Much Ado About Smallville (NC-17) Completed 3rd August 2013

Much Ado About Smallville

Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: I don’t own Smallville – unfortunately.
Spoilers: I have changed so much that I doubt it.
Summary: Lex comes to stay with the Sullivans for the summer as he has done since he was a child and both of his parents died in the meteor crash which left him bald, will his dislike of Chloe turn into something more this year or will it be yet another summer of one-up-manship, machinations and snarkiness?

*Chapter One*

“Welcome to Smallville Kansas, population 25,000, largest producer of corn in the state and home of the only Luthor Corp plant not to be constantly bombarded with complaints about the way that we are treating the environment”, Lex Luthor announced as he sped passed the welcome sign.

“I can’t thank-you enough for bringing me with you Lex”, his companion thanked him from the umpteenth time.

“Sure you can, Clark. Just stop thanking me”, Lex smiled easily.

Clark smiled at that. “I’ll try but you have no idea how much this means to me”.

“I do Clark, I can assure you that I do. You have to remember that my parents died in the Meteor crash too. The only difference was that I was fortunate enough to have money and someone to support me where as you did not. I know that I would not have turned out like you did if I had been sent to an orphanage. Hell, I didn’t turn out like you and I have had plenty of stability”, he said as they raced through even more fields of corn.

“That’s the Gabe Sullivan you are always speaking about”, Clark hazarded a guess.

It would not be correct to say that Lex blushed; Luthor’s never blushed. But he did turn a little pinker, probably due to the heat of that fine June morning he told himself. “I didn’t know that I spoke about him that much”.

“You don’t, in general. You are quite guarded about your private life and the Sullivans but to me, yes you have mentioned him quite a few times especially when thinking up new business strategies”, Clark explained.

Lex tried to shrug it off. “He is a very capable business man. He ran one of the larger Luthor Corp enterprises in Metropolis originally and bloody good at it but when the meteors fell and he lost his wife he wanted a change of pace for him and his daughter. He helped build up the Smallville plant from scratch and ever since that day it has been one of our biggest hitters and somehow always environmentally sound”.

“That is impressive”, Clark said, he knew how difficult a lot of the plants found it to balance their balance their books and their environmental responsibilities. “But there is more to it than that, right?”

“Yes”, Lex shook his head with a smile; he couldn’t believe that he was actually talking about this. “I was in private boarding school in Metropolis so my life didn’t change that much after my parents’ deaths but it turns out that Gabe was their executor. He welcomed me into his home at every single holiday, took more of an interest in my academic education and in me than my real father ever did. My first act when I turned 18 was giving him the Luthor mansion, he refused of course but I had to explain to him that I wanted that house to have a family and that the only people who could fill it with enough love were the Sullivans”.

“What did he say?” Clark wondered, trying to imagine the man who would turn down a mansion.

“He still refused to accept it so I agreed that he would just manage it until his daughter came of age, and he agreed to that”, Lex smiled, “anything for his little girl”.

“You have never mentioned the daughter before”, Clark said, thinking that was odd as Lex was a notorious flirt … maybe the girl was really ugly.

“Ah there is a reason for that. The house is lovely, and so is Gabe, the only fly in the ointment is his pain in the ass of a daughter”, Lex said.

“She is really that bad?” Clark inquired, a little nervously. It was hard to imagine anyone so terrible that Lex Luthor couldn’t deal with them let alone a little girl.

“Think of the worst, most obstinate, suborn girl you can possibly imagine, times that by ten and you are still nowhere near to describing Chloe Ann Sullivan”, Lex tried to describe her.

Clark shivered at the idea of someone that Lex could not control but said valiantly, “However bad she might be, I am still glad that you invited me. Since we met you have been sort of, an older brother to me, and this … taking me to what is basically your family home for the summer while University is out so that I am not just bumming around Metropolis by myself, it means a lot”.

“I already told you stop thanking me, if anything see it as a job. Yes, I am here to spend the summer with Gabe and do a bit of work with the plant, but mainly spend time with the family. Gabe insists that a multibillionaire can delegate enough to have a holiday – or else he said that he would send Chloe to fetch me”, he shuddered at the very idea. “So you can act as a buffer which will hopefully keep me from strangling her within the first five minutes and ending up on death row”.

“She sounds charming”, Clark commented, admiring the view. Even with the addition of an apparently very annoying girl, this would still be the best summer that he had ever had and he was determined to enjoy it.

“Indeed, I hope that you didn’t mind such an early start but I wanted to get there before 7am”, Lex continued the conversation.

“No problem, got work to do?”

“No, I just know that Chloe chose to come back from Yale at a ridiculous hour yesterday night rather than coming back earlier in the day because she wanted to go on a date, I plan on rubbing that in her face by arriving when she is probably still in bed”, Lex grinned.

“Why do I get the feeling that you are not exactly the innocent bystander in many of your dealings?” Clark wondered, a little shocked to hear that Chloe was in University, he had had the impression that she was much younger.

“I have no idea”, Lex tried to look innocent but his face broke out into a broad, decidedly mischievous grin.

~*~

“Ergh!” Chloe groaned, as she shuffled into the kitchen and was hit by just how bright it really was.

“Good morning sunshine, did you have a good night’s sleep?” Her father asked good naturedly from where he was standing next to the coffee pot.

“I’ll let you know when it’s over”, she groused as she plodded over to the coffee maker and wrinkled her nose.

“It is black”, he told her helpfully.

“It is liquid, good coffee shouldn’t pour easily”, Chloe complained and started making her own pot.

“Yes, so I have told by Lex numerous times”, Gabe said, “I suppose that now I will have both of your impertinent little puppies making fun of my coffee making skills”.

“Wha?” Chloe looked at him in confusion.

“It is the 1st of June, you know that Lex always comes down then for three months”, Gabe said, surprised that she had forgotten that. Maybe she really did need some more sleep, he knew that her dating had been a bad idea.

“Yeah, when he was at school, in Uni and under 21. He is 21 now”, Chloe protested.

“He may be 21 but he is still part of this family and he needs a holiday”, he said, not sternly because Gabe was never stern but the matter was definitely not open for discussion.

“Fine”, Chloe sulked, “so much for the nice relaxing summer that I had planned. I might as well have stayed at Yale”.

“It won’t be that bad and you know that you would never leave me alone for the whole of the summer”, Gabe reminded her.

“You won’t be alone, you’ll have Lex”, she said.

Gabe sighed and wrapped his arm around his daughter’s shoulders, “Not this again. Someone really is overtired. We have had this conversation before. I love Lex like a son and I always want him to feel included but I only have one little baby Chloe, and that is you. You always come first, you know that”. He kissed her forehead, “Now, as I recognised the signs that you are upset about something out with it. Why are you even up this early? I thought that you would be tired after the big date”.

“The big date, the one I have been waiting for for weeks … he didn’t turn up. I sat there waiting for him for two hours but nothing”, her bottom lip quivered.

“Maybe something happened to him. Maybe it is in hospital in a coma right now”, Gabe suggested optimistically.

“Thanks Dad, but I don’t have that kind of luck”, Chloe said, as she rested her head on his shoulder.

“Oh, I wouldn’t bet on that”, Gabe muttered stroking his daughter’s hair.

“You’re the only man I can count on”, she said.

“Yes, well as much as I would love to say that that was true and that you should swear off all boys … actually no, that is right. They are all smelly horrible creatures, you would be much better off having nothing to do with them”, he smiled at the idea.

Chloe laughed.

“Seriously sweetheart, I don’t know what was wrong with that boy last night but there are some good men out there, trust worthy ones who will make you happy and if you meet one like that … Lex and I will get rid of him and then you can stay with me until you are an old maid and no one wants you”, he said brightly as the coffee maker beeped to show that her sludge was ready.

“At least eat something if you are going to drink that muck”, Gabe said as he watched her salivating as he poured it / spooned it out.

“Will do Daddy”, Chloe promised as she pulled away from him to get her cup and he started on breakfast.

“At least you will have Lex to torment, you know how that always cheers you up”, he said with a smile.

“I resent that”, she huffed, but enjoying the feeling the heavy warmth of the mug in her hands, “I never torment him, he torments me. It is always all his fault”.

“I know that baby, because you are my daughter. An impartial judge might not share my view. Oh and he is bringing a friend down”, Gabe added as he started pouring out porridge oats.

“No”, Chloe exclaimed. “I know that he keeps a line of whores …”

“Chloe Ann Sullivan”.

“Fine, I know that he keeps a line of ladies of slightly less than reputable virtue”, Chloe corrected herself.

“Better”, Gabe nodded.

“But not here. It is bad enough that they have to tag along on ever picnic and outing”, she brought her coffee to her lips without making any attempt to eat something first.

“Darling, you normally get rid of them within five minutes”, Gabe said with his back to her as he got to work on the muffins.

Chloe looked shocked. “I do no such thing. I am always extremely kind and gracious to the little trollo … trolls. They are just always so mean!”

“They normally dote on you”, her father reminded her.

“That is just because they think that they can get around Lex that way, although God knows why when he is always so mean to me”, she drank a little more coffee and decided that it wasn’t quite strong enough.

“Probably because everyone in Excelsior and most of society knows what happens to people who are mean to you in Lex’s presence”, he suggested mildly, not bothering to even react to the idea that Lex was always mean to her. He remembered fondly the day when they had been at Chloe’s sports day, not the part when someone had pulled her pig tail and called her a piggy, but the next minute when he had seen had been Lex flying through the air to rugby tackle the boy to the ground, sit on his back and push his face into the mud while pulling his hair whilst saying “We don’t pull people’s hair. It isn’t nice”.

“Meh!”

“You know that Jodie still has scandal attached to her name after she was apparently rude to you and Lex found out”, he still had no idea what had actually happened between Jodie and Chloe or how Lex had found out but he thought it wiser not to ask as Chloe had seemed alright afterwards and Lex felt that sufficient vengeance had been extracted, “You know that Lex had her arrested on suspicious of soliciting”.

Chloe smirked but then controlled it and announced, “Yes, well that doesn’t change the fact that his girlfriends are always stupid. Remember that one who sat down on the glue that I was using and had quite naturally left on her chair and then tried to blame me?”

“Yes, I remember that event well. You have to admit that the evidence was rather against you at that point. You had wanted to play with Lex …”

“I never wanted anything of the sort”, Chloe denied.

Gabe smiled, “Okay, you thought that you would be very kind and allow Lex to play with you …”

“Better”, Chloe nodded.

“And show him your new art kit when the nasty little girl got in the way and took his attention away from you”, Gabe said, knowing what had really got under Chloe’s skin. She couldn’t stand for anyone to have the attention of someone she cared about other than her, it made her nervous. With him that made her clingy, with Lois that made her loud, and with Lex that made her bratty. There was no one else she cared about that much.

“She also interrupted me and used one of my new crayons without asking”, Chloe pointedly ignored her father’s implication that she had ever wanted Lex’s attention knowing that if she argued the point that he would just say, ‘me thinks the lady doth protest too much’.

“The nerve of the girl”, Gabe teased, “and then she sat on your glue”.

“Yes, and Lex took her side”, Chloe finished off her coffee and poured herself another while her father wasn’t looking.

“As I remember it, Lex brought you a new even bigger even more sparkly tube of glue, stopped the girl throwing something at you, and told her that she was no longer welcome on the company picnic and that if she and her family didn’t leave immediately then they would be fired. She just happened to be there, he didn’t actually invite her”, Gabe reminded her.

Chloe shrugged, “Well, that doesn’t change the fact that he said that I was a very naughty little girl and that if I mislaid anything like that again that he would stick me in a corner for a whole four minutes”.

“No, nothing can make up for such a slight. I don’t know why he wasn’t immediately hauled off to jail”, Gabe chuckled to himself.

“Neither do I”, Chloe said, without a trace of humour.

Gabe regarded his daughter for a few moments before asking, “Would it make you happier to know that the friend coming with him now is a boy?”

“Lex has a boyfriend?” Chloe’s eyes sparked with mischief.

“That isn’t exactly how I would put it”.

“Really, it is exactly how I am going to put it”, she grinned.

“Yes, I thought that it might be”, Gabe chortled as the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it, I’ll get it”, Chloe raced to the front door and threw it open, her freshly refilled coffee cup still in her hand.

“Hello Lex, is this your new boyfriend?” She asked before getting a good look at who it was.

It was indeed Lex standing there looking a little taller than she remembered and better build in what counted as casual wear for him, grey slacks and a soft blue jumper which highlighted the lean lines of his body. He was wearing the irritating, charming smirk that he had perfected soon after his fourteenth birthday when Chloe had never understood why girls were starting to go weak in the knees over him.

Lex’s eyes trailed over her obviously and appraisingly. From her bare feet with painted toe nails, over her delicate ankles up her shapely distinctly bare legs to the short cotton shorts which encased her hips and the grey tank top which did nothing to hide the flatness of her stomach or the fullness of her breasts.

“I guess Smallville as done some growing up since Christmas”, he commented as he noticed her ample chest. It hadn’t gown since Christmas, in fact Chloe had looked more or less the same since her sixteenth birthday there was just a lot more of her on display in what he took to be her pyjamas.

Chloe rolled her eyes, “If this is your attempt to make me cower before the great and power Lex Luthor …”

“Damn, I didn’t know that you thought of me in that way Chloe”, he was aiming to irritate.

She growled.

He smirked.

Clark coughed.

“Of course, where are my manners?” Lex started.

“Damned if I know”, Chloe put in.

“That was a rhetorical question Chloe, aren’t they teaching you anything at Yale? As I was saying. Where are my manners? I will start over again. Good morning Chloe, I’m surprised to see you up and about this early. This is my good friend Clark Kent”, he refused to rise to the boyfriend comment; he wouldn’t give her so much satisfaction this early in the morning. Damn, better not to think about satisfying her in the morning.

“Oh, it is so nice to meet you Mr Kent”, Chloe gave him her most winning smile and stretched out her hand to him.

Lex rolled his eyes.

“My father only just informed me of your arrival but I am sure that the staff will have your room ready soon, would you care to join us for breakfast?” She all but batted her eyelashes.

“Please call me Clark, and I hope that I am not imposing”, he fell hook line and sinker for the smile.

“She might look sweet but trust me, pure poison”, Lex said in a stage whisper.

Chloe narrowed her eyes at him for a second before returning her attention to Clark – for Lex’s benefit, of course. “I assure you, it is no imposition at all. You will join us for breakfast, won’t you? It will be ready in a few minutes which will give you time to get your bearings and for me to changed”.

“Into someone nicer?” Lex asked.

“Out of my pyjamas”, she clarified.

“No need to bother on my account, you forget that I have already seen you in much less. If memory serves me correctly we had bathes together at one point”, Lex dug up the memory that he thought would embarrass her most at that moment.

Chloe was about to fire back some scathing retort along the lines that there was no point in bathing with Luthors as all they did was stew in their own filth before remembering Clark and giving an odd little smile, “I don’t really remember that but if you say so. So, breakfast?” She turned to the taller and younger gentleman on her doorstep.

“I would love to”, he grinned down at her.

“I remember it. You got shampoo in your eyes and I had to try to get it out before you screamed the house down”, Lex muttered and the flicker which passed through Chloe’s eyes showed that she did too.

She took a step back and let Clark and his suitcase into the house, holding the door open with one hand and her coffee cup in the other. “Just leave your suitcase there, the maids will get it”, then as she saw that Lex was about to step over the threshold as well she began to close the door. “I don’t remember saying that you could come in”.

“You are seriously going to try to keep me out of my own home?” Lex asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Ah, well if you remember correctly you signed it over to me so that you could look good in front of my father so …”

“You know that that wasn’t the reason”, he growled and Clark looked distinctly uncomfortable.

She gave him an evil smile, “Whatever the reason, I am in charge now that I am eighteen and things are going to be a little bit different”.

“Like hell they are”, Lex said, pushing the door back open gently but firmly and walking in and leaving his suitcase so that he had an extra hand to grab her coffee cup, “Oh Chloe, you brought me coffee. You shouldn’t have”.
 




A/N: So, what do you think? To continue or not to continue, that is the question.

I loved that and yes please do continue.

Can't wait for more!

First, did I mention that I love you?:D

Second, of course, continue, there's nothing worse than a story left unfinished:(

Third... <thinking> I don't know, it's late lol But I enjoyed it

Where that fascination with Shakespeare came from?

(I promise to keep writing Chlex, but first I need to write the ass out of Clarky:D)

This is too cute. I'm sure Lex really enjoy the verbal judo he have with Chloe and deep down, he admires her more than he would like to admit to Clark. I like the beginning and can't wait to see more of it.

Tyrarose: Thanks for the review, happy to hear that you liked it! :D

TrinityR: No, you haven't told me for several hours. I was feeling very unloved. ;) The Shakespeare thing is just because I am English. :D

Trckyrcky: I think that this next chapter will probably answer the question of whether deep down he cares. ;) Thanks for the review.

*Chapter Two*

“I … you … how … grrr!” Chloe spluttered in rage as her coffee was taken away from her, “How dare you take my coffee!” She complained running after him only to see Lex move it to the other arm and hold it out of her reach. Damn him and his long legs and arms!

“You shouldn’t be drinking coffee to start with, and defiantly not this strong on an empty stomach”, he informed her pleasantly as if she were a stroppy child whose antics he found amusing.

“Why you over bearing pompous jackass, you drink exactly the same stuff”, she started to defend herself to him before remembering that she didn’t have to, “and it isn’t your decision”, she covered her earlier slip and made to grab at the beverage again but found her wrist caught in a firm but gentle grip.

“Quite possibly but 1) I have an accelerated white blood cell count which protects me and 2) I am carrying scalding hot coffee. Make another ill-advised grab like that which could end up with you getting seriously burnt and I promise you, you will severely regret it”, he used her captured appendage to pull her closer to him, so that she could stare directly into her green eyes and she could feel his hot breath against her face. He didn’t ask if he had made himself clear; her pouting lower lip told him that he had.

“You stole my coffee”, she complained.

“What are you going to do?” He taunted her, “Tell on me?”

Chloe gave him a look which told him that she was considering it.

“Please, there is no way would Gabe be happy with the idea of you drinking this coffee before breakfast which I know that you haven’t had yet because you just invited Clark to join you and you wouldn’t be so cranky if you had eaten”, he announced.

“My moods are not solely determined by my blood sugar”, she protested.

“No, also by hormones and sleep”, he teased. He could not believe that he could still get a rise out of her so easily.

“You forgot your presence”, she retorted acidly.

“Well, I know that I have an unerring ability to calm you down and make you be reasonable but there is only so much I can do”, Lex smirked as he stroked the inside of the wrist which he still had in his possession. It was a nice wrist, he thought that he might keep it indefinitely.

Her eyes narrowed as she balled her free hand into a fist.

“Coffee Chloe”, Lex warned.

“I hate you”, she spat as her hand clenched and unclenched by her side.

“I know”, he gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Is it your plan to stand around all day in your pyjamas discussing your lost coffee with me in front of my friend or are you going to get changed so that we can have breakfast and in your case coffee?”

“Fuck”, she swore as she looked down at herself and realised that she was still in her skimpy PJs and that Clark was still there. “This isn’t over”, she warned Lex with a glare as she pulled her wrist out of his relaxed grip, excused herself to Clark and headed for the stairs.

“See what I mean about her being a complete and utter nightmare?” Lex asked Clark, regarding his friend with displeasure as he watched Chloe going up the stairs. As far as Lex was concerned there had been no great need for her to change until he had seen the interest Clark had been taking in her little cotton shorts.

“She seemed nice”, Clark said with a soppy smile.

“Just wait until you get to know her. A terror combined with a pest, and that is on her good days”, he wondered if there was a polite way of asking Clark to take that bloody eyes off Chloe’s backside.

“I heard that”, Chloe yelled from the top of the stairs.

“Good”, Lex called back, he took at exaggerated sip of the steaming brew in his hand and gave a sigh of contentment, “Ah delicious”.

Chloe stuck her tongue out at him through the floor as she could no longer see him.

“I saw that”, Lex announced, without having actually looked up.

“Ah, Lex my boy”, Gabe said striding out of the kitchen. “I thought that I recognised your dulcet tones”.

“Gabe”, Lex grinned and shook the older man’s hand before embracing him, “Thank-you for having me again”.

“Nonsense it was our pleasure”, Gabe smiled.

Lex looked at him incredulously.

“Well, okay, it was my pleasure and Chloe is putting up with you, but we both know that if you hadn’t come down here for the summer she would have decided that you were working yourself too hard and have gone to Metropolis herself and dragged you out of the office by your earlobe”, Gabe said, looking at the other man standing his the hallway and waiting for an introduction.

“That is her signature move”, Lex nodded. “And this is my friend Clark Kent”.

“Clark”, Gabe beamed, “I’ve heard a lot about you. Come in come in I was just making a big breakfast to welcome you boys, it should be ready in a few minutes and by then I imagine that my little angel will have reappeared”.

“Ah yes, your little angel. I last saw her when she was two and had the chicken pox. You don’t know what happened since then, do you?” Lex inquired, apparently in earnest.

“Some pesky boy wouldn’t leave her alone the entire time and kept trying to tell her stories, she’s been hiding ever since”, Gabe said.

Lex smiled slightly at the memory. It had been his first Christmas after the accident, when he was six years old and he had been filled with trepidation at the idea of going to stay with another family but tried to be brave. Gabe and his daughter had come to welcome him and he had felt more at home and part of a family within ten minutes than he had ever before. That day Chloe had been a quiet, sweet, if a bit boring little girl which Gabe had said at the time wasn’t a bit like her.

The next morning Lex had woken up with the larks – as was his wont -, got dressed etc and had just been going downstairs to see if there was something he could do around the house to help when he had thought that he had heard a sniffling sound. He had knocked on Chloe’s door softly but when the sniffling only grew louder he popped his head around asking if she wanted him to fetch her Dad to find her sitting in the middle of her bed covered in spots which were obviously making her itch terribly.

He had leapt into action telling her not to worry that it was just chicken pox and running to the medicine cabinet to get calamine lotion and pouring it all over her. Gone was the sniffling itchy little girl, she was a big pink sticky but happy mess a couple of minutes later when Lex had gone to fetch Gabe.

Gabe had been grateful to Lex for what Chloe had described as his ‘ewowiks’ – heroics he was guessing – and had completed all of his work from home that day so that he could stay with them and look after Chloe. Lex couldn’t imagine his father ever doing something like that and so was quite surprised that although happy to be with her father Chloe was sad not to be going to her beloved nursery that day. At first he thought that she was probably overly emotional due to her illness – which was partially true – but also, as she had explained with great patience because she was worried that she wouldn’t be able to be piglet in the Christmas show because she wouldn’t be able to practice. That was all that Lex needed to hear to whir into action. With a little ingenuity and a lot of papier-mâché Lex managed to construct a mock stage for her and did all of the other characters when she was lively enough to play and read to her from her story book when she wasn’t and when she got bored with those stories he made up new ones of the clever pretty princess and her bald knight who went on adventures.

“Yeah, I would hide from that weird-o too”, Lex acknowledged. He could still remember how happy he had been a week later when she was completely recovered and had turned into a stubborn opinionated two year old who said that she could read all by herself and that he was going to listen to her reading her book.

Gabe led his guests into the kitchen and Lex noticed that Chloe had ordered some work to be done on the house since it had officially been hers. He had to admit that he liked it; it was far lighter and airier. He smiled at the idea of the kitchen being somewhere that the entire family could congregate rather than just somewhere for the servants.

“I hope that you are both hungry, I cooked plenty”, Gabe indicated that they should take a seat at the small family table but both insisted on helping him carry over the food.

“Starving”, Lex assured him. “But how did you know that we were going to arrive this early?”

“Well, I told you that Chloe would be arriving late at night because she was going out on a much anticipated date … so I naturally assumed that you would come when you thought that she would still be in bed just to annoy her”, Gabe said as if this were perfectly reasonable behaviour.

“I thought of it more as a lesson in the possible morning after dangers of going out on dates”, Lex said with a shrug, trying to look calm.

“Yes well, don’t mention the date”, Gabe advised him.

“Why not? What happened? Did he hurt her?” Lex demanded and Clark took a step backwards. He knew that his friend was not all laughter and sunshine and that he scared many of his business partners, but he had never before really understood why. Now he had a glimpse of what they saw. The look in Lex’s eyes really was chilling.

“The bastard never turned up”, Gabe groused, seeming not to notice anything out of the ordinary in Lex’s reaction.

“What? Why not? Is he in hospital?” Lex questioned as he pulled out his cell phone.

“I would like to think so, but probably not. He just stood my little girl up, she waited for him for two hours before coming home”, Gabe looked furious, and hadn’t appeared to realise that this might not be information that Chloe wanted her father to tell her arch nemesis and his friend.

“Two hours?” Lex was almost shaking now. “Trust me, if he didn’t show up and didn’t even bother to call her it is because he is in hospital with a broken dialling finger and quite frankly I don’t think that even that counts as a good enough excuse”.

“Neither do I, but I don’t know of anything wrong with him”, Gabe tried to explain. He was upset by the matter which in his world meant baking and feeding Chloe to sooth him, he was a father after all.

“Other than the obvious mental problems”, Lex said.

“Well yes, other than that”, Gabe took his anger out on beating the eggs, imagining the bastards stupid blonde head was in the bowl.

“What was his name?”

Gabe looked at him strangely for one moment.

“Come on Gabe, we both know that if Chloe went out with someone even if it was while she was at Uni, you know his name and probably his social security number as well”, Lex looked at him expectantly.

Gabe gave a bashful smile and gave Lex the information he wanted.

“Right, back in a minute”, Lex said walking out into the garden as he called “someone”.

“So”, Gabe turned to Clark, who had finished moving the plates onto the table. “how do you like Smallville so far?”

“It’s really nice. Thank-you for having me”, Clark said, pleased to have something to say finally, he felt that he was intruding on a private family moment before.

Gabe waved off his thanks, “Don’t mention it. It is a small place but there should be enough to keep you occupied, if the constant floor show that Lex and my daughter seem to need to put on isn’t enough”.

Clark smiled, “Are they always like … well”, he tried to think of the words which wouldn’t offend his host, “this?”

With a chuckle Gabe replied, “Oh no, they are normally much worse. Give them a couple of days to really get back into insulting each other. I took them into Metropolis once by car – big mistake – three hours in the car with them arguing the entire way”.

“That must have been difficult”, Clark commiserated.

Gabe shrugged, “It wasn’t too bad actually. I learned a lot about the economic make-up of our country which is still standing me in good stead during that car ride and it all ended up alright”.

“They made up?”

“Well, not exactly, they never actually make up. This is their natural state. But a temporary cease fire was ordered when someone had the nerve to say that Lex was yucky and that she didn’t know how Chloe could stand to be near him let alone sometimes touch him what with his bald head and everything”, he scowled as he remembered the hurt look on little Lex’s face at the time.

“Chloe doesn’t seem like the kind of girl who would take that well”, Clark surmised.

“On the contrary, she took if very well and responded in a mature and ladylike fashion”, Gabe remembered fondly.

“I’m impressed”.

“So was I. She said, and I quote: ‘you can’t understand how I can stand to touch him? That is so funny because I was just about to ask your boyfriend the same question but oh wait … he left you didn’t he?’” Gabe smiled, “She then informed them – with considerable hauteur – that it was his character not his person to which she objected”.

“Sounds like she put them in their place”, Clark said.

“Yes”, Gabe beamed proudly.

At that moment Lex returned announcing, “It was just as I expected. He is in hospital with a broken wrist and dialling finger”.

“And that happened last night?” Clark wondered.

“That is what his papers will now say”, Lex gave a small smile. “This looks great Gabe”, he took another swig of his coffee which he had left on the table, “You have no idea just how good this is. So when is the darling little tyrant coming to join us?”

“Knowing her she is probably making you wait on purpose”, the tyrant’s father guessed.

“Probably”, Lex acknowledged.

“You are really in for it today, you do know that right? What were you thinking taking her coffee?” Gabe asked in wonderment, at the man’s audacity although thinking that Chloe probably deserved it as he worked out that she had snuck an entire cup before eating behind his back.

“No breakfast, no coffee, those are the rules”, Lex said taking another swig.

“And you have had your breakfast already?”

“No, not yet actually but I have an accelerated white blood cell count so …” Lex seemed to find his Italian designer leather shoes remarkably interesting.

“Lex”, Gabe raised an eyebrow.

“I’ll save the rest until later”, Lex put down his cup and they all sat down.

“I think that that would be for the best”, Gabe said and Clark gaped at the interaction. He had never seen Lex Luthor do as someone else said before. Hell, Gabe hadn’t actually even had to say anything! This was a revelation.

“Ah, I think that I heard my dainty little fairy coming”, Gabe said as they heard the unmistakable sounds of running above their head followed by what sounded like something being knocked over. “Yes, definitely mine”.

A few seconds later, Chloe came dashing through the kitchen and over to the table. She still wore no shoes but she had changed into a pretty sun dress which was a little more fitted than Lex would have liked and clung to her slightly damp skin. Her hair was loose and straight, the ends still slightly damp a testament to her lack of patience with the hair dryer. Her face looks subtly different as well but Lex had no idea why – Vaseline and a dab of mascara.

Lex instantly rose to pull out the chair next to him and Chloe knew that she had to take it with a, “Thank-you Lex. I see your new friend has taught you some manners”.

“I see that University has finally made you invest in some dresses. Thinking of trying to be a girl for once?” He shot back without thinking.

“I am a girl, but a girl can wear shorts if she wants … a lady doesn’t show her panties when she goes tree climbing”, she referred to the childhood hobby that Lex had taught her and then deplored when she started to climb higher and higher with no thought for her neck. Needless to say, informing her that it was hardly a lady like pastime had done little to dissuade her, but he thought that he would give it another try just in case she got it into her head to take up the occupation again.

“I don’t think that ladies go trees climbing”, Lex pointed out.

“Well I do, so they must”, Chloe pointed out.

“Fair point”, Lex conceded and bent his head as Gabe motioned to him that he was about to start the blessing. That part at least went by without incident.

The table was groaning with food. There was porridge, muffins, some fresh fruit and bacon and eggs and steaming coffee. Once the order, “Dig in everyone”, was given Chloe reached across Lex for the muffins and coffee only to find hers wrist being gently patted.

“Porridge first”, Lex reminded her.

“And you fu … hi Dad, snicker-doodling serious? You are really trying to tell me what I may and may not eat?” Chloe expostulated.

“No, of course not. Just the order in which you eat it. Breakfast goes: porridge first, then bacon and eggs then muffin if you still have room”, Lex said putting his arm casual across the back of her chair.

“Lex, are you being serious?”

“Absolutely”, he leant in and whispered in her ear, “I saw the results of your last visit to the doctors. You haven’t been looking after yourself and your anaemia is back”.

“It is only slight anaemia”, she hissed back being careful not to let anyone else over hear.

“So”, Lex pointedly ignored her interruption, “unless you want me to tell your father then you are going to do things properly and stop - how did you put it? – ah yes, snicker-doodling around”. He stayed close to her for a few more seconds until he was absolutely certain that she had grasped the situation, and then he pulled back with a smile.

Gabe raised an eyebrow and internally debated with himself whether he thought that it would be more likely that she hit Lex or gave in. It was difficult to tell, especially when he no idea what he had said. They were always finding out information to blackmail each other with though so this wasn’t new to him.

“Mother snicker-doodler”, she hissed at him but did reach out for the porridge this time only to have Lex say, “Allow me”, and pour her far more than she actually wanted.

“My my Lex, you are looking rather pale my darling”, she cooed over him, not even making the vaguest attempt to sound sincere. “It is probably a lack of adequate nourishment. Allow me to help you”, she poured him porridge – even more than he had given her.

“Thank-you that was very helpful”, he gave her an irritatingly smug smile, making it clear that he was in control and that she wasn’t going to get a rise out of him that way.

Whilst watching this Clark and Gabe both helped themselves to some porridge as well with fresh fruit. Gabe had missed Chloe and Lex’s antics.

“Chloe, would you like some Chloe Honey, sweetheart?” Her father inquired.

“Chloe Honey?” Clark inquired as Chloe gratefully accepted a squeezable bottle from her father and drowned her porridge with nectar.

“It is a brand of honey grown around here by the Luthor Corp”, Gabe explained. “The fete that is in town today was here around Chloe’s seventh birthday when Lex was eleven. Well, there was an enormous Winnie the Pooh cuddly toy on one of those ring toss games and Chloe’s eyes light up when she saw it so naturally Lex spend an hour and well close to two hundred dollars to win it for her. No sooner has she got it and was cuddling it than a horrible bee came over and stung her”.

“Oh dear”, Clark put in, feeling that some response was expected from him. “Probably attracted to the yellow of Pooh Bear”.

“That is our hypothesis”, Gabe nodded gravely, “Well naturally Lex smacked it to death and we both kissed the boo boo better but, not feeling that the bee really understood the gravity of his misdemeanour, Lex decided to have all of the bees in the area who could possibly have been related to that one taken and put into honey producing hives so that his entire family and all succeeding generations will be slaves. The range of honey produced is called Chloe Honey”, he took the pot back off Chloe and showed the front of it to Clark. There was a drawing – obviously done by a child – of a cute little girl with blonde curls who could have been Chloe. In the bottom right hand corner of the picture were the initials, presumably the artist’s, L.L.

“I hope that they learnt their lesson and that your arm recovered quickly”, Clark said, privately thinking that there was just the slightest possibility that the two men had over reacted a little bit to what sounded like a rather minor injury. But, having seen how they both regarded Chloe, he wisely decided to keep this opinion to himself.

“We can only hope so”, Lex nodded, keeping one eye on Chloe and her progress through her porridge. He had seen her bills from this last year, and had had someone go back through them – especially the shopping ones, in light of her anaemia – and work out her daily ingestion of vitamins, minerals – especially iron – and protein and he was not impressed. It appeared that Chloe had been making little to no effort to eat healthily; it was no wonder that her anaemia had come back since she had moved to University.

Seeing that it was half gone he poured her an enormous mug of coffee and handed it over to her.

“Thank-you”, she said gratefully and inhaled deeply before taking her first sip. “This is even better than the one you stole from me”.

“It will be, it was allowed to sit. Some things are better for the wait”, he commented as he soldiered on through his own breakfast. Was it really necessary for her to give him this much? His normal breakfast was just black coffee. Still, he wouldn’t give in.

“Yeah, those are the words of a lazy person”, Chloe sniped.

“Impatient brat”, he muttered.

“Old fogy”.

“Ah, I sense another lovely family day coming”, Gabe grinned.





A/N: Questions for the chapter: 1) did Chloe have the right to deny him entrance to the house? 2) Did he have the right take her coffee cup? 3) Deep down, do they like each other? 4) Anything else you fancy discussing.

They LOVe each other!! It's so obvious, but they're such idiots that don't see it!!
Oh my... if that is NC17 then when they actually come down to doing it in that state of constant argument and chemistry... uhm should I buy a fan?? I think it'll be too hot and they seriously need to f*** it out ;p

I like Shakespeare, I don't mind. I love Romeo & Juliet, read it a few times few years back. And I actually even saw a movie Much Ado About Nothing (my embarassing crush on Keanu Reeves forced me to;/ Now I can't stand the actor, but oh, well, teenage crushes ...) and I love Keneth Branagh with Emma Thompson! She was so pretty back there.

Yes, Lex is definitely in love with Chloe and Clark better watch out and be smart not to make any move on Chloe or he will be the Ex-Best Friend!

*Chapter Three*

“So what are you going to do today? Going to the fair?” Gabe inquired as they all finished up their porridge and passed the bowls down to the end of the table where Chloe stood to move them to the dishwasher but Clark beat her to it, with an, “Allow me”.

“You are very kind”, Chloe gave him a winning smile and Lex scowled.

“Yes, that was the plan”, Lex admitted. “I wanted Clark to get a real sense of Smallville and I think that the combination corn festival and farmers’ market is the best way to do that”.

“I know that Chloe was planning on going to that”, Gabe put in happily. “That will work out nicely, I have to go into the office for a few hours today and you know that I don’t like her going to those sorts of things alone”

“Dad”, Chloe groaned.

“Is Smallville a very dangerous place then?” Clark wondered.

“No, we have a crime rate of zero other than the scarecrow prank every year”, Chloe said.

“We do have a very low crime rate but it is the morning after the big game and a lot of the teenagers are still a little over excited, there are a lot of people and well I would just feel better if Chloe didn’t go around alone. A pretty young girl always attracted undue attention”, Gabe explained. Logically he knew that Chloe would be fine, but he just didn’t like the idea of a bunch of rowdy teenaged boys around her. They never got her sarcastic put downs but they normally got Lex’s ‘your parents are about to be fired and spend the rest of their lives looking for your corpse’ glare. Gabe wondered if that was something that could be taught.

Chloe was so busy wanting her bowl of porridge back so that she could bury her face in it and escape the embarrassment of her father infantilising her in front of the new cute boy, that she didn’t notice that Lex was piling a plate high with bacon and eggs and placing it in front of her.

“For energy”, he said before she could object, “as I am sure that you are going to make me go on the helter skelter again”.

Chloe grinned at him. “Yes!” Spending the day with Lex might not be so bad after all, “Just as long as you are not going to try to ruin our day out like you have in the past”.

Lex rolled his eyes, “Here we go again!”

“I don’t understand why you would …”

“Your breakfasts are getting cold”, Gabe reminded them both with a smile, which was Daddy code for you can discuss this matter later once you both have full tummies.

“Indeed”, Lex said, getting a plate for himself and beginning to eat.

“You got us in trouble”, Chloe hissed as she nibbled her egg.

Lex scoffed at the idea that Chloe considered that to be a stern rebuke – Gabe really was a very soft father -, Lex continuously threatened her and she never paid the slightest bit of attention to him.

“There are rides at this fete?” Clark asked, trying to stop them entering into combat again.

“Oh yes”, Chloe perked up. “The corn festival is just the normal thing; people bring corn from all over the place, a couple of competitions and a load of girls vie for the corn crown”.

“Which Chloe religiously mocks”, Lex put in.

“While Lex fawns all over the contestants”, Chloe rolled her eyes.

“I do not fawn”, Lex protested, “generally I am there mocking with you. One of them came over to us once and you tripped her up for no reason”.

“I had a reason”, everyone stared at her, “and I didn’t trip her up!”

Lex made a noise which sounded like harrumph, before continuing, “I just helped her up and pointed her in the right direction which is all that she wanted in the first place”.

“Sure it was”, she snapped, “I might have known that you would take her side”.

“She wanted to know where the doughnut stand was”, Lex said.

“Oh, of course she did. She weighed barely 90 pounds and she was almost the same height as you and this”, Chloe turned to Lex and pressed her breasts against his arm and fluttered her eyelashes, “is not how you ask for directions”, she imitated the girl’s husky voice. “This is how you ask for directions”, she sat back in her seat and asked, “Excuse me person I have never met before, I am terribly sorry to bother you when you are obviously in the middle of a very important conversation with someone else and there are plenty of other people I could ask, do you know where I might find the doughnut stall?”

“I don’t think that you would ever have a problem finding junk food”, Lex rolled his eyes.

“Are you saying that I am fat?” Chloe demanded, actually looking a little hurt. Gabe briefly considered throwing something at Lex while Clark wanted to hug Chloe all of a sudden.

“Of course I’m not. Don’t try that manipulative big eyed crap on me, we all know that you aren’t fat and you aren’t making me forget that you were being a brat because I said something that could be misinterpreted if you were a complete idiot and blind”.

“I’m not being manipulative”, Chloe protested, unable to comprehend why he would say something like that.

“Of course you are. You, nor anyone else, could possibly think that you were fat or that I thought that you were. Which quite frankly considering that you eat nothing but junk food is a miracle. Besides, I would hardly be trying to feed you up if you were overweight would I?” Lex was annoyed.

“So you don’t think that I’m fat?” She asked with wide eyes; that wasn’t the impression that he had been giving her before.

Lex looked at her disbelievingly, “Are you trying to make me so angry that I put you in the corner and you don’t have to finish your eggs and bacon and have more room for crap?”

“No, I’m not going in the corner”, she flared up.

“Then eat your breakfast and shut up”, Lex said, privately thinking that she was going to end up in a corner by the end of the day. He had never actually followed through on the threat yet, but he had a feeling that today might be the day.

“So other than the corn queen extravaganza where I understand mocking is obligatory, what else is there?” Clark asked, wondering how Lex thought that he was going to get Chloe into a corner.

“Well then there is the weekly farmers’ market which is always great especially as they make a bit of a special effort with the cakes and stuff and knick knacks as they know that so many people are coming for the fete”, Chloe smiled as she thought of the stalls, she hoped that the butterfly stall was there again.

“Chloe has a love of useless knick knacks”, Lex supplied helpfully.

“Well, you don’t have to buy her everything that catches her eye”, Gabe pointed out, “she stopped even saying out loud when she likes something or thinks that it is pretty because she knows that when she gets home she will have several of them”.

Clark looked over at his friend and saw him studying his piece of bacon intently.

“Lex was just trying to support local businesses”, Chloe stood up for him.

Clark smiled, now he got how it worked. If you wanted them to stop arguing, just pick on one of them. The other would immediately jump to their defence.

Lex flashed her a grateful smile and she appeared to soften.

“Is that why he tries out all of the rides even though he hates feeling out of control?” Gabe asked innocently.

“Probably!”

“Really, I thought that it was because a little girl that I know liked them and demanded that he come on every single one with her”, Gabe suggested with a twinkle in his eye.

“Lois can be very demanding”, Chloe nodded, pretending not to know to whom her father was actually referring.

Lex smirked, “Lois went down the helter skelter on her own mat”.

“I only went down with you so that you wouldn’t be scared”, Chloe explained.

“How kind of you”, Lex smiled back. “That long, dark, spider filled, creaky, rickety stair case could be very scary, it was extremely nice of you to let me hold your hand up there every year but I think that I am big enough to go by myself I would hate to put you out”.

“Good”, Chloe looked awkward, “because it is extremely inconvenient especially as your hand is always overly hot”.

“As opposed to that icicle you call a hand”.

“My hands are normal temperature”, she put one against her cheek just to double check. Yes, absolutely normal, a little cool, but that was normal.

“For a dead eskimo”, Lex muttered.

“Only because you are overly hot”, she shot back.

“I didn’t think that you had noticed”, he gave her a wink, “that is why you try to drain my body heat”

“Just being helpful”, she said with a shrug, “otherwise you might overheat. You know, being all hot and sweaty”, she leant over displaying more cleavage that was warranted “never ends well”.

Lex chocked at that.

Chloe patted him on the back. She looked at him with big innocent eyes, “Are you alright Lex?” She asked, as he nails grazed up and down his spine making him shiver.

“Never better”.

“Are you absolutely sure?” She asked as the hand which wasn’t tracing patterns on his back rested on his knee.

“Fine”, he looked a little pink.

“Really? You look a little flushed”, her hand trailed over his smooth scalp to feel his forehead.

“Chloe, I promise you that I am absolutely fine. A bit of food just went down the wrong pipe, that is all”, he removed her hand from his head and, surreptitiously, the one from his knee as well and placed them both back in her lap and gave them a pat. “But thank-you for the concern, I must remember to return the favour some time”.

She gulped and went a little pink herself.

“Aw, isn’t that nice you have both eaten up like good children and are getting along for a few minutes”, Gabe smiled, “would any of you care of a muffin?”

“Yes, but I haven’t got any more room”, Chloe looked genuinely forlorn, as both Clark and Lex shook their heads to indicate that they too were full.

Lex reached across for one though and wrapped it up in napkin, “You can put it in your ridiculously oversized bag that I will no doubt end up carrying”.

Chloe smiled at that idea, wondering why she hadn’t thought of it.

“Maybe it will keep you away from the sugar dummies and cotton candy”.

“Okay”, Chloe capitulated, “but not the doughnuts”.

“Fair enough”, Lex said with a shrug.

“You know Lex, you don’t have to insist on carrying her bag”, Gabe suggested.

“But she always gets so much stuff …” Lex couldn’t follow that logic. He could hardly watch her struggling along with her heavy bag.

“Is that before or after you buy her half off the stalls?” Gabe inquired.

“I don’t want her to get a bad back or shoulder lugging it around”, Lex said with a shrug.

Gabe smiled. “Makes sense to me”.

Clark shook his head, also smiling. “Anything else that I should know about the fete?”

“Um … corn festival, mock the Corn Queen, good food, knick knacks, get Lex to carry bag, more nice food, go on the rides then more food, out through the petting zoo, more nice food complain that I am tired and want to come home … then on the way back to the car see face painters and make Lex get his face done”, she ticked the events off on her fingers. “That is about it”.

“That last one is not going to happen this year”, Lex told her, “and as you have eaten a proper breakfast and have a proper snack then hopefully we won’t have to feed you every 30 minutes because your sugar rush is over”.

“We’ll see”, Chloe said referring to Lex getting his face painted.

“Not happening.”

“But it’s tradition”, she gave him a mock pout.

“I repeat, it is not happening”. Honestly, this was ridiculous. He could scare any businessman in the world, manipulate any politician, and control just about anyone … but this chit always got to him.

Clark shook his head smiling, even Chloe wasn’t going to win this one. “Bet you a muffin that she gets him to do it”, Gabe leant over and whispered to him. “You’re on”.

“Please Lex”, Chloe stuck out her bottom lip further.

“No”.

“Lex”, her voice sounded needy.

“Chloe, no”, he said sternly, making the mistake of looking directly at her as he did so. She made her eyes large and needy, and placed a hand on his knee.

“Lex, please”, her voice was so filled with yearning that it made him ache. God he was weak when it came to her. He held out for as long as he could, maybe one or two seconds before giving into her with ill grace, “Oh fine, I’ll have my sodding face painted but not as a butterfly this time”.

Chloe grinned and clapped her hands as Clark took one of the muffins off the plate in the centre of the table and handed it over to Gabe who took his prize with obvious pleasure.

“And as a butterfly”, she added, “unless I see something even prettier”.

Lex growled.

“Well kiddie winks, I think that it is time that I was off to work. Have fun and make sure that you have lots of stories ready for when I get back tonight. Clark have fun and welcome to Smallville. Lex, remember that it is not your job to buy everything there. Chloe, keep the boys in line”, Gabe instructed.

“Will do”, Chloe said as she got up to hug and kiss her father goodbye for the morning.

Once Gabe had left and the maid had come in to start clearing things away from breakfast, Chloe asked them, “Do you need some time before we get going?”

They both looked at each other before shaking their heads.

“Good”, she smiled, “my car is ready to go”.

Lex shook his head, “Hell no. We are taking my car!”

“Like hell we are. I am not going to around in something which says Lex XL on it. I know for a fact that it isn’t your fortieth car and it makes girls come over and say”, she put on her overly breathy voice, “Is it true? Is it really XL?”

Clark sniggered; he had never noticed how that could be misread before.

Lex smirked, “I hadn’t noticed that reaction, it is rather odd that you notice when women are attracted to me so much. Why so interested Chloe? Something you like?”

“Please, don’t flatter yourself. But Daddy said that I am in charge of you for the day”, she grinned.

“Yeah, true. Didn’t say anything about this though”, Lex said throwing Chloe over one shoulder and heading for the door. “We are taking my car. Are you coming Clark?”

“Um, yeah”, Clark followed them, rather surprised by the string of profanity which came out of Chloe.

“My car, my car, we should be taking my car. I’m in charge here”, she finished her rant off.

“If that is what you want to believe”, Lex said easily.

“Caveman”.

“Brat”.

“You know that the cavemen went extinct for a reason, don’t you?”

“You know what happens to brats don’t you?”



A/N: So, thoughts? Feelings? Anything generally on your mind?

How can he hate her?! SHE'S ALL HIS WORLD!!

He doesn't hate her. She hates him - or so she says. Wait, you are talking about Lex, right?

I am loving this story, I love the interaction between Lex and Chloe.

Can't wait for the next chapter!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HotCrossedBunny

He doesn't hate her. She hates him - or so she says. Wait, you are talking about Lex, right?

---

Yeah, I just figured he hated her from the way he was telling Clark about her:D

*Chapter Four*

It was a gorgeous sunny morning in Smallville and the air was filled with the sounds a light wind rustling the corn, birds singing, and increasingly descriptive insults which Chloe felt compelled to hurl at Lex from where she hung over his shoulder. From the smug smile on Lex’s face as he hauled her around like a sack of potatoes, one might have thought that she was reciting sappy poetry to him rather than comparing him to any number of unmentionable things.

He slipped his keys out of his pocket and thanked heavens for his foresight, his parking had blocked the way anyway. “Settle down sweetheart”, Lex advised as he unlocked and opened the passenger door and popped her into the car, being careful to ensure that her head didn’t get knocked in the process.

“Patronising son of a b …” Chloe broke off in the middle of her final insult as she caught a glimpse of his expression. He was no longer wearing the benign expression which had adorned his features when he had grabbed her.

“If you want to be sitting comfortably on the drive over to the fate, then I would strongly advise you not to finish that sentence”, Lex said, his face only a few inches from hers. His voice was soft, almost like a caress, belying the meaning behind his words.

“Lex, I didn’t …” She didn’t know what to say, she had just been insulting him without actually thinking about what her insults meant. He had to know that she wouldn’t really …

“Yes, well watch your smart mouth before it gets you in trouble”, his words offered no hint of forgiveness, but he stroked her flush stained cheek and Chloe couldn’t help but notice his mesmerising eyes. They were green at the moment. A perfect intoxicating green, his scent wrapped itself around her, she could feel the heat radiating from his body which was so close to her that she would only need to move a few inches to be sandwiched against him. She swallowed.

A smile tugged at the corner of Lex’s lips and the spell was broken.

He checked that she was properly in the car, no limbs to get caught in the car door, and closed the door only turned back to head around the driver’s side only to hear it being opened again and turned back around just in time to see Chloe jumping out with a mischievous grin.

“Are you serious?” He almost laughed in disbelief, her contrition could barely last a minute. “You know that I am just going to put you back in”, he took a step towards her.

“Yeah yeah I got the memo. ‘Me man, me drive car. Women folk stupid’”, she did her caveman impression.

“You know that I didn’t say or mean that”, he folded his arms across his chest, “but you can hardly expect me to want you to drive to fete considering what happened last time”.

“I drive just fine”, she huffed.

“Normally, yes. You are a far better driver than me, but you and the fete parking system … not so much. That cow was probably permanently scarred”, Lex remembered the incident and did his best to look stern.

“Please, there was no blood”, she waved off the incident, but did look a little guilty.

“Emotional scares don’t leave blood. Isn’t that what you always tell me when you want a plaster even when there is no blood”, he teased her. In fact, Chloe had said that once when she was four, but he thought that the always added a nice touch of rhetoric.

“You are such a drama queen”.

“And you are getting back into the car”.

Chloe wanted to stamp her foot and considered doing so but there really was no way that she was going to win this one and if he overruled her again he might get the idea that he could do it whenever he wanted. Besides, when she had got out she hadn’t been planning on making a run for it, so instead she rolled her eyes at him in her ‘I’m so mature and over your childish games’ way, and explained in a calm fashion, “I’m not leaving the car, I am just getting in the back rather than in the front. I want to sit next to Clark, not you”, then ruined the effect by sticking her tongue out at him.

“Stroppy brat”, he said but opened the door to the back of the car for her and saw that Clark had already got himself seated.

She gave him a smile which made Lex’s guts clenched.


“Well get in then”, he almost snapped and gave her another little pat as she got in.

“Caveman”, she threw over her shoulder but still did as he said and put her belt on. “Hello again Clark”, she smiled over at him, pointedly ignoring Lex.

“Hello again Chloe”, Clark greeted her, greatly amused.

Seeing that Lex had got back behind the wheel, Chloe leant over to Clark and whispered - loudly enough for Lex to hear, of course -, “Apparently Lex wants to play chauffeur today … so I thought that I would let him; you know how stroppy he gets when he doesn’t get his own way”.

Clark bit the inside of his cheek hard to keep from laughing at Chloe and the expression on Lex’s face which he could just make out in the mirror. Once he was sure that he had himself under control, he said with great gravity, “Yes, I thought that you had decided to be kind to him when you allowed him to carry you out to the car. Very sensible, conserving your energy to play at the fair”. There, that should keep him on neutral ground. He was only just coming to understand the precariousness of his situation, namely that he was Lex’s guest in Chloe’s house. Lex was his friend and whilst some teasing was allowed, he could not actually insult him. But on the other hand, the only thing that would make him truly angry was upsetting Chloe. It was a fine line to try to walk and unfortunately Clark had no circus training.

Chloe stared at him hard for a few seconds and Clark cringed, afraid that he had indeed gone too far by pointing out that Lex had in fact, just got the upper hand. He was about to try to think of some way to apologise when Chloe burst out laughing. “Yes, that is how I am going to spin it later; I was just conserving my energy”.

“That is also why you decided that I should drive, I imagine”, Lex put in.

“Indeed”, Chloe spoke with her fake British accent which Clark thought was supposed to be Judy Dench, but he could have been wrong. “To the fair Luthor and step on it”, she made some elaborate waiving gesture for going with her hand which she thought had a touch of largess about it.

“As you command, my stroppy lady”, Lex grinned from the front seat, at her cheek. He watched the interaction between his best friend and the royal pain in the butt and tried to decide whether or not he thought that Chloe was really interested in Clark or whether she was just trying to get under his skin. Not that he cared whether Chloe was into Clark. The only reason why he found himself hating every single, solitary man who came within fifty metres of her was purely out of protectiveness and the loyalty he owed to Gabe. He should be happy if she fell for a nice guy like Clark. He would be happy if something like that happened. As he pulled out of the driveway, he checked in the mirror that they were getting along but that there were absolutely no sparks flying – just for Chloe’s safety of course, sparks could be dangerous, especially in a car.

“Eyes on the road Luthor”, Chloe told him.

He smirked, if she knew where his eyes were then her flirting with Clark was definitely for his (Lex’s) benefit.

Chloe and Clark continued their flirting/joking conversation for most of the – blessedly short – car ride, with occasional witticisms from Lex, generally when he felt that they were getting too close.

“Oh, we’re here. Brilliant! I can’t wait to show you around Clark”, Chloe bounced in her seat as they reached the large, convoluted, muddy field which was laughingly referred to as the car park.

Lex wondered if it had been such a good idea to bring his friend down for the summer. They seemed far too interested in each other, even if there were no sparks flying it meant that Chloe wasn’t paying attention to him. He growled.

“What was that Lex?” Chloe wondered.

“Just announcing, in my capacity of your humble chauffeur, that we have arrived”, he said, as he parked the car, demonstrating that it was possible to do without hitting any farm animals.

“Great”, Chloe beamed, “You are going to love this Clark”, she said as she reached out to open her door.

“Oh no, have to wait for the chauffeur”, Lex said, as he hopped out and walked around to open the door for her, taking his time. Through the tinted windows he could see her giving him an odd look.

“Madame”, he said as he opened the door for her with a flare.

“Thank-you, Luthor. We won’t be needing you anymore”, she said her, appalling British accent once again firmly in place, and waved him away with a hand.

“Not to worry Madame, this is a full service which includes an escort service”, he smirked, and resisted the urge to take possession of her hand.

“Oh, what a shame”, she sighed then apparently thinking of something she said, “I’m not married so I shouldn’t be Madame”.

“Oh trust me, you are a proper little Madame”, he teased her.

Chloe’s face made an odd jerking motion which looked like a smile trying to get out, before she controlled it and stuck her out at him.

Lex just smiled at her indulgently.

“So, where do we have to go first?” Clark asked, as he joined them and wondered if they would kill each other by the end of the day or find another way to work through their issues.

“We always start by going over to the Corn Queen thing but … first we have to have a little talk about protection”, she announced for all the world to hear.

Clark coughed.

“She is talking about sunblock”, Lex explained, noticing his friend’s expression and heightened colour. For such a clean living boy, he really did have a dirty mind. “Chloe has very strict rules about when sun screen must be applied”.

“They aren’t my rules, they are Dad’s; I just enforce them strongly”, she said handing her bag over to Lex so that she could unzip it and rifle through it.

“Do you really need all of that stuff just for one day out?” Lex asked in disbelief, it was like Mary Poppins’.

“Clearly. Ah ha”, she found it and made Clark hold his hand out for a dollop, before taking her bag back from Lex, putting it on her shoulder and pouring out a load into her hand. “Alright, come here”.

“Chloe I can do this by myself”, Lex saw where she was going with this.

“No, history tells us that you can’t”, Chloe reminded him, “you say that you don’t need it then only agree to put it on when I bug you. Then you skimp and don’t apply it often enough. Not only should you be extra careful being bald but you also forget that you used to be redheaded and redheads have the highest risk of skin cancer”

“I repeat accelerated white blood cell count”, Lex said.

“And I am very happy about that however that will be useful in that case of accidents, it does not mean that you can go around taking risks and I promise you, if in 50 years you come down with something because you didn’t take care of yourself an accelerated white blood cell count will not save you from me”, Chloe threatened. “Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way, but you are being covered with sun screen”.

Lex smiled at her and obediently lowered his head to allow her better access, more because he thought that it was sweet that she cared than because he was actually afraid that she might kick his ass. She was strong, but he was larger and stronger so her physical threats never bothered him too much.

Clark turned away as Chloe started to rub it into Lex’s head, being sure to get it everywhere including the tops of his ears and around his collar.

“There, all covered for the next 55 minutes”, Chloe beamed, once she was finished, “don’t forget your sunglasses either”.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Lex asked, as Chloe put on her own sun glasses and made for the festivities.

“What?” She wondered, reviewing her mental checklist.

“Well, you have given sun block to Clark, covered me in the foal smelling stuff, but you …”

“Haven’t put any on myself”, Chloe said, realising what he was getting at.

“Yep”, Lex grinned down at her.

“Well I can’t remember everything”, she huffed, secretly more than a little annoyed with herself for forgetting something so obvious. She wasn’t stupid, she really wasn’t. She was responsible for her age and could take care of herself – junk food and anaemia aside, which she could admit to herself, if not to Lex, she should have paid more attention to – but she had a tendency to forget the basic things around Lex like sunblock. Then he got the idea that she was some stupid little girl who couldn’t take care of herself and who he had to look after, which made her angry and therefore more likely to forget things. It really was a vicious circle.

“Evidently”, he wasn’t letting this go.

“Don’t look so bloody smug”, Chloe grumbled as she got out her sun lotion and Lex scrutinized her application. Face. Good. Arms. Good. Throat and cleavage. Lex felt warm. Very good.

“There done”, Chloe announced popping the top back on the container and making to return it to her bag.

“Ah ah”, Lex tisked. “Very sloppy work Sullivan. Turn around”.

“Lex”, she whined. “I can do it myself”.

“Clearly you can’t. Now turn around”.

She crossed her arms over her chest.

“Chloe, turn around”, Lex lowered his voice so that it was almost a soft growl.

“I …”

“Chloe”, he placed his hands either side of her against the car, trapping her. He was so close to her now that their noses were almost touching. “This works both ways baby. Turn around”.

She shivered, she wanted to protest, push past him but she was fairly certain that if she did she would collapse against him. All of her strength and ability to think clearly seemed to be ebbing away the nearer he got to her.

“I can do it myself”, she got out in a voice which was as shaky as her knees were.

“Turn around”, he repeated, his voice doing strange things to her tummy.

She fought with herself for a moment but then, scowling, she did as she was told - although she grumbled as she did so about him being a tyrant. She really should be fighting and arguing against this more than she was, but every strategy which her fuzzy mind could formulate only ended up with her in exactly the same potion – turned around and allowing Lex to put this infernal stuff on her. The only difference was that this was she was spared the indignity of being forcibly turned around. Maybe she could argue that “Oh”.

Lex breathed in her floral scent as he hovered behind her for a minute before moving her hair over her shoulder and warming the liquid in his hands before rubbing it into the back of her neck, then up to her ears.

She moaned; she couldn’t help it as he tugged gently on her earlobes.

He smirked. Making sure that his mouth was so close to her ear that it sent shivers down her spine, he whispered, “You know Chloe, you really shouldn’t dish things out if you can’t take them”. His hands ran back over her shoulders noticing the goose pimples which had been called forth by his words. It was with an effort that he resisted the urge to reapply lotion to her cleavage as she had already done that and it wasn’t his place.

Once he had made sure that the parts of her exposed back which she had neglected were properly covered, Chloe jumped away from him saying, “Okay, I’m all done”, trying not to let the nervousness come through in her tone.

However the jump only succeeded in moving her against the car, Lex was still standing directly behind her, his hands moved lightly to her hips reminding her that she was closed in.

“Legs”, he reminded her.

She gulped, “That’s not necessary”.

“Oh, I think that it is”, he wasn’t letting her get away that easily. He had stood still through the indignity of having sunscreen applied, without complaint, when she had asked him to. He had at least given her the opportunity to show that she could do it for herself. It wasn’t his fault that she had failed, and he couldn’t help it if he was enjoying the fall out.

She span back around, this had gone too far. “Lex, thank-you for helping with my back, that was hard to reach but I can reach my legs perfectly well”, she said, thinking that semi-conciliatory might be the way to go, as she reached out to take the bottle from him but he held it out of her reach.

They stared at each other, at an impasse.
 
A/N: So, who do you think will win the sunscreen wars?

Hot one:D Something is getting to them:D

Yeah, I think that it is probably lust. :D Either that or hay fever.

*Chapter Five*

Chloe made another lunge for the bottle but found herself being pushed gently back against the car with apparent ease by Lex. He moved so that every single part of their bodies were touching and her breathing accelerated.

“Fuck”, she thought. She was not going to win this one. Damn it, she hated to lose. The only question was how to get out of this with her head held high. A light bulb suddenly flicked on in her head, and a sweet smile – the kind that Lex distrusted most – crossed her lips. “Alright”, she acquiesced with surprising meekness.

Lex tried to hide his shock. He really had been expecting to have to go to the mat with her for this one. What was she up to?

Chloe placed her hand gently on his chest and pushed him back, which he allowed as she went with him until they were about a metre away from the car and her hand moved down over his flat stomach, down to his, “Chloe”, he gasped, no, men didn’t gasp he told himself he just did something that sounded like a gasp but was in fact very manly.

She carefully removed his car keys from his pocket, apparently unaware of what she was doing to him before clicking the button to unlock the car and handing them back to him with an unconcerned smile. She knew that his eyes were glued to her as she turned around and opened the door with a special swish of the hips before spinning back around. She grinned as she caught exactly where his eyes had been, she had known that this dress had been a good idea.

Slowly she moved backwards until she was sitting on the back seat, her legs dangling over its side and just outside of the car. Lex grinned, the little minx. He briefly checked their surroundings. Clark had gone to look at something several minutes ago and the few people who were still in the car park weren’t really paying any attention to them. He had checked that when he had been applying lotion to her shoulders, but this was different. No one who might have happened to observe them earlier would have noticed anything out of the ordinary, but this … well this was different story entirely. Satisfied that the open door would shield them if anyone did happen to look their way, he decided that he was going to enjoy this.

Lex gave her an amused smirk as he examined her legs, partially because the opportunity presented itself and they were very nice to look at, and partly because he wanted to see if he could make her blush. Apparently he couldn’t; she was used to the attention. That made him angry but shaking the names of all the men she knew out of her wouldn’t get him anywhere. Taking his time he once again he closed the gap between them and saw why she had positioned herself the way that she had; she expected him to either kneel before her or give up. There was no other way of getting to her legs in that position. He was impressed, but if she really thought that that would stop him then she had another thing coming.

At least the part of the field he had parked on was grassy rather than muddy. Paying no attention to the fact that he was about to ruin a 500 dollar pair of trousers with grass stains, he slowly knelt down, keeping his eyes locked with hers the whole time.

He saw her green eyes widen slightly in surprise, but she didn’t look away or give any other indication that she was uncomfortable.

“You now have the distinction of being the only woman Lex Luthor has ever got down on his knees for”, he spoke both literally and metaphorically.

Chloe raised an eyebrow, an expression which she had perfected after a year of practicing it in her bathroom mirror after seeing Lex do it. She had hoped that he would back down, although she wasn’t entirely sure that she had ever really expected him to. Was he really trying to regain the upper hand by embarrassing her by sexual illusions? Well, two could play that game.

“That doesn’t surprise me”, she said with a shrug.

It was Lex’s turn to raise an eyebrow.

“I always figured that you would be selfish in the bedroom”, she said, although in truth she had never thought any such thing.

“So you’ve thought about me in that context?” He smirked.

Chloe controlled her blush and answered, “Don’t flatter yourself. Let’s just say that I don’t believe the stories that are constantly circulating about how many women are so vastly pleased with your exploits. I have always believed them to be …” she let him hang on her words, “Shall we be kind and say, exaggerating rather than paid?”

Lex grasped her ankle, “I have never paid anyone for sex, and really Chloe I thought that an investigative reporter like you would be more interested in getting the real story. The deep insight. The whole picture”.

“I don’t write those kinds of articles”, she said, trying not to feel like a guppy swimming with a shark all of a sudden.

“Well, maybe you should. It would certainly improve your circulation”, moved her ankle so that her legs were no longer crossed before looking down as he opened the bottle.

“My”, she broke off as he moved her leg, “circulation is just fine. I have perfect circulation. I am perfectly happy with my circulation, thank-you very much”.

He smirked as he knew that he had rattled her, but there was a fly in the ointment; he hadn’t thought that she would respond that much to a simple touch. As much as he wanted to push this game further, but he didn’t want her to get into an uncomfortable position because she was too stubborn to back down. If protecting her and not putting her in an awkward situation meant that he had to back out of the game, admit that he had lost and lose face, then that it what he would do. “So what is your view on men’s being on their knees?”

“Best place for them”, she decided, giving no indication of being flustered.

“And girls? What do you think about them being on their knees?” Lex asked, deciding that it was safe to continue with this game and genuinely interested in her answer.

“Should never be”, she smiled down at him before leaning back so that she was supporting herself on her elbows, apparently relaxed but more importantly ensuring that Lex wouldn’t see her face. She wasn’t going to let him know that his touch, in this situation, made her tingle. She wasn’t as experienced as she pretended to be in front of him, and certainly not as experienced as Lex. “Get on with it then”, she wiggled her legs, “they aren’t getting any more sun resistant”.

“God, are you always this bossy with men on their knees before you?” He inquired.

“Always”, she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Boys need to be told what to do or they will get it wrong”. It was true in all circumstances, if he chose to interpret that in a particular (and smutty) way then that was entirely his own fault.

“Maybe you should give up the boys and go for the men. Ones who know exactly what they are doing and the advantages of taking things slow sometimes”, he warmed the liquid in his hands again before holding Chloe’s ankle, “of starting at the bottom and working their way to the top”, his hands glided up her calve.

“Men like that, enjoy being in charge too much”, she tried not to groan as he worked the sun screen into her skin.

“Is that always a bad thing?” Lex wondered. He knew quite a few women who liked a man to take charge in the bedroom.

“Always”, she managed to get out.

He smirked. “Are you absolutely sure about that? A man who wanted to dominate you, sure that would be bad, but there is a difference between not being a sap and being domineering. You wouldn’t rather have a man who knows what he is doing and cares about you, rather than some weak willed pillock you have to tell how to do everything?” He tried to ignore the surge of annoyance at the idea that another man might have touched her, “Someone who could give you anything you wanted, make love to you however you wanted - slow and tender, hard and fast, even control if that is what you wanted? Someone who would take his time”, he ran his nails gently along her flesh, “and make you feel like the most important, sexiest woman in the world. Someone who would take you to the height of passion and not stop until you were completely sated”.

Chloe swallowed. “I … um”

His fingers skirted over her knee, making sure that the three inches above that which her dress might just about reveal if she weren’t careful were protected.

She could practically hear his smirk and said the only thing she could think of to shoot him down. He wasn’t attracted to her, he was just playing the game that she had started and didn’t know how much he was affecting her. “You make a good point, I should call that guy again”.

Lex dropped her leg.

Chloe slammed her eyes shut and breathed in and out several times, “I can do my other leg”, she told him, once she was sure that her voice would not betray any of her feelings.

“No”, he was curt. He poured out more lotion and rubbed his hands together a few times before efficiently massaging it into her skin, trying to ignore how warm and soft it was.

She tried to keep her breathing under control, which was more than a little difficult. Even when he was being brisk his touch had a very distinct effect on her body. She tried not to shift her hips as a very definite wetness began to pool between her legs.

Lex moved slightly closer to her as he did the area just above her second knee and although logically she knew that he couldn’t have noticed anything, as he didn’t have x-ray vision, she worried that something about her had tipped him off as he became softer and when he pulled back and stood up he pointedly didn’t comment on how flushed her cheeks were, or how her chest heaved. Both points which he must have noticed.

“There we go, all protected and ready to join the festivities”, he said with a smile which seemed forced but his eyes were kind, as he held out his hand to her. She accepted his help back out of the car and tried to put the strange incident out of her mind as she looked around for Clark and saw him staring at a tree at the end of the line or cars.

“Come on, it looks like your friend is anxious to get going”, she said as he looped one arm through Lex’s as they walked over to Clark, where she did the same to him and smiled as she escorted the two boys to the fair.

By the time that they got there the entire place was packed and there were only a handful of seats left.

“What about over there?” Clark asked, pointing to three seats near the front.

“Oh no, that isn’t how we do this”, Lex said as Chloe pulled them over to a monument of bales of hay which Chloe promptly started to climb with Lex not that far behind her, one hand always close to the base of her spine so that he could support her if she fell backwards, Clark realised.

With a smile Clark followed. The monument this year was a pyramid, three bales of hay wide at the top, which was about twenty meters or so high, giving an exceptionally wide base and a great view.

“Wow”, Clark said as he turned around once they were at the top and looked at the view of the stage, this has to be the best seat in the house, “I wonder why more people don’t come up here”.

“Oh, that’s simple”, Chloe said, “it isn’t allowed”.

Clark looked at her in concern, “Then what are we doing up here?”

“Don’t worry, an exception is always made for Chloe”, Lex explained, “that is to say that one day dares to argue with her anymore”. Seeing that some more information was desired, he explained, “Chloe being the angelic little creature she is. Saw the yearly straw monument when she was three and decided that she wanted to climb it. The officially did try to tell her now and well, let’s just say that they won’t be trying that again”.

“Nope”, Chloe shook her head with a wicked grin.

“And you came up with her”, Clark surmised.

“Someone had to check that she wasn’t going to fall off”, Lex said although it had actually been perfectly safe with no real way that she could fall and injure herself, if there had been, Gabe would never have allowed her to go up there in the first place.

“Of course, always so concerned about her health, aren’t you Lex”, Clark teased him, but the confused looks that both Chloe and Lex gave him indicated quite clearly that they didn’t understand. After staring at them blankly for a few moments, honestly not understanding if they really couldn’t see the way they acted around each other, he sat down on the end of the bale of straw. As he did so he wondered if he would ever figure out their relationship.

From the way in which Lex had spoken of her on their car ride down there he had thought that he had hated her, but such was obviously not the case. They certainly didn’t have a fraternal relationship going on, so that wasn’t it. If he hadn’t known that they couldn’t stand each other, he would have sworn that they were a couple. It was all so confusing. Considering how much they evidently disliked being in each other’s company – even if they cared about each other – Clark turned to them to see if he should maybe sit in the middle and was surprised to see Lex putting his hands on her hips.

Chloe, however, was evidently not surprised by this as she sat on his knee and allowed him to wrap his arm around her stomach.

Lex saw Clark’s face and realised that this must look like a rather odd seating arrangement as there was plenty of space for Chloe to sit by herself, so he explained, “She has very sensitive skin and the straw pokes her even through a thick blanket”. Something that they had found out when she was three and couldn’t get comfortable and so had decided to crawl into Lex’s 7 year old lap and had promptly fallen asleep on him although to this day she claimed that she had not had a nap at all. He had become accustomed to her sitting on him now.

“Shh”, Chloe chided them both. “It’s starting”.

A/N: If you've read don't forget to review, it inspires me to write more.

And in the middle of the how there will be something hard poking in Chloe's butt that is situated on Lex's laps... <lol>
I can't figure out their relationship either. They clearly love weach other, idiots!
Enjoying the story, though!!

And in the middle of the show there will be something hard poking in Chloe's butt that is situated on Lex's laps... <lol>
I can't figure out their relationship either. They clearly love each other, idiots!
Enjoying the story, though!!

Ha ha that is a possibility. As Catholic Science teacher said of the boy who saw a picture of the nude female body, "He got a cramp in his leg and had to go outside for a walk". :D

Another great update.

I can't wait till they realise that they like each!

Ok I have a good relationship with my brother but even I do not sit on my brother's lap and let him wrap his arm around me. I think it's time for Lex and Chloe to see that they are crazy about each other.

*Chapter Six*

The Smallville Corn Queen Pageant was more of an event than Clark had ever imagined. From what Chloe had said he had thought that it would just be a couple of girls with nice dresses smiling prettily. He had never dreamed that they would have a full stage set up with well over one hundred contestants ranging from 14 to 24, who had to go through several rounds.

“Oh, oh, I love this part”, Chloe exclaimed as they all lined us.

“Why? What is going to happen?” Clark wondered as spared Chloe and Lex a glance and noticed that his friend looked a little hot.

“Well, all of these girls’ parents have spent about a thousand dollars so that their daughters will be allowed to degrade themselves in front of men for the entire morning and now they all stand in front of us … and they only call out 20 names”, she giggled. “The ‘rigorous vetting procedure’ that all of the contestants have gone through and should be proud of themselves just for passing was basically just paying the registration fee”.

“What’s so funny about that?” Clark wondered.

“Half of the girls up there are complete and utter bitches and this will be their crowning glory, that they got to stand in a line so long that no one can tell one of them from the other and have their parents pay an extortionate registration fee and then buy dresses from the owner of the Corn Queen Festival’s wife’s shop … only to not be picked”, she explained.

“It was Chloe’s exposé in her High School’s newspaper The Torch, that first called attention to the relationships between the people who run the show and the places people have to buy their equipment from”, Lex put in, not because he wanted to brag just because he thought that it was interesting information.

“I got hate mail”, Chloe said, sounding rather proud of herself.

“Only once”, Lex growled.

Clark looked at him in interest and Lex mimed behind Chloe’s back with his free hand someone’s fingers being broken. Clark felt rather uncomfortable.

Apparently unaware of what Lex was doing behind her Chloe returned to their original topic of conversation, “I know that at first glance it seems mean, and perhaps it is. But these are not nice girls; they are vicious and spend all of their time trying to put others down. This is a victory for any girl who has ever had to put up with them. For anyone who didn’t get picked first in gym class. The very people who are normally the reject people are now going to be rejected. Isn’t it fun”, she grinned wickedly.

“She does actually know all of the girls in the line-up and is always the first person to try to make excuses for people’s bad behaviour, so if she says that they are all bitches you can believe her”, Lex explained, seeing Clark’s shocked face.

Chloe shrugged, “Lana was not as bad as most of them so I hope that she wins. Although that means that she will have to prance around in a bikini in front of everyone so actually no, I hope that she doesn’t get picked at all”.

“How kind of you”, Lex gave her a squeeze without thinking it through and realizing that this was going to press her even closer to him. Too interested in what was going on stage to think about what she was doing, Chloe leant back against Lex’s chest in a relaxed way rather than perching on his knees as she had been doing before.

“Oh oh oh here it comes”, Chloe wiggled with excitement causing Lex to groan and Clark to look over at him to check that he was alright. He shot Clark a tight smile and tightened his arm around Chloe’s waist trying to keep her still.

The voice over the audio system came on and announced that, “these young women have all done very well to get this far”.

“Because their parents paid”, Chloe put in.

“And in some ways they are all winners”, the master of ceremonies continued, unaware that Chloe was in attendance, let alone mocking him.

“Although in the actual technical sense of the word, most of them aren’t”, she continued.

“All of these you ladies are of upright character”, the MC tried not to let his eyes linger for too long on any one of the contestants.

Chloe snorted at that one, “That is why so many of the cheerleaders have grass stains on the backs of their uniforms, because they are so upright”.

“Now Chloe, that’s unfair. You know that some of them like it on top”, Lex joined in.

“But some in the last few weeks have given more than the others”. Chloe almost choked at that one, she loved this guy. He was feeding her lines now.

“What do you think he means Lex. More head, hand jobs or money?” She asked.

“All three probably, but you could find your mouth washed out with soap if you say it again”, he threatened her, desperate to distract her from the events on the stage. She wiggled less when angry, and her tendency to wiggle was definitely becoming a problem.

“Spoil sport”, she complained.

“Foul mouthed wench”, he shot back.

“Prudish man slut!” It was the best that she could come up with at that moment. Lex made a very good chair, just the right height, good back support, nice and warm and a built in seat belt cum armrest.

“What?”

“You heard me, I said prudish man slut.”

“How is that possible?”

“Simple, you are a slut because you have lots of sex with lots of different people”, before Lex had a chance to take issue with that she gave a little bounce in his lap, as if to test her next point, “you are a male, and you are a prude about it. You can do these things, but I can’t say them. Prudish man slut”.

“How do you know that I do those things?” He protested. That wasn’t the impression he wanted Chloe to have of him, he wanted her to know that he was a stand up man even if she didn’t like him. He knew that the men in a girl’s life influenced who they married in later life, girls of abusive fathers often ended up with abusive husbands. Obviously Gabe wasn’t abusive, he was great, and he was the main influence in Chloe’s life but Lex knew that he after Gabe he was the largest influence – even if she didn’t like it – and that his conduct, as perceived by her, could influence her potential happiness later on.

“I know people”, Chloe said noncommittally.

“You know people”, he repeated.

“Yep, prudish man slut”, she continued to tease, unable to see his face and having no idea how much her words had affected him.

“You say that one more time Chloe and I swear to Lucifer I will make you sit on the straw”, he threatened, fast losing patience with this conversation.

“But it pokes me”, Chloe complained. She was nice and comfy in his lap.

“You have been warned”, came his simple response.

“Alright, bluenosed whore of the male persuasion”, Chloe sought to get around the threat by not saying it with the same words.

“That is better, I think”, Lex said, laughing at her. He couldn’t help it, she was impossible. “Watch now, I know how much you like it when they stand there looking so sure that they will be the last one to be called and then get really shocked when they aren’t. Oh look at the one on the end”.

Clark and Chloe both looked where Lex was indicating and saw one girl who took a step forwards even as someone else’s name was called.

“That is really sad”, Clark said.

“Hardly”, Chloe scoffed. “She spent her entire time in High School sleeping around and being a bully.”

“Maybe she has changed”, Clark offered.

“And maybe Lex isn’t an uptight stick in the mud”, Chloe scoffed at the idea.

“Hey, Clark is the one who disagreed with you, not me”, Lex protested.

“I was as complimentary about you as humanly possible”, Chloe gave a shrug, “but I am just one girl”.

“Sometimes I doubt that”, Lex muttered darkly, “I think that you are multiple little devils all of whom delight in tormenting me”.

“It is a possibility”, she admitted.

“Who was the last one called?” Clark wondered, he hadn’t been able to hear the name over Lex and Chloe’s conversation.

“Lana Lang, the brunette in the middle”, Chloe pointed to her sort-of friend from High School.

“She is beautiful”, Clark said in an awed whisper.

Chloe and Lex looked over at him in a mixture of concern and disgust.

“You promised me that this would stop happening to me once I was out of High School”, Chloe whispered to Lex. It was true, when her date to prom had asked her at the end of the night if she thought that she could help him get a date with Lana and she had come home in tears Lex had been the one to hold her and tell her that all boys of that age were stupid and blind and that that would change once she left Smallville and met men rather than spotty small-town freaks. And Lex didn’t lie to her, not ever!

“He suffers from hay fever, it messes with the brain. Not enough oxygen gets to it”, Lex whispered back, trying to see her face to tell if she was really upset about this. “You know, he doesn’t have to stay for the whole summer”.

Chloe turned to look at him, “I was joking Lex”.

“Oh yes, so was I”, he tried to cover himself but he felt as if she could see straight through to his brain and knew that he was actually planning places to bury the corpse.

She gave him a knowing look and turned back around to the front, “Oh goodie, now those 20 girls get to parade around in thongs and high heels and be whittled down to 10 based on nothing but their looks”, the music changed to Britney’s Oops I Did It Again.

“Oops I got a career, by shaking my rear, and making guys leer. Oops I’m gonna sing more and dance like a whor…” Lex covered Chloe’s mouth to stop her singing the last line as the contestants strutted their stuff.

“Oh come on Lex”, she said, taking his hand away from her mouth, “You can’t tell me that you are taking this seriously?!?”

“No, far be it for me to be distracted from paying complete attention to you because some extremely hot women are running around in skimpy lingerie and high heels”, he caught her elbow before it made contact with his ribs. “I was teasing, you paranoid psycho. What’s the matter jealous?”

“What?” She coloured slightly, “Because I’m not up there flaunting my ass and tits? Puh-lease!”

“If you say so”, Lex said as if he were humouring her.

“I could win this thing in a second if I wanted to”, Chloe claimed, “my ass and tits are fabulous”.

Lex almost choked at that. “I can’t see you applying”. If only that were true, he had been trying not to imagine her in a bikini ever since she had leant back against him providing him with an excellent view down her top.

“No, because 1) I don’t want to, 2) it would be rather hard to flaunt myself with you holding your jacket out in front of me”.

“Oh Chloe, you underestimate me”.

“You wouldn’t? You would allow me to reveal all of my flesh to the populous of Smallville?” She asked, genuinely shocked.

“No, of course not. I would use a full blanket and tell anyone who didn’t avert their eyes that they were going to be unemployed”, he announced, “My jacket just wouldn’t be practical, it isn’t big enough to get really good coverage”.

“Now who is the paranoid psycho?”

“Still you”.

“Meh, okay so who do you think is natural?” Chloe asked returning her attention to the stage and getting comfy again. “I think that Lana is but that the rest have had work done. At least a nose and a boob job each”.

Lex made a noise that Chloe couldn’t quite place and shifted slightly.

“Are you alright? Am I too heavy?” She asked, swivelling around causing him to make the noise again.

“No, I’m alright”, he lied, “I just had something in my throat. I’d have to agree, especially in the case of number 4. She could take someone’s eye out”.

“I thought that you were a breast man, Lex”, Chloe teased, pleased that he didn’t like them.

“I am but I like something you can hold and squeeze”, Lex explained and Chloe tried to keep her hips from moving as the temperature suddenly shot up ten degrees, “you can’t do that with fake breasts or rather you can but they don’t react right”.

“You do know that they aren’t supposed to be used as stress balls, don’t you?” She tried to cover her reaction to his words.

“Of course, I haven’t had any complaints”.

Damn global warming! It was far too hot. She was going to write a very stern letter to some scientists.

“Hmm”, was all that she said though. She wished that she could say the same, some men didn’t seem to realise that they were attached.

“Something you want to tell me Chloe?” Lex’s voice sounded strained.

“No”, she tried to think of something other than the idea of Lex’s hands, anything anything anything. She was watching the show, she was on top of the monument but away from the nasty straw that poked her, that was when she realised that something was poking her slightly but it wasn’t that uncomfortable. Still, it was something to say. “Actually yes, I think that your car keys are poking me”.

Clark over heard this and spluttered, perfectly able to get what it was that Chloe was actually feeling.

“Oh yeah”, Lex said, looking genuinely embarrassed. “Actually that reminds me that I am thirsty, is anyone else thirsty? I’ll go and get us all something to drink”.

“I’ve got water”, Chloe learnt forwards to grab her bag and the swung around to hand it to him. She heard the noise again, saw the expression on his face, felt the ‘keys’ poking her hip this time, she looked down at the stage to see a very beautiful girl in her bikini and understood.

“Actually, Pepsi would be good. Who wants water anyway?” She jumped off his lap, blushing furiously. Damn, she should have realised earlier. He was just a man after all and those girls were hardly wearing anything.

“I’ll get you a Pepsi”, Lex said as he took off his jacket and left it against the hay for her to sit on while he was gone. He noticed that she couldn’t even bare to look at him, he had disgusted her or possibly made her feel unsafe with him. He wanted to say something, to apologise, but he didn’t know how.

“Oh don’t worry about that”, Chloe said noticing that he had left his jacket, she handed it back to him so that it would cover the problem he was having, which she was having great difficulty not looking at. She knew that he must have noticed that she was looking only at the sky or the hay. “You know, it is a really nice day and we have about 10 minutes before the next part of the show. I am going to go and stretch my legs, I suggest that you do the same and don’t worry about the drinks, I will get them. Then we can come back and recommence mocking”.

Lex grinned with relief. He got the message, they were going to come back and act like this had never happened. That suited him just fine. His jacket held in front of him he escorted Chloe down the monument and made for the men’s bathrooms, trying to look as casual as possible.

God help him, nothing like this had ever happened to him before. He was Lex Luthor he did not get hard just because some pretty little thing was sitting on his lap – not that he ever allowed anyone but Chloe to do that – and because she smelled nice and had a pretty smile. Fuck, even as he got into the stall her light floral fruity smell clung to him. It wasn’t his fault that her face kept popping into his mind as he took care of the embarrassing situation. It wasn’t. It wasn’t his fault that she was built like she was but he still felt terrible; as if he had somehow violated his perfect angelic princess because as much as he teased her about being a pain, she was angelic … deep down. He would have to make an extra special effort to protect her from now on.

It was with the resolution that he left the men’s bathroom – after having washed his hands – and started to make his way back over to the show keeping an eye out for Chloe on the way. There were lots of places that one could get drinks from here, so he didn’t know where she had gone.

“Hey Lex”, he heard her voice as she skipped towards him and hip bumped him. “Here’s your drink”, she handed him a tall Styrofoam cup, “I was going to get us some Pepsi but then I thought, no Pepsi is not good for you and Lex likes to be healthy so I will get him something healthy. This is really healthy you know, it is unsweetened herbal tea. I got you a chamomile one, it is supposed to be good for relaxing”. She tried not to blush. “I wasn’t sure what Clark would like so I got him as raspberry one because everyone likes raspberry”, she talked a mile a minute, smiling broadly and keeping her eyes studiously on his face.

Lex smiled at her. “Yes, everyone likes raspberry”, he agreed and put an arm around her shoulders. “Come on, it looks like they are about to start the talent section”.

“And we use the word talent in the broadest sense of the word”, Chloe chirped.

“In fact, incorrectly”, he finished for her and they giggled together. Hopefully this was a sign that things were going to go back to normal. They climbed the monument and Lex seated himself while Chloe handed Clark his drink and then went back to sit on Lex’s knee. She figured that they wouldn’t have the same problem as earlier now that the girls were clothed and she didn’t want him to think that she was afraid of him. It was just a biological reaction after all, he couldn’t help it.

“Alright, so how many do you think will choose to cheerlead?” Chloe asked him, feeling that mocking was always the safest topic of conversation.

“I think that five will cheerlead. Two will recite a piece of poetry that they can’t understand, one will dance and two will sing”, Lex decided.

“What about playing the water glasses and a self-defence class?” She reminded him.

“Have you been watching Miss Congeniality again?” He wondered.

“Yes, last week. What do you think Clark?” Chloe asked, turning to him only to find that he was completely engrossed with the action on stage.

“I think that we have lost him”, Chloe told Lex.

“Looks like it, just you and me again”, Lex smirked – that was just how he liked it.

“Everyone else is such a light weight”, Chloe complained before she went through her bag, “Want that muffin?”

“Sure, I put in a couple of extras”, Lex informed her.

“Now I see why some people think that you are a genius”, she grinned as she got them out and passed him the bigger one.

“Yep, that’s why. My ability to provide you with muffins”. Sometimes it was as if she hadn’t seen his exam results, which he knew that she had because he had shown them to her.

“If only you could bake”, she said wistfully.

“You are one to talk”, he said as he took a bite of his muffin. They munched away in silence throughout the talent portion which had gone much as Lex has predicted it would, the final contestant being Lana. Lex tried to be kind but still winced at her delivery. “She has it all wrong, it should be”, he made sure that his voice was low and seductive, “yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain, But am betrothed unto your enemy. Divorce me, untie or break that knot again; Take me to you, imprison me, for I, Except you enthral me, never shall be free, Nor even chaste, except you ravish me”.

“Um”, Chloe made a noise which she had no business making. She gave herself a little shake and channelled her inner snark, “Better than her interpretation but a little overdone for my tastes”

“I can’t hear”, Clark complained.

“Oh sorry, we can speak louder”, Chloe offered.

“I mean what is going on on stage. They have selected the five finalists and Lana is one of them, they are asking her a question about what she thinks true love it”, Clark explained, sounding a little put out.

“This should be good for a laugh”, Lex said. Chloe didn’t rebuke him but she was quiet as the brunette spoke.

When she had finished Chloe asked, “So, were you impressed?”

“Not really. She was better than I thought that she would be, but nothing really out of the ordinary. The whole psychobabble let’s find our place and purpose in the world doesn’t really do it for me”, Lex said with a shrug.

“She was wonderful”, Clark sighed.

“Yep, I think that it is fair to say that yet another man has been well and truly Lana Lang-ed”, Chloe said, not seeming to mind too much. “I want to write an article about this”.

“Ah yes, the yearly what the snicker doodle are we all doing post Corn Queen Festival rant article. It is a tradition. Why don’t you write it?” Lex asked.

“I’m not with The Torch anymore and I doubt very much that the Yale Daily News would be interested”, Chloe explained, she would probably still write the article but it would just be one of the hundreds of others which would sit on her hard drive and never see the light of day.

“If you made the article broad enough I’m sure that they would”, Lex said thoughtfully.

Chloe thought for a few minutes. “You know, that makes a lot of sense. The difference between the small town and the big city, the ways that small towns try to foster community by having events like this which are meant to make everyone feel all cosy and create a sense of togetherness when what they actually do is draw the lines between classes and cliques even more rigidly and the things which are supposed to empower us as women are actually really demeaning. For example, you have to prove that you can look good in a swim suit before your voice gets heard – although thank God because I don’t think that I want to hear what all of them have to say. I could link it to that new Dove advert. The beauty one. People are actually putting an advert designed by people who want to make us feel bad and buy more crap on their webpages as some sort of feminist statement. That is brilliant, thank-you Lex”.

He smirked, “I really don’t think that I did anything. Oh look, they are about to announce the winner”.

“Please don’t be Lana, please don’t be Lana”, Chloe chanted over and over to herself.

Clark looked at her strangely and Chloe gave a shrug, “You only win if you have slept with a judge”.

He joined in with her, “Please don’t be Lana, please don’t be Lana”.



A/N: Will it be Lana? Will Chloe and Lex ever work out what they feel for each other? Will Lex make it through the rest of the show?

Of course it will be Lana!

I loved what you did to Britney's song
And the poem Lex said... uhm!
Oh, and I LOVE Miss congeniality and you just made me wanna watch it again:D:D

I think... Chloe has been in love with Lex for a long time now and that is why she's like that with him.

You will just have to wait two mins - when I next post - and see. ;)

I got that from a movie somewhere.
He he I want Lex to recite poetry to me, who am I kidding? He could read me his shopping list and I would still be a puddle on the floor.
Me too!

I think that she probably has too.

*Chapter Seven*

“So basically the question is whether or not the holier-than-thou Lana Lang has decided to give her precious gift to a judge to win, or not”, Lex summed up the situation.

“She wouldn’t”, Clark declared with feeling.

“I hope that she wouldn’t”, Chloe said, “but you never know. Sometimes people do stupid things if they are in a bad enough situation. She did always want to get out of this town and it doesn’t look like that is going to happen”.

“She might have done it and still not won if someone else was better in the sack”, Lex suggested helpfully. “The one with the size double z cups looks like she could be a professional”.

“Know a lot about professionals do you Lex?” Chloe asked, in a teasing manner.

“No, but I know a lot about a good fuck”. He wasn’t going to be embarrassed by Chloe, if she wanted to talk about sex then he was more than capable of accommodating her.

“Now whose mouth needs to be washed out?”

“Sorry, I meant to say that I know a lot about a good snicker doodle”, Lex corrected himself.

Chloe burst out laughing, it was just too funny to hear him say words like that, although she hated to think just how much he might know about snicker doodling.

As she started to lurch forwards, Lex held her tightly against him so that her back was pressed firmly against his chest, just for safety reasons of course. The way that she was laughing she could easily tumble down to the bottom of the haystacks and hopefully the problem from earlier had just been a one off.

“You think that she would be a good snicker doodle?” Chloe inquired, once she had calmed down a little.

“I honestly had never thought of her in that way”, he said. “She doesn’t seem like my type”.

“No, of course not. You like brunettes”.

“Sometimes”, he admitted, “but hair colour isn’t everything”.

“No, most of it is bra size, right?” She said, only half joking.

Lex just smiled. “Why the sudden interest in what I like in a woman?”

“Well, you don’t seem to be able to find a suitable one yourself so I thought that I would try to help you out with that but that is difficult if I don’t know what you are attracted to”, she tried to think of a reason why it was suddenly so important to her to know.

“Well traditionally money grubbing bitches who want to kill me”, he answered.

“Yes, well after having spent a couple of minutes in your presence, who could blame them?” She was teasing, he knew. He had seen the scares she had left on Helen – his University girl friend with whom things had not worked out. It was a good job that her father was a plastic surgeon as that nose would never be right again.

There was a roar from the crowd as a girl who wasn’t Lana or the girl with gigantic breasts won.

“Well that answers that question”, Chloe said. “They will be celebrating etc for a good half an hour. Want to get the jump on them and head over to the stalls as normal?”

“Sure”, Lex said. “Come on Clark, time to go”. If Chloe wanted to go now, they were going now. Clark shook his head to clear it, as if coming back to himself. He followed them down the bales of hay; ignoring the jealous looks they were getting from some people who hadn’t been allowed to climb it.

Lex released Chloe’s waist so that she could get up and start down the pyramid, but he made sure that he kept pace with her, one arm only a few inches away from her hand and ready to catch her just in case she … he didn’t look where he was going – as he was too busy paying attention to Chloe - and slipped, tumbling down a couple of bales before he regained his footing. Luckily the only people who noticed were Clark and Chloe.

“Lex”, Chloe squealed hurrying after him. When she arrived at the bottom to see him standing and brushing himself off she breathed a sigh of relief but was still not completely satisfied. She ran her hands over his arms trying to see if they were broken and looked at his head, checking for signs of blood.

“Chloe, I’m fine. Only my pride was hurt I assure you”, Lex smiled.

Clark joined them, also pleased to hear that Lex was a not seriously hurt.

“And where might this pride be located?” Chloe asked, trying not to give away how fast her heart was beating.

Lex looked at her in confusion. “Here?” He asked, pointing to his temple. He had no idea where pride was located.

Chloe rose to her tip toes and placed a kiss against his temple, then turned and kicked the bale of hay savagely, before spinning back to him and asking, “All better now?”

“Yes”, he tried to look serious.

“Good, going around the stalls will probably cheer you up”, she announced.

“Probably”, Lex nodded, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Chloe went straight to the organic ice cream stall and brought them all large chocolate ice creams without asking the boys, as she handed Lex’s his one she said, “Sugar is necessary after a shock or a nasty fall”.

“Thanks but do me a favour and for goodness’ sake don’t go into medicine”, he joked.

She grinned at him. “You don’t think that my policy of kissing boo-boos and ice cream would get me very far?”

“No, I just think that everyone would come in with every minor scrape, some might even practice self-mutilation just to get your attention”, he could only imagine how the football team would respond to this type of treatment.

“Hey. who is that?” Clark interrupted them and paused eating his ice cream for a minute.

“Who?” Chloe asked, looking around. Clark pointed out the girl who was looking at them. “Oh Clark, looks like you have got an admirer. She was one of the girls who got chucked out of the Corn Queen round one. She is a senior, whose name I don’t remember. Do you want to go over and say hi?”

The girl smile and waved.

“I don’t think that she is interested in me”, Clark hypothesised, paying more attention to the exact eye line of the girl in question. Chloe’s smile failed as they both looked behind them to see Lex eating his ice cream looking highly amused.

Chloe scowled. “Don’t look at her, you can probably get something just from eye contact”.

Lex coughed, “You don’t catch STD from eye contact, there has to be physical contact”, he corrected her automatically.

“Oh and you wouldn’t know all about that wouldn’t you, man slut”, Chloe snapped without thinking.

Lex raised an eyebrow and made a show of very definitely stepping into her personal space and staring her down. “Chloe, I haven’t spoken two syllables to her nor have I indicated that I want to. More to the point you have never seen me act inappropriately in front of you. You are basing everything you know on vulgar rumours which I have tried not to let you hear. You have 100% of my attention without acting out, however if you want to discuss this matter further there are plenty of places to do so. However my patience for passive aggressive behaviour where you don’t tell me what is actually wrong and instead indulge in mini strops is extremely limited and will likely end up with me doing something you will regret so …”

“I don’t care if you give her attention, I just don’t like being ignored”, Chloe argued.

He sighed. He didn’t know what to do with her. He was angry with her but then when he looked at her and she looked so … he didn’t know, she was Chloe. He couldn’t stand to see her less that perfectly happy and if she genuinely believed that she was being ignored then she must be unhappy. He simply had no idea what to do with her sometimes. “You know I really shouldn’t give in to you all of the time, and I could never ignore you. Let’s get going and see if we can enjoy the rest of the day without incidents”.

“Perfect”, Chloe gave him a smile and started towards the other stalls

Once he was sure that she was far enough so that she couldn’t hear them, Clark asked, “What were you going to do if she hadn’t backed down?”

“I have absolutely no idea”.


A/N: Any help for Lex?

more chlex action, hotter this time, please lol

Oh yes, more Chlex action soon please. I think Chloe is really in love with Lex and she gets jealous thinking about Lex with other women.

*Chapter Eight*

The rest of the morning did go relatively smoothly, considering that both Lex and Chloe were involved.

They went around the farmers’ market and Clark noticed that Gabe had been right. Chloe was extremely guarded when she surveyed the objects which they passed, never allowing her eyes to stay on anything for more than a few seconds unless she was certain that she was going to buy it. When she did, she put them in her bag which was rapidly becoming large and cumbersome.

Somehow though, Lex knew what she liked and was holding up fingers behind her back to indicate how many he wanted to buy and that they were to send the product and the bill to him at the mansion. Clark shook his head, wondering how Chloe was going to react to that when she got home and found them. She seemed rather independent and he wasn’t sure that she was going to appreciate Lex’s efforts.

“Oh, jam. Dad loves jam”, Chloe squeaked with delight as she charged over to the store where she brought about fifty pots and started surveying her bag, it was already rather full.

“I think that even your bag and packing abilities are going to be sorely tested with that lot, Chloe”, Lex told her. “Send them to the mansion and you, give me that”, he took her bag from her.

“I can manage”, she protested but Lex just gave the stall owner a smile before asking Chloe in a whisper, “Are you really going to emasculate me in front of these good people?”

“Alright, you can have the bag”, she agreed. It was one thing for her to try to bring him down a peg or two in the privacy of her own home, but she wouldn’t do in front of anyone else. “Besides, it will make going around the games bit easier”.

“Well at least I am good for something”, he kept step with her as she ran over to the games. “Are you coming Clark?”

“Yes, just looking around for …” He caught Lex’s eye, “nothing”

Lex smirked. “This particular nothing wouldn’t happen to be a brunette who answered to the name Lana Lang, would it?” He asked, as they reached the first set of games.

Clark blushed, which was as good as saying yes. “She just seemed like a really interesting person”, he tried to explain himself.

The billionaire looked highly amused, “And the fact that she is beautiful doesn’t bother you in the slightest?”

“Are we going to play or not?” Chloe snapped. Lex looked at her in some confusion, wondering why she was suddenly in a bad mood. “Sure, are you alright?”

“Fine”, she said moving in front of the basketball game, the men followed suit.

“Do you have any idea what got into Chloe?” Lex asked Clark, genuinely confused.

“Um”, Clark couldn’t believe how blind Lex was when it came to the youngest Sullivan. “I think that it is possible that she doesn’t like you referring to Lana as being beautiful”.

Lex stared at him blankly for a few seconds before bursting out laughing.

“What’s wrong with you?” Chloe asked.

“Nothing sweetheart, just Clark’s sense of humour. I thought that you seemed a little out of sorts and asked Clark if he knew why and he said that he thought that it was because I said that Lana was beautiful”, he explained between guffaws.

“Well that is absurd”, Chloe sniffed, “Why would I care if you think that Lana is beautiful? She is beautiful, it is just a fact”.

“See Clark”, Lex said, as if this solved the matter.

“Alright, let’s compete”, Clark said observing the fact that Chloe was almost shaking for a second there. “What do we have to do?”

“Line yourself up with your basket and get as many in as you can in the allotted time”, the teenager running the game informed them.

“Right”, Lex said, “this game wasn’t here last year”.

“No, I graduated last year from Smallville High, so I am back this summer from MetU to be with the family and I thought that I would help out. All of the money goes to charity you know”, the young man ran a hand through his sandy blonde hair as he said this.

“Yes, I know that it all goes to charity, except the money raised by the Corn Queen. This isn’t my first time here”, Lex said, wondering why he was giving them his life story when he realised that the boy was speaking directly to Chloe.

“Oh, that’s so nice of you”, she smiled at him, ignoring Lex.

Lex rolled his eyes.

“Have you ever played basketball?” Blondie wondered.

“Actually, I haven’t. Lex thinks that he is a champion at the game but never played it with me. I’m good at tennis though”, Chloe stressed, not wanting to be one of those girls who was useless at everything sporting.

“Well then let me give you some pointers”, he offered, at her side in a moment. “You see it is important that you line up with the basket and really focus”, he showed her how to sink the ball. “Now you try”.

Chloe did, but it hit the rim.

“That was really good”, the youth complimented

It was Lex who pointed out that she had missed, only to be glared at.

“Your alignment just wasn’t quite right”, he said, “may I?” He moved to stand behind her.

“No”, Lex said, as Chloe answered in the affirmative, “Yes”.

He ignored Lex and stood behind her and put his arms around how to show her how to do it properly / because he wanted to get his arms around her. “See, this time you got it in. Do you want to try again?”

“No”, Lex took the next ball from them. “We are here to play the game, not to give Chloe lessons. She can manage on her own”.

“Can you manage?” The stall hand asked Chloe.

“Of course”, she scoffed at the idea that she couldn’t manage to throw a ball but then tried to soften this, by adding, “but it seems fun and I would definitely like to improve”.

“Well, maybe I could give you some pointers some time, like say over dinner and a movie”, he asked.

“Well, I’ll have to check my schedule but I think that I can probably make some time for you say, tonight?” Chloe looked up at him through her eyelashes.

“Sure”, he tried to hide his excitement, “I’ll pick you up. Where do you live?”

“Everyone knows that she lives in the mansion”, Lex interrupted.

“Alright, the mansion it is then say 7:30pm?” He was too excited to note the warning tone in Lex’s voice.

“Great”, Chloe gave him a smile.

“Ready, set, go!” Lex said, a little louder than was strictly necessary, and started to throw the balls. Clark did the same and Chloe lost all interest in the boy in the attempt to beat Lex … something she didn’t quite manage.

“Nice game Lex”, Clark congratulated as the final scores were tallied and it was revealed that Lex had beaten him by two points and so won the big teddy bear which he promptly gave to Chloe. “Well played Lex, oh thank-you”, Chloe hugged her new toy.

“Nice toy Chloe”, a sweet voice came up to them.

“Oh hello Lana”, Chloe greeted her. “Thank-you, Lex won it for me. Congratulations on the Corn Queen Festival”.

“That’s sweet”, Lana gave Lex a smile, “and thank for what you said about the festival, I know how you feel about the whole thing.”

“This is Clark”, Chloe said motioning with her head for Clark to present himself. “You know what, I think that Lex and I should go and put Prince Tedward in the car”.

Lex smiled, “Prince Tedward, nice name”, once they were out of ear shot, “trying to give Clark some alone time with Miss Lang?”

“Sure, sometimes people need alone time”, she smiled up at him. She was in a good mood with all the world at that moment.

~*~

“Well I would say that Prince Tedward Bear looks rather snug in the boot there”, Lex said as he sat the cuddle toy at the back of the boot.

“Yes, he will have a nice time with all of the cakes and knick knacks”, Chloe said as she emptied her bag and started to sort through it to leave most of the stuff in the boot and only repack the essentials to take around with her. As she did this she smiled to herself at Lex’s ability to be a vicious business man and still be silly and talk about the comfort of Teddy Bears.

“Yep, and then home to sit on your bed”, Lex continued to discuss the future of the newest member of Chloe’s cuddly toy family.

“So that is how you and Dad are planning on making sure I stay a good girl?” She inquired as she stacked snacks she had brought and debated which ones – if any – she wanted to lug around them. Ultimately she decided to leave them; she could always buy something else if she got hungry again.

Lex raised an eyebrow at her.

“A friend of mine, Anika, once told me that when a guy goes into a girl’s bedroom and sees cuddly toys he can’t even get it up”, Chloe explained for her, only realising once she had said it that that was probably an unfeeling reference after the earlier incident.

“Nah, just send them out for a tea party”, Lex smiled, realising that she had just admitted that she was still a good girl – at least in the strictest sense of the word. He wished that it could always be like this between them, not that he didn’t enjoy arguing with her and seeing her getting all flushed. He sat down on the edge of the open boot so that he could face her as she continued her packing/unpacking/general rearranging. “So, are you going to tell me what is up with you or not?”

“What do you mean?” Chloe ceased her fiddling for a moment to give him her full attention.

“The mood swings”, Lex clarified.

“You seem to be having a few mood swings yourself, if that basketball game was anything to go by”, she pointed out. “Are you going to tell me what is going on with you?”

“I’m fine”, Lex stated simply, not knowing how to explain what had happened to him during that game.

“I’m fine too”, Chloe said.

“Well, I’m glad that we didn’t get that sorted out”, Lex ran his hand over the top of his head. It was getting hot and it would be time for sunscreen again soon. Anxious to avoid her taking it upon herself to help him again, Lex grabbed the bottle and began to cover himself with the liquid.

“I always think that repression is the best method of getting on with life”, Chloe tried to joke. She didn’t know what was going on with her at that moment or why her heart thumped in her chest when she saw that Lex was taking care of his skin.

“Really? I hadn’t noticed”, he teased handing the bottle to Chloe once he was done and standing up and pretending to survey the rows of cars so that he wouldn’t see her massaging it into her silky skin.

Only once he heard her putting the top back on and returning it to her bag did he dare to turn back around. He saw that she was finished with her packing and was now zipping her much lighter looking bag back up.

“So”, he started up the conversation again, “should we go and see if Clark has managed to conquer Lana’s heart yet?”

“Sure”, Chloe waited for him to close and lock the boot before they started back to the fete. She chewed her bottom lip, the way that she always did when she had something to say but didn’t know how to say it. He was just about to tell her to spit it out when, after a few paces, she asked. “You know Lana?”

“Yes”.

“She is so beautiful, so sweet, she is what every man wants. So why have you never tried to go out with her?” Chloe had to force herself to meet his eyes.

Lex stopped walking to look at her. “I … I don’t know. It honestly never occurred to me.”

“And now that I have put the idea into your head?”

“It still doesn’t”, he couldn’t say appeal as that would be too cruel, “occur to me”.

Chloe grinned.

“Not that I’m not happy to see that smile, but might I know what has caused it?” Lex wondered.

“Oh nothing!”



A/N: Was it nothing that caused the smile? What do you think?

lol you killed me with the line with my name in it!! It sounded as I was rude:( No, just kidding. But ya know, few teddy bears wouldn't probably matter, but a room full of them... well, that's a different thing ;p

Loved it. Can't wait till those idits realizes what they feel and... Chloe just agreed to a date? Humph. I hope LEx xwill follow her with that guy

ow, and i meant to ask: Epolgue to Star Crossed, pretty please?

Sorry I didn't mean for you to come off as sounding rude. :D He he.

I wouldn't put it past him.

I will get working on the Epilogue, I have been mostly working on this story as stress relief - huge day in my PhD tomorrow. First year panel.

*Chapter Nine*

Lex and Chloe walked in companionable silence back through the maze of stalls to where they had left Clark, both thinking that it was nice to be there just by themselves again.

“So, do you think that we will find Clark where we left him … or do you think that he and Lana will have run off to Las Vegas to get hitched?” Chloe asked.

“I think that we will find them exactly where we left them, Clark isn’t the kind to run off and elope”, Lex smiled at the idea of Clark doing something that spontaneous, he would probably have to plan it out in detail first. “Besides, they have only known each other for a few minutes”.

“Ah, but as great romance novels and pop songs inform us, sometimes that is enough”, Chloe reminded him.

Lex snorted, “Sure it is. A few minutes and physical attraction is enough for a quick fuck but that is about it”. For forgot the snicker doodle rule.

“You don’t think that that can turn into something more?” She wondered.

“No”, Lex said emphatically. “You could never respect someone like that. That thing that your Nanny always said about their being two types of girls was vulgar but true”.

“What about love at first sight?” She persisted.

“Doesn’t exist!”

“No?”

“No.”

“You seem very sure of that”, Chloe said thoughtfully.

“Look I’m sorry to disappoint you if you thought that that little conversation between you and blonde ball boy was going to be the stuff of an epic romance but it won’t. Sure you can meet someone and be extremely attracted to them, you can even read people very well and think that they seem really great and genuine but that isn’t love. Neither is the fluttery feeling in the stomach on the first couple of dates”, he said remembering his dating experience. “Love is so much more than that”.

“It is how you act with that person every day”, Chloe finished for him, thoughtfully.

“Exactly. You have to trust and respect a person before you can love them. You have to know that it doesn’t matter what happens, they will always be on your side. Even if you have just had the biggest row in the history of the world, if they need you you will be there in a second, even if the thing that hurt them was what you warned them against / were arguing around”, he shook his head. “But it isn’t just about protectiveness, “You have to really see the person and that includes all of their flaws. Thinking that someone is perfect and walks on water is romantic but basically flawed as a base for a marriage of long duration. You have to know that they are always in a bad mood before they have coffee, that they don’t share their feelings and that you are probably going to spend the rest of your life arguing over that … and then still say (without a shadow of a doubt) that this person is still worth all of the shit that you are going to go through to be with them”.

Chloe observed him, he had never been this open with her – or anyone else, she guessed – on this subject and wondered if someone had hurt him recently to spark this out pouring.

He smiled at her and her intense expression, “No relationship is easy. Ever. You have to compromise on every single part of your life from where you put your toothbrush to where you sleep. Every single part of your life is affected and most of the time it bugs the hell out of you”.

“So I take it that you don’t believe in true love and happily ever after?” She asked, a touch of sadness to her voice.

“Oh the contrary, I’m a complete sucker for that kind of thing”, he smirked, “The only problem is that the princess doesn’t fall for the bad guy”.

“Oh, they do if they have any sense”, Chloe assured him, not bothering to argue with him yet again about whether he was good or bad. “Bad guys are always hot. Look at Guy of Gisborne in Robin Hood – the BBC version”, she gave a little sigh.

“Of course, I had forgotten about your undying passion for Richard Armitage”, Lex laughed.

“You’re mean”, Chloe complained.

“He is too old for you”, Lex argued.

“You’re mean”, she repeated.

“And he lives in England”, he reasoned.

“You’re mean”, there was that pouty bottom lip again.

“And he isn’t good enough for you”, Lex got down to the crux of the matter.

“You’re a sweet meanie sometimes”, she smiled.

“I’ve been called worse”, he shrugged before adding, “mostly by you”.

“What do you mean mostly?” Her ears pricked up, “Who else was calling you names? Was it Clark? Because I think that I could take him.”

Lex chuckled at that, “Sure you could. But no, it wasn’t Clark and I am not telling you who it was. We are supposed to be having a nice day out at the fete. I don’t want to have to go and find a lawyer and bail you out of jail”.

“Fair enough”, she appeared to give in, actually making a mental note to find out later and extract revenge.

They had reached the area where they had left Lana and her latest conquest. “They should be around here somewhere”, Chloe said as she jumped up and down trying to get a better look; it was a lot more crowded than it had been when they had left.

“They are over here … and it looks like Clark has gained another admirer”, Lex snickered as said admirer flicked her hair over her shoulder with a little too much force and almost over balanced, “And she looks like a keeper”.

“He is certainly a very popular guy”, Chloe acknowledged as Lex stood to the side to let Chloe go first.

“It’s the hair”, Lex commented.

“He does have pretty fantastic hair”, Chloe agreed, “but what will he look like once he has a mortgage, a wife and three kids when it is thinning on top?”

“Good point, at least with me women know what they are getting”, he ran his hand over the top of his head.

“Yeah, an ego centric, bossy, cave man wanna be, p …”

“That’s enough, we’ve got the idea”, Lex laughed as they reached Clark’s side.

“What’s so funny?” Clark wondered.

“Chloe was just recounting all of my god points”, Lex explained.

“It was a very short list, tiny”, Chloe held her thumb and forefinger a few inches apart to make her point.

“Oh, I am sure that it is bigger than that”, their new guest purred.

Chloe narrowed her eyes.

“This is my friend Kelsey”, Lana introduced them. “She works at the coffee shop with me”.

“Hmm”, was the extent of Chloe’s comment on this fact. Lex was a little more courteous and held out his hand, “Lex Luthor. This is Chloe, she isn’t good at introductions. She’s shy”.

Lana almost choked at this but no one other than Clark seemed to notice this.

“Remember what you said earlier about physical contact”, Chloe warned him in a whisper. “Ouch”.

Everyone’s eyes turn on her.

“Oh, is that nasty bee back?” Lex asked, with apparent concern, “Do you want me to kiss it better?”

“No”, her eyes narrowed at him as she discreetly rubbed her posterior where he had pinched her.

“You had better be careful, there could be a whole hive of them around here and they always seemed to be so attracted to you”, he warned.

“I hate bees”, Kelsey put in, “I wish that there weren’t any”.

“They there would be no pollination and we would die of starvation”, Chloe said coolly.

“Yes, it is amazing how something we think of only as a pest can be so useful isn’t it”, Lana said trying to smooth thing over.

“Yes, like mosquitos. They are actually responsible for the deaths of over one quarter of everyone who has ever lived and yet they are the best and in some cases only pollinators in a lot of areas”, Lex added his contributing.

Lana, Kelsey and Clark all made sounds to acknowledge how surprised they were by this piece of information whilst Chloe simply stated, “I know, I watch QI too”.

“I wish that I was smart”, Kelsey put in, fluttering her eye lashes at Lex, as if expecting him to argue that she was intelligent.

“I think that you mean were, you need the subjunctive there. And don’t we all”, Chloe informed her acidly. “Ouch, Lex”, she complained, making no attempt to go along with his notion that it was a bee.

He merely raised an eyebrow, “My offer to kiss it better still stands”.

“In your dreams”, she rubbed the sore spot.

“You’re not a little brat in my dreams”.

“You aren’t a bully in mine”.

Lana thought that it was time to intervene again before they both realised that they had let slip that they had both had dreams which featured the other one. “The pie contest is starting in a few minutes, did you enter this year Chloe?”

“No”, Chloe shook her head, still more interested in her sore bottom.

“Oh, the auctioneer will be disappointed”, Lana sounded sincere.

“Are you really that brilliant a pie maker?” Clark asked, trying not to sound surprised as he looked at the blonde. She didn’t seem like the kind of girl who spent a lot of time in the kitchen – eating aside.

“The very best”, Chloe said.

“Her pie sold for more than all of the others combined”, Lana explained.

“How was it Lex?” Clark asked his friend, under no illusions who had bid on it.

“It was an interesting combination of burnt and … um … chewy, with the odd bits of unmixed flour and apple core to add texture”, Lex said trying to remember the exact taste without his stomach tying itself in knots again.

“You still ate the whole thing”, Lana pointed out.

“Well ice cream covers a multitude of sins”, Lex shrugged, “besides due to an innovative explosion method of baking which Chloe pioneered in spite of the fact that there were two bushels of apples in it, it was only about the size of a DVD and quite flat”. What else was he supposed to do when he had seen her faced with potential failure?

“I thought that possibly I was undiscovered culinary genius … I wasn’t”, Chloe explained to Clark.

“Your pie also got given first prize”, Lex reminded her.

“Of course it did, I could have entered a turnip and it would still have won after you doubled everything raised on the day for it”, Chloe giggled.

“Hey, eccentric billionaires pay a great deal of money for rare items just to prove that they can. For a few minutes I owned one of the rarest things in the world – and I have documented proof – evidence of Chloe Sullivan’s cooking”, he tried to rationalise his actions.

“And I think that for the good of your digestion we should keep it that way”, she stroked/patted his stomach absentmindedly. “What are servants for, after all”.

“See I knew that coming into your inheritance and owning a mansion would change you. Where is that sweet unspoilt girl I used to know?” He teased.

“With you and my father around how could I have ended up any other way?” She knew that he had probably brought her knick knacks behind her back.

“Being spoilt is very bad, you should try to combat that Chloe or no man will want you. I am very low maintenance and can cook”, Kelsey was directing her comments at Lex thinking to ingratiate herself with the bald billionaire by butting into his conversation with Chloe and apparently being on his side. She was wrong.

Lex turned on her. “The word that you are looking for is indulged, not spoilt and men wanting her is not something that Chloe has to be concerned about”. Any attraction that he might have felt for Kelsey – and it had been negligible to start with – died right then.

“Yes, of course. I didn’t mean … oh dear”, Kelsey almost stuttered, looking to Lana for help.

“Helter skelter?” Clark suggested hopefully.

“Yes”, Chloe jumped at the possibility, grabbing Lex’s arm and pulling towards the slide. “Come on Clark, hurry up”, she called.

Lex allowed himself to be pulled along wondering what had suddenly got into her. “Am I still feeling brave enough to go up without having my hand held?” He wondered.

“Who needs their hand held on the helter skelter?” Kelsey asked, suddenly popping up again next to them when they are arrived. “Only a baby would be afraid”.

“No one”, Chloe growled, “yes you are”, she informed Lex.

“We thought that we might join you, it sounded like so much fun”, Lana said as she came over as well. “If that is alright?”

There was no answer.

They were all looking at her. “Chloe”, Lex prompted.

“Of course”, Chloe said with a sickly smile. She span on her heel, grabbed her mat and headed inside and came to a halt. It was just as tall and rickety as she remembered, with one flickering light bulb handing from the ceiling.

“What’s the hold up?” Kelsey asked from the outside.

“Just tying my shoe lace up”, Chloe called back, controlling the urge to tell the girl to snicker doodle off and stop butting in on her Lex time … um … she meant, fete time, of course.

“You don’t have to …” Lex whispered from where he was behind her, he had made sure that he was the one right behind her so the only other member of their little group who was already inside the structure. He was the only one who could tell that she was nervous at that moment. Chloe gave him a quick smile but ignored him and started climbing resolutely up the wobbly ladders – no one ever got anywhere avoiding things.

“You are safe, you are alright”, she repeated in her head. She squeaked as the light bulb went out and she started to feel her chest constricting.

“It’s alright. You are alright”, Lex was only one step behind her.

Both of her hands clung to the banister on one side, trying to ignore the sheer drop on the other side.

“Just take a deep breath, I’m right here. You don’t have to go up until you are ready. Everyone else can wait and if you don’t want to go up then I will kick them down the stairs so that you have a nice clear path down”, they both knew that he wasn’t joking. Chloe and he had got so far up the stairs that the others had come in too and begun the climb.

“It is okay, I can go to the top, it is closer than the ground”, Chloe managed a weak laugh which sounded almost panicked.

“Alright”, Lex said, keeping his hand where it had been since the lights went out, around her waist. “Well when you are ready take my hand and we will go up together”.

“What’s the hold-up”, Kelsey’s voice could once again he heard.

“The bloody lights have gone out in case you hadn’t noticed, what the hell do you think the hold-up is? If you can’t think of something sensible to say the shut up and fuck off”, Lex roared. Oddly, this calmed Chloe.

“I’m ready now”, she whispered to him.

“Okay, now give me your hand”, she did. He felt how cold and sweaty it was now. “Good girl. Now, nice and slowly one step and a time. I’m right here, you’re completely safe”.

Lex talked to her in a quiet, soothing voice until they were at the top and out into the fresh air where he positioned her next to the door so that she was boxed in, she was fine as long as she knew that she couldn’t fall.

The top was quite large so there was plenty of room for the others when they emerged. “Sorry about that”, Lana mouthed to Chloe, knowing that she was afraid of falling.

A rather pale Chloe gave Lana a smile.

Kelsey, expecting Lex to apologise once he was given an opportunity to speak to her, looked for something to say and noticed that they were missing a mat and asked, “Where is Chloe’s mat?”

“Here”, Lex pointed to the one sitting at Chloe’s feet.

“I thought that that was yours”, she said in confusion. She had been watching Lex and was sure that he had picked up the one with the green rim.

“No, I dropped mine in shock when the lights went out but Chloe was kind enough to say that I could share hers”, he lied smoothly.

“Oh, well there is no need to inconvenience her. You can share with me if you like”, Kelsey made another play of the richest man in the world.

“I already said that I was going to share with Chloe”, he wasn’t even attempting to be conciliatory anymore.

“Tell you want, Kelsey you go first, then Clark and I will go to leave Chloe and Lex to organise their own mat”, Lana suggested with a smile, figuring that Chloe wouldn’t want to go down first or have anyone notice if she was a little shaky.

Lex smiled at her gratefully as they went down in that order leaving him alone with Chloe

“Feeling any better now?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry I don’t know why I am being so silly about this”, she was really disappointed with herself; she didn’t want to be one of those girls who was weak and always screaming and jumping into a man’s arms.

“You aren’t”, he stroked her cheek. “Everyone has a phobia of some type and yours is a lot more sensible than most. I doubt that most people try to deal with their every year and associate it with something good”.

“You’re reaching, aren’t you?” She asked.

“Yes”, he admitted. “Is it working?”

“A little. Now, are you ready to go down on me?”

Lex coughed. “Sorry?”

“I asked if you were ready to go down with me”, she repeated her question.

“Yeah, of course.” He placed the mat on the floor, a little away from the shoot, and held her hand as she seated herself on it and sat behind her making sure that he had his arms firmly around her waist.

“Seat belt”, Chloe said as she always did every year. It was tradition!

“Yep, safety is important”, he knew was she was alright as long as she was sure that she couldn’t fall, sliding was different. He used his legs to pull them to the end and then, “Ready?”

“Set!”

Go”, and they were off.

Chloe squealed with delight as they whizzed around the slide until they spilled out at the bottom, Lex somehow ending up on top of her, his arms braced so that he wouldn’t squash her.



A/N: He he I think that I will leave it there for today. He he. Can you guess what happens next?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HotCrossedBunny

Sorry I didn't mean for you to come off as sounding rude. :D He he.

I wouldn't put it past him.

I will get working on the Epilogue, I have been mostly working on this story as stress relief - huge day in my PhD tomorrow. First year panel.

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Oh, so I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you!
I was just joking with that rudness;P I'm flattered that you thought of me:)

i don't get them, they care aboiut each other so much! They're just... perfect for each other! The sparks are always on the right level as they kept arguing and plus what I wrote earlier, perfect relationship.

They are perfect for each other and they need to stop playing game with each other and just get together already.

I know, I would have thought that they would have got together by now, who knew that one trip to the fete could be broken up into so many chapters?!? More coming now!

*Chapter Ten*

Chloe lay on her back, her hair splayed out behind her like a halo on the mat at the bottom of the helter skelter. She stared up at Lex. He was utterly gorgeous. His lean taunt body was above hers, his eyes were filled with mirth and his lips looked utterly kissable.

She licked her lips which were suddenly dry. Her chest rose and fell deeply as tingles of anticipation travelled across her skin.

He transferred all of his weight to one arm as he reached out one hand to smooth it over her head, his eyes were tender as he said her name in a voice like warm honey.

“Chloe, are you alright? You look a little pink. Did I hurt you?” He checked.

“You could never hurt me”, her voice came out a little more breathless than she would have liked.

He stared down at her strangely.

“I mean, no you didn’t hurt me”, Chloe shook herself out of her stupor. What had she been thinking? Of course Lex Luthor wasn’t about to kiss her. He didn’t think about her like that. Which was just fine, because she didn’t think of him in that way either. No she most certainly did not. Not ever. Not even once. If she had had a dream with him in ripping off her clothes, well that was probably just symbolic. It was her subconscious telling her that summer was coming – heralded by Lex’s arrival – and so she needed new clothes. That was all it was. Nothing more.

“Good, you had me worried there for a moment”, he grinned as he sat back on his heels and held a hand out to her.

She wanted to slap it away all of a sudden and tell him that she could do it herself, but she didn’t. She just allowed him to help her up and kept a perky smile on her lips. Lex stared at her for a few seconds.

“What is it?” She wondered.

“Nothing”, he said, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders and rubbed her arm. He figured that the height thing really had affected her more adversely than she had let on, she still didn’t look right. She didn’t even smile right. He felt a little odd himself, he had wanted to kiss her so badly when she had been underneath him but he couldn’t take advantage of her. He had to act normally. He didn’t consider whether or not it was normal for him to have his arm around her. It just felt like what he needed to do at that moment.

They had lost the pain in the butt and Lana had offered to give Clark a ride back to the mansion so they were by themselves again.

“Oh well, who needs the extra attachments?” Chloe joked.

“True”.

“So, how of fun next?” She asked.

“Whatever you want”, Lex said, thinking that she was probably overcompensating for her earlier fright.

“Really? Can I have a continent? Please Lex?” She pleaded, making her eyes practically double in size.

“Do you really want one?” He wondered, he probably could buy her one but it would take some doing.

“No!” She looked truly appalled, “Lex I was only joking, I don’t want a continent. Where would I put it? Lex, please don’t buy me a continent”.

“Alright, I suppose that you are already indulged enough”, he ruffled her hair. God there was something wrong with him, of course she didn’t really want him to buy her a continent. She never wanted him to buy her anything.

Chloe grinned as she handed over the money for their admittance to The House of Fun.

“So, heights you don’t like but walking along moving planks is fun to you”, Lex said as they walked into the amusement and the floor immediately started to wobbly underneath them.

“Yep, do you want to hold my hand?” Chloe offered, “Because you know, you can, if you feel like you need to”.

“No thank-you, I think that I will be alright”, he declined the offer although it sounded quite nice actually.

“Okay, I was just offering to be polite”, Chloe clarified. She didn’t want to hold his yucky old, overly hot hand anyway.

“I know”, he said, was it just his imagination or had she sounded almost hurt there for a second? No, it must have been his imagination.

They continued to run around the house until they got to the final room. “Oh, this is my favourite”, Chloe said as she got her camera out of her bag. “I’m going to do before and after pictures for my calorie count profile”.

“For your what?” Lex asked, thinking that she had lost her marbles – they had probably fallen clean out of her head when she had gone through the washing machine part of the house.

“Calorie count. It is a site where you count calories”, she explained, she was setting up her camera so she couldn’t see the look of fury on his face.

“And what would you be doing on such a site?” He demanded.

“What do you think? Counting calories and stuff like that. I stopped just after I went to Uni, but I think that I should go back to it”, she continued to tinker with her camera.

He ground his teeth.

“I am rubbish at remembering all of those things, that way it keeps a protein, iron log etc”, she explained.

“Oh”. That was better, so she was trying to take care of her health. She was going it to monitor her iron and protein, that was alright.

“Anyway, as I have always been more or less the same weight I never get to put up those really inspiring pictures where people have lost hundreds of pounds”, she explained.

“Thank God for that!” Not that he would think any less of her if she had ever been really over weight but he would hate to think of her being unhealthy and unhappy.

“So I’m doing this”, she stood in front of the mirror which made everyone look short and fat and took a picture then moved on to the tall skinny mirror and clicked again. “There from hippo to supermodel in under 30 seconds. I really should market this diet”.

“It would be a best seller”, Lex said looking in another mirror and noticing that it looked like he had a huge head.

“I like your head”, Chloe said, seeming to know what he was thinking.

He just smiled as he pulled out his phone and pulled up every single site Chloe had been on, - for once thanking Google’s policy of spying on everyone. He typed in the words calorie and count and found not only the sight but also her log in name. It took him a few attempts to guess her password but then he was in. The first thing he did, with a growl, was change her screen name Chloe the Chubby to Chloe the Cutie-pie and took a picture of her, just as she was, blotted out the face and put that up as her profile picture. She would probably kill him when she found out, but he wasn’t going to have lies going around about her.

“What are you doing?” Chloe wondered, noticing that he was typing away furiously on his phone but not that he had taken a picture of her with it.

“Sexting”, Lex lied, that was the one thing that should shock her into silence for a few seconds to give him chance to log out of everything before she started trying to take his phone to see what he was doing.

He discreetly observed her, as his thumbs worked, she looked a little shocked, maybe even appalled for a second before incredulity took over and then finally interest. He shut his phone off, just in time and smiled at her, “Come on. I’ll get you another ice cream. I know that your feeding schedule must be kept to”.

Chloe agreed but kept trying to sneak peeks at his phone until he put it back in his pocket.

“Come on nosey”, he urged her towards the door with his hands on her lower back.

“Hey, a Luthor sext. You can’t blame me for wanting to see”, she said allowing herself to be directed.

“I both can and do. In fact, I am rather annoyed that you even know what a sext is”, Lex announced.

“Why?” She wondered.

“Because you are little and pure and innocent”, he said more to remind himself than anything else, quelling the urge to tell her in very graphic details what a Luthor sext would include – not that he had ever actually written one before – and watch her dissolve into a puddle of desire.

Chloe schooled her features so as not to give any indication that he had hurt her feelings. She knew what the words little, pure and innocent were code for. He meant that she was short, a virgin and unattractive! She was sure that she was being mocked but that wasn’t fair; just because he wasn’t attracted to her it didn’t mean that no one else could be.

“I bet that I could get a date before you could”, she challenged.

“I believe that you already have one for tonight”, he said piously.

“There are seven nights a week”, she pointed out.

“All of which you will be spending sitting on a cushion or on your stomach if you aren’t careful”. Lex couldn’t believe the ideas that were coming out little Chloe’s mouth. She didn’t date around! She didn’t! He didn’t know what had got into her in the last few minutes but he wouldn’t believe that Chloe was easy and he wouldn’t have her implying that she was either; someone who didn’t know her as well as he did might overhear and get the wrong idea.

“Same old threats Lex? Scared?” Chloe would not back down.

He stared at her, watching her squirm automatically under his gaze, but obviously determined to stand her ground. He smirked, he would remind her who she was dealing with. “Just name your mark”.

Chloe’s face broke into a smile for a second in triumph, then she pulled herself back together and scouted out the surrounding area and the dating prospects which it contained There were plenty of people but none that caught her fancy until … Chloe grinned, “Them”.

When Lex couldn’t immediately follow her line of gaze she pointed rather obviously to the couple who were standing no more than a twenty metres away from them.

Lex looked over at them and was surprised, on the face of things that seemed too kind. The blonde girl was pretty and the boy looked like a push over.

“She isn’t gay is she?” He guessed, no way would Chloe make things so easy on him.

“Would that stop a Luthor?” Chloe wondered.

“No”, he admitted, “it would just be a challenge”.

“So you accept?” Mischief twinkled in her green eyes.

“Let the games begin”, Lex rubbed his hands together.

Chloe gave him a look that stated that he was going to lose and ran up to the girl and hugged her whispering something in her ear. The girl nodded and walked straight over to Lex leaving Chloe to talk to the guy who within a few minutes could be seen exchanging numbers with Chloe.

“Hi”, the blonde girl said shyly as she came over to Lex. “Chloe said that I would be doing her a massive favour if I came over here to speak to you”.

“You are indeed. I’m Lex”, he extended his hand to her, wondering what on earth Chloe was doing actually sending the girl over to him.

“Kara”, she smiled up at him.

“Say Kara, I don’t suppose that you would want to give me your number would you?” He said, not really trying, it was hard to concentrate on her enough not to seem rude when Chloe was over there talking to a boy even after she had got the number she had needed for their game.

“Sure, no problem”, Kara wrote the number down on a piece of paper and handed it to Lex. “Well, see you around sometime, maybe”, she said before returning to Chloe and her friend.

“Who was that?” Lex inquired, as Chloe returned to him.

“Henry James Olsen, Jimmy for short”, Chloe beamed. “I knew them both in High School”.

“And you have a date?” Lex surmised, secretly hoping that that Jimmy guy wasn’t that important to Chloe and that she wasn’t still harbouring some school girl crush for him.

“Yep, for tonight”, Chloe answered happily.

“You already have a date for tonight”, Lex said, striving not to let his voice betray him.

“One is early evening the other is late”, she explained with a shrug. Secretly wondering how Lex would respond to this news.

He stared at her.

“What? It’s not as if I am married”, she reminded him.

“Well, in that case I might as well call this girl even though I don’t know her if that is how people make dates now”, he said through gritted teeth. He knew that he was being ridiculous. He had gone out with more than one girl at a time and had certainly asked girls out without knowing them first, but it was different when it was Chloe doing it.

“Go right ahead”, she smirked.

In a fit of temper Lex pulled out his cell phone and dialled the number and waited a few seconds, his brow furrowed in confusion, “It says that the number is not recognised”.

“Fancy that”, Chloe smiled looking supremely innocent. “Now who is innocent?”

He smirked back at her. “Nicely played Sullivan. Want to go on some mini roller-coaster style rides?”

“Sure, I’ll just go and get Jimmy”, she said.

“Oh no you don’t”, he didn’t care if he was being over bearing. The fete was their time together, they had only just got rid of Clark et al. He wasn’t having someone else coming along to interrupt them.

“But …” There was that butter wouldn’t melt look again.

“But nothing”, he growled.

“I …” She was apparently either intent on ignoring him or testing his restraint, she started to talk over to Jimmy.

“One more step and I won’t be answerable for my actions”.

A thrill short up her spine. She tested him. She couldn’t help it. It was in her nature.

Ever so slowly, she raised her foot again, heading in Jimmy’s direction. It didn’t make it down onto the grass. In a flash Lex was by her side, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her off the ground and swinging her around.

“Lex”, she squealed in mock protest.

“Don’t even try it, you bought this on yourself”, his hands loosened their grip on her waist and began to tickle her sides.

“No Lex, please”, she got out between giggles, trying to get away.

“That isn’t good enough”, he wouldn’t let her get away, he kept up the torture on her sensitive flesh.

“I’m sorry, I won’t go on rides with boys, I won’t, I promise”, she gave in still wriggling to be free, or at least to be able to turn around and get some of her own back.

“Better”, he took himself to be the exception. He stopped tickling her, running his hands up and down her sides a few times to rid her of the feeling, but didn’t let her go. Instead, he tucked her under his arm as they went over to the rides and kept her like that throughout the course of the next hour and a half until they decided that it was time to go home.

“So did we get everything done you were hoping for?” Lex asked, knowing that Chloe always had high expectations for their days out and liked to squeeze a lot into a short space of time.

“Almost, just one thing left”, Chloe looked around as they reached the car part. “Oh there it is”, she grinned with delight.

“Chloe no”, Lex protested but couldn’t help but go with her when she grabbed his hand and began to pull him.

“Oh please Lex, don’t be a spoil sport. Look they have a lovely butterfly option. Please”, she turned to him and gave him the big puppy dog eyes. He couldn’t take that look. He looked down. He gulped as he saw her curves. He looked back up. Damn, those eyes.

“Fine”, he relented. “On one condition”.

“What is it?” Chloe asked.

He pointed the fake tattoo stall next to the one Chloe was heading towards. “If I get a butterfly painted on my face you have to get a fake tattoo that I design”.

“What are you going to design?” Chloe asked.

“Ah ah ah, you aren’t allowed to know that”, he looked very smug.

She stared at him for a minute, weighing up her options.

“What’s the matter, chicken?” He taunted.

“No and I’m not falling for that”, Chloe informed him. He was the one who had taught her that you don’t do something just because someone says that you are chicken or yellow if you don’t.

“It’s alright, I can always go and ask Kelsey”, Lex turned as if to go and find the other girl.

“Fine, I’ll do it”, Chloe gave in.

Lex smirked. “Good, you explain to the face painter what you want and I will talk to the fake tattoo artist”. Once they had done this, shooting each other suspicious looks as they did so they crossed back over and took the appropriate seats.

Settling back into the chair, Lex said, “Do your worse”, knowing that he could wash it off when they got home. As the woman started to paint his face he continued to look uninterested in her, he kept his eyes trained on Chloe waiting for her reaction.

As she found out where the tattoo was going to be, she balked.

“Something wrong precious?” Lex taunted.

“I won’t be able to wear the dress I was planning on for tonight”, she complained. She had picked out a really nice low cut red number.

“Not if you want to cover the tattoo, no. You could wash it off when we get home but it still won’t completely fade for a few days”. Sometimes even he was amazed by his brilliance.

“You bastard”, Chloe hissed at him.

“That has never been proven!” Lex said, ignoring the possible negative connotations her words could have about his mother as he knew that she hadn’t realised how her dark mutterings could be construed, if she had she would never have said it.

“I hate you”, she informed him.

“I know, just wait until you see what it is of”, he continued to watch her.

Chloe glared at him but allowed the transfer to be affixed just above the neckline of her dress, on the swell of her breast. Lex kept a very close eye on the proceedings.

She couldn’t tell what it was until it was too late.

“You snicker doodling bastard”, she cried.

“You don’t like it?” He inquired mildly as the make-up artist continued to paint his face.

“No, I bloody well don’t”, she stared at the mark on her skin in horror.

“I do”, Lex examined it as well.

“You had ‘Hands off!’ stamped on my chest!” She exclaimed.

“Well ‘If you can read this then you are too close’ was a bit long”, he shrugged.

“If I want someone’s hands there, then I will have someone’s hands there”, Chloe expostulated.

Lex smirked, “Oh, I really don’t think that you will. You either won’t show the tattoo meaning a higher neck line than is normal for this time of year giving the impression that you are stand-offish or you show it and he knows that you want him to keep his hands off or the third option, you explain that I got it stamped on you and then I guarantee that he won’t go anywhere near you”.

“I am taking pictures of you with your face painted”, Chloe snapped. She knew that he was right. She was getting absolutely no play after her date that night which was a shame as she was especially in the mood.

“You always do”, he reminded her.

“I am posting them on your Facebook account”, she added.

“You don’t know the password”, he said placidly. She couldn’t possibly guess it.

“Don’t I?” Chloe sounded ridiculously sure of herself.

He looked at her in fear as the painting procedure ended and Chloe held out her camera.

Then he looked relaxed, “Go right ahead, I can still score like this!”


A/N: Do we think that he can score like that? Will Chloe's tattoo impact her date?

He can always score lol

Stripping off one's clothes in a dream means revealing of the truth, so... maybe they realized by the end of that day they love each other?:D

Have you given any thoughts to the fanfic where Chloe would try to help evil Lex? And fall in love in the process?:d

Oh Gosh, I'm totally flooding you with comments now, but I forgot to pinpoint that I googled the man from the robin hood series you like:D I know you said sth about it once and recognized it from the chapter:D He is hot:D

Ok, enough of foreplay, it's time to get into some Chlex action. Chloe needs to know that the only person she wants to go on a date with is Lex and Lex just need to grab her and go.

I love their witty banter! Those two are in serious denial about their feelings for one another. Can’t wait to see what the situation/event will be to finally make them realize they like each other.

TrinityR: Yes, I think that he can always score - even with a butterfly on his face. Ah, I didn't know that. What does the fact that my clothes or at least my shoes always being missing in nightmares mean? I have thought about that fic, I even tried to plan it out but I got lost in the series and how to make it work as a whole. I think that I need to go back to the drawing board with that one and possibly do it without too much reference to the series because I really want it to work. Yep, Richard Armitage is yummy with a capital yum! :D

Trckyrcky: I agree 100%. I don't know what is taking them so long.

Bluemarvel: Glad that you liked it and thank-you for reviewing. :D Me too, I want to know ... wait, I'm writing this aren't I? D'oh!

*Chapter Eleven*

Lex Luthor stood there in grey slacks, bare chested and with a face covered in paint.

“She told them to use extra pink this year, I see”, he chuckled to herself as he examined the artist’s handiwork. He had to admit that she was good, she was wasted on face painting. He wondered if she was a real painter as well. The body which covered his nose was detailed but stylised but beautiful and the wings were an array of colours, splattered with copious amount of pink.

He smiled to himself, he had to admit that when Chloe decided that she was going to decorate someone she really went all out. It made him slightly worried for this year’s Christmas tree though, she already smothered the poor thing with tinsel, he would hate to think what she would do if she upped her game this dramatically.

“Well sorry Chloe, I can’t keep this on all day, not even to please you”, he said as he turned the water on to fill the basin. It was a lie, he could absolutely keep this muck on his face all day if it made her happy, hell, even if it just kept her content.

“Stop being such a pussy”, he told himself, “You’re a Luthor for Pete’s sake, you can’t get this sappy all over some girl”.

Grabbing the soap he got to work on his face, scrubbing it clean. It took quite some time. Every time he thought that he had got the last of it off, he found a little more. He didn’t know how women could possibly stand this goop on their faces. He didn’t think that Chloe wore any, that was good.

As he finally got himself clean he grinned at his reflection, he thought that it was about time that he went to find little Miss Sullivan, it was time for round two.

Just as he was thinking this he heard a noise coming from outside. It was a fine day and he had left all of the windows and the door to his room and onto the balcony open. He couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary from the window so wrapping the towel around his neck he sauntered into his bedroom and out onto the balcony.

He surveyed the area, he knew exactly what he was looking for. The servants wouldn’t be out at the back of the house by the pool and Gabe and Clark weren’t back which left only one noise maker. His eyes travelled across the manicured lawns to the pool which was now surrounded by potted shrubs – evidently it wasn’t only the kitchen where Chloe had been busy. He liked it. Flowers. More bushes. A couple of umbrellas and then bingo. A blonde head.

Chloe was lying back on a sun lounger under a large multi-coloured umbrella. She appeared to be extremely relaxed, reclining as she was in a red bikini her lovely legs on display to him. He licked his lips. He tried to see what she had chosen to do with her tattoo or at least the top of her bikini – assuming that she was wearing one, damn that global warming again – but he could make out the title of her book and the picture of Fabio on the front cover. He examined her face, even from a distance he could tell that she was enthralled and was biting her lower lip. Lex smirked.

Lex thought that he could use some time by the pool. Stopping only just long enough to throw on a pair of swimming trunks, flip flops and a towel, he made his way out to the pool wondering how he would begin his torture of Chloe this time round.

Chloe enjoying the sun, not to mention her extremely steamy book.

“Oh”, Chloe gasped as she read the last line of the paragraph where they protagonists’ heated gazes met. “That is um … wow”.

“Interesting title”, an all too familiar voice announced.

“Lex”, Chloe groaned, closing her book and rested it in her lap, covering it with her hand although there was really little point now. He had already seen it and she had no doubt that she was going to be mercilessly teased about it for the rest of her life.

“Chloe”, he returned, grinning. He took her in from her legs – which he had already examined from the baloncy and had decided shouldn’t be on show to anyone else – to her perfectly flat stomach and cute tummy button, her breasts which were braely covered by her red bikini top with a publge neckline. Her tattoo was very clearly still on display.

He smirks.

“What can I say, good literature is hard to find”, she said in an almost husky tone.

He tried to read her expression but found it impossible as her sun glasses hide her eyes. Her wonderful, green, expressive eyes.

Well, that would make things more interesting. At first he wasn’t sure whether she had not realised what function her glasses were performing but as she opened her book once more and brought it up to her face – covering her expression and effectively dismissing him – he put that idea to rest. She knew exactly what she was doing.

Lex moved around her like a lion circling its prey. His eyes trained upon her to catch every slight movement, the slight tension in her shoulders told him that he was having an effect on her, whatever she wanted him to believe.

He wanted to pounce on her but he took his time knowing that every second he forced himself to wait would feel ten times that long to Chloe, anticipation of anything always heightened ones emotions. He allowed her to hear his foot falls as he slowly turned to stand right behind her.

She looked straight ahead at her book but was unable to focus on the words, she was too wrapped up in thinking about Lex and wondering what he was doing.

Chloe tensed up as she felt his warm hands on her shoulders, before he bent down so that his lips were right next to her ear. She realised that he must be looking at her book and made to close it but found her movements stayed as his hands travelled down her shoulders, over her arms to her wrists and kept the book open. She could not help but be impressed with the size of him.

However difficult Chloe was finding it to concentrate on her book, Lex was clearly having no such difficulties as he read in a low seductive voice.

The princess’s ravenous gaze was fixed upon her knight as he emerged from the lake, dripping wet. His clean white linen shirt clung to his muscular physic and the princess gasped as she beheld him. She had seen men before, the knights often trained without the shirts but none of them had ever affected her like this. He was tall, lean, and beautiful beyond words. The princess felt her heart quicken and a heat she had never before felt spreading across her body.

“Very edifying I’m sure”, he said in his normal voice was he ran his hands back up her arms to her shoulders and straightened before moving off to her side.

“Stress relief”, Chloe mumbled by way of explanation.

“What have you got to be stressed about?” He asked as he seated himself on the lounger next to him, only half joking. As far as he knew she had finished her first year of University with top marks, she had got all of the courses which she had wanted for the second year, money wasn’t an issue and she had a splendid career in front of her. He knew of no reason why she should be stressed so if something was upsetting her then he needed to know. It made things so much more difficult when he had to go around demanding of everyone she came into contact with if they had hurt her.

She looked at him over the top of her glasses, pointedly.

He chuckled with disbelief, “Am I supposed to take that cryptic action to imply that I am so stressful that I made you turn to the arms of a book?”

“You are rather a pain”, Chloe stated simply, returning her gaze to her book.

“Yes you have stated as much before”, Lex seemed supremely unconcerned by her opinion of him, “I just didn’t realise that I got you worked up … in that way”. The look he gave her made it abundantly clear just exactly what ‘that way’ meant.

“What? You didn’t. I …”, she realised that he was just teasing her. She huffed, “Do you mind? I am getting to a rather good bit”.

“No not at all, carry on reading. I like stories”, he settled down, crossed his hands in his lap and turned his head to her as if ready to be read to.

She gave him a withering look.

“Oh, you aren’t going to read it to me?” He pretended to be surprised.

“No”, she said simply, not even bothering to turn her head to look at him this time – although she did still glance out of the corner of her eye, happy in the knowledge that Lex couldn’t tell as much through her glasses.

Lex shrugged as he considered his next move, he should probably sit there silently. That would bug her. He noticed a slight stiffness in his shoulder at this moment but he ignored it. He couldn’t worry about little things like muscle spasms when there was a Chloe to wind up.

He lay back on his own lounger and examined the view. He couldn’t fathom why he had never used the outside pool much before, it really was very nice. He turned his neck to look at Chloe and see if she liked the pool or was still pretending to be engrossed in her book when he winced – and not just because he couldn’t believe that she was reading / pretending to read that stuff in front of him. Hell he found it hard to believe that Chloe knew that such stuff existed let alone read it.

Although she had never ostensibly taken her eyes off her book, Chloe complained, “Do you have to keep moaning like that? Sir Reginald is trying to do his best to fuck the young maiden senseless and you are disrupting us, I mean him”.

“I’m not moaning”, Lex protested, a little hurt that she thought that he was playing for attention and that she didn’t seem to care about his hurt shoulder now that she had noticed it. He had noticed her sore bottom, admittedly he had been the one who had pinched her but still …

“Yes you are. Did you hurt your shoulder being silly earlier?” She demanded.

He didn’t answer.

“Well, did you?” She repeated her question, turning her head to face him.

“No, it is just a little stiff all of a sudden”, Lex tried to brush it off.

Chloe closed her book with a sigh. “I told you not to muck around with my bag and start hauling me around, didn’t I? Come on”, she stood up and motioned for him to scooch forwards.

“What are you?” he asked, doing as she indicated.

“What does it look like I’m doing, I’m fixing your shoulder”, Chloe said reaching passed him for her after sun cream.

“You don’t have to”, he told her. He really hadn’t meant to draw attention to the problem in the hopes of getting something out of her. Although it was nice to see that she still cared, well not cared but wanted her verbal punching bag to be in good condition for the next round.

“I am responsible for looking after you until Dad gets home”, Chloe informed him, placing a hand on his shoulder to keep him in place. He was not getting up until he had been fixed, it was a good job that she had noticed that he was moaning about his shoulder. The silly bugger should have told her to start with that he was hurt. How was she supposed to fix him if she didn’t know what was wrong?

“I see, just your responsibility hmm?” He tried to tease.

“Yup”, she began to rub his shoulders, ignoring the feeling soft his skin under her fingers. He moaned.

“Too hard?” Chloe asked nervously, she had been trying to start out reasonably gently. Had he really hurt his shoulder that much? Did he need to go to hospital?

“No, not at all”, he assured her and then registering the note of concern in her voice added, “Really good”.

Chloe smiled with relief and continued to warm his shoulders with her hands and trying to assess just where the problem was.

Lex’s eyes drifted closed and he wracked his brains for something to talk about which would keep him from turning into a puddle of drool. “So what is your book about?” He wondered.

“What do you care?” Chloe asked as she located the source of his pain at the bottom of his shoulder but decided that the best way of getting to it was to start with his scalp and to work down, just to make sure that she got every single bit. She was in charge of taking care of Lex until her father got back after all, she had to do a thorough job of it.

“You always used to tell me about everything you read and sometimes read to me”, Lex pointed out, his eyes closing with a slight groan and Chloe started to massage his head. It was amazing. Especially because normally he couldn’t stand having his head touched by anyone.

“Yes, well those were fairy tales”, Chloe blushed.

“And that isn’t”, he tried to keep his voice even as he thought of what that book was about, it wasn’t the content that affected him so much as the thought of Chloe reading it; the thought of her having thoughts like that.

“Well there is a princess and a knight”, Chloe tried to make it seem as innocent as possible as her fingers finally moved down to his neck.

“I had gathered that much from the title”, he smirked, but faltered as her fingers found the base of his skull. “Is she a nice princess?”

“Lovely, just a little misunderstood”, Chloe informed him without thinking as she was concentrating on the tendons in his neck which were apparently made out of iron.

“Sounds like someone I know”, he mused.

“I will take that as a compliment. She is a fantastic girl and a really great character. She is the daughter of the most powerful King in all of the seven kingdoms who has been striving to keep peace between all of the different families for years. He brings his daughter up with a very strong sense of right and wrong and luckily she is extremely intelligent because she is going to take over from him one day and rule everything”, Chloe started her explanation of the story.

“I do like a girl on top”, Lex commented.

“Anyway”, she ignored him, “when she is around twenty-one her father announces that he is leaving her in charge for one full month because he has to go and make a very important state visit to another King outside the seven kingdoms. It should be a lovely story without any drama with her running everything nice and smoothly”.

“There is a fly in the ointment?” Lex surmised, thinking that the princess in question sounded rather nice. But then again he had a soft spot for overly bossy, intelligent princesses.

“Yes, there is and his name is nasty knight. Well actually is it is Sir Reginald – and he is really the younger son of one of the other kingdoms in disguise – I just call him nasty knight because he is so well nasty. He is the head of the army and all of the security arrangements and was instructed by her father to protect her with his life, and he thinks that that gives him the right to keep getting in her way and trying to tell her what to do. The cheek!”

“But he is doing all of those things because he wants to protect her, right?” Lex guessed, he didn’t bother to add that the prince was probably secretly in love with the princess.

“That’s what he says”, her eyes narrowed.

“You think that there is something suspicious in it?” Lex asked, trying to keep his mind on their conversation as her got back down to his shoulders.

“Absolutely”, Chloe nodded.

“It looks rather well worn”, he gestured to her copy of the book, “so I take it that you know how it all ends”. He wondered how many years Chloe must have had that book for it to look like that. He gulped, the idea of Chloe sitting reading things like that , global warming flared up again.

“I do”, she agreed.

“And …”

“They get together, peace reigns supreme and they both have multiple orgasms”, she summed up the work.

“So they fall in love”, Lex said simply.

“Yep”.

“What part of the book are you at?” He asked.

“They are on an excursion. There were some refugees coming into the kingdom and the princess wanted to hear their story personally and so rode out to meet them. On their way back they have to cross over a bridge but just as they reach it a storm starts to flare up. The princess orders them to go over the bridge immediately and quickly so that they can get back to the castle safely but the knight disagrees. The princess gives the order anyway and he … he countermands her. And the military officers listen to him! The princess states, nobly, that she will not be dictated to by her own people and that she will walk across the bridge and home storm or no storm – the storm is well underway by now, if they had gone when she had said then they would have been at home and safe at that point. But nasty knight gets in the way, he uses the n word”, her eyes flashed with anger.

“No”, Lex said it in full.

“That’s right. Anyway, the princess orders him to move aside but he won’t do it. So she tries to get around him but he throws her over his shoulder and carries her back to his horse where he holds her against him as they ride a little way back down the road and spend the night in the hunting lodge – a collection of very elaborate tents, owned by the crown – and cross the bridge in the morning”, she huffed.

“That sounds like a sensible plan to me”, Lex decided.

“But she’s the princess”, Chloe expostulated.

Lex smiled, the one in the book wasn’t the only princess he knew. “Alright yes, she is the princess but he is the head of the army. If he knew more about the terrain and it really was unsafe, his job it to look after her and protect her even if she doesn’t like it”.

“You don’t know that he knows about the terrain, you are just assuming”, Chloe said, refusing to acknowledge that there might be some truth to his statement.

“Did I assume right?” Lex asked. From Chloe’s tone, and the fact that a general would have to have been out on manoeuvres he guessed that he was.

“Well yes, she had a lot to do in her palace, she didn’t have time to play around outside with boys”, Chloe defended the princess.

“So one might have thought that she would listen to his advice when he told her that the storm would make the bridge unsafe and that he wasn’t going to risk her life by letting her go over it. Was her decision influenced at all by her dislike of him? Or by the fact that he didn’t immediately jump to do her bidding?” He wondered, already knowing the answer.

“Maybe a little”, Chloe sniffed as she continued to knead his sore shoulder muscles.

“So really, he made the right decision”, Lex said, hoping that she wouldn’t hurt his poor shoulders too much once she heard that.

“It wasn’t his decision to make”, Chloe protested, not making any move to hurt him.

“He should have just let her get swept off the bridge and die?” Lex pushed.

“It wasn’t his decision”, Chloe argued.

Lex smirked. “So, does he apologise?”

“No, she is in her tent naturally taking some alone time to calm down after the day’s events …”

“Naturally”, as much as Lex was enjoying his massage he wished that he could see her face.

“A maid comes – the lodge has maids – and asks if she would like something to eat but the princess sends her away. The knight who has no business even being near the royal tent to start with …”

“I assume that he was guarding it”, Lex put in.

“Who is telling this story?” Chloe demanded.

“You are, please do continue besmirching the knight’s reputation”, Lex said.

“The knight, who has no business even being near the royal tent to start with, takes it upon himself to take the tray off the maid and to slip it around the tent flap anyway. Naturally the princess screamed, she was startled by the tent flap suddenly moving and he used that as an excuse to barge in on her. She was in the middle of her nightly bath”, Chloe moved both of her hands to one shoulder – his relatively well one – to deal with the tapestry of knots there.

“Cleanliness is next to godliness, Lex got out one of his mother’s favourite maxims as he head fell forwards as Chloe worked on him.

“Well, naturally one would assume that he would just turn around and leave then with profuse apologises but instead he just stands there with his mouth open. The princess is naturally very shocked and embarrassed by the whole situation and reminds him of his place to which he replies that his place is by her side. He walks over to her and kneels next to the tug saying that he is contrite and ready to serve her as the most humble of servants, if that is what she wants. She tells him to prove it and he offers to wash her back. She allows it and he starts to touch her and …” Chloe’s voice became a little breathless as she remembered that particular scene.

“Am I to take it that his abilities in this particular part of the book are enough to make us forget about the rest of his defaults?” Lex inquired, rather affected by her voice.

“The princess forgets about them for a while but I do not”, Chloe clarifies.

“No, of course not. No one can hold a grudge like you can Chloe”, Lex smiled as memories of grumpy vengeful Chloe filled his mind.

“I just have a good memory and put things together. Other people forget too much”, she defended herself.

“I know they do”, he assured her. “Then what happens”.

“Oh, she gets out the bath and he wraps a towel around her. He then picks her up and carries her over to the bear skin rug – which every good tent just happens to have – and lies her down on it. He kisses her and feels electricity coursing through her body and thinks that she sees fireworks”, Chloe recounted.

“Must be a good kisser”, Lex mused, damn why had he had to go and think of kissing when Chloe was doing this to him.

“It is a book Lex”, she rolled her eyes.

That was interesting. “You don’t think that firework inducing kisses really exist?”

“No, of course not. I have had my fair share of kisses”, his back was towards her so she couldn’t see him raise an eyebrow at that comment. “And most of them have been quite nice, but the idea that you can see fireworks or feel anything more than a slight tingle in the mouth area … I don’t believe it. Especially not as it is her first time kissing, she would naturally be rubbish at it. There is no escaping that fact”.

Lex smirked. “If he loves her he would still think that she was fantastic”.

“Hmmm … I’m not sure that he does love her. If he loved her then he would let her have her own way more often”, Chloe decided.

“Strange definition of love you have their darling”, Lex didn’t realise that he had let the darling slip in.

“I have been led to believe by greetings cards that it is an accurate one”, Chloe said finally finishing with one shoulder and moving over to the other one.

“I wouldn’t always trust greetings cards”, Lex said, finding it hard to believe that Chloe was really that much of a cynic. “So, they have sex”.

“Yep, lots and lots of it”, Chloe agreed with furrowed eyebrows.

“It will probably do wonders for their complexion”, Lex said, trying to distract himself from Chloe’s hands which were apparently very annoyed with his knots.

Chloe giggled. “You’re silly which is odd for someone who is so tense. Do you just sit at your desk all day hunched over a laptop without adequate back support and a screen that is too low?”

“Pretty much for the last two weeks”, he admitted.

“Business worries?” Her voice changed.

“No”, damn, the note of concern in her tone couldn’t affect him that much. “Just getting everything out of the way so that I could be here this summer”.

“Ah”, Chloe said knowledgably. “You know, you don’t have to feel like you are being forced to stay”.

“I know”, he said stiffly.

“You don’t have to feel it, but don’t try and leave”, she moved her hands lower down his back checking for any other problems, satisfied that she had healed his other shoulder.

Lex smiled. “I would never dream of it”.

“Good, because you wouldn’t get far”, she warned him, wrapping her arms around his neck, stopping herself just before she kissed his ear.

“Not even as far as the pool?” Lex asked as he lopped his hands under her legs and lifted her up, piggy back style.

“Lex, what are doing?” Chloe gasped.

He laughed.

“You wouldn’t”, she could see where he was going with this now.

“Oh, I think that we both know that I would”, he chuckled as he jumped into the water with Chloe still on his back.

He released her once they were underwater and turned around to look at her. She looked funny underwater. She looked like an angel with her hair flowing above her and a huge grin on her face completely unconcerned by the fact that she was only covered by two small, red strips of material.

Chloe pushed up off the bottom of the pool, breaking the surface of the water with a splash. Lex followed suit. He watched her pull her soaked hair away from her face and wipe the excess water from her eyes and face. “You got my hair wet”, she complained, but she was still grinning. She loved being in the water.

“So?” Lex didn’t see the problem. She looked good wet.

“Date”, she reminded him.

“Oh yeah, I forget that. You still going?” He asked, a little confused. They were having a nice time together, a little bit of literature, some smut, some arguing, and now some swimming. Why was she thinking about her date?

“Yes, why wouldn’t I?” Chloe wondered.

Lex racked his brains for a suitable answer, other than because she should be staying there with him. “Because you only just met him. Because you don’t know anything about him”. Yes, those were reasonable reasons for his objecting to her going on dates and could be adapted to any man she met, ever.

Chloe smiled at him indulgently. “I know that he went to my school, and that is why you go out on dates. To get to know people. Besides, he has already met you so I think that we can be fairly certain that he isn’t going to try anything and I am a good judge of character”.

Lex snorted.

Chloe stopped smiling.

“I just don’t see why you have to go out with him”, he muttered.

“No, of course you don’t. You don’t see why I should go out with anyone. Why anyone should be attracted to me. You are just like everyone else or poor Chloe, she’s so plain, she a brain, she doesn’t need love or a boyfriend which is good because she is never going to get one”, she said a little too loudly, genuinely hurt that Lex had been so mean to her.

Lex looked appalled at her outburst, wondering how on earth she had come to that conclusion and unable to think of how to respond to that other than by asking what the snicker doodle she thought that she was blathering on about. Although he wasn’t sure that he was going to say snicker doodle.

Clearly Chloe misread his expression as she huffed. “Tell you what Lex. I will live my life and date whoever the hell I want, you do your thing”.

She was out of the pool before he could tell her that he hadn’t meant what she had thought that he had meant. He was about to go after her and explain when he stopped himself. Why the hell should he explain himself? He hadn’t done anything wrong. He had always been there and looked after her, she should know that there was no way that he could ever think something like that about her.

He was angry. If she wanted to think that and go around dating random guys then that was just fine, he could do that too. With girls of course.

Lex got out of the pool and went to get changed. He would go out in a few hours, swing by that coffee shop that Lana worked at and pick out a coffee and a date although he would of course make sure that he re-met Chloe’s date first.

A/N: Just when you thought that they were getting closer they go and throw a spanner in the works *waggles finger at Chloe, then runs away to hide from Lex. He doesn't like people waggling fingers at Chloe*

Want more.
And want it hot.

Just when you think they are going to do it in the pool then Chloe open her mouth and remind Lex she have a date and Lex open his mouth and remind Chloe she should not be going out on dates. I think both of them need to be lock in a room with no phone and nobody else to distract them so they can finally get down to it.

*Chapter Twelve*

Gabe was sitting in the kitchen pondering life, the universe and everything to do with cake batter – a very good cook book if he did say so himself -, thinking that he should make something special for Chloe and Lex for the following day to get them talking again. He had returned from work just in time to meet Chloe as she was trying to leave the house with a date which he had not known that she had. Luckily Lex had already been on the case and was giving the boy a hard time, Gabe meant getting to know the young fellow.

Chloe had looked like she was about ready to explode.

~*~

Gabe pulled up outside his daughter’s recently acquired mansion and saw the front door was open and he could make out the back of someone he didn’t recognise, someone male. He scowled. Ever since Chloe had been born he had naturally mistrusted all males of even vaguely around her age, except Lex.

He got out of his car but had not taken as much as one step before he realised that Lex was already on it.

“Lex, for fuck’s sake, just get out of the way so that we can get going already!” Chloe’s voice could be heard quite clearly from within the house.

“Don’t you mean for snicker doodle’s sake?” Came Lex’s reply as he smirked down at her.

“No, I mean for fuck’s sake now move”, Chloe folded her arms and glared at him.

“I didn’t hear a please”, he crossed his arms and glared right back.

“Because I didn’t say please. I don’t say please to people who are being complete and utter asses in my house!” Chloe would not be intimidated by those green eyes which looked almost blue at that moment, as they crackled with anger.

Lex raised an eyebrow at that. “You really want to go down that road?”

“Sure, why not?” She fixed him with a look that stated quite clearly that she was willing to go toe to toe with him on whatever subject he chose. “You make this big deal about handing it over to my father, then when he refuses to me, saying that it is ours now but you don’t really believe that do you? You want us to live in your house”.

“Why the hell are you talking about?” He stared at her as if she had lost her senses, yet again.

“You think that you can always boss me around and talk down to me …” Chloe transferred her hands to her hips.

“I have never spoken down to you”, he argued.

“You are doing it right now”, she expostulated.

“I’m not talking down to you, I’m trying, emphasis on the word trying, to keep this discussion civilized and not to actually shout at you. I can’t help being taller than you. Come here”, he said putting his hands on her hips and moving to sit down on the settee in the hallway and pulling her into his lap. “There you are. We are exactly at eye level. No talking down”.

Chloe giggled and then was furious with herself for it, and more to the point she knew that Lex had seen it.

“That is not the point, height has nothing to do with it”, she huffed at him, although she had to admit that she did like being on the same eye line as him.

“Well it must have something to do with it”, he held her on his knee.

“No, it has to do with your attitude, you are making light of this”, Chloe complained.

“Well it is rather difficult to take it seriously”, he admitted.

“And your response to that is to pull me into your lap, just need to prove how strong and manly you are?” She said, trying not to pay attention to just how strong and manly he was.

“I didn’t know that you had noticed”, he smirked.

“You bastard”, she put her hands against his chest and pushed hard, in an attempt to get up.

“That’s not going to work baby”, he told her as he pulled her hard against his chest. Damn, he really was strong and very warm. Arrogant bastard. She pushed back against him again only to find herself even more tightly held against him. “So why don’t you just settle down and tell me what is wrong and why you keep having the weirdest mood swings today before I lose my patience and do what I have been threatening to do to you for years”.

“You are full of hot air, just like always Luthor. You don’t have the balls”, she enunciated each word, her lips almost grazing his.

“Oh, you want to see if I have the balls?” He asked, his hands trailing down to her bottom and giving her a squeeze, “Darling, either stop being a brat and tell me what is going on or I swear that I’ll …”

“I won’t let you lay a hand on her”, Chloe’s date jumped in.

They both looked over at him, having apparently forgotten that he was standing there.

“It appears that I already have more than one hand on her”, Lex have her another squeeze to emphasise his point.

“Lex”, Chloe protested although her voice sounded close to breaking. Her hands were now on his shoulders, she tried to get up but her legs didn’t seem to be working all that well.

Lex was grinning. “And I really don’t think that you want to draw attention to yourself”.

“Oh, and why is that?” The blonde youth tried to seem sure of himself but Chloe was almost sure that she could see his knees knocking, finally her own legs worked enough and she got out of Lex’s grasp - using his momentary distraction to her advantage - and stood up.

“Because”, Lex said standing up, letting Chloe go reluctantly. “I don’t think that you really want Chloe seeing you next to a fully grown man, it might make her change her mind about dating you. Second of all, we still haven’t talked about the attitude I expect from you on this date”.

“Lex”, Chloe objected, trying to get in between them.

“Chloe”, Lex said apparently calmly but with a certain flicker in his eyes as he looked her up and down. “I don’t think that you want to draw any attention to yourself either”. She was absolutely delicious.

Chloe had clearly spent quite a bit of time redoing her hair after their little swim, it was tied back loosely in a bun with soft curls escaping it and framing her exquisite face. He didn’t know what she had done to her face exactly, she was more made up than usual; still elegant but far too sexy. Her eyes were sultry and seemed to beg him to take her to bed right then and there and her lips, fuck, they conjured images of her which he had no right to have.

Her earlobes and throat were adored with the emerald jewellery that he had brought her several years ago and which matched the silk dress which was wrapped tightly around her luscious figure. Lex Luthor – connoisseur of beautiful women, bedder of models –‘s mouth went dry as he got a good look at little Chloe Sullivan. She had worked around the tattoo he had made her get, wearing a neckline which went straight across at the neck, covering everything but which was so tight that it still drew attention to her chest which had been pushed up rather appetisingly. Every time that she took a breath his hands itched to caress her. Damn, he had to continue his inspection before he had the same problem he had had that morning. The material clung to her flat stomach and hips but then flared out slightly which would have been a relief if it had not been too short. That dress should be worn only for him. Only when he could pull it up and …

Shoes, that would save him. He was a straight man; shoes always bored him to tears. Her dainty feet where encased in very high strappy little sandals. She was going to break an ankle in those silly things. She needed to be somewhere nice and safe like his lap.

Chloe crossed her arms across her body trying to hide it from him as she was clearly so disgusting to him, but then decided not to give him the satisfaction. She didn’t care if he found her ugly. She didn’t, she didn’t know why her eyes were stinging, it was probably just hay fever.

“I don’t care what you think Lex”, she told him.

“Evidently”, he referred to her date.

“Anyway, we are going to get going”, she walked towards the young man at the door, glad that Lex had drawn her attention to him once again, or she might have forgotten about him all together and have gone off to do something else.

“Oh no you’re not”, he grabbed her arm, instinctively; she wasn’t going to get away from him that easily.

“Lex, what the fuck is wrong with you?” Chloe all but shouted, and Gabe made his way to the door. He knew that Lex would never hurt Chloe but she sounded distressed and he wasn’t going to have that.

“You first”, Lex made no move to release her.

“Why don’t you tell me as you seem to know everything?” Chloe spat.

Not one to let an opportunity pass him by, Lex stated, “Aside from your choice in men, you need to go and change”

“Fuck you!”

Gabe had come into the house unnoticed and seated himself on the other settee to watch the show, not feeling the need to intervene yet. He did however make a mental note to ask who had taught Chloe those words and to tell her that they were bad words. He glared at the new boy shaped door stop accusingly, who he had worked out was Chloe’s date.

Wondering what Lex was so upset about, Gabe examined Chloe’s outfit, it was very nice, covered everything that needed to be covered, it was lovely … for someone else’s daughter. Lex was quite right, she needed to go and change – or at the very least at a nice woolly cardigan and pair of stripy leggings. And as for her shoes, they just had to go; she could turn her ankle in those shoes.

“You know I don’t know how you think that you are going to go out on a date when you are either stuck in a corner or across my knee”, Lex growled as he loomed over her.

“I don’t know how you think that you are going to continue to be the great and powerful Lex Luthor with a broken nose”, Chloe got in his face.

“Now now children”, Gabe finally stood up and intervened, “I didn’t teach either of you to resort to violence … well that is not entire true in your case Chloe, but that is not the point. Chloe you need a coat, Lex you need not to boss my baby around. You”, he turned to the boy in the doorway, “we need to have a little talk about the behaviour I expect from you tonight, if Chloe decides that she still wants to go out with you”.

Chloe rolled her eyes behind her Dad’s back.

“You can treat Lex like that but not me Chloe Ann Sullivan”, her father said mildly.

“Sorry Daddy”, she said, looking really upset.

“Sorry Gabe, that was directed at me not you, I was pulling faces at her”, Lex took the blame

“That makes more sense”, Gabe acknowledged, not believing Lex for a minute.

“This doesn’t mean that I like you any more”, Chloe informed Lex in a whisper.

“Your name is?” Gabe asked.

“Ryan Wilson”, the boy said extending his hand.

“Right, well my daughter is an adult capable of making her own decisions”, Gabe didn’t bother taking his hand. “However, that does not mean that I have to like them even if I accept them. I don’t know what rock you climbed out from under but you should remember that you are in Smallville, a town which between Lex and myself we as good as own, it is not just us watching you but every single person in the area”. Ryan visibly pale and Lex smirked.

“Now, you are going to take my daughter out – if that is her wish – but you are going to do it in our limo, with our driver. You will treat her well, you will be polite and you will not let her fall over in those ridiculous heels but you will not touch her. If my daughter comes back saying that you have been anything less than the perfect gentleman then I will let Lex have his way with you … and then I will show him how it is really done”, he managed to be menacing without ever dropping his jovial tone. In some ways that we more disconcerting than Lex’s obvious malice.

Ryan looked like he might actually throw up.

“Do I make myself quite clear?” Gabe inquired mildly.

“Yes, Sir, Mr Sullivan, Sir”, he said giving a slight salute which made Chloe smile and shake her head.

“Have a nice time sweetheart”, her father said as he turned to her and kissed her cheek. “Now, are you sure that you wouldn’t like a nice cardigan?”

“I’m sure Dad”, she gave him a hug and a kiss.

~*~

Gabe heard the door open and then slam.

“Ah, my little angel has returned”, he realised and looked at the kitchen clock. “8pm, I take it that the date did not go well”, he greeted her as she walked in – limping slightly – and looking extremely put out. His Daddy alarm went off, immediately and demanded cuddles and chocolate milk for Chloe and kicks for the boy. “Did he hurt you?”

“No, Dad of course he didn’t”, Chloe assured her father as he jumped to his feet.

“He was the perfect gentleman all night – well for all of the one hour of our date”, Chloe walked over to her father, kissed his forehead and made him sit down again before continuing with her story. “He sat well over on his side of the limo, wouldn’t touch me at any point during the evening. His main topic of conversation was Lex, and whether he was really as big a bastard as people made out”. She scowled at her father as he grinned and he rearranged his features into a more acceptable attempt at concern over the boy’s behaviour.

“We then went to dinner and a movie by which I mean a cinema where you eat while you watch the movie. Which is ridiculous, because who wants to eat a full four course meal while watching a movie? Junk food, ice cream, chocolate, popcorn etc sure, you munch those things at home while watching a movie but not a full restaurant meal. If you are going to go to a restaurant for a sit down meal then you want conversation, not a movie”, she rolled her eyes before going over to the fridge.

“Anyway luckily the movie was crap so I didn’t have to concentrate. It was an indie art-house pseudo-intellectual load of junk! And dinner oh that was good, really good, I would have liked that a lot if it weren’t for the horrified look on his face when I actually ordered food and ate it, I didn’t even get dessert because he made me feel so uncomfortable. Evidently he decided that girls don’t eat and yet he tried to give me wine twice even though I said that I didn’t really want any – I mean that isn’t even like Lex, when he tries to force you to eat things it is because he thinks that they are good for you. I can’t believe that I just thought that someone was worse that Lex”, she growled slamming the fridge door without finding what she was searching for and going into the pantry in search of something nice to eat.

“I take it that that it didn’t go well then”, Gabe said to the area where his daughter had just been just as Lex came in from the front of the house. “Hello Lex”, he greeted, “You don’t look like your night was too good”.

“You could say that. Went out for some coffee, met a nice looking girl, took her to the cinema only to find that there isn’t one good movie out at the moment”, he groused. “I can’t be that hard to make something half way decent”, he continued to complain as he realised that he had left something in the car and excused himself to Gabe and went back out to the car.

“And another thing”, Chloe announced, as she re-entered the room from the sound proofed panty, holding a mini container of homemade soup. “I like dessert; I see no reason why I shouldn’t be allowed to eat just because some people think that I am fat”.

“Who thinks that you are fat?” Gabe demanded, his hand automatically going for his phone.

“Lex”, Chloe popped her soup in the microwave.

“I don’t think that he thinks that”, Gabe said, wondering what his daughter was going on about.

“Yes he does, he said so”, Chloe tried to seem brave, her back was to her father but he could tell that it had upset her. “I’ll kill him”, he thought to himself. He was sure that Lex had never actually said that he thought that she was fat but Chloe had somehow got that idea and it upset her, the fact that he was like a son to him wouldn’t save him from Gabe’s wrath. His baby was hurt and he would have vengeance.

“I’m going into the garden”, Chloe announced, “I need a breath of fresh air”, she set the timer on the microwave and pressed start.

She had barely gone out of the back door when Lex re-immerged. Gabe snarled.

“And the stupid thing didn’t even eat, I took her out to dinner first and she refused to order a starter or a pudding, just the main course which was a lettuce leaf of which she ate barely half. Chloe needs to start running courses teaching females how to be attractive and how to eat their food properly”, he announced. “I thought sod her, I’m having a steak anyway but watching her nibbling a leaf was really off putting”.

Gabe stopped snarling and decided that clearly it had all just been a misunderstanding – that seemed to happen a lot between Chloe and Lex.

“I had better go and put this upstairs”, Lex motioned to his brief case and left the room was Chloe’s soup pinged to announce that it was ready and she reappeared.

“And another thing, I almost broke my ankle wearing these stupid shoes that my legs would look good. He was not worth it. I hate all men”, she groused as Gabe got her soup out of the microwave and put it in a different bowl so that she wouldn’t burn her fingers as she got a spoon. Obviously her Dad didn’t count as a man and so didn’t come under the banner of hatred.

Soup in hand Chloe toddled into the den.

Before Gabe could even get back to his seat Lex was back, “And don’t even get me started on the ridiculous platform shoes she was wearing, it was like watching someone trying to walk with concrete boots on. I swear if I had chucked her off a bridge – an idea that occurred to be several times throughout the course of the date – she would have sunk. And good riddance. I didn’t get my pudding. Do you want anything?” He asked, pointing towards the pantry.

“No thank-you”, Gabe shook his head.

As he disappeared Chloe returned and made a bee line for the bread bin. “I forgot the bread”, she explained her reappearance, still needing to vent she continued, “Is it really so hard to find a man who 1) likes me, 2) doesn’t mind if I eat, 3) doesn’t mind that I want to pay my own way, 4) likes good movies, and 5) can hold a semi intelligent conversation?” Without waiting for her father to reply she said, “Apparently it is! I am going into the den, I am going to watch a movie and I may not come about again tonight”.

“Have fun sweetie”, Gabe called after her. “I will try to chance the world while you are asleep tonight”.

“Thanks Dad”, she laughed as she closed the door.

Lex returned to the kitchen with an Aunt Bessie’s Jam Roly-Poly and headed to the microwave. “Is it really so impossible to find a woman who 1) likes me, 2) actually eats, 3) doesn’t want me just for my money, 4) likes decent movies, and most importantly, 5) isn’t a complete airhead? Damn it, I forgot the ice-cream. Now I am turning into an airhead by association”.

As he left again, Gabe sat there and looked up at the ceiling, “Alright God, I got the hint. They should be together. Got any helpful hints on how to get suborn and even more stubborn together?”

Sometimes in life people pray for inspiration for years but never get it, other times God is immediately forthcoming. Gabe grinned. “Hey Lex”, he called out, “Chloe is in the den, I think that she is about to start a Cary Grant marathon”, her genre of choice when life was less than stellar, “she had a bit of a sucky night too. Why don’t you take her some cake and ice cream?”


A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates yestarday, I was researching for another possible story I'm writing to do with Chloe breaking into a sorority for a story - still working on the good/evil one too. As always, please review.

Loved it!!!!!!!!!!

Chloe and Lex walking in and out but missing each other was so funny. So glad Gabe finally saw that they are meant to be together and is willing to help.

Can't wait for the next update.

Oh, now that Gabe realized Lex and Chloe belongs together, I wonder if he is going to start playing matchmaker and get them together. He should just lock them in the pantry let them have it out.

Wow! That was so awesome! I mean that scene at the end with Gabe listening to them both ranting!! I had a good laugh!
(And don't forget Star Crossed...)

Glad that you liked that part and didn't think that it was too silly. I was worried about that. I am thinking about Star Crossed but haven't come up with anything yet.

*Chapter Thirteen*

“Chloe’s back already?” Lex poked his head around the doorway connecting the pantry to the kitchen, his face smiling optimistically.

“Yes”, Gabe said, trying to sound casual, “it seems that her date was as much of a flop as yours was. He seemed not to understand that Chloe’s need nourishment; the poor little thing didn’t even her pudding”.

“There is plenty of Aunt Bessie’s and I’ll get the ice cream she likes”, Lex grinned as his bald head disappeared once again, only to reappear this time with a massive container of ice cream – or rather frozen almond yogurt aka Chloe’s favourite.

“I bet that she would like that”, Gabe mused, trying to keep his self-satisfied smirk to himself.

Lex divided up the fair, getting Gabe a bowel too, even though he had said that he didn’t want any, before heading to the den armed with his stodgy gifts.

“Ah, perfect”, Gabe said as he dug into his own bowl of sugary stodgy stuff.

Chloe had been watching the news as she ate her soup and bread, when they were finished she put the plate down on the small coffee table in front of her and grabbed the remote before reclining back on the sofa and putting her feet up. She probably should have taken her shoes off first but she didn’t have the energy. She had hoped that watching the news, seeing that there were larger problems in the world than her lack of love life would lift her spirits, but it hadn’t. She was down in the dumps far further than she had been the night before when she had been stood up.

“Some days, life sucks!” She announced to herself and she pressed the remote power button for the DVD player and thought that it took too long to whir into action and change the images of suffering into a picture of a nice blue DVD.

“Come on, come on!” As she gestured at the television to hurry up, she considered her position. She was on the couch, in the den, of the house she had been given, bemoaning the state of her life because she had given up on a date that she just wasn’t interested in and which she had only gone on because … well actually she couldn’t think why she had gone on it. She wasn’t really attracted to Ryan. She sighed.

She shouldn’t let this get her down; she should make herself into the kind of woman she wanted to be. Her heroes didn’t just lie on the settee when things went wrong, they got on with life. Chloe felt like she was having a fat day but she thought that she looked good enough in her dress, she was young she should go out and have a good time and not get back until after Lex so that he wouldn’t know that her date had been a flop. She should do all of those things but she was actually just going to lie there and watch her movie and see if that made her feel any better.

“Gabe said that you got back early”, Lex said, walking into the room without ceremony, “and thought that you might need this”, he handed her her bowl before moving over to the other side of the settee, lifting up her feet, sitting down and letting them plop back down into his lap. “So what are we watching?” He asked as he took his first spoonful of cake.

“Lex?” Chloe asked stupidly looking between him and her bowl. “What are you doing here?”

“Watching a movie if you ever press play”, he answered evenly.

Chloe observed him carefully. He hadn’t mentioned her date which was unusual for him, that could only mean one thing. “Dad told you that my date was a complete and utter flop, didn’t he?”

“He may have let something of that type slip”, Lex admitted.

“Oh”, Chloe groaned.

“Shall I let you in on a secret?” He asked; being sure to phrase his introduction to what he wanted to say in such a way that she wouldn’t be able to resist.

“What?” Chloe asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

“I’m glad that it did”. She glared at him, he laughed and continued, “I went out and got a date myself, I could not have been more bored. I actually tried to pick an argument with her just to have something to talk about, but she wouldn’t rise to the bait. In fact, I’m not even sure if she saw it dangling there in front of her”.

She smirked, “If that is what it takes to get rid of you then I will have remember that in future”.

“You can’t manage it. You always rise to the bait”, he winked at her. “So it may be very selfish of me, - no, strike that, it is - but I’m glad that your date was rubbish as that means that you get to be here with me, watching ….?”

“You are indeed very selfish”, she teased him, “after a date like mine a girl needs a good dose of Cary Grant”. She pressed the play button.

“Ah, A Philadelphia Story”, Lex read the title allowed, “nice choice”, they had watched this film enough times between them to be able to act it out if it came to it. “So, Richard Armitage, Cary Grant, any chance of you ever liking anyone your own age?”

“I do not have a thing for Cary Grant”, Chloe denied, “but Richard Armitage is utterly gorgeous, he is pure Nutella”, she sighed.

“Sure you don’t, and … wait, what does pure Nutella mean?” Lex wondered, unfamiliar with the phrase.

“Smooth, rich, delicious, irresistible, with nuts and will ruin your figure”, she motioned to show an expanding stomach – which could either have been from excessive Nutella consumption or pregnancy.

Lex laughed at that, “Tell you want let me ruin your figure”, he motioned to her cake.

“With pleasure”, she began her munching and turned her attention to the screen as Cary Grant pushed Katherine Hepburn over. “As much as I love her and her normal level of spunk, she shouldn’t have let him get away with that”.

“He shouldn’t have let her get away to start with”, Lex said.

“They were so perfect together”, Chloe agreed, “or at least, from how they interact later, I suppose that we never see them together before”.

“Yeah well remember, they end up together”, Lex reminded her, she always liked to know that there was a happy ending before getting too involved in the story.

“I know, I like that part. I also like Dina”, Chloe grinned.

“An annoying little pest, I wonder why you like her”, Lex nudged Chloe.

“I would stick my tongue out at you but I am busy eating”, Chloe said as she got the jammy bit.

“I would spank you for being rude but I, likewise, am busy”, Lex liked jam too.

Chloe laughed, “Next time that I think of something truly diabolical to do I will remember that”, she said as they both continued to much their way through their dessert and put the bowls down.

Lex settled back to watch the movie before noticing that she was still wearing her shoes, “Chloe, why are you still wearing your sandals? You always take them off when you get in”.

“Urgh”, she replied, “too tired, buckles too complicated, already hurting, can’t be bothered. Worry about it later”.

“You fell over”, Lex surmised.

Chloe nodded.

“And that Ryan creature allowed you to fall?” He demanded.

“No, it just happened. It is nothing to worry about”, she informed him. “What are you doing?” She wondered.

“I’m taking your shoes off, which are very silly might I add, you can’t possibly get comfortable while they are still on. Lie back down and just relax”, Lex instructed.

Chloe make some sort of protest sound which died off as he gently released her sore feet from the horrible traps that she couldn’t believe she had actually paid for.

“There that’s better isn’t it? This little piggy went to market, this little pig stayed at home, this little piggy had bread and jam, this little piggy had none – so the other piggy shared with him -, and this little piggy cried wee wee wee I don’t want to go out with nasty boys”, he recited, as he pulled gently on the corresponding toe.

Chloe gave a slight laugh.

“Hey, it was funnier than that”, he complained, tickling the soles of her feet to make her giggle slightly before holding and massaging them.

“You don’t have to do that”, Chloe moaned as he found a sore spot.

“I know that I don’t, but I want to”, he assured her. “Besides, you fixed my shoulder this morning”.

“Is it still alright?” She wondered.

“Yes, it is great”, Lex rolled it to prove his point.

“Good to know”, she smiled as she returned her attention to the film, or at least she pretended to, in fact it was rather hard to ignore what Lex was doing to her. It was halfway through the film when she decided that she couldn’t take it anymore and that if she didn’t do something she was going to dissolve into a big puddle on her couch, which might be difficult to explain later.

“Thanks for that but you know, I had better go and sort these bowls out”, Chloe announced, pulling her feet away from him and bouncing up and grabbed the plates.

“Okay”, Lex looked at her strangely, not sure why they were suddenly so important to her. “I can help with that”.

“No, no it is okay. You just watch the movie”, Chloe studiously avoided eye contact.

Lex paused the film and took the bowls from Chloe and headed with her into the kitchen. “It will do me good to clean up after myself, a new life experience and all of that”.

“You aren’t that spoilt”, Chloe told him as she followed him into the kitchen and watched him washing up and tried to ignore the way her heart tugged in her chest. Lex smiled at her as he finished off and wiped his hands dry and they went back into the den to continue the movie.

“So”, he asked as they sat back down and he grabbed the remote before Chloe could and placed it on the other side of him. “Are you going to tell me what is going on with you? More specifically why you are back home so early and are acting so strangely?”

“It’s nothing”, Chloe shrugged, staring at the screen even though there was nothing on it.

“Chloe”, he reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Talk to me please”.

She refused to look at him but she could feel the warmth in his voice and was powerless to refuse him. She didn’t know why she was making such a big deal out of this, he already thought that she was stupid. It wasn’t as if his opinion of her could sink any lower anyway. Besides, she didn’t care what he thought of her. She didn’t! “I … You are always honest with me, right Lex? I mean, you wouldn’t be kind to me just to save my feelings would you?”

“No, of course not”, he replied truthfully. He hated the idea of hurting her but if he thought that there was something that she really needed to hear then he would be the one to tell her.

“So, if there was something wrong with me you would tell me? And, more importantly you would tell me how to correct it?” She checked.

“Sure”, Lex replied, unable to think of anything else to say. He genuinely had no idea where this was going.

“Am I ugly?” Chloe forced out, staring at her hands.

Lex stared at her incredulously. He must have been misheard.

“I mean, I know that I am not a beauty like Lana and that I am never going to be thought of as gorgeous, I don’t mind that. I have a mirror, I know the truth, but … I never thought of myself as ugly until recently. A little plain possibly, but not ugly”, she tried to explain herself. “I mean, is there something that I can do …?”

“No”, Lex said quite simply.

“Oh, okay, I just wondered if maybe there was something that I could do to change …” Tears stung her eyes, it was better that she knew now, but she really had been hoping that there was some way to improve upon her looks. She was just being silly. She was young, healthy, attending a good University, her looks shouldn’t matter to her this much. It didn’t matter how she looked, what mattered as how she felt, and at that moment, she felt … awful.

“No”, Lex reached out and forced her to turn to him, holding her by the shoulders. “I mean don’t change. You don’t need to change”.

“You were trying to be kind”, she surmised, finding the buttons on his shirt endlessly fascinating.

“No, I’m not trying to be kind. I will be a complete bastard if you want me to be. I will highlight every single flaw you have”, Lex announced.

Chloe looked at him warily but that was really what she needed and so she nodded.

“How do you want to go? Bottom or top or top to bottom?” Fuck, that conjured images that he really didn’t need at that moment.

She thought about it for a moment and then said, “Bottom to top”, not that it really made that much difference. She cringed.

“You’re feet are nice and elegant as far as feet go but they appear to have red gunk smeared on the nails and have been abused by stupid shoes.”

Chloe laughed at that, she knew that he was trying to release a little bit of tension, before the worst bit started.

“Now, onto your legs”, this had to be the strangest conversation he had ever had, even with Chloe. “Having seen them in all of their glory this afternoon I can state that they are not particularly long, they are rather pale, you have two nicks on them where the razor got away from you and a few scars. They are not overly skinny although nicely toned. They look like they would wrap very nicely around a waist, I like that in a pair of legs. They may not be Barbie’s, but they are lovely. Truly.” He informed her.

She shifted slightly, feeling strange. She wasn’t sure whether she wanted to move further away from him or climb on top of him, or underneath him. They all seemed like good ideas, except the being away from him idea. She didn’t know how to respond to his words. He was just trying to make her feel better, that had to be it.

“You bottom is larger and distinctly rounder than current fashion dictates, and the same applies to your hips, which have the faintest traces of stretch marks from where you developed too quickly as a teen but which just beg to be held”, he didn’t add as she was fucked. That seemed inappropriate.

Damn, she wanted to place her hands over her hips to hide the marks there even though she knew that he couldn’t really see them through her dress.

“Your stomach is completely flat now but your ribs still aren’t visible and you have absolutely no ab definition whatsoever, you do however have a collection of freckles and moles”, he ran his hand across her covered tummy.

Her face turned red at that, she had really been hoping that he hadn’t noticed those blemishes, but she had known that he would have, that is why she had asked him. He didn’t miss anything.

Lex considered going on to her breasts then but didn’t think that he could take that right now. Your hands are very nice too. You’re arms have more fat on them than most people in your weight range which makes them nicely padded without having wobbly bits”, he gave them a squeeze.

“Your collarbone is not as prominent as most but that makes sense as your breasts are larger”, he broke off.

Chloe looked down at her breasts, they were a bit larger than she would have liked.

“But my point is Chloe that there is absolutely nothing wrong with your body. It, it is very nice. Trust me on this, whatever the problem you are having is it has nothing to do with your figure”, he said. Lex had no idea how she had ever got such a ludicrous idea.

She looked slightly relieved even as she looked down at her body. “Is it the face then?”

“Could be the face”, he said thoughtfully. “You’re hair has naturally never been much to write home about. It was very fair when you were younger but at around 12 it darkened and then you went through an odd collection of blonde dyes until you got to the one you have now which is a very nice natural looking golden blonde. Also, some of your other haircuts were a little harsh but you still looked cute”.

“As a tween”, she added. Tweens could get away with things that girls her age couldn’t.

“Yes, as a tween”, he agreed. “Not the face. Your forehead is actually too short, your brows and lashes are almost too dark but lend distinction, your eyes are green rather than blue, and are far too expressive, your nose is not the most normal and your mouth and teeth aren’t perfect. Altogether, with that face, you are never going to become a model and the truth is … you are absolutely gorgeous”.

“What?” Chloe wondered.

“You heard me. Chloe, if you never believe anything I ever say again, believe this. I swear on the memory of my mother, all the LuthorCorp stock I possess, and your father’s respect, you are the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen in my life. You’re fucking perfect”, he said with feeling.

“I …” she didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t be telling the truth but when she looked into his eyes she knew that at least he thought that he was being completely honest.

She thought about it for a moment, it must be something that she was doing wrong then.

“Lex, will you teach me how to flirt and seduce someone?”

Lex’s jaw dropped.



A/Q: Will he help her?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HotCrossedBunny

Glad that you liked that part and didn't think that it was too silly. I was worried about that. I am thinking about Star Crossed but haven't come up with anything yet.

---

Oh, that's ok. If you want to leave SC like that, do it. I'm not pushing you to do anything.

No, I think that it needs something else, a prologue, I just can't think what. Got a big funding meeting on Monday, maybe I will be able to think after that. :D

i love this story so far and can't wait for chloe and lex to fall in love. please update soon.

Here I think they will kiss and Chloe, of course, comes up with THAT!
Of course, he will teach her. Maybe they will accidentaly seduce each other.

Great fix! Please update soon!

It's so funny that Chloe is asking Lex to teach her how to flirt when she is doing such a great job of flirting with Lex and making him crazy. Can't wait for more and I think Lex might just take advantage of Chloe while teaching her a thing or two about flirting.

A/N: Sorry that it has taken so long to update 1) yestarday I went to London and met a Duke and Baroness (as one does), 2) and today I hurt my back so it went far slower than I thought that it would.

*Chapter Fourteen*

Lex blinked at Chloe several times, for the second time that night he couldn’t believe his ears.

“You want me to teach you how to flirt?” He checked, wondering how he got into these strange situations.

“Yes”, Chloe said quietly. Blushing terribly.

“Chloe, I um …” He didn’t know what to say to that. The girl did not need lessons in flirting, she needed lessons in how not to seem like she was flirting unintentionally and drive him crazy.

“Please Lex”, she sounded really desperate and Lex knew that he was going to give in; she couldn’t use that voice on him and leave him any choice. “If there is nothing terribly wrong with my looks then it must be my flirting skills. I have absolutely no idea what I am doing”.

Lex ran a hand over his head and rubbed the back of his neck. He wished that he had an alcoholic drink of some kind. This was ridiculous. He had no idea where she had got the idea that she wasn’t pretty enough from and he was perfectly sure that she could flirt if she really wanted.

“I don’t think that you perfecting your flirting skills is the answer”, he tried. It seemed like a better answer than shaking her and demanding to know who she had been trying to flirt with. Besides, if she was capable of turning him on this much when she wasn’t at full flirting strength, what kind of monster would he unleash on the world if he taught her how? No man would be safe.

“Maybe not but it might help”, she looked up at him with her big green eyes.

He made to protest but Chloe cut him off. “Please Lex”, she blinked back the tears. “Believe me I can hear myself, I know how pathetic I must sound at this moment and I am making an exhibition of myself all over some stupid emotional thing but … it matters to me. I hate that it does and I don’t know why it does but … it does. I am just tired of feeling like this”, she gestured with her hands to the air around her.

Lex’s look of confusion must have informed her that he had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.

She sighed. “I have never been popular and it never bothered me, I had a couple of good friends, a handful of acquaintances, no real enemies and my work. But I naturally thought that once I got to University it would be different, I would get a boyfriend etc, and that isn’t the most important thing in the world to me but if there is something fundamentally un-datable about me then I want to know now while there is still time to change. I never really get passed the flirting stage”.

He stared at her in disbelief; he had seen her breeze through the flirting stage twice that very day, she had got two dates – fact he was still a little annoyed about.

“I mean, I get asked out, most of the time they turn up, we go out, generally things then go well enough that we end up on the couch and then … nothing. I always assumed that it was because of my looks and boys didn’t really want to go out with me to start with, but if that isn’t it then it must be the flirting thing, i.e. that I can’t do it”. Bloody hell, that was embarrassing to admit.

Lex groaned.

“Please Lex, I promise that I will never ask you for anything again. I will completely ignore you. I know that it is stupid to ask someone who doesn’t even like me for help but … I just don’t want to be alone forever”, she looked up at him, pleadingly. “Will you teach me? I’ll give you whatever you want”.

“Who says that I don’t like you? Or that you are going to end up alone just because some insecure little college twerp hasn’t got the idea that you are great?” He demanded, seeming to grow in his anger.

“Well, it is obvious that you don’t like me. We always fight, you don’t like to have me around, I annoy you …” She trailed off as she saw the fury on his face. “You mean, you don’t dislike me?”

“Of course I fucking don’t. You are my favourite person in the world, I would be perpetually bored without a games of verbal judo. I thought that you knew that”, Lex strove to keep his voice at a normal volume; he really didn’t need Gabe barging in at that moment to investigate what was going on.

“I didn’t”, she said quietly. Quickly running through all of the their interactions again with this new knowledge, she had really thought that he didn’t like her.

“Well you should have”, Lex huffed.

“So, you’ll help me?” She asked, her bright eyes filling with hope.

Lex smiled at her, “I think that you already know how to flirt honey”, he corrected his slip of the tongue, “Chloe”.

“So did I, but as things never work out clearly I don’t. Show me Lex, please. You are supposed to be really good at things like this”. An idea occurred to her, “Unless you have just been bragging all this time?”

“Are you trying to goad me into helping you?” He accused.

“Is it working?”

“Maybe”, he cracked a smile as a light bulb sparked to life in his brain. “Alright Chloe, I’ll teach you how to flirt. Absolutely everything from the first meeting, the appropriate conduct at a restaurant, how to speak and how to get what you want on the couch – which is what we will start with a) because that is where you said the real problem was b) because if you are worried about that part it will affect your behaviour earlier on in the date, c) because we happen to have a couch handy”, he announced.

Chloe beamed.

“But”, he warned her, “if you want to do this you have to follow my rules”.

“Sure”, Chloe agreed without thinking, this was simply too good. Lex Luthor was going to teach her how to flirt, she was going to be able to get any man she wanted.

“You don’t even want to hear them first?” Lex raised an eyebrow. That wasn’t how he had taught her to conduct business – they would have to have a talk about that later.

“I trust you”, she answered.

“I think that you should probably listen to them anyway”, he said sitting down and patted the seat next to him to indicate that she should do the same. When she agreed to his terms, that was where they were going to begin their first lesson.

“Good. First rule, you have to do everything I tell you”, he watched her reaction intently.

“Bossy”, Chloe replied but didn’t seem particularly bothered by this proviso.

“Second, you have to get used to being close to a man, that is to say in this case, me. If that is going to be a problem for you ...”

“It isn’t”, Chloe answered, a little too quickly. “I mean it won’t be. I’ll work on it”.

“Good, okay”, Lex grinned. “And now for the third and I believe, most important rule, you are not to mention not being pretty enough again or any other man throughout this course of lessons”.

“Alright”, Chloe agreed, unsure why that bothered him so much or why he apparently thought that that would be a deal breaker for her.

“Wait a minute, there is an addition to this final rule”, Lex informed her.

Chloe tilted her head to one side questioningly.

“If you break it, then you will be punished”, Lex said, his eyes trained on her face.

She raised an eyebrow. Lex was forever threatening her, but this was one of the only times that she thought that he might actually be serious.

“I won’t put up with anyone being rude about you – including you -, and I believe that it will be detrimental to the process to continue to repine on past failures in the male department. So, if you do either of these things then I will be forced to put you across my knee”, he announced gravely as if there were really some force which would make him do it against his will.

“I agree to the first and second rule, and I will try to not to mention anything in the third that displeases you but”, she stressed that last word, “we both know that I am not going to let you that to me if I forget and accidentally mention them”.

“Alright, good luck learning to flirt on your own”, Lex leant back in the settee, “want to watch the rest of the movie?”

“You cannot be serious”, she exclaimed. “You would really not help me just because I won’t agree to let you …” She blushed at the thought, the image of him and her … she looked at him and saw that he wasn’t going to back down. “Okay fine, I will do everything that you tell me to do, I will get as close to you as you want, I won’t mention … I’m not falling for that one”, she caught herself just in time, she was going to have to be careful with that one. “I won’t mention the things that you told me not to mention and if I do I’ll let you spank me if you will teach me how to flirt so that I can get any guy I want”, she held out her hand.

“Deal”, Lex smirked as he shook her hand and used it to pull her closer. “First things first, you have to get used to being close to someone”, he told her, “if you are uncomfortable with it then they will pick up on it and pull away. Or at least they should do”. God help anyone who tried it on with her knowing that she was uncomfortable.

“Hey, I thought that rule three stated quite clearly that there would be no talking about them or a spanking would ensue”, Chloe teased him. But she admitted that she was normally quite tense in these situations, but not with Lex oddly enough.

“Yes, you are right that was very naughty of me, you can punish me later”, he grinned. “Now, next point is to get used to lots of touching even if it is just of the friendly kind”, he ran his hand down her arm gently, sending tingles up and down her spine.

“How do you do that?” She interrupted the lesson – she wasn’t sure if there was going to be a question and answer portion and her natural curiosity got the better of her, as per usual.

“Do what?” He wondered.

“Make people go all tingly and know how to touch them”, Chloe said as if he were being dense.

Lex smirked, “Make people go all tingly?” he repeated. He had no idea that he could make Chloe tingle.

“Yes”, Chloe was impatient for the answer. “Does it have something to do with the accident you had when you were a child?”

He covered his mouth, trying not to laugh at her. He had no idea what the hell the boys she had been dating had been trying if she was so receptive that a simple touch could have such an effect on her. “I wasn’t aware that I could make people go all tingly”, he grinned, once he had got control over himself. “No, it has nothing to do with the accident I had as a child, I am not transmitting radiation. It is just the natural reaction of one human to another human’s touch. It helps if you are relaxed and comfortable with the person, but it doesn’t have to mean anything more”, he said, more for his benefit that for hers. He needed to be reminded that she was an innocent young miss and that her physical response to him didn’t mean anything.

“Hmmm”, Chloe murmured thoughtfully and bit her lip, Lex’s swallowed; no, she definitely didn’t need any pointers from him. The problem was definitely with the male population, not with her. “But how do you know how to touch someone?”

“What do you mean?” He wondered. Chloe wasn’t particularly touchy feely but she wasn’t stand-offish either.

“I mean if you weren’t you and you were just a random boy I was on a date with I wouldn’t be sitting this close, I would be over here”, she scooted back. “And we would both be sitting facing forwards. At some point he would try to get his arm around the back of my shoulders and come over and … and I just sit there with my hands in my lap, I don’t know whether my hands should be on his shoulder, his arm … You see the problem?”

“Yes”, Lex said trying not to laugh. It sounded more like the reason why the flirting wasn’t working out for her was because she wasn’t interested enough in the guy, then got flustered and over analysed things. “Well, I am sure that it goes without saying that you should be sure that you actually like the person in question, first of all. But on top of that”, he tried to think, “I’m not sure that there is a manual for this. You won’t know what you like and what they like until you try it although I suppose that experience does teach you what is most likely acceptable”.

“You aren’t going to give the same advice as the magazines, are you? To follow your instincts? Because I don’t have any”, Chloe sounded defeated.

“I’m sorry but instinct is a large part of it”, Lex admitted, “but maybe there are some pointers. You aren’t uncomfortable around me, are you?”

“No, of course not, you’re just Lex”, Chloe smiled.

He hid his stinging pride. “Well then practice on me. If you like something that they do to you then try it back, if you want to touch them go ahead and see if they like it”.

She looked at him thoughtfully.

“Go right ahead sweetheart, if you want to touch me then touch otherwise it doesn’t work”, he smiled at her encouragingly.

She licked her lips, examining him carefully.

“Go on”, Lex laughed, “you touch me all the time, I don’t know why you are so nervous all of a sudden”.

“Because normally I don’t think about these things, there is a lot more pressure when you are trying to seduce someone. Well, I mean in this case obviously I am not trying to actually seduce you but to see how one would go about it if they did want to and …”

“Stop babbling and just touch me. If this is how you act on a date then no wonder it … Okay, good start”, he said as she placed her hand on his shoulder, almost tentatively and stroked down his arm.

“Like this?” She asked as she trailed her arm back up and over the shoulder and down his torso. He was right, encouragement helped.

“Yes, that is a very good start”, he said tightly as she ran her finger up and down his chest and stomach apparently absentmindedly.

“So what next?” She asked, excitedly.

“Seem interested in what he is saying and doing, talk and be animated just in general. But then again you always are, I really don’t understand why you are having such problems”, Lex said, amazed that nothing she was doing to him appeared to be affecting her.

“Okay, you will teach me general flirting later but I want to know about the couch stuff now, as agreed. What should I do next?” She asked.

“Well what do you normally do?”

“Um …”

“Chloe”

“Correct their grammar”.

“What?” Lex spluttered.

“The last time that I was in this situation, he asked if I would like it if he was to do something and I corrected him without thinking to were. The subjunctive is important”, Chloe explained, the expression on her face telling him that she knew that she had done the wrong thing.

Lex laughed. He laughed so hard that he almost fell off the settee, and Chloe’s hand fell away from him. He missed the contact.

“I’m glad that you found it so funny”, she sniffed, “he did not”.

“I’m sorry”, Lex tried to keep a straight face. “Did the date end there?”

“No, he gave it a go anyway but I just didn’t like it. I don’t think that it is very hygienic”, she pulled a face and Lex scowled as he realised what the man had done to her. “And?”

“Well I wasn’t really in any mood to do anything after that”, she shrugged, “which was a shame as the kissing bit had been quite nice. I don’t know why he had to go and try to ruin the mood like that”.

“Quite nice?” Lex repeated, ignoring Chloe’s apparent belief that cunnilingus was a horrible experience, apparently designed to kill the mood rather than to get her off. He would have to address that issue in a later session. “I don’t think that you would ever have gone all the way with someone who you only felt quite nice about. Maybe that is why it keeps not working out, nothing wrong with you, you just keep choosing the wrong guys”.

“Yeah, that sounds like a good excuse. But, if I do end up with someone, then I want to know what to do, so”, she moved next to him and put her hand back on his stomach, “What am I supposed to do next?”

“I … um … okay. Closer is good and so is the stroking him”, he tried not to think too much about the stroking. “It is important that you are comfortable too. You are going to have to get even closer eventually but if you don’t want to lie down then”, he tried to think.

Chloe hitched up her skirt and straddled Lex’s lap, “Does this make it easier?” She wondered.

“Yes”, he said, assuming that she didn’t want to hear that actually it was making it much harder. “I take it that you didn’t do this with to your last beau?”

“No, I wouldn’t have thought of it but you were trying to think of a solution and I think that this would be one, don’t you?” She asked innocently.

“Yes, I imagine that it would…”

“Now, touching now please”, she smiled sweetly.

Lex’s eyes widened.

“Remember, we were on touching”, Chloe said, her hands flat against his chest, “What do I do next?”

“Right, touching”, Lex said as he moved his hands to her back and ran them up and down. How was he supposed to tell her that if she had time to think about these things then she wasn’t with the right men?

Chloe made a slight moaning sound and moved with his hands.

Fuck, she really was sensitive.

“I told you, just see what feels good, if you like it then he might too”, he tried to keep his thoughts straight.

She reached behind him and moved her hands down his back. Lex smirked, so she had liked that. He allowed his hands to wander over her back and her sides and she did the same to him. This was very very good, he really had no idea why she had been having problems, she seemed to know exactly what to do.

Deciding to try something new, Chloe raked her finger nails down his back and grinned as Lex jerked against her. He did the same to her and she made a noise in the back of her throat that made him forget exactly what he was supposed to be doing. His hands had been toying with her curve of her bottom, each time dipping down a little lower, this time they went all of the way down and squeezed the flesh there, pulling her to him. Without knowing what she was doing or why she was doing it Chloe ground her hips against his, sending a jolt of electricity through them both.

“Oh Lex, much better than the others”, she moaned and was rewarded with a slap to her ass before he went back to kneading it, his mouth seeking out the smooth skin of her exposed neck. Chloe arched back, her ass thrusting his hands, her chest pressing against his, his mouth on her neck kissing, nibbling and suckling on the flesh, her hands running over his scalp and cute little ears. He had the cutest ears in the world.

“Oh Lex”, she moaned again, grinding against him.

He couldn’t take it anymore. He flipped them over so that she was on her back on the settee and he was on top of her. Chloe’s legs automatically wrapped around him, keeping him close to her. The new position allowed her hands free range of his back and she made the most of it exploring him including his firm bottom before deciding that she wanted to feel his bare flesh beneath her fingertips. She tugged his shirt out of his trousers.

Lex, on the other hand, supported his weight on one arm the other immediately seeking out her breasts.

“Please”, Chloe begged as he squeezed her and she felt herself getting wet. She had no idea what she wanted but she was fairly sure that Lex did. Her eyes where shut, Lex wasn’t going to have that. “Open your eyes Chloe”, his voice was tight and demanding.

She did as she was told and saw his heated stare burning into her. He moved his hand to her other breast and she cried out.

Her hands moved from his back to his head, bringing him down close to her, “Kiss me”, she begged.

Lex leant in until he was barely a millimetre away from her, she licked her lips and he became even harder.

She was sopping wet, breathless and needy, and Lex knew it. He could feel her desire growing with every second that passed and he hadn’t even pulled out his best moves yet. He flicked his thumb over one taunt nipple and she bucked up against him, groaning his name, her hands clutching for him. She was too far gone to think straight, all that she knew was that she didn’t want these sensations to stop. Lex bit the inside of his cheek until he tasted copper, trying to bring himself back under control. He could have her right then and there. He could make her beg and scream and moan for him. He could fuck her senseless, take her virginity branding her forever as his. He could have her. And the next day she would hate him. She would never be able to look at him again.

“I think that this enough for today’s lesson”, he pulled himself up off her, even as his body screamed at him not to be stupid and to make love to her right then and there and damn the consequences.

Chloe looked confused for a few seconds until she remembered that they were supposed to be having a lesson. He wasn’t attracted to her, he was just teaching her. It was her fault, she had got confused.

“Yes, you are probably right”, she pulled down her skirt and sat up properly, trying not to show that he had had any effect on her.

Lex headed straight for the door without a backwards glance, he passed Gabe on his way to the staircase and the latter decided that it was definitely time for him to intervene. Gabe went to find Clark and to see if he was willing to help with his plan – initially called Plan DD (Devious Daddy).

~*~

It took a full twenty minutes before Chloe managed to calm herself enough to leave the den and climb the mountain of stairs to her bedroom. How had she been so stupid? How could she have been so blind? She chastened herself as she went to her room. Her hand was just on the door knob when she felt someone behind her, felt their hand on her shoulder and heard Lex’s voice in her ear, “Remember to get a good night’s sleep, tomorrow’s lesson is going to be on how to get to the couch and kissing”.

“Okay”, Chloe squeaked.

Lex smirked, “Sweet dreams”, he whispered as he brushed his lips against her shoulder causing her to tremble.

She spun around to talk to him but he was gone. She blinked, had it been her imagination? She touched her place where his lips had been. She smiled. It hadn’t been a hallucination.


A/N: Will these lessons work? Will he be able to teach her kissing? Should he have stopped there?

Amazing update! Am I evil that I want Chloe to break the rules that Lex placed for her so she can get a good spanking? Looking forward to the next update.

God, why did you have to stop in such a moment?!!!?
ANd I burst out laughing as well when I heard the correcting grammar part!

MORE!!!!!!!

oh, and the spanking again...

I know this is in the NC17 category, but sometimes I laugh so hard after reading this I wonder if this should be in the humor category. And Gabe Sullivan, aka "Devious Dad" that is just too perfect.

Bluemarvel: Yes, that is completely evil of you! How can you say or think such a thing? That is so terrible! I'm just joking. :D I wouldn't have thought that Chloe can watch her mouth for that long.

TrinityR: I asked them that too. Glad that you liked it.

Trckyrcky: You thought that it was funny? Really? That is great! :D

*Chapter Fifteen*

Chloe was lying in her bed - the silk sheets were thrown off as were her pyjamas, the windows hung wide open in an attempt to go some air into the room -, unable to sleep. It was just too damned hot. She turned over onto her stomach again, pressing as much of her over heated flesh into the relatively cool silk as she possibly could.

She groaned as she reached her hand up to her forehead, trying to see if she had a temperature. Nope, she wasn’t technically overly hot, she just felt as if she were about to spontaneously combust.

It was all Lex’s fault. Him and his stupid sexy bald head, his cute little ears, his broad shoulders, his lean torso, his firm bottom. Damn him. It wasn’t that she hadn’t noticed these things about him before, it was just that the knowledge that he hated her had always stopped her dreaming about him, now … So many dreams about him. So many images. So many fantasies. So many …

“Oh”, Chloe groaned as yet another lurid fantasy crept into her mind.

“Oh Lex”, she whimpered at the thought of his pianist fingers stroking her.

“Yes, my darling?” She heard his voice. “Oh great, now I really am hallucinating”, she groaned.

“No, you’re not. But nice to know that you dream about me”, his voice was low and gravelly.

Chloe’s breath caught in her throat as he felt his hands on her back keeping her where she was, as he trailed kisses from her shoulders down her spine.

“Lex”, she whimpered slightly, wondering what he was doing there, but certainly not complaining.

“Yes, my darling?”

“What are you doing here?” She wondered.

“I felt bad about the way that we left things”, he purred, “And I couldn’t wait to start our next lesson”.

“Kissing?” She asked, weakly.

“Well, that is part of it”, he said, kissing her the base of her spine. “But, mostly, I think that we should skip to something a little more advanced. If you want to?”

Chloe nodded her head and he slipped his hand between her thighs and felt the wetness there, “And I see that you do”, he brought his fingers to his lips to taste her.

“Lex, please, I want to see you”, she begged.

“Do you now?” He asked as he bit her gently.

“Yes, please Lex”, she moaned. She was desperate to see him, to touch him.

“You don’t like this?” He asked, as he began to caress clit again.

“Oh yes Lex, like it. Like it a lot”, she moaned moving back against his hand. He rubbed her gently making sure that she was ready. “Please honey, stop teasing me”.

“I’m not sure that that is really want. I think that you like being teased”, he used his thumb on the sensitive numb of flesh.

Chloe felt a pleasurable tension coil inside her as he started to mutter endearments and slipped a finger inside her. It was too much for her inexperienced body. She was already too much on edge from being around him all day. She whimpered as an orgasm ripped through her.

Her eyes slammed shut automatically, even though she was desperate to see him. As she cried out his name she finally managed to turn over and open her eyes.

“Lex”, she whimpered as she looked around for him. Even in the darkness she should have been able to make out his form. “Lex”, she repeated.

He wasn’t there. She stared down at herself in dismay and saw with horror that it was her hand trapped between her legs, and realised that it was her fingers that had caused her to come so hard.

“Fuck”, she groaned as she laid back on the bed, allowing the last traces of her orgasm to follow through her.

If her dreams of Lex could be this good, she was almost scared to find out what the real thing might be like. If she could ever get the real thing. She had to come up with some way of getting him, at least once.

~*~

Lex closed his laptop for the night; he had done enough work for a week. He rubbed his eyes, he knew that he had been staring at the screen for too long but he had needed to do something to get his mind off Chloe. He smiled, as if that was going to work.

“Chloe would tear me a new one if she knew that I had been up until”, he looked at the clock, “1 am”, he mused aloud.

“You know, you are probably right. I would”, Chloe’s voice came from behind him.

“Chloe?” He spun around in his computer chair, thinking that he must be imagining things.

“Unless I have changed in the last ten minutes”, she grinned down at him.

“Not that I’m complaining, but what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in bed by now?” He questioned.

“I could ask you the same question, considering that you are the one who misbehaved and is owed a spanking I would have thought that you would be on your best behaviour, but apparently not. You know that you can really damage your eyes working this late and without proper light”, she sat down on his lap and Lex wrapped his arms around her automatically. “I was in bed, but I couldn’t sleep. I just kept thinking about you, and kissing, and how badly I wanted you”, she nuzzled his ear.

“Damn Chloe I want you too, hence working so late. I was trying get my mind off you and off …” She bit down lightly on his ear lobe and tugged.

“Such cute ears”, she muttered.

He chuckled, “I don’t understand your apparent fascination with my ‘cute’ ears”.

“And I don’t understand your fascination with the idea of spanking me”, she informed him in between kissing his neck.

Lex ran his hands up and down her back, “Well I would only be too happy to explain that to you in detail, but trust me baby that isn’t the only thing I want to do with you”.

“Really?” Chloe asked as she worked on undoing his buttons clumsily, her mouth still mostly occupied with his neck, “Tell me”.

He swallowed. He had talked dirty before but the idea that Chloe was in his lap asking him to do it was startling, not to mention arousing. “Well, first of all I want you near me, all of the time. I want to kiss you and tell you how much I love you and hear you say it back. Then I want to take off all of these cumbersome clothes”, he pulled up the back of her satin nightie, “and run my hands all over your gorgeous body”.

Chloe shivered. “You really think that I am beautiful?”

“Of course”, he pulled her nightie up even further, baring her back. He nibbled her ear and felt her grinding against his erection.

“Oh fuck yes baby”, he growled. She was softer that he had thought, almost as if …

Lex’s eyes opened and he found himself lying fully dressed lying face down on his bed. He blinked blearily around wondering where Chloe was until he realised that it had just been a dream. He buried his head in the coverlet. He vaguely remembered crashing onto the bed once he had finished his work, figuring that there was nothing he could do to stop thinking about Chloe. Apparently even sleep wasn’t a sanctuary.

He closed his eyes and hoped that he would be able to get back to sleep. He felt his rock hard cock pressing against the bed and with a groan got up, knowing that there was no way that he was going to be able to get to sleep if he didn’t take care of this first.

“Bloody hell, this is the third time in less than twenty-four hours that I have had to do this. I feel like a teenager again. This is ridiculous”, Lex growled as he headed for his en suite. Once again Chloe’s face popped into his head, this time it was a combination of her lustful look from earlier in the evening when he had been on top of her, and her biting her lip and looking cute.

He licked his lips, wanting to taste her.

Lex took himself in his hand and tried to imagine that it was her small hand around him, stroking him, squeezing him. It took an embarrassingly short time for him to come, wash his hand and stumble back to his bed.

~*~

All too soon it was 7 o’clock and both Chloe and Lex’s alarm clocks went off. With a groan they both got up enough to wallop their clocks into silence.

Chloe managed to heave herself back onto her bed and buried her face in her pillow, she needed more sleep. Or rather, she needed not to wake up every couple of hours sobbing Lex’s name into that very pillow as once again she found herself dreaming about Lex’s hands on her body only to find that they were her own.

“I want Lex”, she whined. Then realising that there was no way that she was going to get to see him unless she got up and went and got showered.

“Meh”, she grumbled, she liked her bed. “That massager shower head had better be bloody powerful”.

Lex rolled over onto his back and glanced over at the pillow which had slipped down so that it had been in line with his waist as he had slept and had apparently been rather violated. He looked down, he was still achingly hard.

“Damn that woman”, he swore as yet another image of Chloe entered his mind. He had been tormented by her all night long. In his mind the naughty little minx had kept popping up, deciding that she didn’t like sleeping alone and that Lex was going to do something about that. Not that they had done much sleeping in his mind.

He looked around the room, searching for something to distract him but he couldn’t see one single area which had not featured prominently in at least one of his fantasies. Over the balcony, on the floor, against the wall – that had been very good –, with Chloe bend over his desk testing his restraint, and on the bed in every single position that they could think of … and in his mind Chloe was very creative, flexible and more importantly enthusiastic.

“Damn that woman is going to exhaust me and I haven’t even had her yet”, he muttered. No, not yet. There was no yet. She hadn’t even told him that she liked him. He remembered the look on her face – in his dream – as she had teased him, reminding him that she hadn’t given him his spanking yet. Or even worse, the way that she had bitten her lower lip as he had licked at her clit. Sod it, he was going to have her. He just had to work on his seduction plan.

“Well, I guess that the shower is as good a place to think as anywhere”, he mused as he hauled himself to his feet and headed towards the en suite, trying not to think of the fantasy he had had of Chloe in the shower. As he turned on the water he could practically still see her outline against the tiles, her hands braced against the wall, her ass stuck out ready for him.

Damn, he was going to end up going blind at this rate, once again he took his cock in his hand and began to stroke himself as Chloe moved the shower head where she needed it most in her own shower. Both of them braced their left hand against the wall, their knees feeling slightly weak as they tried not to cry out the other’s name.

Whatever the cost, whatever the risk, their plan for seduction had to work.

~*~

Chloe spent far longer than normal getting dressed that morning, in fact, she went through her entire wardrobe twice. She had to make sure that she looked good, sexy, irresistible, without looking like she was trying to look good, sexy and irresistible.

It was hot, so that was a good enough reason to show some skin. After going through nearly everything she owned and leaving it on the floor she decided on wearing a cut off pair of dark denim shorts – lots of leg and they made her ass look incredible – but the cut off look suggested that she had just thrown them on. No reason for shoes in the house either. Then a red tank top that would show off her curves but look again like she wasn’t trying too hard, no need for anyone to know about the wonder bra beneath it.

She tousled her hair into curls for that ‘I just look this fantastic when I wake up without any effort’ look. She brushed her teeth a couple of extra times and did her make up light and natural.

“What else? What else?” She thought, “Ah, body spritz”.

Before going downstairs she checked her reflection. From the front she looked very nice: angelic, casual, and sexy as hell. From the back, yikes, not too bad even if she did think so herself. Damn, she would have to be careful not to let her mouth run away with her in today’s lesson looking like that. She had a feeling that Lex would be only too happy to put her over his knee, especially in those shorts.

Oddly enough, the idea of changing did not occur to her though.

With that she bounced out of her room – leaving it in a complete mess – and was heading towards the stairs when she ran into Clark.

“Hello”, she beamed up at him.

“Hi”, Clark said trying to seem casual, he had been waiting there for her for a while. He thought that it would be the best place to speak to her privately, he hardly knew her well enough to ask for a private word and Gabe had instructed him to make it seem casual. Neither side would admit their love for the other, they were both too stubborn so Gabe had decided that they should convince each of them of the other’s love and see where that led them.

“Hi”, Chloe smiled, “Did you have a nice time with Lana last night?”

“Yeah, it was great”, he grinned. “Look I’m sorry if I got in the way on your date yesterday”.

Chloe’s brows furrowed, “You weren’t on my date”.

“Well, no not the one in the evening but the one with Lex”, Clark started to head the conversation in the direction he needed. He had run through several variations in his mind last night but still was not quite sure he should be doing or saying.

She was glad that she hadn’t been drinking anything at that moment or she would have chocked. “Excuse me? My date? With Lex? Lex Luthor?”

“Yes, at the fair”, Clark started to lay the path.

“That wasn’t a date”, Chloe said, wondering where he could possibly have got an idea like that from.

“Well, I know that you guys aren’t exclusive at the moment but …” Oh God, he hoped that she wouldn’t kill him.

“Exclusive?!? Clark, we aren’t going out at all”, Chloe stared at him.

Clark looked surprised at that and he didn’t have to try very hard. Although he knew that they weren’t going out he couldn’t for the life of him figure out why.

“Whatever gave you the idea that we were?” Chloe wondered.

“The way that you two act together, constantly flirting”, he said.

Chloe gave him an outraged look. “I do not flirt with Lex”.

“Yes, Chloe you do”, Clark said trying not to look uncomfortable. “In fact you flirt shamelessly with him, it is almost as bad as the way he flirts with you”.

“Clark, I think that you are adding one and one and getting eleven”, Chloe informed him.

“Well then why hasn’t he gone out on a date since he saw you last summer?” He asked.

Chloe’s eyes went wide. “No dates?”

“None”, Clark crossed his arms, hoping that that would stop him from wringing his hands.

“Well that doesn’t mean anything. Lex has a lot of one night stands”, Chloe tried to come up with some excuse, feeling uncomfortable.

“No, not anymore. He hasn’t been with anyone since you turned 18”, Clark informed her honestly. She narrowed her eyes but he didn’t appear to be lying.

“It is just a coincidence”, she said defensively.

“And is it just a coincidence that I have never seen him happier than when he is around you? That I have never seen him angrier than when someone hurts you?” Clark poked holes in her argument.

Chloe paused. “Clark, I …”

She wasn’t buying it. Gabe had warned him of how his daughter was probably going to react and that he would have to bring out the big guns. Clark shook his head as he thought of how Gabe had told him to manipulate his daughter and hoped that he wasn’t about to get punched. “Look Chloe, I don’t mean to be rude you have been really nice to me and I realise that I am a guest in your house but the way that you are treating Lex stinks”.

Chloe’s eyes went wide.

“He is my best friend and a really stand-up guy and he is clearly crazy about you. The whole world can see it. He even as good as admitted it to me on the way down. With your IQ I can’t believe that you can’t know this so I can only assume that you enjoy leading him around by the nose. He really loves you and he deserves better than that”.

She stood there, unable to think of anything to say.

“Anyway”, Clark ran a hand through his hair, “all I actually wanted to say was that I was sorry for interrupting you date, I didn’t mean to get on to the horrible way that you are teasing Lex”.

“I’m teasing Lex?” Chloe gaped.

Clark looked pointedly at her outfit.

Chloe gritted her teeth. “If you are indeed one of Lex’s dearest friends then I am sure that you will know that he wouldn’t like that”, she referred to the look which he had just given her.

“And I’m sure that you know that men don’t normally get crazy jealous over someone looking a girl unless they are interested in her. They also don’t buy and eat foul pies. They don’t know everything that goes on in their life. They don’t hold them in their lap cuddling them all morning …”

“That was because of the hay”, Chloe complained.

“It was because you wanted to sit in his lap and he wanted to hold you. He would have built you your own throne if it had just been a case of you not liking the straw to touch your skin. Lex isn’t touchy feely and yet he finds any excuse to touch you”, Clark argued.

“He is probably like that with all of the other girls”, Chloe shrugged, her armour coming down with a thud.

“There haven’t been any other girls for a very long time”, Clark said stiffly.

“I … He can’t … Lex can’t …” Chloe broke off.

“Lex loves you and the way that you are treating him is terrible. Anyway, like I said I actually just wanted to say sorry for interrupting your date not tell you off. I suppose that if you tell Lex about this I can expect to end up in hospital”, Clark said seriously. He really didn’t want to end up in a cast.

“Probably”, Chloe agreed, as she thought about what he had said. Lex loved her. It couldn’t be true, but then again she had always been certain that he hated her and then yesterday she had found out that he liked her. He had said that she was his favourite person in the world. That he would be perpetually bored without her. But then he had also got hard whilst looking at those girls on stage … whilst she was in his lap. It couldn’t be …Chloe smiled and blushed.

Trying to school her features, she decided that she would continue with her plan to learn how to flirt from him – which as of last night, had also added the idea that she wanted to sleep with him at some point – and he could tell her that he loved her when he was ready then she would tell him that she loved him too. No, then she would tell him that she was rather fond of him. No reason to tell him everything.

Chloe grinned.

~*~

Gabe had been waiting in the kitchen, he had made everything he could think of and he was still waiting for Lex. He knew that Clark would make sure that he did part of his plan, so Gabe had to live up to it on his end.

It was a good ten minutes later than Gabe had approximated when Lex walked in and made his way straight to the coffee maker.

“Ah, there you are Lex my boy”, Gabe smiled at him.

“Good morning Gabe”, Lex greeted.

“So, when are you going to stop jerking my daughter around?”



A/N: Comments? Ideas. Vague musings?

Hell yeah!! at the beginning I wanted tell you YOU MINX!
but it turned out awesome!
Can't wait for them to start teasing each other again! And land in bed eventually... or finally... ;p

Way to go Gabe! Go tell Lex he needs to stop fantasizing and just go for the real thing.

great chapter. can't wait to see what happens next.

*Chapter Sixteen*

Lex took a sip of his coffee just as Gabe asked him when he was going to stop jerking Chloe around. He choked on the scalding liquid, some of it almost coming out of his nose. Gabe thumped him on the back, a little harder than was strictly necessary.

“Are you alright?” Gabe asked as Lex finally managed to straighten up, his eyes watering a little. Gabe handed him a glass of water.

“Yeah, thanks”, Lex accepted the glass and drained it gratefully, he took several deep breaths before asking. “What are you talking about?”

“My daughter, she’s called Chloe, about so high, blonde hair, cute as a button and head over heels in love with you”, Gabe said casually.

Lex stared at him incredulously. “I repeat, what are you talking about?”

Gabe knew how confused Lex was, but tried to pretend that he had no idea what could possibly be puzzling him. “My daughter loves you, it is fairly self-evident that you love her so why is she still wasting her time with useless boys who upset her?”

The younger man gaped at his mentor. “Gabe, I have no idea what you are talking about. Chloe doesn’t love me, she couldn’t. The stupid girl thought that I didn’t even like her until yesterday”.

“Why would she think that?” Gabe snapped, “It is obvious that you adore her”.

“Well that is what I thought until yesterday when she came out with some crap about me not liking her”, Lex explained, seeing his own disbelief mirrored in the older man’s eyes. How could anyone think that he didn’t like Chloe?

“I hope that you set her straight”, Gabe said.

“Of course, I told her that she was my favourite person in the world and that I would be bored without her”, Lex explained, knowing that the older man wouldn’t be at all bothered by the fact that he had said that Chloe was his favourite rather than Gabe – even after everything he had done for him over the years.

“But you didn’t say the l-word?” Gabe demanded.

“No”, Lex shook his head.

“Well you should have said it. You should have left her in absolutely no doubt as to your feelings.” Honestly, he didn’t know what was happening to young men these days. He had been shy as a whippersnapper but he had made his feelings perfectly clear.

“It doesn’t matter what my feelings are, it is hers that matter”, Lex sighed. He couldn’t tell Chloe that he loved her, he didn’t think that she would laugh at him – she was too kind for that -, but she couldn’t possibly return his affection.

“Yes, all that matters is Chloe”, her father nodded.

“I agree, but the fact is that she doesn’t love me”, Lex looked truly forlorn.

“Yes, she does”, Gabe announced, wondering if he might get further smacking him on the back of the head, “but because you won’t step up she goes out on stupid dates to try to make you jealous, so step up. I am sick and tired of it and I hold you personally responsible”.

Lex gaped at him. “You really think that she is doing all of that to get a reaction out of me?”

“I am certain of it”, Gabe answered. He knew his mischievous little imp of a daughter, he just couldn’t believe that Lex couldn’t see that she was doing all of these things to get a reaction out of him … everyone else could.

Lex began to turn a little red in the face, “No, it’s not true. Someone like her couldn’t love me”.

“Well, she does!” Gabe declared. Lex still looked unconvinced so Gabe prayed to God for forgiveness before telling an outright lie, “I heard her telling Lana all about it”.

“She went out with that little snot just to get a reaction out of me?” Lex saw red. He had been going through hell for months, but especially last night. The idea of her being with that guy, that he could have his hands all over her. And she had done it just to get a reaction out of him?

“Yes”, Gabe nodded, it was probably true.

“Well she is going to get a reaction”, Lex slammed his glass down on the counter and turned around to go and find Chloe.

Gabe tried not to let out an evil snicker.

“Wait a minute”, Lex said as he turned back around to face Gabe. Something felt wrong, this was too good to be true. He got suspicious. “You don’t want her dating, so why are you telling me that she likes me?”

“Lex my boy, I’m going to be honest with you”, Gabe sat down on one of the bar stools, “I don’t want Chloe dating, ever. In fact, ever since he have been in charge of part of Luthor Corp I have had a team of specialists working around the clock to develop a bubble I can stick her in which will keep all boys away”

Lex smiled.

“Don’t laugh, if it ever works out then it will be one of the biggest sellers we have. Every single father in America will want one”, he thought of his long-time dream.

“I don’t doubt it”, Lex wondered why no one had ever thought of it before.

“Yes, well, unfortunately the technology isn’t quite there yet. And in the absence of the bubble, having you by her side is the best method of keeping boys away from her. You always take care of her and let’s face it, Chloe has decided that she wants you. And I can’t say no to her”. If only she hadn’t had such a cute widdle face.

“If she felt that way about me, then why wouldn’t she say so?” Lex tried to wrap his head around the situation.

“Because the silly girl has low self-esteem or something, I don’t know”, Gabe gave a shrug.

“So she decided to play silly games instead?” He ground his teeth.

“Looks like it”, Gabe said, waiting to see if Lex’s head out actually explode.

“Excuse me Gabe, I think that I have a blonde girl to see”, Lex turned on his heel.

“God speed”, Gabe called after him as Lex made his way to the kitchen door, only to find it filled with, “Chloe”.

“Lex”, she said a little uncertainly. Clark’s words rang in her head, could Lex really be in love with her?

“Yes”, he said as he looked her up and down. He swallowed. He had been thinking of something a few seconds ago. He knew that he had. He had had a plan of some sort. Damn she was pretty. Her long lean legs were on display to him in her cute little shorts and her tank top needed to find itself on his bedroom floor as soon as possible. In fact, the whole of her needed to find itself in his bedroom and not just because no one else should get to see her like that.

“Did you sleep well?” Chloe asked, noticing the direction of his gaze and trying to work out whether this meant that Clark had been right and he did love her.

“Not that well”, he admitted, not feeling the need to expand upon that topic.

“Spending too much time staring at your laptop before bed time?” She accused, “You know that isn’t good for you”.

“Yes, I believe that someone has told me that before”, he responded, “you know what else isn’t good for you?”

Chloe stared up at him. “No, what?”

“Going out on dates with …”

“Who wants coffee?” Gabe interrupted them as he thought of a way to get them together for the rest of the day, rather than them getting into an argument and spending the rest of the day avoiding each other. In Gabe’s experience, the most important thing in their relationship was time together.

“I do”, Chloe bounced up and down, causing a rather obvious jiggling problem in the chest area.

Lex swallowed which Gabe took to mean that he would like some too.

“Are you alright Lex? You are acting so strangely. Do you have a temperature?” Chloe asked reaching up to feel his forehead.

“I’m not ill Chloe”, he assured her. “You, however, seem to be the one having a problem being overly heated”, he gave her shorts a look.

Chloe noticed the direction of his gaze and raised an eyebrow. Was he really checking her out? Yesterday – when she had still thought that he didn’t like her – she would have thought that he thought that she was fat, now she wasn’t so sure. “You don’t like them?” She asked looking up at him innocently.

“I think that wearing them could be dangerous for your health”, he informed her.

She raised an eyebrow at that and turned around slowly, watching his reaction over her shoulder.

“Fuck”, he muttered under his breath.

“What was that Lex?” She asked quietly as she turned back around to face him.

“I said that I think that you should go and change”, he lied.

“No, I don’t think so”, she chirped, brushing against him as she walked passed him and over to her father who handed a cup even though he had been ignoring their interaction.

Lex made a slightly choked sound as he watched her bottom bouncing away from him. Damn it, her cut offs weren’t that short he shouldn’t be this affected. He remembered Gabe’s words about her playing with him.

“Hey”, he strode over to her and stood right behind her, making sure that she could feel him pushing into her backside. He reached around her, he could feel her tense and they both knew that she was surrounded, “You know the rule about no coffee on an empty stomach”, he lowered his voice to a quiet growl, “and you wouldn’t want to break any rules now would you?”

“Rules”, Chloe’s voice came out as more of a whimper than she had intended as he took the mug off her; her hand had gone slightly limp as she had found him pushing into her denim clad posterior. “I … I don’t break rules”.

“I should certainly hope not”, he gave her a surreptitious squeeze.

“Nu uh”, she shook her head to indicate that she hadn’t broken any rules, she was a good girl. He snuck an arm around her waist, holding her close to him. He inhaled deeply, breathing in the scent of her fruity shampoo and the freshly brewed coffee.

“Breakfast time kiddie winks”, Gabe called over from the table where Clark was also now seated. Lex and Chloe looked at each other as if to ask how that had happened without them noticing.

“Oh goodie”, Chloe headed over there, trying to get away from Lex before she tried to jump him but Lex was right behind her, his hand on her hip. He pulled out her seat for her before Clark had the chance to and watched as Chloe served herself some porridge before he could interfere again.

“So, what do you have planned today?” Chloe asked the table.

“I’m going out with Lana”, Clark said, careful not to look directly at Chloe.

“I was going to go shopping – I gave the staff the day off – and then make some cakes for this evening, but a friend of mine is in Metropolis today and I have to go up to visit him”, Gabe said, staring directly at Lex, hoping that he would get the hint.

“Well I can go to the store for you”, Chloe offered.

“I was about to say the same thing”, Lex said.

“Well, going all of the way to the supermarket, picking up a couple of things and then coming back and trying to make a cake … yep, that sounds like a two person job to me”, he smiled, “thank-you both. That will be a huge weight off my mind”. This lying thing was getting much easier.

Chloe beamed and Lex rolled his eyes, subtlety was not Gabe’s forte.

“Any other plans for the holidays?” Gabe wondered.

Lex and Chloe looked at each other.

“I am thinking of taking some courses”, Chloe explained to her father, “building up relationships in the business world and things like that”.

“Really?” Gabe looked interested.

“Yes, I’m really looking forward to getting to grips with the problem”, she said as she ‘accidently’ dropped her napkin somewhere in the region of Lex’s leg and had to make a grab for it.

“I’m sure that that will be very interesting”, Lex said, his voice sounding a little strained. He grasped her wrist gently beneath the table and moved it back onto her lap. “But you know that most of those courses are based on kissing up and stroking people’s … egos”.

Chloe blushed faintly.

“Are you alright sweetie?” Gabe inquired.

“Yes, of course Daddy”, she said.

“You know Gabe is right, Chloe you do look a little flushed”, he ran his hand up the inside of her thigh, and Chloe squirmed. “Oh of course you are uncomfortable”, he looked down, “bare skin on a hard wood seat in this heat, you will stick. Come here”, he patted his knee.

Chloe was about to protest but looked over at Clark, she couldn’t refuse without revealing that her habit of sitting on Lex’s knee at the fete wasn’t entirely due to the straw. She moved over to perch on his knee, holding her body as far from him as possible. Lex wasn’t having that, his arm snaked around her pulling her back against him. She wriggled slightly to get more comfortable and heard him making those noises again, although very faintly. So it wasn’t the models. Chloe grinned.

“What’s so funny?” Gabe wondered.

“Oh nothing, just thinking of the things that I need to get when I go to the supermarket. Do you have a list, Dad?” She inquired.

“Yes, it is on the fridge, don’t forget to take Lex”, Gabe said sounding almost stern.

“Oh, I won’t”, she smiled sweetly.

Both Gabe and Lex’s eyes narrowed. “Is that a you won’t forget or you won’t take me?” Lex asked in front of her father, he knew that she could only give him one answer now. If he had waited until they were alone she could have tried to turn it around on him, not that he would have allowed that for very long.

“I mean that I won’t forget you”, Chloe said, which was true, she wouldn’t forget to take him. “Would I really try to deliberately double talk you?”

“Yes”, Gabe and Lex said together, Lex adding in a whisper that only Chloe could hear, “But we both know that I wouldn’t let you get away from me”.

“You know sometimes I really don’t like either of you”, Chloe groused.

“I know baby, but at least you still love us”, Gabe said as he eat his porridge, apparently unaware of what he had said.

The rest of the table stared at him.

“What?” Gabe wondered. Phase one of Devious Daddy’s devilish plan was complete, he had sown the seed. Now for the water.

A/N: Giggles! Anything anyone wants to add to the shopping list?

Condoms? T othe shopping list I mean :D

what word "widdle" means? i can;t find it in my dictionary...


Awesome chapter!! I loved it!! Loved loved loved! More, please, SOON! (and maybe some epilogue to star crossed?;p)

Oh, good idea.

It is a babyish pronunciation of the word little - it won't be in a dictionary as it isn't a real word. :D

Will do, still trying to think of something for SC. I know that is needs something, but I don't know what.

*Chapter Seventeen*

“So shopping”, Chloe announced as she hopped off Lex’s knee and took her plate over to the dishwasher. “Is this the list?” She asked her father as she grabbed it off the refrigerator and scanned it quickly before popping it in her back pocket.

“Yep, that’s the one”, Gabe said as he too loaded the dishwasher and gave her a kiss on the forehead, “Thank-you for doing this”.

“You’re welcome”, Chloe smiled up at him.

“Don’t forget to take Lex”, he reminded her, “and by that I don’t mean leave him behind intentionally”, he ruffled her hair. Chloe pulled a face.

“Fine, fine, I’ll just go and put on my shoes and then we can get going”, Chloe said, heading for the door.

“Change into trousers while you’re there, I will get the car”, Lex called after her.

“We are taking my car”, he replied.

“No we most certainly are not”, Chloe said as she charged up the stairs, a plan occurring to her. “Hey, Dad, tell him what kind of cakes you want us to make”. That should keep them busy for a few minutes. Chloe dashed into her room and shoved on her socks and trainers in record time, grabbing her bag as she raced out of the room, down the back staircase and into the garage, bringing her car around to the front. She made sure that her side of the car was locked when she yelled, “I’m ready!”

After a few seconds the front door swung open and Gabe laughed, “I think that she has got the better of you this time”.

“We’ll see”, Lex smirked, walking over to the car. “Get out of the car Chloe”.

“Nope”, she shook her head.

He tried the door handle only to find that it was locked.

Chloe smiled sweetly at him. “Aren’t you coming Lex? Oh, that is a shame. Bye”, she moved the car forwards but stopped as he growled her name.

“Yep, she’s definitely got you this time”, Gabe chuckled from the door way.

“Chloe, I swear if you try to leave without me …”

“You are the one refusing to get into the car”, Chloe reminded him, batting her eyelashes.

“Does that innocent look work on anyone?” He shook his head in disbelief.

“Of course, mostly on you”, she retorted.

Gabe chuckled more.

“Are you willing to be on that”, Lex whispered to her through the open window.

“Oh yes”, she grinned. “But as I said, I am perfectly happy to go all by myself to the supermarket where all the nice looking men are”.

He looked at her and smiled, shaking his head. Gabe did appear to be right that she was playing games with him. “Fine”, he said walking around to the other side of the car – making sure to move in front of it, so that she couldn’t drive off – and got in. “Try to get us there in one piece won’t you?”

“Duh”, Chloe replied, waving to her father as she took off – after having checked that Lex had his seatbelt on. “I don’t know why you are so worried about it when my Dad isn’t”.

“Yes, well Gabe doesn’t know about the time you totalled your car”, he pointed out.

Chloe blushed as she remembered her first car; it had been a gorgeous red Ferrari. She had been so excited when she had got it that she had insisted on driving in right away without realising that it was a manual and that she only knew how to drive an automatic. There had been an error, a crunch and a furious / worried Lex heaving her out of the car and checking her over a hundred times and even taking her to the hospital in Metropolis before deciding that she was well enough to bear the brunt of his anger.

He had had the car repaired so that Gabe would never know the difference but had stuck Chloe in the corner of his office while he worked for the day, threatening to whip her behind with his belt if he heard a peep out of her. For once Chloe had behaved herself, fairly certain that Lex had meant it. All in all it had not been a nice day what with her accident, her car being hurt, Lex telling her off and being stuck in the corner all day well … for about an hour before he took pity on her and let her sit on his lap for the rest of the afternoon where he could still keep an eye on her and keep her out of trouble. She probably needed some comfort after such a terrible morning.

“That wasn’t my fault”, Chloe complained, “it was manual. It has extra knobs”.

“If you say so”, he scoffed, forcing down his ire at the memory of seeing her crash her car and that terrible minute before he knew that she was safe.

“I do say so, in fact I resent the implication that I am not a good driver. That was one little accident and okay, parking at the fair was hard because of the mud but generally I am really really good. I am responsible and …” She tried to defend herself like she had that day.

“It’s alright, I believe you. I know that you haven’t had an accident since then”, he assured her.

“You checked up on me?” Chloe squawked.

“Of course I did”, he smiled over at her, something catching his eye he looked down at her legs. “You didn’t even change?”

“Nope, I don’t have to do what you say!” She protested.

He raised an eyebrow at that; as that wasn’t what he thought that they had agreed upon last night.

“Well, outside the lessons”, Chloe added.

“You are going to do as you are told during the lessons?” He checked.

“Sure”, she shrugged, “I mean, I want to learn how to seduce a man, don’t I?”

“So you say”, he smirked. He might have pushed the issue but Chloe was pulling into the supermarket’s car park.

Chloe ignored his last remark. “Now rich boy, I realise that you have never had to do anything for yourself before so you will probably need to stick close to me during this shopping trip”.

He knew that she was only teasing. “We both know that you are the one who needs supervising in the supermarket, but if you want me close by then all you had to do was ask”.

Chloe blushed. “It was that boy’s fault. I had no choice but to throw grapes at him”.

“I believe the official story I told was that he was throwing them at you while you sat there angelically”, he reminded her.

“Oh yeah, you are such a liar”, Chloe laughed at him.

“What are you going to do about it?”

It had been a rhetorical question, but Chloe answered in anyway. “Well I do still owe you a spanking”.

“Very true”, Lex said, as he jumped out of the car and walked around to open Chloe’s door too.

“I remembered a dollar this time”, Chloe announced as he headed towards the trolleys.

“Don’t you think that a basket will suffice?” He asked as he watched her putting the dollar in to release the trolley – a practice which had fascinated her as a child.

“I may have added a few items to the list”, Chloe grinned wickedly at him.

~*~

It was an hour later and Lex was traipsing around after Chloe and her bloody shopping trolley. She had dragged him up and down the shop and seemed to be enjoying it. He, on the other hand, was enjoying the view but that was about it. He absolutely hated shopping.

“Chloe, you don’t need anything else. We have got everything from your father’s list, you have got enough fruit and veg for a small army, you don’t need to go into the biscuit aisle”, Lex said flatly.

“Sure I do”, she paid him no heed.

“No, you don’t”, he caught up with her.

“Lex”, she stopped and turned around to face him.

“No one needs junk food Chloe”, he informed her.

“On the contrary, junk food is almost entirely responsible for this”, she patted her bottom. “Which you seem to be enjoying staring at”.

“Sure”, he didn’t bother trying to deny it. “Cake, biscuits, ice cream, do very good work but only when they are home made. These”, he gestured to the packets surrounding them, “all have preservatives that are going to make you ill”.

“But”, she complained.

“But nothing”, he tilted her chin so that she was looking directly at him. “We are going to make cake today and you have almond milk ice cream in. If you want some biscuits as well, then I will work out how to make those for you. I don’t want you getting itchy arms like the last time you tried store brought cookies”.

Chloe scowled as she remembered the sensation of her arms being ripped apart after she had had a minor allergic reaction and Lex had emptied the contents of the freezer to get cold things to put on her arms and stop the itching. He had missed his date to stay at home with her stroking her hair and telling her that it would all be alright, after driving to four separate pharmacies before he had found the correct medicated anti-itch cream.

“You are going to bake me cookies?” She asked, incredulously.

“Anything you want”, he promised her in a seductive tone.

Chloe almost replied “Lots and lots of kissing and touching”, but caught herself at the last minute and searched her brain for something else to say but she could only think of Lex’s nice bald head. Bald head. He used to be a red head. She wasn’t sure how she felt about red hair. It looked nice on Garfield. She liked Garfield. Garfield liked Lasagne. That would work. “Lasagne”, she stated, pleased with herself for finally having come up with something – other than the truth.

“Okay, that might be a bit beyond me”, he had no idea how to make a lasagne from scratch, the pasta alone would take all afternoon and that was time that he could be spending between Chloe’s leg … he meant, hell he meant between her legs. He didn’t have lie in his own head. “There is a deli section though, we can go there and get going?”

“Alright”, Chloe chirped and took off with her trolley before skidding to a halt as she noticed the frozen food aisle, “We need peas”, she announced bending over to get some.

There was a groaning sound and it didn’t just come from Lex that time.

Chloe straightened up, and along with Lex, looked over in the direction of the noise. She put her hand on her hip, “See something you like?” she inquired as Lex gave the boy in question a fuck off look as he walked up behind Chloe and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Look at her again and your entire family will be unemployed”, he announced and the boy disappeared.

“Well that was rude”, Chloe prodded Lex in the side as she turned to look up at him, making no attempt to extract herself from his arms.

“Believe me, that was me being polite”, he said, trying to think of anything but how close she was to him in that moment and how she had looked bent over. “And you shouldn’t go around bending over in those shorts”.

“Lex, I didn’t take you for a prude”, she laughed, “they are not that short. Do you think that I would wear something inappropriate in front of my father?”

“No, of course not”, he searched for the words.

“Do you think that I dress like a slut?”

“No”, he protested until he caught the gleam in her eye, she was teasing him. “That”, he pointed at her, warningly, “was perilously close to breaking a rule”.

She fluttered her eyelashes at him.

“Just so that you know baby, that look is nowhere near as convincing as you think that it is”, he grinned down at her, “if a guy falls for it, then he is not smart enough for you”.

“Well, did it ever consider that I want to have a puppy dog who follows me around who I can wrap around my little finger?” She asked.

“Honestly? No”, he grinned down at her. “You would be bored to tears”.

“I don’t know”, she mused, “I think that it would be nice. Tall, muscular body, nice soft floppy hair, no mind of his own but dynamite in the sack”.

“Chloe”, he growled.

“But Lex, your rule said no harping on about men in the past, you never said anything about the future ones”, she smiled up at him.

“Really? I didn’t?” He tried to remember his exact words.

“Nope”, she grinned.

“What was I thinking? That isn’t like me”, he thought.

“You were probably distracted”, she ran her hand down her throat.

“Probably”, he watched her hand as it stroked its way down to the curve of her breast and smirked. Gabe was right. She was playing him. Well, two could play at that game. “So, floppy hair huh?”

“Oh yeah, it is an absolute necessity”, she tormented him.

“Odd, because I always preferred the feeling of smooth skin”, he let his eyes travel down her body so that there was no doubt as to where he was referring to.

Chloe’s legs clamped together, trying to quell the throbbing.

Lex’s smirk grew. “Come on darling, you want lasagne, right?”

“Um … yeah”, Chloe said, as Lex took the trolley and headed towards the deli section, leaving Chloe scamper after him, noticing how nice his bottom looked in his grey slacks and his shoulders were so broad in his white shirt.

At the deli counter Chloe regained the control of their shopping trolley as Lex flirted shamelessly with the attendant. Chloe scowled. She didn’t like her. She flicked her hair too much, and smiled too much and was just plain too interested in Lex. Chloe had half a mind to tell the manager to make her wear a hair net, in fact, no, she had a full mind to do that. She looked around for the manager only to see the horrible blonde creature was now in the process of coming around the counter.

She had her hand on Lex’s shoulder and was leaning forwards to show him something. The trolley escaped from Chloe and went straight into the bitch’s hip, knocking her against the counter.

“Oh dear, I am so sorry, it just got out of hand”, Chloe apologised without so much as an ounce of sincerity.

Lex glared at Chloe who had a little evil smile adorning her cheeky face, as she wrapped her arm around Lex’s, “We had better leave her in peace Lex”.

“Chloe”, his voice was warning again. He pulled his arm away from him and put one out to steady the latest victim of Chloe’s ridiculous jealousy.

“You did that on purpose”, the bleached blonde exclaimed.

Lex’s eyes grew steely. “Don’t speak to her in that tone of voice”.

She flinched, hobbled back around the counter and got their lasagne.

Chloe gave the girl a victorious look as Lex put the lasagne in the trolley. “It is so sweet of you to believe me Lex”, she cooed.

“The fact that I am always on your side doesn’t mean for one second that I believe you”, he informed her, “now give me the trolley”.

“I want to push”, Chloe complained.

“And after the little stunt that you just pulled I want to do quite a few things to you but I am restraining myself. So, give me the trolley before I stop attempting to reign in my worst instincts”, he suggested, his tone was mild but his eyes were hard.

Chloe relinquished control of the trolley, but put her arm through his as they made their way to the check out.

“Oh”, Chloe exclaimed as she saw several items that she wanted.

“Oh come on”, he rolled his eyes.

“What do you have against whipped cream and chocolate sauce?” Chloe wondered. She hoped that he hadn’t had a bad sex related experience with them; that would be too bad.

“Whipped cream and chocolate sauce?” He swallowed. “Absolutely nothing”.

“Good”, she checked the prices – just because she was rich, that was no reason to waste money.

“But are they on the list?” That was the crux of the matter as far as Lex was concerned.

“Um … I don’t remember”, Chloe lied.

“You could always check”. He walked over to her.

“No, I don’t remember where I put it”, she took a step back, trying to get away from him and the predatory look in his eyes, but his arms were around her before she could do anything about it.

“Is that so? That is very odd as I seem to remember that it was around about here”, he slipped his hand down into her back pocket.

She whimpered as he squeezed her several times through the denim, thankful that his arm was keeping her upright, before he retrieved the list from her pocket.

“Look at that”, he waved it in front of her nose, “I found it”.

“Meanie”, she insulted him, pleased with the way that it came out. It sounded strong, snarky, not at all as if she wanted to rip off his clothes and screw him in the baking section.

He opened the list. “Look at that, no mention of chocolate sauce or whipped cream”.

She pouted.

“Ah”, he ran his thumb across her full lower lip, “What the hell, I’ll compromise. Chocolate sauce yes, whipped cream no”.

Chloe felt a little dizzy from the sensations but managed a weak shrug and muttered, “Works for me”.

By some miracle they made it all the way to the checkout without incident, they even managed to load and pack the groceries without snapping at one another, all was going swimmingly until the moment came when they had to pay and both of them attempted to put their debit cards into the slot at the same time.

“Don’t be silly Lex, I brought my card”, Chloe said, expecting him to take his card away.

“I’m paying, I always pay for you”, Lex looked confused.

“Yeah, when I was under 18 and had no money or when Dad gave my money to you to hold for safe keeping. Besides, this is grocery shopping”, she tried to swat his hand away.

“Which is exactly why I should pay. I am the guest, this is how I show my appreciation”, Lex argued.

“What?” Chloe protested, “You don’t have to show your appreciation. Stop being all macho, the fact that there is a slot there does not mean that you need to stick something in it”.

“But …”

“But nothing Luthor”, Chloe grabbed his card and shoved it back into his pocket, none to gently. “Can’t you get it through your thick skull that you don’t have to be grateful? You don’t have to show your appreciation. You don’t have to be on your best behaviour. You don’t have to do anything. You can come in in a bad mood or have a strop that a two year old would be ashamed of, that is fine. Your welcome in what is now my house is not conditional on the fact that you gave it to me, or that you are my father’s boss, or that you pay for everything, or that you are in a good mood. It isn’t conditional, period!”

Lex stared down at her in bewilderment.

“I realise that this might not be something that anyone has ever said to you before – other than my father – but I don’t want you to pay my way”. The look that passed over Lex’s features made her feel sick. No one had ever said that to him. So many people needed to die horrible painful deaths, for hurting and using him.

“Besides”, she shot him a winning smile, “if you pay then you will have a say in how much chocolate sauce I get to have and that just wouldn’t work for me. I love pouring it on everything”, she licked her lips, “it is especially good on warm, smooth things you can lick it off”.

He coughed.

“Good”, Chloe thought, that made him forget about all of the people who needed to die for not having been nice enough to him. As he allowed her to pay and placed the last few bags in the shopping trolley she decided that he needed a hug, but she wasn’t sure how to go about it. She pondered this question as he once again took control of the trolley and went over to the car and helped her load up the boot.

“I’ll take the trolley back”, she said, as a brainwave crashed against her noggin.

“Okay”, Lex said, strolling along by her side, apparently wanting to be near her.

She smiled up at him and then, yelped.

“What’s the matter?” Lex demanded.

Chloe held out her finger for him to see. He examined it closely but couldn’t see anything although he assumed that she had pinched it in between the trolleys.

“Oh dear”, he said bringing it to his lips to kiss it better. He didn’t think that she needed professional medical attention. Without thinking he pulled her into his arms and held her there, stroking her back and her hair.

It always amazed her how good at physical contact Lex was, considering that he never had anyone other than her father and her to hug him. She tensed. He rubbed soothing circles on her lower back and she relaxed against him. She had no idea how he hadn’t been snapped up years ago, he was a gentleman, a good cuddly toy … no she did know why. It was because those women never took the time to find out these things, they only wanted him for his money.

“What are you thinking Chloe?” He asked her.

“That I don’t ever want to see you sad”, she said. Her eyes widened as she looked up at him, had she really said that out loud?

He smiled tenderly down at her and he stroked her hair, “You know Chloe, for a complete and utter brat, you are without a doubt the sweetest woman that I have ever met. Thank-you”, he said kissing her forehead.

“For what?”

“For faking a sore finger because you thought that I needed a hug”, he grinned.

“How long have you known?” She asked, burying her face in his chest in embarrassment.

“Since you showed me your finger”, he admitted.

“And you still cuddled me? I feel so used”, she giggled into his chest.

“Yeah, you seem really put out by it”, he trailed his hands down her spine making her shiver. “God you have to teach me how to do that”.

He chuckled, wondering how it was possible that she had no idea how she made him feel. “If you want, but first we have to get back and start making cakes”.

“Good point. Let’s go”.

~*~

“Alright everything has been put away, including probably most of the stuff that we actually need”, Lex announced. “So what do we do now?”

“Well first, you have to put this on”, Chloe handed him her father’s apron.

“No”, he handed it back.

“Yes”, she thrust it back at him.

“No”, he said severely but didn’t actually try to put it back into her hand, seeing that she clearly wasn’t going to have that.

“Yes, you have to wear it to keep your clothes nice”, Chloe would not back down.

“I don’t care if my clothes are kept nice, this is only a couple of thousand dollars’ worth of clothes, I can replace them”, he gave a shrug.

“I know that you can Rockefeller”, Chloe rolled her eyes. “But that doesn’t change the rules and I know how much you like rules”, her eyes twinkled.

“Fine, give me that”, he grabbed the apron and put it on. “So, how to I look?”

“Adorable, too cute for words, I will have to get my camera out later”, she cooed, knowing how much he hated it.

“Don’t you dare”, he looked down at himself. “Kiss the chef”, he read.

“Yep, that’s Dad’s”, Chloe beamed.

“Gabe has an apron on it saying Kiss the chef?” Lex asked, not sure why that surprised him quite so much.

“Yeah, I got it for him, better than the one of a naked – except for a fig leaf – muscle bound guy”, Chloe blushed at the memory of her father strutting around wear it. She was sure that he did it just to embarrass her.

Lex snorted.

“Exactly”, Chloe gave him a knowing look.

“Now, we are going to start with brownies”, Chloe said taking the book out from where it was kept, “and I am going to follow the recipe this time. Hopefully that way it will turn out better than my pie”.

“Good thinking, it might end up being edible that way”, Lex smiled. “So, flour, butter, sugar, eggs, chocolate?”

“On the contrary”, Chloe read out, “black beans, apple sauce, non-fat yogurt, egg whites and fat reduced cocoa powder”.

“Yum, that sounds delicious”, Lex pulled a face at her.

“Hey don’t laugh, Granddad died of a heart attack, my Daddy is not going the same way”, Chloe announced.

“I’m sorry, we will use whatever recipe you like honey”, Lex assured her. “Although I should tell you that all of Gabe’s medical tests are coming back excellent”.

“And they will stay that way”, Chloe nodded.

“They wouldn’t dare not to”, Lex said, as he pulled all of the ingredients out. “So what do I do?”

“Just combine them all”, Chloe stated, summarising the recipe’s instructions.

“Alright”, Lex said as he measured everything out, dumped it all into a large bowl and began to stir; it took a few minutes to get all of the lumps out. “So what do you think?”

Chloe peered into the bowel, “It looks alright”, she put her finger in it and licked in clean without thinking, “tastes good too”.

“Chloe”, Lex protested, his voice tight, “You can’t do that; there is raw egg in there”.

She looked up at him and realised the effect that she was having on him, but that didn’t keep her from arguing, “Nonsense, you shouldn’t get all worked up over the idea salmonella, you have to eat an entire egg’s worth to come down with it and these egg whites are pasteurised so I am completely safe. Try some”, she went to stick her finger in there again only to find her wrist being held by Lex.

“What’s the matter?” Chloe wondered.

“You are not doing that again. If you want to eat off your fingers then here”, he opened one of the cupboards and got out the chocolate sauce and squirted a blob on the end of her finger. Chloe raised an eyebrow. Too late Lex realised what he had done. He tried to maintain a neutral expression as she popped her finger into her mouth and sucked hard, closing her eyes and making a moaning sound in the back of her throat.

“Mmm so good”, she groaned.

“Fuck”, Lex said turning around and placing the gunge into the microwave and set it for 6 minutes in accordance with the instructions. “Six minutes, what to do, what to do”, he pretended to ponder as he picked up the bottle of chocolate sauce. “Care to teach me about the wonders of chocolate sauce?”

“Sure, it is really great, sweet and chocolaty and … what are you doing?” She asked as Lex grasped her hand and began to place blobs of chocolate sauce on each of her digits.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” He watched her face intently as he brought her hand to his lips. He took each digit between his lips, one by one, licking, suckling, nibbling and twirling his tongue around each one until Chloe thought that her knees were going to give out and she made little noises in the back of her throat.

“Do you hear ringing?” She asked weakly, her eyes closed.

“Yes, it is the microwave”, he chuckled.

“Oh yeah, of course”, Chloe tried to look busy as her eyes fluttered open and she washed her hands and the few utensils they had used. She looked over as Lex took out the brownie.

“It looks good”, she commented.

“Yeah”, he agreed. He moved to stand behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and nuzzling her neck, “So, do you want me to make you some biscuits now or … something else?”

A/N: Now just remember that the fact that I have been nice enough to give another chapter almost immediately doesn't mean that I don't expect a review for both chapters. :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HotCrossedBunny

Oh, good idea.

It is a babyish pronunciation of the word little - it won't be in a dictionary as it isn't a real word. :D

Will do, still trying to think of something for SC. I know that is needs something, but I don't know what.

---

Oh, ok, good to know. As I am not a native English I had no way of knowing that.

what it needs... hmm... wedding? Or maybe it's too cliche... two families trying to coexist and keep arguing, but in not in "I-hate-you-kind-of-way", but maybe in "I-know-better-we-do=this-better"? Sorry, no ideas from my side here:(

Oh, I like that idea. :D A wedding, a few years down the line. Oh, idea on top of that. Love you.

Yum! Who knows baking brownie can be so sinfully delicious. I think that there are many possibilities since Chloe and Lex are all alone in the house for the afternoon.

hey, I have red hair, I dye them, I admit, but red head is awesome!
But I get it, you meant LEx, and guys with red head... not so good as women lol

I love the chapter. The tension keep rising and they keep playing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HotCrossedBunny

Oh, I like that idea. :D A wedding, a few years down the line. Oh, idea on top of that. Love you.

---

Seriously? It doesn't osund too cliche?
Then you're welcome I guess

*Chapter Eighteen*

“Something else”, Chloe whimpered.

“Care to be more specific?” He stroked her abdomen, Chloe relaxed back into him, feeling his hardness pressing into her.

“Kissing please”, she suggested hopefully and grinned as he nibbled her ear.

“Like this?” He asked between nibbles.

“Umm … good start, but aren’t I supposed to be the one learning?” She tried to think straight.

“That is a very good point, and you know that I am completely at your disposal”, he grinned. “So, where do you want to do this? The kitchen? The den? Your bedroom?”

“Okay”, she agreed, not really sure what she was agreeing to; her brain was fuzzy.

“Come on then”, he led her out of the room and up the stairs with his arm around her waist until they got to her room. Chloe pushed the door open, anxious to get in and down to some serious kissing, she had forgotten what a mess she had left it in until the door swung open to reveal the entire contents of her wardrobe lying in a big heap on the floor.

“Wow, you really are a mucky puppy aren’t you”, he chuckled as he surveyed the mess and realised that Chloe must have spent ages on choosing her outfit for that morning. Yep, Gabe had definitely been right; she was playing him. “Naughty girl”, he said walking over to the massive pile and beginning to pick it up.

“What are you doing Lex? I thought that you were supposed to be teaching me the finer points of kissing”, she pouted as she closed the door and walked over to him.

“Well, point one. Set the mood, you can’t think about kissing when there is a huge mess on the in the middle of the floor”, he complained.

“Really? You can’t get passed the mess?” She asked in disbelief.

“For hot mind blowing sex, yes. For a lesson on kissing, no”, Lex said as he continued folding her clothes neatly and stacking them at mind boggling speed, tossing the things to be hung into a separate pile.

“Okay, I’ll help tidy up”, Chloe said as she went and started to hang things up, hoping that he didn’t work out that this meant that she had spent time thinking about her appearance that morning.

Five minutes later they were finished, the wardrobe doors were closed and Lex went and made himself comfortable on her bed. He lay back against the pillows and said, “Come on the Miss Sullivan, show me what you’ve got”.

“Okay”, Chloe said slowly as she walked over to the bed and perched on the side of it, suddenly feeling very shy. She had been dying to kiss him all day long and now that she had the opportunity, she was nervous.

“Oh, don’t tell me that you are getting all shy again, come on it’s just me”, he reminded her. “Close your eyes if it helps. Want me to close my eyes too?”

“Yeah”, Chloe agreed and watched as he linked his hands behind his head, closed his eyes and looked extremely relaxed. She felt bolder knowing that he couldn’t see her. She got up onto her knees and placed her hands slowly on his chest, running them up and down so that she could feel his skin, it was warm and hard beneath his starched white shirt. He breathed deeply.

Chloe leant over him and pressed her lips gently against his eyebrow. A smile spread across his lip and she did it again, and again until she had placed quick kisses all over his sexy bald head, avoiding his lips, even though he puckered them. She thought that for once she would be the one to tease him. She moved on to his ears, his lovely, cute ears which needed lots of attention.

Lex shifted as he felt himself harden even more and strove not to grab her.

She felt powerful and distinctly naughty. She began to undo the buttons of his shirt as she attacked neck, trailing down to his chest.

“Oh Chloe”, he growled.

“So, what do you think?” She asked between hot kissed.

“I think that you are driving me crazy baby. It is time to kiss properly though”, he said.

“Oh, is it now?” Chloe asked, as she straddled him and Lex moved his hands from behind his head. Chloe tangled her fingers with his pushing his hands down, but he wouldn’t let her, they wrestled, Chloe appearing to be in control but Lex was still stronger.

“Yes”, he declared.

“Alright then”, she grinned as she leant down and gently brushed her lips against his, sending shocks through both of them, before she pulled back.

“That’s it?”

“Yep, that is all that you get”, she smirked, then ground her hips against him in the way that she had already found out that he liked.

Lex bucked up against her. “Give me another kiss honey, a proper one this time”.

“I’m thinking about it”, she grinned wickedly.

“Well think a little harder”, he groaned as she ground against him again, leaning over to tempt him with the view down her top and her tantalizing scent.

“I’m not sure, I think that I have got the kissing thing down. I think that our session is done for today”, she teased him.

“Like hell you are”, Lex growled, flipping them over and pinning her to the mattress. “I am the teacher here, and that means that I decide the timetable and the lesson plan.”

She gasped his name and he caught her lips in a searing kiss.

“Oh Lex”, she moaned as he moved away from her and tried to follow him only to find that she was being held down away from him.

“Naughty naughty”, he teased her, placing feather light kisses all over her face but never again on her mouth.

“Please Lex”, she moaned, “Do you want me to beg?”

“Actually, yes. I think that a little begging would be quite nice”, he grinned down at her.

“In your dreams”, she said, but even to her own ears the statement lacked conviction.

“Yes, you did beg rather a lot in my dreams”, he admitted but Chloe wasn’t sure whether it was just a line or not.

“Well, I don’t be … oh yes”, she whimpered as his teeth grazed her neck before licking her.

“Are you sure about that?” He inquired.

“Please Lex, kiss me. Properly. On the mouth. Please Lex”, she begged unashamedly, her entire body straining up to try to touch him.

“As you wish”, he ravaged her mouth. Chloe saw fireworks, hell she felt fireworks exploding all the way through her body, her heart thumped in her chest and she felt a very strong tug between her legs.

“Lex, oh God please Lex”, she moaned between heated kisses. She wanted to touch him, wanted to stroke him, but she was being held down.

“Damn I want you so much”, he tugged her lower lip between his teeth and Chloe thought that she might quite possibly die right then and there. It wasn’t possible for her small body to contain that many feelings.

“So take me, I’m not stopping you”, she gasped.

“Good point”, he grinned down at her. “You are okay with this? We have done you kissing me. Me kissing you. French kissing. All areas in which you have surpassed yourself, might I add. Are you ready for the next stage of kissing?”

“There is another stage?” Chloe wondered.

“Oh yes”.

She nodded her agreement, whatever it was she wanted it. He was touching her and yet she felt starved off him.

Smirking in an extremely self-satisfied way, he gave her another bruising kiss before continuing to kiss his way down her neck and to the tops of her exposed breasts, he nipped at both of her nipples through the material of her top as he smoothed it up to reveal her pale tummy which he proceeded to lavish with kisses which made her moan and squirm. Her reactions increased in fervour the closer he got to the waist line of her shorts.

“Well I am afraid as lovely as you are it is time for you to come off now”, he spoke to them as he unbuttoned them and yanked them off her hips.

“Lex, what are you doing?” Chloe wondered, even as her hips moved up to help him in his task of removing them and tossing them on the floor.

“Getting ready to kiss you properly”, he grinned up at her.

Her eyes grew wide and she shook her head, “No, Lex don’t it’s yucky, it’s unsanitary, it’s … it’s icky”.

“I will decide if it is icky thank-you very much and you asked me to teach you so you will just lie back there and suffer through it”, he told her sternly but with a twinkle in his eye. He went back to kissing her stomach until she was whimpering with desire again. God help him, those noises went straight to his crotch.

“Lex”, she moaned his name with gusto.

“Hell yes, say my name”, he growled as he kissed his way down to the sensitive flesh of her inner thigh making her groan and her hips moved up to meet him. He couldn’t believe that he had said something so cliché, but he really liked hearing say his name, especially in that tone, in that situation.

“Oh Lex”, she moaned again as he bit her sensitive flesh. “So good, so good”.

“Trust me baby, I haven’t got to the good part yet”, he bragged wondering what the hell the last guy had been doing if a little attention to her inner thighs was enough to almost make her come. He could smell her arousal and see her wetness staining her sweet little panties.

“It gets better?” She sounded incredulous and he couldn’t help but chuckle as he removed her undergarments and moved her legs how he wanted them without any protest from Chloe, he placed his hands on her hips to keep her down and licked his way down the soft waxed flesh to her pussy. He gave her a broad lick and couldn’t hide his shock when she bucked hard against his hands and cried out as she came.

He raised an eyebrow. It really required so little stimulation for her to come?

“Lex, Lex, yes, fuck, yes. Magician. Perfect”, she panted out as felt pleasure crashing over her.

“How long have you been worked up?” He wondered.

“Since breakfast and shorts so tight, rubbing all day long”, she whimpered.

“Well that explains it”, he smirked, “good shorts”.

“Wow, that was good”, Chloe tried to sit up.

“I’m not finished with your yet baby”, he grinned as he moved his head back between her legs and began to tease her, lapping, and licking, grazing his teeth against her, sucking and pulling out all of his best moves until he was having to using all of his arm strength to hold her down as she thrashed around, her hands holding onto his lovely head.

Chloe was beyond words as the tension coiled within her, screaming things which Lex took to be compliments. He wished that he could insert a couple of digits and begin to fuck her but that wasn’t today’s lesson. Today was about kissing. He would have to make her come just with his mouth, he grinned against her, his breath tickled her.

“You know I can stop now, if you want. If you still think that it is icky”, he offered but found his head being forced back where she wanted it, making sounds of protests and then moans as he went back to work.

She was so close to coming, she could feel her juices running all over the place but she didn’t care. She just needed him to … Chloe screamed loudly enough to bring down the house as he sucked hard on her clit and she came harder than she ever had before.

Chloe was sweating and panting as Lex sat up, stretched his back out, and grinned down at his handiwork and then reached for her tissues on the bedside table and cleaned himself off. Chloe’s eyes were still closed, and she was still breathing heavily. With a smirk he flipped her over and gave her a slap on the bottom, causing her to jolt a little. “That was for the icky comment, remember the rules in future baby”, he said. “That is the end of the lesson for today”, he announced as he got up off the bed.

It took several minutes of Chloe’s fuzzy brain to whir into action enough to register what had happened. He had done that to her and then left? No, no no she wasn’t having that. There was only one word which strung to mind at that moment … revenge.

~*~

Lex was just about to get into the shower which was thankfully ice cold when he heard a knock at his bedroom door. With a sigh he wrapped a towel around his waist and made his way over to answer it. He had had a raging hard on for well over an hour at that point, what would a few more minutes hurt? He tried to rationalise.

“Who is it?” He asked as he grabbed the door knob and turned.

“It’s me”, Chloe called even as the door swung open to reveal her standing there, the ends of her damn hair her sticking to her enough for him to know that she had jumped into the shower before coming to see him. He looked down at her attire – a simple white, almost virginal robe – and thought that at least he couldn’t see her skin glistening with moisture and trickles of water which would just beg to be licked off; that would have been too much for him at that moment.

“Is everything okay?” He asked, automatically.

“Yes, of course”, she placed a hand on the door to push in open, placed the other hand on his chest to move him backwards and closed the door after her. Then she continued to push him until his legs hit the mattress. One hand trailed down to his waist and toyed with the knot in his towel.

Lex grasped her wrist lightly, pulling it away from him, “Chloe what are you doing?”

She looked up at him innocently, “I was just thinking that we haven’t quite finished our lesson yet”.

“No?” He raised an eyebrow.

“No”, she shook her blond curls, “You see, I got kissed and spanked but you didn’t. I mean really, if I am going to learn to seduce a man I should know about that special kind of kissing, should I not? And as you insisted on punishing me … well, it is only fair that I do the same as you are owed more than me”.

The hand that he wasn’t paying attention to moved in and tugged at the knot, undoing it and causing his towel to fall to the floor.

“So what is it to be Lex?”


A/N: Ah, what a conundrum for poor little Lex. What do you think that he will choose? Give in to Chloe and let him kiss him and possibly punish him or save his ass?

Holy Moly!!
That was AWESOME and I LOVED IT!!
My day started shitty, because I got sick, but now it's much better:):)

And I don't think even Lex could resist Chloe offering to him.

A/N: I hope that this will make you feel a little better TrinityR! :D

*Chapter Nineteen*

Lex stared up at Chloe in bewilderment from where he was sat on his bed, his legs apart, his towel no longer covering him. She stood over him looking utterly angelic in her bathrobe with her sweet little smile. He was about to object when he realised that this had to be a dream, the real Chloe wouldn’t have just followed him to his room and forced him to undress. Hell, if she had been worried about the potential ick factor of him going down on her then there was no way that she would offer to do the same to him … although Chloe had always been very fair minded.

He followed her slightly apprehensive gaze down to his throbbing erection which was screaming rather loudly for Lex to stop mucking it around and let Chloe take care of him.

“Chloe”, he started to warn her about the potential dangers of this situation, that she shouldn’t feel obligated to do it to him just because he had done it to her, that there was no need for her to do anything she wasn’t comfortable with – even though he knew that this had to be a dream he still felt responsible for dream Chloe.

“But I want to”, she pouted, cutting him off as she placed both of her hands on his broad shoulders and ran them along his chest as she got down onto her knees. He held onto her arms just to make sure that she could balance and looked down to check that her knees were protected by her robe; he didn’t want her to get rug burn if this was going where he thought that it was going.

“Sweetheart, this isn’t necessary”, he repeated as he stroked her hair and felt her hands on his abdomen making it harder to concentrate on being a gentleman.

Chloe just rolled her eyes at that as she ran her fingers very lightly across the engorged flesh, looking a little afraid of it. He let out a low chuckle. “It won’t bite you, I promise”.

“I know”, Chloe snapped, wondering how she was supposed to go about doing this. She had heard several girls at Smallville High School talking about the procedure but had never tried it out. She supposed that logically the idea was to try to recreate the sensation of him being inside someone which would probably be being held firmly, movement and wetness.

She grasped him at the base, staring at him through her lashes desperate to ensure that she didn’t hurt him. Lex smiled down at her encouragingly. Slowly she began to stroke her hand up and down his shaft and Lex shifted his hips forwards. He made a slight moaning noise, her hand felt nice but honestly it was not enough to make him moan like that, however he thought that she probably needed some encouragement.

It worked; Chloe beamed and began to make her movements more definite. This time he did moan for real. He didn’t mention to Chloe the fact that this was a kissing lesson, not a stroking one. If this was what she was happy to give him, it was what he was happy to take.

Wondering what else to do and thinking that the whole process was probably quite boring for Lex just up and down, up and down – who would want that? – she decided to experiment and twisted her wrist, causing Lex to almost jump off the bed.

“Yes”, he hissed as he settled back down. Chloe did it again, although this time Lex managed to stop his reactions from being quite so violent. Fuck, she was killing him. Her movements while nice still weren’t quite enough for him to get off. Gently he closed his hand over Chloe’s and squeezed it a little tighter around him groaning as he did so and increased the tempo, showing her exactly what he wanted.

Happy to know what he wanted Chloe kept up the rhythm he had set with enthusiasm, wondering if it was time to try the kissing bit. As her hand went down she placed a peck on the end of it and frowned. Nothing seemed to be happening.

Lex laughed at her expression.

“It’s not funny”, she huffed.

“It is baby, wrong kind of kissing. You need to take it into your mo-ah”, he broke off as she did as instructed and took the tip into her mouth. “Good girl, now use your tongue and fuck yes Chloe”. He looked down at her but then had to slam his eyes shut, he was so close to coming and the image of her on her knees intent on trying to suck him off wasn’t helping any. This was ridiculous, she wasn’t actually any good at this, in fact she was the most inexpert woman he had ever come across in that regard but she made him feel things that he never had before. It was as if his body were responding to her earnest desire to please him rather than her actual ministrations which weren’t all that good …yet.

Chloe lashed her tongue along the underside of his penis and he decided that she must be a perfectionist in all areas of her life. She had worked out how to set up some sort of rhythm with her mouth and hand and her other stroked his balls with one finger.

“They won’t break if you hold them”, he assured her and hissed as she took one in her hand.

He wound his hands in her golden tresses and held her head where he needed it. “Fuck baby yes”, after another few minutes he started to feel the familiar tightening, “Oh fuck, honey stop that now”, he pulled her head gently away from him as she stilled her hand’s movements.

Staring up at him with big worried eyes she asked, “Did I hurt you?”

“No, no sweetie of course not, you just need to …” she pulled her hand which had been cradling his balls away accidently squeezing them in the process and he came. Luckily it missed most of her and just caught her hand which was still in the air. “That”, he explained.

“Oh”, Chloe said surveying the odd sight of her hand with gunk on it and his penis slowly deflating for a moment, she wondered whether it hurt and was about to ask when it occurred to her that that wasn’t particularly sexy. She looked up at him to see that he appeared to be having some sort of inner happy time as a result of coming. She was pleased that she had done that to him, although she couldn’t imagine that it had been anywhere near as good as what he had given to her earlier.

His eyes remained open and focused on her. Chloe wondered what she should do and remembered hearing that guy liked girls who swallowed so, trying not to think of how unsanitary it was, she raised her fingers to her lips and made a show of licking one of them before almost choking.

“Eww, that is disgusting”, Chloe complained and Lex guffawed before grabbing some tissues from the night stand and setting about cleaning her hand off her hand.

“Well I could have told you that, what on earth possessed you to try to do that?” He asked as he wiped the worst of it off.

“I was trying to be sexy”, Chloe admitted, making faces as she could still taste him.

Lex almost doubled up at that, taking the baby wipes from his draw and continuing to clean her fingers so that there was no stickiness left. “That worked well for you”, he teased.

“Last time I try to do anything nice for you”, Chloe groused, looking a little upset.

Lex stroked her head before saying, “Come here sweetie”, and pulling her up and on to his knee, keeping her away from the sticky parts. “You don’t have to try to do anything nice for me or try to be sexy for me. Okay?”

“Okay”, her lips agreed, but he could see that she wasn’t convinced.

“I never want you to feel like you have to do something that you are not ready for …”

“I was ready for it”, she argued, “the ending just caught me by surprise”.

Lex smirked, “yeah sorry about that. Would you like something to drink while I go and get cleaned up? We can talk more then?”

“Sure”, Chloe said getting up and letting Lex walk over – still completely naked – over to the mini bar and handed her a bottle of Ribena. She gulped it down, partly to get rid of the taste, partly because her mouth had gone dry at the sight.

“I won’t be long”, he told her as he headed into the bathroom.

Chloe settled down onto one of the chairs and sipped her Ribena. She would have to remember to have some to hand the next time that she tried that on Lex. He wouldn’t laugh at her next time. She remembered the sight of Lex naked and blushed and giggled a little. She couldn’t believe that she had just done what she had done.

Lex reappeared in record time, obviously having showered, with one towel wrapped around his waist, and another one around the back of his neck.

“You weren’t very good at that”, he announced without preamble.

“No”, Chloe agreed, wondering if Lex had known how to do everything perfectly the first time.

“In my dreams, you are always very good”, he said dumbly.

“Oh”, Chloe wasn’t really sure what to say to that.

“Which means that this isn’t …”

“A dream? No, of course not”, Chloe informed him. “I can tell because I have stretch marks and my breasts are as perky as they are in my dreams”.

“So we really just had oral sex?”

“Yes”.

“Fuck. You need to leave, now”.

~*~

Gabe’s meeting with his friend had not gone as quickly as he had expected and he – and his family – had been invited to spend the evening at a very exclusive party where they could talk business. While he was disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to get home early that night, he knew that it was important to do these social things so he knew that he would have to drag the kids over.

He had called both Lex and Chloe separately to inform them of this only to have them both attempt to decline and then after he had explained that it would “mean a great deal to him” that they absolutely wanted to bring Clark and Lana with them. Gabe frowned, he had no idea what was going on with those two. If things didn’t pick up soon then he was going to seriously reconsider his first plan to just lock them in a room together until they decided that they loved each other.

Lex had called Clark and Chloe Lana to inform them of what was going to happen and that they had to be there within 20 minutes and both hastily packed the absolute necessities. Lex had then headed straight out to the helicopter to wait for Chloe (and the others he supposed) whilst she had remained in her bedroom wringing her hands and peered out of her window at him.

“Come on Chloe, this is ridiculous”, she told herself, “you are all packed and they are now all there and waiting for you. You have to get going”. She called the butler.

Lex glanced down at his watch again as Lana and Clark made googly eyes at each other. It was no fun mocking them without Chloe. What was taking her so long? He sighed, that was stupid; he knew what was taking her so long. He had hurt her so she was waiting for the very last moment possible to make her appearance.

“Finally”, Lex exclaimed as he saw the side door open only to have it reveal the butler who had apparently found it impossible to take the entire day off. He informed them that Miss Sullivan was feeling unwell and wouldn’t be able to attend.

“Thank-you Benson”, Lex dismissed the man with a nod. Once he was out of range he told Lana, “Please go and see if Chloe is alright. I suspect that you will find that she has made a miraculous recovery, if not, inform her that I will be in to see her in a few minutes and will carry her kicking and screaming onto the plane if necessary”. It was said with a soft smile which scared the hell out of Lana. She hurried to obey him.

“She might be ill”, Clark pointed out.

“She is faking it”, Lex informed him. “I saw her earlier, she is just fine. She is just upset with me”.

“Wouldn’t it be better to give her some space?” Clark wondered.

“No”, Lex shook his head. “Space is the worst thing that you can give Chloe. She is paranoid about people leaving her, she always has been … well, for as long as I have known her but that was since just after her mom left her. She will be angry if you intrude yourself upon her when she is trying to avoid you but it is better to have her anger than crying huddled up in a ball in her room or something”. He tried not to think of that last option. He hoped that she was actually pouting and stroppy, rather than crying.

He had had to send Chloe away, he had been so disgusted with himself when he had realised what he had done that he couldn’t be near her. Couldn’t bear to see the evidence of his evil doing, however, he had soon realised that he would have to go and see her. He had only been putting it off because Gabe had called.

“Do you think that she will come back out with Lana?” Clark wondered.

“Probably”, Lex guessed.

Lana knocked lightly on Chloe’s door.

“Go away, I’m not decent”, Chloe called through the door.

“I’m a girl, it doesn’t matter”, Lana replied.

“I am sick, it might be contagious”, she answered.

“I have a really good immune system. They are waiting for you outside; Lex is really worried about you”, Lana tried a different approach.

“Really?” Chloe sounded hopeful.

“Yes, really. He sent me to check on you”, Lana clarified.

“Well, it is nothing serious, I am sure that I will be recovered by tomorrow morning”, Chloe decided that she wasn’t going to Metropolis.

“It came on rather suddenly, didn’t it? I mean, it was less than half an hour ago that you called to tell me that I simply had to come with you. Then I saw you looking through the window when we were assembled on the lawn next to the chopper, now you are ill?” She didn’t believe Chloe’s story.

“Does Lex at least think that I am really ill?” Chloe asked opening the door.

“No”, Lana said, noting that Chloe looked perfectly healthy and rather good in her blue dress.

“Damn it”, Chloe swore under her breath.

“Why did you want him to think that you were ill?” Lana wondered.

“It’s a long story”, Chloe shrugged, “the result is that I don’t want to be left alone with him”.

“We can make them wait”, Lana said.

“Lana”, Chloe said turning to her sometimes friend. She needed to talk to someone about this and her Dad and Lex clearly weren’t possibilities. “I think that I might … possibly … be just the teeniest weeniest bit … well … in love … with Lex. Maybe”.

“Obviously”, Lana smiled at her. “It took you long enough to get that one out”.

“Well, I thought that the best way to get over him would be to go out with someone else”, Lana looked shocked at this, “but it didn’t work”, Chloe continued.

“No, I wouldn’t have thought that it would”.

“So I naturally assumed that I was doing something wrong and asked Lex to show me how to do it right. I mean, how to seduce a man”, Chloe clarified.

“You asked the man that you love to show you how to seduce a man?” Lana repeated, wondering how such a smart girl got herself into these situations.

“Yeah”, Chloe said, not seeing why Lana found that so strange. “I know that Lex has never seduced a man before but he is good at seduction and being a man, probably knows what they like”.

“Yes, I would imagine that he does”, Lana said, putting her hand to her mouth to hide the smile.

“It didn’t work”, Chloe looked defeated.

That made Lana stop smiling, she had never seen Chloe look like that before. “What do you mean, it didn’t work?”

“We started yesterday and ended up on the couch and just when things were getting really good, he left. Then today, again things were really, really good and he left. I went after him, things got quite good and then he told me to leave and I don’t know what I did wrong”, Chloe looked dismayed.

“How good is really good?” The brunette wondered.

“First time tingly, second time two orgasms, third time I made him come”, Chloe said, oddly not feeling too embarrassed about that part.

Lana coughed, “Um … yeah, that would count as good”.

Chloe nodded her agreement, “I thought so but then … nothing”.

“Alright, I need more information. Tell me everything”, Lana made herself comfortable.

With a sigh Chloe filled her in.

“Right, it is okay. I know what you have to do”, Lana announced.

“Really?” Chloe asked, “Are you going to let me in on this master plan of yours?”

“You are going to come on this trip, you are going to drive him crazy and then you are going to arrange a lesson all of your own, you know that Lex won’t be able to turn you down if he has agreed to teach you”, Lana tried to think like Chloe.

“And then he leaves?” Chloe liked the plan but knew what the inevitable, heart breaking ending was going to be.

“No, then you leave”, Lana smirked.

“I like the sound of this plan”.



A/N: What do you think, too manipulative?

I like it.
Very realistic description since Chloe never read any clues or did a blow job.

And the end is very good. Can';t wait for the next chap..


And yeah, I'm feeling better now:) three ginger teas and two chapters did that do me:)

and I don't think sperm tastes that bad
Ok, that didn't come up well, because it's not like I tasted it. Gosh. I'm having a weird day since I still a little dizzy after that sickness lol
But just my point of view lol

Oh Chloe, she is just too naïve to realized that Lex had enjoyed himself too much and is now feeling guilty. I hope she drives him crazy and make him want to grab her and kiss her senseless until he begs for her to let him love her till the end of time. I haven't been feeling well, but I'm glad I caught up with the story and I got a great laugh seeing what happen.

TrinityR: Glad to hear that you are feeling a little better. What can I say, I know a lot about sexual ignorance. :D I have absolutely no idea what sperm tastes like, all of my sexual knowledge comes from this website and I am lead to believe that it doesn't taste like chocolate - which is a shame. Thank-you for the info though, it is something to consider for the next time that Chloe tries it. ;)

Trckyrcky: Yep, you have hit the nail on the head there. Oh no, another illness *cyber huggles* I hope that Chloe does that too.

A/N: Thank-you to my reviewers, you inspired me to sit down and write the next bit. Hint hint lurker-loos.

Chapter Twenty

Clark bounded over to Lana and Chloe to take the latter’s suitcase from her and carry it over to the helicopter the second that they immerged from the side door. Lex looked over at them but said nothing, as he was on the phone to Gabe explaining the delay to him and getting an earful for not having already swept Chloe off her feet. Naturally, Lex didn’t mention that he had had Chloe on a bed twice that day so far.

“Yes Gabe, yes I know. Of course. Yes, I know”, Lex responded to his litany of questions.

“You know there are a lot of nice looking young men in Metropolis at the moment. Very well born, personable young men. Perhaps I misjudged the situation, Chloe is probably too young to settle down anyway. Maybe it would be best if she were to date around for a while”, Gabe pondered.

“She is mine”, Lex said in a low growl.

He could practically hear Gabe beaming as he was told him, “Don’t tell me that, tell her”.

“I will if I ever get the chance. You know your daughter isn’t the easiest person to get along with”, Lex complained.

“Really? I find her positively angelic”, Gabe announced.

“Yes, that is because you are her father and she listens to you … sometimes”, he added.

“Ha, just wait until you have a little girl of your very own, then you will realise that I am actually an extremely strict parent”, Gabe said, not believing it himself.

“Why do I get the feeling that you are already looking at adoption brochures?” Lex wondered.

“Well, I may have a few in the top draw of my desk”, Gabe admitted. It never hurt to be prepared.

“I will let you get back to them then, Chloe is coming”, Lex whispered as he watched Chloe saunter towards the helicopter, apparently unaware of his existence. “This is going to be a long flight”.

“Nonsense, it is barely half an hour to Metropolis and you have my lovely daughter to keep you occupied”, Gabe said over the phone.

“I’ll see you in Metropolis … if Chloe doesn’t actually chuck me out of the plane before we land”, Lex muttered.

“Not a chance, no upper body strength”, Gabe sounded unconcerned. “See you soon”, he then hung up.

Lex rolled his eyes at the phone as he watched the pilot opening the door for Chloe and Lana as Clark stowed Chloe’s suitcase. He could not help but notice the curve of her body as she got into the helicopter and sat on the side furthest over. There was no chance that he was going to get to sit by her. Unless …

Before Clark got the chance to get into the helicopter, Lex scrambled in so he was seated next to Lana separating her from Clark, a fact he seemed unaware of until they were almost ready for take-off when he made a point of noticing the fact and swapping with Lana who gave Chloe a rather pointed look. He wondered what was going on between the two girls.

He leant over to Chloe and whispered, “Are you alright?”

“You know that I don’t feel well”, she lied, leaning back against her seat, crossing her legs and allowed her dress to ride up a little. “I’ll probably sleep right through the flight”, she turned her head away from him.

Lex smiled slightly to himself, this was the stunt she always pulled. He glanced briefly over his shoulder to check that Lana and Clark were too preoccupied to pay attention to them and tried to remember the procedure.

Chloe was turned on her side, curled up into a tiny ball with her eyes scrunched shut. He had really screwed up this time.

“Come on Chloe, I didn’t mean it”, he pleaded with her back. She didn’t move.

“Chloe please”, he begged and tried to shake her awake by her shoulder. “Come on”, he gave her another little shake. “You know”, he said flopping down when this still didn’t work, “it is really immature to sulk like this. A big girl wouldn’t act like that”.

“I’m not sulking, I’m sleeping”, she protested, her eyes still firmly shut.

Lex tried not to laugh at that, as that would only make her even angrier. She must be really mad if she was not only acting like this but also making the mistake of speaking when she was supposed to be asleep. “I’m sorry, yes, clearly you are asleep and just answering questions. That makes sense. But you know, you can’t giggle in your sleep. It just isn’t possible so it is a good job that I am here to make sure that no one disturbs you. Yes it is, I wouldn’t let something like the tickle monster get you”, as he said that he tickled her back lightly.

Chloe shifted further away from him trying to hide in the sofa cushions but he wouldn’t allow that. He wrapped both arms around her and hugged her and tickled her stomach.

She shrieked with laugher and her limbs spasmed slightly.

“Oh look at that you’re giggling, you must be awake”, Lex said being careful not to let her fall off the sofa.

“No!” Chloe protested, her entire face screwed up along with her eyes.

“Are you sure about that?” He tickled her some more as she thrashed around.

“No”, Chloe got out between gasps for breath she was laughing so hard.

“Are you still asleep?” Lex checked.

“No”, she admitted opening her eyes slowly.

“Are you going to stop trying to ignore me?” He demanded, making it clear that he intended to continue the tickle torture until she gave in.

“I wasn’t”, she lied.

“Chloe”, he made his voice as stern as it could be, considering that it hadn’t broken yet.

“I mean yes”, she changed her answer.

“Good”, he gave her a squeeze, “you know big girls talk about problems rather than sulking … I mean sleeping”.

“I’m a big girl, I’m four!”

“It’s a shame you aren’t feeling well”, Lex said, putting his arm around her shoulders so that her neck was supported and moving a little closer to her ensuring that his leg was touching hers. “Is it your tummy?” He wondered as he reached over and grazed his fingers against her gently making her smile – she was very ticklish- she buried her face into his shoulder, still keeping her eyes closed.

He kissed the top of her head. “Oh, it is your tummy. I’ll just keep rubbing it then”, he whispered.

“No, tickles”, she protested mildly.

“No, this tickles”, he tickled her properly for a second before rubbing her stomach again. “This is just rubbing”.

“Um”, was Chloe’s reply, “ruining my nap”.

“Alright, I’ll let you nap in just a moment”, he braced himself. He didn’t want to share his feelings or show his weakness but he couldn’t stand the idea that she thought that it was something that she might have done which had made him send her away. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry about this afternoon. I really care about you and I don’t ever want you to feel like you have to do anything that you are uncomfortable with to make me or anyone else happy. I … I have always tried to protect you and care for you and the idea that I took advantage of you this afternoon …”

Chloe’s eyes flew open, “You didn’t”.

“That’s sweet of you to say”, he kept his voice low, “but …”

“But nothing. Lex, I knew what I was doing, I went to you, not the other way around. You didn’t take advantage of me”, she assured him, feeling better now that she knew what had got into him earlier, but that didn’t mean that she was going to let him off for his behaviour. Chloe planned on going ahead with the plan she and Lana had come up with, full steam ahead.

Lex kissed her cheek.

“I’m glad that we got that straightened out”, she said.

“Me too”.

“Because I hear that there are going to be a lot of hot guys at the party tonight so it would be great if my teacher could give me some more pointers”, she said, nuzzling into his shoulder as if she really were going to sleep.

Lex growled and a thrill shot through her. “I’ll teach you how to flirt and seduce someone but as your teacher I will have to insist on an examination first”.

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll pass”, she mumbled.

“I’m sure you will sweetheart”, he stroked her shoulder. Little did she know that when she passed the test with him, she would never want to look at another guy again … not that he would allow her to anyway.

Chloe took his hand and put it back on her stomach, it felt right there. She could get used to that.

She must have been more tired than she thought as the next thing that Chloe knew she was waking up as cold air whipped her face.

“Mehu?” She said intelligently. She looked around to find that she was moving and apparently floating towards her father. She looked at him in confusion and he pointed just passed her ear. Chloe looked back to see Lex smile down at her, apparently he was carrying her bridal style.

“You feel asleep on the helicopter”, he explained.

“You could have just woke me up”, Chloe pointed out.

“Yes, I could have but I didn’t want to. You looked so peaceful”, Lex said.

“You’ll hurt your back; you need to put me down now”, Chloe said worrying about him.

“No, I won’t. I wouldn’t do it if I couldn’t handle it I have an extremely strong back I’ll have you know”, he said a little put out at her doubting his stamina. He would have to think of a way to disabuse her of that notion, oh the possible ways.

“But”, she prepared to deliver a speech on the importance of good back care at a young age.

“Leave Lex alone, if he needs to haul you around to make him feel all manly then just let him”, Gabe said coming over and giving her a kiss on the forehead. “I will take Clark and Lana around, there is a room here for us to relax in. You can go and nap if you want, no one will disturb you”.

“Subtle Gabe”, Lex thought to himself as he carried Chloe off.

“Did my Dad just give you permission to carry me into a bedroom?” Chloe wondered as Lex deposited her on the bed and locked the door after Clark gave him their two suitcases.

“Yep, good job that you are such an angel that no one would ever suspect you of doing the things you did this afternoon”, he grinned down at her as he sat on the side of the bed.

Chloe covered her face with her hands, “Yeah”.

“Hey, I thought that you said that you were okay with what you did”, he said, taking her hands in his and pulling them away from her face and up to his lips.

“I am, just not about the way I did it. I made a prat of myself”, she grimaced at the memory.

“No, you didn’t”, he assured her, kissing her on the cheek.

She raised an eyebrow at him.

“I’m not lying to you. It was sweet that you wanted to do it and it was nice. You didn’t know what you were doing”, he admitted, “but that is what practice if for … not that I mean that you have to practice with me, unless you want to”.

“Well, it is definitely something that I should probably prefect before I try to seduce a man”, Chloe said thoughtfully.

“If he doesn’t fall for your face, and wit, and snark, then nothing you can do will get through to him”. Lex wondered when it would be a good time to tell her that he knew that she was playing him and that she never ever ever got to go out with someone who wasn’t him again.

“Ah, that was sweet. But I still want you to teach me more tonight, we can use the party as a lesson”, she smiled up at him, putting her plan into action.

“Care to explain that idea?” He asked, not adding “and how the fuck you think that I am ever going to agree to let you flirt with someone else?”

“Well”, Chloe licked her lips just to make sure that she had his complete and undivided attention, “I thought that we had better make sure that I can do the basic things like catching a man’s eye from across the room, nice dinner conversation, inappropriate footsie under the table and dancing, especially dancing and get him to walk me back wherever I need to go”.

“Go on”, he urged her as the mental images welled up in his brain.

“Do you think that you could teach me that?” She used her innocent face.

“Well, I can certainly try but really I need to know what I am dealing with first. Tell you what, how about you just flirt with me all evening and at the end of it I will tell you if I think that there are any points you could improve upon”, he smirked, two could play this game.

“Deal”, Chloe agreed.

“Glad to hear it”. And it was the truth, although he did quite like plan B where he tied her to the bed and didn’t let her leave the bedroom too.

“How long do we have until the party?” Chloe wondered.

“About three hours”, he answered, glancing at his watch.

“Good, nap”, Chloe said.

“Alright I’ll let you nap”, Lex said getting up but finding that Chloe wouldn’t let go of his hands.

“You look like you could use a nap too”, Chloe said with a yawn.

“I could”, Lex agreed, although he could probably have carried on functioning with the miniscule amount of sleep he had had the night before but seeing that Chloe was not going to allow that he permitted himself to be pulled down onto the bed. He stretched out next to her and she turned over automatically and wrapped an arm around his stomach and laid her head down on him as he put his arms around her.

“Good afternoon Lex”.

“Good afternoon Chloe”.

Lex closed his eyes but never actually got off to sleep, maybe it was because the couple of hours he had snagged the night before had been enough, maybe it was because he didn’t want to miss a second of Chloe’s cuddling him – she nuzzled in her sleep and sighed every so often too -, maybe it was because he was desperate to think of some plan of action for that evening. He didn’t want to just grab Chloe and tell her not to look at other guys – well obviously he did, but he wasn’t sure that it was the most practical approach; knowing how self-reliant Chloe was it would probably end up with her doing exactly the opposite just to show him that he could not control her -, he wanted to make it so that she didn’t even think of the possibility of looking at them. Hell, if he could manage it he would make her oblivious to their presence.

A plan formed in his wicked Luthor mind. Little did he know how difficult it would be to pit it against Chloe’s.

Author's question for the chapter: Do we think that Lex can ever say no to Chloe?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HotCrossedBunny

TrinityR: Glad to hear that you are feeling a little better. What can I say, I know a lot about sexual ignorance. :D I have absolutely no idea what sperm tastes like, all of my sexual knowledge comes from this website and I am lead to believe that it doesn't taste like chocolate - which is a shame. Thank-you for the info though, it is something to consider for the next time that Chloe tries it. ;)

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I shamelessly admit that I read about it in Cosmo few years back when I was all curious and all. Well, who wasn't when growing up, right? so, It depends on what man actually... eat. If he eats healthy his seed has a better smell and taste, if he smokes, not so much.
And of course theres the personal preference, when a person is deeply in love they don;t care about the minor details like taste lol or like them because they're oin love and have chemistry.
Oh, and there was also somethingi na diet that could make sperm a little sweet but I don;t remember.

Yeah, I can only justify my curiosity while saying that when you're about 15, 16 years old and there's your mother's cosmo lying on a table... you need to satisfy your curiosity lol

Wow, I like this better than Zannie's Lessons!
You rule , Bunny!

This is a really fun fic. Can't wait to see what their plans are.

*Chapter Twenty-One*

“So, in your capacity as my official teacher with regards to all things flirting and seductive, what do you think of this dress?” Chloe asked as she came out of the bathroom modelling her favourite black gown, the one that she had packed the second that her new plan had occurred to her. Chloe had almost been giddy with excitement as she had scampered into the hotel room’s en suite with her bag after Lex had woken her up from her nap.

Lex laughed at her description of him, “In my capacity as your official teacher with regards to all things flirting and seductive … not as a man?”

“Well, you can give your opinion as a man as well, if you really feel that it is necessary”, Chloe said as she studied his back. Lex had been getting changed as well while she had been in the bathroom, although she suspected that after the amount of time she had spent in there he had been working too before that as Lex always took an annoyingly short amount of time to get ready.

As he finished tying his tie Lex turned around to face her, “Well just remember that both as a teacher and a man I have extremely high standards and I don’t grade on a curve so …” his voice trailed off as he got a good look at her.

“Is that good or bad?” She wondered, already suspecting the answer.

“Do you really have to ask?” He asked. “Wow, you look absolutely … wow!” That was unfortunately about the height of his eloquence at that moment, so much for the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on his education if a gorgeous woman in a dress could make the larger of his two brains turn off.

Chloe looked amazing. Her hair was curled as she seemed to prefer it now, but she had done something to it which made it look more puffed out that normal although it looked natural. Lex thought that he would probably have to get a team of specialists to figure out exactly what she had done, he hoped that that wouldn’t mean that he couldn’t run his fingers through it. He hated it when women got all dolled up and he wasn’t allowed to touch.

Her sweet face had obviously had make-up applied to it to make her look older, elegant and extremely seductive and expensive jewellery adored her swan like neck and shell like ears. He remembered when he snuck into her bedroom in the dead of night a few years ago to make it seem like Father Christmas had left them. He smiled at the memory.

They were diamonds and somehow matched her dress, which he had never seen before and all that he could think was wow! It was a form fitting black gown which pushed her breasts up high and revealed some cleavage, it was as if they were being served up on a plate to him. He liked that idea. The material continued to be tight across her waist highlighting her hour glass figure and then went straight down to the floor in a light floaty way. A simple breeze could have played havoc with it.

There was a slit up the left side of the dress which went right up to her thigh; a fact that was made painfully obvious by the way that Chloe had positioned herself in the doorway. Her arms were above her head and out of the sides as if she were caressing either side of the door frame, her head as straight but she was leant forwards to show off her full bust and narrow waist off to effect, with one leg fully on display through the slit from almost the top of her thigh down to her stilettos. Her pose was designed to be obviously sexy and a little bit silly.

“Really?” Chloe questioned as she sauntered into the centre of the room and turned slowly so that he could see her ensemble in all of its glory. “Any more constructive thoughts? You know, just for reference of course”.

He grinned at her. “Well, just for reference of course, that is without a doubt the sexiest gown I have ever seen, strapless which is nice, tight which is fantastic, and enough leg to make a man lose his mind”, he paused, “which is why I don’t think that you should go outside like that”.

Chloe raised an eyebrow at him.

“Or maybe put on something more over the top of it”, like an entire coat, he thought. “You know that men like a chase, a challenge, a cardigan”, he suggested.

“No, I don’t think so. If I cover up the chloevage”, she gestured to her chest, “too much, then how will they even know that they should be chasing me?”

“If they don’t know that they should be chasing you then they are too stupid for you anyway, besides”, he walked up to her and wrapped his arms around waist, “tonight is a lesson, right? Just you and me, no other men allowed anyway”.

“That is very true … unless I see one I really like”, she teased him.

Lex gave her a squeeze, “You are supposed to be learning how to seduce a man, we discussed no actual men – other than me – until you finish the course and pass your test. Now, are you going to do it properly or are you going to try to be naughty, break the rules and spend the rest of the evening in here, with me, across my knee rather than learning about seduction?”

“I’ll be good”, Chloe agreed, although the idea of spending the entire night in a hotel room with Lex Luthor sounded quite nice, like a dream in fact, minus the spanking of course. She studied the size of his arm and his hand, yes definitely minus the spanking.

“Sure you will, I’ll believe it when I see it”, he smiled at her.

“I will, I’m going to be the best student you’ve ever had”, she promised, thinking over all of the delicious things that she was going to do to him later that night.

“You are the only student that I have ever had”, he grazed his hand down her back, “and I take my responsibilities very seriously so I am going to teach you everything I possibly can about seduction”.

“I really hope that you live up to expectations Luthor”, she pulled away from him, afraid that if he kept his hands on her for much longer that she might forget about going out altogether, not that that would be all bad but it would be a shame considering how she wanted her plan to end up. One thing was for sure, he would not be leaving her high and dry this time.

She made sure to swing her hips as she made her way over to the door, “So, how are we going to do this?”

“Go down ahead of me and just mingle being as seductive as possible, make sure to catch my eye and we will try some distance flirting”, Lex informed her, smiling at her method of walking; it was funny, as long as it was only for his benefit.

“Looking forwards to it”, Chloe called back over her shoulder.

“You really aren’t going to put anything on top of that?” He wondered.

“Nope”, she opened the door and left.

Lex shook his head and counted to one hundred before heading out of the door and taking the stairs, he couldn’t give her too much of a head start as he wanted to make sure that no other men ended up sniffing around her.

A few minutes later Lex was in the opulent ballroom and began working the room, keeping his eyes peeled for Chloe. “Damn that woman should be an international spy”, he muttered as he looked around for her. He knew what she was wearing and that she must have been there by now but he still couldn’t spot her.

“Come on Chloe”, he thought as he grabbed a glass of champagne from a passing waiter and hoped that he wouldn’t get too caught up in business, he had waved and nodded to several people he knew so far that evening but that was enough. Chloe was the main goal of that night.

“Ah Alexander”, the baroness came over to him and shook his hand with surprising strength for someone so old and apparently frail.

“Baroness”, he greeted her with a smile, “I hope that I find you well”.

“Indeed you do, although I must confess to being somewhat perplexed”, she said, patting his hand.

“Oh, and why is that?” Lex inquired politely.

“Because you are in here and yet the lovely Miss Sullivan, who is looking extremely well this evening, is in the music room and attracting quite a crowd”, the elderly English lady informed him with a twinkle in her blue eyes.

“A crowd? What is she doing?” Lex wondered, imagining her dancing on the piano with her skirts up like she had once done as a child. He doubted that it would have the same effect on the crowd now as it had then.

“Oh, don’t worry dear boy. She isn’t dancing and showing people her knickers this time. She is just sitting there looking extremely elegant and ladylike and attracting the young men like a bug zapper”, she announced.

“I had better make sure that she has enough batteries”, Lex smiled tightly.

“That is just what I was about to suggest”, the Baroness asked, “would you be so kind as to take me for a turn around the music room, young man?”

“I would be delighted”, he offered her his arm and they were off. It was no wonder that he hadn’t been able to find her if she had been hidden away in the music room. He pondered what she might possibly be doing in there. He didn’t have to wait long to find out.

Chloe was reclining on the chaise long reading a book, her body in the perfect position to be admired by all but her face was relaxed yet interested in the book of Russian poetry which she held. Lex smirked as he saw her. The room was filled with men, constantly trying to catch her eye but unable to do so. They were looking from one to the other trying to think of something to say to start a conversation with the vision of loveliness. She had made herself far more alluring to them by her apparent disinterest. Lex was glad that he had picked up the glass of champagne.

As the Baroness left him, conveniently thinking that she saw someone else she would like to talk to Lex headed over to Chloe and placed the glass next to her on the table. “I thought that you might be thirsty”, he explained.

“No thank-you”, Chloe said turning the page of her book, desperate to keep her face straight. She was so excited now that he had found her, she was sure that her cheeks were burning.

If he had been a young pup then he would have had to leave her side at that obvious dismissal but he was a family friend and so he asked, “Would you like something else?”

“Ribena”, she said, knowing that there was none on offer.

“No problem”, he emptied the contents of the glass into an obliging plant pot which stood nearby and then slipped a carton of Ribena out of his pocket with a flourish.

Chloe had looked up at him upon hearing that he knew where to get Ribena from in a party like this. She grinned as she saw that he had carried some in his pocket. “Do you always carry Ribena on your person?” She inquired politely.

“I thought that I might need it”, he allowed his eyes to fix on her lips and she blushed, knowing what he had been thinking he might need it for … and he was right, he might well need it.

“There you go”, he handed her the glass.

“Thank-you”, she took the drink and sipped it daintily, “ah, a fine vintage”.

“May I?” He asked already sitting down, right next to her, pushing her back against the piece of furniture without making it look out of place.

“I suppose so”, she tried to make her voice sound cool but it was very difficult as his hand was placed apparently casually on her thigh.

“You are very kind”, he smirked at her. “What is this?” He wondered and plucked her book from her fingers, “Interesting”.

“I like it. I always find it far more satisfying to read a work in its original language”, she said airily.

“Oh, absolutely”, he opened the book to the page she had been reading but upon seeing that it was about death skipped over a few pages until he found that he wanted. “How could the English translation complete with the beauty of the original”, he began to read the book in a voice like Bourneville chocolate.

Chloe felt her breath catch in her throat. She didn’t know that he could be that sexy, that he could read that well, it was as if he were the poor peasant boy dying for the love of the daughter of the Lord he worked for but doing everything he could do to live because heaven would be hell if he couldn’t look on her.

“You speak Russian”, she said stupidly, logically she was sure that she already knew that but she didn’t think that she had actually ever heard him speak it, or at least, not like that.

“A little”, he smiled and handed her back her book, “enjoy your literature”. With that he got up and left, with Chloe staring after him. Well she wasn’t going to let him see that he had had an effect on her, she opened her book and continued read, or rather she pretended to read while thinking of Lex.

For about an hour Lex circulated and shook hands with people waiting for Chloe to make her next appearance; he knew that she liked to make the rounds before dinner so that she wouldn’t have to be bothered with such formalities afterwards. He was just in the middle of talking to the most boring man on the face of the planet when Chloe immerged on the arm of a tall, well-built man with floppy hair. Lex ground his teeth.



A/N: Thank-you Rachet and TrinityR, sorry that this was a short update.

Wow Lex reading poetry in Russian, I would love to hear that. I love the update. Can't wait for more.

An update is an update. Thank you. I had to look up Ribena. I does sound tasty. I think it would be hard to find here in the states.

No worries that it was short, it was great:)
What's Ribena? Some kind of wine?

Actually Ribena is just a juice made of concord grape. They sell them in Europe and Asia but I haven't seen them in the U.S. I tasted it before and it's very sweet and tasty.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by trckyrcky

Actually Ribena is just a juice made of concord grape. They sell them in Europe and Asia but I haven't seen them in the U.S. I tasted it before and it's very sweet and tasty.

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thanks!
Weird, I live in Europe and I've never heard of it

Trckyrcky: Me too, I can hear him reading it in my head but for real would be better.

Rachet: I didn't know that you couldn't get it in the States, that is so sad. Although I suppose that that makes Lex's actions even sweeter, I thought that he had just got it from the local shops, I didn't realise that he had had it imported.

TrinityR: It is blackcurrent squash. It was delicious before they filled it with preservatives which mean that I can't have it anymore. :(

Trckyrcky: Thanks for explaining. :D

*Chapter Twenty-Two*

Lex’s eyes narrowed as he watched Chloe strolling around the room on the arm of a floppy dark haired man who looked suspiciously Clark-like, giggling at his jokes and obviously flirting with him. The billionaire ground his teeth, he thought that he had made it quite clear that there were to be no other men in her life … and he didn’t mean just for tonight. He was just about to go over there and remind her rather physically of this fact when he stopped himself, shook his head and chuckled at his potential misstep.

As interested as Chloe pretended to be in the conversation that she was having with the adornment on her arm, her eyes travelled over to Lex every couple of seconds, just to check that he was paying attention to her. The little minx. He raised his glass to her in a salute the next time that she did that and watched her blush and turn the back of her head to him.

He grinned and sipped his drink as he took in the image that she presented from behind and licked his lips.

Thinking that it was about time that he made his presence known in a more physical manner, he strode over to her and began to be speaking with the German business man Chloe’s bauble was so obviously impressed with. He conversed with him for several minutes before apparently noticing Chloe who was standing right next to him, looking rather amused.

He was laying it on a little too thick in her opinion; it simply wasn’t believable that he would not have noticed her by now. She glanced over her shoulder to ensure that they were not being watched before she reached out to her side discreetly and gave his bottom a firm squeeze.

Lex took a sip of his drink in order to hide his reaction, which was not entirely one of shock as he had been expecting her to do something like that to get his attention although not quite that obvious. He reached across and placed a hand gently on her lower back in the way that he knew drove her crazy.

He made a point of ensuring to pull her – but not her arm candy – into the debate that he had been having, all of the time dotting his phrases with innuendos, some subtle, some not so much, as he kept his hand hot and heavy against the base of her spine – making Chloe feel at once weak at the knees and powerful.

Unfortunately, Chloe was almost as good at the game as he was and easily laced her own sentences with references which would have made most people blush, would indeed have made Clark mark two colour up too if he had understood them, but she did so with a face which was so sweet and innocent that no one – other than Lex – would have dreamed that she knew of the double meaning of her words, let alone that she would deliberately use them to make Lex, and several other men, extremely hard.

“That is a very interesting point”, Lex said thoughtfully, dragging his finger nails gently across her back as he removed his hand from her, already missing the feeling of her body – even if it was through material – under his hands.

“I try”, she gave a little shrug, wondering why he had removed his hand, she had liked it just find where it was although she wouldn’t have complained if it had found its way a little lower down. As she was thinking this, she saw Clark and Lana approaching, and she cottoned on: he didn’t want to give away what they were doing to them … not knowing that Lana already knew of their game/challenge.

They all made the necessary greetings and small talk to pass a few minutes and Chloe wondered when she was get her next opportunity to be really alone with Lex to continue trying to drive him crazy. He wasn’t even paying attention to her anymore, she was talking to the new comers and Whitney who had also come over and placed his arm around Lana’s shoulders. She wanted to concentrate on this new development but she couldn’t. She had to think of a way of getting Lex’s attention back, that was when she remembered her escort.

Chloe turned her apparent attention to her escort and smiled sweetly up at him. He responded.

“I am a little overly warm, I would love to get a breath of fresh air”, she said artfully.

He smiled, offering her his arm, “There is a very nice garden at the back of the hotel, we could take a turn around it if that is agreeable to you”.

“That would be lovely”, she smiled making sure that Lex saw them leaving as did the escort’s former girlfriend. She had deliberately chosen someone who would have as much to gain from his being used as she would.

Once they were outside she turned around to him and asked, “So do you think that they both got a good enough look?”

“Well I think that Lex is about ready to kill me just for being near you and Melody looks about ready to die”, he grinned, “is it wrong of me to be that happy about that?”

“No”, Chloe assured him, “just human. So, we had better walk around for a while or Lex won’t buy it”.

“Works for me”, he said, as he helped her down the steps and into the garden proper.

The garden was beautiful and although it was eight o’clock in the evening the sun had not yet fully set, instead it was burning low in the sky casting a pinkish hue over everything. Chloe smiled as she looked at the neatly manicured lawns and the perfect flowerbeds. There was even a little fountain further down the pathway which she thought was entirely too romantic. It was a good job that she wasn’t out there with Lex or she might have forgotten all about her plan and propriety and demanded that he took her right then and there without thinking about who might be able to see them.

“So, how long do you think that we should stay out here?” Her escort’s voice broke through her thoughts.

“Hmm”, she thought about that, “about ten minutes. Let’s go and sit by the fountain and look at each other all lovey dovey and crap”.

“Sounds good to me”, he said as he followed her over there. “Do you want to sit facing the hotel?”

“No thank-you, that would be far too obvious, you sit facing the hotel and I will sit with my back to them but tell me if you see Lex”, she requested.

“Not a problem. You promise that you are going to um deal with him before the end of the evening? I really don’t want to wake up dead tomorrow, or rather not wake up. You get what I mean”.

“Sure, I know what you mean. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you. You have my word”, she smiled at him.

“He’s looking”, he announced, returning her smile.

“Oh”, Chloe took her compact out of her bag and used it to discreetly look over her shoulder and smirked at what she saw. Lex had moved the group out onto the terrace and was staring at her, hard. He looked as if he were only a few steps away from running over there and whisking her away from her companion. She knew that she should be annoyed about that, but it made her feel powerful.

Taking out her phone she smirked as she texted him.

Lex’s brows furrowed as she noticed that Chloe was obviously busy doing something with her bag and didn’t even both excusing himself when his phone buzzed to say that he had received a text message. As he read it he grinned.

Take a picture, it will last longer. C. xoxo

He might have felt the need to comply with her text or go over there anyway had the dinner gong not sounded. He smirked. Now she would come to him. He headed back inside with his group, apparently not caring what Chloe was doing. It was a hard role to play, especially when he had been seated for a full five minutes before she arrived in the dining room and the waiter led her over to her chair, opposite him.

Chloe gave him an interested look as if to ask “How did you manage this?”

Lex rubbed his fingers together as if to answer money. He had indeed had to bribe several people in order to ensure that Chloe would be sitting across from him and surrounded by people who would pay relatively little attention to them.

She smiled and shook her head at that. This was going to be a particularly interesting meal if they were so close, she blushed as she remembered that she had mentioned footsie earlier. The dinner passed relatively quickly considering that it was five courses long, Lex drew her into conversation immediately, he was flirting shamelessly with her but that wasn’t the reason why her cheeks kept blushing.

Within a few seconds of having being seated Chloe had slipped her foot out of her shoe and ‘accidently’ brushed it against Lex’s. He had grinned over at her and entered into the game, they had touched and teased for most of the meal until it came to the dessert, triple chocolate fudge cake. Chloe had moaned in pleasure as he had placed the first sinfully delicious spoonful in her mouth causing Lex to shift slightly, trying to give himself a little more space in his well-tailored trousers as he lifted his foot along the expanse of leg he had access to through her slit and then, pressing it against her pussy.

Lex kept his eyes trained on her as he teased her beneath the table. She had been teasing and torturing him all evening and then disappearing when he tried to turn it back around on her, now he had the opportunity to get a little of his own back and he was going to enjoy every second of it, knowing that she couldn’t get away.

With her second mouthful as his sock covered toes massaged her clit she moaned again and allowed her eyes to flutter closed.

He felt powerful, he felt good. Lex continued the torture until she took her last bite and had to bring her napkin up to her lips to hide the fact that she was biting her lip so hard that she feared that she might break it as she came with a shudder.

“Chilly?” Lex wondered as he removed his foot from between her legs and finished off his own cake, it was good but he wasn’t sure that he had enjoyed it quite as much as she had.

“Yes”, a little.

“Odd, you look a little flushed. I hope that you are not getting sick”, Lex commented.

“I’m sure that I will be fine, I am just going to go and stretch my legs”, she said standing up when she though that she had the strength, determined to make her way to the bathroom.

“Oh Chloe, if you wanted to dance, all that you had to do was ask”, Lex said easily as he got up and walked around the table at which they were seated and took her arm to lead her onto the dance floor where there were already a few couples dancing.

“I didn’t mean that you had to …” She broke off when she realised that he wasn’t going to let her get away that easily.

“Come here you little tease”, he growled at her as he gathered her into his arms. Chloe automatically wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed him to pull her close to him so that their bodies were pressing deliciously against each other, creating a wonderful friction with every movement.

“I’m not a tease”, she protested.

“Tease”, he half growled, half whispered into her eat giving it a quick nip which made her giggle. “You’ve been driving me crazy all night”.

“Really?” She pretended to be shocked by this news.

“You know damned well that you have. Watching you strut around in that dress and wanting to rip it off you or at least kill every man who looks your way but knowing that I have to behave myself. Thinking of all of the things that I want to do to you the second that I get you alone”. He knew that he couldn’t take advantage of her again but that didn’t stop him kissing her and cuddling her.

“Lex”, she looked at him in shock, “let’s not get confused”.

He looked at her in confusion.

“This is just a lesson in flirtation and how to seduce a man, I was supposed to be trying out my abilities on you so that you could show me how to perfect my technique”, Chloe announced in a voice which was surprisingly level considering just how overcome with emotion she was.

“You are doing remarkably well”, he complimented as he breathed in the scent of her shampoo. “I have been unable to think of anything but you this evening”.

“Thank-you, your teaching me how to take footsie to the next level was much appreciated, as were the altered seating arrangements”, she willed herself not to blush.

Lex smirked, “You’re welcome”.

“But this is just about seduction”, she said quietly.

“I had realised that”, he seemed amused by her belief that he needed reminding of that fact.

“Meaning that you won’t get me alone after all of this”, she reminded him.

Lex looked genuinely horrified at that. “I won’t?” He didn’t know what he had done. Was it really possible that he had been misreading her signals all night? That this was still just a game to her? He had been sure that Gabe had been right and that she did care about him. He had known that he couldn’t take advantage of her again like he had earlier but there were plenty of other things they could have done together. He had hoped to at least have the option.

Chloe ground herself against the obvious bulge she could feel against her hip.

“No?” He wondered what she thought that she was playing at doing that to him if this meant nothing to her. Was it possible that she was playing a different game with him?

“No”, she shook her head, “because you broke the rules and still haven’t been punished for it”, she gave him a wicked grin.

“And if I were, adequately punished, in your opinion. Then …?”

“Then …” Chloe gave him a smile that could have tempted Adam, Eve and the snake.



A/N: What is stronger in Lex Luthor: pride or lust?

A little off topic but here it goes. Once I have finished this one I am going to rewrite it as an original piece and post it on a different board just to see if I could ever get any readers outside the fanfiction world, anyway, in order to even get started you need a front cover but as I have no ability with paintshop etc that means that I am going to need to draw it by hand and I am not too talented and have no ideas for the cover, anyone got any ideas? I was thinking of trying to draw to people looking like they dislike each other. But that might be hard, what do you think about something to do with the tag like "some people are as different as apples and orranges?" that way I could draw fruit?

You are a great writer and I knows you will have a great following no matter where you post. The only topic I can come up with when thinking about the opposite sex is "Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus." I like the apples and oranges analogy too.

wow, you already want to try selfpublishing? you have to tell me how it went after you do this, ok?:) I'm thinking of that, too, but I still have a dillema whether to write in English or my native language. and if I selfpublish how many grammar mistakes I'll make? Ok, not going there now since my book is not finished yet and I'm so busy with other stuff.

Cover. Maybe you should check tumblr? there are a lot of good artist there that might help.

(But you'll still write fics, right?) RIGHT? <worried>

Trckyrcky: Thank-you, that was really sweet and I needed to hear that - got a bad review earlier. :( But you and TrinityR have cheered me up. :D Just after you said that I got the idea for calling it Two Sides - i.e. two sides of an argument, two sides of the same coin, two sides of the East Coast suburbia and the city.

TrinityR: No, I won't be self publishing I will still be publihsing for free on the internet - I am not ready to make people pay yet - but it will be slightly different, the idea is just to see if I can get a following on a bigger board where people won't automatically give it a chance because they like the characters on the show.

Good idea.

Yes, I am still writing fics, I love fics too much to give them up. They are the only things that are keeping me sane during my PhD. :D