See Into Me - R - Chloe, Lois, Clark, Lex complete Jun 30 2008

[Baily007]

Wow - this story is so intense. The last two updates were just amazing!
I can't wait what will happen next :-)

[somethingeasy]

She offered a trembling smile. His steady gaze that had traces of doubt unsettled her. “Glad to see you’re back,” she managed as emotionlessly as she could, which was a great effort given the tight constraint of her throat. “I hope I got the sandwich correct. Chloe said it was your favorite.”

His gaze wavered for a moment, as if the answer had taken him off guard. “It’s good. You got it down perfectly.”

Brilliant move by Chloe! I was seriously afraid that she had been figured out, but she’s sharp enough to have caught onto the danger, and averted it accordingly. Lex seems to have bought it completely. Excellent!

She waited a bit before nodding and turning away. His eyes followed her as she vanished into the corridor. The moment that she was gone from her sight, Lex tossed the half-eaten sandwich into the trash. He shook his head free of inane fantasies. It was time to burn out the toxins of the day, the feelings of deprivation that consumed him, and set everything to rest.

I wanted to cry at this part. I cannot imagine why this fic is in the Romance section when it is SO obviously a heavy-duty, beautifully written angst fic.

I loved the phrase ‘burn out the toxins’ to describe Lex attempting to finish up his mourning and start accepting a life without hope of Chloe ever returning. It just shows the horrible state he is in, that he would describe ‘hope’ as a seductive, addictive toxin/drug.

Slowly he wrapped his fists in bandage. His movements were smooth, slow. Then suddenly his fist flew and slammed against the bag with a grunt. Punch after punch he threw his weight against the boxing bag, his rhythm punctuated only by grunts of effort, not pausing even for two second intervals, he hit until he could not hit more.

As sweat poured from his body, drenching his naked torso, his vision darkened at the edges until he could see close to nothing. Still he continued the beating that was more violent towards his body than towards the target. His breath came in loud gasps and his chest tightened until he fell onto his knees, his head hanging from his shoulders.

It took several moments to regain his breath, after which he raised his face towards the ceiling, still panting.

“This has got to be enough for you,” he gasped. Lex could hear his heart’s violent beating in his ear. “Because seeing her every day is almost more than I can take.” It’s her eyes—her fucking stolen eyes.

WOW! This part… it made me… I can’t describe it. It was so powerful. It really showed how incredibly desperate he really was to try and move past his memories and pain. And keeping with the ‘toxin’ metaphor, it reminded me of the kind of desperation shown by Drug Addicts who try sweating and screaming the drugs out of their systems on the nights they suddenly go ‘cold turkey’. It’s horrible and painful to watch, but ultimately, it’s the best thing they can do for themselves.

I’m glad to see Lex is making a stalwart attempt to heal himself.

Clark gave her a smile of discomfort. He took her words as a cue that maybe, they could be friends, and everything would be fine. “I’m sorry about what I said to you your first day back.” He shrugged. “I think I have unattended angst.”

“You lost your friend,” she gave him as his own excuse. “I’m sure you could have been worse, given the circumstances.”

‘Unattended angst’??!! Chloe is being far too generous to forgive Clark with this half-assed apology. Then again, he IS making an attempt towards reconciliation, and it just wouldn’t be right (or smart) to throw it back in his face.

“It’s not just that. We weren’t,” he hesitated,” we weren’t just that.”

She looked up at him in shock, at the words he admitted, of a truth she had tried to bleed out of her body when she had the chance. Her greatest mistake looked her in the eye. “ I don’t want to hear about it,” she choked.

Bloody (*^*&^%* HELL!!! I picked up on the implications of Clark’s confession, but I didn’t want to believe it. I didn’t realize just how far and in over her head Chloe had gotten with the temptation that Clark represented. No wonder she felt she had to run away from BOTH of these powerful men in Metropolis.

He closed his eyes tightly and shook his head, but the images were straight from a dream and they kept coming back over and over again. “Sometimes I wonder if it will help me if I tell Lex.”

“No,” she said sharply. “Haven’t you done enough?”

Oh NO! Clark must NOT be allowed to tell Lex. Hearing such a confession from Clark would be enough to destroy Lex and drive him over the edge into destructive, vengeful insanity, and NO-ONE would be spared his wrath.

”Thank you,” Clark gasped, with his face buried in her hair.

Chloe closed her eyes and swallowed deeply as she achieved her own quiet release. Her heart thundered in her chest. Her hands were splayed across Clark’s sweaty bare back. Gently, she moved her arms so that her palms would rest on his chest. “Get off, Clark,” she whispered. “I need to go.”

“You can sleep, Chlo,” he assured her. “I won’t go anywhere.”

I have to admit, Clark was being wonderful and sweet over here. If only the circumstances were better, I would have imagined this to be the start of a beautiful fairytale romance. I can see why Chloe would have given in to such a mistake over here. Clark can be really irresistible if he tries (or even if he doesn’t try).

“Not now, Clark,” she called back.

“I know you, Chloe. You don’t have to feel bad about this.”

She didn’t answer. She turned her face up towards the spray of water, feeling the burning drops of water on her skin. Her face crumpled and then she just knew she was crying, even though the water quickly washed her tears away.

“You know how I feel,” Clark continued. “Don’t be afraid.”

But, despite how sweetly sincere he might be, Clark just doesn’t understand what Chloe needs. And he couldn’t begin to imagine the kind of damage he just did to her.

I wish I could hate him for this, but it’s not really his fault that he doesn’t GET IT! He’s not malevolent or even manipulative (maybe, maybe not manipulative), just clumsy… and perhaps a little desperate.

And it was the words that resulted in the heaving sobs that racked her shoulders. Suddenly she was no longer willing to have the water fall directly on her face. Suddenly she didn’t want to be exposed so much. She turned around and wrapped her arms around her body, covering her chest with trembling wet limbs, her soaked hair falling to both sides of her face, hiding herself from the rest of the world.

Poor Chloe. When she left her husband, she was feeling scared, lost and alone… and she fell into bed with the ONE man her husband hated above all others. Now she feels guilty for ‘betraying him’ as well as abandoning her husband.

Why can’t Clark at least TRY to empathise instead of just focusing on HIS wants and desires??!!

“I don’t know what to do anymore, Clark, but I can’t be with him. Not after all he’s done.”

“Then you can stay with me.”

She shook her head. “He’s not going to just let me go.”

He stood up, now only wearing his boxers. “It’s not like I can’t protect you from Lex Luthor, Chlo.”

And didn’t she know it. Just a couple of hours before, vulnerable and on edge after leaving Lex, Clark had found her waiting for a bus, always to her rescue. It was when he took her hand that she asked wonderingly, to herself, why she couldn’t have fallen in love with a hero.

“I will protect you, Chloe,” he repeated, his voice firm enough that Chloe almost believed him.

“You could,” she admitted, “take Lex up so high into the air and then drop him into the Atlantic ocean. But I’m not going to let you.”

Chloe might have made a slight tactical error over here. She’s leading Clark to believe that Lex is the only reason she’s leaving. She should have made it clear to Clark that she didn’t want to be with HIM either. That, despite everything that has happened, she still loves Lex a great deal more than she could ever love Clark.

But once again, I understand why she didn’t say all these things. It is a rather cruel thing to say to someone who has confessed his love for you.

“I never said it was,” she whispered. She had been shattered by his conversation with Lex, on Eric’s birthday memorial dinner earlier, when he knelt before her and asked her to swear to stay.

I remember this scene too. It left quite an impression on me. I can see it affected Chloe very strongly too. With good reason… Lex is not the type of person to admit to vulnerability, and begging (actually BEGGING) Chloe to stay displayed a weakness that should have been unimaginable in Lex Luthor.

“Stay,” Clark said softly, without the tremulous fear that came with Lex’s voice. “Stay and I swear I’ll make you the happiest woman in the world. You say that you wish you’d fallen in love with a hero. Lex will never be one, Chloe. But I am. And I’m here.”

In his own way, Clark can be JUST as seductive as Lex. But Chloe is not going to fall under his spell again.

“She wouldn’t have come back to you,” she concluded with a certainty that came with knowing herself more since her harrowing ordeal.

“You can’t be sure of that.”

He shook her head. “I don’t believe you. We spent her last night here together. She was coming back to me until you came.”

She regarded Clark with silent eyes, reading every curve and hollow on his face. He believed every word. Nothing that she could say now would fix it.

I wonder if Clark will accept it once (or if?) it is revealed that Lois was Chloe all along. In the meantime, let him enjoy his happy delusions.

“When I swore you would be in heart forever, I had not been lying. Unlike many people in your life, I would not have deceived you willingly.

I leave with a heart heavy with anguish that our world has come crashing down around us, and also with unwavering affection. I cannot not love you, Lex, despite all of it.

I’ve betrayed you, but I am brave enough to face you in time. Now I’m running away from myself, towards myself… I don’t know.

When I return, we will have an answer.”

I just DON’T understand why Chloe left such a note for Lex. I cannot imagine anything more cruel. Chloe assured him that she had every intention of returning from her trip with hopes for reconciliation (or perhaps confrontation and closure) between them. But now… NOW Lex believes she’s dead, and it would like losing his chance with Chloe all over again.

It’s just cruel!

He proceeded to the elevators and saw the waiting area vacant. Lex raised his phone and dialed his security department.

“I want the surveillance video of the corridor in front of my office.”

heh. And Chloe was a fool for not expecting this to happen. She would have been better off handing the note to Lex herself.

The moment he saw her, Lex stood up. She walked over closer to him.

“You forget that I’m paranoid, and that I have my building completely equipped with video surveillance.”

Lex describing himself as paranoid made me giggle. As long as he’s aware of it…

“What betrayal?” he asked.

And it was the easiest way she could unburden, but it would not have been fair to him, when he had no one to confront. “I don’t know.”

Ok, she didn’t mean to be cruel. She was just trying to ease her own guilty conscience… at the expense of Lex’s peace of mind. Just like Clark, she was clumsy and thoughtless rather than malevolent.

“Who?”

And for that split second her guilt overcame her good sense. She hurt him and he wanted to know this.

"Clark," she blurted.

And the face she saw was that of a shattered soul.

"But she loved you," she told him. "She loved you."

I actually think it’s a GOOD thing that Chloe (even in the guise of Lois) was the one to tell Lex about her affair with Clark. It seemed like Clark was right on the threshold of making a confession (or perhaps even righteously gloating?) to Lex that Chloe spent her last night in Metropolis in his arms.

It might have been shattering and painful to hear this from Chloe/Lois. But it would have been devastating to have heard this truth from Clark’s perspective.

He turned away from her. His stiff movements carried him towards the doors to the elevator. She closed her eyes. If there was one thing that had not changed out of the old her, it was that she could never bear to see him walking away.

I don't belong here...

Like I mentioned, this story should have been in the angst section. It started with everyone in horrible pain, and it ended with everyone’s psyches destroyed.

But, it’s in the romance section… which means there’s hope for a happy ending… which pleases me to no end. I’m thoroughly enjoying the angst and conflict, but it makes me happy to know that there WILL (eventually) be a happy ending for all major characters.

I look forward to seeing the journey. Please update soon.

[lj715]

You are killing me with this fic! I really thought Lex had figured it out. Was shocked that Chloe had slept with Clark. Hope Chloe reveals her true self to Lex soon. I don't know if I can take anymore ( but, you know I really can so update again soon). Please.

[westwingwolf]

I can't believe that Chloe could do that but in a way I also can. They did have some major problems and she was weak and vunerable and angry in that moment. It's obvious she immediately regretted it.

So while some of my anger is with Chloe and I'm still angry and unsure about whatever it is that Lex did, it's Clark that I'm really angry with because he's an outsider knowing their problems and creating even more. He should have left Chloe alone and he's an ass for presuming that she would want him when she herself said she didn't.

Now Lex is hurt, but it probably wouldn't do well for Lex to think of Chloe as this perfect being that died tragically. If they are ever going to work, he's going to have to know everything.

[malugargula]

Great update

Please don`t let Lex think that she left him because of Clark
I`m so curious if she`ll tell him who she really is

[skauble]

Sometimes I just have to have some angst and this fic really comes through. It's so heart breaking seeing how everyone's lives fell apart. And poor Chloe trying to get something back finally.

I love the way that you convey the anguish of all involved. It's both beautiful and moving. I can't wait until everyone figures out what's going on, but I'm afraid that, even then, things aren't necessarily going to end up happy. I guess that's how life is at times, though.

Wonderful, wonderful story and I eagerly await an update.

~Sarah~

[Catheryne]

See Into Me

Chapter 7 – Iris

There was no sound aside from her breathing and the steady drone of the air conditioner. Chloe could not help but shiver at the cold. The temperature had obviously been left unattended for some time, and so had dropped to an almost uninhabitable low. There was no other light than that which came from the building signs outside. Chloe groped on the wall for the switch and flooded the room suddenly with blinding white before adjusting the brightness.

"Lex," she called out tentatively.

Chloe walked over to the kitchen to look for him. Finding no one, she returned to the living room and sat on the couch. She idly picked uo the remote for the temperature and raised the temperature.

A moment later there was a shatter from inside Lex’s library. She ran there to find Lex leaning against the wall.

And I'd give up forever to touch you
Cause I know that you feel me somehow

His eyes were bleary when he looked over to where she was as if expecting that he would find her when he turned. His gaze chilled her to the bone. He looked at her as if he could see right through her lies. Instead of running out the same way she did before, Chloe realized that Lex, for the first time in their lives, really desperately needed her to stay. She walked over towards him and took his arm. He leaned on her, and she could smell the alcohol in his breath.

“Lex, what are you doing?”

He looked down into her eyes as they glittered with her tears. “I despise everything about you,” he answered, and she could almost feel the hatred tangible in his voice. “I wish you were dead,” he gritted out.

She closed her eyes, and a lone tear seeped out.

“Both of you,” he continued. At his words, Chloe looked up at him in surprise. “I thought I could do this,” he murmured. “I really did.”

“Come on, Lex. You’ve got to sleep this off.” She tried to pull on his arm, but he would not budge. “Let me help you.”

“But this isn’t going to. I’ve got to stop fooling myself. If I kept you safe, I told myself I’d be making it up to Chloe,” he said as if he did not hear her.

“I don’t want to hear this, Lex,” she choked out. And it was true. There was no need for her to know how her admission had knocked her from a pedestal to a muck of hatred in such a short time.

“But I can’t stand you,” he told her. “I can’t stand breathing in the same air you breathe. And I can’t stand knowing that you’re around because of some misguided loyalty to a woman who obviously held no such devotion.”

She forced herself not to hear his words. Lex finally stumbled along with her on their way to his bedroom. Chloe opened the large door and helped him onto the bed. As Lex plopped down onto his back, Chloe gathered a silk blanket and spread it over him.

“Sleep first,” she whispered.

“When I wake up,” he returned, “I want you gone.”

You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now

She had not ventured out so late at night for so long. It had something to do with a deep seated fear she had, that in the darkness one of the objects around her would just explode and send her back into the claws of death she had once escaped.

Tonight she had been sent back outside by the one man that confounded her, that threw her off balance just when she had started to think that she had finally found her stability. She wanted to be away from him but she still wanted to see him, to touch him and know that he would find a way back to his feet somehow. Lex Luthor made her want to know he would be able to move on yet her heart rebelled at the idea of his hands on another woman.

And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
Cause sooner or later it's over
I just don't want to miss you tonight

“One day, I’ll marry you,” he had said once, as he stared at the ceiling, lying abed with her.

She turned her head towards him, eyes puzzled. No one ever spoke of commitment, least of all marriage. And he voiced it as if it was a realization this time. “Will you?” she said teasingly, with a small smile on her face.

Lex turned his head to face her, then stole a swift kiss. “I’m pretty sure I will,” he replied.

“Isn’t that weird,” Chloe murmured, the mirth gone from her eyes.

“Very,” he admitted.

“Then again you get married at the drop of a hat,” she commented offhandedly.

Lex picked up her hand and kissed her fingers. “I was in love with them all,” he told her. “I was never obsessed with anyone like I am with you.”

The words sent a shiver down her back. Chloe edged closer to him in bed, and sighed when he wrapped her in his embrace. She laid her hand on his chest and kissed the bare skin above his heart. “I love you,” she told him, and it was a night of realizations and clichés.

Lex would never be one to use such common words. “I can’t live knowing that you’re not mine,” he answered softly.

And I don't want the world to see me
Cause I don't think that they'd understand

Chloe smiled at the thought as she closed her eyes, spent with physical exhaustion and the emotional demand of the night. She must have been asleep for mere minutes when she was jarred from her sleep by Lex’s voice. Chloe opened her eyes to find him looming above her, positioned between her legs, pressing short fervent kisses on her chin. She felt him pressed up against her, hard.

“Lex?” she whispered. Her eyes widened when he thrust inside. Caught unprepared, Chloe swallowed deeply as she waited for her body to adjust to the intrusion. Thankfully she was still wet from their earlier intercourse, and she held onto his back as he pumped into her erratically. She arched her back as he painfully bit into her neck, giving him more room for exploration.

“Tell me,” he demanded. “Chloe, say it.”

And she wanted to say it, she thought desperately as Lex’s movements grew faster and faster, as her thighs started to burn at the ceaseless motion.

“I—love—you,” she managed, with each jarring thrust.

His eyes squeezed shut. “No.” Deeper, he thrusted. Sweat rolled down his forehead, down the side of his face, then dripped onto the hollow between her breasts.

“Lex,” she pleaded, so close, her body hurting for release.

“Tell me,” he demanded, stopping halfway into her channel.

Chloe arched up, then turned her head away.

“Tell me you’re mine.”

When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

It was the moment that she turned the corner that Chloe realized she was being followed. Stupid of her not to notice sooner. Living with Lex, she had been trained to recognize the signs.

She stopped in front of a bridal boutique, and to anyone watching she was a lone woman dreamily admiring the silk taffeta flowing gown in the window display. Instead, Chloe focused on the reflection on the window. There was a car several yards behind her, with its headlights off.

The driver, a small Caucasian man, met her eyes in the reflection. Chloe’s heart stopped. From the passenger side, another man stepped out of the car. She vaguely recognized him from one of the Lipaztan government aides. She tried to appear calm as she walked towards the opposite direction.

And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming
Or the moment of truth in your lies

As Chloe strode faster, so did the man. His hand was inside his coat pocket, and her heart hammered in her chest. Something protruded underneath the cloth, and experience told her that it was a gun. At the back of her mind, she asked herself why not just to let him kill her. Everyone knew she was dead anyway. There would be no added grief if she did die.

Still, the fighter inside her woke from her deep slumber. She was not going to go gently into the night, and allow genocidal maniacs to snuff out the last chance for the world to know the human corruption that happened there.

Gunshot tore through the night. Despite her bravado, Chloe screamed and jerked away from the building wall, where the bullet embedded.

That was when she burst into a run. She glanced behind her and saw that the man had started running after her as well, with the gun drawn out and pointed directly at her. Running straight down the street would not help and would get her killed faster. She did not even look both sides of the street before crossing in a run.

When everything seems like the movies
Yeah you bleed just to know your alive

Out of nowhere a shiny black car sped towards the gunman. The man trained the gun towards the windshield and shot. The bumper threw the gunman against the wall.

“Lex!” she screamed.

Chloe ran towards the car and pulled the door open to find Lex gritting his teeth against the burning pain of the gunshot that went through his shoulder. Then she did not care anymore if Lex would wonder why Lois Lane was suddenly frantic about his health.

She grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and tore it open, then stared at the freely bleeding wound. The sight caused tears to flood through her eyes. “Oh God, Lex.” She bent towards him and took his uninjured arm, then placed it over her shoulders. He still smelled like scotch and sweat, and Chloe adored it.

“No hospital,” he breathed. “The sooner I die the sooner I can strangle her.”

“You’re insane,” she said in relief. The bullet had gone straight through and he was going to live.

She escorted him out of the car, then helped him to the backseat. Before she slammed the door, Lex opened his eyes and glared at her. “I knew you were going to piss someone off again,” he drawled drunkenly. “What did you do now?”

And I don't want the world to see me
Cause I don't think that they'd understand

Back in the apartment, Chloe helped Lex onto his bed, then proceeded to the bathroom to gather supplies to clean the wound.

The tears would not stop as she treated the through and through. Chloe sniffed through the tears and patched him up.

“Stop that,” he told her, irritated. “You can stay.”

Chloe shook her head. Leave it to him to still stubbornly be hung up on his own concerns when she was making sure his wound did not fester. “We need to go to the hospital, Lex. This might get infected,” she argued.

When she looked back up his face, he was already asleep. She went over to a chair overlooking the bed and slept.

When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

In the middle of the night, Chloe woke and immediately looked towards Lex. She was surprised to find him awake and staring at her. She stood and walked closer to him and recognized glassy fevered eyes.

“Chloe, come back to bed,” he said clearly.

She shook her head, then sat on the edge. She took the small cloth that she had prepared and soaked it in the cold water, then squeezed out the excess. She laid the cloth on his forehead.

When the cloth turned warm, she lifted it from his forehead then soaked it again, repeating the whole procedure several times, then gently touching the cool cloth to his throat, earning her a pleased murmur from Lex.

Chloe swallowed deeply as her moist hands slowly unbuttoned Lex’s shirt. She parted the cloth to reveal the chest that she had been so familiar with. He was not going to remember any of it. She ran the cool cloth down his torso. He smiled at her, and she felt the warmth settle in her belly.

Lex sat up on the bed, and lifted his hands to the bottom of her shirt. He lifted the blouse off her, then looked down at the black lace bra that cupped her breasts. “I missed you, Chloe.”

She closed her eyes, and the tears fell like raindrops. “I missed you too,” she finally admitted.

She unclasped her bra and allowed it to fall behind her on the bed, then helped him take his shirt off over the bandage. Chloe traced the outline of the bandage with her fingers. “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head, then bent his head low to capture her lips in a kiss. Her hands curved around his head and she guided his mouth to her breast. His mouth was hot with fever, and Chloe’s tears slid down her cheeks. It was a sensation she thought she would only ever relive in her dreams.

His hot hands lifted her skirt and rooted underneath for her panties. Slowly, Lex helped her take them off. Her hands on the other hand unzipped his fly and pulled down his pants.

His fevered tongue wrapping around her nipple was almost enough to send her into an orgasm. Chloe straddled Lex’s thighs as he latched on to her breasts. She held onto him and guided him inside her body as she sank down on him. Chloe leaned into his ear and whispered, “If you remember anything about tonight, remember this. I loved you.”

Lex thrust up into her and she moved over him.

And I don't want the world to see me
Cause I don't think that they'd understand

tbc

[westwingwolf]

I'm really torn with Lex because he is so heartbroken when he learns the truth about Chloe, but their past suggests that he was too controlling. Which probably explains why he's so heartbroken, he didn't want Chloe to ever leave him for anyone and if she had just died then at least he knew that she was true to him. I hope Lex does remember tonight and he notices the similarities to times before with Chloe.

[Kit Merlot]

Beautiful update!

I think Chloe is stunned by just how badly off Lex is without her--I think she underestimated just how much she meant to him.

I wonder if they can find a way to heal each others pain.

[somethingeasy]

He looked down into her eyes as they glittered with her tears. “I despise everything about you,” he answered, and she could almost feel the hatred tangible in his voice. “I wish you were dead,” he gritted out.

She closed her eyes, and a lone tear seeped out.

“Both of you,” he continued. At his words, Chloe looked up at him in surprise. “I thought I could do this,” he murmured. “I really did.”

This was an intense start to an already intensely angst fic. It was enthralling to see the after-effects of Chloe’s confession of adultery. It might have been cruel to shatter Lex’s memories of a ‘loving, devoted wife’, but I still believe it was better that Chloe did it rather than risk Clark blurting it out during a Clex argument.

“I don’t want to hear this, Lex,” she choked out. And it was true. There was no need for her to know how her admission had knocked her from a pedestal to a muck of hatred in such a short time.

I really enjoyed the visuals invoked by the phrase ‘pedestal to a muck of hatred’. It showed a visceral image on Lex’s feelings towards Chloe… before confession and after confession. Excellent turn of words, Catheryine.

“But I can’t stand you,” he told her. “I can’t stand breathing in the same air you breathe. And I can’t stand knowing that you’re around because of some misguided loyalty to a woman who obviously held no such devotion.”

This part also helped me understand the shattered and devastated state of Lex’s mind. He doesn’t even have the memory of a devoted, loyal wife to hold onto anymore. His last bit of hope (that Chloe ‘might have’ returned to him, if she had been able to) has also been snuffed out. I appreciated how Chloe forced herself to listen to these harsh words, as if in penance for her actions and the hurt she has inflicted since then.

“When I wake up,” he returned, “I want you gone.”

This had to be the most heartbreaking part of the chapter. Both Lex and Chloe are finally losing out on the final remnants that them of their life together. Lex is getting rid of the cousin that reminded him of Chloe, and Chloe is losing her husband for good now. I wanted to weep.

Tonight she had been sent back outside by the one man that confounded her, that threw her off balance just when she had started to think that she had finally found her stability. She wanted to be away from him but she still wanted to see him, to touch him and know that he would find a way back to his feet somehow. Lex Luthor made her want to know he would be able to move on yet her heart rebelled at the idea of his hands on another woman.

I loved how this paragraph conveyed all the conflicted and confused feelings Chloe has with regards to Lex Luthor. She wants to escape from him, but at the same time, she never wants to leave him. She wants him to find happiness with someone else, but she loathes the idea of another woman taking her place.

Poor confused little lost girl.

“Then again you get married at the drop of a hat,” she commented offhandedly.

Lex picked up her hand and kissed her fingers. “I was in love with them all,” he told her. “I was never obsessed with anyone like I am with you.”

Chloe’s retort made me giggle, and Lex’s reply thrilled me, AND it sent a cold shiver down my spine. I can imagine it’s very exciting, but also scary to have Lex Luthor obsessed with you.

Lex would never be one to use such common words. “I can’t live knowing that you’re not mine,” he answered softly.

LOL at the apt observation that Lex would consider words like ‘I love you’ to be trite and ‘common’. And the thrills and chills keep on coming with Lex’s statement.

Chloe smiled at the thought as she closed her eyes, spent with physical exhaustion and the emotional demand of the night. She must have been asleep for mere minutes when she was jarred from her sleep by Lex’s voice. Chloe opened her eyes to find him looming above her, positioned between her legs, pressing short fervent kisses on her chin. She felt him pressed up against her, hard.

“Lex?” she whispered. Her eyes widened when he thrust inside. Caught unprepared, Chloe swallowed deeply as she waited for her body to adjust to the intrusion. Thankfully she was still wet from their earlier intercourse, and she held onto his back as he pumped into her erratically. She arched her back as he painfully bit into her neck, giving him more room for exploration.

wow! That is quite an… intense wakeup call. Whatever was he thinking during those few minutes after she fell asleep? Once again, Catheryne has managed to sustain, build up and up the ante on the ‘thrills and chills’ content of this flashback.

Even Lex’s lovemaking was intrusive and possessive, while still being exciting and thrilling.

His eyes squeezed shut. “No.” Deeper, he thrusted. Sweat rolled down his forehead, down the side of his face, then dripped onto the hollow between her breasts.

“Lex,” she pleaded, so close, her body hurting for release.

“Tell me,” he demanded, stopping halfway into her channel.

Chloe arched up, then turned her head away.

“Tell me you’re mine.”

I blinked at Lex’s refusal to accept Chloe’s declaration of love, until I heard what he REALLY wanted to hear. Even before they were married, he was obsessed with the idea of swallowing her whole. Of keeping her with him, by any means necessary. I’m sure it must have been wonderfully thrilling at the time, but in hindsight, it’s quite scary… and sad.

So it seems like Chloe and Lex’s relationship was doomed to fail from the very beginning?

It was the moment that she turned the corner that Chloe realized she was being followed. Stupid of her not to notice sooner. Living with Lex, she had been trained to recognize the signs.

I liked how Chloe berated herself for not recognizing that she was/is being followed. It seemed like very characteristic response of Chloe Luthor Sullivan.

As Chloe strode faster, so did the man. His hand was inside his coat pocket, and her heart hammered in her chest. Something protruded underneath the cloth, and experience told her that it was a gun. At the back of her mind, she asked herself why not just to let him kill her. Everyone knew she was dead anyway. There would be no added grief if she did die.

Still, the fighter inside her woke from her deep slumber. She was not going to go gently into the night, and allow genocidal maniacs to snuff out the last chance for the world to know the human corruption that happened there.

I really enjoyed this part about the inner workings of Chloe’s finely tuned sense of self-preservation and fighting for survival. And I LOVED the way it overwhelmed her (brief) moment of hopelessness and despair.

Initially I thought Lex might have assigned bodyguards to her. Even if he didn’t want her living with him might not mean he wants her dead. The shooting took me by surprise. Why would anyone want to kill Lois Lane? Or did they know they were aiming and shooting at Chloe Sullivan?

Out of nowhere a shiny black car sped towards the gunman. The man trained the gun towards the windshield and shot. The bumper threw the gunman against the wall.

“Lex!” she screamed.

Was he following her? Or was his appearance a happy coincidence?

“No hospital,” he breathed. “The sooner I die the sooner I can strangle her.”

I had to laugh at the sweetness of this statement. AT first glance, it didn’t sound sweet at all. He wanted to strangle Chloe for her crimes against him. But…. awwww on the fact that he liked the idea of dying and being with her again, even if it WAS to scream at her.

The tears would not stop as she treated the through and through. Chloe sniffed through the tears and patched him up.

“Stop that,” he told her, irritated. “You can stay.”

ROTFLMAO at the magnanimous bastard who considers it to be a soothing favour to ‘allow’ Lois to stay and tend to his wounds.

In the middle of the night, Chloe woke and immediately looked towards Lex. She was surprised to find him awake and staring at her. She stood and walked closer to him and recognized glassy fevered eyes.

“Chloe, come back to bed,” he said clearly.

I shrieked over here. He recognized her. He FINALLY recognized her!!! Granted, it took a delirious fever for his brain to catch up to his eyes. I honestly didn’t know whether I was relieved or frightened for Chloe over here. On one hand, her cover is blown… but then again, the subterfuge is finally over.

Chloe swallowed deeply as her moist hands slowly unbuttoned Lex’s shirt. She parted the cloth to reveal the chest that she had been so familiar with. He was not going to remember any of it. She ran the cool cloth down his torso. He smiled at her, and she felt the warmth settle in her belly.

Lex sat up on the bed, and lifted his hands to the bottom of her shirt. He lifted the blouse off her, then looked down at the black lace bra that cupped her breasts. “I missed you, Chloe.”

She closed her eyes, and the tears fell like raindrops. “I missed you too,” she finally admitted.

I suppose I am happy that Lex recognized her. Chloe is being gifted with this one blessed moment where she can indulge her need to touch her husband, tell him that she loves him, and that she missed him. And I can see why she would be so tempted to indulge herself like this, especially if she believes she will be able to get away with this without suffering the consequences of him chasing after her again.

She unclasped her bra and allowed it to fall behind her on the bed, then helped him take his shirt off over the bandage. Chloe traced the outline of the bandage with her fingers. “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head, then bent his head low to capture her lips in a kiss. Her hands curved around his head and she guided his mouth to her breast. His mouth was hot with fever, and Chloe’s tears slid down her cheeks. It was a sensation she thought she would only ever relive in her dreams.

His hot hands lifted her skirt and rooted underneath for her panties. Slowly, Lex helped her take them off. Her hands on the other hand unzipped his fly and pulled down his pants.

His fevered tongue wrapping around her nipple was almost enough to send her into an orgasm. Chloe straddled Lex’s thighs as he latched on to her breasts. She held onto him and guided him inside her body as she sank down on him. Chloe leaned into his ear and whispered, “If you remember anything about tonight, remember this. I loved you.”

Wow! This was such a beautiful, but such a sad lovemaking scene. I think Chloe is saying goodbye over here. She’s trying to get closure… AND she might be trying to act out some form of penance… hoping that Lex might have a vague dreamlike memory if this happening, and therefore be able to forgive his wife?

I can’t wait to find out what happens. It’s most probable that Lex will not remember this as anything other than a dream. But then again, this memory, compounded with all the other clues that have been gathering in so far… how long until he figures it out?

I can’t wait to find out what happens. Please update soon.