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The Rules of Enmity: NC17
Disclaimer:
I own nothing; this is purely entertainment.
This is about the ways two people punish each other and themselves.
"Show me." The words gave Lex a tingle of both dread and excitement. He hadn't known she was there, but the voice in his ear was unmistakable. He shifted slightly and saw the blonde head behind his shoulder in the reflection of the stainless steel doors in front of him. There were at least five other people in the elevator with them, but it didn't matter, rules were rules.
Ignoring the covert looks of curiosity from the other passengers, Lex placed his briefcase on the floor and unbuttoned his suit jacket. Then he carefully removed the gold stickpin in his tie and flipped the expensive silk over his shoulder. He began unbuttoning his shirt, starting with the third from the top, and finished when he could comfortably part the edges of the garment enough to reveal a patch of his bare chest.
Lex paid no attention to the horrified gasp of the elderly woman standing next to him. She was looking at his reflection in the doors.
"'Fraid I can't see that," came the coy remark behind his shoulder. The smugness in her voice made the corners of his lips twitch. "You know the rules," she prompted.
Lex turned around and faced all of his fellow occupants of the elevator car, and was relieved not to recognize any of them. Still holding the edges of his shirt apart, he looked down at Chloe Sullivan. She wore her hair up in a french twist, and looked professional and sharp in a navy suit with low-heels that kept her a good four inches shorter than he was. He met her cool gaze through the blue-tinted glasses she wore and she smiled.
"Can you see it now or do you need to get closer?" he asked. He was certain that everyone had an unobstructed view of the couple of inches of naked, Luthor chest that bore, in simple, blue script "Chloe"; just under his left pectoral muscle.
"I can see it fine, thanks." She nodded at his shoulder. "Nice tie."
Lex took his time re-buttoning his shirt and adjusting the violet silk tie. There was no point in hurrying now; everyone had had a free show. With his very noticeable, bald countenance, it was pretty likely that at least one person recognized him. He'd managed to keep the tattoo a secret from most of the general public until now, but in Metropolis, in the middle of a court case, it was unlikely that news of a woman's name tattooed near his heart would go undocumented.
But rules, as she'd said, were rules, and he couldn't refuse.
He was glad that the elevator was going to the top floor and he was buttoned back up before the doors opened again. As he stepped out onto the office floors, he noted that Chloe didn't follow. She must have been on the elevator with the sole purpose of playing show-and-tell. Well, she re-started their little game, so be it. He could be just as strict with the rules of enmity.
*
Chloe left the building with a smile on her face. Granted, she’d have to be careful to avoid him over the next few weeks, but since she was working more in the evenings and overnights, she didn’t think it would be difficult. She checked her watch and decided that she had time for a cup of coffee before her court appearance. She was giving testimony in a divorce case; not one of her favorite things to do. As a private detective, it went with the territory; but working for one of the upscale agencies in the city, she rarely had to chase wayward spouses.
McEvoy and McEvoy was a private investigation firm run by a husband and wife team of former police Detectives. They often worked with the Metropolis P.D. and their clientele list was impressive. The C.E.O. of a large company, who regularly hired the firm to do in-depth background checks on employees and clients, was in the middle of a messy divorce and had asked Chloe, as a professional courtesy, to follow her husband around.
Chloe had agreed since the client was a friend of hers. Sheri Benson and Chloe had become friends through mutual acquaintances and the acquisition of Sheri’s business had given Chloe a lot of credibility in her firm. The two women, though about ten years apart in age, had developed a rapport over their common love of obscure cinema. Since their jobs were completely different, as well as their lifestyles, they found each other’s company to be quite refreshing.
Chloe entered the designated courtroom and made brief eye contact with Sheri. The fortyish woman was tall, with a handsome, strong face that wouldn’t win any pageants, but aged very well. Chloe was happy to be her friend’s ace-in-the-hole, but sad that it had to be under such a painful and uncomfortable moment.
“How do you feel?” Chloe asked, accepting the glass of wine that their waiter brought them. She and Sheri were seated in a fine restaurant, at a well-placed table in the center of the room. As a woman, Sheri was under more personal scrutiny than any men in her position; she took it in stride but tonight she seemed a little upset. Chloe noted the signs that would have been well-hidden from anyone who didn’t know her.
“Well, there’s the huge feeling of relief that it’s finally over,” Sheri admitted, lifting her glass in a slender, dark hand. “I mean, how many women can drop two-hundred pounds in one day?” She smiled thinly. “I’m just a little smothered by my sudden freedom.” She lifted her own glass in a toast. “To new beginnings, and ending feuds.” Chloe clinked her glass to her friend’s and was lifting it to her lips when she heard a familiar voice over her shoulder.
“Good advice, if you can get her to take it.” Chloe froze as Lex Luthor strolled past, following the maitre’d to his own table. He was seated facing her and Sheri turned slightly in her seat to look at him.
“You two know each other?” She jerked her head behind them.
“We’ve known each other for many years,” Chloe said, not looking at Lex. He wasn’t quite within earshot if she kept her voice a little low. “Back from my days in Smallville.”
“That’s right.” Sheri cocked her head to the side. “He ran a plant there for a couple of years before his father died. Then he came here.”
“Do you know everything about everybody?” Chloe took a large swallow of the fruity wine. The waiter returned and took their dinner orders. It was going to be a long meal.
“It benefits me to keep up with the other power players in the city, Darling.” She raised an ebony brow. “Especially the sharks.”
“You say that as if he were somehow different than all of the other rich, powerful, unscrupulous men in this city.”
“If you know him, then I don’t have to tell you that he is different.” Suddenly looking a little more cheerful, Sheri leaned forward eagerly. “So, did you two have a torrid affair? Maybe some kind of kinky little cornfield rendez-vous?”
“You have a sick and twisted imagination,” Chloe said. Sheri just wiggled her eyebrows lasciviously.
“That’s not a denial I’m hearing.”
“Then listen close,” Chloe said with a little smile of her own. “Cause we didn’t and wouldn’t, and won’t.”
“Just asking, cause there was some definite tension in that little shared moment of yours.” She turned her head slightly and smiled at Lex who nodded his head in what would be considered a greeting of equals. While Sheri was still looking at him, he turned his gaze back to Chloe’s averted face and started to smolder. “There is some serious history going on there, you’d better spill.”
“Well,” Chloe started. “I suppose you might as well know, people may start asking questions now that I’ve thrown down the gauntlet.”
“What is going on?” Her dark eyes were bright, “You’re killing me with the suspense.”
“It all started back in Smallville.” Chloe rested her chin in her hand wearily. “Before Lex left, we’d had a sort of…alliance.” She sighed. “It’s complicated, really. We weren’t exactly friends, and sometimes, we really felt like enemies, but we had a common goal at one point and had a mutually beneficial partnership. He needed something from me and I needed something from him.” Seeing the look on her friend’s face she added, “Not that.”
Chloe glanced up when Lex was joined by an attractive couple dressed for business. She didn’t want to catch his gaze so she stared at her glass. “Well, things got a little rough for my dad and me after Lex fired him and Lionel Luthor blacklisted him to get back at me for something I didn’t do.” The statement came out in a rush, like ripping off a band-aid. We were struggling when I went into college, and Dad had to move. He eventually got a job working night security for a warehouse just outside of town.” Her stomach twisted as she thought back to her father, taking the worst shift in a horrible job so that he could be close to her.
“Is that were he was working when…” Sheri’s face smoothed into a sympathetic expression. “When he was shot?”
“Yeah,” Chloe said. “Lex had promised that he’d protect us from his father, but he couldn’t. He just blew us off and wouldn’t even give Dad his old job back. He just stood there while we lost our house; I had to sell my car, and go into enormous debt for an education.”
“So I know why you hate him, but why did he give you such a dirty look.”
“At my father’s funeral, he showed up,” Chloe said. She closed her eyes and could almost smell the soggy ground in the graveyard.
“Chloe, I can’t tell you how sorry I am for your loss.” It had stopped raining just before Lex had shown up. Chloe didn’t look at him, just at the coffin and the empty chairs around her. There hadn’t been many people at the service. They’d all gone home when it had rained, but Chloe just sat, letting the cold water run over her, soaking the white blouse and dark suit she wore. The coffin was being lowered into the ground now, per her father’s request, no one but she would be present for the actual burial.
“Go away, Lex.” The silence was filled with the low hum of the hydraulics that lowered Gabe Sullivan into the ground. The ground made noise, even where there weren’t any feet. It was a passive squishing sound of water soaking into the earth and releasing the blades of grass with a nearly inaudible sound that she’d always thought sounded like the crispy rice cereal she used to eat. Snap. Crackle. Pop.
“I spoke to the funeral director and I’ve paid the bill.” She snapped her head around so fast, she felt a small pop in her neck. “I thought it was the least I could do.” His expression was tight, maybe a little pained, but controlled. Chloe got out of her seat and flung her wet arms at him, seizing his lapels in her fists. She pulled herself up onto her toes and he automatically held her shoulders.
“Leave it to a Luthor to do the least,” she hissed in his face. “The least you could’ve done was keep your word, the least you could’ve done was give him a job, the least you could’ve done was give him a fucking recommendation.” She stretched herself up till her lips were close to his ear. “This is your fault!” she shouted. “You dropped us when you decided that you didn’t want your father to go back to prison and brought him back into your house.” She shook him violently, causing him to slip in his expensive dress shoes. Chloe took the opening and practically threw him into the mud, landing on top of him.
“Chloe, stop.” He took her wrists and pulled them from his collar. She was sobbing now.
”I hate you so much just for who you are and how you live.” She punched at him ineffectually with her trapped arms. Lex sat up in the mud and the skies opened up with tears of their own and rain fell again in windy sheets, punishing the two people on the ground. He trapped her against his chest while she cried and cursed. Then he forced her to stand and they were seated in his limousine.
Chloe took his handkerchief and looked out the window as they passed the cruddy houses that lined the streets in the bad side of town. She couldn’t even bury her father in a nice spot. It was too expensive to ship his remains back to Smallville.
“I’m not in the habit of doing this, but is there anything I can do?”
“Stop the car.” Her voice was quiet and she was focused on something outside. Lex ordered the driver to halt and Chloe grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the car. Seeing nothing but her own rage and need to cause pain, she asked him to do something that he’d have refused on any other day.
“Is it about the pain?”
“Yes,” She replied, watching him take off his shirt. “I want you to remember me and pain you caused me at least twice a day. I want you to have to explain what you did to the women you take to bed.” She shrugged. “Or, you can lie about it and know that I’m making you do it.” The artist got to work and was done in about fifteen minutes.” Chloe walked out of the tattoo parlor and away from the limo. She walked for several blocks before hailing a cab to take her back to the college campus.
“Wow, you made him tattoo your name on his chest?” Sheri was staring at her with an open mouth. Their food had arrived, unnoticed. “That’s insane. I can’t believe he actually did it.”
“Truthfully, I think I caught him in a weak moment and he accepted it as a kind of penance.” She shrugged, there’s a little more to it than that.” Before explaining any more, she excused herself to go to the ladies room. She needed a moment to compose herself. When she walked out, he was standing there. She looked around, there was a man talking on a payphone in the narrow hallway behind them. She was slightly relieved, if they’d been alone, it could have been worse. He was smiling at her.
“I showed you mine, now show me yours.”
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17
:eek: Glad you decided to write this fic. Very interesting start. Really want to see where this one goes. More soon please.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17
ummm....got my attention....
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17
Ooh great start!!! I'm looking forward to your next update.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17
That was some start! I can't wait to read more!
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17
Great start! You really need to continue!
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17
Alright, a new fic by Zelda--Awesome!
This story already has me intrigued--please continue :grin3:
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17
wow I really hate lex right now lol
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17
Wow!! What a start! I can't wait to see what Chloe has to show.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17
Wow :P and we are off. Sheesh I can see why but wow. More please....
Hope ;)
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17
Interesting...I love the tension...write again soon.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17
HAhahahahahaahha! This is really good!!!!!
Update soon !
:D
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17
WOW. This is a neat begining. I love the idea of the tattoos and the fact that Lexes is right under his heart speaks volumes [ is Chloes close to her heart as well? Is it his name?] I wonder what he tells aout it to women he has sex with. Do they even have the courage to ask him about it? Does he answer? Have I said how much I love the tattoos yet? :)
Even through there is so mch pain, right now, I still hope for a happy Chlexy ending.
Please write more soon.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17
that was great please update soon, i want to know what kind of tattoo and were she put it.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17
What where and when do we get to read about it??????!!!!
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17
Well alright then...I didn't see that coming at all, lol. It's kind of twisted but yet it makes sense, it's something permanent that Lex will always have to look at and know why it's there. Very interesting, I can't wait to read more.
Steph*
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17
Very intriguing beginning to your story!! I can't wait to see what Chloe has!! I really hope, however, that they don't try to hurt each other too much!! I love happy endings!!
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17
Where's hers and what's the story behind it?! I must know, I'm literally dying of suspense here. Do you really want that on your conscience?
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17
Great start... can't wait for more!
-Lily
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17
That was really interesting. A great beginning!
Quote:
"Show me." The words gave Lex a tingle of both dread and excitement. He hadn't known she was there, but the voice in his ear was unmistakable. He shifted slightly and saw the blonde head behind his shoulder in the reflection of the stainless steel doors in front of him. There were at least five other people in the elevator with them, but it didn't matter, rules were rules.
This gave me the impression that what ever was going on between Chloe and Lex was a game, partially competitive and partially playful. I really liked this beginning. There were no explanations, it just started from the middle of something. This made me need to read more to find out what was going on. That's not always the case. The way you wrote and placed it was intriguing.
Quote:
She was giving testimony in a divorce case; not one of her favorite things to do. As a private detective, it went with the territory; but working for one of the upscale agencies in the city, she rarely had to chase wayward spouses.
I love the investigative reporter in Chloe but it's always interesting to read her having a different profession.
Quote:
“Yeah,” Chloe said. “Lex had promised that he’d protect us from his father, but he couldn’t. He just blew us off and wouldn’t even give Dad his old job back. He just stood there while we lost our house; I had to sell my car, and go into enormous debt for an education.”
This was a surprise. At the beginning I thought that this game of theirs wasn't very serious. But I loved this surprise. I really enjoy it when writers give their readers the unexpected, something unique. It makes the fic more memorable, and your fic certainly made a wonderful first impression. Of course I love when Chloe and Lex get along and are in love. But it's so much more interesting to see them start off, and continue on for a while, as being adversaries. I really liked how they weren't extremely cruel to each other, yet also not very sympathetic towards each other.
Hope the next update comes soon!...*scrunches eyes tightly and hopes strongly*
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17
You got me, what happens next?
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17
Chloe didn’t bother to sulk or argue. This particular rule had been one of her own, so she had no right to complain. She unbuttoned her blazer and pulled it off her shoulders. Lex reached out gallantly in a silent offer to hold it for her. She shoved it into his hands and tugged the hem of her white blouse from the waistband of her skirt. Turning around, she bunched the cotton up her ribcage and slid her hand up her back, lifting the back of the garment above the fastening to her bra.
The man who’d been speaking on the phone had stopped talking and was staring openly. Chloe glared at him and he turned away.
"Chloe?" Dropping her shirt and turning around, Chloe faced Sheri and took her jacket from Lex’s hand. She shouldered past him to leave and he bent down as she passed.
"Always a pleasure."
Not looking at Sheri, or anyone else, she returned to the table and picked up her purse. Digging out a handful of cash, she dropped her share of the bill next to her plate and tugged her blazer back on.
"Chloe, what’s going on?" Sheri appeared at her elbow. "If you don’t tell me now, I’ll just drag it out of you later."
"Later, then." Chloe left the restaurant quickly and hailed a cab, knowing it would take a few minutes for Sheri to settle up her half of the bill and she wanted a head start.
Sitting in the back of the cab, Chloe cursed herself. Why had she done it? Why had she decided to wave a red flag in front of Lex like that? She’d seen him heading for the elevator just as she’d been leaving and stepped inside to intercept. She hadn’t even thought about it, just slipped inside and waited to make her move. She hadn’t seen him in months and he’d left her alone. Now she was digging up old drama with him.
Chloe paid the driver when he dropped her off at her apartment building and ran inside. Her adrenaline was pumping from anxiety and embarrassment; her hands shook when she slid her keys into the lock. Once she was inside her apartment, she breathed out slowly, trying to calm her nerves.
She hadn’t looked at it in a long time. She caught glimpses in the mirror every now and then, but she didn’t really look at it. Shedding her shoes, stockings and skirt; she walked to the bedroom.
Chloe stood in front of her full-length mirror and started to unbutton her shirt when the buzzer announced a visitor. She walked out to the intercom and pressed the button. "Who is it?"
"Chloe, let me in." Sheri’s voice was worried. Chloe buzzed her in and opened the door when she heard the sound of her shoes clipping down the hallway. Her friend walked in and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay? I saw him follow you to the bathroom; did Lex do something?"
That was a loaded question.
"The story didn’t end with Lex getting the tattoo," she said, walking to the fridge and taking out a bottle of water. She offered it to Sheri who accepted. "I need to show you something." She rubbed a hand over her face and closed her eyes for a moment.
"What is it?"
"Just bear with me." Chloe was wearing just the dress shirt and her underwear. She turned her back on her friend and unbuttoned it before dropping it off her shoulders and down to her waist.
"Oh my." Sheri stepped forward involuntarily and reached out to touch Chloe’s skin with the tip of a fingernail. "Hang on, I’m going to turn on a lamp." With better light, she saw the pale purple script. Beautiful letters ghosted along the curve of Chloe’s spine, spelling out ‘Alexander’. The tattoo started from the corner of her right shoulder blade and ended at her waist.
"Can I get dressed now?" Sheri stood upright quickly.
"Sorry, I didn’t mean to seem insensitive, It’s just…" she gestured to Chloe’s back, "there."
"Yeah." Walking to her room, Chloe snagged a terrycloth robe and pulled it on, tossing her shirt in the hamper. "I don’t usually strip for my friends, I just thought seeing it might be easier."
"So what happened to bring this development about?"
"Well, kind of the same thing as with Lex." Chloe sat on the couch and Sheri joined her. "It’s a penance for me, same as for him."
"Penance for what?"
"I killed his brother." Seeing Sheri’s look of horror, she corrected herself. "Not literally, but I was still responsible."
"Talk, I’ll make some coffee."
"Might want to make it Martinis. I won’t be sleeping tonight anyway."
*
Lex sat in his apartment, sipping his Scotch. He’d finished dinner with his companions and then gone home alone. He looked out the large window at the city lights twinkling below. It was nearly Two AM and most of the residential and business buildings were dark. His eyes went to a particular spot, south of his own building and he stared. He couldn’t see her apartment, of course, it was too far away and too many taller buildings obscured the view. But he looked in the direction and wondered if she could feel his stare. He hoped that she could. He hoped that she could feel it burning into her back like the needle that had cut a swath down her spine and spelled out her humility in delicate purple letters.
The scotch tasted bitter on Lex’s tongue, but he swallowed it without a wince and closed his eyes. The moon was bright tonight, it would shine in Chloe’s bedroom window where she might be lying awake right now, unable to rest with the weight of his thoughts. He smiled to himself. She’d cast the gauntlet, she always did, and he always found a way to turn things around. Lex told himself that she invited the misery and guilt. If she’d just managed to get over Lucas’ death, she wouldn’t be so bothered by him.
Lucas. Bastard son. Half-brother. Weak link. Chloe should have known better. Lucas was never as strong; never as resourceful. Lex had protected him and tried to help him erase his past, but Lucas made a few mistakes and they came back to haunt him in the form of Chloe Sullivan. The irony was how similar their situations were; Chloe’s and his own. She’d been trying to bring him down, but Lucas had fallen instead. Literally. Off a balcony in a Los Angeles hotel; looked like an accident. No one believed it.
He thought about the beginning of their bond. The day of her father’s funeral. Rain was so dismal and emotional. It was so dramatic. Movies used it to produce emotions from the audience; intensity of a romance in the rain, the sensuality of water dripping down a person’s skin. The way hair, if you had it, plastered against the skull. There was something so raw and natural about being wet. There she’d been, sitting in it, watching a box that held the body of her father being lowered into the ground.
The rain had stopped for a moment and Lex had gotten out of the car, hoping to convince her to leave. He didn’t know why he was exposing himself to possible litigation by expressing guilt. Instead he just offered condolences and then she’d attacked him. Lex didn’t feel a lot of guilt these days. The rush of success and the challenge of power kept him occupied. His conscience didn’t have a lot of elbow room. But something about a girl watching her father sink into the ground made him accept her punishment.
Lex swallowed another mouthful of scotch, letting the burn in his belly remind him of the feeling in his gut when she’d told him that she hated him for being who he was. He didn’t like to think about her eliciting such a strong emotion from him, and he wouldn’t put a name to it; but for some reason he’d found sympathy inside. Maybe because he’d buried his own father. He’d known better than to bring it up as a comparison. Lionel Luthor and Gabe Sullivan. There was no comparison.
Lex had sat in a dirty chair and let a disreputable man put Chloe’s name on his chest. He’d felt the needle scratching his skin and watched her, memorizing the almost greedy look on her face as she absorbed his pain. Then Lucas had died...because of Chloe. And he’d seen the favor returned. To her credit, she hadn’t made much noise.
Chloe had straddled the same chair, holding the back of her shirt up with one hand and staring straight ahead. Lex had chosen to pace back and forth, alternately watching the ink applied to her skin, and her face while it was being done. He hadn’t asked her to bare her breasts for the artist. Somehow that would have been taking things too far. He’d still never really seen them; only a glimpse of a darkened nipple through a wet silk shirt. A tiny, distracting glimpse while her wet legs had slithered around him, her fists delivering ineffective blows to him. She hadn’t hurt him then, but she learned how.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*update 4/30*
oh please write more, i beg you. you cant stop there
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*update 4/30*
Wow, great update. The plot thickens and I'm hooked. More soon please.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*update 4/30*
Wow!!! I really didn't see that coming. I'm dying to know what it is exactly that Chloe did.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*update 4/30*
It's getting really interesting. Please continue!
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*update 4/30*
wow wonder how so learned to hurt lex, and why did she kill lucas? This is a fascinating story......
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*update 4/30*
Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*update 4/30*
I'm hooked... so please, write more! I want to know what happened ... how they deal ... and I miss Lucas. Already. *sniff*
SaraC
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*update 4/30*
That's what I'd call promising ... I hope we'll get an update soon, I can't wait, I think I'm gonna love thise story.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*update 4/30*
Wow that was very interesting. I would so love how Chloe was the cause of Lucas death. The fact that she got that tatoo is just :P
Hope ;)
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*update 4/30*
A very intense chapter--What exactly happened with Lucas? More as soon as possible--OKAY?
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*update 4/30*
I feel so sorry for Lucas!! And I really wish that Chloe and Lex didn't hate each other!! I don't see how they will ever be able to get over the pain they caused each other!! Please update your story soon!!
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*update 4/30*
First of all...God that must have hurt! I should now and even I had to shiver at that. Another great chapter, they're both kind of twisted in this story and yet it makes sense. They're just trying to get back at each other, but they ways things are looking it's going to escalate quickly...what a mess. I can't wait to read more!!
Steph*
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*update 4/30*
"So what happened to Lucas?" Sheri had taken her shoes off and was curled up with her second martini on Chloe’s couch.
"Lots of things, really," Chloe stalled. "But what I did pushed him over the edge."
"There was never any indication that his death was anything but an accident." The lovely woman sipped her drink. She had the constitution of someone twice her weight. She’d once told Chloe that while it wasn’t necessary in her line of work, it had certainly helped on occasion that she could drink all of her vice-presidents under the table. "It just looked like a broken latch on the balcony."
Lucas had been staying in a hotel converted from an old mansion. The curved staircase made it nearly impossible to move furniture upstairs so a pulley system had been used in the old days to get beds and couches to the second and third floor. The balcony had a latch and gate so that the pieces could be moved in and out through the large, glass doors. Lucas had been on the third story and had apparently been drinking. Witnesses said he’d been standing out on the balcony, watching a lawn party until it broke up. Then, he’d apparently leaned back against the gate, which gave way, and fallen to the patio.
"The landing wasn’t caught on video, but the balcony was visible to the security cameras." Chloe shuddered delicately. "I’ve seen it." She recalled the black and white film that Lex had forced her to watch. She’d seen Lucas drinking and pacing and standing above a crowd of people. He’d never looked at the camera, but she saw his face clearly. He’d looked…relieved; even a little impatient, as if waiting for the party to break up. His movements had been casual, but the fact that he’d finished his drink, gone back inside and put on his suit jacket before walking back out to the balcony and leaning, ever so casually, against it.
"You’re sure it was suicide?"
"Lex showed me a letter that Lucas wrote, it arrived a few days after he died. It didn’t say anything specific, but it was enough to know he was saying goodbye."
"What happened?" It was a nicer way of saying ‘What did you do to him?’
"I stumbled across something in my research, when I was still a reporter," she began. "It was barely a breath of scandal, but since I hated Lex so much I dropped everything and pursued it like a damned terrier after a rat." She laughed, as bitter as the gin she drank. "I’d been following up on a lead that linked Lex to an upscale call service."
"Hookers?"
"Really high priced business. Makes the Hollywood Madams look like Singapore street-walkers."
"Makes? You mean it’s still in business?"
"Oldest profession in the world won’t be taken down by one reporter." Chloe went to the kitchen and grabbed a bag of chocolate-chip cookies. "Anyway, I was looking at anything I could find to discredit Lex. Timing was crucial in this because Luthorcorp had a couple of sensitive projects up in the air at the time." She chewed her cookie guiltily. "I got careless, just plowed into it so fast that I missed a few key points. The information I was going on involved Lex’s penthouse outside of the city, it was the taxi service used by the workers that clued me in. I went to take pictures for a few nights of the arrivals and departures used by this company. Then I hunted down names of all the people who went in and out.
"Eventually I found my story, and I even managed to sneak into the building and get photos of the workers going to the apartment." She leaned forward. "The story was even juicier than I could have possibly hoped for."
"You’re killing me here."
"The hookers were men."
"Oh my God," Sheri’s mouth dropped open. "Lex is gay?"
"No," Chloe replied. "I was so focused on the workers that I never bothered to actually verify that it was actually Lex in the suite."
"Oh," Sheri said, realization dawning on her. "It was Lucas using his brother’s suite?"
"Yeah, and I managed to get a beautiful shot of him greeting one of the men with a big kiss. It was what every trashy tabloid reporter dreams of."
"You’re not trashy."
"That’s just it. I went from investigative reporting to muckraking. I didn’t care about my reputation, or my career, I just wanted to hurt Lex. Then Lucas saw me and I ran."
"I don’t remember any Gay scandal when Lucas died."
"I sat on it for a few days, waiting for Lex to approach me. I developed the film myself, I didn’t want anyone to see them before I had a chance to drop a bomb. Eventually I heard from him. All he said was ‘Please don’t do it, Chloe.’ But I just hung up on him. I gave the pictures to the Inquisitor, not the Planet." She drained her glass and nearly choked on the lump forming in her throat. "I can remember sitting here, watching t.v., I was practically humming with self-satisfaction when I saw the story. Lucas was dead."
"How did Lex find out about your involvement?"
"Lucas must have told him." The downstairs buzzer sounded, startling Chloe off the couch. She’d been cleaning her oven. She walked to the door and pressed the button.
"Let me in." It had been Lex’s voice; she knew he’d come eventually.
"What brings you-" Her remark was cut off by Lex’s hand encircling her throat. He practically lifted her off her feet and dragged her backwards toward the couch. Unable to speak, Chloe clawed at his hand when he slammed her into the cushions. His face was a mask of cold rage.
"You sit right there and don’t you move." She hadn’t noticed that he’d been carrying something in his hand. He just went to her VCR and put a tape in. Chloe started to get up. "Get up from that seat, and I swear I’ll knock your teeth in." It was the first time Lex had ever made a threat like that. Not that she hadn’t been threatened by him before, he’d even tried to kill her. But this was a different animal altogether. He pressed play and stood to one side, watching her while she watched the screen.
"Is that Lucas?"
"Don’t you speak his name." She watched, a little nauseous, when she saw Lucas’ last moments on the screen.
"Lex, I’m sorry about your brother, but his death was an accident." She was feeling her stomach twist painfully. She shouldn’t feel guilty for the story. Not for his family.
"Read this." He took a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket and threw it at her. "It arrived the day after he died."
The contents of the letter were simple; Lucas apologized for not telling him, wrote that he loved his brother, and that he was going to drop off the radar. Those were his exact words. ‘Drop off the radar.’
Chloe understood. She read the letter again and felt her hands go numb. It was a goodbye letter, dated the day before he died.
"You didn’t know about him?"
"No, he didn’t even feel like he could trust his own brother." Lex paced away from her, then back. "He was just trying to be happy, in his own way. And now he’s dead because of you." His words struck a defensive cord in Chloe. She buried her guilt under the anger.
"I didn’t know he was going to do it, Lex," she said. "And I can kill the story." She crossed to the phone but he snagged her arm.
"Story’s already dead. I had feelers out the second Lucas came to me. He didn’t tell me who else was in the pictures."
"I wondered why I hadn’t seen it in the papers." She jerked her arm out of his grasp. "So why did he do it?"
"He couldn’t face me."
"I’m sorry Lex. For you loss."
"No you’re not." He walked to the VCR and took the tape out. "You’re thrilled that you’ve been able to hurt me like this."
"I wasn’t trying-"
"Bullshit!" He turned to her with an accusatory finger pointed at her chest. "You blame me for your father’s death, so you decided to take away my only family."
"I didn’t plan for Lucas to die, Lex. I had no way of knowing that this would happen."
"What did you think? That he’s become a gay rights activist?" He flung his arms out. "We’re Luthors! We’re not allowed to be gay, sick, hurt, victims…" He trailed off. "We’re not like the rest of you."
"You think I’m somehow entitled to suffer because I’m not a Luthor?" Chloe’s rage boiled up. "You think you shouldn’t be attacked because of the ‘poor little rich boy’ story? You ass!" She got in his face. Her father had died and now his memory was being trashed because Lex considered him 'common'. She was too angry to stop her next words. "Now you know how it feels. Now you understand what happens to the rest of us."
The look Lex gave her was on the edge of homicidal.
"You think this makes us even?" Before Chloe could answer, Lex took her arm and pulled her out the door of her apartment. He practically threw her in the elevator and restrained her from getting out until they reached the lobby. Then he manhandled her into his limo and gave the driver a street address. "You’re right, Chloe, our situations are very similar here." He was looking out the window when they pulled up to the curb. "The results will be the same." He turned to look at her, the pain and grief in his gaze finally touched her through the anger. "You owe me this."
"And you just did it?" Sheri was beyond stunned.
"When I saw how hurt he was, I stopped being mad. I’d let my temper get the better of me in the apartment, and I’d let the worst part of my nature push me into taking the photos in the first place." She poured herself another drink. "That’s when I quit reporting. It may seem odd that I went right back into snooping, but it was the only thing I was really good at, and feeling a little bit lower seemed to fit. I made a living with people’s infidelity and lies. Just in a seedier way."
"Do you really see it that way?"
"As a reporter, I wrote just as many stories exposing the good in people as I did the bad. Now all I see is the ugliness. It just seemed appropriate."
"If you don’t mind me asking," Sheri ventured. "Why did you pull up your shirt at the restaurant?"
"Another long story, but to put it in a nutshell, the animosity wasn’t erased between us. The history is too long for that. But we spent years going back and forth with random pranks and general troublemaking."
"Sounds healthy."
"It just snowballed."
"I can tell."
"Well, it went from doing negative things to just the opposite."
"You can’t tell me you became friends."
"No, but I ended up with an opportunity to save Lex’s ass once. He was being hassled by a woman who claimed that he sexually harassed her. I managed to get her to drop the suit against him with no payout."
"How?"
"I found information regarding a similar suit filed when she was a teenager, two of them, in fact, suing schools claiming that her teachers were approaching her inappropriately."
"So she was a scam artist?"
Chloe paused. She chose her next words carefully. Or at least, as carefully as she could given the amount of alcohol she’d consumed.
"I don’t know for certain," she said. "I figured she probably was, but I paid a lot of people a lot of money to give me the dirt on a juvenile. Everyone believed her on both earlier cases."
"She was really beautiful." Sheri was sharp. "I’ve known someone like that. She really did get harassed a lot, men couldn’t seem to stop themselves from acting like asses around her."
"Either way, I approached her and gave her the information I’d gathered. Since it wasn’t an arrest record, and her parents had been the ones filing suit, it could have been damaging."
"I’m surprised that Lex’s people didn’t find this."
"They probably would have, and it would have gone to court, and she might have lost. But the damage would have been done. I just got there faster."
"Why did you help him?"
Chloe had asked herself the same question countless times. Why had she helped him? Why did she feel the need to have him in her debt instead of at her throat? Maybe it gave her more satisfaction to have his gratitude, however resentful. Maybe she wanted a to throw him off a bit, either way, it had made her feel more alive than she’d been in months to walk into his office and give him the news.
Lex had been beyond skeptical. But she’d timed it just right and his lawyer called while she was sitting in his expensive, leather chair. The way his gaze had darted to her in surprise while he listened to his lawyer on the phone gave her such a surge of adrenaline that she’d had the shakes afterward.
"Why did you do that?" he’d asked. He stared at her quietly, she could practically hear him thinking that their war was over. That she’d finally broken down and offered a truce. It had been so satisfying to stand up and smile at him.
"From now on, whenever I ask, you have to show it to me." She’d relished the expression on his face darken to something that wasn’t anger, wasn’t amusement, but somewhere in between. Either way, he’d accepted her challenge.
"What made you do that?"
"It’s twisted, and wrong; it makes no sense that two people, normally sane, have this need to play stupid games with each other. But I do need it. Or I did." She rubbed a hand over her eyes and felt a slight sting where a little bit of gin was left on her fingers. She let it burn and blinked away the moisture. "It escalated with him backing off a guy I dated who’d started to stalk me. He demanded to see mine whenever we met. The rules of enmity were laid out like this: Only the first person to see the other could ask, no one could refuse, and no explanations were to be given to anyone about the ‘arrangement’."
"You’re right, it is twisted."
"I don’t deny it."
"Did it ever get any worse?" Sheri watched her friend closely and when Chloe wouldn’t look at her she prodded. "You’ve got to tell me now; I’m here for the long haul."
"He made the next move after a couple of months of show and tell. We don’t usually run in the same circles so he’d have to come looking for me and vice versa for a fix."
"How did he kick it up?"
"I was offered this job." She giggled. "Go figure. I keep him out of trouble and he goes and brings me to the attention of my future employers."
"Why did you take it?"
"I didn’t know till I was working there a week. Then this big bouquet of flowers gets delivered to my desk with a note from him. It reads: ‘Hope you like the new job; when we’re alone, I get to touch it.’"
"You could’ve quit."
"Oh, but that would be backing down, and I couldn’t do that," Chloe said, dryly. "No, I felt the need to keep pushing things till I could arrange the upper hand."
"Did it involve anything illegal?"
"Nope, I just got him a little revenge."
"He doesn’t do that himself these days?"
"Not the way I can. I still have plenty of contacts in the journalistic world. Actually took two personal days and went digging up the business world history and found the one guy who probably hated him as much as I did. He’d been a thorn in Lex’s side for years. And a pretty sharp one at that."
"Who?"
"Randall White."
"That was you?"
"That was me."
Randall White had been a southern gentleman with political aspirations and a hatred of Lex Luthor that stemmed from his former dealings with Lionel. It was probably the fact that Lex , himself, had done very little to antagonize the man that Chloe had chosen him. If he’d had a real beef with the bald millionaire, maybe she’d have left him alone. But then, she’d almost believed the woman with the sexual harassment suit.
Chloe had been inspired by some of her old research. Randall White’s name had come up several times when she’d been digging frantically for dirt on Lionel Luthor in high school. Though she hadn’t recalled immediately what their connection had been, when she came across his name in connection with his criticism of Luthorcorp’s business practices, she’d made an immediate connection.
White had known Lionel as a young man, and the man’s history was now as pristine as a professional cleaning crew could make it. He hadn’t, however, counted on a teenage reporter having kept all of her research fastidiously organized since before his political aspirations came to fruition and he’d felt the need to cover his tracks.
"Lionel Luthor left him holding the bag when they had a business together. There was some insider trading suspected but nothing was proven. White had been the source in the company who’d told Lionel to sell his stock. When the Luthor legal team was done, even the deal White cut with the D.A. for immunity didn’t help. His name was kept out of it as part of the agreement, but he was still out of a job and Lionel was smelling like a rose."
"How’d you get the name?"
"I got lucky. I wasn’t the first person to go digging into the past. I came across someone who’d kept court documents and employment records. It just came down to records of his geographic location during the trial. Hotel receipts paid for by the D.A.’s office, phone calls between White and Lionel, all stuff that was almost meaningless until someone with an anal retentive attention to detail and an obsessive drive could put it all together."
"So you had the name of the informant, but what about the person who gathered the info."
"He was murdered a few weeks after I talked to him. A lot of his information was passed to me as the sole record, and I kept it to myself. But after White had his past cleaned up a little, and Lionel Luthor was dead, he went forward with his own agenda."
"You went to a lot of trouble."
"I’m not proud of it now, but at the time, I was excited about the challenge. It really took my mind off how unhappy I was."
"Now we get to the root of things." Sheri reached for a cookie. "I’m glad I didn’t have to say it."
"I might have been twisted and a basket case some of the time, but I still knew what I was doing."
"How long has this been going on?"
"A couple of years. Then I started seeing a counselor because I couldn’t sleep. I knew that this game was beyond unhealthy. I was punishing myself by pushing Lex to try to hurt me. My own guilt over my responsibility for my father’s situation."
"I know you put Lionel Luthor behind bars…for a little while, but how does that make you responsible for doing your civic duty."
"My relationship with Lionel started out as a partnership. I betrayed a friend because of my own hurt feelings. He might have preyed on my weaker moments, but I still made the choice. Then it was almost impossible to get out."
"Smallville sounds like a pretty dangerous town."
"You don’t know the half of it."
"You’re a girl with a lot of secrets, why share them now?"
"I made a huge mistake when I pushed Lex back into the game today." She glanced at the clock on the wall. "Or yesterday." It was nearly Three AM. "I’d managed to get myself out of the sick addiction to the humiliation cycle but the compulsion was too much. And now that it’s my turn again, all I can do is think about how I’m going to ambush him next, and what he might to to up the stakes."
"Walk away, Sullivan. It’s cost you a lot already. You don’t need your sanity to add to the pile."
"Might be too late."
A/N:Okay, this was the disclosure chapter. All the history is out there, coming soon...touchy feely moments...literally.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 3 5.1.05*
Wow!!! So much pain coming off the both of them. I'm actually really intruiged by this twisted version of their relationship and I can't wait to see what Chloe does next. More please.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 3 5.1.05*
It's been a long time since I read a story as interesting as this one. Hope you'll post next chapter soon.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 3 5.1.05*
Oooh. Dragon loves this story. And wants more updates...
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 3 5.1.05*
Wow!!! That was intense. Great update!
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 3 5.1.05*
I'm totally loving this story! Great update, can't wait for the next one.
-Lily
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 3 5.1.05*
i am so loving tis neverending cycle fo two people who can[t seem to stop themselves from harming one another
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 3 5.1.05*
I'm loving this story so far and can't wait for the touchy-feely moments to come.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 3 5.1.05*
This was an intense chapter. Chloe and Lex each blame the other for a death in their family, but neither is directly responsible for the death, though.
BRILLIANT! :grin3:
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 3 5.1.05*
Wow, the explanation for their reason to get the tattoos was a lot more involved then I would have thought. It was an awesome chapter! It was great to see how they both reacted in those moments. Now I can't wait to see what else happens...maybe they can find a way to start moving on. I can't wait for another update!
Steph*
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*update 4/30*
I've been reading this since you've put this up, and I have to apologize profusely for not feedback until now. It's a wonderful story, and the relationship and history you've handled well. It's complex and original, something i've come to expect from you, and I can't wait until the next chapter.
Quote:
"Walk away, Sullivan. It’s cost you a lot already. You don’t need your sanity to add to the pile."
"Might be too late."
I really, really like sheri. And I thought that was such an awesome way to end the chapter.
*waiting for more, patiently as possible*
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 3 5.1.05*
Chloe and Lex are two twisted sick people. If they get together they will drive eachother to the crazy house. No way would it work.
Hope ;)
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 3 5.1.05*
heh, heh, she promised us touchy feely bits!!!
way cool. more please.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 3 5.1.05*
Thank you so much for explaining Chloe and Lex's past!! I really hurt for Lex and Chloe!! I hope that you will be able to make everything better soon!! You're so good at that in your stories!! Post again soon please!! :)
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 3 5.1.05*
This is very dark...in a good way. I like it alot. Wanting to inflict pain to ease your own is a natural feeling, and adds to the reality of the characters. I just hope Chloe and Lex can find solace in loving each other instead of hurting each other. Nice job.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*update 4/30*
Quote:
Originally Posted by zelda
A/N:Okay, this was the disclosure chapter. All the history is out there, coming soon...touchy feely moments...literally.
Promise?
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 3 5.1.05*
Intense and intriguing and well ... I can't wait for more! Now that the past is out there... I say let the games begin. (hopefully, the touchy feely kind)
SaraC
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 3 5.1.05*
This is twisted and sad and wrong... in the very best possible way. You're the first person I've ever seen acknowledge that there are rules to enmity as well as love. I haven't done anything this extreme, but there is one guy I still can't speak to in public. I guess everyone has had, at some point, that one person that makes them crazy in a less shiny happy sense than 'love - it makes you do the wacky'. But it's still a strong connection, maybe unbreakable. I really enjoy the depth and immediacy of your writing and the confessional aspect of telling Sheri, but doesn't that violate one of the rules? Or is it only 'Thou Shalt Tell No One... While It's Going On'? Looking forward to more!
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 3 5.1.05*
this whole story is just mindblowing.
it's believable, the way you've set up their past, but it's mindblowing just the same.
definitely going to be on the lookout for updates.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 3 5.1.05*
A/N:Okay it's finals week and I'm sitting for state licensing exams so this might be it for a couple of days. Thanks for all the feedbackMorning came way to early for Chloe. She never slept very well when she drank a lot. Something about the alcohol in her system kept her from deep sleep. She just woke up feeling dehydrated and tired but unable to stay in bed any longer. She opened a bottle of water from the fridge and drank half the contents so fast that the chill made her teeth hurt. She ran her tongue over them and headed for the bathroom to brush the sticky, wooly feeling from them.
A slug of mouthwash later, she put on a pot of coffee and eyed Sheri’s sleeping form on her couch. While she waited for the coffee to brew she grabbed the paper from her doormat before one of her neighbors could steal it; then she took a quick shower, feeling a little fresher, but no more awake than when she’d opened her sticky eyes.
Sheri was stirring on the couch. Chloe deposited another bottle of water in front of her and a pair of yoga pants and long-sleeved jersey; workout clothes would be the only things to fit her friend. The tall, black woman was much leaner thanks to good genes and a strict exercise regime. Sheri mumbled something incoherent and headed into the bathroom with the water and clothing. Ten minutes later, she emerged with a towel on her head.
"I can’t believe how insensitive I was to you last night," Chloe said, putting a plate on her breakfast bar. "The whole plan was for me to be there for you, and I turned it into something all about me."
"Choe, the last thing I wanted was to dwell on that horrible train wreck of a marriage," Sheri said, accepting a Mickey Mouse-shaped pancake and a pile of fluffy eggs. "I think you managed the impossible. You made me completely forget about that philandering asshole, so don’t apologize." She reached for a coffee mug from the mug tree that sat on the counter. She pulled a second one for Chloe and started pouring coffee. She presented Chloe with the white mug that read: ‘I am master of my Domain’ and kept the one for herself that was black with red, gothic script. It read: ‘Virgins, the other white meat’. Chloe had been famous for her mug collection at the Daily Planet. She was infamous at McEvoy and McEvoy.
Chloe hopped on a stool opposite her friend and they ate in silence. Chloe cleared the dishes and Sheri cleaned up the living room.
"So what are you going to do now?" Chloe asked, as Sheri settled herself on the couch. "Have you thought about dating again?"
"I’ve thought about dating, but I won’t consider it for a little while. I can use the divorce as an excuse for a while. The truth is, I’ve been over Manny since the second I found out about the infidelity. The betrayal hurts, and the lies, but I just feel like I want to be selfish with my time." She cocked her lovely head to one side. "Know what I mean? I just don’t want to have to take another person into consideration every time I make plans. I just want a little break from that for now." She sighed and leaned back, sipping the last of her coffee. "That male escort service is still in operation, right?"
"I can make a few calls," Chloe said with a grin. "I’m sure they’ve got someone your style."
"Get me an Italian, I hear they’ve got big cocks." Chloe immediately experienced the intense pain and discomfort of passing coffee through the sinus passages. She wiped her face and watering eyes as she tried not to inhale any more of the hot beverage. She couldn’t however, stop laughing at the deadpan look on Sheri’s face.
"God, if you can keep a straight face like that all the time, no wonder you’re CEO."
"Gotta have a good poker face when you’re in this business."
"Well, if you change your mind about actually dating someone, I do have a friend at work who’s a pretty special guy." She grinned. "He’s got a great personality."
"Right, so how fat and bald is he?" They both laughed and Chloe assured her friend that the man in question, Sandino Rios, was quite attractive and charming. "I’ll think about it."
After Sheri left, Chloe turned on her computer and logged onto her office network. She was able to work from home sometimes. Since a lot of detective work didn’t require more than a high-speed connection. Of the few cases she was working on, one was a fairly simple skip trace that wouldn’t require too many of her abused brain cells.
Around noon, Chloe got hungry and ordered Chinese food. It was her traditional hangover fare and was usually followed by a nice nap. Once the alcohol was absorbed by grease, she could usually get some decent sleep. The delivery boy buzzed downstairs and she unlocked the door, fishing some cash out of her wallet. She went to the door when he knocked and glanced through the peephole. Yup, delivery guy.
"Hey, thanks," she said, reaching for the fragrant paper sack. She held out some cash to him but he waved it away.
"It’s on him," the young man said, jerking his thumb to a spot beside the door. Lex leaned into view. He’d been standing with his back against the wall beside her door, just out of her line of sight. He kept his shoulder and head rested on the wall and just pivoted his body around. The pose was deliberately sloppy and lazy. He eyed her fluffy bathrobe and slippers.
"You’re so fucking sexy I can’t stand it," he said, with a lascivious once-over with his eyes. "Beat it, kid, I’m making time with a lady." He handed the boy a hundred-dollar bill and the boy practically ran down the hallway. Chloe glared at him, still clutching the paper sack and her unused cash. Perking up, Lex stood up straight, leaving his affected laziness and smiled. "I just wanted to see how the other half handles a hangover."
"So go about a block down the street and buy the winos a cup of coffee." Chloe started to shut the door but he stuck his foot out to stop it.
"Ah ah," he said, shaking his head. "Unless you want to do this out here." Chloe sighed and turned away, walking back to the bar and setting down the sack containing her sustenance.
"Nice place you’ve got here, bigger than the last one." He looked over the hardwood floors, simple, yet feminine furnishings and lack of any miniature porcelain dolls. "At least you’re not a girl who collects Hummel figurines."
"Got a problem with them?"
"I dated a girl once who had several generations of them. I think I got knick knack poisoning from her."
Chloe wanted to laugh at him, he really was funny with his dry witty humor, but she reminded herself that she hated him.
Chloe pulled a plate down from the cupboard and tore open the bag, sitting down on one of the barstools. She pulled out her won ton soup and pu pu platter for two. She loved appetizers and always ordered enough for leftovers.
"What are you doing here?" Chloe asked, picking up her chopsticks. "Why the early morning ambush?"
"You know why I’m here."
"I know you plan to do your best to make an old habit feel new this time." She picked up a piece of pork from her friend rice. "It never does."
"Then why did you start this back up again?"
"I was in a self-destructive mood," she replied, blandly. Perhaps if she acted like the game didn’t interest her anymore, he’d go away.
She didn’t hear Lex move at first, she could see his reflection in her stainless steel fridge. A blurred, dark shape; one that stood still. Then he moved forward. She felt his breath first, it ruffled the now-dry strands of hair behind her ear. She forgot, sometimes, how tall he was. Not a giant among men, but at six feet, he was a good half-foot taller than she was.
"It’s been a long time since I’ve touched you." His voice was rougher than usual and Chloe wondered if she’d made a mistake in trying to intimidate him with indifference.
"It," she corrected. "A long time since you’ve touched ‘it’."
"It’s part of you," he said. She felt the warmth from his body through his clothes now. "I’m part of you." He placed his hands on either side of her. "Why do you make me do this? You could make it easy on yourself, you know." She felt the tip of his nose nuzzle her behind the ear. "Why did you come find me yesterday?" His lips brushed her skin and her nipples tightened involuntarily. "Why make me come to you like this?"
"You have a choice, Luthor, you always did." Her comment spoke to more than his arrival today. "I’m not making you do anything."
"I want to see it." Chloe sighed and pulled the front of her robe up so that the back could fall down but she could keep her breasts covered. "Why do we do this to each other?" His voice was whisper-soft and it tickled down her spine. It wasn’t the first time he’d used his mouth to touch her, but somehow, today was different. "Why do you allow a man who hates you to touch you so intimately?" He ran his moist lips down each letter, depositing a kiss on each one. Chloe counted until he reached the bottom.
"You’re done now." She jerked her robe back up and continued to eat.
"I’m just beginning."
"Why do you do it?" She asked, not turning around. "Why do you want to touch a woman you hate?"
Hands fell on her shoulders and fingers gently smoothed the robe. Then the hands moved around her ribcage and tightened, holding her still while he pressed up against her.
"We might hate each other, my dear," he said, pushing his hips against her bottom. "But I’d still like to fuck you."
Chloe could feel his erection through his pants and her robe. His mouth closed on her earlobe and she felt herself leaning back, involuntarily. Lex’s hands moved around to her front and pushed between her thighs, searching till he found bare skin.
"I don’t want you."
"Like Hell." Lex’s fingers found her and her arms wouldn’t move. He stroked her boldly, and unexpectedly, Chloe found herself responding quickly to him. He was moving against his hand and feeling his arms around her in a warm embrace. Her breath wasn’t coming fast enough and she felt like she was being smothered. She opened her mouth when she came, but wasn’t able to make a noise as she convulsed.
The fingers were gone; Chloe opened her eyes and pulled her face out of the sofa cushion. She stopped her hips from rubbing against the pillow she’d been laying on. A noise interrupted her and the tumbled, guiltily from the couch. It was the buzzer for downstairs. She pressed the button and her Chinese food was delivered…without incident.
Chloe ate a little but put most of her feast in the fridge, her appetite was gone and she was tired from her lack of sleep the previous night. The twenty-minute nap just hadn’t cut it. She changed into a sports bra and pajama bottoms and crawled into bed. She could work as late into the night as she needed to; the internet was always open but she needed rest before her brain took her on another unwanted detour into her darker subconscious.
Chloe stared at the ceiling and used some breathing exercises from her yoga class to try and relax. She needed to clear her mind and not think about Lex. Instead she thought back to the advice she’d had from group session with other young people suffering with grief. No two stories were the same, but they all shared a common bond, not just the grief, but guilt. Everyone felt responsible in some way for their situation. One young woman had begun cutting herself in order to feel physical pain instead of the emotional. She’d left a cigarette burning that had fallen into a trash can and turned into a blaze that killed her younger sister. When asked why she wanted the pain, she said, "I deserve it." Chloe knew how she felt.
Somehow, telling Sheri made Chloe feel better; perhaps breaking one of the rules was a step in the right direction. She didn’t want to think about her perverted dream about Lex. Fantasizing wasn’t a new thing for her, she’d only casually dated over the last two years and nothing serious had come from any of it. She rolled her eyes and laughed at her situation.
"God," she said out loud. "I’m so hard up that my body is taking drastic action without my brain getting in on it." She’d had erotic dreams before, but generally she didn’t pleasure herself in her sleep. "I need to get another vibrator…or a man." She’d thrown out her old vibrator when it had fallen from the top of her armoir and the motor had broken. It wasn’t exactly on her list of priorities so, deciding to forgo her nap, she hopped back on the internet and decided to look online for a likely replacement. She sighed at her lonely situation, a Friday afternoon spent looking for vibrators online.
It was raining again. Lex saw the droplets through the warm haze that cloaked him in dampness. She knelt in the grass, weeping. The grave was still covered in fresh earth, no sod had been lain yet. Chloe’s blonde hair was plastered to her face and neck, her mascara and eyeliner ran down her cheeks, making her eyes stand out, unnaturally green. She stood up and hugged herself, nearly bent double, her hands, dirty from burying her father.
"Please," he heard himself say. "Let me help."
"It’s too late for that. He’s already underground." Her voice was broken, cracked. She took off her jacket and wiped her hands with it, holding them out to let the rain wash away the filth. "It won’t wash away." She was angry and scrubbed at her arms, flinging the coat from her. She had the same, silk blouse on and now she smeared her dirty hands on it too. The dirt looked reddish brown, the color of dried blood.
The rain became cold and mixed with Chloe’s tears; Lex was drawn to her and held her arms.
"Let me help you, now."
"You can’t help me." She pushed away from him but he held fast. She began to push and fight him, but her feet couldn’t find purchase on the slippery ground. He clutched her to his chest and took her sobs into himself, feeling his own chest begin to heave. No, he didn’t want this pain. She clung to him, desperately and he clenched his fingers in the thin, wet silk. Such a small barrier between them. Something so thin that kept his hands from her skin, where she needed him. Where he needed to touch her.
Lex woke with a start. It was morning and he was still sitting in the armchair, looking out the window. He glanced at is watch, just after Six. He got up to take a shower and realized, to his dismay, that he was fully erect and rather uncomfortable. Deciding that the matter should be dealt with appropriately, he went into the bedroom.
Shelley, his girlfriend, slept soundly in his large bed. She’d gone to sleep before him and apparently hadn’t woken yet. He’d wake her with a little surprise.
Lex crawled over the top of the bed spread, unfastening his pants. He drew the sheets down to Shelley’s slim waist. She had light, ash brown hair, and gray eyes. She’d be plain without artful streaks in her hair and careful makeup. She also had a toned, athletic, and surgically altered body that was perfect for Lex’s purposes. As he lowered the sheet, he caught sight of something on her lower back. Being careful not to wake her, he leaned over and looked close in the dim light. It was a bite. A human bite, little more than a hickey, but it wasn’t in a place where Lex had touched her recently.
Loosing the urge to touch her, he took a shower instead, not needing cold water since the sight in his bed had taken the desire from him. He dried off and pulled on a bathrobe. His bathroom mirror was heated so it never fogged up; he looked at his reflection in the mirror eolhC, He only saw the name backwards or upside down which was fine with him; he doubted that she saw his name at all.
Lex traced the letters with a fingertip and remembered a time when Chloe had been feeling particularly mischievous and had carried around an iced latte for twenty minutes before catching him alone in a hallway. With a huge smile she’d demanded her pound of flesh and applied an icy hand to it, practically making him yelp. Her thumb had brushed his nipple and he was certain that he’d be able to cut glass with it. She’d grinned and scampered away, only to leave town to find a bail jumper for three weeks before he could exact his revenge.
Lex smiled as he remembered ambushing Chloe in her own office at work. He’d actually hidden behind a plant so that she wouldn’t see him until he could shut the door behind them. The look on her face had been well worth the wait when she’d seen him holding a plastic bag labeled "Chemical ice pack". Amonium nitrate and water, once mixed, produced a chemical reaction that made them extremely cold. His hand was almost numb but her hiss of discomfort made it worth it when he spread his fingers under her shirt on her warm skin. He chuckled to himself now. Those had been good times. Sick and twisted ones, but good nonetheless.
Chloe’s phone rang and she picked it up, seeing the words ‘private caller’ on her caller ID. If it was a sales person, she’d just hang up.
"Hello?"
"What’s the going rate these days?" She recognized Lex’s voice.
"You’d better be talking about my hourly rate for McEvoy and McEvoy." He chuckled softly.
"Why? Is there something else you charge money for?"
"What do you want, Luthor?"
"Such manners."
"I could make you contact me through the office. I don’t usually take calls initiating business at home. It’s against policy."
"You don’t moonlight?"
"Too much of a possibility of conflict of interest. What if a wife hires me and her husband is already a client of one of the other detectives? See how that might end up badly in court."
"I see. But if I wanted to hire you, I would need to go through your bosses first?"
"What’s the deal? I can consult without approval, but if I’m taking a job, I have to file protocol before any official action is taken. It’s in my contract."
"I see."
"So who do you want me to follow?"
"My girlfriend. She’s fucking someone else and I want to find out who. However, once you’ve discovered this person’s identity, I want it kept quiet."
"Why?"
"I have a reputation to uphold. If word gets out that my girlfriend is sneaking around on me, it looks bad. Sexist or not, if a man’s libido is in question, his business skills are right behind it."
"Why call me? You must have others on your payroll."
"I can’t trust them."
"And you trust me?" she scoffed. "Why?"
"You’re better than anyone at sniffing out bullshit, and besides, you hate me. You have no reason to sugarcoat the truth. And I want it all."
"I agree, but call my bosses in the morning to work out a fee. Then we’ll meet-"
"Today, I want to meet today. Can you tell your bosses that you’re schmoozing a client. I’m sure they’ll allow it."
"When and where?"
"Doc Proper’s. One hour, and wear some kind of disguise. I can’t have you recognized."
"Okay."
"Just like that?"
"I spy on people for a living, I use disguises all the time. Where will you be, I’ll come find you."
"As far to the back as I can get."
"See you there." Chloe broke the connection and chewed her lip thoughtfully. "It’s not personal," she said out loud. "It’s business."
Next...Chloe's big disguise.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 4... 5.3.05*
very original! i can't wait for you to update!
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 4... 5.3.05*
Wow. I love this story and I love how with every chapter it gets better and better. I read a chapter and think there is no way it can get any better and you always surprise me because it does :) Great job! I love the fact that Chloes fantasy was more sexual and Lexes was more emotional. I like to get into characters heads to find out what it is that they want. Thank you for allowing me to do that.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 3 5.1.05*
Quote:
Originally Posted by zelda
Next...Chloe's big disguise.
wonders what would it be....
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 4... 5.3.05*
great chapter. From what both their subconscious' have shown us Chloe and lex don't seem to hate eachother as much as they think they do. Very interesting, can't wait for the next one.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 4... 5.3.05*
Good luck on your exams!! You are so nice to post one more chapter before you have to take your tests!! Can't wait for your next update!! :) Hint, Hint!! ;)
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 4... 5.3.05*
Wow. That was some great writing. I loved every bit of it. :blinkkiss
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 4... 5.3.05*
yay, i just read this last night and already an update.
and yes, i just took my finals yesterday and am now experiencing my brain deflating due to the fact that it know i don't have to remember anything from the last 4 months.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 4... 5.3.05*
This story is getting so good. I so can't wait until they meet again.
Hope ;)
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 4... 5.3.05*
Yes, Zelda, good luck on your exams :grin3:
About this chapter, very intense moments between Lex and Chloe--they just can't stay away from each other. can they?
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 4... 5.3.05*
Love this story... very intense. Keep up the fabulous work!
-Lily
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 4... 5.3.05*
What else can I say? Update more please!
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 4... 5.3.05*
I feel stupid always posting the same review :p : that was great, write some more as soon as you can :)
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 4... 5.3.05*
I'm intrigued by Chloe's disguise. Can't wait to find out what it is.
By the way, thank you for sparing us the Lex and Shelley moment. I was worried for a moment.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 4... 5.3.05*
This one's getting good! Can't wait until they both realize that they can work through their pain...together! Sex doesn't heal all wounds, but it heals about 97% of them :D
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 4... 5.3.05*
That was a quite a chapter! I still can't wrap my head around how seriously twisted this "relationship" is but it's interesting, and I got soooo excited to see the beginnings of smut only to be thwarted by the fact that it was a freaking dream!! What a mess, I can't wait to read more!
Steph*
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 4... 5.3.05*
Damn this relationship is twisted! But that doesn't stop me from loving to read about it! Ha. You've really done a wonderful job with a really unique story and I'm quite curious to see how this is all going to play out.
Good stuff. More please:)
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 4... 5.3.05*
Emosewa!!! Update!
That is all.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 4... 5.3.05*
I'm liking this more and more ... please, update soon because I want to see the Chlex interaction... and her disguise!
SaraC
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 4... 5.3.05*
that was seriously hot. i'm melting over here.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 4... 5.3.05*
that was great please update soon and i can't wait for chloe and lex to get together.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 4... 5.3.05*
A/N: Thanks for the reviews, sorry about the delay. More to come soon, I just wanted to get this first part out of the way.
Lex had been waiting nearly forty-five minutes at Doc Proper’s. A Cajun man who was reputed to be a witch doctor ran the bar. No one knew his real name; he just went by Doc, or Doc Proper. Chloe was an hour late. Lex knew because he’d been fifteen minutes late. He’d wanted her to be waiting for him. Just one more little manipulation to add to the list. The bar was a little crowded, but no one was paying any attention to him. The music was always hot on a Friday night; and so was the crowd.
The smoke that permeated the lounge wasn’t from cigarettes; it was from the food. Doc didn’t allow smoking in the public areas. Rather progressive for a man rumored to practice Sangria; he said that tobacco smoke ruined the taste of the gumbo. Lex had ordered a drink when he first arrived and now he was on his second glass of scotch. His phone vibrated and he saw that he’d received a text message. He read it: You were late. A friend is at the bar. He’ll find you.
Shit. Lex didn’t want to talk to a representative, he wanted to talk to Chloe. He sent a message back: Where are you? She must have been waiting because she replied immediately: Close.
Lex got up casually and picked up his drink. He sauntered towards the bar; casual, not overtly searching the surrounding faces. Whoever was there would undoubtedly be a stranger. He wove his way past a couple of college girls who were giggling like teenagers. At a closer look, he wondered if they were old enough to be in there. Shaking his head, he slid into an empty spot and put his drink down. He leaned an elbow casually on the black walnut bar and glanced at the stage; just a guy watching the band. He even tapped his fingers a little to the music.
Lex was getting a little impatient and thought about sending another message when the bartender set another scotch in front of him.
"I didn’t order this."
"Be from dat guy," the woman answered is her thick accent. Like the rest of the staff, she was a girl from the bayou. Black hair, dusky skin, and dark, sexy eyes. Creole to the core. She raised an eyebrow as she looked over his expensive suit and dark, violet shirt. She pointed to a young man across the bar. Lex met a pair of piercing, blue eyes. The man looked like he was in his early twenties with a stylishly trimmed moustache and goatee. He raised a glass of white wine in a silent toast. He held his pinky out and sipped his drink with a slightly feminine tilt to his wrist. "Y’all have a nice evenin’ now," the bartender said with a grin.
"Christ!" Either Chloe sent a friend who had a sense of humor, or he was getting hit on by some college boy. The young man was walking around the bar now, and Lex had a sudden urge to run. Instead, he leaned into the bar and waited, wondering if he was giving some weird, gay signal by turning his back on the man. He could hear a low voice saying "Excuse me." To a few people who moved out of the way. Then a pair of arms clad in a navy blue jacket rested beside his. Lex kept his cool. "You a friend of Chloe’s?"
"I guess you could say that." Lex turned quickly and met the man’s gaze. He didn’t recognize the blue eyes, but he knew the twinkle in them all too well.
"Chloe?" Lex couldn’t help it, he looked down at the front of her shirt. She was wearing a very nice suit but her breasts were not to be seen. "Where could you possibly hide them?" She didn’t even ask what he was talking about, just rolled her eyes and headed for the dance floor. "Wait." Lex caught her arm. "Near the back, I am not going to get a reputation for being gay."
"Relax, Butch," she said. "I didn’t say we had to dance, I’m just heading for a table." They sat at a little round table and Lex glanced underneath it. Chloe was taller than usual, still a little shorter than he was, but not so short as to draw attention. The cut of the pants concealed the thick sole of her shoes. It had to be tailored for her or it wouldn’t have worked.
"Where did you get the outfit?"
"A trade off with a costume designer. I helped her out, she does my disguises." She waved her hand under his nose. "Stop staring at my chest or people will start thinking you are gay. She leaned back casually and assumed a vaguely masculine pose. Her shirt was blue and it matched her eyes.
"Contact lenses?"
"Yes."
"Beard?"
"Yak hair, used in movies." She sipped her wine and he noticed a man’s ring on her pinky. "You didn’t want to be seen with Chloe Sullivan, so I don’t think anyone will make that connection."
"Sooo," he drawled slowly. "Where are they?" He managed to keep his gaze on her face. A darkened brow raised in annoyance.
"We are not going to discuss my breasts at the table. You said this was business, so talk. What makes you think your lady is cheating, and what do you want me to do about it that I couldn’t do through the agency?"
"Did you tell them you were coming here?"
"I didn’t tell them where, but I mentioned that I had a skittish client that wanted to make an inquiry."
"No name?"
"Nope." When his eyes strayed to her chest she sighed. "Jesus, Lex; they’re under a corset, and padded all around to make everything look smooth under the shirt." She shifted her shoulders. "And rather uncomfortable right now so let’s get this over with; I’d like to get them home and set them free sometime tonight."
"It’s just that you look so…" he trailed off. "Gay."
"I’m still a woman and a little too prone to acting feminine. I’ve been coached enough to get by, but if I try to play it straight, it just looks too fake."
Lex reached out automatically with a finger to try and poke at the padding. His hand was rudely slapped away. "You’re straight, remember. If anyone asks, I’m just a potential client. You have gay clients don’t you?"
"Sure." Lex shook himself out of his stupor. "I guess I was expecting you to be a tall, leggy, brunette."
"Right, ‘cause then you wouldn’t be distracted at all."
"Fair enough." Lex sat back and sipped his scotch. "It was a bite."
"What?"
"The reason I know Shelley is with another guy. She has a bite on her lower back." He paused. "Obviously, a human one."
"And you don’t bite?" She managed not to smile.
"I remember the spots well, and that wasn’t one of them."
"Fine, so what do you want? Someone to tail her? Check on recent purchases? Break into her apartment?"
"You do that?"
"I didn’t say that’s what we do, I asked what you wanted." Chloe was all business. "I don’t usually do the infidelity cases anymore. I’m a little more high-tech."
"You did one for your friend."
"Professional courtesy. She didn’t want a stranger to be getting personal pictures of her husband. She trusted me to be discreet, and I was."
"Discreet is what I want."
"Charlie is the cheating guy. He’s practically invisible. He’s probably what you want."
"I want you." Lex’s words brought Chloe back to the dream she’d had earlier. She was glad she’d worn a little bronzer to cover her naturally fair skin. She felt her neck get hot and knew she’d be blushing. "I told you why on the phone."
"Doesn’t mean I’d be the best choice." Her voice was soft, serious. "Whatever else I am in my business, I’m always a professional, and I’m not the best at tailing cheaters."
"With a gift for disguises, even just a few, you’d be able to nail her. She’s not bright enough to see through it."
"I don’t doubt that, Lex. You didn’t see through it."
"I did when you spoke." He looked away and sipped his scotch. "She’ll definitely know a man when she sees one." He flicked his eyes back to her. "And when she doesn’t."
"I’ll keep my cross-dressing to crowds."
"Does that mean you’re agreeing?"
"We don’t have a deal just yet. Call my office on Monday and we’ll set up something official. Tonight was a free consultation." She finished her wine and got up from the table. "Good evening."
"Why did you choose this particular get up?" He looked her up and down.
"Quite frankly, because I didn’t think you’d ask me to show you anything if I was dressed as a man."
"You think I’d ask a strange woman to show me her tattoo when I’m trying to avoid looking like a philanderer?"
"Something tells me you might not have been able to resist it." She turned and started to step onto the dance floor.
"Show me." She turned and looked at him. His gaze was cold, not amused. He was angry that she’d predicted him and now was willing to risk a scene. She cocked her head to the side, as if thinking about it for a moment.
"No." Then she turned on her heel and walked carefully through the throng of dancers to the rest rooms. She had her hand on the door to the men’s room when she felt herself pushed past it, towards the exit at the end of the hall. The grip on her arm was firm and she didn’t have to look behind her to know who it was. It was always Lex.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 5... 5.8.05*
:rofl: I just couldn't stop laughing at the image of Lex being all flustered because a guy was hiting on him in a bar. And I would just love to see his face when he realized it was Chloe. And than his preocupation with her breast ,masterful. Great clifhanger at the end it looks like the next chapter will be hot [ crosses her fingers]
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 5... 5.8.05*
Excellent chapter!! I love how distracted Chloe made Lex!! :) I'm proud of Chloe for telling Lex "No", but it doesn't look like it worked!! Thanks for the update!! Please, please post more soon!!
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 5... 5.8.05*
hee hee that was great. Loved her disguise and Lex's preoccupation with where her assets were. Can't wait for more.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 5... 5.8.05*
A/N: Okay work was really slow so I just kept writing.
*Warning* this chapter contains some violence.
Chloe put up an arm just in time to catch the handle to the exit door before being shoved into it. When they were outside in the alley behind the club, she jerked her arm out of his grasp.
"What’s the matter with you?" She rubbed her arm. "I don’t just let people drag me off into back alleys." She reached out to catch the door before it closed but Lex slammed it shut, nearly catching her fingers. She pulled them back just in time. His jaw was clenched and she saw a muscle jump near the joint. "I meant it, Lex. You can’t just go hauling me off into the corner when you want some time alone."
"Don’t flatter yourself," he snapped. "I just want what’s mine."
Chloe stiffened her spine and placed her hand on her hip in a very feminine gesture. He wondered how he could have ever mistaken her for male. Even without breasts.
"I can’t imagine anything I have that’s yours."
"About six inches down your back. It belongs to me and I want to see it." He looked around them. "In fact, I think I’d like to touch it." He spat the words out in a very hostile manner. Chloe looked closely at his face in the dim light from above the door. He looked serious.
"No." His lips tightened and he started to move forward. She placed a hand on his chest. "You asked me here for a business meeting and I came as a business courtesy. Now you think you can bully your way into getting what you want because I decided not to play tonight?"
"You can’t say no." He reached up and yanked the sticky facial hair from her skin. She winced like it hurt and brought a hand up. "Not to the game."
"Oh, I think I just did." Her feet hurt from the shoes and she was definitely cranky. Now she was itching for a fight. "I realize that you must feel a little emasculated because your girlfriend is going somewhere else for sex," she said in a patronizing tone. "And I’m sure you want to feel like you’re in control over something. But that something will never be me." She stepped forward and stuck her finger in his face. "I humor our little game when it suits me, but if you cross the line like this again my sense of humor is going to evaporate very quickly." There; she’d asserted herself now and issued her little threat. She’d stood up to Lex and felt better for it. He said nothing, just stared at her. Then she turned to leave. Next she was against the wall with his hands on either side of her.
"I didn’t ask you to show it to me," he hissed, trapping Chloe between his arms. "I told you to do it." He glanced up at the short, brown wig that covered her blonde hair. He smoothed a hand up her forehead and pushed the wig back. It tugged at the hairpins she’d used to secure it to her head but gave way, taking a few golden strands with it. Chloe winced and placed her palms against his chest.
"Not funny, Lex." Her heart was hammering in her breast. She’d been afraid of him a few times, but this was different. He was different. He ran his hand up the back of her neck and to her forehead, rubbing her hair in the opposite direction, messing it up. As usual, she couldn’t stop her mouth. "If you wanted my wig so much, you could’ve just asked."
Lex spun Chloe around so fast she skinned her knuckles on the brick wall, trying to keep her balance. She let out a startled gasp when he yanked her shirt out of her trousers and pushed the back of it up, along with her jacket. She felt the night air between the laces of the corset; it was cool on her damp skin. She started to push away from the wall, but Lex planted a hand between her shoulders.
"Don’t move." The click of metal on metal had Chloe freezing in place. She knew the sound of a switchblade when she heard it. It didn’t touch her skin, and she only felt a slight pressure of the laces being pulled tight before the whole garment loosened and dropped to the ground in front of her. With her naked skin exposed to Lex, in the darkness of the alley, she was more than afraid. She was terrified. Then the blade clicked shut and she felt his warm breath on her ear. "Tonight, I don’t think I’m going to use my hands. Situation calls for a little something else."
Chloe remembered the dream and wondered if he was going to use his mouth. Then she heard the rasp of his zipper.
"Oh God. No Lex." She didn’t shout, she didn’t cry, she just spoke the words and pushed away from the wall. He wrapped his arms around her and leaned against her. Puffs of warm air parted the hair at the back of her neck. "Lex, please. Don’t do this." She heard the desperation in her own voice. He must have heard it too because he released her and stepped back. Chloe didn’t wait to see his expression, she just turned and ran, leaving the corset on the ground. She got to the sidewalk and heard his voice.
"Chloe, I’m sorry." He sounded like he was in pain, and she turned automatically. She stood under the streetlight and the dark alley was almost completely in shadow. She saw nothing but dark shapes and the stoop under the door where the small light illuminated it weakly. She couldn’t see Lex; but she saw the darkness, she saw the shadows, and she understood how much danger she’d been in. Without another glance, she walked back into the club where it was crowded and noisy and called a cab. She stood next to the bouncer and ignored his curious looks.
Lex stood in the alley, breathing hard and trying to straighten out his thoughts. Then he picked up the corset, damp from Chloe’s sweat and started walking. He’d walked at least a block before he opened up his phone and called his driver to pick him up. He twisted the padded fabric in his hands, trying to stop them from shaking. When the limo pulled up, he ordered the driver to take him home. He knew Shelley wouldn’t be there. She’d made some excuse about going out with her friends. He held a bundle of false hair in one hand and part of a costume in another. When the car pulled up to his building, he got out and went upstairs.
Lex showered and dried off. When he came out of the bathroom, he saw the wig, facial hair, and corset sitting on his bed. He approached them; some of the lacing had fallen onto the floor. It had been cut into short strands that didn’t stay in the garment. He sat down on the mattress and touched the fabric. He could smell Chloe on it, but it only served to remind him of what he’d nearly done. He’d only meant to scare her a little; to keep her in the game with him.
"What the fuck did I do?" He leaned forward and pressed his fists into his eyes. He’d acted like a jackass. No, he’d acted like something much worse. How had it come to this? When she’d made her little comment in the club about him not being able to resist her unless she’d dressed as a man, he’d taken it as a challenge. She’d been saying he wasn’t confident enough in his own sexuality risk being mistaken for gay. He was known for his womanizing, and there was enough public knowledge of his personal life to quell any rumors. It wasn’t a need to prove anything to Chloe. It was something else.
The look she’d had in her eye when she’d said no to him. It was a look of finality, like she was closing a book on him. If she didn’t participate in the game anymore…Lex had always known that the game would end. In fact, he’d sensed it in the restaurant. The urge to keep her in his life again was what had driven him to call her. He didn’t care who Shelley was fucking. He was curious, but usually he’d just wake her up and boot her to the curb. Not literally, of course. He didn’t raise his hand to women. He didn’t bully them. He didn’t need to. He’d never needed to force anyone to…play with him.
Need. It was a word Lex hated. He didn’t like what it implied. Lex wanted things, he didn’t need them. Chloe, in the length of time it took to say one word, had taken something from him that he needed. Their game, it was a connection to her, it was an excuse to keep their contact and an excuse to choose to interact with each other. If she was letting that go, she didn’t need him anymore. But he needed her. He needed the focus of his hate and malice. She was a safety net. A deserving outlet for his dark side. He didn’t know who he was kidding. He didn’t even have a light side anymore. No one ever said Lex Luthor was a nice guy, or a good man. Hell, they didn’t even say he was fair, or strong, or even smart. He was clever, cunning, ruthless, and a fucking animal when it came to business.
In Lex’s personal life, he’d been just as relentless in his pursuit of women. He chased, he caught, he dated or fucked, then he released. Chloe, at least, hadn’t made him feel guilty about what he dished out. She seemed to welcome it. The same way he did. Now that had turned him into something monstrous. He’d pushed her around, physically, and held her against her will. He’d forced her against a wall and cut off her clothing. Lex wasn’t like that. He didn’t do those things unless he was playing some bedroom game with a kinky girlfriend or lover. There was a line, and he’d crossed it. She’d been right about that. He was sick with the knowledge that he’d been about to touch her unwilling flesh with his penis. Why? To make her sorry? To make her angry? All he’d done was make her genuinely afraid of him. He’d never wanted that.
Lex got up and paced his bedroom. He needed to talk to Chloe. He had to say something to her to make her…forgive him. He thought briefly about another tattoo, but her name was the only thing he could think of and it was already there. He thought about sending her a gift, but that would be way too creepy.
*
Chloe undressed slowly, making certain that her windows were covered. She loosened her necktie and removed it, then she unbuttoned the shirt. Her hair was flat and away from her face. Without the wig and facial hair, she just looked like the lesbian who was in her Women’s Studies class in college. The girl who dressed like a man and dared, with open hostility, anyone to ask her why she did it. Wearing disguises had always been a pleasure for Chloe. She liked to pretend, for a little while, that she was someone else. It made her life seem a little more real to her, oddly enough. As herself, she still felt like she was playing house; pretending to be a private detective in her apartment in the city. When she was in disguise, she felt a little more like she was doing a job. It didn’t make sense when she tried to explain it to people, but it just felt better.
Lex had shown her, tonight, that she was still playing at being grown up. Her disguise that had made her feel a little powerful, felt silly when it was lying on the ground. He’d stripped away her facade and reminded her about fear. He was a shark. She was a stupid little salmon. Now she looked at the skin that was peeking out between the edges of the shirt; paler than her face and neck. Breasts sore from the corset, nipples a little red from being chafed by the starched shirt. Without the fabric to thicken her waist to a more masculine silhouette, the trousers hung low on her hips, the lace of her panties stuck out above the belt.
Lex had changed her, made her afraid of him. Made her afraid of herself because one of the feelings that he’d aroused in her during their argument, was a feeling she didn’t want to think about. She also didn’t want to think about the fluttering in her belly when she’d felt his hand on her arm in the hallway. The way he’d staked his claim on her flesh had been unexpected, but it had quickened her heartbeat. She’d pushed him, a little angry, very curious; and he’d responded with more than she could handle.
It had been stupid. Chloe had wanted Lex to chase her, like a little boy on the playground. Well, she got her wish in spades. Now she undressed and put on her pajamas. She put away her men’s suit neatly and climbed into bed. The cotton sheets brushed against her sore knuckles and she looked at them. Lex’s strength surprised her. She’d known he was strong enough, she just hadn’t expected it to be so unrestrained. With her. He’d cut away her clothes, stripped away her disguise and made her vulnerable to his rage. When she’d realized how he was about to touch her, she’d come out of shock and begged. Why? Because she was in over her head. He could have hurt her if he’d wanted to. She should have walked away a long time ago. Tonight was more than a wake-up call. It was an intervention.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 5&6.. 5.8.05*
Wow, as if things were not intense enough, you've knocked it up a peg. Great update, really interested to see where they go from this point.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 5&6.. 5.8.05*
wow, yes that was intense!!
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 5&6.. 5.8.05*
Wow, great chapter. I wonder how Lex is planning to make this up to Chloe.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 5&6.. 5.8.05*
wow that was amazing, I hope there's going to be more
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 5&6.. 5.8.05*
Holy crap this is just INTENSE! You've got me hooked!
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 5&6.. 5.8.05*
This was a very powerful chapter. I wonder where they can go from here. Both of them seem a little terrified by what happened in the alley. I'll pray for more slow days at work so you can update more.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 5&6.. 5.8.05*
Zelda, two wonderful updates :grin3:
I'm actually stunned after reading this last chapter. The connection between Chloe and Lex almost frightens me--WELL DONE!
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 5&6.. 5.8.05*
I agree with everyone here wow. There is no way they can get together after this. I just dont see it. :puppydog:
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 5&6.. 5.8.05*
I wonder what Lex will do now? And I wonder how they will interact from now on. I figured that Chloe will still investigate his girlfriend either because she would want to seem profesional with Lex or because he will go over her head to her boss and request her on the case [ he is a Luthor after all and they do get what they want]. I don't see him letting her go so easily. Wonderful insight into Lexes psyche, about him not really needing anythig before , because of who he is. And I just love the visual of him being a part of the shadows in the alley. Just WOW!
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 5&6.. 5.8.05*
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 5&6.. 5.8.05*
that was very raw and emotional. again, i love these characters because they aren't perfect and they keep screwing each other. speaking of screwing...can we get some more of it please? great update btw.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 5&6.. 5.8.05*
Wow, those were two really great chapters. This story is incredibly dark but it deals with so many human emotions and you write about it beautifully, every feeling is conveyed realistically. Lex just brought things to a whole new level and it amazed me to see him become so needy and to express it in such a violent way. I know that they were in the game together but I can't help but feel bad for Chloe and sympathize with her confusion. I can't wait to read more!
Steph*
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 5&6.. 5.8.05*
please write more this story is so good. i hope they work everything out.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 5&6.. 5.8.05*
Intense is good ... I'm intrigued as to where this will go next!
SaraC
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 5&6.. 5.8.05*
I'm so glad that Lex let Chloe go!! I was really frightened for her there!! I'm glad that Lex is realizing that he wants to keep Chloe in his life, even though he thinks it's just because he hates her!! Intense update!! I can't wait to read more of this story!!
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 5&6.. 5.8.05*
Wow, I don't have words, I think the blood is still rushing to my head. The last two chapters were amazing. I love the way you are telling this story. I am glad that you explained Lex's regret, because while I like a dark Lex, I don't want a psychopath. I hope he will find a way to keep her in his life and that she will realize she wants to be there. Maybe helping him with the cheating girlfriend will be enough connection for now...
More updates soon, please...
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 5&6.. 5.8.05*
Omg that was... I can't seem to find the words to describe it!! More updates please
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 5&6.. 5.8.05*
Holy crap!!!!! That was... intense, emosewa, powerful....!!!
Just wow.
It would have been interesting (and still would) to see what the reaction would have been if one of them had had their tatoo removed. I don't think there is even much of a scar with the improvements in lasers.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 5&6.. 5.8.05*
Chloe stepped onto the fifth floor of a twenty-five-story building, in downtown Metropolis. The fifth floor was McEvoy and McEvoy. As far as detective agencies went, it was probably the best in the city. Chloe liked working for an agency with a good reputation, like McEvoy, but today didn’t feel right to her. She was here because of Lex and their game. When she’d asked Shannon McEvoy about her hiring, the older woman had been diplomatic. She’d known better than to lie to someone who worked for her as a private detective. She told her that Lex knew her husband and that he’d mentioned Chloe’s name in connection with some superb research and said that she’d showed real promise at an early age.
Shannon’s husband, John, had looked her up and made some inquiries, she’d been working for a less-reputable firm then. Her reputation held up to a little discreet check, and they’d made her a better offer. Chloe knew she did good work. Her dogged attention to detail, and true gift for seeing through bullshit had driven her upward through the ranks and she now had her own office. She’d dressed casually in a heather gray suit and violet top. Her hair fell in soft waves that she knew made her look too young, but clients came looking for her so she didn’t have to dress like an old lady anymore. She’d been surprised at how many people expected unshaven men in dirty trench coats. You didn’t make a good private anything if you looked like a cliché.
"Good morning," Chloe said, greeting the receptionist. She walked into her office and booted up her computer. She wanted to bury herself in paper trails today. Usually she was climbing the walls looking for a little action on the street, but now she wasn’t in the mood. Her phone buzzed around Eleven and she answered it. "This is Chloe."
"Hey, are you going to be free in about an hour?" It was Sheri’s voice on the phone, and a welcome one. Chloe turned away from her desk and since she didn’t have a window, she looked at her framed print of Andrew Wyeth’s ‘Christina’s World’.
"Yeah, you want to get lunch?"
"I’ll pick something up and meet you in your office. It looks like rain so there’s no sense in going out."
"Sounds good." Chloe really needed to talk to her friend. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say, but talking would help. "I’ll see you at noon." She turned back around and saw Lex standing in the doorway. She jumped when she saw him and dropped the phone, missing its cradle and fumbling to catch it. He moved forward automatically and bent to pick it up from the carpet. She drew back when he got close. He paused, then picked up the phone and set it in its proper place.
"Hi." He looked calm.
Chloe didn’t say anything. She knew she was doing the big-eyed-stare, but couldn’t seem to blink. Lex rubbed his nose thoughtfully and looked around him. The office wasn’t large, but it had four walls and door as opposed to the little cubicles with short walls that gave the illusion of privacy only if one was seated. "I wanted to talk to you." He started forward and Chloe jumped out of her seat, backing up.
"Look, I’m sorry about Friday night." She said, stumbling on her chair; she caught herself on the wall. Lex came around the desk. "I didn’t mean to push you," she finished. He paused; she looked frightened, as if she was afraid he’d harm her in her office. But why wouldn’t she be afraid? After his brutal handling of her in the alley, of course she was afraid.
"I’m not going to hurt you, Chloe." He put his palms out in a calming gesture. She didn’t look like she trusted him. "You don’t have anything to apologize for, I do."
"You could’ve called." She’d found her voice but it was much softer than she’d have liked.
Lex sighed and decided to try a different tactic. "You like Wyeth?" He pointed to the print. Chloe nodded mutely, but she managed to blink. "I always liked ‘The Master Bedroom’." He spoke of a watercolor featuring a dog sleeping on the master bed. He smiled. "I went to Maine to see the places he’d painted. It was even nicer in person." Chloe seemed to relax a little bit.
"I can’t imagine anything being better than the humble simplicity of his work." She still had her back against the wall, but she no longer looked like she was about to jump out the window to get away.
"It is." He smiled a little, then sobered.. "I don’t know why my bad side came out last night." He shook his head, regret etched on his face. The expression wasn’t one Chloe was used to seeing. Zero consequences, zero regrets had been his motto at one time. "This isn’t a way of making you responsible for my actions, and don’t take it as any kind of threat," he began. "But you bring out the worst in me."
"Well," she said, quietly. "You activate my fight or flight response, so I guess we’re even." She watched warily as Lex turned around and closed the door behind him, giving them a little more privacy than she felt they needed.
"When I was in college," he began, placing his hands in his pockets. "There were some guys who were a bit abusive to their girlfriends. Sometimes it was just being a bully, other times there were bruises involved." He leaned against her desk, keeping his back to her. "I never wanted to be like that. I never wanted to be one of those guys who would go to the jewelry store, or send flowers because I’d crossed the line, over and over again." He looked at the photos on her walls, some from college, with her cousin, some from high school with Clark and Pete. And one amusing photo of her with Lana drinking coffee at the Talon. "I never wanted to feel the need to buy back the affection of a woman because I’d hurt her." He shrugged. "I’ve never claimed to be the most devoted, or sensitive of husbands, or lovers, but I never considered myself to be physically abusive. I always drew the line." He turned to her. "Except with you."
"What happened last night?" Chloe asked, quietly.
"I don’t know for certain, but when I went home, my first instinct was to make some kind of gesture to make up for…what happened." She raised an eyebrow. "But I just kept seeing those women and the fear." He placed his palms on her desk and leaned forward a little. "Last night wasn’t the first time I’ve lost it with you."
"I remember," Chloe said. "The day you came to my apartment after…after Lucas died." She remembered him holding her by the throat and threatening to knock out her teeth.
"Strange things happened in Smallville, things that, for whatever reason, excused my actions against most people. But when I left that place, I gained a little more control over almost every aspect of my life." He paused, looking her in the eye. "Except you."
"What happened?"
"Losing Lucas was something I didn’t handle well."
"Losing my father was the worst. If I remember correctly, I think that’s the only time I erupted in violence with anyone who wasn’t actively trying to kill me."
"It wasn’t that bad," Lex joked. "You had on a very distracting ensemble." She wasn’t amused by his quip. "I’ve made enemies and done some pretty unscrupulous things to get what I want, that included using a teenager to put my father in jail." He stood up and took a deep breath. "I’m sorry I didn’t do more for you two." He was serious. "I’m sorry I hurt you ad scared you last night. It’s unreal to me, how far I let things go. But an apology seems inappropriate, Chloe." He waited for her to speak.
"So you’re taking it back?" She looked confused and a little defensive.
"No, I’m just telling you that I know it isn’t enough."
TBC :I know it's just a short one, but I'm working out the mechanics of the next part and wanted to get an update posted.
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Re: The Rules of Enmity: NC17*chp 7.. 5.13.05*
Ack! :eek: it was to short. I want more :beg: it was good though. :D
Hope :)