana at the
Talon, she&#39;s already packed."

"But..."

"But what?"

"I didn&#39;t know..."

"Chloe, speak." He ordered with a bemused grin.

"Nevermind." She mumbled and ran upstairs to take a shower and pack
an overnight bag.

*~*

Chloe ran a hand through her wet hair, staring at herself in the
mirror. She had on a black sleeveless dress and a black fringy wrap
with a strappy sandals.

"Ready?" Clark called from the hallway outside Chloe&#39;s room. The
ride to Metropolis had been anything but boring. She sat in the back
with Lana and sang along to some classic rock tunes. Needless to say
she was surprised when she found an Eagle&#39;s cd in Lex&#39;s possession.
Now it was time for dinner. She shook her hair and watched as it feel
around her face. Her hair dried rather quickly on its one and she
dabbed some gel into it to make it behave.

Walking out of her room she saw Clark&#39;s hand resting on the small of
Lana&#39;s back. Suddenly she felt overdress as Clark had on a pair of
Khaki&#39;s and a button up shirt, Lana had on a knee length pink dress
with a , yep you guessed it, slightly darker shaded pink sweater.

She definitely felt overdressed, until she saw Lex. His black
tailored pants, almost a trademark as well as his smirk, and a deep
purple shirt tucked into it, a black tie swayed as he walked. She
sucked in a deep breath and attempted a smile as Lex stopped and
looked her over once. "You clean up nicely, Chloe." He had taken a
liking to calling her by her first name, she had sensed it was because
his father did it so often. "Shall we?" He held his arm for her and
she slipped her hand through to rest on his bicep. "You look
stunning." He whispered into her ear. She let out a breath of
relief.

"For a second there I thought I had dressed too fancy."

"No such thing." He said curtly.

"You&#39;re wearing a tie." She made the observation as they reached the
car. Lex threw a set of keys in Clark&#39;s direction.

"Why, yes I am."

Clark caught the keys and led Lana to a porsche. "We&#39;re not all
riding together?"

Lex chuckled. "This may be a double date, but I figured Clark and
Lana may like some time alone."

Chloe nodded once. "I see." She slid into the car and he closed the
door behind her. She leaned over and unlocked his door.

"Thank you." he commented and revved the car to life. She grinned
over at him.

"So how many cars in all are there?" Lex gave her a crooked smile.
So she had noticed that they were now in a different car and Clark was
in his third.

"I keep two in Metropolis and I have four others at home plus the one
we drove here in."

Chloe stared out the window as the scenery rushing by was neon lights
and she smiled. "I missed this place."

Lex briefly caught her eyes before looking back to the road, he then
checked to make sure Clark was still behind them. "What do you mean?"

Chloe sighed and turned off the radio. "I just wish things were
different. I feel like I belong here. Not in some small town. It
gets kind of suffocating."

Lex nodded. "I feel that way occasionally. Here I can blend in.
Smallville is like Cheers."

Chloe smiled widely. "Never heard it referred to that way." Lex
nodded absently and pulled to a stop in front of a set of double
doors, a man attempted to open her door but it was locked. Chloe held
up a finger and turned to Lex. He smiled and nodded, getting out of
the car he went around to Chloe&#39;s side and let her out. She took his
hand gracefully as he escorted her to the doors.

"Shit." he muttered as the man drove away with his car.

"What?" She questioned, her hand still in his.

"Paparazzi." He barely got the word out before bright lights hissed
at them. Chloe started to laugh.

"How romantic." She gushed and Lex couldn&#39;t help but laugh. They
stood there basking in the flickering of a hundred flashes and waited
for Clark and Lana. As the group made their way up to the restaurant,
a lady shoved a microphone in front of Chloe&#39;s face, nearly whacking
her with it, but Chloe pulled back before it had the chance.

"Young lady, how does it feel to be on the arm of one of the richest
men in the world."

Chloe smiled brightly and pulled Lex closer to her side. Her hands
ran up and down his arm. "It feels wonderful." She let Lex wrap an
arm around her shoulder and the pair broke into laughter as soon as
the door were shut.

"Wonderful huh?" Clark stood waiting watching them with Lana. She
nudged him slightly with her elbow.

"I thought you said they were just friends."

Clark shrugged. "I know Lex had been teaching her how to swim and
she&#39;s been over at the mansion with either Lex or Lionel all week."
Lana nodded.

"Mr Luthor, if you and your guests will follow me." A man led them to
a candle lit table near to back of the restaurant where very few
tables were occupied.

"Very discreet." Chloe elbowed Lex earning her a grin.

"Romantic enough?" Chloe looked from him over to Lana and Clark
seated on the other side of the round table.

"Not exactly." She grinned back and held his gaze for a moment longer
than intended. Lana and Clark looked at eachother then back to the
waiter.

"Wine Menu." The man said properly and Lex replied without looking
away from Chloe.

"Something red and from the 30&#39;s."

The waiter nodded and turned his back on them walking away.

Chloe broke eye contact first when she felt Lex&#39;s hand brush against
her knee, her left one was crossed over her right. Lex pulled his
hands up on the table and smiled knowingly over at Clark and Lana as
they were huddled together chatting quietly. Chloe followed his eyes
and clearly heard her father&#39;s name being mentioned. Lex cleared his
throat winning everyone&#39;s attention as he ordered for everyone and the
evening started without a hitch.

*~*

An hour and a half later Chloe sat on Lex&#39;s bed on her knees, she
bounced up and down slightly. "You&#39;re drunk." Lex noticed for the
first time and she grinned.

"And?"

"And your father will have me killed."

"Only if your father doesn&#39;t get to you first." Chloe stated in all
seriousness only to be thwarted by another grin plastering itself on
her face.

"Very true." Lex replied and pulled his tie loose. Chloe had since
lost her wrap and her bare shoulders posed a threat to Lex&#39;s tolerance
level.

"How come I didn&#39;t get silk sheets?" She sprawled across the bed on
her stomach and let her feet kick back and forth in the air.

Lex started to unbutton his shirt, it wasn&#39;t like Chloe had never seen
him shirtless before. "Guess I jumped to the conclusion that you&#39;d be
more of a cotton sheet girl." Chloe nodded absently and propped her
chin up on her fists, her elbows sunk into the feather light matress.
Her cleavage and the peice of material drawn tightly across her chest
caught his attention.

"Can I sleep in here tonight?" She yawned subconciously and Lex&#39;s
muscles tightened under his half unbuttoned shirt as her mouth opened
wide and closed just as slow.

"Sure."

He started towards the door. "Hey." she called out causing him to
turn around. "Where ya goin?"

"Your room."

Chloe let a frown grace her normally happy features. "Stay, please.
Just because I want your bed doesn&#39;t mean I want to chase you out of
it."

Lex made his way over to the bed and laid down on his back beside her.
"Chloe?" Her head dropped to the sheet and she absently started
rubbing her cheek against the cool material.

"Yeah."

"Thank you for coming to dinner with me, I had a great time." Chloe
smiled over at him, their faces only inches apart she lost her
inhibitions and pressed her lips softly against his.

"Your welcome." She closed her eyes and let herself be whisked away
to a far away dream land, consisting of her, Lex, and a tie.
Actually, Lex was wearing the tie, but that was the only thing.

TBC...

[Blaire023]

Chapter 12:

The shrill ringing woke Lex out of his deep sleep, rolling over he saw
the digital numbers flashing the early morning time to him, or was it
late night? His palms wiped at his eyes as he sat up and got out of
bed. He let the ringing bring him to it, follow the sound through the
dark. Finding it in Chloe&#39;s bag he flipped it open. "Chloe&#39;s phone."
he answered in a yawn.

"Is she okay?" Gabe&#39;s voice was a wreck.

"Gabe?" Lex&#39;s eyes started to clear of any sleep.

"Lex?" Gabe&#39;s voice had lowered a bit. "Is she okay?"

"She&#39;s sleeping. Oh...she didn&#39;t check in with you, did she." Lex
looked over at the sleeping blonde. "I&#39;m sorry Gabe."

"Why are you apologizing for her getting herself into trouble."

"I let her have a few drinks with dinner, but I was completely sober,
I swear, Clark and I both were."

Gabe sighed on the other end. "Lex, look, I know it&#39;s late, but I
need to know. Between you and your father, what exactly are your
intentions with my daughter? First your father is taking her on a
cruise, and then you ask to take her out on a date and stay the
evening with you. Which I was reluctant to, but seeing as how you are
my boss...Look, Lex, I trust you with her. I don&#39;t want her hurt, and
if she has a hangover in the morning, don&#39;t bother bringing her home,
because..."

"Gabe?" Lex interupted trying to follow the rant his dates father had
decided to detour with.

"Uhm, What?"

"I&#39;ll have her call you as soon as she wake up."

Gabe sighed on the other end. "Thank you, Lex."

"Don&#39;t mention it." He flipped the phone shut without saying goodbye
and walked over to the bed where he collapsed beside Chloe once again.
Her soft moan made his eyes shoot open.

"Lex." She purred. Lex&#39;s head twisted to other way to look in her
direction.

"What?" He asked quietly.

"I want you..."

Lex felt the fog in his mind wander south to his throat, he was afraid
to clear it as it may wake her. For all he knew, she was having one
of his fantasies.

"to get me some aspirin." She squinted her eyes open at him and let a
sly smile cross her face.

Lex let out a low growl and stalked over to her side of the bed. "You
asked for it." He leapt on top of her and tickled her mercilessly.
Her laughter rang through the high ceilings of the bedroom and out
into the hall.

"STOP IT&#33;" She squeeled with laughter and as Lex&#39;s hands came to a
sudden halt she looked up at his clear blue eyes. Rimmed with a
playfullness she&#39;d never noticed before. His lips rammed into hers
and his tongue hungrily parted her lips. Chloe sucked in air and
instead of being rewarded with oxygen, she found Lex&#39;s tongue
massaging hers. The hard strong strokes at first turned light and
airy, tentative. She moaned into his mouth and his hands went to her
hips, traveling lower, to her thighs and down to her knees where he
spread her legs beneath him and brought them both up around his waist.
Chloe gasped a curse word into his mouth as she felt him hard and
eager against her panties. Her dress now hiked up to her hips.

"Lex." She whispered as she ripped her mouth away from his. "This
isn&#39;t a good idea."

His mouth left hers as she pulled back for air and traveled down her
jawline to her neck where he sucked at a patch of skin before nibbling
at it. "I have to disagree." And with that he started rubbing
against her, Chloe tightened her legs around his waist.

"Lex, No." She let her legs drop and rolled out from beneath him. "I
can&#39;t. I just...not us." She finished her broken sentence and Lex
looked at her from the bed, god she wanted him. And bad. But she
knew the deal would be off if she slept with him, there was no way he
would ever look at her the same, no way he would ever be as
comfortable around her as he was now.

Lex sat up on the bed and put his face in his hands. "Look, I can&#39;t
help it, I want you." His eyes darted to hers and locked on.

Like a heat sinking missile.

"I&#39;m sorry, but that&#39;s not how I think of you." Chloe crossed her
arms over her chest and looked over at the bedroom door. "I think
I&#39;ll just go back to my room." She walked over to the door and flung
it open. If that didn&#39;t just add another heavy layer to the icing,
she wasn&#39;t sure what would. That had to be the most awkward moment
she had ever had.

*~*

Chloe sat in the passenger seat on the way home, up beside Lex. The
sat in complete silence, once in a while Chloe would catch slight
movement from behind her and it would be Clark practically doing lana
in the backseat. She was sure lex had started to get unnevered by it,
he had turned the rearview mirror to face up as far as he could.

When they pulled up in front of Chloe&#39;s house, Gabe was sitting on the
front porch with Lionel Luthor. Chloe stepped out of the car and
Lionel stood, a true gentleman. Chloe kissed him weakly on the cheek
and the stooped in front of her dad. "hey." She hugged him and felt
tears rise up as his arms didn&#39;t embrace her back. Willing the tears
out of her eyes she stood up straight. "Something you&#39;d like to tell
me?" Her voice cracked barely, she gave herself cookie points for
hiding the fact that her father&#39;s cold shoulder was having a definite
effect on her combined with a hangover, her struggling with her
feelings for Lex, and the fact that her monthly visitor had decided to
pay her a litle visit this morning. Her arms were wrapped around her
middle and Gabe looked up at her, she could tell he&#39;d been awake all
night. She had called him as soon as she woke up and he had informed
her that he had already spoken to Lex.

Lionel maintained standing and held one arm out to his side which she
gratefully walked into. "You have a visitor." Lionel&#39;s voice was
warm and tender, surprisingly comforting contradicting the cold looks
her father was shooting to her. Lex stood on the other side of his
car, right outside the driver&#39;s side door.

Chloe looked up to see a woman grace the frame of the door and her
knees buckled beneath her. "Go away." She whispered as if all of a
sudden in a bad movie and Lex&#39;s eyes widened as Chloe brokedown in
front of his very eyes.

"Make her go away." She pleaded with Lionel before screaming it into
his chest.

"Chloe." The woman came down the steps and stopped beside Gabe who
was shaking his head sadly. "Chloe, I came to see you." Her voice
was an attempt at soft but in a split second Chloe had looked over at
Lex and as her eyes locked on his he was around the car and pulling
her into his own arms and out of his father&#39;s.

"I told you." Gabe shook his head and stood. "You left us, alone,
what made you think to come back after 12 years?"

He moved to stand between Lex and Lionel, the three men stood staring
down the woman who clearly caused the young woman in Lex&#39;s arms too
much trauma. "I just wanted to see her." She replied sadly and
Chloe&#39;s head whipped up, the top of her head nearly coliding with
Lex&#39;s chin.

"Bitch." Chloe hissed and moved out of the strong arms that found
themselves wrapped around her from behind. "You left me, me and dad,
and then told me it was his fault. His drinking problem. I was five
and you lied to me. It was you. It was always you&#33;" Her voice rose
with every second and she watched as the lady in front of her blinked
a few times before turning and walking away.

"I think we need to get you to bed." Lex said quietly against her
hair. Chloe had other ideas, glad they dropped off both traveler&#39;s
that had accompanied them at the Talon.

"YOU&#33;" She turned on her own father and Lex winced as Gabe
straightened himself tall. Remembering the argument from the other
day Lex looked over at Lionel who was so engrossed in Chloe&#39;s side of
the argument he saw a small grin quirk at his lips. As Chloe went off
on her father she grabbed Lex&#39;s wrists and ripped them away from her.

"I hate you." She said breathy at Gabe and ran up the front steps
into the house. Gabe&#39;s head bent down and Lex and Lionel both patted
him on the back at the same time.

"And to think I wanted a daughter once upon a time." Lionel commented
and Gabe looked up at him surprised. "What?" He asked as if
defending himself.

TBC...

[hler]

Wow, I really like this so far...and so many chapters at once, very cool&#33; More please&#33;
:biggrin: ~Heida

[buffiy18]

I&#39;ve been reading this fic for a while on Eletic. Great fic&#33; I am hoping that by you posting it here, you are planing to start updating it more frequently? Please?&#33; Keep it up. Great Fic&#33;

[DawnieAngel]

ooooh, i always love your stuff Blaire but this...oooh, i want more, it&#39;s amazing&#33; Oh I&#39;ve laughed, cried, smiled, frowned, damnit girl do you have to play with my emotions&#33; ah well its all worth it&#33; You&#39;re a great writer honey and I can&#39;t wait for more.

[roslyn]

Originally posted by Blaire023@Jul 2 2003, 08:28 PM
"Pretend you don&#39;t know
me, and I&#39;m blind, or whatever so I can&#39;t tell who you
are. Give me your best pickup line." Lex smirked at
her.

He cleared his throat with a certain quality of air
about him. "Wanna see my bank statement?"


why did you stop there? you already posted 12 chapters, you should have just finished it&#33;

i love this story...i feel so bad for chloe





that was my absolute favorite part out of all of the chapters...and also with Victoria...gotta love Chloe making both lex and Victoria jealous&#33;

please update soon...


:wub: Roslyn

[staysixkid]

Oh yes&#33; YES&#33; One of my on going faves. I&#39;m truly delighted to see it here. :biggrin:

[Blaire023]

A/N: Yes, I plan on going all out on this fic and finishing it within the next month, so I said to myself, "self...don&#39;t let sab brandish that whip on you again, there are many many more uses for it other than punishment." and here i am. *bows out*

SMUT WARNING&#33;&#33;&#33; * I swear this was totally unexpected, so, if you don&#39;t read smut and want me to also post this chapter in a less risque way, I can do that too.*

Chapter 13: Snorkelling anyone?

Chloe sat on her bed, legs pulled up tightly, arms wrapped around her, and then the presence of an arm pulling her into an embrace made her sobs a little less clearer and she let the tears flow. A hand, a male hand ran through her hair and then Lionel&#39;s voice followed it. "Now, now, you&#39;d never make a proper Luthor, Chloe, not with the way you&#39;re carrying on up here." Clearly he had drawn the short straw of having to come and console her. With a few sniffles and a shrug of her shoulders she sat up a bit straighter. And then two other pairs of eyes were on her. Seems they had all drawn the short straws and were all staring down at her with concern evident in their eyes.

"I really am sorry, Chloe. I have no clue why she didn&#39;t leave when I told her to." her father came towards her and the bed dipped in his favor. Lex leaned in the doorway and watched with sorrowful eyes.

His voice sliced through the tension of the room, ever the silence breaker. "I could use a swim." He held out a hand for her and she stared at it. Just sat and stared. Until Lionel&#39;s hand was on her back and he was propelling her off the bed.

"I think that would be a most wise decision, ease some tension out of your muscles and what not." His eyes looked as if they searched the room for something and came up empty. When he finally looked back at her she saw something there she definitely didn&#39;t like. It was compassion, or something akin to it. Was she slowly breaking the Luthors into normal human beings? &#39;God, that could be really scary.&#39;

*~*

After an unrealistically short lived drive to the mansion and a few minutes downtime in the dressing room, by herself, she felt a little better. She still hated her mom, for showing up for no reason, for leaving her a little over a decade ago, but she willed herself to shove it aside and concentrate on swimming. Hell, if she didn&#39;t concentrate she&#39;d probably drown, she wasn&#39;t *that* good at it yet.

Walking out of the dressingroom she noticed Lex already in the pool, and a quite busty brunette standing tall watching him swim the length underwater. &#39;Jesus, how can he hold his breath that long? My lung would collapse and I&#39;d need mouth to mouth.&#39; A flush crept over her exposed skin, which meant most of it at the thought of who would be rescusitating her. &#39;Maybe I should try it.&#39; She grinned dumbly and when lex resurfaced, his eyes shot past Victoria and swept Chloe&#39;s body with a graceful assessment. &#39;Is that good?&#39; Mentally chiding herself was never something that agreed with her features. Pete had once told her she looked constipated. So she swept thoughts from her mind and relished in how incredibly delish he looked with his broad shoulders and lean, toned frame jutting out of the water. He held a hand for her to join him, motioning her over. And as if twilight zone music had started in the background, or over the PA system, Victoria turned and smiled at her. A sickeningly sweet smile and Chloe couldn&#39;t help but repress the shudder that shot through her.

&#39;Ick.&#39; Was the first thing that came to mind. And then Lionel entered the room as her hand touched Lex&#39;s and he ushered her into the water. Lionel nodded curtly at the brunette and passed her as if she were nothing but a scuff mark on worn down linoleum. Something you would find nowhere within a hundred feet of the Luthor mansion. He crouched down on the concrete, bending his knees as he leaned forward and pushed a strand of blond hair out of Chloe&#39;s eyes. "Are you feeling better, dear?" Chloe leaned into his touch in a silent thank you and nodded. Lex&#39;s hand still held hers and Victoria glanced between the setup of the three.

&#39;They can&#39;t all three be sleeping with her, can they?&#39; But then this was the Luthor&#39;s and they possibly could.

Lionel&#39;s eyes searched Chloe&#39;s for a second and then he straightened himself. He turned on his heel and headed for the door. "Miss Hardwick" He motioned with a hand for her to follow him and glancing back at Lex and Chloe, who&#39;s faces were already close as they grinned, she felt the sting of rejection. Something she was not used to. And then repulsion. She still had Lionel. As he led her to the main hall and opened the front door, she frowned and turned to him.

"Surely, Lionel, you could tend to my needs tonight, seeing as it&#39;s Alexander&#39;s turn to have fun with the bunny." Lionel flashed with anger and hid it well after the moment it had slipped.

"Yes, well, Chloe&#39;s quite the popular choice around the mansion these days." Throwing in a mischeivious smile he added, just for the hell of it, "I can wait my turn in the meantime." And the door latched as her eyes widened in shock.

*~*

Back in the pool Lex slid a mask over his face and Chloe raised her eyebrows in humor. "What the hell is that thing?" Lex grinned as he strapped what could only be countered as a jet pack onto his back.

"We&#39;re going to snorkel." His voice a bit muffled he snapped a mask around her head and she straightened it a bit to match his.

"Snorkel?" She ducked her head under the water, amazed that the mask was airtight and there was no way in hell water would seep into it. Raising her head back up, she grinned. "Neat."

Lex smiled back and her and strapped the oxygen tank on her back, careful to let his hands linger in all the right places as he pulled the belt tighter around her waist. When she felt the oxygen seep into her mask she dipped below the surface, in the shallow end, mind you, and inhaled through her nose, exhaling through her mouth. She came back up and smiled, a bright smile that could have lit the room and made Lex sure this would be way too much fun. "This is going to he so fucking awesome&#33;" She tugged at his arm once his oxygen was turned on and pulled him over to the deep end.

"Now, remember," his voice held a warning on it. "I&#39;ll be right beside you if you feel claustrophobic." She nodded excitedly and dove under the water. The weight of the tank lessened considerably and she blinked a few time and nearly gasped in surprise. How hadn&#39;t she seen it from the shallow end. The fish swam past her and one nibbled at her toes. She turned wide, excited eyes on Lex as he came up beside her under the water.

He had put fish in the deepend of his swimming pool for her. It was so sweat, she nearly sniffled. But she didn&#39;t. Instead she reached out and large eellike fish skimmed her fingers and Lex could hear her scream even under the water. He started laughing and stilled her motions from disturbing the fish. Pulling her back to rest against his chest he placed his mouth beside hers. "Harmless." She nodded in a not so sure agreement and turned her head to look at him. Their eyes locked for what seemed like much much longer than a second and his lips were on hers. And her mouth was opening, and the moment she though water would run into her mouth and fill her lungs, lex&#39;s tongue was there instead. Stroking her own into his mouth and she turned in his arms, her legs wrapping around his waist. And his erection, ran against the crocheted crotch of her bikini bottoms.

Her mouth pulled away from his and bubble escaped to the surface. Biting her lip gingerly she ran her hands up and down his bare chest. His eyes bore into hers and she felt herself getting wet where their arousal was all too prominent and rubbing delightfully against eachother. "I want you." She said the words but formed her lips very carefully and Lex closed his eyes breifly as if trying to decide against it. And then his hands were cupping her rear and grinding her harder against him and in a moment, his hands pushed down into the soft black material of her bottoms, and his bare hands, connecting with her bare flesh made her arch hard against him.

Her lips wrapped around his earlobe just below the strap of the mask and het teeth touched base, sending electric current through the water. She felt the groan vibrate through her, more than she heard it. And her hands were suddenly inside his dark blue swimtrunks. Stroking him softly and then tugging harder. One hand stayed on her ass as the other snaked around to the front of her bottoms and his fingers found her entrance and all at once, a shriek escaped her lips as he pounded two fingers into her.

And then his eyes went wide as her head slumped forward. She was tight. Too tight. &#39;Shit. She&#39;s a virgin.&#39; The last sane thought that passed through his mind before her hand began a steady rhythm picking up the pace and he extracted one finger, leaving one inside of her. His thumb brushed over her clit and she cried out, Lex leaned close to her ear and reminded her to breath, which she in turn leaned close to his ear and her voice, harsh and hot barely said in an even tone, "harder."

And he did. And when she came, her grip on him tightened and her hand jerked back and he came with her. His name left her lips on a sigh as she came down, her body shaking a little. Her hand on him grew softer and softer, and for a second they both just held onto eachother, afraid to move, afraid to open their eyes.

And when they did, the both grinned at eachother and Lex&#39;s lips brushed against hers in a weak attempt as he struggled to breath out of his mouth. Her lips touched to his chin and her tongue darted out to taste the corner of his mouth.

"Thank you." She mouthed to him as she leaned her head back to look at him, their facemasks pressed against eachother, both a little fogged.

He smiled back at her and kicked his feet. As they reached the surface Lex tore his mask away from his face and helped Chloe with hers as she kicked her feet to stay afloat in the deep end. Lionel stood at the top of the stairs on the concrete, at the far corner of the shallow end. "I&#39;d like to speak to you in my office, Miss Sullivan." And with a weary glace and his expression turning hard on Lex, he turned on his heel and nearly marched from the room.

"I think I&#39;m in trouble." Chloe husked out as she doggy paddled for the shallow end.

"I thought there was nothing between you two." Half playing and half serious Lex regarded her back as she stilled in the water.

Her head nearly hung in defeat she waded through the rest of the way and gathered up her towel and bag and turned back to him. Her eyes rimmed with unshed tears. Lex felt the pit of his stomach drop out and a smirk easily slid over his features to mask his primal instinct of apologizing. "Goodnight, Lex." Her voice definitely sounded of defeat and as soon as she was out of the room, he ran a shaky hand over her head and cursed himself for being an ass.

TBC...

[dsapiro]

Stupid, stupid Lex. Ok, now he should so grovel and beg for her forgiveness.

[hfce]

Great smut but Lex is an idiot. :tease:


Hope

[jem]

beauty of a story you got here blair.....its sweet, funny and steamy....

poor chloe

[bluemoongirl23]

Good smut&#33; Yeah, Lionel ain&#39;t gonna be too pleased. Can&#39;t wait for their little discussion. Loved the nook and cranney line, by the way.

Blue

[Blaire023]

Chapter 14: Lip Service (MUSH WARNING&#33;)


After pulling on a pair of pants and t shirt over her bikini she knocked softly on Lionel&#39;s office door.

"Enter."

Chloe winced and nibbled her lower lip thoroughly. "I&#39;m sorry." Her head hung in shame.

"You give in too easily." Chloe&#39;s eyes snapped up to look at him dead on, he stood a foot away from her. "I haven&#39;t heard your side, yet, you are admitting defeat."

Chloe rubbed her eyelids with her fingertips. "I..." She collected her thoughts before trying again. "I want to be with him."

Lionel nodded and led her toa low leather couch. She sat in the middle and he sat directly across from her, ass planted on the glass tabletop. Her hands in his he kissed the back of one, then the other. Her hazel eyes shimmered with tears. "Do you love him?"

Chloe gulped. Did she?

"Chloe." Lex&#39;s sharp tone brought her plummeting back to reality. "Are you in love with my son?"

"Will the deal be off?"

Lionel looked thoughful for a moment. She was securing the part of the bargain he was to fill for her. "I don&#39;t see why it would be."

"Then yes, I love him."

Lex&#39;s hand stilled on the doorknob and the towel dropped from around his waist. He had decided that whatever she was going to go through with Lionel, he wanted it to be clear that while Chloe was no innocent, neither was he. But this, this made it different.


"Are you absolutely positive Chloe?" Lionel grasped her hands in his tighter.

She nodded her head and Lionel let an uneasy breath part his lips.

"Does he love you?" Chloe&#39;s head hung at the question lingering above her. She shook her head and began to sob.

"No...no, I don&#39;t think so."

Lex couldn&#39;t beleive this. He wanted to barge in and tell her yes, that he loved her, but she was being so honest to his father. And if this turned into a lover&#39;s qaurrel, he wanted to be there to stop it. Instead his ear pressed to the wooden door.

"Why?" Lionel&#39;s arms wrapped her in a secure blanket.

"He thinks I&#39;m with you."

Lionel&#39;s brow furrowed and he pulled back to look down at her. "Still?" he asked incredulously. She nodded and he rest his chin atop her forehead. "Unbelievable, after even I explained to him what our interests in eachother were."

Chloe sucked in a shuddering breath. "What should I do?"

Lionel let her fold herself into a ball on the couch as he steepled his fingers together and rest his elbows on his knees, an action that mirrored much of Lex. "Honestly, Chloe, I&#39;m not sure."

She nodded. "I can&#39;t do it anymore."

Lionel nodded in agreement. Lex stood on the other side of the door thinking &#39;what?&#39;

"It&#39;s up to you, dear." His hand stroked her cheek and she leaned into it, tears running past his touch. His lips touched her forehead and Lex heard it as it ended. His stomach coiled. "If you love him, I won&#39;t hold it against you."

Chloe looked through Lionel. His eyes set at a stony resistance. "What if he breaks my heart? Will you still hold up your end of the deal?"

Lex felt his heart constrict. So they had played him. He was a pawn in a deal coming from both sides. Chloe had told him what she was to do for his father, but not what his father was to do for Chloe. He surpassed the cruise as a bonus.

*~*

Chloe sat with one leg crossing the other, her short denim skirt showing off more than enough leg, her low cut black halter tank exposed enough skin to keep Smallville&#39;s hookers on their toes. That was, of course, if Smallville had any hookers, which she didn&#39;t think was very likely.

Her head was bombarded of images of Martha Kent in flannel and overalls, selling herself on the street corner, and a wicked grin lifted her lips delicately. Lex slid into the booth beside her, noticing her glare set for full speed ahead on Clark&#39;s mom, speaking with Lana at the counter.

"We need to talk."

"Not now, Lex." Her voice cold and distant.

"I think it should be now." His hand grabbed her upper arm and he pulled her out of the booth earning a few speculative glances from some Talon patrons. As soon as they were outside Chloe&#39;s open palm hit the side of his face.

"Who the hell do you think you are? Mr. High and fucking Mighty? Jesus, Lex, what gives you the right to throw your weight around?&#33;" her voice rose an octave with which seemed like each syllable, her breath heaved from her chest, her chest raising up and down before him.

"I want to know what my father is doing for you." Chloe stopped breathing altogether and the breath that lingered in her lungs began to choke and stifle her. She let it out slowly and ran both hands through her hair.

"I&#39;m not telling you."

"I love you." It was out of his mouth before he could stop and half a dozen Smallvillians stopped in their tracks at a Luthor pronouncing something so emotional. A few applauded and then abruptly were moved along by Chloe&#39;s dark glare.

"Don&#39;t do this, Lex." She shook her head sadly.

"You love me, don&#39;t you?" His hands cupped both of her cheeks and she attempted to look away. Each time he led her face back to his. Slowly he brough his head down and brushed his lips to hers. Chloe sucked in a breath and harbored the sudden urge to get out of the middle of the sidewalk as skateboarders whizzed past them whistling and commenting on them getting a room.

"I....yes...I...UGH&#33;" She threw her hands up in the air and waved them around as if swatting off a million buzzing bees.

"Chloe." lex caught her hands with his on the first try. Her eys blinked and a tear rolled to the corner of her lips. Lex bowed his head and kissed it away. Resting his forehead against hers, their noses touching, lips searching for eachother. "I love you." He whispered it on her lips before shoving the words into her, taking her deep into his mouth, his tongue seeking refuge against her own. She swallowed his words as he repeated them over and over again. When he pulled away from her, her body nearly slinked to the ground before his arms wrapped around her. "Do you?"

She closed her eyes and smiled up at him. "Yes."

Lex picked her up off the ground and anyone who was standing or watching from the nearby shop windows, applauded loudly. "Tell me."

Chloe looked around her embarrased and then muttered &#39;what the hell.&#39;

"I love you, Lex Luthor." Her arms wrapped around his neck and his arms around her waist and he spun them. The crowd went wild.

TBC....

(I know, it&#39;s incredibly short, but I am going to more than well make up for it in the next chapter.)

[hfce]

Oh that so mushy and gooey and good. I loved it. ;)


Hope

[scifichick774]

Ah, mush. Where would this fandom be without it? Loved it hon. Great job&#33;

[DawnieAngel]

awwww, that was so cute&#33; I wanna know what Lionel&#39;s side of the deal is to&#33; Really really bad, i&#39;m not a very patient person I have to admit&#33; (..and now someone will point out it&#39;s already been said in the story and i&#39;ve totally overlooked it i spect, that&#39;s just my luck :blush: )
Please hurry with more&#33; I can&#39;t wait&#33;

Dawnie

[Calliope]

Awww, schmoop is good. I&#39;m waiting for the Lex/Lionel confrontation. :biggrin:

[Blaire023]

no,dawnie, it hasn&#39;t been mentioned yet about the deal, only what chloe was supposed to do for lionel.

The reason it&#39;s not mentioned yet is that it&#39;s going to be a nice little surprise in one of the last chapters, which will be coming up soon.

Glad you all liked the mush.

~B

[RepPrincess]

I love this fic and I can&#39;t wait to find out the rest of the deal between Chloe and Lionel. The last chapter was just too cute. Great job&#33;

[shailafter]

i love this fic&#33; i absolutely love the part where lionel was pulled into the pool earlier in this fic.. it was hilarious&#33; and that last chapter was so sweet.. update soon&#33; :chlexsign3:

[jem]

aw mush by you chica ROCKs....

loved it.... more pleease??

[Blaire023]

Chapter 15: Did I say that out loud?

Lex set her down on the ground just as her phone chimed in her purse.
Chloe dug through with one hand, leaving the other resting in Lex&#39;s
palm. Flipping it open she immediately flinched at the sound of her
father&#39;s voice.

"Chloe Margaret Sullivan, tell me you are not standing in the middle
of the Main Street confessing your love for my boss." Her teeth raked
over her bottom lip and her eyes scanned the crowd. Martha and
Johnathan Kent stood at the entrance of the Talon. Lex watched as
Chloe&#39;s face turned beet red. "Chloe." His lips brushed her ear as
he whispered. "Come on, let&#39;s go."

Chloe stood completely still.

"Chloe?" Her father&#39;s voice cbroke through her resolve.

"Who called you, dad?" Her eyes locked on Martha&#39;s and quickly darted
to her husband.

"Martha honey, why?" Chloe saw red and before she thought about her
actions she shoved her phone into Lex&#39;s chest.

"Talk to him." Lex couldn&#39;t help but wince as her phone was shoved
into him. He turned and watched her walk up to the Kents.

"Shit." Lex alread had the phone pressed to his ear when Martha laid
her hand on Chloe&#39;s shoulder and for a second there he was sure she
was going to slap the older woman.

"What&#39;s she doing?" Gabe&#39;s voice cut through.

"She&#39;s confronting Martha."

"Shit." Gabe obviosuly thought a lot like his boss.

"CHLOE&#33;" In two strides he was beside Chloe, hand on her arm,
dragging her away from the scene of the crime, where she had just
slapped Martha Kent across the face. He stuffed her into the
passenger side of the car apologizing to Martha for her behavior and
drove away. "Talk to your father." Lex tossed the phone in her lap.

*~*

Lionel paced his office with the tiniest hint of a smirk on his face.
Shutting his eyes he shook his head from left to right, left to
right. "You physically attacked Martha Kent."

Chloe nodded and Lionel pursed his lips to keep from laughing. "And
why may I ask did you do that?"

Chloe knew why he pursed his lips, his laugh lines around his eyes
hinted at the amusement he got from her telling him about the
confrontation.

"Martha shouldn&#39;t have opened her damn mouth in the first place."

Lionel nodded once. "Chloe, what exactly did she say?"

Lex burst through the double doors just then with his cell phone in
hand. "I just got off the phone with Martha Kent. She won&#39;t be
pressing any charges. However." Lex crouched in front of Chloe&#39;s
seat on the couch, his forearms resting on her legs. "You little
vixen, you can&#39;t just bitchslap anyone who makes a comment about our
relationship." Chloe&#39;s eyes rolled heavenward.

"I didn&#39;t bitchslap her." She looked up at Lionel and he quickly
fixed the smug smile on his face into a grim line. Was that pride?
Then her eyes found Lex&#39;s. Groaning she conceded, "Oh, my god, I
bitchslapped Martha Kent." Lionel couldn&#39;t hold it any longer and his
composure burst as it normally did around the petite blonde. Chloe
looked up at him startled whereas Lex shook his head with a tight grin
on his face. Chloe looked back at Lex and smiled, tilting her head to
the side. "It felt kinda good." She finally admitted out loud and
Lex&#39;s thoughts were consumed by the sound of the residual smack of
palm against cheek, and the completely stunned look from Martha, not
to mention the disapprovement radiating from Mr. Kent himself.

"I think you might have made her cry." Lex grinned and she laughed.

When the three of them had settled down, they moved their conversation
into the dining room, where she remembered not too long ago meeting
Lucas and having a merry Luthor meal with the three men. Gabe was
shown into the dining room with Lana on his heel half an hour later.
He shook hands first with Lionel, then Lex. Lex held Chloe&#39;s hand on
top of the table between their settings. Lionel sat at the head of
the table and Gabe and Lana took their respective seats facing the
newfound couple.

"Where do I start?" Gabe shook his head and looked to his left at
Lana. Lana shrugged and smiled wickedly over at Chloe. Lana
obviously had some information to share with her. No doubt what
Martha had said afterwards. His eyes roamed across from him, first to
Lex, then to Chloe, then to Lionel who&#39;s lips were pursed and seemed
to be in thought. Finally his eyes fell back on Chloe. She looked
away nervously and he finally said. "So...Did she cry?"

Lionel let out a soft chuckle and Chloe&#39;s lips quirked up. Lex
solemnly shook his head. Lana nudged Gabe with her elbow.

"Mr. Luthor."

Lex and Lionel&#39;s eyes both acknowledged the salutation. "There&#39;s a
woman waiting to see you in the foyuer, Mr Luthor." Chloe smirked.

"You should probably get like, nicknames or something. For instance
Lionel could be big daddy Luthor and Lex could be Sexy Lexy Luthor."

Lex&#39;s drink sprayed across the table at Lana in which she stared open
mouth shocked at him. Gabe snorted with laughter at the sight on
Lana&#39;s face and Lionel pat Chloe on the head as he got up to leave.
"Although I rather like the nickname. What was it again? Big.
Daddy. Luthor?"

Chloe snorted and choked on her drink while laughing and Lex started
beating on her back. Telling her to raise her arms so she could get
her breath. Gabe smiled over at the pair. Lana matched Gabe&#39;s smile
with a bright one of her own. Finally Gabe&#39;s voice broke through. "I
refuse to call your father Big Daddy Luthor." Lex started laughing
and placed his head in his hands. No one was going to eat considering
all the food had been sprayed and he sighed in relief as Chloe leaned
her head on his shoulder. Gabe made a note of the way Lex kissed the
top of her hair before resting his cheek against it and closing his
eyes. All in all, each of them had had a pretty busy day.

*~*

"Lionel." The brunette purred and Lionel&#39;s eyes fixed thoughtfully on
her for a second.

"Is there a reason you are drawn back here only to humiliate yourself
further?" Lionel sat on the plush couch in one of the many living
rooms. Its soft, brushed leather dipped slightly from his weight.
Victoria lowered herself to the floor in front of him, her hands ran
to his inner thighs. His hands caught hers in a tight grasp and threw
them back, cuasing the buxom brunette to land on her ass.

"If that is what you came here for, I suggest you leave now." He
stood and walked to the bar to pour a tumbler of amber liquid. On
second though he decided against it and placed the glass open side
down on the bar. "Miss Hardwick, does the blonde make you feel
inadequate? Replaceable even?"

"Is that what you see when you look at me Lionel."

Chloe laughed as she entered the living room, looking over her
shoulder at Lana. When she heard the clearing of Lionel&#39;s throat she
stopped and whipped her head around only to find the brunette with her
legs crossed sitting on the couch. Just as Chloe opened her mouth to
excuse herself a pair of arms wrapped around her and flipped her over
his shoulder. Lionel smiled smugly at Lex as Lex&#39;s eyes landed on the
company. Chloe&#39;s ass up in the air, Lex&#39;s hands holding the back of
her legs where the hem of her denim skirt ended. Without any warning
Chloe reared her hand back and slapped Lex on the ass, which her face
was pretty close to and had she been able to reach any further, her
teeth would have sunk into it. Lionel snickered as Lex winced when
she did it again. Gabe and Lana both stood in the doorway laughing.
Victoria stood with hands on her hips evaluating the situation.

TBC...

[DawnieAngel]

she slapped Martha&#33; LOL LOL LOL&#33;&#33; Stupid cow shouldn&#39;t stuck her nose in should she&#33; ha ha ha

You know it&#39;s wierd when I read about Victoria in fics I can&#39;t help but think about when she used to present the Big Breakfast (an old british morning tv show) or do topless modelling for the sun(etc.)&#33;&#33; Ah well just thought i&#39;d ad that in&#33;

Great part as always but damnit I wanna know what Lionel&#39;s side of the deal is, pleaasssseeee, oh and thanks for telling me I hadn&#39;t missed it&#33; heee&#33;

Dawnie

[shailafter]

:lol: hehhehheh that was too funny.. "big daddy" and "sexy lexy"&#33; and that confrontation&#33; whoo.. i&#39;d like to see chloe do that to the hardwick witch in the not so distant future.. lol :chlexsign3:

[petriebird18]

HA&#33; Bitchslapping Martha Kent? GO CHLOE&#33;&#33; :biggrin: :yay:
Oh, now update, i LOVE this fic&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;
~Deidre~
:chlexsign3:

[bluemoongirl23]

Oh, too good for words&#33; First, Chloe slapping Martha and then her slapping Lex&#39;s ass. See, violence can be good. And the whole nickname thing? Excuse me as I pull an abdominal muscle from laughing.

Blue

[shipperchick]

::snarfle::

This fic has it all... humor, warm-and-fuzzy-feelings, angst, and smut... fantastic&#33;

[Blaire023]

Chapter 16: Lionel&#39;s part of the deal revealed.

"Miss Hardwick, it seems your time is up, I really don&#39;t have to warn
you about humiliating yourself any further do I?" Lionel&#39;s smug
warning stilled all the movement in the room. Lex let Chloe down
until her toes barely burshed the floor and she kissed his cheek
before standing on her own two feet.

She turned to Lionel, hands on hips. "Now, now, Big Daddy, where are
your manners?" She had never been formally introduced to the brunette
who she couldn&#39;t tell if she had the hots for Lex or Lionel. Or both.
Either way it was rather amusing. She held out her hand and
introduced herself. "Chloe Sullivan."

The brunette looked down at the hand outstretched to her and slowly
back up to Chloe&#39;s face. "Charmed." She raised a precisely plucked
brow and strode from the living room. Chloe whirled around and stared
at her retreating back.

"Jeesh, what a bitch." Lex and Lionel both nodded in agreement,
neither watching the brunette. "So who&#39;s ex was that?"

Silence descended upon the room. Chloe looked from one Luthor to the
other. "Okay, ewww." Lana&#39;s laughter shortly followed.

*~*

"You never even told me you two were &#39;together&#39;, Chloe. God, what&#39;s
it like?" Lana&#39;s eyes gleamed in a prespective light.

"What&#39;s what like?" Chloe&#39;s eyebrows raised in speculation.

"Ugh, you know." She poked Chloe with her finger. "The S-E-X."

Chloe snickered for a second before composing herself. She sat indian
style near her headboard, Lana&#39;s body reflecting her own position
facing her. Cards spread out between them Chloe slapped her hand down
and yelled, "War."

lana shrugged and watched as Chloe shuffled the deck of cards that
were now all in her possession. "So..."

"So, nothing, Lana. We haven&#39;t done anything yet."

Lana&#39;s face registered one thing. Shock. "You&#39;re kidding right?"

Chloe shrugged. "We got a little friendly in the pool, but that was
it."

One emotion replaced the shock from Lana&#39;s features. Disappointment.

"You&#39;re telling me that you are dating THE Lex Luthor and you haven&#39;t
fucked him yet?" Lana&#39;s hand flew to her mouth as Chloe&#39;s head
snapped up to stare at her straight on.

"Did you just say fuck?" Chloe was absolutely astonished. "Oh, my
God. You said fuck."

"Who said fuck?" Gabe peeked his head in the door and without a
moment&#39;s consideration Chloe pointed at Lana. "Ooooh, I&#39;m tell-ing."
Gabe said in a sing song manner which made both Chloe and Lana
giggle.

Chloe eyes remained on her dad still standing in the hall, his head
barely peeping into her room. "Was there something you wanted?" No
sarcasm hinted at her tone.

"Oh, yeah, dense much, Clark&#39;s downstairs." Chloe&#39;s eyes flew over to
Lana. "For you, Chloe." Instantly a cringe worked its way up her
spine and tapped into her brain.

"Fuck." She muttered and both Lana and Gabe grinned.

*~*

Chloe sat across from Clark at the table. "I&#39;m not even going to ask you what possessed you to physically harm my mom, Chloe. I know that you and Lex are together, or whatever you want to call it, but I can already tell you&#39;re changing."

Chloe blinked a few times. Was he talking? &#39;Shit, he&#39;s waiting for me to say something.&#39;

"Why do you say that?" &#39;That&#39;s it. stay neutral.&#39; she mentally chided herself.

"Chloe, I know you&#39;ve been spending a lot of your time at the manor, but I think it&#39;s time to reevaluate who your real friends are."

Chloe arched a brow and took a sip of coffee, noticing a smirk had settled over her features and thought twice about wiping away a Luthor trademark, thinking she could possibly be sued for wearing something that came with a copyright. "Clark, I really enjoy Lionel and Lex&#39;s company. Okay, maybe one more than the other, in a completely different way, but until you give either a real chance, you wouldn&#39;t be discounting them so quickly."

"Lex *is* my friend, Chloe. That&#39;s why I&#39;m warning you."

Chloe was slightly taken aback, not sure where he was going with this warning but pretty damn sure she wasn&#39;t going to stick around to listen to it. "Look, I&#39;ve had a really long day, so unless you&#39;re just going to spit out whatever it is you want to say, then you should probably leave."

Clark shook his head. "I just have a bad feeling about this, Chloe."

"But, why, Clark? Unless you tell me why, I can&#39;t just heed your warnings. You aren&#39;t giving me any reasons."

Clark sighed and ran a hand through his dark unruly hair. "Did you know he had my whole family investigated after the bridge incident?"

Chloe hid a smile, feigning an innocent look. &#39;Definitely gotta bring that up next time we talk.&#39; "No, Clark, I had no idea."

"yeah, well..."

"Then again, I did the same thing on your adoption, so I guess we can&#39;t be so different after all."

"You dropped it when I asked you to."

"And he didn&#39;t?"

Clark sighed again and stiffened his back. "I think so..."

"See, there ya go." She stood and left the kitchen. "I&#39;ll talk to you tomorrow at school, Clark."

Clark watched her walk up the stairs before standing up and heading out the front door. "yeah, see ya tomorrow." He mumbled the words under his breath as he put the truck in reverse and backed out of the driveway.

*~*

Lex paced his study, he needed to know what she had had his father agree to do for her. While he really loved her, and had been increasingly falling in love with her, he still had a nervous pit in the bottom of his stomach. Something just wasn&#39;t right. His father becoming a happier man since Chloe&#39;s entrance in their lives, and he was constantly making excuses not to go back to Metropolis. He had entertained the idea that his father, indeed, harbored feelings for his girlfriend, it wouldn&#39;t be the first time it had happened. But those thoughts were pushed aside as he heard her admit she loved him in the middle of Main Street. No doubt she&#39;d have a hellacious day ahead of her tomorrow. Deciding to put it off one more day, he retired to his room, sleep would benefit him more than worrying.

*~*

Lionel sat back in Lex&#39;s plush leather chair in his office, speaking into the reciever to his son&#39;s girlfriend and hopefully one day, bride. She had the Luthor name written all over her and the day she made the name part of her own, he would be the last to be surprised.

"It&#39;s time."

"Lionel, you aren&#39;t serious, you mean like, right now?"

Lionel chuckled softly. "Yes, like, right now." Mocking her teenage vocabulary.

Chloe sighed on the other end. "When will you tell him? I mean he has to sign papers and stuff right?"

"Yes, he does. I&#39;m leaving tonight for a while, my lawyer will pay him a quick visit in the morning, I&#39;ll leave the cruise tickets here in his desk drawer for you."

"Oh, no you don&#39;t. You get your ass over here and properly say your goodbye&#39;s."

"Chloe, dear, I&#39;m not making housecalls past midnight."

Lex stopped outside his office door. His eyes turned glossy as his father&#39;s last quip had his heart beating rapidly in his ears.

"I want to see you before you leave."

"You act as if I&#39;ll be gone forever, darling."

"Because, Lionel, knowing you, you&#39;ll drop off the face of the Earth and leave me with your brooding son. How am I going to cope with him all on my lonesome."

Lex frowned as he realized they were on speakerphone and could hear each of Chloe&#39;s words clear down to the syllable.

"I know as well as you do that Lex does not brood, as you have put it so well."

Chloe snorted. "Yeah, sure. Just wait, he&#39;s going to get all broody when he realizes what you&#39;re doing." There was a pause and Lex leaned his ear against the door. "Lionel," Chloe sighed into the phone. "Don&#39;t just leave. Atleast explain it to him so he doesn&#39;t think it&#39;s all some elaborate scheme."

"And here I thought you&#39;d want to be the barer of the big news."

"LIONEL&#33; NO&#33; You are not going to put this all on me. I know when we made the deal that I asked for you to turn over LuthorCorp completely to him, but I didn&#39;t think it would be in the same month, let alone the same year, decade or century."

Lex&#39;s eyes widened. LuthorCorp was going to be his? A smile formed on his face. Chloe and him hadn&#39;t even spoken to eachother more than a handful of times, why had that been her part of the deal?

Lionel chuckled loudly. "I told you I planned on retiring."

"You said, not until Lex settled down."

"He&#39;s in love, Chloe. I think he&#39;s as close to settling down as he can get."

Chloe giggled a little. "Yeah, I get your point." A long silence ensued. "I&#39;m going to miss you." Her voice soft and Lex imagined a pout etched on her face.

"I&#39;ll miss both of you. I&#39;ll be gone before he wakes, you know how I hate confrontations when it comes to parting. Tell him I love him."

Chloe smiled on the other end of the line. "I will."

"Thank you, Chloe. You&#39;ve been like a daughter to me. I hope you make my son as happy as Lillian made me."

Lex could tell the change in her voice, a choked one came over the line. "I&#39;ll try my hardest, Lionel, I will."

"I wouldn&#39;t expect anything less of you. Good bye, Chloe."

"Bye."

Lionel hung up the phone and rubbed the tears from his eyes. Maybe this was going to be a lot harder than he originally thought.

TBC...

[bluemoongirl23]

oh. my. god. You actually made me like Lionel. Good job. And I have to say that I loved the you said fuck conversation, especially since Lana is all about the Chlex smut like we are.

Blue

[Impress]

I finally caught up on this. *shakes head* can&#39;t begin to figure out why I went so long without reading this. good one hun. Interesting twist with Big Daddy Lionel&#39;s deal. looking forward to more.

[Val]

OMG&#33; Ok, this fic rocks&#33; And its so sweet, funny, sad, and argh all together&#33;
I loved it&#33; Please please please more soon&#33;

[sabby]

*shakes head* well that will be intresting to see how it turns out. And Lex totally spoiled his surprise.. Well he&#39;ll be happy regardless, and I&#39;m sure they&#39;ll have fun in the carribean *waggles exebrows*

hugs,
Sabby

[jem]

aw.... *pouts* im gonna miss lionel too after all this

(lol is that a crazy statement or what??)

update soon pls&#33;&#33;&#33;

[Blaire023]

Chapter 17: This chapter covers a lot

Chloe sat in the Torch office holding back tears at the knowledge of Lionel being gone. She hadn&#39;t gotten much sleep last night, she should have immediately called Lex&#39;s cell to tell him everything. But she had to respect the privacy of the elder Luthor.

One sharp knock on the door alerted her as she blinked back tears and swiveled in her chair. "Hey." She forced a half way there smile at the sight of Lex&#39;s smirk, evident of the knowledge of his father&#39;s retirement.

"How are you?" He crossed the room and leaned against her desk.

"I should ask you the same." She retorted placing her hand on his knees. "You okay?"

Lex&#39;s smirk widened. "I&#39;m better than okay. Thanks to you." His fingertips brushed against her forehead and down her cheek to her chin where he placed a finger beneath it and tilted her head back to look at him. "Thank you."

Chloe smiled and felt the tears come. When she had made the deal after Lionel confided in her about retiring, she hadn&#39;t planned on being the one that made Lex happy, or for that matter, her being the one to settle down with him. She knew she loved him but long term wasn&#39;t really something she dealt with all the well. Fantasy world was great. They would get married and have children and Lex would be the head of LuthorCorp and they&#39;d live in Metropolis and she would be a reporter for the Daily Planet. But this wasn&#39;t her fantasy world. Her and Lex hadn&#39;t known eachother that long, had only just professed their love for eachother, yet Lionel believed in them enough to just up and leave his empire to his oldest son. Chloe shrugged herself out of her daze. "Your welcome." Lex leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"I also found this on my desk." He held up an envelope with writing scrawled across the front. She took it from him slowly and stared at the message.

&#39;You two will enjoy this more than I would. Have a nice vacation. ~Dad&#39;

This time she couldn&#39;t hold it back and a tear slipped down her face as she regarded the name he signed it with. She smiled up at Lex. "Did he say where he was going?"

Lex shrugged and leaned back a little, causing her hand to slip from his knee. "He didn&#39;t mention it to anyone."

Chloe nodded and opened the envelop. "It&#39;s empty."

Lex nodded in return. "They&#39;re put away somewhere safe." Chloe stood from her chair and walked over to her Wall of Weird. She placed the envelop, message facing out, in the middle of the wall and tacked it there. Lex&#39;s arms wrapped around her from behind. "Will you join me for dinner tonight?"

Chloe turned in his arms and leaned her cheek against the rise and fall of his chest. Her ear pressed to his heart, she heard it kick up a notch and smiled. "I&#39;d love to."

Lex led her away from the Torch and grabbed her bag, slinging it over his shoulder as they made their way from the room, "So, graduation tomorrow, huh? Am I invited?" Chloe let out a laugh at the absurdity of the question.

"I guess you can come."

"You guess?" His eyebrow arched as he tilted his head to look down at her, his arm around her pulled her closer to his side.

She nudged him with an elbow, "Yeah, I guess." They laughed as they made their way out of the school.

*~*

Two Weeks later:

Chloe leaned back and let the sun&#39;s rays soak into her skin. One leg, bent at the knee, the other stretched flat out. "Hey, Cabana Boy." Lex stopped and turned to look down at his girlfriend.

"Cabana Boy?"

She grinned and shrugged. "Come join me."

Lex shook his head in disbelief. "I have no idea how you do it, but I refuse to let myself lay there and turn into a lobster."

Chloe giggled and closed her eyes. "Snob."

Lex raised both his eyebrows and walked over to her side, bending down close to her. "What did you call me?"

Chloe opened one eye peeking up at him, his face much nearer that she expected it to be. "I said, snob."

"Oh." Lex picked her up off her loungechair and hiked her over his shoulder. "Well in that case." he tossed her into the ondeck pool. She kicked and flailed and tossed her hair back out of her eyes, fixing him in a glare that turned into laughter as he bellyflopped into the pool beside her. His arms grabbed her from behind and pulled her underwater with him. She leaned back into him and felt the prominent state of his arousal. Lex kicked their way back to the surface and immediately began apologizing.

Chloe tilted her head to the side. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs around her waist. "Why are you sorry?" Her crotch rubbed against his. He groaned and caught her lips with his, when he pulled away he replied, "Because i don&#39;t want you to feel pressured into anything like this."

Chloe grinned and kissed him back before slipping a hand under the water and into the front of his trunks. "Deja Vu." Lex&#39;s grip on her tightened and she whispered into his ear. "I think we sould take this back to the room."

He nodded and led her out of the pool, down a few flights to their room and leaned her up against the door, kissing her softly. "I love you, Chloe."

She smiled and let out a small laugh. "I know, Lex. You don&#39;t have to say it to get in my pants."

Lex shook his head. "You are one wild child, Chloe Sullivan." Chloe giggled as he lifted her up with one arm around her waist and dragged her into the room, slamming the door shut with his foot.

*~*

A/N: See, this fic wasn&#39;t supposed to have smut in it in the first place so don&#39;t get mad at me for skipping it.

*~*

Three Months Later:

Chloe dragged another box of clothes into the bedroom of the penthouse. "Which one if my closet again? All of them?"

Lex laughed and entered the room. "Those two are yours. That one is mine." Chloe frowned.

"Why don&#39;t you give me your closet too and you can have both the dressers."

"Chloe, really, being delusional doesn&#39;t suit you." He pat her on the head lovingly. His eyes fell on the clock beside the bed. "Aren&#39;t you going to be late?"

Her head whipped around to look at the clock. "Shit. I have to get to class." Her body whirled around the room frantically and she grabbed her bag. Groaning she turned to Lex. "I need a ride."

Lex fumbled in his pocket for carkeys. He tossed them up in the air and she caught them one handed. "I get to drive?"

He laughed and made his way over to the doorway where she was standing, rooted to the floor in shock.

"Sweetie," His fingers tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "You can keep it if you want."

She smiled broadly and kissed him on the cheek. "This is going to be very DL, I mean, me driving a car with a vanity plate Lex01 on it." Lex shook his head as he laughed and led her to the door.

"We&#39;ll have the plates switched if that will make you feel any better."

Chloe shrugged and replied as her back retreated to the elevator, "Nah, I think I&#39;ll flaunt it while I&#39;ve got it."

Lex laughed and called out after her, "Then get used to it, you&#39;re going to be flaunting it for a long time, babe." Chloe waved a blind hand behind her and entered the elevator, a cheshire grin spread across her face.

Four hours later Chloe bounded out of her Journalism class at Met U and smacked right into a hard body. She rubbed her arms as she looked up and Clark&#39;s eyes stared back down at her. She smiled and tilted her head to the side. "Well hello, there."

Clark followed her as she made her way to the parking lot and unlocked the alarm on the porsche. "So I take it you two are still together." Chloe nodded and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "I haven&#39;t seen any pictures of you two together, that&#39;s why I asked." Chloe smiled and opened the door to the car.

"We like to keep our life private."

Clark nodded and rest his hand on the top of the car after she got herself strapped in and rolled down the windows. "Have you heard from Lionel?"

"No, why?"Chloe arched a suspicious brow at him and he shrugged. "Just thought it was interesting that one second he&#39;s there and the next he&#39;s retired and Lex owns LuthorCorp."

Chloe grinned and put the car in reverse. "Yeah, well, it was nice talking to you Clark." She drove in the direction of what she had been trying to get used to calling home for the past week now. She had to admit, it was much cheaper than staying in the dorm on campus. And she had survived a whole week with nothing but Lex, and his work antics, and one interupted conversation after another. Fifteen minutes later Chloe pulled into the underground garage of the penthouse located in Luthor Towers. She tossed her key to the parking attendant and waved a little as she jogged to the elevator. Returning home to a penthouse was nice, but returning home to a penthouse full of Lex, was heavenly.

The End

*there will be an epilogue btw*

[asharnanae]

MOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPP&#33;&#33;&#33; How can it be over&#33;&#33;&#33; I loved this fic, it so good. Epi soooooooon please&#33;&#33;&#33;
:chlexsign3:

[DawnieAngel]

*sobs* you mean *sobs* it&#39;s like *sobs* practically over?? *sobs*

BLLLLLLLLLLLLAAIIIIIIIIIREEEE okay so it&#39;s totally rediculous to expect it to go on forever but still, I really really really liked this&#33;

and how in the hell did i manage to miss the part where the secret was revealed, on the plus side i got two parts at once but still&#33; Guess my patience must be growing&#33;&#33;&#33;

Loved this story can&#39;t wit for the epilouge.

Great work Honey

Dawnie

[crazygirl]

That was fantastic. :worship2: I love it and I can&#39;t wait for you to post the epilogue.

[jem]

i know u dont like writing smut, but u write it well....

anyways... its so cool how you left it off, aw arent they sweet together??? anyways, epilogue soon pls&#33;&#33;

::sniff sniff:: this fics ending.... NOOOOOOOO

[bluemoongirl23]

That was so sweet. And yay to the epilogue. Wonderful story. And I won&#39;t complain about the lack of smut, see I&#39;m being good.

Blue

[lunaluthor]

yep I want a nice fluffy epilogue with a cat in it :yay:

[Gemini]

*there will be an epilogue btw*

I&#39;m really glad you said that&#33; :worship2:

[Blaire023]

Epilogue: One year later:

Third Times A Charm?

Could it be, fellow Metropolitans? Is it true? Does the gossip mill deceive our very perky ears?

Rumor has it Metropolis&#39; very own bad, bald, billionaire, bachelor, Lex Luthor will be joining those of the wed in a private ceremony this month. A date has not been released to the public, nor has the name of the obvious candidate. A blonde woman has been sited many mornings leaving the once bachelor pad penthouse at Luthor Towers, but her identity remains under wraps.

Lex Luthor himself has made no comment on the question at hand. Is it true love? Is it possible that the third time will be a charm? After two previously failed marriages, both very short-lived, we&#39;re all wondering who this blonde specimen is that&#39;s stolen the heart of one of America&#39;s, if not the world&#39;s all time sexiest bachelor&#39;s. A recently acquired photo is all we here, at the Daily Planet, have of the said blonde.

Whoever she is, we&#39;d like to congratulate her. So congratulations and best wishes on your up and coming marraige to one of the finest bachelors this side of the Mississippi. And here&#39;s to you Mr. Luthor. We hope to see you and your new bride to be gracing the pages of our society section soon.


Chloe folded the article and grinned uncontrollably, setting it down on the coffeetable. A furry friend suddenly pounced into her lap. "There you are. I&#39;ve been looking for you, Luna." She ran her hand down the back of her birthday present from her fiancee. "You, my dear, need to eat."

Chloe hustled about in the kitchen, preparing Luna&#39;s dinner for the evening. She furrowed her brow when she realized there was no food for her precious baby. "Aww, I&#39;m sorry sweetie, daddy must have let it slip his mind." The cat meowed loudly and Chloe giggled as it slipped in and out between her ankles. "Okay, tell ya what, you stay here and stay out of trouble and mommy will go and get you some food, okay?" She bent down and lovingly pet her baby. Grabbing her purse and keys off the counter she exited the penthouse, locking up behind her.

She bounded out of the elevator and smiled at the front desk man. "What&#39;s up, Jimmy?" Her smile beamed as he raised a stack of envelops in front of him.

"Miss Sullivan, Mr. Luthor didn&#39;t pick up the mail today." Chloe shrugged and made her way across the lobby to him.

"He&#39;s going to be out of town for a while, business and such." Jimmy nodded and Chloe rolled her eyes as she took the stack from the man, flipping through it carelessly. "I swear, that man&#39;s all work and no play." Jimmy chuckled at her antics and went about answering the phones. Chloe set the rest of the mail down on the counter as she ran across a postcard with a picture of the tell tale globe in front of the Daily Planet on the front. "What the..." Her voice trailed off as she turned it over to read the few words scrawled across it. &#39;I see you...&#39;

She slowly turned her head to one side and then the other. As she craned her neck over her right shoulder she spotted a man sat casually in one of the guest chairs of the lobby. The air around him hummed as if he owned the building itself. A wide grin spread across her face as he stood up, brushing invisible creases from his slacks. A glint in her eye, reflected from the overhead lighting and he held his arms open. With a high pitched shriek she closed the distance between them, lunging for Lionel. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he picked her up off the ground spinning her with him. "I missed you so much." She whispered into his ear.

A smile graced his usually cold features as he set her down in front of him, eyes raking over her body, taking in the year of maturity that had changed nothing of the way she dressed. Her blonde hair flipped out from her face and the red skirt she wore over her jeans flared out slightly as she turned like a ballerina. Lionel&#39;s eyes focused on the diamond engagment ring, no more than a carat. Still simple, spunky, Chloe. He was sure Lex had probably bought the Hope Diamond for her and had it set in platinum, but that it weighed her hand down so much she had to opt for simple and casual. He decided it best not to comment on it and simply nodded in acceptance as her gaze followed his.

"So what&#39;s this nonsense I hear that my son is gone on business?" He draped an arm over her pulling her close to his side as she slipped an arm around the back of his waist, shouldering her purse a little more.

"It must have slipped your feeble, senile mind when you gave him LuthorCorp, seeing as how he&#39;s gone for months at a time and comes home tired as a dog."

Lionel frowned at the though of Lex leaving Chloe alone for long amounts of time and berated himself for not thinking of the consequences more thoroughly before retiring while they were still so fresh in their relationship.

"Don&#39;t worry, Big Daddy," Chloe grinned up at Lionel just as his eyes sparkled with laughter, "I&#39;m perfectly fine with the situation. Just wish he was home more often."

Lionel nodded and furrowed his brow as she led him out of the double doors of the lobby. Taking in his concerned look she grinned. "I have to go pick up dinner for Luna, she&#39;ll start crying if she doesn&#39;t eat every night."

"And Luna is...?"

"Oh, Luna is the best cat in the world, Lex got her for me for my birthday a few months ago." Lionel nodded in acceptance.

"And he lets you wander the streets of Metropolis at night, alone?" Lionel&#39;s concerned look made Chloe&#39;s eyes roll.

"Yeah, right, like that&#39;ll ever happen." She tilted her head back over Lionel&#39;s arm and he turned his head to watch as a black car followed them. He shook his head with laughter.

"Very discreet."

Chloe nodded in agreement. "They probably think you&#39;re going to kidnap me or something."

Lionel snorted in amusement, he had definitely missed Chloe for the last year. She led him across the street by the hand to the corner market. Walking through aisles in a comfortable silence. She hadn&#39;t thought twice about Lionel being in a grocery store, seeing as how she came here regularly and everyone knew her name. "So how long are you back for?" She grabbed up a bag of meow mix and a few cans of fancy feast. Lionel snatched the bag from her and hefted it in his right arm as she carried the grocery basket in her left, their fingers intwined with one another&#39;s.

"I came for the wedding." Chloe stopped in the middle of the aisle and arched a brow.

"We&#39;re not getting married anytime soon."

"Really? Well one very excited reporter begs to differ."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "They got a picture of me walking out of the penthouse one morning and I had my ring on."

Lionel nodded as they stood in line for the cashier, when she went to pay for it, Lionel, instead pulled out his wallet and handed over his credit card. The man behind the counter stared at it as if it were the holy grail and he&#39;d just hit the jackpot. Chloe laughed and took the credit card, instead giving the teen a twenty. Lionel shook his head and put the card back in his wallet.

"You realize now, you&#39;ve just blown my cover." Chloe joked as she carried the bag of cans and Lionel hauled the bag of catfood out of the grocery store.

"Do you realize that over three quarters of the population of America thinks I&#39;m deceased?"

Chloe bubbled with laughter. "Ahha, so it&#39;s publicity scandal is it? Have your picture taken with &#39;said blonde&#39; and the press goes crazy for a little love triangle?" Her mouth lifted in a lazy smile. "That could actually be fun. It would get Lex home a lot quicker." A sad smile drifted onto her features. "I just miss him." She waved the air in front of her trying to keep the tears at bay. "A lot." She added a little quieter and Lionel draped an arm over her shoulders again as they made their way down the street back to the penthouse. Chloe felt a few tears slip down her face as she tried her best to hold them back. "Okay, a whole lot." Lionel fought not to condemn her for acting so unLuthor-like.

"When will he be back?"

"Three and a half weeks." Lionel furrowed his brows together.

"How long has he been gone?" The worry evident in his voice had Chloe place a fake smile on her face.

"Two weeks."

Lionel stopped on the sidewalk and pulled her into his arms. She clung to him and sobbed into his shirt. "I&#39;m so sorry, darling. I had no idea leaving him the company would cause so much trouble."

Chloe sniffled and dried the tears from her face with her palms. "It&#39;s okay, I&#39;m as understanding as I can be."

Lionel nodded and rest his head on top of hers. A camera flash shot at them from across the street and Lionel chuckled softly as Chloe laughed from her tears. "Told you so." She smiled up at him. "We should give them a show."

Lionel arched a brow down at her and she turned to her side and placed a kiss on his cheek as she lifted her leg, bent at the knee. Lionel laughed at the spectacle she created and took her hand after a few more flashes had gone off around them. "Come on, let&#39;s get you home." She nodded and sighed, leaning against him. The penthouse just wasn&#39;t the same without Lex there.

After Chloe had drifted off to sleep Lionel dialed Lex&#39;s cell number.

"Luthor." Lex answered in a husky tired voice.

"Come back to your fiancee, I&#39;ll relieve you."

"Dad?" Lex&#39;s confused tone straightened out almost immediately. "Where are you?"

"The penthouse, Chloe just fell asleep."

Lex yawned on the other end and widened his eyes. "What do you mean you&#39;ll relieve me?"

"I mean exactly that son, come home to Chloe, she needs you right now."

Panic struck his voice as a million possible situations ransacked his mind. "What&#39;s wrong? Is she hurt?"

"No, no, nothing&#39;s wrong, she&#39;s just a little down since you&#39;ve been gone so long and so often."

"I know, I miss her too."

"Good, then it&#39;s settled, you come home this instant and I&#39;ll leave as soon as you arrive." Lionel hung up the phone not giving Lex time to complain. Knowing his son and the affection her had for his fiancee, he&#39;d be there by the time she woke in the morning.

*~*

Chloe woke at noon and stretched to find Luna laying beside her head on the pillow. She rolled over to look at the alarm clock and jumped, her throat choked in a silent scream as a hard body pulled her close. Instantly the smell of him assaulted her senses and his arms pulling her on top of him gave her great comfort. She smiled down at him and silently thanked Lionel for sending him home to her.

"Morning." His voice strained and tired, his body fully clothed she snuggled against the silk of his shirt, the silk of his own shirt she wore rubbing against it and sliding every which way. Her lips attacked his before he could comment any further.

"I love you." She whispered and covered his face in kisses.

"I love you too, baby." They lay there for a good half hour before either dared to move, neither wanting to lose the comfort of body heat.

*~*

Lex sat across from her at the table, his eyes lifted to hers over the paper. "Why are you and my father kissing on the sidewalk?"

Chloe&#39;s coffee sprayed over the table as she covered her mouth. Lex flipped the paper over and held out the headline for her to read.


Luthor Love Triangle: Same blonde, different Luthor

Chloe laughed as she read the article. "Defense tactics?"

Lex smiled and took her hand, "Are you already tired of being called &#39;said blonde&#39;?"

"A little." Chloe shrugged and Lex flipped open his phone. He had a call to make to a reporter, it was time they put a name to a face. Chloe got up from her seat and came around the table to crawl into his lap as he told the reporter, author of both articles, the inside scoop.

Chloe grinned the whole time. "Now how about this wedding date?"

The End

[hfce]

Aw that ending was so cute ;) I loved this story. I am going to miss it.


Hope :chlexsign2:

[bluemoongirl23]

Absolutely wonderful&#33; Can&#39;t say much more than that. It was funny and hot and touching. *sigh* Great ending.

Blue

[Val]

Very cute ending&#33; Loved it&#33; :biggrin:

[ghostwriter]

I just discovered this and had to read all of it. Not good when I have deadlines tomorrow. I think my favourite bit was the &#39;big daddy&#39; comment. It wasn&#39;t just lex who was spraying drinks everywhere. :)
The ending was so sweet but there were funny bits and lionel being nice and even some smut. This is just amazing.

Now i am going to have to read it again tomorrow.....

Ellie

[jem]

aw that was so sweet... loved it.... im gonna miss reading it&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; i loved how lex and chloe just stayed in bed for ages when he got back, sniff sniff......

awesome work bro.... ::begins CLAPPING loudly::

hope to see u soon with more NEW work huih??

[Blaire023]

New Work? And here I was just about ready to retire.

Like sab would let me do that...

and yes, i do have a few other stories plotted out, just going to wrap up the ones that are still out there before I start posting new stuff.

I&#39;m glad you all liked this one a lot and that you liked my Lionel.

~blaire

[lunaluthor]

great epilogue and thanks for Luna the cat your are a sweety :yay:

[missgwen]

You are so wonderful...that was fantastic. I love your Luthors and having Chloe bitchslap Martha? How do you come up with this? The ending was way to cute, splendorific. I have read every single one of your stories and loved them all. You completly rock&#33;

- Gwen

[DawnieAngel]

awwww sweet&#33;

But Ido have one complaint...that now there&#39;s no more&#33;&#33;

Can&#39;t wait to see the new stuff that your wonderful mind creates (will compliments make it come quicker, cause I&#39;m full of them&#33; :biggrin: )

[kidkarmina]

I just finished reading chapter five and luving it already (teaching Chloe how to swim...such possibility) :wub: . I know this is a complete fic but I&#39;m getting so sleepy (and as much as I want to finish this) I have to get some sleep. Hopefully, my work load tomorrow won&#39;t be too much so I can finish reading this :biggrin: &#33;

[kidkarmina]

Finally finished reading it :chlexsign2: &#33; I&#39;ve enjoyed every chapter. You even made me like Lionel. And Chlex, it was so romantic :wub: ; especially the part where Lex had blurted &#39;I love you&#39; to Chloe (before slapping Mrs. Kent, that is).

Very well written :worship2: &#33;

[Tandy]

I loved this fic and Chloe slapping Ms. Kent was the iceing&#33; Great job, very romantic and funny&#33;

Tandy :wub:

[sara_noele]

That was so wonderful&#33; How they began to care about each other, awww..., so sweet :wub:.
Oh, and the breakfast conversation was so funny to read.

thanks

[prosthetic ballerina]

like a lot of people have said, im truly gonna miss this story&#33;&#33; i havent laughed out loud from a fic in a while, and it was great to finally do so. thanks so much for the fab fic babe&#33;&#33;

:worship2: you are my new chlex god,
LOL,
p to the b

[prosthetic ballerina]

like a lot of people have said, im truly gonna miss this story&#33;&#33; i havent laughed out loud from a fic in a while, and it was great to finally do so. thanks so much for the fab fic babe&#33;&#33;

:worship2: you are my new chlex god,
LOL,
p to the b

[argentlife]

Oh sniffle, sniffle

There isn&#39;t one bit of this fic I didn&#39;t love. Bitchslapping Martha, Clark the always-wannabe-hero, a nice Lionel Luthor and smut.

darn girl, somehow you managed to get me so hooked I was up until four in the morning.

Thanks,

Lisa

[Clannadlvr]

Just read this for the first time...

I can&#39;t believe that you had Chloe btichslap Mrs. Kent&#33;

*mind boggles*

an interesting read. :biggrin:

[katspell]

:worship2: :worship2: much fun was had, I loved the Big Daddy Luthor.

[bluengreenswmer]

Ok, so for my review I&#39;m going to use the Transitivity Property of Equality, where if AB = CD, and CD = EF, then AB = EF.

I love fics where Lionel is the good guy. (AB = CD)
Your fic has Lionel as a good guy. (CD = EF)

So, I love your fic&#33;&#33;&#33; (AB = EF)

My teacher would be proud, Geometry DOES apply to real life&#33;&#33;

[Reese]

What a great fic&#33; There&#39;s something about one big, happy Luthor family that just makes me smile&#33; Especially when there&#39;s a limited amount of anyone else (i.e. Clark and Lana).

So many great one-liners and such a great job establishing the relationship between Chloe and Lionel...my personal fave :)

Thanks for a great read&#33;

Reese

[darkangel]

this was awonderful fic. Bravo.

[arkakitty]

I loved reading it :)
All the scheming and with all the best interests at heart. I really enjoyed it, a lot. Thanks.

[kris 105]

Loved it. I actually liked Lionel. Wow! Great story. loved how Chloe just totally fit in with the Luthors. Keep the storys rolling.

[persephone47]

Such a wonderful story, so sweet and cute :)

[stwbrrydelight]

oh, wow, awsome
I totally loved seeing Lionel in this light. He could be such a person if given the inclincation.
Loved the way you paired Lex and Chloe while bringing in Victoria and Lucas.
Just so totally sweet.

[randa]

so i just read this fic in its entirety and loved it! i really liked lionel in this, he made me smile.

randa

[blip_dragon]

Very sweet and amusing story. "Big Daddy Luthor" and "Sexy Lexy Luthor" are hilarious. Very nice ;)

[Esther25jm]

Aww, this was great! You actually got me to like Lionel.....hard to do since last night I watched the ep in which Lionel had Lex given shock therapy. *cries* Anyway, you did a wonderful job and I truly enjoyed your story. Loved that ending, too. <g>

[Pieper]

A wonderfull ending to a wonderfull story. Love it.

[TranslucentDarkness]

Great story with amazing plot! Very humorous at times as well!:D

[Scorch]

I do so love a fic that has Chloe involved with the Luthors, they tend to leave me with those warm and fuzzy feelings, but this one did more than that. This little gem has left me grinning like a maniac, which is scary in itself!

Heee! Chloe teaching Lex how to be romantic? Oh yes, very good plot indeed and extremely funny in parts.

I particularly enjoyed the nicknaming of the Luthors. Big Daddy Luthor *grins* Oh, if only we coulda had that in the show. Then there was the whole Bitch Slapping of Martha Kent. Excuse my use of capitals, but that was just bloody funny! Again, if only we coulda had this on the show.

The epilogue was good and possibly one of my fave bits in it. I can actually see Chloe and Lionel pulling something like that just to cause a raucous!


Hugs, S xxx

[~*~Tasha~*~]

Funny story, cute ending. This story had me from the first chapter. You made Lionel into a caring man, and yet you still kept him Lionel. I loved Victoria's cumuppence. I loved the whole story. Nicely done. I love your stories!!

[SVfan1286]

Great story from beginning to end...I loved Chloe bitch slapping Martha!LOL
Chloe and Lionel's friendship was so cute...Big Daddy Luthor.LOL
Fabulous job...I loved it!

[Lali]

*giggles* I want to return to a penthouse full of Lex too! Chloe is the lucky one...

Anyway, great job at it, even if Lionel was majorly OOC. But I'm not fond of Evil!Lionel anyway...

[Tanschana]

Simply put:
Great story!