Title: Water Problems
Author: Jinni (druscilla@cox.net)
Rated: R
Pairing: Chlex
Disclaimer: All things Smallville belong to DC Comics, the WB, et al.
Distribution: The normal places, plus my site http://www.silentobsession.com
Author’s Notes: Based on pretty much how my night (06/08/2004) has gone so far. It sucks to come home from work, having stopped at the tanning salon on the way home, only to find that the water in your apartment complex isn’t working and you can’t shower to wash off all the tanning lotion you put on yourself. No, I’m not bitter. Not me. Not at all *growl*
Summary: Chloe’s in a bind…and Lex is more than happy to help her out.
~*~*~
BANG. BANG. BANG.
Lex raised his eyebrows as the insistent pounding came on the door of his penthouse yet again. He padded softly over the polished wood floors in only a pair of expensive silk-cotton mix black socks, coming to rest at the door. He peered through the peephole, amusement and confusion overtaking the mild confusion of a moment before.
“Chloe – how lovely ….”
“Can it, Luthor,” she snapped, pushing past him and into the penthouse. He chuckled under his breath, kicking the door shut with his heel as he turned to follow her.
Straight to his bathroom?
And why was she carrying an overnight bag?
He reached out with one hand in time to keep the door to the bathroom from hitting him in his face, pushing it back open with a flick of his wrist. “Do you plan on telling me why you’ve invaded my home on this pleasant Wednesday evening?”
She turned around from rummaging through her bag and he saw for the first time the bottle of body wash she held in it. “As soon as I’m done. Can you shut the door behind you on your way out?”
Lex leaned against the doorframe, shaking his head in amused negation. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. What’s going on? And why didn’t you have your key to the door with you?”
Again she turned from her bag, and this time he saw…a change of clothes? His confusion was growing by the minute and the fact that she was doing nothing to alleviate his condition only served to further intrigue him. Her mysterious tenacity was just one of many things he’d come to love about her over the years.
Not that she knew anything about that. Her friendship was much too valuable to him to squander it away on anything more than subtle innuendo or playful flirtatious banter. Anything more would either scare her away or piss her off entirely.
Definitely not a risk he was willing to take at this stage of the game.
“You have to the count of three and then I’m going to start taking my clothes off.”
Her words sliced through the air, taunting and playful, with a hard edge that he knew all too well. She was annoyed about something – probably the same something that had sent her practically running for his bathroom with what appeared like every intent to take a shower. Maybe a bath, he amended quickly with one glance at the latest item drawn from her bag, a bottle of expensive foaming bubble bath that he’d given to her for her birthday. She had no idea what it had cost. Or that it had come straight from Paris, for that matter. Just as she didn’t know that the necklace that dangled even now in the hollow of her throat wasn’t just something he’d seen and purchased because it reminded him of her. It was special ordered, with a rainbow of stones that only added to the already heady value of the flawless, perfect quality diamond sitting in its center.
She’d never asked how much it had cost and he hadn’t told her. Giving her small gifts was one of the only ways he could lavish attention on her in a manner that didn’t come across as “more than friendly” -- and he intended to keep doing it.
“Lex? Did you hear me? Clothes. Coming off. Now.”
He snapped back to reality with a sharp shift of his eyes from the floor to her amused face. He’d heard her the first time, of course; he just hadn’t thought she was serious. It was a threat in words only. An incredibly arousing threat, but be that as it may – still only idle words.
“Chloe –“
“Fine,” she shrugged, grabbing hold of the edge of her shirt. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
The shirt was lifted quickly, rapidly exposing inch after inch of perfect skin, before flying across the room to land at his feet. She turned her back to him, playing with the taps on the tub until she got the water running at the right temperature, before he could recover enough to see anything more than the flatness of her tanned stomach. She dropped in a capful of the bubble bath and instantly the room filled with the sweet scent of vanilla and lavender.
However, now was not the time to be thinking of the scent of the bubble bath, his body told him in no uncertain terms, the front of his pants growing ever tighter as he watched her bend over the marble bathtub. This was not good. Standing in the room with Chloe when she was in the process of…
Sweet Jesus, he moaned softly as her fingers fumbled with the catch of her bra. It released and her own sigh filled the air.
Don’t turn around, don’t turn around, Lex chanted softly, unable to leave the room even if he wanted to. His legs had fixed themselves firmly on the floor, preventing any further motion. And even if they decided to allow him to go, the swelling in the front of his pajama bottoms would prove somewhat of a problem in and of itself. Any second now she was going to turn around, realize that he was still standing there and that she was now topless, and it would all be over from there. She’d never speak to him again.
And yet, even knowing that and having tried so hard to stay ‘just a friend’ for the last year and half, he still couldn’t get up the will-power to move.
She was shimmying out of her pants as she turned around again. Lex felt his heart catch in his throat, both in fear of her recrimination and in pure lust.
“Shut the door if you’re staying. I’d like to be warm….”
He didn’t hear anything else she said, because her pants had fallen down around her ankles and he suddenly his entire attention was drawn to the tiny white thong that shielded the last of her body from him. He licked his lips, pushing the door shut, still unable to leave.
If he was going to be damned…he might as well be completely and truly damned, he supposed.
“I don’t suppose you feel up to telling me why you’re here now,” he choked out, pleased that he didn’t sound like the nervous teenager he felt like at that moment. She was the only one that had ever made him feel this way. So un-Luthor-like. Not the suave womanizer he had once been known to be. Not the skilled lover that he knew he could *still* be.
She made him feel…human. Like any other man on this earth.
“The water at my apartment has been turned off since this morning. Broken pipes or something. And I’m feeling grubby, if you must know. I’m here to take a bath.”
“Oh.”
Oh? Was that all he could come up with? –Oh-? Lex resisted the urge to smack his forehead in frustration, trying to meet Chloe’s gaze as her fingertips brushed the top of her thong. Was she honestly going to remove that in front of him? Seeing her topless was one thing –
Having her completely disrobe in front of him was something else entirely.
And more and more, second by second, he wanted it to be ‘something’ that she just went on and did.
“Did you want to join me or are you just going to stand there and watch?”
Now, the second the words passed her lips, Lex knew that she was only teasing him, making light of that discomfort he was obviously showing despite all efforts to the contrary. He knew that she didn’t really want him to join her or watch her bathe.
So that made what he did next so potentially unforgivable.
But the bathtub was big enough for two.
And she had offered…
He shed his shirt, letting it join hers on the bathroom floor. His pants were there only seconds later.
Perfect time to remember that he wasn’t wearing any underwear beneath those bottoms, he thought wryly, resisting the urge to chuckle at the surprised look on Chloe’s face. Her gaze was drifting from his eyes, to his chest, then lower… Her eyes widened as they rested on his erection, and he nearly lost control then and there due in part to her little pink tongue, licking her lips.
“So…you’re joining me, then?” she whispered, absently tugging her thong down over her hips until it dropped in a silent pool at her feet. “Good.”
Lex’s eyebrows shot up. “Good?”
“Uh huh,” she nodded and once again that wicked tongue was out, slowly trailing along her lower lip. “I was wondering what I’d have to do to finally get you naked with me, Luthor.”
Lex prided himself on masking his shock well and quickly. He didn’t dare hope that she meant what he thought she meant. “I’m not sure I understand what you mean, Chloe.”
“Call me Sullivan, just for old time’s sake,” she murmured, voice husky as she advanced towards him. There was a predatory gleam in her eyes that he’d only seen before when she was chasing a story. Having that heat directed at him was just this side of intimidating, though he would never let on to that fact. “And I think you know exactly what I’m talking about.”
Her fingertips trailed lightly over his chest, their bodies just inches away. Lex sucked in a breath, watching her green eyes darken with desire. “Don’t play, Sullivan.”
She shut her eyes, head lolling back as a soft moan escaped her lips. “I always loved that, you know. The way you sound so formal and sexy, all at the same time.” Her head came back to its resting position, eyes slowly opening. “Do you want me, Lex? Because I’ve been wanting you for so long.”
“I don’t want to ruin what we have,” he breathed, realizing as the words left his lips that it was already too late. How could they ever go back to being friends after this?
“So don’t,” she shrugged. “Don’t hurt me. I won’t hurt you. We can be friends…and more…Much…more…”
Her lips met his softly, questioningly, firming up as he began to return the kiss. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her flush against his body. Come what may, they were too far-gone now to ever go back.
But the idea of being ‘much more’ than friends was powerful, and soon he wasn’t caring at all.
Thank God for broken water pipes, Lex thought with a smirk.
~*~End Ficlet~*~
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