The Rules of Enmity: NC17

[showntell]

Fantasic update...loved the "pillow talk"

[LarkLuthor]

Silly people! We have how much intellegence in one room and we can't even figure out we want to make out? *Pfff* And it's not like they haven't been giving each other clues.

Lark

[starmoon]

that was great please update again soon and i hope lex is falling in love with chloe.

[chril1]

i love this lex...and this chloe actually

and now i'm craving chinese and chocolate ice cream, update soon, while i go get the menu.

lea
xxx

[FroggyJump]

Jolly good. Lex's feelings are changing how intriguing, what a sad picture chloe makes in the bathroom. This game is interesting and how Chloe is so guarded with him and yet there seems to be something there. The shift in Lex was good, as with the slight pushing.

[zelda]

A/N: Be prepared for a little more crude humor.


Chloe got up early the next morning and parked her car across the street from Lex’s apartment building. He’d arranged, at her request, for a hotel suite to be rented that looked directly into his windows. She checked in at Five A.M. and brought up her surveillance equipment. She’d needed to sign out most of it from the agency. She didn’t own all of her own snoop equipment. A digital video camera with a zoom lens was linked to her laptop so she could record footage to be played back and cleaned up later.
Lex had arranged for the curtains to be replaced and had taken them down. Chloe thought that for a man who was paying someone a lot of money to find out what was going on with his girlfriend; he was doing a lot of work himself.

Clutching a cup of steaming coffee as a lifeline, Chloe opened her own drapes and set up her tripod. She knew where to look and found the dark window quickly. Everyone else had curtains. At approximately Five-Twenty, a lamp turned on. Chloe turned off all of the lights in the bedroom, where the tripod was set up and pulled the curtains close on either side so that they were open just enough to get the lens through. In the living room, she had a second camera, an older model, 35 mm, that could catch a different angle. She decided to set the video to zoom in on the bedroom and she could use the larger lens on the hand-held camera to take her little portrait shots. It was always a good idea to have a backup.

Chloe rubbed her tired eyes and focused the digital video lens on the one lighted room. She fought the urge to look over her shoulder. She never liked the idea of being caught snooping. The bedroom came into focus and Chloe saw Lex sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. She zoomed in on Shelley’s dark head which appeared to be buried in the pillow. The image that came up on her laptop screen was fairly clear. She wouldn’t be able to read their lips, but she could see enough to read their expressions and body language. She noted in her journal the time she’d begun recording. She settled in for a long day.

The weather was dreary and Chloe hoped that Shelley was planning to stay inside. If not, she would leave the tripod and take the 35mm Nikon with her. Once she had a feed recording from the laptop, she went out to take a few test shots. If she needed something in a hurry, she could have someone pick up the film and have it developed and returned to her in a few hours with the company’s darkroom. She loaded her film in the hand-held camera and pointed it at the window, she groaned with irritation.

Lex was coming out of the bathroom now with a towel knotted loosely around his waist. Shelley wasn’t moving in bed, obviously still sleeping. Lex…there was no other word for it, strutted around the bed and to the window where he stretched out his arms to the sides. Chloe rolled her eyes, but felt a chuckle rise up in her throat. She snapped a few pictures with the Nikon; she could always deny it later. She zoomed in on his chest and snapped a close-up of the tattoo. With the high speed film, it would come out clear, even with him moving around. She move the lens up to his face. He was standing still, now. She guessed that he was looking at the windows in the hotel, looking for her suite. She backed away instinctively and went back to the video.

Lex hadn’t moved but had a hand resting against the window now. Chloe looked at the laptop screen and punched a few buttons, capturing a frame of him standing there and separating it to be cleaned and enhanced for practice. She went back with the Nikon and decided to let him see her, if possible. She moved the curtain slightly and, making certain that Shelley’s face was still turned away, she pressed her purse, with it’s cheerful, yellow stripe, against the window. It took Lex a moment to focus on her, but once he did, he looked back at his sleeping girlfriend then grinned at her.

Chloe smiled back, knowing he wouldn’t be able to see her expressions from there. She raised the camera again, braver, now that there was more distance between them. To her surprise Lex took the opportunity to press his tongue against the window. In spite of herself, she started to laugh. She took pictures, certain that if nothing else came of this investigation, she’d be able to blackmail him. The laughter died in her throat when he let his towel drop to the floor. She didn’t shut her eyes right away, her natural instinct was to look first. Well he certainly had a big…ego. And now she knew why.

Chloe backed away from the window and debated whether or not to turn off the camera, but decided just to peek at the laptop, instead. From the doorway to the bedroom, she could see little detail, but knew Lex had covered himself up. She tried to drive away the heat that rose to her cheeks. It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen a man naked before. It had just been awhile. So long ago that the box of condoms in her medicine cabinet had needed dusting. She slapped her forehead with a groan. He’d been in her medicine cabinet. He’d seen the box of condoms! She pressed her fingers into her eye sockets as a fresh headache began to throb there. It was probably why he’d decided to start being aggressive about the sex talk. Then she removed her hands. The timing was right, but why would the sight of a box of condoms make him aggressively sexual with her?

That particular mystery would have to wait for another day. Chloe had a job to do, and she’d do it; no matter how difficult Lex was trying to make it for her. She spun back around to the window. Shelley was awake. Picking up the Nikon again, she hurried back into the living room and raised the camera to her eye. She could see Lex and Shelley talking. Shelley apparently slept naked. She was propped up on an elbow and the sheet had fallen off her breasts.

"Bet the guys at work wish they had my job today," she said to herself. She took a photo of the conversation and zoomed in for a closer shot of Shelley’s face. The woman moved, getting up from the bed and sitting on the edge. Lex was leaning his back against the window and had his arms folded across his chest. His posture was relaxed; hers was stiff. Chloe wondered if he was confronting her. It would be odd, considering how much effort Lex had put into the cloak and dagger investigation.

Shelley’s right hand drifted up from the pile of sheets at her waist and pinched the perky nipple. Chloe closed her eyes and shook her head. When she opened them, Shelley was sliding out of the bed wearing only a pair of lace panties. Lex was in the same position and waited while she crawled forward. Snapping a few quick shots, Chloe backed away from the window as soon as she had her "Money Shot" of Shelley beginning to perform oral sex. Then she just went back to the bedroom and checked the digital feed. Convinced that it was running smoothly, she called and ordered breakfast.

Keeping the laptop in her peripheral vision, Chloe tried not to look at what was happening. Lex was paying her to catch the other men that Shelley was allegedly servicing; not him. She didn’t need to get this on video, but she preferred to have a seamless time frame. No stopping and starting that might make the tape look edited. Just pure, unadulterated, smut. She wondered if the actions she saw today were intentional. She could probably sue Lex for sexual harassment since he was deliberately exposing himself in a lewd fashion. She had to chuckle though, the man certainly had a large pair if he was risking being seen by other photographers.

Chloe sat up, quickly. What if she wasn’t the only person spying on them? She paged Charlie, the cheating expert, and waited. A knock at the door signaled her breakfast’s arrival. With surveillance equipment all over the place, she didn’t want someone coming in. "Just a moment," she called out, sweetly. Then she toed off her sneakers, ripped off her shirt and bra and dropped her pants to the floor. Then she grabbed a big towel from the bathroom and wrapped it around herself. Her hair hadn’t been combed yet so she knew she’d look disheveled. She opened the door a crack and the server handed her the bill. She signed it, added a fat tip, and asked the woman to leave it outside the door. "I’ll get it as soon as I throw something on."

This particular hotel prided itself on discretion. Chloe’d let them assume she had company. Lord knew she’d ordered enough food for three people. Her cell phone rang as soon as she fetched the tray and was placing it on the small table in the living room. She picked it up and answered it as she glanced through the camera lens quickly. "Hello-Ewww!"

"Hello to Ewww too." Charlie’s tired voice came back in her ear. Chloe cringed as she tried to erase the image of Lex holding the back of Shelley’s head. She was also glad she couldn’t see the clenching of Lex’s buttocks as he thrust forward. The image was enough, without the tiny details, to scar her corneas for all eternity.

"Thanks for getting back to me so quick, Charlie." She turned away from the window. "I need you to do me a favor, if you can."

"Does is involve me getting’ outa bed?" His voice was rough with sleep, but no less alert for it. "Got company this mornin’."

"Sorry, Charlie, I won’t drag you off some girl you probably picked up at a bar if you’re not interested." Chloe waited, with a little smile on her face. She heard low murmurs in the background.

"Bugger!" He grouched back into the phone. "Where are you?" She gave him the hotel name and room number. "Why din’ you tell me you wanted me to meet you in a hotel, Love?"

"I’m working a case."

"In the Bloody Ritz Metro?" A voice protested in the background again followed by a third voice, also feminine, and very close. Chloe raised her eyebrows when Charlie covered the mouthpiece with his hand and spoke to his "guests" in a voice too low for her to pick up. "Be there in a tick." He disconnected the call and Chloe went back to the window, picking up her pants and pulling them on. Through her camera lens, she saw the bathroom light spilling across the room and Lex wearing a pair of sweatpants. He was standing near the window in the next room and had a hand over his eye, shading them from the light of the fast-rising sun.

Chloe didn’t signal, but ducked away and pulled on a shirt. She wasn’t going to spend her time waving at him. He was paying her for discretion; and now that their target was awake, she didn’t want to risk alerting her. Despite the large salary that Lex heaped on most of his personal employees, there were probably several people who’d have tipped off anyone who asked that Lex Luthor’s windows would be uncovered for a day or two.

Chloe knew from experience; if you had money, someone was always looking for a way to get to you. If you had as much money as Lex, you were an even bigger target. It was too late to bother trying to find another photo sniper, if they’d been after something juicy, they’d already have it by now. Charlie could help her out with another problem. If she had the opportunity, she should warn Lex about the stupidity of showing off in front of an uncovered window; but it would mean mentioning the fact that she’d seen him getting a blow job.

Chloe kept the close to the digital video camera since Shelley was moving around the apartment. Lex left as soon as he was dressed and Chloe watched him leave the building and get into his limo. She watched Shelley walk around the apartment and turn on the television to the early news, sipping coffee from an orange mug. She was still watching, and sipping, when Chloe heard a knock at the door. She walked through the bedroom and looked through the peephole. She could see Charlie’s Adam’s apple through it. Opening the door, she greeted him cheerfully.

"Good morning."

"Too bloody early for this," he mumbled, pushing past her and walking straight over to the breakfast tray. His 6’6" frame took up the entire doorway. He wasn’t overly bulky, but in fairly good shape. Charlie didn’t have a last name that Chloe could ever find out. He never gave it, and never carried identification. At a glance, he didn’t look like the kind of man one could describe as "Discreet". When Charlie decided he didn’t want to be noticed, he was invisible. His slightly shaggy, sandy hair and hazel eyes were as nondescript as his features. He claimed to have grown up in London, but didn’t say exactly where. He was attractive, but not drop-dead-gorgeous; he spoke with an accent that supported his claim…most of the time.

Chloe had witnessed, on occasions when Charlie was working a room, or a target, that his voice became more clipped and his accent more polished. Once, he’d managed to drop the accent completely and sound like he was from Southern California. A man of many talents, and even more secrets, Charlie was someone Chloe was glad she worked with, instead of against.

"Thanks for coming over," she said, returning to the window. "I promise I’ll give you a fair cut. The fee on this job’s gonna be pretty good." She poured herself a second cup of coffee from the carafe. Charlie reached out and traced a fingertip down her cheek and along her jaw.

"What if I don’t want money, Love?" She raised an eyebrow. He tapped her nose gently before cupping her face gently in his enormous hand. "What if I want something else for my…fee?"

Smiling brightly Chloe knocked his hand away from her face.

"Nice try, Romeo," she said. "But if you want to attempt seduction, do it when your hand doesn’t smell like your date’s pussy."

Charlie drew his hand back. "I washed it." He lifted his fingers and sniffed. "Hey it don’t smell!" Chloe was laughing.

"Didn’t need to even guess what you’d been doing."

"Well, since I was leaving so early," he said, helping himself to some still-warm pancakes and fruit, "I had to give the birds something to remember me by."

"No details, please." Still chuckling from her trick, she explained her plan to her accomplice. Once Shelley left the apartment, she’d follow and Charlie would follow Lex to find out if there was anyone tailing the billionaire. With the high profile court case, it would make sense to try and get some dirt on him. The Englishman’s eye and instinct for spotting trouble was good.

"So what’ve you got so far this morning?" Charlie asked

"More than I think I ever wanted," she replied. Charlie checked out the footage and whistled.

"Man’s got an impressive pair," he said. "And I ‘aint talkin’ bout that in the figurative sense."

"I managed to look away during most of it." Chloe was used to Charlie’s crude language. In fact, there was something a little bit charming about it. His unearthly charisma kept him from getting slapped, shot, fired, and sued on a regular basis. He rarely meant any harm, and was genuinely likeable.

"I think he’s givin’ you a personal show, Dovey." Charlie returned to the living room. His broad shoulders filled the doorway. He dressed fairly nondescript in beige cargo pants, a navy t-shirt and a brown, canvas duster. He popped a strawberry onto his mouth and chewed. "And might I ask why he’s got your name tattooed across his chest?"

"You might think better of that question." Chloe kept her eye on the window, but her voice had a dangerous quality to it that Charlie understood. He didn’t press the issue. Looks like she’s getting ready to leave," she said. "Show time."

"But I just got comfortable."

"Lex’s meeting gets out in two hours, you’ve got till then."

"Love you!" he said, cheerfully, waving to her as she left.

[fussy_wuzzy]

That was a nice and fun chapter. Great update!!!

[Kit Merlot]

Well, good for Charlie for pointing out the obvious

Lex wants Chloe, or at least he wants to play with her. Go ahead, take that to any gutter you want

Excellent update!

[lexchloe]

Great update. Lex is really playing up to Chloe isn't he??? They've got this weird flirtation/hate/mating ritual going on and I'm really loving seeing how it's playing out/ Can't wait for the next one.

[chril1]

ooooh i like charlie, and no not just cos he's a londoner

lea
xxx