Re: Keeping Up Appearances (NC-17) Posted 19th January 2015
Hope you feel better soon. You are so cool for giving us a decent sized chapter when you are sick.
I am enjoying the picture of a growing shadowy threat that you are painting. I don't think Chloe woke up because of a car horn. My goosebumps are telling me someone was there.
Poor Oliver, the dear guy just has no chance, even in The Eternal City.
Are you going to be torturing us with descriptions of delicious Italian food? Just teasing. It wouldn't be Rome if it didn't have scrumptious food.
So, Bart is in the flesh here. I wonder if his role is more comic relief or instrumental to plot development. I'm still upset at the Smallville comics for what they did to him.
Hmm, Chloe has been to Italy before. Hints, I love hints.
Re: Keeping Up Appearances (NC-17) Posted 19th January 2015
Reyeslu: Thank-you, I'm feeling worse actually but the reviews did help. :) Plus the whole five hour nap thing.
Ooooh, clever goosebumps.
Oliver is lovely, clever, with very little inner darkness. You're right, not a chance! :P
What did they do to him? Turn him gay like they did with Superman and the pink kryptonite?
I'm glad that you love hints. I hope that they will be nice.
Phillydragonldy: Thank-you. I'm liking the reviews a lot. :) I have LOTS of other Chlex stories if you like pure Chlex. Did you like how I slipped that little plug in? Very discreet wasn't it?
Jessicakadie: Thank-you. *huggles* Don't worry, you know that Lex is on his way. Would either he or I put up with Chloe with anyone else?
Re: Keeping Up Appearances (NC-17) Posted 19th January 2015
Chapter Two
“You realise that I hate you”, Chloe informed Oliver as she walked into the living area of their hotel suite later that evening. After a long day of sightseeing they had followed the Italian tradition of the afternoon nap to recoup their strength before getting ready for their big night out, but Chloe had been up for over an hour getting ready and so knew that his alarm clock had only gone off ten minutes ago and yet there he stood.
Oliver Queen had certainly won the genetic lottery. Some people spent thousands upon thousands of dollars in plastic surgery to obtain what came naturally to him. Golden blond hair, large dark eyes, chiselled features, sculpted body and a ready smile. He also looked extraordinarily dapper in dark business suit and crisp white shirt. It was very rare that she saw him all GQed up - as he was more casual than most other billionaires that she knew - but he certainly knew how to wear a suit when he wanted to.
He looked like he had stepped out of the pages of a magazine. And after only being awake less than ten minutes. It was ridiculous. If she didn’t know better she would have sworn that he was meteor rock charged.
Oliver looked up at her from where he was standing fiddling with an apparently errant cuff-link. His large brown eyes filled with a combination of surprise and hurt. How had she never noticed that he looked like a puppy dog in certain lights before?
They spent a lot of time around each other - mostly in the Watchtower - but never really together until the last forty-eight hours. As a result, although she could recite his biography and could work out how he would react in almost any high risk situation, there was so much that she didn’t know about him. For example, the fact that he could be hurt by such a stupid little comment.
If nothing else it would be interesting to learn more about the man in whose company she passed so many hours of her life. Unfortunately, that day’s sightseeing hadn’t enlightened her to much though - other than Italy culture and art, and the fact designer heels were still high heels and as such were murder on your feet after the first few hours of tramping around. Oh and the fact that she was going crazy and kept thinking that she saw someone following them when there was no one there.
“I’m joking. I don’t really hate you”, she assured him. “It’s just that I have spent an hour getting ready and you just walk out here looking like that”. She didn’t feel weird giving her boss a compliment as it wasn’t really a compliment. It was just a statement of fact. He could have been a model.
“Oh”, he smiled a charming, boyish smile. “Well, in your case it was well worth it”, he surveyed her outfit with unmistakeable approval.
“I wasn’t fishing for compliments”, she informed him curtly and quickly walked over to the table which held the coffee maker. Due to their wish for privacy, they were restricting the number of times that they called down for assistance which was just fine with her. She was accustomed to looking after herself.
“I know”, he assured her and paused for a second before asking, “Why do you always say that?”
“Say what?” She wondered looking up at him.
“That you weren’t fishing for compliments”, he explained, “Or something else dismissive whenever someone gives you a compliment”.
“I don’t”, she scooped the coffee granules into the machine and clipped the top down.
“You do”, he argued back.
“Well, I don’t like those girls who are all ‘I’m so fat and crap”, she replied, doing an unflattering impression of them. Her awkwardness showing through.
“That makes sense, but you can’t even accept a ‘you look nice today’”, he noted as he walked over to her. Chloe’s only response was to lower her head, allowing several strands of hair to fall in front of her burning cheeks. He reached out to gently tuck them back behind her ear. “You know I can see you blushing”.
“It’s hot in here”, she tried to defend herself but only succeeded in ensuring that she blushed an even deeper hue. That was not what she needed to be saying him with him that close to her!
“No, it’s not”.
Her head snapped up to stare at him. His matter of fact tone reminded her so strongly of someone else. Someone she was trying to forget.
“What is it?” He asked, placing his hand on her shoulder.
“Nothing”, she looked at him unflinchingly, sensing that he wasn’t going to let this go. “I just don’t trust people who are ready to tell you that you are beautiful. Or smart. Or anything really. They always want something”.
“Ah”, he said knowingly, staring at her. “So you were that girl in High School”.
“That girl?”
“The class beauty. You know the ‘look at me and die of envy’ girl. The one that all of the boys flocked and constantly complimented and all of the girls secretly hated”, he described his image of her. “I can imagine that that would be hard, That it might make you a little”, he appeared to be searching for the right word, “mistrustful”.
Not as hard as being ignored, Chloe thought to herself with a snort but only answered simply, “No, that was Lana”.
“Really?” He sounded disbelieving.
“Really!” She didn’t need his pity. Thankfully the percolator had finished its job and she reached for a cup.
Oliver grabbed the coffee pot and filled her cup up for her. She offered it to him but he shook his head. Their eyes met and there was an uncomfortable moment. “You must have been a heart breaker through”, he finally said stuffing his hands into his pockets.
“I was an story breaker”, Chloe corrected him. “I was very busy getting into trouble, at least once a week, with very little time or inclination for anything else”. That wasn’t entirely true. She had been fully of inclination, in fact if her inclination had ever had the chance to be unleashed in her teenaged years then Clark would have been walking funny for a week. As it was, it had been bottled up well into her college career.
“So you intimidated them”, he decided.
She studied him for a few seconds as she tried to determine if he was mocking her, thne shook her head. He really couldn’t imagine a world not being attractive and the centre of people’s adoration. He couldn’t imagine what it was like for her even though he had immediately fallen for Lois and seen Clark with Lana. Did he just think that they had been soul mates and there was someone lurking around for Chloe? The idea was utterly preposterous. She had thought that once, but had soon woken up from her twisted dream. There was no fairy tale happy ending for her.
He was still staring at her, trying to figure her out. “No”, she shook her head again, “I just wasn’t on their radar and they weren’t on mine. I always wanted to get into journalism. A boyfriend wasn’t going to help me with that”. She added a shrug for good measure and hoped that she sounded nonchalant. She was disgusted with the number of tears that she had said, there was no need for anyone else to know of her shame.
“True”, he granted. “But still learn to take a compliment. It is really annoying.”
She quirked an eyebrow up at him, a smile toying around her lips.
“Well, it is”.
“Do you really want to get into a listing annoying traits battle Queen?” She demanded, she would have placed her hands on her hips, but that would have meant relinquishing her coffee.
No”, he admitted, with a good natured smile. That was what she liked about him. He was so free from darkness. “But still, you act as if no one has ever told you that you’re beautiful”.
Chloe dismissed this and concentrated on her coffee, “Are you sure that you don’t want some? The Italian coffee maker makes one hell of a espresso”.
“Oh my God, they haven’t, have they?” He exclaimed in shock.
“Don’t be silly”, she moved to walk away from him but he reached out and grasped her arm before she could. She looked down pointedly at the large hand on her arm, then back up at him but if he had noticed that he was acting strangely, he was ignoring the fact.
“Chloe”, he prompted in a far sterner tone of voice than she had ever heard him use before.
“Are we including my Dad? She tried to joke her way out of he situation.
“I like Gabe, but no”, Oliver said plainly.
One person had. One person had told her just how fucking gorgeous she was and exactly what he would like to do to her. In great detail. And the idiot she was she had actually believed him.
Chloe sighed, “Let’s just say that I don’t have the best luck with compliments. Facts, I like”.
“Well”, he slid his hand up her arm and around her shoulders in a loose embrace, “as my fiancée you’ll have to become accustomed to them”.
“As I am only going to be your fiancée for a few more days, a week tops, I don’t need to get too used to them”, she pointed out.
“Well for the time being at least I am getting to know more about you. It doesn’t seem realistic for me to know so little about my fiancée”.
“Ollie do you trust me with your life? To run Watchtower?”
“Chloe, you know that I do”.
“Then you don’t need to know anything else about me. It really isn’t necessary for this assignment. You aren’t pretending to be engaged to actual Chloe, only pretend Chloe remember. And she’s only here to make you happy. So don’t worry”. Someone trying to ‘get to know’ her scared her. More than any of the evil she dealt with on a daily basis.
Oliver didn’t look thrilled by this reminder.
“Buck up sailor”, she reached out to do the Lois shoulder punch. That ought to sort him out.
Oliver grabbed her hand before it had chance to connect with his shoulder. He took her cup from her and placed it on the side before cupping her face in his space hand to make sure she had no choice but to look at him. “Chloe, you are incredibly beautiful and I don’t just mean today”.
~*~
“Wow, Chloelicious”, their chauffeur whistled as he saw his favourite blonde sauntering out of the hotel into the warm night air. “I know that they say that Italy has the tastiest treats but damn. Don’t you look good enough to snack on?”
“Yes thank-you Rapid Gomez, I think that I will be able to help her into the car”, Oliver sent the younger man a warning look. And not just because he was risking their cover.
“Speedy Gonzalez”, Chloe corrected him, trying not to smirk as both men grappled for the door.
“Bart”, he corrected them both, succeeding in being the one to open the door.
“Whatever”, they chorused as Oliver helped her into the car with a superior look.
“Honestly Oliver, no need to check out her ass like that. Have some manners”, Bart said, easily evading Oliver’s swipe.
“He has superspeed”, Chloe reminded Oliver as he slunk into the back seat next to her and closed the door after him.
“I know that he is super annoying”, Oliver grumbled. “You know that he was just trying to wind me up, right?”
“Hmm?”
“I mean, I wasn’t checking out ...”
“My ass? I know”, she patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. I know to take everything that Bart says with a couple of bucket loads of salt”.
“Hey”, their speedy companion complained as he returned to the front seat and slammed the door shut.
“What?” Chloe looked innocently at him.
“I am wounded. Beyond wounded when you know that all my special skills are yours for the asking”, he grinned at her through the rear view mirror, his intentions obvious.
“Oh Speedy, some things are better off a little slower”, Chloe teased him.
He blushed bright pink and Oliver chuckled to himself. Still, Bart bounced back and asked, “So, where are we off to?” Still clearly checking Chloe out through the mirror.
“To the address I already gave you”, Oliver responded, a little curtly, “we can’t take any chances”.
“Dinner and then a show?” Chloe confirmed the schedule even though she had booked it for them.
“Yes, I’m being very traditional today”, Oliver smiled at her.
“It’s a good option”, she considered, “especially seeing the number of socialites likely to be there. We are bound to come across at least one of the people who can issue us with an invitation. Or at least an invitation to a party to get an invitation”.
“Did you follow that?” Bart called from the front.
“Yes”, Oliver called back, “keep your mind on the road”. Then focused on Chloe, “Very true”, he agreed. “But we want to avoid getting too close until we can be certain. The more eyes the more chances of them picking up on something”.
~*~
“I’m sorry darling”, Oliver purred, learning across the table to take her hands.
“What for, darling?” Chloe inquired in a whisper.
“That I brought you to such a crowded restaurant”, he smiled, “we haven’t been able to have a moment to ourselves”.
Chloe laughed, looking from the man before her around the restaurant. Neither of them had any idea what had happened that night but there was hardly a soul about and certainly not the normal high flyers for whom they would have been an object of interest.
“It must be your personality”, she quipped.
“Oh really?” He asked with a laugh as he poured some more wine into her glass.
“Why, Mr Queen, are you trying to get me drunk?” Chloe inquired very primly.
“Maybe”, he wiggled an eyebrow at her.
He couldn’t tell if she was feigning tipsy or not; she was a brilliant actress. A beautiful, brilliant actress. This was the first chance he had really got to spend time with her. She had never precisely snubbed him before, she just hadn’t wanted to spend time with him. The enthusiasm in her eyes the first time that they had met was not as evident any more and she seemed to spend every hour in the Watchtower since its creation just over a year ago. But still, she was fascinating to him. She was just so .... Chloe.
She shook her head in amusement and took another sip of her drink. “Umm”, she let out a low moan of pleasure and her eyes rested shut for a second before blinking back open, “this is very good”.
A purely male desire shot straight to his crotch and he had to have a brief but serious talk with himself concerning the reality of the situation: Chloe was acting and that wasn’t her discreet way of asking him to fuck her hard against the nearest wall.
“Really?” He leaned even further over (once he thought that he had himself under control) and brushed his thumb down the corner of her mouth and across her full lower lip. He tasted the imaginary droplet of liquid. “Delicious”
She leant even further forward and crooked her finger at her, beckoning him to do the same. Then whispered conspiratorially,“There was nothing there, was there?”
“Maybe, you’ll never know”, he grinned at her.
“So, I am getting to see the patented Oliver Queen moves, am I?” She sat back in her chair and surveyed him.
“I haven’t had them patented”, he grinned cheekily at her.
“Oh come on”, she cajoled. Her voice was barely a laughing whisper but he heard every syllable.
“The nice suit. The compliments. The”, she gestured in the air around her, “handsome, very self-assured thing. Oh, and the limo driver”.
“The limo driver is a smart mouth”, he cut in.
She giggled, “And you bring me to the finest restaurant. Oh, and the hand on the back, cool confident - don’t think that I didn’t notice that”.
He winked at her and laughed, not surprised that she had been able to see straight through him. “Hey, I’m a gentleman”.
She raised an eyebrow at him in challenge.
“I resisted the urge to squeeze”.
“What’s what passes for gentlemanly behaviour these days?” She asked with a mock sigh, before continuing her list. “And all of the waiters know your name. Plus the soft candle light, the wine, the witty conversation, and casual dropping of endearments”. She tilted her head on one side. “Does it work?”
“Usually, yes”, he admitted with a laugh. “You really are something else, aren’t you Chloe? Wait, no, that’s wrong”.
She raised her eyebrow at him.
“No, I mean you clearly are something else, but the name is wrong”, he tried to explain.
“I’m fairly certain that that is my name. At least that is what it says on my birth certificate”, Chloe informed him as she reached out for her drink once more.
“I mean that I should be using some sort of endearment”, he elaborated.
“No, darling doesn’t sit well with me”, she said. “I know that you’ve been using it on and off all night but as no one is around to hear us at the moment. Just, no darling”.
“Not inventive enough, honey?” He teased her with a warm smile. He was about to ask why she was starting to tense up again over one word when their waiter re-materialised. Oliver bent a finger at him and ordered for both of them, too quietly for Chloe to hear before sending him back on his way.
“Ordering for me, how very manly”, Chloe said, reclining in her seat, sipping her wine.
He studied her, trying to figure her out until he finally just came out and asked, “Sexist?”
“Unwise”, her expression broke into a smile. “Unless it contains chocolate”.
“Lots”, he assured him. “Tiramisu”.
“Trying out another nicknames?”
“No”, he laughed, “what we ordered but I like the idea of food based terms of endearment”.
“Very sweet”.
He rolled his eyes, “That was such a bad pun that I’m not entirely sure that it counts as a pun”.
“I know, my little”, she thought, “cream puff?”
He winced.
“What would you prefer my”, she searched her brain for another food based name, “Dumpling? Sweet pea? Sweet potato? Brioche? Pain au chocolat?”
He laughed, alcohol certainly agreed with her.
“I’m not sure. I’m probably could get used to all of them”, he had never had a problem with any names which came out of the mouth o fa beautiful woman. “But ...”
“Do you think that we are having too much fun with this?” She wondered.
“No, not at all but we had better make it convincing”, he gestured towards the waiter - re-emerging with their dessert in hand -, his eyes twinkling.
“God, this looks good”, she groaned as the delicious concoction was placed before her.
Yup, that was convincingly. Once the waiter had vanished once more Oliver watched with fascination as she dragged her spoon across the sinfully rich, tempting chocolate confection and brought it to her lips. She savoured it with a groan of pure delight, her eyes closing and her head lolling back slightly in unabashed delight. Her pink tongue darting out to lick her lips.
An embarrassing noise like a strangled mew, was ripped from the back of Oliver’s throat.
“What was that?” Chloe jumped back to attention.
Under her scrutiny he felt himself colouring up. He could have said that he had only been acting but he doubted that she would have believed it. “Parsnip”, the word escaped him.
“I bed your pardon?”
“Or would you perhaps prefer broccoli? Tater tot? Pickle?” He tried to cover his ass with the joke.
Chloe laughed. A little too exuberantly.
“Oh bugger”, Oliver swore under his breath as something caught his eye.
A/N: Dun duh duh ... what did you think?
Re: Keeping Up Appearances (NC-17) Posted 19th January 2015
Pimp away on your stories! I even posted a thread asking for fic recommendations! I read Chapter 1 of "The Accident" and it was super hot. Then I saw there was a baby, and it lost me. (Should have guessed by the title, but I thought the cave in was the accident.) Anyway, I have a hard time reconciling the SV characters as parents. Maybe because they are so young? Though I do love that your Lex seems to be dark a lot and I love bad boy Lex.
That said -- Wow, that was a fast update! I'm amazed and envious! And happy! Did I mention happy? Took me a month to update my current Chlex story (though I have been distracted with SecretChlex too, so it is all still a Chexy wonderland. ;) )
So loved this chapter again. Really liked getting the first glimpses of Chlex in Chloe's thoughts. Hoping we get to see those details of what Lex wanted to/did with her. :)
And this line made me literally LOL - "“I was very busy getting into trouble, at least once a week..."
Hoping what caught Oliver's eye was Lex...
*chants quietly lex, lex, lex, lex*
Re: Keeping Up Appearances (NC-17) Posted 19th January 2015
Quote:
Originally Posted by
phillydragonldy
Pimp away on your stories! I even posted a thread asking for fic recommendations!
By the way, there's already a thread open to discuss your favourite fics so I've closed the new one. Feel free to add your POVs here: http://forums.naughty-seduction.net/...anfiction-Ever
There's also a thread for Chlex fic recs here: http://forums.naughty-seduction.net/...ecommendations
Re: Keeping Up Appearances (NC-17) Posted 19th January 2015
Where are all the party people at in Rome? Hmmm, how can it be that secret if everyone else is there. I guess Oliver has been out of the party scene for too long. Or is it possible that the research Chloe did was wrong?! Mysteries abound.
Re: Keeping Up Appearances (NC-17) Posted 19th January 2015
Reyeslu:
Quote:
Where are all the party people at in Rome? Hmmm, how can it be that secret if everyone else is there.
Oopsie. My bad. Not everyone. Just the people 'who count'.
Quote:
I guess Oliver has been out of the party scene for too long.
Yup, that's what responsability will do to you. Terrible, isn't it?
Quote:
Or is it possible that the research Chloe did was wrong?!
*Horrified gasp*
Indeed, but that one will be answered not in this chapter but in the next one. :D
Thanks for reading and taking the time to review.
Re: Keeping Up Appearances (NC-17) Posted 19th January 2015
Quote:
Pimp away on your stories! I even posted a thread asking for fic recommendations! I read Chapter 1 of "The Accident" and it was super hot.
Thank-you. :D
Quote:
Then I saw there was a baby, and it lost me. (Should have guessed by the title, but I thought the cave in was the accident.) Anyway, I have a hard time reconciling the SV characters as parents. Maybe because they are so young? Though I do love that your Lex seems to be dark a lot and I love bad boy Lex.
Nevermind, babies aren't everyone's thing. Generally I don't like them as parents which is weird because they I've now had them as parents quite a few times. Weird. Yeah, maybe because they are so young but also Bad Lex and babies don't really go together, do they? Kind of makes me want to do a second fic now with the cave in as if that were The Accident. Thanks for the idea.
Quote:
That said -- Wow, that was a fast update! I'm amazed and envious! And happy! Did I mention happy? Took me a month to update my current Chlex story (though I have been distracted with SecretChlex too, so it is all still a Chexy wonderland. )
You're kidding right? I've read one of your stories - apple - I'm the one who is envious however long it took you. This one should have been fast - I have been way off my game for several months now so my narrative bunny owes me. Lately she had been giving me so many plots that I seem to be constantly planning fics - or bits - but with no ability to concentrate to write with one one-shot exception. Silly bunny. I'm so excited about Secret Chlex. I want it to be the 9th already!
Quote:
So loved this chapter again. Really liked getting the first glimpses of Chlex in Chloe's thoughts. Hoping we get to see those details of what Lex wanted to/did with her.
Thank-you and are you sure that you can handle it?
Quote:
And this line made me literally LOL - "“I was very busy getting into trouble, at least once a week..."
He he.
Quote:
Hoping what caught Oliver's eye was Lex...
*chants quietly lex, lex, lex, lex*
Ummmmmmmmmmmm sorry. Thanks for reviewing and please keep rreading. He will turn up, I promsie. :D
Re: Keeping Up Appearances (NC-17) Posted 19th January 2015
Chapter Three
“What’s the matter?” Chloe demanded, instantly on the alert.
“Nothing, parsnip”, he assured her closing his hand over hers. “Just something a little odd. Possibly a lead”.
Chloe wanted to turn around to get a better look but Oliver reached out his hand to caress her face and she kept it where it was, guessing that she was not supposed to look around just yet. In spite of herself, a chill went up her spine. Not dread. But nerves. She expected at every second of her life to be caught out and what she had thought that she had seen that morning had not helped. In short, she was jittery.
For a year she had practically lived in the Watchtower, her own project and design financed by Oliver. It enabled her to see everything. To know everything. To control everything. Now that she was back in the real world, she was decidedly jittery.
“What is it?” She asked, trying to sound calm, all traces of her earlier alcohol induced mirth forgotten.
“A man I know. Possibly a little too well”, he threw some notes on the table. “Come on, I don’t think that he has seen us”, he held his hand out to her and the second that it looked as if the man’s attention had been diverted, he pulled her along.
Chloe wasn’t normally one to follow but this time she did, allowing herself to be tugged along into a corridor off the main eating area. They got a strange look from the waiter who was coming back through but Oliver shook his head and he said nothing.
Oliver pulled Chloe once they reached the end of the corridor and wrapped his arms around her. “Don’t worry”, he whispered..
“What happened? I thought that we wanted to be seen”, she replied quietly, trying not to be affected by the way his head was buried in the crook of her neck. She knew that it was just so that any waiters that might see them wouldn’t ask questions.
“We do”, Oliver breathed against her, “but not by him”.
Chloe angled her head so that she could stare into his eyes questioningly.
“He knows me too well”, Oliver explained with a pointed look.
Chloe understood. The man in question was likely to realise that she wasn’t his usual type and blow their cover. Either that or Oliver would be embarrassed when he returned to Metropolis or Star City to have people knowing that he had been slumming it.
“Are you okay?” Oliver questioned quietly.
“Yeah, fine”, she returned in a whisper.
He wrapped his arms around more securely. “He is a sneaky bastard if ever there was one and knows everything about everybody”, he elaborated.
“So what are we going to do?” Chloe asked.
“I’m not sure yet”, Oliver scanned the surrounding area. They had prevented themselves from being immediately spotted but the danger was still imminent; it was a very open restaurant and the only way to get out was by sneaking back passed the man in question. They could have just stayed where they were until he left, but there was always a very good chance that he would need to use the bathroom which was passed where they were standing. They were as good as trapped.
“We are going to have to make a run for it, aren’t we?” Chloe surmised.
“It looks like it”, Oliver evaluated the situation. “Okay, we are going to stay close together, like we are talking intimately and head for the door in three, two, one”.
The man in question turned his back on them as he sat at a table and they hurried across the room, a little too quickly apparently as they drew his attention. Chloe didn’t need to turn around to know that. She looked up at her date with questioning eyes. Damn, they needed an excuse to be leaving like this. Their desserts had barely been touched and they were rushing out of there.
She could hear the footsteps gaining on them and then, just before they reached the double glass doors Oliver pulled her to the stop. “I can’t wait to have you”, he growled, crushing her into his chest.
Chloe gasped and immediately found her mouth covered by his.
~*~
Chloe was frozen against her boss. Oliver’s arms were wrapped around her in a passionate embrace, which had about as much give as steel. Her senses reeled. The searing heat of his body. The smouldering desire in his dark eyes. The scorching passion of his mouth as it pressed insistently against hers. It was all too much for her, seeming to threaten to incinerate her.
She knew that she had to make this look good but she didn’t know how. She couldn’t simply sink into his embrace - accepting it for what it was - as she once would have. Everything was more complicated now.
Slowly she tried to open her mouth, every fibre of her being screaming at her that this was wrong, wondering how she would ever manage to fool anyone that this was a normal action for either of them. She tilted her head to one side and tried to turn her brain off and just focus on the movement.
She tried to appreciate the softness of Oliver’s lips. The strength in his hard body. The passionate nature which clearly simmered just beneath the surface. Instinctively, she let out a moan. It was just a reflex, she told herself. It didn’t mean anything.
His tongue slipped into her mouth. She tried to push it out and the sensual dance began. She moaned again and this time could not quite convince herself that the delicious tingles which accompanied the muffled noise were merely a reflex.
“Chloe? Chloe”. Oliver reached out and touched her shoulder.
Chloe jumped about a foot in the air, “What?” She demanded.
“I was just checking that you are alright. You have been quiet ever since we left the restaurant”, Oliver pointed out softly.
“Are you saying that I am normally a chatterbox?” She tried to joke.
“No, I was just checking that you aren’t upset about anything. You aren’t, are you?” He reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder. “If there is something wrong you can tell me. I want you to tell me”.
“You really are one of the good guys, aren’t you Oliver Queen?” Chloe thought out loud.
“I hope so”, he rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing, honestly. I’m just a bit tired”, she shrugged it off.
“You are sure that that is all that it is? I mean you just stood there for ten minutes once we got through the door. You didn’t even hear me day your name five times”, he pointed out the pieces of evidence which seemed to contradict her story.
“What would be bothering me?” She asked as the memory of Oliver’s warm body assaulted her. It was pleasant enough itself but brought back too many memories. She had never through that she could enjoy, or even bear, to have another man touch her.
He slid his hands up to rest on her shoulders, “Look at me Chloe. Whatever it is, you can tell me. I will always be there for you”.
“It’s nothing”, her tone was convincing, but she couldn’t help but blink back tears.
“Right”, Oliver squeezed her shoulders, “so it is just as I thought”.
“As you thought?” She repeated uncomprehendingly.
“Our kiss was to blame”, he grinned at her, “It was just so awesome that it rocked your world and you are still a little shaken. It’s okay. It happens”.
“Ollie”, she pulled away and punched him lightly on the shoulder.
“What?” He protested, “You wouldn’t be the first woman to fall for the Green Arrow”.
“Whatever!” She rolled her eyes.
“Whatever? Wow”, he teased her, “I haven’t heard that used as a comeback since what, the mid-nineties”.
Chloe held her fingers up in such a way as they spelled a capital W.
“The coup de grâce to be sure”, Oliver outright laughed at her. “Oh come on”, he jostled her a little. It’s funny. Smile. It will make whatever it ‘isn’t’ better, I promise”.
She managed a small smile, accompanied with by an even smaller sigh. “Are we okay?”
“Why wouldn’t we be?” Oliver looked confused.
“I mean, you don’t think that he suspected anything?” Chloe clarified. “This is all just getting a little strange, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know”, he ran his hand through his short blond spikes. “I told you he is a suspicious man, he has worked for some of the wealthiest families in America for exactly that reason. But don’t worry, we will make it work whatever happens. We will get on that island”.
“I could rope in Aqua Man if needs me”, Chloe pointed out, only half joking.
“No thanks, I’ve already got one team member slobbering all over you”, Oliver huffed.
“You shouldn’t talk about yourself like that”, she replied, trying to hide her smile.
“I meant Bart!” He protested.
“Oh, you really need to be more specific”, Chloe joked with a straight face.
“Funny”, he rolled his eyes, “I thought that it was only Bart”.
On that note, she wandered off into her bedroom as revenge for teasing her earlier - and because she thought that for the good of their professional relationship, a little time apart might be useful.
“Chloe, come on. It’s only Bart right? If my men are getting distracted I need to know”, Oliver pointed out.
“Good night”, Chloe told him with a smile as she turned around to close the door.
“You know that this is a full service deal!” He called out, unwilling to let her have the last word.
“Good night, Oliver”, her voice came clearly through the wood.
He grinned and shook his head as he called back, “Goodnight Chloe”.
~*~
“Have you forgotten me so easily, my darling?” The words, spoken in a distinctive purr, wrapped around Chloe as lay in the large bed in the middle of a fitful sleep.
“No”, she whimpered in distress as she thrashed about, the covers binding her leg and arms.
She felt his hands trying to get a grasp on her. She fought. Not knowing if she was trying to get away from him or nearer to her tormentor. As her hands reached for his, it was gone and on another part of her body.
“You failed me, my darling. You ...”
“No”, Chloe cried so loudly that she roused herself. “Lex”, she sat bolt upright in bed. Cover in cold sweat. Her hands clawing for him.
“Lex”, she called out again, scrambling around her bed for something anything. She found the light switch and the room was illuminated.
Lex wasn’t there.
She stroked her hands over her stomach, her arms, her legs. Her skin still tingled from his touch. She could smell his scent.
He had left her. Abandoned her forever. And it was all her fault.
“Oh God Lex, I’m so sorry”, she broke down, her arms wrapped around her middle, hands clenching until her nails dug into her flesh. “I’m so sorry. So sorry”, the words ripped out of her in a howl of pain. She had loved him so much and now she was destined to be alone for the rest of her life, haunted by her memories of him.
A/N: So, thoughts, feelings, opinions, cuddles, everything is welcome.
Re: Keeping Up Appearances (NC-17) Posted 19th January 2015
Hmmm! Interesting!! So there is a history in this story for Lex and Chloe. I am a fan of Chlex but I am also a fan of Chlollie. Love to see if there is going to be a love triangle when Lex finally make an appearance and how will Oliver deals with Lex in Chloe's life.
